Bah humbug.

I'm cheating on my photo people. Oops! Normally I take our Christmas card pictures, upload them to Kodak and order our cards from there. Not this year, I just don't have time. I'll take them tomorrow night, upload them to a local store's website, design, order, and pick them up later this week. Not sure if it's cheaper, but it'll be faster!

Last weekend I was in the mood to decorate. It takes me forever to put up our tree and decorate our house as I'm an ornament freak. I have SO many! I honestly think we'll need a bigger tree pretty soon... Anyway, what was suppose to be my weekend to decorate wound up being overtaken by a remodel project at IL's house :::sigh::: Both of my sisters-in-law planned it while IL's were on vacation. IL's knew about it and were paying for it, SIL's were just going to take care of it. Yeah. Right. Of course, they bailed (saying that DH and I planned it) and DH and I had to haul ass and take care of it. 6+ days of my life, morning to night, working on that house. WHILE we're running our own business. We're suppose to go there for Christmas this year. Uh, nope. Too soon for me. Anyway, my mother-in-law LOVES the results and is none too happy with either SIL. I took over 80 pictures of the project and put them in an album so they can see what all happened. MIL seems pretty excited about that:)

So, all that work and I am exhausted. Took a 3 hour nap today. I have ZERO ambition to decorate and frankly, I'm pretty upset about that. Our next few weekends are full, so I'm hoping I feel better tomorrow and can find the excitement to decorate. Normally I love it because our house looks awesome during Christmas. Plus, there's all those memory making things and crap;)

Tiiiiiiired.

That's me!

I had all four wisdom teeth taken out last wednesday. Right before Thanksgiving...smart, I know. They weren't hurting me, but they had issues and my dentist has highly recommended their removal for the last 2 years. It was put off for my pregnancy with Lexi and let's face it, I'm not getting any younger and they weren't going to fall out on their own. However, they had an opening a week before Thanksgiving and I grabbed it to get-r-done. Who wants to Christmas shop when their mouth hurts like hell?

Anyway, I was sedated (awesome stuff!), tucked in, prepared and they went to work. I swear I didn't fall asleep, but I don't remember a darn thing. Next thing I know the dentist is putting something (gauze) in my mouth and they sat me up. I was able to ask (as well as one can with gauze in their mouth!) how it went and they said very good. Simple yanking, no issues. Super! DH took me home and I conked out on the couch. I wasn't really that tired, but when I tried to watch the episode of Y&R I had taped, I kept seeing double of everyone. One Victor is enough for me, so I gave up and fell asleep instead! It's been a week and while I'm still on the Tylenol/Advil every 2-3 hours as needed, I'm not doing too bad. Rinsing after eating sucks though. Makes me think about every food choice. Do I really want that cookie/cheeto bad enough to go into the bathroom to syringe and rinse afterwards? Nope. Too lazy.

DH left for Pennsylvania Monday night to pick up a loader. His buddy Joey went with so they could trade off driving and sleeping. Plan was to be home late this afternoon. Yeah, that didn't happen. The guy we bought the loader from didn't realize how big a semi truck is so they need a wrecker to come in and get the loader out and onto the trailer. Conveniently, there was a spill last night so both wreckers in the area were tending to that. So, DH and Joey spent the night at a Super 8 and got the loader this morning. Last I heard they were entering Indiana and that was a few hours ago. "Lola" (our GPS) claims they'll be home around 6am. Yep, that's going to be one tired DH for Thanksgiving Day!

Here's to hoping I can chew tomorrow and that DH can stay awake to chew at all:)! Happy Thanksgiving!

Been a while!

First of all, I'm so tired. Part of me thinks it's the weather as today it is super crummy outside. Icy, chilly, and a little bit of snow. Kids are thrilled, me, not so much. On the upside, we're out of laundry detergent and I'm not packing up little kids to run to the store (we're rural) just to do something I'm really not all that crazy about, lol. Anyway, I'm tired and it's really starting to bug me so when I see my doctor in a few weeks, I think we'll have a chat. I have NO ambition to work out. I did that one workout and while it felt great, we got busy after that. Little kids are exhausting!

Cole turned 3 a couple of weeks ago and what a ham. It's not so much the things he will say, it's how he says them. A few of my favorites:

"Oh.....yes" It's just so matter-of-fact.
"That's niiiiice!"
"You're making supper? What a good idea!"

The best is when he spends the day with DH and comes home to tell me all about it. The kid just loves life!

And Lexi learned to army crawl. Oh my. Despite the fear that may strike in some parents, that kid has never been more entertained! She'll scan the room looking for her next object, check to make sure no one is going to catch her, and then she just goes with such gusto it's funny to watch. She had her 9 months appt at the end of October and everything looks great, although she does have eczema. Bummer. Oh well, DH and Cole have it as well, so we know the drill! Anyway, you know the questions the doctor asks about the things you child can/cannot do? He asked about Lexi sitting up on her own and pulling herself up. I had to answer no as I hadn't seen any of either. He didn't seem too concerned but wanted us to keep an eye on her. Well, lo and behold, just like a problem car that only acts up when NO ONE else is around, she did both in the next 2 days, lol. I went in her room after naptime, and there she sat! My mom watched them the next night and she had pulled herself up there as well. Silly baby!

Halloween went well..the kids went as characters from Toy Story 2: Jessie the cowgirl, BuzzLightyear, and Wheezie the penguin. What a crew! :)

Pigs that fly!

So, this morning I actually stayed up after Taylor got on the bus...yay me! Lately DH and I go to bed so late (harvest) that I'll crash again after she's off to school. Today I thought, "Hmmmmm, 2 hours before the little ones get up. What should I do?" Okay, we all know what I should do: work out. I've stayed pretty steady on my weight and I'm happy about that, but I need to work out. Toning, to help my sleeping, time for myself, etc. I found a workout in my Redbook magazine that seemed pretty lowkey. I thought I'd try so I suited up and went to work!

Yeah, I got my a** handed to me in the form of realizing just how out of shape I am! I could barely balance on one leg for some of the moves without tipping over. The good news is, I didn't hate it and I actually broke a little sweat. I just might do it again tomorrow:)

Look what I caught!!

Never fails, fall rolls around and before I can get the kids out for pictures with the pretty leaves, Mother Nature gives us a round of crappy, rainy, windy days that make all the trees bare and the leaves completely scattered. Ha, ha, not this year!!:)

Well, that was short lived!

Remember that nesting thing I was "struggling" with last week? Yep, that's gone! It made a brief appearance earlier this evening after the kids and I got back from my (half) sister's house. Her house is newer, and while it wasn't huge, it was nice, so clean and very homey! Really made me want to clean the house, light up the fireplace (she didn't have one, but our fireplace feels homey), and finish putting up my decorations. Yeah, I straightened a few things and then the recliner and I joined forces and watched Desperate Housewives together. Ahhhh, it was like 2 buddies who have spent too much time apart. Neither of us faulted the other, we just enjoyed being together again:)

I'm in holiday decoration limbo. For me, it's a little too early for Halloween yet, but I don't want to put up all my fall stuff as some of it gets replaced with Halloween items anyway. So a strand of "leaves" that grace the mantel of my homey (yet, unlit) fireplace is it for now. :::sigh:::

If anyone has seen my ambition, please send it home...I miss it:(

Just 10 months too late....

Nesting.

I just can't get enough projects to do.

**I also want you to know that lately, I must proofread and proofread everything I type, no matter where I type it. I've been skipping words, forgetting "s" to pluralize (is that even a word?), and generally not making much sense when I'm done! My fingers and my brain need to have lunch and figure that crap out. Until then, if my posts seem screwed up, well, they just are!**

Anyway, the house that is mine is always known to be messy. Not gross messy, but "Hey, do you even know how to put anything away?!" messy. Mail stacked on the table, laundry in baskets (but clean!), groceries still on the counter (hey, they're easier to get to right?). Lately however, junk mail goes right to the garbage, even if I might want to order the collectible figurines of the Seven Wonders of the World. I can't have dishes on the counter, they must go in the dishwasher. I must admit, it's awesome to find a clean cereal bowl the next morning....go me! The hamper for towels can't be full. My washing machine is begging for a day off. If there's crumbs on the floor after I just swept, heaven help the person who put them there. I may not be working out, but I certainly am not sitting on my butt doing nothing! Unless I'm at the computer editing and printing pictures to go in frames I suddenly decided I desperately need to fill.

About that working out...yep, still not happening. But I haven't gained, I've stayed active, and I forgot to weigh in and measure today (crap!). Oh well. Printing off another picture will burn a few calories right?

Hells yeah....

It's been a good day.

I met with Michelle, my half-sister, for lunch today. I'm not gonna lie, I was nervous. So very nervous. Then I get there and....I swear, it's like those 20 years had never happened. Totally natural. We talked about our kids, the Sperm Donor (she calls him that too!!!), and why she contacted me after so many years. She just felt something was missing and after seeing me so many times (by her job in the local mall, and at our state fair 90 miles away with thousands of people a day, and nevermind it was my first time ever there!) . Well, that state fair thing sealed the deal, she felt it was an omen. She had to contact me and her sister supported that idea. She looked me up on FB, and there I was.... After our lunch today I wound up going to the mall with my mom and sisters so we swung over to where Michelle worked and said "hi"! Despite the situation, they all talked like we have known each other for years. Michelle (well, me too I guess as we all have the same sperm donor!) has another sister, and 2 brothers. Funny thing is, we're so similar it's scary and I guess we look a lot alike too. Her ( I guess "our") sister, Rachel, wanted to join us for lunch, but Michelle felt it might be too much at one time for me, so we'll all get together some other time soon:) My questions were answered (and I still have my kidneys!), my nerves are settled, and I feel so much better about it! I didn't know what to expect and was comforted to see her excitement and eagerness to meet my kids and to talk about our past. Here's to hoping it stays that way...some reunions don't end well, but I'm hoping the best for this one!:)

Swift kick and some deep sh*t

You know how you're walking along, things are great, the sun is shining, your bills are paid and everything is just...fine? Suddenly, out of the sky drops an anvil courtesy of your very own coyote named "The Past".

Last week I was contacted by my half-sister who I haven't heard from or spoke to in over 20 years. We share genetic material from a man I call "The Sperm Donor" (SD). He and my mom dated, she got pg, and he took off. Classy guy;) Well, he went on to marry and have 4 kids (my mom had me, married and had my four siblings). He treated his family like crap, he and the wife divorced, and none of them speak to him now. I met his oldest in private school one day at the ripe ol' age of 8. I've always known SD's name as it's written in my baby book and my new friend shared the same last name as him. Two and two together = we were half-sisters. We stayed friends until she was sent to public school the next year and we lost contact. Living in a small town, I heard bits and pieces about their family, but nothing ever came of it.

Fast forward to last week when she requested to be my friend on Facebook. They made computer chairs for a reason...so when your past swings by to say "Hi", you're sitting down! I accepted her right away, sent her my usual-new-FB-friend-wall-post: "Hey, how you doing? What's new with you?" and mulled over this situation for 3 days. To say I was confused would be an understatement. So many questions...what does she want? Why now? What brought this about? I mean, how did I know that she didn't just have a few glasses of chardonnay one night and do some drunk friend requesting? OMG, I know that girl, she was such a bitch in high school and always dissed my clothing, friends, ideas...hey, I wonder if she wants to be my friend? My wonderful supportive husband kept saying, "Maybe she needs a kidney" :::rolling eyes:::

Well, as luck would have it, turns out we have a mutual, very to-the-point FB friend who came out and asked me "How do you feel about this as she (and her sister) just wants to get to know you?" Finally! A motive! I'm very open to that as it's not our fault things turned out this way. So after 3 days of lost sleep, making sure my family was okay with this contact (my mom is fine with it and my sister is intrigued, no word on my bros yet), and hearing why this was happening, the shock has finally worn off. We've made plans to have lunch, catch up (20 years is going to need a long lunch hour!), and my regularly scheduled programming has resumed.

Amazes me how an instant can change you life and you never know when that instant will come...

Tired.

I've always prided myself on having polite children. The ones that can talk say "Please", "Thank you", "Bless you", etc. You hold the door for the person behind you, you don't interrupt and you chew with your mouth closed. Well, one out of three ain't bad, right? Right? ::::crickets chirping::::

Tay is doing well, yet she's at the preteen age so most everything we've taught her has been transformed into knowing the littlest details of the Jonas brother's lives. Super. I can't get her to swallow her chicken before she tells me about her day, but I know who Joe (or is it Nick? Maybe it's the other one...) is dating. Then there's Cole. Oh. Good. God. He'll dump jello on his stir fry and politely ask for more with a sweet angelic smile and a "thank you" when you oblige (and why do I do that?). When we had Lexi I contemplated asking for a receipt before we left the hospital, just in case!

As much as I could go for a beer, I fear I'm too tired to drink the whole thing and then I'd have to yell at myself for wasting it. I'm a can freak. If you leave a pop can around and there is warm liquid in it, you better look for someone else to blame if you want another in the near future. I hate yelling at myself because I'm such a smarta** so I never really win the argument anyway.

Cole just informed me that he had a dream in which a cow bit him. On the back. He's almost 3, has seen cows 5 times in his life, and found this dream to be funny. It would not surprise me if he thanked the cow afterwards....

I suck.

Just wanted to put that out there.

Before I got pregnant with our last baby (whoo hoo! and *sob*), I busted my ass to lose the last ten pounds from Cole. With the help of Sparkpeople, a couple of blogs (<-----Sarah's is one of my favorites), and sheer determination (no alchohol? Whaaaat?!), I finally did it and then some. The scale and I finally liked each other, yay!! Lo and behold, dear loving DH takes that glorious moment and says "Now that you've perfected that, let's wreck it again." :::sigh::: With Taylor and Cole I sat on my ever-widening butt and got big. Gained 40+ pounds. Sooooo......

I took my newfound knowledge of fitness, eating right, portion sizes and marched into my first trimester. Fortunately, I had no morning sickness (I know, I know, I'm one of those) so eating smaller portions and healthier stuff worked with me. Onto the second trimester. I exercised 5 days a week with permission from my doctor and kept it up until two weeks before I delivered. Unfortunately, my thighs, butt, arms, neck, etc. didn't get that memo. I *still* gained 40+. WTH? At least I was in good shape so I got clearance to start working out (lightly) at 2 weeks postpartum. At 6 weeks I could go full steam ahead, yay me! It's been almost 8 months since Lexi joined us and 2 weeks ago, I hit the magic number: pre-pg me!!!! Since then? I haven't worked out a lick (well, except that ice cream the other night....).

Talk about discouraging. I LOVE working out. Seriously. I feel good afterwards and things fit me better. I think it's the end of summer (bummer), the start of school, and this chilly air surrounding us. I've stayed active for the most part, but it's not the same and I'm 2 pounds up.

HELLO BODY!! WRONG DIRECTION!!! My scale has been scowling and my WiiFit board is going to yell at me for taking so long to visit (*ahem* again, it's been 2 weeks...and some days).

If anyone has seen my ambition, please let it know that I'm looking for it. Oh, and it's in big trouble for staying out so late!


***I decided that the former design was kind of harsh for the reading eyes with it's black background so I'm experimenting. I know, I could have just changed the color, but that look really didn't float my boat. We'll see how this works....***

Shopping with men.

What the hell was I thinking?

Cole needed his stitches out today. Everytime we run any kind of errands it takes me 4 hours to prepare, physically (do I have everything? Where'd Cole's pants go now?) and mentally (Ok, my kids will not be the only crazy ones there...). I like to bring reinforcements, aka DH or Taylor. Well, Tay had school and DH was just laying around watching Stargate SG-1 on dvd (can of worms I opened with Father's Day). His hauling got called off so I guilted him into coming with us. Yeah, I asked for it.

Hospital went well and we didn't even wait long. For some reason our local ER (where we were instructed to take him) takes forever and I have no idea why. We could be the only people in there and we'll wait for an hour. We'll get to an exam room and see doctors and nurses galore, but no other patients. Anyway, stitches are out and all is good. The pain came in our next stop: the mall.

I wanted new pj bottoms bearing the logo of my boys (MN Vikings). Mine were well worn and we can't look shabby for Monday night football can we?;) Also saw a super cute "Baby's 1st Halloween" outfit for Lexi at a department store. The best part? They had her size!! They actually don't follow the belief that every baby celebrating their first Halloween is only 0-3 months (ahem, local big box chain stores?). So off to get that. I had a mission and fulfilled it in minutes. Lost the men for a bit so I wandered to the clearance and got Lexi a sweet little sweater for the chilly weather that suddenly descended upon us. All is good, and we go to pay. Now, this store has 5 billion registers (okay about 10) and only one was staffed. She, however, had been dealing with the same people for 15 minutes. So, off to find another. At the next one, that lady had NO clue that *paying* customers were waiting to be helped so she chatted with a woman that had question after question. :::sigh::: We finally found one with a employee and still had to wait for her to find something and she passed us off to another employee! We paid and got the hell out of there. Dealing with that was bad enough, but I have DH whining about it as well. Yes dear, I know their service sucks and that's why I shop elsewhere but they had Lexi's outfit, so get over it! Ugh. Next time he tells me we should stop in at Victoria's Secret and pick something out, I'm going stomp my feet in protest and demand a toy instead. Okay, not really as Vicki and are good buddies, but still.

What a week.....

We went to the state fair on Labor Day and while it was Lexi's first time at the age of 7 months, it was my first time at the age of 30! First time for everything I guess! It was a lot of walking as that place was huge, but we had fun. Cole got to be a little farmer, Taylor got to go on some rides, and Lexi got to be cute:) She wore a little bonnet and so many passersby said, "Oh, what a cute baby". Here they are watching the parade...





As for the rest of the week...

About those stitches, Cole had his story and he stuck to it. It's was "up ladder and on book!". Turns out Tay was in the bathroom, Cole climbed up her ladder (to her lofted bed) and somehow his chin got caught on a super-hard-to-see screwhead on the side. He then fell on a book. As soon as he showed us, the screw was removed immediately and we checked for more. You kid proof and kid proof but they will *still* find something:( He's been a great sport and the stitches come out tomorrow!

Taylor had her first day at her new school on Thursday and she LOVED it. She made a few new friends, she likes her teacher, and I really like some of the things they do. Their required-to-purchase-from-the-school-planners have a super easy layout (for the super tired mom who has to check it!)and her teacher has great ideas for his classroom with organization for the students. Hoping it rubs off on her as her room is a been declared a hazardous zone. Thursday night she says to me, "I can't wait to go to school tomorrow!" Ah..I was hoping that day would come;)

We attended a truck show this weekend but could only stay one night as we had our friend's 5 year anniversary party Saturday night. DH worked hard on preparing the truck: washing her up, polishing, relettering the tires, etc. and it looked SO nice. Last year so many people stopped and took pictures of it. This year he wasn't even to the actual show yet and some guy at a fuel station asked him to hold up a minute so he could take a picture! We saw a LOT of trucks, hung out with some fun friends and froze our butts off in our tent that night. Good times:) Last night we celebrated with our friends and while it was rainy, we still had a good time. We were smart and brought our motorhome, parked it in their yard and crashed in there. No DUIs and a lot warmer than a tent!

It was a busy week and I'm ready for a break!

3 kids. 2 in pain.

Taylor had 3 teeth pulled today in preparation for her braces in few weeks. Two were baby teeth that had no plans of ever leaving and the third was a permanent tooth with no room to be there. So, out they went! She was rough at first, but is doing better tonight. I think she is just glad it's done. Me too!

And Cole. Oh, that boy. He truly is his father's son. It's kind of a running joke that my husband should have his own coffee cup at the local ER. A barrel to the head, a hole punched in his finger from a dropped engine, oil in the eyes, etc. All from his job as a mechanic! Don't get me wrong, the man is not a klutz. He's very careful with what he does, but this stuff just happens to him. Tonight, we're not sure what Cole was doing. He was downstairs with his sister and she went into her room for something. He's always tumbling, jumping, and throwing himself around, so when he came in her room crying she thought he just bumped his head. Well his chin was cut and he was bleeding. For the life of us, we can't figure out what he did if she didn't hear anything. So Cole went to the ER with daddy and got 7 stitches. He's home now and in good spirits (McDonalds, as they missed dinner, and a new truck for sitting still while being stitched up will do that!)

As for Lexi, her biggest issue today was being completely covered in chicken noodle dinner and loving every minute of it!:)

We have nothing planned for tomorrow and I'm loving that:)

Annoying things...

Something strange and not so neat happened with our computer today. I was surfing along, enjoying some downtime, when I started to see double-underlined links. Put my cursor over one to discover an ad. An annoying, nothing-of-interest-to-me ad. So I do what anyone would do. I Google them! After some finagling (sp?), I took care of some of them, but geez. Brand new computer, starting out fresh and that stuff comes up? Yuck.

Took a few pictures of my sweet little girl today and I'll be darned if she didn't avoid looking at the camera on purpose. However, I was able to catch this one...what a funny baby:)

Now that we have this new computer, I really want to use my pictures more. I catch funny stuff and it sits on my memory card like that commercial where all the people (fisherman, a bride and groom, etc.) worry about who's getting deleted next. No one gets deleted from my card, they just get uploaded to the 'puter, get put on a disc, and they....well, sit there. It's purely a hobby, but I have loads of pictures and I'm anal about them all. Must be labeled, must be protected, must have a backup. Guess I need to add: must be displayed/have something fun done with it!

The wonder that is me.

A little introduction I suppose....

First off, I am not a writer so I'm just warning you now. Often times the funny things I say or think are never as funny in writing...not sure how that happens.

Anyway, I'm a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom), with one husband and 3 kids. I've never really had a big plan for life, just kind of going with the flow and docking wherever life leads me. My house is NEVER clean, my kids aren't always well-behaved, and life is never boring.

My husband and I have been married for almost 4 years and while he's like a 4th kid, I wouldn't trade him for anything. He keep things interesting and is a great husband and dad. I don't complain about him often because I've been divorced and he is an awesome upgrade:)

My kids...
There's Taylor, my daughter from a previous relationship. She's 12 and definitely in the preteen stage. Phone ringing, Jonas Brothers/Hannah Montana loving, boy-crazy preteen stage. God help me. She lives primarily with us and even shares our last name (yep, she's a hypenated kid!). She's a great big sister!

Cole is our son who is almost 3. This kid is an exact replica of my husband when he was young and there are many days where I want to ask my mother-in-law how she made it out alive (and had 3 more kids!!). He's learning so much and can be such a hoot I think we should build a stage and charge admission to pay for his college.

And Lexi. Sweet, sweet, precious Lexi. She was born this past January and has been such a super baby. I firmly believe she is our reward for dealing with the first two (cleft palate, acid reflux, gas, eczema, braces, drawing on skin with permanent markers....). She's our last as I was shut down (by choice) during my c-section with her. We achived perfection, we're done:)

Change.

So the other day we got a new computer, complete with my fear of moving to Vista. Yikes. Now, I'm not one that is big on change, but I'll adapt after awhile and soon discover that the change really wasn't that bad. And then I discover just how wrong I am.

Today I spent 8 hours trying to manuever the wonder that is my Ipod and it's fellow program. By the time I finally got it figured out, I felt like just turning on the radio. The computer wasn't the problem and neither was Vista. It was just one machine trying to converse with the other and somehow my innocent self got caught in the crossfire. Ugly.


In all of that, all 3 of my children took that oppurtunity to request everything they possibly could need. A drink. A snack. A toy fixed. The secret to life. Tomorrow when I have nothing to figure out, they won't want anything to do with me. I wonder what I can break/screw up to keep myself entertained....