What to do...

Seriously I have LOTS to do and don't want to do any of it. I need a boost of energy to do s/thing anything would be nice. I am so behind the times and feel sorta smart since I figured out how to blog. But am still considered a computer dummy. So 2 days ago Donnie says we have unlimited Texting on our phones. Huh? We are part of a plan w/my in-laws so I just use my phone when I go s/where and Donnie calls me on it during the day since he doesn't want to waste any of the 3000 shared minutes of which he uses 90% of and the rest of us use the other 10%. So I tried it and texted the 2 people who have tried to text me. I am soooooooooooo slow at it. One of them is a teenager and it takes me like 2 minutes to type a short one and in the time it takes me to push send and put the phone down she has texted me back already. I was telling Donnie what a doof I am b/c I can't do this very well. He reminded me that they have phones w/the keyboard in them. Ok I am slightly less of a doof but still feel so dumb. I know I am not as smart as a 1st grader in phonics but now the teens have reason to really laugh at me. Thankfully this teenager is like one of my own and still loves me I hope. So now everyone can know how techno stupid I am.

Thinking of Tiff

Tiff I was just thinking of your tag a month or so back. You know the one that everyone was mad at you about? I think now would REALLY be a bad time for that tag. Considering the disaster Christmas brings to our homes. My house at the moment looks like it threw up toys and paper. Connor has lost his MP3 and it has only been 2 days! You would like to think my house was so tidy that it would just show up. Considering he is my cleanest child this isn't a good thing that he has lost s/thing. What else has my house eaten. Why didn't I get a maid for Christmas? Seriously I would be very thankful for one and even make her brownies. Maybe just children that will pick up their own toys even for one day w/o asking that would be nice too. Maybe I will just dream about it for now. One day my house will be cleaner and quieter and I will wish for the mess.

No I am not starting a tag b/c I know people would come after me. I hope you are doing well Tiff since you are getting so close to that little baby being born.

Making birdhouses w/Papa

Yesterday my father in law asked if the kids would be free to work on birdhouses today. He had all the wood cut out and just had the kids nail them together. Some needed more help than others like the youngest 2 esp. My neice did one also. The kids had a blast and still need to paint them but not too much in one day. My father in law I think had as much fun as the kids. They will all be so proud to have them hanging outside. They all know what color they want to paint them. Kolette said hers will be pink (shocking!) b/c then the fancy birds will visit her birdhouse. The kids had a great time playing w/their cousin and building w/Papa. Thanks for the fun time Papa!

The Shack

Ok I missed a addiction. Well sort of. I have a friend that told me that this book called "The Shack" was really good but that I couldn't handle it. At first I thought ok I know that in the book it is about a guy who's 5 yr old daughter is abducted while camping and dies. His wife has always called God - Papa to personalize Him. He gets a note in the mail 3 years after saying "Meet me at the shack Love, Papa. So for a few months I don't really even think about it but about a month ago I see it at the library. I picked it up and read the inside and decided that I wanted to try it. I even asked the librarian if she thought I could handle it. She said probably. So I take it home for the 2 weeks I get it for since it is a new book. So for the first week I didn't touch it and it mocked me. I finally decided that I could read it. It is a wonderful book! It makes you think about God and our relationship w/Him in a totally different way. I would recommend it to everyone it is so good. One phrase in the book that has made such a difference for me is "Forgiveness isn't about forgetting it is about taking your hand off the other persons neck"

Anyhow I challenge you to read this book and let me know how you liked it. I am going to go and get a copy for myself so I can underline the parts I really liked. It is not graphic at all. I hope s/one wants to read it so I can talk about it to them.

5 top addictions

Tiff tagged me over at stillseekingsanity about my top 5 addictions. That might be hard to narrow down but I will give it a shot.

1. Chocolate is a wonderful addiction that I didn't have until I had Corrin and it must have triggered it upon her arrival. Strange to think I actually lived w/o it up until I was almost 25.

2. Wild Cherry Pepsi however that is one I would like to kick. I know it isn't any good for me but it tastes SOOOOO good. I am going to try a New years resolution to replace it w/water. I will see if I can overcome.

3. Bath and Body works soaps and lotions. However my children don't understand the concept of less than 2 squirts will do it. Not to mention that Corrin and Connor are germ phobes and wash their hands alot. Seriously I go thru a bottle a week in just my bathroom. And the lotions are wonderful. Thanks alot to Gina she gave me some for my birthday!

4. Scentsy~ they are wonderful. I LOVE them! If you don't know what they are they are a candle warmer that uses a 25 watt bulb and you get a bar w/6 cubes and each cube lasts about 2 days constant use. Not to mention that the kids can touch the wax and it won't burn them. I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!!

5. Pictures taking them, hanging them, scraping them if I can ever find the time for that in between crafting and sewing. See how I fit in 3 things under 1 heading? Shhh...

2 of the people that I would tag tagged me so I will only tag

Buffy at fibibuffy
Rachelle at luv4girls

Have fun!

A Merry Christmas!!

I sure hope everyone had a blessed Christmas. We went to Christmas Eve service in the blowing snow but since we live a block from the church it wasn't too bad. Kolette said she couldn't breathe but other than that it was just fine. I couldn't believe that people drove 12-15 miles to come on a icy night but I know it was for a great reason. I really enjoyed the short service full of the Christmas story and songs. I grew up Catholic until I was in 3rd grade but had always gone to midnight service and it always felt weird to not have a service to go to until our church started one a couple years ago. After that we went to my in-laws and the kids got their traditional Jammies made by Grandma.

It was a long day of opening and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. But the kids had a great time. They were so excited to open the gifts they got for each other they actually opened them before they opened theirs from Santa. Corrin and Connor had each other and the little 2 had each other. Connor was so excited when he opened his that he jumped and threw his arms around Corrin and said Thank you I love it! They all did a great job of knowing exactly what each other would like. Ian got The King and Mrs. The King from CARS from Kolette and he has carried them around since he opened them.

Donnie had picked out a old Singer sewing machine at a yard sale for Corrin this summer and we had it hidden in plain sight until yesterday. Donnie noticed that it had no key. Oops! I think hiding it in plain sight made Ian think the key dangling from it was fair game. So he has been playing w/it and I believe it is the key he cried about at the park earlier this week while playing in the snow b/c he lost it. Oh my goodness how am I going to find it now? I am going to try to find s/one w/a metal detector and see how that will work. Esp under snow and all that. Fun times for me. I just keep telling myself that he is only 4 over and over. Like the other day when he took it upon himself to take a cd player apart w/o asking. Oh by the way it did work until then just didn't have a cord. His way of taking things apart is cutting and pulling and unscrewing everything in them. My living room was full of pieces. He likes to take things apart w/his Papa but he needs to understand that only when he is given permission. That's what I get for trying to clean s/thing upstairs while he is downstairs.

We went to my MIL for dinner. After dinner & dessert I was feeling super full and had helped clear table and wash the dishes. I finally sit down and my husband and his brother had been watching TV during this time. I hear my brother in law say "where is my ice water that I wanted?" I say more to myself and in another room "he has two legs". Clearly not the Christmas spirit I will admit but Seriously! A short bit later he still has no ice water and asked Connor where was his ice water and my sweet son says "My mom says you have 2 legs". Believe it or not but he didn't have a reply and if you knew my brother in law you would be shocked. I guess that is a lesson to me to watch what I say and look to see who is listening.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Anorexic Santa

Well since I have been MIA for a few days I will catch you up. For my birthday we went shopping for a dress for me. We found 3 dresses and a nice pair of slacks and a top. However since my church is so casual and I love pants I haven't worn a dress except in the summer. So on Sun Corrin wanted to know why I wasn't wearing one of the new dresses. Well it helps if you have dress shoes! Seriously what is wrong w/me? One of the dresses is really dressy and I don't go anywhere dressy but I have a dress for it. I was saying at the store while trying on dresses "Does this make me look like I have had 4 kids?" Corrin said yes! however I had to explain that I want it to look like I have 4 kids b/c they are w/me not b/c my tummy is big. "Oh" she says. Sweet girl still lives in flat belly world.

So we decided to take the kids to the mall to see the Santa. We found him but he was scrawny. He had a real beard and all but he looked like he needed to eat alot of cookies he was seriously skinny. I thought the kids would break him sitting on his lap. Oh well I told them the real Santa is working on toys still. I think it worked.

We then went to dinner and it was delicious not only b/c I didn't have to cook it either. The kids were really good so that made it much better too. Then we looked at Christmas lights and drove home in the snow. It has snowed ever since but it will be a white Christmas.

Today is cookie and candy day so we are taking a short break so Kolette can nap. Oh boy are naps a good idea w/her. Only problem is she will stay up later at night if she naps and talk to herself or re-dress herself of stuff her bed full of toys and extra clothes and end up naked. But w/o the nap she is a turkey! I sure love that little turkey but rested is always nice. When is it my naptime?

Merry Christmas in case I don't get back on until then!

Fun in the snow

Corrin making the base for the snowman. A collander works well to make a big snowball.

The boys got out their dump trucks and tried to bury them. Actually one wanted to bury and the other didn't so they were arguing but decided to smile for the camera.

Love the snow!!!

Our "Snow Family" I only wish I had Donnie home so a neighbor could have taken the pic and we could have all stood behind our snowpeople.

The weather is predicted to snow everyother day until New Year's. This is alot more snow than our kids are used to. It snowed last night so their is more snow since the pictures. I remember when Corrin & Connor were little we went to McCall's winter carnival just so they could see snow. Don't tell Donnie but I "LOVE" the snow as long as I am homebound. He on the other hand is never homebound and has to be on the roads.

I am legal now!

I got my official license today w/lovely picture and all. However bless the lovely lady who just assumed that I still weighed 125. Bless her!!! That is a birthday present to me. I am stuck w/the weight on there for 8 more years I shutter to think what it will be in another 8 years. Maybe just shifted south instead.

It has been a crazy week but tomorrow since we are all healthy this year Hallelujah we are going shopping for a dress for me. Now that could be fun or depressing depending on the mirrors and the choices. But we are taking the kids w/us and Corrin is a very complimentary girl so I will get at least a compliment from her and Ian loves to tell me that I am beautiful even first thing in the morn when my hair and face are in need of a makeover. Bless him! And I refuse to make dinner on my birthday so we get to go out s/where where I don't have to cook. Yea!!!

Connor cracked me up tonite he said "Since I'm not allergic to anything can I be allergic to green beans?" I said "Yes". A little background in case I have never told he doesn't like them and when he was picking his nose and eating his treasures and wouldn't quit it I made him eat one green bean each time he at a booger. So Corrin would say Connor at a booger and he would yell no I didn't and I don't want a green bean. One time I made him get me a can so he could eat one and then Kolette ate the entire rest of the can. Now since I am his mother and I do happen to remember him since birth I can attest that the dislike to green beans is a very recent thing only since he has been in school. So if we have green beans for dinner he will tell me "I didn't pick my boogers" It is warping him for life but it worked! I told him green beans are much better for him that dirty germy snot! Gross!!!!!! Yeah parenting 101 right here... He is my most picky eater but it has all happened more recently so it is driving me nuts. Things he has liked he now deams disgusting. Crazy boy.

I sure hope everyone has a great day tomorrow it only 5 days left till Christmas then;o)

For the record I didn't do it!

Ok, so last week we had a Nite light parade. I walked the 2 blocks to stand on the corner and wait all by myself w/the kids. The parade was a half hour late b/c of s/thing 2 blocks away by the grocery store. We saw 2 police cars fly past us and then the ambulance. I had no idea what was going on but you could tell there were alot of people at least alot for our small town. Anyway I said a small prayer and waited for the parade and tried to keep us from not turning into popsicles.

So 3 days later I am at storytime and a lady asks me where I was standing at the parade. I thought this a weird question but I told her where. She says "Oh good my grandma's friend said you are the one who hit the kid before the parade started" What????? So she proceeds to tell me that she told the lady that it couldn't be me b/c that is not what I drive and that I have 4 kids I wouldn't hit a kid. The kid was in 6th grade and they took him to the hospital. It is really driving me nuts that s/one would actually think that I would do that.

So the next day I asked my mom if she knew who hit the kid. She told me who it was and I happen to know the lady. She has 3 kids. She said neither the lady or the kid saw each other and it was a total accident. I feel so bad for both her and the child who got hurt. But when she told me I understood at least some of the misunderstanding the other lady does have blond hair but that is where it stops in resemblance. I have been accused of being a friend of mine's sister for the past 2 months and I have no idea what they are seeing to think we look that much alike. I guess after going thru my entire life w/people thinking my brother and I are twins and we definately have the resemblance thing going I don't get it w/someone else who I just know makes people think we are sisters. No offense to her b/c I think she is a really nice girl and I think she is pretty so I am going to take it as a compliment but I just don't get it I guess.

Well enough of me for tonite. Have a great Friday!

Oh, I got my birth certificate today so tomorrow I get my license just under the nose.

Too bad I don't drink

Ok, for one I don't drink ever. But the way things have gone this week w/my youngest 2 if I did I would sure be in trouble. They are soooooooooo testing my patience and I have so much to do that it is driving me crazy.

Mon I helped at the school all day and they were w/me so that was day 1 w/o a nap for Kolette. Tues I took them to storytime and then spent the entire afternoon fighting w/my mother in laws printer so I could fax a copy of my license to the Oregon Vital Statistics so UPS would deliver my birth certificate. Not to mention that Donnie's trucks yes both of them broke. So he spent all day trying to get it fixed. So he was behind a entire day to start out Wed. That night I stayed up till 3 am working on 7 pairs of pajama pants(clearly not thinking). Wed morn I spent w/a friend working on a craft project and then ran to the school to watch the kids Winter program. Then later on went shopping w/my brother to finish up for Christmas. Please oh please let me be done. Then I stayed up working on Corrin's teachers present till 2 am(you would have thought I would have learned the night before it really makes you tired). So today I spent all morn making popcorn balls for the kids parties. Then spent the afternoon in their classes which was fun. In the meantime Kolette has spilled hot chocolate in her room, pretended her clothes are confetti and made her room a disaster, popped open a new bag of marshmellows b/c clearly I don't feed her enough, put toys in my shoes, left her shoes in all rooms of the house. I could go on but why it just makes me tired. Not to mention that her and Ian decided that the best way to start out the morn was to have a yelling contest while spinning. Oh yeah great start!

On the other hand today is the last day of school for this year. Hallelujah!!!!!

Snow and cold

Well winter is finally here and it snowed all day yesterday and today we are rewarded w/super cold weather and it promises more snow and more cold temps. Happy birthday to me. I have yet to receive my birth certificate so unless it arrives by Fri I am going to have to have a temporary w/o a picture. What a hassle. I had to fax a copy of my drivers license to the Vital records to prove it is me and before they will send it UPS. I guess I am thankful for the security but it is a bit nerve wracking since I was born in this small town and have had my license for forever.

Tomorrow is the kids winter program so I am excited for that. I guess if we aren't home much Kolette has less chances of destroying the house. Today since I had my friends kids over she decided to destroy her bedroom and when they left she thought to take her hot cocoa into her room and spilled it all over her rug, bedskirt and Ian's clothing. Now maybe he had s/thing to do w/it that I will never know.

Connor learned that when you play snowball fight w/a 5th grader eventually it gets back at you. I warned him that True would throw it back at him. However Connor is a quick little snot and evaded capture for quite awhile but eventually a shovel full of snow got him in the face. That resulted in tears and finger pointing.

I took the kids to storytime this morn and had a couple other errands today and everywhere I went the snow called to Ian. Honesty I think that is all he heard b/c he ignored me everytime I called him and just happily stomped away in the snow. Sure makes for messy floors this time of year. My mother in law got me a wonderful new toy for my birthday(early) and it is a steam mop and so quick so it will make it much easier to clean up all those little puddles.

Well enough of my rambling for now.

What's a penis or cocklate?

Don't you just love when your child can pronounce most words pretty well but not all well? Well Kolette told me tonite that she likes "Penis" also known as "Peanuts" and she loves "Hot Cocklate" aka chocolate. Crazy girl good thing this too shall pass. But I will kinda miss the grammer errors when she starts to get them right.

Are you ready for Christmas?

I am just curious how many of you are ready for Christmas? I am partly ready. I have a few more gifts to buy and the stockings as well. I have Kolette's quilt left to finish; it is mocking me in my front room b/c it is in the quilting frame but I have yet to start tying it. I know I have to do that since I can't bind it till that is done but man did it have to be so big? It is a queen and what braindead person decided to buy her a queen sized bed needs to be thumped but since that is me I will let myself off w/a stern look. I have 6 pairs of pajama pants to sew and 2 capes. Is that all? I started Donnie's scrapbook of the 55 Bel Air and it is mostly done. Hallelujah!!! I still have to get my Christmas cards delived and mailed. Then the cookies and goodies to do.

So I guess I am tagging all of you to see how far along you are.

License failure

Ok, so my birthday is coming up next Sat and so it means I need to renew my license. They basically want your first born and some of your blood. I had received the paper telling me all I had to take in. I had my birth certificate, marriage license, Social security card and made sure I didn't have to have a piece of mail before I went in. So I wait and lucky me I get the lady w/the well maintained mustash. Seriously she has a mustash and she has been there since I got my permit. It is what my husband wishes he could grow only w/o the estrogen. Weird and it is hard to not stare at her lip. Anyhoo... I had my hair all nice and made sure the make up was nice and she tells me that she can't give me my license b/c I don't have my birth certificate just the hospital certificate. What? She said she could give me a temp but w/o picture and that s/one had stolen some hospital certificates in Oregon a few years ago and so they don't accept them. Seriously I don't have time next week granted I can get one ordered over the internet. Grrr... I am going to try to not be grumpy about it since I have no choice. But as I had gotten in my car to go to the DMV I noticed that my wedding ring had lost a prong and so I had to take it to the jeweler. So she says it will be before Christmas that I will get it back. My brother says oh great you have no proof of birth or that you are married other than he witnessed the wedding and remembers me being born. So do I have to take him everywhere w/me? Oh well I guess it won't be for another 8 years after I finally get this license before I have to go thru this again.

Broken hearts

Boy oh boy have I been busy. My husband has actually threatened me if I spend anymore time at the school he will kill me. Maybe a bit extreme but I can see his point. I spent time there for our carnival in middle Nov. Now we have been there for 2 weeks straight working on the stepping stones for the kids. They are putting their hands in concrete w/stones they are WAY cute! But that is very time consuming for 570 kids. So it has taken 2 1/2 days of running at the school not to mention that I volunteer 2 days a week in the kids classes. Granted on Tues it is only for 1 1/2 hrs and Fri only 1 hr but tomorrow will mark day 4 of being at the school this week.

Now for the part where I broke my son's heart. When Corrin was in K-1st she got to go to every single singing thing there was. Connor NEVER got to go in Kindergarten and the music teacher said he doesn't sing. WHAT?? My boy he is my biggest musical kid I have. Soooooooo I talked to her and asked if he was doing better this year and she said yes and if he does really good she will take him singing last week. So he sang at the Chamber. He and I were both so proud. So yesterday I happened just by chance to dress him super cute and kinda Christmasy for school and dropped him off. Went to pick him up after school and he drops the bomb.
He say "You didn't come to see me sing today"
Me - "what you were singing today?"
Connor - "Yes at the gardens(nursing home)"
Me - "I never saw a note"
Connor - "It was in my lunch box"
Me - "I didn't see it and why was it in your lunch box?"
Connor - "Coz she gave it to me before lunch"
Me - "I am so sorry I wouldn't have missed it for the world and you know I love you always
even when I am not with you don't you?"
Connor - "Yes but I wanted you there" NOw he is crying and my heart is breaking

We get home and he comes up to me and says "I felt like you didn't love me when you weren't there" ARe you kidding me? Could a bigger guilt trip be laid on me? I feel like such a heel. He is going to be singing next week for the Winter program heaven forbid they call it the Christmas program that is recognizing Christ. Shocking! So we decided that I am going to take him shopping and to ice cream since it is so warm outside.

Today I take my youngest 2 to JoAnn and repeatly told Ian to put this little thing back. Low and behold he has it when we get home. So tomorrow I get to take my boy back to JoAnn and have him tell them he took it and make him pay for it. And then he doesn't even get to keep it. How exactly am I going to get the boy who won't talk to any adults to talk to one when he is in trouble? It will be interesting but he clearly knew he was not allowed to have it and brought it home anyway. Parenting is not fun s/times.

On the other hand Kolette announced that she is going to marry me. I told her she has to marry a nice boy who loves Jesus. She tells Ian she is going to marry him. He says no she will have to find some other boy to marry he is going to marry his grandma. She says to Connor I am going to marry you Connor. Innocence isn't it great?

Don't touch that!

I love to have Christmas decorations up. However the putting up of them seems to test my sanity level. I want the kids to enjoy decorating too. However it seems like all they hear is "Don't touch that it will break!" "Look w/your eyes not your hands" "What did I say about touching that?" repeat over and over. Mainly this pertains to Kolette. The main problem is our entire main floor is hardwood or linoleum. So if anything falls off it is going to break guaranteed. So I thought I would make it easier and have a cheap artificial one in the basement that they could decorate w/o my supervision or comments. It is very cute decorated however the part they can't reach is bare. But that is ok. So we will see if the ornaments and decorations will last till Jan or not. In the long run I will have to not sweat the small stuff. However the Nativity set is completely OFF LIMITS!!! I think they are scared enough to not touch that since they all want to keep their fingers. So we will see if they will leave baby Jesus alone. He can move from the manger to Mary's arms. But they all think if he is in her arms he needs to be in the manger. So maybe this year he can stay put and in one piece for another year.

Hoping everyone has a non breakable Christmas!

Connor D

I couldn't get more than 5 pics to post to the last post. So here is Connor. I love these pics esp the one standing up it cute. It was a great day other than a bit of a chilly wind. But they were bribed w/tootsie pops at the end and candy is always a miracle worker. Next time Amy we will have Donnie in the pics as well.

Amy Rocks!

These are pictures that we had taken by Amy Parsons. Isn't she wonderful. Too bad she lives so far away. She has been taking our family pictures since Ian was born. Thanks Amy!!!

Calgon take me away...

Ok, I haven't blogged for a few days b/c basically I have been running my tail off and the computer hasn't even been turned on in 2 days.

Yesterday I took Kolette and Ian to my neighbors for Joyschool and stayed since they aren't part of it she is just nice and let us come. Came home w/just enough time to grab the camcorder b/c Connor was singing at the Chamber which was absolutely darling. Then grabbed lunch and got home w/about an hour to spare before we picked the kids up from school and then we had our Christmas craft at the church which Kolette and Ian got to do as well and that lasted till almost 9 which is past everyone of their bedtime.

Today is the day for insanity. I walked the kids to school and stayed! All day... We are doing a Christmas Craft thru the CPT that is concrete stepping stones. We have 28 classes in our school w/565 students. We did almost half today. We mixed the cement in the bus barn and had the classes come out and poured their drip trays full of concrete and helped them to their classes. My feet are killing me but they are going to turn out so cute. I will NOT be voting for this craft next year. We have to finish the rest on Mon. We got done at 1pm and to run home make Donnie lunch and head back to the school b/c Connor was getting an award for P.E. @1:55 and then Corrin was getting an award at 2:30 for Academic achievement. They were both suprised. The assembly got out just in time for me to walk from one building to another and wait for the 10 minutes before they got out of school. I think I need to recheck my brain next time I say "I would love to help w/this project"

Tomorrow is friday it has to be calmer right? Oh, wait I forgot I am having 3 extras after school. But in all honesty I think I love the chaos and extra kids when they are good kids isn't a hassle and it occupies my kids. These kids are good kids it will be fine. Time flies so fast and I am not sure empty nest is going to work out very well for me anyway.