Fun Times!!

I had to run and get the harddrive from the old computer today so I told the kids if they were good, we would go to Ikea for some playtime. Thankfully the computer store went quick, we got the old harddrive back and ran out of there as quick as we could!

Next stop on Piper Express was Ikea! I had taken the kids there shortly after J was born to play but S wasn't tall enough. Today he was more than tall enough!! They chucked their shoes and hit the ground running. J and I strolled around enjoying some time alone. That store is tons of fun. I could envision lots of fun things to do to our house. We stopped for some lunch in their cafe. It was super nice to have some time alone with just J. He laughed and chatted his way through the entire store. He was oh so loud but I just laughed and had fun with him. We grabbed the other two from playland, where we learned that they were a) not ready to go and b) are easily bribed with frozen yogurt : -) We walked through the housewares department and the kids help me pick out some serving dishes. L wanted this huge bowl for serving mashed potatoes, since she LOVES mashed potatoes :-) We did find a cool bowl that is thermal like and keeps the food warm. We left there spending my last $21 from my Christmas money.

Peaceful Sunday

Okay we didn't have such a peaceful time at church today. J didn't want to stay in the nursery. L & S stayed with him until it was time for Sunday School. I listened to some of the message, more announcement stuff really, then rushed them off to Sunday School. This whole time J was crying. I could hear him as could the rest of the church. I eventually rescued him and got the other two, which made him stop crying but caused L to cry because she wasn't done with Sunday School. I can't win sometimes.

Daddy Piper took the older to orange picking. Now we get to can them tomorrow. Yea! It will be awesome to have fresh citrus in the summer. The kids had fun loading up the wagon with a ton of oranges. Hopefully they will have as much fun peeling them tomorrow :-)

I am going to run and do some coupon shopping at the local grocery store.

30 Day Shred - Day 2

I was up by 4 this morning. I did the DVD right away and kicked my ass. I mean HOLY COW did it ever! I then walked for an hour to try to build up to the breast cancer 3 day this fall. I am one sore chicka today!!

Bible in 90 - Day 2

I am reading the Bible in 90 days. I am actually on day 3 but this is officially day 2 for the Bible in 90 online group I am doing it with. My thought of reading ahead was just in case things don't go good for the day then I am a bit ahead of the game. My goal though is read my required 12 pages everyday.

I am finding so much joy in reading the Bible. I am surprised about some of things I am learning - extremely surprised. It also brings up a ton more questions than I had when I got started.

Bedtime

All the kiddos are settled for the night. The evening went well or not at times I guess. There was alot of raised voices during the cleaning of the playroom. Ack - I hate being mean but goodness, we should be able to walk through the room without tripping over a million toys! We had sent a 15 minute timer but after 2 kids repeatedly sitting down, trying to run out the clock, we turned off the clock and just got the whole room clean. L was not a very good listener during this chore. She had to go into timeout. She doesn't get timeout very often but her listening has become a problem more and more lately. I think it might be an attention thing so I need to work on that. We are also having a very physical problem with hitting and fighting. They are playing, wrestling like but still, super physical and someone always get hurt... ugh! J likes to get involved and chases them down. L & S are into hiding from him to play in peace right now. I suppose that will change as time goes. It will probably be more S & J playing and L doing her own thing.

We made this yummy snack thing for lunch today. It was a whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter, chopped apples, shredded carrots, wheat germ and granola. It was sooo good. The kids loved it. L didn't like the granola part but liked the rest of it. It is nice to feed them something so healthy and have them enjoy it!

Chores were completed for the day though so that was nice.

Fun Stuff

As I sit at the kitchen counter, loving my wifi, I am witness the cleansing of the fish bowl. L has named her Cookies Pineapple Piper. Daddy is getting mildly irritated with the cleaning process. Aww - fun stuff, I tell ya! L & S are fighting over who gets to clean what part of the bowl - either the bowl or the rocks. J just keeps trying to climb the step stool to get closer to the action.

J was a complete mess eating dinner. He is napping oddly these days so it is messing up his eating schedule. He naps over lunch time, like from 10 until 2 today then he eats a snack or nurses then he is ready for his dinner by 5. We eat at 6 usually but I am modifying our schedule to better suit him right now. L & S are pretty easy when it comes to eating so as long as it's between 5 and 6, they don't mind at all. Now I am seeing him chew on his brother's Mac truck from Cars. Oh wouldn't S love to see that right now : -) Now he's carrying around an empty milk jug. Empty because he had 2 huge sippy's full of milk at dinner!

Here's a pic of the messy monster at dinner. He thoroughly enjoyed his mashed
potatoes (even with my messed up gravy - gravy master I am not!)One of the fun things we did earlier today was to create a chore chart. We made this gorgeous poster to hang in the kitchen to help remind the kids of their daily stuff. We'll see how it goes!

Now the fish cleaning is done, for L anyway. S and Daddy Piper are finishing up the chore. Wonder if L should earn her tickets for this chore? Next up - 15 minutes cleaning the playroom together!!

30 Day Shred - Day 1

Just completed Day 1 of the 30 Day Shred. It kicked my ARSE!!! I am hoping to lose a few pounds but more importantly, I want to get in better shape!

Hello 2010 - Please be good to me!

Hello to 2010. I am begging you oh so wonderful new year, please be kind to our family this year!!!

We spent the day as we normally do. It wasn't anything special but it was nice. The kids and I ran to Target for some organizing stuff. Daddy Piper worked on my brakes. I am hard on brakes. I mean HARD on them. Thankfully my hubby is a wizard when it comes to mechanical things and he takes care of pesky little issues like that : -)

The evening we spent eating a yummy dinner (ribeye with PW whiskey sauce!!). Then it was the best time ever - we played Sorry!!! I played that often as a child so it was doubley fun to play with my kids. Neither of them are very good losers but they are learning. I ROCKED and won the game. It was funny too since I was the last one out and everyone else had 3 home and I only had one home. L came in 2nd so the girls rock and the boys stink :-)

Funny s story: S got up New Year's Eve night and peed in the hallway. He was sleepwalking and thought he was outside. Daddy Piper saw him in the hall and S seemed to wake up and ran to the bathroom. Super funny!!! Guess we have 2 sleepwalkers (besides Mama, of course!)

I have some lofty 2010 goals this year. Similar to last year with some extras:

1. Spend more time with the kids playing and just having fun.
2. Be a more attentive/better wife
   
3. Keep up the housework
4. Find a hobby I enjoy and work on it once a week - take time for me once a week
   
5. Reduce/Eliminate debt
6. Lose this 10 pounds I gained with Baby J
7. Get rid of the clutter around here - hold a yardsale/sell off stuff on Ebay
8. Read the Bible in 90 days
9. Walk the 3-Day in November
10. Be a good Daisy co-leader with L
    

Goodbye 2009

I am listening to the kids and Daddy Piper tell knock knock jokes from the bath tub. Things could sure be alot worse, couldn't they?! The giggles spilling out from the bathroom are infectious. And then a gross poopy story but I will spare the details :-)

We went out to dinner tonight and then to get ice cream and look at lights. We were supposed to head to a friend of Daddy Piper's but the kids were already going down for the night so he'll head over later by himself. Frankly- my one beer at dinner did me in!

As I look back over the year, I recall many memories - some good, some bad and some really bad. I would never have thought this type of year would hit us. It has been financially devastating but spiritually rewarding. I am thankful to see 2009 leave and have lots of hope for 2010.


Goodbye 2009!!!

Happy New Years Eve

I am sitting here by the warm fire, at 4 in the morning, just enjoying the peace and quiet of the house. J just went back down after sleeping for most of the night. I fell asleep during the movie last night so I have no idea how that ended but I did get a good night of sleep :-) I already have the dishes done, that I didn't finish last night. I feel ahead of the morning right now. I do relish the peacefulness of the house right now.

We have fun plans to head to a friend's house tonight for a bonfire and get together for New Year's Eve. Can't believe that today is the last day of 2009. Lots to be sad/upset about looking back over 2009 but sooo much to be thankful for. We have our health, our home, plenty of food, each other, new friends to grow closer with, old friends to continue to grow closer too, family and for me, finding a church to call home. 2009 wasn't our best year, in fact I am hoping to call it our worst ever.

Technology - is it a fad??

My day was filled with technology. Think this technology thing is just a fad? Is it gonna pass and we'll get our pen and paper back? Please?

Our computer went out back in September, when it was only 5 1/2 months old. Ridiculous! Thankfully since we have so many fail over the past couple of years, I got the warranty this time. So when it went out, I took it to the store and they vowed to fix it in a timely manner - 8-10 weeks. Meanwhile they gave me a loaner to use. The loaner was fine, as a loaner. Another thankful moment - I had backed up all the data a mere 4 weeks before it failed so I didn't lose much when it crashed. I used and abused the loaner for the next 12 weeks. I started making calls in late November, trying to get my computer back to its rightful place, my desk. The motherboard had failed (just like the previous HP we had) and they were having to replace it. Ok - no biggie. Another 2 weeks went by and I checked in again and got the same story. This time I dug deeper. Yes it failed but not only that, they had replaced it 4 times and each one failed so there must be something else wrong too. They would get back to me. I waited another 2 weeks, giving the holidays precedence over my computer woes. Finally on 12/29, I called in and tried to get the situation resolved. Many calls to reach the superviser who was going to just replace the unit versus trying to fix it anymore were not getting me anywhere. I cleared the loaner unit of any data and packed it up and headed to the store to get the situation resolved, once and for all.

Our homeschool event was rescheduled due to an llness (Poor GS!!) and we headed to ChikFilA for some fun playtime before going to the store. I only had the older 2 with me. J was napping so he stayed home with Daddy Piper. Playtime was fun!! I had some great adult conversation, the kids played and food was yummy. I corralled the kids and off we went to the big city. We took the computer in and prepared for battle. I was helped right away and almost immediately, the manager took a snippy attitude. A bit of background info: I had grown up seeing my mother be angry and confrontational during interactions like this. I usually handle things like that - angry and rudely. I have tried since having kids and especially since they are older to see this now, to be nice and do things more adult like. Okay - so when she came across irritated and angry, I responded with kindness. It is a new theory for me but it worked SO WELL!!!!! She wasn't going to be able to resolve the issue right then, would take a couple of weeks. No, I explained, it had gone all long enough. 6 weeks longer than the promised return date. I wanted this resolved today. She replied it was going to take her a few hours to get it done. I countered I had a few hours to wait. I just wanted it done, today. This whole time I had two crazy monkeys running around, entertaining themselves with hide and seek around a big screen tv. The manager was not going to be helpful but I guess a nice customer swayed her eventually (that would be me). She said she didn't have a suitable computer of the same brand to switch me. I just wanted something was the same specs, didn't need to be the same brand. She left and said she would "check some things out". The kids and I went and used the restroom and then strolled back to the computers to see for ourselves. Yes the department was wiped out. Way less inventory than back in March when I bought the computer. We did happen upon a Touch Screen HP that I am coveting but $1000 for a new unit like that is out of the question right now. The kids played with the touchscreen and vowed it "The coolest ever". We spotted the manager walking into the area and then into the storeroom area, I assumed to check inventory. We saw her a few minutes later pushing a cart with a computer in it so we hurried back up front.

The manager had found a unit to give us!! Bonus - it had Windows 7!!!!! She had found something that was similar to our previous computer but a tad better with more hard drive and of course, the Windows 7 (so now we have a home network between the laptop and the desktop). She took care of the paperwork. By this time the hide and seek near the big screen was driving me crazy. I didn't need to replace a tv today. I quietly grabbed each child, put them in the cart and bribed them with a candy stick - all the while not getting upset or raising my voice. It took awhile but the customer service lady finished it up. I thanked the manager for handling it today and to my satisfaction. I also made sure to tell her manager the same thing. We went up and checked out, paying nothing but also getting the warranty extended for my trouble.

The moral of the story for me is to remain calm in these situations. It made me feel really good to get the whole thing resolved and not have any anger involved!

So then later in the day, after trying to get the new computer loaded up with all our stuff and spending the afternoon on a chat thing with Norton to upload the backup, Daddy Piper's new cell phone arrived. It was actually for me since the once I traded with my niece drops calls constantly. I wasn't due for an upgrade but Daddy Piper was so he got the phone and then we had to switch the phone lines around to get it to work. I headed to the Verizon store after taking dinner to a my friend with the sick kiddo (made 2 of these dinners so our dinner was done too!!). It took about 45 minutes there and me getting on the phone with Verizon but we got it done. Back home for more technology headaches. The backup files from Norton wouldn't restore. I logged back into support and I was 42nd in line!!

Bathtime, prayers and bedtime for the kids. I didn't spend much time this afternoon or evening with them :-( But they had a ton of quality time with Daddy, playing the Wii. Back to the computer - got it all fixed finally.

Finished the evening off watching a movie with my dear husband, while enjoying a much deserved Dos Equis and homemade pico.

Chores

We are trying to implement new stuff around here - Chores! The kids have their responsibilities and do them with reminders without a problem usually. I am wanting a way to keep up on and it and not have to tell them a million times. We are starting a chores system now. They are having to get up, get dressed, make beds and brush teeth every morning to earn a ticket. They can trade those tickets in for computer or TV time. Nighttime chores will be to pick up toys, brush teeth, take bath and prayers. This is based off a system our friend uses, the L family. It works for them.
Hopefully this will work for us too. I know it will if I remain consistent. Consistency and routine are hard when Daddy Piper's not working regularly. We are working on this!

Fun Pics

S and J were playing outside. L yelled "Grab the camera and
take a picture Mama - the boys look so cute outside playing together" :-)
My girl rocks! It was just a millisecond after that when J tried to climb the playset and fell, busting his teeth/mouth.

Fresh from a bath. J had his lotion done already. L & S were dragging it out, hamming
it up for the camera. All 3 kids love their chairs!!

Kids watching Hulu in the bath (Sesame Street)

J & S have more fun splashing then watching the show :-)

Bible in 90

I have signed up to read the Bible in 90 days. My special Bible came in the mail yesterday. I started reading it right away. I was overly confident that it would go quickly. Ha! It took me more than an hour to read the required 12 pages.