It all started with a pencil.  A simple, little pencil.  We were making our begining of the year pages of "ourselves".  I weighed all the kids and next up was measuring their height.  I put them against the wall and made a tiny, itty bitty pencil mark above their heads.  BIG mistake.  Toddler B saw it and thought "OO, what a great idea!"  And he started drawing on my walls.  First it was pencil marks, then crayons, then colored pencils.  Princess C and N must of thought it looked like fun because they joined in the fun.  I had marks from one end of the house to the other, inside and out, top to bottom.  So I packed away all the marking instraments.  That didn't stop my clever little kid, oh no.  He pushed a chair over to my computer desk, climbed up, and grabbed a permanent marker out of the drawers. 

The good thing is, he colors in the same spots.  You can see the pencil marks and the permanent marker marks.  I was able to scrub it off, but with it came the paint. 

For more pencil stories, or to contribute your own, hop on over to the Front Porch. 

(I hope I didn't blog about this already.  I have told the story so many times, I can't remember.)

Here is a conversation me and my hubby had one night:

ME:  If we have a big baby with a giant head, let's name him Bruce.

Hubby:  Bruce?  Are you crazy?

Me:  Can't you picture a big baby named Bruce?

Hubby:  You're crazy.

Me:  How about Wayne?

Hubby:  Bruce?  Wayne? 

Me:  Well, I don't think we would want our baby named Dick!  Of course, Grayson would work, too.  Man, that movie is Riddled with names!

Hubby:  Stop Joking around.

Me:  [funny penguin laugh]

Here is some Saturday fun:

Two days ago, I had the great idea of making the two little ones a tent to play in while I did school with the two older ones.  It was simply a throw blanket and a toddler size sheet over two chairs.  The next thing I know, my frontroom looks like this:

And the most pathetic thing is, this is my view if I turn around in my chair from where we homeschool.  I couldn't understand how this happened without me realizing it.  There are about 10 more blankets, a box of cars and a box of animals all brought past where I sit!  I thought I was really a horrible mom until I remembered that I had been outside emptying the pool.  OH YEAH!  That's why I didn't notice it.  Phew... I'm not horrible...

In the afternoon, we went in the frontroom to read our history.  We are at Noah's ark.  I told N and Princess C to clean up the animals while I read.  When I looked up from my book, I saw all the animals in a row weaving around the chair legs, up over the blankets, all on their way to the ark.  How could I be mad...  

I nearly fell off my chair when I read this this morning:  "He shows why home schooling is not the best thing a parent can do for a child. He explains how certain foods found in most kitchens can actually be killing kids rather than helping them to grow."

It came in my e-mail and the way I read it was that the two sentences actually went together.  Like, if you homeschool you are killing your kids with the food you feed them.  But it was only a book review and the two sentences were two of the many topics the guy wrote about.  If you're curious, click here for the full review. 

My hubby was reading this out loud tonight, "And He has given us this command, whoever loves God must also love his brother."  So N asks, "Who's God's brother?"

(I John 4:21)

Here is Baby Toddler B signing and saying "run".  He stops when he sees the camera to say cheese.....

In other signs.... You can always tell what you say often by listening to your kids.  Princess C was overheard telling Toddler B, "Shame on you, B"   

Just for clarification, I didn't think my life was horrid because he spilled sugar on the floor.  It was a series of crazy events over a period of time and the topper was the fact that my post disapeared.  The sugar incident was just cute enough to post. 

Anyway

Is anyone else sick of hearing the ice cream truck?  I'm about ready to beat that stinkin music player with a sledge hammer.  The scam artist...errr... guy driving the truck knows exactly where all the children are and when.  Letting out of VBS... there he is.  Practicing t-ball... here he comes.  10 children running around my block.... is that music I hear?  It's still June and I'm going crazy.  I constantly hear the music going.  Sometimes it's loud, sometimes it's soft.  But it's always going.  If you hear about a crazy mom vs ice cream truck on the news, you'll know it's me. 

I JUST WROTE A BIG LONG POST ABOUT HOW HORRIBLE MY LIFE IS AND IT DISAPPEARED!!!!!!   AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!   How ironic.  I didn't even do anything.  My computer just decided to change pages on me.  I am so angry.  I don't feel like writing everything all over again, so I will just post this picture and tell you this happened twice.  You can make up your own story.

Riddle me this, Batman:

We have trained our boys that when they wake up, they need to stay in bed and read.  They are not to get up, wake each other up, play around, be loud, etc...  They still don't have it down pat, and we constantly have to remind them.   Now Princess C on the other hand, is told that when she wakes up, get out of bed and come to me.  Normally, she lays in bed crying and yelling, "I want mama!"  (And it's only a fake cry, because when I get in there, there are no tears.)  When she yells, she wakes up Baby B and that is why we are trying to train her not to stay in her bed.  Yet, she can't get it.  Why are they so backwards?!?!? 

N had a scab on his foot that got ripped off.  He came up to me and said in a paniced voice, "Mama!!!  It's leaking!!" 

I brought home an algae eater for the fish tank and D says, "Can I put the allergy eater in the tank?"

 At a party the other day all the boys were in the back eating.  One boy says, "I am the king of chips."  Another says, "I am the king of Doritos."  N says, "I am the King of the Jews!"

There is a family at our church who is mutlilingual.  One of the languages they speak is Portuguese.  The other day, N was talking about how his friend spoke different languages.  He said, "Yeah, he speaks English and Perogies."  HAHAHA!!  (Can you tell we are Polish?)

My hubby left me the sweetest note yesterday.  I opened up my Bible and there was a colored pencil stuck in it.  I looked and highlighted is Proverbs 31:28:  "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her".  I just think that is the best note ever. 

Despite those sweet thoughts, I am rather sour today.  It's that time, when I turn into a monster.  Yelling and throwing fits.  Ugh.  Why can't the kids learn to be on their best behiviour when I turn crazy?  Noooo... instead, they get worse. 

The plumbing inspector was supposed to come today for one of three final inspections.  (Yes, three).  He was going to be here between 8 and 11.  After 11, I decided he must be working on Pacific time.  Well, now it's after 1 and I guess it must be 8-11 pm.  (yeah, that makes sense)  Today is Friday, right? 

Last year at this time I was doing Dandelion Seed's Spring Cleaning.  I really need to do it again.  I still have all the paper work for it.  It's just a matter of kicking myself into gear.  Yeah, that's what I'll do.... later...

I brought up a giant bin full of Little People stuff trying to interest Baby B.  It worked, but it also interested Princess C.  And of course, with a huge, giant bin full of different things, they only wanted what the other had. 

Now, Princess C is in my bed "napping" (playing with stuffed animals).  N is watching a reading DVD and D is reading.  And Baby B is destroying the house.. tearing down things that I thought were piled high out of his reach.  I guess I was wrong.

My son D was taking out the recycling earlier when he came in telling us there was a man out front asking for his parents.  Hubby goes out to talk to the guy and it turns out, he was wondering if our house was for sale.  Now, there are 4 houses on our block that are for sale, but ours is not one of them.  I said he should have said, "For the right price it is."  There are two ways of looking at this.  1 - This was God saying, "Yes, sell your house.  If fact, here is a buyer."  Or 2 - Some crazy guy was staking out our house and going to try and break in soon.  We guessed the latter.  The story the guy was telling us was kinda goofy.  He said he found the house online and then he said he talked to a real astate agent.  My hubby said, no, our house was not up for sale, but there were 4 others on the block to choose from and our neighbors would soon make it 5.  (I still insisted he should have just sold it to the guy on the spot.)  So hubby got online to check out the guy's story, just in case he was telling the truth.  Well, apparently, our house is up for sale!  How weird is that?  The previous owners listed it on the internet 5 years ago, and it is still up there.  I guess it's a good thing he wasn't a stalker....

We had decided to put our house up for sale this year, but when we had to tear apart our bathroom, that kinda made us rethink our decision.  The bathroom is still not done and we are trying to decide if we will still put the house up for sale when it is finished.  Should we take the as a sign that people are just dying to get into our house? 

The kids were bouncing off the walls today.  It was a mad house.  I couldn't take it anymore, so I sent them outside.  There was fresh snow on the ground for them to play with.  They wouldn't care if it was 23 degrees outside.  (yikes, that's cold)  I borded up the kitchen doorway to keep Baby B from heading up the stairs and then sat down in front of the computer.  I would make a blog post.  Yes, I would.  As I sat twiddling my thumbs waiting for HSB to load, there was a rap tap tap on my door.  Odd... who would be at my house?  One of the kids must have disobeyed and ran out of the yard.  (shocker, yes, but not unheard of ).  Nope, my well behaved kids were still in the back.  It was a stranger.  As I am peeking out of the window, he is showing me some papers he is holding.  Like I know what those papers are for, guy.  So, not wanting to look like a paranoid crazy lady, I opened the door.  I stuck my head out the door and kept one leg behind the door hoping my one leg would be stronger than the guy standing before me.  Ah, just a salesman.  He wanted to sell me Direct TV.  He promised to save me a whole $5 a month.  But that was after I paid all the upfront costs that he neglected to tell me about.  The only thing he could offer me was 35 more channels.  He asked what channels I watched.  "I don't watch much TV.  (Besides the two little kids staring at you like you are from mars,) I have two more kids out back."  Direct TV Guy, "Yeah, I noticed I didn't hear the tv on in the background."  Me, "Yeah, even if I had it on, I wouldn't be able to hear it."  Direct TV Guy, " Heh Heh.  No I guess not.  Well, I'll let you get back to all your kids." 

As I am closing the door, I look down and notice what I am wearing.  Oh my!  The one day I decide not to put on my jeans!  I had on my black sweats with tiny holes and a navy blue sweatshirt full of Baby B's lunch.  Iy, iy, iy.  Oh, and my hair!  I never took a shower today! 

What fun it must be to be a door to door salesman and see everyone looking their worst! 

The following takes place between 7:30 am and 7:30 pm:

Monday, Monday.... Today was one of those days... You know, the kind where your kids are up before you, fighting and tearing the house apart.  Wait... that's every day.  How about this:  The kind of day where you forgot to plan for the school week and you are scrambling to find your children's school work.  No, that sounds all too familiar too....  Let me try again.   You know the kind of of day when your baby just won't sleep?  Yeah, that's a little better.  Baby B just would not sleep today.  It was so frustrating.  I kept trying to put him down, and he would just cry and cry.   Cry, cry, baby....  We did a tiny bit of schooling during those crying fits.  At around 2, I decided to finally get dressed (  ) and put on some happy music to see if that would help my mood any.  I blasted the Hampter Dance.  Ba ba dee doo doo doo doo..... That helped a little.  The corners of my mouth weren't so droopy after that.  The kids enjoyed it.  Even Cranky B.  After that I played some worship jamz.  These are the days of Elijah....

Well, all the kids are in bed.  I am off to watch Prison Break and 24!  YeeeHaw! 

PS  How many of you were able to catch all the humor in this post? 

PSS  What song is in your head now?

I've been tagged by mommyof3girlies. 

7 Wierd things about me:

1.  I have to have even touches.  Ex:  If I hit my left hand on the door, I have to hit my right hand on the door.  But it has to be the same pressure.  If it's too much, I have to re-hit my left hand.  (Maybe that one is too weird to share.... I certainly can't top it.... )

2.  I think that I would look wierd in short hair and I love my hair long, but rarely wear it down because it drives me nuts. 

3.  I married my hubby.  (Buh dum dum)

4.  I have a million and one notebooks and I keep rearranging them because I don't know how to be organized.

5.  I only really act wierd when my sister is around.  She brings out the craziness in me.   

6.  I can talk in Baboony - a language (tone of voice) that my brother made up.  However, my brother always told me that I could not talk in Baboony. 

7.  My mom says that I am completely normal.  How wierd is that?? 

I am supposed to tag 7 people, but I will only tag:  Abiga51 and midwifemom.  Have fun!

B, Y, and Queen B have left.  We were all brave, and very choked up,  but we managed to say good-bye to each other without disolving into tears.  As soon as they pulled away, however, N lost it.  Which of course made me lose it.  I am going to have a hard time with N these next few days.  He is not good with good-byes.  Right now, he is upstairs screaming because he doesn't want to clean his room.  As semi-normal as that is, I know it's because they have left.  Every time my mom left, he would be at his worst for a few days.  At least now I have recognized the pattern. 

The house will be less crowded, just slightly quieter and alot more boring.  It is now back to "normal".  Time to rework my school schedule and make new goals.  I started out the year doing Ambleside Online, but have strayed WAY away from it.  I don't even remember the last time I was on the site...

So here are some goals for 2007:  

1. Finish the bathroom before company comes for Christmas. 
2. Do at least 30 days of school.
3. Read two books.
4. Wash the floors in the house.
5. Play the piano at least one time.

I think I will stop there.  I don't want to get to ambitious and not finish any goals....

My baby is one today.  YUP, that's right.  My BLOG is one.  I can't believe it has been one year since I birthed this thing.  It seems like a lifetime ago.  It's as if it has always been with me.  I can't imagine life without it.

Since it was my blog's b-day today, I took the morning off to pamper it.  I wanted to do more, but I got bored with it.  Maybe I will work more on it later.  I would really like to make the posts be in the middle with a side bar on either side, but I don't know how to do that. 

And in honor of the one year mark, here are pictures of my kids when they were about 1 year:

D, who is now 8:

N, who is almost 5:

Princess C, who is 2:

And Baby B, who is almost 1:

Thank you to all my friends who have encouraged me and kept me company over the last year!

If you paint a room, you're going to want to rearrange it, and if you rearrange it, you are going to have to move the cable lines.  When your hubby goes to move the cable lines, he is going to have to drill a bigger hole.  And if he drills a bigger hole, chances are, he's going to ruin the cable in the process.  (And of course it is on the night when March of the Penguins is on and you couldn't wait to watch it with your penguin loving princess.)  When your hubby runs to the store to buy a new cable (at 8:45 pm), he is going to buy 25ft thinking for sure it will be long enough.  And of course it is not.  And when your hubby can't even fix a cable line, he will become really discouraged.  And when you look at your living room and realize the color scheme is the same as your kitchen, you are going to hate it.  And if you hate it, chances are, you are going to want to re-paint it. 

I have such a bad habit of reading my emails and all of my friends blogs before I write my own entry.  The problem with that is, most of the time, I don't get around to my own entry.  Time's up.  The kids need me.  I need to eat.  You know, all the unimportant things in life.. hehe....

Yesterday we went for a walk on our city's new walking trail.  One way leads to the bad side of town, and the other leads to a nice city bordering us.  Or so I thought.  We didn't walk very far before the trail just ended.  The kids thought we walked miles upon miles.  I really couldn't tell you how far we walked, but I think we were gone about an hour.  But that's walking with four kids and collecting leaves along the way.  And you can't forget the dog poop we had to keep avoiding.  (lovely city I live in)  I am glad we went.   We were walking along "la la la", when all of a sudden, "AHHHHH".  My mom screams and jumps back leaving poor Princess C in the line of danger.  I didn't know what the problem was, but I was imagining a swarm of bees.  So I put my arms around C and yanked her back.  Alas, it was only a snake.  A very fast moving, leaping aross the trail kind of snake.  So then I'm yelling, "Quick!  Boys!  A snake!  Come look!  Do you see it?!?!"  I was right about to tell them to pick it up, when I imagined my hubby killing me for allowing the boys to touch a creepy crawly.  (they aren't allowed to kill spiders because he is afraid they will die from a bite).  You know what hubby said later when told about this??  "They should have picked it up.  Spiders bite and are poisonous, that's why they aren't allowed to touch them."  Ummm... ok.  Spiders poisonous, snakes harmless.  In reality, up here in IL, they are both harmless.  It's not like we live in Australia.  Oh well, who can figure out hubby?? 

I woke up this morning without a voice.  My first thought was, "It's a good thing we know sign language."  Ha, yeah right.  You think you know alot, until that's all you can use.  So here I am, using ASL for the words I know - some incorrectly -, and throwing in some charades, to boot.  Luckily my voice came back around 2, although it is still not strong.  Everyone needs to be silent in order to hear me.  I am not one to talk alot, but not being able to talk sure makes a person realize how often they do speak. 

Being without a voice, and being forced to discipline silently has taught me (reminded, rather), that I don't have to yell to get a point across.  Of course, it takes more work.  I have to focus all my attention on the naughty child, which means stopping whatever I am doing.  More effort on my part, less laziness.... bummer.... Now, don't get me wrong, I don't sit around doing my own fun things.  I am usually feeding the baby, or teaching, or cooking, (yes on the computer, too), and I would rather yell from where I am at.  But, supposedly, if I put more effort into nipping it in the bud immediately, their behaviors will improve.  But that's only supposedly....

I am horrid.  I am so sick of the kids bothering me, I have had the tv on all morning.  Someone take away my trophy for mother of the year.  Oh wait... I don't have one.  Here is a picture of my oldest:    I'm sorry, but sometimes, he can just go on and on and on.....And here is a picture of my 4 yo when I tell him to do his chores:         Here is Princess C hopping around with no clothes because she is being potty trained:     Here is me chasing baby B all over the house:Fun times I tell ya.....

Does anyone else have to drag themselves out of bed in the morning - kicking and screaming?  Do you always feel like you didn't get enough sleep?  Do you hate waking up to the crying of a distant toddler? 

That's me every morning.....

My hubby has a not-so-secret admirer.  This woman was D's soccer coach last year.  This year, my hubby saw her while he was signing D up for baseball.  She told him that she was going to be coaching a team and asked if he would be an assistant coach.  He said he might be a head coach, but if he wasn't, than he would assist her.  He really had no other choice since she was asking him at the same spot where he had to sign up.  I didn't want my son to be on her son's team because her son is... well.... hmm.... you know.... She is a single mom and I guess feels bad about it so the boy has no rules.  Anyway, my hubby got his own team and I was relieved.  BUT, there are managers meetings and games and she is always there.  It wasn't a big deal at first.  I didn't care that she wanted to have a practice game with my hubby's team.  I didn't care that she called telling my hubby that they were short some players and could he ask some of his team to come play for her.  I thought is was funny when she followed him to McDonalds after a game and sat with them.  I asked my hubby if she remembered that he was married.  He said he talks about me.  He wears a wedding ring.  Some women just don't care.  The other day the two teams played each other.  She was unclear about a rule, so my hubby went over to her dugout and was showing her the rule book.  And that is were she proceded to lean on his shoulder.  (Ever see While You Were Sleeping?)   She had her hand on his should, arm on his back and was leaning over the book.  I WAS THERE AT THE GAME!!  Still, it was funny to me.  I told my mom and my sis and I acted it out.  We had a good laugh.  Last night at the managers meeting, my hubby told me that she kept "bumping" him.  They were talking with one other guy, and you know the whole, "haha..." bump.... "haha".  Man this lady has some nerve.  This is getting a little crazy.  But today is the day she pushed me over the edge.  She called today asking if hubby and D could come to the game because they were short players.  When she found out they had practice, she said that they were probably going to be short players on Sat's game too.  My dad had also called in the same time period and got be really upset (he has a nack for that) so that was the straw that broke this camel's back.  Why is her team always short players?  Isn't that a little convinient?  Isn't there someone else to call?  Grrr....

I walked into the bathroom the other day and found lots of wet stuffed animals and a wet rug.  There was also water all over the sink, so I assumed my 4 yo, N, spilled water.  I threw the stuffed animals in the tub and hung the rug over the side of the tub.  I never got around to asking him exactly what happened.  The next day, I walked into the bathroom, and was greeted by a stench.  Time to find out what really happened to those stuffed animals.  I assumed he dragged them in there with him, missed the toilet, and then left them. 

"N!!!"

"What mama?"

"Why were all the animals and the rug wet?"

"Because I put them in the toilet."

What?!?!  Are you insane??  "Are you telling me the truth?"

"Yup.  I am telling you the truth, mama."

I can't believe he did this!  I can't believe that I can't believe he did this.  Why didn't I think that he would do this?  Don't laugh.  He will think you think it's funny, and in reality you are one step from the looney bin.... 

Ah, that's my sweet little N for ya.  Things like this used to happen on a regular basis.  Thankfully, they have died down. 

Do you remember my meatloaf a la kitchen floor?  If not, you can read about that here.  Today, I made the same meatloaf.  I put it in the oven and set it on auto bake.  I did that because I had planned on going to curves and the oven will just turn on itself and bake.  Quite the nifty feature.  (I didn't end up going to curves because my hubby got home late from work.)  I was sitting on my chair, nursing the baby, when the timer went off.  My mom went to get the meatloaf out of the oven and I hear her saying, "Ummm.... "  I was thinking, great, did I stuff too much in the pan?  Is the grease overflowing all over the oven?  Then I hear, "Did you turn the oven on?"  Somehow I messed up with the auto bake thing and the oven never turned on.  We had us a nice raw meatloaf.  So, we ate in stages.  We had our salad, pierogies, and veggies, and then we got up, played, and came back later for our meatloaf.  Too funny.....

Click here if you want the recipe.  It is YUMMY!  When it is cooked, and not all over my floor! 

I bought a new stove/oven last May when we remodeled the kitchen.  I bought one with a warming drawer, and it has never worked.  Today, my husband finally called the company to get it fixed.  Here is what the guy said:

"Let me look in the manual."  pause  "Ok, I got it.  It says to push the dail in and turn it to the desired temperature." 

NO!  REALLY?!?!   You mean all this time I have been wishing the oven would just miraculously turn on by itself, I was wrong? 

My husband says, "Yeah, we tried that."

"Oh, well then we will have to send out a repair man."

Yesterday at the breakfast table, we were sharing our dreams from the night before.  My 7 year old, D, starts telling me that he dreamt he was at a mall, and there was a basketball place there.  Him and his friends were playing basketball and they were shooting up.  (he meant shooting the ball)  Well, at that we all started laughing and he was just like "what?"  But he continued on and said, "They were getting high." (he meant the balls) Oh, my.  We all just lost it after that.  Such innocence....  Ah, kids say the darndest things. 

Disclaimer: I am in no way am endorsing drugs. 

I was making meatloaf today, and we were all excited about it because it was pepper jack meatloaf and it is SOOO good.  It was taking forever to cook.  I was going back and forth between checking on the food and rocking baby B who had 4 shots today.  It was finally done.  I started taking it out of the oven... mmm... it smells sooo good..... BAM!  While I was taking the meatloaf out of the oven, I dropped it on the floor.  Glass flew everywhere.  I'm not sure what happened.  I stood there, looking at the meatloaf, the cheese oozing out onto the floor.  Time had stopped.  My beautiful, cheesy, yummy meatloaf.  Well, I decided there was nothing I could do.  I couldn't eat around the glass and dog hair.  So, my husband ordered pizza.  I started cleaning up.  Sweeping up the glass.  Bye, bye meatloaf.  I had to wash the floor since it was all greasy.  Hubbby was ordering pizza.  Baby B was crying.  I grabbed the swiffer mop and mopped the whole floor, feeling ambitious.  As I walked around on the newly washed floor, I realized that it felt like I was walking on ice.  I figured it was because it was wet, but after awhile of slipping and slidding all over, I realized that I didn't wash the floor.  I had only smeared the grease all over from wall to wall.  Oh bother.  Baby B is STILL crying.  Get out the bucket and mop.  Try again.  This time use Murphy's Oil.  Ah.  Much better.  (This was no where near the mess I made when I made "the cake").  Pick up baby.  Rock baby.  Watch family eat salads.  Hear tummy rumble.  So after Baby B settled down and fell into a semi-sleep, I sat down in my lazy boy to eat my salad.  I was eating with my left hand, trying to keep rocking/bouncing so that Baby B would stay asleep.  Boy, am I talented.  heheh.... 

Just a little update on these busy days.  Yesterday we spent the day at my sister-in-law's playing games.  Today we went to the Auto Show.  The boys had a blast sitting in all the cars.  D said his favorite was a monster truck.  N said is favorite was the car with four cup holders.  heheh....  Tomorrow me, hubby, and baby B are going out to eat at Carrabbas, the BEST restaraunt ever.  (check out the website, see if there are any near you). 

My mom is trying to get more people visiting her website than mine.  Can you believe it?  My own mother campaigning against me!  Oh, what is the world coming to?  Don't go visit her!  Don't do it!  Hey, I see your mouse going over to click her link!  STOP!!!!!!!!  

Check out this blog.  This is a cute and funny post.  (At least in my opinion) 

KidsofCharacter

When my son, B, was born, he had to stay in the hospital because his bilirubin count was too high.  D and N prayed everynight that his count would go down so he could come home.  Today (5 weeks later) I was undressing B for his bath, and my silly 4 yo, N, puts his hand on B's belly and says, "I can feel his bellyrubin.  It's in there."  I thought it rather funny.  Earlier in the day, B had the hiccups.  I got out the gripe water to give to him and N asked why I was giving him the crabby water.  He said, "Don't mom.  You're going to make him crabby."  He somehow had figured when we would say  B was "griping", he was crabby.  He's so stinkin cute!

My husband, M, got his hair cut yesterday.  When he came home, N looked at him and said, "It looks like you got a short cut, dad."

Early one morning, I asked M to change B's diaper.  He did it, then gave him to me to nurse.  About an hour later, I was wondering why my arm was wet if M just changed him.  When I unbuttoned B, I found out that my husband had put C's size 3 diaper on B, instead of B's size 1.  I guess M was still half asleep when he changed B!! 

C and N had doctor checkups today and B had to be taken for his repeat newborn screening.  So, me and M ventured out with the three of them.  It took us about 20 min to get to the doctor and B cried almost the whole time.  C chimed in as backup whiner.  We got to the doctor and B fell asleep when I picked him up, and C started crying louder at the sight of strangers.  We thought she was loud then, but we hadn't hear anything until she got her shots!  She HOWLED!  And after she stopped crying, she had the sniffles for a good 15-20 minutes afterward.  My poor baby girl....  After the doc, we headed to the hospital for B's test.  He cried once again, the whole way there - about 10 min.  He screamed walking through the hospital (I believe the entire hospital heard him).  I got lots of "he's not happy" comments.  YA THINK?!?!  I fed him and he fell asleep, that is until he got a needle stuck in his foot.  And then all the way home, B and C took turns crying, while N sang to them the whole ride home (the only thing that kept me sane - my sweet boy). 

Today, D, my seven year old, wanted to make himself a sausage pancake.  He has done it before and knows how, but he asked how many seconds he should put it in the microwave.  So I told him 45.  I go about with my business, and the next thing I know, I hear his panicked voice calling my name.  I go into the kitchen and see smoke curling out of the microwave.  I rush to turn the exhaust fan on, which kicks out more smoke, which in turn starts me choking on the smoke.  I duck down, struggle to open the window, and get out of the kitchen.  There is smoke everywhere!  I start opening other windows, even though it is like 20 degrees outside.  My house is really stinking!!!!  I am asking him all sorts of questions trying to figure out what happened.  Did you take the plastic off?  Did you wrap it in a paper towel?  Did you only put it in for 45 seconds?  Are you sure you hit 45, and not 450?  Well, it turns out, he put in 45, then 5, then 6, then 3, then 1....  I guess he was waiting for the thing to scream out "I'm done now, you can take me out!"  Who knows.  But, he can no longer use the microwave, toaster, or toaster oven.  If that means eating cold cereal for breakfast, so be it. 

Martha Stewart, I am not.  Today I decided to make a chocolate cake .  Everything was going well.  The recipe was easy to follow, the batter tasted oh so delicious, and I was making a minimal mess.  Then came the time to put the cake together.  The directions said to put it on a plate and frost, so I did.  Then I put it in the fridge to set, just as the recipe said.  Then I was supposed to transfer it to a wire rack over a cookie sheet to pour more ganache over the cake.  I did.  Every time it said to transfer, starting with taking it out of the pan to cool, it would get looser, and looser, with more cracks in it.  After I poured the ganache on, the recipe said to chill.  Well, it is over a huge cookie sheet!  I was hardly able to fit the cake in the fridge on a plate!  I could have brought it downstairs and put it in the fridge down there, but being 9 months pregnant, why would I do that?  So I thought, I will transfer it back to my cake plate and then chill it.  As I was trying to pick it up, it had had it with being transfered.  The bottom was completely starting to fall apart.  I realized that I would never be able to get it to my cake plate which was up on a stand, so I grabbed a dinner plate to try and slide it under the cake.  I was short a couple of hands, so I had to use my big ol' belly to help push the cake onto the plate.  Well, I lost alot of the bottom to crumbs which fell through the rack, onto the stove, down the oven, and onto the floor.  I lost alot of frosting to my shirt, which had two BIG frosting spots, and my hands which were completely coated with frosting.  I finally got the cake on the plate, grabbed some of the cake which had stayed put on the rack, and shoved it back under the cake.  NOT a pretty sight, but, I tasted some of what was left on the rack, and YUM YUM!   So, the moral?  It's not what's on the outside that counts, it's how it tastes!!!