what made me laugh on the inside today

I am feeding Megan. Mark is throwing a large inflatable ball in the room. The ball hits me in the head. I say, "Mark, you hit me in the head, what do you need to say?"
He just smiles this cheesy, I can get away with anything smile.
"Mark, what do you need to say to me? You hit me in the head and it hurt."
"Yes Mam?"
"No, Mark. You hurt me. What do you say?"
"Please Mommy, don't spank me?"

what made me smile today

Today I smiled at my two precious boys as they ran around the living room in a big circle jumping over toys pretending to be Buzz Lightyear. The opening of Toy Story 2 was playing and each had Buzz Lightyear toy in hand. They were invincible! I love them!

Megan's first trip to the zoo

So, my baby girl went to the zoo for the first time looking like this!

Her diaper leaked while I was at exercise class, so I had to take her clothes off and stop by home to get her new clothes on the way to the zoo. On the way home she fell asleep. I was not going to wake her up just to dress her and put her back in the carrier, so she made it to the zoo and into the stroler naked. BUT, She was wearing her BOW! I did get her dressed when we unloaded everything at the zoo to eat lunch.

the hair that broke the camel's back

Mitchell just had to have a haricut! This pic marks the day I finally broke down and gave the boys haircuts! These are some of the before and afters.

Happy Birthday Mama Lou!

The boys knew it was my mom's birthday and they kept asking when her party was. I had seen these cupcakes on Martha Stewart the other day and was just waiting for the occasion to make them! To tell the truth, the cake was from a mix and just the frosting and frosting tecnique came from Martha. They were lemon cakes with strawberry lemonade frosting. Actually, Martha's cake and icing were strawberry. I only had a lemon cake mix. I skipped the strawberry puree in the icing, as suggested by Martha(who really has that on hand everyday?), and added coolaid powder to the frosting instead. So really, maybe just the idea of cupcakes came from Martha now that I think of it!

I woke up at 6:15

Are you catching a theme here?

I woke up at 6:15 to feed the baby; at least she had slept through the night. This could not be said about her big brothers. One slept with us for a few hours untill I had been kicked a few too many times and took him back to his bed somewhere around 4 am. The other had come in at 6 for who knows what. Neil took him back to his bed and when he returned brought me the baby to feed. I snooze and feed Megan. Mitchell comes back to our room, again, I don't know why, but I tell him to get in our bed. Megan is done and is sleeping. Suddenly screams are tearing through the quiet early morning. Mark is screaming and heading to my room! Quick, get the baby in her bassinet while she is still sleeping, head Mark off in the hallway so he does wake up Mitchell too! Oh wait, Mitchell never really went back to sleep anyway. Mark is in our room. He stops screaming as soon as he gets in our bed. Ok! At least he stopped. Let's rest for just a few more minutes before we really have to get out of bed. "Mark, stop rolling on me!" "Do not talk to your brother! He is still sleeping!" "Mark, I don't like to be touched." With a hard squeeze on the arm, "Don't talk to him! Mark roll over let me sleep in the middle." Neil opens the bathroom door. My silent prayer, "Please don't come over here, we are 'sleeping.'" Kisses for everyone. "Bye bye Daddy." Neil is in the kitchen then he leaves through the laundry room. Mark jumps out of bed crying again, "I want to wave bye to daddy in the window!" It is 7:15. We are all out of bed now heading to the living room window to wave. Mitchell tries the laundry room door instead. I am deathly afraid of him jumping out the door and Neil not seeing him as he pulls out of the garage. "Mitchell, stop! Come here and wave! Close the door and come to the window!" Now Mitchell is in a melt down. "I want to tell daddy I love him". Neil has pulled out of the garage and is about to leave the driveway. I open the front door to stop him. We are all in our jammies and freezing. Mitchell is still sobbing. Mark is standing there in a daze. Neil gets out of the car. "You must stop crying to tell Daddy what you want to tell him or he can't understand you." "I can't stop crying. . . I. . . I can't!" Big daddy hug. "I love you Mitchell." "You better tell him too, since you are crying so much about it!" "I. . . love. . . you. . . (sob, sob)" Close the door. Still sobbing. Everybody to the living room. TV on. Praise God for PBS Kids! Sobbing stops. "Mark would you like to watch tv too?" I go to the kitchen to make sippy cups. Chocolate milk for Mark. One down, one to go. Then they will leave me alone! Apple juice for Mitchell. Pour the juice. Knock over the juice. The cup and the huge jug! Oh, Crap! The huge 64 ounce jug is glugging all over the cabinet! Grab everything upright! Holy Cow! Is this really happening? Sop up the counter. Re pour and deliver the cup, because it is only moments before Mitchell will be in here damanding his juice and probably crying again. Back to the kitchen to clean up the lake of juice on my floor and cabinets. It takes two kitchen towlels and a bath towel. Then I am mopping the floor! Yes! Mopping! Mark wanders into the kitchen. "Watch out! It is wet! Mark, go around!" Slip, fall, drop cup, cry. "Here is your cup. I told you to stop. Let's go watch tv with brother." Take the towels to the washer. It is full of wet clothes. Open the dryer. It is full too, at least they are dry. Laundry to couch. Laundry to dryer. Juice towels into the washer. Start washer. Oh yeah, the juice. It is still all over the cabinets, and inside the cabintes! Clean the cabinets. Oh man is it really inside the ice cream maker? Next cabinet. Pots and pans. Yes, it is in all of the pots! I am slumped on the still kind of sticky kitchen floor wiping shelves and pots. I still have to make lunches, get everyone dressed for school, feed the baby again before we leave at 9 . . . Oh, It is only 7:45! Plenty of time!

I went to bed at 10:30

I went to bed at 10:30 - with a stuffy nose and head ache.
At 12:30 Megan woke up to eat.
By 1:30 She was back in her bed and I in mine.
Some time later, Mitchell at my side of the bed, "I am hot, I want to turn on the fan."
Lovingly(yeah right), "I am not getting out of bed. Get in your bed and don't pull up the covers."
Neil takes him to the kitchen, there is some rustling(I think a drink is involved), low talking, and some crying.
Mitchell is in his bed and Neil in ours.
3:30 Mark needs a drink too. I get it because I am really still awake from Mitchell's visit and Megan coughing (Is she waking up to eat again??).
Mark is in his bed and I am in mine.
4:30 Megan is awake. She poops or toots loudly. Minimal crying. I might as well feed her now and then I can be assured of 3 hours of peace! Lights on, diaper change courtesy of Neil, and Megan is in our bed eating.
5:00 Megan in her bed and I in mine.
5:20 Megan is still blowing raspberries and talking. Mark at the side of my bed, "Mommy I brought duck." "Get in my bed (shut up, lay still, and sleep because I am soooo tired)"
6:15 Mark kicks me, slaps his hand in my face, rolls over, etc. "Neil! What time are you getting up? (Hopefully it is at 6:30 so you can take Mark to bed and I can stay in mine, so much for the three hours of peace! What? Not until 7:00?! Ugh, Mark get up!)" "Is it wake up time Mommy?" Many responces come to mind, none of them nice or appropriate to say to your 2 year old.
6:30 Mark is in his bed and I am in mine, but probably only for 30 minutes until 7 when Neil's alarm goes off and wakes up Megan so she can eat - again!
7:00 comes and Neil wakes, Megan does not. Ah maybe 30 minutes of sleep until Neil wakes me up to say goodbye.
7:00 to 9:00 is a blur (maybe there was some sleeping). There was a snooze alarm that I had to turn off. Neil has gone to work, Megan tooted and went back to sleep, Mitchell has joined me in bed wanting to watch TV ("Not in here, you can sleep with me or go to the living room"), Mark has visited and asked to eat some valentines chocolate ("Not until after breakfast, get in bed or play quietly, Mommy is not getting up yet.")
9:00 It may be safe to wake up now. No, I mean it may be safe to get out of bed now. Is it really waking up if there was no sleeping? Boy do I feel rested!

So, How did you sleep last night?

3 month pictures of our little sweetheart

So, she is now four and a half months old and I am just getting around to sharing these threee month photos in blog world! Just be so glad that you get to see them even if they are late! We did at least take them just a few weeks after she was 3 months old. A photo shoot near Dec 28 was hard to come by so we settled for the first week in January. Isn't she soo cute!

Close ups of our cutie!

Look at those big feet!

Ah how sweet! Her big brothers adore her!

tagged

It has taken me a few days to do this. I can't decide which list to do. It is pretty sad, but I could not think of many things that I did not expect myslef to be by 25. I think most people know my wierd and odd facts (I probably share way too many oddities about myself in daily conversation). Soooo. . . here goes with the list of. . .

5 places I want to see

1. Rome - the Coliseum and ruins, maybe a little Biblical tour too. I caught the Rome fever when I taught Julius Caesar, and then there is the movie Gladiator too. I think the tunnels and underground hiding places of Christians would be cool to see.
2. Pompeii - the Roman city destroyed my Mt Vesevius. I read about it in a Weekly Reader issue in 1st grade and have wanted to go there ever since. How cool to see 1st hand how an ancient civilation lived, and sad to see the tragic and unexpected mumified bodies and ash shadows on the walls.
3. The Palace of Versailles (again) - especially the gardens. I have been there twice already once with my Let's Start Talking team and then again the next summer with Neil. I would go again with Neil and I would like to spend a few days there taking guided tours of the royal apartments and wandering the gardens.
4. The Hamptons - I don't know why, I think it is because that is where the rich and famous party. Neil and I were actually planning our 10th anniversary trip for this summer there but then we realized that it is kind of cold and not really as tropical feeling as we would like so we nixed the idea.
5. Disney Land - the original in California. I have also been there twice. Once in college, and once with Neil, Neil's sis Mellissa, and husband Ben, Mitchell and Mark about 2 years ago. Yes, Mark was only 9 months old. I would like to take Mark now that he is older, but now we will probably wait until Megan is old enough to enjoy it too. Have you seen the commercial about Walt Disney's personal suite? That's where I want to stay!! I also saw a video once about all the characters and how each entrance and exit is exactly timed so you never see two Mickey's running around. There is an underground "city" under Disney Land to create the "Magic" with huge wardrobe and make up areas, laundry rooms and kitchens, and secret entrances. They showed a room with hundreds of Snow White costumes hanging in it. It was amazing. I would love to see the video again too!

I color coded the places with the color that each place makes me think of. Well, now you have wired facts and my list of 5 places!

I tag - Jessica H, Aubrey K, Laura W, Andrea N, and Jenny V.

I was tagged by Cindy and Leane. I hope it counts for both because I am not going to do it twice!

The Rules: Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog. or Share the 5 top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list. or Share 5 things you never pictured being in your future when your were 25 years old. Tag a minimum of 5, maximum of 10 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. The tagees have a choice of which they want to do.