The weekend is almost over - wahhhhh

I LOVE SPRING!

It's been a truly lovely weekend. The weather has been fab (even though the sun wasn't out much yesterday) and I'm just sad to see it over.

Yesterday, after dropping Bec off at umpiring class, the four youngest and I cleaned the yard. Got rid of broken toys and picked up various pieces of garbage that got away over the winter. Said goodbye to my lounge chair, which was sad. It was part of a patio set that my Dad bought at least 20+ years ago - one of the few things that I still have from when we sold his house. Still have the small round table and four chairs although the cushions need replacing now. Now if I could just get hubby to bring the pile of broken stuff to the transfer station I'd be a happy camper.

Today hubby made my garden bigger (pictures to follow). I am excited to get the whole thing planted. Just need to wait another week or so. My seedlings have started sprouting here in the house and I have more seeds to plant directly in the garden. Decided to plant the Roma tomato seeds directly into the garden like I did last year. While the tomatoes did not ripen on the vine, we had a boatload of green tomatoes that we ripened in the dining room closet. Having garden tomatoes until October was such a treat! I also added two kinds of radishes, turnips, sunflowers, wax beans, green peppers, carnival mix peppers and eggplant to the seeds for this year's garden to go along with the usual cukes, yellow squash, zucchini and beets. For herbs, I have chives, garlic chives (which actually grow wild in the yard all spring), rosemary, dill, two kinds of basil and I think thyme. I am totally in love with basil and oddly enough, so are the kids! They are like me and eat the leaves plain right off the plant.

We also discussed the plans for fencing in the front walkway/bed area. This area was BEAUTIFUL when we moved in. It was nicely landscaped and the previous owner took great care there. And then the dogs got to it. Not so beautiful anymore. In fact, pretty darn ghetto looking now. So we have decided on a 4' white picket fence and 4' gate along with a paver walkway which leads up to our front door. On one side of the door will be the bulbs & perennials and we will keep the old washtub filled with annuals. Hoping that hubby agrees to the trellis at the fence gate which will have clematis growing up either side. To the other side of the door I've decided to make that my herb garden. For now I will keep the herbs potted with the hopes that I will be able to transfer them into the space before fall. To help things along, I have decided that the next couple of weeks I will thin out and replant the very large hostas growing along the current gravel path to our front door. They are really very pretty, but def. need to be separated. If any of my local readers would like some hostas for free, let me know! We also have a large quantity of wild growing day lilies for the taking. They are weeds here, but I know some people really like them.

I am now off to plant some hardy annuals I bought at Evil-Mart today. I have two very large round metal containers that we usually plant annuals in so I thought I'd get a bit of an early start. I like to put pink impatiens in there later in the summer, but for now I've got some purple, red & white annuals to take their place along with a pretty plant my MIL brought me on Easter.

Did I mention that I love spring? Cuz I do. Really. Really, really.

TGIF, I think?

Quick update as I have a shower calling my name (can you smell me yet?)

Exercise. It's going. I'm definitely getting into a groove, but am also kind of getting discouraged because the scale is not going down. I know I should've measured myself to see if inches have come off, but I really thought the scale would change. Gah. I told hubby last night that it is SO hard to keep working and working and working at something when you don't see any change. I try to remember that just getting exercise is healthy for the inside of me too, but what I wouldn't give to see some outward change, you know?

The kids. ALL healthy! YAY! Bec has been on break all week and the boys start their break today. Jeremy left last night for Myrtle Beach. I miss him SO much already. I did text him this morning and he's doing great. I told him I loved him and I got back "I love you too Mutti". You bet your bottom dollar I locked that text. I can look at it on those days I'd like to wring his neck and he'd like to wring mine. ;)

The coming weekend. Not much planned. Hopefully will get my garden set (made larger & tilled with new topsoil & manure). I'm itching to get it going although I did start a bunch of seeds in the house already. I also plan on planting my herbs this weekend in tubs that I can bring in next fall.

Preschool screening. I am SOOOO proud (sorry Sara that you have to hear it again...lol)! Em went to a preschool screening yesterday as I'd love to get her into preschool as a role model next year. She freakin' did FABULOUS! The speech teacher told me her language skills are right up there with a 3yo and she has NO issues. She also mastered all the motor skill tests. It was a bit bittersweet to see her being able to do things I know David has trouble with, but overall it was really wonderful to know that she is on/above target right now. I told hubby that when you have (had) children with learning/speech issues, seeing another one of your children not have any issues feels even better.

Oh and before I forget...the pre-k teachers informed me that David will be in all day Kindy next year. I'm happy only for the fact that it will be easier for them to get him his OT & Speech services during the day. It also means that if Em gets accepted into pre-k, I will have either a morning or afternoon to myself FIVE days a week. I'm so excited I could piddle....fingers crossed.

Sick as dogs - guess it wasn't something he ate

Had a lovely Easter. The food was divine. Lovely spiral ham, rotisserie style roasted chickens, a kick arse potato gratin recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence, roasted fresh asparagus, mixed greens salad, jello salad and for dessert, lovely strawberry lemon trifle and banana pudding w/Nilla wafers with a nice hot pot of tea. We also had an egg hunt for all 6 kiddos with over 100 eggs hidden by the hubby and myself.

Of course, that was until about 4pm or so when Dv. and T started complaining about belly aches. Considering that T was up at 3am (into his Easter basket and watching TV) and that the younger three were up just a bit after 6am, I figured it was a combination of being up early and eating too much candy. Needless to say, by 7pm we had a couple of pukers. By 10-11pm we had 3 pukers (Bec) and by 1am we had 4 pukers (Em). At one point Bec was in the bathroom washing up and T busted in because he needed to puke. Not much sleeping went on last night. Thankfully, Em just tossed her cookies once, Dv. was asleep by 1-2am w/no more puking and T was done by 2 or 3am. Poor Bec. She got the worst of it by getting sick every single hour until about 5 or 6 this morning. When she came downstairs this morning her whole face was a mess of broken capillaries (petikieye). Not a very nice way to start your spring break, I'm afraid. I guess Dn. did indeed have a stomach bug and it wasn't something he ate. One can only hope that the hubster, J and I escape its evil grip.

Today has been a terribly lazy, blah day although it was brightened by a phone call from my favorite Auburnite. To top things off, I didn't use the treadmill or exercise yesterday and what I found is that it was harder to get back on it today. Although, I am learning that it's ok not to push myself to the limits every day. That it's ok to go easier as long as I am exercising. So, I ended up with 40 mins. on the treadmill with the last 10 minutes or so at a slower pace on the lowest incline while I did arm exercises with some hand weights. I actually have been doing the arm exercises every day during my "cool down". The only thing I didn't do today that I usually do is some pilates. Maybe later, maybe not. The best part of exercise has not been the fabulous weight loss (hahaha - I wish), but the fact that I'm starting to like myself again - starting to feel like that even if I am still as heavy as I was when I delivered J. and 15lbs heavier than after I delivered Em, my determination to be healthy and strong is probably better now than it ever was. That's something, right?! And I know that when I need a lift or a pep talk, I've got the BEST cheerleaders in the world rooting for me.

Some days, just knowing you have people watching & cheering you on is enough to spur you into action. It's so much harder doing it by yourself because you sometimes can lose sight of how important you really are and basically, that is what exercise comes down to. Yeah, it is a total pain in the arse (literally sometimes!), but it is about putting yourself first and by doing so you can continue to take care of everyone else. I wish more Moms would embrace that thought...the putting yourself first one. So many times I see or hear things that really make me sad. While our children should be one of the most important things in our lives, we have to stop forgetting about ourselves. Most of us would never let our children sit around, eat bad food, etc., but we allow ourselves that. It's a vicious, vicious cycle. One that I'm determined to ditch - not just for my sake, but so that I can finally be a decent role model for my kids.

Good Friday

Aside from the religious connotations the title has, it is a good Friday.

The kids are off so I was able to stay in bed until 9am. Of course, Em was in my bed watching PBS & then Dora, but I didn't have to get up and get boys out the door for the bus.

Daniel, who puked in the upstairs hallway last night, is feeling much better. There was no overnight puking either. Fingers crossed that it was the lunch he ate at school yesterday and not a stomach bug that will fly through the other children or adults.

The sun is shining and it promises to be a BEAUTIFUL day! While I wish I could get out and enjoy it, I need to clean the house. I have my list in hand (and one for the kids) and hope that I will be done in a few short hours.

The only thing that could make this day better is for hubby to come home early and tell me that we've won Powerball and that he really doesn't have to work until dark this evening. ;)

Oh and make this day 12 of exercise in a row....I'm on a roll! (and the scale went down yesterday a little tiny bit, but I might have ruined that by making funnel cakes last night. Um, they really should be called funnel "crack" because they were very yummy and I couldn't get away from them!)

Two in a day - who woulda thunk?

I had a major brain fart today and totally forgot that I had a PPT for Dv. at school this morning. He was being tested by the school's OT over the last couple of months because his pre-k teacher thought his motor skills were a bit behind. Needless to say, he qualifies for services and will be seeing the OT for 1 hour each week.

I'm usually ok with stuff like this, but today I'm not. I don't get it. I have no problems with the speech issues most of my kiddos have had. I could care less that we've had speech therapy through the state's Birth to Three program or that we've had speech teachers in two public school systems. I've never thought my children were any different than other children. Of course, until now.

Dv., who turned 5 on New Years Eve, is just starting to write his name and many times does it in mirror image. He writes other words as well in the same way. He's not great at using scissors and doesn't hold the pencil in the same way each time he writes. Really, I'm not sure what else there is since I was stupid enough to forget that I had a meeting. I asked for either the OT or the speech therapist to call me, but I haven't heard anything yet. I only received a short note from Dv's pre-k teacher telling me the results of the testing/meeting.

It makes me sad. I don't know why. Logically, I shouldn't have an issue with it whatsoever. Dv. is a little love bug. He is probably our most affectionate kiddo. He is funny and is also probably most like his Daddy. He LOVES all things tools/heavy equipment and his idea of a good time is playing "worker guy". Back when he was a young 4, he had a full conversation with my neighbor about what vehicles use diesel and what vehicles use gasoline. Last week during a warm spring afternoon, he was trying to make ramps up the picnic table so that he could drive the Little Tykes cozy coupe up. He settled for making ramps for the Tonka dump truck instead as it was just too steep with the wood he had to use for the cozy coupe.

In the grand scheme of things, this probably isn't even a raindrop in an ocean, but it's bugging me enough wonder what I did wrong.

Another weekend passes by

Monday, Monday.

This weekend went by pretty quickly which really just is in line with the week before it which zoomed by. Time just does not stand still these days.

Friday we had B's friend, Adri stay over. She is a senior at J's high school and attends B's high school part time (just Arts courses). The girls fell asleep before 10pm which should tell you how exhausting Dance Fest (and the lead up to it) was. We didn't do much Friday evening. T wasn't up for dance as we've all been fighting a cold this week. Hubby and I along with Dn. & Dv. went to spend some time with Nana during the evening as hubby's mom & sister were out that evening. Nana is well into her 90s and just is starting to not remember things. She spends the winters with my MIL & FIL and then goes back to her home sometime in May. I brought her some chocolate chocolate chip cookies and we had some tea. It was a nice quiet visit.

Saturday brought more rainy, cold weather. I did the treadmill that morning and had intended on doing some Pilates too, but the kids were crazy that morning - especially Em. She must've had 14 accidents and went through 20 pairs of underwear. The last straw was that she had a bm on the potty and never told anyone so she could get wiped properly. GRRRRRR. Anyway, after I showered both of us, we took a little nap. Hubby worked most of the day, J. had A. over and then around 9pm hubby and I brought Adri home, went to Evil-mart so we could get the stuff we needed for T's birthday & lasagna dinner the next day and then came home & hubby brought A. home.

I woke up on Sunday and started on getting T's requested cake done (angel food w/choc. pudding in the middle). I cleaned up the kitchen a bit and poured some coffee. I had full intentions of heading to church and then just decided not to. Bad me. I felt a bit guilty, but I worked that off on the treadmill, doing some arm work and pilates. I must've done one of the pilates moves the way I should have because my arse (glutes) hurt ALL day. I found that doing the exercises without the video talking to me is better. I can concentrate on making sure I'm doing the moves properly instead of making sure I'm keeping up. hahaha I'm not the most coordinated person. Thankfully my girls seem to be a bit better at the coordination!

So I started getting the lasagna prepared, the french bread baked and the salad made. At the last minute, I had hubby invite his single uncle who lives about 20 minutes away. By the time everyone arrived (around 4pm), I was just finishing up the salad and waiting on the whole wheat french bread to come out of the oven. I felt really discombobulated yesterday - like detached from things. My brain was fried and I just could NOT focus. It was really very weird. I was exhausted, but I couldn't sit still and my body literally ached from the exercise of the morning.

We sat down and ate. Well, the adults sat around the table (along w/Em) and the kiddos made their plates and found a place somewhere else. I hadn't put the leaves in the table or made sure we had plenty of extra chairs (again, I don't know where my head was yesterday). Even still, I don't think we can fit more than 12 around the table and we had 14 all together. Just about the time I started clearing the table, my BIL & SIL pulled in. I had ordered a cookbook from my nephews' & niece's school PTO and I wasn't able to pick it up last week so they were dropping it off because they were at my SIL's sister's house which is about 15 minutes from here. It was a bit awkward to have them show up since they weren't invited, but everyone else was. Hubby, bless his heart, was quick to invite them all in for T's cake, but BIL insisted that they needed to get home and left. I'm waiting to see if having everyone here, but them, causes ill will between SIL & I. I hope not. I had explained to SIL that we planned on having a kid party for T at a local indoor play place at a later date and that my nephew would be invited to that. This is standard operating procedure for BIL & SIL. There have been more times than I can count that we've not been invited to their home, but the rest of the family has been. Anyway, fingers crossed. I'm not in any mood for drama. Adding to the "Will there be drama?" question is that I found out that SIL may not be going to Cape Cod for Easter. My MIL (whom I invited to Easter dinner last week when I found out they weren't going) asked if we wanted to have dinner at her house. I asked her why because we all know I'm nosey like that. She told me about SIL staying home and I told her that no, we'd have dinner here, but that I would extend the invite to SIL (and whoever does not go to the Cape - apparently BIL is still going with some of the children??) I sent the email invite out this morning so we shall see. I cannot imagine SIL wanting to spend her free time with us, but it will be fine if she does. The more the merrier!

T loved his dinner, enjoyed his gifts and his cake & ice cream. Everyone left around 7:30. The boys made their lunches, took showers and then we all crashed out in my bed watching the beginning of Madagascar. Hubby got home around 9pm (he had to pick B up from youth group & drop A. off) and put the boys & Em to bed. He then was nice enough to give me a full body massage. Seriously - after the pain I had been in ALL day, I think I cried with joy a few times.

All in all, a pretty good weekend. I just hope that I am able to focus this week. Seriously, this not being able to focus stuff sucks.

On Dance Fest & being a parent

The first evening of Dance Fest was a success! Bec's self choreographed piece was AWESOME and I was super impressed. I mean, most parents are proud of their kiddos, but this went above and beyond that. To be able to think up a dance and then execute it in a pleasing manner is WAY cool in this Mama's eyes! I think Bec was in 5 acts all together. It is such an intimate theater that you feel like you are on stage with them. The other pieces were interesting as well. There is a MUCHO amount of talent in that school.


As promised, Bec's self choreographed dance did bring tears. At the very end of the dance, my nephew's picture in full Marine dress was up on the big screen. Bec had warned her aunt to bring tissues and we all needed them. I told my SIL that Bec may not wear her heart on her sleeve, but she feels very deeply - down to her soul. She misses her cousin and wants him to always be safe. I know when J makes his way into the Marines, it will be sad times here. Just a short private discussion of it has brought Bec & I to tears together.

It's hard being a parent. I think most parents would agree to that statement, but it is even harder when your children start making their own decisions. You realize what little control you had over them has slipped away. Now, to be perfectly honest, my big(ger) kids are good kids. I've not had issues with drugs or drinking (except for J's *experimenting* which we became fully aware of shortly afterward on both accounts) and for that I'm extremely grateful. I also have kiddos who will talk to me. Heck, get them into a car alone and the tongues never stop wagging. I love that part. I've come to understand that while teenagers can sometimes drive me to distraction, I also have a heart for them. I appreciate their struggles and can empathize with most anything they are going through. Part of me is so thankful of all the turmoil I went through as a teen because I think that is what allows me to understand & empathize. I also have the privilege to watch my SIL let go of my nephew and allow him to be an adult. Gah. It's hard watching them fly, but so rewarding because you know you had a small part of making them who they are.