Hmmmmm...

So many potential titles for this post...

The time I spent over an hour just vacuuming out the inside of my car because my kids don't know how to pick up their stuff.

or I could go with

Just when I thought my suffering was over and moved onto phase 2, washing the outside, the car yet again would not start.

or maybe

7 months pregnant walking around a car wash begging people to "give me a jump."

or even

Now I have to go back later to wash the outside and I feel like I totally wasted my afternoon.

Good times, good times.

Catch Up

While grocery shopping tonight, I finally picked up a memory card reader. Now I can start to catch up on pictures!
Chiggie's project at her school after judging.
Here she was at home putting the shells into the different drinks.

Posing with her experiment.

She had to mark all the containers and fill them up on her own.

Meanwhile Midge worked on a project of her own.

A Long Day

Chiggie experienced two losses today. Two losses of a very different kind. One I anticipated and one that caught us both by surprise. As I was helping her get ready for school she made the casual comment that she hadn't heard Nosy (the hamster) last night. Neither of us thought much of it and she headed off to school.

When she got home from school I had to break the bad news. She hadn't heard Nosy for a reason. Nosy died. She was/is DEVASTATED. I was even taken slightly off guard by the severity of her reaction. It broke my heart to see her so upset. The little girls don't have much of an understanding, but Chiggie knows that death is forever. We comforted her the best we could and by the end of the night she even ate a little.

The second loss was more exciting and probably helped take the focus off the first. She lost another tooth. Her permanent teeth are coming in perfect too. Very exciting. She put the tooth under her pillow and I'm hoping it will give her something else to focus on tonight. 2 milestones, one good one bad, all in one day. She's growing up too fast.

Lazy Sunday

At this point you're probably wondering why no pictures lately. The lazy truth is I don't have my memory card reader anymore and now I have to use the camera and a usb cord. This is no big deal, I just need to take the time to find the right usb cord. Meanwhile lots of pictures just sit on my camera ready to be viewed. Oh well, it will make for some excitement later.

Today has been about the same as yesterday. I blogged about my stomach woes over on my pregnancy blog, just in case you missed out. I really don't feel that much better and now to top it off my back is killing me. The girls on the other hand seem to be doing great. As a matter of fact they are enjoying a bowl of ice cream at the bar as I type. The King is , of course, watching football.

The 3 older girls and the King all went to church this morning while Boo and I stayed home. We really needed the extra day of rest. She ended up watching cartoons and sleeping the whole time they were gone which meant I got to just rest too. When they got home I had lunch ready and we all ate together. It was the first solid food I'd had since Friday. I'm disappointed that the weekend didn't turn out quite how I would've liked, but it wasn't too terrible either.

And the Winner Is........

Technically this post could also be titled "Ugh, No Part III"

It was a nervous morning around here today. Chiggie got up extra early and dressed even nicer than usual. We had already practiced one last time last night, so this morning the focus was on fun. She really wanted to eat breakfast at school, they were having pizza, and she never has so I let her just as something special to do.

I was so excited when it was time to pick her up. I had no idea how she'd done, but I knew she would just be relieved that she made it through the day. We walked in to the fair and waited for her. We didn't have to wait long and here she came with a great big smile on her face. She led us right to her project and showed us her 1st place ribbon. We were all so excited! She gets to go on and compete in the district fair next month. Go Chiggie!

My little sister Camie also gets a chance to compete at the district fair. She took 2nd in the 4-5th grade division with a physics project. I think it's safe to say we're dealing with a couple of geniuses here. Not that I'm biased or anything :)

The bad news? I was absolutely horrified, when after 24 hrs of no signs of sickness, Boo managed to projectile vomit AT THE SCIENCE FAIR. Yes we are officially the family no one will forget. That's good right?

Toast and Sprite

Those are my words of the day. That''s pretty much all I'm allowing anyone to eat, including those of us that are still healthy. Midge's night wasn't too bad at all. She seemed uncomfortable at points, but for the most part we both slept. I don't think I can handle another night on the couch though. Today has been decent as well. Boo and Midge are low on energy, but that's honestly that's fine with me. I'm doing laundry and lots of it. It's amazing how things pile up during illnesses.

This afternoon they picked The Bee Movie, which I love btw, and we're all just gonna lounge. The healthy girls will go to youth group tonight and I plan to clean up while they're gone and the little ones are resting. Remember to be thinking of Chiggie, tomorrow is her big day!

Ugh, No! Part II

Today was not a good day. It wasn't a particularly awful day. Just a, didn't sleep at all last night, baby's still puking, kind of day. By evening things had settled down. Thankfully Boo slept through dinner and had no further incidents. Everyone was in bed and I was headed there myself when Tea came downstairs very distraught and crying that Midge had thrown up in their bed. They actually have bunk beds, but they have been sleeping together on the bottom bunk. This is usually adorable, tonight not so much. Tea was not amused. We got them both cleaned up, the sheets thrown in the wash, and Tea tucked safely in on the top bunk. Midge will be staying down in the family room where I can be on "bucket duty." The King is sleeping in our bed with Boo just in case she has any night time incidents.

We took Chiggie's project to the school today, so I am hoping if she ends up getting sick arrangements can be made. They can see the experiment and research was done on time. I'm still hoping that won't happen, but you never know. She also has an award ceremony on Friday and there was a note in her folder letting us know that she's receiving a special award, so I don't want to miss that either.

Tonight, my spirits aren't too bad. This is life. It could be worse and sometimes it even is. This too shall pass right?

Ugh, No!

18 days. We made it 18 days. 18 days into 2010, before our first stomach bug hit. Boo is officially down and out. Luckily we had lasagna for dinner, oy. It doesn't get much worse that that. Poor thing has been sick all evening and night. I feel horrible for her. I'm also worried that it will spread like wild fire. I know it's never wise to borrow trouble, but I do worry. What if Chiggie gets sick and can't make the science fair? For now I just need to take care of Boo and hope for the best. For the first time in weeks I'm just so glad the baby is safe and sound inside so I'm not freaking out that he might get sick. Pray this is a 24 hour thing!

Ooops

I was shocked to look this morning to see that I haven't updated the blog in a week. How completely unlike me. I guess I've just been doing other things. Nothing too major is going on, but here's a brief rundown of what we've been up to:

Chiggie is doing the science fair at her school. This is exciting, but it has been a lot of work. The expectations are high and the requirements are pretty strict. Her project is in the health category. She chose to do an experiment on how different drinks affect our teeth. To represent teeth she used rinsed out egg shells because they are made of calcium and a close tooth substitute. Like I said, it was very time consuming and a lot of work, but she's proud of the end result and does her presentation this week. Wish her luck!

Boo is doing fantastic upstairs. It was a little rough at first. She would stay up there until the other girls fell asleep and then come down whining and saying she wanted to stay with us. I'm glad we were patient and followed her timing because as of this weekend that stopped and she is up there all night long. It was amazing to go and tuck all 3 of them in fast asleep in the same room. I'm glad we have some time before the baby comes to really cement this new routine.

Tea is really starting to try to read and can write very well. She is constantly copying things onto paper. She recognizes all of her numbers up to 20+. She is definitely making the transition into an older child. She enjoys going to youth group and being in Sunday School. Her maturity has increased and I know she'll do great in school next year. She goes to Kindergarten round-up next month and she's very excited for that.

Midge is just sweet. She has a patience about her that is beyond her years. She loves to play dolls and spends a lot of time playing with Boo. She is very excited for the new baby to come. I may have some trouble explaining to her that he's not a toy. I had to cut her bangs today and I was shocked at how long her hair has grown. Combed straight it is down the middle of her back, but it curls up. She's a lucky girl.

The King has worked everyday for the last 20+days. Not having him home on the weekends is awful. I'm so busy trying to keep the girls from being upset about it that I don't really get the chance to be disappointed myself. He's tired, but he's motivated. This particular job is closing out soon and not knowing where he's going next is stressful. For now we're just thankful to be eating dinner together every night. I try not to think about it, but sometimes my mind wanders. I can't really imagine caring for 4 kids and a newborn on my own. I know it will work out no matter what though.

I am trying to keep the pregnancy updated over on my other blog. Nothing new though. I hope everyone else is having a good start to the year!

A Bit of This and That

Today was a good start to the week. First off the high was actually above freezing yay! This is a picture from last week and as you can see Chiggie had to bundle up before school. Today she got to go in just a coat. To top it off, they played on the trampoline and swingset for almost two hours after school. Nice. In other news, Boo finally made the move upstairs. She has yet to make it through a full night, but she gets an A for effort. I have to admit I miss her in my room. She still seems like such a baby to me. I'm sure I've gained perspective watching the other girls grow. It's so fun and hard at the same time.

Choices

I have not been very productive this week. Yeah, I know I'm pregnant and all, but still it looks rough around here. Last night I spent a great deal of time, as I lay in bed, just thinking about the choices we make. Even though it isn't always fun I need to make more of an effort. So, on that note today I will try, emphasis on the word try to:

• organize the little girls room and move Boo's tiny little bed up there
• wash all of the kids bedding
• put all of the laundry AWAY
• cook dinner
• clean up after said dinner

I think this is enough for today. If today goes well we'll shoot for more tomorrow.

More Changes

After a lot of thought I have reluctantly decided to make my blog private. For me this is a hassle and not a road I wanted to take. I really feel it's best for the kids though. If you're a reader send me an e-mail or a quick note on FB and I'll put you on my list.

Book Worm

Lately this little girl cannot be read to quite enough. One of her favorites is of course Brown Bear, Brown Bear. She spends a lot of her time on this chair right next to the bookshelf where she has easy access to all of her favorites.

Highlights

Today was a strange day. I don't usually transition well, so having the vacation over and moving right back into the "normal" was a little difficult. Chiggie did amazingly well and was up and ready for school with 20 minutes to spare and a smile. I am incredibly proud of her and how far she has come. I had originally planned to do my housework today, but had a crummy night last night. The dog was up 5 times in the night with no obvious reason. Once to potty. Again for a sip of water. Then I think he was just having fun watching me roll out of bed. On top of that my stomach was upset. The combination made for very little sleep on my part.

The little girls decided to have mercy on me. Usually they are go, go, go, all morning long. This morning after they'd been bathed and were dressed I gave them a snack and we got out some blankets. I put in the movie Bolt, which is a favorite, and they watched the whole thing without budging. All 3 of them. Literally a whole 1 1/2 of silence. It was amazing and just what I needed. I rewarded them by agreeing to walk to pick Chiggie up from school. They ran the whole way stopping only at the intersections. We left a little early so they got to play on the playgroud until the bell rang.

So the day didn't really go as planned, but it didn't go poorly by any means. I caught up on some rest and the girls had fun. They got to play outside, which this time of year is never a guarantee. Now they're playing Wii fit plus while I catch up on my blogs and stuff. Not too bad.

Tuckered Out

Sad for me this picture was taken just a little while ago, meaning it's going to be a late one. This seems to be an ongoing problem around here. Kids falling asleep too late and then staying up too late. They have to get up earlier tomorrow, but I'm not convinced that will help. It doesn't seem to matter what time they get up, it's the late naps that are messing things up. Keeping them up isn't an option either. We've tried and it's nearly impossible. This too shall pass I suppose.

Another Loss

Tea finally lost her second tooth. I say finally because once again the permanent tooth is already almost all the way up. She was thrilled and sat very still while I plucked it out. Don't worry it was super loose. The dollar she earned from the Tooth Fairy is burning a whole in her pocket again. This time I'm making her hold on to it for at least a day or so. She was hilarious when she flipped on the lights in my room and said she was just sure the Tooth Fairy "wasn't even gonna show up." I told her she had to be asleep first and that did the trick.Boo couldn't resist the opportunity to show her pearly whites. She has asked me several times today to pull one out. Apparently she'd like to go shopping as well.Speaking of shopping, that's what the girls and I did today. The King had to work so we went and did the grocery shopping. It feels good to have a house full of food again. After we got home I made a pot of chili and some cinnamon rolls. The King only had to work until 4 and when he got home the house smelled delicious. That makes up for the laundry and clutter on the floor right? One day at a time, one day at a time.....

Happy New Year

We all made it until midnight. I was so surprised that no one even struggled to stay awake. Lucky for us everyone slept in late too. When I woke up I took a look around and the family room/dining room, kitchen area, looked like the morning scene on the movie The Hangover. Sheesh, who knew pizza, wings, and soda could cloud ones judgement. I'd like to say I quickly sprung in to action and it's all back to normal now, but not so much. Instead I've walked from room to room like a zombie stopping only to snack and lay on beds and couches. 3 am bedtimes just aren't for me.

The girls have actually been pretty active. They've been coloring and playing some more games. I think they're pretty proud they made it last night. We took them outside at midnight and they liked hearing the firecrackers and people yelling "Happy New Year." I'm sure they'll remember it and want to do the same next year. I have many plans for this next year. First things first though, go to bed early tonight!