A typical day for me consists of wild, crazy energy all around. I wish I had half the energy these kids do. We wake up and immediately get going 100mph. One wants this for breakfast, one wants that... one wanted this but now wants that. One would rather throw her breakfast on the floor. Yes this does drive me absolutely nuts most days, but I'm working on a new goal... Patience! ;) I feel I've lost a lot of mine lately. If anyone has any to spare you know where to send it.

I absolutely love my kids and wouldn't change this craziness for the world... But every now and then, I just want to wake up in the morning quietly and slowly. Other than the usual... **POKE**POKE** "MOM!!" or **SMACK**SMACK** (Insert baby WAIL here). They are happy when they wake up, but they are up so fast and going... WOAH guys... slow down and hold your horses! Mom needs to rub her eyes and remember where she is before I can jump right into changing diapers, wiping bums and filling cereal bowls.

Then onto.... Oh my gosh, it's what time!? Where are your clothes?? Brush your teeth! NOOOO not with his tooth brush, use your own! Go potty, pick out a snack, put it in your back pack and meet me in the bathroom to get your hair brushed. OK... now everybody got your shoes on? Missa??? where's B?  "she's on the table again mom" uggggg. B!!!!!
Into the car where one of my girls says "Ummm Mom, you forgot to get dressed" and starts laughing hysterically! Now first, I never thought the day would come where my child says that to me, and second when did she start caring?? OK, well thankfully, she doesn't actually "care" yet, she was just pointing out the facts. I will have you know though... I was NOT wearing my pajamas! I did take a moment to change, it just happened to be into sweat pants and a sweat shirt. Easy and comfortable until I get a chance to take a shower (hopefully while Missa is napping).

Sometimes we use the 2 1/2 hrs in the morning while the girls are at school, to run errands. A quick Grocery run, a Doctors appt. ( I used to use this time to shower real quick, but Missa no longer naps in the A.M. so I can't or she would be hanging from the rafters! )

Before we know it, we are back at school waiting in the pick up line. The girls jump in, we head home.... and it's lunch time. This is usually an easier meal, lately they love smoothies, so we just throw some fruit, yogurt, juice/milk into the blender and they are good. The other day I even threw in some fresh spinach! I told them it was our "top secret ingredient" to add some pretty color specks ;) They totally bought it, and they loved the smoothies too. Score for mom!

If we have no afternoon plans, we get home work done, and the kids play (or fight) you know whatever they may be in the mood for. Homework... man you would think this would be simple right!? Kindergarten... come on, it's 1 page and it's not every day. Each girl does theirs one at a time, so I can help them both. Sometimes they have no problem, other times they have a more difficult time which requires more (here's that key word...) PATIENCE! We try, it's hard with three others running around and sometimes even over us. We manage though ;)

Out the back door (well, at least thats what we used to do before the rain set in for 40 days and 40 nights!) I think the sun might come back though...... I hope it sticks around!
Some days they play so great back there, just them or with their little friend from next door.. other days it's *BANG*BANG*BANG on the back door every two seconds... "he did, she did... he said, she said" and "I'm SOO hungry" but it's way more dramatic, it's pathetic even, as if they have never eaten before... but if you look between our back steps and the neighbors, you would know by the trail of wrappers, they are FAR from starving!

Then the muddy, bug bite covered children come in for baths and dinner. They love bubble baths, so most times this isn't too bad... it's keeping B from climbing things while I'm bathing them that is the hard part. Like I said above though... we manage.

Dinner sometimes gets eaten and sometimes doesn't. Usually I have to ask them to sit down over and over or just stop talking for two seconds and chew and swallow... but oh well, for the most part, they get in them what I want them too (for the most part). Or they are just "Sooooo not hungry" or "My belly hurts.... can I have a cookie" ;) oh kids!

Seriously, not everyday is chaos. Wait no, let me re-phrase that, not everyday is "Bad" chaos. It can be good and fun... we do mix it up. we have a good time. We just need to work on our listening and patience skills (all of us)

I could go on to tell you about our bed time routine... but then you would really think we are nuts!
I hope this post doesn't come off as negative, because it isn't ment to be. We all have craziness in our lives and this is ours. The patience is lacking because we are ready for daddy to be home and us to be complete again.... I know we have some time left before that happens, in the mean time it gets a little out control sometimes.

Love my life really even if sometimes in my head I think "WHY???" I really do love it, and we are so blessed! I also love bedtime ;) so when you ask.. "what time do your kids go to bed?" and I say "by 7:30" ... Don't act shocked or surprised... mom needs time to just sit and listen to the quiet sometimes!

Have a good night!

Driving miss daisy!

This little one is keeping me busy! 

I can not keep up with her most days. The latest thing is climbing on top of my dining room table. I don't even know exactly when or how she figured this out. I think it was when Daddy was home on leave, he was eating breakfast at the table and she had already had enough. So since he wasn't going to share it with her, she was going to get up there and get it her self!

She pulled out a chair and struggled a bit, but eventually got on it. At first I thought this would be as far as she goes. Boy was I wrong... after a few minutes of pondering it, she ventured on up to the top, and crawled her way over towards daddies plate. She hasn't stopped doing it since. 

Before I go to the extremes of removing all my dining room chairs from the room, I am trying to "scare" her from getting up there. I have been very sternly telling her "NO". I've tried a bum smack (no people I am not abusing my child, she comes with padding down there anyways!) However..... she is very dramatic and will now screech and hold her bum, or pucker the lips into the "Ooooooo" position/sound and give the "death look". She is a spunky one...... it must be that red hair!!

Where there's a will there's a way I guess! She see's something up there she want's... she WILL get it!

I have found her standing on many things but the table seems to be the favorite spot. I can't even go up stairs without hearing the chairs being pushed out and something coming down from on top. Who needs an exercise routine when you are constantly running up and down the stair!? Not to mention jumping the gate at the bottom! Bring her upstairs with me you say..... WELL, she has been known to climb onto the top bunk. We take the ladder down... so she climbs onto the lower beds and jumps. She likes to open all the dresser drawers and take every article of clothing out, sometime she will be nice enough to put it back in, but in different drawers so I can not find anything. 

Then it's into the bathroom, climbing into the tub, or playing in the toilet. While these are pretty much all typical things little ones do... she is by far, way more determined to get into and onto everything she possibly can than any of my others! 

The best was when I heard her climb onto the table and I walked in to find her like this.....

She is such a nut! Thank God she is adorable!

We have the little tiny black ants here and there, so I have put out some liquid Terro traps. Well I stuck one pretty far under the heater by our front door. I thought it was pretty well hidden and when I looked down there, It was hard to see. Well..... she dropped her cereal and got down on her belly and peeked under that heater... and "Oooooooo look what I found!" Now of course I was up stairs grabbing something for a second (because that's all i'm aloud up there for time lately)... but I'm thinking "oh good I don't hear the chairs moving for once". Then I hear.. "Mumma... uh oh...." 

oh boy I'm thinking, I walk down to find her at the bottom of the stairs covered in sticky liquid terro, in her hair, on her clothes and all over my floor. 

Oh it's to be expected... she is getting to that toddler stage and will get into everything. I KNOW!

BUT WOW, seriously, she is keeping me running. Ant trap liquid here, baggies and tin foil from the drawer (with child proof locks mind you) there, climbing on the table and standing on her sisters vanity & play kitchen in the playroom. 

She is a crazy, busy little girl. She cracks me up and makes me turn gray! I am so blessed to have her and more then happy to keep her ;)

I love my little Missa!

Time well spent....

Well, here we are trying to get back into a routine. We brought daddy to the airport bright and early Saturday morning (yesterday). We were all out of the house, and on our way to Manchester Airport by 5:45. Which made a tough day feel very long.


The past 15 days were absolutely perfect. It was like living in a dream really, kind of like being in a fantasy world where you don't worry about the check book or the time. You just go with the flow and have fun, and enjoy every single second you have together. 


We went on adventures together, from the ocean to the mountains, the country to the city & anywhere in between we felt like going... we just went! We swam, we hiked, we ate and we played.

The girls both lost their first tooth while daddy was home. Which was very exciting for all of us really as we tried to wiggle them out daily. E was first, while up north enjoying some m&m ice cream at Friendly's. The tooth fairy actually came to our hotel! I's took a little longer, we almost thought daddy would miss hers, but with the help of a little fun  family wrestle time & a light head-but... there it was! The night before daddy had to leave.

(E)

(I)

So... did it go by too fast? Vacations always do and like I said, this time was like a fantasy... a vacation from reality really. The first week actually didn't feel like it was going by too fast. We didn't think about the time ending, we were living in the moment. It felt just right. The beginning of the second week was kind of the same feeling. I mean we knew in our heads that 1 week was already done, but we still had another and the first was great.... and there was still more fun to be had. 

He and I were able to spend most of the day Sunday (May 1st), just the two of us. His parent's watched the kids and we left the house around 12:30pm and didn't come home until sometime around 11:30pm. We were celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary, which was actually May 3, but we had more alone time on Sunday to actually get out.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner on "Lovers Lane" @ The Melting Pot in Bedford MA. They call it lovers lane because the tables are tucked away with only a little opening for you to get in and out and the waitress to come and mix your fondue and take your order. It was perfect & fun. After that we headed into Boston, just walked around and held hands. (AWWWWW) ;) 

We stopped in at a pub and of course hit up Bova's Pastries! Had to show him how good it is and he is of course hooked now. He could not get enough of the lobster tails we brought home. 

It was just a really great night together!

We had some family time in the backyard. The kids "helped" Daddy mow the lawn....

Then they rolled around in the freshly mowed grass, turning themselves green....

And E & I took turns taking pictures of mommy & daddy...

I guess it really hit me that this wasn't "reality" and this time was going to come to an end, on Thursday morning. Actually while I was showering. Yes that's when I sit and think... maybe sometimes too much! I could hear them all playing on the other side of the bathroom door and at first I was thinking. "Ahh this is so nice, I have been able to shower with no little people running in, ripping open the shower curtain and yelling" 

...... Then in the next moment I thought... *GULP*..."This is it, it's coming to an end, in a couple days I won't be listening to Daddy and our kids playing together, because he does have to go back"

Yes, he will be back again and this time sooner rather than later. It is just hard to focus on that right now where he just left. Yes, this is our life and we know that.... it doesn't make it any easier. The only thing that does, is knowing that it WILL be over soon. We just have to try to keep telling ourselves that and focus. HA focus I say.... easier said then done at the moment. 

Soon we will be back into the swing of this though and we will get busy again and before we know it... like I said in a past post, All the chocolate kisses will be Gone!

Bedtime stories the night before daddy left