Spring Snow

Somebody forgot to tell the weather here in Tulsa that it's nearly April.
It's spring, that means tornado season, but we got this freak snow system on Saturday. It doesn't snow much in Tulsa and if it does you better get out in it because it will be gone the next day. There are no traces of snow today, being as it's 70 degrees, but Saturday we got about 6 inches here in Tulsa.

I thought it would be fun to get out and build a snowman, but it turns out that I can't really bend over that well being 8 months pregnant. But we managed to put together a pretty good Frosty.

Today's Pregnancy Tip

Pregnancy survival skill: How to get out of a soft chair
Put your feet flat on the floor and bend from the hips.
Push on the armrests with your hands!
Use your stomach muscles.
If upward motion is still elusive, pick up your magazine and yell for more mint-chip ice cream. (Standing up is totally overrated anyway.)

A Sweet Day

Krispy Kreme Field Trip

Cade had a field trip with his preschool class to Krispy Kreme yesterday. Probably the best field trip of the season... I still remember my field trip to the "Twinkie" factory in grade school.

They showed us how the "powder" becomes dough, how the different donuts are formed, how to "fill" a jelly filled.

They can make 270 dozen donuts an hour.

Cade's favorite part was checking out the glaze waterfall.

The highlight was that each kid got to "make" their own donut.
Cade got more sprinkles on his donut than any other kid.

Cade with a pre-cooked donut hole.

There's this kid Jaden in his class. Jaden is one of those 'know it all' kids who tattles on everyone and always has to one-up everyone. He CAN be very sweet, but he chooses not too be most of the time. On the bus ride, he turned around and this was part of our conversation...

Jaden: "Cade brought a gun to school today...a squirt gun, he showed it to me".

Me: "He did?"

Jaden: "I have a gun too"

Me: "Wow, well Cade really only has pretend guns"

Jaden: "Mine are real"

Me: "Really, aren't you too young to have a real gun"

Jaden: "I have a shotgun and a pistol...they're real"

Me: "Yes, you said that" (remembering I add...) "Cade has a nerf gun too, do you know what that is?"

Jaden: "Yeah, I have ten!"

Of course you do...I just had to laugh. Funny kid. I wonder what my kids say sometimes when I'm not around to hear them.

Cade's teacher told me a sweet story. They were explaining to their kids that their parents could go on the trip and they could either meet them at Krispy Kreme or that they could pay $1.00 and ride the bus with the school. He said, "my mommy can get some money out of my 'piddy bank' cause my mommy ran out of money".

Such a "sweet" kid!

A little Funny

I get this weekly email that updates me on how the baby is growing and developing each week and at the end of it was this little "Question & Answer" segment on Childbirth class---it made me laugh and I thought I'd share a portion of it.

Q: Will keeping a hand in a bucket of ice during class really approximate labor pain?
A: Yes, more or less — just imagine the ice is the polar ice cap and you're slowly being crushed under it while somebody jabs an icicle in your spine.

Q: Will there be men in the class who snicker every time the instructor says the word "vagina"?
A: Yes.

Q: Will my husband be one of them?
A: Probably.

Victory

We had a huge victory in our house this past week.
Brooke has been sick with the Rotavirus (which is a nasty vomitty, diarrhea-y high fever illness). She was so dehydrated they sent us to the hospital to get some IV fluids in her. We were there most the afternoon and night. She's doing much better now...but the huge feat was that no one else got it! Usually this house is sick for 2 weeks with one kid passing it to the next and this time no one else has gotten it!
I was talking to my brother tonight and he mentioned how impressive that was considering how "VomitFest '08" wickedly spread through multiple families and spanned 4 states.

Also I have a new nephew...my brother Heath just had his first! Which, according to Riley now makes him an adult (she doesn't think you are an adult unless you have kids). He's a cutie. Makes our total 4 nephews and 2 nieces.

Catching up on 08...moving on to 09

Ok, I get it...I'm a bad blogger.

It's been a month and a half since my last post. I guess since my dad is back from Afghanistan I dont feel the sense of urgency I had before. But for the other 2 people who read this here are the highlights since my last update...

Christmas Train! Had to get a few of the pics out there because in re-reading my last post, I said I would...

NYC has the Rockefeller Christmas Tree...Tulsa has Rhema Bible College. A 'must' Tulsa tradition for any family at Christmas time.

Christmas was good. I was actually sad when Winter Break was over. I didn't want the kids to go back to school. Of course Wade was home for 2 weeks and we had so much fun doing silly family stuff. If you ask the kids their favorite part of Christmas Break they wont say Christmas...we let them stay up as late as they wanted one night and watched movies, ate popcorn, made cookies...no one told them what time they had to go to bed. Brooke and I were the 1st ones gone (12:30)....Riley and Cade followed soon after. Wade put us all to bed. Riley was so mad when she woke up. She had wanted to make it ALL night. This picture to the left is Christmas (mid-morning) with my kiddos and our nephew Clark at their grandparents house.

Wade and I were in charge of the meat this year and made my mom's famous Prime Rib. It was delish. I made twice-baked potatos and a 'Legal Seafood' seafood casserole, homemade rolls (Carol's recipe...is there any other?) and this "Snowman Cake". It would have been much easier to just have the dinner at our house, but there's something about going to Grandma's house for Christmas dinner...so we schlepped it all over there. The snowman cake was made out of oreos and chocolate pudding...it was out of a kid's cookbook...but it was actually pretty good. It's hard to go wrong with Oreo's in anything.

One of my oldest friends (23 years now) got married...perhaps the most fabulous wedding we've ever been too...it was unbelievable. It made me want to do it all over (of course with Wade again!) And Mandy looked gorgeous. She went all out and it was just the most amazing reception. Here's a pic of us...me in my big fat prego dress... Wish I had a better picture but like I tell Riley 'you get what you get, and you dont throw a fit'.

Here is a group of us preggo's from Natalie's shower, lined up in order of our due date. I've got the 2nd to last due date and somehow I look like the biggest one out there.
It's funny when I was pregnant 7 1/2 years ago with my 1st I didnt have any (Tulsa) friends with kids. Now that I'm pregnant with my last everyone is pregnant...it goes way beyond this pic...Riley is going to be able to babysit for all their kids.

Happening times at Clark Central

Just thought I'd update you a little bit since I last updated the blog.

Here is our Thanksgiving Family picture...

The 2 youngest had their school Christmas program which was Adorable!

Brooke looked like a little angel up there. And Cade...well, Cade could definitely make us some money on America's Funniest Videos. If I can figure out how to get a snippet of the video camera on here I'll put on a video of one of his songs. The entire first song he spent digging his underwear out (but he went at it from the front, through the legs, squat style...and he was right in front of his class so it was super obvious.)

And the rest of the songs he just did his own thing...wonder where he gets his "mad conductor" skills.

Mimi and Papa with their granddaughters...

Last week was Party Week. I had parties 6 of the 7 days. Book Club, Tri-Delts, the Scrapbook Crew, and last year's "Kindergarten Home Room Moms"...including Miss Baker (teacher) who left early and a couple of moms "drunk dialed" at 11-ish (I had already gone home by that point...thank goodness I wasn't a part of that...but it was funny hearing the "after" stories). Wade's birthday was Friday so we had the family over for dinner and Saturday we did the 'Friend' dinner out. It was a busy week, but lots of fun...but all good things must come to an end.

We've had some nasty weather in Tulsa and the kids have been out of school for 2 days now, and we just got word that they are out tomorrow too. Ugh! It's ice, not snow...so they can't even build snowmen or go sledding or any fun "snow day" stuff.

We've had lots of medical issues with our Riley and MANY tests lately. She's had pneumonia twice since mid-November and a sinus infection...puked at school last Friday. Her recent Cystic Fibrosis test just came back negative (big sigh of relief there). My high school friends and I just lost a friend to that in October...he was 30 and that was a "long" life according to doctors. She's had an upper GI and asthma test this month (both normal) and been through allergy testing...poor thing. I guess all the "normal" results are good, but we'd like some sort of answer to what's going on. She did lose another tooth this weekend and the tooth fairy forgot to come (in my defense, I did not know...I was at a Christmas party and Wade forgot to tell me when I got home...but she has her money now so all is well in Riley world).

Here's a pic of one activity that kept us busy today...

I have cute pictures from Christmas Train but I'll put those up a different day.

I'm off to bed...

Losing It

My kids have finally done me in. I'm seriously losing it...
For example, today I found a full loaf of bread in the trash (still in it's package) and the lettuce (that should be in the fridge) on the bottom shelf of the pantry by the coffee maker. I used the lettuce at lunch today, so it's only been there a couple of hours, but seriously...
Losing it...

The Final 5

#26 Friends. We had some friends over for dinner during the holiday and it was just nice to catch up face to face. Email has made it so easy to keep in touch...but there's nothing like hanging out with good friends.

#27 Thanksgiving...and maternity pants that expand with your high pile of mashed potatoes.

#28 Black Friday (and a husband that wants his "toys" and picks up some things for me so I don't have to face the madness)

#29 Digital Cameras - I've always been a mad photo taker. Now I don't have to waste time (and money) with those rolls of film/developing and wondering if I got one where people aren't blinking. But, I am glad that they weren't really around in college...I can't imagine the blackmail some of my friends would have.

#30 Our Church. The best church in Tulsa, best church ever. Even with Wade away hunting for the weekend I was able to get all the kids fed, dressed, and there early so I could volunteer before the service.

25 (the last birthday...right Micki?)

#25
Free Haircuts.
I have a friend that works for Marilyn Ihloff (a nice swanky salon here in T-town), and she tells me that they are looking for "secret shoppers" that are willing to fill out an on-line survey afterwards and in turn they get their hair services for free. She set me up and today I had my first one. It saved me 50 bucks, I only had to pay the tip. If only they would do it for mani/pedi's too! Thanks Cat!

Took the weekend off

I took the weekend off, but I'm back with my grateful list of the days I missed...

#22

TU Football! We had our last home game on Saturday. We spent the first half in the stands (amongst the common people). We spent the 2nd half in the Letterman's Suite--the perks of being a "jersey chaser" in college and marrying my catch :). It got pretty chilly when the sun went down so it was nice to be indoors with free food/drink (even if I couldn't partake in the drink part).

Nice pic huh? This is from my phone...we laughed forever about this. Wade doesn't like the pic I have on Facebook of us, so DeSpain said we should switch it out with this...2 blobs. BTW...we won 56-7.

#23

Family Movie Night---This time it was Kung Fu Panda, which Wade may have liked more than the kids. Seriously...he laughed more than the kids did.

#24

Amazon.com

I've had to order a lot on-line lately...gifts, books, etc for different things. They make everything very easy. I had free 2 day shipping and for a month (nice!) and I had to make a return and they made that super easy...even provided a postage paid return label so I don't have to pay to ship it back.

The first 20's

#20

The little "treasures" you run across with kids in the house...

This is Elasti-Girl from the Incredibles---not quite sure how she got stuck in the mixer...
This is from earlier this year, but Riley used to "hide" flowers from outside all around the house for me to find.

#21

Getting to be a kid again, with your kids.

We made this "Fruit Gobbler" turkey after school this week. We've eaten all his "feathers" (which are just grapes and cheese), but we all had a good time making him-even Brooke got in on it. I think we ate more than we put on him...nobody ate a good dinner that night. But that's ok...there are worse things.

#19
70 degree days in November.

18

#18
My Laptop and Wireless Internet.
The ability to be anywhere in my house and get on-line.

Seventeen

#17 The Library
I like it as much as the kids do.
What I didn't know until a year or two ago was that you can get DVD's, we just got the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special, but they have "big people" movies too.
I get all my book club books, some of which I'm glad I didn't buy (Moab is my Washpot--all-time worst book ever, group consensus).
If I didn't have the kids I could spend hours there. The children do not have that attention span, but they do love to go.

Sweet Sixteen

Kids that say the sweetest things.

Tonight I was combing Cade's hair.
He looks at me with his little sparkly eyes and says, "Mommy, I love you".
To which I said, "Cade, I love you too"
And then Cade said, "Mommy, I love you more than MOVIES!"
Wow. That's a lot!

Half way through the month!

#15 - All the laundry in my house done. And put away.

2 for the price one

So I didn't get my "thankful" blog out yesterday because all afternoon and evening I was sick on the couch...but when you're sick there's still things to be grateful for.
#13...the couch potato in me is grateful for my DVR. Wade and I were late in coming to the DVR craze, but can't imagine going back. It's so nice to rewind and pause live TV because with kids you often have someone talking over what you want to hear or you can pause TV while you bathe and put kids to bed...come out and not miss a moment...love it!
#14...my neighbors--with some of our house under the weather - my bus stop moms have helped get the kids on the bus for me and brought over dinner tonight. Wade's mom (also a neighbor) also brought over dinner last night and fed the kids.

Twelve

#12--My Book Club.
One of my dearest friends got me involved in this book club and I just really love getting back into reading. My first degree in college was going to be in English Literature...until I realized they probably weren't going to pay me to read all day. So I had to make a change. Bummer. Not that I get paid for my current job either.
We've recently celebrated our 1 year anniversary and I've read so many things I wouldn't have touched otherwise. Tonight's discussion was about Bel Canto...a pretty good read. Jen mentioned that on my blog bio - somewhere I wrote that I don't get to read books and that I needed to change that - I do read about 2 books a month...so I will update the blog here soon. You just have to make time for it...now I need to make time for cleaning my house. Yuck!
So thank you Jennifer for getting me back into it....I'm thankful for you too!

Playing Catch Up

So we made it back from our crazy trip to St. Louis.

We left Tulsa on Wed. after Wade got home from work and got in town LATE. Thursday Wade had a business downtown that morning - but didn't get home until 4 that afternoon, so the day was shot, but we went to Rich n Charlies (my fave) for dinner.
Friday we took the "train" (really the Metro Link) to Union Station and on down to the Arch with the kids and bummed around a little. Friday all my brothers were arriving in town and we had dinner at mom's and celebrated Lori (my sis-in-law's) b-day.
Saturday the boys went skeet shooting (which took entirely too long) as Lori and I were waiting to go to Archivers (scrapbook store) for their Holiday Extravaganza, which we thoroughly enjoyed...once we got there. That night was Christmas at Chad's house (we moved Christmas up because Heath and Pearl are expecting and can't travel in December).
Sunday we had a baby shower for them.
To all my friends from STL that didn't know I was coming, or that I was in town, I'm sorry...this was a jammed packed family weekend and I knew it'd be hard to see you, I didn't see anyone...Next time, I promise.

During ALL of this we had "Vomit-Fest 2008" going on. It started Friday with Riley (middle of the night...real pleasant, she made it to the toilet all but one time).
Saturday belonged to Cade (this was the most brutal...he just had to keep running to the bathroom, it was so incredibly sad). I continued into the night and on Sunday. We almost had to take him to the ER, we were worried about him getting dehydrated...he was such a champ though and all but once made it to the bathroom or into a bucket.
Monday was the drive back and everyone did great. That night and this morning was Brooke's turn. My kids also managed to get my niece, my brother, and my nephew sick, so far...but there seems to be more casualties every day.

Which leaves me with catching up on my gratitude journaling:
#6 - So grateful to be done Christmas shopping for one side of our family. It was a bit hard getting into the spirit of Christmas...but we had a great night and we all enjoyed seeing the kids excited about their gifts...that's the best part of the holiday for me...watching the kids get excited about everything.

Cousins

#7 - Grateful that 2 of my 3 children know the sensation of throwing up and can make it to the toilet or bucket next to their bed

Before Vomit-Fest Began, down on the Arch grounds

#8 - No cleaning puke out of the van, or having to smell it for the 6 hour ride home. Seriously this was the BEST thing about Vomit-Fest '08
#9 - My favorite person...my hubby, who was up with me during each puke session and helped clean up the kids, while I cleaned the bedding and changed their sheets---we make a good team.
#10 - Home Sweet Home....how good it is to be home.
#11 - Veteran's Day...I come from a military family, so I understand some of the sacrifices they make to serve this country. Our Veterans made it possible for us to keep our freedoms. It's like that old quote that says, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" Case in point...(Dad you will like this one...we all know what you think of air traffic controllers...this just proves your point)

As a mom, I got a giggle out of this. Riley had a Veteran's Day assembly at school today and this was the little song her class sang. If you're wondering what Cade is up to, he is saying "Cheese" nearly every time you see him (funny if you can hear him over Brooke). You may need to turn off the song playing on the blog (mom and dad...you can do that by scrolling to the bottom and click on the stop or pause the song in the box). She also sang kinda quiet so you may need to turn up your computer volume.

Happy Veteran's Day everyone!