All About Hubby...

OK, so I know that I can tend to complain a bit about my husband on here.  And, I just wanted to let you all know about the good stuff he does do around here:)  I know some people see him and judge him for some of the things he does or doesn't do and I need to set the record straight!!

He really is a great person and he loves his children unconditionally.  He is such a great dad to them and yes, he is a good husband (well, most of the time...and when he's not he brings me wine so I guess it's ok..lol).

So, here are the things that I love about him (in no particular order)

- He lets me sleep in on weekends when there is nothing to do
- He does finally admit to things after you tell him over and over and he says, YOUR RIGHT..
- He will go into work later on a few days a week so that I can sleep an extra 20 minutes while he feeds the big kids AND makes their lunches
- He will take all 4 kids to the grocery story, hunting store, Walmart, wherever I tell him to go, etc. on weekends while I'm working
- If I leave a list, everything on it will get done  (I usually get annoyed when I forget to leave this list and he doesn't do anything..so, leave a list and all will be well)
- He will bathe the filthy rugrats when I ask him to
- He is now getting up with Franny EVERY night when she wakes up...yes, he finally got it that if I get her she will be relentless with me to give her a boob.  Basically, she's scratch and claw at me until she gets it and it's not fun so I have always just given in...she's relentles.  And, let me tell you she probably only sleeps through the night about 2x a week...maybe
- He will read with DJ at night when I don't have the extra time
- He will sleep in Kyra's bed with her on her birthday b/c that's what they do:)
- He mows the lawn:)  And, he will sometimes do this with all 4 kids outside while I'm working
- He snow plows our driveway...even though it's got to stop snowing before he'll do it, at least he does it
- He will wrestle and tickle all 4 kids at the same time
- He will play video games with DJ but also take him outside to practice baseball
- He is pretty much ALWAYS the designated driver!!
- Every now and than, he surprises you ... like, he will fold a basket of clothes that has been sitting for about a week, or he will actually do the dishes without that note (or, if he doesn't do them at night, he will do them while I'm still sleeping in the morning)
- He will make me a sandwich and/or breakfast on weekends when I go into work
- He will take all 4 kids to a party and take really good care of them... even though he may forget the diaper bag or something...lol
- He puts up with my dorkiness...
- He goes sledding, ice-skating and any other cold sports with them
- He will push them on swings in the park
- He gave them to me:)
- He will sleep in a tent with them while I'm all cozy inside:)
- He will go in pools with them so that I don't have to put on a bathing suit!!
- He's my #1 taste tester and is always honest about it..

Perhaps I should stop here...I think he reads these posts and he might get a big head:)  ha ha ha

So, he's not perfect all the time.  But, who is??  OK, besides ME, who is??  Seriously, nobody is.  And, if he is making sure homework gets done and bedtimes are followed at night when I'm not here, than who cares if the dishes aren't done?  I know, usually me.  But, perhaps I should just let it go.  I am a lucky lady to have him around.  Right??

When I get annoyed at him and say something in here, please know that I also realize how lucky I am to have him.

One Tired Momma..

Just wanted to write a quick one here... I have been feeling really tired and wiped out lately and have been practically passing out before 10pm every night.  So not heard of from me... I am always up until at least midnight.

But, alas, passing out is what I'm doing lately and so my blogging entries have been minimal.  Of course, when I tell myself that I will do it today during 'nap' time, No Nap Franny makes an appearance and clearly crosses that off my radar:(

I know, I'm probably working too many jobs and trying to accomplish too many things.  But, it's what I do.  And it finally caught up to me.  But, I was talking to some of the other moms at the bus stop today and apparently we are all feeling it???  Perhaps we all need to slow down and take a break??  Looking forward to spring break!!

Hopefully this will pass and I can start writing more often!!  I have so many things I've wanted to share with you all but haven't gotten to the computer.  I feel out of the loop on Facebook these days, too.  I barely check that out and when I do, I pretty much play my games and move on.  So, if you're playing a game with me, you see me there:)

Hope you are all having a great week!!

A Candle with Many Wicks..

What's that saying, you're burning the candle at both ends??  Well, lately, I feel like I've got a candle with a dozen ends and I'm burning every single one of them!!  They also say, when it rains it pours, right??

I'm sorry I haven't written in awhile...and I'm sorry I can't tell you what's been going on these past couple days. If I did, well, I might have to, um, you know, get rid of you or something..  Actually, I can't even remember what I've been doing, but let me sum up some of it for you, ok??
-Friday night was our usual mayhem of dance and finishing of cupcakes for a St. Patty's Day celebration
-Saturday was a photo gig followed by party for St. Patty's Day...
-Sunday... AHHHHHHH... yes, I had a day off.  Can you believe it??  Ha- sent hubby and kiddies to MIL and I cleaned my day away!!  My entire upstairs was spotless until about 6:15pm when the clan came home.  Though, if you stop by for a visit, we will meet in one of the bedrooms upstairs b/c they are the cleanest area of my house and I'm proud of them... ha ha
-Monday- no nap Franny came around for a playdate.  We love when she stays up late and doesn't nap the next day... so joyful and peaceful around here... NOT   followed by Polish dance
- Tuesday (that's today, in case you didn't know b/c sometimes I often wonder what day it is) full house of kiddies today... finally got my cake in the oven (it's cooling so I can pulverize and cake-pop it) and Franny is finally asleep.

The little booger...ooooops, I mean the little devil... nope, that's not it...I'm sorry, I mean Franny the Wrecker has decided to see how long she can last at night these days...so, my computer time has been severely limited.  Thus, lack of blog posts.  I am completely and utterly exhausted by the time she falls asleep.

Here are some upcoming candle burning issues- cookies, cake pops, cake pop bouquets, b-day parties, library work, stay trapped in my house watching another baby, and I just booked another small photo gig (taking pics of the girls hands...ha ha... for modelling purposes). and Polish dancing for ME (yes, I'm crazy...we all know it.. but this is Exercise, right??).  Now, add in the kids activities...or perhaps I should just cut them off of everything.  Oh, wait, baseball season is soon approaching...

I will leave with all of that...not really much of anything.  Perhaps I will have some more wit for you tomorrow.

Have a great night!!

Here are a few pics of the past few days to put a smile on your faces:)

sparkly hat, green mittens and sandals to walk to the bus:)

This is No Nap Franny... she just wouldn't go to sleep!!

This is how my 9 year old eats pasta...

This is how my 1 yr old eats pasta... notice any similarities???

3 whole baskets are washed, dried and actually folded...now, will they ever make it back into their drawers??

Cousin Fun

this is how we watch movies... in a chair of some sort on top of the couch.. really safe!!

My motley crew

It was so beautiful out today I decided to walk to the bus stop this afternoon...here is my crew on the way home:)

Franny fell head first off the couch trying to reach for something and also fell off a little plastic table on the deck while trying to reach the door handle.  Not bad for 1 day...

Max has been in his Super Hero underwear since Sunday...and his matching undershirts.. Green Lantern is on above:)  Go Max!!  He likes to pee outside... and yes, he did it in the sandbox with those boots on and his pants all the way down at his ankles... it was quite a sight.  don't worry, the sand was discarded..

Kyra has been wearing these plastic gray glasses...not sure why she feels the need to pretend to wear glasses these days.  I can already guess she will really need them in a few years and will probably NOT wear them or want to when she has to.. But she sure does look cute...

DJ- started a scheduled 'after school' list for him today.  We strayed at times but otherwise kept to it.  Let's hope this keeps him on track with homework and getting other things done.... who knows but I've gotta try something, right??

Later!!

Locked Out

Ok...before I begin...it wasn't me.  At least not this time:)  And I also have to say, that sometimes I relish in the fact that there are others out there that do stupid things and it wasn't me...is that so wrong???

So, I worked Thursday night at the library and it's nice a quiet.  Got ALOT of books to put away b/c the day person was not in.  Love it...lots to do and fill my time!!  In walks a woman and her 2 kids to 'hang out' for awhile.  Why, you ask??  Well, turns out she locked herself out of her house.  No keys, no wallet, no nothing!! I don't think she even knew how she got locked out b/c she doesn't remember locking the door.  Typical Mommy Moment right there!!

While she's sitting there, her little one decides to take books off shelves and 're-shelve' them herself...um, please don't:)  The bigger kid is trying to do his homework.  And the Mom is constantly calling the husband but he's not answering his phone.  Unfortunately, he is over an hour away too:(  When she finally gets in touch with him, he tells her he's not coming home that night.  Ummmmm, excuse me??  When was that decided and she's locked out of the house with nothing and he's not coming home.  Geez...I think I would have had some choice words for my hubby at that moment, you know??

I kinda felt bad, but at the same time thinking how great it isn't me.  I also kept thinking, doesn't she have any neighbors or friends she could call??  Perhaps I am really lucky to know that my neighbors and friends (some of whom are both) would be there lickety split for me.  Yup, I just used lickety split... ha ha...

I'm not sure what happened in the end as I had to leave.  I had somewhere very important to be... GIRLS NIGHT!!  I believe her BIL was going to get the house unlocked for her later in the evening.

Now, speaking of being locked out...let me share my story of getting myself locked out of the house while DJ and Kyra were 'playing' in the bathroom (I believe they were 3 and 2 yrs old..maybe a little  younger):

Before we changed out basement door, there was a cheap plywood door with a sliding lock on it.  The lock, for some unknown reason, was located underneath the door handle.  And, I kept a bag with recyclables on the handle.  Oh, and I should mention that my washing machine is in the bathroom on the first floor and my dryer is located in the basement.  So, I was in the middle switching the laundry and DJ/Kyra were in the bathroom with me washing something in the sink...perhaps a Barbie or some cars or something.  I left them there and went to bring the wet clothes into the basement to the dryer...shutting the basement door behind me.  Went back up the stairs and Guess What???  The door wouldn't open...yup, the lock somehow got pushed closed and I couldn't get it open.  OK...think think think... went outside (I could get outside through the garage from the basement) and started knocking on the window to the bathroom.  I heard water running and lots and lots of laughter.  Though, I know that laughter can become crying in a matter of moments so I was kinda frantic to get back in.  Ever vigilant that I am in locking the doors, the back and front doors were both locked up tight.  And DJ/Kyra were having too much fun at this point to hear me, let alone realize I was 'missing'..  Started to freak just a little bit imagining a head crashing into the slink/toilet/floor b/c the floor is filling up with water and they are slipping all over the place and I'm not going to get into the house to save them!!  Yup, that's what goes on in my brain.  Went back into the basement and called hubby...we still had an old rotary phone hooked up down there.  Um, yeah, let's just say men are useless!!  He didn't see the big deal in the situation and suggested I calm down.  So, I did the only rational thing I could think of and hung up on him.. Than I decided to see if I could get a ladder to an upstairs window.  Um, yeah, I think I would have broken my neck and those windows were surely locked too.  so, that option was out.   Scoured the basement, while sweating bullets, trying to think of how I can get back into the house before anything happened.  Aha!!  A box cutter... that should do the trick.  I'm a regular MacGyver here, you know??  Yup, I used a stupid box cutter to cut a hole in our cheap-ass door so that I could reach through and unlock it.  AHHHHHHHH.....it worked.  The bathroom was a mess but no casualties!!  Whew:)

And there was another time where the whole family got locked into Kyra's room (before Max was born)...but I'll save that for another time..

Do you have a 'locked' out scenario??  I'd love to hear about it!!

Here are some old pics of DJ/Kyra having fun together:)  Enjoy!!

A Day in the Life...of Franny (in pics)

Or perhaps you might call her Satan's Spawn... but than I would be married to the Devil himself..lol

Today was a doozy of a day and I'm really glad it's over.  She is one tough cookie and a very destructive one.  Most of these pics are from today... but I will add some past pics that I've missed today.  Enjoy!!

And that was the last pic I took of the day... YES- that is Max coming out of the bathroom at the gymnastics place with his pants around his ankles...and Franny was passed out.  Couldn't have planned the picture any better. She finally fell asleep today at 4:00pm just as we pulled into the parking lot of gymnastics.  Only slept for like 30 minutes:(

Things NOT pictured
-Breakfast all over the floor
-Hugging Max when he came home from school...that was really cute:)
-The laundry basket pulled off the couch with all my newly folded clothes all over the floor.  Anyone else who struggles with getting laundry actually folded and put into a basket knows my pain
-The entire contents of the desk drawer all over the floor in our computer room
-The climb into DJ's bed (he's on the top bunk)
-Her crying at my feet every other minute to pick her up or give her milk
-Me throwing her in the pack and play to cry while I took a much needed break
-The arts/crafts supplies she can now reach (see pic above of her in the chair on top of the bin) all over the floor
-The entire contents of everyone's bins all over the front hallway
-Finally passed out at 9:30 on daddy's lap...whew...

Need I continue??  It's been one of those days!!  Thankfully the pounding headache is gone though:)

Hope you all had a much more productive day than I!!

Oreo Bandwagon..

Yes, I admit, I joined the Oreo Bandwagon today!!  Went out to our local Price Chopper with my 'free' Oreo coupon and we got us some:)

Max and Franny were very excited to 'drive' around in the store:) 

We actually got 2 packages...printed 2 coupons and had DJ go ahead of me with a small purchase.  There are so many options out there these days and 4 kids make it hard to choose any.  We got some kind of pink ones (pictured with max) and the mint ones.  I wanted the peanut butter ones but I just didn't think it was worth it to make DJ cry in the store... nope, I saved that for later!!

I also discovered an Oreo inspired martini...thanks to a frequently posting FB friend... and so, I definitely wanted to get out to the store b/c this recipe called for Oreo Jello Pudding Mix... Was very excited to try it out... but, was kinda disappointed with the outcome:(  I really didn't like it... But, for those of you that want to try it, do the following:

put in a shaker, milk or cream, whipped cream flavored vodka, jello oreo pudding mix, ice and Shake  (here is the link that has the actual recipe and a better looking picture than mine)  http://snappygourmet.com/2011/10/07/cookies-n-creamtini/

And, here is a picture of mine (I don't own a martini glass...tragic, I know...but this is what I use and it's a lot bigger..lol)

So, whether you're a dipper, a taker apart and lick her, or just a biter (come on, get your head out of the gutter right now!!!)...Enjoy your Oreos!

And, just some random pics to top off the day:

Buzz and a Princess:)

Awwww... giving kisses away... BTW- they are both devil children and therefore made for each other:)

Potty Training Moment of the Day

So, Max has been in and out of Potty Training mode for quite some time now.  I can't tell you how many times he'd start to want to use the toilet before going back to being a 'baby' and using diapers.  He didn't even want the Big Boy pull-ups at some of those moments... let's just say, he hasn't been 100% sure if wanted to enter the world of being a Big boy or stay in Franny's world and continue being a baby.

Well, in the last 5 days, we have made some MAJOR headway and I think we've finally turned a corner.  And with that, there are bound to be some wonderful stories to tell you.

Of course I don't have a picture of today's 'adventure' but I hope you can just imagine it and get a chuckle..

Was getting Franny to sleep on the couch and Max ran into the bathroom to do his thing all by himself.  All of a sudden, in waddles Max, pants and pull-up at his ankles with a piece of toilet paper in his hands.  He says he needs help wiping b/c there was Poop in his butt... ha ha ha... had to waddle over to the wipes too... I love potty training days!!!

Have a great day:)

Time...

Where does all that TIME go these days??  I think I must miss some of it??  Either that or I just don't have any left in the sand bottle at the end of the day anymore!!

Yup... I found a sand clock that looks like a wine glass...

Some days I feel like Dorothy in the tower as her sand is running out and I hear the music:  doo do doo do doo do.... I'll get you my pretty!!!  And, instead of her (time) getting my little dog, she's gonna get my 4 kids, hubby, laundry, dishes, school crap, homework, dance, PTA, work, dinner, coffee (no, please not my coffee... well, actually, she can take the coffee as long as she leaves my wine alone), etc.

I think you get the picture, right??  So, while this weekend has come and gone, I have yet to tell you how I managed to get hubby and I OUT on a Friday night.  Friday nights are one of our more hectic nights, you see.  And, Friday night was also a Surprise B-day Bash for my BIL about 45 minutes away...AND...we had to be there before 7.  Well, I hired 2 different people and begged some time out of a relative to complete the night!!  Yes, 3 different people to herd our broad until we could get back home!!  But, we did it and I am glad hubby was able to be there for his bro!!

Because of our night out, though, my time was taken way too fast and I had to play catch up.  Got most of my cookie stuff done for Girls Poker Night the next night, but had to finish them when we got home Friday night.  So, I let TIME take my sleep that night...but the cookies came out Awesome, I think:)

Worked the library and a birthday party on Saturday before heading over to my girlfriends b-day bash where we had some eye candy, drank some frothy beverages, ate some delish bites, played a bit of poker, and YES, sang some karoake (I'm so sorry to all those in the room...I just can't help myself with the microphone...it's a disease).  So, once again, TIME took some more sleep away from me.  But, let me tell you, it was Totally worth it!!  It feels so great to be in a room full of women who go through the ins and outs of rearing kids and hubbies (yes, I just said rearing).  It's just a great feeling to be able to talk and laugh and just have a totally RAD time (yeah, I know you like the word RAD...).

Worked Sunday followed by some grocery shopping.  Now, here's where I get a little pissed at hubby.  You see, I had been gone pretty much all weekend... get home after 7pm on Sunday to a messy playroom, messy living room, sink full of dishes, no laundry even thought about and no, he Honey- can I help you out while you make US dinner??  Yup...just a little pissed that night.  And, in his little brain, he thought he didn't do anything wrong.  But, the next day, he did realize he did something...just didn't know what it was... and stopped for a bottle of wine for me... (yes, I'm all about wine... screw the flowers and chocolates...just bring the wine..)

Fast forward to now... too many other things... I fear I might put you all to sleep.  Here's to you all kicking Time's ass more often then ( I know this is prob. the wrong then/than...I can never get it right so I apologive to the person this pisses off...sorry) she kicks yours!!

Have a great night and here are a few more pics as a parting gift for making it to the end of this entry!!

Frothy Beverage

Poker Baby...

Green Eggs and Ham...

Kyra at her Girl Scout World Thinking Day...

Yes, I am a Girl Scout and Proud of it!!!