Keeping up

I'm shooting for about a post per week, so far I'm doing pretty good--if only I could keep up as well with my house keeping.

Ash was well for two days and then Camille started throwing up. Luckily she has it under control and i haven't had to clean up messes. I really hope Nate doesn't get it.

Justin has a work dinner tonight, so we are having eggs for dinner and then I promised Ashley I would take her to Toys R Us to spend the gift card Nana sent for her birthday. IF she gets her room cleaned in time, of course. A tedious process of tattletelling, screaming, bossing, and whining. I'm going up to split up the jobs now so she and Camille can finish their work at their own pace. Snail's pace.

Slow day

Ash is sick today. She woke me in the night to say that she had thrown up. She isn't my best throw-upper. She keeps coming to me with her hands over her mouth and then it explodes everywhere, even up her nose. I have given her a bowl, but she still comes to me. It makes a lot of loads of laundry when you have a sick kid. We have already been through several pairs of pjs, lots of towels, and thank goodness my friend Holley has a carpet cleaner! I've put that to good use--it is keeping me sane.

Tomorrow I have to decide whether to go to a feng shui lecture in my interior design class or to a three hour training meeting for our stake pioneer trek. That would be fun, too, I just wish I didn't have to miss class. What to do?

Did you know...

That it snows in Dallas? I heard it did, but in two years I'd never seen it and didn't quite believe it. Who knew that a state that melts me at least 6 months out of 12 could also look like this:
We got about 7 or 8 inches total, but (don't laugh CO) school was cancelled.Today was supposed to be my day to catch up, clean, finish laundy, organize. Instead:

Each of the girls had a friend over (in an attempt to keep them away from my immediate area) but my diabolical plan failed and I spent the entire morning at the beck and call of seven little children who wanted to play in the snow. I hunted mittens and hats, tried to mediate fights over the two pair of boots we have, answered unending knocks at the door, put Nate on the tramp, took Nate off the tramp, got snacks, provided dry pants and socks, refit wet mittens, answered more knocks at the door, tried to keep wet boots off the carpet, made slushies, wiped up spilled juice, answered calls for Emma on MY cell phone, etc. etc. etc. They were so loud coming and going that Nate never took a nap. I took a picture of each girl with her friend.

Ashley and Meghan

Camille and Mackenzie

Emma and Abby

Now all the friends are gone, and it is still a disaster, and I'm out of here. I called a sitter and I'm going out to dinner. I'll worry about the rest tomorrow.

For those who have been watching...

Some random daily life:After a holiday of road tripping and watching lots of movies, I can't tear Nate away from the TV. He loves to watch Dora the Explorer, Handy Manny, Max and Ruby, Spongebob, and most especially Disney's Cars. If Lightning (pictured above) was not lost, Bubb would be have him in his hand still. Nate doesn't like to run errands with me, he would rather stay home and watch TV and play around the coffee table with his cars. If I do entice him to go with promises of watching Lightning McQueen in the car, he is mad when I turn off the car to run in a store and throws tantrums. He carries on and on in a very dramatic (older three sisters) kind of way and tells me "I'm crying!" When I try to talk to him reasonably.



Nate and Ashley are such good buddies. They play all day happily with each other and unless Ashley mothers Nate too much things go pretty smoothly. He is always looking for her when she isn't around, and he runs to hug her when she has been at school. She helps him with things (like getting snacks) and wants to be the one to wake him up from his nap. All the kids like to do that, they fight over who's turn it is to get him up.



Emma is growing so big. She acts like she is 16 and not 9 going on 10. She is so responsible, I never have to ask her to do her homework or shower and get ready for school. In fact--she often wakes me up for the day telling me what time it is and giving me a report on what the other kids are doing. She has choir practice every Wednesday, and it makes Justin crazy when she reminds him every Tuesday night. He has told her he can remember, he is the one who drives her to school those mornings, but she reminds him every week anyway. I have a little trouble with her because she is so grown up and responsible, she doesn't like it when I say no to her and always wants to know why or tries to change my mind with reasoning.


Camille is Camille. Mornings are not her thing. She has so many tardies now that if we get any more we get in trouble. Last week she was sick, and stayed home Monday and Tuesday. Then I sent her back to school Wednesday, and she did just fine. Thursday I had just driven 25 minutes from home with four small children in my car, marched them all into the mall and we had just met my SIL at a play place when I got a call from the school nurse. I had to march the four kids back out to the car and drive all the way back home to pick her up. It was not my best day, the little four weren't happy either! But Camille bopped her way out of the school with a big smile on her face and happily settled into the lazy boy to watch TV. I didn't even bother to send her Friday.