Cranky

Days like today are usually the ones that I choose not to blog about. Who wants to remember the long, painful days, when complaining and whining were chosen time and time again over compliance and obedience? Not me that's for sure. Really it started last night when Midge woke in the night to use the bathroom and get a drink and woke practically the entire house, if not neighborhood, with her whiny antics. I tried to reason with her, but there really is no reasoning with a half sleeping, cranky, 3 year old. Once she was back in her bed sleeping I figured we were through.

I was surprised when she woke this morning with an equally sour mood. Lucky for me, Boo is in the copy cat phase and chose to emulate her every move. This resulted in all things cranky x2. There are no fevers, sudden weather changes, or any other random excuse. They're just plain cranky today and frankly now so am I. Tonight I have a Bible study to go to and we'll see if the King can't get them sorted out.

Midge

I don't know if it's the weather, something she ate, a combination of both, or none of the above, but Midge is having another bad eczema break out. The last few days have been a flurry of oatmeal baths, ointment, and creams. MUCH to her disapproval. I feel so bad for her. To be so little and have to deal with skin problems. Her lower extremities take the brunt of it with her feet getting the worst of it this time. Hopefully we'll get it back under control shortly and this won't be a problem she has to deal with all winter long. I must clarify though, she already dealt with it most of the summer. There was a short reprieval in the late summer but that's about it.

Busy Morning

I can't believe it's only 10:45. We had quite a busy morning around here. I got Chiggie to school around 8 and then rushed home to get the rest of us ready. By some miracle, we were all able to shower/bathe and be out the door again by 8:50. Last night I was invited to try out a local MOPS group and I thought I'd stay open minded and give it a try. I wasn't sure exactly where the host church was so I was a little nervous having 10 minutes to find it. Again, by some stroke of luck we were in the parking lot by 8:55. The only ones in the parking lot. Uh oh. I was positive it was the right location too. So we waited. Soon the ladies I know from our church showed up and we realized it was the wrong Tuesday. Oh well it was good practice for next Tuesday.

We ended up making the best of the morning and hitting McDonald's with the ladies I knew and their little ones as well. The girls loved playing in the play place and at least it got them out. Now I have to get caught up on some housework and get stuff ready for soccer practice tonight. I already have dinner in the crock pot so I can scratch that off my to-do list. We'll just have to see what surprises the rest of the day holds.

Sunday

Today has been what I would call pretty close to "perfect." Nobody had trouble getting up this morning. Breakfast, showers, and getting ready for church went smoothly. We even got to church early. I taught children's church, which I am loving by the way, and the girls always like that too. Church ran over a bit so Sunday school was cancelled. It was nice because we got home earlier than usual. I ran to the store to pick up a prescription and a few snacks for the football game today while the King stayed behind and got some lunch started. We ate a special lunch today being the Broncos are playing the Raiders. The girls loved it and declared it an official party.

Now we're just relaxing and waiting for the game to start. I would be thrilled with a nap, but I'll survive either way. Boo and Midge could use one too, so we'll see. I leave you with a few random pictures from the week. I hope everyone is having a good weekend.

The King is addicted to this game on Webkinz. He says he is just trying to "earn the girls lots of money." Sure you are honey, sure you are.Our whole family loves to play Game Party on the Wii. Tea finally mastered ski ball and is lovin' it.The little girls have to have their chairs for soccer. I think they like watching as much as the older girls like playing.

We Survived

We made it through the night, quite well actually, and even made it to soccer with time to spare. Here's Tea warming up. She was a little tired today, but still had a great time.

This my friends, is why 5 year olds never really make good goalies!

Even when she's in the back field, Chiggie does a great job of staying attentive.

Yet Another First

Tonight Chiggie is having her first sleepover. She invited a friend she's had since last year and it's gone really well. I picked them up from school and we went swimming at the gym for a few hours. Then we came home and ate pizza and root beer floats. They played Wii and some games on the computer. They are both going strong and we have to be up at 7 for early morning soccer games. This could be interesting.

Brrrr Part 2

This recent influx of COLD weather has got me missin' this. A lot.

Brrrrr

It is absolutely freezing cold outside. Up until this evening I was in complete denial about this sudden weather change. This could have something to do with the fact that I spent a small fortune on back to school clothes for Chiggie and didn't buy her any pants, but I don't know for sure. It hit me tonight though. The sky was gray, freezing rain fell, and there was a slight breeze in the air. I know this for sure because we were all standing outside. Not all of us were just standing there. Chiggie and Tea were having their soccer pictures taken. Brrrrrrrrrr. The little girls were in shorts, oops, but thankfully I had brought some blankets to sit on and ended up wrapping them up in them. I hope we get more fall type weather and don't move straight on to winter.

On the way home Tea was so funny. I think the weather was making her think of Christmas and she started telling me about things she planned to ask Santa for. It turns out her first choice this year is a motorcycle. If that doesn't pan out she plans to ask for an i-pod. At least I have a bit of time to bring her back down to reality. Whatever happened to Easy Bake Ovens and Dolls that use the potty?

Long Day

Today was just one of those days. Nothing awful happened per se, just long and tedious I suppose. It started off all wrong to begin with. I woke up at 4am to one of the girls' toy dogs barking the b-i-n-g-o song over and over. At first I thought I was dreaming, but the more I heard the more I believed. I have no idea how this particular toy ended up in MY room, and I have no idea what activated it. I brought it out into the family room and shoved it in the bench seat. I never really fell back asleep.



See, the fake dog woke the real dog. So, I let him out. While I waited for him, by the way, I could still hear the toy dog barking in the bench seat. This toy has no off button and you need one of those tiny screw drivers to remove the battery, very creepy. Eventually the real dog came back in and I went back to bed for a bit and just rested. I was kind of irritable the rest of the day with no real justifiable reason. I took a 2 hour nap with the baby in the afternoon and woke up with a raging headache. This was amplified by the girls practicing their beauty school skills on my hair. Note to self: cut hair. Cut hair short.



Now I'm ready for bed and it's not even 9pm. It kind of feels like a waste of a Sunday. In other news, I read this article today and didn't know whether to laugh or what. I mean if you are labeled an "insane killer" do you not lose field trip priveledges? Seriously I cannot even begin to imagine the dispatch on that. "Officers be on the look out for so and so, an insane killer, from the mental institution. Last seen in line at the tilt 'o' whirl eating cotton candy. Staff lost sight of him somewhere in between the pony ride and cow milking." Common sense here people. Insane killers probably ought to stay behind on trips like these.

More Soccer

Nobody's gettin' through her!

Tea trots down the field after scoring her 4th goal! Waving adoringly at her many small fans.

Chiggie takes the position of full back very seriously.

Choices

Today was a busy day. Who am I kidding, it's been a busy week. Our evenings have been insane. A mad rush to get everybody fed and in bed on time all week long. Add to the mix a couple of sick kids at the beginning of the week and I'll admit it's been a little stressful. Eating dinner together is very important to me. The girls are young and I know the importance of habits. If we value this time they will value this time.

This evening I was supposed to go to a meeting at Chiggie's school. I'd planned on it all week. It was just one of those, let's get people involved type of meetings, but I was going to go. I started dinner early so that I could leave as soon as the King got home and eat later by myself when I got home. As the evening wore on I had a change of heart. You really cannot do EVERYTHING. I chose to stay home. to eat with my husband and girls. To enjoy the moment. No rushing and pleading with kids to hurry. Just talking. I made the right choice.

Cop Out

I thought these cute pics of our budding rock star would buy me a little time. I hope to have a real post up soon.

Still Going

I'm still here, just not sure how much everyone wants to hear about vomit. It's probably not something I'll look back on and smile either so I don't necessarily make an effort to document every heave. Yesterday was a wonderful reprieve. No one was sick at all. Or so I thought. Last night was different though. It would have been easier to handle if it was a new child becoming sick. At least you would expect that. So when I woke up to Boo sick AGAIN, I was a little surprised. Go away illness!

So Soon???

I suspected yesterday at soccer that Boo wasn't feeling very well. I hoped she was getting the same cold/virus that's going around and made sure to offer her plenty of fluids. By the afternoon she was actually acting like she was feeling better. She even ate a great dinner. Why did we have pancakes and sausage. Why, why, why? The aftermath was ugly and the couch took the brunt of it. For the remainder of the evening/night she couldn't even keep water down. I decided to sleep on the couch with her to protect the bedding in the house.

Around 2am I heard crying from upstairs. Tea had tried to make it down to the bathroom, but unfortunately didn't make it. The dinner looked equally gross all over the stairs. I couldn't decide whether to clean it up or just spend the remainder of our time in the house, probably forever, on the main level. I cleaned it up with the King's help.

The King took the well girls to church while I stayed home and washed approximately 1,000,000 loads of sick laundry. I tried some toast with Boo and it ended up in my hair. Too soon I suppose. They slept a good deal of the day. I have gone through and disinfected every surface in the home. I've washed the linens, which I'm sure won't be the last time this week. 2 down 4 to go. Waaahhhhh!!

Soccer Saturday

The next several Saturdays will be spent at the soccer field. Today was a great start to the season. Chiggie played many different positions, but liked full back best.

Chiggie and Marlee as opponents for the first time ever.

Tea dominated the field in her age group and even scored 2 goals.

Here she is stealing the ball from another unsuspecting half pint.

Running to kick the ball and make the score!

I am trying to post more pictures of myself to someday prove to my children that I did in fact exist. This is the best we had today. I'll work on that. I have no idea why I have such a foul look on my face.

Whatever upset me, obviously upset Boo as well.



Tea was disappointed when the whistle blew indicating the game was over.

Whew!

I felt awful last night when I went to bed. I'm sure it was a combination of real physical symptoms and my emotional distress over possibly becoming sicker. Amazingly I slept through the night and woke up this morning feeling much better. I was so relieved. We dodged that bullet, at least for now, I suppose.

Tonight is Chiggie's open house at school. We're all excited to get to see her classroom more and get the grand tour from our own little tour guide. I'll be sure to take pictures and hopefully get some up tonight.

Under the Weather

In typical "back to school" fashion, I am feeling crummy. It started this afternoon with a headache, funky eyes, and low grade fever. It doesn't help that the King and I saw a segment on the news last night calling our town a Swine Flu hotbed. Great. Then I made the mistake of googling "pregnancy and Swine Flu." Don't do it. It's not good. Most likely I have some random virus, but still. We'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow. On the bright side the girls are all doing good and none of them have any ill symptoms at all.

State Fair Fun

Watching horses in the arena.Waiting for the Shark Show.Enjoying some lunch in the shade.Getting up close and personal with the animals.I was surprised Midge actually wanted to pet this goat, but she did.This goat freaked even me out a bit. Freezing from the splash park.
Sippin' a slush while siblings splash.

Wheeee!

Cooling off feels so good.

Some Things

It's been a long and hectic week. Remember, school started? So in an effort to recap and because I'm too tired/lazy to type it all out here goes:

• Chiggie is LOVING 2nd grade. She got a fantastic teacher and I'm so excited for her. She also got a great new music teacher (one of her favorite subjects) who is big on parental involvement and performances. We're both excited about that.
• Amazingly since school started we're actually getting out more. The little girls are really enjoying the walk to and from school. Fresh air and exercise has been good for all of us.
• I'm feeling well in general but still extremely fatigued. I can see my house falling apart around me. Yeah, it'll still be here tomorrow, I just don't want to be the one to pick up the pieces. *Sigh*
• I am heartbroken for Micki and her family. I am also amazed by her strength and faith.
• I'm very glad the girls are playing a sport this fall. With our yard being in the state is has been this year it's been hard to get them active outdoors. The plan is to re-landscape in the spring and hopefully never experience this summer "cabin fever" again.
• The news is both scaring and depressing me lately. I plan to spend the winter reading Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables books. Reality is not my friend.
• I'm looking forward to winter comfort food. If I eat one more thing cooked on the bbq grill I cannot be held responsible for what I might do.
• The girls are starting to talk about Halloween costumes. I love Halloween, but I miss the way things were when I was child. Back when just because your kids went trick or treating you weren't necessarily labeled a "devil worshipper."

That about sums things up for now. I'm hoping we all stay healthy and have a great time at the State Fair on Monday!

Stretch it Out

Soccer started yesterday for both girls. We totally lucked out that they practice on the same night. We are at the field for 2 hours but it's only one night a week. Both girls enjoyed it. It rained, hard, during Tea's practice so I couldn't get good pictures, but I think she's going to have a great time. Chiggie was tired after practice. She's not used to running quite that much at a time and needs to drink more water. They have the weekend off and will start games next Saturday. We're going State Fair this weekend, so that should be enough excitement anyway.

The Many Faces of Tea

Photography by Camie