Closer to normal.

The bags are thrown out, same goes for the boxes.  I have my closet back again (I was hiding the gifts in there).  Oh, and 15-some inches of snow have been plowed and hauled.  What a mess!

DH wasn't around much for Christmas this year and that was disappointing.  He was home for Christmas morning, but they went out to do some clean-up around 11am and he was gone the entire day.  So, guess who played elf?  Assembling baby doll strollers, high chairs, and Lexi's play kitchen. Oy.  By 3pm I was e.x.h.a.u.s.t.e.d.  Due to the weather, we were stuck at home.  My grandparents postponed their Christmas celebration and had it this past Sunday, so that was nice.  I was bummed about possibly missing it.  The decorations are still up, but I don't plan on taking them down for a while.  It takes too long to decorate to take them done already, lol.  They'll be down by Lexi's birthday party (Jan. 16th) though, we'll need the room.



 

Change.

I can deal with it most times.  A new cell phone.  A new way of organizing.  Even working on a laptop vs. a desktop.  Except that printing thing...more on that later.

Today we exchanged one family "member" for another:

We recently had the opportunity to upgrade to a dining set that seated more than 4, however when you have the highchair in there it gets a little crowded.  The highchair has officially been packed away and has been replaced with a booster seat.  While I am loving the new room, it's a little sad knowing that we are packing away just one more sign of a baby being here.

I am loving the laptop.  The portability.  Windows 7 (suck it Vista!).  The nice keyboard.  Now, if only I could print.  After much trial and error, our no-longer-with-us printer was not going to do the job.  We need wireless.  Sooooo....we passed our printer onto my mom since she needed a new one that was compatible with Win7.  We'll look at purchasing a new all-in-one that can cater to my laptop as well.  I don't know about anyone else, but I hate setting up new electronics.  Especially computer stuff.  Now I have to learn a new printer and how to get it and my laptop to get along.  Oh, and throw in our desktop as well.  I'm sure it will go just fine, but it's a headache until everything is running the way it should be!

 

Stuart Bean has been great at keeping up with the naughty kids.  Like me.  It has been over a week since I worked out.  And honestly, I really don't care.  Don't get me wrong, I miss working out and I'm kicking myself that I'm not, but I just can't find the ambition to.  When we went through the bout of no heat, I was pretty sure I was NOT going to dress down to work out only to freeze my tail off.  Hell no.  Then we ran into busy times and here we are.  The scale isn't going up too much, but I have to quit the snacking or there's going to be trouble!

Fun! And not so fun!

For the last few days I have been faithfully stalking the UPS website, tracking the whereabouts of my new laptop.  My excitement when it switched from a delivery date of 12/10 to 12/9 was like Christmas morning.  One day closer to some freedom with moving about the house and yet still getting online.  I can check my messages and guard my Christmas tree at the same time.  Whoo-hoo!  And then....

The weather.  Oh my word, the weather.  6-12 inches.  30-50pmh winds.  It all shut down schools and half the city on...the day my beloved new toy was expected to arrive.  That meant massive drifts in our yard.  No one to plow it until the guys were done for the day.  How, oh how, would the UPS truck make it through?  :::sigh::: Turns out that was the least of my problems...

I woke up this morning and the very first thing I did was turn off my fan.  That's odd for me.  I love the air circulation and the steady noise it brings (yes, I'm one of those that hears every.little.noise. our house makes and it keeps me up wondering what it is!).  The thing is, I was FREEZING.  I walked out into our living room walked across the frigid floor and checked the thermostat.  63 degrees.  Ouch.  Turns out the gas tank wasn't full like we thought it was and it picked today of all days to completely empty.  DH was out plowing and we had no heat, no hot water, and no oven (gas operated) to bake mountains of cookies to warm the house.  We did, however, have our fireplace so I tried my hand at making a fire and I gotta say I didn't do too bad!  We closed the doors to the other rooms to contain the heat to the living room, dining room and kitchen.  We dressed in layers.  And I spent the majority of the day hooking up the wireless network for the laptop my awesome UPS guy delivered!  While Tay was gathering wood (right outside the house, she brought it in while I started the fire), the UPS truck pulled in and Tay ran through the drifts (ahhh, to be 13 and have energy like that!) to retrieve the package so the poor guy wouldn't get stuck in our driveway.

So, after a little bit of charging, decrapifying (new favorite word) the stuff I don't need on here, and setting up my wireless router, I have been having a hell of a time doing other stuff around here, lol.  Oh well, tomorrow will be warmer (in the house at least), the wind is suppose to die down, and I get to have my hair done and hopefully get a little more Christmas shopping done:)

Bean. Stuart Bean.

It's not the best photo, but it's hard to grab a good shot when the elf hangs out on a ceiling fan!  Doesn't help that I really haven't picked up my camera for some fun shots in a while. I haven't replace my tripod either. :::hangs head in shame::: New Years resolution?  Yeah, I think so!

This guy entered our family for a couple reasons this year. 

• Cole is being a pain.  A huge pain.  It startles me because Tay was an e.a.s.y. kid.  You could tell her it's wrong/naughty and she'd listen.  Cole is the opposite.  He's along the lines of "Oh, you don't want me to do that? Okaaayyyyy...." and before I know it the white bathroom door is covered in black permanent marker and he's hauling Tide laundry with his loaders (yep, thinking about hiding all the chairs).  I'm fast, but he's faster.  A LOT faster.  I'm a little afraid to use the bathroom sometimes, that kid can make a lot happen in 20 seconds!  Enter Stuart Bean.  Cole has a little faith in this guy.  I mean, he reports to the big guy in the North Pole and all.  He made me read the book that came with Stuart Bean 3 or 4 times..I think he wanted to get the rules down.  Find a couple of loopholes or something.  

• This blog has some awesome photos and the best adventures of their own little elf, Bob.  He's a little wilder than Stuart Bean;)  Great entertainment and so neat to see the fun they (kids and the adults!) have with it!

The name. ::sigh::  It's a life changing event you know;)  A couple of names were thrown around.  Charlie?  Nope.  Elfie?  Nah.  Even Crawl (Pauly Shore anyone?).  Finally, Cole races to our movie cabinet, pulls out "Stuart Little" and exclaims that we should name him Stuart!  Tay thought that it should be a cool name like Bean.  So, he became Stuart Bean the Elf.  Lexi didn't care either way.  I'm pretty sure she thinks the elf rules don't apply to her, after all, being that damn cute(and the last baby of the family) is a pretty big card to show!

Stalking the UPS man.

Or woman.  Doesn't matter, as long as they bring me my fun stuff:)  Lately our FedEx delivery person has been a woman and I told DH that we've become good friends with all the phone stuff (2 new ones and then accessories) being delivered to our house lately, lol.

My new blender arrived and so far so good.  I do miss having the "wand" to stir stuff with as it's blending....my smoothie maker had one and it was nice.  Oh well, the important thing is that it works!  I also ordered a new smoothie cup, it has a lid, a straw, and it's not ginormous like other mugs with a lid and straw are.  It's handy for not spilling my precious fruit:)  I was kind of surprised at how hard it was to find one though.  Everything "to-go" these days is for coffee or working out.  They all have lids, but no straw opening. I looked everywhere and finally found one online. 

My inbox is going nuts with notifications that things are being shipped to our home, or are ready for pickup at our local store (free site-to-store shipping rocks!).  I didn't venture out on Black Friday, but I took advantage of a few deals online.  So while I'm not done with shopping, I am a lot further ahead than I was last year and that feels nice.  Not rushed or running around, doing it as it works.  Same goes for decorating, a little bit each day.  Slow and steady is working for me!

The most important email notification of a shipment: my laptop!  While it was backordered and wasn't suppose to be shipped for a week or 2, it shipped on Thursday, 4 days after I ordered it.  Every day I log on to see what city it's in, lol.  I also scored a "folding" mouse for half price on Amazon.  I saw them in the stores and thought they were neat, but a little too pricey.  Enter Amazon and I ordered it for way cheaper.  Now it's a race to see what gets here first, the mouse or the laptop!  All I need now is a case for them, a wireless router and a video creation program.  I have my eye on a certain one for both the router and the video program, just waiting for a sale or maybe a gift card.

It's like they planned it.

My cell phone, oven, dishwasher, blender and water heater/gas.

One by one, they failed or bailed, lol.

First, my phone.  After years of never really having an issue with my cell phone, this one decides to be the one to cause a problem.  Darn thing turns itself off.  Charged battery and all.  So, I go in to get an exchange as it's under a year, new one arrived on Friday.  I got my contacts switched over, but I forgot about the events I had scheduled in it.  Oops.  I'm upgrading in January and Tay will get this phone, she's pysched because it has a qwerty keyboard.  I'll be sure to write down my events before then, lol.

Next, the blender.  While making a smoothie Thanksgiving morning, the "pitcher" hopped up and shredded the gears.  Super.  DH was able to finagle a few screws into the gears to mash the bananas, strawberries and yogurt in there, but the thing was shot after that.  Ordered a new one, arrived today.  So far, so good.

Saturday afternoon, making lunch and our oven charred the french fries in less than 18 minutes.  Wth?  DH thinks it was a gas surge (?!!!!).  Okaayyyy.  Either way, the damn thing wouldn't turn off and there is NO way it was only at 425 degrees!   I had to turn off the gas and my brother came over to move the stove so we could unplug it and turn off the valve to it (so we could turn the gas on for other things, like warm water and heat!).  Oh, and this stuff only happens when DH is out of town!

The gas.  We switched tanks and needed a new gas line (hence the oven issue).  DH does it today, all is hooked up.  I workout (yoga and biking, go me!), put up our tree (just lights and the star right now), and decide to shower.  Freezing cold water.  I try to light the pilot light, nothing.  So I figure I'll start supper.  I light the burner to boil water, lights up fine.  Well, there must have been a hiccup of air in the line and the flame when out. ::sigh::  DH says he fixed it all now...yeah, when I'm clean from warm water and eating a meal, I'll believe him:)

The dishwasher.  I have many beefs with that thing.  For one it's called a "QuietPartner II".  The hell if that thing is quiet!  The main beef is that it doesn't wash the dishes very well, no matter what setting it's on.  Hard water, soft water (which we have), doesn't matter.  It's ONE job is to wash dishes and it fails miserably.

On the upside (and downside) to things, I have finally ordered my laptop!  Whoo-hoo!  The upside is that we finally ordered it, the downside is that we paid more than we planned as they upped the price on it.  Boo to them.  Either way, it means I can get my videos from the Handycam onto discs.  Message people from the main floor.  Maybe update this a little more often.  Who knows, the possibilities are endless:)

The decision.

Every night DH and I go to bed before or around midnight.  It's just the way we roll.  He gets home later in the evenings, plays with the kids, we put them to bed and then we can have adult-conversation-without-an-interruption-time:)  However, I *need* 7 hours of sleep.  8 is almost too much and 6 isn't enough.  The problem is, I often fail to actually acknowledge that.  I will get up in the morning at 6:50am, make sure Tay is on her way to getting out the door for school and then I will go.back.to.bed.  It's *rare* that I'm actually sleeping by 12am, so I'm usually still tired and I sleep for another hour pushing me past that 8 hour time limit.  Sometimes I'm just lazy and want my cozy bed for another hour.  :::sigh::: 

Once upon a time, I would get up at 7:15am, get Tay off to school, dress in my workout clothes and head downstairs to the family room where I would proceed to kick my own a** for a hour.  Then she changed schools with 6th grade and her bus started arriving to pick her up more than a half an hour earlier.  Oy. 

This morning I awoke at 6:50am and proceeded to sit in the recliner while trying to decide how tired I was.  I *knew* I wasn't that tired.  I could get dressed and workout.  So I did.  A whole workout without having to move a child out of the way (so cute when Lexi tries to "workout" as well, but she does it right.next.to.me, lol).  One big thing already checked off of my to-do list by the time the little ones rolled out of bed. 

It was nice. I should do that more often.

A whole month.

I skipped a whole month of writing on here. So, either October didn't happen or I suck at blogging. I'm going to go with the latter, even though it felt like the former!

I also discovered that I suck at taking things out of our pantry. I reached for a can of soup and started an avalanche of canned goods that dropped, one by one. One by one, I narrowly escaped the crushing blow of the chicken noodles, cream of mushrooms, and vegetable beefs as they rained around my dancing feet. Missing the cream of chicken however, did not happen. Right on my middle toe of my left foot. Holy hell. It's not broken, but there's a good chance the nail will go:( It has been almost two weeks and it still hurts once in a while. Mostly notably when a small child uses my foot as a little step to get 1/2 inch taller!

#3 on the list of things I suck at: Working out. :::sigh::: I was doing SO good until that toe injury incident. For real, the first few days I was lucky to walk without a limp. By day 3 I could put a shoe on without wincing in pain. Then this past Monday I decided I was going to power through. Work through the pain. Quit my bitching. Yeah, I ate a huge lunch and an hour later I let Jillian Michaels whoop my tail with her "Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism" dvd. Good. God. So dumb, especially since I know better. Tator tot hotdish is NOT a light meal. Combine that with chugging water throughout my workout and the burps that followed were not that pleasant when I was gasping for air. I powered through though and I felt back on track. Um, it's been 5 days and I haven't moved onto the second (of four) disc in my workout lineup yet. I have, however, been taking advantage of the rare great weather and getting active with cleaning up inside the house and outside. So, I'm moving...Jillain just isn't the one cracking the whip;)

I have a problem.

And it's called Farmville. It's this farming application on Facebook and it's addicting. Can't really figure out why, but I think it's because I can organize my land, house, animals any way I want to and they STAY that way, lol.

I'm getting that way with the house too. Slowing chiseling away at the clutter, slow and steady. We haven't had the giant pile up with school papers like I was expecting, so that is nice!

With Tay starting jr. high, I figured it was time to look into getting a laptop. She is involved with yearbook this year and they can work on their pages online. Between that, homework and her own online downtime, I can't see me getting the desk top a whole lot, lol. Plus I'd like to start putting video from our HandyCam on to discs, that project is WELL overdue! The only problem to that is there are a lot of little clips and they would take HOURS to burn versus the time it would take for one longer video to burn (each clip has to prep, record and finalize). With a laptop, I could do my videos on there. Plus it would take the place of our portable dvd player that kicked the bucket. However, after days and hours of research and finally narrowing it down to a laptop I like, it has disappeared from the online retailer's site:( I emailed both the retailer and the manufacturer and I have received the runaround as to the status of this laptop. It's not an older one, in fact some sites don't even have a review for it yet. I know the retailer's store has it, I saw it there 2 days ago. I was hoping to wait until later in October, but maybe we'll have to push that up a bit to get it!

Tired.

So tired....and ready for some normal!

Originally we didn't have anything planned for this weekend and that was a nice change of pace. Then my mom called mid-week and wanted to get everyone together to grill and hang out. So we went there on Friday night and stayed over since it's a longer drive to our house and DH and I both drank. Around the same time my mom called, an old friend text DH about a housewarming campout at his lake house. So mom kept the kids yesterday/last night and we hung out at the lake with some old friends and crashed in our motorhome. I'm looking forward to my own bed tonight!

Taylor starts school on Thursday and while I'm ready for it, I'm not. Homework. Conferences. Boys. Dramatic girlfriends. :::sigh::: I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

And.....done!

We did it. The crazy is finally done and I survived! :)

• The zoo (and the only monkeys I came home with are the ones that were always mine, lol). Cole was so psyched to see those giraffes and they didn't disappoint! The only downside was the weather. We did things backwards....we did the indoor stuff first and the outdoor stuff last. By the time we got outside the clouds had rolled in and it was chilly!
• MOA with Nickelodeon Universe and Underwater World. Lots of walking, and a lot of riding, but a good time was had by all. The neatest thing was Cole getting to meet SpongeBob Squarepants and Diego. It was like he was meeting his heroes, lol. Just in awe and with big smiles. So glad I caught in on camera and that they were nice enough to let me take pictures. Some places that take their own pictures won't let you do that with your own camera and then they charge you for one picture:( Their employees even hammed it up so the kids would look my way and I could get a good shot, that was really nice and appreciated!
• Junior High orientation. Oy. It was long and it was a zoo, but everything is done. Bus pass, lunch pin number, health forms, and I'm signed up for their "Parent Portal" where I can check Tay's grades, attendance, etc. online. THAT will be nice! No more emails from the teacher or waiting until the report card to find out assignments are missing. There was so much running around that by the time we found that last thing we needed, I joked that I should get a sticker for successfully completing the scavenger hunt!
  

Tay gets her haircut tomorrow, but then I'm looking forward to a few days of NOTHING. We have offers to go up north for the weekend or to camp out for a housewarming party, but I'm content to hang out at home. Get caught up on some stuff. Find normal!

Crazy busy!

All summer long our weekends have been occupied with something or another, but August somehow gets the brunt of it all. Fitting in stuff we somehow couldn't find room for in the earlier months. The zoo. The amusement park. The large aquarium I know Cole will love.

Tomorrow is the last day before all hell breaks loose for a week. Thursday is appointments: Tay for her ears and me for my hair (whoo-hoo!!). Then I need to shop for Tay's birthday as she turns 13 on Monday *sob*. I'm not ready to have a teenager! Friday afternoon we leave to travel to Iowa for my brother's wedding on Saturday. DH and Cole need to be there early to try on their tuxes. I'm super excited that I got my dress on clearance and I LOVE it. I've been working out like mad and I know it will look good. I'm bummed I'm not included in the wedding party and this wedding has been a lot of drama, but I'm happy knowing I'll look good and have a great time with my cousin. We never get to hang together so we're excited :)

We'll come home on Sunday and DH will leave for a trip to Kansas to pick up a tank or two. The next day is Tay's birthday and she opted for a sleepover. Send good thoughts, I'll need them! Tuesday we will *finally* hit the amusement park. My mom is watching the little ones so we can go and have a good time without worrying about changing diapers or finding a restroom *right now*.

Later this month we have a weekend for the zoo and that aquarium (one on Saturday and the other on Monday). I say it every year, but next year I'll mean it : I'm planning this stuff earlier! :)

Tomorrow, last day of the Shred! I haven't seen a big loss, but I'm okay with that. I was looking to tone and I have so I'm happy with that. I think I just need to come to terms with the fact that this just might be the weight my body is happy with and it's healthy, so I can live with it.

August. Wth?

I can't believe it. August is *wait, I'm checking the calendar on my computer* 6 days away. Yikes. Where is the summer going? Busy weekends have made the months fly by. While I love having things to do, it makes the time go by so much quicker.

Well, at least I haven't been sitting on my butt, lol. We have hit the Relay for Life this year...my first time ever! I have purchased luminaries in the past, but this year the kids and I went out to visit my sister's employers Relay team. What a great experience. I think it was very eye-opening for Taylor to see all those luminaries lining the track and all those that walked the entire time we were there. Cancer has touched us through friends and family but she was too young to understand when those times happened. Our family had 9 luminaries lit that night: 3 "In Memory" and 6 "In Honor". One of my favorite pics from the night:




It was a great night....the weather was a little cool for it and we didn't stay all night, but I'd love to go again!!

Speaking of great weather, this weekend weather was awesome. Not hot July weather we're use to, but perfect for being active outside or relaxing on the deck at night. We leaving for DH's family's annual camping trip this Thursday so I hope we get lucky with the weather again!

I talked about not sitting on my butt earlier, and boy, if that isn't the truth! I started Jillian Michael's "30 Day Shred" and w.o.w. The workouts are only 20 minutes long, but she whomps on you for those 20 minutes! You do Level 1 for 10 days, Level 2 for 10 days and Level 3 for 10 days. As of today (Sunday) I'm on Level 2, Day 5. I'm just looking to tone up and lose some baggage upfront, but the 20 minutes is enough to make me feel good and hopefully I'll keep on working out when the 30 days is done.

When the world is passing you by...

You just have to wonder, what the hell am I waiting for?

Today on Facebook I received a group invitation from my sister. An invitation to a group she created to help promote a new "business" of hers. It's photography, scrapbooking, video editing, etc. That is the second or third person lately who is just off and running with a new project. I feel very left behind, lol. I guess I feel that way because we own 2 businesses and all I do for them is paperwork. Sure, someone has to do it, but it's not very exciting or anything. Nobody sees my "talents" of balancing books. Whoo-hoo. Even a friend started a scrapbooking business where she made enough money to buy a Kindle DX. Now I'm jealous because we *should * be able to afford one as well (I'm running out of room for my collection of books), but things are kind of icky right now. Anyway....

This September we have a truck show we go to every year...there are hundreds of trucks (semi), some big and new, some small and shiny. Of course, ours get the special treatment to look it's best as well. In the past, I have seen "boards" next to a truck, showing the progression from a not-so-fancy state to pretty darn nice looking! I thought that would be a great thing for ours...it looks NOTHING like it did when we first got it. I mentioned it to DH and he was all, "Eh." Oh well, maybe I'll do it for ourselves and he'll like it enough to take it with.

I think I just feel a little low because despite all the hard work being done, we have very little fun to go with it. DH works a lot, and the trucks are running.... it's just that the time it's taking some of these construction companies to pay us is insane. We are owed a lot of money and it's depressing to wait for it when our bills aren't exactly taking a hiatus or anything. :::sigh:::

In other news, I briefly abandoned my pity party for an a** whoopin' today. After reading some posts on a SAHM board where they were talking about "shredding", I was intrigued. Long story short, I received my Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred yesterday and started it today. Wow. Each level is 20 minutes and there are 3 levels. You do each level for 10 days and then move to the next one. I checked out the reviews and most of them were very positive, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. What have I got to lose? Oh yeah, the baggage upfront...forgot about that;)

Terrifying.

The motion.

The scream.

The helplessness.

That is our motorhome and Cole, the reason our motorhome is where it is.

We had a graduation party for DH's cousin this weekend and chose to stay over since it's a 2 hour drive. We also wanted to spent the night and visit with family into the later hours. We parked the motorhome up by the garage so the kids could crash early and we could still hear them. This morning DH and I were in bed, he was sleeping and I was listening to Lexi chatter away in her playpen. I had just heard the door open and close so I figured that Cole stepped out to answer the call of nature (we don't use our bathroom in the motorhome unless we are camping). Moments later I felt a jolt...we were moving. Backwards. Downhill. Things from there are a terrifying blur...DH sat up, I heard a scream (and it sounded like a kid), and we braced ourselves. We couldn't get out of our bed, we could only ride it out and wait for the crash because we were going to hit something.

We finally "crash" and DH bolts out of bed to check on the kids. I was focusing on the scream and nearly hysterical thinking we ran Cole over. Turns out, Cole was in the driver's seat (the scream was my sister-in-law or her daughter, they witnessed it happen). Lexi was in her playpen and fine. Despite being at the angle we were, her playpen barely shifted. What I thought was the door opening/closing was Cole shifting the motorhome into neutral. Back in 1985 the makers of Chevy must not have thought to have a locking mechanism on the gear shift when there are no keys in the ignition (we hide them from the kids while using the motorhome).

Thankfully, no one was hurt. Cole had actually latched our door open (as you can see in the pic) so DH's phone and my (new!) camera fell out since they had been sitting on the kitchenette counter. We took out a pine tree that DH's uncle had talked about moving anyway! The motorhome itself has some dents and the pipe for the generator bent something awful, but we drove it home with no problems.

I'm sure in the future we'll laugh...in fact, we all shared some chuckles this morning after the dust settled and everyone could see we were okay. Cole has been banned from sitting in ANY driver's seats for the next 20 years and the next time we use that motorhome there won't be enough brakes and blocks in the world to secure that beast.

Plans

I have a lot of them this summer:

• Take the kids to a zoo. The other day we saw an advertisement for the zoo and it featured a giraffe. Cole hopped to his feet all excited and said, "I have to see one of those!"
• Valley Fair. We didn't make it last year. We WILL make it this year before Taylor decides we're not cool enough to join her and her friends, lol.
• Underwater World at MOA. My new camera has an aquarium setting that I would love to try out. Cole has also really been into fish lately. Loves them!
• Not give a flying rat's patoot about what my flaky and fake SIL does. After some thinking, I feel sorry for her. I have the great husband, nice house (which we can pay for), and the awesome friends. I can live without drama, she can't survive without it.
  
• Find my storage room. I'm so excited for this!!! We are finally getting a shed *knocking on wood* so the tools, saws, etc. are getting out of my house. The day will finally come when I can say, "Oh, that it's in the storage room" and I will be able to find it. Decorating for holidays will be easy because while it's already organized, I'll be able to reach it! Whoo-hoo!
• Go to the park a lot. We live 2 miles from a small town with a few parks. The best thing? The paved bike trail right next to us leads us there. Fun for the kids, exercise for mom:)
  

The sun will come out...

and then go back behind the clouds. Yuck. Oh well, we had SUPER weather this weekend. The kind of weather where if you could hug it, you would. After days of rain (well needed) it was so nice to sit outside for graduation parties this weekend. Loved it! While it's not raining right now, we're suppose to get a good storm tonight and our yard needs the water something awful.

A solution may have been found as to what my issue is with being so damn tired all the time. At least, that is what I am hoping for. DH mentioned vitamins and how he feels "off" when he isn't taking them. I do have vitamins, I just rarely take them. Just basic over-the-counter womens vitamins that I'm suppose to take with food. For some reason I find that to be an inconvenience. For the last few days I have been taking special care to prepare breakfast, take my vitamin and then eat. It has only been a few days but I'm not struggling today, which is so nice. Such an awesome change of pace and I'm really hoping that swallowing a giant pill each day will be worth it in the long run!

Now I'm hoping this newfound non-tiredness will help me get back in gear with working out. I miss it, but I don't ya know? I prefer to work out in the morning with no distractions, just me and the Wii Fitness Coach or me and my Ipod with the exercise bike. Either way, it's June. And I recall that back in March I was hell-bent on not getting to June and wondering why I didn't start whooping my butt into shape back in March. :::sigh::: Oh well. Hop back on the bike (literally!) again!

If yawning were a sport.

I would score a gold medal, no problem.

After dealing with irritating video monitors that constantly have LOUD "blips" of static, I had enough Friday morning and looked for a new one. Last week was so busy however, that I wanted to stay home for a day. DH said if I found one I liked (online) he'd stop in and get it on his way home. Now mind you, I wasn't replacing those damn video monitors. We received them as gifts when Cole and Lexi were born, I just wanted something that worked and that wasn't too expensive. That all brought me to the wonder that is shopping. Why on Earth are 95% of the products only available online? Little tidbit of info to you giant chain stores...you want my business? Let me have it NOW. Not 5-7 days from now. And certainly not $6+ more for shipping and handling. While I really liked one (but would have to order it), I found one that would work and we could buy it right away, yippy! It had one review, but it was good. Yeah, I gave the opposite opinion earlier today. It worked great for 2 nights. 3am this morning? Same damn "blipping" noises! Ugh. We have checked this house all over, tested unplugging things while the monitor is on, moved the monitor, etc. We're rural and our nearest neighbor is down the road so I don't think we're crossing any wires with them. Just frustrating. Why work great for 2 nights and then stop? I wanted a plain monitor to check on Lexi until she's in a toddler bed..almost a year or less from now. So, I ordered the one I really wanted but at the cost of $6 shipping and handling and an arrival window of sometime NEXT week.

::::sigh::::

I just need sleep. We're thinking that is why I'm so tired all the time. While I eventually fall asleep, I think the "blips" from the monitor keep me from the deep sleep I need. For now we'll use the intercom (also ruled out as the cause) to hear her at night. What a pain.

In other news...literally...Cole, Lexi and I will make our local paper debut sometime this week. Sadly, on Saturday a teenager was killed crossing the road we live on while riding the bike trail. Having seen cars driving way too fast and bike riders repeatedlyblow their own stop sign, I dreaded that day. I contacted the local news station and the local paper asking them to please bring attention to this story as a reminder to all that safety measures count EVERYWHERE. This morning the local paper showed up to interview me as they planned to run a follow-up story on the trail and this accident. A photographer showed up later to take pics of me, Cole and Lexi walking with our wagon on the trail. Tay will be bummed, but she was in school at the time. I'm just glad attention is being brought to this problem. It's so great to use this trail, it's paved, long, and goes through/near little towns. We like to sit outside and watch families bike by and little old couples make their way for a little walk. Thankfully we didn't witness the accident, but somehow we missed the commotion as Lexi was napping at the time.

A newfound love...

Ebay.

What a wonderful thing:)

The pain-in-my-a**, always blurry pictures, can't-find-a-setting-that-works camera is GONE. Well, it hasn't been shipped yet, but I no longer own it. I now own a Canon SD790 IS that I love so far! I bought it yesterday and haven't had a lot of time to play with it yet, but I was able to figure the basics and get some awesome photos yesterday. Photos that I don't have to fix on my photo program. Photos with great colors. Photos with clear subjects. Photos that I didn't have to delete 6 disappointments and keep 1 good one.

As for Ebay, I found that selling stuff is almost more exciting than buying stuff, lol. I'm getting rid of something I don't need and getting paid for it without having to organize a garage sale. I've been searching my house seeing what else I can unload!

Yesterday we had an impromptu get-together with some family and friends. It was low-key with a low turnout, but we still had a great time!

I did it.

I finally had enough. After blurry shots, fiddling with settings, and missing great photo opprutunities, I put my evil camera up for sale on Ebay. It's my first time selling an item on Ebay. I have purchased items before, but not sold.

I have to give DH credit though. I just bought this camera in December and to buy another one is just plain silly to him (yet buying 10 versions of the same kind of tool makes sense? :::sigh:::). He said that he wouldn't be okay with a new camera until he saw the current one listed on Ebay. I put that sucker up in 30 minutes and sent a screen shot (proof!) to DH via text message:) Nothing like a little motivation, lol.

I haven't seen the best reviews for this camera (after I bought it of course!) and the last straw was this weekend....my sister got married and while some pictures look great, most look fuzzy, bad coloring, etc. I am NOT happy. It's a simple point and shoot with a well-known name, who knew? The thing that makes me super annoyed is that I researched and researched before I bought it. Why do the bad reviews come out of the woodwork after my card is swiped? I have a bigger play-with-the-settings camera and I like it, but taking it to bars, events, etc. sucks if I'm just hanging out. I wanted a nice, little, not-going-to-break-the-bank camera that took quality photos that I didn't have to fix just to put on Facebook.

I'm crossing my fingers this time with the new camera....it has gotten great reviews. It's compact. It's a different brand than evil camera.

And the dr says....

There is no cure for me. If there was, someone would be getting rich off of it. Going to get a little TMI here for a moment.

DH wants sex. I don't. Not even a little bit. There is ZERO desire. Now, DH is a hot guy. He's a great husband too (for the most part...he has his days, lol.). I'm not stressed. Things are good. We're surviving the economy just fine. I'm also a little tired lately. I'm ready to crash the moment the word "bed" is spoken and I'd sleep until noon if the kids or my alarm didn't wake me. My first thought? Depression. Well, I spoke to our doctor today (Lexi had her 15 month checkup) and he ruled out depression. He also said many women experience this and there really isn't much they can do. However, he ordered lab to draw some blood and check my thyroid. I'm not holding out a lot of hope as with the exception of one abnormal pap (which the retest came back normal), every single medical test I have ever had done on me has come back normal. I'm thrilled with that, yet now I'm looking for something to be wrong.

Over the last how many months, DH and I have tried e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g to "fix" the problem. My head (and heart) say, YES. My body? Yeah, not so much. :::sigh::: Here I thought no BCP and having my tubes tied would give me sexual freedom- whoo-hoo! Except the whoo-hoo is missing. DH has been great with it and really thought he was doing something wrong. I had to give the "It's not you, it's me" speech numerous times. Ya know, for a pretty confident guy he sure thought he was screwing something up, lol. Poor guy....7 years ago when he said, "I want that one", he didn't realize he was picking up a defective model;)

And time is a flyin'.....

I'm over the baby stuff going. Really, I am. Okay, I'm not, but it took over a month to post that. Yikes.

It's turning green outside! Whoo-hoo!! I took advantage of the awesome weather this last week and spent 4 days doing everything and anything outside to get our yard looking nice. Basically, DH's "honey-do" list began my "just-get-it-done" list, lol.

Busy. Busy. Busy.

• We took a road trip in mid-March that included a stop at Bristol Motor Speedway which was AWESOME. Would love to go back!
  
• I have finally been heard. Tay has some issues with school. ADD or ADHD. I had an inkling, but her dad refused to believe anything could be "wrong" with his daughter so I agreed to give it a little time. Conferences last month had us in the counselor's office echoing the very things I wanted to address. She is VERY smart and VERY bright. She just can't harness it all to get the grades she deserves. A meeting this Wednesday will get the ball rolling.
• I love my Fitness Coach. I really do. But it's been too damn nice out to touch it. I'm staying active, I promise! Scale and I came to an agreement: it stays in a certain range and I'll step on it more often. So far so good.
  
• Easter came and went. I dread the same with happen with summer. :::sigh::::
• 4 graduation parties and 5 weddings this year. Yikes.
• I can't wait to go camping. DH actually relaxes and it's so nice to decide on a Thursday "Hey, let's throw some stuff in the motorhome and go." And we do it!
  

My heart hurts:(

Today, we took the changing table out of Lexi's room and replaced it with a bookshelf. That means I had to go through baby stuff on the table and in the closet and pack it away to *gulp* get rid of it. No more burp cloths. No more Bumbo. No more bottles. No more bassinet. While some of this is reason to celebrate, it's bittersweet as she is our last baby.

I had so much fun with her as a baby (and well, now, too). When Taylor was born I was 18 and couldn't afford to buy her a lot of stuff. She also grew up to be a tomboy, lol. She'll throw on some lipgloss but she wouldn't dare be caught in pink. After Lexi was born and we knew for sure that she was a girl, I wound up buying yet another diaper bag just because it was fashionably pink and so sweet looking. Taylor had a neutral one. Cole had a neutral one. Even Lexi's was neutral until I saw that pink one.

We are definitely done with having more kids and I knew that when Lexi was born. Therefore, I sucked up every single moment with her knowing that they grow way too fast. 3am feedings weren't a burden. They were quiet moments with her..... smelling her baby smell and feeling her warm little body snuggle closer. Tay and Cole were tough babies. Cleft palate. Gas. Acid reflux. Lexi was/is such a treat. Laid back. Chill. I can honestly say I'm glad to end on a baby like her, I feel like it's the reward for the tough times the first two gave us!

On Monday DH will pack up the baby stuff and bring it in to one of the baby shops to sell it. I can't do it. I just can't. It would be like leaving memories at the store and I'd bawl. The first time we put her in the Bumbo and she bobbled back and forth with a smile on her face. Picking out that bassinet (the one we used for Taylor and Cole went to my sister) and putting the pink ribbons on, just hoping and praying that the ultrasound wasn't wrong.

I'm happy that each day one of my babies does something new. It's getting through that tough stuff parting with so many things that accompanied them in joining our family.

Why I'm doing this.

Today I worked out with 'Maya', my trainer on My Fitness Coach for the Wii. Today was workout #9. It was cardio.

Good God.

15 minutes in, huffing and puffing, just waiting (okay, begging!) for that wonderful, wonderful scrolling bar to bring on the "Rest" section. Not sure why, but some workouts give you a 15 second rest period after each set. Cardio and Flexibility aren't those workouts. Upper Body, sure. Lower Body, you bet. Core? But of course! I haven't done the yoga yet, so I'll have to get back to you on that. Cardio and Flexibility can whoop your tail and then say, "Oh, are you going to collapse? Okay, you can stop for 5 seconds.....1..2..5 and back to it!"

About that cardio....in those 15 minutes I had to plenty of time to think as breathing hard was taking on a life of it's own. With each huff came a word.....Why *huff* am *puff* I *huff* doing *puff* this *huff* to *puff* myself?

Because every June I kick it into gear to get swimsuit/shorts ready. Every June I wonder why I didn't start working out in March so that I'm ready for swimsuits/shorts before it's actually time for them. Why do I wait until the last "minute"? By the time I really feel fit it's late August and that swimsuit is going back in the drawer for the off-season. So I buffed myself to be covered in long sleeves and jeans. Yep. That makes sense.

This year I'm doing it the right way. As tired as I am, as lazy as I feel, I *will* workout and I will enjoy it, knowing that come June, I'll be glad I did.

I.Need.To.See.Some.Green.

Money. Grass. Leaves. Any of those will do, lol.

I am so sick of winter, I'm willing to pack it all up and move someplace warm permanently. 5 degrees? Wth? And just when you think it's starting to warm up and spring is on it's way, Mother Nature dumps ANOTHER 4-5 inches. Yuck. The sun is shining today and I'd love to get out, but the idea of wrangling two kids into clothes, coats, shoes, etc. and then buckling them into the car just exhausts me. Can't wait for the days when I can open the patio door and send them all outside...getting tired of being cooped up.

Tired. That is an understatement. I worked out this morning (the scale and I are NOT getting along) and I've been wiped out ever since. I also got 8 hours of sleep last night. So I'm convinced that there is some medical study that is WRONG. Sleep and exercise? Sugar really IS what keeps people going;)

I'm also convinced that all chairs in the house have sensors on them....the moment I sit, someone needs something from me. Every time. Same goes for the keyboard on this computer. My fingers start typing and I'm surrounded by Chicken Littles making a falling sky out of an acorn.

Time outs.

I needed one today. BIG TIME.

Cole is driving me nuts. Just nuts. I'm ready to call Supernanny on just him. I had to call DH to come and take him for the rest of the day so I could think. Spend time with Lexi (Tay had school). Work out. Let my brain rest. After DH took him I refused to look at one thing involving Cole, including his room, which he destroyed during a time out.

Working out went well, my Ipod even worked, yay me! Darn thing has been sprouting lines across the screen. Researching the problem has been giving me the idea that I think it's on the way out:( Today it fired up no problem. Wish I could say my leg did the same! Just got into a good song, "jogging" away on the Wii and sharp pain up the left knee...ugh. That's not even my problem knee (right-old injury). I think I just worked it too hard, so I moved onto something else instead of stopping altogether which I really wanted to do! I think it was the sheer fear of that number on the scale...up about 2 pounds. Yuck. Feeling the need to get outside and move...need nicer weather!!

Hiding.

Sometimes I go into our lower level (finished basement) and leave all the lights off. I can be on the computer and unless the house is completely quiet (which it NEVER is), you can't hear my typing. It's a nice place to escape kids. If I'm really lucky, I get 10 minutes before they find me. Don't worry, DH is around when I do "escape".

I want to understand the mind of a 3 year old boy. I really do. I want to know why spreading lotion on toys or electronics is neat. Or why throwing paper clips everywhere is fun. Soaking the carpet with water...why? DESTROYING things. That was just today and that was just ONE 3 year old.

Last night my sister and brother-in-law came over and they brought their almost-3-year old son. Put one 3 year old with an almost 3 year old and very little good stuff can come from that. I witnessed it myself. While us adults played cards upstairs, we let them play downstairs where most of the toys are. Toys GALORE. Given that we have an open staircase and the table is right next to it, we could hear most everything. Note that key word: most. Notice that it's not "everything". Like:

• Taking the Monopoly game completely apart
• Clearing an entire windowsill of all the pictures and decorations on it and to get to that windowsill, you have to climb a cabinet.
  
• Actually breaking a wooden train-set play table because one of them stood in it.
• Going into big tubs and taking EVERYTHING out of them. I had pictures scattered everywhere:(
  

Why? All of those toys and instead they chose to destroy. It doesn't happen with one 3 year old. Needless to say, big measures will be taken this week to organize our storage room AGAIN to see if I can get some room for things that obviously can't stay out if we have anymore playdates here.

I'm frustrated. I clean so much and to have to clean out-of-the-ordinary messes on top of what I already do is just disheartening when I'm already exhausted. I KNOW he's a good kid. I also know that the next person to tell me that I don't do anything as a stay-at-home-mom is looking for a swift, SWIFT kick in their a**.

Confessions

Today I did the entire yoga section of my WiiFit. I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking with it and I'm wondering why I thought the last few poses (unlocked, but never used) would be so tough. They weren't. I guess I've always been of the mind that if I'm not jumping like a maniac, I'm not doing much good when it comes to exercise. Yoga always sounded boring, but things feel better. My back has been bugging me lately and I actually felt parts of it stretch and feel some relief. Maybe I'll stick with it...

In my post yesterday, I fibbed a bit. About that Lexi being such an easy baby thing. Don't get me wrong, she is the easiest one we've had but lately, that little girl is out to make a liar out of me. Two nights in a row now, she's gotten up between 3-4am. No idea why. Diaper isn't very wet. Sippy of warm milk doesn't get emptied. She will lounge on my lap with her eyes open just looking around at our living room. She knows she shouldn't be up. After 15-20 minutes, I'll lay her down and she goes back to sleep. The super neat part? It has to be *me* that she sits with. :::sigh::: DH knew that I was exhausted, so he got up with her last night. He did exactly as I do, but when he laid her down, she pitched a fit. Being as the monitor is right next to my head, I couldn't sleep. So I got up with her AGAIN. Same as before: warm sippy, sit in chair, lay her down, right to sleep. That's great and all, but then I'm wide awake even though I'm exhausted:( I'm glad it's not every night, but good grief. I'm on 3 nights of crappy sleep. I also can't nap during the day or I can't sleep at night. Super.

Can't wait until my kids are all teenagers...Saturday morning. 6am. Me banging pots and pans. You get my idea.

Just a couple of things...

1. I suck at blogging. I'm just gonna put that out there since it's the big ol' elephant in the room. I have all these thoughts, pearls of wisdom, etc. and I am just too lazy to blog it. I'm too busy dinking around on Facebook trying to find items on Scavenger Hunt.

2. Raising a boy is HARD. Taylor as a youngster, pretty easy. Lexi, the most easy going baby ever. Cole? The boy will drive me to drink. Picks on his sisters. Picks up EVERY smart a** comment DH makes. Today during lunch, he told me that his "people" said I should "shush". Um, WHAT? Now, when DH says it, it's when I tell him he's misinformed, being a dork, etc. His response (joking around) is always, "My people told me otherwise" or something goofy like that. I follow up with " I am your people."

3. Working out. Ugh. Lately I LOVE sleep. Once I am working out, I'm having a good time, feeling the burn, all pain with hopefully no gain (ha, ha, get it?), yada, yada, yada. While the scale has gone up just a bit (a pound or two), I really need to work out. I just do. My back has been killing me lately and I think it's because my core went to mush. I'm not exactly sitting on my arse all day, but my body really needs a whooping. My hair needs some help. My skin looks horribly old. Can't wait for spring...I need fresh air where I don't need to dress up like an eskimo to enjoy it.

4. I got a new phone and I LOVE it. I research the heck out of everything. I got my parents a new toaster for Christmas as they needed one. When I told them I researched the reviews and could report it makes excellent toast, I think they wondered where they had gone wrong in raising me, lol. Anyway, I have wanted a blackberry for f.o.r.e.v.e.r. All my friends seem to have one. Both of my brothers have one. I felt left out. However, the SmartChoice plan required to own a blackberry was NOT favorable to us with 3 lines, a buttload of texting, and a preteen with friends who call to report how they got home from school that day. So, I got the Motorola Hint. Ugly as sin, but fun. We could keep our family plan and we just tacked on the $6 or so for the internet access for my line. Taylor got my "old" phone, the Samsung Muse. Great phone, I needed a qwerty keyboard though. I'm a texter. Hate talking on the phone. Anyway, she has a camera phone now, I have my fun phone with the good plan, and I'm looking forward to when Facebook mobile will bail my silly self out of a boring situation!

Bursting a bubble

And that would be the bubble of the weatherman. He just sounded WAY too happy about January being the first month since the 1800's that we haven't reached above freezing for a day. There's a chance, a chance that we might hit the 30's on Saturday. I was so excited when I saw that I nearly did a little dance in the middle of lunch!

Someone had a birthday around here....
Look at that sweet face. It's the face of a 1 year old little diva princess with an ear infection for her first birthday:( The day before she crap-napped and woke up with a 104 temperature. Poor baby. Being as it was a Friday, DH and I took both Cole (whining about his ear bugging him too) and Lexi in to the doctor. She had the ear infection, he was borderline. :::sigh::: Oh well. Both were given prescriptions for Amoxicillin and recommendations for Motrin to kick the fever. By Saturday morning she had smiles:) Another problem arose later however (more on that in a bit)

Diva Lexi (who needs her morning milk room temperature) had fun at her party. Given her illness, we kept it short: lunch, cake, gifts and naptime (for her!). Then the adults could visit a bit. She was such a trouper, but wanted little to do with that yummy cake. She got some on her hands and wasn't entirely thrilled!

Then there's Cole. Sunday morning we were hanging around and when I saw him reach for a toy, I spotted something that made my heart drop. Spots. On his hand. Dark pink spots. I unzipped his jammies and he was COVERED. Our first thought: chicken pox. I ran to WebMD..most signs pointed to yes. The contagious period to keep him home? 10 days. And that's for one kid. I was crushed. It's been below zero for DAYS. If it's above zero, the windchill has no problem kicking us below that. Cabin fever is ambundant around here. The idea of being forced to stay home? Ugh. To top it off, Lexi would be screwed as she was exposed before she got the vaccine. Fortunately, a few calls determined that it was a rash from the Amoxicillin. *whew* It's not an allergic reaction, some kids get it and it will disappear as quickly as it pops up. I'm happy to say I can't really play connect the dots on him anymore!:)

Last week I worked out. I worked out so much I couldn't work out this week (yet). I got into our Wiifit a lot...mostly running, which I love. Throw on the Ipod and go. I also received the Jillian Michael's workout for the Wii. It's okay. The workout is great, but the sensors don't catch alot of what you do. So if you're content not seeing progress on the screen then it's not much of a problem. I adapted and now my thighs hurt!

A bare wall

I have one! It's so neat. There used to be a big tree there. A tree that -amazingly- survived a 3 year old and an 11 month old for a couple weeks. Anyway, it came down yesterday. DH took Cole for the day so I could work at it. It only took 5 hours, lol. I have a lot of ornaments that go in their own boxes so that takes some time, but it was so much easier without Cole unpacking what I already packed.

7 Christmases and we are finally done as of this past Sunday. ::::giant sigh:::: That is a LOT of family and a lot of running around to see everyone. Kids had fun, we had fun, but I'm ready for some normal now!

On a happy/sad note, Lexi turns ONE on Saturday!!! Happy because she's such a sweet baby and so much fun. Everything she does is just precious. Sad because she's our last:( I knew that when we decided to have her....every milestone has been "Oh, this is the last first time, blah, blah, blah" Lol. Yesterday I went through a lot of her baby stuff that she's outgrown and it was just sad. No more tiny baby:( All this baby stuff we have no use for anymore and it's mocking me because I know we'll never need it. ANYWAY......:) I ordered her cake today with a princess theme. We plan on immediate family and a few close friends but that's still a lot of people given that my sibling count jumped by 4 this past year, lol. Should be fun:)