Rapunzel, Rapunzel

Let Down Your Hair! Good thing that costume came with some hair as Gabriella still isn't very blessed in the hair department. It's getting better though! I think she's the one that had the least at this point. She will be 4 next month and although she is due for her 2nd haircut, she only had her first haircut a few months ago! So this is my pretty little princess in her Halloween costume. :)

Amy

The Good, The Bad and the Sick

Today is the Halloween parade at the school. The boys got to dress in their costumes all day. Nikolas is Batman and Alex is Darth Vader. I took a few pictures before school this morning. Nikolas is super excited! He is loving all these new experiences. So I sent them off, costumes on and treats in tow. Later I will be going up to see them in the Halloween parade.

Poor Victoria is sick. She has the works again....sore throat, headache, dizzy, stuffy, cough...she just doesn't have the fever.

Gabriella is going to wear her costume to the Halloween parade with me later. Pictures of her to follow in a later post.

Amy

Sick of Being Sick

Is it possible to get something on top of what you already have? I felt sick, felt like I was getting better for a whole day and now I feel like crap again! Poor Nikolas is sick again! He has snot pouring out of his nose! It's not so attractive, I can tell you that! I am just sick of being sick! I am sick of the kids being sick!

Dominic is going to the store for me in a few minutes. It should be interesting to see if he comes home with what I want. It's a simple list! He's going to buy carrots and frozen corn. He is going to bake a carrot cake tonight! He's like Gordon Ramsey with his mouth when he's in the kitchen! It makes for an interesting night when he decides to cook or bake! He hates carrots, I hate carrot cake...why is he making it? I have no idea! He broke up with his girlfriend and maybe he's going to bake his feelings away, I can't figure him out sometimes! I was mad when he was gone every night and now he's here every night and bored out of his mind. I know I will be playing a game of Tiger Woods Golf with him tonight...I would be playing Singstar but with me sick, he knows that's not possible so he will settle for Tiger Woods.

Gabriella is coloring here. She just got her crayons back today. She finally admitted to who colored on my wall. It was Pop Pop. I should have known. I saw the guilty look in his eye! Now he isn't getting any more crayons! If he can't be trusted with crayons, he just won't use them! This all brought back a funny memory though. When Victoria was about Gabriella's age she was a holy terror! She would get into EVERYTHING! There are so many things I just can't even begin to type them all or my fingers would fall off! Anyway, she used to blame everything on an imaginary friend named Mrs. Duva. I have no idea where she got that name from, it was quite original, I give her that! Mrs Duva was BAD NEWS! She had to be banished from our house! I was thinking for just a minute the other day that Mrs Duva had found our new home and returned! So I was glad to know that it was Pop Pop that did it and Mrs. Duva wasn't back from beyond!
Amy

Who Did It?

Someone colored on my wall! I am pretty sure it wasn't John. I am pretty sure it wasn't the four older kids. I know it wasn't me. So after much discussion with Nikolas and Gabriella we figured out who did it. It was BELLA! Yes, that's who colored on my wall. For those of you who don't know, Bella is our Brittany Spaniel. I didn't realize I had such a talented dog here! I could be out making a fortune! Don't worry, I won't forget you all when I am rich!

Sports Day and the Tooth Fairy

It's favorite team day today at the elementary. The tooth fairy paid us a visit last night. He was super excited this morning. He pulled out the paper bills and his reply "I wished she left me a nickel." Huh? I asked why? He said, "If you have a nickel, you can put it in the machine at school and get a pencil." I meant to give him a nickel this morning but we were just running a little off schedule, so I have to remember to do that tomorrow! Tomorrow is the pumpkin patch. I am going as a chaperone. I am looking forward to it. I don't think it's supposed to be a great day weatherwise tomorrow, but still I think the rain is going to hold off til after dinner. I sure hope so! Rain and the pumpkin patch so do not mix! I have done it before after a night of rain. I remember one of the kids I had chaperoned getting their sneaker stuck in the mud in the corn maze! Oh those were the days! Well I guess that is it for now!

Amy

Breaking News!

The Tooth Fairy will be making a visit to our house tonight! Nikolas lost his first tooth! He's very excited. We wrapped it up and put it under his pillow. My little boy is growing up! He was only about 3 months old when he got his first tooth. It has been wiggling for a little while, but I didn't know when it was actually going to fall out! Doesn't he look cute!?

Amy

Happy Hump Day

It's Wednesday already! This week seems to be going by pretty quickly. Early dismissal today. It was also mismatched day at the elementary school. Nikolas didn't even question why his clothes didn't match this morning or why he had two different colored socks. Should I be worried? Gabriella noticed right away! Tomorrow is favorite team day.

I am on strike tonight for dinner. I felt pretty lousy yesterday but still managed to make everyone dinner. I made an eye of the round roast, noodles w/butter and onions and steamed broccoli/cauliflower. Did they appreciate it? Nope! Everyone had a comment about it. So I told them that I wasn't cooking today. I think they thought I was joking. They have been snooping around the kitchen, peeking to see if anything is in the oven yet or if anything is thawing in the fridge. Alex asked me "what's for dinner tonight, Mom?" and I just said "nothing, remember I'm not cooking." Ok, I can't do that to them but I am going to make them sweat for a while. Tonight they are getting breakfast for dinner. They can sweat it out though til later on thinking they aren't having dinner. They complain about everything I make, yet they must be gluttons for punishment because they always look for more!

I know I had something else to post but it just isn't coming to mind right now. My memory is certainly failing me!
Amy

I Can Scale Buildings...

In a single bound. Ok, well probably not! Still my son thinks I can!

So Nikolas comes out of school today and we are waiting outside for Alex. He points to the smaller roof (it is over the doors where they enter) and asks me how fast I could climb up the building and get on the roof. My answer to him was "not that fast, I am out of shape and I don't have a ladder." So he replies with "well what if they gave you a ladder?" Ok, so now I am wondering why he wants me on the roof? I said "well why would I want to go up there?" He then proceeds to tell me that when it rains there is a drip and that they need someone to fix it and I should go and do that. Yeah, right.....with all the tax dollars I pay, I am going to climb up there and fix a drip! Sorry honey, that's not happening!

Shaina brought home her shelf she made in wood shop. She did a good job with it! She still has to stain it but this cycle is over and she ran out of time, so it looks like I am going to buy stain this weekend. She has keyboarding next and she's not looking forward to that. Wood shop has been the highlight of her classes at school so far. She talks about it every day. She's going to really miss that class!

Amy

Road to recovery....

Hopefully Alex is on the road to recovery. He has a cough medicine and an antibiotic now. He had an ear infection. That was the one thing he DIDN'T complain about! Go figure! Hopefully now that he got the medications he will be on the road to recovery!

It's the weekend. I think we are going to take this weekend to just hang around and do nothing. I do have to run to the grocery store for a few things, but that is about it. Nikolas was thrilled he didn't have to eat my crappy food tonight. I got him his favorite...chicken and broccoli from the Chinese restaurant. He loves that and Gabriella does too!

We have been watching that show Modern Family! It's so funny! I laugh from beginning to end! Tonight I will be watching Ghost Whisperer and Medium with Victoria and Shaina. Ghost Whisperer is kind of stupid anymore, but they still like it and I enjoy Medium.

I guess that is about it from this house! Keeping fingers crossed that nobody else comes down with anything. I am so worried that what Alex has, was different from what the other kids have!
Amy

Dinner and Dress Codes

I am trying to figure out why there is a dress code (uniform). All this week was dress down, next week is dress down and they throw dress down days in here and there all the time. Why not have EVERY day be dress down day!?

Then I got a comment on dinner tonight from my 5 yr old. "Mom, this is the crappiest dinner I ever had!" I really think maybe it's time for me to give up cooking! He did manage to eat it though because the anticipation of the snack made it all worth it I guess!

Snow tonight! Yay! Yes, that's sarcasm! Hopefully it's nothing, I doubt it will be. Still the thoughts of it snowing already stinks! It's pretty cold out there tonight!
Amy

One Little, Two Little, Three Little

HIPPIES! Yes, it's Hippie day today at the school. I have Alex home with me. No fever but he's coughing like crazy and was up a lot last night. I can't send him like this. Maybe if he stays home and rests today he will start feeling better. He looks fine, he's eating, drinking and acting fine other than the cough. Shaina said they had a pie eating contest yesterday and she really would have liked to have been in it but she didn't want to ruin Dominic's Sixer's jersey. Good thinking Shaina! I don't know what they have planned for today. Victoria was so funny yesterday when she got in the car. She had the biggest smile on her face and said "want to see what I made in home ec?" Then she pulled this pillow out of her bag. It was like a magic act. I have no idea how she had that pillow shoved in her bag! She seems to be enjoying home ec and Shaina loves wood shop. Victoria REALLY loves sewing. It's something I possess no talent whatsoever in at all! I said to John, maybe we should consider getting her a sewing machine for Christmas. If she likes it so much, maybe we should promote it. Then John suggested we get Shaina a saw! It's all she can talk about. She's making me a coat hanger to hang on my wall in the living room. I keep suggesting places that "might" be a better fit for it....TBCon't with that! I am due for a kitchen remodel. Now if only the shop teacher could teach Shaina how to build and hang cabinets we will have something there! :)

Amy

Homecoming, School Pics, Sixers and Snow

It's homecoming week this week so all kinds of fun things are planned at school for the kids. Today is dress in your favorite team attire. Ok, Dominic does have a favorite team, as you can see, it's the 76'ers. The girls could care less about sports, but since Dominic has so many Sixers jerseys, today their favorite team is also the 76'ers!

Apparently there are a ton of kids absent at the school. I kind of knew it when I dropped the kids off yesterday. It was like a ghost town there compared to what it's usually like. I know we just got over something but I am dreading the next bout that might hit. I know I can't keep them in a bubble, but still I am a mother and I worry.

Today is also school picture day at the elementary school. It was also gym day and they want them to wear their gym clothes to school. Well I don't want a school picture in a gym uniform so they have their dress clothes on instead. It's amazing it's also not taco day or spaghetti day! Why not do that on school picture day too? The boys saw Dominic (who always has to close his eyes for pictures, how annoying!) and the girls getting their pictures taken, so Nikolas wanted to be in one too.

Oh and now on to the snow part! Yes, I turn on the news (why do I watch that?) and they said that there might be 2 inches of snow tomorrow. It's too early for this. I also had to scrape my windows this morning. This reminds me of how much I hate fall and winter. I do think the leaves changing are so pretty, but those changing leaves are a reminder of things yet to come. They come so quickly anymore too it seems! I will sit here now and long for the spring because then right around the corner is summer, my favorite season of all! I am about ready to pack up and move south! I would be very happy with the memories of leaves changing and snow falling and much happier with the thought of no more winter coats, no more shoveling and no more scraping windows!

Amy

Barbie

As you have never seen her before! I don't know why, but Gabriella seems to think Barbie's are better without clothing. She has been playing with her dollhouse a lot this morning and as I walk by I have to laugh to see Barbie doing all these household chores in the nude! She certainly doesn't get it from me. We all wear clothes around here! She was over there playing and the dolls were having a little conversation on the sofa (probably wondering why they had to belong to a child that refuses to put clothing on them) and I couldn't help but snap this picture of her!

A Bunny, A Cat and a Sick One

Today is the beginning of homecoming week. Got a call from the school around 7:00 last night saying the high school kids should dress up in their favorite costume for today. Lots of time to get something together, right? So we did the best we could. We went simple as they didn't really want anything to call too much attention to themselves anyway. Victoria is a bunny, Shaina is a kitty and Alex is home here with me SICK! He is running a temp over 101. I am kind of hoping this is what the other kids have and he didn't pick up something new on his class trip on Friday. He's pretty much just sleeping and sleeping. Tomorrow is school picture day for him and I am really hoping he kicks this today so he can be in his class picture since it's his first one there. I am a little nervous though because when I brought the kids to school this morning, it looked like a "ghost school". Hardly any kids were standing outside. We were just on time as usual, so that's why I am a bit concerned. Nikolas doesn't have a stuffy nose today, but now that he's back, I am betting by the end of the week he does again! Gabriella usually stays with my Dad when I drop the kids off in the morning so I don't have to get her dressed and take her out too. Well my Dad has something so she was with me this morning. I got Nikolas out of the SUV, gave him a hug and told him to have a good day. I watched him going in the doors (Alex usually walks in with him so this was his first day going in alone) and stood at the corner of the SUV. I heard this screaming/crying coming from the SUV. I had no idea what was wrong. I ran to see and Ella was upset because she thought Nikolas was just going for the ride with us this morning. She didn't know he was staying there. She was crying saying she was calling for him and he couldn't hear her and she couldn't hear him (he yelled good-bye to her). She was so upset! I explained to her that it will be time to go back and get him before she knows it. I promised her fries from Burger King later and we are watching Mama Mia here now. She seems to be OK now. She loves Nikolas and misses him so much when he's at school!

Amy

Word to your mother.....

Ice Ice Baby.....yeah, my kids are so stuck in the past because of Singstar. Nikolas is so entertaining. He was dancing around showing us his best Vanilla Ice moves and he showcased his ring (the skeleton one that Alex brought him home from his class trip to the fair) with the "word to your mother." Unfortunately his ring only fits on his middle finger! I wanted to laugh so hard! Then I have Gabriella walking down the hall singing Blondie's Rapture. I think it took me like almost 39 years to learn that song!? She's hysterical. She's only three years old and she can sing a LOT of Blondie songs! That's what she wants to listen to in the SUV, Blondie or Abba! She's hysterical when she sings Atomic! I know the music teacher asked Alex's class if anyone wanted to get up and play anything on the piano. Alex can play Mary Had A Little Lamb! If he asks one of the kids in Nikolas' class to get up and sing I can only picture him doing Ice Ice Baby and then I can picture my phone ringing with a call from the principals office!
Amy

A Box!

We got a delivery today. It is a new furnace. Our furnace works, but it is as old as the house so we figured we might as well replace it now with a more efficient one. It came today and the plumber is coming tomorrow to replace it. Well the truck backs up the driveway. It's in a crate. Nikolas hears the truck so he runs to the window and watches. As they unload it, he yells "Mom, Dad's lamp is here!" Now I am confused. I didn't know John was waiting for a lamp to arrive! I said "what are you talking about?" He then replied with "It's Dad's lamp, the leg!" I had to think for a minute and then it came to me! A Christmas Story! The box must have looked like the box in A Christmas Story! I had to convince him that his father did NOT order a leg lamp! God help him if he ever did! :)
Amy

Argh

Victoria came home from school sick. Same symptoms as Shaina. She's sleeping now. I hope Alex doesn't get it. He has his 5th grade class trip tomorrow and he's really looking forward to it. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Add A Third

It's Shaina's turn now. She's home from school today. She has a slight fever and headache. She seems ok though, nothing major. Making her favorite for dinner tonight-BBQ chicken.
I have had a headache all morning too. I wish it would go already!

Girls had dentist appts and cleanings yesterday. No cavities. Every few yrs they have you update their records and fill out new forms. I was filling Shaina's out and there is a section "what does your child like to be called?" Well Victoria was the one sitting next to me, Shaina was across the room watching the TV and she whispers to me, "put down Shanus". Yeah, the dentist thinks my kids are little angels! She so has them pegged wrong!

Gabriella is back to normal today. She has a little stuffiness left, but that's it. She's in rare form. She played me a little piece on the piano before and my head was just pounding! Right now she's pushing around about 10 Barbie's in a Little Tikes shopping cart! They are all naked! I don't know why she prefers her dolls naked? Whatever, right?

Amy

Add A Second

Add a second to the not feeling well list. Gabriella seemed kind of quiet today. I didn't think much about it. I went to get the kids at school and she didn't want to go which was kind of strange. She stayed home with my Dad. When I got back home, she just was just in the recliner and she looked sick. I took her temp and it was 1o1. She also has a stuffy nose. Oh these are the things I hate about fall and winter! She didn't really want to eat much for dinner either. She's drinking though so that is good. Nikolas was so cute when he came in after school. He went to his room to get changed out of his school clothes and then came back in and said "don't worry now Mom, I am here to take care of Gabbi". Those two love one another so much! Oh she managed to have a Boo Berry Fruit By The Foot though. That made her happy!

Busy Sunday

Ran to the bakery this morning. John is making dinner today! Yay! I love having the day off from cooking. Closed the pool. The kids haven't been swimming since the end of August. It just wasn't a great summer for swimming this yr. Now we won't open it til probably the last week of May. Every yr at this time I question why we have one. Then in the summer when they are really enjoying it, I justify it. I have been going through clothes. Giving them to people I know who can use them and if someone isn't in that size, donating them. I accomplished a lot and it's only 3:30. Tomorrow I am going to take Ella to pick out her Halloween costume. At this moment she says she wants to be Robin (Nikolas wants to be Batman). I know it's for boys, but hey...it's Halloween and she has the right to be anything she wants for that one day. If she wants to be Robin, so be it! Two kids have dentist appts this week. I think it's the girls. If the dentist doesn't call to remind me I will have to call and ask them. I don't want to show up with the wrong two kids! I wrote it down but someone decided to help me and erased it. I won't mention names. This week Alex has his class trip. I am super nervous. This is the only time he has been away without me. He's excited about going though. I think that's probably all that's going through my mind right now. I know, it's a lot for once!
Amy

Sunny Saturday

What do you know, the sun actually shined today! YAY!

I started the day by going grocery shopping. I promised myself to try to get it all done in one store and I did, but I stopped on the way home and finished up a few things in a second store.
We had quesadilla's and Mexican corn for dinner tonight. Everyone was thrilled!

I took Alex, Nikolas and Gabriella for a walk to town today, this town is so small! We went to McD's to get a little snack and after passed by the firehouse and we got to see the firetruck and dog! Woo Hoo! What an enjoying afternoon!

After we got home, we took a little rest and then we made chocolate covered pretzel rods. I figured that they would get a kick out of putting sprinkles on them after I dipped them in the chocolate. Well I gave them the oval type sprinkles you see on sundaes and I also gave them the little tiny colorful round balls. I have made a mental note in my head to NEVER use the balls again! I have hardwood floors and they were all over the dining room, all over the kitchen! I had fun cleaning those up! Still the kids had a lot of fun doing it, so I was happy!

It was a great Saturday. Not much to do other than enjoy the kids! Shaina and Victoria got new hoodies and new outfits for gym. Maybe tomorrow we will find the perfect top for school pictures!
Amy

We Are Family!

Shaina's back in the family again! YAY! That was the first thing he said to me this afternoon when he came out of school. Mom, I fixed my house, Shaina's in there now! He had a pretty good day at school. He seemed pretty good tonight. He hate dinner without a problem and hasn't commplained really of anything. He was all excited because they had some kind of pep rally today too!

Round ?

So Nikolas and Shaina both wake up with sore throats today. They don't have any fevers and the other kids are telling me that there is a bad cold going around the school. Poor Nikolas, I think there has only been 3 or 4 days so far this school year he hasn't had some type of cold symptom. I knew he was going to be sick a lot, but this is just crazy already. The kid always has some type of cold like symptom! Sometimes I wish I just kept them home another year, yet this was a year I also didn't want Nikolas to miss. I mean Kindergarten is your first school experience and he is doing so many fun things there. He loves school and likes his teacher. He talks about his friends all the time too! I guess the bad comes with the good, right? I am going to keep an eye on him but being there is no fever, I am assuming that it's nothing more than a cold at this point. Also he's eating and drinking (he had breakfast) and he isn't complaining of anything else either. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Amy