Friday! Friday! Friday!

• My dad is taking my mom and I out for breakfast. I suspect in appreciation of not making him an accessory to murder while we were camping.

• The kids have completed their first week of school. They love their teachers and are adjusting really well to being the new kids. I'm so proud of them. They just jumped right in and didn't even want me to hang around.

• I love Californication. That show is hilarious. It is pretty risque' so if you're easily offended, it's probably not for you. But my sense of humor is pretty sick and twisted, so I like it.

• My nephews go back to their moms this afternoon for the next week. They were here for TEN days. Ten very long days.

• Tuesday was my 9 year anniversary of the day I completely lost my mind and got married. H and I exchanged high fives and told each other "good game!"

• Said about the chicken we were having for dinner by my nephew, "it tastes like beaver!" Not surprisingly my brother thought that was hysterical.

Advice please!

What would you do if someone was letting their children swim in the pool naked and you knew the kids were urinating in it constantly? The pool is a kiddie pool, not a built in and definately not chlorinated. It really grosses me out and I hate having to tell my kids that they can't go swimming because it would be like swimming in a toilet. Not that they aren't peeing in the pool when they have swimsuits on, but I'm just saying. It's gross. I'm pretty sure my kids aren't peeing in the pool. At least I hope not, they're 7 and 5. They should know better. Also, these other kids have been told it's ok to pee outside and now the baby is using my mother's flower pots as toilets. Lord have mercy! It is just pure craziness around here.

We went camping last weekend. I will say this, 5 children in a trailer can be a really rough and loud weekend. Extremely close quarters and no idea that jumping off the top bunk is really, really bad can make things a little tense. When we were out and about though, the kids had a blast. We rode the Yosemite Sugar Pine Railroad on Friday and it was really cool. I think my dad got a bigger kick out of it than the kids. Hopefully I can get the pictures downloaded off the camera soon and see if I got any really good ones. Saturday we spent the day at Bass Lake and the kids were swimming all day long. It was really nice to sit there by the water and watch the kids play and visit with my parents. That was probably the best part of the trip. I love the water. Either the ocean or a lake. I find it very relaxing. We're still catching up on our rest. Even though we went to bed every night around 9pm and woke up around 7am, we're still completely exhausted.

TGIF

One of my nephews made his own fountain in the pool the other day. Well, he was the fountain. Ewwwww!

The boys go back to their mom's this evening and my parents are going out, so the house will be relatively quiet tonight. H mentioned possibily going out to dinner. That would be nice. Even though I only have to cook maybe two or three times a week. That's one of the nice things about so many people being in the house. There's lots of people to share the cooking duties with, and the cleaning. I haven't been responsible for just keeping my room clean since I was a teenager. It's awesome!

I'm waiting to hear back about a job I applied for with the Superior Court here in town. They get all the holidays off don't they?

I have a headache, a HUGE headache

You know it's hard living with a whole other family. It's really hard when the other kids aren't being raised the same way that you are raising yours and you're trying to keep your kids from running wild. Unfortunately because of where we lived before I haven't really been around my nephews much so they definately don't want to listen to me. AT ALL. I understand it's been pretty rough for them. My brother and his wife are divorced and I'm sure everyone knows the impact divorce has on young children. Plus the boys spend one week with their mother and then one week here with my brother. All the back and forth isn't helping. It's caused a lot of confusion and makes things really hard for the boys and my parents. My parents are doing most of the work. My brother has his own set of problems, but that's a whole other post. I came home from taking Mikel and La Katie to the zoo and my brother was asleep on the floor and the older two boys were outside in the pool swimming. Naked. The pool is just a little kiddie pool, but still accidents can happen. The baby was asleep. The middle boy came in shortly after I came home and told me he was hungry. Now policy is, according to my mother, that I tell the boys to ask their dad to get them something to eat. Because really if we do it every time they ask, my brother would just live his life footloose and fancy free and wouldn't ever do anything for them. So I told him to ask his dad, who really shouldn't have been asleep any way and of course my brother told him no and didn't even attempt to get his son anything to eat. Then the baby woke up and he was hungry too! Seriously, I can barely handle my own kids. No way is having three more going to help. Plus I'm hoping that at some point my brother will get his own place and raise his kids on his own. I don't intend to live here forever either. I love my parents, I just don't want to live with them. I'd like to have my own house again. I'd LOVE to have some privacy. But I digress, it's driving me nuts. I feel bad for my nephews. To have all this crap thrust upon them. The constant change and upheaval. I have to wonder what sort of damage if any that it's doing. How must it feel to have two parents that aren't taking care of you the way they should?

Viva Viagara

Have you seen the commerical? The one where a group of men are sitting around singing about viagara? I just don't see a group of men sitting around discussing erectile disfunction and then deciding to sing viagara carols. That would be like asking one of your friends if she ever gets that not so fresh feeling.

Last week seemed to go by really slowly. The boys have been back since Friday and it's been non-stop mayhem ever since. I don't know what they eat when they're with their mother, but they haven't stopped eating since they got here. I've never seen kids eat so much. I live in fear of when they're teenagers.

We're going camping next week up by Yosemite. Mikel and La Katie have never been camping. This should be interesting. My parents just bought a new trailer and they generously bought us a tent. I don't know why, but I think they're trying to tell me something. Maybe I fart in my sleep like H keeps telling me. I know I don't snore.

I moved!

Literally. We just up and decided to move back to Fresno. Yes, I have lost my mind. Lost it a long time ago as a matter of fact. We threw all our clothes in bags and hit the road. Hopefully sometime within the next month we'll go back and actually pack up the house and move all our belongings into storage until we find a house. Neither H nor I has managed to find a job yet so we haven't even begun to look for somewhere to live. Cause having a job is important when you have rent to pay. So now we're living with my parents. Doesn't that sound like the most groovy thing you've ever heard of? Actually it isn't that bad, on the weeks that my brother doesn't have his kids. Oh yeah, this is the best part, my brother lives here too and every other week he has custody of his three boys. Five adults and five children in a three bedroom, two bath house. There are two 7 year olds, a 5 year old, a 4 year old, and a 2 and a half year old. When the boys are here is it LOUD. L. O. U. D. My kids are by nature mostly quiet and pretty laid back. My brother's kids are not. I don't think they stop moving even when they're asleep. I'm hoping that if a couple of weeks when school starts and four of the little nose pickers go off to school that things will be a little quieter. Seriously. I don't really like wine all that much, but I'm going to add being a wino to my list of hobbies. Only every other week though. Only when I'm alone or with someone and only on days that end in y. No joke. Once they're all in bed I am in serious need of an adult beverage. Besides I heard on the news once that a glass of wine a day is actually good for you.

At some point things will get better. Right?

For those of you that check in occasionally I'm sorry for my lack of updating skill. You'd think that I'd be using this as some form of therapy. It's free and I don't have to sit in an office for an hour listening to someone ask me how that makes me feel. I had a therapist once and that was all he ever said. "How does that make you feel?" I think I went there twice. I was only 16 at the time, but it was pretty evident that he wasn't going to be much help. I've pretty much given up on therapy. The reason being is that I can change my reactions to things all I want. I can change just about everything about myself, but that doesn't change the people around me and my environment. It doesn't change the fact that my husband quit his job and now we have no income and we're in foreclosure on our house. It doesn't change the fact that he doesn't help me around the house. It doesn't change the fact that I'm raising our children by myself. All in all I'd say I'm damn justified in being depressed. The lovely folks at state disability can't seem to understand why I'm not getting better. Live in my hell for a while, you'll figure it out. So we're about to lose our home, we have no where to go and my doctor doesn't feel that I'm able to work right now, but the state disability feels that I am, so I don't get any money from any where. I can't get unemployment because my doctor doesn't think I'm able to work. NICE. So incredibly helpful don't you think? Take someone who's majorly depressed and cut off her only source of income. Right on! Way to go folks! That will make things much better. Now that my husband isn't working we don't have insurance, so I can't even afford my meds. Isn't that lovely? I'd love to just go to bed and stay there, but I have two kids to take care of. I don't have the option of going off the deep end. I don't have the option of checking myself in to an inpatient program. I can't tell my parents because they have problems of their own. I'm the only one that can help myself and I'm just too damn exhausted to do it.

My blog is like my period

I only deal with it once a month.

I saw on the tailgate of an el camino the phrase, "God made Adam and Eve. Not Adam and Steve." If God made Adam, surely God could have made a guy named Steve. Yes, I do understand what the ignoramous meant by that wonderfully artful phrase against homosexuality. But jeez, aren't there more important things to worry about? Children that aren't getting enough to eat, people that don't have medical insurance, whether or not the Yankess will make it to the World Series again? Just my two cents worth, but God created man and all his imperfections, including homosexuality. If we were all perfect then God probably wouldn't seem so special.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to sit back and get ready for the onslaught. If there even is one.

They don't put this in parenting books

My daughter shaved off her eyebrows yesterday while I was in the shower. I stepped out of the shower and heard, "mom, my eyebrows are coming off." Trust me, you don't ever want to hear those words exit the mouth of your five-year old. I opened the bathroom door and there she was. Eyebrowless. She used her father's razor. Thank goodness she didn't cut herself and school pictures have already been taken for the year. Now we just have to figure out a way to cover up her eyebrows until they grow out. Don't you wish they put this particular problem in What to Expect The First Five Years?

Children are wonderful aren't they? I almost wish she had cut her hair. That would be an easier fix than the eyebrows. Do they make falsh eyebrows?

I haven't cleaned my house in a month

I don't know how I've let it go this long. Or why really. I cleaned my bedroom today and Katie was shocked to see that the room actually does have a floor. I just haven't felt up to it. For a long time I was doing really good and following FlyLady and my house looked great. For some reason I just totally started slacking off and yesterday I finally saw how dirty it is. I'm surprised Dh hasn't said anything. I'm looking forward to getting everything back in shape and getting back into my routines. I feel so much better when everything is neat and tidy.

Dh came home Monday from a trip to New Jersey and Atlanta. He says that Atlanta is beautiful and wants us to consider moving there. I would seriously love to get out of California, only because of the gas and house prices. It's just crazy. My parents would probably have heart attacks if I moved their grandkids that far away from them.

I just finished reading You On A Diet. It's an awesome book. It has a ton of information. If you're trying to lose weight you should read this book. It has really helped me. Even if you don't use their program it still has a lot of helpful information. Stay away from the high fructose corn syrup. It's bad, bad, bad. I practically live on fruits and veggies now and I feel so much better. I had no idea how crappy all the fast food I was eating was making me feel. I don't even crave it any more. The only drawback is that I'm spending all the money I was spending on fast food on shoes.

I forgot how to type?

It's been practically forever since I've posted and in all honesty I haven't been all that busy. I just didn't really feel like it. Sometimes I go for months and then post like a woman possessed. There was of course the week my in-laws were visiting. That was an excercise in restraint. My mil is a nice lady, but she does some really weird things. Some people bring you a gift when they stay at your home. Wine or flowers, my mil brought toilet paper. Two rolls aproximately. Toilet paper, the gift that keeps on giving. Until the roll runs out at least. She pruned all the trees in the backyard, cleaned and rearranged the bathroom and folded the pile of clothes that I needed to iron. I appreciated the pruning and cleaning, but folding clothes that need to be ironed? (shrugs) I just couldn't tell ya.

I've been really tired lately. I've started excersizing and eating better. I've lost 6 lbs. I'm taking my vitamins and omega 3's. I just don't understand while I feel like sleeping all the time. I can't keep my eyes open. I can be awake for a couple of hours, but then it's nap time. Maybe I'm reverting to infancy. Next I'll be wanting a bottle and my blankie.

Dh has been out of town for the past week. Seriously, there's not much difference from when he's here. It's not like he helps with the cooking and cleaning and getting the kids ready for bed. I know he feels bad about it, but he never does anything to change it. It's pretty frustrating. I need a break, but I can never get him to take over long enough. The most I can get is a couple of hours on the weekend to take a nap or something. Even then the kids come and wake me up when they want something because they asked dh and he still hasn't gotten up to get it for them. Such is the life of the SAHM. Oh well, things could be worse I suppose.

Thank goodness the sun is back out. I love the rain, but the kids being forced to stay inside drives us all crazy. Hopefully we can get back to the regular routine of baseball and softball. It's nice to get out and the kids get really worn out which is always a good thing.

Love Thursday: My version of yum

Yummy to my tummy
Originally uploaded by princessr92004.

Yummy to my tummy.

I used to hate school

Now I absolutely love school. I still don't love to go there, but I love to send my kids there. It's an education and somebody else has to put up with them! The sad definition of reality: your kids behave better for other adults than they do for you. My kid's teachers think they're absolute angels. Oh little do they know that the minute my kids walk through the door at home they sprout horns and breath fire. I start getting a headache the minute I leave to go pick them up. It's like they've held it in all day and they must release the fury on poor me. I think kids should spend the last 45 minutes of school napping. Maybe that would help. They're always so hyper and cranky when they get home. Even after a snack. Yesterday they were bouncing off the walls so badly that I thought I was going to have to string them up from the ceiling fan.

La Katie gave me the look again yesterday. But this time as she turned away she turned her head so she could maintain eye contact with me. Someone is getting a little too big for her britches. The princess needs to be taken down a peg or two. Seriously, if she's like this now, what is she going to be like as a teenager? Could she be getting all the attitude out of the way? Or is this just a preview of things to come? Suddenly boarding school in Siberia seems tempting.

Birth Stories

This if for the blog carnival over at Maya's Mom.



Mikel-

On March 15th my OB admitted me to the hospital to induce labor. She started by administering cervadil to help my cervix soften. I'd been having tons of contractions, but not dialating AT ALL. After overnight with the cervadil in place and still no dialating the doctor started the pitocin IV. Twelve hours later and I had dialated to a whopping one centimeter. Yipee! My OB was going to leave me overnight and see where we were in the morning. My husband asked if there wasn't anything else we could do to help things along. She looked down at me and said,"let's just go ahead and get you delivered". Great, wonderful, fabulous. Wait a minute. Just how are we going to do that? Ahhhhh, a c-section. Yikes. I freaked out. It wasn't that I was opposed to a c-section, but deathly afraid of it. The anticipation of seeing my baby boy was greater than my fear of the surgery and an hour and a half later there he was. With much pushing on my stomach from my six months pregnant doctor that was on her knees on the operating table. Even with the epidural it was pretty uncomfortable. When the assisting doctor pulled Mikel out everyone in the room said "whoa!" Mikel was 8 lbs. 13oz. He was a big boy. I might also mention that the doctor attempted the inducement at 38 weeks because she was afraid I was going to have a ten pound baby. Not a good thing for a petite lady. Mikel will be 7 years on this March 16th and I still think of him as that tiny little baby they brought to me in the hospital.

Katie-

Katie was a scheduled c-section. With my mom coming from out of town to watch Mikel it just seemed easier to schedule the birth than to take a chance and not have anyone available to watch Mikel. Unlike Mikel's birth, Katie's was a walk in the park. 45 minutes and welcome to the world baby girl! It's a good thing that we had scheduled the c-section. Katie has done things her own way from the start. She was breach and came out feet first. Let me tell you, a kickin' baby and a cervix do not make for a very comfortable mommy. When they brought me back into the room my mom was disgusted. She said there was no way that I had just had a baby. I looked like I had just gone for a walk and came back with a baby. Thank goodness there was none of the uncontrollable shaking and vomiting like after I had Mikel. It was very nice and wonderful experience. We could hear Katie crying all the way in the nursery. Since I had gestational diabetes they had to check her blood sugar. They were trying to get her to take a bottle and she was having none of it. Katie was a breastfeeding baby from the word go. Oh she would drink a bottle. Then throw it right back up. She's not stubborn. She's assertive and very patient. While I really wanted a girl with a strong will, I'm not sure that this was what I meant. Lord have mercy on the man she marries. He better have a good job and the patience of a saint.

I'm going nucking futs

Mikel was sick all last week. The kids have been home on vacation all this week. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids but they need to go back to school. Mikel had some sort of cold/flu type thing and ran a fever for 5 days. He absolutely refuses to take any kind of medicine so it was really miserable for everybody. I seem to have caught a cold but it's still pretty minor so hopefully it won't stay around for very long. Combine all this with the rainy weather and we all have a major case of cabin fever.

Does any one have a daughter about 5 years old that has a major diva complex? I'm seriously ready to lock mine in her room. She's been rude and demanding and when I tell her no she actually gives me the look. You know the way your mom used to look at you when you were getting on her nerves? I don't know what to do with her.

I really need a nap. I'm so glad it's the weekend, now I can sleep all day tomorrow while Dh deals with the kids. I need some alone time. I think I'm just a day or two away from pulling a Britney. Only instead of shaving my head I'll probably just pull my hair out.

How to traumatize your child

(Here's another beginnings of a post. I have no idea what those words at the bottom are for. I think it had something to do with words that are searched for the most on Google.)

First, you must be repairing a favorite stuffed animal or doll. Second, you must be interrupted in some fashion. Third, when you are interrupted you must stick the needle you are using to repair the stuffed object into the animal abruptly. Fourth, leave the stuffed object on the table where your child can find it. Wait until screaming starts and you can consider it a job well done.




first, Constantinople, hobgoblin, postmodern and etiquette.

It's Monday night and the kids are in fine form. My oldest nephew is sitting in the corner for the second time in about 30 minutes. We're getting our Thanksgiving dinner menu set and will be shopping tomorrow for our goodies. It's so easy to get carried away and want to make tons of food, but it will just be the four of us so we need to keep it small. Small doesn't mean it can't be good. H has a good line on a job and could possibly be working before Thanksgiving. That would be so awesome. We really need him to get back to work. Not that I don't love being around my parents after living so far away for so long, but I'm living with my parents. After being on my own, it sucks. Plus H, the kids, and I are all living in the same room. Four people in the same room. Sounds thrilling don't it? I need my own space. I'm considering getting my own apartment and maybe sometimes I let H visit me there!

Just FYI

Getting a cortisone shot in your foot is not something you want to put on your "things to do before I die list". It hurts. HURTS. BAD. It's supposed to make my foot feel better. In a couple of days. Until then it hurts like h e double hockey sticks and I'm running a fever. Isn't that nice? I'm also probably going to have a lovely bruise on my foot. I'm also supposed to stay off my feet as much as possible. Did I mention I have two kids? What mother is able to stay off her feet? Perhaps I should introduce my podiatrist to my psychiatrist. I'm sure they would get along.

I'll be honest

While I'm not a big fan of Anna Nicole, I am sad that she died. She was still young and she has a beautiful baby girl. Regardless of how the media portrayed her, she was still a human and will be missed. It's incredibly sad that she first lost her son and then had this huge custody battle or paternity suit over her daughter. Not too mention all of it being played out on national tv and in magazines. I would not want that kind of life. It must be very hard. The thing that I feel the worst about is now there is a baby girl that will never know her mom. She'll grow up seeing all these images of her mother, but not really know the woman that she was. It's a tragedy, from all angles. A man without his companion, a child without a mother, a mom without a daughter. Regardless of my opinion of the woman herself, I feel sad for those who will suffer through her loss.

Addiction is an ugly thing

There are many forms of addiction. Addiction to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes,and diet caffiene free pepsi. But the worst one I've ever seen, just breaks my heart. I know it will be a lifelong addiction. One that no matter what, there is no twelve step program. The person suffering from this horrible addiction is my daughter. Yes, she is addicted to chocolate pudding. I caught her this morning constructing a ladder from chairs and boxes in order to obtain the object of her desire. The pudding cups. I have to hide them because she would eat them all the day I brought them home. It's an ugly, ugly thing folks. The chocolate smeared around her mouth and that crazed, sugar induced look in her. I'm frightened.

Proof that men don't listen

Have you seen that Volvo commercial where the little girl is talking non-stop? Dh and I saw it last night and he remarked,"that would drive me crazy". I paused and looked at him,"you obviously haven't spent much time in the car with our daughter have you?"

This girl gives new meaning to the word chatterbox. I've asked her several times if her mouth ever gets tired and she always says no. Maybe that's why she's so skinny. She burns off all the calories by constantly talking. I wonder if I should try that.