Awwwww!

On Easter, Samantha made placecards for each of us. Mine had a special note on it. I will try to type it exactly how she wrote it: Momy yuo rae The Baset mom I KcoD hav. Isn't that sweet? I'll be keeping that note. Right now I have it out to look at when I am frustrated with my daughters.

A Break from the Action

Well - after watching college Basketball for the last 4 days, I'm happy to have a break. Todd has been hogging the laptop, which is why I haven't posted all week. I normally get on the laptop in the basement while he watches TV or plays xbox. He has been using it to update the brackets and watch other games. I am much more vested in the games this year than in the past. I usually fill out and participate in the pool, but am usually out after the first round. Not this year...after two rounds, I'm tied for 2nd. So now I have to actually pay attention to the games. We had a nice Easter. Cold, but it was sunny. Went to 8am mass (which the girls were suprisingly well behaved - except for two false alarms for Valerie and the bathroom) and then came home and had breakfast and then the girls ate half of their chocolate bunnies. They ate the rest later after lunch. I'll try to get some pictures posted tonight since there isn't basketball on. Let's just say Valerie enjoyed hers immensely. Conversation overheard while the girls were playing: Samantha: Ahem! Ahem! silence Samantha: Ahem! Ahem! silence Samantha: Valerie you are supposed to come over here when I do that! Todd and I were rolling! Happy Spring!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I can't help but remember all the St. Patty's days in the past that we celebrated before kids. I have had my fair share of green beer. My fondest memory is when we lived in Columbus and were out with friends and a couple of the guys had their own green food coloring and were trying to dye their dark porter beer green. The foam got a green tint and by the end of the night their teeth were green. I also remember one year in Columbus heading out to watch basketball games on St. Patrick's day and the bar we were in lost power and the ac went out. It was a warm spring day so they opened the windows and everyone went right on drinking. The power did come back on and we got to watch more basketball. I think too that was the year Gonzaga surprised everyone. Tonight it will probably be just having a beer at home after the kids go to bed. We are all wearing green, but no real celebration. Samantha is having a little party at school today and Valerie's was last week. I think we are a little more focused on Easter and getting ready for that. Hope you all have a Happy St. Patty's Day and if you are fortunate enough to be going out...be safe.

Status Quo

Things are pretty normal right now. Todd got home on Saturday - a few hours later than planned and realized he'd been up for almost 36 hours. The excitement of putting his bracket together and getting ready for March Madness helped out. He did bring gifts for the girls - paper parasoles from Chinatown - they LOVE them. Samantha decided they needed Chinese costumes to go with them. Valerie has been wearing underwear to bed since Wednesday and no accidents. A few middle of the night wake ups and early risings to go, but I would rather do that than to change sheets in the middle of the night. Veronica REALLY needs to learn to talk. I can translate most of her grunts and points, but sometimes we just can't communicate and we both get frustrated. Samantha is doing just fine - reading, adding, subtracting, writing. Not listening and not eating dinner. Seems to be enjoying school. I'll let you know if anything entertaining happens, but for now it is business as usual.

More PT news

Valerie went to bed in underwear and was dry all night! She came in to wake me at 4am because she had to go potty. I got up with her, she went and then went back to bed. For now, I'll take the 4am wake up while she is learning. It was a big deal - hopefully she can keep it up. No accidents since the two while on the computer. Thank goodness for the sunshine. It is actually pretty nice out. Yesterday the girls got outside to play for about an hour. That was good for all of us. I'm ready for spring and light jackets.

Computer Time

Not a whole lot exciting going on now. Everyone is healthy again. Todd is actually in CA for the week for training, so Grandma is here helping out. Valerie was doing great on the potty - except today she had two accidents and both occurred while she was playing on the computer. So, I had to take computer time away from a 3 year old. Unbelievable! Hopefully she will do better tomorrow.

Whew!

Quick update....the kids are all feeling better. Samantha didn't get sick anymore and it was a 180 degree difference today. They all slept until 8am and we took it easy today and didn't go anywhere. Which worked out since it rained and then turned to sleet and ice today. I watched the icicles grow on the trees today. Barring any change in the weather - the kids will be going to school tomorrow. Hopefully this means they are on the mend. Thankfully we didn't have this weather yesterday when I was dealing with sickness and the doctor. Tuesday - almost halfway through the week.

A Little Hilarity?

I don't know...maybe I'm losing my mind, but some of the events of today were humorous so I had to share. First of all -the weekend was fairly uneventful. We couldn't get outside to enjoy the nice weather yesterday because all the kids are coughing and snotty. Valerie and Veronica were on meds for strep throat. Veronica wound up with a fever over the weekend and really didn't sleep well Friday or Saturday night. Samantha was just super congested and doesn't know how to blow her nose. Come to this morning. I make Samantha go to school (she doesn't have a fever, so I figure it is just a cold). She looks pitiful getting on the bus, just kind of groggy. I pick the kids up from school and Samantha looks like she is going to fall asleep in the back. We get home and I get brunch for the kids. I say brunch because they wanted waffles and chocolate milk. Anyhow - I get Veronica down for a nap at 1pm and Samantha is laying in her sleeping bag on the floor dozing. But then she wants a snack so I make her popcorn (it is what she asked for). Valerie plays on the computer all afternoon. Samantha has a doctor's appointment at 4:05. I get Samantha and Valerie all ready to go and at 3:20, I go wake up Veronica from a nice nap and put coat and shoes on her and put her in the car. We get to the office and I call from the car to see if they are running on time. I have a movie playing so if they are late, why drag them inside. I'm told they are on time so we decide to head in. This is around 4pm and after Samantha has said she thought she was going to be sick and we stood by the bushes for a few minutes. She didn't get sick (then). We get inside, the waiting room is pretty much empty (2 other people) and I ask for a bucket because Samantha doesn't feel well. They give me one of those hospital ones that would maybe hold a cup...who decided that would be a good thing to use if someone is going to be sick? Anyhow - we start waiting. 10 minutes, 15 minutes, gotta run for the bathroom (with extra kids in tow) and yes Samantha did get sick. This is the funny part - her younger sisters watching and Veronica starts to cry because I push her back because she was getting too close to the toilet and Valerie just watching and saying "ewww!" Meanwhile, I'm a sympathetic puker so I'm just trying to focus on Samantha and not the popcorn, chocolate milk and waffles that she had to eat earlier in the day. Okay - so now 20-25 minutes later, they put us in an exam room across the hall from a bathroom. We wait, Valerie uses the potty (side note - she is doing awesome with the potty), Samantha uses it. Veronica checks out the procedure room B, all three roam the halls a little. 5:05 - the doctor comes in. Samantha has a double ear infection and we don't know what is going on with Veronica, but let's try another antibiotic and Valerie is looking good. We leave, I go drop off the Rx, pick up pizza for dinner, pick up the Rx and head home. It is about 6:05pm. I was hoping to go to 6:30pm mass and am thinking if I can get home by 10 after, I might make it. I'm in the neighborhood and about two minutes after thinking that, I hear from the backseat, "Mommy, I'm gonna be sick." As I'm pulling over, I'm yelling to her to get out - go, go, go! I run around to the side of the van with the door open and get her out, thankfully I also had an umbrella in the car because it is raining. Picture the two of us standing along the side of the road in the neighborhood in the rain and she is getting sick in the grass. Poor thing, but you can see the humor in it as well right? We make it home, get everyone inside, have dinner and get everyone to bed. I didn't make it to church. Needless to say she is staying home tomorrow. We are having a PJ day. I think we can use it. And it is only Monday? Really?