Monday, December 29, 2014

And to All, a Good Night


C: Instead of the Leaning Tower of Pizza, I think we should make a Leaning Tower of TNT.

C: I know a good way to cheat at Battleship. You can just feel your opponent's board and guess where the ships are!

J: Punc-punc-uation!  (song his LeapWriter pen sings)

J: Animals!  He-nicorn! (unicorn) Halligator! (alligator)

D: Bye-bye a$$hole!  (Axel might not be the best name for the toddler set)


D: No, I don't need a nap!  I need to sleep in the yellow tent!

Me: Did your diaper fall off?
D: No, I need it to fall on!

Me: Alright, who's stinky?
D: No, I don't want stinks!

Me: Goodnight boys, love you!
D: Goodnight, honey. Mom? Do you see the honey?

C: Mom!  Santa's almost on our island! (continent)


(12/23) Work day for Dad & me, and Kathy had the littles.  Sarah grabbed the bigs to head over to Nana's house for our annual gingerbread cookie gathering.  I grabbed the littles after work and headed over.  The littles ran straight for the nook and couldn't be bothered with dinner or cookies.  C had a blast playing with their train, and the teenager visited with everyone there and seemed to have a good time.  We got home super late, but they can sleep in tomorrow.


(12/24) Sarah and I went to the gym and lasted a whopping 15 minutes before stopping, driving to Starbucks, and then taking our coffees out for a walk. Today, I didn't have a lot planned for us. We invited Nanan over for movie night later and spent the afternoon bumming around.  The teenager went out for a walk with a friend, and C & I painted ornaments.  Nanan arrived after dinner and we opened some presents.  I gave all the kids blankets, and Nanan got a Cardinals one since she is such a fan. The teenager got a Nightmare Before Christmas blanket, so I decided we needed to watch that. After that, we watched some Rudolph, and the bigs tracked Santa on our phones & map.  They put out quite the spread for Santa and his reindeer, and were really hoping to catch him while he did the puzzle.  I ended up sending them to bed at 10, and said they couldn't come out, or Santa wouldn't come.  They both went straight up and stayed there. Dad got home early and got to enjoy some of the festivities with us.


(12/25)  The kiddos asked for a 7:30am wake-up.  They opened their Santa gifts, and then we did stockings before heading over the Grandma & Granddad's.  Dad made Dutch Babies, Grandma made quiche, and neighbor Cath sent over cinnamon rolls.  Everything was delicious!  After breakfast, we hit the presents. The twins were overwhelmed and wanted to play downstairs, so we piled their stash off to the side for later.  We did family gifts and us big kids did our stockings after the littles went home with Dad for a nap.  The teen invited another kiddo to dinner, so we went out to pick her up at 3p, and came back for hors d'oeuvres and a delicious dinner.  The teens spent most of the evening downstairs where Dad was supervising, and I was upstairs watching the littles. It all worked out, and I think everyone had a good time.. but yeah, I was *exhausted* after.  Once we got home, unloaded, and got the kiddos in bed, I called it a night.


(12/26) Lazy day for most of us.  I caught a run with Sarah in the morning, and came back home, and got right back into jammies.  Dad had to work, and the teenager emerged around lunchtime.  C got to go with Uncle Craig and Grandma out to get a RC helicopter.  He absolutely *loved* it, but accidentally broke it when trying to remove a hair that got caught in the propeller.  Poor guy was so sad. I think it can be repaired, or maybe we'll switch to a car, so he can figure out the driving part before graduating to flying. I got the new tent out that the teenager got for the twins, and brought out C's old Thomas tent so now my living room is tent city.  The twinsies each have their own space and both brought their blankets down to stash in them. Silly boys!


(12/27) We got up late-ish and we all bummed around until the teenager's siblings and their foster parents arrived.  We met to build gingerbread houses and make ornaments.  C and one of the siblings opted out, but they had a good time hanging out anyway.  It was very nice to get to visit with the other foster parents and get to know them better.  I hope we can do more group activities in the future!  After they left, it was lunch/nap time, and we all did very little until the teen and C were picked up to go on sleepovers at friends' houses. After they left, it was just the twinsies and me.  And after they went to bed, I was left unsupervised.  Woo!


(12/28) I stayed up late binge-watching Netflix to try to get caught up on Revenge, and finally went to sleep around 1am.  I took the morning to sleep in, and didn't stumble out of bed until a very late-for-me 8:30.  Ahh.  The littles, Dad, & I spent a quiet morning together before I headed out for a run, and C came home from his sleepover.  Sarah & I got caught in a hail storm at the tail end of our run, and I came home and defrosted in a hot shower.  The twins were down for a nap, so C and I burned a few brain cells by playing on our respective devices.  I took a quick break, ran the teenagers to the library and back, and grabbed some reading material for myself.  Dad made us a yummy dinner, and then it was back to binge watching my show.  I may actually catch up to this season!


(12/29) Happy Monday!  We're all off today and plan on a lazy day followed by dinner out.  Should be fun!

Monday, December 22, 2014

Jingle, Jingle, Jingle. You Will Hear My Sleigh Bells Ring.


D: JINGLE BELLS! JINGLE BELLS! JINGLE BELLS! JINGLE BELLS! JINGLE BELLS! O library way!

D: I need, I need, I need, I need, I need, I need, I need, I need... to get the night-night.

D: I need, I need, I need, I need, I need, I need, I need, I need... to go to Ryker's house!

Walk into the room ~
D (exasperated): BOYS, NO!

Me: Couple of days left to Christmas!
J: Ho, ho, ho!

C: Let's rent Dragons 2.
Me: Didn't you already watch that with Nanan?
C: Yeah, but I was playing video games.
Me: Oh yeah?
C: Yeah, because I didn't have to get off.

Watching Bob the Builder, for research purposes ~
C: I just need a hammer and some nails.
Me: For what?
C: To build a house....
Me: Moving out already?
C: I'll just be in the back yard, so I can be right next to you.


Wearing a skirt ~
D: Mama? You got your jams on? 
Me: No, D, this is a skirt. 
D: Mama, you got your shirt on?
Me: This is a skirt.  Or a dress.
D: DRESS! DRESS! DRESS! 

As I was leaving to go to dinner ~
D: Mama, nooooo! You no need to go to work. 

D: Boys, stay out of trouble.  No probbles.

Watching Up ~
D: Dad!  What happened?!


(12/16) Work day for Dad and me, and Kathy had the kids.  The teen had a visit after school today and we met her back at the house.  She says she has a boyfriend now.  Uh-oh, look out world!  She went to hang with a friend for a while, so the boys and I spent some quality time watching LeapFrog.  Our favorite. 


(12/17) Work day for Dad, and I had the kiddos.  I took the littles to Gymagine for preschool play time and we met Grandma there.  She treated us to Starbucks after, and the boys to cookies.  We headed home after that, and I put the twins down after lunch.  I woke them a few hours later to grab C from school.  Somehow we decided on breakfast for dinner and I whipped a big batch of French Toast.  Yum!  


(12/18) Work day for me, and Dad had the bigs.  I came home after work and Dad ran the teen and her friend to art night at the Schack Art Center.  Dad went out to do more shopping, grabbed the teens, and headed back out for groceries. Wee! I got to hang at home with the kids and be lazy, which worked just fine for me!



(12/19) Work day for Dad and me, and Kathy had the boys.  I got a call that the buses were being held up because the teen was trying to go home with a friend.  I had given her permission to go with someone else and when those plans fell through, she was going with this other friend.  Uh, nope.  So I zipped over there and brought her back home where it took a while, but we eventually sorted it out.  She got all the details for the new plan, I agreed and took her on over to the friend's house after I grabbed the boys.  C had attitude coming out his ears tonight and I told him I wasn't taking that kind of 'tude out to dinner, and asked how he might fix it.  Sure enough, he cheered right up and we went for burritos.  We had a pretty good night, but when it was bedtime, I was so very done.  C kept coming out and there was some question as to why the littles were not wearing pants.  And at that point, I didn't care, and told him to turn the light off and go to bed.  Fortunately, the littles ended the night clothed (Dad checked later).  Shew.  



(12/20) Hockey for C this morning.  I didn't hear from the teen until noon, but by then I'd already put the boys down for a nap.  I told her I'd grab her in a few hours and brought her home to do a bit of homework before delivering her to the next slumber party.  The boys and I settled on a movie night and went out to grab popcorn and cookies.  We watched How to Train Your Dragon 2 and the twins made it through about half before I took them up to bed.  After all the boys went up, I got to watch my TV and promptly fell asleep.  Wild Saturday nights, yanno.  



(12/21)  Busy day!  C had a hockey game, and I had a race, so Dad had to wrangle the boys by himself.  Granddad came out to help with the twins at the game.  C had a +0 rating on this game (meaning nobody scored while he was out there), but his team got slaughtered today.  Granddad said the twins were great.  J got whacked accidentally by one of the kids coming off the ice, so has shiner. Poor little man.  I ran the 12k's of Christmas with Sarah & Nana this morning.  It was a much longer run than we've been doing as of late, so I know I'll be feeling it tomorrow.  I got home at nap time, and caught a few episodes of Orange is the New Black, and then got ready to head out to Kids' Dinner at Grandma's.  I put on a dress, and D kept hanging on it, exclaiming "DRESS!" and flipping my skirt up.  Thanks, D.  Sarah and I went to Kids' Dinner ~ Grandma hosts all of us kids plus our families for dinner and makes mountains of meatballs, ziti and other yumminess. We sat around and watched the game and had a nice time visiting.  Sarah & I were actually together long enough we ran out of things to talk about, which is a rarity! The kids and Dad had another movie marathon, complete with caramel popcorn and other treats.  D was really worried about a few of the scenes in Up, and J actually cuddled with the teenager for the entire movie.  He never sits still that long, and I know that was a real treat.




(12/22) Short work week for me!  I'm at work today and Dad has the kids.  Bigs are off from school and we're looking forward to a festive, family-filled week! 


Monday, December 15, 2014

Decking the Halls


D: Goodnight sweetie!
Me: Nite, Deedles.

Me: Hey hon...?
D: I not honey, I'm DD!

Me: Do you want to be tucked in?
D: No, I no want tuck-tuck.
Me: Do you want a hug or tickles?
D: No, I no want tickles. I want poke-a-nose! 

Gave the littles paper towel rolls ~
D: I need my telescope!

D: All gone coffee! Mom, do you need more coffee? More coffee? You put the coffee in the garbage. You put the coffee in the fuffin (filter). You put water in the garden (coffee pot). Mom, do you want coffee? Mom? Can I have juice?

Me: Nite, boys!
D: I NEED TO GO TO GRANDMA'S HOUSE TO MAKE COOKIES!
Me: We just got home from Grandma's.  It's time for a nap.
...
Me: Time to wake up.
D: I need. I need to go to Grandma's. I need a cookie from Grandma's. I need a cookie!

The teen and I were singing ~
D (sighing): I need to go to Kathy's house.

Tooth fairy time!
Priorities
(12/9)  Work day for Dad and me, school for the bigs, and Grandma & Granddad had the kids since Kathy's house has come down with the plague.  I hope they are all feeling better soon!  The teen had a scheduled visit after school and there was some kind of miscommunication so it didn't end up happening, which just sucks. Grandma had made us a healthy and yummy dinner, and we made cookies to help round it out. 


(12/10) Fun day - Nanan came down so we could take the littles to see Casper Babypants, who was playing at the library.  The auditorium was *packed*, but the littles marched right up in front and then spent most of the concert trying to storm the stage.  We ended up sitting on the front steps so we could grab twins as they were trying to sneak by.  We went back to the house for lunch and the boys went down for a nap. I got to visit with Nanan for a bit before heading out to grab the bigs for the teen's appointment.  The teen asked if I could drop her at a friend's house after homework and I agreed, and then I somehow managed to talk Nanan into staying a bit longer so I could put the boys to bed before I had to go pick her up.  The boys were nuts, so I am very glad she decided to stay.  It made things much easier! 


(12/11) Work day for me, and Dad had the kids.  We met for Santa photos after work and again chose Military Day, which meant extra long lines.  I'm glad our picture turned out since we tried to rush through because my very new niece was hungry and fussy.  The boys went home with Dad and the teen and I stayed to visit with Nanan for a bit.  We couldn't stay for long since the teen had homework. It definitely wasn't the easy trip of years past. Maybe we need to find a different Santa.


(12/12) Work day for Dad and me, the bigs had school, and Kathy had the littles.  C went to see a play with Nanan after school and the teen had amazing success with homework this week, so had a friend over for the night.  They were working on art until after 11pm when I finally sent them upstairs.  I imagine they watched movies up there too.  I got engrossed in Orange is the New Black and binge watched most of the first season.  We're reading it for book club, so I have to be prepared. Yeah, that's it.


(12/13) C had hockey this morning and the littles and I watched at least 20 episodes of LeapFrog.  I tried to catch some more Zs but D was having none of it.  He got all the kitchen utensils out, including the loud timer, and kept finding other things to get into.  After C got home, I went up to wake the teens, and then we all were supposed to go over to Grandma & Granddad's for tree trimming, cookies, and gingerbread houses.  The teens had stayed up pretty late last night so decided to go back to the friend's house and hibernate a little longer.  The boys and I had a lovely time at Grandma's though. The littles weren't real interested in decorating the tree (probably because they decorate/undecorate our tree many times a day), but they were into cookies and eating decorating their gingerbread houses! We stayed late and I didn't put the boys down until about 3:30ish.  D went to sleep crying for cookies at Grandma's and wanted to go back for cookies at Grandma's when he woke up. The teen reappeared right around when I went to put them down for the night.  We watched some TV and called it a night. 


(12/14) C had an awesome game this morning ~ 2 goals this morning including a sweet shot where he managed to get the puck through a 6" opening.  Proud of our guy! Poor Jj got sick last night, so we spent a mellow morning watching more Frog.  I really hope none of the rest of us get it, or if we do, that it breezes through well before Christmas. We each took the bigs separately to Christmas shop and then to lunch.  Dad made us quite the feast tonight, which we decided was a pre-Christmas feast rather than Thanksgiving round 3.  The kids wanted to open a present last night since we said it was "pre-Christmas."  Ha, no. 

So naughty!  He ripped his mattress cover &
piled all his toys and blankets inside!
Hard at work
(12/15) Happy Monday.  I am at work, Dad had the kids, and the bigs are at school.