Super Saturday

The morning started out absolutely wonderfully amazing. I slept from 9:45 until 4:30 this morning. Almost 7 hours straight - Hallelujah and AMEN!!! It was marvelous! Daddy Piper got J at midnight and got him back down without needing any mama milk and then J went on to sleep until 4:30 this morning. When he woke up at 4:30, he was greeted by a happy mama : -)

I got up and got the fire going to warm up the house and made my coffee for the morning. J ate like one hungry monkey. He devoured his mama's milk and then went back to sleep until 8:30! L was up with the sun and S shortly after. I love that they wake up so happily, when they wake up on their own anyway. S is a complete bearcat if he is woken up. S gets up, eats something and then he is ready to get dressed and get outside for the day.

I am trying to post about our our day but I am laughing so hard to Comedy All Star on Shotime right now. I am crying I am laughing so hard. I am sure the kids are going to come out and wonder what is going on out here!!!!!

So after the morning started out on a good note, I had to shower quick to get ready for L's Daisy event this morning. We were going to the holiday bazaar to get gifts for each other to give at the party next week. Daddy Piper showered and I got dressed. J ran in and grabbed Daddy's water from his bedside table and went running. He has this funny little look and thinks he is hot stuff. Unfortunately, he has no balance carrying a water glass so water gets dumped almost immediately. I cleaned it up and got L dressed and off we went. W left the boys home to finish the tire thing Daddy Piper is building out back. I had thought we were so late and here we ended up being 15 minutes early :-)

We rode with the troop leader and 4 other little girls. L enjoyed that immensely. They had fun singing songs and playing the "Yellow" game. We got to the bazaar and it was packed. There was tons of fun crafts for the girls to choose from. L wanted to look at everything before picking out her gift. She chose a pink jewelry box. They had gift wrapping stations and I let the girls wrap their own, with no help. It was fun to watch them to this for themselves. We traded the cake walk for getting donuts. This created a bit of a stir. The other leader was concerned the girls would be disappointed in not winning (if that was the case). I think not winning sometimes is just fine. Oh well - they got donuts and we rounded them up and headed home. We finished early so we drove around and drop the girls back home. On the drive though, the girls were being typical little girls and raising their hands for different things. One of them said "If you got to X elementary school, raise your hand" Of course - all the girls except L raised her hand. I started to feel soooo bad for her. No one likes to feel left out. She recovered nicely by saying "Everyone homeschooled, raise your hand." and raised her hand very proudly, without hesitation. Then all the girls started asking about homeschool and she was so happy with herself. I didn't feel bad anymore : -)

We got back home early. Daddy Piper was just getting J down for his nap. S was out back playing (shock - shock!), climbing on the tires. It was nice chatting with Daddy Piper about our morning. I finished the dishes (from last night - GASP!) and then started lunch. I called the kids in for lunch. S came running in and I glanced at him running in the back, he was filthy. I could not believe how dirty that little boy got today playing outside. And he was even wearing his "work" pants. He did get mad though since it was L's day to pick a movie. Oh goodness - his temper flared. I talked him down though. He eventually agreed to sit and watch L's movie with her - just barely though. He is mighty proud of himself these days. He can reach the light switches, on his tip toes and by turning it on but not off yet.

The big kids went down for a nap. I found a code for a free photo book. (I have gotten so many free photo gifts this year. Thank you to all the photo companies for the great coupons!) I created a photo book of our pictures from my good friend. After that was done, I printed a coupon for B&N and headed there with my GC from my MIL from my birthday back in May. I was able to get the kids' Christmas books for nothing out of pocket. J rode along with me. When we got to B&N there was a golden retriever rescue outside and two of their puppies followed us into the store. Those puppies were so adorable. I guess they weren't puppies, older really and great listeners. Hopefully we can get a dog again soon - when things settle down some, I suppose. Anyway - at the store, I think J said his brother's name. I was trying to find a book for S and J said his name over and over. He is growing by leaps and bounds.

S said tonight "I see your mouth moving but I ain't hearing the words coming out of your mouth" - nice S!!!

Okay - the comedians aren't too funny so I got to finish my post. We are off to church tomorrow morning and then a bike ride in the afternoon. If the weather holds out, Daddy Piper will have work on Monday - THANK YOU GOD!!!!!

Pico

Pico is this yummy stuff that is like salsa but not blended together. I make it using equal amounts of onion, tomato, cilantro and 2-3 jalapenos and then lime juice and salt to taste. This tastes super yummy with Tostito chips and a Dos Equis beer to wash it down : -)

Stinkin' Thinkin'

I am in an abnormally crabby mood today. I am not happy with some stuff right now and am just waiting to see what happens.... Cryptic yep but can't get into details just know that some stuff SUCKS!

And I ate an entire bowl of Pico for lunch today. And my pants are tight. And I need a nap. And some clean socks.

Museum Visit

The morning started out before daybreak. I awoke to a smothering of kisses. They were the open mouthed, slobbery kind. My baby boy was loving on his mama. I couldn't quite work up the gumption to get upset about the time since the kisses were so sweet and filled with love. He was simply adorable laughing and leaning over me, coming at me open mouthed and trying to give kisses. I just gave up on going back to sleep and got up for the day. We needed to get a move on anyway since we had planned to leave kinda early to go to the Children's Museum here in town. I had planned on packing our lunch to take with us but that was not meant to be. I pulled out all the fixin's for a great lunch. J decided to take that moment to pull out 2 packages of blueberries and dump them on the kitchen floor. The story gets better - he then proceeded to traipse through them, squishing each one with precision. I tried to laugh it off and tried even harder not to let it be a bad start to the day. I started to pick them up, the ones not smooshed beyond oblivion and J sat down and helped me. Having him help, so intently picking each one up, really changed my mood. It was a snapshot in time. He was trying so hard to pick them up with me and was so cute doing it.


Lunch was not made - there simply wasn't time after the blueberry debacle. I finished getting the kids ready and off the five of us headed to the big city. Everyone was in a good mood and I am extremely happy to report that we stayed that way for the entire day!


We made it to the museum in record time and the fun quickly began. Thankfully we had a free pass to get so that saved us close to $50!! We went right to the fun stuff. I had wanted to bring the stroller in and Daddy vetoed that idea in favor of keeping up with J. I think that was the only negative because I had to keep with my diaper bag and all the coats. Next time - bring a stroller. Right away there was a tricycle car wash area where the kids were able to ride their trikes through a pretend carwash. S tried to pull L but she was way too heavy for him. L loaded J on her trike, S rode alone - all was good. They got a rush out of riding through there. The giggles and fun started there and didn't end until we left 2 hours later. Next up there was an art studio where the kids made gingerbread men, painted on a castle and played in a real gingerbread house. J played on the sand table while all the fun creative play was going on. From there we headed up another level where there was a 3 and under room. I stayed there with J while Daddy took the other 2 off to explore the rest of the museum. J LOVED this room. Everything was his level and he had a ball. He climbed the stairs and headed over to this fenced part where he stood and giggled and laughed for a solid five minutes. It was absolutely wonderful to have this time to play with J. I think it might have been one of the first times he has played with kids his own size. We don't have anyone close by that his kids his age. The closest is 2 years old. J went from one to the other playing in that room. He pushed the button to play the bell, crawled underneath the crawl space, went down the slide and played in the play kitchen. I went right along with him, enjoying every second of it. We left there after an half hour or so to find the rest of our family. We found them at the race car exhibit. The kids would push the cars and the cars would race down and end up at the bottom. L & S enjoyed this one the most. S could have stayed there for hours sending those cars racing to the end. L ditched it for something more exciting though - driving a pretend motorcycle! There was a pretend race car and motorcycle. J was upset because I had to hold him in this area = he was getting ran over by the bigger kids. Daddy Piper took J through the noodles and he didn't enjoy that one bit. I took J back to the 3 and under room. On the way, we passed through the noodle thing and I wanted to try it. YIKES - I was totally having an anxiety attack and J was crying. I was hyperventilating because I felt claustrophobic. And I think my mini me felt the same way. Boy aren't we quite the pair. Back to the 3 and under room we went - safety :-) J and I finished up our museum trip in that room while Daddy Piper and the kids enjoyed the rest of the exhibits.


We were hungry at this point so it was off to find some grub. On the drive in, L remembered a Barrel kind of place was somewhere around here. She couldn't quite remember the name of the whole place but it was some kind of barrel (Cracker Barrel). She eventually saw a sign for it and was delighted when we chose that place for lunch.


Lunch went off without a hitch. Everyone ate great. J was the destructive monster, like usual. He just isn't the kid to sit still without having something to occupy him. He was taking his plate and holding it up to his mouth and eating lunch off it that way. He is just a way different child than L or S ever was. I know a parent isn't supposed to compare but it happens sometimes. As we were almost done with our lunch, an older gentleman came over and said "Picture perfect family" and complimented us on our family and in particular, the children's behavior. Gosh - that felt awesome! I did say though that he must not have seen Destructo in the corner : -)


We snagged some candy sticks and headed out. Naps were next up on the agenda. We did have to make a quick stop at the library for S to go #2. He had to go baaaaaaddddd and couldn't hold it one more second and the library was the closest stop. Back in the van, headed to the house. We got everyone settled down after more kids went #2 (what is up with that - they all had to go!!). Daddy Piper, J and myself napped while L & S just rested for their required hour.


After naps, S and I ran to Target to get the gingerbread house I forgot last night (when I totally rocked at coupon shopping - got $164 worth of stuff for $32 and that includes the last of my Christmas shopping. To date Christmas has cost us less than $200!!). S was buckled in the van and mentioned that the next Target trip, he wanted to bring his shopping cart. I surprised him by pulling back in the drive and grabbing it quick. The quick shopping trip was so bonding for us. I like having time alone with the kids like that. I think some of the best conversations we have are in the car.


Dinner was chicken and noodles, per S request. My chicken and black bean concoction I put in the crockpot this morning was a flop :-(


After dinner, the kids played and then had their bath where they were super wild. They watched Shrek the Halls and I nursed J to sleep then we decorated the gingerbread train with the big kids. I tried not to be obsessive about what goes where (SHOCKER!!) and just have fun and it worked - we had fun!!

The day went so well. No nasty exchanges or snide comments, well behaved children - all combined made for a very nice day!!!

Terrific Tuesday

We had a new friend and her mom come to play. She brought along her little sister too. It was great fun for L to have another little girl who is also homeschooled over to play. And best of all - our friend is home from CA and she came over too!!!!!! It was so delightful to have her and her girls come play. We just love them so much and have missed them like crazy. I can't write much - must cook dinner.

Ordinary, Marvelous Monday

I have been overcome with thankfulness over and over today.

• I love my kids getting to wake up on their own instead of being rustled from their beds to rush off anywhere early - especially on a cold, drizzly day like today.
• My washing machine rocks! I only have 1 load left to do and even better - everything has been folded and put away as it comes from the dryer.
• Super grateful Daddy Piper has work today. The day started out early but that's a good thing. He left the house with his lunchbox, a kiss and an uber happy wife. I hope those 3 things help make his day pleasant.
• A warm fire to keep us cozy and the house toasty - free of cost!!
• A bright twinkling Christmas tree with presents underneath. This is the worst financial year we have faced as a couple (or in my life actually) and yet we have plenty under the tree for the kids.
• Being the mommy. I love hearing that word yelled out (most of the time!).
• Plenty of food in our home. Expecially Pioneer Woman's Pico de Gallo!!!
• A warm snuggly baby fresh from his nap.
• The opprtunity to homeschool our children.
• A laptop with wireless capabilities to blog from the couch.wq
• God. I am finding Him, like I never have before and such a delightful journey to be on!

I could go on and on for things to be thankful for this Monday morning and what a wonderful thing that is!!

Toilet Trouble

L and I were on the laptop looking at blog layouts, trying to find a cute Christmas one. I heard J playing in the other room, laughing and having fun. I thought I better check on him. This is what I found....

It was funny. Super hilarious actually. But it could have been so much worse, if he had gone in head first. Bathroom doors must be shut!

p.s. I took him out and then put him back and took the picture!!

O Christmas Tree

We are in the process of putting our tree up. We get a live one and a cut one every year. The live one gets planted outside (we have 6 from all our Christmas's in this house). The cut one stays inside and gets decorated to the max! The first ornament has been hung. It's our special one from this year (free from Photoworks!). I present our 2009 ornament....

Another soccer season ends...

Today was the last day of soccer for S. He got a trophy, which made him super proud! We are so happy that its over though. We played on a different league this time and it was such a drive to get to the games. UGH! Next season will be back at the original one. L thinks she might want to play again too - but is reconsidering because of all the running :-)

After soccer we rushed home and had lunch then I had to head to Girl Scout Cookie Training, It lasted a couple of hours. Nothing too intense but there will be lots of little things to keep track of. I am glad I have a co-cookie mom to help!!

This evening was supposed to be spent getting a Christmas tree but L isn't feeling hot so she's currently snuggled in the recliner (the one with heat and massage - HEAVEN!). We enjoyed a herbed panko shrimp linguine dinner and brownies for dessert.

Now it's family time and bath time and bedtime..... I live for this time of day. Everyone is usually relaxed and in a good mood and the next couple hours are filled with lots of giggles and hugs : -)

A GREAT Day!

This morning started out super early. J was up by 3 and wasn't too keen on going back down. I just gave up by 5 and started a fire and coffee for the day. I don't think he didn't want to trade his mama's warm arms for his cold sheets. I wasn't too upset though since snuggling with him is such a rare treat these days. We aren't nursing much during the day but our nights are filled with nursing spells - thankfully!! L & S had their lessons right away this morning, while still in their pj's. They were rewarded with computer time while I got ready for the day. A wonderfully awesome phone call came in about some upcoming work for Daddy Piper. This really changed the mood of the day. He has work on Monday!!!! Daddy Piper was ready for his business lunch. He needed me to move the van to get his car out. Well, I couldn't find my keys. I mean I couldn't find them ANYWHERE and I already lost the other set so I am down to this one set. I had all the kids looking for the keys - even asking J if he had them. He didn't answer me or rather answered with "Dat - Dat - Dat" His answer for everything right now :-) I finally found my keys hanging on the key rack of all places! He left and the kids and I worked on our Christmas cards. They helped put on the return labels and did a great job. We need to get those things out. They are almost ready. We just need to finish addressing the million bazillion envelopes we send out every year. We stopped with that fun project and started watching a movie my sister sent us. J took his nap and I cuddled with L & S and tried to watch the movie. They weren't too interested and then J decided a nap wasn't in his schedule. We loaded up and went to the local grocery
store where the kids played in the provided childcare while I picked up a few things. We finished up and headed home. While we were walking out, I asked L what they did in the play area. She said "We played Rob a Bank". Okay - another product of her imagination, I suppose. Now it was naptime - oh thank God since it's been 11 hours since I got up with J. Everyone napped - YEA!! Typical afternoon stuff then a yummy dinner of rib eye steak with whiskey sauce from Pioneer Woman, green beans, homemade potato wedges with sour cream dip stuff and fresh fruit. A wonderful meal that everyone enjoyed!!!

J is trying to say all kinds of words lately. He is saying "Dat", "Dis", "Bubba", "Mine", and other babbles that don't amount to much. He has cut his eye teeth so he has 16 teeth now. He got super mad when I got him dressed to go outside and had to run back to check on the wedges. He screamed and chased me down. He kept pointing to his shoes and crying. I took him right outside. He is such an outside kid already.

S has had a better couple of days. His temper has fizzled out some. He even snuggled with me on the couch tonight - letting me hold him!! He is excited about going to work with Daddy next week.

Now I am sitting in front of the fire, listening to Dateline and truly feeling contented. Tomorrow is soccer, Girl Scout Cookie training, a trip to a boutique with L and getting our Christmas tree. Life is good!

Silly Kids

Daddy made brownies tonight. He lets the kids lick the bowl & whisk, even with raw egg, which is something I never do! They all enjoyed the raw dough.

Even J got to dip his finger in the bowl : -)

L, S & J emptied out the tupperware cabinet while I was doing dishes. Actually Daddy Piper assisted in the rinsing and drying of dishes. Okay back to the story. L and S climbed up on the bowls and such and acted like they were skating. S got up on the pitchers....And he fell within a microsecond of standing up. He wasn't hurt physically but his ego sure was : -)

Sweet Child O'Mine

Today I ran outside to chat with Daddy Piper while all 3 kids were napping. I came back in after about 10 minutes to hear J howling from his crib. I grabbed him and checked on L & S. S was sleeping and L was not so I got her up to hang out with me while I calmed J down. L was super sweet when she came out of her room. She told me she had tried to calm J down by giving him his bink but "he just wouldn't settle down, Mom". She thought I was napping and tried her hardest to take care of J so I could get some rest. What a sweet little girl I have!

Coupons Clean Out

I didn't get any coupons clipped tonight but I did get the binder cleaned out from the expired ones so now I will send those to the base in Germany that we donate to.

There is more drama with my mother these days. She is trying to make things up and create more problems. Frankly, I have enough problems in my life without creating more right now. Her latest is Christmas and the plans we made. She wants us to join her at my aunts and we were going to my sisters, like she has done every other year. I am not sure where this latest drama road will lead but I hope to hit a dead end soon and have no more drama!!!!

There is some possible good news on the work front. Daddy Piper heard from a contractor today that he's worked with in the past and will be lunching with him tomorrow. It is the first glimmer of hope we have had in 3 months so it made for good moods around here today!!

J about tore my heart up today. He is not wanting his Mama very much these days and is showing a preference for his father. He wasn't even affected by me being gone for 4 hours today. It kills me when he reaches for his daddy over me but on the other hand, it is so heartwarming to see my man holding my baby : -)

Last night we had some major conflict with S. We were doing our nightly advent calendar and I was teasing S about him not getting any of the chocolate when he got super angry and raised his hand to hit me. I quickly corrected his behavior and he wasn't appreciative so off to time out he went. He got even more angry while in time out and then when I went to get him out of time out, he clenched his fists and raised them up to me, in an attempt to hit me. I was absolutely dismayed by his behavior. He was sent to his room to calm down. I went in there to talk about what had happened. It was rough. I am so worried when he gets so angry. He shouldn't have such anger at age 3. We talked and talked and talked and reiterated using words instead of our hands. I don't hit him so I won't allow him to hit me. His dad had a talk with him too. I didn't see any anger today so maybe the talk helped. I did hold firm though about not getting a chocolate after the horrible behavior so maybe that helped too.

Blogging from the couch = more blog posts!!

Blogging from the Bath

I am blogging from the bath tonight. Well, not in the bath but sitting on the stepstool while J takes a bath : -) J is taking a bath by himself tonight (an unusal occurance) and loving every second of it. He doesn't have to share one toy!!

Last night was interesting. L sleep walked 4 times last night with the last time ending in a poopy mess. I won't go in to details because it might embarrass her someday but it was quite the poopy mess!!! After showering her off, I sat up with her and talked about what could be causing the behavior. I sleepwalk myself when I am stressed, worried or nervous so I asked her if she felt any of these things. She admitted a few minutes later to feeling nervous about the nursing home visit today with her Daisy troop. After talking about it some, she went to bed and slept the rest of the night peacefully. Talking sure makes things better, doesn't it?!

Today was fun!! We went to a children's theatre and saw a play based on a popular's children book that the kids enjoy. The show was an hour and half long with no intermission and the kids were super well behaved. We went with our homeschool group. It was a fun tim! After the show, L had to be raced to her Daisy meeting. The play ran longer than I had planned so we were late getting L to her meeting. Thankfully, they were at a park so it ended up being no big deal. I ran S back home to J and Daddy Piper, had some lunch and rushed back to get L. I had a quick nap this afternoon. Quick naps are usually so delightful - just long enough to feel rested but not too long that I feel like the afternoon was wasted.

I am feeling better. I think J is too. It is probably due to the wonderful chili we had from a good friend last night :-)

Another good friend came home from California today. I am so looking forward to seeing her and her girls. We have missed her like crazy!

I gotta run and do some dishes and clip my coupons from Sunday still - way behind!!