Do You Have to Drink Mari*juana?

Tonight, Hubby was sipping on a rare Corona. Rare as in this is the first time in I can't tell you how long that he has bought beer and brought it home. The kids were watching a movie and didn't notice he had one in his hand. After the movie ended, Bryce stood up, looked at the bottle and says, "Dad, Do you have to drink mari*juana?" No words could follow such a question. A lesson in the do's and don'ts of drugs are in order. (Sorry about the astericks, just trying to avoid search engines on certain topics.)

Have You Ever..

Heard a noise in the middle of the night and no matter how many times you hit the machine making the noise thinking it's the alarm clock, you can't figure out why the darn thing won't stop beeping? Then, you wake up enough to realize the weather radio is going off and it takes a little more effort than hitting it to stop the beeping? No? Me, either. That totally never happened.

Blessed?

I knew there had to be a reason we mothers were blessed with a baby bump well after the babies arrived (keep in mind my youngest will be 8 in Sept.)

Think I could blame it on him now?

My Little Gardener and a Mouse

Brady came inside from playing today to show me the flower he picked. He was so proud of this flower because it still had the roots attached! So we needed to put it somewhere and fast because it could die. So I patiently told him that it was a very pretty purple flower, that I loved him for picking it, but it was a pretty purple weed that didn't need to be replanted. I told him that he could put it in the cup on the table with water in it. I assumed he did just that and went on about my way of cooking supper. A few minutes later, he came back inside and could barely contain his excitement. "Mom, come look!"

"Look at what, Brady?"

"Come look at what I did!"

So I followed him out beside the carport where I found this:

"I planted it in this potting soil so that it could grow!" Wonderful. Just what I need, more weeds. So I told him what a good job he did after he let me know that he even watered it.

I had to run a few errands today which included reading with a student, lunch with Mom and picking up a few things from Wal-Mart. Belle is going on a field trip tomorrow and I needed to pick up a few things for her lunch that I've got to pack for her. While I was there, I picked up a mouse toy for Zeus. Now I hate mice with a passion. I won't touch one, have one, mess with one, but I will scream at one. This mouse looks like a real grey mouse, not considering the pink tail and ears, and even squeaks like one. It was a big hit:

(Ignore the carpet, I'm looking for some I like so it really needs a good cleaning.) If you notice the top right corner of the top right picture, you will see a nice big masking tape "X" on the floor. That is the spot where the kids must stand when batting on the Wii. There is another "X" to match a few feet away to prevent the pitcher from being hit by the batter and to prevent the batter from breaking out my two front windows. I tried putting the kids in certain places but they kept getting closer to each other and my windows until I finally marked them a set spot. They're usually pretty good about returning to it. Here are a few pictures from a "family Wii night" we had a few nights back (Hubby was still in his truck):

I believe Bryce took that very flattering picture of me. They had just gotten out of the shower so Belle's hair had naturally dripped all over her sweatshirt.

This week has been a long, difficult week (principal's office should be enough to demonstrate just a fraction of this long week). Belle has to be at school at 6:45am tomorrow to leave on her trip and she will not be back until 7pm. Looks like an early bedtime for us tomorrow is in order.

Recommendations

I am intrigued with blogs. I love to read them. It interests me to write them. I have considered having a notebook handy to write things down so that I can remember what it was I wanted to blog about earlier when I couldn't get to my computer. Maybe then I would have more interesting things to blog about. I feel the longer I do this the more disappointed I get. I have a few regular visitors, only a couple of which comment. So I'm at a loss. What do I need to change here? Any ideas?

Nine More Years...

Easter began in this household at 7am, with Brady coming into the bedroom all excited and ready to hunt eggs. Hubby and I decided last night about midnight that it would be in our best interest to hide eggs inside this year, as there was a small chance of rain (that we didn't get). It also meant that we could hide them at 1 am after our movie ended, not having to worry about getting up at 5 before the kids got up to hide them, hope neighborhood dogs don't find them and try to go back to sleep. We got up a few minutes later and they hunted their eggs, a total of 15 for each of them hid. That's 45 eggs hid in two rooms. Not a small feat.

Not long after these pictures were taken, and the last egg found, we had breakfast so that we could get started on our day. Hubby went after a Sunday paper, a ritual for us, that we read while the kids danced on their Dance Revolution Dance Pad the Easter Bunny brought them. We stopped and picked up chicken for lunch and had lunch at my parent's home. The kids played hard, I attempted to fix Mom's mp3 player and watched a movie. Then the fun times started.

Before we could leave my parent's home, Hubby got sick. I drove the trip home, with him clinging to his keys so that he could make a mad dash to the bathroom before the car was in park (he felt better a short time later). The kids played video games, played games outside and made their own submarine sandwiches for supper before getting ready for their showers. Brady had gone to my room to get my backpack from last year because his had a nice hole in the bottom and I really didn't want something important falling out. I didn't want to have to buy a replacement with less than 9 week left in the school year either. On his way out the door he hit his ankle on the door frame, knocking a layer of skin back pretty good and required fixing (according to him, he couldn't walk on it). Hubby took care of that, cleaning it up and bandaging it for him. No problem.

Belle was the last one to take a shower tonight, and for some unknown reason she decided that she needed to use a barbie comb on her hair while she was still in the shower. I found that out when Brady came into the living and said "Mom, Dad said a bad word because he cut his finger trying to get stuff out of Belle's hair." Oooookkkkkk. I feared she had gum or clay in her hair. So I got up to find Hubby standing in front of the tub, Belle still in the tub wrapped in a towel, and Hubby with a wad of her hair in his hand trying to cut the comb out of it without actually cutting her hair. After asking him to show me his thumb, he directed me to a string of toilet paper on the sink, covered in blood. So I finally stopped him long enough to show me the thumb, sent him to fix it and I took over trying to get the comb out of her hair. Thirty minutes later, I had all but two teeth and the handle of the comb out of her hair, but that little bit proved to be the main problem. Hubby finally worked it far enough down her hair that we didn't have to cut a lot to get it out, but did have to cut some of it out. He has a nice cut on his thumb, one that took New Skin and a couple of tight band-aids to fix. Belle is not going to need a new hair cut to hide the damage she did. The cut hair blended in with her normal length and it was noticeable only if you were looking for something. I mean really looking. We almost didn't find it ourselves. As she went to brush finish getting ready for bed I whispered to Hubby, "Please let it be over."

"We've got nine more years."

"I was referring to the day, dear. This day better not last nine more years. Bryce and I are the only two who haven't had something happen to us."

Then I knocked on wood. Hubby said, "You'd better do something or we'll hear a thud when Bryce falls out of his bed trying to climb down (out of the top bunk)." We haven't had a thud yet. Knock on wood.

Dying of the Eggs

A yearly ritual in this household since they were old enough to do it and not make a huge mess.

This and That

It has been a very long week here. I spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday cleaning up the boys bedroom. No, I didn't work straight through. I actually did very little on Sunday and had a little to do on Monday. I worked on Belle's room yesterday and finished it up before bedtime last night. But this was not just a run down cleaning. This was a deep, much needed cleaning. I washed blankets, sheets, pillows, stuffed animals, cleaned out toy boxes and pulled out clothes that needed to go. I have toys and clothes ready to go to Goodwill and what didn't make the cut is in the trash. I think I pulled over 4 bags of trash from both rooms. Last night and today I made my way through a mountain of laundry that was piled up on the love seat, patiently waiting for me to fold it and put it away. Most of it is now finished and I hope to have it all folded by the time I crash tonight.

And why is it that there are some companies where things just never go right? That there is always a reason that you have to call to straighten something out? That would be our health insurance company. I've received a bill from a hospital lab on tests that were run on Bryce in December. Insurance was not mentioned anywhere on this bill so I just knew that it was denied. I took the time to get on our providers website and couldn't find Bryce's name anywhere on the list of people. When I talked to Hubby later on that evening, I asked him about it and he confirmed that we had previously had troubles with this but they assured him that he was listed. So today I started calling. Nice lady at the hospital informs me that insurance denied the claim, stating that he was seen prior to coverage. Coverage we've had for two years now. Ahem. So I called the insurance company and surprise!! they have no record of him listed on our plan. Two years and no record. After we filled out forms multiple times, made many, many phone calls and even sent in a verification of people in the household under our plan and they have no record. So I asked them, do you still have copies of the statements from the doctor's office and hospital or am I going to have to call them and ask them to resubmit. Her response was resubmit. Of course. It would make too much sense to look and see that they have obviously filled prescriptions for the boy and notice that he has the same name as Hubby but not so much as call and say this came through and we have no listing of him, call your employer. So now Hubby has to call his home office and talk to someone who deals with insurance (who is, of course, off until Monday) so that we can have the information submitted again. This I will never understand.

On a better note, I did get to enjoy some quality time this week with the kids. Brady has had three different assignments this week, all along the same line, where he is given a long list of words and he must write a small paragraph using some of those words. We have had fun making up silly stories (such as the crocodile whose tail got bit by a squirrel today). Bryce has a violin concert coming up next month where he is playing a duet. The piece they decided to play is The Can-Can, only eight bars long but has eighth notes in it (a big deal to a first year). So today, he pulled out his book and attempted to run the notes and was disappointed that they didn't come as easily as he had hoped. He was excited when I pulled out my flute, ran through it for him to give him an idea of how the song is supposed to sound, and then ran through it with him a few times to help him get used to the eighth notes. I could tell a big difference when we finished, and he believes in himself a little more now. Belle and I played around a bit this afternoon with the Wii (boys are grounded) so we definitely had a bit of fun with that.

Tomorrow is Good Friday and was supposed to be a scheduled day off in the local schools here. Unfortunately because of snow, they will be in session instead. The faculty at the kids school decided to make it a fun day and have set up a beach day. They are to bring beach towels, wear shorts and bright shirts. Now the only problem I have with this that it's March. It's supposed to be almost 70 tomorrow but still too cool for shorts. How am I to compete with a school that says "wear shorts!!!!!" when ordinarily I would put them in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and send them to school in a jacket. They coulda found something a little warmer...

Irony

I have been patient. That for me is very tough because patience is not a part of my being. Ask my kids (I'm working on it). So the last 4 months of the writer's strike has been tough because I live for the fall tv lineup. I'm almost giddy with excitement the week they start airing the new shows. Tonight they aired new shows on CBS (shows I don't watch but that's beside the point). New shows as in never seen before. No quickly thrown together reality show to fill a spot but a bona fide sitcom. And my tv stopped working. Or actually my antennae did. While we have a satellite dish, it isn't actually turned on. We have access to cable but if I'm going to pay that much money for cable, I'd turn my satellite back on. So we have broadcast channels. And tonight they're not broadcasting. Chances are the coaxial cable has come away from the actual antennae attached to the side of my house and unfortunately, it cannot be fixed until Hubby comes home this weekend. I miss my satellite.

Blackmail

I'll show this to his wife one day. Belle did this to him, with his encouragement.

Aching

I've mentioned before my longing for another child and how a few of the girls I went to school with are now pregnant. When I wrote my piece, I knew of three different friends who were at various stages of their pregnancies. My heart is now breaking for one of those friends who lost her baby just a few weeks ago. I ache for her. And I ache for me a little as well. It has brought up feelings I had hoped I had buried. Questions I had hoped that I wouldn't ask myself again. One day, I hope that I can accept that it wasn't supposed to be, was never going to be and that it's just one more trial in my lifetime. One day...

Bow Down to Mom

The last few days have definitely been busy days. Friday, much to the kids disappointment, the first round of snow failed to appear and they had to attend school. The snow started around two pm and was full force not long after they returned home at 2:45. Before they got home, I finished my blanket that I had been crocheting.
I also mentioned in my previous post that I was crazy enough to allow all three kids to each have one friend over Friday night to stay with them. All six kids were excited about the sleepover and the snow. To say they were wired is an understatement. When they went to bed Friday night, they had already been out to play in the snow and it was still coming down good. By the time they woke Saturday morning, the snow had moved on, leaving sunny skies and 3 inches of snow on the ground here. I didn't get any pictures of the kids playing in the snow, partly because the sun just killed my eyes and secondly because I didn't want to upset any parents by posting pictures of their kids on my blog. Brady's friend left around 9:30 Saturday morning, leaving him to play with Bryce and his buddy. To entertain themselves, Brady grabbed my camera to take pictures. He figured out that the noise of the camera and the flash irritates Sophie to the point of barking furiously at him, much to their content. In all of the photos that I uploaded today, I found a few self-portraits that he had taken. Belle's friend left at 1:30 as I rounded the kids up to drop off Bryce's friend and pick hubby up at his truck. After returning home to finish a few things around the house, we headed to the next town for dinner and a bit of shopping. We make a couple of stops around town and we found that a few of the stores were quietly anticipating a highly coveted Wii in the over night delivery, ready for sale this morning! Mom had attempted to get us a Wii for Christmas, but by the time she considered it, everyone was sold out. We have been trying to find one ever since but our attempts kept coming up empty. Our desire for one became very strong after "bowling" with my sister-in-law and her hubby last weekend on our trip to Indiana.


That is, until this weekend.


That's right. After a call to Kmart this morning, just before opening time and finding out that they, too, received 30 Wii's for sale this morning, Hubby set out in rapid mode to get there upon opening. He was third in line when the doors opened to get his reward. Not only did he get the Wii, he also got Guitar Hero III for it. Now because hubby's step-dad came by for a visit today, the kids time was some what limited with the Wii so I haven't gotten to take pictures of the kids with it (and believe me, they are coming) but I did get one of Hubby.
Now Hubby and I are very, very competitive in a lot of the things we do. Playing HORSE instead of one-on-one, bowling, Rummy (which he does not play often with me because I almost always win), and now this. Tonight, just before putting the kids to bed, Hubby and I were playing GH. We were each taking turns playing the same songs on the same levels trying to best the other. Brady was ecstatic when I receive at 97% on the song that I had just finished and took a bow for Hubby to help rile him. Just before leaving the room, Brady hollers "bow down to Mom" just before taking a bow and racing down the hall to his room. And it starts. I think this competition is going to be going on for some time to come.

Outnumbered

I don't know what I was thinking or what I was on when the questions started. Brady started out by asking a friend to stay the night. His parents gave the ok. Then Belle asked if the neighbors daughter could spend the night. Her parents gave the ok. Finally Bryce asked if his buddy could spend the night and it was given a thumbs up by his dad. I am outnumbered in this house by six kids to my one adult person. Hubby will not be home at least until one person has gone home. To top it all off, we are under a winter storm warning, with at least two inches of snow on the ground it's still coming down. Forecasts are for 3-5 inches by morning. If I haven't come up for air by morning, send out reinforcements!

Signs of Spring

One night last week or so I walked outside to adjust my t.v. antenna and when I came back around the front of the house I noticed my crocus' were coming up through the gravel in my flower bed. When we first moved into this house, I hated them, wanted to dig them up and get rid of them. After three springs in this house, I have come to love seeing them come up. They are usually the first sign, around my house that is, that spring is coming, popping through the ground as early as February even with snow or ice on the ground. Today the kids came in off the bus excited that the trees were budding out.
These are pictures of the crocus' and I believe the one on the bottom actually has a bloom inside of it, preparing to open. The "tree" on the top is actually a weeping willow that we've had from a sprout for the last two years. The tree on bottom is the one in my front yard that I have actually forgotten what it is exactly and can't tell without leaves. I just hope the snow we are scheduled to get either passes us by or doesn't nip the buds.

As Promised

Ok keep in mind that I am NOT a hairstylist in any form of the word. I really wish I had my camera to capture the style she had finished with on Saturday because I am not getting my abilities to mock it even closely.

Now the sides are actually supposed to curl out and they didn't want to do that today so I gave up and curl them under. I have blond highlights of course but I'm really excited about the layer of dark red that she gave me underneath. I can pull my hair up into a ponytail and have a nice dark red on bottom and streaks of blond across the top. I hope to master the style soon and post a picture of what it is actually supposed to look like.

(For those of y'all who have found their way here via Hubby's myspace page and don't want to look for the story he mentioned, you can find it here.)

Home Again

It has been a very long weekend. Hubby returned home yesterday morning, changed the oil in the van and around lunch time we left for Indiana. I drove most of the trip up since Hubby had been up all night Friday night and didn't sleep any before we left on Saturday. I drove most of the trip home as well since he didn't get as much sleep as he should've last night. Now that being said, I did not drive in any city whatsoever. I stopped on the Kentucky side of the Ohio river and handed the keys over to Hubby for him to make the trip into Evansville. I was not about to take a trip into the city and run the risk of having to find his sister if she was not at her home, which is a straight shot and a route I can make (no freeway!!!). I got the keys back in the same town on this side of the Ohio river to make the trip home.

The kids had a blast with their cousins, were up until well after midnight and up at daybreak this morning. Between Hubby's oldest sister and my kids, there were two 10-year old boys, a 9 year girl, 7 year boy, 5 year boy, 4 year girl, and almost 2 year boy. They played with their other three cousins this afternoon ages 13 (boy), 8 and 6 (girls). Needless to say, they have completely and totally crashed from total exhaustion. Brady didn't even make it waiting on Bryce to come to bed after his shower, like he usually does. He was totally zonked when I put Bryce to bed and I haven't seen any of them since I put them to bed over two hours ago! A big accomplishment at bedtime here!

Brady has had his hair trimmed, since he is determined to let it grow. It now looks like it belongs on a little boy and not like a woolly-booger. I also got the make over that I have been craving. It involved scissors, layers, and two different hair colors. Pictures will follow, as soon as I get them taken. We didn't take our camera with us on the trip, I didn't dry my hair this morning and it is currently pulled up in an unflattering ponytail (unflattering i.e. lumpy, quick, out of the way ponytail). If I can get it to work the way I want it to tomorrow, I will have pictures taken/take pictures for my next blog. If not, it will require a brush that I don't currently possess and will be taking a trip to Wallie World to find one. In that case, I hope to have pictures up by Tuesday or Wednesday. I will say I was excited to see it and pleased with what she did for me.

I'm now off to bed. My fourth load of laundry since I've been home is heading for the washer and after just a few hours of sleep I'm ready to crash myself. I can only hope to get in enough before getting up to put the kids on the bus and take Hubby to his truck.