Somebody Loves Me

One of my hubby's thoughtful gifts for Christmas was a new kitchen faucet. I didn't take a picture of the old one, because it was embarrassing. Pathetic really. I've been wanting a new one since we've moved. Lee suggested that I hire someone because his first experience changing out a kitchen faucet wasn't one he was hoping to repeat. He's worked hard developing his handy man talents. I was so excited, but the only help I could offer was cheerleading. He's amazing and he must love me a bunch! I almost enjoy doing dishes now. Thanks Babe!

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.

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.

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.

So homesick

I miss my family like crazy...It's been 2 years since I've seen my sister, Lara, my brother, or my Dad. Much more than that for everybody else except my Mom, but it seems like forever with her too. This time of the year is hard to be on the other side of the world. I guess that's why we have blogs and cell phones.

My own space

Thanks to my husband, I am no longer borrowing his or the kids' computer...trying to sneak in time to blog and such. We bought the few extras we needed and Lee worked tirelessly to give me my own computer again. Thanks a bunch babe!

Tired of worrying my mother

So there I was, not standing in line at the bank, but waiting for northbound Rt. 1 traffic to clear so that I could make a left turn to take Eli to school on Friday morning. There wasn't much southbound traffic, so I wasn't looking in my mirrors, when a Nissan Pathfinder slammed into the back of my van. CRUNCH! The general consensus was that she was going nearly 35-45 mph. The back of my seat even bent. I realized what was happening and somehow got my van off the road, asked Eli if he was okay, and called 911. I called Lee and a neighbor brought him and Nate down to the scene. Timothy's Dad was driving by and stopped to help. I was put in a neck brace and on a board to ride to the hospital. My blood pressure was 160/110 (after I was calm, it dropped to 107/55) and I vomited a couple of time in route. The paramedic had to tip the board so I wouldn't choke on my vomit. YUCK! After x-rays and a CT scan and 4 hours being flat on my back, I was cleared to go home. Sore and battered, but okay. I am so thankful for all the heaven sent blessings before, during, and after the accident. Haven't heard about the van or the insurance nightmare to follow, but I will update as I can tolerate the stress.

Lest we forget...

Each of my three school-aged  boys came home today, let's say, not "on green."  When they forget their good manners, I like to remember how it all started...beautiful and innocent and pure. Tomorrow will be better.

No More August!

I am so done! All of us suffer from burn-out at the end of summer and, when life keeps coming at you, it doesn't take long to use up any reserves. This past weekend Nathan ran a fever. It resolved on its own by Monday afternoon. Monday evening he started acting "weird." He had been walking/running for 3-4 months already and now he was crawling and scooting backwards. When you stood him on his feet, he just pivoted in a circle. He tried to reach for an object out of my hand and missed it by a good 3 inches. He ran his head along the floor and was flip flopping about even though he didn't look like he was in pain. ??? After suffering with a day of unknowns and testing for the worst (spinal tap included), he was diagnosed with post viral cerebellar ataxia. Long story, even longer...The body fights off the infection and then doesn't stop. It keeps attacking the body causing inflammation in the cerebellum and messing with the motor/balance parts of the body. The Doctors say that he should take a couple of weeks to return to baseline. I don't think it will take that long; he's already made great strides. After all is said and done, it wasn't so bad just very scary.

Missing In Action

Where have we been? No vacation or anything exciting like that...just endeavoring to survive the summer. Now that we have 15 days left, we are totally into the summer routine of going to bed at midnight or after and getting up about 10am...thanks to the end of summer school and start of the Olympics. Life is gonna jerk us into reality soon. Nathan and I are busy planning all the fun we're gonna have with the others at school.

79 Days and Counting

All the kids are finally out for summer break, and I'm counting down to the first day back.

Weekend Movies

Lee and I actually had a date on Friday! We went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. I had heard some negative reviews, but still wanted to see it. I for one, liked it very much. I guess Shia LaBouf is going to be popular for a while...saw a preview with him in it. Grandma DeLapp and I took Lily, Sam, and Eli to see "Kung Fu Panda" on Saturday. Jack Black makes a perfect Po. The kids really liked it too. Good family flick. Saw a preview and a poster for upcoming movies, "Marley and Me" and "Twilight". Can hardly wait.

Bad Fuel Day

Anybody else paying $3.90/gallon? I am being economically coerced into a permanent staycation.

Target...Schmarget

Argggggh! I endeavored to make a return at Target without a receipt. (I know...my bad) Most of the time, they can look up the receipt with the card you used to purchase the items. I had three clothing items...the only difference was color (and UPC). I was missing one of the tags with the UPC. Of course, they couldn't find the items with my card. We finally figured out that the cashier had used the missing tag to ring up all three items. I even tried to get one from the floor with a tag, but no go on size and color. Four different employees tried their own version of incompetence. They tried to make a return without a receipt, but could only return two items because of $20 limit. To make a long story even longer, more than an hour later, I finally left with a gift card, a ban on making any more returns without a receipt, and a renewed disdain for Target and their return policy.