Updates

I've just spent my morning getting everything scheduled for Ryan's next MRI and rescheduling the follow up visit with his neurologist. (Spent most of the time on hold between the insurance and the hospital doing the MRI) He is scheduled for the 6th of December so we have some "down" time for a little bit. Yeah - no doctor's visits; at least not in Orlando anyway. I have to wait a little bit to schedule with the neurosurgen. It's almost lunch time so I have to wait until sometime after 1:00 to call to schedule that. Whew! what a morning! Between the torrential rain we've been having, we had to stand on the front porch WITH the umbrella this morning waiting on the school bus, and all the phone calls I feel like I've run a marathon and it's only 11:42 a.m.!!!!

Ryan and Katie are happily playing together while watching some Barney. I get some kisses in between all of that when they feel like visiting with me. Ryan was watching Sesame Street and at the end they always show Oscar and his pet worm. Today they had several pet worms and they were in sleeping bags going Nighty Night. Ryan said, "Night Night!" At first I thought he wanted to go for a nap but then realized he was just commenting on the end of the show. He's very much aware of things; so much more than Logan was at that age!

Fun Friday

We had another Friday of no school this week; last week they were off on Friday too. This week we had Marie's friend and her sister come for the day. Most people think I'm nuts when I ask to borrow their child(ren) but the additions keep my kids calm. If there are no other people around Marie gets bored and irritates the others. Yesterday was a good day! The girls played games and hung out in Marie's room. If they got tired of each other's company we would hang out in the living room and watch a movie.

They were able to go outside and play in the driveway and back yard for a while as long as they stayed where I could see them. This helped take the edge off for the others and enabled me to get Ryan and Katie to nap, AT THE SAME TIME! I made popcorn the old fashioned way and it was so good. I melted butter in one pan while I threw the popcorn and oil in our old fashioned popper on another burner. Butter, salt and popcorn; Yum Yum! The girls loved it and even asked if it was "homemade" a/k/a not microwaved. Since we don't use the microwave anymore this is the only way to make popcorn. I have to say, I enjoy this popcorn a whole lot more.

We played operation; what a hoot! I couldn't get anything out without the stupid buzzer going off to save my life. Hard to believe when I was their age I was good at that game. They attempted to play Monopoly but I think it was a little hard for the younger girls (Marie) so they got aggravated and quit. They did enjoy playing Battleship and operation so the games weren't a total loss. It brought back memories of when we would play games during the summer whenever it rained. (the fighting really made me laugh)

Remember when..... Aunt June and Stephanie were visiting and we all were either playing Monopoly or a card game and were fighting just a little too much? Aunt June had enough finally and told us to stop fighting. I believe she used a "soft" cuss word which totally shocked us as we never EVER heard her cuss. Needless to say, we stopped fighting and found something else to occupy our time. Do you remember the other time that Steph was down by herself and Dave shut the screen door and the sliding glass door and Steph opened the screen door and ran smack into the glass door???

Another story of stupidity

I'm having issues with lights this week. It was a dreary morning with a little bit of rain during the drive to Orlando for Ryan's Genetic Testing consultation. I had turned my lights on in town and it stopped raining so I turned them off. I had to turn them back on as it started to rain a little more as I got closer to Orlando. By the time we got to our destination it had stopped raining but I had forgot that I turned them on. We were about 40 minutes early so I parked and rolled down the windows and turned off the car. We sat like that for about 20 minutes then I decided it was okay to head into the office. I heard the extra warning sound when I opened the door but just thought it was the normal "you've opened your door" ding and kept right on going.

Over two hours later when we came back out to leave, I couldn't get the doors to open with the automatic opener. As I looked in I noticed that the headlight switch was still pulled out. CRAP! I'm about an hour and a half away from home; don't know a single person and can't get into the car. I, of course, panicked and called Curtis to say go get the kids and come get us!!! He was very calm and proceeded to tell me to go to the driver's side and use the key to open the door. DUH! Open the trunk and get the jumper cables out and see if someone will help and give the car a jump. The second person I asked wasn't happy but must have felt sorry for me and agreed to do it.

Thankfully it jumped right off the bat and we were able to head out. I was so afraid that I would stall it (driving the mustang) that I of course was more nervous than normal and really stressed out. The entrance ramp was closed so I had to take a detour through town to get back on the highway. I hadn't eaten since breakfast; was figuring on stopping on the way home but since my stupidity with the lights I wasn't taking any chances. I drove straight home, grabbed everything headed inside and grabbed a quick bite before heading out to Logan's parent/teacher conference. (I drove the van to the conference; didn't feel like dealing with the battery in the mustang)

You got it, the moral of THIS story is: TURN THE LIGHTS OFF STUPID!

Sunday

I was able to spend a lot of Sunday with my Mom unpacking from her move. When we get together we always have something to laugh at so I will share our story about the bed. Dave and Don did the moving of all of her things. The poor guys were exhausted and left me a few things to do when I got over there Sunday morning. I was hoping that they would leave me some stuff to do. I wasn't able to get over there on Saturday when they did the actual move because Curtis has to work on Saturdays. I'm not being a smarty pants, I'm really glad that they left me some things to do to help out. (They live closer so they help 100% of the time and I only get to help out some. I feel guilty but there isn't much I can do so when I can help out I'm thankful!!)

Now about the bed..... Mom doesn't have very many tools which made putting her extra bed together an adventure. I thought, how hard could it be? It looked really simple so I jumped right in to the task. Mom had to use her broom handle to measure so I could tell where the bed frame had to be in order for the boxspring not to fall right through to the floor. Once we figured that out, it was time to turn the little clamps to tighten the frame. I couldn't twist the little clamp to tighten as much as I wanted and I had visions of a visitor falling through to the floor in the middle of the night. Mom went hunting for some plyers; nope none of those. She suggested scissors but you know how clumsy I am so I had to veto those. As most of you know, Mom used to be a nurse. She happened to have a pair of hemostats left over from her nursing days so we made do with those. I thought I had tightened by hand a lot and would only need the hemostats to do one crank. HA! I believe I was able to turn them around at least three full times. Boy am I glad she had those stupid things. (Dave, when you go to put up her curtains you MIGHT want to bring a pair of plyers and check my work)

Oh - one more funny story and then I will let it be. The a/c wasn't working when I got there. I checked the fuse box (or so I thought) and then checked the controls. Mom had turned it off and on to see if that might be the problem. After I checked the fuse box, I turned the a/c down to 60 to see if that would crank it on. Nothing worked so I told her that I couldnt' work in the heat and we needed to get someone out right away. Ten minutes later, after finding all the info on her apartment complex, I made the call and left the pertinent information. The tech called us back right away and tried to tell us about a reset button. No such button on there; so he started saying he was 2 hours away and would be here in about 2 1/2. I (thank goodness) took the phone back over to the fuse box to ask him about it. Only this time the kitchen light WAS ON. I started to tell him that everything was on and had to say "Uh no actually it isn't." He had me flip them on and of course the a/c started right away. He was very nice and just said that if for some reason it shut off again to call him and he'd come and take a look at it. The moral of the story is: Turn the light on STUPID.

Play time Thursday

Ryan had his MRI yesterday and we were able to make it home by 1:00 p.m. Once I had relaxed and got enough coffee in me to kill the tension headache, we cuddled a little bit. Surprisingly, Katie wanted the most cuddling. Ryan was wanting to play with the toys but would come over to us for a kiss every so often. Katie must have missed me since Daddy got everyone up and ready in the morning. She is used to Mommy being home all the time so it was a different morning for her. I have to admit, it made me feel good that she missed me because when Daddy gets home they ALL want to be with Daddy and don't even know I exist. (Most times that is fine with me; I need a break too :)

Logan and Marie were home by 4:20 and since Friday is no school there was no fighting to get homework done. Everyone did their normal afternoon routine; screaming for juice and a snack while running around and fighting with each other. I think they truly miss one another during school time but they don't want Mommy to know so they fight when they get to see each other every afternoon.

Once everyone was settled for the evening we played and cuddled in the playroom. Logan wanted me to lay down next to him on the floor while he watched a movie. Katie likes to jump on me whenever I get down on the floor and Ryan was playing "Ring around the Mommy" and coming in for kisses the whole time he was giggling. Marie was right in there with the rest of them. She'd play with Ryan then come in for a cuddle with the others. She got down on the floor at one point and Katie decided she was fair game. She jumped on her and proceeded to sit on her so she couldn't get up.

This was the most fun and relaxing time. I really needed it after the day we had and I think the kids knew that. They are Mommy's little angels; Daddy was able to enjoy the baseball game for a little while at least. :)

Dinner at downtown Disney

After SeaWorld we hit downtown Disney's Fulton's Crab House for an early dinner. The food was scrumptious and the view was something else. It's a building that looks just like a big ferry boat. The kids had a good time as it was so noisy and packed with other families you couldn't hear our kids at all. It was nice to get out for a nice dinner where everyone could relax and enjoy themselves.

Katie was using a fork and spoon to eat. When she had the french fry almost in her mouth with the fork she'd grab it with her fingers and shove it in. I wish I could have gotten a picture of it. Spoon in one hand, fork in the other while shoving a french fry the size of her fork into her mouth. Logan practiced the gravity test but into his bowl thankfully. Marie and Alex had a blast drawing on the tablecloth and eating burgers and fries. Can't get kids to try something new at all....Ryan was wanting both Mommy and Daddy so we shared him throughout the meal. Daddy was able to eat most of his meal before it was his turn to take over. The bottle of Next Step only last so long and then he wanted to play.

By the end of the meal Logan was getting bored; he'd been so good all day but didn't get to run around much so by the end of the meal he was ready. They brought us our moist towels and he proceeded to throw mine at the lady sitting behind me. She was great (You can tell when they have children of their own) and said "No problem; as long as it's not a fork I'm good!" We headed out shortly after that and thought the little ones would nap all the way home. Katie fell asleep about 10 minutes away from the house but we were able to get her in the bed where she slept the entire night! Yeah!! Ryan had other ideas....... It was a great day, relaxing and lots of fun with friends we don't get to spend enough time with but we plan to fix that soon!

Sea World - take 2

It was a nice breezy day at the park.

I couldn't get much closer; right after I took this shot several dolphins came right up and splashed the people standing next to me.

My sweet Marie and my little buddy Alex.

Alex and Marie wanted me to get a shot of the turtle but it wouldn't cooperate so this was as good as it got.

Daddy, Katie, Logan, Marie, Alex and Karen deciding where to go next.

Alex, Marie and Karen checking out the pretty birds. Marie and Alex were expert at making the same sound as the bird.

Comments anyone?

I have fixed the comments section so that anyone who wants to leave a comment can. For some reason I had left it to where only those people who have a blog can comment. Brain dead that day obviously!

Thanks for visiting!

I love you - both boys

Repetition

Ryan loves Barney and it's starting to pay off. He is saying "I la You" if we say I love you he will repeat it back to us. He just started doing it this evening right before Daddy got home. He is currently sitting with Daddy watching the baseball game and saying it everytime he hears one of us say it. (Now that I've typed this the little cutie pie just said it out of the blue with no prompting!) I will try to get him on the video tonight or tomorrow so you can see and hear him in action.

A little something cute

In the movie Madagascar they sing "I like to move it move it". I guess Logan has watched it a little too much because he was just running around the living room singing it over and over again. I put the movie on for Katie so she'd take a nap and it was playing when the older kids got home from school. It's the little things that can make you smile.

The Girls

Marie playing with the little kids blocks

Mommy's little angel

The Boys

Not again Mommy!

This is my last smile; stop taking my picture!

I'm having another Calgon moment!

Usually it's Logan taking the food and dropping the crumbs where ever he can. Tonight, right after I finished vacuuming the playroom, dining room and hallways, Katie decided to try the gravity test out. She took the bowl of crumbs from where she ate Logan's cookies and dumped them in the middle of the playroom. (Logan got bored with his cookies right away so Katie decided to eat them for him.) Ryan is throwing the puzzle pieces all over the room and laughing. These kids aren't happy unless they are making a mess.

Logan is playing with the Learn Through Music (which explains why he got bored with the cookies) and is playing Blues Clues over and over. He should be able to say "It's so amazing when you stop and stare, color colors every where!" I've already fought two of the four into the bath and washed them up including their hair. It's so funny; getting them into the bath tub can be as bad as trying to get a cat to take a bath. Once they have their hair washed and are playing they act the same way about getting out of the tub!

School and colds

School has been back in for about six weeks and this is the second go round with a cold. Ryan has been fussy lately and had a little cough as has Marie. This morning I woke up to Ryan sneezing yucky stuff all over the place (and all over me). Katie came in for an early visit and started coughing and sneezing as well. These two are not and have never been in day care and so they catch everything that Marie and Logan bring home.

What a way to spend your Saturday morning. Marie and I are running around with tissues trying to get to them before they get it everywhere. Both have been medicated so I'm hoping that will put off the yucky stuff for a little while so I can now clean up and disinfect so Logan doesn't get it. I know, good luck with that right?! Marie is Mommy's little helper and she's great. One of her friend's have a sleep over party tonight and she can't go because she's coming down with this too. I think she got it first and shared it with Katie without meaning to of course.

I have to figure out something fun to make up for her missing her sleep over. Anyone have any suggestions??

Thank you!

Sale ALERT!!!

Dillard's is taking an additional 30% off already marked down merchandise today through Saturday. I signed up a while ago to get e-mails from them so I wouldn't miss any of the sales. With four kids, if we want to get them the clothes they won't destory after one wear we have to pay the price, just no where near FULL price. If you have a Dillard's near you, call to see if they are doing the same thing. Sometimes, the Sanford mall has their sales a week off from us but I can't remember if that was for JC Penney or Dillard's. :\

F.Y.I. you can find some really nice shirts for the man in your life at a really good discount which means you can buy twice as much!! :)