Is it over yet??

The holiday season has just begun, and I'm already filled with joy (sarcastic tone). I didn't want to put up a Christmas tree because we have a kitten and a baby. Tree + kitten/baby = trouble. Everyone threw a fit, so we went out and bought a $25 pre-lit white tree in lieu of the 7 1/2 footer we generally put up. The tree was not even out of the box and the cat started chewing on and laying in it. Not a good sign. So, the tree has been up for 3 days and is already trashed. I'm pretty sure Tiger lays in it when we're asleep.

Yesterday, we went to Seward for Thanksgiving, which was fun. When we got home around 7:00 pm, we noticed that the dogs were nowhere to be found. Luckily, Colby found them after a quick drive around the neighborhood.

Then, this evening our water heater gave out. My husband and father in law are at the hardware store buying a new one, and I'm hoping it will fit. I need hot water for bathing, washing dishes, and sanity. At least this happened today when I have someone home to help me out.

On a positive note, I did receive a coupon from a friend for free Kraft cheese (thanks, Stacy!). I'm thankful for the small things. . . . .

Stories I'm Not Supposed to Share

Okay, I promised Colby that I wouldn't blog this story, but I can't resist. So, you know those new commercials for Viagra where they sing "Viva Viagra!" to the tune of the old Elvis song? Well, Dade was singing "Viva Viagra!" over and over again driving me nuts. I finally said, "You shouldn't be singing about that when you don't even know what it is." Dade replies, "I know what it's for." "What?," I bravely inquire. Dade spells it out for me, "S-E-X." Nice. I asked him where he learned that. "From the commercials!," he stated matter of factly.

Another Dade doozy from this weekend: He's watching a car insurance commercial where 16-year-olds are getting their licenses. He asks, "Do you have to renew your license?" Yes. "Do you have to take the test?" Only if you get a ticket. "Well, then Brody will know that test really well." Why?? "Because he's going to get a lot of tickets."

Monkey

Soren finds ways to climb up anything and everything, which means she also finds ways to fall off anything and everything! She also just learned how to go down steps, so my life is now filled with yet another realm of horror. I think I spend half my day just pulling her down off of things. She is the poster child for "pick yourself up and try again."

Speak of the devil, Soren just took a header off Evelyn's bed. She can climb up all by herself. I heard a loud thud followed by crying, so I guess she figured a way down, too.

We had a nice visit at my dad's in Seward. The boys and Evie played in the pine trees. Soren went up and down the steps scaring just about everyone along the way.

I took the boys to get haircuts this morning. Brody was starting to look like a squirrel died on his head. Soren attracted a lot of attention at the salon, as she usually does wherever we go. She has that something that just draws people to her, even though she gives them a really dirty look when they talk to her. Maybe she'll be a movie star.

Of course Brody, ever the jolly fellow, was oh so excited to get his photo taken. I want Colby to see their haircuts. And, yes, my children do run around half naked most of the weekend. I'm pretty sure Evie has no pants on right now.

The boys are playing Wii, and the girls are down for nap. I think I'll make some cocoa and hope Soren sleeps long enough for me to drink it.

Friday Night

It's Friday night, and so far I've wiped three poopy butts (not my own), eaten my supper cold and standing up (again), answered the "Mommy!" call about a hundred times, and did some laundry. You're all jealous, aren't you? And I'm about to settle down to two full hours of WWE Smackdown. Whoo ho!! That's pretty much a typical Friday night around here.

I'm thankful, however, to have a warm home, happy (if not really noisy) kids, and a paper trophy provided to me by Evelyn for winning "doing computer." Soren is happily standing on the preschool table pulling all of Colby's paperbacks off the shelf. Sorry, honey. The boys are wrestling each other. Evelyn is playing with her imaginary friends Gia and Lipa. I'm told that Gia "has old age" and needs to stay overnight with us tonight.

We're looking forward to a restful weekend and counting the days till Daddy comes home (4).

No, Soren!

You know that book called No, David! about the little boy who gets into endless amounts of trouble? I've rewritten it. It's called No, Soren!. It's a bestseller at my house.

Bang! You're Dead!

Tonight as I was loading the dishwasher after supper, Soren climbed up on the kitchen chair, as usual. This time, I turn to see her pointing a finger gun at me and making a bang bang sound. She's 13 months old and already play-shooting me.

Where are you Trading Spaces?

I woke up this morning with the overwhelming urge to paint. We've lived in this house for a year now and have yet to personalize most of the rooms. Of course, the kids' rooms are done. Meanwhile, I'm looking at a sunflower kitchen (yuck), a two-toned bedroom (double yuck), and a baby blue bathroom (yucko). Not to mention the horrible paint job in the living room and all the ceilings. And the dirty-colored den. And the beautiful teal border in the laundry room/bathroom. With Colby gone, painting is a fantasy. Every time I get unhappy, I get the insatiable urge to change my environment somehow. I feel like I can't be truly happy until the house has been wiped clean of the former owners.

So, if anyone reading this is willing to help a lonely housewife paint, let me know. I'd also like some wainscoting and trim. And crown molding. And new tile in the bathroom. That's all.

Sunday, 7:30 am

Coffee is brewing. Sun is shining. Birds are chirping. It's 7:30 am and, yes, I can actually hear the coffee brewing and the birds chirping. Only one of my children is awake.

Lessons

Things I've learned from the kids this week:
1. Some old people have to have canes because they didn't drink enough milk. That's also why they walk really slow.
2. Any day is Monday as long as Brody says so. Side note: he goes to his friend's house on Monday.
3. Toilet paper is deeelicious. So are kleenex, dog food, food from under the couch, toothpaste, and crayons. Things that are gross: shaving cream, pumpkin pudding (Brody), cinnamon apples(Brody and Dade).
4. We're all going to die.

Playing With Food

Today at lunch, Evelyn was playing with her spaghetti. She would pick up one noodle in each hand, and they would talk to each other. "Hi, I'm John McCain. How are you?" the first noodle said. "I'm fine, thank you," said the other noodle. I guess she was re-enacting McCain's first meeting with Sarah Palin.

What a Fine Mess

Currently in my daughters' room, every toy from the toy box and toy drawers is out on the floor. Every blanket is off the bed. The spare crib mattress is out and being used as a trampoline. It's not just a mess in there. It's a disaster. There's no way you could walk in there, unless you're looking to puncture your foot on a Barbie arm. However, I hear three giggling kids playing pirate ship, spaceship, and world explorers. Twenty minutes of being left alone is worth the 20 minutes it will take them to clean it up.

The girls and I went to Panera Bread today for lunch with my friend Sara who came to visit from Norfolk. Evelyn loves Panera, which is good because it's my favorite. We had tacos and tostadas for supper. Evie just wanted to eat a bowl of shredded cheese and nothing else, but I told her she should probably eat something with it.

Dade can actually play a song on his trumpet- jingle bells. Christmas is in the air! It's quite good up until the last note, which comes warbling out like it's the trumpet's dying declaration.

It was a good day.

Cocktail

My kids have a nice little play kitchen with pretend food and pots and pans. However, instead of being chefs, they have decided to turn the kitchen into a bar and be bartenders. Nice. They turn the kitchen around backwards, stand behind it, and serve each other food. I'm glad they're using their ingenuity, but for bartending??

The girls played in the garage this morning with the door closed. I left the door open in the van so they could play in it. Soon enough, both dogs, the cat, and the girls were all in the van together, with Mo behind the wheel. Hopefully, the dogs cleaned up all the dropped food.

Smell My Finger

The girls and I went shopping today with Julie and Corrin. At Claire's, one of Evelyn's favorite stores, she found some scented fingernail polish. Now, we can paint our nails to smell like banana, strawberry, chocolate, and peanut butter. I have one chocolate and one peanut butter. Sort of. Very Lightly scented.

Brody has decided to name his farts after wrestling moves, i.e. whisper in the wind ("when you fart very, very quietly") and tombstone ("really loud and deadly"). I love having sons. All I have to do to be funny is burp their names or say fart, poop, or nuts.

A trip to New York?

I burned my English muffin this morning so now am eating English hockey puck.

Evelyn told me this morning that she wants to go to the "master of liberty" (statue of liberty) to "see John Mccain and Barack Obama." She watches too much Countdown with Keith Olberman with me after the boys go to bed at night! She's so smart, and I think she may be the first woman president if I can keep her interested in politics. Do I have high aspirations or what? How many three-year-olds would say that? Most probably just want to go to Chuck E. Cheese, right?

I'm still battling this cold, and I ran out of tissues at 10:30 pm last night. So, we had to stop at the IGA again, for the third day in a row, so I could get some tissues.

I woke up from a hazy sleep last night to a loud rattling noise. Since Colby is gone, every sound is a dangerous sound. My heart was racing, so I went to check it out. It was Tiger biting the bathtub faucet. That cat is nuts. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up and watched some CSI I recorded on the DVR. Did you know that consuming too much sulphur can turn your blood green?

Hope

I went to storytime at the library today with the girls and a Mom from Brody's class. We had a lovely time. Brody and Evelyn are nearly the same ages as her kids. I love watching all the little kids at storytime. I wore my, as Evelyn says, "the Rock" Obama shirt and was complemented.

I was berated today by a very good friend for supporting Obama. She sees my idealism and liberalism as something of which to be ashamed. She insinuated that I needed to pull my head out of my ass (her words). I got the idea that she, as a so-called realist, doesn't like the idea of hope. She has no faith in human nature. Certainly, hope alone doesn't fix an economy or break down racial barriers. Hope, however, has for generations coaxed along positive changes in our society. America was formed as the ideal society representing the majority and protecting the minority. America has had many shameful and bleak periods, but the hopes and dreams of its people have always brought us through. From the Statue of Liberty, to Martin Luther King, to the Great Society and beyond, America is, if not perfect, hopeful. The American spirit cannot be broken. Obama has inspired us to be hopeful once again. He has huge problems to deal with, I make no qualms. We can get through this. Yes we can.

I'm proud to be an American today.

Too Worried about Election to Blog, So Smileboxed Instead

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Dumpster Diving

The boys had a week off from school last week, so today was their first day back. The girls and I do typical girl things - wear pink, paint our nails, gossip, and clean. Dade was really helpful tonight. He actually watched Soren in the backyard for 20 minutes. He did all of his chores, his homework, and didn't complain while I watched Countdown with Keith Olberman! He also practiced his trumpet, which basically involves a single, loud tone for 15 minutes.

Brody washed Soren in the tub. He even got her out and wrapped her in a towel.

Our cat got out the back door today when Evelyn let Jefferson outside to go potty. She didn't even tell me, she just went outside and caught him herself.

Soren helped herself to a sucker stick out of the trashcan, so overall all the kids were really independent today. I swear that Soren is the biggest dumpster diver I've ever seen. She can add sucker stick to the yogurt, pancake, and hotdog she's already scored out of the trash in the past. She also chewed the eraser off of a pencil, but thankfully spit it out. Did I mention she loves dogfood and water from the dogs' bowl? I feed her, really I do.

Turning back the clocks has Soren's sleep schedule all goofy, so she was up at 5am and asleep at 7:30pm. I really don't like getting up before 7am, especially since the boys don't have school until 9am. Oh well. Who needs sleep? I'll just doze off tomorrow afternoon while Soren goes trashcan snacking.

Is it a waste?

Yesterday as I was waiting at a stoplight, I saw a large truck pulling a billboard around town supporting Jeff Fortenberry for Congress. Is it really necessary to waste gas and create emissions so that Mr. Fortenberry can campaign? Why not just rent a stationary billboard instead of having one driven around all over? In this time of high fuel prices and increased concerns about global warming, there's no way I'd vote for this guy. I don't know if any other candidates did this, and if they did - shame on them, too. It's worth mentioning that this guy is a Republican. Maybe he thinks global warming is fiction.

We spent the day outside enjoying the warm weather. Colby leaves for Ohio tomorrow for 12 days. We tried to pack as much fun as we could into this weekend to tide him over while he's gone. He gets his swinging bachelor pad with the black leather couch and bigscreen t.v. tomorrow. All he needs is a kegerator and he'd be in man heaven. Make that singke man heaven. Married men like to help their wives aound the house and all that. :)

The Big Eight Zero

Today we had lots of company as we celebrated Colby's grandfather's 80th birthday. He actually turns 80 on election day '08. How cool is that? We had a great time. We played football in the front yard, ate lots of yummy food (Connie's noodle salad and Nona's buns!), and played board games. It was very laid back and fun.

While talking to some of our visitors today, I noted that three of the under 30-year-olds in the family were not going to vote. This made me sad because the reasons why were, "I don't really like politics," and "It won't make a difference." Maybe it's just the political scientist in me, but what's up with that??? Why is this generation not taking the responsibility that we who live in a democracy have to participate in the system?? If our current situation doesn't inspire them to vote, what will?

I hope at least a few of the culprits read this blog and are guilted into voting. God forbid they should vote for John McCain, but I'd rather have them at least vote for something!