Christmas Favorites

Now that I'm over my post Christmas Migraine, I can finally share some of our favorite memories. Lily's real favorite was her Zune, but she also enjoy the flat iron for her hair. Isaac loves his gigaball, a 5ft. inflatable ball that you can climb inside (bottom picture). Sam and Eli treasured their "digging for dinosaurs." I got some fun stuff, but my favorite were the blooms on my Hibiscus. The picture of lights is actually the firetrucks that came blaring through the neighborhood about 8:30p with Santa and Mrs. Claus atop wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. Nate's favorite is his dirt devil vacuum that he uses everytime I vacuum for real. It's always worth the work to see kids' pure joy.

Christmas Proof!

Yes, the DeLapp's have Christmas. Here's the proof...we had the tree up for a total of three and a half days. It's quick but intense!

Washington D.C. Temple

Tonight we to see the Christmas lights at the temple. Brrrrrrrrr! It was COLD! It was also one of those memorable family experience that get us in the right frame of mind to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Enjoy the beautiful pictures thanks to Mike.

Multiple Blessings

On a nondescript day in August of 2002 I worried that our 18 week ultrasound would play the same cruel joke it had our first two pregnancies...an undetermined gender identification. First things first, we saw baby and its heartbeat (healthy and strong) and measured for age (a little small by about 2 weeks) As the Dr. questioned the accuracy of my memory regarding my cycle dates, he was making me seasick with the back and forth motion across my belly. After a scary moment of silence and an extended "Hmm", the Dr. finally announced that he indeed saw TWO HEADS!  I nearly peed my pants and not just because I had drank 32oz before the test. Lee was standing at the end of the table, squeezed my feet and asked the Dr. if he was sure that there wasn't three. Naturally I tried to kick him and told him to keep his mouth shut while I was in SHOCK. I don't remember much else until I started to call my family to share the "gender" news. My Dad was first and guessed before I even said anything. My sister, Rhonda who had a set of twins 12 years earlier, laughed hysterically for TOO long and then advised me to remember this..."The lows are twice as low, but the highs are twice as high." After a six year roller coaster of lows and highs raised to the power of 2 and MANY sleepless nights, I know I am one LUCKY Momma! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sam and Eli!

Fast and Furious

Okay, it's been furious but actually not so fast for me. I went to bed Wednesday night feeling stressed and extremely tired. Wednesday was a busy day including an initial IEP meeting for Eli, speech for Sam and Isaac, and Scouts with Isaac. I awoke about 2 AM violently ill. As I was suffering, I kept telling myself that if it is this intense, it'll be short lived. (wishful thinking) Lee stayed home on Thursday to help with the kids. I'm not sure that I remember much of Thursday other than we sang "Happy Birthday" to Sam and Eli from my bed (no one was allowed to actually touch the bed, though). Over the next two days, one by one the kids have "dropped". Lee was up most of the night doing laundry and helping sickies. It hit Lee this AM. I am finally up out of bed, however, I can't stray far from the powder room. My friend brought some necessities from the store and I guess we're hunkering down for the next bit. Saddest part of all is that Lily misses her first two performances for the singing and dancing group she's in. I'm sure this will come up in therapy years from now. Now to find a silver lining...I'm happy we're at home sick and not the hospital.

???

Isaac got of the bus today and reported a good behavior day, but wouldn't let me see his backpack or daily log. Hmmm...I eventually got to his backpack and read a note from his case manager. It read, "DEC. 8, 2008 Isaac completed last weeks reading test in AM. He refused to complete any work after the reading test. While the teacher was out of the room, Isaac stripped off his clothes down to his underwear. He refused to complete any work throughout the remainder of the day".

Transportation Fiasco

So I have kids attending three different elementary schools. Shouldn't be much of a problem, right? It is if you are Stafford County Transportation. Isaac attends Moncure and has had reliable transportation on his AM bus #74 and his PM bus #61 for months now. Sam just started at Anthony Burns and is supposed to ride bus #112 in the morning and #220 in the afternoon. Yesterday, bus #220 came to Sam's school to pick him up. However, the paperwork said she was picking up Isaac. She refused to transport Sam, because he was not Isaac. As Sam was recovering from the identity crisis, the school calls me to see if I can pick up Sam. I could, but I couldn't leave the house for 30 minutes or so until Isaac got off his bus. (I can't be in 12 places at once.) We decided that there weren't many options, so Sam would wait. 5 minutes later, the school called back and said that the driver had talked to transportation and told her to go back to the school and bring Sam home. Problem solved, right? Nope! This morning Isaac bus is late, very late. A empty bus #15 comes to the stop and says he's here to pick up Isaac. It's not out of the ordinary to have substitute buses or drivers. So I start to put Isaac on the bus and am asking my 20 questions like, Who are you? What happened to the other bus? Where are the other children? Where is your monitor? (an additional adult on special needs buses) What school are you driving to? Come to find out he was trying to transport "Isaac", aka Sam to his school. I denied transport for Sam due to the driver's insufficient answers. I also drove Isaac because I finally figured out that his original route was canceled because you can't have the same student on two different routes at two different schools. Are you confused yet? Me too, and I was there! Later, the special needs route coordinator returned all my calls, apologized profusely, and promised that it was all fixed. We'll see this afternoon...to be continued?

What are you thankful for?

I am thankful Thursday evenings, the night without any have to's. I am thankful for bedtime and the occasional naptime. I am thankful for vibrant children and teachers that can tolerate their energy. I am thankful for a washer, dryer, dishwasher, and running water. I am thankful for potty trained children (that endeavor to aim). I am thankful for an almost six year survival rate on raising multiples. I am thankful for the word "go" (Nathan's latest). I am thankful for cheaper gas prices. I am thankful for melatonin. I am thankful that the days of per minute long distance phone calls are long gone. I am thankful for "yard passes" (from the loony bin) and alone time. I am thankful for together time. I am thankful for teeth without cavities. I am thankful that Nate patiently waited for me to finish this post. I am truly blessed.