me, my hubby, 3 kids, 1 van, 4 hours.

We're off!

At 3pm today we shall attempt to drive to St. Louis with our 3 little darlings. Wish us Luck! I have packed us all, I have readied the house, I have prayed. . .I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be!

Do you have any idea how much stuff it takes for my family to go somewhere, even for just a few days? It's insane! Here's a partial list:
2 suitcases, 1 for the parents, 1 for the kids
1 toiletries bag
Diaper Bag
4 pillows
1 swim bag
2 floaties
2 "car" bags that contain magazines and an ipod for mommy, toys for the kids, snacks, dvd's, and a dvd player.
1 cooler so we don't spend as much moola on the road.
1 giant double stroller
1 pack and play
1 "baby bag" with baby food, spoons, bibs, bottles, and baby snacks.
1 air mattress and pump and bedding for it.
oh, and a puppy crate, treats, puppy toys, bowl, puppy food, puppy blanket, collar, and leash for the new puppy we will be picking up on our way home!

oh my.

How do we fit all 5 of us and all of this in our trailblazer? We don't! We've borrowed Papa and Nana's BIG van for our little excursion. So. if you're in St. Louie and want to see if you can spot us, just look for the REALLY COOL, giant white van that's swerving a bit due to the fact that the driver is trying to manage the 3 kids whilst driving!

oh my.

So off we go! side note, when we went on vacation to gulf shores 4 years ago with only 1 child we got pulled over because the hubby was speeding. we had so much stuff in the car for our vacation the officer asked us if we were moving! since then i've tried to pare it down to the "necessities!"

And before I leave you I thought of another "random fact or habit i have,"

I must leave my house completely picked up and clean, including making my bed, before we leave to go anywhere for the night. I realize that might seem crazy to some, but it makes me so happy to come home from a trip to a neat and clean house!

Bye!

Thursday 13!

Whew! Ok, i'm making up for lost time today! I'm also gearing up since i'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon for St. Louis for 3 days. Hopefully i'll get a chance to post something tomorrow, but no promises! This is my 3rd post today! I've been trying to get to post for 3 days, and i've been tagged for all these meme's, so now i'm catching up!

Thursday 13!

Thirteen things I've done this week while my daughter's have been at Grammie's!
1. Cleaned out my Closet!
2. Cleaned out a Kitchen Drawer!
3. Cleaned out the Shoe Cubby! (can you see a trend?)
4. Helped hubby lay the wood floors in Ellie's room, finally! (we put wood floors through our whole house 2 years ago and left Ellie's room carpeted, with now VERY stained carpet! we finally broke down and did her room too!)
5. Bought a really pretty, "girly" rug for Ellie's room!
6. Planned a "mini vacation" to st. louis, complete with maps and all!
7. Went on a date with hubby!
8. Did 243 loads of laundry, i think i washed everything in the house that was washable!
9. Went to bed late every night and slept in late every morning!
10. Had my good friend sheri take 9 month old pics of Austin!
11. Took Austin for shots :(
12. Test drove a Suburban, still not sure if i'm willing to pay that much for a vehicle. I'm really enjoying not having a car payment!
13. Missed my girls! They're coming home today!

8 Random Facts or Habits!

I've been tagged for this meme by my friend alana! Here are 8 random facts or habits about me:

1. I pick at my fingernails. I've tried to stop, I would love to have beautiful nails, but i just can't!
2. One time i watched an entire season of "Flavor of Love" on MTV in one day. it's an absolutely ridiculous show, but somehow it sucked me in!
3. I would rather watch 6 episodes of whatever is on HGTV than a movie. I'm not sure why, but i think it might be because movie's make me sleepy, and they don't have commercials when i can go do a chore!
4. When I was in highschool I was in Choir, Band, and Drama, I was very "artsy"!
5. I've been a Mary Kay consultant for 13 years!
6. I helped my hubby lay 2800 square feet of wood flooring in our house!
7. I'm obsessed with Pottery Barn. I love it ALL!
8. Someday I really want a cabin somewhere, the lake, the mountains, the beach...and i dream of our children and grandchildren joining us there for christmas!

ipod shuffle!

My s-i-l started this meme a few days ago. I think it's really funny and i'm FINALLY getting to do it!
iPod Shuffle
Instructions:
1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesn’t make sense.
NO CHEATING!
Ok here we gooooo!

How do you feel today? Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood!

What’s your outlook on life? Mercury Blues by Alan Jackson

What does your family think of you? The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly by Blues Traveler

What do your friends think of you? I'll Stand by You by Carrie Underwood

What do your exes think of you?It Wasn't Me by Shaggy

How’s your love life?It never entered my mind by Miles Davis

How will your love life be in the future?The Last Resort by The Eagles!

Are you good at school? Brother John by Blues Traveler

Will you be successful? How Forever Feels by Kenny Chesney

What song should they play on your birthday? Swing by Trace Adkins

What song should they play at your graduation? Nod Ya Head by Will Smith

The Soundtrack of your life? Life is Good by Kenny Chesney

You and your best friends are? Have a Nice Day by Bon Jovi

Happy times: Crash Burn by Blues Traveler

Sad times: A Woman Knows by Kenny Chesney

Every day: Baptism by Randy Travis and Kenny Chesney

For tomorrow: Wasted Time by The Eagles

For you: Miami by Will Smith

What does next year have in store for me? I Love You by Martina McBride

What do I say when life gets too hard? Gone Country by Alan Jackson

What do you want as your career? Here I Am to Worship by Tim Hughes

Your favorite saying? Somebody Stand by Me by Faith Hill

How will I die? Wish I didn't Know Now by Toby Keith!

it looks like we're adding another family member.

no, i'm not pregnant! but in a week, it will be as if we had a newborn again.

we're getting a puppy. and yes, i'm crazy!

since our black lab abbie went to puppy heaven, we've been exploring the idea of a puppy. our other dog elvis is all by himself now, and he really does need a playmate. so, we decided on a border collie and proceeded to look for breeders.

that was crazy! apparently this breed is quite hard to find around here. we wanted a registered one so we truly know what we're getting. we found one near st. louis, but they wanted $500 for her! i'm sorry, but i'm not paying that much to add a whole nother level of craziness to my life!!!

seriously, $500!

so then i found this adorable little puppy in the rolla area, and they want $100 for him. since we'll be coming through there next sunday anyway, it does seem divinely arranged. we showed the pics to ellie, and of course she wanted him!

so it's settled. we've sent a $50 deposit to "hold" the puppy for us, and on our way home from st. louis sunday, we'll pick him up.

and then i truly will go crazy.

maybe the craziness has already set in, because i'm actually kind of excited about it. check back with my state of mind in about a week.

our next item of business will be to name the pup. any ideas? things to consider: he's a boy border collie, he's black and white, we have one dog named elvis and a cat named daisy. lauren (my cousin), you're working at the vet place, any awesome names you've heard? and any tips you've picked up on handling a puppy? ha! i just realized i'm asking my darling cousin who isn't really a "dog" person for puppy advice! i really am losing it! (just kidding lauren!)

oh, and did i mention we're crazy?

whooooo hooooooo!!!!!

i'm kid free! well, almost! i've still got austin, but he's pretty easy. the girls have gone to grammie's for, get this, 3 nights! whooooo hoooooo!!! after yesterday. well, let's just say we ALL needed a break from each other. so, the girls are off for summer vacation at grammie's. grammie's church has vacation bible school this week, it's called "marketplace" because the whole thing is set up like a marketplace during jesus' time. it really is incredible, and we've been a part of it for many many years. as i was growing up, my cousin's would always visit from texas for that week and stay with us. the tradition has continued well into adulthood, as this year my 21 year old cousin and her almost 16 year old cousin are staying at mom's this week. it's always been a tradition that all the kids stay at mom's that week and go to marketplace. and so the tradition continue's with my children. ellie will stay all week, with the exception of wednesday night when she'll come home for t-ball. annie will probably come home for good on wednesday since she is still on the young side to go for a whole week. and next year, who know's maybe austin will go for a couple of days too! then i would really be cheering!

crazy!

Oh my. i'm feeling a bit crazed right now. i've spent at least 3/4's of this day on the computer, and i wasn't even blogging!!! we've decided to go away for a couple of days to good ole st. louie. we'll be leaving friday, and coming home sunday. not a "big" trip, but enough to send me into "super planning mode." so here i have sat all day, trying to plan the "perfect" getaway for our little family. so far i've booked a hotel and searched about a million travel websites. i've completely lost control of my household, and in turn, my temper. i have not accomplished hardly anything else today, except putting one load of laundry in the washer. my 5 year old is now crying and slamming a door. i hope this is not what the "vacation" will be like!

in other news, my internet hasn't been working well lately, and i've been stressing over being cut off from my email and my blog! i was relieved to find that i didn't miss a ton, although when i realized i missed my thursday 13 i almost cried!

do you ever have those moments when you just want to crawl in bed and hide? i'm so there right now. tomorrow my mom is taking the girls for 3 nights, i think it's just in time, i'm seriously close to losing it!!!

white water and my own personal B.

ok, so i've been meaning to post this for days now, but i've been a bit busy with all the craziness of life with my 3. i swear, they're part monkey! anyway, as austin chews on a cord at my feet, i'll attempt to tell this story. (don't worry, it's not connected to anything!)

last friday we decided to attempt white water, our local water park, with our dear friends dixie and jennifer. after 90 minutes of getting ready at home and driving to the park on the other side of town, i was already questioning my judgement to attempt this. and by the time we arrive, i'm already mentally exhausted. we arrived at the same time as dixie, and after unloading in the hot sun for 15 minutes (thank you dixie, for sunscreening my kids), we made the 104 mile hike across the parking lot to the entrance.

(pause...austin just spit up on the cord, ok, all cleaned up now. i swear he has spit up 19 times today! sorry i'm swearing so much, but remembering this story brought it out in me!)

ok, so there we are at the entrance, hot, sweaty, and tired. dixie and i and our cumulative 5 children (and the gigantic double stroller loaded to the brim with all the necessary stuff it takes to go to white water with my 3 kids) are about to enter through the first gates when Mr. Bill stops us for a "bag check."

ok, side note. for the last 3 or 4 years white water has been "tightening" their rules as to what type of food you can bring in their park. we all know they are doing this because they want you to buy their food. at first you couldn't bring "food" but you could bring snacks for the little ones. then last year they decided no snacks either. so this year i went, knowing that i couldn't have any food with me. all i had was one small soft side cooler with 2 sippy cups, 2 juice boxes, and 1 bottle of baby formula. last year, that was perfectly acceptable. so as we approach Mr. Bill (or as i now refer to him as my own personal "B".), he spies my cooler, and very loudly informs me "NO COOLERS ARE ALLOWED ON PARK." i, very firmly replied "It only has DRINKS in it." now, i'm already on edge, what with the 2 hours that it has taken me to get to this point, and i'm in NO MOOD for Mr. Bill's crap, pardon me. Mr. Bill doesn't realize that i'm no pushover yet, and says "NO COOLERS AT ALL." again i say "It ONLY HAS DRINKS." only this time i match his tone. Mr. Bill, not realizing the force that one very tired and cranky, not to mention, sleep deprived mom can be, says "The park now has a no cooler policy, EVEN FOR DRINKS." "But my BABIES milk that HAS TO STAY COLD is in here" i say. Mr. Bill says "Sorry, NO COOLERS ALLOWED." ok, so now i am TICKED! No one tells me that i can't bring in sustenance for my baby, and i mean NO ONE. i am usually a very easy going person, but sometimes i get that "listen hear mister" voice and i can get pretty mad. and this day, i was mad. so i say "You can't tell me i can't bring in my BABIES bottle." and he says "Oh, you can bring it in, just not in the COOLER." "What?" i say. he informs me that i can put everything, including the ice pack that is in the cooler, in my beach bag and bring it in that way. "Um, ok, but if it's not in the cooler, IT WON'T STAY COLD." i say. now, this is what REALLY got me, he says "THAT'S NOT MY PROBLEM." What!!!! OHHH buddy, it's about to be your problem. After a few more exchanges between Mr. Bill and I about the fact that once you take the stuff out of the cooler, it won't stay cold, and about it not being his problem, i'd had enough. i asked to speak to someone else and he motioned towards guest relations, just behind him. as i started to go to guest relations, he had the nerve to STOP me and MAKE me take everything out of my cooler. I did, and then i started for guest relations. "EXCUSE ME!" he yelled at me, "YOU CANNOT TAKE THE COOLER PAST THIS POINT." i had inadvertently forgotten that the now empty cooler was still hanging off my arm. "You have to leave it in your car." "WHAT!", I yell back, "I am NOT hiking ALL THE WAY back to my car with ALL 3 of my LITTLE kids to take an EMPTY cooler BACK TO MY CAR! he backed off slightly at that point and motioned to a place i could set the cooler, off to the side. I sat the cooler down and went straight to guest relations. there i informed a women of what Mr. Bill had just put me through. she said "Oh, he can't tell you that you can't take your babies formula IN THE COOLER in. You can, we just have to escort you and the cooler to first aid and you have to leave it there until you need it. and then you can get the formula, but the cooler has to stay there while your on park." I informed her about how ridiculous that was, but conceded because i felt i had no other option. at least she didn't yell at me. she told me that "most people choose to just leave their coolers in their cars. and go get drinks as they need them." i told her how that was just not feasible for me and my 3 kids ages 5 and under. she said she understood, but that they had to make that "cooler rule" because if other people saw my cooler they might think it had food in it and then they would be mad that they couldn't bring in their cooler.

Now, tell me something. If they check everyone's coolers at the gate WHICH THEY DO, then obviously if someone has a cooler in the park, it wouldn't have anything in it that it's not supposed to have! Right? So that explanation is completely illogical! the guest relations lady spoke to Mr. Bill and informed him of the "first aid option." But as far as i know, that's as far as my complaint got. However, I'm going to be informing White Water, as well as a couple of newspapers and television stations, about my experience. we spend hundreds of dollars every year to have season passes to all the Silver Dollar City parks, we should be treated WAY better than that.

Our day ended quickly since after one hour of water filled fun, it began to storm. Yep, after all that, we got rained out!

a new era.

we have entered a new era in our house. the era of losing teeth! that's right! ellie lost her first tooth today! she is SO excited!

a couple of hours ago she said "mom, look at my loose tooth!"

for about the 1000th time.

i said what i always say, "yes dear, i know your tooth is loose." as i continued folding towells.

"No, LOOK!" she said, "it's REALLY loose!" so i looked, and sure enough, it was REALLY loose.

she continued to wiggle it for awhile longer, alternating between wanting it to fall out, and not wanting it to, for fear of it hurting. finally she ate a cheese stick, to see if it would fall out, nope. then she tried gum. i went into the laundry room to start yet another load of laundry as she started to chew the gum. suddenly she ran up to me holding something out and grinning REALLY big.

she didn't say a word, just grinned.

and then i saw it, the bloody gap in her mouth where the loose tooth used to be.

"It came out!" i exclaimed, "oh my gosh! let me see it!"

i examined the gap, and then the tiny white tooth. wow. we called grammie, we showed nana when she came over, we showed papa, we told miss dixie about it when she called, we showed daddy and even daddy's employee, mr. vince. we're VERY excited.

i think she feels all grown up now. of course she is almost 5 1/2. i feel a bit nostalgic, she is growing up, but i'm happy for her. she is happier as she get's older. i've always said she is a little adult trapped in a child's body, she hates the restraints of childhood with a passion.

so, now we have a tiny white reminder of the little girl that she is leaving behind, and a gap to show the big girl that is coming. she's starting kindergarten soon, she's learning to recognize words and beginning to read, she's becoming an expert swimmer and starting to learn to dive, she has an incredible memory, and she's growing into her strong willed personality, in other words, she's growing up. it's exciting to watch all these changes take place. it really is exciting to be a mom.

so now we have entered the "losing teeth, starting school, big kid era." or something like that! you can see by her face how excited she is!

yes, i'm still alive.

wow, 8 comments, maybe dixie's on to something with this whole "no posting" thing! no, seriously, i hated not to post, but life's been a bit insane for me lately. i'll quickly bring you up to speed.

first, a few days ago we had to have one of our dog's put to sleep. her name was abbie, and she was the first pet jason and i got together 10 years ago. so we are sad, but we're making it. ellie was sad also, and annie keeps talking about "when we go get her in puppy heaven". we are talking about getting a puppy, but not quite yet.

second, i've had some awful stomach bug that has come and gone and then came back with a vengence! it wasn't pretty, so i'll leave it at that. except to say that i think it's really gone now. let's hope!

third, i have been cleaning house (sorry celeste, i usually DO neglect it for blogging!), we had some friends over, and then we were hosting Father's Day lunch today.

and then, of course, there is all of the normal craziness! but don't worry, i'm back now! we had a wonderful father's day today. jason put on his coca-cola apron and grilled a TON of steaks for all the dad's and everyone else. some men might think that was too much work for him on father's day, but not jason! he loves to grill and use all his gadgets. so we grilled and visited and relaxed, and then after everyone left ,HE took the girls to the lake for a little bit! and left me at home alone with a sleeping baby and a quiet house! this is better than mother's day! it melts my heart to know that he wanted to spend this day with his girls. and it makes me so happy that he just loaded them up, and off they went!

Happy Father's day, to the man i have loved since i was 18. I love you more and more with each day and each child! (not that we need anymore!) You are a wonderful daddy to all 3 of our babies and a wonderful hubby to me!

thursday 13!

Today i shall right about my youngest child, my baby! It's been a very trying day, and i'll tell you all about it later, but to help me end it on a high note, I'm focussing on the good stuff. Austin is almost 9 months old now and he is darned cute!

13 Things I'm loving about Austin right now!

1. He laughs ALL THE TIME!

2. His two tiny teeth.

3. His HUGE hands!

4. His chubby little legs.

5. His strength. (he is one STRONG baby!)

6. His incredibly soft skin.

7. His big blue eyes.

8. His ablilty to stand. (his latest achievment!)

9. The way he sucks on his own tounge for fun.

10. The way he talks. (ba ba ba ba, da da da da, and lots of raspberries!)

11. The way he lights up when he sees me, daddy, or one of his sisters!

12. The way he sucks the same two fingers his daddy sucked when he was a baby!

13. The way he cuddles up to me and just melts when i rub his head.

ok, so just a few minutes ago i was laying in my bed playing with him. i knew he was VERY tired after our VERY long day, but he was so happy to just lay and play next to me. so, there we were just tickling, and laughing, and i started to rub my hand on his head, just to feel his soft hair. all of a sudden he just rolled over and stuck those fingers in his mouth and went to sleep! my heart melted. good night austin, i love you!

a pink glove.

a couple of weeks ago i signed up Ellie and Annie for t-ball. now, that sentence might have more significance if you remember their ages, 5 and 2 1/2.
yes, i'm crazy.
my darling hubby and i actually decided NOT to sign them up, wanting to keep our summer relaxing.
I changed our mind.
why? why, would i want to put myself through the torcher of dragging a "not very athletic" 5 year old, and a tiny little 2 1/2 year old to t-ball once a week for the next 6 weeks? because my friends are doing it of course!
oh, and to develop their coordination too.
anyway, to defend myself to my hubby, (who wasted no time in reminding me that we decided NOT to do this), i told him it only cost $15.
well, times 2.
oh, and there was that $10 late fee.
times 2.
anyway, it was still a good deal, right?
so, last week was our first practice. if you can call it that. after having individual and group t-ball pics taken for 2 hours, we rolled grounders to our tired out team of 2 - 5 year olds for 10 minutes. and that was it.
i noticed as we began t-ball practice, that most of the little ones had their own gloves. "hmmmm, i wondered, do we need gloves?"
so today i called a couple of friends and asked, and the answer was, yes.
yes, they need gloves, and probably bats too.
ok. so today on our way home from the pool i stopped at target to buy gloves. and bats. i had to stop today because our next practice was tonight.
i walked into target to the screams of "i wanna a pink glove!" and headed to sporting goods.
in 5 minutes i spent $50. that's right. $10 per minute. i walked out with 2 pink gloves, 1 pink bat (they can share the bat!) and 1 white baseball (they didn't have a pink one.)
and yes, if you're counting, i've now spent $100 on this "very good deal."
but hey, the girls were VERY excited to take their pink gloves and pink bat to t-ball tonight. so i guess it's worth it.
so, we came home to unload and reload for t-ball, and received a phone call.
t-ball is postponed until friday night.
i'm so glad i rushed through target.
really.

a sunburn and an itchy back.

ok, a little over a week ago i got a sunburn on my back. yes, to all of you who are worried about me getting skin cancer because you're thinking i didn't put on sunscreen, i did.

well, i tried.

i held the bottle behind my back and sprayed myself the best i could. i buy the really expensive aerosol style sunscreen so that i can reach my back by myself. because i'm just not trusting a 2 year old or a 5 year old to the job.

apparently i can't trust myself either.

anyway, the sunburn faded quickly, and really wasn't that bad. the worst of it was that i couldn't wear a bra for 2 days. wait, actually it was nice not to have to wear a bra for 2 days! so, what's the problem now? you say.

I've got an ITCH! all over my back! it is driving me crazy! in the past few days i have found myself using walls at my own house (and a couple of friends houses!) as scratching posts! i have also used my back brush in the shower and i have had ellie scratch my back numerous times! this is definitely the worst part of this sunburn! so just now, as i was going to bed and scratching my back, i decided to blog it. and then as i typed in my blog address, it hit me.

maybe this is how ellie feels all the time!

so anyway, now i have a new understanding about all my daughters ITCHES!

Blogging Story Carnival!

ok, so i was surfing blogs late last night and stumbled upon one mentioning this carnival at chilihead's blog. i've never been to this blog before, but it looks like a fun one, and one with quite a following. forgive me, i'm new to this! anyway, it looks like a fun way to answer some questions, and Big Mama did it, so i will too! click on this to get to chilihead's blog and see what the fuss is all about! then join the club and post your own answers, if you dare! also, you can add your own blog to the list at the bottom of chilihead's page if you want too!






How did you start blogging?

my great friend alana told me, and some of our other friends, that she was starting a blog. now, i knew just enough about computers to kinda know what that was, and so, it sounded interesting to me. another great friend, janelle, started her blog right after alana told us about it. (actually, she put her first post on before alana, which was a slight source of tension for a bit, just kidding!) anyway, since 2 of my best friends were now in this thing, i realized that i had to kick it in gear and figure out this blogging thing! i got my page up and running about one month ago!



Did you intend to be a blog w/a big following? If so, how did you go about it?

no, i did not intend to have a big following, that just sort of happened since i'm soooo popular and funny and all and . . .oh wait, i was dreaming for a minute. seriously, i don't have a big following, unless of course you count 5 people as a big following.



What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?

i started my blog to journal my everyday life. life with little ones can be so crazy, fun, unpredictable, and emotional that i want to remember it! i am not good about putting things on paper, but this seems to be working for me! so, i suppose i have been successful at achieving my goals since i've posted almost every day since i started blogging!



Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How?

maybe a little. now that i realize what a big blog world it is, i think it would be kinda fun to have a bit of a following! but i still mostly blog for me and my crazy thoughts!



What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?

well, not much since i'm still a newbie!



Do you make money with your blog?

nooooo, but i didn't realize that was an option, i'll have to research that one.



Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why?

most of them do know about it, but few of them read it. i've been trying to get my hubby to read it. i keep telling him how very funny i am, but so far he's not convinced! my awesome cousin lauren reads it (thanks lauren!). my mom has read it once that i know of, i think that's about it!



What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger?

"it will suck the life right out of you!" just kidding! (inside joke, sorry!) first, i would say it does take a bit of time to maintain it, but it's really therapeutic to type your thoughts out! so hang in there and keep typing away! second, i read this on Big Mama's blog and thought it was very wise:



"The best advice was something I read one time that I think was actually from Dooce. Whenever you write something, imagine the last person in the world who you'd want to read it and then assume that some day they will find it. If that's okay, post away. If not, rethink what you wrote and save yourself the heartache. I have been amazed at the random people from my life that have found me through this blog, which reminds me that you never know who will be reading."

ok, so that's about it. now you know, well, everything you already knew!

the car.

tonight as i was unloading the car, i was thinking about how different of a task it is now, as opposed to how it was bk. (before kids) i recalled how my good friend janelle recently posted about all the stuff in her car. it really is insane how much stuff these little munchkins require! the following items were in our car today:

Beach Bag + Towells
today we planned on going to the pool, so we had the beach bag, crammed full of all the necessities (5 bottles of sunscreen, 3 pair of goggles - 1 broken, 6 pair of sunglasses, 4 toys, 3 boxes of raisins, 3 swim diapers, 2 regular diapers, 4 swimming suits, and a waterproof camera.) we also had the beach towells laying on top of the beach bag. (they surely couldn't fit in it!)

Strollers
these are almost always in the car. one gynormous double stroller, and one lightweight (yet cool looking) stroller. these are always with me in case i'm in a situation where i know i need to keep one or two of my children captive.

Giant Diaper Bag
this is a must. it contains all the regular necessities, (sunscreen, baby tylenol, bandaids, neosporin, bactine, vaccination records, lip gloss, hair bands, 16 diapers in 2 sizes, 5 outfits in 4 sizes, baby wipes, antibacterial wipes, baby food, disposable spoon, disposable bib, changing pad, diaper cream, digital thermometer, cheerios, and burp cloths.

My purse
again, a must. it usually contains my wallet, my cell phone, lip gloss, lots of gum, baby wipes, purell, baby food, another disposable spoon and bib, a diaper, and various other things that fight for space at the bottom of the purse.

My basket
if you know me, you've seen the basket. it always contains baby toys, a magazine for me, my ipod, and antibacterial wipes. today it also contained a bag of panties i bought for ellie that she didn't like (shocker.) that i need to return to target, ellie's blankie and favorite stuffed cat "milo", annie's blankie and favorite stuffed dog "woof woof" , a blankie for austin, and 2 sippy cups.

Rain Gear
so, even though we packed for the pool, it rained. so, out came 4 rain jackets and 3 umbrellas.

Shopping Bags
hmmm, what to do now that it's raining? well shop of course! my parents came and spent the day with me and the kids, so we decided to see a movie and do a little shopping. we managed to hit 4 stores in about 1 1/2 hours, not too shabby.

Other
well, i guess that's about it. unless you count the 3 huge car seats covered in crumbs, the various dried out snacks all over the car, and the 2,000 cd's and dvd's (most of which are for the kids). oh, and us of course, me my parents and the 3 kiddos. oh, and we stopped at mc donalds for dinner, so we had the happy meal mess to contend with also. oh, and the popcorn bags and soda cups from the movie too. oh, and . . .ok, i think that was it.

before kids, it was just me and my purse. boy how times (and 3 kids) have changed me!

my fabulous friends!

i was thinking this morning about my crazy life and my crazy friends. and how i love them so much! they are an answer to prayer.
i remember just a short 5 years ago when i had no friends that lived within 8 hours of me. i had a 6 month old baby girl that i spent all day and all night with. and i had a great husband who worked a lot. i was very lonely. i prayed that God would send me friends. friends that were like the ones i remembered in high school. friends that i loved to spend time with. a few months later i discovered our local mops group. and long story short, i met some friends.
at first they were good acquaintances, and then they were friends. but there was still a void. they were a close group, and i wasn't in the "inner circle". don't get me wrong, they were wonderful people, not like a "click" or anything. anyway, i kept on praying. then one day my prayers were answered. i remember it vividly! i remember janelle pulling me aside and telling me "i need to talk to you in private." i was afraid something was wrong. we went out to my car and sat to talk. that's when she invited me and jason to be a part of "supper club." i was so excited! i remember saying "YES!" it was a wonderful moment in my life. i saw it for what it was, a HUGE answer to my prayers! not only was God giving me friends for life, but he was also giving my husband friends for life. even then i knew that it was the start of something wonderful.
so, fast forward 2 years. we (my supper club friends, their husbands and kids which totals 25!) have had some seriously fun times! and some seriously crazy times! imagine our group descending upon IHOP at 11pm, kids and all! yes, we did that. i think that night it was just 4 couples, each with a 3 or 4 year old child, and a baby. and then imagine if you will, that we let the 3 and 4 year olds sit at their own table! granted, it was sandwiched between the "mommy table" and the "daddy table." all of this was AFTER we spent an exciting evening at an amusement park! you shoulda seen some of the looks we got! or imagine all of us attending "dixie stampede" together. one child said, i don't feel so good, right as the food was set in front of him. just use your imagination as to what happened next! their are more stories than i can type from the last 2 years of supper club, crazy fun i tell ya! just yesterday we had an "impromptu" gathering for lunch at dixies house. 5 mommies, 11 kids. craziness ensued. but i wouldn't trade it for anything! then last night jason and i decided to go out with dixie and jim for dinner and a movie. a very long movie! we arrived back at dixie's house at 1am or so, to find our almost 3 and 3 year old daughters cuddled up together and sound asleep in tessa's bed! it melts my heart to see what wonderful friends our kids are becoming! God has answered my prayers more completely than i imagined. He gave me the desires of my heart, not just what i asked for. Thank you God! we really are a super cool group! and just in case Big Mama reads this and is ever in the area and wants to see how cool we really are, supper club meets the 2nd friday or saturday of every month, well, usually!

i have arrived.

yes, i have completed my mission in life, Big Mama commented on my blog! when skip called janelle to tell her that Big Mama had commented on her blog, i was happy for her. and a teeny bit jealous. and then. . .she said the magic words, "big mama commented on yours too!" and then the heavens opened and i saw a glorious light and heard the angels. . .ok, ok, maybe not, but it wouldn't have surprised me. i have walked a bit taller ever since that moment. i'm not sure what has come over me. i am not one to "freak out" if i see a celebrity. i'm more of a quiet "oh my gosh, that's andy williams sitting at the next table!" which, by the way, really happened! andy williams eats at panera! in case you were wondering, he had a salad, i hear he's very health consious. anyway, seeing as we live in a town where celebrities do frequent, and some actually live, you would think that i would have some degree of level headedness when it comes to a "blog world friend." i don't. i'm seriously giddy about this! i think i'm going to print the comments page that she commented on and put it in my scrapbook! i think i feel more important now. someone outside my little circle actually read my blog! hey, you take what you can get when most of your comments are from the 5 and under set!

forget the points, sonic's having free rootbeer floats!

oh yea baby. tonight sonic offered free rootbeer floats to anyone who came between 8pm and 12am. jason and i were sitting on the couch discussing our dinner options when the commercial for sonic came on. 20 minutes later, we were at sonic. boy oh boy did their advertising work on us! we were planning on making some baked potatoes for dinner and having a quiet night at home. instead, we drove to sonic at 8pm, spent $18 on dinner, and got our FREE root beer floats! then, we went to the outlet mall and spent some more money. just for fun. so, thank you sonic, for helping US help the economy!

thursday 13

my good friend alana posted a meme of 10 "rules she lives by." i've been thinking, and watching, and trying to figure out what a meme is. if you're wondering, it's a list or a question that you post and "tag" others to post their own. or something like that. apparantly it's part of the language of blog world. anyway, so now that i've figured that out, it's time for my rules. these are some of the rules that i live my life by:

1. you must roll all the windows down in the car when it is warm (not hot) outside, and let your hair blow around!

2. while letting your hair blow, you and anyone else in the car (usually my kids) must sing at the top of your lungs to "summery" music.

3. when you're going somewhere and you know your kids will fall asleep for the night in the car on the way home, you must take their pj's with you and put the children in them before the car ride home. (i was totally kicking myself last night for breaking this rule!)

4. you must not allow yourself to check your email or your blog, or anyone elses blog, when you have to leave the house in 5 minutes! (i confess, i broke this rule this morning, and we were 20 minutes late to swimming! hence, the reason it is now a rule.)

5. when you are going somewhere where you know your friends, and your friends kids will be, and you take a snack for your kid, you must take a snack for ALL the friends kids too. (we all know they always want anything their friends have!)

6. do not allow anyone to call your house before 8 am. yes, most of the time you are already up, but the one morning that everyone in the house is still asleep will be the one morning that someone calls and wakes you up!

7. you must swim at least twice a week during the summer in good weather!

8. if you pull out in front of someone on the road, you MUST drive fast!

9. if you are counting points, you must not have ANY junk food ANYWHERE in the house, or you will find it and eat it!

10. when you are holding a baby, you must kiss it, even if it's not your baby.

11. you must not run the dishwasher until it is COMPLETELY full. what's the point?

12. you must cherish every moment with your precious baby, because he will not be a baby for long.

13. you must know how blessed you are to have such wonderful friends and family!

a great play day!

we had a blast today! our good friends baron and tessa came to play. the day started with mr. jason making the kids breakfast. we followed that with a good dose of inside play, and then a good dose of outside play. i love summertime! the kids had so much fun playing in the little pool, and with the hose and the beach ball sprinkler. we really did have a fabulous day. annie's already asking when tessa can come back, and they just left 30 minutes ago! here are some things that i overheard today (i kinda stole this idea from you janelle, hope you don't mind!):

baron: "baby austin is SO cute!"

annie: "tessa maeeeeeeeeee............"

ellie: "i gave baron money, cause he said he's gonna marry me."

ellie: "tessa, here's another princess dress!"

baron and ellie: "i want the orange one!"

tessa: "NO annie, thiiiiis way."

annie: "oooooohhhhh, ok!"

they had so much fun, and they were really well behaved! all of them! above are some great pics of today, enjoy!

a panty showdown.

i knew it would come. after almost 2 weeks of wearing panties without too much resistance, it hit, the showdown. why? well, we only had 2 pair of panties that "fit." i put parenthesees around fit, because, to ellie, "fit" is VERY relative. so yesterday i bought her 4 new pairs of panties that "fit." i brought them home and she tried them on and said, "yeah mom, i like them!" "too easy", my brain told me, but i told myself to be more positve and move on. this morning i said "ok, time to get dressed." now there's a battle cry for our house! ellie screamed "noooooooo. i don't want too!" i calmly told her that yes, it was time to get dressed and that i wanted her to wear one of her new panties. seriously, you would think by her crying, screaming, falling on the floor reaction, that i had told her she was going to have to eat vegetables for the rest of her life! after a few more calm statements, i finally decided that she needed a bit more incentive, and i put her outside. with the panties. i told her she could come in when the panties were on and she was happy. how long do you think it took? 10, 15, 20 minutes? how about 45! she sat on the porch and alternated between screaming and crying for about 25 minutes, and then she just sat there for awhile. finally, she calmly put on the panties, found a catapillar and knocked on the door. "why hello!" i said, "would you like to come in?" ellie showed me the catapillar and then showed me her panties and said, "i'm ready to be nice mommy." it was all quite civilized considering she had just been screaming! she cracks me up! she HATES to give in. but she finally did! score one for mommy today. i know it won't be the last showdown over the panties. i actually spoke to a lady a few days ago who had a daughter who still hates panties and she's 10! but i'm ready, mommy can be strong willed too!

a "down" day.

today was a "down" day. in my world, that means we did very little today, well very little outside the house. sometimes these days are good ones, sometimes they are not so good. today was a good one! i did have to get dressed though. the girls spent the night with grammie last night, and i had to get them first thing this morning. we were supposed to go to a 10 am show with some friends this morning, but about 9 am we realized how tired we all were, and decided to just stay home. i am SO glad we did that! we've played and played and played. we've played candy land, we've cuddled, we've played barbies, we've played tag, we've watched dora and mulan, we've even caught up on laundry! austin took 2 long naps, and annie took one that was 4 hours! i've really enjoyed this day. i'm not very good at just "being". but today, for some reason, it was really really nice to just "be."

My (late!) Thursday 13.

yes, i realize it's friday, but since my dear friends did not leave my house until after midnight last night, i decided to wait until daylight to fulfill my obligatory thursday 13! so, here is another 13 things that happened, yesterday.

1. Met our Awesome friends for lunch!

2. Took the 5 year old and the 2 year old potty. Now, you must understand that the 2 year old is NOT potty training.

3. Realized AFTER i threw the diaper away, that i did not have another one inside with me.

4. Meant to go get another diaper out of the car, immeadiately upon leaving the bathroom.

5. Immeadiately upon leaving the bathroom, completely forgot.

6. Played lots of fun games with the kids!

7. Spent $5+ on said games, to recieve 2o cents worth of junk for our tickets.

8. Watched the 2 year old bouncing in the bouncy house, and then watched her stop and look down.

9. Realized too late that she was peeing in the bouncy house, and that i never got her that diaper.

10. Cleaned up the bouncy house, and quickly hauled my 3 kids out the door and to the car.

11. Got everyone cleaned up, diapered, and into their car seats, including me!

12. Sat in car and talked with friends after everyone was back out of their car seats.

13. Got spit up on by the baby, looked for something to clean up with, found it! Used the half- way peed on skirt to clean up the spit up with. (i used the dry side!)

oh the glamerous world of motherhood!