It's House Party time!

I am very excited to be picked to host another House Party party.  We will get to try out the awesome Green Works products by Clorox. I am pretty excited. The kids are starting to do more actually cleaning and am hesitant to let them use some of our cleaners. I am looking forward to find a new green and healthier solution to cleaning in our house. The kids probably aren't too excited about the idea though. LOL I am invited friends and asked them to bring an appetizer to share. I will provide the drinks and desserts.  If you are interested in applying to host a free House Party, please go to http://houseparty.com/ and join. It is that simple. You just find the parties you are interested in, fill out the application and wait to see it you get chosen. This is my second party. The first one was Folgers coffee and Land O Lakes half and half. We had a blast and I'm sure this one will be a ton of fun too! 

We have 25 words!

Lauren with the help of her speech therapist has a now 25 word vocabulary. She doesn't use some of the words very often, but enough to be counted. ☺ In nine days my baby will be 2. I really can't believe how fast these years flew. An average 2 year old should have 200+ words and be putting words together, so you can see why I am excited about the 25. She is even attempting to say her siblings' names.  I am sure there will come a day in the future when I have to ask her to be quiet, but for now I'll take what I get. Her most used word is Dada. She may not be able to form a sentence, but I can tell by the way she says it what she means. Often it is to ask me where he is, when I say work she gets a kind of sad look on her face, looks down and sighs yeah. Then she forgets and comes ask me again about ten minutes later. When Dad comes home, she gets so happy, claps and runs to him. Twenty minutes after he is in the door, she becomes my attached monkey again.  We play this game where she will ask for someone and I will say are they sleeping? She will shake her head no and say nooooo while grinning. I seriously never heard a kid sound so cute when they are saying no.

Alexander just totally cracks me up all day. He is like that persistent ray of sunshine trying to break through the clouds. He is always laughing, singing, and dancing. He is so full of life that at times amazes even me. The things that come out of his mouth are hilarious. The other day we are driving and he farted. He giggled of course and I asked :What do we say?" He said. "I do not know." I replied "We say excuse me." To which he looked at me confused and said "I thought we just said that when we burped." I told him no, we used it both times. His reply, "Oh! I did not know that. Thanks!" Okay, typed out it doesn't seem so funny, I guess it was a more you had to be there moment.


Nicholas is doing great in school and his behavior has been good lately. (Hopefully I did not just jinx us.) I spoke with his resource teacher a couple of weeks ago and she told me she has third graders who don't read as well and he does. It is amazing how much putting him on medication has helped him at school. This time last year we were so concerned because he seemed so far behind, but now he seems to be moving full speed ahead with no slowing down. He has been a good big brother, although he and Alexander get into little tiffs, it is nothing out of the ordinary. Lauren absolutely adores Nicholas and the feeling is mutual. They have quite a bond and it reminds me how much I adored my big brothers when I was little.

Allison has turned nine. *gasp* This is the last year until double digits. She is really becoming a great little girl if I may say so myself. Our communication book has been going great and I dread look forward to the day when the harder questions come. We of course have had some attitude problems, but I think it is normal for someone who is not quite a little girl anymore, but not quite a big girl. It is tough being stuck there. She loves to read like her momma and likes to please people. She can be very helpful when she wants to be.  I try not to lean on her too much with tasks, but she doesn't seem to mind. I am going to start teaching her how to cook and was thinking of teaching her how to do some sewing. It should be a fun adventure.

It is THE day

and while I am ok for the most part, I break down and shed a few tears for my mom. Especially when I read the things my nieces and nephews wrote about her. I feel for them and my children because even though they knew her, I know someone of them never really got to learn the true extent of what a wonderful person she was. Not a day goes by in our house when she is not thought of or spoke about. The kids are always asking questions about her. Sometimes I don't want to answer because the pain feels still too fresh, but still do because the only way now they will know her is through me.  My heart breaks almost every time I hear Lauren ask for Wawa (the term in our house for Grandma) because I know she will never use that term for my mom. My kids know how much their Grandma loved Elvis and they love to listen to his music when it comes on. They named our goldfish Elvis and Nick named one of his stuffed animals Elvis because Grandma would have liked it. 

I can't believe two years have already passed since I answered the phone shortly after midnight and heard my big, strong brother sobbing that she was gone. There was a time when I thought I couldn't go on without her, but had to because as it says on her headstone; Life is Changed, Not Taken Away.   No truer words were ever written. I suppose I have more faith than I previously thought, after all, what would have gotten me through these two years? I also have the belief faith that we will be together again, it has to be. 

"There are things that we don't want to happen but have to accept, things we don't want to know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go." 

~Author Unknown

Faith

It truly is an astounding thing and something I wish I had more of. I grew up Catholic and of course was sent to Catholic Education and made all of my sacraments. I was married in the same church I was baptized, made my communion, and confirmation. All of my babies were baptized in the same church, yet I don't feel like I even have religion. I am now sending my children to Catholic Education on Saturdays, but feel like a complete hypocrite. After all, we don't even attend church and rarely speak of the God they are learning about. After all those years of my "education" I can recite a few prayers and only know some stories from the bible thanks to Veggie Tales. I am at the point that I wonder if there is even a God. I know, pretty bad. I don't doubt that there is a greater being, but who is to say that it isn't a giant bunny? I guess what I am lacking is faith. I  have recently read many heartbreaking blogs of mommies who have carried babies to term, only for those babies to pass away shortly after being born. Yet, these women still have an unbroken faith. How is that possible? Why are they not screaming to the heavens? The destruction that is happening all around the world and yet people pray because they believe it will change things. I used to pray and I went to church a lot after losing my mom, but now? Not so much.  I am not sure when I lost my faith. I don't think I awoke one morning and it was gone, instead I believe it was a gradual thing.

Cold, cold, go away

and um, never come back? No, I am not talking about the weather. Although, I wouldn't mind if that disappeared for a while, okay, forever, but who am I kidding? I live in the Midwest not California. Ever since January a cold virus has snuck into our home and just when I think he is gone, bam the little booger makes a surprise attack. *sigh* I need to find this virus, let's call him Vick and get him out of my house. Maybe he is under the boys' bunk bed, or under the entertainment center. I thought I could flush him out this last week because the temps have been pretty warm, upper 40s to 60s and I have been opening all the windows, but nope. He is apparently more snug than a bug in a rug. *giggle* Maybe he is living on one of the cats, you know like you used to see on old cartoons where a flea has set up shop with a tent and fire in the animal's fur. I'm not sure how that could be since they are always licking them selves. There is nothing I find quite so annoying as being awoken from sleep to the sound of the cat licking themselves on my bed... Oops, sorry got side tracked there. Anyway, I will find Vick and will root him out by any means needed, well short of setting fire to our house. Such is the life of someone who has more than one child oh and whose said children do not live in a bubble. I have cleaned, disinfected, continually told children to wash hands, but alas, guess who visited last night? Yep, my poor Lauren has a cold and of course it couldn't have come at a worse time. The kids and hubs are on Spring Break and we had a lot of fun things planned. So now I am stuck wondering if we should all just go and hope that the evil virus infects some other poor unsuspecting family or just stay home with her while the family goes and has fun. She doesn't have a fever and besides not being able to sleep well due to the nasal congestion is in a decent mood. Decisions, decisions.

I knew this day was coming

yet, it still hit me like a ton of bricks. Today would have been my Mom's 68th Birthday. I knew today would have been hard, but I didn't think I would be such a wreck.  Of course it doesn't help that I had a bout of insomnia last night and only got 3 hours of sleep last night.  Allison asked me to make a birthday cake for her today so we can celebrate. It is amazing how kids can adapt to life. I do't want to make one, as a matter of fact I want to crawl into bed and not come out until April, but I won't. I will be making a simple Birthday cake for Mom and we will celebrate her life instead of mourning her, or at least I will try. The two year anniversary of losing her is rapidly approaching.  The pain hasn't got any better, it may be less sharp, but the ache that goes to my bones is still there.

Mom on her surprise 40th Birthday.

I am so out of shape.

Ugh.  I  kind of had an idea when a few weeks ago I was thoroughly embarrassed proud that my 9 year old daughter kicked my butt in Just Dance 2 for the Wii. Yesterday, I decided to enjoy the warm weather we were having, (it was about 42*, What can I say? When you have been shut in a house for months and dealt with subzero temperatures, 42* is a freaking heat wave.) and I pulled the two younger ones in the wagon to pick up the older ones from school. It is about 6 blocks or so. Well, a block away I could feel the burn. Pulling 60+ pounds of kid in a wagon is not a good idea for someone whose butt has been couch bound for a while. Not that I don't do anything, I just don't exercise on purpose. Sure I am going up and down the stairs all day, but I guess it didn't prepare me for our hike. Boy was I glad when Nick, my 7 year old asked to pull the two younger ones in the wagon on the way home. I was shocked at how easy it was for him and actually had to tell him to slow down a few times.

So I am on a mission to lose weight. Ideally, I would like to drop 50 or more pounds. No, I will not be putting up a before picture. After all, no need to humiliate myself anymore than necessary. If, no when I lose the weight, I will put up before and after pictures. I am hoping to drop some weight before the summer hits. I am making better decisions about what I eat and trying to exercise. Thankfully I have a Wii Fit so I can exercise in my own home without the embarrassment of going to a gym. I just have to make sure not to do it when the older kids are around because they find it amusing.

Fun Fact Friday

I decided to share with you an fun or funny fact this Friday. Why? Because we can all use a little random knowledge about the world. So today's fun fact is brought to you by http://www.funfactz.com/




More than ten people a year are killed by vending machines.


So be careful out there folks when you go for your Dr.Pepper or Snickers bar. 

                    Picture provided by http://www.clipartof.com/portfolio/toonaday/cartoon/23

Things moms do and swore they never would.

We have all done things that we always said we wouldn't do it. For example, licking ones finger to get that last bit of breakfast off your kid's face as they are racing out the door to school.  Gross, yes? However, it is something that I just automatically do without thinking.  Today for instance, I had to run some errands and while Lauren and I were at our local Super Store, she desperately needed her nose wiped. This led to quite the conundrum we were not near any washrooms or even the Kleenex aisle. Of course me being the somewhat forgetful mom did not reload my supplies of tissues after our last bout of colds and I left the baby wipes in the car. What can I say? I forget things. So what did I do? Used my shirt? No, Her shirt? Nope, my coat, no way, her coat, negative. I know, the suspense is killing you. I took my thumb and pointer finger and squeezed it off her face and proceeded to wipe in on my jeans. Now grant it, it was absolutely revolting, but what was I to do? She hates when her nose is running and I figured it was better if the boogies were on my jeans than running down her face making her miserable. 

No Surgery! !!! ☺

Yeah! Then again, I wasn't going to do it anyway. LOL That is, if it is absolutely necessary I will, but for now I would like to keep my skull intact. Thank you very much. ☺The doctor I saw was awesome. He answered every one of my questions and even some I didn't know I had. He also addressed my lesion. He said he was not concerned, but that we should keep an eye on it. Apparently it is in an area that could suggest Multiple Sclerosis. Seriously? I don't have time for this shit. He doesn't think that is what it is because of its shape and said it was possible I was born with it. He even drew us a diagram and gave it to use to take home. That is one for the scrapbook. Not.  So after our appointment Andrew and I spent and hour or so enjoying downtown Chicago. We ate lunch at Lawry's and then headed home. It was nice because it is rare that we can enjoy each other's company.  I am so grateful for my in-laws for watching the younger two and my friend for taking my older two to school for me. It is great knowing that I don't have to worry about them.

Lauren's speech is progressing slowly, she is up to about 10 words. However, her favorite form of communication right now is ear piercing screams. Boy, that is so enjoyable especially with a headache. She is almost amazingly possessive of me. If any of the other kids, Andrew, or even the pets are anywhere near me or touching me, she screams at them and pushes them away. I hoping she will grow out of it by the time preschool comes around or I predict many tearful mornings.

Allison will be 9 tomorrow. It is amazing how fast the time flies. She is having a friend party at a local bowling alley. We bought her an iPod shuffle and I have already loaded it up with her favorite songs. I can't wait until she opens it, she loves music and lost her other mp3 player. It can be anywhere between here and Florida since that is the last time she remembered having it.

In case you didn't notice, I changed the title of my blog, at least for now. I wanted something a little catchy, also something that means something to me. Because over the past 2 1/2 years that I have been blogging, I have realized how quick your whole life can change in an instant.