Monday, January 26, 2015

Roll for Initiative!


D: Can I go home?
Me: You are home.
D: No, I need to go to the library.


(1/20) Work day for Dad and me, and Kathy had the boys.  Tuesdays are a whirlwind for me, and by the time I get everybody home and fed, it's bedtime.


(1/21) Work day for Dad, and I had the kiddos.  The littles and I stayed home this morning and didn't venture out until it was time to get C from school.  I pulled a wholly unpopular dinner together before packing us all off to the teen's appointment.  We dropped her and then visited the library while we waited.  After her appointment, we stopped at the store and I grabbed us some melons, which went over much better with snotty, not-very-hungry boys.  I also picked up some "emergency chocolate" for the bigs and mini cupcakes for me.  Because frosting.


(1/22) Work day for Dad and me, and Sarah eventually ended up with all the boys.  They had a great time, but were quite peeved that I was taking the night off and not going to the gym.  I'm glad they like it, but sheesh! Attitudey!


(1/23) Work day for me, and Dad was off with the kids. Darn kiddos shared their plague with me, so I was very glad to hunker downstairs and keep my germs to myself.  I was glad work was quietish today.  Dad went out and grabbed us some yummy Mexican food for lunch and I was hoping the salsa would do the trick, being that I'm kinda partial to breathing.  No such luck... but thanks for the grub, Dad!  Since I'm home on Fridays, Dad can leave the littles sleeping while he runs out to grab C from school.  The teenager hit the Boys and Girls Club, and everyone was awake and gathered for dinner when I got done with work.  Fridays are nice that way!  Dad and I got to watch some TV together afterward and had a nice evening.


(1/24)  C had hockey this morning, and while he and Dad were at that, the littles and I went to Zumba.  It was packed and I loved today's instructor!  I felt bad about taking the littles since they're so snotty today, but I am so over this plague and was ready to sweat it out.  They always have a good time too, so I didn't feel too terrible about it.  Dad and C got home pretty soon after we did. We bummed around for a bit, then it was time for the littles to go to sleep, and the teen to leave for her visit.  She was super excited, and I'm so glad it went well!  Dad and I cleaned up a bit and got ready for the gaming group to appear.  Dad made meatballs (yum!) and we had lots of snacks.  C has been so excited about playing D&D and really did a nice job.  The teenager returned during the game, but ended up ditching us to spend the night at a friend's house.  She says she'll play next time.


(1/25) C had hockey early, which meant he and Dad were up at 6am.  That's just too dang early.  I got the littles up around 8am.  They weren't making much noise, but they were awake before then.  We watched some Animal Mechanicals (yay) and had some breakfast while we waited for Dad to return. C's teammate seemed to score every time he was out on the ice today. So while C didn't score anything this go-round, his team did great!  After Dad came back, I headed out for a run with Sarah.  I was feeling like crap though, so it turned into a walk in the sunshine.  Sarah and I decided to take the kiddos to the park afterward since it was such a beautiful day!  Nearly 60°.  We stopped at the store and grabbed soup and sammich fixins after the boys wore themselves out on the playground.  The littles went down for a nap, and C and I did a little light reading.  C is studying up on how to develop his D&D character.  Pretty cute! The littles woke up full of bananas tonight and earned themselves a time out for dinner.  I ate my dinner in peace and then went to collect them to try again.  The teenager reappeared during all of this and asked if they were in bed already.  If only.  I was ready for bedtime to come from about 5pm on.


(1/26) Back to the grind.  Dad and I work today and the kiddos have the day off from school.  The boys are headed to Sarah's house and the teenager has not made any plans before noon.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Of Mac & Cheese and Chocolate


Me: What kind of pancakes do you want?  There's blueberry, strawberry, peaches...
D: I need blueberry, strawberry, peach, and broccoli pupcakes!

Me (talking sternly to C): If you do that, you will go to jail!
D: No, we need to go to the treehouse! (our house)

D: Are you okay?
Dad: Yeah. My arms are a little sore.
D: I am okay too.

D: Mom? Do you see the sweetie?
Me: I see a DD and a JJ.
D: I am a DD.
Me: Yes, yes you are.

Leaving the gym, *every* time ~
D: We need to go to Starbucks!

Leaving the gym ~
J: I need mac & cheese and chocolate.
Me: Don't we all.

C: Dad, I don't think I can eat very much mac and cheese, because it's really not that healthy.
Dad: Wow. That's the first time you've ever said that.
C: Yeah, well you say it every day.

Me: What kind of pancakes are you gonna order for breakfast tomorrow?
C: I'm not gonna order pancakes, I'm gonna order mac and cheese. 
Me: I thought you said it wasn't healthy.
C: It turns out it is.

Me: You feeling okay?
C: I just need a recliner.

S: Do you want your noodles?  You picked the sauce.
D: No, I picked the bread!


(1/13) Work day for Dad and me, and Kathy and Sarah had the kiddos.  It was a looong day, and we didn't get home until after 6pm.  Not much time to do a whole lot before bedtime.


(1/14) Lazy day with the littles today.  We drew pictures, watched some kids' TV, and I did some miscellaneous house stuff while the littles pretended to nap. D actually slept, but J decided to not. He was still thumping around up there when I went to wake them so we could go grab C from school.  After grabbing C, we stopped for some snacks at the store and then came home.  The teenager appeared and we had a monthly visit today.  The teen seemed very non-plussed by it all, and promptly headed upstairs to tie up the phone lines for the next few hours.


(1/15) Work day for Dad and me, and Sarah & Kathy had the kiddos.  Sarah took the herd of boys and met me at the gym tonight.  Traffic was insane, so I got there late.  I got in maybe 20 minutes of Zumba and then 5 minutes into the warm-up for Pump, I got called out because the twins think pooping is a team effort.  Ugh.  Thank you, twins. After they were squared away, I went back to class. Seriously, children, that is a total zen killer.  After we got home, the littles went to bed, and C was sent that way soon too.  He was barking like a frog tonight and hardly got any sleep.  Poor bubba.


(1/16) Work day for me, and Dad had the day off.  I holed up downstairs to work, and Dad had the rest of the crew upstairs.  C was feeling really cruddy today, so we kept him home. Dad made a delicious dinner tonight in the crock pot, and I got a whiff of it every time I came upstairs.  Torture! Dad was supposed to take C to a hockey game tonight, but with him still running a fever, he posted out to his friends and took Marc instead.  It was a great, high-scoring game and Tips won 5-3!  I told Dad we watched more fights than he got to see, since we were watching GO GO POWER RANGERS.  Woo.


(1/17) Lazy day for us.  We slept in and bummed around in our jammies today until well after noon.  I went for a walk in the rain with Sarah and co. We walked to Starbucks, and then the four of us drowned rats sat and had our coffee before heading back out in it.  After I got home, Dad had fixed up spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner before we went to the hockey game.  Nanan came to watch the twinsies, and we bribed her with IHOP tomorrow, so she'll stay overnight.  The game was awesome - it was a shutout and the Tips won 6-0!  Great bday game!  What was not great was the long wait to get out of the parking garage.  We sat, and sat, and sat some more.  Aside from honking, the whole garage erupted in SEA...HAWKS, which was kind of amusing.


(1/18) Happy Birthday, Dad!  We took Dad out to breakfast at IHOP and stuffed ourselves to the gills.  Mmm, delicousness!  I dropped Dad and C back at the house afterward, and the teenager and I took the littles out to the park.  It was about 50° out, but we had some killer wind.  There were a bunch of families out anyway killing time before the game.  When we got home, the littles chose Playdoh and we ran right up to nap time with that activity. They crashed hard at nap, and I had to wake them at 4p when we headed off to Grandma & Granddad's for dinner.  The grands had taco fixins all lined up for us to have at it, and some Seahawks cupcakes to top the evening off.  We had a great time and I hauled the herd home at the witching hour and put the littles to bed. C kept coming out every 10 minutes or so to tell me about the Minecraft dreams he is having, when he hadn't actually fallen asleep yet.  Dear child, after 9pm, MeanMom doesn't care, & you better go the bleep to sleep.


(1/19) Well, lookiehere.  I have the day off!  Whatever will I do with myself?  I plan to kick it off by sleeping in and maybe we'll hit up the museum or something.

Monday, January 12, 2015

Play Til Ya Drop


Looking at the map ~
D: Where's Nanan's house?
Me: Right there.
D: And the treehouse-castle (our house) is in the volcano. (points to the mountain range)

TV: I animal-mechanical can!
S: I animal-mechanical can't!
J: NOOOOO!  STOP!

Me: Did you have fun at jump-jump?
J: More gym!
Me: We'll go tomorrow after you go to Sarah's house.  After nap.
J: No, after Sarah's!

C: Most kids thought I was excited for the football game. But it's really because I get to take apart a computer.

S: I'll come down to do my math now.
Me: Is your phone dead?
S: Maybe... Hey, how'd you know?

When I went in to wake C ~
D: No, I don't want to get up.


(1/6) Work day for Dad and me. The bigs had school, and Kathy and Sarah had the boys.  Lots of running around to collect everyone!  I made breakfast for dinner tonight and it was a hit.  I think all the kids ate 4 pieces of French toast each!


(1/7)  Work day for Dad and I had the kiddos.  I caught a run with Sarah in the morning and then had a mellow-stay-at-home kind of morning with the littles.  I did absolutely nothing productive and it was lovely.  After nap, I headed out to grab C and then we all got to go to the teenager's appointment this evening.  J and C played games on my electronics, but D was having none of it and was a pistol for the hour wait.  We read books, colored, played musical chairs, etc.  The teenager said she's good to go in alone next time.  Ha!  I decided we all needed to go find some dessert afterward, so we stopped at the store and the kids chose pie and ice cream.  We finished off our evening sugared up and blitzed out, but hey, we got through it.


(1/8) Work day for Dad and me, and Sarah and Kathy had the kids.  I met Sarah at the gym after and managed to catch half of Zumba.  Then we walked and gabbed on the treadmill.  It was late when we got home, so I fixed up some mac and cheese and called it good enough. JJ was an absolute disaster leaving tonight.  I think he was tired, and I know we're all still getting used to these long days! I wasn't surprised to see him completely out when I went to say goodnight to C.


(1/9) Work day for me and Dad had the day off.  I work from home on Fridays, and it was super quiet aside from the littles bumping around over-head and my furry coworkers nomming on each other.  The teen went to go hang with some friends after school, and had one of them follow her home, so we had an extra at dinner.  After her friend went home, the teenager disappeared to burn through the minutes on her phone and Dad and I watched Inception.  It had been a while.


(1/10) C had hockey this morning, to which Dad took him, and I took the littles to the gym for Zumba.  D announced we needed to go to Starbucks after, because that's what we did last week, but I took them to the store instead.  The whole way there he exclaimed how we NEEDED to go to Starbucks.  Yeah, yeah, kid, I know!  After we all got home, we bummed around until lunch time.  The teen had a visit so she left for a few hours. I put the littles and myself down for a nap and we all woke up a few hours later.  The teen came home and we had Thanksgiving dinner, part 5(?).  Because delicious.  Thanks for cooking, Dad!  We followed up some fine cooking with watching the Worst Cooks in America.  I couldn't keep my eyes open much longer after that, so called it a night earlyish. 


(1/11) My dear darling husband shook me awake at 6am this morning to ask if I would take C to hockey.  Arrrrgh, fine.  He had to be dressed and on the ice at 7am.  They played the toughest team in their group, so predictably got whomped on.  C played well though.  He has improved so much since I saw him last.  I so enjoy watching this level of hockey, because anything can happen... like their goalie yelling he needs to pee in the middle of the game, or our goalie taking part in the face-off.  After we got home, I left all the very loud children and went on a walk with Sarah.  I came home to them still being loud, but it is what it is.  We hit Elevated Sportz for an afternoon play date and played all the way through nap.  The littles *loved* the cars, and I don't think they would have gotten out had I not mentioned that we had to leave in 15 minutes.  In those 15 minutes, JJ climbed as high as he could and hid from me, and then proceeded to play noodle on the way down the climber.  So that was fun.  Our friends shared cookies with us on the way out (thank you!) and then we booked it home to get Jor home in time for baseball... but were late.  Sorry again!  We hit the store for some soup fixins and bread and went home to cook.   The littles were EXHAUSTED but they did well for the day.  The teenager made sure the phone was working all day and appeared for meals and that's about it.  And yeah, that was our weekend. 


(1/12) Weeee, it's gonna be a busy one for me.  Our new site launched at work, but work gave us coffee to bribe us through the week.  I think I can, I think I can. The bigs have school, the boys are split between Kathy's and Sarah's, and both of us adult peeps are working.