Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
What happens in the morning at our house. By Carter
(wearing Robot Shirt) I woke up. I wondered where my brother was.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Last week was busy. This week, so far, is hard.
Valerie has had a really gross, runny nose for about 3 weeks. Mostly on just the right side. Wierd, right? Finally the mommy radar decided to take her in to the doctor. We RARELY go to the doctor. We have great insurance, but I'm worried about being seen as the mom that always takes her kids in for every sniffle, plus, when you have 3, taking them to the doctor is a huge production.
So I call this morning and get an appt for 1:30. Great. Guess why she's had this awful runny nose. An ear infection. Mostly in the right side. Then I take the little ones to get antibiotics. Henri insists on driving his truck all over the floor of the pharmacy. I'm tired. I get the kids in bed, I go to bed about 8:30.
Since having 3 children, I have to go to bed the same time as they do at least 2-3 times a week in order to function. I need 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep to be a nice, sane person. Without enough sleep, I am a completely mean person. I am a sarcastic, angry, screaming, crazy person. Yep, really. And who bears the brunt of that? That's right, my poor kids. I also turn into this person at 8:30pm. I've explained to Carter his 8:30 bedtime is more for his personal safety than anything else. When I do let him stay up until 9pm, he knows not to bug mommy. If I'm up past 8:30, it's desperately needed Mommy time. After the 3rd child and having my middle child turn out to be a morning lark (up 5:30 before we went to Hawaii and I messed with his internal clock), I go, go, go, from the time my feet hit the floor until bedtime for the children. There are no breaks. If I'm online or reading or anything, I'm probably breastfeeding at the same time.
Anyways, back to last night. I pass out at 8:30. I'm talking dead to the world, I am so exhausted. Then the children spent the next 11 hours taking turns waking me up approx every 45 minutes. I am not exaggerating. Everytime someone woke up and I looked at the clock, only another hour had passed. Valerie ate 3 times, Henri was up 3 times (I imagine due to the chaos around him), Carter, my kid that could sleep through an atomic bomb kept waking up crying complaining about his ear hurting. Once I even cried with him asking, "what do you need from me, because I will give you ANYTHING if you will let me sleep!!!" Finally sometime early this morning I got enough wits about me to give him some Tylenol.
This morning, I drug myself out of bed at 8am and called the Dr. Yep, Carter has an ear infection as well. So, as I'm completely exhausted, this was our Tuesday...
9:15, load car with all three kids, take Henri to gymnastics. Get all 3 kids out of the car, beg Henri to get in the building out of the rain. Leave Valerie with Carter in the viewing area-until Carter decides he needs to poop. Bring Valerie down with Henri and I.
10:15, load the car back up with all three children. Go to consignment store. Unload all three children, get my bag of stuff, load all three children back in the car. Answer Henri's questions about the garbage truck in front of us. Repeat answers about 10 times.
10:50, unload all three kids and get into doctor's office, get diagnosed with ear infection. Have her check Henri's ears while we are there (fine). Load all three kids back into the car. Drive to pharmacy, unload all three children. Let boys play DS while I work on my bible study due tomorrow. Get antibiotics, load up all three children. Finally scream at Carter as he asks the same question 6 times in a row with, "no, the answer every single time you ask me the same question is no." Have lady get in car next to me with her Starbucks she got to go into get by herself glare at me. Fight crying that I look like a terrible mother. Explain to Carter that I am not mad at him perse, as much as I am very, very tired and mad at the world around me.
12:00, drop Carter off at school after parking far away because there are no spots. Unload all three kids. Take him all the way to the office, carrying Henri 1/2 the way because he still is wandering. In the rain. Take him to class. Go back to the car. Load little kids.
12:30 call mom to tell her I'm not coming to her house today. Take little ones home for lunch. Fold a load of laundry and put it away. Feed Valerie, change diapers. Do some various other fiddly things, I can't for the life of me remember what.
3:30 Load the smaller kids, drive to Carter's school to pick him up. There are so many people in car line, I can't get in the parking lot, so I drive and park next door at the Jr. High. Unload little kids, Henri walks so slow I start screaming again. Go to Carter's class to find he had to go to the office because I was so late. Explain to office lady that herding a 2 year old takes a very long time.
4:07, after screaming at Henri all the way back and having an oh-so-helpful woman tell me next time I should bring a stroller (gee, next time I'll look into my crystal ball and forsee a lack of parking, thanks!) we finally get back to the car. This time I do cry and pray to God that these children turn out ok despite my bad day of mothering. Load 3 kids back in the car. Drive home, unload 3 kids from the car.
The rest of the day went pretty usual, baths, bed, etc. But I'm glad it's over and hoping tomorrow will be better!
So I call this morning and get an appt for 1:30. Great. Guess why she's had this awful runny nose. An ear infection. Mostly in the right side. Then I take the little ones to get antibiotics. Henri insists on driving his truck all over the floor of the pharmacy. I'm tired. I get the kids in bed, I go to bed about 8:30.
Since having 3 children, I have to go to bed the same time as they do at least 2-3 times a week in order to function. I need 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep to be a nice, sane person. Without enough sleep, I am a completely mean person. I am a sarcastic, angry, screaming, crazy person. Yep, really. And who bears the brunt of that? That's right, my poor kids. I also turn into this person at 8:30pm. I've explained to Carter his 8:30 bedtime is more for his personal safety than anything else. When I do let him stay up until 9pm, he knows not to bug mommy. If I'm up past 8:30, it's desperately needed Mommy time. After the 3rd child and having my middle child turn out to be a morning lark (up 5:30 before we went to Hawaii and I messed with his internal clock), I go, go, go, from the time my feet hit the floor until bedtime for the children. There are no breaks. If I'm online or reading or anything, I'm probably breastfeeding at the same time.
Anyways, back to last night. I pass out at 8:30. I'm talking dead to the world, I am so exhausted. Then the children spent the next 11 hours taking turns waking me up approx every 45 minutes. I am not exaggerating. Everytime someone woke up and I looked at the clock, only another hour had passed. Valerie ate 3 times, Henri was up 3 times (I imagine due to the chaos around him), Carter, my kid that could sleep through an atomic bomb kept waking up crying complaining about his ear hurting. Once I even cried with him asking, "what do you need from me, because I will give you ANYTHING if you will let me sleep!!!" Finally sometime early this morning I got enough wits about me to give him some Tylenol.
This morning, I drug myself out of bed at 8am and called the Dr. Yep, Carter has an ear infection as well. So, as I'm completely exhausted, this was our Tuesday...
9:15, load car with all three kids, take Henri to gymnastics. Get all 3 kids out of the car, beg Henri to get in the building out of the rain. Leave Valerie with Carter in the viewing area-until Carter decides he needs to poop. Bring Valerie down with Henri and I.
10:15, load the car back up with all three children. Go to consignment store. Unload all three children, get my bag of stuff, load all three children back in the car. Answer Henri's questions about the garbage truck in front of us. Repeat answers about 10 times.
10:50, unload all three kids and get into doctor's office, get diagnosed with ear infection. Have her check Henri's ears while we are there (fine). Load all three kids back into the car. Drive to pharmacy, unload all three children. Let boys play DS while I work on my bible study due tomorrow. Get antibiotics, load up all three children. Finally scream at Carter as he asks the same question 6 times in a row with, "no, the answer every single time you ask me the same question is no." Have lady get in car next to me with her Starbucks she got to go into get by herself glare at me. Fight crying that I look like a terrible mother. Explain to Carter that I am not mad at him perse, as much as I am very, very tired and mad at the world around me.
12:00, drop Carter off at school after parking far away because there are no spots. Unload all three kids. Take him all the way to the office, carrying Henri 1/2 the way because he still is wandering. In the rain. Take him to class. Go back to the car. Load little kids.
12:30 call mom to tell her I'm not coming to her house today. Take little ones home for lunch. Fold a load of laundry and put it away. Feed Valerie, change diapers. Do some various other fiddly things, I can't for the life of me remember what.
3:30 Load the smaller kids, drive to Carter's school to pick him up. There are so many people in car line, I can't get in the parking lot, so I drive and park next door at the Jr. High. Unload little kids, Henri walks so slow I start screaming again. Go to Carter's class to find he had to go to the office because I was so late. Explain to office lady that herding a 2 year old takes a very long time.
4:07, after screaming at Henri all the way back and having an oh-so-helpful woman tell me next time I should bring a stroller (gee, next time I'll look into my crystal ball and forsee a lack of parking, thanks!) we finally get back to the car. This time I do cry and pray to God that these children turn out ok despite my bad day of mothering. Load 3 kids back in the car. Drive home, unload 3 kids from the car.
The rest of the day went pretty usual, baths, bed, etc. But I'm glad it's over and hoping tomorrow will be better!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Paul's back!
Thank goodness, Paul is home! It has been an insanely busy week. I owe you all some pictures, then I can tell you more of what we've been up to.
March 10 picture of the day. Carter's spending his second day home from school, so we cancelled our plans and spent an extra long time in our pajamas.
March 12th, Etienne was up from Portland, so the boys all got their hair cut.... before and after pictures...
This morning's picture is courtesy of Paul. So yesterday at swimming I saw online that Paul had lost his semi-final game and stopped checking. Well, turns out they played yet another game and came away from the 2011 US Club Nationals with a Bronze :) So proud of all his hard work.
This medal is huge! It's probably 3-4 inches in diameter.
So we finally got Carter healthy. Saturday mom helped me take the 3 kids to swimming, then we stopped by home, dropped off some stuff at the consignment store, then headed up to mom's for a boy hair cutting party. Then home to spruce up the house and work on some chores. I cleaned the fish tank, worked out, made 10 pans of chicken & cheese enchiladas and went to get Paul at the airport.
Some of you have asked about my dinner swapping. I have started a second group (if you are local and want to get in on it, let me know!) One group is 8 people, but I try to make about 10 meals in case we have another person join, I can always use the extra meal to give to my mom when she's got my kids or a new mom with a baby.
For April I did chicken & cheese enchiladas. So, I bought 2 whole chickens and decided they would be the base for my next meal exchange menu. Here's how it broke down, pretty much everything was on sale.
2 whole chickens at 79 cents a pound (generally 3.5 pounds): $5.53
4 large (28 oz) cans of enchilada sauce: $4/2 so total of $8
Huge pack (73oz bag-80 tortillas) of corn tortillas: $3.00
Shredded cheese 2-2 pound bags @ 6.69 a bag, 2-8 oz bags I got BOGO that worked out to $1.50 a bag, so total: $16.38
I made 10 pans of 4 servings (2 enchiladas per person, so 80 enchiladas) for about $33. This will probably be responsible for 1/2 our main meals for April.
I'm so excited that I'm on the lookout for other deals to see what I can do for my smaller swap group (about 4-5 families). By the way, I only knew the chicken was on sale. I boiled them and de-boned them myself. The rest I just got extremely lucky because I usually do not shop at that store.
March 10 picture of the day. Carter's spending his second day home from school, so we cancelled our plans and spent an extra long time in our pajamas.
March 11, Carter went back to school, we and he have decided he's swimming well enough to discontinue taking lessons and he's decided not to continue with gymnastics, so we talked and decided that he and I would cook more together. His first almost solo-Macaroni & Cheese from a box. We decifered direction on the back together, he measured the water, I put it on the stove, we determined which knob we needed for the element we had the water on, set the timer for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, then I drained the boiling hot water and he measured and mixed in the butter, packet of cheese, and milk. He and Henri then devoured it! (the picture is actually from the 12th, but I'm missing an 11th picture, so there you go)
March 12th, Etienne was up from Portland, so the boys all got their hair cut.... before and after pictures...
This morning's picture is courtesy of Paul. So yesterday at swimming I saw online that Paul had lost his semi-final game and stopped checking. Well, turns out they played yet another game and came away from the 2011 US Club Nationals with a Bronze :) So proud of all his hard work.
So we finally got Carter healthy. Saturday mom helped me take the 3 kids to swimming, then we stopped by home, dropped off some stuff at the consignment store, then headed up to mom's for a boy hair cutting party. Then home to spruce up the house and work on some chores. I cleaned the fish tank, worked out, made 10 pans of chicken & cheese enchiladas and went to get Paul at the airport.
Some of you have asked about my dinner swapping. I have started a second group (if you are local and want to get in on it, let me know!) One group is 8 people, but I try to make about 10 meals in case we have another person join, I can always use the extra meal to give to my mom when she's got my kids or a new mom with a baby.
For April I did chicken & cheese enchiladas. So, I bought 2 whole chickens and decided they would be the base for my next meal exchange menu. Here's how it broke down, pretty much everything was on sale.
2 whole chickens at 79 cents a pound (generally 3.5 pounds): $5.53
4 large (28 oz) cans of enchilada sauce: $4/2 so total of $8
Huge pack (73oz bag-80 tortillas) of corn tortillas: $3.00
Shredded cheese 2-2 pound bags @ 6.69 a bag, 2-8 oz bags I got BOGO that worked out to $1.50 a bag, so total: $16.38
I made 10 pans of 4 servings (2 enchiladas per person, so 80 enchiladas) for about $33. This will probably be responsible for 1/2 our main meals for April.
I'm so excited that I'm on the lookout for other deals to see what I can do for my smaller swap group (about 4-5 families). By the way, I only knew the chicken was on sale. I boiled them and de-boned them myself. The rest I just got extremely lucky because I usually do not shop at that store.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Great day!
Carter's better, I got out of the the house, I got to have lunch with a friend and her son at Costco, AND:
I'm so full of good news I could bust!
1) DH's team is curling in Minnesota this week and had to do a tie breaker game this afternoon to get a finalist spot. They won with the LAST ROCK. It was so close!!! They'll be playing the finals tomorrow then home! I was gone a week, then home 3 days, then DH went on this trip for a week.
2) I think I have solved my never-ending swimming lesson problem. Right now I take 3 kids to the pool Saturday mornings (meaning, with church, we NEVER have sleep in day) 9am oldest gets in the water, 9:30 middle & I 10 I trade middle for youngest, I have to have another adult with me, with DH's curling schedule it's been a nightmare. anyways, oldest is graduating, the little ones I can only get together one option, so I checked out the lessons at my son's elementary school.
There is a possibility for $2.50 an hour I could drive 5 minutes instead of 20 each way. lessons would be 15 mins private in the pool at same time with instructor (not me) and would let out just as DS is letting out school in same building. I REALLY hope this will work out.
3) I had a wonderful dinner date at my house with an old friend and her kids (our kids are in the same kindergarten class) and it was so good to connect with another adult after 2 days of sickness and cancelled plans and DH being gone all week.
I can't sleep I'm so excited, but must since it's midnight and I still haveto make it through swim lessons tomorrow morning, only 3 more weeks!
I'll do pictures tomorrow from the last 3 days, promise!
I'm so full of good news I could bust!
1) DH's team is curling in Minnesota this week and had to do a tie breaker game this afternoon to get a finalist spot. They won with the LAST ROCK. It was so close!!! They'll be playing the finals tomorrow then home! I was gone a week, then home 3 days, then DH went on this trip for a week.
2) I think I have solved my never-ending swimming lesson problem. Right now I take 3 kids to the pool Saturday mornings (meaning, with church, we NEVER have sleep in day) 9am oldest gets in the water, 9:30 middle & I 10 I trade middle for youngest, I have to have another adult with me, with DH's curling schedule it's been a nightmare. anyways, oldest is graduating, the little ones I can only get together one option, so I checked out the lessons at my son's elementary school.
There is a possibility for $2.50 an hour I could drive 5 minutes instead of 20 each way. lessons would be 15 mins private in the pool at same time with instructor (not me) and would let out just as DS is letting out school in same building. I REALLY hope this will work out.
3) I had a wonderful dinner date at my house with an old friend and her kids (our kids are in the same kindergarten class) and it was so good to connect with another adult after 2 days of sickness and cancelled plans and DH being gone all week.
I can't sleep I'm so excited, but must since it's midnight and I still haveto make it through swim lessons tomorrow morning, only 3 more weeks!
I'll do pictures tomorrow from the last 3 days, promise!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Picture of the day catch up and other news!
I'm going to catch up today. Really I am. Since we got back, I've had the vomiting that Carter had, so I missed bible study last week, then finally got over that and sent Paul off to Minnesota to do the Men's Club Playdowns he got there only to come down with the vomiting. Sunday we made it to church. Monday my mom picked up the kids after I got Carter from school so I could handle one of my monthly meal swaps and a mommy meet up since I had forgotten in my haze that Paul wouldn't be home to cover for me, then we spent the night at her house and I got the kids to school Tuesday from there. Tuesday was Henri's gym class, Mardi Gras pancake dinner at church, then finance team meeting.
Tuesday night Carter was up twice (not like him) then in the morning he was coughing and HOT. After checking his 101.6 fever, we decided I was not going to bible study AGAIN (I'd already caught up my homework and made muffins!) and he would stay home from school. He seemed to perk up at lunch, so we headed to my grandmother's house for her 84th birthday. Poor Carter. All 3 kids slept all the way there and back and Carter pretty much slept on my grandma's bed the whole time. Got the kids home and in bed (with some fever-reducer for Carter). This morning he's just at 100 degrees, which according to the school is too high, so I cancelled my babysitting plans this morning (luckily, I think they had another babysitter as well) and here we are at home again.
Paul's team had a rocky first game (Paul said he could barely sweep for part of it due to his stomach) then they won, had two losses that were only one point each, then a big win, a big loss and last night they won by one in an extra end. He thinks if they can win their last two games, they can playoff for a semi-final spot, so there's still a chance for them. There, you are now caught up!
March 1 picture of the day. On the way back from Hawaii, the boys finally woke up enough to fawn over their sister who was in Henri's carseat while I changed Henri. They thought that was a bit silly...
March 3, yep, the boys fawning over Valerie again.
March 4, Valerie's new talents-bouncing and clapping her feet! Oh, and sticking everything in her mouth...
March 5, Mack. He along with Lightening McQueen & King are now on Henri's favorites list. I'm getting flashbacks to the days of Carter watching Cars once a day. The funny part is when Henri sees Sally (McQueen's girlfriend) and says, "Lightning's mommy!"
March 8, Picking up Carter from school with the little ones. We usually meet my neighbor when we walk in the afternoon as her daughter goes to PM kindergarten. We look a little funny both pushing double strollers!
March 9, Grandma's birthday!
Tuesday night Carter was up twice (not like him) then in the morning he was coughing and HOT. After checking his 101.6 fever, we decided I was not going to bible study AGAIN (I'd already caught up my homework and made muffins!) and he would stay home from school. He seemed to perk up at lunch, so we headed to my grandmother's house for her 84th birthday. Poor Carter. All 3 kids slept all the way there and back and Carter pretty much slept on my grandma's bed the whole time. Got the kids home and in bed (with some fever-reducer for Carter). This morning he's just at 100 degrees, which according to the school is too high, so I cancelled my babysitting plans this morning (luckily, I think they had another babysitter as well) and here we are at home again.
Paul's team had a rocky first game (Paul said he could barely sweep for part of it due to his stomach) then they won, had two losses that were only one point each, then a big win, a big loss and last night they won by one in an extra end. He thinks if they can win their last two games, they can playoff for a semi-final spot, so there's still a chance for them. There, you are now caught up!
March 1 picture of the day. On the way back from Hawaii, the boys finally woke up enough to fawn over their sister who was in Henri's carseat while I changed Henri. They thought that was a bit silly...
March 2, Henri's still transitioning with naps, only sleeping in the car, stroller or whereever he passes out...
March 4, Valerie's new talents-bouncing and clapping her feet! Oh, and sticking everything in her mouth...
March 5, Mack. He along with Lightening McQueen & King are now on Henri's favorites list. I'm getting flashbacks to the days of Carter watching Cars once a day. The funny part is when Henri sees Sally (McQueen's girlfriend) and says, "Lightning's mommy!"
March 6, My bible study. The book of Ruth. Loving it! So glad I decided to sign up for it.
March 7, Henri and his friend Eli were VERY quiet in the kitchen. Now we know why. No worries, it's all washable.
March 8, Picking up Carter from school with the little ones. We usually meet my neighbor when we walk in the afternoon as her daughter goes to PM kindergarten. We look a little funny both pushing double strollers!
Fish
I "borrowed" these photos from someone else on the internet to show you some of what we saw while snorkling.
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