AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!....

The anticipation of a brand new year!? I don't know what to think about it yet. I always hate the first few months of a new year because it takes me that long to remember to write the new date. I'm sure I will be writing 08' instead of 09'. A knew year also brings the obligation of a New Year's Resolution. I pretty much make the same one every year. to lose some weight. The only difference this year is the amount of pounds I wish to lose is up a few from last year. that's depressing. And of course I always vow to become more organized at home for the new year. The organized part will certainly come into play when I have to dig out the treadmill in the computer room in order to start on the first resolution. I will keep you posted on the success of this year's (continued from last year's) new Years Resolution.

The new year also brings me some sadness knowing that the kids will be another year older, They are growing up way too fast....which also means I will be getting another year older..yuck. And last of my pitty party... It will mark another year gone by without our loved ones who have passed on. This makes me sad.


I know The New Year is supposed to be happy. That's why we go out and party right? To Celebrate! So lets see.....Things I can look forward to this year are... My new body due to my Resolution (lol)...Income Tax refund... The end of Winter....The Beginning of Spring...Planting flowers...The Vegetable Garden...The new batch of Honey... The end of Car payments in August!(hopefully we won't need a new one)...and A Trip to Disney in November.

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year's Eve tonight, and a Happy, HEALTHY 2009.

My Version of a Christmas poem:

The Stockings were flung behind the living room chair, And you could definitely tell that saint nick had been there. early they rose to see what they had gotten, then off to see family they dashed without stoppin. on kyle, on vivie, on kerrigan and gary. on car seats,on buckles on allison... be merry! Gary looked at me and said what is the matter? - why, we are off schedule, we're late! now get on with the clatter! There was laughter and love, all day long there was joy. You could see it in there eyes after opening each toy. When darkness fell on this family of five, we loaded up the presents and prepared the last drive. Back over the river and through the woods, the kids were so tuckered they fell asleep in their hoods. we stuffed kids into beds and gifts into piles. we discovered a mess that went on for miles. too tired to clean it, we longed for a rest. so we left it for tomorrow, we thought that would be best.

The End!

That was Christmas in a nutshell.

A very nice holiday - glad it's over though. The kids are having a ball enjoying their new toys. here are a few of my favorite Christmas moments in pictures.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Wishing Everyone a Very Merry Christmas. May it be filled with Family!

please Wish me Peace and Sanity!


Christmas Schedule:
12/24.....
3:00pm...... leave work, head for home
3:30 ....... Get myself and everyone else dressed for Christmas eve dinner
4:45 ....... Head over to In-laws for x-mas eve dinner/gift exchange with cousins/games/"SANTA" visits at 7:00!
8:30 ........Head back home
10:00........ Continue to try getting kids to fall asleep
11:00........ if kids are sleeping, finish wrapping presents/stuff stockings
12:00am ......Fall asleep

12/25......
6:30am....... Wake up - Make Coffee - wake kids
6:45 ........Call Gramma and Grampa to come up for presents/stocking opening
9:30 ........Head to In-laws for Breakfast with Great Grampa V.
11:30 .......Back over the bridge to the farm - presents with my family/crock pot buffet lunch
pm
5:00 ........Back to In-laws for Christmas dinner/ Exchange Gifts / Relax
8:30 ........Drag our tired Asses back home and crawl into bed completely dressed

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

To Blog....or Not To Blog....

oh MAN :)- I got home from work today to find Gary leaving for work...AND dropping off ALL THREE children at his mom's! They planned a trip to tour the holiday lights. lets see...that gives me about 4 hours to...do....what?


My EYES were telling me it was a perfect opportunity to get some of that dreadful cleaning done that I can never get done with Monkeys and Munchkins demanding attention. I could finish wrapping presents. do Laundry. Dishes. vacuum. OR I could BLOG....


Arrggh! it was so hard not to sit down at the computer knowing there would be no distractions....but I didn't... I did the dishes(which required two full dishwasher loads), and the laundry, and swept the kitchen floor, and ....As you can see, Blogging has effected my housework. But I think I have it under control now.


So much to do in the next couple of days - tonight ( 11:10 pm )I still need to get a basket of tastefully simple together for Corin, Wrap up the Baby sitter's Gift for the girls to take tomorrow, finalize the last minute shopping list for my lunch hour tomorrow, and fit in some sleep before morning. - so you see... I have all the time in the world to be sitting here.
Ohhhh... so this is why most of the blogs I follow haven't been updated in like 5 days.

I'm Hit....

I have been tagged. Now I have to come up with 7 random or weird facts about myself. I have been worried about being tagged with something like this. In the bloggosphere I can't just "accidentally" hit the delete button and ignore it like it never happened. Thanks Corin. she is the tagger and she is also my sister. We are a lot alike- so now I have two challenges (1) to come up with 7 things I wouldn't mind the public knowing, and (2) trying not to duplicate some of Corin's 7.


So here Goes....

#1 If you read Corin's 7 weird and random things, you already know that I too have crooked pinkies. Along with my two oldest children. My third child, who resembles more of my husband, has one crooked, one straight. Unlike all of them, I also have another physical strangeness. I have a tiny white dot in the middle of each of my pupils. I have no explanation for this. It has no effect on my eyesight.

#2 The book " The Eskimo Twins" is the only book I have read cover to cover. yes - I am 31 years old and I have only read 1 whole book....I was like 9... (not counting all of the children's books I have read to the kids of course.) It's not that I can't read, But I find that I would rather be doing something else, or it makes me sleepy, or I'd rather just wait until it is a movie. All of those book report assignments in school - it is amazing what you can get from a few chapters and the back cover.

#3 In the 4th grade, a baseball player from the team my father was an assistant coach for, taught me how to Juggle. This special talent actually comes in pretty handy. It won me a prize once at basketball camp when a speaker asked if anyone could juggle - I had to prove it, but I was the only one. It also comes in handy for entertaining kids - which prompted me to teach myself how to balance a baseball bat (or anything with a straight handle) on my nose. - I am a regular Circus act.

#4 Clutter makes my skin crawl - some of you are laughing hysterically right now - If you could see my house, you would know how uncomfortable my skin feels. We have too much "stuff" and not a lot of places to put it. I long for shelves, and totes, and other forms of organizing tools. I wish for a place for everything and everything in it's place. One of these days, I am going to do a clean sweep - everything will go out on the lawn, necessities will make it back in....one of these days.

#5 I am addicted to "Days Of Our Lives"... I tivo it all week and catch up on the weekends. While I am watching it, I am conscious of it's ridiculousness, yet I am still hooked.

#6 There is something about Tony Danza that reminds me of my Brother-in-law. I don't know how to explain it, and those of you who know Dan probably think I have been drinking. But through the years of " Who's The Boss", I couldn't watch him without thinking he was just like Dan.

#7 I crave a drink I have not had in about 19 years. As a child, we didn't take trips to the mall on a weekly basis like we sometimes do now. We went once in a great while as a family. While we were there, I looked forward to our "treats" of an ORANGE JULIUS! That place moved out of the mall years and years ago, and I didn't know they still existed until this post. I looked it up and low and behold the nearest one is 40 miles from me and they are now owned by Dairy Queen.

There - I'm done... Now I have to tag 7 others.

The Rules:
Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog *Share seven facts about yourself in the post- some random, some weird, *tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and links to their blogs, *let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs/ and or twitter.

My seven: is really six

Just Another Mommy Blog
Live.Laugh.Pull your hair out
In the trenches of Mommyhood
Coconut belly
Chasing dreams running away
seastars

SOME PLACE WARM

It isn't even Christmas yet and I am already sick of the snow. We have had 2 snow falls so far this year, but we are looking at another one tomorrow, one on Sunday, and another one next Wednesday.....Ughhh... I am one of those people that wishes it would snow on Christmas eve, AND THAT'S IT. I would be good with that for a whole nother year! I am looking Forward to a January thaw - and an early Spring.
OK - I'm done whining.

Reptile Kyle.......

First Birthday.... Favorite present - large rubber Brontosaurus from uncle Eddie
Age 3.... Favorite movie: Jurassic Park
Age 4 ....Favorite books: Animal Encyclopedias he called his "Great big book of everything"
Age 5 ....favorite TV shows: Jeff Corwin Experience, Dinosapian, Meerkat manor, Documentaries on the Loch Ness Monster and CHAMP
Age 6 .... Favorite past time: Figuring out how to talk Mommy and Daddy into various lizard/Reptile pets:(
Age 6 1/2... All of those favorites are still his favorites.


"When I grow up, I am going to be the guy that goes in the cages at the ZOO!"

This is what Kyle told us a couple of years ago - I think it was after we left the Rosamond Giffard Zoo. - We discussed this more on the ride home, about how he could be anything he wants to be when he grows up - The Zoo would be a fun place to work -
we have our fingers crossed that he will want to go into the field of zoology - Not just settle for being the cage cleaner!


We have definitely nurtured Kyle's enthusiasm for Animals, nature, dinosaurs, Lizards, - you name it , if it is a creature, Kyle is an expert. Animal Impressions are a specialty. It is actually one of the coolest things about him. Some of my greatest "talks" with Kyle have been about "wild things". When he thinks he can teach me something about an animal, he gets very serious... starts talking with bigger hand gestures... comes up with interesting theories - surprises the hell out of me that he is only 6. Just last month, we watched a Jeff Corwin special on the National Geographic channel about the disappearance of the world's frog population. at the end of the show, jeff told us to go to www.savethefrogs.com to see what we could do to help the cause. Kyle pointed out to me that by becoming beekeepers, we were helping the bee population, So we should do what we can to help the frog population too. I am going to try and get him this T-shirt for his birthday coming up in 3 months. I hope this donation will be enough. I wouldn't want to take on repopulating the frogs at the pond in the barnyard.

So far,We have allowed various "dinosaurs" such as a Senegal Chameleon, and a red eared slider turtle, to co-habitate with our family at Kyle's request. In fact, we have all kind of stepped into Kyle's unique world of reptile interest to a point. I think we all had fallen in love with Camo the Chameleon, he was actually very cute. Not in a cuddly kind of pet way, but in a very cool pet for a very cool boy, kind of way. It was a very sad day when Camo passed on... The funeral was painful to watch. Then we got Lila - She is pretty easy going, seems to be a lot heartier than Camo. not as delicate. Kyle's new interest......I meant to say OBSESSION! - is trying to talk us into a Bearded Dragon. - He has spent all weekend surfing the net for these spiky dessert dwellers. He has been sent to his room a few times for the constant whining because Mommy says - " No - not right now - we cannot get a bearded dragon. No - Santa does not bring lizards for Christmas - it is too cold for them at the North Pole!"
BLAH BLAH BLAH - he doesn't want to hear any of that - So we had a long talk about how he should be thankful for Lila right now, and that I'm not saying he can NEVER have a bearded dragon... just not right now.... Maybe sometime in the Future.
KYLE: " oh - you mean, like, my BIRTHDAY????"

God help me!

Hey, you never know.....

This is a link to a survey given by Lands' End. I am going to take the survey - I could win a gift card. Now that I told you all about it on my blog, I will get 2 chances to win! - great! good luck to us all.

Lands' End had this to say:

Lands' End is one of those companies that really value moms' opinions. Here's a way to have your voice heard and really make a difference when it comes to summer clothing and summer safety.

Please take a few minutes to complete the Lands' End Sun.Life 2008 Survey. The survey consists of 22 multiple-choice questions. Upon completing the survey, your name will be entered to win one of five $100 Lands' End Gift Cards. To be eligible to win, you must complete the survey by midnight (CST) on Friday, December 19th.

Cookie Artists

I am not much of a Christmas cookie baker. I don't know what it is about it that makes me lack the motivation to want to tackle a few Dozen every now and then. Thank goodness the kids have a Meme that plans a Christmas cookie night every year so the kids can really get down and messy. They enjoy the cookie experience lots and lots. I found that I enjoy spectating and photographing it.

This year, the girls' ensemble was complete with new hand made Christmas aprons.
The cookies were under way in no time. flour was flying, rolling pins a rollin', cookie cutters cuttin', ovens buzzin', and colorful icing and candy were perfecting.
These were not just kids baking cookies - this was cookie art. and the masterpieces were down right delicious!

I look forward to learning from these cookie genius' again....same time next year.

smile....SMile....SMILE!!!

Christmas is right around the corner...what do you give grandparents and great-grandparents for Christmas that they don't already have??? Why a Family Photo of us of course!
Yup that's right we have never had a family photo taken of all of us. until now....
Yesterday, we invited Corin to come over and take our Family picture at our house. Let me apologize to her right now. I don't think she knew what she was getting into. It is really exhausting trying to take our picture. and for us trying to get a decent one. I told Corin in the beginning, I was glad it was her taking the picture - she would be able to tell us if we needed to adjust ourselves as to hide any unnecessary rolls or extra chin exposure. YEAH Right - like we had the luxury of worrying about that - it was more like how fast can we snatch Kerrigan as she runs by, get everyone looking the same way, smiling and eyes open before she decides to get back up and run for the camera to see the picture on the back. - We even tried bribing her with chips. "I will give you a chippy if you go sit on mommy's lap." (Fools)
I think there were about 55 pictures taken total, and I like 1 of them. Gary and I agreed that it isn't really one that we would blow up and place over the Mantel, but it will make a great gift this Christmas.
Of the 55 pics taken, some are pretty comical.

after a while it became a continuous shoot and hope for a good one. Good job corin,you had a tough job, but somebody had to do it.

I will reveal our favorite one....drum roll please.....

Robeez Footwear

Guess what? - I haven't had any companies contact me yet about reviewing products:(
It will probably take a little time. - While I wait, I think I will practice reviewing, by telling you about one of my favorite baby items. This will be my product review KICK OFF!

Robeez footwear
For infants and beginner walkers: Robeez Soft soles
"Barefoot is best, choose Robeez next"

These soft soled baby shoes are fabulous! - When I think about all of the baby products I have tried over the course of 3 children, I am most impressed with these shoes. It has now become number one on my list to tell new mothers about. - A definite favorite for a Baby shower gift as well - The mom will thank you. They are easy to get on those squirmy, squishy, plump little feet - And the Stay On!!

With my first 2 children, I thought it was a waste of time and money to put teeny tiny shoes on a baby - They never stayed on, and so they ended up in just their socks anyway. Especially when they started crawling.
Around the time my 3rd baby was about 8 months old, I had gotten a gift certificate from my mother-in-law to use on Amazon.com to buy something for the kids. I decided to go ahead and "splurge" on something I wouldn't normally spend my money on. ( the price of the Robeez brand might be their only downfall) I had heard a few good things about Robeez products, and it was getting toward winter and I wanted the baby to have warm feet at daycare. SO I ordered a pair of absolutely adorable ( so many cute styles it is hard to choose) size 6-12 month PINK Shoes. The cost was approx. $27.95
I fell in love with them! They held up very nicely right up until she grew out of them. and she was even able to begin walking with them for quite a while, which was great, because the soles kept her from slipping on the kitchen floor too. They clean up very nicely - if they get dirty from dragging on the floor, a baby wipe works wonderfully. robeez also has other shoe styles to grow with children up to age 4. be sure to check them all out.

I was sad when she grew out of them. - I had bought a second pair to have as a spare, but they were a different brand. They served the purpose and were just as cute, but I don't think the leather was as soft and the elastic around the ankle seemed to be a little tighter. That brand was Ministar
and they were only about $13.00 sold at Target

My second reason for reviewing Robeez footwear is to let you know that they have a
Holiday promotion

If you send a robeez holiday greeting, The Robeez company will donate $5.00 worth of product to children in need. the reward for me writing a post about it on my blog, Robeeze will donate $25 more dollars. Their Goal is to donate $250,000 worth of robeez footwear to children in need this holiday season in partnership with Kids In Distressed Situations (K.I.D.S.)

Thanks for reading my first product review!

Product Reviews

OK - I wanted to try something. I have seen on a few other blogs that companies are willing to send you products to try if you will write a review about it on your blog. I asked a couple of these bloggers how to go about doing this, and the advice seems to be to just write about it on my blog, and companies might start contacting me to start testing! As if there is some sensor that tells a company that someone is interested? It sounds a little too easy to be true, but I will try it.

So here is my Shout out post to any company that would like to send me a sample of their product. I would love to try out some new cleaning products, read a new children's book to the kids and report on their reactions, the family dog is even willing to try out the latest and greatest chew toy. or perhaps I could test out a new baby product - that would be fun. I promise to be thorough and truthful when it comes to my opinion on your product. We are a family of 5 - Mom and Dad in their early 30's , a son 6 yrs old , a daughter 3 1/2 yrs old, a daughter 18 mo. old, we also have a fish, a turtle, and a Labrador retriever. If there are any companies out there that would like us to review a product, we are here to review it! thanks

amillis26276@roadrunner.com

There - I hope that was what I was supposed to do.
I will let you know if I get contacted by anyone!
And If I don't - I might just start reviewing stuff we already have. Cause we got a lot of stuff - some great, some junk!

Elf Fun

I jacked this Idea from someone els's blog - it was so cute I couldn't resist. ENJOY!!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I couldn't resist adding another one! - Gary elf cracks me right up!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

BugBeGone!

I am happy to report That the Stomach bug has left the building! It went through everyone in the house EXCEPT ME!! - which I am also happy to report. Lets see, it took 8 days for this virus to go through both girls, Then Kyle, Then Gary, and then my mother-in-law. I think I was puked on a total of 6 times. - Gary says I am the lucky one- I can handle getting puked on, therefore I am rewarded with not having to puke myself. I will go with that! Goodbye puke bug! and don't come back!

In other news - I tried photographing a perfect Christmas card of the kids . ha ha ha. Kyle and Viv are pretty well trained by now when it comes to posing for pictures. Even Sandler is becoming quite the poser.
Miss kerrigan is another story! I may be forgetting the age that Kyle and viv became good picture takers, but Kerrigan and her mind of her own makes it pretty difficult. My goal every year is to put up the tree, get the kids to pose in front of it with the dog and all in pajamas. This year Kerrigan insisted on sitting on the dog. Sandler is ok with that, but it just wasn't working. I asked Kyle and viv to help out, but if they interfere, she starts hitting. imagine that Christmas card! - So what I ended up doing taking a few pictures and then Cropping out the best of each kid, putting it into a card format that holds 3 different pictures and ordering them that way. Not my dream pictures, but they came out cute anyway! - Kerrigan's picture definitely depicts her mood at the time. - So for those of you who get one - Enjoy! I will include a picture that was pretty good, but didn't make the cut only because the size of the picture wouldn't work in a card due to cropping disasters where either heads or dogs were cut off.

The BUG......

WARNING.... This post is sorta graphic
There's nothing in the world more pitiful than sick kids. Friday night, Vivian came down with a stomach bug. at least 4 other people on the street also had it Friday night/early Saturday. I thought the rest of us were in the clear since no one in this house had shown any signs of a bug since Friday. I thought wrong. I dread the stomach bug! For one thing, I am the worst puker ( I say puke.. vomit sounds weird to me) on the planet. I strain so much that I end up with broken blood vessels all around my eyes and mouth.not a pretty site. So, when it starts passing around family members, I just sit and fear that I will be the next victim. When the kids get it, I of course swing into mommy mode - and even find myself being a cheerleader - "oh you are doing such a good job, thats it, get all the yuckies out, you will feel much better". I'm sure they appreciate it.
So far, I haven't gotten it. BUT - Tonight at 8:00pm. It struck Kerrigan. The first explosion that occurred without warning was in the kitchen while I was holding her. after shedding both of our clothing, she seemed pretty fine. the second explosion that occurred without warning, happened in the living room ALL over her BROTHER!!! (bad bad very very bad) - we now discovered that kyle has a very week stomach! - Yup you guessed it - Like a chain reaction, Kyle gagged and then puked all over the blanket on the couch. Now Gary had to swing into action too! - He ran for the kitchen to get a bowl for Kyle to use, while I dashed for the kitchen sink with the baby in hand, hoping to get most of it in the sink instead of on the Carpet. Poor Vivian had a huge melt down when she discovered that Kerrigan had done a fantastic job of puking directly on her favorite pocket book that had been left on the living room floor. Have any of you ever tried to chase after an 17 month old baby with a large plastic bowl hoping to anticipate her next explosion by watching her face for the slightest sign of another upchuck? Its pretty difficult - especially when you are laughing so hard you could pee your pants because you can't believe your son puked as a result of being puked upon, while washing off the pukey pocketbook to make that one stop crying.... whew... it was kind of like one of the comedy shows when they do that fast forward thing with the fast music. Turns out Kyle is fine for right now, he will probably be truly sick tomorrow, along with me because it is bound to happen. Kerrigan went to sleep, but wakes up about every 45 minutes to puke without success because there is nothing left to get out, and I am sitting here blogging about it. I pictured myself Blogging about how nice Thanksgiving was, and how well behaved the kids were at both family dinners. And that we had a great time at the VanDenburg family Christmas party on Saturday night, and... you know, so much has happened in the 4 days since my last post, but this just goes to show you - you can't wait 4 days to blog!!! a stomach bug might just sneak up on you and steal the Show.

Cranberry Orange Relish

A Gramma Sherwood Thanksgiving Tradition.

Once Made by Chopping the ingredients in a hand grinder, we have modified the time it takes to make by using an electric food processor instead.
This dish is one that Corin and I enjoyed helping prepare as children and so in keeping the tradition alive, we have passed on the honors to our children. So far none of them enjoy eating it, but maybe someday they will.









To Make:

2 bags whole Cranberries (washed)
3 large seedless Oranges
1 cup sugar
Empty the 2 bags of cranberries into food processor (a little at a time is best) and chop. Empty into large bowl. Cut one orange into slices and chop in food processor (skins and all). then peel the other 2 oranges and also chop. Combine everything into large bowl and add sugar to taste. start with one cup and go from there. Some well-liked variations are to add walnuts or to put in a jello mold with orange flavored Jello.

Enjoy!!!

Corin also wrote about the Cranberry Orange relish on her blog - Check it out to get a little more background on the Family.

Everyone is Tanked

Let me tell you how I spent last Monday evening. - Elbow deep in fish CRAP!
We got a new fish tank for our enormous Oscar Fish (compliments of "Uncle" Eddie). It came complete with new stand and everything. This is also Fantastic for Lila, our Red Eared Slider, because this means she gets to move into Oscars old 30 gallon tank.Lots more room for her to swim. This is great since someone told Kyle that a turtle will grow bigger in a bigger environment. - Makes sense.

Gary was off to work for the night, so it was mom and the kids left home to do the big switcharoo...Yikes. Draining the 30 gallon tank wasn't too difficult, and thanks to Kyle's "braveness", our pan - frying - sized fish made it safely to the holding bucket (not before splashing water all over kyle and the wall first). Unfortunately I could not get all the water out before moving it - it was just impossible. - So... here I was trying to carry a 30 gallon fish tank with about 5 gallons of water still in it, along with about 20 lbs of gross pebbles and poop, out the kitchen door and across the lawn to dump behind the apple tree.....In the snow....with Gary's Big slippers on.I'm pretty sure I hurt myself. I wished I had access to Jennifer's Guy that moves heavy things.
Once that part was over, it was all about filling the new fish tank with 45 gallons of water. Kyle and I had a great system going of alternating filling pitchers of water at the kitchen sink and shuffling them to the tank to empty. Finally we were fish ready. - Kyle was up to bat again- this time he made sure to close his mouth when the fish started splashing! phew... The fish part was over. Then I had to scrub the old tank to get rid of the fish germs and make it turtle ready. I hope Lila is tolerant to Vinegar - it was the only non chemical glass cleaner I could think of. We set up the tank in Kyle's room and introduced Lila to her new home. She took off swimming right away. Kyle and Viv think she loves it now. Next order of business was a shower.. For ME!! yuck!

Peas & Carrots

Our house had a special visitor today. Kyle's Favorite friend in the whole world came over for a play date this afternoon. It seemed like Christmas the night before - I couldn't get Kyle to go to sleep! - He kept asking " how many hours until Phenesha comes to play?" Phenesha is the name of Kyle's very special friend, and just as uncommon as her name, is the ability for two little people to find such common ground at 4 years old. Kyle and Phenesha met in Their preschool class two years ago. He talked about her non stop. turns out this little girl has an obsession with Dinosaurs and dragons! - Kyle doesn't even find little boys into this kind of stuff as much as she is.
Their relationship bloomed that year, and all summer long our families would meet at the local playground for our weekly play date. Phenesha's mom and I could not get over the similarities between them - they get along like peas & carrots. Turns out they both have March Birthdays, They both have two siblings, they both are crazy about animals, and Their favorite TV show was meerkat Manor. These two are a match made in heaven. I think they were supposed to meet about 16 years from now, because their couldn't be a more compatible woman for Kyle. Oh yeah, they have both asked each other to marry as well.
So... anyway, after a pretty long stretch of no play dates due to busy schedules - we finally found a 3 hour window. going to different grade schools, they only get to see each other if we schedule a play date. They hadn't missed a beat- She walked in the house with her handful of "presents" for kyle which are drawings and paintings she gives to him and he proudly displays them on his bedroom walls. They had a great time showing off their new pets - phenesha brought hers along to meet us. (miss piggy) and kyle was anxious to show her his pet turtle(Lila).
While watching a dragon Documentary on TV, They set up a bunch of dragon figurines, and dinosaur adventures.
then they went outside for a while, this picture shows Kyle offering to tie her sneakers for so they could go out.
hm mm, he really can tie shoes - he has been holding out on me! Outside, the plan was to build their own Dragon nest, of course. Then it was back inside for an Ice cream snack which Phenesha called "delightful"! The one thing I missed was phenesha singing opera, which is my fault because all I had to do was ask and she would have belted out a tune for me. They crack me up! I don't know if this is my future daughter-in-law, but they sure do seem like they are perfect for each other..... As She left the house we sent her with a jar of Honey harvested from our Family's honeybee Hive - we have only a few jars to give away as gifts, so we pick them carefully - Phenesha was an easy pick. Honey for his Honey.

Left Out

My husband stumbled across my blog this morning. I hadn't told him I started one yet- because I wasn't ready to. But, now the cat is out of the bag - and I am in the doghouse!. He sat down to Read the 3 posts I had published, and I awaited his usual aloof reaction to my creative outlets. But....when he exited the Computer room, - He looked disappointed. Apparently it was upsetting to him that I failed to mention even his name. - yeah yeah I had mentioned I was married, and that "WE" were raising a nice boy and two girls - but not a mention of my lovely Husband's name (Gary). I tried to tell him that the blog is just in the beginning stages. It takes a few...or many posts to get your whole story across - AND that I was just about to get to the hubby parts - you know where all the patting on the back comes in... - He didn't buy it - He feels left out. I admit, I should have given a little background on the husband before now - it makes sense chronologically... there was him before there were kids. - anyway, so hear is my better-late-than-never, should-have-included-you-already-, post about my husband - Gary.
I feel like he's been around forever. We met as teenagers and started dating when we were 14 and 15. Went through 2 proms together, umpteen other school dances, graduations, colleges.... you get the picture - we dated for 8 1/2 years before we got married. We were high school sweethearts! this past summer we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. This coming February will mark 17 years of US.
A few years ago, I was a stay-at-home-mom contributing to our finances by Running a daycare out of our home - it contributed only a little to our finances but a lot to my accumulation of gray hairs. It was far from fun(I am not referring to Lindsey or Reagan). Gary, oblivious to my daily headache, used to say things like " I wish I had your commute - from the bedroom to the couch". I think that was his attempt at cheering me up - ha ha (SLAP!) - anyway, 3 children later and my desire for adult conversation, lead me to go to work. Kyle had just started Kindergarten, Vivian was almost 3, and Kerrigan was only 4 1/2 Months old.I was worried at first about how they would get on without me home, But we had to try it. I was off to work, Gary was working installing Fireplaces, and the kids were off to daycare. Daycare.... yup - that's where our money was going now. A few months of that and Gary found another job - one that he could work nights and weekends. Now Gary works three 12 hour shifts, and we only need daycare 2 days a week while he sleeps. Good news for our wallets - bad news for any family weekend plans. This also means that Gary is Mr Mom Wednesday thru Friday! Great! I'm glad he gets this parenting time. The old saying " Daddy's little Girl" certainly reins true for our two girls. They adore him - and he adores them. yup. he "commutes from the bedroom to the couch" for the first half of the day, then prepares lunch, puts kerrigan down for her nap, and he and Vivian do some light cleaning.(I emphasize the light - but also appreciate it at the same time) - whatever else goes on, I am not aware of - I do know that when I get home from work at 5:30 - 95% of the time, dinner is on the table and the kids have had a relaxing day at home instead of being shuffled around twice a day. They enjoy their DADDY DAYS.(pat pat pat on your back) - luv ya Hun!

Raising a "nice" boy?

I grew up in a family with a Mom and dad, and one sister. I didn't know what it is like to grow up with an annoying, pestering BROTHER.
There are many times I sit and think about what a cute little family we have - one boy, two girls. Vivian(3) is so happy-go-lucky...Can play alone or with others,always eager to help with chores, a real girlie girl. Kyle (6) is such an interesting boy - loves science, could spout off any number of amazing animal facts, loves to cuddle, very high energy.
Kerrigan (17 mo.) is the stubborn one ( if you offer her cookies, you better let her reach in the bag to get her own) but even that is cute as a button at this age. She thinks she is just as big as the rest, and very rarely is she not carrying around her baby doll.
Sound like perfect kids right? right.....oooooo..., except for when they are awake - and all in the same room - and expected to get ready for whatever we are doing for the day, or riding in the car, or eating at the table, or brushing their teeth, or getting ready for bed or..... ( I am exaggerating a bit, but not too much.) Sometimes,- and I hate to pick on Kyle, (especially since he reminds me every day how hard it is to be a big brother), but, everything goes pretty smooth until Kyle enters. He knows the girl's buttons and he knows how to push them!
After refereeing a few rounds and counting down a few time outs, I can't help but wonder -how kyle will develop as a man? ( don't look at me like I am worrying about this way too early!) Will he be this obnoxious with girls forever? will the experience of living with two sisters be more of a foundation for a sensitive husband ? I don't know how it will all pan out, but I do try to instill all of the qualities that I think will make him into a nice young man.
With all of that said - I would like to tell you Kyle's story about school today:
Kyle: mom I had library today and Alivia cried.
Mom: awww what was she crying about?
Kyle: The teacher read us a book called " Olivia the Pig" and everyone in the
class laughed at her.
Mom: uh oh, that wasn't very nice was it?
Kyle: nope! mom, I didn't laugh at her, I felt bad. But guess what? - I found a piece of jewelry on the floor next to the book shelf and gave it to her to cheer her up.
Mom: That was nice of you - did she stop crying?
Kyle: yup, and she even smiled:)

THERE'S THAT SENSITIVE, CARING, LITTLE MAN WE'RE RAISING!

Here's the story

Simply put.... never mind it would be impossible to simplify thoughts on life. I just want to explain the story behind the name of my blog.
My grandfather passed away from cancer March 8Th 2005. My life at that time was full. - I had accomplished some things - finished college, got married, bought a house (one that my grandparents had built and lived in for nearly 40 years), and became a mother of two beautiful children... all before I turned 30. I was extremely thankful that Grampa hodie was here to see all of those things. My son, kyle was about to turn 3 and my daughter, vivian, was almost 2 months old when he died. I was glad grampa had gotten a chance to hold them, whisper to them all of his usuals, and leave his mark on their lives too. I was thankful that I didn't miss sharing any of those experiences with him.
During the families grieving process, we contacted a psychic medium. YES I do believe in this process. When you find a good one....it is an experience like no other. - To get the validation that our loved ones who have crossed over still have the ability to "visit" is uplifting and healing. So we orchestrated a "psychic party" within months of his passing and heard many individual messages from him - some seemed small, some more terrific than others - no matter what, it made me a firm believer.The second time I had a reading from the same Medium, My life would forever be changed....
In the hopes of hearing from good ol' gramp, he didn't disappoint. Psychic Jennie told me that I was pregnant that night with my 3rd child! You would think that someone would know if they were pregnant... you would think! I doubted her for quite a while throughout the reading, but she didn't let it go. Thoughts running through my head (but never said out loud) were OMG my house is too small, and, OMG Vivian isn't even 2 yet! - I was beginning to freak out a bit. Then she brought up my grandfather. She said "Hod is here, and he wants me to tell you that there is always ROOM in your HEART for one more". That did it. That is all I needed to hear. a feeling came over me that everything was going to be fine. She went on to tell me that I was always supposed to have 3 children- It was in my plan. Apparently, in my "past Life" I had 2 children and died while giving birth to the 3rd one. Without taking off on the theory of reincarnation and having to do things over again until you get them right, lets just say that I am trying to get it right in "My present life". So this is my life and it is filled with a fantastic family.Kyle is now 6 1/2, Vivian is almost 4 and the the baby, Kerrigan is 1 1/2. It's chaotic,busy,exciting, emotional and young - boy am I glad the psychic didn't tell me I was supposed to have 5 kids.

OK - Here I go

I have enjoyed the blogging world from a safe distance by obsessively checking My sister's blog 2 or 3...ok sometimes 10 times a day to see if she has posted anything new. I am addicted to checking it. I love it. She asked me one time when I was going to start my own blog, I don't think I answered that question. The truth is, I was afraid I would agonize over everything I was going to write about. Would it be interesting enough, funny enough, spelled correctly (ha ha). And I was right, It took me about 1 1/2 hours to decide on a name for my blog. I was also worried about having time to do it - Yup here I am at 12:05 am typing away, because as a mother of three children under the age of 7, well, lets just say "It's not all about ME"!
Well, here I am - a new blogger. I should call myself Midnight blogMom! sounds too scary. In the near future, I will try to explain the reason for the "My Present Life" title, and I look forward to sharing some of my favorite Photographs.