whatever

when the kids are all asleep this is what we do for fun . . .

sewing a slipcover for the couch (still – 3 months later)
spackle-ing the plaster walls in the front entry to get ready for paint

and poor craig . . . i made him listen to Oprah for half of it!

speaking of Oprah . . . did anyone see that family that took their 4 kids (14 – 4 years of age) on a 365 day trip around the world? That would be too cool.
i also read a book a year or so ago called Honeymoon with My Brother (not trying to sound smart . . it’s 1 of 3 books I have read in 3 years) that was about 2 brothers going on a trip around the world.
i dont see any world travel in my future at all especially with 5 kids in tow but THE IDEA is awesome. what an experience. What different people we would be. how eye opening for everyone.
too cool.
but i don’t camp well and it’s pretty much a given for world travel on a budget.

a funny thing about the same Oprah show . . . I was watching it earlier today while two men were here working on the house. they were in the room next to me and i was mopping the floor in the living room. i am watching this Oprah and it got sad and i was totally crying. . . i mean many kleenexes are needed. and these guys are 10 steps away. i could’ve turned it off but i didn’t. i guess i am so used to my crying at everything. but i kept thinking “oh my gosh if they walk in here right now . . . awkward!” they didn’t and i pulled it together in time to pay them!!

after talking online with a friend today I realized how crabby i really was. I need to spend some real time with God to work this stuff out! I am feeling all a mess.
but even just acknowledging that God CAN handle my moods and feelings made me feel better. I know He can and that He wants to. He wants me to come to Him with everything. He wants me to be a great mom. He wants my children to feel loved and only He can teach me the right way to do it! He is amazing. I just have to ask Him. I have to make that time to hear what He is saying. really listen.
after she and i chatted back and forth i felt WAY better and definitely understood. thank you.
deciding that part of my bad mood was the list i have of things to do and wanting to do it all today – with 2 little kids here. it just wasn’t happening. they kept trying to play with me an i kept telling them to “go play” till finally i had hurt their feelings.
so i threw the list away.
then we played.
we painted.
we made playdoh things.
we went to Sonic.
we went to the park.
we went for a walk.
we did . . . nothing and it was good for me and them.

The chores are changing around here tomorrow.
they are all unaware of what tomorrow will bring.
for 2 years now lauren has emptied the dishwasher each load and scott has put away the silverware.
as of tomorrow . . .
talby will empty the dishes
sean will put away silverware
and the 2 of them will share the job of setting the table.
scott and lauren will share the job of clearing the table and then LOADING the dishwasher.
This is where things will be difficult.
if they cannot work together i guess they will have to switch off who does what.

basically i am feeling overworked? irritated? under appreciated? (all by the kids not by Craig – he’s super)

i buy the groceries.
put away the groceries.
plan the meals.
prepare the meals.
listen to crying and complaining all through the meals.
and then I CLEAN UP the MEALS! (with Craig’s help)
well . . . no more.

(i will have to clean up after they clean up but i am okay with that.)

so be prepared for me whining about their whining.
only the older 3. talby loves it all! she would do all of it on her own if i’d let her.
maybe i should let her!
and i always have one more helper when she needs something to keep her busy.
she kept shouting “Whoa! dat’s a BIG spoon!”

gotta go to bed – it’s midnight!

That’s me . . . crabby mom. i have been all weekend. my poor family. but i do think they have a lot to do with my crabby-ness. still i know i am responsible for my actions.
hopefully some sleep will help. but i am torn because of my shows to watch on DVR. and my lesson to work on for tuesday. and the craft room is always calling me . . . always!
and i just drank my 3rd cup of coffee this evening. sometimes i am too ridiculous.
so other than sleep my shows will probably win the battle.

but it was a beautiful day today – WOW! i went out to soak up some sun. i took my camera to get a picture of one of the but instead …
this is what pictures look like from a 2 year old photographer with a camera so heavy she can barely hold it up and can’t figure out that you have to look through the square to see me.
but she did shout “Say cheese mommy!”
and then another happy shout “i did it!!”

the bottom one is kind of artsy . . .

i guess i did something wrong in my last post. hopefully you can still read it. i will try to fix it if i can.

more rain. right now it’s really coming down. that grass better be greener than ever before after this week!

I will be sad when Talby loses this flair for fashion. i dread that day when she thinks what she is wearing has to look “just right”. i will miss it. i love what she comes up with each day. she shines! and she was so excited that her hair was long enough for these little braids.

This afternoon my DAD showed up for a quick visit. he was helping out my grandma who had dental surgery yesterday. She is going to be 90 this year! i called her today and she was feeling great. i told her she must still be on some meds.
HI grandma! hope you feel 100% soon. (yes. . . she’s 89 and she e-mails! she’s totally cool.)
annie & my dad have a bond through play-doh. They play it together each visit. annie loves that time with him. it’s very quiet play. they just sit and create things over & over. . . special stuff right there.

After a big yummy dinner from Papa Murphy’s this is what my family is doing right now.
Movie night . . . Open Season. then off to bed.

This morning got a jump start by having to take the kids to school myself last minute in the rain. I was still in my p.j.’s & talby & annie too. other than getting halfway there and coming back for a lunch bag it was all good. it was good to be up and going.
i cleaned all morning! don’t you love when the mood hits and you get so much done? how can it get so messy?
When it finally stopped raining we headed out for groceries. today was one of those days with no crying at wal-mart. yay! i even got to enjoy talby and annie singing together while we shopped. they were oblivious to everyone around them. I overheard annie tell talby “good job!” when her song had ended.
we picked everyone up from school and we have been stuck inside ever since it began to rain again. poor craig has to clean all the gutters again. they are over flowing everywhere.

Earlier today I was missing chicago ALOT. i was thinking that it’s been over 2 years since i have been to Kane Co. Flea Market!!! Quite possibly my favorite place to shop. i MISS it! It was my inspiration spot. I went even when i couldn’t spend money just because i came home full of ideas. i just loved it. (and the coffee and time alone was awesome too) i miss all the shabby antique stuff. i miss the treasures waiting to be found and thinking “what could I do with THAT?” one time i bought a cupboard for cheap and when i got home inside it was an old photo album and newspapers of the day of JFK’s funeral with little john-john saluting in his little bitty suit. trash to treasure.

This afternoon annie was discovered with a blue marker. she took a piece of paper from the cabinet. i said “can i have that marker please?” she replied deliberately “NO. i MAKE something!” i had to smile and watch. she laid down by my feet and drew this. She was very sure about it. “DINOSAUR!” she drew eyes and a nose. this was her first “face” i’d seen her make. Proud mommy.
of course it’s a dinosaur!

She is a Happy Camper!

Check out Craig’s new toy. He claims to not be excited about a new(er) car. “It’s just a car. . . no big deal.” Whatever.
The smelly loud Maxima is gone. I am happy about that.
The Maxima and I never bonded. There was no love. I am glad it’s gone.
I like this car. I am looking forward to driving it. And I know Craig is too he just doesn’t want to make a big deal of it.
It’s pretty. (and it comes with a meatloaf oven in the console -SNL skit)
For all I got accomplished yesterday – I did the opposite today. i got nothing done and even went back to bed in the mid morning! I was dragging. I made some phone calls but that was about I could do. Annie got lots of time playing at the park since I was too tired to do anything else.