while blogging

Just when I thought it was safe to get on and blog this is what was going on backstage. Apparantly her brothers helped her up and so all her pillows and blankets and clothes that were in the way are on the floor of her closet. And since it is January the most logical outfit to change into is your Ariel swimsuit w/a sweater in case you get cold. Also a lego in the mouth sets off the entire look. Never a dull moment...

What have you done

Ok, Tiff had this on as a what have you done kinda thing. These are susposed to be things you should do before you die. I guess it is going around the blogosphere so here it goes. The things in Red are the things I have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/ world
8. Climbed a mountain (Does a hill count?)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (O Holy Night when I was like 10)
11. Bungee jumped (No, thanks. Rubber bands break.)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea(Gee, that sounds safe.)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked(No, thank you, I choose to live)
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (that only works when you aren't a stay at home mom)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run(are you kidding? I am seriously softball challenged one year I joined just for the the purple shirts)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors(Portland yes, but Ireland, Sweden & Germany NO)35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language(took french in school does that count?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied(It never should take money to be truly satisfied. We're broke, but I am satisfied.)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing(this doesn't sound like any fun, not to mention I am afraid of heights)
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance(once when I split the top of my head open, seriously half of it was stitched, and last year w/Kolette)
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving/ snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud(my mom lost alot of silverware to this game)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (does it count if it was for church camp?)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business(I sell my stitchings from home that is all & quilts)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served in a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies(Oh, but I have bought my fair share...)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason(That's what Ian is for)
64. Donated blood/ platelets(used to but not allowed to anymore my blood pressure is too low)65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy(And my kids are mad that I won't let them play with it.)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar(Yuck, that just doesn't sound good to me)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Been to the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life(forced her to go to the hospital and they saved her life)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone(who hasn't?)
99. Been stung by a bee

Feel free to join in on the fun.

Where chapstick doesn't belong

Just a list of places Chapstick and Lipgloss doesn't belong

1. On our eyes

2. On our nose or anyother place on our face other than the lips

3. On our entire body

4. On my couch

5. On the bed

6. In the laundry seriously if not caught that is impossible to get out.

7. On your brother

8. In our hair

These are all places I have seen lipgloss and chapstick in the past month. Kolette is the major offender but Corrin has a habit of forgetting that she has lipgloss in her pocket and it goes thru the laundry. Granted the laundry lady aka me could check a bit better. But that is horrible when it goes thru the dryer. Don't boys clothes look even better when there are spots of pink on them? Donnie had no idea how much FUN girls could be until he had 2 of them!

Preschool

Ok for all of you who know me I am a bit of a control freak. Also I don't do Preschool. I hate the idea of having my kids s/where else and don't want to give up my time w/them until they start Kindergarten. This has worked w/Corrin & Connor. I did preschool w/a friend for Corrin we just designed it together and it worked great. Connor we thought we were going to hold him out a year. However he was SOOOO ready and so I just taught him his letters and numbers on my own. Socially Connor was really ready.

So my concern is my Ian. For as outgoing as he was as a baby he has done a complete turnabout and is completely shy. He chooses very few people to like instantly and most of them are men. He only likes a couple of my friends. So if he is talked to he will hide behind my legs and cry if I ever try to leave him even in Sunday school. I hate to see him struggle so much since he will have to leave me when he goes to school next year. Sooooooo I am going to give in and give Preschool a try. The teacher said to give it a try next week. So maybe he will act like he wants to learn s/thing if there are other kids his age wanting to learn. I know he is smart I have seen it but he likes to just shut down instead of trying period. I am worried about him and know that alot of this is my fault for probably helping his shyness along like answering questions that are directed at him when he doesn't want to answer. Yes, I know I am not in control of everything, even though I think I should be. I want the teacher that I want for him and I could name off multiple reasons for why. But I won't it would take up too much room.

So the next problem will be how to keep Kolette from killing me for not letting her go to Preschool too. Whoever said raising kids was easy never had any kids.

My baby is growing up

Why is it the youngest wants so badly to be older? It is suprising to me how much Kolette wants to grow up. She wants it all her ears pierced, make-up, boobs you name it she wants it. If you have the nerve to call anything on her little or small you have a fight on your hands. Her grandma bought her stick on earrings and she LOVES them but they lose their stick quickly. Esp when she keeps taking them off to look at how pretty they are. She keeps asking when she is going to get boobs like me. Seriously the visual of her little 3 yr old body w/a set of boobs is too funny. She would fall over literally!

I hate that I feel like I am breaking her heart when I point out she is too little for s/thing. Today at church I was talking to a girl that used to be in my youth group. Now she is married w/a 1yr old. Yikes! Anyhow I told Kolette to tell her how old she was and she did, then I said can you spell your name for her and Kolette says "K-O- 2 crosses-2 E's and a L" I told Shannon that Ian would be going to kindergarten next year. Kolette said she was going to school too and I said "Is mommy going to let you?" and she said "No" and literally started to cry. I feel so bad that she doesn't get the reality of it all. I need some ideas for how to entertain this little girl. I am not even allowed to call her that. The closest I have gotten is to tell her that she is N-O-T(spelled) big, and for now that works. I am hoping to find a ballet class that is during the day and maybe even break down and do real preschool for her. Honestly she acts more ready for Kindergarten than Ian. Ian could care less. Time will tell but until then I am going to have to be really creative to keep her happy.

Have a wonderful day!

Power out!

After a freezing cold day full of ice. Which meant Connor fell on the way to school and on the way home. It was misting all day and cold enough to freeze it so it was NOT fun at all to walk to school yesterday. Corrin had stayed home sick or else w/one on each side of me would have resulted in a huge fall for all of us w/no one getting up very easily. The concept that you don't get to go outside for recess when it is frozen everywhere makes no sense to Connor. "We would be careful and just play soccer on the grass" I don't think so! I couldn't even get up the very slight incline on my driveway after school and had to walk onto the grass.

Anyhoo... we were just hanging out watching the Incredibles and getting ready for bed when the power went out. Thankfully we were all in the same room when it happened. Kolette in mid jammy change. So I had to scramble to find a flashlight. Then thankfully I still kept some candles since I am a complete addict of Scentsy. I brought them all downstairs and we lit some and had all the flashlights on. But since it was super dark we decided to play a game of Monopoly by candle/flashlight. We were almost done when the power went on. It was clear that Connor was the winner. Thankfully since last time he was the 1st to go out and didn't handle it well. I hope playing more games teaches him sportsmanship. Apparantly a transformer blew and it was out for 3 hours. It was sure dark and starting to get cold. We have a fireplace but we don't use it and of course w/o wood I don't think it would be much good. But the draft comes in thru it so I had to block it off w/a part of the couch. You have to think a little differently when lights are out.

I guess it makes you think about all you have to be thankful for. I am thankful for the fact that I can walk into any room of my house and turn on a light. I am thankful I don't have to pee outside and that my toilets flush. I am thankful that I don't have to start a fire to cook dinnner. My microwave is a wonderful tool. I am thankful for nightlights so my kids can sleep in their rooms w/o fear. I am thankful for telephones so you can check on your other loved ones. Mostly I am thankful that the good Lord above has blessed me w/all of these but b/c I can share them w/the most wonderful gifts in my life My Family. Also thankful for the fact that the power came back on and we didn't freeze!

A post from the insane

It's been awhile but life is busy some days more than others. Monday I tried to take all my Christmas decorations and tree down. I kept getting interrupted. I think it would have taken me 2 hours if my kids were at Grandmas but instead I did it w/them home. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid me!

I know since I am certainly not a rookie at parenting I shouldn't enjoy the silence when the children are still awake b/c it is never a good thing. Ian decided to take 2 bags of batting out of their bags and tear holes in one of them. Then the icing on the cake was Kolette using window markers which in theory are a good idea. Markers, big window equals happy kids. Now as confusing as it may seem markers don't belong on our body. I have told her this more times than I can remember. She decided to color herself blue and green from head, nose and clear down to her toes. Seriously. Thankfully she wasn't wearing anything other than panties at the time so just her body was the canvas. She had been wearing her princess dress but decided to take it off for a new look. I would have taken a picture but decided that would send the wrong message to her. So in the tub she went.

I honestly wonder if Donnie ever thinks I do anything around here. It seems if one thing is being cleaned the kids will destroy another thing that takes forever to clean up. Kolette and Ian love to help w/the laundry. They even go into the toy room and get the clothes from the laundry shoot. But if the dryer is vacant they will put the dirty clothes in there. I have to remember when it is opened if they are clean or dirty. Or else resort to my favorite thing the smell test. Yuck! Heres hoping for a better day!