Monday Randomness

ELLIE IS 10
Hard to believe, but Ellie is actually 10 yrs old today. Am I REALLY old enough to have a 10 yr old??? We already celebrated her birthday on Friday, because her best friend is going to be at camp this week. We will probably still do a little something for her so that she can feel like queen for the day :)

ELLIE HAS AN EMAIL ADDRESS
Andy finally gave in and we decided that Ellie could get her own email address.
Andy's suggestion: mydadisaborderlineviolentcombatvet@leavemealone.com
My suggestion: mydaddywasadrillsergeant@watchout.com
She didn't like either of these. Go figure.

GOOD WEATHER IS ON ITS WAY
The weather has been rather blah this week. Not cold or anything, but not exactly nice out either (50/60). The forecast says that we're back up into the 70s and maybe even 80 this week. I had better pick up some more popsicles while I'm at the store tomorrow! The kids go through them like crazy.

WHOLE LOT OF SHAKIN' GOIN' ON
I don't know what has been up lately, but we have been having quite a few earthquakes this past week. We had a 3.98 today and a couple of days ago there was a 3.7. Both of them really shook things around in the house. I hope that these aren't a prelude to something bigger...

Wii EXERCISE
I have actually been sore all week because of the Wii. I am kind of embarrassed to say that, but it's true. I got the Wii Active and Wii Fit and have been working out with it every day. I'v

e been having a lot of fun and am actually enjoying it. It keeps me at it and makes me feel like I'm playing a game. :) Even Ellie is working out with it. Today, she and I were having hula hoop wars. She won. I think I'm going to feel it in the morning!!

I am still planning on keeping up on the treadmill too - if I can ever find my tennis shoes. I think I'm going to have to buy a new pair tomorrow. I've been without them for over a week now and I have absolutely no idea where they could be. I'm starting to think that maybe Nick buried them in the backyard or maybe they walked away on their own. I'm not sure, but I've looked everywhere...

LAPTOP
I am SOOOOOOO enjoying having a laptop. I am sitting on my bed while I type this - much more comfortable than sitting at the desk downstairs, that's for sure. I'm still trying to get a lot of my programs and files moved over and I'm trying to figure out how to put my camera card into this thing. I guess I should probably read the manual...

Monday Randomness

Again, near impossible to get a good pic of all of them looking at once. I think I'd have an easier time if I had another adult nearby to get them all set up and staying still. I must have taken 30 pictures and this was the best I got :)

Wii
We bought a Wii a couple of days ago and are loving it. I bought the Active workout program and have started on it. It is so much fun!! Even Ellie created a profile and did a workout this morning. Volleyball moves, squats, dancing - lots of fun exercises to do :) We also bought "Punch Out" and have been boxing like crazy. The kids like to watch me knock the guys out. They were so excited when I got King Hippo down :) I wish I would have taped Kate boxing this morning. Man she really got into it and was sweating up a storm. :)

DISGUSTING
I can't believe I'm even posting this, but I just felt the need to share. Nick came out of the bathroom yesterday and said that he had washed his hands, his bum, and his pee-pee. In the bathroom sink. Weird yes. The really gross part? He used Ellie's toothbrush. I really hope this is the first time that this has occured - for all of the kids' sake. I suppose I need to keep the toothbrushes under lock and key somewhere now. Oh the joys of having a boy.

HEAT WAVE
I think it was actually above 80 degrees here. We're all burning up! We don't have air conditioning in the house, so the upstairs feels like an oven. I set up the bouncy house outside and a little baby pool for Tori. I started thinking that it would be very cool to have a Slip n' Slide for the kids. We have a slope to the side of our yard that would probably work out perfectly. I remember loving that thing - of course I was always covered in bruises from rocks that hadn't been moved out of the way...

Monday Randomness

NEW COMPUTER
Andy wanted to get a new laptop when he got back. His is pretty beat up and he's planning on giving it to Ellie. Rather than wait for his return, I ordered a new one this week. That way I can break it in for him. :) I've never had a laptop before. It will be nice to be mobile. I hate having to glue my butt to the computer chair downstairs any time I want to get on here.

GREAT WEATHER
The weather finally turned nice again. It was above 70 today. Warm enough for swimsuits, sprinklers, watermelon, hula hoops, and popsicles!!


NICK NEARLY GOT AWAY
The neighbor girl was over for a few hours playing with the kids. She brought her Barbie Jeep with her - you know the kind that really drives? That was chaos. Nick was glued to the passenger seat and everyone drove him around the yard. The problem? He kept putting his foot down on the gas pedal while they were trying to drive. I was waiting for a major crash, but luckily it didn't happen.

Later in the afternoon, I had the kids park the jeep outside of the fence while they went and did other things. I heard a noise downstairs that sounded like it was coming from the gate. Sure enough, I went out the front door and Nick had jumped the fence (forget the gate!) and was in the jeep with it floored. I eventually caught him. He was grinning from ear to ear.

I took him back inside and instructed Ellie to follow him around. (I was cooking dinner). He again headed out the back door and before she could catch him, he was over the fence and driving the jeep. Determined little guy.

I asked him if he wanted one of his own and he said "Yes, but blue". I'm at least glad that he noticed it was pink and foofoo.

What do I do with him? I can no longer keep him contained in the yard!!

WATERMELON
Did you know that I could probably eat watermelon until my stomach absolutely burst? Yum! Too bad that the kids eat as much of it as I do. We're going to have to start buying 2 at a time instead of one.

PHOTO EDITING
I finally broke down and bought the Photoshop Elements manual. I will be reading it over the next few days. Hopefully I can start actually using Photoshop and fixing up my pictures a bit.

A GIRL AFTER MY OWN HEART
Tori was trying desperately to break into my cabinet full of Polish pottery. She has good taste :)

POST WIDE YARD SALE
I love shopping at yard sales. You just never know what you're going to find. This past weekend was the first post-wide yard sale of the year. It's so nice having tons of them at the same time, in the same place.

I found Tori the cutest little pair of UGG boots. I bought the kids some movies. And the best find of the day? A sit n' spin. Remember those? You know, spin in circles until you puke? The kids love it :)

As much as I love shopping at yard sales, I would probably never have one. I love sifting through other people's junk, but the thought of people looking through mine is frightening to me. I don't know why. I always end up giving everything to Goodwill instead.

Monday Randomness

It's been raining for 2 days and I'm in the middle of spring cleaning. The kids are getting antsy and bored - especially Nick. Ellie has been glued to PBS and the phone all day. I am sick of cleaning - especially since it doesn't look like I've actually done much of anything!

I think we're going to go for a drive just to get out of the house for a bit. First I wanted to post a couple of funny things Lexie said today.

I was cleaning out the cabinets and wiping down the insides when Lexie came in and asked what I was doing. I told her "Spring Cleaning" just as I pulled the sugar out. She replied "Sprinkling? Sugar in the cabinets? Why would you do that?"

Later, Tori was making some happy noises in her high chair and Lexie said "Do you know why she's saying that? Because I gave her a kick!" I of course was appalled that she had kicked her little sister and even more I wondered why she seemed happy instead of hurt. Then I realized that Lexie had a bag of Kix cereal in her hands. Apparently it is one "Kick" and multiple "Kix". You learn something new every day :)

Monday Randomness

MT. REDOUBT ERUPTED
The volcano south of Anchorage finally erupted. I haven't noticed any clouds of ash or anything though, so I guess we're far enough away that we won't get any.

HAIRCUTS
Oh, the girls need haircuts. Bangs or no bangs? Kate's have finally grown out long enough to put back into a ponytail holder easily. She's not very good about keeping it back though.
Lexie insists that she wants to grow hers out, but currently they are just in her face. They look like homeless children. It's time to do something, anything.

IS IT SUMMER BREAK YET?
Because I'm ready for it. I know that most moms probably dread summer break, because their kids are home with them every day. Mine are already home every day and I'm looking forward to the break in schoolwork as much as they are. We're doing fine in a disorganized sort of way. We're not behind schedule or anything. It's just a bit chaotic at the moment and it probably will be until we finish. I guess that's okay.

NICK'S BIRTHDAY
Nick is 3 yrs old today and I can hardly believe it. He's such a little boy now. He's been playing with his new trains and tools and puzzles all morning. I'm hoping that they keep him busy for most of the day.

Monday Randomness

Random things from this past week:

1. Ellie: "The good thing about having a big family is that you always have someone to blame!"

2. Nick: "My nose doesn't work!" (He had a runny nose this week)

3. Nick: "My dad is the best soldier in the world. That's what it says!" Nick was wearing a shirt that said My dad is the man.

4. For the past couple of weeks, Nick has been putting his hand up to his ear and having fake phone conversations with Andy throughout the day. He misses his dad :(

5. I almost hit a moose last night! There were two in the road just around the corner from my house. It seems like there are a lot of them out right now.

Monday Randomness

TORI
Tori is becoming the wiggliest little thing on earth. I can barely even hold her anymore. She wants to move, move, move. She's constantly turning and pushing and squirming when she's in my arms. She is starting to give me quite the workout! When she's in the walker, she is scooting all over the places, getting into everything within her reach (which unfortunately is a lot!)

NINTENDO ZOMBIES
Yes, when the kids are allowed Nintendo DS time, they turn into absolute zombies.

I thought that I was being smart last week when I had the girls bring them to Tori's doctor's appointment. I figured that way they would be kept busy and happy through all of the waiting.

What I didn't anticipate was how hard it was to PEEL them from the games when we needed to walk somewhere. Seriously. Kate was about 2 inches from being left on the elevator because she wasn't even paying any attention. Luckily, I shoved my arm in there at the last second :)

And, they ended up leaving a game on the doctor's desk (which didn't get taken to the lost and found!). So, everyone got a week away from them...

MY NEW PHONE
I have to say that I absolutely LOVE my new phone. I feel like such a nerd, but I don't care. I don't even talk on the phone very much, but it's nice to be able to check my email during the day. I love the GPS in it also - I'll never be lost again! I even have a really cool boggle-type game on it for those moments of boredom while I'm waiting for the kids to be done with a class.

PIPES
The water pipes are thawed, but the heating pipes are now frozen (and have been all week). I am still trying to decide what to do. We have space heaters, so we're not freezing (and it's only the bedrooms), but I am concerned that it could cause further damage if I leave it. I just have no desire to spend $1000 on getting it fixed. It could be less than that, but I won't know until it's said and done (and it could end up costing more!) So, I am procrastinating.

Monday Randomness

CAMPING IN OUR OWN HOME
The past couple of days without running water felt a bit like camping at home. There were buckets and jugs of water everywhere. We all had greasy hair. We were eating off of paper plates.

I am glad that it was a quick fix. The pipes were frozen, but they thawed pretty quickly - and without bursting!! It only ended up costing $350 (it was over $1000 the last time it happened!).

The water is flowing, so everyone bathed tonight. I ran the dishwasher and I started on the laundry. I feel human again. I can leave the house in the morning without feeling like "Pig Pen" from Peanuts.

BEDTIME
I am shocked and surprised to report that Nick seems to be doing well in his new bedroom downstairs. I had been worried that he would wake up in the middle of the night and have problems being disoriented, but that has yet to happen. He has actually even fallen asleep a few times ON HIS OWN and IN HIS OWN BED without any assistance from me. I am hoping that this is a trend that we can keep going.

Ellie and Kate are enjoying their own bedrooms. Lexie is the only one that doesn't seem quite satisfied with the new arrangements. I hope that it grows on her...

BIRTHDAYS
3 of the kids (Kate, Lexie, and Nick) have birthdays coming up over the next few weeks.

I am a horrible mother - I admit it. I am not doing birthday parties. I'm just not up to it. I'm not saying that I'm not going to let them have a cake and presents, but I just don't want to invite a bunch of kids I don't know over to the house for a day of insanity while I'm by myself.

Kate was the only one that had expressed the desire to invite people over. I talked her out of it and promised that next year when Andy is here to help out, she can have a full-blown birthday bash. :)

Lexie says she wants a Littlest Pet Shop birthday and Nick insists on having a "Thomas Happy Birthday Party" He has mentioned it a number of times. I can handle that.

Monday Randomness

TORI IS GROWING UP
Tori is starting to move around a lot. No more peacefully holding her. She is a wiggle worm! She is crawling and sitting and crawling again. Today she was on her knees in the crib, with her hands on the crib rails. She kept pulling herself up and then falling and hitting her head on the crib. I have no doubt that she will soon be standing up on her own.

ELLIE IS REWARDED
I don't know what I would do without Ellie during this deployment. She is my only help around the house. She has done a ton of babysitting Nick and helping around the house over the past few months. I decided that since I was putting so much responsibility on her, I would reward her with an ipod nano. She has been wanting one for quite some time (what kid doesn't?). They were out of green at Sam's Club, so she chose blue. I loaded it up last night with music and a movie. She is such a happy kid!! An ipod and her own room in one week. She can hardly contain her happiness :) She has already invited a friend over for a sleepover this weekend. She is excited that they can spend time in her room without being chased around the house by all of her siblings.

Ellie, the proud owner of an ipod :)

NICK IS BORED
We all have cabin fever, but Nick is the one that is having the hardest time burning off energy while being inside the house all day long. I have found that whenever he gets bored, he gets into trouble. When he's bored he: gets scissors out, climbs on things, draws on things, goes into his sisters' rooms, plays in the sink, etc. You get the picture. Keeping him busy is a full time job. I feel bad that I'm not spending enough actual time sitting with him.

I am considering taking him to preschool a few days a week next fall. We would get SO much more schoolwork done during the day. So much of my time is spent trying to keep him out of trouble. We'll see. I'm sure that by fall he will have matured much more also, so it might not be quite the issue that it is right now. He has changed remarkably in the 4 months since Andy has been gone, so I know that he might be a different little boy by September - one that doesn't get into quite as many things. I can dream, can't I?

He is currently covered in various bruises. He keeps running in the house - which results in him running INTO some piece of furniture or someone. I can't wait for summer, so that I can throw him in the backyard!!

Mischief in his eyes and bruises on his head. Maybe he should wear a helmet when he plays...

HOUSE REARRANGING
The majority of the house rearranging is done. The bedrooms are clean and orderly. I just need to buy a desk for Kate's room (if I can find one for a decent price!) and I think I will be done.

No more spacious playroom. It now has two beds in it. They still have room to play though and the castle which Andy built is still there :)

LEXIE'S QUESTIONING
I overheard the girls this morning:
Lexie: "How many days has it been?"
Kate: "How many days has it been since what?"
Lexie: "How many days has it been since we've been alive? 2 million? 3 million?"
Kate: "We haven't all been alive the same amount of days!"

Lexie is making a funny face as always!

WHAT WAS I THINKING??
Like my house isn't noisy enough with 5 little kids in it. I, for some crazy reason, decided that I would buy a karaoke machine for them. (It was really cheap on clearance at Wal-Mart). Let me tell you: none of them needed to be amplified. I am hoping that it breaks soon.....

SCARY MORNING
I have been worried having Nick and Lexie downstairs where I can't hear them well at night. I got a new baby monitor which I hooked up last night. I woke up this morning to the sound of a kid playing - and a man's voice. I JUMPED out of bed and ran downstairs, only to find Nick and Lexie sound asleep. No strange man in the house. Apparently I was eavesdropping on my neighbors, unbeknownst to me. I guess I will try changing the channels on it tonight...

Monday Randomness #5

BACK TO SCHOOL
Wow, getting back into the swing of things is going to be difficult. Today was not fun. If I could sum it up in one word, it would be CHAOS. What to do with Nick? Preschool is sounding really good at the moment. Of course, then my day would be disrupted by taking him and picking him up - and I would have to pay for it. I can dream though :)

ANDY'S DEPARTURE
I think it was actually easier to say goodbye to Andy this time. It wasn't quite so emotional for all of us. I'm not sure why. Maybe because we got used to not having him here. That sounds horrible. We have all been doing fine though - except for Nick. He seems to be upset by Andy's being gone more than any of us. Andy was putting him to bed at night while he was here, so that job has been twice as hard for me the past couple of nights. Nick has asked "Why can't Daddy come home? I want Daddy to come back!" He knows that Andy is working, but he's only 2 and he can't understand why he's not here. I think his acting up today and yesterday is a direct result of missing Daddy... It's frustrating to me though, because he is so stubborn and physical and angry right now. Hopefully it will get better with time.

TORI
Tori is still such a happy baby. She is crawling all over her crib and playpen. I never set her on the floor yet for fear of her being squashed by Nick. She's sitting and making all sorts of weird noises. She says "MMM" when she wants milk. She gives kisses if asked - which are sloppy, but oh so sweet :) She is just a joyto have around!

Monday Randomness #4

I don't have much for this week. We're still busy with family time. I'm sure I'll be bored and lonely by next Monday and will be back to blogging daily. :(

DRY SKIN
I am finally healed from another round of extremely dry skin around my eyes and cheeks. The last time that it happened, I thought that it was the new face wash that I had used. Now, I'm starting to think that I was wrong. It may just have been the really dry, cold weather we were having. It was always worse when I got out of the shower (maybe I'm allergic to our water - wouldn't that be great?). Anyway, it seems to have finally healed and I am moisturizing the heck out of my face.

CONSPIRACY
Every time we decide that we're going to take the kids out for dinner, it seems like there is a huge line. We like to joke that they know we're coming and call people to form a line :)We drove to Chili's tonight, but there was a very long line and I wasn't going to wait with all of the kids. We satisfied them with a dessert from Carl's Jr instead. We will try again later this week (we forgot that tomorrow is a holiday and lots of people were out and about tonight!)

SLEEP
How long does a 2 yr old need to sleep each day - really? Because there is no way that Nick is sleeping enough. He is going to bed very late and waking up at the same time as his older sisters. He is napping once every couple of days (if he falls asleep in the car). It just doesn't seem like enough to me. I am so sick of bedtime. I wish that they all had an off switch!

Monday Randomness #3

1. I have discovered that my vehicle's thermometer bottoms out at negative 40. I have been out a number of times when I know it was colder than that, yet the gauge still reads -40. I bet they didn't design them for Alaskan winters.

2. I am going to go insane with re-wrapping presents. Nick keeps opening them whenever no one is looking. He keeps getting disappointed when it's obviously one of the girls' and something that he doesn't want.

3. Did you know that Old Navy has tall clothes online? I knew that they had long pants, but I didn't realize that they have tall pants and shirts also. I ordered a bunch and what a difference!! The sleeves are nice and long AND the shirts actually hit me right on my waist. How nice!!

Monday Randomness #2

Ok, with the kids being sick, I got behind on my posts. Monday Randomness is being posted on Tuesday:

1. Kate wants to know if she can be a scientist, an archaeologist, and a spelunker all at the same time! It sounds like she will have some adventures ahead of her!

2. Nick has started chewing on his shirt sleeves and it is driving me insane. His whole left sleeve is soaking wet. If he goes outside too long, his shirt will be frozen solid. I wonder if he is getting some molars? I can't seem to remember when they get them...

3. Nick is still not potty-trained. I am hoping that this week and next will be a good time to do it since we don't have a lot of classes and running around to do (well, not as much as usual). I KNOW that he is ready. He has started pulling the front of his pants down and going on the floor. I found 4 or 5 puddles in the past couple of days. That means he's making a conscious decision to go..... I have hung up a piece of paper in the bathroom and I am giving him a sticker when he goes in his little urinal or in the toilet. He got one sticker so far :)

4. Has anyone else noticed that "peeps" which always used to be only available at EASTER time are now made for almost every other holiday? I guess they couldn't resist making money throughout the year. I just think it's funny seeing "gingerbread men" and Christmas tree-shaped peeps.