Tuesday Twelve

1. I don't know if I'll have twelve things to list today. . .

2. I'm still loving my hair.

3. I'm dying for some warm weather here. I know my New England friends are gagging and screaming at their computers right now, but it's true. I moved here for one reason - warmer weather. It's notsomuch happening this year.

4. David told our babysitter yesterday that her hair is too long and she should "go to Mama's girl."

5. He also LIED to me and told me that he had "roast beef, some chicken, and potatoes" for dinner, while ticking of his list of food on his fingers. Why would my sweet boy lie to me about his dinner? So he could have a cookie.

6. Now that I've agreed to the Spongebob birthday theme, I've decided to embrace it fully. I'm all about the Sponge.

7. Henry has decided the theme for his party this year will be "a Dora, Blues Clues, circus party with an H cake at Gigi's house". Um, in exactly which direction do I take that?

8. I'm so excited about the Pay it Forward post, but can't decide what to make! (Also, Rachel, I need your address! Do you have my email address? Let me know if you don't, and I'll leave it on your blog.)

9. My next post will be number FOUR HUNDRED! How is that possible?

10. David told our babysitter today, "I see Mama's baginas all the time (not true!) in the bathroom. And I love boobies. I have two boobies, and they're not private. I don't care who sees them!" I'm sorry my child is the worlds tiniest perv.

11. My boss will be having a baby any day now, and I'm SO excited to have a newborn to smell and love on.

12. I Tivo'd Oprah today to see the octograndfather. Seriously? That family has I-S-S-U-E-S. And that octomom has CLEARLY had some work done. I thought all this business about her looking like Angelina was silly, but she really kind of does! Why the hell would anyone want 14 children under 8 or whatever the ages are? My parents would be sorry my 14 children were so hungry, because I just don't see them supporting all of those children!!!

Menu Monday

Sunday - We had homemade baked mac & cheese and raw veggies.

Monday - Flank steak, cooked in the crock pot and shredded, served in tortillas with cheese, etc. and steamed veggies

Tuesday - Potato crusted tilapia, rice, salad

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - BBQ pork with black beans and Texas toast

Friday - Chicken veggie tacos

Saturday - Leftovers

Pay it Forward

I saw this on my friend Chandra's blog and thought it was such a cute idea. I look forward to sending out something to those who read mine...so go comment after reading!

The Rules

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?!

2. Winners must post this challenge on their blog, meaning that they will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on their post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate pictures and comments!

If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along.Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! SO, REMEMBER...Pay it forward!P.S. If you are one of the first three and don't have a blog to post you can take the next three friends that call you just to chat and Pay It Forward to them! Then challenge them to do the same. Let's help make this a wonderful world to live in and show our friends how much we care for them

Hair Girl

Five for Friday

1. I got my hair cut last night. I. love. it. I got the Katie Holmes bob with bangs. It's a BIG change from my previous "style" (or lack of) and I am so pleased with it. I'll post a photo soon. Our camera battery is, surprise surprise, dead.

2. We are all FINALLY not sick! Yahoo! I hope it lasts.

3. David and Henry will start playing baseball in March. That should be interesting.

4. Add this to the list of things I swore I would never do as a parent -- allow a Spongebob birthday theme. Shoot me now. Some other things on the list? Let my children eat candy in the morning, buy light up shoes, allow clothing with characters on it, and let my child's hair grow too long and look like a mullet. Guilty of all of those, thankyouverymuch.

5. By the way, the mullets will be taken care of today after their class at The Little Gym. Chris will be taking them for the haircuts. . . that should be interesting.

I'm Back

I've finally recovered from my deathbed. I felt terrible -- I don't remember ever feeling so sick. Then, of course, all of my children were sick as well. We are all feeling better, so I'll be back to my blogging self.

After I clean this house!

Kindergarten Evaluation

We are applying to the local magnet school for David for Kindergarten. Well, we were. Chris brought him yesterday morning for his evaluation. And was home very shortly after. It's a 30 minute one-on-one evaluation with David and the Kindergarten teacher. He wouldn't even go to the room. He wouldn't even talk to her! He kept saying to Chris, "I'm scared! I'm twying to be a big boy, but I'm cwose to cwying!" Finally Chris rescheduled the evaluation for Thursday and brought him home. He's already talking about it and saying he doesn't want to go, that he's scared, he doesn't like that school, it makes him cry to think about it, and that he will be too sad if he has to go. I think we'll skip it. I'm not going to traumatize the child before school even starts -- the public school we're zoned for will be fine. It's not a bad school, and we weren't married to the idea of him going to the magnet school. I think we'll just take every opportunity to bring him to see the school before Kindergarten starts in August, because I see this being a tough transition for him. Am I being too much of a pushover about this?

Sickos

Where have we been for the last few days? At the doctor's office(s)! We determined that Jack's hives were caused by an allergic reaction to penicillin. A severe reaction. His hives continued to get worse and worse and worse. He wasn't having any breathing issues, so we didn't get too worried. Finally Sunday morning we called the doctor again, because he was like one big hive. She wanted him to be seen, so I brought him to urgent care, where the nurse took one look at him and said they wouldn't treat him. Off to the emergency room. One steroid prescription and one zithromax script for his pneumonia (?!) later, we were on our way. I question the pneumonia now though, because. . .

I have the flu! The ten minute flu test was positive after one minute of processing. . . Yesterday I felt like death. I was so weak I had to have Chris put my socks on! I literally do not ever remember feeling so ill. Thank God my father-in-law had already offered to come over yesterday, because I was useless. I went to my parents house and slept while my father-in-law was here, then my mom came over after work to feed my children and put them to bed. Chris has no available time at work to take off, so I was very, very thankful they could help us. I feel a little better this morning, but have NO energy. I'm exhausted and vacillate between sweating like a pig and shivering like I'm standing outside with no clothes on in the dead of winter.

Now, David is sick again. He has a fever and and keeps saying, "My cranium hurts!" Yes, I'm serious. I think our nursing student sitter practices her A&P on him! I so hope he doesn't have the flu too. I'm keeping him home from school today and having Chris bring David and Jack to the doctor. Jack was up like six times last night, which he never does. I am exhausted!

I hope everyone is well at your house!

I made a Cake!

I haven't lost the ability! I made this cake last week for my sweet friend KJ. She calls on a doctor who has a particular affinity for chocolate cake, and it's was his 50th birthday. Oh, and his last name is GOLD!

Here in the Hive

Jack woke up this morning with his face, head, and upper torso covered with hives. Thankfully, since this has happened with Henry before, I didn't freak out. I was very surprised to see it though. Of course my first thought was chocolate, but I don't think he had any. I know he didn't have any in his bed! He did have some of one of those big pretzels at Target yesterday, but I don't think that would cause hives to appear almost 12 hours later?? I gave him some Benadryl, and sent a message to my sitter to see if he ate anything new, and we'll just watch him. I'm going to have to start a list to post of what my children can't eat so I can remember!

what the. . .?

Dear boy I saw waiting for the bus:
Just wanted to let you know it's 28 degress outside. That would be Farenheit.I'm sure you noticed. It's also not sunny out. Perhaps you should have traded your blinging sunglasses and t-shirt for a jacket. I'm just saying.

Tuesday Twelve

1. Someone I work with said that Bruce Springsteen is "a little before her time". She's 20. Was she calling me old?

2. I only drank one Diet Coke on Monday. This is a HUGE decrease from my normal intake.

3. I'm having some issues with elevated blood pressure. Hence the decrease in the Diet Cokes! You know it wouldn't be by choice!

4. Is it bad as an adult to have been praying for a snow day today?!

5. It's odd to be praying for one two days after taking my boys for a bike ride while they were wearing shorts.

6. We went to Trader Joe's Sunday. I was so excited, because it's fairly new in this area. I've missed it!

7. David called me (and my sister) a "Jack-in-the-Bitch" yesterday. Um, what? That would be the four year old version of a curse!

8. I have XM satellite radio in my new car. I. love. it. The subscription is part of our lease, but I love it so much I would pay for it now. I don't even have a clue what that costs.

9. I was at Wal-Mart yesterday and they had some cute stuff. I know, I was as surprised as you. Cute clothes, and some cute bags. I don't think I've ever bought clothes at Wal-Mart. I'm sure the quality would be as great as I think it would, but they were cute.

10. Chris and I are having date night on Saturday. Yippee!

11. Henry asked me yesterday morning, when I told him that my sister would be coming over to watch them, "Um, does Auntie Nessa eben know how to, like, take care of little kids?" She was quite capable, did a great job, and seemed to have fun. I know the boys did. They were pooped!

12. I'm so thankful that my sister lives in TN now, so she can have a fun relationship with my boys. They love their Auntie Nessa, and I know they wouldn't have anything close to the relationship they have if she still lived in New England.

The Boss

Catch the game last night? I really didn't care much about the game but I was VERY excited about halftime. Why? THE BOSS! It was so good! When Glory Days (my fav Springsteen song, btw) came on Chris, David, Henry and I were all dancing around the living room singing. We loved it!

Ps. For my fellow fans, XM 58 is E Street Radio!

Twilight?

I read this book this week. I have to say, I don't quite understand the cult following it's got. It was a good book, but I wasn't that impressed. I really didn't know much about it before reading it, other than it's supposed to be amazing. It's classified as fiction for young adults. . . I haven't been a "young adult" in the literary sense for a looong time. I'll read the second one, but not because I was so impressed with the first. Don't get me wrong -- the writing is decent, the story is imaginative, and I wasn't bored. I just was a little let down given all of the hype surrounding the book. Have you read it?

Jack's Party

We had a great time for Jack's first birthday party. There were almost 40 people who came for brunch. Everything was delicious, and my mother-in-law's sausage pinwheels were literally gone seconds after hitting the serving plate. (I'm going to get the recipe and post it here!) Jack LOVED his cupcake. I admit he had some practice on his actual birthday, but it was still quite amusing. David and Henry loved "helping" to open his gifts, which took all of about 4.8 seconds with the two of them being so helpful. Thank you so much to everyone who helped make his birthday party such a special day!

Pre-party with his balloons. Gagging himself, which is his new favorite hobby.

Opening his gifts, before his help arrived on the scene.