Okay my latest gripe with people.....

R.S.V.P  according to the dictionary, it means 

1. Definition of RSVP
2. : to respond to an invitation
3. Origin of RSVP
4. French répondez s'il vous plaît

which translated means please respond.

What has happened to society that people no longer to feel the need to RSVP to something when it clearly states to please do so? We don't put that 4 letter abbreviation on invitations just for the fun of it. Is it really that hard to call someone and say yes, no, or maybe? Because, if you can't make it, I am not going to expect a reason and my feelings won't be hurt. What hurts is when people act as if you never invited them to something. Even if you call and say maybe, that would be a heck of a lot nicer and considerate than just completely ignoring the invite all together. So from now on, the next time I have a party and you don't RSVP in some way, then I will assume you will not be there. So don't be surprised when their might not be enough food, games, favors for you and yours. I will no longer be calling people to see if they are coming either, because that makes me feel like pain in the ass. Okay, griping is over. ☺ Oh, and have a great weekend!

The person you need

is Nanny McPhee. Capital M capital P. Heck yeah, bring it on. Nanny McPhee is my new hero, even though she is a fictional character. What mom doesn't dream of a person swooping in and getting their children to behave and listen? She is the woman of our dreams.  Seriously though, this whole job of parenting is a lot harder than it looks. I can usually tell the people who have no kids or perhaps just one infant in the stores, they are generally the ones who look at me like I am a horrible monster while I am pulling Alexander out of Wal-Mart  and he is screaming "You awe huwting me!" (He still doesn't have his r sound down pat.) Even though I am barely holding on to him while he is throwing a fit because I refused to buy him a toy that he does not need nor deserves. It feels as if they are judging me as a bad parent, someone who can not control their child by just the one outburst. While a lot of the times, the people with children give you a look of sympathy, stay out of the way and often times whether they realize it or not are smiling to themselves and thinking "Thank God it is not me this time!" I understand now more than ever why God has made babies and children so cute and adorable, it is so you don't realize how hard it is going to be. The same can be said for puppies and kitties. Take Miss Lauren for example, at least once a week she determines that I don't need but a few hours of sleep at night. As much as I want to be annoyed, I can't. After all, who can resist the loud smacking sound of an 18 month old's kiss? Or how when she hugs me, she still likes to sway back and forth and hum to me?
Now that Allison is 8, she is starting to get out of that adorable stage and has jumped right into the attitude, you can't tell me what I need to do. Oh boy, shouldn't there have been some sort of gradually going into this stage? The first time she told me that I didn't to need to tell her what to do and that she could do it on her own, I stood there with my mouth open. After all, here was my sweet helpful one who I never had a problem with and she's telling me no!  I don't know how long I just stared at her. I knew I had a choice I could let it slide or attempt to address the situation. After taking a deep breath, I told her that it was fine, but she was not to ask me for anything for the rest of the day.  Fine! She responded to me and turned round mumbling something to herself. Let's fast forward to a couple of hours later when said child wants me to make her hot chocolate. Guess, what I said? No. I explained that since she feels she does not need me to do things I ask of her and that she doesn't need me anymore that she was on her own. Needless to say she didn't get her hot chocolate that day. Perhaps it was an immature way on my part to react, but I need to teach them that I deserve the same respect they give their teachers and friends' parents. I ended up getting an apology from her that evening and I did not continue the next day with not helping out.  I think hope she learned her lesson. I guess that is something we will find out soon enough.

I was stabbed!

Ok, it wasn't a real stabbing, more like an impalement, but the title got your attention, didn't it? LOL I was walking in the living room (with socks on I might add) and stepped on the eraser part of a pencil with one foot, while I impaled myself with the sharpened end. The whole thing happened so fast that I didn't even realize I had stepped on something until it was sticking out of my foot! (Yes it went right through my sock.) Holy crap it hurt so bad. My husband was outside so I had to have Alex, my 4 year old run out to get him. I couldn't pull it out because it was so far lodged in my foot. I was either going to puke or pass out from the pain. If I wasn't tyring not to pass out I would have taken a picture, because let's face it, that would have been an awesome, although gross picture. So instead, you should be satisfied with my war wounds and the instrument of torture.

Is it ironic that the pencil that got me has smiley faces on it?

Yes the tip was nice and sharp and that is my blood on it. 

Ouch. The entry point.

I could use a pedicure. The red mark to the left of the spot shows how far it it went.

Now that I have totally grossed you out and quite possibly made you puke in your mouth, have a great day!

 

Monday is almost over!

Yippee! Today is one of the reasons why people loathe Mondays. LOL It started this morning with Nicholas deciding that while I was getting dressed that he should go outside and spray our hose up in the air to make it rain. I forgot to add that it was about 65*, but he was smart enough to put on a raincoat. sigh I am sure people on the next block heard me yelling at him to get in the house. This would be the reason that the spigot handle has been permanently taken off and hidden, of course that hiding spot has to change often because Nick is good at sniffing it out. Off to school we go, only to have to run back home after they go inside to get their water bottles. So then I have to drag the younger two out of the car so I can bring the kids' water bottles inside. I told them from now on it is their responsibility to remember them and I will no longer bring them up there since they do have water fountains at the school. I take Alex to preschool and then the running begins. I had about four errands I had to run before I had to pick him up two and a half hours later. After I get him, he go to a few stores trying to find an affordable bed for Allison. Oh, that is right I forgot to mention that he bed completely broke in half a couple of days ago. No one was jumping on it. All that happened is my tiny 45 lb 8 year old sat on t. So after a frustrating trip, two crabby hungry kids, we ended up home empty handed. After all, we really don't have the money for that right now. Thankfully my dad had an extra twin frame that he is going to let us borrow until we get the money to buy a new bed for her. Geez, I hope he doesn't hold his breath. While hubby was at my dad's picking up the frame and a dresser, I took the kids to Nick's Pre-Karate class at the local park district.  That went well, but it will not be repeated. Back home to try and get it cleaned up since I was gone all day. I also had to take apart Allison's old bed and get rid of that. After that was out, I cleaned at least that small part of the floor and vacuumed. We finally ended up eating about 7:20, which is the kids bedtimes and 2 hours past our regular time.  So, now I sit here while the 3 older kiddies are tucked in bed and Miss Lauren is pulling all of the clothes I just folded out of the basket. You know what, I don't care, at least she isn't screaming and crying which she has been doing lately if she isn't attached to me like a baby monkey.

Tomorrow is my baby boy's 4th Birthday! It is amazing how time flies. He even says that I have 2 babies, him and Lauren.

Good Enough

That would be my counselor's favorite term. She has asked, "When is it going to be good enough for you?" That is a damn fine question. As I prepare to host Bunco at my house this evening, I am trying to make the house good enough. Meaning that they are not going to know that my front closet is bursting at the seam and the only thing stopping the mountain of  shit coats from falling out is the hook and eye latch on the outside of it. However, I start to feel panicky and think I need to rip everything out of there and organize. I know though if I do that, it will make an even bigger mess and I will just feel even more overwhelmed. So, I am desperately trying to have things good enough including myself. I recently had my oldest brother  and his family over for dinner which was the first time in about, oh four years at the least.  We had a great time and I plan on getting to together with my family more often.  My house was far from perfect or even spotless, but it was good enough for me. You know what, they didn't care about some clutter or a few toys laying around.  Allison even got to have a friend over to play because the house was good enough, that was the first time for her. Which is sad considering she is 8. Thankfully she has great friends with wonderful parents who understand that I have a hard time having kids over here.

I guess my issues stem from childhood, after all, don't they all? I was the only girl in our family and my father was old fashioned. Meaning, that I needed to learn to cook and clean, while my brothers still had chores, a lot of it was put on me. However if you ask them I was a spoiled brat. LOL My father use to tell me that he could never invite his friends over because our house was not clean enough and that of course was my fault. My mom had to work so I had to do a lot of  the cooking, cleaning, and laundry. By the time I was a freshman in high school I could make a mean pot roast. I know that the way I was raised has made me into the woman I am today, both good and bad. I just wish that I can accept things to be good enough, both myself and my home.

Ahh Life.

It definitely has its ups and downs.  However living with a child who has ADHD & ODD it tends to have more downs than ups.  With these children, they are not "bad" kids and they do not have bad or lazy parents. It is not a discipline problem. We can not give them an attitude "adjustment" aka spanking and fix them. It is an imbalance of sorts, something they can not help. Knowing that does not make one's life any easier. Our mornings start off decent enough, but then he starts. Nicholas's favorite thing to do is to terrorize his siblings to the point that they run screaming because they are scared he will hurt them. Now, we have a very simple morning routine. They kids eat breakfast, brush their teeth, get dressed (clothes are picked out the night before) and if there is time after everyone is ready they get to watch some morning cartoons before heading off to school. Simple right? Nope.  Nick is up at least 15-20 minutes before everyone else and he is still the last one to get ready. He prefers instead to fight and aggravate everyone in the house. I would just love to have a morning where I do not have to threaten him with grounding after school.  That doesn't even seem to work anymore. His favorite phrase, well besides I HATE YOU!! is Who cares? UGH! Believe me, I feel that way more times than not.  I sometimes feel so hopeless. What did I do to deserve such a child?   My older brother was hyperactive as a child and it is times like this that I wish I had my mom to talk to about how she handled him.  Maybe he is this way because of me. Perhaps I drank too much coffee during pregnancy, or maybe it was because he was not breastfed.  Nick and Allison are only 18 months apart, maybe my body didn't have enough time to recooperate before I became pregnant again. I guess I could live my life with the whys, the problem is trying to figure out where to go from here. Life is a constantly never ending high stress, and I wonder why I suffer from migraines.  I have read books and researched in internet. I just need to know, will it ever get better or will it get worse as he becomes older and stronger. Will he start to become physical with me? What do you do then?  Yesterday he threw a toy at the couch, well I happened to be sitting in front of the couch on the floor so it hit me right on the top of the head instead. Even though I knew it was an accident. it didn't feel like it.  He apologized, but I think secretly he was aiming at me, otherwise why throw it in the first place? Well, I guess I will go back to my laundry and Lauren has a dirty diaper. Until next time...

Do you know what tomorrow is?

The first day of school!!!!! Yeah, yippee (doing the happy dance). Granted, they will only be gone for three hours the first day, but still it will be so nice! In honor of tomorrow, I will post a poem my very clever friend posted this morning on a popular networking site.

Twas the night before school started, when all through the town, the parents were cheering, it was a riotous sound. By 8, kids were washed, & tucked into bed, when memories of homework filled them with dread. New pencils, new folders, new notebooks, too, new teachers, new friends-their anxiety grew.
The parents just giggled when they... learned of this fright..and shouted,"Upstairs! GO TO BED! IT'S A SCHOOL NIGHT!"

The Garfield Club lives on!

Well, sort of. LOL When we were younger, myself and two other friends decided to have our own club and since we all loved that sarcastic cat Garfield, he was our namesake. :) The three of us got together last night for food and 1/2 price margaritas and we had a blast. It is amazing that even though we might not see each other for a few weeks or even months, we can start talking like we never were apart.  I guess that is how it is like that with friends that have known each other for ahem 20 or so years. After the food was eaten and drinks consumed (don't worry we each only had one since we were all driving.) we sat and talked about anything and everything. The funny thing was our again mutual enjoyment of a cartoon. No, it wasn't Garfield anymore, but Phineas and Ferb.  They are a cartoon on the Disney Channel. I love those two little guys and my daughter has been nicknamed Candace after the boys' older sister who is constantly trying to get them in trouble. So perhaps, we will rename our club the Phineas and Ferb Girls.

Here is Garfield that sarcastic, lasagna eating kitty with teddy Pookie.

Here is Phineas and Ferb riding the waves with their pet platypus Perry, who also moonlights as a secret agaent. 

Who wants to switch heads?

Seriously I am so sick of being in freaking pain all. the. time! Chronic headaches/migraines suck butt! I have tried so many things. My insurance doesn't cover a chiropractor and I can't afford one right now, or I would try that. It is pretty pathetic when I get excited because I can go a whopping 4-6 days without a headache. Okay, pity party done.. *sigh*

I survived!

Now, you may be thinking what in the heck are you talking about?!  I am talking about our family's two week long car trip/vacation. We drove for  2 days to DisneyWorld, yes I did say drove with four kids 8 & under. All I have to say is I bless the person who invented drop down dvd players and wireless headphones. LOL My parents in law (is that even a term?) went as did a brother and sister in law.  We stayed in the Mouse's territory for 7 days, but one day we left the entire area (I know I just heard you gasp) to go to an outlet mall. My husband just felt the need to get out of the Mouse's clutches. LOL However, guess what store we went to? A Disney one, we found a store that the park  sends all of their closeout items to for a super discounted rates. We were able to pick up a few cheap souvenirs. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and it was so nice! After visiting with the Mouse, we headed about and hour and a half away to visit my brother and his family for three days. We had a great visit and I wish we lived closer. After our visit with them, it was on our way home, but first we stopped in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in the heart of the Smoky Mountains. It was an absolutely beautiful area. We didn't do a lot of walking because, by then we were all worn out and hiking up a mountain with four worn out kids in 90* weather is not my idea of a good time. We planning on going back when the kids are older. Three days later we were finally on our way home. We had a wonderful trip, but like Dorothy put it so eloquently, There is no place like home! Yes, I missed my bed, shower, tv, couch, but what I missed most was my animals. I know what a dork, but any animal lovers out there will understand. So we are now back to normal life, well as normal as life can be. Hopefully I can get on here more often, that is in between life.

Cinderella's Castle at night.

Sunset on the Gulf. 

Smoky Mountains