Giving Thanks

I don't ever want to give the message that my children are an inconvenience to me. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have them to care for. They are my life.

People always say that they'd die for their children. The more important question is are you living for them.

To my 3 beautiful, smart and funny girls:
I love you.
I love you more.
I love you to the moon and back.
I love you to infinity.
You are my everything.

Love,
Mom

Re-Acclimating

It's funny how being gone for as little as two nights can create such a shift in the house. Children are such creatures of habit and structure that it makes it hard to even want to go away sometimes.

It's hard for me too because every day I'm home there is a string of usual to-do's like picking up all the rooms, going through the mail, organizing school stuff, checking voicemails, returning phone calls, laundry, dishes, etc, etc. And even though everything looks pretty much exactly the same from day to day there's actually quite a bit that goes on that's under the radar.

And even though Bill does a great job of keeping things as orderly as possible, there's still an extra amount of organizing once I get home.

I wish I could snap my fingers and all this stuff would be done for me so I could spend more time just hanging out with my kids.

I feel like it's such a struggle to balance quality time - or being present as I like to say - with "getting stuff done." I mean, someone has to keep things in some semblance of order.

The kids don't get it either. I'm trying to hurry up and do 50 million things so that we can do something fun together and 3 little people are constantly under foot asking for help with this and how do you spell that and can I put this on and crying because the big toy doesn't fit in the little toy and I need a wipe and is it snack time and I'm thirsty and she's hitting me and that's not her's it's mine and on and on and on.......

All I need is a block of time with no interruption and things would go so much faster!

One thing that helps is the fact that the girls totally crack me up during the day. Cecelia is now old enough to have a sense of humor that is actually funny. Delaney simply never stops talking and it's just funny to hear her ramble on and on about this or that. Laila will come up and just shove her head in to me and hang on to my leg as I try and walk around.

I really do think that they're the ones who keep me on track and balance out the work and the play.

The day to day grind can get tough, but then I get a little break, come home, re-acclimate and try and focus on how amazing my kids are.

Chicago

Come on babe why don't we paint the town
and all that jazz
I'm gonna rouge my knees
and roll my stockings down
and all that jazz
Start the car I know a whoopee spot
Where the gin is cold
but the piano's hot!
It's justy a noisy hall
Where there's a nightly brawl
And all that jazz
(From Chicago)

To see pictures, click here.

Lyrics

Save me from this prison
Lord help me get away
Cause only you can save me now
From this misery
Cause I've been lost in my own place
And I'm getting' weary
How far is heaven
And I know I need to change
My ways of livin'
How far is heaven, Lord can you tell me

(Heaven, Los Lonely Boys)

Every time I hear this song I have to turn it up, but I've never really listened to all the lyrics until today. I thought this was good for a Sunday and a strange week.

Gravity

Can someone please tell me why I decided to take a look at the backside after getting out of the shower today?
Oh, the horror!

As Requested

Okay, okay, here's another post:

A few things to update so here we go.
Bill and I got to have a birthday dinner, alone (as in just the two of us) at my favorite super fancy restuarant....Red Lobster :-) My generous cousin - Miss Clare - informed me the week prior that she would be watching my girls that night so Bill and I could go out. I almost cried.
We had a really good time and so did the girls.
Saturday Bill went golfing with his buddies and came home with an interesting little tid bit. You see, at the 11th hole they came across a miniture horse. Yes, I said miniature horse. So, his two buddies head for the golf cart while my clever husband calls the pony over. And then gets on it. Not kidding. The pony bit him in the ankle as Bill was trying to ride it.
I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see a picture of it later that night on Bulldog's phone.
So funny!
Saturday night my little cousin came over to spend the night so Bill and I could head out to meet up with Ronnie to celebrate his 30th birthday - and then to meet up with Bulldog to celebrate OUR recent birthdays. Whew, lots of birthdays.
I had so much fun getting out with my hub two nights in a row!

On Sunday I went to work my usual afternoon shift at the restaurant only to find out that next weekend I am not scheduled to work at all - but that my shifts were given to a new hire. And no one told me.
I called the owner's daughter to ask what was going on and to see if, in fact, I have been replaced and she gave me the run around. Apparently, she need to talk to the owner (her father) to get the information I need.
Basically the writing is on the wall (for a reason completely unknown to me), which means that I am basically "officially" unemployed.
I kind of have that worthless feeling.

BUT, today is a new day and I am hunting down jobs likeit'smyjob.
Wish me luck.

There's your update :-)

My 34th Birthday

Well, only Cecelia and I got to go see my brother and his family in Moorhead over the weekend.

HOWEVER, we are all healthy as of yesterday and I couldn't have asked for a better gift than that!

Also, the sun was shining bright again so our spirits were seriously uplifted.

I arrived home on Sunday to spend about an hour with Bill and the girls before heading off to work. When I opened the door I could smell the sweet, sweet scent of pinesol coming from my kitchen. The floors had been vacuumed and all the dishes were sitting clean by the kitchen sink.

But....the best part......

is that Bill had cleaned my kitchen light!!

This may seem like a strange act of kindness but there is a story behind the light.

I hate it. That's the story.

At any rate, I told Bill about a week ago when I looked at that old, ugly great-great grandma-ish light and how dirty it was (again) that "so help me I am going to buy another light before I clean that stupid thing again."

I came home to a clean light.

So yesterday, on my actual birthday, we got Cecelia off to school and the little girls and I had a dance party listening to the Bee-Gee's, Micheal Jackson, MC Hammer, Joan Jett - I am telling you, the music station knew it was my birthday.

My friend Jen came over with pizza for lunch and we took the kids for a quick walk in the torrential wind storm.

ALL 3 girls took a long afternoon nap.

We ate chinese and watched Ice Age 3

And as a super, duper grand prize Bill gave me a digital camera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not only does he not really read this blog so didn't know that I posted on the subject recently, but, I also asked for socks.

Thanks everybody for all the phone calls and happy birthday singing and cards and gifts and love. So far, I like 34.