the girl who is unemployed

Technically that is.

My last day on paper was Friday. But I'm going in tomorrow to make sure payroll goes off without a hitch, because I have good work ethic like that(and it's my pay that's being affected too!)

My "assistant came to work with me one last time and got smothered with kisses from everyone. I think that they will miss him more than me. He;s been a little mascot for them. They've seen him grow from the little not-quite-five-pounder that he was when I first started bringing him to work, to a robust, chubby little not-quite-fifteen-pounder. Plus he's adorable, how can you not get attached?

My babysitter is quite heartbroken over the possibility of losing the boys. She loves them and I love her for loving them. I can't exactly ask her to hold their spaces though. She's one woman running her own daycare and can only take a limited number of kids. Well, I'm taking up three spots. I can't ask her to do without that income. But, she's given me some tips on some things, and hopefully we can make it work.

She loves Eli, especially (who doesn't?) and has this thing about wanting him to be in real little boy clothes. I'm happy to let him stay in sleepers all day, but Miss Mitzi likes him looking like a little man. So much so that she started looking for clothes for him. This outfit is courtesy of her. He DOES look like a little man. He has just grown so much!

And he's Mr. Personality too. I'm sure he'll be just as much trouble as Matthew, because he is very much "look at me! play with me! pay attention to me!" But as a baby it's adorable.

Speaking of Matthew, I'm trying to figure out if its him or Ian who did this.


Yes, that's a Happy Face drawn right where Mr. Happy hides.

I'm leaning towards Ian, since he's the resident artist. But I was baffled as to why he would be drawing on his undies.

Then it hit me.

These are plain white undies. No decoration. No cartoon characters. Naturally he had to iven them up!

I have strange children, lol.

In other news...I was asked to be a guest designer for the Color Challenge on 2Peas. I had fun with it.

This was the Color Combo I was given:


And this is what I did with it.


I'm running out of stash, so my layouts are becoming more streamlined. I can only hope that I become employed soon, or else I won't be able to take advantage of all the yummy BOY goodies (finally) from CHA. I'm in love with several items and simply want to go crazy.

So this is kind of a rambling, pointless post, but I wanted to show off the pictures, lol.

Will post any job hunt successes as they happen!

the girl who needs an umbrella (ella, ella)

No pics again, but an update.

Washer is fixed. I did it myself actually. The first repair guy that came out diagnosed it with a broken transmission.

Landlord wanted a second opinion.

Second repair guy (from different company) said same thing so eventually she consented to order parts.

Third repair guy missed the Saturday appointment for the day I was home and forced me to take a day off of work to wait for him so I could have a working washer. This was the day I got called in to go to a meeting which was useless. The next day I found out they were eliminating HR.

However on that day I thought I had a working washer because they replaced the transmission. So the washer finally spun again, but wait...nope, not working. Won't agitate now.

Fourth repair guy came out and looked it over and ordered parts.

Fifth repair guy came out to install said parts, but they were UNNECESSARY as the only thing wrong with the washer at that point was that repair guy #3 (coincidentally also repair guy #4) didn't put the machine back together correctly and left off (and left with) the part that actually makes the agitator grab on to the thingie that makes it agitate. (For the record, the part is called a "spline" don't know what the agitator thingie is called.) So repair guy#5 asked me if *my husband* was mechanically inclined and told me how to tell *my husband* how to fix it. I'm surprised he didn't call me "Little Lady" and ask me why I was wearing shoes in my kitchen. (For the record, it's to stomp on the roaches).

So the part arrives before I go into work last Tuesday and in five seconds I have the whole thing running smoothly and washing clothes.

Repair Guy #6 shows up on Saturday (you think I'm going to cancel? Hmph, they better come out just for the hassle they've put me through) and I explain I fixed it, but could he please put the housing back together correctly (something repair guys 1-5 haven't done yet) so it will open properly. He did, clothes are clean again and the love seat is now sporting the layer that needs to be hung.

So that's some good news at least. I thought I'd lead with that.

But here is where the umbrella comes in since when it rains it pours.

Florida Dad had a heart attack Monday.

He's as fine as he can be right now and I've been doing my best to help out. Scared the bejeezus out of me, but I'd never let him know it. He's too ornery to die. Besides, then he'd have to give up his post as president of the DOMC (Dirty Old Man Club) and I don't think he's ready for that yet.

But I did request that he have pretty nurses during his convalescence.

More rain on the way.

DH got some bad news about his job too. Going into Pop culture speak here, the Bobs are at his work and the TPS reports aren't being stapled correctly.

So in a couple weeks he will be joining me in looking for new employment.

Sigh!

My last day at work is Monday.

No nibbles yet, but at least I got the benefits pushed through before my exit.

I gotta take my victories where I can.

At least I'll have clean clothes to wear for my interviews.

the girl who sees you

I see that visitor count keep going up (even though the comments remain the same, hint, hint, a girl needs a little PVM ya know) but don't really have anything new to post.

I'm in a crappy mood and don't really want to bring the whole world into my black hole.

Still looking for a job and still going into work every day until the final day. The resentment and "why bother" attitude is starting to pervade and becoming very difficult to fight. I keep reminding myself I'm staying for the employees so I can get through open enrollment and they can have their benefits and so I can finalize training of the person responsible for their pay.

I remind myself this was my idea to stay long enough to accomplish this and that I really fought for it, and even though the extra paycheck is definitely a motivating factor, it's really because I hate leaving things undone.

But it's hard to go in and remain positive and professional.

It's hard to try to finish up projects that may, ultimately mean nothing to anyone but myself.

It's hard to hear another person come up and say "you're leaving? why?" or knowing why and telling me why its so unfair.

It's even harder to put a smile on my face and say, "I'm sure it will be a positive move and things will work out, don't worry." instead of agreeing with them and ranting and raving about the injustice of it all.

I had an employee in my office for 20 min the other day actually crying because she had heard the news.

It's hard, and just add to that a washer that STILL isn't fixed and a cold that WILL NOT GO AWAY and I am just drained.

So I'll try to post when I am in a better mood or have good news.

Thanks for lurking.

the girl who survived another birthday

So, Matthew turned four (I can't believe he has survived this long sometimes!) and we had the usual festivities. Unfortunately, I had to work on his special day and you just don't tell a kid who is counting the days to his birthday that you'll do it on the weekend. Every time he spoke of his birthday it was "Cas, cars, RACEcars!" so I figured I was pretty safe in being able to pick out something he's like.

As you can see from the pictures, he got his wish. A racecar birthday cake and some more Disney Cars shake n' go cars. He also got a Cars pillow book and a Cars tee. So all in all, quite the respectable haul for a four year old.

The days of showering the kids with gift after gift after gift are long since gone. For one thing, may I point out I have four children? It isn't just the financial aspect (although that certainly plays a part) but it is the sheer amount of STUFF that accumulates when you have four kids.

I hate to say it, but when it was just Zachary he was spoiled at gift giving time. If one action figure would be cool, then the entire collection of action figures should be that much better! Right? I think Daddy had a little bit to do with that too. What man really grows out of crashing cars and playing good vs evil?

"Yeah, Honey. I think he really needs the entire collection of He-Man figures because I remember them from my childhood and I had so much fun!"

Never mind that that retro craze only lasted about three months. They were the right three months because they fell right around Christmas!

Of course, I can't really talk. I'm sure if we had a little girl it would look like Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony went on a bender and vomited all over my precious little princess' room. But we dodged that bullet, lol.

***************************

Of course, with the birthday comes the annual check-up at the Doctor's. Poor Matthew had to get FOUR shots. But he was as fearless as ever and only started to cry on the very last one. You know, those icky intra-muscular ones that burn when they go in. He got to that one and statred wailing, "Mommy, I don't want to do this anymore!"

For putting up such a brave face, he earned his reward of a McFlurry on the way home and was actually neat enough with it that it only took one pass with the hose to wash out a small serving of imitation vanilla frozen treat with oreos out of the van.

Eli was also due for a check up so he tagged along. My little porker is a big boy now! Six month old and 14lbs 12oz. He is 26 inches long and has completely caught up developmentally.

No mother is supposed to have favorites, but I do. He is my favorite baby. (Just like Zack is my favorite 8 yo, Ian my favorite 5 yo and Matthew my favorite newly-minted 4 yo.) I just am enjoying him so much! He is so interactive, he holds your gaze and will have a conversation with you in coos and burbles.

I think its because Zachary was my first, and I really had no clue what I was doing. He survived (Thank goodness!) but the anxiety I felt over "Am I going to screw this up?!!" diminished the joy slightly. Ian and Matthew came so close together (and then Matthew had a slew of health problems--not that you'd know it now) I never got to enjoy them as babies. But Eli. With Eli I can take the time to wonder at the chubby cheeks and perfect rosebud lips. I can confidently play with him, feed him, bathe him, all of that and still have time to marvel at how he responds, the teeny fingers, how strong he is. He is such a little miracle to me and I just turn to mush whenever he smiles and grabs my fingers. Even though he was the surprise to end all surprises, he truly completes this family.

***********************************

Update on the washer. The repair guy finally made it out last Monday after missing our appointment on Saturday. So I had to take the day off of work because you couldn't make an appointment for a specific time and the window was 8 am to 5 pm! Really? Sheesh, could you be a little more vague? I got the call to come into work, they're having an all manager meeting with the owner and everyone must be there, so I had to contact the repair service and tell them that they couldn't come for the next two hours. I go to the meeting (at which HR was not addressed even once--more on that later) and got home to find two repair guys struggling with the washer. (DH was home by that time) After about an hour, they got things mostly put back together and declared it fixed. I say mostly because the front cover wasn't attached in one corner and hung all whopper jawed off the side. But, hey, it may not look pretty but it works, right?

My landlord called to follow up and I said, "Guess what I'm doing RIGHT NOW!" Yep, I was washing. Hallelujah! It took me about three loads to figure out that, yeah, it spins once more but NOW IT DOESN'T AGITATE!! Grrrrr!

So the repair guy came out again yesterday, looked at for five minutes, declared he needed to order parts and he'd see me NEXT Saturday.

Double grrr.

And I can't exactly use the hotel anymore to wash my clothes.

In brief, when the hotel was bought last year the new owners came in proclaiming they didn't believe in HR but offered me the position of Manager anyway. Wel, they weren't kidding. Now it's a year later and I've set everything up for them, so I guess my services aren't needed anymore, thank you very much.

I'm trying not to be bitter and look at it as an opportunity to grow somewhere else, but it still was a surprise, for all that it wasn't completely unexpected.

And my last day would be two weeks before I qualify for vacation.

But I negotiated with them and explained they really needed to keep me a little bit longer to train someone on payroll. So I have three weeks before I am unemployed.

Yay.

********************************

In other news: Zachary is currently burning batteries in his new cd player listening to Radio Disney Jamz 10 over and over and over. It was his reward for bringing home straight A's, Honor Roll and perfect attendance. Give me just a moment to revel in the glory that I didn't screw him up and he's doing just fine! Until the teenage years at least...

Speaking of the teenage years. My LOAD quest continues and I've done pretty well at keeping up. Here's a smattering of my recent lo's (but not all, I'm actualy keeping some back for pub)

I can wait
Zachary just seemed a little too teenagerish in these pictures, hence the journaling about how I really can wait.

Smitten
This cutie girl latched on to Zack at a birthday party. He was oblivious, but I knew she was making a play for my little guy!

8
A layout designed around the premise of a little boy emptying his pockets. No frogs though.

It's not easy being green
My mistake. How could I possibly buy a green shirt for my OCD boy when his color is blue? green is Zack's color!

Waiting
this one is kind of a cheat because I did it a little bit ago, but I posted it in lieu of a different Eli one I'm holding to submit. It tells about waiting for Eli to come home from the NICU.

Lucky

How lucky are we to have found Mitzi? A woman who loves my kids (and Eli especially) as her own?

And that's it until I have something else that's blogworthy come up. Seems like it wouldn't take much, lol.

the girl who tackled Mount Washmore!

So my washer is broken.

And I have four children.

One who regularly soaks his bed because diapers just aren't built to take that kind of overnight load.

One who is hit or miss with soaking his bed because he can't wake himself up to pee.

One who likes to change clothes a million times a day because dress-up is his favorite game and he hates being dirty.

And one who will go commando to school because he just doesn't like underwear--so I guess he saves me a bit on laundry there.

Plus there is myself who goes through a billion towels cleaning up messes around the house caused by these four lovely children.

And factor in pajamas every day in addition to the daily outfits, along with bath towels for six because no, we can't just hang a towel up and reuse it, we must toss it on the floor either intentionally to soak up the water or intentionally because we are too short/lazy to hang it up again.

Are you starting to get a picture of my laundry needs here?

My landlord, bless her heart, has been playing "second opinion" and between my schedule and DH's, well, its hard to line that up. I think we might actually get it fixed next weekend.

Pray for me.

So, because of the massive amounts of laundry that my family generates, I was in desperate need to do some washing. And a laundromat would have been hideously expensive. Luckily for me, I work at a hotel with an on-site laundry for doing towels and sheets and such. So asked for and got permission to come in and utilize the massive, industrial size washers and driers on property.

Want to see how much laundry a family of six can generate in two weeks time?

The four year old is there for comparison of size. That's two laundry hampers, two sterilite bins that I use for sorting and four sheets bundled with whatever didn't fit in the actual laundry containers. Yes, I am ghetto.

It took two loads in the industrial sized washers plus two loads in the smaller industrial (think extra-extra large capacity, it took one hamper and one bin) to complete this mess.

On the bright side, I got all of my laundry washed and dried in about four hours.

On the down side, now I still have to fold it and put it away. A task that may take another two weeks.


Ian is still bald. This is his new favorite hat. For today at least. The boy has always loved hats and now he has an excuse to wear them more often. Little fashion victim that he is. Yes, he is sleeping with it.


And we have a thumbsucker! I thought for awhile there that he was going to be a knuckle-gnawer (say that five times fast) but he recently found his thumb and seems quite happy at the discovery. Of course, I also suspect that he is teething. We have just started formula and cereal together. Next up will be veggies! Yum!


Want to show off my Target dollar spot find. Look at this cutie-patootie, totally Elsie inspired apron! $2.50! I lurve it so much!

And of course, my layout a day quest continues. I have done so well so far! I am four layouts away from finishing Zachary's 7 year old album and recently finished up year 6. And, since we are half-way through year 8, that means minimal catching up there. Once I'm done with Z, I'll work on Ian, then Matthew, then Eli. This is a good time for catch up as I seem to always have a slump in picture taking between Christmas and Easter.

Here are a couple from this week. Not all, as I don't want to overload you, but a couple of favorites.

"E"

This is Eli's title page to his album. It's 12x12 picture that I had printed at Scrapbookpictures.com on metallic paper. It is so much lovelier in person.

finding neverland in your own backyard

This one came together so quickly. And I love the journaling. I've had people say they love the "quote" but I gotta brag, it's all me! I wrote that! It says: "Never again will playtime be this free and unfettered, fluid and changing, limited only by your imagination. This is the secret to youth."

Which Way to Fun?

Another example of take everything you have and throw it on the page. I *think* this works. In any case, it's fun.

And I'll try to pop in a picture of it later, but my big news from the Z-Man is that he was chosen "Student of the Month" for his school! Unfortunately, I did NOT receive a tacky bumper sticker to slap on the back of my official Mom mini-van to thumb my nose at other people's apparently sub-standard children.

Darn!

the girl who had a typical day

A typical day with kids. More specifically, a typical day with boys. Ok, a typical day with my boys.

I was awakened this morning by my trusty alarm clock. After the third round of snooze, I was ready to get up and go to work (yes, it's Saturday, but circumstances dictated that I go in today.) and was just at that terrible point of inevitability where I really have to get up...the next time the alarm goes off.

Well, as fate would have it, I was destined to get out of bed much quicker.

You see, at 7 am the boys were awake. Don't they know Saturdays are for sleeping in? It's not like it was in my day, when cartoons were only shown Saturday mornings and you HAD to wake up early. They have entire channels devoted to cartoons these days, why not enjoy the comforts of your bed a little while longer?

As I lay on my sliver of the bed, snuggled up against my husband's knee (this is the penalty you pay for going to bed after your spouse--they spread) and wrapped snugly in a quarter of the blanket, I hear a distinct "WHOOMP", a quickly silenced shriek of surprise? shock? pain? and all the electronics in the bedroom suddenly go off. Coincidentally, my alarm clock (in the bathroom) starts going off again.

It's a sign to get up.

So I go investigating. Zack is on the couch watching HSM2, Ian is happily drawing away (good to know those Christmas presents are being appreciated) and Matthew meets me at the door to his in Eli's room with a pale face and wide eyes and immediately starts saying "I sawy Mommy! I sawy!"

"What did you DO?!"

Of course I can't understand what he's saying because now he's started to cry.

And then I see it.


The blackened socket.

After guesswork, a fair amount of translating Panicked-four-year-old into English and Mommy's intuition, I think I figured it out.

I think that there was a bug crawling on the wall and it went into hiding between the nightlight and the socket. (This from Matthew's anguished announcement that "The bug died-ed" ) Being unable to pull the nightlight out of the socket and also determined and resourceful, Matthew went after it with a piece of broken car toy. A metal piece of broken car toy.

Yeah, this is the result.



Yes the broken axle is now fused to the nightligh.

I'd like to think that it is only my child who does things like these, but I actually distinctly remember intentionally sticking a metal hair barrette into a socket to feel the tingle. I never blew one up though although apparently I'm lucky I survived to procreate and produce a child to carry on in my idiocy.

Matthew is the only one who has to burn his hand on the stove to be convinced it's hot. He is the only one to run away from home--twice (and let's not forget one of those times he was naked). He is the only one who has had stitches and a dislocated elbow--twice. In short, he is a BOY with a capitol B and one of those is quite enough for me. But no, I had to go and have FOUR. Of course, the other three are a little easier to handle. Sometimes.

So after our introduction to Mr. Electricity, Eli noticed I was awake.

He is a very good baby about sleeping through the night and actually will patiently wait for me to come to him in the morning. I've snuck up on him before and he'll be laying there quietly, exploring his hands or blankets or some such, just entertaining himself until Mommy starts his day. However, if he hears me or sees me and I don't acknowledge him right away, he will start to let me know, "I'd like breakfast and a fresh diaper RIGHT NOW, please!"

So I did not acknowledge him right away as I was resetting breakers and calming down older brothers. And by the time I got to him he was quite frantic.

Of course he was! He was SOAKED! Onesies have an amazing property--they wick any excess diaper leakage up the baby's torso, insuring even urine coverage. And we'll just say that that Pamper was just no match for the 8 oz of formula he had had some 8 hours earlier. Onesie, bedding, blankets--all soaked. So he got a bath, the bed got stripped and remade (helpful Mom tip, don't just buy multiple sheets for your crib, buy multiple mattress covers too. Trust me.) and I got to smell baby powder toes.


I think he is channeling Jabba the Hut in this picture. What do you think?

ok, ok, he is MUCH cuter than Jabba, but still...lol

So bath, baby powder toes and bottle and he's good to go, no one else has done anything life threatening and I've got to go to work. At least at work I won't have to deal with this for a few hours.

Right?

Wrong.

Throughout my relatively short day I received minute-by-minute updates from DH via phone on my children's behavior. Yes, it was always reported thusly:

"Your children have scribbled on the furniture with markers. "

" Your children just made themselves breakfast out of leftover pizza and milk. Yes together in the same bowl."

"Your children just tried to lasso the ceiling fan with a blanket."

"Your children just blew up the tv." (they didn't...it just got switched to the wrong output. You'd think my techie hubby would know that.)

My spontaneously generated, virgin birth children are destructive geniuses I tell you!

Let me show a picture of these tnt tyrants.


Adorable, right? Hmmm, Ian seems to be having some trouble seeing through his bangs. Note to self, take him with you when you go to the store tomorrow and get his bangs cut.

Oh, wait. Ian is the helpful child.

The independant child.

The loner.

The child I don't really worry about when I don't see for awhile because he likes to entertain himself by drawing or playing with his toys quietly.

So while making my pick up the house rounds I come across this.


Oh no!

Oh. Yes.

And, despite my begging Daddy that I could take him to the salon right now and they could fix it, Daddy reacted the same way he did when Coo-Pa tried to helpfully trim his bangs last year. (Remember?)

Yep, he broke out the clippers and fighting off the crazed, crying woman holding on to his child in the bathroom (no, not Britney Spears) he buzzed my little angel's head clean.

Sort of.

He did it half way and then told me to finish it up. I did through tears.

Matthew, seeing his half-shorn brother, starts crying, "I want my brother back!" Which put a touch of humor in the situation and lightened the mood. After calming Matthew (and now Ian) and explaining that hair grows back (please grow fast!) I finished the job and we were left with this.



Notice the divot in the head. There are about three of those on his noggin where he "trimmed" his hair right up to the scalp. So no, the salon would not have been able to "fix" it. Sigh!

Of course, now Ian is terribly embarassed by the whole situation and has decided that he is going to wear this hat until his hair grows back.



He even went to sleep with it on! (I'm sure Daddy calling him "Baldy" all night didn't help.)

So tonight, while tucking in the boys, I reviewed our lessons learned for the day with the boys:

1.) NOTHING goes in around or near electrical sockets. Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never do anything like that again!

and

2.) Scissors are for cutting paper not hair. If your hair is bothering you, please ask Mommy to get you a haircut. there are people whose job it is to cut your hair and they know how to do it and make you look good. I promise.

And Zachary is the only one who left me without a story for the day. Of course, he is on round 2 (3?) of battling this cold we keep passing back and forth and was pretty much self-confined to bed or couch for most of the day.

So now the boys are asleep, the kitchen is calling and once I get that squared away I am going to continue with my goal of creating at least one new layout a day so I can get caught up on my huge (over 100 and then some) backlog of waiting layouts. On top of what I showed last post, this is what I've accomplished since the first of the year.

just my size
(Eli in his little shoebox sized tub)

2 boys in the Wild West
(there is a little mini book with more photos and a brochure and map from the Fort hidden behind the pictures on the second page)

Every boy's Dream Job
(this screams "needs MORE" to me, but I'm trying to let things go. Not every page has to look like it belongs in a magazine)

pure charisma
(journaling reads: to pull off this look and still look this cool takes pure charisma)

stuck in the middle
(journaling about Ian's middle child status)

Goodbye
(saying goodbye to GranMary after our Spring Break visit in '06)

pzzt-ow!
(Matthew's reaction to his first encounter with static shock. Appropriate for today, don'tcha think?)

Every Dog Needs a Boy
(Parker when he was still of a size Zack could control him. The dog is a MOOSE now and much happier with my FIL who can give him the time and attention he deserves)

And that's it for now. We'll see how many I can complete tonight. Although, I think I might only do one and just set up some more for later in the week so I don't pull all nighters trying get one layout done.

I'm just hoping for some not so typical days in my future so I can do this!

*********************************

Ok, as I was finishing up this epic post, who should wake up but Matthew. He had a bad dream. Apparently a monster came into his room and turned the floor to lava. Now he's scared and says he needs a new room. Sure that this was a flashback to events this morning, I patiently explained that there was no monster, the floor was not lava, that was the only room we had to give him and this is why we don't mess with electricity. Matthew makes the great observation that "I didn't see it and it hit me!" Aramis, of course, pipes in with his wisdom, explaining how electricity powers the lights. And, of course, that Matthew might get super powers now that he's been shocked, but he has to watch out that he doesn't get EVIL superpowers.

Great.

Aren't we supposed to be DISCOURAGING the boy?

sigh!

Tomorrow is another day.





double sigh!

****************************

another update: no scrapping for me tonight. Matthew has a fever and started throwing up. Sheesh.

So, of course, my mind starts creating scenarios. What if this isn't the cold we've all been passing around? What if Matthew fried his insides and now has been cooked inside? Hmmm, After Hours Pediatrics will be closed by the time I get there, is this serious for a trip to the ER?

ER...don't I know someone who works in the ER? lol. My sister is the Manager of the Nurses for the ER in my hometown. I figure with the hour time difference I'm skirting on the edge of inappropriate time to call, but that also increases the chances that she is actually home. Besides, if she isn't home, my BIL is a paramedic/EMT so he could talk me down.

Which is exactly what my sister did.

She told me quite calmly that if he had "fried his insides" that he would have gotten sicker pretty much immediately and that he probably just caught the bug.

Ok, I'm fine. All the kids are fine (relatively speaking) and should live to see another day.

Let's see if I survive to see it.

the girl who has had a lot of celebrating

All my Boys in one place!

So the month of December regularly kicks my ass. As if Christmas wasn't enough of a stress factor, I have two big birthdays in the immediate family and then various ancillary birthdays I have to remember.

The season really kicks off at the end of November with my wedding anniversary. Next up is my hubby's birthday on the 19th. This year, he had to work and my employer decided that the 19th was the perfect date for the Employee Holiday Party. I really didn't want to go, but as Human Resources Manager, was obligated to. So my poor guy worked all day and then had the kids all night while I was out making my appearance.

I tried to make it up to him the next day. He had the day off so I sent the kiddos to the sitter's for the day so he could have some "alone time." Then I got us some steaks for dinner and we watched "The Simpsons Movie" (his present, he's a huge Simpsons freak) as a family.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Next on the Birthday list is Mr. Ian. He turned five this year on the 22nd. I can't believe I have a five year old! Let alone the 8, soon to be four and 5 month old! When did I become a MOM? lol, I still being a mommy and wouldn't have it any other way.

Ian had a Diego birthday. He has been so excited ever since we picked out his cake a few weeks ago. I went to go pick it up and it said "Happy 5th Birthday Jan" They quick fixed it by piping an "I" over the "J" but I wasn't happy. They could have redone it, but it would have taken an hour and I was on a timeline. So I asked for a discount, got it and decided, in the long run, the only one it would bother would be me.

We had the usual cake and presents and Ian got all Diego'd out. A good time was had by all.

Next, of course, is Christmas...and that is just the usual fun stuff. Lots of mess and cute stories, but I can't remember them now. I've caught a cold that's been being passed around since right after Christmas and it sucks.

I'm really consolidating now because I started this post after Christmas and its now after New Year's. Just a sign of how stressed I am. I have, however, started scrapping again. I want to try and do at least one Layout a day. Last night I did four! So let's see if this helps me put a dent in my backlog. Enjoy the creativeness below.

the girl who went to see Santa

So I braved the crowds and took the kiddos to go see Santa Claus this weekend. I am a Bad Mommy. It was the first visit for everyone except Zack, and he hadn’t been since he was three I think. Every new kid decreases my interest in leaving the house. However, I figured that I really did need to do this if only to try to extend the magic a little longer for my eldest who is 99% sure Santa Claus does not exist. Strangely enough, he does still seem to believe in the Tooth Fairy. Then again the Tooth Fairy brings money and perhaps he’s afraid if he stops playing the game, the $$$$ will dry up.

(Aside story: Zacky lost a tooth last week, but it had a cavity in it. He jiggled it so much trying to work it out early, that it broke, so he only presented the tooth fairy with half of a tooth. The Tooth Fairy only left half of a dollar bill and didn’t take the tooth (that part was unintentional, but that’s what happens when the Tooth Fairy’s husband fills in because the Tooth fairy went to bed early). So when Zacky asked if half a dollar bill was worth anything, I told him, “Not without the other half. I bet half of a tooth isn’t worth anything to the tooth Fairy and she was trying to tell you to take better care of your teeth.” I think he bought it. He’s been brushing much better since then.)

Back to the Santa story. Downtown Disney really has the best Santa Claus. Real hair and beard, snowy white and the right build. And while he isn’t exactly “jolly” he certainly looks benevolent. I think he could get cast as God in the next 10 Commandments if he lost his “bowl full of jelly.” Lol. Seriously, he does have a really “all knowing” look about him. Well, we got to the line and it didn’t look too long and then they put up The Sign.

You know.

The one that says, “Santa has gone to feed the Reindeer and will be back at ____”

Great. Half an hour of standing in line with four kiddos and not even advancing. Just great.

And about that time, the temperature decided that after weeks of 80 degree weather in December, it would be a good time to drop the temperature about 15 degrees. Of course I hadn’t made the kiddos bring jackets.

Wonderful. Just wonderful.

Have I mentioned we haven’t been to see Santa in years? Now you know why.

Anyway, thanks to the family behind us and their kids because they kept my kids entertained with games like, stroller shake, toss the popcorn, and, my favorite, SCREECH! Those parents were so understanding, and I think they took pity on me, standing in line with a hyper 8yo, whiney 5 yo, and no fear, not gonna mind Mommy 4 yo with a 5 month old strapped to my chest. Why haven’t mothers evolved extra arms?

When the reindeer were fat and happy, Santa came back to the tune of “Here Comes Santa Claus” and then he completely floored me by actually walking through the line of kiddos waiting to sit on his lap, shaking hands, giving hugs, and tickling baby’s chins. It was such a thoughtful entrance. Zack almost seemed to get that spark of belief back meeting the Big Guy in person. Matthew was so overcome by awe that he hung back on the sidelines and Ian—well Ian though the music was too loud, so he stuck his fingers in his ears and wouldn’t even look at Santa!

When it was finally our turn, Matthew had regained his courage and his charm and stuffed Geckie (his security blanket) under his shirt and walked up to Santa with his big belly going “Ho, Ho, Ho! I Santa!” I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture! Bad Scrapper! Bad! But he made Santa laugh! They were quickly shuttled on and off Santa’s lap (ugh! I know its necessary, but I wish they could have spent some more one on one with the Big guy) and gave their lists to Santa very quietly (for my kids).

Zack wants a Wii, a DS and Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl game to go with either. (In his dreams!) Also, High School Musical 2; the extended edition. (That’s the important part, it MUST be the extended edition. I don’t think they even MAKE a non extended version, so he’s pretty safe there.)

Matthew wants a Cars bed, and Cars Toys, and Cars game. Basically, put Lightning McQueen on something and he wants it. They could sell Cars broccoli and he’d want it.

And Ian. My sweet, precious Ian. His needs are simple. He just wants some crayons and paper.

I think Santa can arrange that!

Eli, of course, is too young to want anything besides his next bottle, so he was singularly unimpressed. Plus he’s nursing a cold, so he wasn’t his usual smiley self.

So the kids got their requests into Santa, a little magic was restored in my suspicious 8 year old, and Mama got her pictures. Sort of.

Afterwards, instead of a picture, I was handed a card and sent on my way.

Wait, what?

No instruction or anything, just a little business sized card with a website address and an ID number and NEXT! To the people behind me.

What?

Disney has a program where every time you stop and have your picture taken, they assign it this special ID number and you can basically get your entire Disney vacation online. You can view and share the pictures and order prints or even just the cd with all the images to print yourself ($12.95 per print, $124.95 for the photo cd) Yep, Disney always finds new and creative ways to make their $$$ while making it more convenient for their guests to spend it.

But I wanted to walk out of there with an actual picture!

So I sigh, and figure online ordering won’t be so bad and go off with all my little duckies in a row to Ghirardelli’s for some of the world’s best hot chocolate. On the way there, we pass the Guest Service Building and notice a family that had been behind us in line striding purposefully in as another family that was ahead of us came walking out…looking at a picture.

Light bulb!

So I go in and see that we can view and order our prints there. Let me tell you something. I have worked in Orlando for nearly 15 years, and one thing I’ve learned is that Disney really does want and expect their employees to always be on, not have a bad day, and always treat each person as if they were put on earth only to serve them for that moment. I like that. I appreciate that. No matter how many times I am disappointed by bad service when I go out and about, I can always rationalize it with “What do you expect? It’s Wal-Mart after all.” (Or Subways, or Burger King, or McDonalds.) There are places where bad service just doesn’t surprise you. Disney is not one of them.

The guy behind the counter apparently had not gotten his dose of Pixie Dust that day because he was monosyllabic and offered no instruction or help at all. He just stood there, waiting on me to do…something. I finally had to say, “Pretend this is the first time I’ve done this and have no clue what’s going on.” And even then, all I got was a bored, “Pictures here, prices here. Choose which one you want.”

After waiting an hour to Santa with four kiddos in the rapidly colder weather, I really could have used a little Disney magic and I just wasn’t getting it.

And apparently, the photo ordering section doesn’t have a register. So I had to go to the store next door to pay and then bring the receipt back to pick up my picture. The added inconvenience of dragging the kiddos to and fro ate up my last nerve and we cut our visit short. We got the hot chocolate, grabbed a quick shot with Buzz and hightailed it out of there.

Still, I did end up getting a shot of the kids. I wish the photographers had actually tried to get the kids to smile…they will on cue, but were overwhelmed with the moment of meeting Santa. (Who was awesome in making sure he got full eye contact with each kid) But I understand with the cattle call nature of Santa Pictures and the line behind us they were rushed. I can understand that, but I also think my perception of the pictures was a little distorted because of the experience I had just had with the associate.

I wish I could share the picture with you so you could judge for yourself, but after all of that hullabaloo, I'VE LOST THE CARD!! So I guess extra prints are now out of the question. Lucky I go the one.

Even after all of that, we’ll go back to DTD next year for more because that Santa RAWKS! I’ll just try to either go earlier or find a time where the line isn’t so long and the boys can spend a little bit more one on one time.

Now all I have to do is help Santa out with the shopping and Christmas is done. Yay!

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In other news: Zachary continually tries to find ways around practicing his handwriting. One of the exercises he has to complete every week is to use each of his spelling words in a sentence. Well, he figures that if he can write a sentence that uses multiple spelling words, then he doesn’t have to write as many sentences. Pretty smart, huh? Of course, then you end up with sentences like this:

“Morning has two vowels and, of course, no planets.”

Snort!

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Gotta share the kiddos artwork with everyone. These are so going in the “save until they’re grown up and embarrass them with it on Prom Night” box. Just cute, nostalgic little memories no one but their Mama appreciates!

the girl who has a strange child

This post is dedicated to Ian. He is such a unique child. I mean, you can really see he has his own outlook on how the world should work. One thing I have found holds true when raising children, is that they will always surprise you. Not always in a good way, but at least parents (moms especially) can never say that their life is boring.

How can life be boring when your kids do things such as this?

It’s a lovely diorama/playhouse nicely ensconced in a drawer. It reminds me of when I used to make Barbie furniture out of Kleenex boxes. At least my kids’ imaginations won’t leave me hanging when I have a runny nose.

The other strange thing from Ian I, unfortunately, did not take a picture of. Basically, it creeped me out—although it was done in innocence. Ian enjoys “decorating” the underside of Zachary’s bed (it is the ceiling over his bed after all.) I wandered into their room the other day to find a Beanie Baby hanging from the underside. By his neck. I mean, seriously, it looked like he just couldn’t take the cuteness anymore and decided to off himself! I half expected a “Goodbye Cruel World!” note clenched in his furry little paw. I found this mildly disturbing and morbidly funny at the same time. Of course, Ian wasn’t thinking of lynching that poor bear on purpose. He just wanted him to decorate his space. Lol.

Or how about this?

Ian saw a commercial for a nail salon on tv and decided he wanted his nails painted. I asked him what color he’d like and he requested blue. As luck would have it, I happened to have some blue nail polish. (incredibly old, I haven’t painted my nails in years) So we end up with blue nails for Mother and Son.

We also end up with a slightly miffed Dad. Nail polish, of course, is just for girls. However, it was late at night, I was folding laundry and watching Jon and Kate + 8 and Ian woke up and wanted to join me. We had a silly bonding moment (for the record, he painted my nails after I did his) and it was F-U-N!

At least he didn’t ask for pink nail polish!

And then there was last night.

Ian enjoys dressing up so much that I keep all the Halloween costumes in a drawer for him just for that purpose.

Last night he got into the Christmas Spirit, so allow me to introduce…

Buzz Batman Claus!!!

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Thanks to my friend Jen for the kick in the butt needed to start menu planning. It took a couple hours of thought at the puter, and my shopping trip was longer than usual, but I planned meals for the month and went shopping for the next two weeks this past weekend. Now, she bragged about spending only $250 for the month and I’m not quite there. Of course I have twice the number of people in my fam, so I think spending $285 for two weeks was a good deal. Plus, between store specials and coupons, I saved $50. I put so much in my cart, I actually had to park the cart in a closed lane and put a note on it: “Working on cart #2, please don’t put away!”

And how did I fill up one and a half carts prior to checkout, but walked out with three carts? Some weird grocery physics. I guess it just proves all those hours spent on Tetris weren’t wasted after all.

And here is something to make you feel old. The bagger (little whippersnapper that he is) had never had homemade Rice Krispie treats! He said he didn’t even know you could make them at home, he grew up on the premade stuff!

Ok, Sonny. I’ll make some for you as soon as I get my walker out of the shop and my gout dies down.

Anyway, the trip was great and so far, I’m loving not having to do any thinking about dinner. When I go to make tonight’s dinner, I’ll pull whatever I need to defrost from the freezer and it will be ready for the next night. I’m starting to get a system and I really like it.

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Eli update. Nothing new really with the little guy, but I wanted to show off some pictures!

This outfit on Eli sparked Matthew’s infamous “baseball game” adventure.

And this was taken last night after his bath. Can’t you just smell the “new baby” scent?

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The tree went up last night and I finally allowed the kids to put more than one ornament on the tree this year. Unfortunately, they still wound up all in one spot, so I let them do one box worth of ornaments and then went back and rearranged. Hey, it makes me feel better!

Anyway, we had our first casualty of the Christmas season. R.I.P. Oscar, the Grouch. Zack fumbled him in his excitement and he wound up breaking…although you can’t tell in the picture. The entire back side of this ornament is completely caved in and broken. I am actually expecting more as this is the first year with the concrete floors. Sigh! I miss carpet!


So, again, the past two weeks in a nutshell. Time is flying and I can’t believe that 2007 is almost over! Now all I have to do is panic about Christmas and the year will be done before I know it.