Killing time

All the kids are asleep right now, and I had high hopes of getting the kitchen all cleaned, floor mopped, and possibly my scrap space cleaned up and re-organized so that I wouldn't have it to do this weekend, buuuuut, here I sit, at the computer with really not a whole lot to say! Guess I'm just killing time as I really don't want to do those other things.

So, the kids had a good time on Halloween night and got enough candy to last them an entire year (maybe less, since they have me for a mommy!). I swear, if I didn't have such a sweet tooth, I would weigh like 80 pounds!

The kids and I had a pretty interesting day yesterday (if you could call it that). The baby, who is now 5 1/2 months old, is rolling back and forth very well now, and figured out how to roll across a room. In fact, she did it so well that she rolled onto her stomach, lost control of her head (like they do at this age), and banged her forehead into the bottom of the coffee table. It was like in slow motion...she banged her head, looked up as if to say, "What the hell was that?" then, just as swiftly, dropped her head to start wailing, effectively hitting her head again in the same spot! Needless to say, she was fine, but had a small red bump on her head, poor thing! School of hard knocks I guess.

A couple hours after that, the 20 month old got down from the lunch table and was walking over to her bed (which has become an automatic response to finishing her lunch), tripped over the little monster that hides under the carpet and occasionally jumps out to grab your foot, and slammed her head into the corner of the surround sound speaker. She didn't really cry much, until I started pressing a paper towel over the gash in her forehead. OK, so it's not really a gash, but it was deep enough that I had to call her mom to come and get her and take her to the doctor. Poor thing. I guess it was, "bang your head" day yesterday. Maybe I should have put on some Led Zeppelin for them!

Anyway, they are both just fine. The babies head is back to normal today, and the toddler was fixed up with steri strips and a Dora band-aid. Oh, yeah, and the speaker had to take a hike to a location where it can no longer cause harm to anyone! Who needs bass when you're watching TV anyway....oh yeah...that's right...it wasn't working anyway since the lightning ruined the receiver! WHATEVER!!!

So, today was a rather calm, "normal" day and I am going out for a drink with the mother's of the two "head-bangers" tonight after work! I just heard one of them stir...guess I don't have to mop the floor today after all! :)

Been awhile...

Sorry all...it's been awhile since I posted last. There has been lots happening around here in the last week! Over the weekend, we went to Dallas and stayed with our friends Kevin, Jamie and Amanda. The kids had a ball (as always) and didn't want to come home (Taylor cried for the first 15 min. of the car ride, then promptly fell asleep!) Brad got to do the "guy" thing and show off his new gun to Kevin at the range. Jamie and I hit Ikea and the scrapbook store where we spent the majority of the time scrapbooking. OK, the Ikea in Dallas is GINORMOUS!!! It has a small cafe and a restaurant inside the store for crying out loud! Not to mention, I could spend a whole lot of money in that store organizing my house, garage, shed, etc, etc--and be in heaven the whole time I was organizing! Kind of a freak that way!

On Monday, Taylor had a field trip to the pumpkin patch, so I took the day off and Dylan and I went with her class. It was a pretty neat farm that had a corn maze, hay ride, hay jump, hay slides, tricycle course, animals, a picnic area, and of course a pumpkin patch. Here's a pic:

We went trick-o-treating at the zoo last night. The kids were so excited to go they could hardly sit still! For those of you without kids, Taylor is Ariel from The Little Mermaid and Dylan is Pablo the penguin from the Backyardigans. DJ loves his costume so much that he wanted to sleep in it last night. I said, "No, but you can have it in your bed with you if you want", so he proceeded to stuff it under the covers with him and slept that way all night. This morning, he said, "I wanna be Pablo, Mommy!". Taylor loves hers as well, but would be happy to set the wig on fire after Halloween I think! Apparently it is very itchy and "keeps getting in her face"! Not sure if I will be able to coax her to wear it again tonight or not...stay tuned. Anyway, here's a pic:

So, tonight we are going trick-o-treating on base and then around our neighborhood, if the kids still feel like it. Dylan is all about this candy thing--last night he was even trying to trick-o-treat the other trick-o-treaters! Pretty funny! Anyway, here is the link to all the pictures if you are interested:

Fall Fun 2007

Fire Department Visit

Today, the fire department on base gave a special presentation for children on what to do in case of a fire. I took the baby, the 20 mo old, the 3 year old and Dylan (Taylor had school). It was held at one of the houses on base that was taken over by the fire department and turned into a place where they hold trainings of this sort. I always have high hopes for these things that the kids will all behave, listen when they are supposed to listen, and most of all, not run in 3 different directions at once. However, I also realize that it is humanly impossible for a 3 year old and younger to act the way they are supposed to. So, I came prepared with diapers, extra clothing, a double stroller (to be able to contain at least 2 of them), lots of snacks, and an assortment of drinks. To my delight, none of that was necessary because they were the most well behaved kids there!!!

First, the kids got to watch a short movie on what firemen do and what to do if you see a fireman at a fire, etc. Then, as we were walking down the hall, Sparky the fire dog (person in a costume) was walking towards us...almost all of the kids stopped dead in their tracks and started crying...except Dylan who proceeded to push his way through the frozen kids to run and give Sparky a hug!

Then, our next presentation was how to stop, drop, and roll. By the end of the presentation (which lasted all of 10 min.) Dylan was in front of the group demonstrating how to stop, drop, and roll for the fireman. All the other kids were climbing on chairs, crying, or generally being loud.

The last presentation was how to crawl low under smoke to get out of a fire. By this time usually my kids are tired of listening, and starting to act out. This time, however, I got to sit quietly with a quiet 3 year old next to me, a baby asleep (still) in the carrier, the 20 mo. old on my lap, and Dylan standing up, waiting for the video to start. By then end of the video, you couldn't actually hear the TV because all the other kids were being so loud...but here was Dylan, being called up to the front again to demonstrate how to get out of a fire by crawling. This time, the 20 mo. old joined him! It was too dang cute!

Finally, they filled the house with "smoke", let all the kids practice how to crawl low under it, and go out the front door. My whole group had a blast--especially Dylan. This was by far the best field trip we have ever taken! Who knew DJ would be so interested in firemen?!

Ewwwwwww!!!

OMG! OMG! OMG! I was sitting in the backyard yesterday watching the kids play when Dylan and one of the other boys disappeared on the side of the house. I didn't really think much of it because there is nothing over there except the gate, which was locked. Pretty soon, I hear them come back around the corner saying, "Awwww, Miss Sara (Mommy), look, isn't it cute?!?! It's sleeping!!!" and in the little boy's arms was a dead RAT!!!

OK, I thought, (after I nearly jumped on top of the patio table) stay calm, you're the adult!!! Ewwwwww!!! So, what did I do??? I said, "Oh My God! No, No! Put that down! It's not sleeping! EWWWWWW!!!" So, the little boy dropped it with a thud and looked at me with this scared look like he was going to cry. Crap! So, I quickly dragged them inside, scrubbed all of their hands, arms and faces (just in case) furiously all the while saying, "My goodness, that was interesting wasn't it?!?! Miss Sara will have to take him to see a doctor so he can get well!" and of course I'm thinking, "Yeah, the doctor in the garbage can." Gross!

So anyway, here's the picture I took after I managed to scoop up the little rodent carcass from my patio into a disposable tupperware container.





I'm not sure where this guys family is, but hopefully this is the last we will be seeing of any of them!

It also crossed my mind several times yesterday if there was a full moon or something. The rat made his appearance in the morning, then after nap time, I had some more fun with the kids. The infant was having a tough afternoon and just wanted to be held. The 20 month old has figured out that if she screams, she gets lots of attention from everyone. So, all day, I listened to this high pitched squeal every time she wanted something, didn't want something, or simply wanted people to pay attention to her. The 2 1/2 year old woke up from her nap and went potty, like a good girl. Then not 10 minutes later, pooped in her underwear! Geez, could you not do that a few minutes ago?!?! So, I get her all cleaned up, underwear washed out and all...by this time the baby is wailing because I have not been holding her for the last 10 minutes and she is dang sick of looking at the same toy dangling above her.

Just as I return poopy girl to play with the other kids, I look over at Dylan and he said, "Oh no Mommy" and proceeded to pee all over the tile at the front door! (At least he realized he needed to go before he went...do ya think you could give me more than half a second warning?!?!) So, I walk right by the wailing baby (who is soooo not happy at this point) and proceed to get a roll of paper towels from the kitchen to sop up the mess. I returned to Dylan only to find him "skating" through his puddle with his bare feet shouting "WEEEEE!!!"

So I get the puddle (and skate marks) cleaned up and take DJ to the bathroom to clean him up. Shew...now I can finally get to the baby. Or so I thought. For whatever reason, Dylan got mad at the 2 1/2 year old on his way out of the bathroom and slugged her (again). So off we went to his room for the 44th time-out that day (it seemed). OK, now I can get to the baby, whose face is beat red with snot running out of her nose. So I pick her up, wipe the gooey mess from her face and turn around to see Dylan standing there grabbing his you-know-what saying, "Uh Oh Mommy". OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!

OK, I can handle this...so I set the baby back down where she proceeded to make another gooey mess of her face. Dylan and I tromp back to the bathroom to deal with the poopy mess in his underwear. Just then, a parent walks in to see the baby screaming on her blanket (still lying below the infamous toy) so she goes over to pick her up. I have never heard a baby scream as loud and long as that baby did right then! Woo Wee, that kid has some lungs, and apparently hates strangers even more than the stupid toy dangling above her! So, I get DJ taken care of, re-integrated into the group, and take the baby and calm her down just as her mom walks in. "Why does she look like she's been crying?" Weeellllll, let me see.........

And so ends another day of daycare.

Lightning...Are you KIDDING ME?!?!

Have you ever met someone who was struck by lightning? Yeah, me neither...until now at least. Last night we had a thunderstorm (that really didn't seem that bad) but there was lots of lightning. Sure enough, around 10:30, we heard a really loud Crack! Crack! I had the windows open and it just about scared the pea right out of me! The first thing I did, was check to see if the kids were going to start screaming (they didn't even budge)! We are still not sure where it actually hit, but we're pretty sure that it didn't hit directly on our house as there is no outside damage. HOWEVER, we lost half the power in our house because the power surge blew some circuits. When we fixed the breakers, we realized that some of the GFCI outlets needed to be reset...OK, fine, that's easy enough. Well, then we realized that the security system was acting funny--when we went out in the garage to check it, the transformer was smoking at the outlet! Took care of that, went to check the actual motherboard and it smelled like someone had set fire to an outlet. Then as we checked further, we realized that the garage door opener was fried, our stereo receiver will not turn on, the outlet in the utility room did not work, one of the DVD players will not turn on, one of the phones would not work and the others had a terrible static on them, one of our lamps in the bedroom will not turn on, and best of all, our HVAC (heat/air conditioner) system is fried as well. CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE THIS?!?!

Brad and I just kind of have to laugh...I mean, what else are we supposed to do? Getting mad won't help. So we thought that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel because our house is less than a year old and should be covered by warranty...unless you get struck by lightning! It should fall under our home owners insurance, but of course there is always the lovely deductible! Arrrrggggghh!!!

So, I just have to chuckle at this whole situation. Here we are, trying to save money for our upcoming changes that have us scared enough as it is, and now this! I guess you shouldn't plan on standing too close to us since we have officially been struck down! You know what they say though, lightning never strikes twice! Gee, I hope that's really true!

Provider of the Quarter

Well, if you've read my profile, you know that pretty much all I do all day is run around behind 6 kids, putting toys away, wiping up the spit-up off my shoulder, teaching the ABC's and 1,2,3's, cleaning the kitchen at least 4 times before noon, and generally making sure that the 6 of them do not kill each other or themselves (or back me into a corner with Nerf dart guns)! Anyway, it's a thankless job, but someone has to do it, right??? Well, on Friday, I found out that it is apparently not as thankless as I thought as I was recognized as Provider of the Quarter for Tinker AFB. What does that mean you ask? Well, I get a plaque to put next to my license on the wall, and eventually, I think I get a sign in my yard that will stay there for like 3 months or so. The sign in the yard will be nice because it helps to alert those that may not already know that I have a zoo just on the other side of the door, to knock at their own risk! Maybe the mailman will get the hint and quit ringing the doorbell numerous times when he drops off a package during naptime. You know, apparently the sign RIGHT ABOVE my doorbell that reads "Do not ring doorbell between noon and 3 pm" is not good enough. Anyway, it was nice to be recognized for what I do so I thought I would share!

Happy Halloween!

So, alot of you know that Fall is my most favorite season ever! I love the fall colors, the changing leaves, and the cool, brisk mornings! Ok, Ok, I'll stop sounding like a hallmark card. But seriously, this is the best time of year to decorate! Check out the pic of the ginormous pumpkin that I have in my front yard compliments of Linda (a.k.a. Grandma Garcia). The top pumpkin spins and the cat pokes it's head in and out of the smaller pumpkin! It was pretty funny when I put it up...the neighbors had to come out and comment on it...at least those neighbors that decide to poke their heads out of their domicile. Sometimes I wonder if their front doors even work--now days everyone opens their garage from down the street, zips inside, shuts the garage door, and you don't see them again until they open the garage door in the morning to leave for work! Sad... I remember the days that my parents would be out until dark talking to the neighbors, we didn't even have a garage door opener (yes, I know, unfathomable now! We actually got rained on to open it!) and my Dad would have to use his "extra loud whistle" to call us home from the neighbor kid's backyard.

Whew, that was a bit of a tangent. Anyway, I love this season! The hay bales are on my front porch and will soon be adorned with all the pumpkins that the kids (and I ;)) will collect from the pumpkin patch and carve. Woo Hoo, I can't wait!