"Screw you" says Murphy

Cracks me up!

Moving on...

Dear Hint of Lime,
We have had a wonderful relationship. You have always pleased me with your sweet and tangy taste. I can't leave you alone. My kids know you by name. It saddens me to have to let you go. There may come a time when I will fall back to you, but for now, I am moving on. It's your cousin. Hint of Jalepeno. The sweet and tangy taste now has a bit of a kick, which I have fallen for. So sorry.
Kelly

A Day in the Life

My friends without kids often ask me what I do all day. Some can't quite understand why I can't go out and play more often. Well, for a little insight, in the words of Simon, "Here goes!"

6:06 - Woken up by front paws of Mason on my bed. Now why can't Trevor take him out before he leaves to work out? On the one day Millie decides to (have a Tylenol-induced) sleep in.

6:10-6:52 - Drink coffee, e-mail, put on make-up (yes, I have my little mirror and make-up in little boxes so I can do my make-up wherever I can without waking up kids or standing in front of a mirror in the bathroom).

6:53 - Look in mirror to realize I forgot mascara. Remedy situation, and pat myself on the back for remembering to pick up a new mascara at the grocery store on last night's solo trip (my excuse for getting out of the house). Toss old mascara, open up new.

6:55 - Hear Millie girl wake up. My day really begins now! Get Millie changed, get myself dressed while entertaining Millie (who is practicing Happy Baby pose), feed the fish, apologize to Linny for not having breakfast for him yet, let dogs out, realize I forgot deoderant (tell myself not to forget to put in on - and brush my teeth - on my next trip upstairs).

I look in the mirror only to realize two things. 1) I forgot to brush my hair, and 2) I look like a Bollywood dancer. I will change on my next trip upstairs.

Seriously - self timer picture - why does it look like I'm a giant in a dollhouse?

Surveyed the rooms upstairs for damage (toys, dress-up, etc.) and saw that Georgia took the flowers that were meant to be thrown away because they were dying, and filled up the vase with water, did a little rearranging, and put them on the bedside table. Bless her heart.


Called Trevor to let him know he couldn't take Fridays and Saturdays off instead of Thursdays and Fridays - at least not this week - because my Pilates starts up tomorrow and I WILL NOT miss it! He says he thought of that while he was working out already. What a good guy.

Now the feeding frenzy begins. Feeding the dogs doesn't merely consist of putting food in a bowl. I have to add wet food to the dry to mix in meds. Plus, Harley will only eat if he has wet mixed in. I figure he's nine years old and I can give him that luxury! Then Linny hears the food going into the bowls and starts squeaking from upstairs. So, carrots, celery, parsley, apples....Linny and dogs are fed. On to the kids. I got blueberry muffins from the store last night, so all I have to do is pour milk and apple juice for the still slumbering children. Nutritious? No. Oh well. We'll have extra carrots at lunch.

Millie's turn. Mixed cereal is all she has been eating. Doesn't like fruit or veggies much, so I'll try to sneak in a few bites here and there (only to have it spit out on her shirt, me, the table, etc.). For the most part, she's a carbs girl. Cereal, real bananas smushed up, and Mum Mums. News flash - as of this morning she likes blueberry muffins too.


Millie and I head upstairs to wake the keiki.

After our good morning songs, opening the drapes, potty trips, everyone is up and dressed and it's time for kibbles.







8:45 = Loaded Millie, Murphy, Georgia, Mason and Harley into the car. I can't quite walk the dogs every day because it's so cold and I'm afraid Milile will turn in to a popsicle, so I give the dogs a few car trip outtings a day. We did preschool drop-off, which requires the two-legged individuals to get out of the car and walk Georgia in to her class. I don't mind it though. It's my five minutes of adult interaction. Amy said "Hi Murphy" to which he replied "I'm Diego."

9:00 - Post office. It must be my lucky day - no line and no child meltdowns! I still have visions of Millie at a few weeks old screaming uncontrollably, being held by the nicest lady as I tried to fill out customs forms to mail Chris a package in Iraq!

9:30 = Diego time. Murphy needs a fix...although he was distracted by MagnaTiles and I got to watch half of Martha.


Mopped the floor. Well....


10:45 Made lunches ahead of time while I have two hands. Can't get sick of peanut butter, honey and banana sannys! Millie gets her Mum Mums. She inhales the veggie kind...breathes like a fat kid all the while.

11:15 - Leave to pick up Georgia from school.

Library. You'd think we were going to the toy store - SO excited! They picked out some good ones and some randoms. Murphy likes to pick ones with cool illustrations...one about war. OK!?

1-4 Errand Wednesday at the Spokane Club. Dropped off the two that behave. Millie and I did the mall (Pottery Barn for pillows...returning 3/4, Nordies bathroom to nurse Millie to sleep, toy store for a friend's birthday...ended up getting GA and Murph prizes too). I walked back to the club looking like a bag lady! Speaking of, a bum - mustache and all - was telling me about her son and funny things he said when he was little. She said they lived on a farm in the 60s, and her son asked why the chicken footprints had a circle around them (peace signs). Double bless.

4:15 - Home to play with toys and try on new jammies for Murphy. Won't take them off. Probably no tubbies tonite. They have been playing with the barn for quite some time now...guess it was a good purchase.



5:25 - Waiting for Trevor to bring home Qdoba. I don't feel like making dinner tonite! Trevor has the next two days off, so we're celebrating with a little Mexican. No, not a midget from Tijuana...

5:40 - Grinded on a naked chicken burrito w/ guac and chips.

6:10 = Finally gave Murphy a hair cut. Looks SO cute. Pictures to come tomorrow.

6:20 - Gave all three tubbies. Millie sits in her big girl seat and loves to play.

6:25 - Put Millie to sleep for a quick nap. Trevor got Murphy out and fed him - he was watching a show upstairs when we were eating dinner. He inhaled his burrito.

7:30 - Showered!! While showering, Georgia was in the bathroom getting dressed and blow-drying her hair. Apparently she's 12. I even got to dry my hair! It is soooo long...to my mid-back now. Maybe time to schedule a cut!?

7:45 - Millie woke up because Murphy and GA were playing, Sleeping again by 8:00.

8:05 - Trevor is reading library books to the kids in bed...and here I sit. Ready to pass out, Ready to drink water because a) the dinner was salty, b) the only liquid I had to drink all day was my coffee first thing and the iced tea I had after nursing Millie to sleep in the Nordies bathroom, and c)....WHAT a workout.

Good night!

Georgia goes skiing!

Sweet Sweet Murphy

I looked at Murphy the other and can't believe my little two year old has come to be this mature two and a half year old. I can think back to his second birthday (sans a party of course). He was barely talking. He was my little guy who was still somewhat attached to me. He would get sad when I'd leave him at the child care at the Spokane Club. I never thought he'd be out of diapers. Looking at him now, currently running around in circles singing "Down By the Bay" with Georgia, he is a different kid. We were talking before school today about how Georgia gets to test out her new car seat today going to school. Murphy pipes up, "That is going to be awesome!"
He loves going to the club. We take Georgia to school then head down the hill almost every school day. I have to go on non-school days, too, because Murphy says, "We can't go without Georgia!" Anyways, Murphy waltzes in to the child care, gives Miss Jane a big hug, and goes on to play. I went in to pick him and Millie up today after a run and he was under the slide thing with pillows with two other boys telling stories. My heart melted.
For two days now Murphy has had two accidents a day. Maybe he is tired. Maybe I haven't been asking him...or demanding him go enough. Whatever the reason, I can't help but say, "Oh Murph!" to which he replies "I'm sorry mommy." How could I even be frustrated? He has been in undies a few months now. I asked if he wanted to wear diapers again and he said no. I was really close to pulling out the pull-ups when I thought back to my days at GU in the behavior classes. POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT! So, up went the potty chart. He hit the three sticker mark and got his treat. Hopefully he's back to his old potty-going self!
Each and every night without fail, we sit down to dinner with a hungry and somewhat grumpy Murphy, A few bites in, he gets his food high. The "Dinner Dance" begins. He runs laps from the dining room, through the kitchen, down the hall, through the office, out the living room, and back to say "Ha Boo" to Millie in the dining room.
I love how Murphy picks up little things from me and Georgia and Trevor and makes them his own. He is truly a funny kid. The way he talks to Millie ("Silly Little Millie Girl") or the dogs ("get out of here Fat Boy") is classic. He just handed me ski goggles, said "put these on, mommy" and asked where my camera was. Evidence:





And he just said, "I be Humpty Dumpty." Classic.


I love the way he can't wait to push the Door Close button in the elevator at the Spokane Club, because he knows it's Georgia's job to push the number because he's not quite tall enough yet. And how he looks up to the mirrored ceiling in the elevator to say hi to me. I love that he greets the guy at the check-in desk with a smile and a shy "hi." Or when I have my arms full of a dozen things and want to go to the car, how I have to pick him up to show him the pool through the window down below, just to see how many people are swimming. I love how Murphy last week counted 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-8-9-10-11, and this week ..8-9-10-11-12...all the way to 20!
I love that I now have a dining room chair in my office just so he can stand on it to turn the lights on. I love him!
I am lucky to have such a great kid.

Kids' Room

One room down...a few to go...

Story Hour Before Bed!

Each kid had their own Dr. Seuss book. Pretty cute.

Murph learns to skip...

Kids

This snow....

School was supposed to start back up today after holiday break. But...it was cancelled. Lots and lots of snow. Apparently something about the sidewalks and streets not being accessible. Schools all over Spokane are closed, actually. What a mess.

Georgia was so excited to go back to see her friends today. Yesterday she made a card for her friends to put in their backpacks saying how much she missed them. So, when she rolled out of bed this morning I said, "Hey George - I have some bad news. School is closed today." She, with hair all wild and frazzled, says, "Is today show-and-tell day?" I said it wasn't and she said, "Well that's good."

I'm going to have serious problems come summer break. What ever will we do for the entire duration? The two and a half weeks we've been off for winter break has been brutal. The first few days were fun - waking up late, not leaving the house, playing in the snow, making and eating insane amounts of cookies. Now it is just old! I feel like running in place to work off my winter warmth. The thought of driving down to the club makes me want to take a nap! At least the kids are self-entertaining! I make a point to not turn on the TV until 3 or 4 for a show or two while I make dinner. There, of course, were the days when I let Noggin babysit mid-day, but for the most part, I made them play with each other. And they've gotten along great! I love their imaginations. Murphy just told Georgia, "You're the best girl in the whole world. Am I the best Diego in the whole world?" The cool thing is, I think Millie and Murphy have the bond that Murphy and Georgia do now. She adores him. Sometimes I feel like adopting an eight year old to give GA some extra stimulation. :0)

Now...off to work on the master. I finished the kids' rooms, the living room is in progress, office is OK sans a side table, but I can pick one up at a garage sale or antique store. The master is perplexing. We have a huge king bed and wood frame...something more simple would give the room a lighter, more open feel. And I have to haul the chair from the basement to put in the master by the window. Oh, and I have to paint again. That requires me to go to the paint store, though, which would require me to get dressed in something other than cozy sweats and Ugg slippers, and get three others dressed, and shovel my car out. Maybe I'll order paint supplies online.....