I'm Such a Slacker!!!

Please accept my apologies for being the "WORST BLOGGER EVER" (at least for the month of December anyway).

We have been extremely busy this past month and are still on the move. For some reason I got the "nesting instinct" (you know, the one a woman usually gets right before she gives birth?) after Thanksgiving...a year AFTER I had Ruby :P

My parents so graciously gave John 2 gallons of paint in the color I had picked out for the living room (because I was sneaky and told them he wanted it...HA!) for his birthday back in October. I got a Bee in my Bonnet or a Bug in my Butt or whatever and decided...ahem...insisted that the living room would be painted before Ruby's first birthday. Her party ( a small one) was planned for Sunday the 12th (her birthday was the 13th) and I wanted it done before then.

So one day I got out the painter's tape and taped the living room. Boy you should have seen the look on John's face when he got home...it was kind of like... "Oh cr**, she really wants to paint". Well, I wasn't about to let the Christmas tree into the living room until the walls were painted and since the tree was sitting out in the garage it just had to get done :)

Well, since we had some paint left over I went ahead and started painting the Butler's pantry the next day when John was at work thinking I would surprise him. Ummmm, I kinda thought we had more paint than we did and ran out before the whole thing was done. I couoldn't very well leave it that way could I? Nope. So I set out will all 4 of the kids to buy 1 more gallon.

Since I had even more paint I figured why not venture a little more into the foyer (our downstairs walls in the living room, dining room and foyer all flow together so I chose 1 color for all those areas ad it will also go up the stairs and through the upstairs hallway...like you care... HA!) So I taped four teeny tiny little walls going into the foyer thinking I could get it all done before John got home. Seriously, who was I kidding? REALLY hard to paint while 4 small kids are in the house... awake... demanding to be fed.

So what did I get when John got home that night...yeah, that same look :) Good thing he loves me :) So we got the walls painted before the party :) Party post to come later...

Fast forward to the Monday before Christmas. Since I hadn't yet finished my Christmas shopping or baking, I had all 4 kids at home full time since winter break had started, I hadn't done any of my baking yet (or laundry for that matter), and I obviously had SO much extra time on my hands, what did I do???? Taped and painted the dining room in 3 hours! Dang I'm good (or stubborn...I'll compromise and say both!) Ruby was taking awesome naps that day and Lucy even took one and Max and Abby were busy with friends so throwing caution to the wind I figured I'd surprise John.

I got everything done...AND even made dinner that night! The stinker didn't even notice when he came in the front door even thought I had the buffet lamps on in the dining room! It wasn't until after dinner when he was...GASP!...rinsing his dinner dishes that he saw the paint roller and brushes sitting by the sink drying. He had this panicked sound in his voice when he said, "What were you painting???" I showed him and I think I heard the sigh of relief when he realized it was all done :)

I explained that since we would be eating Christmas Eve dinner in that room it only made sense that it should be painted too. I mean really, how could he argue with that sound logic?

On Christmas Eve as he was setting the table he came in the kitchen and reluctantly told me that I was...choke...choke...gasp...gasp...wheeze...RIGHT about painting it :)

Now that you have read this ramble (you're still here aren't you?), I'll leave you until 2011...

Coming Attractions in the New Year...

Ruby's First Birthday
Abby's Tooth Drama
My Tooth Drama
Christmas

Good Night and Happy New Year...I hope 2011 brings Peace, Hope, Good Health, and Love to you all!

An Important Announcement...

Someone in this family...

I won't name any names...

but someone in this family will be turning 1 year old on Monday! (I REALLY hope you didn't think I was going to say I was pregnant!)

Here's a hint...

Hmmmmm...got any guesses?

I'm Here...

Lots to update on...when I'm feeling better...when everyone stopsa being sick for crying out loud!

Fighting a Losing Battle...Licking My Wounds...

I haven't been around the blog this week. How's that different from any other week you ask? Ha! This time I have an excuse :P

Last Tuesday evening our family began the epic battle against... A STOMACH VIRUS (insert high pitched screams)

Lucy got it good (well, really bad actually) Tuesday night about 10ish and so I ended up camping out with her on the living room floor where she was up and down to the bathroom several times during the night by 4am she had stopped getting sick. She was better (eating foods that she deemed would not make her stomach "blow up") by Wednesday evening. No school for her on Wednesday though and we are trapped in the house.

Friday morning, about 4:50am, Max woke up and went to the bathroom and ended up with diarrhea. He kept writhing in pain saying his stomach was "killing" him (have I mentioned before that my children are HIGHLY dramatic and that I expect each of them to win an Academy Award at some point in their lives?).

By 5:10 he was throwing up. 15 hours later...yes, I DID say 15 hours later he was done. No school for him on Friday needless to say and we were once again...trapped in the house. I also camped out with Max on the living room floor Friday night.

I should also mention on Friday Ruby got sick all over me, her, and the office floor...yuck.

Fast forward to Saturday morning and I wake up (who am I kidding? I couldn't sleep on the floor) nauseous and dizzy. I could feel it coming on. I pretty much felt like I had been hit by a truck all day. I figured...okay, not the bug, just worn out. Nope...it was the bug. So I was trapped in the house all day Saturday as well...sigh...

Sunday morning dawns and shines right in my eyes that are reeling in pain from a migraine. I was able to down some Motrin and sleep the edge of the pain off. By 8, John was ready for me to get out of the bed (all the kids were up). I was recovered well enough to take Lucy to a birthday party and bake and decorate the cutest turkey cupcakes for Lucy's Thanksgiving "party".

Also insert that Ruby threw up again randomly...

My husband, always the optimist ("I am 100% sure we are going to get this virus Staci"), was not gloating so much when he woke up early this morning with said virus. If he could have mustered up the energy he would have. I had told him the other day that if he got it I was going to call his mom and tell her to come and take care of him...he's harder than all 4 kids being sick at the same time! He stayed home from work in bed and although I couldn't play nursemaid (it's not like he coddles me either people) I did bring him ginger ale and water and crackers and called in sick for him (etc).

The last one to fall was Abby. She was the only one who didn't get hit with this the last time it made it's way through our house.

She came home from school today complaining of a belly ache. She got progressively "poopier" acting as time went on. About 5:30ish it hit. She has on;y gotten sick once and was acting for apple juice (I made her drink water) and crackers within about an hour). She has fallen asleep on the couch and I'll camp out with her tonight. No school for her tomorrow...we'll be trapped in the house :P

So, the bug has defeated us all and now he needs to get OUT OF MY HOUSE so I can get to everything I need to do before Wednesday! I have been spraying everything I think a sick person may have touched. Tomorrow is a deep...deep...deep cleaning of all bathrooms...guess it's a good thing I'll be trapped in the house anyway!

Happy Birthday Mama!

What an adorable couple :)

Happy, Happy Birthday to my awesome mama :)

She has always been there for us and has taught her three girls to be tough and "get it done". She has been friend and confidante and disciplinarian and a rock that we could always count on(and still can and do).

I hope she knows how much she is appreciated and loved. I can only hope and pray that I can be the kind of mom to my kids that she was to my sisters and me (although Mallory got away with so much more since she was the "baby").

She still worries about us even though we are grown and out of the house...a mom's work is never done I guess. Then we go and make her a "Nana" and multiply her worry (8 times!).

She is always thinking of others and how she can make someone feel better (of course she tells her own kids "oh you're fine, shake it off"... :P...Did I say I love you mom?)

She's not really big on confrontation but she is by NO MEANS a pushover! She says no and she means it, "gosh doty soctamolie".

Her grandkids LOVE her to pieces (mostly her stuff turns to pieces but she's okay with it when it happens..."Soooorrrrry Nana!"). I was talking to her the other day on the phone and when I hung up Lucy asked me who was on the phone. I told her I was talking to Nana and Lucy said, "Oh, I love Nana". I said, "Me too Lucy". She said, "I love her mommy, she's a nice girl!"

Oh yeah, she's also been known to give up her snack to her grandkids (they have inhaled a few bags of her Goldfish crackers from time to time!)

Mama, I hope your _ _th birthday is filled with love and peace (the kids and I will wait until this weekend to see you :) and joy. You deserve it.

Love and appreciation always and xoxoxoxoxoxox,

Your oldest baby,

Have You Thanked a Vet Today?

Happy Veterans Day and a huge thank you to all those who have served or are currently serving our country in any branch of service.

My favorite vet...my dad...served 20 years in the Navy. He enlisted in 1968 right after high school. He was a submariner. In fact, he was on a submarine on patrol when I was born. We didn't get to meet until I was about 3 months old.

What a handsome guy! He was about 27 or 28 in this picture.

Being a military "brat" gave my sister Shea and I (Mallory didn't come along until I was 13 and my dad retired 4 years later so she didn't move around like we did) many opportunities that we otherwise probably would not have had. We lived in Charleston quite a bit but also were stationed in Great Lakes, IL (fun for snow), Kittery, Maine (More fun for snow and it was pretty), and Honolulu for 3 1/2 years (AWESOME!). When we left Maine to move to Hawaii we drove cross country and got to see and experience so much. Shea and I still talk about that trip :)

This was before he went out to sea...

Being a military family isn't always easy. I remember my dad going out to sea and how much we missed him. We didn't realize at the time though how hard it was on my parents. Back then we didn't have the internet for Skype so we really didn't get to "see" my dad at all until he came home. My mom, practically a kid herself (she had me when she was 20 and Shea when she was 23), was basically a single mom.

So, to those serving in the military and to those that have served...from the bottom of my heart I thank you.

This was at his commissioning ceremony in Hawaii...

He's an Officer AND a Gentleman :)

To those spouses that have "served" (or still are serving)...from the bottom of my heart I thank you for the support and sacrifices you have made to our country.

Saying goodbye to the Navy after 20 years...

They walked it together...

To the children...thank you so much for allowing your mom or dad to give their time away from you to make sure our country stays safe and free.

Happy Veterans Day!

20 Years...How the Time Does Fly!

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to attend my 20 year high school reunion. It felt so strange to think we graduated 20 years (+5 months) ago! Even being the mom of 4 small kids doesn't make me feel old enough to have graduated 20 years ago. It didn't even feel like it had been 10 years since the last reunion.

To think, at that one John and I had only been dating for 6 months. Since then we got engaged, married, and had 4 kids...whew! Let's hope we can relax a little more during the next 10 years (HA!)

I was on the committee that was planning the reunion and about a month ago we had to cancel our original plans due to lack of ticket sales. Another classmate of ours came in a saved the day!

We met at a club and were given our own DJ and the VIP appetizer and drink prices. We also had two servers assigned to our crowd. We pretty much WERE the "crowd" until about 10:30 or so then the regular crowd started drifting in. The classmate that made the arrangements was telling us that someone from our class had called him to see if there was a dress code for the club. He called the manager of the club and the guy told him that they would be a little more relaxed for us since we were an "older" crowd...ACK!

One of our classmates brought our Senior Class video with her and we got to watch it on one of the big flat screen TVs in the room. It was quite funny looking at all of our "big hair" :)

I recognized many faces and I recognized a lot of names. Unfortunately, none of the faces and names matched!

John and I had a great time...even more so because the kids were spending the night with my parents :) Thanks to the mostest awesome mom and dad on the planet for that!

So,
to the Stratford High Class of 1990...
It was great to see many of you again and ...

Go Knights!

"All hail thee mighty Stratford!

Together we shall stand!

We'll show our pride and spirit

To all throughout the land.

With hopes to last forever

As many years go by.

We'll be forever faithful.

All hail thee,

Stratford High!"

- our Alma Mater

See you at the 30 year!