Let it Snow! Let it Snow!...oh shut up....

No explanation necessary...yes that is my house...and my husband..poor fellow. I swear to God we are getting a snowblower next year if I have to sell my body to get it...It took him 4 HOURS to shovel the driveway on Saturday...4 HOURS...he was beat to a snot by the time it was all said and done. Notice that the snow is now OVER my fence...the children can literally walk over it...a six and a half foot fence and it is buried...ridiculous.

The Bruise that Ate Manhatten

Look away! Look away! It's hideous!!

But at least my leg is still intact - no broken bones...just a big bruise (on my calf AND on my ego). Honestly, the picture doesn't even do it justice. I measured it with a ruler today as I was trying to explain it to Laura...the monstrosity is 8 inches long by 5 inches wide...and man oh man is it EVER tender!

Luckily I am unable to really GO very far because of all this snow...see next post...

Snowed in

Snowed in. This is just silly. I mean, this snow! My goodness, there's just too much. That's a picture of my poor garden up there, the snow is OVER my six foot fence! It has no where to go! You shovel so much and the banks are almost as high as your house...and now they are speaking for more on Saturday! GAH!!! I'm moving to Florida as soon as my children are grown...this is ridiculous.

In other news, I almost broke my leg yesterday. I know...for someone so delicate and gentile HOW could I have been so clumsy?? HA! I am a lumbering ox and I know it....I tumbled over myself getting out of Jacob’s bed last night…DESTROYED my leg. I thought for SURE it was broken. I was crying, Jacob was screaming, William was running for ice saying “Move your toes!! Can you move your toes???” and poor James was trying to calm everyone down. You should SEE the wicked bruise I got…it’s seriously 6 inches long by about 4 inches wide. If I was skinny I would have cracked my leg right off. Now I am hobbling about feeling like a fool…

So between the bruised up leg and the snow mountains, I am fairly crooked about it all...

From the mouths of babes

Yesterday was a RIDICULOUS day. Jacob was in a snit. There is no other way to describe it...he was in a snit. Everything bothered him, he was bored, he was tired, he was hungry...he was completely out of sorts. And when Jacob is in a snit you'd better watch out - you'd get a toy up the side of the head faster than you could say "Watch out!"

So after an evening of being verbally abused by a five year old, torn and bruised from trying to keep him out of trouble and exhausted from dodging flying toys I decided that he just HAD to go to bed. My patience was GONE, I was tired and House was on at 10:30...that child was GOING to sleep if I had to knock him over the head to do it.

So he struggled and he fought. He yelled and he screamed. He cried and he cajoled. But I stood my ground and lay with him singing quietly just being patient (not an easy task let me tell you) and then at 10:00 p.m. he quieted. He lay with me and he was quiet. Then he touched my face with his little hand and buried his face in my hair and breathed "You always smell so good"

And then he slept. And my heart broke. Just broke.

I watched him sleeping and all I could think about was that one little sweet moment. The trials and tribulations of the night just disappeared into a puff of smoke and I lay there and snuggled with my boy.

Funny how these things happen eh? One small gesture and I turn to mush...out of the mouths of babes - he made my whole night brighter.

The Trouble with Food

The trouble with food is that I have too many children that eat me out of house and home. WHO knew that having one teenager plus one tween plus one kindergartener would involve SO MUCH bloody food??? I swear to God if they had their way I would be chained to the kitchen destined to only serve them. It is midnight...MIDNIGHT and William is in bed moaning about being hungry....and see...they know I can't deal with that. They know my biggest nightmare is having hungry children...so down I trek to the kitchen to get him a cut up apple with peanut butter. He asked for ice cream. YES B'Y! Ice cream at this time of night. I don't think so mister, not on my watch. It's an apple or nothing.

Jacob - God love him, Jacob decided that right before bed he was hungry...and then wanted cauliflower. Now I should know to keep it on hand because he loves it so much, but you know, it's gone and I haven't been to the supermarket to buy more. So he throws a fit. Good lord what 5 year old throws a fit over vegetables??? Know what appeased him? I dare you to guess....nah, you won't get it. Broccoli. He was satisfied with a head of broccoli. O-K..whatever works there Cujo - eat your broccoli.

It's a good thing Jennifer is out tonight, otherwise by this time I would be hearing the pop of popcorn...and smelling it would make me hungry. I think she is addicted to popcorn...

Aaaaaand...now I'm hungry. I wonder what's in the fridge for me to eat?

Definition of exhaustion

I am absolutely exhausted...there's no other way to say it. I am actually blurry eyed I am so tired. Yet "House" is on and I must watch..I am compelled to keep my eyes open and watch this show....I know, I'm a nut. If she is so darn tired, why doesn't she sleep you ask. Well because House is on. DUH! Jeepers people get with the program. House, Criminal Minds and CSI...the three shows that I won't miss even if I have to prop my eyes open with toothpicks. Which is looking like a distinct possibility at the moment.

Today was filled with dealing with Insurance people, supper, homework and da-da-da-DAAAA!! the launch of our new mass media campaign. Woooo....applause applause!! Yes yes indeed, the campaign is launched and off the ground. Five months of hard work and MAN does it ever look nice. We were lucky though, we have a SUPER marketing firm working with us...I swear, I had the original vision and M5 reached inside my head and pulled out what I wanted. It was almost scary how close they came to what I wanted. I am SO pleased. And so busy. Hence the exhaustion.

Oh look...it's a House episode I haven't seen..hmmm....

Oh darn it

So Jennifer has had her first fender bender in the car *insert big tragic sigh here* And really, the term "fender bender" is innappropriate...more like "fender scratch-fender dent"...the dent being on the other guys car. According to Jennifer and William (who was in the car with her) she inched out to see around a snowbank because she was turning right...the guy coming down the opposite side saw her inching and hit his brakes and slid on the snow into her lane and thus into her...but they were both going so slow that it was literally a scrape and a tap. Problem is that I can't figure out whose fault it is...Jennifer swears she was not turning and into his lane because of the snow...but the scratch is on the drivers side bumper of our car so it makes sense to say that she WAS into the turn and he scraped his way down.

ACK...I don't know...all I know is that there is no damage on our car except for a small scrape on the bumper...and even if it IS her fault then we will deal with it the best we can...I just have pains in my stomach thinking about it *insert another big sigh here*.

I guess tomorrow will tell the tale, we have buddy's insurance information and he has ours so I will call our agent and see what the next steps are...I mean, I have a funny feeling that its going to be a he said-she said type deal...and if thats the case, is anyone going to believe an 18 year old girl and her 12 year old brother??

The Big 1-2

Happy Birthday toooooo youuuuu....
Happy Birthday tooooooo youuuuuu....
Happy Biiiiirthday dear William -
Happy Birthday tooooooo youuuuuuuu!

Yes thats right, William hits the big 1-2 today! TWELVE! Isn't that the craziest thing you have ever heard? He is one full year away from being an official teenager - be still my heart, another teenager in the house! LOL Well honestly, I don't think that he is going to be anything like Jennifer was. Jenn was a moody, cranky teen - sometimes. Most of her troubles came from her friends. William on the other hand....geez, I think William is going to turn into a hermit teenager who never sees the light of day. Bahahahahahaha...poor little bird, I shouldn't talk about him ike that on his birthday...

So tonight we are having all of the family over for pizza and cake and presents. Matthew sent me some money for presents from him so he will have some extra here tonight...all the better, more to open! I am really looking forward to it - I love my children's birthdays...

I will post pictures of my big 12 year old guy this evening after the party.

HA! Twelve....un-freaking-believable.

An E-mail from Dave

My bestest buddy in the world - well, except for my husband of course - is Dave. The following is his most current correspondence. We will not even TRY to begin to explain how much I miss this guy! I think if he lived any further away than Nova Scotia I would just have to kidnap him and bring him back home. Luckily, it's only an hour and a half on plane...so he's safe. For now.


Hey babe;

Just checked out your blog - pretty sharp! I have to admit though, it all
feels a bit foreign to me, in that same family-oriented way that wandering
through the baby wear section of Wal-Mart makes me feel... but you know me,
ever the bachelor. I was going to leave a comment, but the site insisted
that I sign up for Google something-or-other; since I happen to know that
Google, Microsoft and Coca-Cola are all in a four way pact with Satan to
enslave the human race, I decided against signing up. If you want to post
this on my behalf, feel free to do so.

Hope everything is good with yourself, James, the kids et al. Take care and
talk to you soon!

Love,
- Big Dave

PS: New and improved Dave is now 19.3% smaller! All the Dave you've always
loved, now in the handy 238 lb travel size! Order yours today!

The picture that makes me cry

And really...lets be honest here...who WOULDN'T cry at a picture of her daughter, surrounded by friends she loves dressed in graduation gear and holding her high school diploma?? Come on...you would have to have a heart of steel to not be touched by this one! Jennifer - on the far left of that picture...my only girl, a child born out of love and into a strange new world. We beat the odds together Jennifer and I (and ok, I'll give some credit to Matthew here too LOL!) ..the child of two teenagers, we grew up together. Babies raising a baby - how far we have come.

Go ahead - I dare you not to feel a little twinge looking at her there...all grown up.

The second picture that makes me cry

I have no idea why - it could be the look on William's face - that big irresistible grin, those red cheeks. It could be the fact that Matthew is standing behind him looking very "fatherly", it could be the fact that they are together...I have no CLUE what it is but this picture touches my heart every single time I look at it.

Of course, truth be told...pretty much everything makes me cry. I am what they call "soft-hearted"...depending on who you are talking to that could mean that I am a wimp or that I am super sensitive. Either way, I cry at everything - looking at my children, TV commercials, songs, music videos, movies...you name it...I have probably cried about it. But you know, my husband can be very wise sometimes, and he says that my sensitivity makes me who I am...and he wouldn't change me for the world :) So I'll cry at pictures of my eldest son flying a kite with his father, and I'll try not to be too embarrassed about it.