Hanging with Babcia

My kids like to lounge around and play in the morning.......drink their milk and juice..........but Babcia always seems to get stressed out if they don't eat right away.........so here they are eating, and getting into it!

they just love to get jelly ALL over their faces! (This is Cameron)

Sidney's usually all about the jelly too, but here she opted for peanut butter

is it just a grandma thing to feed you?

I just laughed at the jelly on Carter's nose here.

Hugs!

Fight for our Children

I don't usually put things on here like this, but a friend of mine sent me this and I believe in supporting anything for the better of our, or any children.


Hello all.
I am writing to inform you of State budget cuts that will have an enormous effect statewide on children with disabilities. As we well know, there is a budget crisis in Arizona. The state legislature has taken action by passing cuts to children's therapy and other intervention services that will leave thousands and thousands of children without services that are vital to their development. This new cut will force therapy services to be discontinued to children who are 0-3 years (who are not approved for long term care). These years have the greatest potential to change the course of lives. Taking these services will be devastating to literally THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of children's futures who will no longer receive the care they desperately need. It is absolutely astounding that our legislature could literally take futures away from helpless children. Not only will children lose services, but families as a whole will be greatly affected as well. These families will lose help and HOPE for a 'normal' future for their children. So, why am I writing this today...we need YOUR HELP! I am BEGGING for your assistance in helping us fight this fight - to reinstate these programs that are absolutely essential for children to thrive and progress to independence. Here is my request:

1. Pass this on to everyone you know. Ask them to help us fight for our children!

2. PLEASE, PLEASE come to a rally this Thursday, the 26th, at 11am, at the State Capitol. The Capitol is located at 1700 W. Washington, Phoenix, 85007. If you can take off work or find someone to watch your child/children, please join us. We are desperate for the help of Arizona citizens to protect children in our state! We need numbers - HUGE numbers to show on Thursday!!!! I am absolutely begging you to come - whether you have an interest in this issue or not, please come and be a body at the Capitol. There is also a DES budget cut meeting (a public hearing) right after the rally, that you may attend - at 2pm. *please see below for details.

*If you cannot attend this Rally, there is another scheduled for March 4th at 4pm at the Capitol. Please attend one or both!!!!

3. If you have interest in this issue, please write a letter to our state legislators. The democratic party is on our side here, however the republicans are making these cuts. The following people are the most important to contact:

1. Governor Jan Brewer: 602.542.4331 or 1.800.253.0883. You may also follow this link to write to the Governor: http://azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp. Let her know you are concerned for the children in our state, ask her to accept the stimulus money and use it to reinstate children's services. (it can be one paragraph or a story, but please write!)
2. Russell Pearce (Republican Senator District 18): 602.926.5760, rpearce@azleg.gov. He is the one leading the Rep. side of the cuts. Let him know that this will be devastating to children statewide.
3. Al Melvin (Republican Senator District 26): 602.926.4326, amelvin@azleg.gov

3. If you would like to write a letter, but aren't sure about submitting online, you may email it to me. I will be attending a meeting on Thurs. (after the Rally) and would love to hand deliver any/all letters directly to the legislature.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer. And please come show support and be the voice for our CHILDREN!!!

Thanks so much in advance!

Melissa/Missy Babel
Building Blocks Pediatric Therapy, Inc.

Classmate's Birthday Party

Sidney and Kendall were both invited to a birthday party for one of their classmates. Both girls had a great time...........and since they knew almost all of the kids there Mommy and Auntie actually got to talk to some of the other Mommies there too!

swings and bouncies.......the kids were in heaven!

Here's Sidney having fun with another one of her classmates in the bouncy

bouncy, bouncy

oh yes.............and we can't forget bubbles!

The kids just ran and were going to whole time. They had soooooo much fun!!!!

The Boys Playing

More pics of the boys......

hanging out with Papa on their patio before family dinner (Carter is on the Left, Cameron is on the Right)

Papa is getting a work out trying to hold both boys at once.......they don't seem to realize that together they are now over 60lbs!

they must have cars with them..........ALWAYS...........Mommy doesn't mind too much, as long as they are eating!

his truck was carrying his chicken nuggets........I thought it was too cute!!

We met some friends at the park this past week................while Marianna was playing with Sidney Carter was playing with all her cars.

a little girl got off of this trike-type-toy and then you couldn't get Cameron off of it! He absolutely LOVED it!!!!!!! I like that it is fairly small too, so easy to take along to the park......but there weren't any markings on it to tell what it was called..........because I would seriously consider getting one of these!!!!! Or maybe two...........or three! (Mommy HATES fighting....and whining & crying!)

We went to a park last week with the MOMS club too........we've gone quite a bit lately, as it's been so nice out.

Carter was going down the slide, then running out towards me and around to the stairs........to do it all again!

the kids are really liking playing with these tunnels this year......here Carter gets to explore before big sister Sidney kicks him out of the center circle.

Around the house 2/09

I just get a kick out of the kids on a daily basis....

the boys and their burp cloths......here's Carter gathering his up

they love to keep getting more out, even if they already have some..... they will both fill up their arms to capacity

Carter.......his fingers.......and his burp cloths.................now he just wants Mommy to hold him. (he's still my lover baby!)

Here's Cameron sitting on Sidney's potty...........they are both so into the tv..........now Sidney asks for her potty chair out in the living room all the time......so she Doesn't miss a minute of Playhouse Disney!

Sometimes when I'm working in the office late at night I will listen to the tv with the headphones......Sidney saw them sitting there and wanted to watch Playhouse Disney with them on. (these days it's difficult to get her to keep any clothes on!)

The Girls Playing Together

Sidney just LOVES playing with her cousins..............every time we go somewhere she asks "Withe Madeline and Kendall?"

Maddie and Sidney playing at Grandma's house for Sunday Family dinner

Kendall and Sidney looking cute, on their way to preschool

I'm not quite sure what they were doing here??????? Playing leap frog?

the girls are ready to rock out the show

Family Movie Night

My sister started doing family movie nights once a week.................we thought the idea sounded good, so we copied her. We've only done it once, but plan to do it about every other week. Our first one was a success. We actually watched a movie we already had....."Hercules." Sidney had seen it before, but the boys hadn't. They all were very into it and loved their popcorn........

and loved to get it all over the place too! They were even eating it off of the floor.......let's just pretend that the carpets are clean........at least we've had them cleaned recently.......I'm not sure how to solve the spilling of the popcorn problem, but at least it vacuums right up........the kids had fun and didn't do it on purpose, so I wasn't sweating it.

Bouncing Birthday Party

A couple of weeks ago Sidney got to go to a birthday party with her cousins.......it's kind of the same now, as when we were growing up........my sister's friends know me pretty well, and my friends know her.......so I knew this family too and since I was watching my nieces that day and they had room, Sidney got to come along. We've been to a couple of birthdays at bouncy places and the kids always love them!

Ok, so he has her eyes closed in this one.......I just marvel at how big she is and how she can just zip right up these and doesn't even look back to see where I am.....

Sidney was ready.......apparently Madeline wasn't quite...........as Sidney drags her down the slide

all three girls, posing so nicely

it's kind of hard to tell, but she was actually up in the air in this picture......just coming back down

for some reason the girls always have to get a little time in in the baby are too each time

Boys will be boys

Some times you've just got to laugh at the things kids do........

I think it's just so cute when they chase each other around and giggle......just don't look at my piles of stuff everywhere! I have actually gone through some it recently.......we're working on getting rid of the clutter.

Mommy was not very happy with this scenario.......but what can you do? What's done is done..............we REALLY need to get a lock on the pantry door! Sidney saw me get the camera out, so she had to be in the picture too...........she's half-n@ked again.......it's impossible to get her keep her clothes on these days.......she thinks it's warm out or something? (not to us!)

The kids, especially the boys, like to roll off the end of the couch, onto the big stuffed dog........and what ever other stuffed animals or pillows are there.......unfortunately, this time Cameron got a little hurt, I'm not really sure how, but it's cute to see them rolling over the edge.....it just gives you an idea of the fun things they do.

Updating

Ok, I got the ones posted that I had started a week and a half ago.........but, of course I have taken more pics and video of the kids, so I'll try to update those when I can.
I have been taking pictures of some of my pictures from when I lived in Hawaii, (as my scanner doesn't work with Vista), so I've been editing them and remembering some very good times. Once I get that all done I may post some of them here.
Take care, I hope everyone is well........my neck is feeling much better, but a massage would still be wonderful!

Playing with a Box

I finally got this box/tote down out of the garage when I was cleaning it out........I wanted to put all of Sidney's school art projects in it, as you can see - behind them, the box that I keep the craft stuff in was overflowing....

who needs lots of toys when you can play in a box?

Carter was playing peek-a-boo with me here

My boys.......Cameron's on he left and Carter's on the right......they are getting so big!

Sidney and Aiden

The neighbor's son, Aiden, lives right across the street...........and he is a January b'day too.......he's exactly in the middle of Sidney and Carter and Cameron, but usually plays with Sidney. We're always saying that we should get the kids together more to play, as every time we both happen to be out in front of our houses at the same time the kids always run around together.......so a couple of weeks ago we had Aiden over to play........the kids had a blast.

now all the kids are really getting into these tunnels this year


Sidney is saying "cheeeeese" here

then they were playing in the garage........

the kids just love playing in the garage ever since I cleaned it up and backed the car out one day and let them run around in there, so they have been doing it a lot lately.

The Kids Helping Mommy Around the House

I haven't been vacuuming as much lately, for some reason...............could it be that Mommy is just too crazy busy to do much of anything these days? I should be vacuuming even more now, with the puppy.............but this day they decided that it looked pretty darn fun and wanted to help.

"Look Mommy, it reaches all the way over here!"

Sidney was over it pretty fast, but the boys were really interested in playing with it

at one point they even took the attachment away and did NOT want to give it back!

Here's just a cute pic with Roman and Sidney........I'm not sure why I put it with this one?(I started these posts a week and a half ago)......I think it's the same day

Cars of ANY Type

I thought this was too cute.............a couple of weeks ago Carter got the car section of the paper and was really studying it.............doing his "Ohhhhhh!" And saying "CARS!"

"this is soooooo fascinating!"

"Oooooohhhhh, look........more cars, and more cars..................I think we should get this one Mommy!"

then of course.................getting ready to watch their FAVORITE movie........CARS!!!! (today they were even watching NASCAR with Daddy.......very intently, I might add.)

Now Mommy is in Pain

I'm guessing it's from the many nights in a row of bending over the boys cribs, picking them up, holding them in awkward positions...........and especially the leaning over to lay them back down in their cribs. My shoulders and neck are killing me!!! It felt tight yesterday, but today it's hard to move. I can't turn my head and everything is tightening up and pulling my head down towards my chest...............it's the same thing that happened 10+ years ago, when I hurt my back in-between my shoulder blades, when I lived in Hawaii. And it keeps getting worse........this evening I was getting spasms and shooting pain in my shoulders & upper back. The major bummer part too is that my chiropractor is not opened on Fridays. I've iced my back three times today, and Czeslawa even climbed the stairs to help Roman bathe the kids, as I just couldn't do it. I have been getting the chills a lot lately the past few days and am hoping and praying that I don't get sick! I really would love to take a nice hot bath too, but that would require me to vacuum out the tub, as the cat's food and water are in there since we got the dog, and she gets food crumbs all over..........not to mention cat hair.
On a more positive note...............the kids seem to be doing better. Carter slept all night last night. Sidney only woke up once (and came and slept with us, but I was too tired to fight it and actually managed to get a little more sleep in.) Cameron slept most of the night........I guess he woke up at 6am, but I didn't hear him, even with our door opened & their door cracked. We have the humidifiers going though in all the bedrooms and the monitor must have been turned down too low. We were all just so exhausted............Czeslawa ventured the stairs again (she has arthritis in her hips and it really bothers them going up and down the stairs), and woke Roman up - who had over slept (and I slept right through that too), and settled Cameron. I had taken a Benadryl to help me sleep, (as I was up late paying bills), and it still took me over 1/2 hr. to fall asleep. It was almost 1am before I crashed out.
I also FINALLY got my Thank you cards done today while the boys were sleeping and Czeslawa was working with Sidney on her letters on her game/keyboard thing. I also was able to cross a couple of other items/paperwork type things off my list this afternoon too, so that felt good.
Hopefully I will be feeling better soon and can get............dare I say it?.......caught up?.........of course, now the laundry is stacking up again, and Sidney thought that it would be fun to try on all of Mommy's clothes that I had hanging off the ironing board the other day............I was sooooooo close to being caught up on ALL the laundry..........mending (done mostly by Czeslawa), folding, hanging, ironing, putting away................but alas, it has been just out of reach again. Plus, now I need to wash all the kids linens.................and today Sidney and Kendall thought it would be fun to unmake my bed and get lotion all over it!!!!!!! Boy, those girls were so mischievous this afternoon!!!!! I think they were just a little over excited from having Papa and Babcia come to their class for an hour today! Let's just pray that when I wake up tomorrow...............all will be better! (Hey, I can dream, right?!)
Oh.......and I STILL haven't made it to the store! The list just keeps getting longer and longer....but now, with my neck all jacked, there is no way I could push around a VERY full cart of groceries and toiletries..........I'm guessing this weekend...........till then we'll be scrounging whatever we can put together out of the pantry. (We're out of almost everything!)

Birthday Thank Yous

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the kids gifts for their birthday. We really enjoyed seeing everyone and the kids were so excited to play and see their friends and had fun opening their gifts. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get the thank you cards out. They are at least addressed.......now I just need to write them.................so until then
"THANK YOU!!"

And the Verdict is..........

I caved and took the kids to the Dr's. I used the "make an appt. for one, but take them all in and have them all looked at scheme." If I try to make an appt. for all three of them at once, they freak out and we would never get in............but if they're all there anyway.........while the Dr. is in the room I have her check out all three of them! All three have congested/wheezing lungs.....the worst of which is Sidney's.................Cameron has an ear infection in one ear (hence the not being able to sleep..................and the screaming), and Carter, whom I thought was getting better, has ear infections in both ears! Boy do I feel like a crappy Mom for waiting so long to take them in. So....................$80 later in medicines and all of three of them are now on breathing treatments three times a day and all three are on an antibiotic twice a day, for 10 days. I am so exhausted I swear I'm going to pass out at any second. Cameron fell asleep in the car on the way home......poor little guy. I need to give Sidney and Carter their antibiotic.......and a breathing treatment, get Carter down for a nap, Sidney in a quiet time and go to the store. I desperately want to take a nap, but have been putting off going to the store for a couple of days now and the list is huge again..................Wal-mart just loves us!

No Sleep for Mommy

I wasn't even asleep yet, when Cameron woke up screaming.......I couldn't get him to calm down, so I took him downstairs to get him some milk and juice (and sometimes getting out of their room, in a different environment will calm them down), .........nope, he kicked and screamed, with tears and everything for over 10 minutes. He wouldn't take anything to drink and did the little I'm mad dance in the kitchen when I tried to set him down so that I could fill up his sippy cups. I finally got him to calm down by putting on a Baby Einstein and dancing with him in my arms to the music. We ended up watching it twice................and reading a book and he wanted to play with his big, musical cars.......but I laid him back down. Then, I hadn't fallen asleep yet again and Carter wakes up a little after 1am......................then Cameron woke up again just before 2am.......so here I am.............still awake.....deliriously tired and no sleep in sight!

2:30am...............Cameron's awake again...........I tried to pat his back and do the "shhhhh, shhh, shhh"...no luck. I had to pick him up.................yet again and rock him........plus, somewhere in there was a paci plug and one time I actually rubbed his back and did the shhh thing and got him to go back to sleep. Too bad, if I'm going to be awake, that I'm too frickin' exhausted.......and by this point, just plain mad, to actually get something productive done.
Carter woke up around 3am.....................then Cameron again at 3:30am. I finally brought him into Sidney's room with me. He still kept waking up about every half an hour.....but at least I didn't have to keep getting up and rocking him.....I would just help him find his burp cloth, rub his back, do the shhhh, shhhh, shhh thing and try to get him to go back to sleep..........I lost track of how many times he woke up....I would say at least 20 times for Cameron........and who knows for Carter. I went to check on Sidney in our room at one point.........and she was sleeping soundly, thank goodness. She slept until 8am, which is really good for her.....she needs it. Needless to say..... we will not be going to our MOMS Club event today...................and now we are making the trip to the Dr.......my eyes feel like their practically swollen shut. I desperately need to make it to the store today too. I just went a week ago and we already have a very lengthy list going!
A shower is desperately needed in there sometime too..............it doesn't look like I will get a nap in today.............but I'm going to make sure that we ALL are in bed early tonight!!!!!!

PS - Sorry if it jumps around, or doesn't make sense............I was a bit delirious......and wrote it at a few different times..................then this morning the cursor was really jumping around.......yet another thing I need to have looked at.
So there's our not-so-pleasant life right now.........................a friend of mine from high school said...."Shared joy is greattened, shared pain is lessened."...........a wise man!

Update on the Chest Colds

Last night kind of went like I thought it would..........Sidney was up again at 3am........ & she took quite awhile to go back to sleep. I was in there until 5am and I guess that Cameron was up at 4am, but I didn't hear him. Then Sidney came in our room and laid we with at about 6am. Cameron was up just before 7am, but seemed ok.......well, that didn't last long..........Sidney did not go to school today, but I had to work in the classroom and take Kendall anyway, as Jason has meetings on Tuesday mornings for a couple of months. The boys had already eaten lunch by the time I got home, so I laid Cameron down shortly after I got settled. I was in there like four times, rocking him in the glider.....trying to lay him down, but he kept crying and wanted me to pick him up. I thought at one point that he had gone down, so I fed the girls, ate some lunch and was going to lay Carter down (he actually slept in today..... & Sidney too, until about 8am, which is good for her!) I rocked them both......back and forth, back and forth............they don't seem to get that they are too big for me to hold and rock them both now..........I was exhausted from the past couple of nights and gave up and went into my room to lay down while the girls were watching a video for their quiet time.......I turned the monitor off after about 20 minutes and prayed that he would go to sleep........no such luck. Czeslawa went in to comfort him, but he was awake...............I don't think he napped at all! She took him downstairs while I tried to get some rest......I felt like I was really restlessly sleeping......I kept waking up, but was just so exhausted I would fall back to sleep. At one point Sidney and Cameron came into my room, got something out of my closet....probably some of my shoes........and then left......without coming over to wake me up........a while later I finally made myself get up. I was still completely wiped out. I felt like I could have just slept all night.

Tonight was supposed to be my Mom's night out and Roman's softball game, so I was trying to coordinate my Mom coming over to help Czeslawa put the kids to bed......it ended up that Roman's game was cancelled, as the fields were still wet from all the rain last night. I debated whether to go out or not, but I had been REALLY wanting this pedicure and rarely get to go out.....so I went...........emphasizing to Roman many, many times that the kids are sick........Cameron didn't take a nap.........they should all go to bed early..........especially Cameron. Well, come to find out when I got home.............not only did he not go to bed early, none of them did...........in fact, they went to bed late.....and Cameron was the last one in bed. He has been up four times in 2 1/2 hours.............and Roman's like "I wonder what's up with him?" .......Ummmmmm, He's sick!!!!! And now WAAAAAAAAY over tired.......he still doesn't get that whole over tired thing.

Then, while I was rocking Cameron, Sidney had a MAJOR coughing fit.......MAJOR.......I thought she might throw up.........when I came out of the boys room she had gone into our room and crawled into our bed...........unbeknownst to Roman. I got her teddy and her water from her room and tucked her in. I'm going to sleep in her room tonight........and maybe the next time Cameron wakes up I'll just lay him down with me.................it's going to be another long, sleepless night! Even the cat decided to come join me over here and is meowing at this moment to be pet........it seems EVERYBODY wants a piece of me........................and all Mommy wants right now is some peace and quiet.........................oh, and A LOT of sleep would be nice too!!!!!!

On a happier note..................here's a picture of Czeslawa with all of the kids from last year.

Ok...............I must really try to get some sleep now....................for the brief little while that all is quiet.

No Time

Well, I didn't get any time this weekend to work on the blog, like I would have liked to. The kids are sick...............they follow me around, even though Roman and his Mom are here.......noooooo, they want Mommy! Especially when they are sick. It started off with Carter.....I think it usually does......as he sucks his fingers. He had a low grade fever for a couple of days and would wake up screaming (and dripping in sweat) and coughing. Then yesterday his temp went up to 101.8, but today he didn't have one and seemed to be doing better, so I didn't take them to the Dr. Sidney started coughing pretty badly last night too.............it kept waking her up, so Roman ended up sleeping with her for half of the night. I was up past Midnight, trying to get some things done.....I didn't get whole lot done, but it's good that I was up, as the boys both woke up 2-3 times each.....of course, not at the same time, so I was up and down and in there a lot. Then Sidney woke up before 6am and crawled in bed with me........she did eventually go back to sleep, but then Carter woke up just before 7am. (The boys usually sleep until 8am like clock work.) I calmed him down and took him downstairs and laid with him on the couch and turned on the Disney Channel. Thankfully, Roman's Mom had gotten a good night's sleep and came out and took Carter, so I could lay down some more. Sidney did sleep until about 9am.....so that's good, but then tonight the coughing was really bad again and she kept waking up..........I was in there for over an hour! I eventually went and got my laptop and a friend of mine had actually sent me an e-mail about putting Vicks vapor rub on her feet and then putting socks on her. Of course, in true Sidney style........she wouldn't keep the socks on, (because the seems bother her........even though I had turned the socks inside out!) Her feet will be freezing to the touch and she will want to wear flip-flops. It's a good thing that we don't live where it snows! Cameron started coughing today too, and has a low grade temperature......but he seems to be doing "ok". We'll have to see how it goes........I have to work in Sidney's classroom tomorrow .......and I'm not even sure she's going to go to school tomorrow! All three kids missed their Toddler Time class today......and Sidney missed her "Ra Ra class" as she likes to call it....(aka: her cheerleading class),..........she's been asking me for a month when it's going to start................I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was today. By next week they should all be ready to go!!!(Let's hope.........and dare I say it??......let's hope that Mommy doesn't get sick!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I actually did get some work done in the office last night and today, but I still have a lot to do.....taxes, bills, stuff to look up, try to put back together the files that Sidney tore apart........she wanted to color on ALL the papers! She even took every last sheet out of the printer while I was putting the kids clothes away. ............Then I ALMOST finished the laundry..........so close (with Czeslawa's help - she would fold a lot them for me)........It seems like that's always how it goes.................I can almost get something done, then it gets put on the back burner .........and by the time I can get back to it, it has grown exponentially again!
I would LIKE to work on the blog........and getting my Hawaii pictures scanned, but I NEED to get the house stuff taken care of................it's a never-ending battle.
Ok, I'd better get to bed................who knows who or when the first wake up call will come from.

Not Such a Productive Day.....

Today started off with the waking up to very cranky kids........
It started last night.....Carter has a chest cold, with a barking cough and very runny nose......I actually got them in bed before 8pm with Czeslawa's help, (Roman was playing poker), Sidney was actually asleep by 8pm too. Carter was tired because he didn't take a very long nap. Carter woke up screaming at around 10:00pm.......I gave him some Tylenol and cough medicine and took him downstairs and held him in my arms...........then Sidney woke up when I was going to try and go to bed, just before 11:00pm and I had to go lay down with her again. I finally got to sleep about the time Roman got home. Then Sidney woke up at 3:00am and I was going to try and take her back to her room, but she wanted to lay with us.......so, again, I am sharing my half of the bed with her, she's trying to kick the covers off, and pull them off of me, but I want the covers.......she's tossing and turning, smacking me in the head, and pulling on my hair.....almost pushing me off the bed. It got to the point where I was going to go lay down in her bed, but Roman was going to be getting up soon, so I just laid on my side and looked at them until he got up. After Roman got up I went and laid on his side of the bed, but then she started crowding me over there too. Anyway, she woke up sometime between 7 & 8am and was whining from the get-go............Carter woke up crying and Cameron and Carter wanted to be held, yet were crying for their milk and juice...................it all went down hill from there........they won't leave me alone for a second and every time I try to do something they start whimpering and following me and want me to pick them up. Carter only napped for a 1/2 hr and I had to hold him and try and figure out what he wanted.........none of the kids really ate lunch, but they snacked all morning....I keep trying to give them things to eat, but they keep saying no.......I am so weary and tired and feeling overwhelmed, as the laundry is piling up and the kids have been pulling EVERYTHING out the past couple of days.............I just don't have the energy to keep up with them........
I'm supposed to go scrapbooking tonight, but I just want to go to bed! I really want to scrapbook.....I just hope I can stay awake........and get more stuff done this weekend with Roman around to help entertain the kids.......it's supposed to rain this weekend, so we'll be around. We need to paint the boys room too, so we can get their curtains back up.......and I desperately need the larger dresser to be finished being painted. Clothes for two boys do not fit into a small, three drawer dresser!!!! I keep telling Roman HE should take the kids on a vacation for like a week and leave me at home to get caught up!!!!
Sorry to be such a bummer...............thanks for letting me vent.........I'm just feeling like everything is closing in on me again........and just keeps piling up!
Have a great weekend. I uploaded some more pics and video last night too........so I just have to write in some stuff..................hopefully I can get some done this weekend..............and I've been trying to take pictures of my pictures of Hawaii............as my scanner isn't working to post them on Facebook, for my Hawaii friends....................I fighting between the things I SHOULD be doing and the things I WANT to do. Wish me luck!

Sidney's making music

Sidney needed something to do while her brothers were sleeping, so we got out the pots and pans again.......she was having fun, and got me to play a little with her too. Then the boys woke up......big surprise.......and they were all playing......or rather, fighting over who got to hit which pans....

Now I get how crazy we must have driven my Dad when we used to fight a lot as kids. My little brother always seemed to literally ask for it!

Bubbles

The kids were playing with the bubble maker in the back yard. This is the third one we've had. Like I said, I don't have very good luck with electronics.........this one worked at first, but now it just makes one large bubble that bursts before it detaches from the bubble maker. Hopefully we can get it working better again. The kids LOVE bubbles!

The Super Bowl

We were sooooooo excited that the Cardinals were in the Super Bowl! Even if they were the underdog, just to be there, for the first time in Cardinal history was exciting. And boy, was it an exciting game. They certainly did not disappoint. I remember when they scored their touch down to take the lead with only 2 1/2 minutes left in the game. I was jumping up and down at the kitchen sink, while cleaning up some of the dishes. An end-end run........and with such little time left in the game, to take the lead.........the whole house was roaring! We had the family over, and a couple of friends too. We were glad to get to share the day this year and actually get to really watch the game.

I was trying to get a picture with the kids and me, but my nieces kept wanting to stand there too. I finally just told my sister to take the picture because, as you can see, the natives were already getting restless.

The boys are set.......they have their snacks and their little couch and are very intently watching the game.........I wished I would have gotten some good video of it.......it was soooooo cute. Carter and all of his sounds. He LOVES watching sports with Roman and seems to know just when to make the appropriate sounds......."OOOHHHHHHH" and "YEAH!!!" His little, or actually quite loud, "OOOhhhhhh's" are so cute!

Here's the gang enjoying the game

Carter has now found a very comfy spot on Mark's lap.........it's a good thing he's pretty laid back and didn't mind.

Roman and I in our Arizona t-shirts

there was so much activity going on, even Daisy got worn out!

the boys were taking breaks here and there........playing with their various sports equipment........"Um, Carter........the goal is for the soccer ball honey, not you!" They have recently taken to liking to play in the garage (after I cleaned it up and made more room in there and when I pull the car out.)

The girls, on the other hand, did not watch the game at all.......they were too busy playing all over the house, and with many different outfit changes..........our own little rock stars.

I thought that this was so incredibly cute!!!!! Sidney was being kind of shy though.................she had sneaked the food toothpicks out of the kitchen and had poked them through the mesh material on her dress.

Good night everybody.........we had a great time.......come back again soon!