Computers are hard.

I have tried blogging numerous times in the last 2 months only to be rejected by my own blog. Today, I sign in and it let me back in!!


I feel like I don't have much to report because we have basically been trapped in our home due to the extremely (and I mean EXTREMELY) cold weather. The kids have missed so many days of school that I literally can't remember the exact number of days. President's day the kids had to go to school for a make-up only to have school closed that Friday. It's getting pretty ridiculous.


We've bowled, gone to movies, the Eagle's next, open gym, the McDonald's playland - all in the name of getting outside these 4 walls. We are ready to play outside!! Speaking of which, the kids have worn out their winter coats and boots but if you go to the store now to replace them good luck. Maybe a new swimsuit or pair of flip flops might help. SO dumb!!!


We do have our fair share of fun on the weekends. Both Laney and Laila are still in gymnastics. CeCe is still playing her fingers to the bone on her viola. It's amazing how kids just keep moving forward without complaining like adults do. It's a beautiful thing.


I threw a surprise 60th birthday party for my Dad in February that was pretty epic. He likes to be the surpriser so it was fun to put him in the suprisee position for once. We celebrated a year and a half of sobriety for him too - which I think means more to him than turning 60 :-)


One thing that I'm really grateful for is the health of my little family this winter. Last winter was one of the sickest winters ever and so far this year we have been 100% (knocking on wood).


Our next little venture will be to the Dells in a couple of weeks. I will accept this trip this year, but next year Bill has to go back to his promise of taking me somewhere warm.


I hope you are all holding up. People are sort of losing their minds right now, which is understandable. Just think, 3 more months until summer!!

Happy ChristmasBirthdayNewYear

I spent 4 days with my Mom in Cleveland the weekend before Christmas. We: ate, shopped, toured a mansion, ate, drank, went to the Christmas Story house, shopped, ate, drank, went to the botanical museum, went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, listed to live jazz, ate, drank, shopped, got a special VIP tour of the Velvet Tango room, and loved on each other. It.was.amazing.

Bill made 50,000 batches of cookies with the girls while I was gone. What an awesome Dad.

We spent Christmas with Bill's family and ate and drank and opened gifts and laughed a lot. Again, awesome.

Then, my oldest child turned 10. We skated and sledded and skated some more and played games and opened gifts. Pretty awesome. That's her on the cover of the local paper playing her viola. She's adorable.

We celebrated New Years with lots of friends and ate and drank....

 

This weekend we are sneaking away to Brainerd for some snowmobiling, hot tubbing, shopping and probably......eating and drinking.

 

Hope you all had a fun December - Happy New Year!!

So Happy

There was a time when I had an infant, a 2-year-old and a 4 year-old and life was SO busy!!
During that time I would sit and think about the day when all the girls would be in school and I would finally get a break.
I really didn't realize how bittersweet it would be. And I'm not the only one who feels this way. Yesterday morning my biggest kid didn't want to go to school because we had all spent a week together during the Thanksgiving holiday and she was going to miss me too much. I know I say it all the time, but we are a tight knit group.
On the other hand, it didn't realize how easy they would be for me to take care of. People assume that a 5, 7 and 9 year old would be a lot of work, but it's quite the opposite.
They are all now very independent, good listeners and eager to please.
Even my middle child, who fought me so hard for a good 3 years straight, has turned the corner!
Our mornings are a million times better! No fighting, no crying, no whining.
Sure, the girls fight with each other, but that's normal and I can ignore that.
They don't fight with Bill or me on much. They're just so good!!
I know it won't stay like this forever, but for now I couldn't be happier or prouder.

This is what they refer to as the Sweet Spot in parenting, I think.

Now What

So Bill returned from California and we went to the Masquerade wedding then spent the night and the whole next day with his family to celebrate his Mom's birthday.
The following Friday we left to spend the weekend in Moorhead. Bill attended the MSU Homecoming game and I spent the day getting into trouble with my bestie. Much thanks to Dad and Mare for taking the kids for the day/night!!! We headed back to the cities on Sunday so I could get my Mom from the airport. Mom spent a night here, went to Little Falls for a few days, then came back here to finish off the weekend.
We saw Bill for about an hour on his birthday - enough time to eat some dinner and blow out a candle, then he went up North with his buddy for 5 days.
The girls, Mom and I took advantage of our girl time and ran around the city doing various things. It rained the entire time she was here. Mom flew out Sunday night and Monday morning the rain stopped, the sun came out, and the heat came back. Go figure.

Things have been so busy and now that things have died down I find myself twiddling my thumbs. I didn't have anything to do yesterday morning (besides grab a few groceries) and I really don't have much to do this morning.
The kindergarteners get home a little before noon so my afternoons are busy, but I really need to find things to do in the mornings so I don't lose my mind walking around the house cleaning and organizing.

Seriously, what do people who stay at home DO ALL DAY?? It is SO boring!!

I'm sending in my application packet to Deaf-Blind Services today so hopefully that'll pan out.

So, now what?

Go decorate my house for Halloween.....oh what fun.

This Week

This week I have been trying to get a part, part time job at Deaf Blind Services of MN to teach sign language to small children in the morning while my kids are at school - 10 hours a week max.
I have had drywall contractors and painters in and out all day since Tuesday morning.
Pearl needed to go to the groomer.
I had class.
I volunteered in Laila's classroom. Twice. Once to cut paper and today to chaperone a field trip.
I have (as in not done) a study guide to complete for a study group I'm in.
I had one day (Wednesday) that I felt like total crap and the only thing I could muster enough energy to do was clean the house a little and make sure the kids were taken care of.
I've worked out everyday but Wednesday.
I had teacher conferences with 2 out of 3 teachers.
I brought CeCe to her first night of hip-hop dance.
I planned tonight's Girl Scout meeting since I am now the leader.
The girls need me to get them alarm clocks.
CeCe needs new curtains in her room since Pearl chewed up her blinds.
I still need to replace our broken microwave.

Now the painters want me to go pick out paint color.
I literally have not one extra minute to do that today.

Did I mention Bill is out of town? He gets home tonight. Late tonight.
Laila and Delaney both have gymnastics tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow night Bill and I are going to a wedding sans children. (I should probably think about painting my nails or something.)
Sunday we will celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday.

There it is.

Summer Wrap Up 2013

Wow did summer whiz by!! Looking back we really didn't let any grass grow under our feet.

June was Bill and my 10th anniversary and my aunt was SO kind to take the girls over night. Bill had a hotel room all set with champagne chilled waiting for me when we arrived. We had an amazing dinner and managed to paint the town red until MIDNIGHT!
The girls were very busy with all their activities: Laila in soccer (never again), Delaney in golf, Cecelia in orchestra and all 3 in swimming.
I also had a house full of kids every single day as the many school aged kids needed care for the summer.
I had a very quick trip to St. Pete's beach - the flight that was supposed to arrive before noon didn't get me in until 3 a.m. the next day. Long travel day is an understatement. No matter, though, I still got to see my family and that's all that I really needed.
We field tripped to the zoo and the splash pad and the wading pool and starting our hosting of BBQ and pool party season.
July 1st marked the first day of our week long vacation. We spent the first half of the week at home enjoying our pool and the city life. We went to Lake Ida courtesy of the Tortorice's for the second half of the week. The weather was ideal and we had an amazing time - except for Pearl who barked the entire time and is never invited back again (by me). Our weekends in July mostly consisted of going to this party, or this BBQ, or us hosting friends here. We also took part of our wonderful city and took the girls to watch the River Rats among other things.
August we made our annual trip to Floyd Lake to celebrate Marilyn's birthday. It was a little chilly but we still had fun boating, floating, eating, drinking and talking with family. We took the girls to the annual Stockyard Parade and Stockyard Days in our Long Lake Regional Park. This month also brought some bummers including me getting two spots of skin cancer removed and getting water damage to our basement (which we still haven't had fixed yet...waiting for school to start so we can clear out the basement..oh joy of joys). We camped at Wild River and took the girls to Wild Mountain. I hosted not one, but TWO Girl Scout pool parties. We took the kids to Bunker Beach and have pretty much submerged in the pool since the heat came back full force. I started class this Tuesday and we're all going to the State Fair tomorrow. Today is also my last day of full-time daycare. I will have half-day kindergarteners everyday and the occasional full day when school is out, but Operation Phase Out officially starts at 5:00 p.m. today!!!!!
This weekend will bring more fun and more friends and, of course, the final preparations for school on Tuesday.
I will cry when all 3 of my girls get on that bus.

I hope your summer was as jam packed with fun as ours was!!

Happy 5th Birthday Laila!

My baby turned 5 on July 20th. She was very excited about her birthday and couldn't stop smiling from the minute she woke up.
She was excited to open presents and be treated like a Princess for a day.
We took her to Valleyfair on her actual birthday and she rode rides and played in the waterpark and rode more rides...for 12 hours!!
Sunday we had her cousins and grandparents over for a pool party. She got new clothes for her birthday and had to try everything on at once. She loves to change outfits approximately 50 times a day.

At 5 years old Laila is sweet, witty, athletic, imaginative, and playful. She is a good listener and often times is the peace maker between her two sisters. She still likes to cuddle and tells Bill and I she loves us all the time.

I am taking her in for her Kindergarten well-check today and she doesn't know that there are shots involved. We may have to go out for a special treat afterword.

We are a blessed family, for sure.