For a good cause...

My friend Michelle is having an auction. She's adopting a daughter, Lily, from Eastern Europe. Lily is a twin who was given up at birth because she has down syndrome.

Michelle and her husband Brian have three children. Karly is 14 and two years ago was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer and is now cancer free. Braden is in Kindergarten this year and their youngest is Ruby who is 2 1/2. Ruby is a twin. With no words to describe the situation, Lydia was stillborn at 38 weeks. Ruby and Lydia are identical twins and have down syndrome.

Michelle and Brian have opened their hearts and home to another child and I hope that you can support them emotionally and maybe even donate to their cause. Keep Lily and her new family in your prayers.

ahomeforlily.blogspot.com

Crossing the line -the state line

Its been so long since I logged on to this account, I almost forgot my logon. Or it could be that being sick for the last four days has taken its toll.

On Sunday, my friend Shell Dinter, Jacob, Matthew, Brooke and John headed out to Minnesota to see some friends. On the way over, I had some rumblings in my tummy and thought "oh, oh." No way could I get sick! Jacob had gotten over his bug four days before this. Well, after five or six stops (just for me) we arrived at our friends, Bob & Cindy's house. Shell and I used to work with Bob and Cindy for a long, long time. I think I met Cindy in 1995 and from what I remember, our first trade ever was TSA - The Sports Authority. She and Bob got married a few months before Scott and I in 1999 and we even had our children at the same time. Jacob and Luke are a month apart and Erika and the triplets are three weeks apart.

Its nice that we've kept touch even though I'm not working anymore. So, I regress...

We arrive at their house on Sunday afternoon and the kids played so nicely together, the four of us catch up, we have a little birthday party for the kiddos and have a few glasses of wine.
The next morning, Matthew comes up to me and his pants are soaked through. I change him and its diarrheaish. Oh no. So I end up taking him in the shower with me to clean him up. He acts fine and frankly, we had plans to go to the Mall of America and just about nothing was stopping me.
We head to The Mall of America and Shell and I go to Legoland with the kids. She rents a couple of double strollers for the kids so we can get around easier. We spend a gazillion dollars at legoland. Jacob picked out a Coast Guard set that he wanted, I got the little boys a SpongeBob lego set for their birthdays which everyone can share, and a ton on Lego plates so we can build a table for the kids to build their stuff on.

Then we perused Hanna Anderssen, Gymboree, Disney Store and Shell probably got 1.5 seconds in a store of her choice. The kids got sick of sitting in strollers and were tired from not taking naps.

We met up with Bob and Cindy and the kids and ate at Ruby Tuesdays. Well, before that Bob took Luke and Jacob on rides while the girls did a little more shopping. Matthew just cried and fell asleep on Shell.

On the way home, I said I'd drive and follow the trusty Garmin that I borrowed from the in-laws. Cindy also had written out some instructions on how to get from their house to the mall. So really, we just had to reverse the directions and follow the Garmin and we should be able to get home.

(Just to caution the readers, I may not still have my road names right in this story and it may contain graphic language and descriptions that may be unsuitable for small children or delicate palates.)

I got onto 494 and then as I knew, I KNEW, that I should stay on this road until 35E North. But I was looking at the Garmin and I thought it showed me on the screen to take a right. Shell's yelling, "No! No! don't get off the highway!" This was my first of many mistakes with the Garmin.

So, we are in a big city with four precious children and I put my faith in the Garmin to get me back on track. So after a 1/2 hour of trying to get back to 494 or maybe it was 694, we finally got back to where we needed to be. During this time, Matthew had messed his pants, and it wasn't the ordinary messy diaper. It was the diarrhea diaper. Once you smell that kind of diaper, it will be engrained in your brain for the rest of your life. So we have our windows open a smidge and its pouring rain. Just as I'm merging onto one freeway to another, Michelle says, or screams, "Matthews throwing up!" And she dove into the backseat and tried to catch the vomit to lessen the mess. Shes a superhero.

As you know, you can't just pull over on a freeway, so I just open my window a little bit more and she cleans him up with whatever wipes we have and cleans up her hands. I don't think she realized it but she just held her hands up from her lap for quite awhile. Then we just started laughing hysterically. I mean, it really couldn't get much worse.

The Garmin gets us back to the house an hour after we left from the mall, while it only should have taken about 30 minutes.

I am going to write a strongly worded letter to the Garmin people. The thing would tell us to get off the freeway to drive on city streets and then have us get right back on that same highway. I'm not sure it tells us the shortest miles or what the logic is. The other problem is that if there is construction and the on ramps are closed, it doesn't recognize detours. So it will keep rerouting you to that same ramp that is closed. That's great in a big city you don't know.

On a positive note, it does tell you where the nearest McDonalds is.

So we enter the house, Shell puts the kids to bed, I give Matthew a bath, strip down the carseats and wash a bunch of stuff. O.K. how crappy is it to bring a sick child into another house?

So I get more sick overnight and we pack up to leave to drive home. Shell drives the whole way home. We stop to see her parents in Stanley, Wisconsin and had a really nice lunch. Jacob met the oldest person he know knows, Shell's Grandma. She's 93. The oldest person before that was Grandma Callaway's dad, Grandpa Ken. John wanted to be picked up by Shell's dad Dave and he wanted him to carry him around everywhere. John is such a stinker.

We arrive home and I get even more sick. Today I just laid on the couch and slept. With children running around. Go ahead, call social services. I need a break.

Things I learned on this trip.

Shell will probably never take a road trip with us again.
Shell didn't deserve to be puked on and I owe her a bazillion favors.
Bob and Cindy probably won't ask us to come back for a really really long time.
Jacob has now found someone else that he wants to marry, his new friend Erika.
Carry your own tissue because the toilet paper in gas stations or restaurants is really rough.

The numbers game

5 days until we leave for Minneapolis to see our friends Bob, Cindy, Luke and Erika

4 Children traveling with us

2 "Us" being two adults, myself and Shell Dinter

4 days that Jacob has been sick

12 days since I started pottytraining. (Well, Brooke started to potty train. I've been potty-trained for awhile.)

17 days until the triplets are 3

4 number of swimming lessons we will have had after tonight

Apple picking

Today, I had an EMG done on my hands to see if I have carpal tunnel. I have the symptoms of carpal tunnel and have done therapy this summer with some improvement. I had an EMG done in 2004 when I still worked. That time it showed that I did not have carpal tunnel. I remembered it being very painful.

So, needless to say, I was kinda apprehensive going there today. I got there and the nurse did the electric shock stuff to see how my nerves were reacting. Then the doc came in and did the needle stuff. It wasn't bad until they got to my right hand and put the needle in the muscle in my thumb. It still hurts like, like, well, really bad. Ice does help though.

The doc and my GP said I may have signs of arthritis too. I'm 33 years old. I've got 50 more years to live. I get the test results next week.

Well, my point was that a difficult pregnancy and being a parent makes pain management different. The EMG wasn't bad compared to a dental numbing or an epidural.

So then today I get home and the babies go down at 1:15 p.m. John never falls asleep and Brooke and Matthew wake up at exactly 2:15 p.m. screaming. And they sleep in different rooms. So I get all of them up and they are whiny, miserable, cranky children. Everyone wants to sit on my lap, but no one wants to be touched by the other. If you look at someone wrong, they cry. So I decide to take them to the Apple orchard and get some apples. Its the same orchard we go to every year. We couldn't pick apples from the tree yet, so we just bought some from their store. John snatched up apples that they were sorting and started eating them. And then put them back. The other two had more manners and waited for me to give them the "sample" apples. We came home with a bag of apples and two containers of caramel.

On the way home we stopped at a friends house who used to help out with the babies when they were actually babies. Donna has a hobby farm with 2 horses and about 18 cats. The kids were thrilled with all the cats running around. Brooke touched the electric fence, but either it was between shocks or her rubber soles prevented her from getting shocked. We fed the horses the apples that the kids were eating. They petted the horses, although the babies were intimidated by the sizes of the horses.

There were six brand new kitties that we got to hold. The other cats don't let you get that close to them for petting. The cats are grey and orange tabby and calico. Cosmo is a calico so I have a fondness for Donna's cats.

Then we went home and took a bath and got the farm smell off of all of us.

Hide and Seek

I took Jacob out to lunch today to meet a friend, Magan. That was the last lunch he will ever eat in a public place other than school.

I didn't know how prejudice he really was. He wouldn't eat his chicken tenders and french fries because they looked different. We were at a mexican restaurant. They had a different batter on their food and I think they did leave it a little too long in the fryer. No other puns intended here. I told him (with Magan as my witness) that it tastes the same on the inside even though it looks different on the outside.

This will be a lesson tucked away for later in life when he finally notices that people come in different shapes and sizes. Although, I think he knows people come in different shapes because today as I was in my bedroom and told him I wanted privacy he said, "O.K. buttabutt." and left. That was a jaw-dropping moment.

So, tonight Jacob and Scott were playing hide and seek. Jacob has been playing hide and seek, probably since about 2 1/2 to 3 years. The problem is that he hasn't really caught on to the concept of the game. Lets look at the words and their meaning. First word Hide - not found in plain sight. And - this word connects two other words. Its a conjunction? I think? Last word Seek - to look for, to discover.

So Scott counts to 20 while Jacob hides. First of all you can hear obvious signs of where he hiding. He slams doors, opens closets, etc... Then he yells for Scott , "Ready Dad!" Now that's a problem cause it gives away his position. So Scott walks around and says, "I wonder if Jacob's in the laundry room?" And Jacob yells out, "I'm in the bathroom!" Scott walks around more, "I think Jacob is in the computer room." And Jacob yells out again, "I'm in the bathroom dad!"
He's always going to be it because he'll be the first found.

Tonight we had friends over for a cookout. Of course it rained. But we still had a good time. I made a taco dip and put it in the middle of the table. The babies dipped their chips in the dip and then licked it off. And then redipped. At two they have not been told about the no double-dipping rule. Hard to explain to a 2 year old.
I should really say that John enjoyed the dip the most. Make a mess of it. Brooke liked to pick it up with her fingers and eat it.
I have really lowered my standards since having triplets. But all I care about is that they a) eat b) don't throw food.
Another realization is that we only really, really clean our house top to bottom when someone is coming over. So its a good thing someone comes over every once in awhile so we get our bathrooms clean and all the floors cleaned at once.

Another bad luck thing. I was cleaning the kitchen sink with Soft Scrub bleach and it must have splashed on my clothing and I got my newer shirt and shorts blotted with bleach. Why can I not keep my clothes unblemished? Yesterday, as I was eating my Subway sub in the car, it dripped the sauce and got on my t-shirt.

I'm worse than the kids.

Bondo

You know when you can't think of a word, you know its meaning, you've used it several times before in your life, but just can't get it out of your mouth?



Tonight I was at an uppercase living party. It was a lot of fun and a great way of decorating - tastefully. Oh, by the way.... I'm having a book party which closes July 18th. So if you're interested in getting something, I'll be putting pictures up of what I got in a couple of weeks.



So, anyway. Another girl from FVMOM and I were talking about my freak accident from vacation. And I was trying to think of the word that meant - putty for cars and trucks, to fix dents and rust areas. I KNEW it ended in an "O" and that's all I had. Michelle and I came up with many ways of using it in a sentence, without actually saying the name of it because both of us drew a blank. I'd say something like, "my husband used to have a car and its rear quarter panel was filled with ------? And then just as we had given up and said our goodbye's, Michelle remembered and yelled out "BONDO!" That would be a great name for a pet.



Speaking of pets. I'm driving over to the party tonight. And as I'm driving there I see many people walking their dogs. I see people playing with their dogs in their yards and I even see one person combing their dog. Now, just think, if we spent as much time with our kids as we do with our dogs, I think we'd fix most of the countries social issues. Kids would get exercise by walking with their parents. They'd get quality time during that walk talking with their parents. They'd get more exercise playing ball or Frisbee with their parents. And they'd get some cuddling time on their laps while they are being combed.



I think I just found the solution for world peace (sooooo close).

Ironman

Dododododo, dodododododo, do, do, do! (Does that sound like Ironman by Ozzy?) God did not give me the gift of musical interpretation. He gave me the gift of overactive ovaries. Well, when properly stimulated.

Anyway, I finally got out the iron tonight and ironed a few of Brooke's dresses. After doing two of them and them turning out so well, I got out a few more things and had my way with them. I've learned a few things about ironing.
Ruffles are not fun.
Look at the iron before you pick it up.
Don't buy clothing that requires a lot of ironing.

I know Angela would be proud of me!

Ride em' Cowboy

Well, I've got some super cute pictures of Brooke. We got a spring horse this weekend (from Aunt Amy) and the kids just love it.

I had lunch today with Magan. It was really nice to chat with her. Its so hard to catch up these days when most of my friends have children and are knee-deep in poop.

I didn't post last night due to the blue-screen of death that I got on the computer. Very scary. I hope all our pictures are saved somewhere else.

The DISH conspiracy

I filled out a NCAA March Madness bracket challenge. At the end of the day I have 53 points. It makes it more interesting to watch the games when you have someone to cheer for. Because the "Big Ten" network was only on Dish, I feel like I"m shooting in the dark. It hurts to be punished for having cable. I would think that by carrying certain games only on dish, whether it be basketball or football or golf, that it would hurt sales overall of merchandise. I picked UCLA to beat Wisconsin in the final two.



Today we had old friends stop by with their three children ages 8, 6, and almost 2 and a niece who is 11. They live in Western Wisconsin so we don't get to see them very often at all.

Its one of those relationships that you can start talking and carry on a conversation as if you talk every day.

It hit me as I watched four almost 2 year olds, a 4, 6, 8 and 11 year eating at our table. I remarked to the other couple, "These. (pointing at the table) Are all our kids. Who would have guessed?" I mean, back 10-12 years ago when we were dancing on on tables, doing shots, or out on our boat, we would have never guessed that we'd have seven kids between us.



Now we're yelling at our kids to get off the table instead of dancing on it.

Not again....

So last night as I went to bed, I snuggled down into my blankets, positioned my pillow just right and started to drift off to sleep when I heard little footsteps to the bathroom.

Jacob usually doesn't get up at night to go to the bathroom and I thought I'd better check on him. Sparing you the details, he needed a change of clothes just because - sometimes your body parts don't cooperate at night.

So I get him off to bed and I get back into my bed thinking about how comfortable I was the last time I was laying there. Sometime later, I was relaxed but not yet asleep, Jacob came into the bedroom and asked for a drink of water. Karma is funny that way. I used to yell my mom's name out at night asking for water. All the time. Poor mom.

We usually keep a glass of water by his bed, but we forgot to last night. So I get him some water and get back into my bed.

I snuggled into my blankets and fluffed my pillow and realized it just wasn't as comfortable as the first time. I started to relax and nod off as a baby started crying. I laid there wondering if it was a one-hit wonder or was I going to hear it again. They started crying again. Big sigh...

So I get out of bed the third time in probably an hour and head into the babies room. I turn on the lap to see who is up. Everyone is laying there, peacefully sleeping. I throw a couple more NUKs at the two NUK babies, throw another rag on the raggie baby and turn out the light.

Boy! Do I hate that when I get out of bed to check on them only to find them peacefully sleeping. I just wasted a trip.

Oh and for all of you coming to my "cookie party" this tuesday... Jacob cleaned the wood flooring for you today. He's very excited about the "cookie party" and that Ethan is coming over. (Ethan is 6 months).

John's day

Well, we had guests over today. Chris and Melissa and their children, Grace and Ethan, came over this afternoon and ate dinner with us.

Grace is almost four and I think she loves to play with Jacob and the babies. She was busy chatting on the phone, probably with her cousin. John decided to sit next to her... and touch her hair. He's probably got hair envy.





Then John decided to throw all the clothes in the bins that Melissa brought over down the
stairs. Such a big help, he is!