And there he found us...

I mentioned that my husband has been out-of-town this week. He came home last night around midnight. He slept in the guest room so as not to wake me. Or the Bear.

He came in to our bedroom this morning and found me and the Bear still sleeping.

I had one of our king-size pillows situated up-down in the middle of the bed. It's a king-size bed. The pillow was to be the "barrier" to keep the kid on the one side of the bed.

This morning? The Hubs found the Bear right next to the king-size pillow. The pillow was to his left. And I was on his right.

Did you catch that? He was on MY side of the barrier. So our king-size bed was not fully being utilized. The kid was on my side. His head on my pillow. His body pressed up right next to mine.

Tonight? I don't know what's going to happen. I think the Hubs is going to take a hard stance and ban the Bear from our bed. It's NOT going to be a pretty sight. But at least the kid got some sleep after being sick. And I did too.

Why is typical so typical?

Hubs? Out of town since Monday 5am. I didn't even stir when he kissed me good-bye.

Princess? Cranky moments. Annual ped's appointment yesterday. She's on the same growth curve as she was as when she first sprung forth into the world. 75% height (46 inches). 25% weight (38.5 lbs). Her thumb is healing fine. She's been given the okay to take off the splint at home. At school she'll continue to wear it until next Friday. But she's supposed to bend and stretch her finger while she's without the splint.

Bear? He's been crying when I try to put him to bed. He's basically slept with me since Monday night. When he sleeps with me, I end up not sleeping well. Because when he stirs, he LOOKS for me. Or rather, my hair. Which he twirls in his fingers endlessly until he's lulled back to sleep. Last night I put one of the kingsize pillows between us and told him to stay on his side. When he did cry out for me, I held his hand. But alas....he woke up sick today. As I was washing my face this morning, he stood there beside me and coughed. YOU know. THAT cough. The pre-sick cough? Well, he ended up coughing up some stomach acid. Just enough for me to know that he'd be home today. Great.

Anyway, today we ended up dropping the Princess off at school. A quiet ride this morning. The Bear and I got home. I opened his door and went down the driveway to grab the trash container (as the trash had already been picked up). I walked back to up the car and the Bear is standing there. In the car. With his right hand over his mouth.

"Buddy. You okay? You need to vomit?"

He looks down and points with his left hand to his feet. I look and there's a mushy little pile. Ugh. I grab a plastic ziplock bag (that I always have in the doors of my car) and put it under his chin. As if I've opened a floodgate, the kidling coughs up 3 more times. Calmly. With tears streaming down his eyes. Once he's done, he looks at me. In relief. I shuffle him inside. Take off his shoes. Plunk him on the carpet in the half bath. I then go back out into the garage with paper towels, cleaning towels, and some carpet cleaner. I spray and scrub that mushy pile out of my cars carpet. HOPEFULLY I caught it in enough time where it didn't soak into the depths of the fibers. yuck.

But the kid seems fine. He hasn't puked since. Right now he's playing on a Leapster. Quietly upstairs.

Oh yeah...and did I mention it's my birthday? Typical. I'm over-tired. With a sick kid. With an absent husband. On my birthday. Just typical.

Celebrations

I'm kind of out of the hole I was in. Finished with the birthday celebrations.

My sister and new BIL flew in on Friday morning. Good in theory. But I forgot that I had scheduled my annual appointment. The one I'd scheduled about 2 months ago. So I ended up telling my sister to pick up a shuttle to get to my house. A shuttle she ended up not needing. Why? Because the flight was 2 hours late. And the flight is only an hour long.

I picked them up from the airport and we had some lunch. Then we headed to the Princess school to bring treats.

Princess' teacher (Ms D): Oh hi! Did you want to go to the back to get set up?

Me [confused look on my face]: Set up?

She turned and looked at me. I held up the bag of treats. She looked relieved.

Ms D: Some people bring balloons and tablecloths and ice cream....

Me: Oh...I'm keeping it simple this year.

Ms D: I'm glad.

Me: I just don't want to create a mess. I brought cupcakes last year. BIG mistake. Frosting on faces. Hands. Clothes. NEVER again.

And what did I bring? Cookies. That's it. Two packages of chocolate chip and a package of sugar cookies. Those fresh ones from the bakery. Yum.

But as relaxed as Friday was, I was a little bit stressed on Saturday morning. Especially when I drove into the park parking lot. It was PACKED! I think I got the last available spot. Then when I walked some of the supplies up to the ramada, I noticed two sets of games going on. A soccer and a baseball game. No wonder it was packed.

The castle rental guy came up and started to assemble the party entertainment. An obstacle course. Uh-huh! It wasn't just a castle this year. It was one of those things you climb on one end. Weave through a couple things. Climb a cargo net. And slide down. I rented it through the internet. What I didn't realize was how TALL the thing actually was. When the gentleman started to inflate it we were all kind of standing there in awe. The kids from the two games? They had to walk by the obstacle course as they finished their games. That's right. You heard that right. The games finished just 10 minutes or so before the party was to begin. YEAH! Once the games finished, the park was CLEAR. We had it all to ourselves.

As much as we were in awe of the obstacle course when it was being blown up, all the kids were giddy when they saw it. They played on that thing like maniacs. What was good is that because it was an obstacle course, we didn't have any collisions. With the kids being bigger this year, that's what I was afraid of happening. Too many kids inside a castle and having kids getting hurt. We couldn't get the kids to stop playing when the pizzas came. So us parents ate. Pizzas. Sandwiches. Chips. Strawberries. Grapes. Oh yeah...and a couple unexpected people ate too.

Unexpected you ask? Yes. The two older sisters of one of my daughter's girlfriends from school. And the grandparents of one of the boys from school. Now the boy's Mom had called me earlier in the week to RSVP. At that time, she asked if it was okay if she brought her younger daughter. Knowing this lady is a single parent, of course, I said yes. But she failed to mention anything about bringing her parents to the shindig. The little girl's Mom called and just said her daughter would be attending. What I found a little irritating was when the one sister (who is 7) said "Why don't I have a gift bag?" Talk about bad manners. [shaking it off]

What was a great find was the cake. I should actually say....the cupcake cake. The big chain grocery store near our house has revised their baked goods selection. They now make cupcakes, put them together, and frost it like a cake. So this worked WONDERFUL at the park. I didn't have to bring a knife. All I did was pull each cupcake from the bottom (which had the cupcake tin) from the cluster and hand it to each child/parent. No fuss. No muss. And it wasn't skimpy. The theme I chose had 33 cupcakes! Yum!

And yes. My SIL and MIL did irritate me. My MIL jus irritates me with her voice. I could hear it everywhere I went. My SIL wore jeans and slip on heels. To the park. So she went over to go on the obstacle course with the kids. And held her shoes with her as she went through it. Then when they were all going to drive back, my SIL went into the bathroom and changed. Into a tshirt, some shorts, and gym shoes. Now why wasn't she wearing that outfit in the first place? This way she could run around with the kids.

And run the kids did. After the cupcakes, I gave the kids their gift bags. I went on the cheap and used brown bags. To go along with the Wonder Woman theme, all the items were blue, white, or red. There were necklaces with star shapes all around. Bracelets with inspirational words (Hope, Pride, Freedom, etc). Little airplanes. Bookmarks. Bubbles. Headbands with little stars sticking up like bunny ears. And a pinwheel. The kids immediately threw on the headbands and began to run with their pinwheels. I had them run in groups across the baseball field. Many. Many. Times.

What I found interesting is that when the games finished a Parks worker came by and changed out all the trash liners in the ramada area. What was even better was that after the time we had reserved the space, the same Parks worker came by and changed the liners again. It was so nice. So the next party (if any) would have empty trash containers.

It was a great time. The Princess had a blast. The Bear had a blast. We had a blast. No extensive clean-up. I think I'm going to have to rent the park next year too....

Making Mommy Laugh

Sitting at the breakfast table.

"Bate, bate, bate, chocolaw-tey!"

"Bate, bate, bate, chocolaw-tey!"

If the kids are served ANYTHING that requires mixing, they'll start singing this.

Cereal? Bate, bate, bate.

Oatmeal? Bate, bate, bate.

Juice or water with ice? Bate, bate, bate.

Dora really has influenced these two with this one. At least it's nothing destructive. Just singing while they mix.

I've been swamped

I've been working so much that I haven't had any desire to spend any additional time on the computer. So what gets left behind? This site. Of course.

I've had about 4 nights of getting to bed at 11pm. Right after I shut down my laptop. This is after starting work at about 6:30am. That's right folks. The first set of reports I run happens at 6:30am about every day. As my reports are run, I walk off and get breakfast for the kidlings and get them ready for the day. In between tasks, I check on report status and run more reports. Around 7:30am we head out and I drop the kidlings off. I generally get home by 8:15. Once I get home? I'm banging away on my computer. Running reports. Compiling data. Sending emails. Reviewing deliverables. I head out around 2:45pm to get the kids. We get home around 3:30pm. I get them washed up and into clean clothese. I get them snacks. Then I'm back to work until dinner. We eat as a family. We clean up. If I've got a ton to do, the Hubs will take the kids outside to play. Then it's bedtime prep at 7:15pm. The kids are in bed by 8pm. Then I will get back on my laptop.

Yes. I work at home. But it's not glamorous. It's not about doing errands alone during the day while the kids are at school/daycare. It's not about going to Tarjay and the carwash. I'm usually holed up in our office. ALL DAY. Alone.

Don't get me wrong. I like my job. I like working from home. I like the fact that I don't need to get dolled up for work. You know. Heels. Dressy slacks. Makeup. I head out for the day in shorts and a tshirt. Hair in a ponytail and a little lipstick. But man! Right now I'm burnt up.

Hopefully, this weekend will be refreshing one. My sister and new brother-in-law are coming in on Friday. They'll be here to celebrate the Princess' 6th birthday. That's right. My little girl is going to have another birthday! It'll be at the park I mentioned. I rented a bouncy obstacle course thing. A lot of my daughter's friend's will be bringing their siblings. No biggie. We'll be at the park. The little ones can run around and be on the swings. I've just got to be sure we've got the "right" count so we'll have enough to drink and eat.

For now? I'll leave you now....tired. Going to bed. But I'll be sure to take photos of the celebration and share with you all.

It's kind of like a glove

The Princess and I went out to a birthday party on Saturday.

Fabulous, right?

We got there. Got shoes on her feet. Then she went to throw the bowling ball for the first time. SPLAT!

Splat? Uh. Yeah. She went splat. She had picked up the bowling ball and walked forward. She failed to step UP to the wood floor. So she fell forward with her hands still around the bowling ball.

She got up and cried. I put ice on her fingers. Her thumb was already starting to swell. I could see a bruise developing. She was a wreck.

Princess: MOMMY! When is my finger going to feel better?

We stayed for about 10 minutes and then ended up leaving. I wasn't going to have her in suck a sad state while everyone was trying to celebrate her friend's birthday.

The Hubs and the Princess did end up following through with their plans of attending a football game. They drove up to the Hubs alma mater (1 1/2 hours away) and ate dinner and had a late night out.

Hubs: I'm thinking we should have her checked out in the morning.

Me: You think?

Hubs: She's not in any pain but I want to get the tip of her finger checked out.

Me: Yeah. It looks like a pretty bad bruise on the tip there.

We got up on Sunday and had breakfast. And then we headed out to the Urgent Care. Turns out that she broke the tiny bone at the tip of her thumb. BROKE IT! So she's got a splint on her left hand. No cast.

How do YOU think it looks?

Look how sheepish she looks!

This is another first in our house. A broken bone. I'm sure it's the first of many injuries. This WAS her SECOND visit to the Urgent Care though.

Yes. When she was almost 2 years old she had her first visit to the Urgent Care. Why? Because she couldn't use her left arm. She and I went to get our mail. She walked up a little hill and I was helping her walk down it. But she wanted to stay up on the hill and she jerked away. She cried for about 30 seconds. And then stopped. We continued on our way. She and I were in the backyard pulling weeds. I noticed that she wasn't using her arm. It just hung there on her side. Her right arm was fully functional so that's what made me notice the difference.

The Hubs came home and I had him look at her. We ended up going directly to the Urgent Care. She had her first X-Ray. And they found that her elbow had popped out. YUP! BAD MOMMY! She was fine as fine can be once the doctor on call popped her elbow back in. Took him 2 seconds. After that she moved her arm with no problems.

Anyway. Two Urgent Care visits. One popped elbow. One broken thumb. She's almost 6. I think that's a pretty good record so far. Pretty conservative.

Now the Bear? He's been to the Emergency Room once. The Hubs took him when he was about a year old. It was in the middle of the night. The Bear had two severly infected ears. He had a 102 temp. Horrible. But he was "fine" the next day. No Urgent Care for him....yet!

How many times have YOUR kids been to the Urgent Care/Emergency Room?

Another wedding story

The Hubs' boss (HB) and his wife (HBW) went to a wedding this weekend. It was for his ex-wife's nephew. Even after the divorce, his ex-wife's nephew stayed close with HB and his daughter (HBD).

It was a destination wedding. So everyone took a couple modes of transportation to GET to the wedding site. The younger group (the wedding party, their friends, and HBD & her fiancee) went on a huge tour bus. The older group (the parents and such) went on a plane. Turns out that the plane was a MUCH better route. WHY? Because the 8 hour bus ride turned out to be an 11 hour ride. WHY? Because the wedding party and their friends were BIG TIME smokers. Every hour or so they'd have the bus driver stop so they could take a smoke break.

HB and HBW checked into their room at the hotel. The hotel was shaped around an open area in the middle. Their room? It was on the outside of the circle. On the street side. Right near the hotel bar. duh-duh-duh-DUM! That's right folks. Right near the BAR! When the bus finally arrived, the wedding party and friends hit the bar. They apparently let loose and were quite loud. They left the bar around 1:30am. Whew, right? No. When the wedding party and friends left, the locals did their thing. The bar closed up around 4:30am. Needless to say, HB went to the front desk the next morning to get a different room. A much quieter room.

Before the ceremony, there was a scheduled event. A vodka tasting party. Most of the young set attended (basically everyone from the bus). The people who weren't in the wedding party had to leave the tasting a little early so that they could get changed. The wedding party? They were already dressed and stayed to drink more. When the time for the ceremony finally arrived, the entire wedding party walked over to the wedding site. Which happened to be across a muddy area. The bride's dress was a MESS by the time she got to the altar. Mud and foot prints on the train. Uh....but they were all pretty drunk so I guess it didn't matter? The bride and groom had to sit during the ceremony. They were so toasted they couldn't stand up for the entire ceremony.

And the stories don't end there. Apparently, there was a story of one young guest who was sitting in a regular chair at the reception and fell over. She just fell over and passed out. There was a story about one groomsman (supposedly 19 years old) who locked out his designated roommates because he was hooking up with one of the bridesmaids (supposedly 17 years old).

I must say that when the Hubs' was relaying this story, he was sounding pretty shocked. But I looked at him like he was crazy.

Me: Why are you so surprised about these kind of antics?

Hubs: It's just so OUT there.

Me: You should talk! It sounds like something that your family would do. You all seem to NEED alcohol when there's a party. There is a history of your uncles and male cousins fist fighting. There's cat fights and stuff between the aunts and the girl cousins. HB's nephew's family is just a half step higher in antics than your OWN family!

Hubs: Well....I guess when you put it THAT way....

Now what kind of crazy weddings have YOU seen or been a part of?

Laura...boom!

Did y'all watch the show last night?

All of a sudden Laura looks PREGNANT. Just like that.

Especially that 2nd day of the challenge. She's got her shirt wrapped over her belly with her black pants under. She's actually got SKIN showing.

I guess that's what happens when you've had 4 kids already. But it seems just SO SUDDEN.

What's the most amazing to me is that she's still wearing her heels and tailored clothes. Wow!

It's almost PARTY-time

It's that time of year again. Time to organize the Princess' birthday party.

I am refusing to have the party at the closest "kid oriented" pizza place. The one closest to us is a DIVE. Yucky. Dirty. Messy. And there's only ONE ticket counter machine. That is the last straw. I always get stuck behind a boatload of kids trying to redeem their tickets for the prizes. Most frustrating.

I am refusing to have the party at the bowling alley. The Princess has already missed one party (2 weeks ago) at the bowling alley. There is a party there THIS weekend for one of her good friends. And our neighbor whose birthday is the same day as the Princess (but whose party will be the day after) is going to have HER party at the bowling alley.

So....I am opting to have the party at the local park. I'm not having it at the huge neighborhood park with the fabulous kids' play area. I'm having it at the smaller park (about 1/3 the size of the first one). The reason I'm having it at the smaller park is because NO ONE seems to go there. They've got bathroom facilities (not port-a-potties) right next to the ramadas. And since no one goes there it won't be difficult for guests to find us.

I'm planning on having a jumping castle. I may even get two of them. But we're going to have games. Relay races. Simon Says. Blow up the balloon in 60 seconds. At least 10 games for the kiddos. And a boatload of prizes too.

Now, we had the Princess' party at our house last year and we barely survived. I thought my husband was going to have a heart attack with all the running around up and down the stairs, the slamming doors, the basic decimal levels that ensued during the party. And there were only little girls there. This year? My daughter wants to invite some boys from her class along with the neighborhood boys. So there is NO WAY we're having the party here.

AND....I don't want the drama of having people drop their kids off. WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?

Maybe it's only because i didn't grow up with this practice I find it odd. But I have recently found out that when someone has a kids' party at their house, a lot of parents will just drop their kids off and leave. Do you do that? Is it an assumed thing that it's allowed?

[shaking head in confusion]

I think my real issue here is what if a kid starts acting up? What do I do? Do I discipline them? Put them in time-out? What? Now my neighbors? I know them all and they know me. I wouldn't think twice about telling them stuff. Since I don't know all the parents of my daughter's classmates I wouldn't feel comfortable being stern with them. What would you do? Or better yet....what HAVE you done in this type of situation?

I still have a lot to do. The one thing I have done is reserve the park ramada. I still need to buy invitations. Order gifts. Get game prizes. Get gift bag items. Order a cake. Touch base with the pizza place so they can deliver hot pizzas to the park. LOTS to do!