The thrill of being Outbid or Won???

There is a small thrill to buying an item on ebay, especially when you get in a bidding war. Once you have officially entered a war, usually within 5 minutes of the bidding being over, you start to say evil things to the other bidders. Yes, you are officially talking to your laptop.

It starts nicely with 'oh, man' and soon you are muttering things like 'what the?' & '(insert swear here)'. **Note** The swearing usually only starts if you are now entering in a maximum bid of over what you originally told yourself you wanted to pay.

If you haven't worked the ebay circuit you have got to try it. You can do some serious xmas shopping! I just outbid two bidders and won!! I feel like the balloons and confetti should fall over me with an anouncer singing "and the final bid is..."!!!!

Yes, I am way too excited over this.

Elves and Gustapos

Even though you haven't finished your leftover turkey, it is time to get those deals. The malls were filled with elves today, Santa's elves. We come out in droves at 4,5,6,7am (6am for us) and join the race to get the best deals on Black Friday. K & I got our best deals at Target.

Aside from elves there are the grinches. Many of those. Here is a question for all the grumpy people out there. If you are the type of person that can't handle crowds and lines, why do you come? K & I on the hand are the jolly elves. Cracking up at every turn. We were on a mission, focused, but still, stuff is funny. Like why does cherub 2 want pet shop? (I know they are cute animals.) Cherub 3 told him that they were for girls cuz they are pink. It took me forever to find a castle that is mostly orange. Who cares anyway?

Then there are the gustapos. That is right. We met the Nintendo DS gastapo and saw the escalator gastapos. We were the nice shoppers, gazing merrily at the pretty, colorful wall filled with DS games. When up from behind, her temper rose. "You can look at them over here!!" pointing to a rack nearby. Not seeing any games on that rack we liked, we started gazing at the wall again. The gastapo SCOLDED us and pretty much demanded we look on the rack. Twice. Like the mug I saw today said, no merry without coffee. Maybe she forgot her coffee this morning. Apparantly it is an elf-eat-elf world out there because they had escalator gastapos on both ends of the Target escalators. They were making sure you didn't steal someone else's deals.

How did our parents shop without cell phones? How many cell phones were jammed while Black Friday ensues? Big Sis & I called each other constantly as we found deals in different stores. SIL texted with me back and forth all afternoon. Deals? What does he want? I found these? Where are you?

Deals found. Fun had. Big breakfast with K before we snuck home with our loot. This elf is tired. I need to go sneak my deals into the North Pole and then catch some zzzzzz's.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Sensory Poem
~written by cherub 1

Thanksgiving looks like people shouting at the tv while they watch football.
Thanksgiving sounds like everybody saying a prayer one at a time.
Thanksgiving smells like a giant table covered with delicious food.
Thanksgiving tastes like a feast fit for about 10 families.
Thanksgiving feels like hugging my family as they walk in my house.

I Am Thankful Book
~written by cherub 2

I am thankful for many things.
I am thankful for the turkey that I eat.
I am thankful for the baseball shirt that I wear.
I am thankful for the house that I live in.
I am thankful for the Star Wars toys that I play with.
I am thankful for the whole world that I love. And everyone in it.
I am thankful for the new President Barack Obama.

I received a card from Big Sis and I loved the wording...need to share:
I'm thankful
for people who show
their goodness,
for those who share
their generous spirit
and live a life
of kindness
and gentleness...
I thank God
for you.

I do thank God for my family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Path is Not Clear

When hubby is expected home from his weekly travels, I always inquire about his ETA. That way I have ample time to put the kids to bed, relax, waste time, watch Grey's yet still rush through the house to make it look somewhat acceptable.

When he showed up at 7:50pm he early, way early. He found me slouching in his chair, watching a re-run of Friends trying to revitalize myself so I can at least clear a path for him to walk through the door.

However, he arrived before the path was cleared. Whoops.

Two Down...

One to quarantine.

Just picked up cherub 2 from the nurses office. He's got the flu too. Cherub 1 is still home with it. I felt lousy this morning but feel fine now.

Cherub 3 is at school...do you think they will let him sleep over so he doesn't get it??

How Cool

My Dad came over tonight to give us some of his famous meatballs. When he walked in cherub 2 asked him, "Pop, are you feeling better?" The look on my Dad's face said it all. How cool to have little grandkids to love you and how cool for them to ask you if you are better. My cup runneth over.

5 Stars- Kitt Kittredge Movie

Cherub 1 is home today with a flu bug. I offered to buy her a movie from on demand. With hesitation, she settled in on Kitt Kittredge, a movie based on an American Girl character.

Kitt is growing up in the 30's when people were losing their jobs, homes, families. There is heart in this movie. Kitt is a reporter wannabe, a detective, a friend, a daughter. She has charisma.

My daughter was enthralled with everything about this movie. Imagine, there was no rudeness, flashy sets, bad words, things blowing up, smut.

AND, she loved it anyway.

Literally Speaking

Cherub 3 had a homework assignment last week to disguise a picture of a turkey as something. He worked very hard and disguised him as Santa. It looks adorable!

Over the last week, I put it in his folder 3 times to return it to school. Each day I would ask him, "did you give it to your teacher"? His response, "no-I didn't take it, we have to find it". It was confusing me as to how it kept disappearing.

Today, I found it (again) in a strange place, behind the couch. I asked cherub 3 why it was behind the couch. His answer, "because we have to hide it", like, dah mom.

It all finally made sense he was literally hiding the turkey. Everytime I tried to send it to school, he would take it and "hide" it from the teacher.

Too cute!

My Version of Tough Love

See, I am like Charlotte in the movie Sex And The City. If I were going to tell Big off I would say "I rue the day I met you!". Then my friends would laugh at me and tell me to "work up a hand guesture with it"~ just like the movie. That is my idea of tough love.

So, in an effort to "follow through" with the kids (who clearly aren't listening to me lately) and get "tougher" I decided to copy a tactic of a friend of mine. Everytime one of her kids acts up their bedtime is earlier by 10 minutes. Well, yesterday the kids went to bed an HOUR earlier.

They were shocked I did it but they didn't argue (wha?). In bed at 7pm~ sound asleep. This morning we were having a great morning until it was time to (wrestle) get dressed. So wrestle the boys did instead. 10 minutes shaved from bedtime. Cherub 1 got into it with cherub 3, 10 minutes for her. Is it working I thought? Here was the test:

Cherub 2 decided he didn't like his coat. Sorry buddy...it is really cold. I told him that he needed to put it back on with his hat and gloves or he would lose another 10 minutes. He looked at me, paused, and PUT IT ON. I thanked him for making a great choice. We talked about how that was different from yesterday (he threw a fit over a pair of mittens he didn't like and we ended up missing the bus). I told him I was proud of him (then I picked my shocked but up off the floor!).

So, my new NotSoTough version of tough love seems to have worked this morning. Also, it seems to have stopped one of cherub 2's meltdowns. A two-for-one deal.

Leaky Pipe

A week ago today, Dad had a third heart attack. He is doing awesome!

I, however, am a mess.

I cry at the drop of a hat. In weird situations that having nothing to do with him. Doing laundry. Dropping off cherub 1 at CCD.

Get a grip girl. Stop the drip.

Cut a Rug

Dancin is his language!

Nana called today to tell us to turn on Oprah b/c she had talented kids on. Cherub 2was mesmorized when a little cool kid was break dancing. He was about his age and he was amazing. Cherub 2 loves to break dance. He is adorable when he does it and I think he was inspired today to keep on groovin!

Yesterday, I took the cherubs to 6pm mass. (I know, that could be dicey. Three tired kids. I got lucky-they were awesome!) Anyway, at one point in the mass, cherub 2 liked the song the choir was singing. I look over and he is groovin in the pew. I started to say 'no dancing in church' but decided to let it go. Let him groove, let him enjoy church. Let that be fun. I kinda wanted to dance.

Kaboom.

Cherub 2 has had a huge transition year since he started grade 1. Unfortunately, since he is really holding it together at school now, he is consistently losing it at home. He is like a time bomb in one of the cartoons. Just waiting to explode.

I having been reading, reading, reading, learning, learning, learning ways to prevent his meltdowns and to give him the "tools" he needs to deal with his emotions so that he doesn't do this:

Scene: Friends 1st Bday Party

After having a great time at the party, cherub 2 tries to stack his crafts together to carry them home. I already staved off one meltdown and let him 'finish' another craft. I could feel the shift in his mood. It was time. He was about to explode. Time to pack up. Too late, crafts fell...


Kaboom.

He SCREAMED AS IF SOMEONE WAS RIPPING OFF HIS ARM and the party fell silent for a second and politely moved on with its business.

While I was calmly asking him to take a deep breath (one of our tools), a friend of mine offered him a plate to lay his crafts out on. (THANK YOU.)

I could tell he was using ALL HIS MIGHT to hold in another scream as I tried to quickly get his shoes on so we could exit with what little grace we had left. Plate starts to fall, SCREAMS AGAIN LIKE WE WERE RIPPING HIS OTHER ARM OFF.


Kaboom. Again. (Grace Gone.)

Quickly tied shoes and scooted out the door.

It is hard to be a mom. I know he just wants me to make it better. He needs me to help him figure out how to deal with his anger. His frustration. His kaboom moments.

But, it is hard to be a wife too. I am trying really hard to avoid the wedge it puts between Hubby & I as well. Hubby is telling me it is my lack of follow through, discipline that is the problem. He's more like...tough love. I got the "he doesn't do that when I am around". Yay, I can be perceived as a push over when it comes to him b/c he can be quite disruptive to our life when he loses it. I avoid kaboom like the plague. I try to head off the tantrums. Maybe I am not doing such a good job at it. BUT, I am trying.

So, I will keep reading, learning and hopefully I can help him learn how to deal with his emotions. That is what I care about the most.

I Got Nothin.

I am too tired to blog tonight. The words just aren't comin. The only thing my tired self can handle right now is the Sex And The City re-run that I am watching right now and bed.

Need zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I just opened a(nother) beer and stole a piece of my cherub's halloween candy. I feel like the universe is messin with me this week. The freekin' Patriots is on INSTEAD of Grey's! Since when does football trump McDreamy?

Random Trivialness

So now that life is back to normal caos, in lieu of trauma, I can write once again about trivial, non-important, important onlytome things.

Phew
*I am drinking a(nother) beer right now. Hubby & I were in a holding pattern for about two weeks when we recently realized that I was about 2 weeks late. Yup. You read it right. We thought we were with child. Again.Again.Again.Again. That would have made 4. Tonight, we found out-notpregnant. So, aside from the fact that I wasted ALOT of money taking 5(or6) pregnancy tests over the last two weeks, all the worry was for not. Not that we wouldn't have loved another baby to pieces but yes, we were toasting our freedom from starting over tonight.

:o(
*The nerve of NBC to cancel Lipstick Jungle. I was never a Brooke Shields fan, however, I love this show, love all the characters-even her. So far, it was awesome, not just because the men were hot. Reports stated 4.2 million viewers. How many do you need to stay afloat??

Foodfight
*Hubby & I got in a food fight tonight after I was yipping about how his generation of men are barely gentlemen. Oh you know it's true. They have their moments where they might remember not to slam the door in our faces or might even open one for us but they have let 'being a gentlemen' slip in priority. So...he was blowing our conversation off so I smooshed a tomato and whipped it at him. This led to ALL our tomatoes, lettuce and leftover rice. It was actually really fun. Cherub 1 was cracking up. I of course told her, don't ever do this at school!

Stumped
*Last night there were 5 potty accidents in this house. I only have THREE kids. You do the math. What is going on? As you can imagine, I am exhausted from our night olympics. Sleep, wake, change bed, change pjs, sleep, wake, change.......5 times. It is like having newborns. I spent my day today in laundry hell trying to wash all the bedding just to get to the regular laundry. Whateva. We are stumped. Have we failed as parents? Why are two of my children consistently wetting the bed an the other sometimes. I am sure they will love this post when they are older. Sorry!

Signing off, must watch Grey's.

Thank You

Thank you to all who said a prayer, kept good thoughts in their heart or simply wished that Dad would get better. It worked. I am forever grateful.

He is home, resting, recovering. We are taking the day off from tramas. No blood pressure plumetting allowed. No heart attacks. No losing consciousness. No scaryness.

Faith. Happiness. Thankfullness. Peaceful night sleep.

Thank you for all your prayers, thoughts, phone calls, emails. Dad & my whole family is very lucky to have such a support system.

Dad

Please keep my Dad in your hearts tonight. He was taken to the hospital today after having another heart attack. They will be doing more tests tomorrow morning to find out what is going on.

He is our family rock. He is our hero. He is our world.

We love you Dad.

Picture: Mom, Dad & I in Seabrook- summer 2008

Talking to a Wall

Me: Cherub 1's brownie troop is going to the Broadway show The Grinch on the first Sunday in Dec in the city. Do you think you and the boys want to come? Some of the other wives are bringing husbands and siblings.

Hubby: The Grinch?

Me: Yes. In the city.

Hubby: That could be fun. Where is it?

Me: In the city.

Hubby: Are other dads going?

Me: Yes. (My patience is going away.)

Hubby: When is it.

Me: Forget it.

It is like talking to the wall.

Who was Punked?

Last night hubby & I chatted about all the final jobs that needed to be done before we can try to sell the house (paint the hallway, finish the mudroom, etc.). After we finished I teased him and told him that the new house was a joke and I really had his cousin (our realtor) show us a house and 'pretend' to let us buy it so that hubby would do all his odd jobs. It was the ultimate punk.

His response?

He told me that he did the same thing to get me to finally clean out our bedroom.

Touche'.

Packing.

One would think packing is easy. However, when you are a packrat, packing can not be done until you go through and huck half the stuff. Maybe that is why hubby and I move every couple of years. It's kind of like spring cleaning to us. :o)

Cherub 1- I tried to pack some of her room with her two days ago and we got NOWHERE. Everything I tried to get rid of she was like "no, that is my string from my shirt that I had when I was zero years old". Seriously. I will be packing my little packrats room when she is at school. Pack pile. Huck it pile. I wonder where she gets her packrat gene?? Hmmmm.

Cherub 2- Won't pack because he "likes this house". I told him that he will love his new house. He asked me if we could take everything. Even the rugs mommy, I want to take the rugs. I like our rugs. (Ok, crazy. You have never even NOTICED our rugs before.) Moving him might be tough. Maybe he'll handcuff himself to this house (with his play handcuffs) and have a sit-in.

Cherub 3- Can we take my (4 million) stuffed animals? Yes. (Even though I was going to huck, huck away.) That is what he has packed. That is it. He is way more interested in the tape. Can we tape yet, can we tape yet?

Must go put laundry away so I can sleep. Bed covered. Bummer. ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Strangeness

Somethin weird is going on around here.

The other night I woke up with a start b/c the kitchen light was back on. Seriously, I KNOW I shut it off.

This morning, I went to put my contacts back in. I opened the case, empty. I can see if I dropped one contact on the way to the case but there is NO WAY I lost both. (No, I wasn't drinking.)

My favorite, over-sized round hairbrush is gone. Which is a minor tragedy for both cherub 1 and I. You see...strange things are happenin.

I DON'T believe in ghosts so, hello? I feel like I am losing my mind a little!

A New Junky in Town

Back to me. (It is all about me, right?) So, now that I have discovered facebook, I am a true addict to my laptop. I had to post this quick message about how scary it is that a person can spend many, many minutes blogging and checking their facebook account. Must go do my motherly (and maidly) duty.

:o)

Change has come to America

Change we need.

Change

The word for today is change. Small changes that affect my small world and big changes which affect all of our worlds. Here are some changes:

Change in Plans~
Due to elections the schools were closed. I was totally prepared for this and had playdates lined up for all three cherubs. However, this morning cherubs 2& 3 woke up with a plethera of ill symptoms. Playdates canceled. Doctor appointments made.

Change in Weather~
Thanks to global warming (joke people), we all enjoyed absolutely georgous weather today, in the month of NOVEMBER!

Change is in the Air~
As everyone knows, we are in the middle of a landmark election. Change will come to our country in many ways. If Obama wins (fingers crossed), we will elect our first African American President. If McCain wins, we will elect our first female, Palin, to the White House as VP. I pray that whatever happens tonight, the people of our country unite in a peaceful manner.

Car Fort

Picked up some boxes for the move today. Built a car fort for cherub 3. He was cracking up!

Smoothie Bar turns Beer Bar

Just your typical, average, everyday family party for us. Baby Sis gave cherub 1 the Bratz Party Bus. She was thrilled and surprised! Within minutes it was out of the box and everyone was driving it around and playing with all it's accessories. Even the adults...

Big Sis & BIL taking beer shots out of the Bratz "smoothie" glasses...


(don't worry...we cleaned it before returning it to the kids)

9 Years Young

Our baby turns nine!

Last game of the season as goalie...


Strumming a tune on her new guitar...


Seeing High School Musical III with her friends...


Donuts on a string with cousins...sharing a bday party with baby cousin


Bobbing for apples...yes people still do that!


A happy birthday to you my baby girl.