"Merry Christmas to All and To all a Good Night!"

Well, the next two days are going to be so busy I wanted to make sure I got on here and wished everyone the Merriest of Christmases!! we will be spending the day today at Timm's Sister's house with his family and then tomorrow will be staying cozy at our house with my mom, brother and soon to be sister-in-law. You know, it is the blessing of the season that even though i have a dead battery in my car, and I have to go back to the store today to get a new battery because the one I bought yesterday is the wrong size (yeah, like I know anything about cars!!), I am not stressed at all and am so incredibly happy for it to be Christmas Eve. All I can say is I hope that everyone has a blessed holiday, filled with family, fellowship, and love. "Merry Christmas movie house!, Merry Christmas Emporium, Merry Christmas you old building and loan!!"

Christmas Tree!!

So, here she is, our tree in all her glory!! This year we decided to get a live tree so that we can plant it outside after Christmas, and I love her! There is nothing better than to have a fire in the wood stove at night with no light in the room but the Christmas tree sitting and chatting with friends and enjoying each other's company. Only 4 more days left!!! :-)

And her first word is..... (drumroll please!)

....MOMMY!! Yes, finally, my girl child spoke her first word and it is Mommy. Alex's first word was Daddy (any suprise since he is a little "mini me"), Collin's was "alex" (no suprise there since as a baby Timm and I were working so much he saw Alex more than us!), and now my sweet little girl. It is so wierd to hear her talk, her voice is very nasal right now, but darn it sure is cute!! She also kinda says "uh-oh", but not real well. On the walking front, still very little. She will cruise for short distances, like down the coffee table, or the big couch, but alas no more than that.

Only one more week till Christmas!!! Anyone who knows me well, will tell you (and be laughing about it at the same time) that I am the queen of tacky when it comes to Christmas. If money was no option (and I could tie my husband up for a while) our house would look like the house in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, with some added 15 foot tall blow up Santa's riding motorcycles and snowglobes. I LOVE Christmas, and the whole season, and now that Alex is old enough to know who Santa is and the whole story I have a good excuse to be as korny as I want to be about the whole thing!!! But last night, Timm and I had to laugh, when Alex started telling us what he wanted for Christmas. He wants his very own skid-loader (think small, Bobcat bulldozer kinda thing, our next-door neighbor Luke has one we borrow), with a gun on it. And he also thinks that we should all have our own skid-loaders so we can drive them around together. Timm had to explain to Alex that he doesn't think Santa could fit down the chimney with a Skid-loader. So, here we embark on the last week before "chris-chris" (as Alex calls it). Man, I don't know what I am going to do with myself on December 26th!! LOL.

Baking Crazy

This weekend I had the best time. My mom came up saturday afternoon and stayed till sunday evening and we got all our Christmas baking done. We made about 6-7 dozen chocolate chip cookies, about 7 dozen sugar cookies, 2 bathces of peanut butter/chocolate fudge, and 4 loaves of bread. I am so greatful that mu mom was up here to help with the kids, it made things soooo much easier!! :-) The trick now, is to put everything in the freezer so little (and big) hands don't eat it all before Christmas day. As a kid, every year my mom and I would go over to my grandma's house and bake all the same stuff and half would go in the freezer and half in the fridge. Well, my brother and I would almost always end up eating frozen fudge out of the freezer, it is soo good!!

Thanksgiving pics!

We had a great Thanksgiving. In the morning we went to my mom's house and had a yummy turkey lunch, and then went to Timm's Dad's house for dinner. The kids were worn out by the end of the day, but they had a wonderful time!


My lovely husband building a lincoln log house at his Dad's house

Collin at my mom's house, drinking from his "big boy cup" (which he then proceeded to spill everywhere, LOL)

Alex at my mom's house. He had fun playing with Uncle Tom's trains.

Of course, the little princess. Our little sweet pea. :-)

What a time to be grateful

I hope that everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving. We had a great time and got to have 2 wonderful meals that day. Thank you to my mom, and to Timm's dad and step-mom for a wonderful day. Anyways, I do have pictures, I just haven't gotten a chance to post them. But, I will do that soon.

I just wanted to put something out there I have been thinking about for a while now. I belong to a number of mom's groups, online and in person and I have noticed a trend happening more than I have before, poverty. I can't tell you the number of blogs and posts I have read of women who's husbands have lost their job to the current economy and are terrified they won't be able to feed their children, let alone provide a Christmas for their kids. It breaks my heart because I know stories like that are only going to become more prevalent.

We are by no stretch of the imagination rich, but I can be happy that our bills are up to date, I can go grocery shopping today, I can send Alex to preschool, and I know Timm's job is secure. And most importantly, we have a lot of love in our home. Timm is my soulmate, and I will always stick by him and he me. No matter what happens we are a team working together to raise happy healthy children and to provide each other happiness.

So I say, this holiday season, enjoy all the trappings of Christmas (heaven knows I LOVE all the tackiness of the holiday), but also take the time out to realize what this holiday really means to you. It may not be a religious meaning, maybe it is the closeness of family and the love of your children that make this time special. Whatever it is, always be grateful for what you have, tangible and intangible. Love, support, and hard work is what is going to get this country through these tough times, let it start in our homes.

Ok, off my soapbox now. LOL. I will try to get some new pics of the kids up soon. :-)

Sad Story but Wonderful Lesson

We are very close to our neighbors on our right (the other neighbors are butt heads). We share everything, watch each other's animals, have dinners together occassionally, and help each other out with projects. (Plus they gave me one of their horses, and our first 2 goats, and our cow is from the family's dairy farm). Well, last week, Luke's grandmother went into the hospital (he is very close to his grandparents, they are like his parents in many ways) because she had pneumonia. Well, his grandfather was driving back and forth to the hospital to visit her and last saturday night his car hit a patch of ice and he skidded off the road and hit a tree. He was rushed to the hospital, but unfortunetly passed away from his injuries monday morning. Luke and Marybeth (our neighbors) are some of the best people you could ever meet and are a joy to be friends with and it breaks my heart that this happened to Luke's family. So, I just wanted to say, if you are the praying kind, to light a candle and say a prayer for the Lucas family (kinda funny, Luke's name is Anthony Lucas, but everyone calls him Luke, not sure why, LOL).

What is the big lesson? Live everyday to the fullest, don't sweat the small stuff (and some of the big stuff too), go with the flow, and tell your family everyday that you love them. Life is to short and too unexpected to waste days on stress, bitterness, and anger.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Well, I know I haven't been on here too much lately, things have just been so busy. Yesterday I wanted to give Collin to a pack of wolves. He just grumped all day and didn't listen to ANYTHING I said. For some reason he was obsessed with cereal, every 20 minutes he was in the pantry stealing cereal. I started out by politely telling him no, then forcefully telling him no, then yelling at him, then slapping him on the hand. But nope, all day long he was in the pantry. My children have an obsession with food, every chance they get they steal it from the fridge and the pantry. I have come out of showers to whole packages of hotdogs being eaten, blocks of cheese opened, and eggs all over the floor. Who knew you could do so much mischiff in 5 minutes!!! And I really don't get it because I have never withheld food, they eat 3 meals and 2-3 snacks everyday, plus upwards of 3 cups of milk and 1 of juice a day. And the problem is they are old enough now that locks don't work, Alex can get them all off, and Collin can at least open doors and the fridge lock.

But, that was yesterday, and this is today. I am hoping that today will be better since I have a lot to do to get ready for Thanksgiving. I am not cooking, but am going to my mom's house in the morning and then Timm's family in the afternoon. For my mom's I am bringing dessert, so I gotta bake today (which for me is a joy anyway), plus we are going out of town for the weekend on friday and leaving the kids with Amma (Timm's mom) at our house, so I need to go to the grocery and make sure we have all the staples and yummy things for all to eat over the weekend. On top of that I gotta finish up some cleaning and make sure my homework is done for school since it is due on saturday and we will be out of town.

So all in all, it will be a busy day, but busy days are better than slow days. They wear the kids out and they take better naps after we run errands and it keeps my mind busy so I don't worry about other things. Well, off to get to it! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Kung Fu Alex

Alex began taking a martial arts class last wednesday called Little Ninjas. It is for kids 3-6 years old and is run by the county. He was a little nervous and apprehensive his first class. Plus he is the youngest kis in his class, but I think given time he will pick it up.



Alex doing jumping jacks

They learned how to do a basic kick in his first class. He kinda got it, but will need some practice.

They also learned a basic punch in his first class. Overall he had fun and I think will pick it up quickly.

Its a Boy's Life

Just a random smattering of pics I have taken over the last week or so. These boys never fail to make me laugh and smile (or want to pull my hair out and scream).


My little drummer boy. Who needs all the expensive toys littering the floor, I want spoons and mixing bowls!! :-)

Alex inherited his daddy's gene for being able to sleep anywhere through anything. This can not be comfortable, but he was passed out. (And please ignore the nasty stains on my couch, no cleaner takes them out, I can't wait for the day when we can get our "post milk/yogurt/juice/ketchup... spills furniture", like in 18 years!!! LOL)

And well, I guess this is what little boys do when their older brother is at preschool and their little sister is napping. Collin is a little angel in human disguise, not because he is perfect, but because for everytime I want to sell him to wandering gypsys there are 3 times that he has made me laugh outloud and smile in wonderment that I was given this amazing boy to be my son.

All my children are wonderful, and special in their own way. Alex made me a mommy and taught me how to be a mommy, he was also so sick when he was born that he also taught me how precious life is. Collin though healed me in a lot of ways. After Alex was born I became quite depressed, I had a LOT of guilt over his birth and was really mourning the first pregnancy that I didn't have, all those wonderful experiences (baby showers, ultrasounds, the "perfect" birth) that I didn't get to partake in. Having Collin really renewed me, he showed me that every child is different and he gave me the chance to have a "normal" pregnancy. He has taught me patience, hope, and never-ending love (even when you are trying to find addresses for gypsy bands). And he paved the way for me wanting to have a third child, and really appreciating my pregnancy with Mackenzie. I like to say that Alex is my heart, Collin is my soul, and Mackenzie is my laugh. The world is a better place for having them in it, and if all I ever accomplish is raising them, then my life will have been a great success. Being a mommy is the greatest job in the world. :-)

A Day Off

Well, a day off for Timm, not for me. But it was definitly nice having Timm home yesterday (bless the federal government and their strict adhearance to the federal holiday schedule!), he even got a 2 hour early release from work on monday because tuesday was a holiday. But with a day off, first it was playing video games while I ran to the store, then he decided to chop wood outside, of course little "chopping" is involved and more feeding wood into the giant wood splitter he got, then it was giving Collin a hair cut, then more video games. Below you will see Collin's new hair cut, I think it is cute, but it will take a while for me to get used to. No more messy rats nest hair! LOL

And, since Timm was home to help with the kids a little I decided to take on a project, going through the boy's room and not only cleaning but throwing away all the broken, nasty toys in preparation for the mounds they will get for Christmas. I have posted pictures of their clean, organized room for 2 reasons. One, it is very very unlikely that it will stay this way beyond this afternoon and I wish to preserve it for posterity, and two so that others may know that yes I do clean their room, I just don't do it with any regularity because they will just rip it apart within 24 hours and I really do treasure my sanity. :-)

Future Rock Stars

These 2 crazy boys love singing and dancing, and now they love banging on stuff with drum sticks (from our RockBand game) and rocking out on their little toy guitar. Future rock stars? I'll be waiting for my mansion. LOL

And well, they are just cute. We got these 2 robes at a yard sale in New York, they were like $2 a piece. They like putting them on after they have their baths.

Preschool Website

Alex's preschool is run by Jefferson County's Parks and Rec. so he isn't in a "school" per se, but his classroom is in the comunity center at Sam Michael Park. But, Parks and Rec does have a website which they just re did a bit and now they have a few preschool pics up, and Alex just happens to be in them! Go to www.jcprc.org and click on Program and Camp Photos on the left. Then click on Preschool. He is the one in a green and blue stripped sweater.

Alex's New Game

So, Alex has a new game he loves to play. It is called Robot. He holds a controller for a broken remote control car he has and then orders you around to do different things. We spent about 10 minutes this evening lining up toys in a row on our area rug and stacking blankets on the floor. Then it was my turn and he had to put them all away (and amazingly he did it!). It is fun for him I think because it gives him the chance to be in total control over something for a while, and then in return I get to make him clean up his mess, and he thinks it is still a game! He is turning into a very imaginative, creative little boy.

On another note, I have to say Happy Birthday to my brother who turned 31 on Halloween ( I was always jealous that his birthday is on Halloween, as a teenager he got halloween parties and I could never go because I was just his pesky little sister). He is one of my best friends in the world (next only to my hubby) and has played a larger part in making me who I am today. He is perhaps one of the kindest, sweetest, smartest guys I have ever known, and I think I owe some of my sanity to him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LORD RHOMBUS!!! (LOL, inside joke, :-) ). Good Journeys.

Trick or Treat!

Well, we went trick or treating thursday night instead of friday. Why you ask? Well, the city of Martinsburg (the closest town to us) decided that the high school football game (can we say "good ol' boy's club!) was more important than Halloween (ok, it is the same day every year, they could have scheduled the stupid football game around it). So, to make sure there were enough police for both trick or treating AND the football game, they moved the former to thursday night. So, I took the kids up to the mall and let them trick or treat there. Alex had a blast, he was a little scared and nervous, but overall did a good job and had fun. Collin was pissed off because I dropped his bucket and spilled all his candy, so I decided to do his collecting for him. And Kenzie just hung out in the back of the double stroller just stairing at every one. It was a fun evening, and the boys then spent the rest of the night eating just about all their candy. (except for the 3 musketeers that I stole).

PS. I have learned an important lesson. All those times your mom said she needed to inspect the candy first to make sure it wasn't poisoned, she was mostly lying, she just wanted first dibs on your candy. Hey, we birthed you, we can have your darn Milky Way bar!! LOL. :-)

Pumpkins and Parades

Last night it was pumkin carving time! I did the goopy part and Timm did the carving part, which I am horrible at. And of course Alex was a big help!




OOOO, creepy! LOL

Yay, pumkin!! What you can't see is that Alex is screaming "Cheese!!" You would never know that he was actually sick last night with a slight fever and runny nose. Kids are so resilient. :-)

And here is my concrete, perfectionist husband who has to have a template to carve a pumpkin (like I should talk, I can't do it to save my life! LOL). And he kept complaining that it wasn't symetrical. But, he did a very good job.

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Yesterday Alex also had his Halloween party at school and at the end of the day they did a little parade around the lobby. It was so cute and absolutely hysterical as all the kids were just running and acting crazy, Mrs. Cheryl (their teacher) certainly has her work cut out her for!

My little dinosaur!

Richmond

Last week my mom and I took an overnight trip down to Richomond, VA. She had a buisness meeting to attend and I thought it would be fun to get away for a little while. I took all three kids and the day my mom had her meeting we went on a long walk around the city. We finally stopped at this cute little park right on the James river and had our snack and played. We all had a great time!

Wow, my son really does have manners!

So, this afternoon we were having pizza for lunch. I had just made it and given some to Alex and we were all sitting on the couch and Alex looked at me and said "Thank you for making the pizza mommy!". It just about broke my heart. It is one thing to prompt them to say "thank you" or "please", but another when, completely on their own accord, show they have good manners. I was so proud of him.

New Blog!

For anyone who is interested I have started a new blog. This one will be devoted to cooking, baking, and recipes. I have discovered a love of cooking and thought I would share the great recipes I find, and my own experiences with what I make. My new blog is http://feedingmyfamilyandmyspirit.blogspot.com/ Take a look if you are interested. :-)

Warning About Halloween Candy Made in China

I am the first one to tell someone they are being paranoid, or victim to an urban legend. But I received this video on my Preemie's Today yahoo group and it seems pretty sound to me. I would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to my children. Take a look and make the decision for yourself.

http://tinyurl.com/tainted-candy

Child For Sale

Just Kidding. It is a wonderful, blessed thing that we love our children as much as we do or else we might be inclined to drop kick them out the door some days. LOL Collin is a sweet, kind, goofy little boy who definitly holds a special place in my heart. But there come the days that I wonder what planet he came from! Today, I don't think he has said anything else to me but "NO!". He does the opposite of everything I ask, never naps, and seems to think crackers look better in crumb form all over the floor and furniture.

Of course it doesn't help that I just managed to jam my thumb on my left hand in the door jam of the bathroom door. The bottom part of my fingernail has turned a lovely shade of purple and it has throbbed for like 2 hours.

It is days like this that make me glad that I have a good sense of humor (and neighbors far enough away they don't hear my yelling, LOL).

I am just glad it is finally really fall. All the leaves are falling, and it has frosted here the last 2 nights. I LOVE the winter, and especially the holiday season. I have such wonderful, fond memories of the holidays when I was a kid, from the big family filled event packed Thanksgivings and Christmases at my grandparents house, to the small thanksgiving my mom and I had when I was a teenager and my brother was away at school and we were living in Georgia. I wanted to make the whole dinner (versus ordering out), but of course I had my mom's help. :-) It was wonderful. This time of year is very special to me, especially now that I have kids and can share it with them. The baking bug has also hit me, I can't stop myself from baking, breads, pies, cookies... Anyone need any catering? LOL.

Anyways, enough of my rambling. Maybe I will go get a shower, finally, at 5pm. :-)

The 2008 Annual Autumn Grace Blasko Crab Feast

Last saturday Timm and I dropped the kids off with my mom for the night and we went to the crab feast that Timm's sister organizes every year to raise money in honor of her late daughter, Autumn Grace Blasko, for her foundation that provides scholarships to kids with disabilities. It is always a wonderful, fun event and we really had a blast. Thank you Jennifer for all you do. You are an amazing person. :-)




Timm and his sister Jennifer. (yes the beer accompanied my husband all night long).

Timm and his mom dancing (this is how you know my husband got very drunk, as he NEVER dances. LOL).

Timm and his brother-in-law, Tim. They had just finished mopping the floor after the event was over.

If you ever wondered...

If you ever wondered what would happen if you got stung by a bee on your eyelid, well here you go, your curiousity can be satisfied. Yesterday Collin some how managed to get stung right when we were getting him in the car to go take Alex to preschool. We didn't realize what had happened at first, he was just rubbing his eye and crying. But by the time we got to preschool his eye was swollen shut and we saw the little red spot in the middle. So, it has been regualr benedryl since yesterday and well, at least he can open his eye now. But last night was rough, he was so uncomfortable he was up a good part of the night. Hopefully it will get better today.




Yesterday about an hour after it happened.



This morning. It re-swelled from lying down all night but now it looks better.

Happy Birthday Mackenzie!

Yesterday we had Mackenzie's birthday party and it was a lot of fun! She got lots of presents and loved eating her cake! Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated with us. :-)




Before everyone got there I had to take a pic of her in her little outfit. She looked so cute in her little bow.

The kids got to decorate pumpkins. This is Alex and his cousin Alyssa with Alex's pumpkin.

Me and Kenzie opening her presents.

And of course the little princess having her first bit of birthday cake! She at the whole thing and probably could have still had more. :-)

The Imaginary Child

To dispell the myth that Mackenzie is just a figmint of my imagination (as evidenced by the fact that in all my picture taking I always seem to never take any of her!) her are some pics from within the last week of the little lady!




Argh!! I'm a pirate girl!!

She has so much fun playing in our burnable paper bag, she will sit there for half an hour just tossing paper around.

Kenzie from above. (just ignore my slipper socked foot peaking in there, LOL)

Alex's First Field Trip

On thursday Alex went on his first field trip to the Harpers Ferry-Bolivar library and I got to chaperone so I was able to take a few pics. It was pretty short, the librarian just read them 2 stories about pirates and then they all got up and pretended to walk the plank. Afterwards we all went outside and had snack on the picnic tables. Overall Alex had a good time and was very well behaved. Which I hate to say is more than some of the kids. And what is stupid in my opinion is that ALL the moms were there, and yet they did nothing when their kid was acting up and being rude. I can understand that it is hard for kids this age to sit still for as long as they did, but I don't understand why you wouldn't attempt to control your child if you were 5 feet away watching them be rude and distracting? I don't know, I just don't get it. I shouldn't be critisizing anyway, I know I loose track of my kids from time to time, but at least I have the excuse of having 3.



Alex is the one in the back with the stripped sweater on.

Yay, snack time!!!

Alex's Preschool Masterpieces

One day they did finger painting, and this is what my boy came up with. Not quite sure what it is supposed to be, but it sure looks like he had fun!

Every week or 2 they do a different letter. Obviously the first 2 weeks it was 'A' and so they had stories about apples and did these art projects.

Last week they started with the letter 'B' and have had stories about bears. Ali did a great job on his bear, but he must be awful uncomfortable with his leg on upside down. :-P

Every week or 2 they also introduce a new shape. The first was circles. They went on 'circle hunts' in the classroom and one day Ali brought this home. He was very proud of his ducky.

Busy Busy Busy

Well, we have been very busy the last few weeks. And, life proves to get busier over the next month. Alex has been having a blast at preschool, and he comes home every week with a stack of art project (which I will take some pics of and post) which I love. On thursday the 2nd alex has his first field trip to the Harpers Ferry Library. All parents have to chaperone since his preschool doesn't have the ability to bus the kids, so I have a friend watching the younger ones and I get to go with Ali, I am really looking forward to it. Then, in October Alex has picture day, then the local fire company is going to visit, then they have a halloween party and have another field trip to a pumpkin patch! I am so happy for him that he is having so much fun. Collin and Kenzie are doing well too. Coli has been his usually self, throwing fits everyday about anything he isn't in total control over, arn't 2s grand!!! But he is also incredibly sweet, bringing people their drinks and playing with Kenzie, and he always says "thank you". And Kenzie isn't walking yet, but she pull up on everything and is crawling and exploring the whole house. I get the feeling like one day she is juist gonna stand up and run. LOL. ANd she now has 4 teeth, and 2 more coming in. Oh, and she eats like I have never seen a baby eat. She eats as much as the boys do at any particular meal. :-) Well, that is the update for now. I will post more pics just as soon as I remember to get new batteries for my camera (which is sad because we have then, they are just in one of our sheds, LOL).

Saving Grace- A Night of Hope

Yesterday my mom had the kids (Timm went on a fishing trip with our next door neighbor) and I went to the Gala for the Preeclampsia Foundation. I recieved a comp ticket since I am a PE survivor and gave an interview to a woman doing an educational video for physicians about the personal effects of PE. It was a very emotional night, there were so many women there who lost their babies due to PE and complications from prematurity due to PE, and many stories of women who passed away themselves due to this horrible disease. 76,000 women die every year from this horrible disease for which there is no cure but delivery. I am so incredibly lucky to be alive today and to have my 3 healthy children. I give all of the credit to my doctors, who didn't blow me off, but listened and took action when action needed to be taken even at my pleading to be sent home from the hosptial or taken off the mag sulfate which made every muscle in my body cramp up. When things like that happen to you, it makes you wonder, why AM I here. Why did I survive when so many other women have died. If I was alive 50, or even 20 years ago, I probably would be dead, along with Alex. It is those sorts of realizations that make you understand how precious life is, and it truely makes you believe in the divine.

Alex's First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Alex's first day of preschool. He goes from 1-3:45pm tues/thurs. I was so afraid that he was going to be upset when he saw I wasn't staying with him, even though we had talked about it. But, I signed him in and we walked up to the classroom door and as the teacher ushered him into class he just turned around and said "bye mommy" with a little waive, and that was it. Then I went out to my car and cryed for 5 minutes, LOL. I think what got me was just hwo independent he was, it didn't bother him one bit to go to school, he is a little boy now and not my baby!! :-P Then when I picked him up (which I was almost late for thanks to a very large freight train!! ) he just walked out and took my hand. I asked him what he did at school he said that he played on the playground, had snack (of donuts and juice apparently) and that he "listened to his teacher". LOL. But he loved it and said he wants to go back. I am so proud of him. My little my is a little kid now!!


Before school

After school