So, who is ready for Christmas?

And if you say you were done shopping since the end of summer I will cry. And I can no longer be your friend....because being that organized is just creepy. Ok, not really, but that is crazy organized you have to admit.

We have been dealing with a house full of sick ever since the day after Thanksgiving. Dennis had bronchitis, he is pretty close to being over it now. Neither one of us slept for about 1 and 1/2 weeks due to him coughing all night. Then Gideon started feeling sick, headache and stomach cramps and really run down. Coughing too. The doctor said he probably has bronchitis also. He was run down for a good week or more. Then the school calls because Bastian is sick, sore/red throat and red ears. So off to the doctor he goes. Turns out it is not strep (WooHoo! We still have not had strep in the house...of course I just jinxed us so I'm sure we will all come down with super-strep soon) but Bastian had a double ear infection. He said his ears felt clogged but not sore at all. I do think Lincoln and Spencer have a bit of a cold...but I'm crossing my fingers that I'm wrong about that. Yes, it's called 'denial' and I enjoy it so don't ruin it for me, ok?

Because of all this sickness in the house (and due to the fact that we have been down to only one car for almost 2 months now. What? You are curious as to why? Well then I will tell you: Dennis's car has something wrong with the power steering system. The whole doohickey connected to the thingamajig that controls the whatchamacallit is broken and needs to be replaced. Which will cost $1,200-yes DOLLARS, real ones not Monopoly ones!!- so we had decided since we were wanting to trade in Dennis's car for a new one soon anyway we would just make due with one car for a while. Which was fine for a bit but we really do need to have 2 cars since Dennis works 45 minutes away) So anyway due to everyone being sick and me not being able to run errands during the day, I'm way behind on Christmas stuff. We did go look at a new minivan yesterday. I'm totally in love with it. We needed to upgrade the van to an 8-passenger before April. We had some free time yesterday while Renee (otherwise known as 'The Worlds Most Awesome Cousin') took the 4 older kids to the movies. So we looked at cars with Lincoln. He was happy since he loves cars. Or maybe it was just because we bought him some munchkin donuts. He loves those too. We did find a great car, a 2007 Honda Odyssey. It is completely loaded with all kinds of toys. It is a great car. And we will find out tomorrow if we get it. I have convinced myself that we will not because of the credit crunch and Dennis's recent job change. But I'll let you know if by some miracle we get it. And whether we do or not we will be getting Dennis's car fixed this week. I'm going to call around and see if anyplace will give us a cheaper quote.

So yes we are behind on Christmas stuff. I should have started my Christmas cookies by now, but I wanted to wait until everyone was healthy again. We should have gotten our Christmas tree and gone to see Santa already but we will do that next weekend. I haven't even done our Christmas cards yet. *sigh* And Moira is keeping me updated every night on how many of our neighbors have put up decorations. But next week we will get it all done. I hope haha

Sorry this is so short and boring! But it is almost 10pm which is past my bedtime. I hope everyone is staying warm and healthy!!

Ok, so...um, yes we are still alive *blush*

I would like to blame Peep for my lack of energy which explains my lack of blogs...but I'm a good mama and I'd never dream of blaming one of my kids for my failings. But ya know, read between the lines [Peep is exhausting me!!].

Ok, so, here is what we've been up to lately....it might get long, so you might want to get yourself a snack and a cold drink...I recommend ice water, it is delicious and refreshing....and you can't go wrong with some kind of chocolate....ok, are you back? Yes? Alright, our recent life: set to the tune of Mission Impossible:

Dennis did his 3 weeks of training in Connecticut. We were lucky that he was able to come home on the weekends, but boy that was a hard 3 weeks. Since then we have been adjusting to the new schedule. It took a bit to get used to Dennis not working from home anymore. I think we are back in the rhythm of things now.

Spencer celebrated his birthday on Oct 27th. The big 11th birthday. Here he is blowing out the candle on his birthday pumpkin pie (doesn't everyone want birthday pumpkin pie?)

Gideon is doing well, but he did get pretty sick over the last few weeks. He had a stomach bug/ cold that just knocked him on his butt. He missed just about a full week of school, and he was so tired and run down for almost 2 weeks. Right now he just has a slight cough. He also found out that he is allergic to pumpkin seeds. After we carved our pumpkins, Dennis roasted the seeds. The next day Gideon had some after school for snack (around 4pm). By dinnertime (6pm) he had a hive on his jaw, which the kids do get random hives sometimes so I wasn't worried. Then after dinner the boys like to watch tv in their room. At about 9 he came down and said his ear was itchy, and he stepped into the light and he had hives along his jaw, up and down his arms, all around his stomach and back and covering his thighs! It scared the crap out of me! We gave him some allergy medicine, and sprayed him with a itch/small cut spray. I also kept asking him if his chest hurt or felt tight. Man, it was a scary incident, none of the kids have ever had a reaction like that! Luckily the hives were gone within a couple more hours...not that I didn't keep checking on him every 20 minutes overnight though.

Lincoln also celebrated his birthday, here is the video of him and the birthday cake (notice he wants the whole cake haha):
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/Fall%202008/?action=view&current=pumpkinsbirthdays112.flv
And here is a slideshow of the party:
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/Fall%202008/?action=view&current=9e6d0aba.pbw

You can see by the last picture that Lincoln has named his lovey blanket "baboo" he came up with the name all by himself.

Halloween was also in there somewhere, here is a slideshow of all the Halloween fun:
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/Fall%202008/?action=view&current=7acbc8db.pbw

Then, lets see...this week we had election day. I usually vote in mid-morning, since we vote at the firehouse which is a 5 minute walk up the road. But, this year I wanted the kids to be part of it, so I waited until the boys got home from school and we all went. The kids went into the booth with me (we have those old huge booths with the levers). And they were the ones that actually pulled the levers. Spencer voted for president (Obama) and after we voted I told the kids "Guys, you just made history" it was kind of emotional for me. After that the workers gave us all 'I voted' stickers, and we went back home to get dinner ready. Right before dinner Bastian and Gideon were wrestling and Bastian smashed his hand against the floor. We gave him ice, but over the next hour it swelled and the ice didn't help. So, I took him off to the emergency room. I was able to watch a bit of the election coverage in the waiting room, then once we were in the exam room Bastian was watching cartoon network (I love how the childrens hospital at strong has tv's in the rooms!) The doctor said she didn't think he broke his thumb, but the base of the thumb, near the palm, was very swollen so she wanted to get X-rays just to be sure. At 11pm I was able to urn on the news in the exam room, just in time to hear them call the election for Obama. Then the doctor said that no bones were broken he just sprained his thumb. So she wrapped it in an ace bandage and we were good to go. I was able to listen to Obama's acceptance speech on the way home. It was wonderful. And I'm not saying that just because my guy won. I'm so hopeful for the direction this country will move in the next 4 years (and that concludes the political section of this blog...stay tuned for more hilarity from the minds of my kids)

And, little miss Moira is doing very well. Her and Lincoln are the best of friends now and they play together so well (at least 80% of the time anyway). A couple weeks ago I had taken the babies to do some errands. I should say that we have a minivan, and Lincoln's carseat is on the middle bench and Moira's carseat is in the back bench. On the way home Lincoln lets out a huge yawn, so I say "Lincoln, are you sleepy baby?" and Moira right away says "No, Mama, he's just really, really bored" haha. She also came up to me today and said this:

Mama, you know how our pumpkins are all yucky? They were regular pumpkins, but then they got all mushy and now they are mushy and broken? That is called irreversible change Mama. Irreversible change.

Um, yeah, wanna know how she knows that? A show on PBS kids called Sid the Science Kid. Or she is a genius...not sure which.

Ok, one last slideshow...this is a Petting Zoo we went to earlier in October:
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/Fall%202008/?action=view&current=07d7d968.pbw

Well I sure slacked on the blogging thing huh?

Here are some pictures of the boys from their first day of school. I know most normal parents only take pictures on the first day of kindergarten...but I never said I was a normal parent did I?

Since Moira and Lincoln didn't go to school, here's a couple picture of then from that morning:

The other big news around here is that Dennis will be switching jobs. He has worked at Chase for about 10 years now and they have been very good to him. But, due to the mortgage industry fallout business has been very slow since August. So, he decided that the best thing to do is start looking for something new. We were told that once you work in sales that it can translate to most other sales jobs, so Dennis concentrated in sales only. And we got a tip from an awesome person (ok, I'm the awesome person haha) that there was going to be a job fair for sales positions in the area. Dennis went to it, and met with about 5 companies. One stood out from the rest, and after 2 more long interviews, a ride-along day, and one last long interview they offered Dennis the job. Woohooo!!!!!!! His last day at Chase is this friday. Then sunday evening he will get in his car and drive to Connecticut to begin 3 weeks of training. Luckily since he can drive there he will be able to come home on the weekends. I know it will be kind of hard on all of us, but in the long run I really think this is going to be a wonderful opportunity for our family.

Not much else is going on. Peep is doing well. I had an ultrasound last week to check the due date, and it is still 4/19. I'm pretty tired most the time, and morning sickness has me pretty queasy. I've lost 5.5 pounds in about 4 weeks. But, all in all I'm feeling pretty good. I had to have a thyroid test done at my first appointment 2 weeks ago, because I've been getting cold flashes lately. That came back low, so I went in for a more in depth test. I haven't gotten the results from that yet. I'll update when I do.

So that is what we have been up to. I'm sorry it's not more exciting!

School starts tomorrow...should I be happy or sad?

I guess I'm a bit of both. We really had a great summer, with minimal tantrums and fights...and the kids were pretty good too hahaha. So, as much as I'm kind of looking forward to a little bit quieter house during the day, and dare I hope?, possibly even afternoon naps sometimes, I think I'll miss the big, smelly, loud, crazy, funny, perpetually bored monkeys. But then I'll take a nap and I image I'll feel much better.

Speaking of school, Moira has been pretty upset that she doesn't get to go this year. I think she just wants the backpack and other cute accessories. I've told her that she can not go to school until she learns her numbers, letters, colors and shapes. It really was starting to worry me, because by 3 years old all the boys knew all of that. And yes, I know you can not compare your kids to each other, but darn it you know you do anyway! I finally came to the conclusion that I think she does know all that...she just doesn't want me to know that she knows. She will give the correct answers when it suits her to do so. I told her that I was going to start teaching her all this stuff so that she could go to school next year. So I guess I'm a teacher this year, and I have the flashcards to prove it. I just hope she brings me chocolate instead of an apple.

Now I feel so S-M-R-T...er, I mean S-M-A-R-T

Yesterday we went to the science museum with Nana and Papa. It was great. And it was even better that it wasn't crowded at all! I usually get nervous in crowds because the kids tend to scatter. So I spend the whole time herding monkeys...which is even more difficult then herding cats!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SmgLtg1Izw
So it was great to not have to worry about them so much. It was a lot of fun. I really liked the Robots exhibit.

Is that not the best picture?? My kids are so great!

My disgust of seafood must be genetic.

**New Baby Has a Name!!!!**

I bet you think I'm going to tell you the real name, don't you? Well, haha, sorry suckers! You'll have to wait until the baby is born to find out. Because I'm a big meanie. We decided that we should come up with a nickname for the new baby, so we aren't calling him/her "New Baby" for the next 8 months. So, we let the kids help decide the name since they were pretty disappointed that we won't let them pick the babies real name. But, as my friend Sophie pointed out, if we did let them name the baby then they would call him/her: Samantha Optimus Obi-Wan Princess Smith.

We thought it would be nice to let the kids pick out the nickname. So we had some intense negotiations, and for a while there I thought the baby would be called Cosmo (from the cartoon 'The Fairly Odd Parents'). But, in the end we decided that since the baby will be born over Easter Recess, we would use the nickname:

PEEP

Now we just have to wait to see if we got a pink peep or a blue one haha

Just a small update on us.....

Now I'll know how many of you actually read my blog....mwahahahahahaha

My big, giant, humungus, enormous head now hurts.

I'll never understand how people with children could ever be vain people. I don't understand how they could even maintain a reasonably healthy self esteem. Children are brutal. Case in point, what my Darling little Angel told me the other day:

Moira (bringing over her big magnadoodle): Mama, hold still, I want to draw a picture of your big head.
Me: My BIG head?

Moira: yes. The big one. Right there with your face. It's big.

I guess that is why she needed the BIG magnadoodle and not the travel sized one? Too bad she doesn't have a football field sized one, you know, so she could do a life sized drawing of my huge head.

**Playground fun!**

This is from over a week ago, but oh well. Enjoy!

**************************************

**GapTooth McGillicutty**

Bastians second front tooth fell out last week. This time the Tooth Fairy (who was completely on the ball this time and made the switcharooni with no problems) brought him another dollar and a Kit-Kat bar. And Bastian was nice enough to give one of the kit-kat sticks to Spencer, Gideon, and Moira. Luckily Lincoln slept in late that day, otherwise there could have been a rumble. 4 Kit-Kat sticks and 5 kids...not a good situation! But that was nice of Bastian to share, wasn't it?

Here's a picture of my 'Thooper Thweet Listhping Boy':

**************************************

**My Real Birthday Celebration, on my Fake Birthday Day**

Last Friday we celebrated my birthday. We went out to Cheeburger Cheeburger for dinner. I love that place! It was the second time we've been there and this time Spencer and Gideon wanted to try to get their pictures on the 'Wall Of Fame' which for kids 12 and under means they have to eat a 1/2 pound (actually 10 oz before cooking) burger. Just so you can compare, I had the Classic Burger, what they call the beginners burger, at a mere 5.5 oz (before cooking) so half the size of theirs. Gideon had the burger and that is it, but he finished the whole thing. Spencer had the burger, and some fries, and some onion rings, and a chicken finger. And they are not even teenagers yet!! My children are locusts. Locusts I tell you! But, they did get their picture taken holding a big stuffed burger. They wrote their names on it and then wrote "We were hungry!!!!" haha, silly boys. We also got a copy of the picture to keep *sniff sniff* I've never been prouder of my little piggies.

I also got a present. Dennis really shocked me this year. I have really been wanted to get another tattoo and have been telling him that for a couple years now. So Dennis bought me a gift certificate for a tattoo!!! I'm so stinking excited! I met with the artist already, and we came up with a design. I should be getting it in the next 2 to 3 weeks. Ahhh, Dennis outdid himself this year! I just can not wait!

After dinner we went to Parma Town park where they were showing Horton Hears A Who on an outdoor screen. It was a really cute movie. I enjoyed it very much.

And that is how we celebrated my birthday. Not bad, huh?

***I have no words for this one folks. Make up your own caption."***

How would you like to wake up to this face in the middle of the night? hahahahahahahahahaha

I had a Fake Birthday!

My birthday was this past Wednesday (the 23rd). I told Dennis that due to just getting back from our big vacation, I would rather wait until after he gets paid at the end of the month to celebrate. So I had a pretty low-key birthday. I was able to sleep late (about 10am!) then when I came downstairs the whole downstairs was cleaned. Even the kitchen! Happy birthday to me! But, wait! There's more! (call in the next 10 minutes and you will receive not one but TWO happy birthday hugs. Hurry, supplies are limited!) Dennis worked from home so he made everyone lunch and then put the babies down for naps. In the afternoon I supervised Bastian and Spencer while they made brownies. Gideon was busy playing Wii haha, the kid has his priorities you know. For dinner Dennis made stir fry. I love his stir fry (that's not a creepy euphemism, I really do mean stir fry). The kids were all really good and played nicely all day so I didn't even have to yell on my birthday. That is a priceless gift right there! After dinner Moira and Bastian kept asking where the balloons and streamers and pinata were. I told them that grownups usually didn't have big birthday parties. So, Moira then said "Mama, this is your fake birthday. When is your real birthday?" hahaha. We will celebrate my birthday this Friday. I'm thinking we will either go to the drive-in if they are showing anything good, or maybe just go to dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger. I might even make a cheesecake for dessert. If I'm really lucky I might get a gift or two (gimme gimme gimme! Mine!...er, I mean, it's not about the gifts.).
That is how I celebrated my Fake Birthday. It was a good day. Moira told me "Happy Birthday means I love you" and I truly felt the love on my birthday.

And, I'm sure there are some of you wondering which birthday it was for me. This year I celebrated the 11th anniversary of my 21st birthday.

**Bastian lost another tooth!!**
Bastian's front two teeth have been loose for about a month. The other day I was in the kitchen making dinner and I hear Bastian and Gideon yelling. So I go see what is going on, and Bastian's mouth is bleeding. A lot. Dripping. Yuck. I take him in the bathroom to rinse and spit and get some ice for him. It turns out that Bastian's mouth got up close and personal with Gideon's back and it knocked his two front teeth even looser. And, for the next two days it seemed like every 5 minutes Bastian was bumping his teeth into something and making them bleed. I mean, seriously, was he walking around with his front teeth sticking out like a bloodhound tracking a scent? I swear he bumped his teeth on every single object larger then a speck of dust in the house. But, finally yesterday one of them fell out. Hurray!! Spencer and Gideon were off at a sleepover, so Bastian was the big kid in the house. He was all excited and put his tooth under his pillow. Well, actually Spencer's pillow because he slept in Spencer's bed.

Here is the uh-oh part. The Tooth Fairy almost forgot to come get the tooth! Luckily the Tooth Fairy's husband kept her awake until after 3am because he was snoring. As the Tooth Fairy finally started to drift off to sleep she suddenly remembered that she missed a tooth. So she jumped out of bed and got a dollar and 2 peanut butter cups and put them in a baggie. She then left them under Bastian's pillow and stole his tooth. Then went back to bed and eventually fell asleep. And at about 7 am the Tooth Fairy's husband suddenly jumped out of bed and ran out of the room. A couple minutes later he came back and said "You didn't tell me you already got the tooth!" then went back to bed until 9. Because the Tooth Fairy's children sleep in late every morning since no one has to get up for..er, fairy school. Of course the Tooth Fairy's children do stay awake later at night, but the Tooth Fairy is perfectly ok with that since it means she doesn't have to get up at 7 am every morning. Or, ok to be honest here, so the Tooth Fairy's husband doesn't have to get up at 7am every morning. Because the Tooth Fairy is not a morning person.

So, that is pretty much what my week has been like. How about you? Anything interesting happen in your life this week? I feel as though our conversations have become so one sided.

Bastians birthday!!!!! (& laugh at the dorkiness that is me)

Alright, I know I'm a bit late on this one. Bastian's birthday was on Saturday the 12th. He had a pirate party. We had invited 10 of his school friends. 1 had RSVP'ed to say he couldn't come. 2 RSVP'ed to say they would be there. The other 7 never RSVP'ed at all. And didn't come :( Good thing Bastian has 3 brothers and a sister to fill out the party guests. It was a great party anyway. Dennis's Aunt Sophie and cousin Renee came. I feel like I haven't seen them much lately so that was nice.

Dennis put together a Treasure Hunt. He had a great story about 'Chips A'hoy' who got caught stealing the captains candy so he was kicked off the ship and then was chased all over to try to get the candy back. Each clue had a letter on it, which then spelled out Pinata...and led to a pinata Chips A'Hoy which the kids then beat the...er, candy out of. Here is a slide show of the party:

http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/July/?action=view&current=4b877e4b.pbw

So, now my big boy is an even bigger boy. Why do these children insist on getting bigger??

**Now, Laugh At The Dorkiness...trust me, you'll laugh**

Ok, the last time I said something so dumb that Dennis just kind of looked at me like "Is she serious or joking?" was about 5 years ago when we were down in Florida. Dennis had won a 3 day trip for the two of us. The best parents in the whole world (also know as MY parents) stayed with the kids (only 3 of them at that time) so Dennis and I got a little get-away. So, during that lovely romantic weekend my facade of brilliance was shattered. When we were driving across one of the very long bridges in Florida I say to Dennis "Look at those pretty pink birds flying over us! I wonder what kind of birds those are?"...and Dennis gave me the 'are you for real?' look and said "They are flamingos". Well how was I to know? I didn't know they could fly. I'd only seen them hanging around little ponds at zoo's. I've never seen a zoo flamingo fly. For that matter I've never even seen a plastic lawn flamingo fly.

So, I've gotten away with rebuilding my image of smartness since then. And I didn't even have to tell Dennis my latest stupid thought...because it remained a stupid thought. But it was just so funny that I had to share it with Dennis so he could laugh at me...and also share with all of you, so you could also laugh at me.

This little brain fart happened when we were on our way to visit the National Zoo. As we were walking from the metro stop down the hill to the zoo entrance I was checking out all the restaurants along the street (kind of a hip urban street, with cafes and other froo-froo eateries). I was seeing if there was anything I was interested in trying for dinner after the zoo. So, across the street a bit ahead of us I see this sign:

And I'm thinking to myself "ZEEE-Levin...ZEEE-LevIN...I wonder what kind of place that is?" to me it sounded like another froo-froo ethnic restaurant, right? Until I look at the signs in the window and realize that it's not ZEEE-Levin...it's actually 7-Eleven. As in 7-11. As in Slurpees and Big Gulps. So, not a froo-froo ethnic restaurant.

Yep. I'm a dork...

Did you miss us?

Our insanely long vacation is over. We actually got back very late Wednesday night. We left Virginia at about 11 am, so we should have gotten home by 9pm at the latest. We got home at 1:30am. It took 3 hours just to get into Pennsylvania...which, by the way, Moira learned how to say and was very proud of herself so for a good 20 minutes all we heard her say was "Pennsylbania, Pennsylbania, PENsylbania, PennSYLbania, PennsylBANia, PENNSYLBANIA!!!" That was...well, I'm sure you can imagine how amusing that was.

We did have some minor set backs (like spending all morning and $400 for me to see a doctor for a UTI) but all in all it was a great trip. We figured out the Washington DC metro pretty easily, and the metro workers were very helpful. We got to see all of what we wanted to see. It was very hot (upper 80's to mid 90's) everyday, with humidity somewhere in the 80% range (or what I like to call 'sweat your ever-lovin eyebrows off' weather). So, I'd love to go back to visit DC again...but I'm thinking maybe in the spring. Or fall. Or possibly the dead of winter. Have I said before that I don't enjoy heat much?

Lincoln directs us which way to go.

Here are a few slide shows of the trip....This one is of pictures from Indian Caverns, Gettysburg, The Mall, and The Zoo.
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/Washington%20DC/?action=view&current=9a45e405.pbw

I love the picture of Lincoln in front of the picture of President Lincoln. I laugh every time I see it, because when I was trying to get the picture I was saying "Lincoln! Look at me! Lincoln, smile!" and people in the room were looking at me like I was nuts (why is that crazy lady telling a picture to look at her??).

At the zoo we bought some gilatos for a snack. We had never had it before, and Bastian couldn't remember the name.

This slide show has more pictures from the zoo, and also from the Washington Monument,Lincoln Memorial, and Mount Vernon:

http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/Washington%20DC/?action=view&current=0f56889a.pbw

We then spent 3 days in Virginia meeting up with some of the mom's from my iVillage board, but I'm not going to put up pictures from that. We had lots of fun, and it was so great to 'meet' some of the women that I've 'known' for the last 2 years!

Our last stop on our vacation was 2 days at Kings Dominion (the one in Virginia). On the way to the hotel we stopped at Dairy Queen for dipped cones...the kids had never had them before, and I remember having them as a little kid.

Here's some pictures from Kings Dominion:

http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/Washington%20DC/?action=view&current=eece7570.pbw

I have about 1,000 more pictures from the trip, if anyone is interested? Haha, I thought so.

But, we did have lots of fun. And it was so wonderful to spend so much time together with the kids. They did so great. Even with the 7 million degree heat and 90 bajillion percent humidity. They are such great little troopers.

Let me take you down...'cause I'm going to strawberry fields.

Did you sing that? Ahhh, you must be a regular reader then.

Last Saturday we went strawberry picking. Here's a slideshow:
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/June/?action=view&current=afdcafed.pbw
You might notice that Moira is the least 'girly' looking then normal. She was MAD at me that I wouldn't let her wear a dress, but you can't pick strawberries in a dress...we'll maybe you can, but that's just because you are very talented. Or you live on Little House On the Prairie. ("Pa Ingalls is that you?") Anyway, I did notice something...people were letting their kids eat the strawberries. Is that normal? I let the kids each try one, and kind of felt bad about that, but other people were just letting their kids sit and chow down on them. Is that an expected normal thing to do? I just found that weird.

**Gift From Booba**

Gideon brought an art project home the other day. It looks kind of like a Pillsbury Dough Boy holding 3 little dough boys (one in it's arms, one on it's back and one on it's head). Gideon said the one in it's arms was him, the one on the head is Spencer and the one on the back was Bastian. I asked who the 'dough boy' was and he said "It's you Mama" *sniff sniff* My boy made me a statue just because he wanted to. How sweet is that? Here are a couple pictures of it:
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/June/?action=view&current=statue001.jpg

http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/June/?action=view&current=statue004.jpg

***Last Day of School (or, "CRAP! Now what do we do?")***

Today was the last day of school. So, we went out for our traditional Last day Of School Lunch. There is a restaurant on 104 about 15 minutes from us, Grestoffski's Tavern or something like that. It's like a big 50's diner...and you know how much I love diners! We sat up at the counter, the kids loved it. The place is nice, good food and friendly staff. If you are ever out this way check them out. (As an aside for Dad, one of today's specials was fried bologna sandwich. I'm sure you haven't eaten one of those in what 15 years or more? But it made me think of you).

Oh, and for gifts for the boys teachers I sent them in with little packages of Oreo truffles for their teachers (http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/01/grocery-item-turns-gourmet.html- this blog is AWESOME!)

Only 68 days left until school starts...not that I'm counting or anything.

Just so you know, we are going out of town from this Saturday till July 9th, so no blogs for a while (awww, baby, don't cry. You know I love you) There should be approximately 7 billion pictures to show you when we get back.

I guess I better go. Lincoln is running around butt naked. But, you know, my day just isn't complete without someone running across the room nude....

Can you train a house fly??

***Legendary Rocker....or Lincoln??*** (copied from my board)

Bastian got these weird glasses things from school, part of an experiment the class did, and Lincoln is obsessed with them. I think they make him look like Elton John...can you tell who is who?

***My Super Sad 3 year old*** (again copied from my board)

I was doing my workout yesterday morning (I play the DVD on my laptop) and Moira and Lincoln were...well, I'll just say they had a lot of energy and were bugging the stuffing out of each other. So, before I started I asked Moira if she wanted to do her 'Bella Dancerella' DVD, she has the Disney Princess one. She did it one time back in Feb on her birthday, so I thought it would be a neat distraction for her. She had a ball, she did the whole DVD and then wanted to do it a second time. But, the second time she realized that she didn't have the 'wand' that the girls on the DVD had and she asked for it. I knew it is in the toy room, but I was deep into the last 10 minutes of my workout so I told her I would get it as soon as I was done. She said "Ok." then sat down. I look over a few minutes later and she was just sitting on her little vanity stool watching me...she looked so pitifully sad that I just had to take a picture:

Then I did stop my workout and got her the wand...I'm a sucker for a sad face and crazy morning hair.

***I have a 'Random Licker'- EWWWWWW!*** (copied from my board)

Lincoln's newest thing is he licks things. No idea why. He will pick up a toy (book, pen, stuffed animal...you get the idea) and lick it. And not just a little lick. I mean a full on top to bottom lick. It is weird. I'm hoping if I ignore it he will stop.

Well, today I go to get him out of bed from nap, and he holds his hands out to me, so I kiss his palm. Which is slimy. Not just a little damp, I mean one step below dripping wet. SLIMY. I think he must have entertained himself by licking his hands while he waited for me to come get him. YUCK.

***I'm recycling my board posts LOL*** (NOT copied from my board hahaha)

Sorry for all the copied from my board posts, but I shared a bunch of monkey stories there this week, which I also feel the need to share with you.

*** The Thought That Inspired The Title Of This Post (Can you train a house fly?)***

I was thinking how much easier my day would be if house flies were trainable. See, Moira hates bugs. Loathes them. Runs away freaking out if she sees one. So, as I was telling her for the 15th time to "GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN!!!" and "STOP PLAYING IN THE WATER!!!" I thought how wonderful it would be if I could just say to our pet fly:
"Marty, go fly around in the kitchen"....and then Moira would stay out of there. Brilliant, right?

I'm assuming at this point you are thinking "Why is her pet fly named Marty?"
Well, 2 reasons---
1) His full name is Marty McFly, like Michael J. Fox's character in the Back To The Future movies. Great name for a pet fly, isn't it?
and 2) He just looks like a Marty...this hypothetical pet fly I'm thinking of.

Although I did just realize that flies have a lifespan of what, 2 days? I guess if you add in the time involved in teaching a new fly to understand English then training him to follow commands...then having to do a funeral every 2 days, I guess it's not practical. Darn. I was looking forward to Marty, and maybe his wife Bea (Bee, get it? Come on, that was funny! Thank you! I'll be here all week...don't forget to tip your waitress)

You know you're my favorite, right?

haha, that is what I tell all the kids whenever they have been especially helpful. Gideon has caught on to it though. He says I can only have 1 favorite. I told him that they are all my favorites but he just shakes his head at me, rolls his eyes and says "Favorite means 1 Mama, not 5. You can't have 5!" I think he's wrong. I can have 5 favorites. 'Cause I'm the Mama and I said so. So there! (I'm sticking out my tongue by the way)

**(from now on when I shift topics in the blog I'll do these little starry thingys...what the heck are those called??) Anyway, topic #2: The subtle signs of maturity from a 10 year old.

I noticed something the other morning when I was brushing my teeth. The was an extra toothbrush in the cup. Since I'm pretty sure my toothbrush didn't have a baby, I took a closer look. It is Spencer's toothbrush. Huh. We have all the kids toothbrushes in the downstairs bathroom. Because I use the upstairs bathroom (hey, it's a form of exercise to go up the stairs every time I need to go potty, right??). Anyway, I figure keep the kids toothbrushes downstairs so I don't have to see the toothpaste all over the sink everyday. I have a weird fantasy that if I can't see the mess and if I don't acknowledge the mess, then there is no mess. Kind of like the spoon bender scene in the Matrix (for those non-geeks out there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28kOO6qDk7s&feature=related) So, yes it is a form of denial, but if it gets me out of having to scrub the sink twice a day then I can live with it. Anyway, again, I noticed Spencer's toothbrush was in the cup with Dennis's and mine. He didn't ask to keep it up there, he just quietly made the switch on his own. I'm thinking that it is a small sign that he wants to be treated like a big guy not a kid. I haven't said anything to him about it. Partly because I have no idea what to say, but partly because I'm afraid I'll start crying like a baby if I do say something: "I notice your toothbrush is in the upstairs bathroom *deep breath*...is it because you want to separate yourself from the younger kids? *sniff sniff*....Do you feel that you are more mature and want to show your independence? *sniffle*....Are you trying to show me that you are not a little boy anymore?*sob sob*.....Do you want me to start treating you like a young man and not my baby? *and this is when I become a blubbering idiot and start doing the ugly cry*".....Of course there is always a chance that he'd say "No, I just brought my toothbrush up because I like to look out the window when I brush my teeth." But, I cant take that chance. Trust me, no one wants to see my ugly cry. So, I'll let him keep his Shrek toothbrush in among our boring grownup toothbrushes.

**Dennis gets silly**

The other day I bought a can of mixed nuts. That night I had a handful for a snack. One of the walnuts I had was over roasted or something, it tasted bitter. So a couple nights later Dennis was going to have some of the nuts.

me: Be careful of the walnuts.

Dennis: Why? (then he opens the can and looks in and says) Oh, they have guns!

I literally almost fell over I was laughing so hard. I mean, holding my sides tears running down my face laughing until I can't catch my breathe laughing. Maybe you had to be there, but it was hysterical!

**Babies get checked out**
I took the babies in for their well baby checkups yesterday. Ok, I'm about a month late for Lincolns and 4 months late for Moira's, but who's counting right? Here's the quickie version of the appointment:

Lincoln's stats:
Height: 36.5 inches (above 95th percentile)
Weight: 28 pounds (about 60th percentile)
Head Circumference: 19.75 inches (between 90 and 95th percentile)

And Moira's stats are:
Height: 41 inches (above 95th percentile)
Weight: 30 pounds (about 30th percentile)
Head Circumference: 20 inches (between 90 and 95th percentile)
They are very healthy and very big :)

**PICTURES!!!!**
And last but not least....some pictures! But only pictures of my favorite. (from playing in the sprinkler yesterday afternoon)














And, before I sign off, I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, you know that YOU are my favorite, right?

Random pictures and bragging of my monkeys...

First, here is a slide show from the wonderful Memorial Day picnic with Nana and Papa:


http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/luvmy5monkeys/May/?action=view&current=dbcf2a6f.pbw
Here are the boys watching for Nana to finish her first 10 K at our Apple Blossom Festival! Go Nana Go!!

Lincoln is test driving his brand new stroller. Now, we have a Joovy sit and stand stroller that I love, I seriously love it (and, no, Pee-Wee, I'm not gonna marry it). We bought it when I was pregnant with Lincoln, and it's a bit pricey ($150), but it is sooooo worth it. I could go on and on, but since I'm not a paid spokesperson, I'll shut up (unless someone from the Joovy corporation would like to pay me for endorsements? Yes? No? You'll get back to me?). Anyway, we (and by 'we' I mean me) decided that the Joovy was just too big for our Washington DC trip. It will take up to much room in the trunk, and also since we'll be using the subway most the time it will be to bulky. We learned that last year in NYC. So I started looking around for an umbrella stroller. Well, the cheap ones just weren't going to work, we needed one that had a bar for the handle, not those curved separate handles. That would have killed my back. So I settled on this stroller, it's a Combi brand, and it was more then I was hoping to spend ($70) but it is wonderful! It only weighs 10 pounds, and it folds up small like an umbrella stroller does. It moves like a dream, turns very easily. And again, I'll shut up (Combi?? Do you need a spokesperson? I'm cheap. I'll endorse the heck out of this stroller if you want)And, here is Louis Armstrong...er, wait, that's Moira and her prize from the duckie game. She was jonesing for those trumpets as soon as she saw another little girl with one.

Ok, now on to funny things the kids have said:
The other day Spencer was talking to Lincoln saying "Whose my favorite brother? Whose my favorite little brother?" and from the other room, I hear "Bastian!" Haha, Bastian's timing is impeccable.

And, just now when Moira was heading upstairs to bed she tells me that she is out of gas. I asked what happens when she is out of gas and she said "That means I can't walk up stairs any more. You will have to carry me"

Boy, sometimes I sure wish the boys were out of gas...and I'm not talking about the walk you up the stairs kind if you get my drift......

*sigh* I'm too lazy for all this activity.....

I think I've gotten spoiled from using Fridays as my day to run errands. Friday is the day that Dennis usually works from home, so after lunch when the babies are napping I'll go do grocery shopping or whatever while he stays home. But, today I needed to grocery shop, and I wanted to run to JoAnns for some crafty type stuff...'cause I'm crafty like that.

I knew if I didn't do my workout in the morning I wouldn't get to it at all. So, I decided I better get up with Spencer at 6am. I get up with him, and get him off to school. Then get Gideon and Bastian up and ready. Moira woke up on her own at 8. The boys get the bus at 8:15 and Lincoln wakes up at 8:30. I've been awake for 2 and a half hours and I'm still in my pajamas. Have I mentioned before I'm not a morning person? Finally at a little after 9 I start my workout, and I'm done by 10. Then I get the babies dressed, and finally at about 11 we leave.

We head to JoAnn's first. Have you ever noticed how close together those shelves are? Lincoln kept taking things off the shelf and throwing them in the cart, so I move him to the other side of the aisle, and he just grabs things off that shelf. So I move him to the middle of the aisle, and he just starts grabbing things from both sides. As I'm taking out and putting back all the things that Lincoln threw in the cart, Moira is saying "Mama! Winkin wants that pink ribbon! It's his favorite. He loves it. He wants you to buy it for him." I told her that we don't need a pink ribbon and her answer is "But it is Winkin's favorite and it will make him soooooo happy!" What can you say to that? No, really, what can you say? Do you have any ideas? Because what I said was "Oh, ok then honey. I guess we should buy it" Yep. I'm a sucker, aren't I?

We did manage to leave JoAnn's without buying too much else that we didn't need. Then we went to wegman's. Moira got to play in WKids ("Because I'm big enough now Mama! I'm a big girl!" *sniff sniff* she sure is). Lincoln and I did our shopping. He is normally very good for most the shopping trip. He's a very easy going baby. But, there comes a point when we are done, no matter how many things I still have on my list to get. That point of stopping is when the back of the cart is full. Because once it is full then Lincoln likes to pick something out of the back of the cart, look at it, turn it over in his hands a few times while saying "huh" and "ahhhh". Then when he is done examining said item, he tosses it to the floor. So, that my friends, is how I know I'm done shopping, even if my list says I have more to get.

We then get Moira out of WKids, and hustle to the car. I buckle the babies in, then load up all the groceries, and give the babies their Lunchables to eat on the way home. I then rush home because it takes 30 minutes to get from wegman's back home, and Spencer's bus is due home in 40 minutes or so. We got home about 2 minutes before him *whew!* and he helped me carry in groceries. I put babies down for their naps, then put the groceries away...then, finally at 3pm I sit down to eat my lunch.

Now I feel like I've been awake forever. And it's all dark and rainy and perfect napping weather...but I've got chores to do and it's almost time to start dinner. I think tomorrow I'll have to be super lazy to offset the activity from today.

Bastian counts down to Mothers Day!!!

Oh, the mind of a 5 year old...it's a wonderful thing!

Bastian comes home on Thursday and says to me "I made you a picture for Mothers Day. But I'm not supposed to tell you about it."

Then on Friday he comes home, runs in the house, and runs upstairs. I thought he just really had to go potty. A few minutes later he comes down, and as we are fixing his snack he says "I had to hide your Mothers Day present so you don't find it......so I hid it under your bed.....so don't look under your bed until Sunday. Because Mothers Day is on Sunday. So don't look. Under your bed. At your present. From me. It's under your bed." At this point I couldn't hear him anymore because I was laughing too hard.

So, from Bastian and I to all you mothers out there.......

Happy Mothers Day!!!!!!!!!!
I hope you have a wonderful day and get pampered like you deserve. But, don't look under your bed until tomorrow. Because Mothers Day isn't till Sunday. And we had to hide your gift. So it's under your bed. The gift. For you. From us. For Mothers Day. That we can't let you know about. Until tomorrow. Ya know, because tomorrow is Mothers Day? So we made you a picture. But we can't tell you. So we hid it. Under your bed........

What a way to spend a rainy Friday night!

We went to the drive in yesterday. There is one in Perry NY, so about 90 minutes from us. It is a really nice one. First run movies. Double features. There is a big lawn and playground in front of the screen. Last year we usually sat on the lawn, with our camping chairs and blankets, and the pack n play for Lincoln. Well, yesterday it had been raining a lot of the day, so we told the kids that they couldn't play on the playground. Since we got there 45 minutes early, man did we hear about that. About 20 minutes before the movie was going to start, a guy walks over and introduces himself as the owner. He said he likes to "welcome" some people during his announcements before the movie starts and asked all our names. Haha, bet he didn't realize there were so many of us! Anyway, so we give him all our names, and he says he hopes we have fun, and that was that. Until he came back about 15 minutes later. He asked if Dennis and the boys could go with him to (and I quote..which is the reason I'm going to use quotation marks, also known as bunny ears) "start the movie". So, Dennis and the big boys go with him. A few minutes later we hear his announcements, all the normal "this is what we are showing tonight, this is what we are showing next week, don't forget to get your snacks, enjoy the show, etc etc" and he says "And a special welcome to Lincoln, Moira, Sebastian, Gideon, Spencer, Jessica and Dennis joining us tonight" and Moira looks at me with big eyes and says "He said Winkin! And Me! And you Mama!" So cute. Then the trailers start to roll and a few minutes later Dennis and the boys come walking back. The boys are each carrying a big bag of cotton candy, and Dennis has a gigundous tub of popcorn. Which struck me as odd, since we are cheap and we brought snacks. Turns out that they boys got "paid" for helping start the movie. And by "helping start the movie" I mean literally starting the movie! They got to go into the projection room and see the huge projector and Spencer got to push the button! He said it was (cue dramatic music) behind the actual film, and he had to be careful because if he (dum dum DUUMMMMM) touched the film it would ruin the whole thing. And possibly the projector would explode. Which would cause mass-hysteria, and rioting, and the collapse of Western Civilization. Or I may have just made that last part up. But, the gist of what I got from Spencer was "Push button = Good, Touch film = Bad". Luckily, Spencer has nerves of steel. And, the pushing of the button was good (DUM DUM duummmm).

Then we settled back to watch the movie. Normally since it had rained most the day, and there was a 60% chance of showers that evening, we would not have gone to the drive in. But, they were showing IRON MAN. So, do you really think there was a chance of us not seeing it? (by 'us' I really mostly mean Dennis and the geeks-in-training-formally-known-as-the-boys). So, we are all set, with our snacks and our blankets. Dennis had backed the van in, and the trunk door was open and we were sitting in front of it in our camping chairs. And it was wonderful....for 15 minutes. Then it started raining. Ok. Huh. Here's what we do: I climb into the back seats with the babies and Bastian. Spencer was with me for a bit. Dennis sits in the trunk with Gideon (after a bit Spencer climbs over the seat to sit with them). So, I'm trying to keep the babies happy, trying to keep Bastian from climbing into the front seat and playing with the steering wheel, and trying to fit my butt into the seat sideways, next to a carseat, so I can watch the kids and possible catch a minute or two of the movie. Honestly, in the end it worked out. The babies really were pretty good. The boys and Dennis loved the movie. I liked what parts I saw. I thought Robert Downey Jr did great. At one point Lincoln was happy feeding me popcorn. Which I've never let any of the other kids feed me things...I don't know where their grubby little hands have been haha. But, he was laughing every time he did it, so I let him. It was cute. I just hope I don't come down with a raging case of cooties from it.

Random pictures and one video of the kids....

This is from our 'popping party' when the kids popped the 7 million balloons left over from Gideon's birthday. I snapped this right as Dennis popped the balloon Lincoln was holding.

The boys at the Buffalo Zoo over Spring Break.

Moira at the zoo. She was yelling at me saying "No Mama! Not a picture of ME! A picture of the lizard!" She likes lizards for some reason. Weird.















This is Lincoln's latest funny trick. It makes us all laugh when he does it. You might catch him using his all-purpose word "Gnug Gnug" at the beginning of the video. He still doesn't say much, mostly "Mama, Dada, and Gnug gnug" although yesterday he did say "chocolate" very clearly. Any guesses on who taught him that one?

Sometimes I wish I was Dennis...

I really do. Everyone loves him. The kids do. The 'rents do. His co-workers do. Little old ladies, and perfect strangers do. Most importantly I do too. I mean, why wouldn't I want to be him, he's the best of guys. Pretty much pure perfection. And, because people love him, and he's such a great guy, good stuff happens to him. Like the other day at the library. Which, by the way, the librarians LOVE him, which is really unfair considering I read at least 4 times as many books as him. They've let him pick up books for me that I had put on hold on my card, which is is a big no-no. But, they love him so they let him do it. If I had tried to do that, they probably would have placed me under citizens arrest and beat me about the head with a book until the police arrived. And not a little wimpy paperback book....I'm talking a dictionary or a Stephen King book or something.Obviously they know that he is my husband or they wouldn't let him get my books. But I guess I'm not worthy enough for them to remember I'm his wife. Anyway, I was thinking about this as I went to the library today and I was getting checked out. The librarian, who I admit is always pleasant to me, said "Oh, it looks like you have a couple things still out" (*inner dialog* CRAP! I thought I brought back everything!) Then she tells me the titles of the two books (CRAP! I have no idea where those are!) and she says that she will renew them so I don't keep running up fines (Woohoo! Score!) but one of them has been renewed the maximum times so she can't renew it again. I tell her I will bring it in tomorrow but I'm thinking (CRAP CRAP CRAPPITY CRAP..I have no idea where that book is!) So, ok then she says "Oh, you also have a fine of $4.35...I just need to let you know" So I tell her I'll pay the fine next time I'm in (which may or may not be tomorrow, depending on if I can find that darn book!) Anyway, I got my books but as I was leaving I was thinking about the last time Dennis went to the library. He had a book from the boys that was lost AND he had a fine. The book was going to cost $5, and he had another $4 or $5 in fines. But he goes in, and all he has on him is a $5. And she erases the rest of the fine!! Let me repeat that: she erases the rest of the fine!!! So, Your Honor, I again say... Everyone loves Dennis. The Prosecution rests. Case Closed. Court dismissed.
And, yes, sometimes I do wish I were Dennis. But then I remember what a pain in the butt I can be, and I'm glad I don't have to live with me like he does. So, I'll stay being me...and try not to be smug about how much everyone loves my guy. 'Cause he's mine, all mine.

Blog Part 2: A 9 year old view on a stay-at-home-mom.
Gideon was home sick today, just a headache and sore throat. I had made him quasidillias for lunch, and he came down a little later and asked for another one. So, as I'm making it he says:
Booba: How come you spend so much time cooking for everyone?
me: It's my job.
Booba: But, isn't it boring to just spend all that time cooking?
me: Sometimes, but I do it because I love you guys.
Booba: What do you like to make the most?
me: I like baking cakes and cookies most.
Booba: Well, that's good because that's what I like the most too!
then as he was walking away he says: I'm glad you do all the other stuff even if it is boring for you.
me: sniff sniff
So, either he was delirious from his sore throat, or he had a moment of gratitude....
It is moments like that...and pictures like this one...that makes the endless dishes and unfun boring chores all worth it.
How funny is this?? He was just laying on the couch watching Spencer play Wii and put the Pooh ears on.
And, I will end with a quote from Moira: "Can you turn your TV down? It's bothering me. Just keep it down a little bit."
That makes no sense for ending this blog...but darn if it isn't cute!
(and where the heck is that library book anyway?! Crap)