Boys and Girls

It's so much fun to have boys AND a girl. I had only sisters and although I did have boy cousins I don't remember playing any "boy" type games. I loved girly things...dolls, dress-up, and even my pretend world was girly...playing school (you know I was the teacher) and playing house...oh, yes I was the Mom. :)
It's been neat to see what games and toys each of my children enjoy. I love how Sis has been influenced by her brothers. She is often wielding a light saber while wearing high heels and a crown. A real step up from Princess Leia. The boys too have been influenced by the girl stuff in the house. They all fight over the baby stroller...although I think it's cause it has wheels and they like to rip around the house as fast as possible with it.
On this warm sunny day the boys wanted to try out their new squirt guns. They decided that they should take off their shirts. Of course Sis wanted hers off too. She cried hysterical until I took it off of her. Usually she has no problem getting her clothes on or off but the shirt was stuck. At first I didn't want her to take it off...but seriously, she's two. So off it went. They had a great time shooting their guns. Oh, guns...hmmmm...that's another whole story. Although I did grow up playing Charlies Angels.

Get Away

Cam and I had our over night get-away. A much needed, much deserved, much overdue over night away. I gave Cam this trip for Valentine's Day. I thought the day would never get here. Yeah it finally did. And now boo-hoo it is gone. Well, we have the memories to keep us happy until the next time we can get away. This was only the second time since having children that we went away over night...alone!

We went to a fabulous Inn and Spa. Beautiful and peaceful. We left home at 3:00. My awesome MIL came to spend the night with the kids. I made dinner, laid out clothes and meds, wrote instructions and got everything ready for her. I know how much work 5 small kids are and I want her to do this again:) We checked in to a gorgeous room...King size bed covered in down comforter, bed cover and pillows....wood burning fireplace...soaking tub for two...and a view of the river. Nice!

We planned our itinerary carefully. We stayed at this same place 3 years ago. We made the mistake of having our massage first thing and then we were too tired to leave our room for dinner. So this time we had dinner first. We ate over looking the falls. Beautiful view. We were there on a weeknight and the place was empty. We had a yummy dinner and shared a bottle of delicious wine. Then we went back to our room and changed into our robes (provided by the hotel) and headed to the spa. Oh, yah, we did have our swim suits on under our robes. When we checked in the gal at the desk made sure to tell us that suits were required at the spa. After giving her a funny look she said that the hotel gets lots of European guests. Hmmmm...I bet she knows a few funny stories!

The spa is a Japanese style spa. We soaked in the hot mineral pool for about 30 minutes before our massages. Heavenly. The spa has a no talking policy so it is very quiet and peaceful. We both had great massages. Very relaxing. They do this wonderful thing putting steaming hot wash cloths on each area after it has been massaged. Oh, I loved it....especially on my face. After the massage I wished they would wheel me back to my room and dump me into my bed. We could barely walk we were so relaxed and tired. I begged Cam to build a fire. He did and we enjoyed it for about 10 minutes before we were asleep.

I of course woke up a million times...okay about 3 times...thinking of the kids and worrying if they were sleeping good for Grandma. Sis did her usual wake up and holler...3 times a night and wake up her brother in the process. Poor Grandma. The funniest thing is when they got up at 5:00 they laid in bed with her saying, "MY Grandma, NO! MY Grandma!". Too funny...sounds so familiar.

It was so nice to soak in the tub, and then get ready without any little people. I love my little people but they sure do interrupt my get ready time. Part of our package included a four course breakfast. This lodge is famous for their breakfast. We sat looking out the window at the falls with the beautiful sunshine lighting up the trees. We had a lovely leisurely time eating. The breakfast started with coffee. Yes! Served on a beautiful tray with dishes filled with shaved dark and white chocolate, vanilla whipped cream, sugar and a pitcher of half and half. How fun is that? I took full advantage of it. The first course was a basket of scones, muffins with butter and jam. Yum! I had already decided to pace myself and eat only a small bit of each course. The next course was pancakes with devonshire cream and fruit and yogurt on the side. Yum! Next course, oatmeal with butter and brown sugar. Yum! The final course was eggs, bacon, sausage and a wee bit of ham...oh, and potatoes. YUMMMMMMY. Needless to say we were very full. The best part was we had boxes and boxes of food to take home. The kids were thrilled. They mowed through it like locusts;)


After breakfast we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and the beautiful scenery and hiked down to the river. It was a 1/2 mile each direction....straight down and STRAIGHT up. The views were lovely...at least until I was sweating so hard and gasping for breathe that I couldn't see straight. Cam...aka Mr. ADHD who is in super duper good shape was like a billy goat going up the mountain. Annoying! He would run up ahead of me and then come back and then run up again. Sheeesh.

We were home by 1:00...so just short of 24 hours gone. It went by so quickly. I missed the kids and was excited to see them. We hired our dear Meg to sit the kids for the morning. She switched off with Grandma.

It was lovely and I can't wait to do it again. Love my hubby so much and it was so nice to share some quiet time with just him.

Oh, Baby

You'd need a walking stick too....for balance...and as a weapon when your big Sis comes to reclaim her favorite shoes. Isn't this one of those photos that you threaten to show a future wife? He-he!

Wheedle

For Christmas Sis was given this book and a stuffed Wheedle by our kids' Godparents Rick and Helen. She LOVED it! Of course Baby George LOVED it too and soon they were chasing each other around yelling, "MY Wheedle!!!". Being the fabulous Godmother that Helen is she quickly went out and bought a second Wheedle! Well, the kids carry their Wheedles all around, sing songs to them and sleep with them every night. So sweet.

Number 4

Busy Guy turned 4 yesterday! Wow!!! Where has the time gone...seriously? I'm so proud of my sweet 4 year old. Busy Guy is an awesome kid. He is loving and kind to others and so fun to be around. He is smart...it's not just me who thinks so...his pre-school teacher raves about him too. "He is a good friend to others and is very mature" is what she reported to me. He has lots of energy and enthusiasm. He loves mechanical things and all tools! He wants to be BIG like Mr. P and tags along and keeps up very well. Speaking of keeping up...he is a very fast runner. I see a track future in him. He loves to sing and can sing a song word for word after hearing it a couple of times. Busy Guy is a special kid and I am cherishing each minute with him...cause he's growing so fast!

The first picture we got of our sweet baby. He was so tiny.

First Birthday...oh, those cheeks!

Second Birthday....sweetie pie!
Third Birthday...eager for Batman!

And...Fourth Birthday. He had a party at the Little Gym, a gymnastics place. It was so much fun. He invited his pre-school class. This was his first party with friends from school. He had a great time playing with everyone. And....whaaaaaa! Look how big he is. This Mama thinks he's getting too big too fast but he sure is a joy to watch grow up.

Binky

The only one of my kids to take a binky was Tuba. He loved it! I always swore I'd never let my baby have a pacifier. You know one of those statements you make about raising kids...before you have any kids. Well, Tuba was about 6 weeks old and I was severely sleep deprived. He wanted to nurse every hour...or really just wanted to nurse 24 hours a day. I couldn't take it anymore and at 3:00 am I was digging around trying to find a package of binkies that I'd been given at Tuba's baby shower (I don't remember who it was but thank you to the smart woman who gave them to me). Anyway, I ripped open the package...scrubbed the thing with soap and hot water...because this was my first baby and back then I still sterilized everything....and popped it into his mouth. Ahhhhh....heaven. My poor tired self...and boobies could have a rest. From that moment on he was hooked. We called it "best friend binky". He liked it best in his mouth upside down. We would switch it around and he would change it back. We had hundreds...okay, dozens of binkies. At night I'd put 4 of them in his crib so he could always find one. Even though we had so many it seemed we were always looking for one. You know the kind of frantic search you do on your hands and knees...under the couch, in the cushions, in the car, under the car seats, etc. It was the perfect thing to soothe Tuba and keep him quiet. He loved it until he was 4 and then gave it up over night...all on his own.

So of course when baby number two came along I had plenty of binkies to use. Hmmmm....But, this nice baby wouldn't have anything to do with one. And then came baby number three...didn't want the binky...baby four and five...same thing! No more binky lovers! Shoot!

We of course have lots of binkies around the house. Lots of different kinds, shapes and sizes. They are all just toys to these kids. The Toddlers...no longer can I call them The Babies...now like to suck on one for fun. They play with them in the bathtub and laugh as they steal each other's binky and plop it into their own mouth. The other day they were running around the house sucking on them. Pretty soon the big brothers got in on the action too and I had 4 kids sucking binkies...everyone except Tuba.

PE

I was at the gym today...trying to be good about going on a regular basis. When I arrived I noticed that there were a bunch of high school kids there working out. The gym is across the street from a high school and I don't know why but there are often teens at the gym for their PE class.

I ran into the locker room to use the restroom and was amused to see a bunch of girls hiding out in there. They were standing around twirling their hair, texting, talking about their hair, looking in the mirror, etc. Basic teenage girl things. It made me giggle to think that the PE teacher was probably a male and he had no idea what these non-PE girls were doing.

I was reminded of myself at that age. Go here for the teenage look. I hated PE. Hello...it messes up your hair, like hello! I would say that it made me sweaty but that would be a lie since I never, EVER broke a sweat....ewwww, like I'm so sure.

I took an aerobics class my senior year. It met the PE credit and sounded a bit more my style. Well, actually my style would have been a room with couches and all my friends sitting around chatting with me. But, it sounded better than weight training...stinky! So, a few of my girlfriends and I signed on. We were horrified to find out....like whatever...that we would have to actually make up a routine and teach it to the rest of the class. Huh? We were such brats and a terrible nuisance to the poor PE teacher (a nice man who I'm sure deserves a HUGE retirement bonus...free from teenage girls:)

We would skip class....often...to go to the donut shop. Great trade! No exercise and lots of calories...and time to chat free of Mr. Teacher scowling at us.

One day Mr. Teacher decided we should go out for a run. Huh??? A what? No, no, no we protested. We signed up for aerobics...no running involved...right? Darn it if he didn't make us go outside...in the elements...and run!

Well, we were smarter than him...we thought. He gave us the route and told us he'd be jogging along to make sure we ran the whole route. Never underestimate the devilishness of teenage girls...especially ones who don't want to run...like hello running makes you sweaty and ruins your hair and makeup!

We set off on our "run" and quickly started walking and talking. Yes, we could do both at the same time. We decided to cut off part of the route since we were so behind and needed to get back to the school for our next class..and no teacher in sight. Along the way of cutting over we spied our Mr. Teacher looking for us. Yikes!!! In true teenage girl drama we ran screaming and jumped into some bushes to hide. Ewwwwww....spiders probably lived in there! I would rather get caught than get a spider in my hair so out we jumped. Thankfully Mr. Teacher was nowhere to be seen. We were hopping around and laughing and not being very inconspicuous....when a car screeched to a halt at the curb. This little OLD lady leans over and rolls down her window and asks us if we are okay and if we need a ride somewhere. Okay, yes, my Mother taught me to NEVER get into a stanger's car...but there were 4 of us and the lady was OLD at least 107...and we were late and didn't want to get caught. So...we jumped in and told her where we were headed. I was feeling pretty good until I looked down at the floor board of the car and there was a BIG axe! Yikes! Like hello, I think this OLD lady is going to chop us up and feed us to her cats!!!!

Luckily she dropped us off at the corner of the high school....we made it into the locker room without being spotted by Mr. Teacher AND most importantly our hair and makeup still looked good! Hello priorities!

Mommy's Girl

Well, the title is Mommy's Girl...but here is Sis and Cam sleeping all snuggled up together. They did wake up as soon as I took the picture...ooops.

This post is for Cam. Yes, Sis loves her Mama. Yes, Sis always wants me. But, here she is all curled up with you. Since you were asleep I thought I'd record this moment for you. Isn't it sweet? And...PS...if you take any photos of me sleeping and post them on the Internet...I'll have to sign-off on the photo first;)

Love you and that sweet Sissy Girl...who LOVES her Mama!

You Make Me Smile

Don't know how I lived without you

Cuz everytime that I get around you
I see the best of me inside your eyes
You make me smile

You make me dance like a fool
Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild

You make me smile like the sun
Fall out of bed, sing like bird
Dizzy in my head, spin like a record

Crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool
Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee

Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Ohh, you make me smile

Uncle Kracker — Smile lyrics

The R Word

I've been wanting to write this post for a long time now. It's about the word "retarded" and how it's used in everyday conversation. I hear it A LOT....at least a couple of times a month. I hear it from friends, people at church, even people in my own family have used it when speaking to me. I hear things like, "I'm so retarded, That is so retarded, My retarded ______ wasn't working", etc.

I take such offense to hearing this word. I have a son who is mentally retarded. Times have changed and now the term developmentally disabled is used more often. But, the fact is that the word retarded is a medical term and not something to be used interchangeably with words like clumsy, silly, or broken.

I was so glad when I opened the newspaper this week and read an article claiming that today is End the R-word Day. The article says "End the R-word day is an awareness effort designating Wednesday as a day to “spread the word to end the word.” A Web site, http://www.r-word.org/, lists organizations supporting the campaign, including Special Olympics, Autism Speaks, the Arc of the United States and about 200 others."

So, somebody else is bothered by the mis-use of the word retarded. Good. Now, please if you are one of the people who uses this word. Stop. Please stop using it and speak up and encourage others to stop using it too. Be a good example. I'm never quite sure how or what to say when I hear the word. Often it's in friendly conversation and I don't want to seem rude. But, the word is wrong to use and unless people start saying so it will continue. So, what I've said in the past is, "Please don't use that word in that way". Once I say it I can see the wheels spinning and the person realizes what they have said AND who they have said it to (a mother of a precious boy who fits the clinical term of this word).

So, today is End the R-word day. Let it be so.

Goin' Commando

I was getting the kids ready for bed and I sent Busy Guy to put on his pj's. He came running through my room naked. I asked him where his undies went and reminded him to keep them on and not change them at night. Busy Guy likes to wear new undies in the morning AND at night but this mean mom doesn't like to do that much extra wash so I veto his tidiness:) Back to the naked boy in my room....he tells me he couldn't find his undies. UGH...seriously? I say to him..."you just had them on, where did you put them?". I got up to go look for his clothes he had just taken off. Well, I found his pants and shirt...but no undies. He looks up at me and says again, "I couldn't find any. I couldn't find any this morning". OH! So, I say..."you mean you wore pants and no undies....to SCHOOL???". "Yes" he says with a bit of exasperation and then a smile. Great!