A year of learning.

Instead of talking about resolutions for the new year I am going to look back at last year and talk about what I learned about myself.
First of all I learned that I can remain calm and cool in a scary situation. When Amelia got knocked in the head with a shovel and there was blood everywhere I was able to (along with my sister) get her to the Doctor. Even when she started falling asleep in the car on the way and throwing up in the waiting room I held it together and got through the chaos to the other side which included her getting stitches and a milkshake from McDonald's :)
I also learned that I can be strong and positive when life hands out unfair and unjustified things. Chris got laid off..out of the blue mostly because I think they wanted to hire someone with less experience that they could pay less. Regardless of why it happened , we rallied together and made it through the tough situation of bruised egos and we made it to the other side. He now has a job he likes much better and is actually starting to feel secure again. I on the other hand learned something else about myself when he got this new job. I learned that him working at home is taking a while to get used to and might force me to find a job.
Another important thing I have discovered is I can actually rely on my friends for support. People actually do care about me and are there for me no matter what. They don't judge me on how clean my house is or what I feed my kids for dinner.
Over the past 4.5 years I have had one friend that I have talked to daily through emails and instant messages. I had never met her and had only spoken to her once on the phone until a few months ago. I always called her my modern day penpal but everyone else called her my cyber friend. I had always considered her a true friend but when we met it made things concrete and I love her even more.
Over the next year I hope I can keep finding out more things about myself. I am hoping I can push myself to discover new things and evolve into a better person then even I thought I could be.

Promises, promises.

We promised the girls we would take them bowling over Christmas break and today was the day. We ended up taking a few friends and meeting a few friends. There were nine little girls between the ages of 4.5 and 1o and 3 adults. The bowling alley was packed full of other families who had probably made the same bowling promises. After a long wait we all got our stinky pre-worn shoes and sat down to put them on...Amelia slips off her furry boots and has NO socks on (which was Chris's fault since I wasn't home this morning and he was in charge). Sooo we had to buy her some too big bowling alley socks. We were all suited up and started our first game. The music was blaring and there were sounds of pins and balls colliding . The kids stayed pretty interested through the first half. During the second half they were all starting to beg for a snack and kept wandering over to the arcade games. We got snacks and finished the first game and started a second game...that was a mistake. The kids were totally done. We bowled a few frames and that was that. Our bowling promises were fulfilled for the year.
Now I have a total 7-10 split-ing headache. Luckily, in our family, bowling only happens once a year!

Amelia and Nick's great adventure.

Today my nephews came over. Owen is five and Nick is two. Owen immediately settled in for a long morning of playing Wii with Caroline and Olivia. Amelia took Nick by the hand and led him upstairs to play in her room. My sister and I were busy trying to change my blog design around so we kept yelling up and asking if everything was going OK. Amelia kept saying YES. When she came down asking for a different shirt for Nick we got a little suspicious so I went up to check it out. They had dumped an entire bottle of bubble bath in my bathroom sink and they were splashing around with 10 rubber ducks. I got them all cleaned up and brought them down for lunch. After lunch they got into playing with the Moon Sand (which is a whole other hellish story).
When I took Amelia to bed tonight I found out the rest of the story. Her room looked like a bomb blew up in there...clothes tossed everywhere...stuffed animals piled up ....toy tubs dumped over. I asked what had happened and she told me they were searching for the magic mirror...ummm OK what the heck is the magic mirror?? After a few minute of putting her room back together she yells that she found it! I look over and she is holding a pink hand mirror that lights up around the edges, apparently dubbed the magic mirror. She then tells me how Nick LOVES the mirror because he loves to watch himself pick his nose and then her voice dropped to a whisper and she tells me you know mom he does that picking thing all the time. Finally I gave up trying to clean her room up and told her to get in bed. She then freaks out because she can't find her Leapster. I ask her where it could be and she tells me well Nick hid it today after he threw it off her bed a few times. We then searched for a while and finally she discovered it was under her pillow with all the game disks. Finding the game jogged Amelia's memory and she remembered that Nick had put the Leapster to bed before he left. On the way out her bedroom door I discovered a half chewed piece of gum and a spilled can of rootbeer. I guess the moral of the story is that I should get my butt off the computer and supervise the very inventive four year old and the squirrly two year old.

I have won a major award!

One week into the two week break I have apparently won an award! I am jumping up and down and planning my acceptance speech right now! The award is for the meanest mom during holiday break :) I worked so hard to earn this prestigious award! I asked so much of my children I mean really....
How dare I make the girls clean up after themselves ? How could I make them empty the dishwasher and feed the cats? Why would I ask them to please get dressed when it is almost noon? What is the meaning of me wanting them to shower at least every other day and wash their hair??? I mean HOW DARE I!!! What would be the point of cleaning up their rooms and the basement when it is just going to get messy again?? Why would I get angry when 3 days after Christmas where they received pretty much everything on their lists they come to me and tell me they are BORED and have nothing to do??
I wonder what kind of award I can win over the second half of break???

The invasion.

When the phone rang at 9:30 this morning I knew exactly who it would be on the other end. My mother in law calling to say they were running late ...blah blah blah. I mean really I am able to get myself and 3 kids ready , have my house clean and brunch in the oven yet they can't get here by 10????? Obviously a passive aggressive way to control the situation. Anyway they got here around 10:30 and immediately started oohhing and ahhing about how HUGE the muffins were on the counter...how one muffin could feed a whole family...blah blah blah. Then on to the fact that I was using plastic (throw away plastic). I am sorry that I do not want to use antique china and serve a 5 course meal...and spend time hand washing the china (which they do every single flipping time). NOPE I would rather throw it in the trashcan and spend time doing fun stuff. On to the gifts. The girls adored every single thing they got. There were screams of joy. Before you think my mother in law did a good job shopping and actually knew what my kids like stop and rethink. She asked me to do the shopping for her and wrote me a check. How could she know my girls when she sees them only 4 or 5 times a year?? Oh and they only live about 15 minutes away. Now for Chris and my gifts. Which I need to first of all say I told them no gifts were necessary at all and I meant it. I got a glass Williamsburg Gingerbread house...LIMITED EDITION I was told as I opened it. It is a nice Christmas decoration. It was very expensive I am sure which isn't exactly ideal for a glass house inside my chaotic house. I also received a Longaberger bowl...again a nice gift but expensive and showy. As for the gifts we gave them...they were not to interested. As usual no emotion at all.
The best part was when the girls tried to get them to play Wii. I thought that was a nice gesture and I could just imagine what it might like to see them to loosen up a little. Nope they refused. They would rather discuss the history of the circus or computers. Could their recent obsession with the circus show some sort of connection to their inability to relate to children??
It all ended rather abruptly 4 hours after they arrived. Bye thanks! See you again for Easter.

5:30 am conversation

This morning at 5:30 I could feel hot breath on my face and I opened my eyes to my youngest staring at me. She asked if she could come in my bed. I asked why?? She said.. "well I peed in my bed....but I changed my jammies and underwear." I squinted in the light shining from her room down the hall and saw she had indeed changed and put on her nightgown backward. I told her fine climb in we will just take care of her bed later. I noticed as she was climbing in that her underwear where on backwards and inside out...oh well never hurt anyone. Once she was settled in bed she kept talking. She told me that she was going to give me two lists. One of things she DID pee on in her bed and one of things she did NOT pee on. She had every Christmas present on her bed and one of the cats...LUCKILY she told me when she felt something start to 'happen' she scooted her blankets and toys away and only peed on her sheet...wheeewww. I asked her why if she felt like she was going to go she didn't get up and run to the potty. She told me she was just too snuggly to do that. I am sure the special can of pop at her Mimi's last night contributed to the accident.
Now I am ready to batton down the hatches for the in laws to arrive in a few hours. NOW that should be some really good blog material!

My letter to Santa

**** UPDATED****

Dear Santa,
Despite what you have heard I have tried to be good this year. I have muddled through injuries and job loss and bullies and bad teachers. I have really worked hard to stick to a healthier me program (ummm excuse the cinnamon bread and brownies I have consumed lately) with nutritious eating and exercise (yeah don't look too closely at that either over the past few weeks). I have sacrificed good sense and invited my in-laws etc over once again this year (which I hope will give me tons of blog material oops I mean I hope it will be an olive branch for our relationship). I have tried to be a good friend and a good mom and a good wife. Now for my list..I know you can't promise everything but please at least try to deliver on a few.

1: I would totally love to have extra patience to deal with Amelia's sassy mouth ...well and Caroline's attitude ..ohh and Olivia's tears...and while I am at it I might as well add Chris working from home..that would be wonderful.

2: One extra hour added on to the day so I can get everything done plus sleep and blog and play on the computer without feeling like a bad mom/wife.

3. An exemption from classroom volunteering for the rest of the school year.


4. A cleaning fairy.

and if you can't bring those things I will take...

5. Ugg boots and an IPhone...

I have to add two things on at the very last minute..

6. A lock on my bedroom door (self explanatory)

7. A new mailbox.

**Don't forget to enter my contest****

I will take entries through January 1st!

http://3littlesnaps.blogspot.com/2008/12/holly-jolly-contest.html

NOT ME Monday!

I did NOT dread school ending Friday and having the kids home for two full weeks NOPE not me. I could never have offered my children MONEY to help me clean the house but only IF they did it quietly...never.
I certainly did NOT take it personally when two different people told me my cat is FAT when I sent them what I thought was a darling picture of him...no that would be silly.

I could never have made my children bundle up and deliver trays of cookies to 6 different neighbors in -20 degree wind chill...nope not me. That would be plain mean even if I made them hot chocolate ...

I would never have had a semi nervous breakdown when I woke up this morning to NO Internet and NO cable. I could not have decided since we had no computer or TV that I would take all three kids out in -20 degree windchill to Walmart..that certainly would not have been a good idea especially when on the Monday before Christmas. I could not have stood in the toy aisle letting them look at toys so I could check my email, play on Facebook and talk on the phone...nope not ME!

Christmas Break

Is it over yet?? So far the whining and picking with each other has totally overshadowed the fun family time I envisioned for the TWO week holiday break from work and school. It only started Friday though so I guess it could still turn around.
When taking one last look at the Dear Santa lists the girls wrote on the fridge I had to chuckle a little. Caroline has Buxom lip gloss on her list along with clothes and a barbie. She is defiantly a mix of little girl and preteen lately. Major attitude and totally into her hair and clothes yet still plays with her sisters and enjoys dolls and make believe. Olivia's list has one thing on it..an Ipod yet it has a description after it that she wants one LIKE her sister's not the bright colored NEW ones. Exactly what I would expect of Olivia although I hope she likes the NEW bright purple one Santa is bringing. Amelia's list is expertly writing in the perfectly (mostly backward) formed letters of a 4 year old. She wants toys and a learning to read game and puzzles. I think one of the presents she is getting from Santa is the best one even though it isn't on her list. She has been begging to get this stuffed ice cream cone (with a face) from a food place around here. She has wanted to 'buy' it with her coupons from her kids meals for the last year (it takes 10) but I have always told her no maybe next time. Last night I sent Chris out with a Ziploc of kids meal coupons to get the dang stuffed ice cream cone for under the tree. She will be absolutely surprised and I personally think it will be her favorite gift!
Although I am guessing when she gets old enough to realize Santa is a fake she will think I am a cheapskate. Oh well I will relish in the here and now and the Christmas magic the ice cream cone with the face is going to bring to our house.

Just some thoughts.

I am not a mushy person or someone who shows emotion much at all. I hold things in most of the time until I can't anymore. I know it isn't good for me to do that but I can't help it..could be the way I was raised, could just be my innate emotional make-up..who knows. I am trying really hard to put my heart on my sleeve more often and really get it all out there...it is my own kind of therapy.
Anyhoo... I have been thinking lately a lot about relationships and how they affect my life and happiness. Along with that I have been thinking about priority within those relationships. I remember an interview I saw with some woman a few years ago where she talked about putting her marriage and husband above her children and how she got hammered and scrutinized for that. I myself agree with her. I think about people I know that pour themselves into their children's lives. Everything is planned and decided around their kid's schedules and they never take time to focus on their marriage or even themselves. Husbands (or wives for that matter) are put on the back burner and lost in the shuffle of everyday life of PTA meetings and soccer practices. Then when the kids turn 18 and go off to college the parents look at each other like strangers and often go separate ways. In the past few years I have discovered all these things first hand and have been trying to put my husband and marriage up higher on the priority list of life...to the top actually. This relationship is the one I want to flourish and grow and stand on it's own later. This relationship is one that I want to always have and always cherish. This relationship is meant to be and destined to last into wrinkles and rockers.
Having this makes me a better mother to the children I love.

Wordless Wednesday

A Holly Jolly Contest!

I am in a warm and fuzzy mood for memories! I was thinking today of my favorite Holiday memories and thought maybe I would write about mine and ask you to write about yours...come on people I feel like I am talking to myself :) I am going to offer a very special prize for my favorite entry. I will send out a pair of stylish one of a kind squirrel underpants courtesy of my brother David to the winner.
I have a few great memories of Christmas since my girls have been around. The first one happened 5 years ago about a week before Christmas. It was dark and cold and I had just put Caroline and Olivia in bed for the night. Amelia wasn't around yet although she was in the oven. I walked into my room after tucking the girls in and I heard a jingle bell outside so I walked to the window and I noticed it had started to snow. As I got closer to the window I saw SANTA getting out of a sedan. I yelled for the girls and they ran to the window...just as they got there Santa looked right up at us in the window and waved and yelled ho ho ho Merry Christmas! It was one of the shiver up the spine moments that will forever be embedded in my mind. It really was the magic of Christmas in those two little girls eyes and I swear it made me totally fall in love with the holiday that year.
Another great memory was the year of the ice storm. A few days before Christmas we had a huge ice storms. I mean huge..power was knocked out, people were stranded and roads were impassible. Somehow we made it over to my parents house on Christmas day. No one could cook anything so we picked up Chinese food on the way over and we ate by candle light. We laughed and sang and told stories by the fire. We had a great time. It was true family time together without any outside interruptions. Sort of like an old fashioned family Christmas.
OK those are two of my recent faves..how about you? AND if you can't think of a Christmas memory no problem I am not picky ANY holiday memory will do....

Not me Monday!

Time for Monday confessions :)


I did NOT sit at my computer spell checking and grammar checking ( OK this is a confession so I will fess up to adding a teeny tiny bit) to my 4th graders heritage project this morning... that would not be at all a good idea.
I could never have left Saturday for the whole entire day to Christmas shop with my mom and sister...and while I was shopping there is no way I bought some things for myself when I should have been finishing my Christmas shopping.
There is no possible way I watched my cat climb up the Christmas tree and lay in the middle with his head poking out and not take a picture. I could never have just let him sit there while it wobbled back and forth threatening Christmas town below (and my husbands 400$ train but that is another blog entry all together..).
I would never in a trillion years have let my kids feast on whatever they wanted out of their Halloween bags last night before tossing the rest. AND even better I would not have sifted through the castoffs and taken what I wanted before tossing it...nope not ME.
No way would I consider taking a huge black garbage bag and throwing away half of what is in the girl's rooms while they are at school this week...I would never do something like that!
I did not become totally obsessed with my new iPhone this weekend and spend hours loading things onto it....I could never waste time doing something as trivial as that! I also didn't play with the phone while I was in the drive thru and almost run into the yellow pillar..nope not me!

The world agianst Olivia.

I realized I haven't really talked too much about Olivia. She is my middle child so as I know first hand sometimes she gets lost in the shuffle. I just have to laugh at her most of the time though. She truly thinks it is the whole wide world ganging up on her. She gets major tween attitude and know-it-allness from Caroline and sassy cutest baby tude from Amelia. Olivia copes with being squished in the middle by crying at the drop of a hat and dissolving into a heap of whine whenever she is asked to clean her room or set the table. She uses her position to gain leverage with her favorite people in the world aka her Daddy and her Poppie (grandpa). Both give her extra love and attention all the time. Hmmm I wish I had thought of that when I was 8!

Olivia is such a unique free-thinking child that I am sure she will overcome the middle child syndrome that has shaped and encompassed my life. For now though she is the quintessential middle kid with all the insecurities and self doubt that go along with it!

Imagination working overtime.

For the last hour Amelia has been trying to fall asleep. She came out the first time and had a distressed look on her face....she asked if there are any poison apples anywhere in the world. I told her NO and she said "are you sure?". Finally I convinced her to head back to bed. Ten minutes later I heard a thump and pitter patter and there she was again. Another question. "Mom is the Wicked Witch a real live lady?" I had to explain that she is just pretend and NO she is not real...that took a lot of convincing but finally I talked her into believing me. I assumed she fell asleep when I hadn't heard from her for 20 minutes...hmmm no such luck. Thud, pitter patter. "MOM is Rudolph real?? and is he out flying around outside my window??" Well without ruining the magic of Christmas I finally got her to believe Rudolph is way too busy helping Santa to be flying around in little old Ohio just 2 weeks before Christmas...whheww crisis averted.

I walked her back to bed and left her light one and tiptoed out of her room...and before I even got back to my room there she was behind me. "MOM on Christmas Eve if I have to go to the bathroom will Santa see me sitting on the potty and will I be able to see him??" I had to think a minute about how to answer that one. I hemmmed and hawwed and finally told her Santa is magic and can be invisible when he wants to be and NO he would not see her and she would definitely NOT see him...That was 10 whole minutes ago so I am sure I am not out of the imagination woods yet!

My obsession with Facebook.

I started a Facebook page a few months ago. At first I would forget about it and when I remembered I would stop in and glace through my few friends quickly. For some reason the attraction to it has snowballed and I am obsessed. I have so many friends now I forget who is even on there and can spend hours clicking through everyones pictures and messages to others. WHY do I care about who is going for coffee and WHAT temperature it is 1000's of miles away from me? WHY do I update my page so others can read how I feel and what I am doing? Best of all I have people as friends who I don't even know or at least haven't spoken to in years. Why am I obsessed with people who are complete strangers? It is totally addictive just like cigarettes to a smoker or Twinkies to a dieter. I try to stay off of it for days or even hours (OK who are we kidding minutes) just to prove I can..but always end up caving. What is the appeal?
Admitting it is the first step to recovery right?...
OK off to check Facebook....

The story of the gingerbread playdough.

Amelia has been asking me since Thanksgiving to make gingerbread play dough with her. They made it at school and she just loves it. The teachers have told me she loves it, she has told me she loves it (over and over again). I get it: she loves it. You have to understand something about me. I don't do crafts. Sometimes I try but it just isn't my thing. In reality I had no intention of actually making the play dough. So this morning she asked me (again ) if we could make it today. We had a minute before I had to leave to take her to school so to appease her, I told we would take a look at the recipe and see what we ingredients we needed. I googled the recipe and found it without a problem. It was a simple recipe and we had all the things to make it but cream of tarter. Fine, nothing more was said and I dropped her off at school. Fast forward to 3 hours later. I walked up to the door to get her and had 2 different teachers say "I hear you are making gingerbread play dough today". I smiled thinking to myself NOT A CHANCE. Then Amelia's main teacher saw me and came up and gushed and cooed about the play dough and how much Amelia loves playing with it and how glad she was we were going to make it at home etc etc. I told her her that I needed to go to the store to get cream of tarter. She said OHHH we have plenty of that inside come on in and get some...I told her that I had to run to the store anyway (which was not really true) and she said "OH would you do me a huge favor? could you get me some peppermint extract while you are there?? next week we are making peppermint play dough." I could hardly say NO so obviously the joke was on me.
We went to the store. I got the cream of tarter AND the peppermint extract. We made the gosh darn play dough. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. I actually even played with it awhile.
I am bracing myself for next week when I am just sure she will want to make peppermint play dough.

Wordless Wednesday 2: Batman and his Bride.

Wordless Wednesday

More funnies from my nephew

I had planned to blog about my 4th grader's violin concert. I figured it would be long and hideous since they aren't even using bows yet and it is all plucking. Ehhh it wasn't half bad! The worst part of the whole thing was having to get there 40 minutes before it started to get a seat (the parents at our elementary are very involved to say the least).

So I have to go to plan B for my blog tonight. My Sister had me laughing so hard today I was crying. My nephew Owen who turned 5 in September always cracks me up.

Today at breakfast he was reaching for his juice glass and he made a terrible face and said "EEWWWW!" My sister said "Is something wrong with the juice???" He said "NO mom when I moved I could smell my bottom." My sister was like OH DEAR. What do you even say to that???

Then she went on to tell me that she was putting together a gift for Nick's teacher's (my other cuter then pie nephew) and telling Owen that they needed to figure out a Christmas gift for his teachers. He ran into my sisters room and a few minutes later came out holding one of her 3 inch high dress heels and said I want to give these to my teachers...ummm ok those are the shoes my sister and I affectionately call "hooker" shoes and his teachers are old and when I say OLD I mean Chris had one of them as a preschool teacher 30+ years ago.. the image of them walking around in these shoes seriously is enough to make me pee my pants with laughter!!

After much crying and discussing she finally got Owen to agree to gift cards for his teachers insted of the hooker shoes. Whhheeww!

NOT me Monday!

A tradition I discovered on my favorite blog: www.mycharmingkids.com

Ready Set GO!

Earlier this week there is no way I decided it was just easier to wear the clothes I slept in and slick my hair back even when I actually had to go out and take Caroline to the pediatrician for a sore throat. I could never have told the nurse to just hurry up and swab her throat instead of trying to rationally talk her into not crying about the HUGE Q-tip thing coming at her.
I certainly could never have laid on the couch ALL day Saturday feeling like I was ready to die at any minute with the terrible virus the kids gave me. I could never have let Chris take all the kids to Frosty's gift shop at school and then to lunch and Sam's club while I slept and watched HGTV all day long. NO WAY. I wouldn't have had 3 glasses of wine to try and numb the burning in my throat while he did laundry and bathed the kids ..nope not in a trillion years.
The cat could never have climbed on the counter and found a loaf of bread and eaten straight through the plastic so he could pull out a few slices. NO sane cat could do a thing like that. Better yet I did NOT just throw those slices away and stick the rest of the loaf in the fridge for the week. NOPE not me.
I did not wake up 10 minutes after the alarm and say a silent prayer that the roads were icy enough for a 2 hour delay so we could all sleep in but NOT icy enough to close school for the day. NO way when I realized it was fine out did I try to let Amelia sleep in but wake the other two girls for school.
I surely didn't take Amelia shopping and bribe her to keep her mouth shut about my Christmas purchases by buying her a lollipop AND a Happy Meal on the way home...that would not be good mothering..absolutely NOT.

glass half full

Trying to keep a positive outlook on things lately. Instead of seeing Caroline as mouthy I am thinking of calling her expressive. Instead of thinking of Olivia as whiny I will call her emotionally in tune. Instead of calling Amelia a monster I will say she is highly spirited and overly intelligent. Instead of being sad Chris has to leave for a few days I am going to remember the old adage of absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Instead of being anxious and stressed about the holidays I am going to be jolly and excited!
Instead of thinking of all the calories I am consuming I am going to relish the wonderful flavor of the holiday treats. Instead of wondering which appliance will die next I am enjoying my warm DRY clothes after a week with NO dryer.
I could go on and on but I won't because it depresses me.

The smells of the season

I love this story. Even though it isn't my story I am going to tell it anyhow.
My sister and my nephew were driving somewhere and discussing the wonderful smells of the season. My sister said she loved the smell of cookies baking and peppermint sticks. My nephew looked at her and said "Mom I love the smell of Lego."
My nephew,Owen, is obsessed with Lego's. He loves them with a passion. He opened up every window of his LEGO advent calendar because he simply could not stand NOT seeing what was inside and putting them together.
Five year old boys crack me up. If I had a five year old boy I doubt I would find it as funny. I know that I don't think anything having to do with girly Barbies or American Girl Dolls is funny because I must live and breath those things constantly. Maybe I need a boy??

To Caroline's 4th grade teachers:

So it is the holidays and we have joyous family activities to enjoy and school concerts and plays to attend. We have baking to do and shopping, visiting Santa and watching the snow. On top of all of that for some reason now Caroline has an elaborate project assigned TODAY due December 18th. WHY would a teacher do that to a fourth grader (AND HER MOTHER) ??? I seriously don't get the reasoning behind it. Assign it in January when NOTHING is going on....assign it in February when NOTHING is going on. PLEASE don't assign a huge assignment in DECEMBER when there is something going on EVERY single night of the week and double time on the weekend.
It isn't like I am an amateur here. I was a teacher. I get that there is a curriculum and a schedule. I get that the kids have to do these in depth projects. I just don't get why they have to do them during such a busy month.

** this is dedicated to my friend and fellow 4th grade mom Heather ****

Parental decisions

I really really hate having to decide some things as a parent. Way up on the list is deciding when a child is sick whether they need to go to the Dr. or not. I tend to wait longer then some and then feel guilty about it if it happens to be something a Dr. will actually treat.
A fever and a sore throat. Could be strep or the flu but it could be a virus. Right now 2 of my 3 may or may NOT need to see a Dr. Who makes the choice?? MOM. sigh. Sometimes I don't think I am up for the title.

Not Me Monday!

Time for the Monday confessions!

-NO way I got up at 5am on Thanksgiving to go to Meijer to try and get a great deal. I would never sacrifice sleep for a deal..not me!

-I would never hide the pumpkin bread my mom made in the back of the fridge so no one else would eat it..not in a million years :)

-It would not have been at all nice of me to absolutely dread and despise the day yesterday spent with Chris's relatives and I am sure it was terrible of me to use his phone to continually comment about the hideousness of it all on Facebook.

-Amelia could never have told her sister Olivia she hated her this morning because she copied her hair style and I could not have been laughing under my breath about it being an ultimate betrayal to copy a hairstyle at the age of 4.

-I did NOT bribe Amelia with a hot chocolate from Strabuckles to be good at a store this morning. I would never stoop to doing something like that.

-I certainly didn't just tell Amelia that if she didn't stop hugging the cat so tight that she would go to jail.