Ramblings of a SAHM

Sunday, January 30, 2005

Breakfast this morning:

Company Brunch Casserole (my mother-in-law's recipe)

6-8 slices toasted bread, decrusted, buttered, and cubed
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 lb sausage links, sauteed and diced (12-14 links)
1/2 lb ham, cubed and sauteed
4oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups milk, divided
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Placed cubed bread in a 10"x13" casserole dish (I actually use 9"x12"). Sprinkle cheese over the bread and then add mushrooms, sausage, and ham. Beat eggs, 1 1/4 cup milk, and dry mustard together. Pour slowly over the mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, mix cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 cup milk and spread over casserole. Bake uncovered in a 300 degree preheated oven for 90 minutes. Allow to sit 5 minutes before serving.

I swear I could eat this entire dish by myself but it feeds 6-8 adults.

Quote of the Day: "The bagel, an unsweetened doughnut with rigor mortis." -Beatrice & Ira Freeman

Katie at 10:31 AM

Saturday, January 29, 2005

Did I miss somewhere that today is "National Drive Your Parents Insane Day"? They should really announce these things over the emergency broadcast system. So us parents could at least know to take the bottle of vodka to bed with us in preparation for the next day.

3am: "Mom, Kelly's out of bed!" -one of the twins
*snore, grumbles* Tossed Kelly back in bed.

6:45am: "Mom, Kelly's out of bed!" -one of the twins
*snore, grumbles* Deja vu? Changed Kelly's stinky diaper and tossed her back in bed. She popped back out like a hush puppy in hot oil. She ran into the boys room while I was still trying to remember who these short people were and why I was awake.
"Mommy, is it morning?" -Kyle
"No. Go potty and then back to bed."
"I can't see!" -Kyle
Blinding light! Thank God, it's all over. Oh wait, Kyle just turned on the bathroom light. Never again will I accidentally replace the 4 globe lightbulbs with 75 watt instead of 40 watt.
Meanwhile Kelly's running around in the darken rooms like a crazed pinball bouncing off walls, furniture, siblings, etc.

7am: All the kids went downstairs and I curled up on the couch with a quilt. The next I remember was Kelly (naked) walking on my chest. I caught her before she stepped on my nose. 27 pounds of toddler jumping on you can leave a bruise. Just so you know. I found her clothes, dressed her, and fell back asleep.

8:15am: Repeat 7am (naked baby stomping on me) but add in bizarre dreams of giant ants taking over the kitchen.

8:30am: *grumbles* "Breakfast!" Screw my idea of french toast and sausage links. I'm a crabby cook, I can't work under certain circumstances, one being woken up before 8am when the house isn't burning down.
"I want Trix!"
"Trix!"
"Trix!"
"Trix!"
(Kelly's not upstairs yet, preferring to use me being in the kitchen as a good time to string a roll of toilet paper all over the toy room.)
*shakes Trix box* "There's enough for 3." So I pull out Coco Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch (all reduced sugar, not that it seems to help...)
"I want Cinnamon Toast Crunch!"
"Cinnamon Toast Crunch!"
"Cinnamon Toast Crunch!"
"Cinnamon Toast Crunch!"
"No, wait I want Trix!"
"Trix!"
"Cinnamon Toast Crunch!"
"Trix!"
"I want Cinnamon Toast Crunch!"
"Trix!"
"Trix!"
I'm tired, blinded, bruised, and definitely way too sober. "One at a time, please..."
"Trix!" *pours bowl*
"Trix!" *pours bowl*
"Trix!" *pours bowl*
"Cinnamon Toast Crunch!" *whew!* That could have gotten ugly.

And then Kelly strolls in (oddly enough, fully dressed) and has Cinnamon Toast Crunch with no milk. Because while she likes carrying around a full gallon of milk and dropping it on the floor to splatter everywhere and make Mommy's eye twitch funny, she does not like it on her cereal. Whatever...

But hey, since it's "National Drive Your Parents Insane Day", I need to go call mine and tell them about my new nose ring and that we're moving to China to become Buddhists and rice farmers. hehe

Katie at 9:21 AM

Friday, January 28, 2005

Ah yesterday... I remember it so fondly. Like it was, um, yesterday. *cough* Well okay, moving on then.

Snapper asked how the rest of Thursday went and I'd give it a 6 out of 10. While I cleaned the bathrooms (but not the showers) and the kitchen (but not the inside of the fridge, microwave, or stove), I didn't get to the dusting, plant watering, or vacuuming. Oh, I did take out the trash, bonus!

After school yesterday, I had a parent/teacher conference with Emily's teachers (she has a morning one, an afternoon one, and an intervention specialist although she didn't show). Being afraid of making phone calls and spending $20, I didn't have a babysitter for the kids during the 20 minute conference. But no worries, it was a kindergarten room after all so they just played while we chatted.

The good news? She met all her goals for this 4 week period. Actually she even surpassed a few. The bad news? She still cries. A LOT. Like if she doesn't know something, she cries and then completely shuts down and can't do anything for several minutes. Help? The teachers are clueless and hey, I'm just the person who keeps them clothed and fed, there's no psychology degree around here. So with new goals and another date set for 4 weeks, we left. And Ally puked in the van. Yippee...

Last night was the school's annual "Reading Round-Up" (or some silly name like that) for K-2. I was trying to avoid this because Greg took Zach last year and said it was so boring. But since Zach can read (damn it!), he saw the flyer in his backpack and wouldn't stop asking to go. So Greg said "sure, you can go!" And then he promptly booked a trip out of town. Good thing, I'm not into conspiracy theories...

For this I did have a babysitter for Kyle and Kelly but just because my mother-in-law accidentally called me and needed to borrow something earlier this week. hehe Ally said she felt better so she came along. And it was so boring. We all sat in the gym for half an hour while a crazy lady did a one woman show of Annie Oakley's life. And then the kids threw horseshoes and played corn hole (which if you don't know what that is, I'll be a corn hole snob and not explain it. We even have our own custom built set). And then we shuffled down to the library to listen to the crazy lady librarian take half an hour to read a 25 page picture book on Slim Jim the Cowboy. And then we shuffled down to another classroom to think about horses. If you haven't noticed, the theme was Cowboys. And half the kids were dressed up like cowboys and cowgirls. Guess I missed the memo...

Two hours later of this cowboy nonsense, the kids were tired and all leaning on me which was funny looking considering they are 3/4's my height and all together out weigh me. But then highlight of the night happened! Emily won a door prize of a $10 Barnes and Noble gift certificate! She was rather confused about it, "um, what is this and why do I have it?" Who cares, you won!

So there you have it, the rest of my Thursday. Next year this time, I plan to tell Zach, "sure you can go!" and then book a trip to someplace warm. I hear the Bahamas are nice.

Katie at 11:37 AM

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Cleaning Day

I've already changed Kelly's stinky diaper and cleaned up spilt Trix (reduced sugar! But not in the funny shapes like normal Trix... Does taking out sugar make the machines unable to form little fruit pieces?). So obviously I'm well on my way to taming the wild disaster we call home. See I'm trying for optimism here but I think I'm landing flat on my sarcastic rear end. The cold medicine I'm on doesn't exactly put me in a Pollyanna-ish mood either. Oh well, at least no one will mistake me for a Merry Maid.

Quote of the Day: "I have an idea that the phrase 'weaker sex' was coined by some woman to disarm some man she was preparing to overwhelm." -Ogden Nash

Katie at 9:31 AM

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

*bangs head on desk*

Not...A...Good...Day...

Short List:
Kelly wanting to wear Easter Dress and nothing else (hello? 6 inches of snow and below freezing temps? ARGH!)
Kyle refusing to eat lunch and making us late to drop Ally off at school
Kelly screaming in the van for 30 minutes before falling asleep as I pulled into the grocery store parking lot
Kyle climbing out of the cart at the grocery store
Kelly screaming to be carried through the grocery store
Lady shopping alone commenting, "I don't know how you do it with 2 toddlers." Yeah thanks, me either.
Emily and Ally whining over their Easy Bake oven (I could throttle the inventor)
Kelly now sick with a fever and harsh cough
Kyle demanding to watch "Little Bear" every hour
Zach with his stupid static electricity science project with *shudders* latex balloons
Me about to lose my voice from too much "Bad Mommy" yelling and a tension headache
And yippee, it's bath night! *sarcasm*

Can I go to the Bahamas now?

Katie at 4:51 PM

I suppose I forgot to mention the project I've been working on... I made quilts for the kids! The Sunday before the gerbils died, we all went to JoAnn's so the kids could pick out their fabrics. I decided I was going very simple, 3 fabrics per child- 2 for the front and 1 for the back. And just squares, no fancy rings or even triangles. 80 five and a half inch squares per quilt yielded about a 40"x60" blanket. Oh my, I cut and sewed 400 squares? I hate math sometimes.

From left to right:

Zach's -he wanted an American flag theme, hence the stars with red and blue. The gold back isn't so garish in real life, I think the camera flash did that.

Emily's -I bit my tongue when she picked out this color combination but it's her quilt. I did however quickly steer her away from the $9 a yard Batik fabrics.

Ally's -Going in she said she wanted purple, pink, and red. And there you have it.

Kyle's -Sponge Bob! And then his favorite colors red and green, actually in the same pattern by complete coincidence. By that point I had over a dozen fabric bolts in the cart so I didn't notice until we were home.

Kelly's -This one is my favorite. She picked out the pink (with small hearts and stars) and blue (ladybugs and daisies) fabrics by herself and I chose the yellow and lavender butterfly back.

Which brings me to a volunteer project I want to try: Project Linus. They accept handmade blankets and quilts to give to children in need. There's a couple of local chapters here, I plan to contact them by the end of the week. So if I disappear again for a few days, I'm either sick (still!) or making more quilts. Although I'm not sure I'll let Emily pick out the fabrics. hehe

Katie at 9:23 AM

Monday, January 24, 2005

Hey now, I'd never replace blogging with a computer game! Besides the down time with the computer rebuild, we were out of town all weekend, I've been sick, and the kids have been sick. It kinda sounds like a TB ward around here at the moment. And don't get me started on the freaking snow. I tried to suck up my hatred for the cold white stuff and let the kids play outside Friday. The result was 45 minutes of pure hell. 5 of which were actually spent outside in the snow.

So in summary, I'm still here, I hate snow, the kids and I have colds and coughs, and I promise to blog more once I get the laundry, housework, school papers, grocery shopping, and everything else caught up. Happy Monday!

Katie at 11:42 AM

Friday, January 21, 2005

Sort of off-line at the moment... Greg reloaded Windows XP last night (Pro addition, I was running Home) to fix some issues I was having running two particular programs at once. So now I'm trying to reload all my software (Photoshop, Word, scrapbooking software) and redownload any programs I forgot to burn to a cd (Google Toolbar, SpyBot). And yep, the two particular programs now run smoothly with each other.

The kids are off school because of snow so it should make for an interesting day.

Katie at 11:30 AM

Thursday, January 20, 2005

I finally caught what the kids had last week. I slept with 3 blankets and a sheet last night and was still cold. Yuck. And oh yeah, I have a dentist appointment in half an hour. Yippy skippy...

Quote of the Day: "When in doubt, wear red." -Bill Blass

Katie at 8:57 AM

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

I think I'm due for some fluffy quiz type stuff. Thanks Melissa!

You Are 25 Years Old

25

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

What Age Do You Act?

Katie at 9:21 AM

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Ow... My aching head. Could we please start today over? Because first I would not stay up until 2 in the morning playing Everquest. Or drink 3 Smirnoff Triple Blacks while doing so.

The alarm went off at some ungodly early hour (okay 7:45 am, so sue me) and Kyle immediately pops out of bed. And then Kelly does. And she takes her diaper off and pees on the carpet. Not to be left out, Kyle wets his pants.

Kyle doesn't want plain Cheerios for breakfast, only Honey Nut which I don't have. We're also out of baby carrots for Zach's snack, he pouted as I shoved a nutri-grain bar in his backpack. Mental note: go grocery shopping.

Out to the van and it is fucking cold. Yeah I know I don't usually curse here but I did a hell of a lot of it this morning. It's 1 degree Fahrenheit for pete's sake! (That's negative 18 for you Celsius people.) And of course the windshield was frosted and guess what, I can't fricking reach it with the piddly tiny six inch scraper I stole from Greg's Jeep. Mental note: buy a new scraper. I also forgot my mittens in the house, my finger tips were already numb and the bright sunshine (haven't seen that in weeks!) was hurting my squinty "I have a mild hangover and I'm not awake yet" eyes.

Finally I cleared a tiny little patch of window (did I mention I was in my PJ's with a coat?) and we're off to school. We pulled into the parking lot with a few minutes to spare until late bell and Emily said "I forgot my backpack at home."

Yeah I totally need a do over.

Katie at 9:33 AM

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Ah... So yesterday was pretty normal and calm. Well as normal and calm as things get around here. I did some cleaning and laundry, the kids played, Greg napped (hehe), and the in-laws came over for dinner. The twins went home with them for a sleepover and Greg's sister is taking them to lunch and a matinee today. It's very weird only having 3. Poor Kelly is so lost without her big sisters. This morning she climbed out of her crib and had to bang on the bedroom door because Em and Ally weren't there to open it (all 3 share a room). hehe

Today's plans (hold onto your seats, this is exciting!), I plan to reorganize the kids' closets and dresser drawers, read the Sunday paper, and make a quick trip to JoAnn's Fabrics. It's not a sun filled day on the beach but at least it's better than feverish children and dead gerbils.

Katie at 10:39 AM

Friday, January 14, 2005

Random Stuff

TGIF!

Does anyone else think my archives list (lower left hand column) looks like half of a curvy woman's figure? Or maybe Greg just needs to come home.

4 out of 5 kids had the fever thing this week. Emily is holding out. Which is good because I forgot to buy more Children's Motrin at the store yesterday when I bought dog food.

I'm a "Slithering Reptile" in the Blogosphere Ecosystem (lower right hand column if you want to track my evolution). I guess they measure how many people link you. Interesting... I'm just glad I'm not an "Insignificant Microbe".

I've updated my blogroll list and oh boy, is it getting long! Actually I think I'm missing a few people, so feel free to comment and bonk me over the head for not linking your wonderful site.

This weekend's plans: Nothing! The kids have Monday off school too.

And now I must finish my mountain of laundry. I'm down to a load of towels and a load of jeans. The end is in sight! Ignoring of course the pile of clothes the kids made yesterday at bedtime. And that Greg will arrive home tonight with another basket full. Sheesh!

Quote of the Day: "Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead." -Mac McCleary

Katie at 8:57 AM

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Okay I need a "let's pretend" moment. Let's pretend there isn't a stack of laundry taller than myself and that the kids aren't all running fevers and demanding water and damp cool washcloths every 5 minutes. Let's pretend the house is clean and tidy and a fabulous healthy dinner will be served tonight. Let's pretend I'm well-rested and showered and wearing clothes that haven't been worn 3 days in a row (which will be easy since we pretended all the laundry was done).

Now the good part. We are all on a nice tropical island. No kids, no bills, no phones, no annoying vacuum salesman at the door, no deadlines, no work, no toys to pick up. We are all tanned and healthy and happy. Our days consist of sleeping in, eating breakfast in bed, lounging around surfing the internet on the beach with our brand spanking new laptops with wireless connections. There's always lovely music and cabana boys (cabana girls for the guys, I suppose) and an open bar. The beautiful blue sky stretches as far as the eye can see, the soft sand is warm between your toes, the soothing island breeze tickles your skin, the cabana boy (girl) serves delicious fruity drinks with little umbrellas, and the slightly salty scent of the ocean calms your nerves.

Got it? That's where I am today. Not in a house with sick kids, no dog food, a mound of laundry, sticky stuff on the kitchen floor, bills to pay, and dinner plans of frozen pizza.

Quote of the Day: "Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change." -Author Unknown

Katie at 9:03 AM

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

As if yesterday wasn't fun enough, Kyle and Kelly both came down with fevers last night. Kyle woke me up a few times being crabby and crying. There's nothing like consoling a delusional sick 3 year old at 4 in the morning when you're only half awake yourself.

I think the general consensus on the gerbil wipeout is that Zach transmitted whatever he had on Sunday to them. I'm of course not telling him that but after some research it seems that gerbils can catch the common cold/flu bug and that they have crappy low immune systems. Who knew?

So today's plans are kinda thrown out the window since Kyle and Kelly just want to sit on me. Stay tuned, I'm sure Emily and Ally will be sick by Friday. The kicker is, when do I catch it?

Katie at 10:27 AM

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Rest In Peace

"The Berbils"
Rosie, Blackie, and Spot
Feb 2004 - Jan 11,2005

I'm as shocked as you are. They are all dead. And no wacky bloody cannibalism Chain Saw massacre either. It's like they died in their sleep overnight.

Ally brought this to my attention after lunch. "Mom, look! Spot is all flat and funny looking!" I looked and almost lost my lunch. So I rushed her and the other kids into the van to take her to kindergarten five minutes early. And then I called Greg. "Fly home from your very important sales meeting in Florida right now, the gerbils are dead!"

I don't like dead things. I can deal with blood, puke, poop, mud, rotten moldy food, natural disasters, and Tickle Me Elmo but dead stuff, I'll be over here in the corner tossing my cookies. Three dead gerbils in my foyer? I'm still gagging.

The next thought was WTF? All three mysteriously died overnight? Zach was just playing with them on Sunday. Greg suggested I call the vet and pediatrician to make sure the kids couldn't catch some freaky rodent killing virus. 3 vets had no clue (although one offered a $200 autopsy and lab tissue samples) and the nurse at the ped's office could only recommend the kids not touch the dead gerbils. No shit, Sherlock. Greg also suggested I move the CO detector over by the tank just in case. Nope, it still reads zero.

As much as I pleaded, Greg couldn't come home to take care of the disposal. So since I didn't want the kids coming home to "flat and funny looking" motionless pets, I summoned up the courage to move them into a paper bag. I've washed my hands fifty zillion times since. And then I buried them near the lilacs on the side of the house. One good thing about the fact it hasn't stopped raining since December, the ground was super soft and it was the fastest funeral on record.

The kids... *heavy sad sighs* They are okay. Zach and Ally cried a bit, Em was oddly neutral and kept asking Ally what Spot looked like. Kyle and Kelly of course could care less. Me? I've completely lost my appetite and am still asking WTF?

Katie at 4:41 PM

Ack, where did Monday go? And why does it still feel life Monday? I have no clue what is so magical about Mondays that I wake up and all of a sudden I have six million and two things to do that weren't on my to-do list on Sunday. And dang it, I didn't get all six million and two things done yesterday, here's today's list:

Email Greg- Check!
Grocery shopping
Target shopping (kids need new jeans and they are on sale!)
Call Best Buy about van dvd player (I tried once and they weren't open yet)
Laundry
Shower (seriously I have to write this one down or I'll forget, it's terrible)
Decline QPB book club monthly selection
Clean bathrooms
Blog- Check!
Talk to Emily's teacher about setting up a date to talk about Emily's progress (talk, talk, talk)
Make pizza dough so the kids can make their own pizzas for dinner (which I promised for yesterday's dinner and then realized at 5:30pm that the dough needs two hours to rise. Doh!)
PTO meeting at 7pm? (I need to look up the dates, this may be next Tuesday)

You notice "make dentist appointment" isn't on the list. Because I actually did that one yesterday! Go me! Course now I'm dreading Thursday Jan 20th at 9:45 am.

Oh yeah, Zach's fever went away by Monday morning although he's developed a sore throat and cough. No one else seems sick yet. Yet being the key word there.

Katie at 9:26 AM

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Doh! I totally jinxed myself in this morning's entry. Not a half an hour after I hit "publish post", Zach told me his head and stomach hurt. His ears were red which is a sure sign of a fever (Greg's ears do the same thing). Yep, 102.2F *sigh* Did I mentioned Greg's gone until late Friday night? *double sigh*

Katie at 12:10 PM

Today's off to a slow start. Especially since it started at 5am when Greg's alarm went off. Then I remember him saying "I'm leaving" and I hugged him. But I don't remember what he was wearing and that bugs me because what if something happens and they (whoever they are) ask me what he was wearing and I don't know? I think it was his black shirt and jeans. But maybe I'm just saying black because the room was dark. Yes, I have this annoying need to know what everyone is wearing when they leave the house, just humor me.

And then I fell back asleep for a nanosecond to be woken up by the twins laughing and jumping on their bed. *grumbles* The clock said 6-something. I actually got out of bed and told them to go back to sleep instead of yelling from my room like I usually do. In hopes that if I didn't yell, the boys wouldn't wake up. Back to sleep for another nanosecond...

The next part is foggy because I was really tired (I haven't slept well lately) and it involved a stinky diaper, the bathroom sink and cupfuls of water, more bed jumping, and have I mentioned it wasn't even daylight yet? *sigh* So grumpy mommy feed them cereal for breakfast instead of pancakes and sausage as promised.

Now they are happily playing Connect 4 and Legos and I'm propping my eyelids open with toothpicks. *yawn* I have to say my saving grace this morning has been my blogroll. Thank you, thank you, I *heart* you all. The funny ones made me laugh and smile, the sick posts made me grateful that at least no one is puking (*knocks on wood*), and all the rest in the same boat as me made me feel not so alone. Which for me and my phobia of being alone (and dentists) is a godsend. Ah, the internet, it's a wonderful thing.

Quote of the Day: "Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. 'Pooh!' he whispered. 'Yes, Piglet?' 'Nothing,' said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. 'I just wanted to be sure of you.'" -A.A. Milne

Katie at 10:22 AM

Friday, January 07, 2005

Happy 1st Friday of the year! I hope you all have big plans for the day because I have nothing. Oh wait, I still have those dentist appointments to make. And dry cleaning to drop off. Let me tell you, I'm a wild woman. Me on my cell phone sweating out calls while driving the van to the dry cleaners. Watch out world!

Anyone have great weekend plans? Cause again I have nothing. Greg flies to Fort Lauderdale Sunday morning. For a sales meeting. So he says. He just got back from Georgia and hasn't stopped shivering (current temp here: below freezing). We are at that time of year again where he bases his business travel on temperature (well not really but it seems like it): "Sure I can fly out next Thursday. To where? North Dakota? Uh, something's come up, can't make it. But I'm free to go to San Diego on the 20th." **

So dazzle me with your exciting Friday and weekend plans. I'll bring the hot chocolate and stale Christmas cookies.

Quote of the Day: "It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious." -Oscar Wilde

**Note to anyone at Greg's work who reads this: I'm kidding! He really wants to go to North Dakota, I'm packing his bags right now. hehe

Katie at 9:32 AM

Thursday, January 06, 2005

So the New Year Cheer lasted approximately six days and seven hours. *grumbles* I'm mostly blaming my crabby mood on the fact that it has not stopped raining for five days. Thanks Kym for pointing out why. Can't imagine how constant near freezing water drizzling down from gray skies for days on end would dampen anyone's mood. *sarcasm* Luckily the forecast says it's suppose to clear up today so I'm not searching the internet for plans on how to turn our 12 passenger van into a floating ark.

I don't suppose I could blame my crabby mood on the fact that I have to make 2 dentist appointments today (yeah didn't do it yesterday Greg, surprise, surprise...). One to have excess gum removed from around my broken molar (doesn't that sound perfectly delightful?) and the second for a root canal on the same molar. And eventually another appointment for a crown over said root canal. I've been putting this off for forever (like 4 years) because it's not causing any pain and I hate any form of dentist. Yeah I know, suck it up and do it. Although I'd rather have kidney stones and labor contractions at the same time instead.

Maybe my mood is due to the fact that I had nightmares all night and then since the kids have a 2 hour school delay this morning (due to the rain? flooding? teachers are sick of the students already?), they woke me up an hour earlier than our usual wake up time. Pass the Mountain Dew.

Which brings me to my next possible reason for my crabby mood. I'm feeling very fat. I've gained 4 pounds since last year at this time. And I was already about 10 pounds overweight then. The extra weight has settled in the love handle area and my knees. I have no clue why my knees but they are chubby and dimply looking. This is getting me down mentally because I'm used to being able to do anything I want without much effort. Sew dresses for an entire wedding party, sure! Take five kids to the grocery, no problem. Keep a family of seven's laundry caught up, piece of cake. Lose 10 pounds? Nope, gained 4... I'm not a patient person and losing weight is definitely a long term test of my endurance. Eat less, exercise more. Those are the four cruelest, most difficult words ever spoken.

Okay now you can all nominate me for crabby woman of the year, voting booths to your right. Take an umbrella, some leftover Christmas candy, a piece of chocolate cheesecake, and a Mountain Dew on your way out please. My waistline can't take anymore.

Katie at 11:09 AM

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Christmas Pictures

(Alternate Title: Life is back to normal, aka boring so I don't have anything interesting to say today.)

Zach: "It's clothes, ARGH! Smile big and pretend to like it."

Emily and Ally: "Can we open gifts yet?!?!"

Kyle. He takes present opening very seriously.

Kelly with her newest baby doll and stroller.

You'll notice I didn't include a picture of them all together in their Christmas outfits. It's not that I didn't try but you wanna know how hard it is to get 5 children to hold still together, face forward, and not pick on each other for 2 seconds? Let's just say, I think we may land on Mars before that happens. Also all these pictures were taken at my in-laws house. Mine's not quite so colorful and dust-free.

Katie at 1:21 PM

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Ahhh... Do you feel that? It's life becoming normal again. The laundry is caught up, the kids are in school, the holiday insanity is over. Ahhh...

Don't get me wrong, I love having the kids home and Christmas and New Years are fun too. But shove all those together with house guests, out of state traveling, shopping, and extra laundry and it's a bit too much. I don't like living under pressure and the last month felt like I carrying a two ton boulder on my back as I went through all my daily activities.

And now sweet blissful nothing. *smiles* We don't have weekend plans as far as the eye can see. There's nothing that needs to be bought and no traveling far, far away with the kids. Some may find that sad because we don't have anything to look forward to. But I look at it as freeing. There's no obligations, we can do whatever we please with our weekends. There's no holiday outfits to make or buy, I can make whatever craft project I want and completely avoid the mall. Free!

So with all this "free" time, I plan to start scrapbooking again. I haven't since September (minus that one page Snapper asked for) so now I'm more behind. I deleted my "Art" section in the right hand column here, it was making me feel too guilty. No number of pages goals this year but I would like to catch up to six months behind. I'm currently working on Sept 2003. I make scrapbooks for all 5 children by the way, some pages the same, some layouts different.

Writing, I'm putting aside for a bit. I've kinda lost the spark. The game Everquest 2 is probably partially to blame for that. If I can tear myself away from my computer/scrapbook desk, I'd like to make simple quilts for each of the kids. I also bought plain stockings on clearance yesterday that I want to decorate before next Christmas. (How much you wanna bet I start those on Dec 20, 2005? *winks*)

So while not resolutions, those are a few of my goals for the year. I'm feeling very positive about this new year, I think it's going to be a great one.

Katie at 12:18 AM

Monday, January 03, 2005

So I've been thinking (bear with me now, I tend to get philosophical at the start of a new year), I need a Cause. You know, like First Ladies and Miss America pageant contestants.

I've always tried to be volunteer oriented, I was in Octagon Club in high school (teenagers version of the Optimist Club) and in college, I was a co-founder of the university's branch of Habitat for Humanity. Since having kids, I've tapered off on hands-on volunteering and have switched to mostly money donations. Which is fine and all but I like doing stuff. The school PTO is fun but they really don't do anything beyond the Halloween carnival and Market Day. So while I help as much as I can with the PTO, there's simply not much to do.

As silly as it sounds, there's a part of me wistful of those who are in Asia cleaning up the tsunami aftermath. Give me a shovel, I'll clear away the mud. I'll sort clothes to give out to the families. I'll play with the children while their parents find what's left of their lives and mourn those lost. I want to do something to help beyond a money donation.

Looking back, I wish I could have joined the Peace Corp or Red Cross for a few years before having a family. I can't drop everything and fly thousands of miles to help right now. Well technically I could but I wouldn't do that to Greg and the kids, they need me more at this point. 20 years, I tell myself. Then I can drop everything and fly thousands of miles to help.

So in the time being I need a local Cause. While I'm good at organization, I'd rather do the grunt work and have someone else tell me what to do instead of me try to get everyone else to work. Except I don't even know where to begin to look for a Cause. Any ideas?

Quote of the Day: "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth." -Mohammed Ali

Katie at 11:32 AM

Sunday, January 02, 2005

New Year's Resolutions

Is it bad to start off the new year procrastinating New Year's Resolutions? I have excuses, does that make it better? My sister, her husband, their friend, my brother, my other sister, and her boyfriend just left this afternoon. So there, no time to make resolutions. Until now. Hmm...

I got it! My new Franklin Covey dayplanner hasn't arrived yet. How am I suppose to make a list of resolutions without a good place to write them down? Cause if I write them on a random piece of paper it'll get lost or thrown away like my in-law's concert tickets (oops!) and then it'll be like I never made them in the first place. See I'm saving myself the wasted effort. I'm all about making the best use of my time.

I guess the real reason I haven't made any resolutions is because I haven't found the time to stop and think. In the craziness of December, it's "do this, buy that, go there." And then something happened that put all those cluttered, self centered point of views into perspective. A 9.0 earthquake, a devastating tsunami, and the loss of 150,000 people.

So it may be cheating but I'm only making one resolution this year:

Enjoy life.

To help, go here: American Red Cross

Katie at 4:49 PM

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