Sick...I'm So Sick of Sick!

I feel wiped out! Although I'm sure without my husband I'd be half dead!

Our little Peanut has a stomach virus and she's been sick since late Friday night. At first we thought it was just teeth but it got worse and worse as the weekend progressed. The fever only lasted for about the first 24 hours and then it was gone but she was still throwing up. And saturday, just when we thought we'd had it beat, we lost the battle. We were on our way out the door to go to my hubby's side of the family's Easter dinner...I had just plopped her in her car seat and snapped the last buckle and she started throwing up. So I jumped into Super Mom mode and within seconds had her out of the seat out of the car and throwing up in the driveway while the rain was pouring down.

So back in the house we came and we cleaned her all up and changed her clothes, washed her hands, brushed her teeth and still decided to go. I think we should've just stayed home but the hubby was ready to go so we went! She did okay and she even ate some dinner but she ended up getting sick right before we left to come home. About 3:00 this morning she started throwing up bright yellow stuff which I found out from the Call A Nurse was stomach bile. My poor baby. She was still hydrated but had nothing left in her to throw up.

She is doing a little better tonight though. We went to the doctor and they gave her some stuff for the nausea and vomitting and she was able to eat some "yello" (jello) and a little bit of supper. Guess only time will tell!

Lizzard and KB had their first flag football game on Saturday afternoon! I can't wait to get a little more into it so that they get the hang of what's going on and get into it a little more. Great rival games are coming up!

But as for now our household is back in newborn baby mode. Peanut's sleep schedule is so messed up we've just decided that we're going to have to sleep when she sleeps to maintain some sort of energy for ourselves! UGH, can't wait until she's better and we can all go to bed at normal times and not feel like walking zombies!

I Won!

I was so excited today to see a post on my wall from a friend of mine (who's blog I follow and you all should too!) telling me that I had won one of her giveaways! I got a T-shirt for myself and one for KB from Cafe Press! How awesome! So I spent the 1st part of my day going through literally hundreds of shirts on their website trying to pick out what I wanted. It was torture! They have everything you could ever imagine! I did manage to pick 2 and I'll post them when I get them so you all can see!

I think I'm nearly finished cleaning for my Tupperware Open House in the morning. I'm really hoping it does well and I'm also hoping that it goes quickly. I goofed in scheduling and didn't realize the kids football game was at 12 and not 1. OOPS! I guess if I run over the hubby can run them to their game and I can catch up when I'm done.

I did manage to get a little more of Peanut's room finished up this week and her bed set is too cute! I have 2 more sets of stickers to put up but I'm debating if I want to or not. I'll get some opinions tomorrow I guess!

Last but not least I have to tell you all about a few of my dear buddy Momma Such's giveaway's!

http://www.raisingmy4sons.com/

She is giving away TONS of really great stuff...

Hairy Kids Giveaway
Innofresh-6pk. FRIDGE IT Cubes
Potty Pony Pals Training Pants and DVD (this one is really great!)
Soda Stream Soda Maker
Kiki Fashions Maternity Top
Shop ZooLu
Vinyl Attraction-Live Simply, Laugh Often, Love Deeply vinyl wall art (love this one!)
Alex's Angels Jewelry
Spread Head
Glasses USA
Pure Silk Cherry Blossom Shave Cream
Yu-Be Super Value Prize Pack
Hearthsong $50 Gift Certificate (lots of really neat stuff here also!)

See I told you, TONS of GREAT giveaways! All you have to do is read through them, maybe answer a question and that's it! If you're a fan of hers or follow her blog you can get more entries! Super easy and you actually do win stuff! I DID!

I do want to tell you all that she does not pick the winner. She is signed up with a 3rd party place that randomly draws a number for the winner that away everything remains fair!

Have fun signing up!

Kindergarten Screening!

Well I have all the big kids in bed and Peanut on the way! KB has his kindergarten screening in the morning and we're both so excited! I really hope he does okay and is ready for kindergarten. I think he'd be a little sad if he doesn't get to go. I guess we'll have to wait and see!

They had a good weekend with their dad and were so excited to tell me that they got to go roller skating today! KB swears he didn't fall but everyone else had a different story! They must've been pretty worn out though because when bedtime rolled around they didn't even argue, they just all went! Probably a good thing because I've had a killer headache all day and just can't seem to get it to go away.


So now we're preparing for the busy week ahead and I hope somewhere along the way to get my house in shape for my Tupperware Open House this weekend! I'm also hoping all of Gracie's bedroom stuff comes in so that I can get her room put together! So excited to see it all done!


Before I go I have to say thank you to everyone that donated to the St. Baldrick's Foundation. My hubby got his head shaved on Friday in solidarity with children fighting cancer. I love supporting this cause (and I love his head shaved!) and look forward to many more years of doing this with him. So thank you all so much for your kind and generous donations!

Peanuts New Shoes!

I never thought I'd find a pair of shoes that my daughter would wear until one of my dearest friends told me about these cute little shoes from a company called See Kai Run. The are a little pricey but they last forever and SO comfy and cute! She has worn them with or without socks and has never had a blister or red mark on her feet! And when she wakes up in the morning, she puts her shoes on even before she goes to the potty!

But the time has come to get a new pair. Her old pair still has alot of life left in them (even though the toes are pretty scuffed), but her feet have decided to grow! So we ordered them last week, and a pair of sandals for spring/summer too, and we got them earlier this week. She, yet again, loves her See Kai Run shoes!

So anywho, if you have little ones you really need to check out these shoes. They are really super soft leather and soles, and can really take a beating! I'm getting ready to order out of the Eleven Collection for my girls so I'll let you know how the bigger kids shoes hold up as well!

Here's a link to their site:

http://www.seekairun.com/

A New Business Venture...

Well I just signed on to start selling Tupperware! Excited but nervous all at the same time! The only other thing I've ever sold was AVON and for that I didn't have to do parties so this is all a little new to me. I love having parties and I love Tupperware so I just finally figured...why not sell it! So here I go! Kick off party at my house Saturday, March 27th @ 10:30 a.m. so if you can make it, stop on by!

We played outside this afternoon and it was fantastic! The kids rode their bikes, played on the swingset and in the playhouse...it was SO nice to be outside! The hubby and I raked all the stones in the yard back into the driveway and my sides and arms are very sore now. But it was worth it being outside! Can't wait to get back into the flower beds and seeing everything blooming! Hoping the kids and Abby sleep REALLY well tonight!

I'm so ready for a nice relaxing soak in the hot tub and then a shower and bed! Hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather as well!

I'm SO excited about this whole Tupperware thing! And what a great time of year to get started!

Run, Run, Run!

We had a long and busy weekend! Thank goodness it's over, but we did have a good time!

Friday was a jumbled mess of running kids here and there (we had no school friday :P) and getting them ready to stay with Nana and Poppa. Saturday we had football practice and a suprise birthday party for a friend of ours. On the way home we stopped to have a few drinks at a few places that I've never been before. Sort of nice to get out and visit other bars in the area and see what their places are like! It was a late night but we had fun!

Sunday I was up at the crack of dawn and having a really hard time adjusting to the time change! The hubby on the other hand slept til nearly lunch time! He NEVER does that! So while he snoozed away I played with Abby, re-did the patches on Liz's pants, cleaned up the living room and just enjoyed the peace and quiet!

Then I was off to pick up the kiddos, who had a great time at Nana & Poppa's house and then we came home to finish off our night by watching the new Hannah Montana and snacking on nearly everything under the sun!

Today was a crazy day of running and I'm just now getting the chance to sit and do nothing! Kids are in bed, hubby's content watching TV, dog's been out, bookwork's done and all I have left to do is eat my nightly bowl of cereal and maybe (that's a big maybe!) do my Wii Fit workout and go to bed.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have something more interesting to blog about...but for now...just crazy routine!

I Have The Greatest Friends!

I just have to take the time to say thanks to all of my friends, family and local businesses that have donated money to Rich and I for the St. Baldrick's Foundation!

This foundation is truly outstanding and they deserve more recognition than just what I can give them. I was looking for a child for Rich to honor with his donations and had a really hard time looking through these pictures and reading the stories. There are 33 kids all under the age of 16 fighting some form of cancer, just in the state of Ohio. To see their faces made it so much more surreal.

These kids are fighters. They struggle everyday battling a disease that has rocked their bodies and their worlds and yet they find the strength to smile and go on. It's amazing to me how resilient these kids are. How strong they are.

I couldn't decide on just one child. They are all hero's and they all deserved to be honored. If you have the time to go through the St. Baldrick's website, please do. And pray for each and every one of these kids. God knows they can use the prayers and so can their families.

We are taking donations for one more week. My hubby gets his head shaved next Friday and I'll be sure to post pictures!

https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/participantid/394617

I don't know what I'm going to do...we have flag football starting for Lizzard and KB and Boo is going to do a volleyball camp. Then there is softball, gymnastics, soccer, swimming lessons, bowling...when do you draw the line? I want them to be able to play a variety of things and find what they're good at and what they like but it just seems like it's SO much running! Ugh! I want an easy summer and fall! Last summer we skipped out on most of the sports because we got married in July and now they want to make up for it all since we don't have anything going on. I don't know!

I've been raising money for my husband to get his head shaved for St. Baldricks. We are raising money for childhood cancer research and this is his 3rd year getting his head shaved. It's a great cause and we love to do it and will continue to do it as long as they have it. Although I'm thinking one of these years his hair's just not going to grow back, and I'm not shaving mine so I think KB's going to be next! To donate please go to: https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/participantid/394617

Then last but not least I want to tell you all that my dear sweet friend Momma Such at RaisingMy4Sons is having some great giveaways! Something new everyday this week so you need to go and check out her page and sign up to win! It's quick and easy and she has some great stuff! All winners are picked by a 3rd party agency to keep things fair! So check out her page at: http://www.raisingmy4sons.com/

Hope you all have a great night!

Kick Me!

It's getting to be that time of year I love the most...amazing sunrises and sunsets, and it's warm enough to go outside and take pictures of them!!! Oh so beautiful!

While the day ended beautifully it sure didn't start out that way...

Peanut was up at 2 a.m. and invading my bed. Why is it that when your kids climb in bed with you they have to lay horizontal across the bed forming an H with everyone in the bed? And why do I always get the little stinky feet propped up on me? And why can't those little stinky feet remain still? Do I have "kick me" stamped all across my forehead, back and sides? And what's better is that everytime she kicks me she rams her head into Daddy's stomach, back or sides! Atleast I'm not the only one that didn't get any sleep!

I started my morning with a flower delivery to a dear friend who's decided to quit her job and become a stay-at-home mom! Making this decision was hard on her because she really likes her job and has a great boss. So today was her last day and I sent her flowers just to make sure she was having a great day and let her know that I'd miss seeing her when I come in. We've built such a good friendship in the last few years so I'm sure that we'll stay in touch and get together every now-and-then!

The day was pretty uneventful and I thank God for that! But I still never managed to get a little nap and boy am I paying for that now!

Church was fun tonight! I love all the little kids that come. They are so sweet and the things that come out of their mouths are just to funny! Makes me wonder what my kids say when I'm not around! It always makes me feel better spending some time at church and I know I should go more often but I just don't seem to make the time. I know that I should and I'm really going to make an honest effort to do so, so we'll see how well I stick to it! You'd think the Big Boss Man would be enough to scare me into going with all his "heathen" talk and "bracing the walls" but I don't know...something about him just isn't that scary!

So that leaves us at now...I've closed my jewelry party and got some great stuff! Can't wait to get it all! My kids are in bed, lights out but I seriously doubt they're sleeping! Dogs asleep on my lap, cat's asleep in the front window, hubby's watching TV and I'm going to soak my aches and pains away in the hot tub, shower and head for bed!

Lord I pray that all my kids sleep well tonight! AMEN!

I Can't Eat What?

I've been having some problems with my gallbladder here lately and instead of having it taken out I've decided to change my diet and push the vitamins suggested and see how it goes. I didn't think that it would be to hard but I really have to cut out some major things that we eat alot of. Egg, pork, onion, fowl, milk, coffee, citrus, corn, beans, and nuts have been proven to induce the symptoms of gallstones. Now while I could live without the fowl, I'm not so sure the rest of it's going to be easy. But I'm going to try it for a while and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out than I will have to go back to the doctor and have an ultrasound done on it and probably have it taken out...wish me luck!

I hope my body adjusts soon because I'm giving up my nightly bowl of cereal and my morning coffee. This could be bad!

Was it just mine or were everybody's kids OUT OF CONTROL today?

Don't Mess With Your Sister...

I had to laugh this morning when the girls where getting ready for school and fighting and arguing in the bathroom, as usual! Boo comes in my room and she says "Mom, Lizzard put soap on my toothbrush."

So I got her out a new toothbrush and found Lizzard-who was laughing about the whole thing-and I asked her "why did you put soap on your sisters toothbrush."

She said, "she was being mean to me and I told her to stop but she didn't. So while she was getting dressed I put soap on her toothbrush and put it back in the holder. She should've left me alone!"

I couldn't yell at her because I was laughing to hard! Who would've thought to put soap on the toothbrush to get back at her? What my kids think of amazes me!

Think Spring!

I love being able to go outside and watch the kids play after school! They had their bikes out and were playing in the playhouse and had SO much fun! Boo's been working on collecting pop tabs for her 4H project-she's saving them up for the Ronald McDonald House so she went through all of our recycling and pulled the pop tabs off the cans. Peanut learned the hard way that a huge pile of melting snow means just one thing, MUD! As you can tell from the picture above! Guess it's a good thing we're ordering new shoes today! So while the kids played I swept out the garage and put all the snow shovels away and am hoping that we won't be needing them anymore!

*****

Lizzard's question for the day: Do I have to wear a coat?

Mom's answer: Yes Lizzard, it's not that warm outside.
I think it's funny how when the weather warms up enough that they can play outside they wanna break out the flip flops and shorts and play talk about when we're going to put up the swimming pool! Let the snow melt first you guys.

KB's question for the day: Do I have to clean my room?
Mom's answer: Are you really asking me? I think you already know what the answer is.
I'm not even going to elaborate on this one! He is his mother's child!

Boo's question for the day: When can I get on Facebook?
Mom's answer: Not right now, I'm blogging!
I set up a FB page for my daughter so she can chat with her friends outside of school, and her dad when she's with me. This is the best and worst thing I've ever done! Especially when my computer's in the shop and we have to share one!

*****

I'm hoping we have more warm weather and that maybe tomorrow night I won't miss the sunset and can take some pictures. Tonight Peanut said she had to go potty and in the process of that my mom called and said did you take a picture of the sunset it was beautiful...so I grab my camera and run outside and the sun was already down. CRAP! Oh well, maybe tomorrow night.

As for now I'm going to get the kids their dessert (strawberries, blueberries and angel food cake YUMMY!), get baths done, send the kids off to bed and wind my evening down with a nice glass of red wine while searching through all the shoes at www.seekairun.com and see if I can narrow down which shoes and sandals I'm going to get for Peanut! I think Momma Such helped me narrow it down but I have to take one last look to be sure!

All the noise and chaos means...everything's back to normal!

This is our March snowman...and boy are we glad he's gone!

I've decided in doing this blog that I won't use my kids names. I do still like to keep them protected and hidden. So for now they'll go by nicknames. Boo is my oldest, then Lizzard is my 6 year old, KB is my 4 (soon to be 5) year old and Peanut is my 2 year old.

So our weekend has come to an end...

Today while sitting at my moms visiting I happened to notice that we've all become so stuck into technology. I'm sure we all have cell phones and computers and we'd be lost without them, whether we admit it or not! We were sitting there watching something on TV and casually talking when I looked up and realized that my mom was on her laptop and my stepdad was on his laptop and there I sat with my phone in my hand texting in my FB status. I'll be the first to admit that I'd probably be alot more productive with my day to day stuff if I didn't have a computer or cell phone tempting me to, well, be nosey! Let's face it...with the social networking sites now, and all of us being connected and friends we have first hand access to see what all of our friends and family have been up to and pry into their photo albums and just plain ole' be nosey! In some senses it's the new-found way of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer! And you can't tell me you haven't searched for the people you didn't like in school in hopes to find that they're fat or ugly now! We all have!

Peanut and I finally got to go outside and play today! Things are pretty wet and muddy from all the melting snow but we've been inside for so long that we didn't even care! My big kids are at their dads this weekend so it was just Peanut and I. My hubby worked on a few different jobs today so he was gone nearly all afternoon. While Peanut played with her buckets and shovels and the few small piles of remaining snow I managed to remove all Christmas decorations from the trees and get them put away. Now to just get the lights off the house.

All my kids are home and the noise and chaos means just one thing...everything is back to normal! I crave the silence when they're here and miss them so much when they're gone. Make sense? But it's great to see them all wrestling around and laughing and being silly and it's a great sound!

They were so excited to tell me that football practice was great and they had SO much fun! They can't wait to go back next weekend for practice and their team is the Colts. Guess they can't go wrong there! Lizzard said she didn't tackle anybody but she got tackled and she was "like the only girl there". She said "I was surrounded by boys!" Thank God at 6 she still thinks that boys have koodies!

So we're all ready for school tomorrow. Homeworks done, back packs are loaded up and the kids are eating their snacks now and getting ready for bed. My glass of wine is empty and things are finally winding down here tonight. The only thing I have left to do is order Peanut a few new pairs of shoes. One of my dearest friends (whose blog you'll have to check out also...RaisingMy4Sons) got me hooked on See Kai Run's shoes for kids. They are the only shoes that she'll wear and she's outgrowing the pair she has now.

I hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for the new week ahead! Let's see what it has in store for us!

Well Here I am!

Well at the urging of my family and friends to start up my own blog...I've finally given in! I am always having to call or text someone to tell them about something crazy that has gone on, something cute one of the kids did, or to relay info on the latest deals I've found! So everyone keeps saying, why don't you just start a blog? They all seem so sure that there are other people out there that would relate...I guess we'll see!

To tell you all a little about me, I am a stay-at-home/work-from-home mom! I have 4 beautifully silly kids (3 girls and 1 boy) and I do the secretarial work and book keeping for my husbands 2 businesses. I was married once before and had 3 kids, divorced, remarried and have one with my husband now. I love to take pictures. Mostly sunsets/sunrises and anything related with nature and the scenery around me. It's forever changing and beautiful. We are constantly on the go and there is never a dull moment in our house! And if there is a dull moment, it's only because the kids are probably all sleeping!

My oldest child is 9 and she's finishing up her 3rd grade year in school. She's my smart, quiet yet sassy, somewhat reserved child! She loves to read but is also entering the age of sleepovers, phone calls and hanging out with friends! I didn't realize there was so much drama in 3rd grade! Friends today and not tomorrow, he said she said! I didn't think this started until atleast middle school! She loves bowling with her dad, she's in a youth league and even bowls state tournaments every year. She is however, starting to not like it because it interfers with her social life! But would you expect anything different from a 9 year old girl?

Then my next child is 6 and she is the life of the household! She would be my 1st trip to the ER to have her chin glued back together, my 2nd trip to the ER from jumping on her bed only to fall off and hit her head on the dresser, driving a little ride-on tractor off of a porch and down 4 cement steps landing face first on the concrete sidewalk, I'm sure you get my drift! She's finishing up her Kindergarten year in school and she's loving it! She's also getting ready to start her first year of flag-football which has us a little nervous. When asked if she would like to play she said, "sure, but what happens if I tackle someone?" Let's just hope that doesn't happen!

Then there's my sweet little boy. He's going to be turning 5 soon! He's finishing up his 2nd year of preschool and getting ready for his kindergarten screening. We had a little concern that he was going to have to repeat one more year of preschool because right before Christmas break his teachers just didn't think that he was ready. He lacks a total interest in school and really thrives for reassurance from others. We worked on alot of different things over the holiday break and he's made a huge turn-around! He never ceases to amaze me (non of them do!) even if he can't always remember to lift the seat when he goes pee! He's going to be starting flag-football with his sister (my 6 year old) so lets just hope she doesn't tackle him!

And last but not least is my baby. She turned 2 in January and just this past week has decided that she doesn't want to wear diapers anymore! Yeah for us! She's went an entire week only having 2 accidents and she's been dry every morning! She's grown so fast and is at that little "sponge age" where she soaks in everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! She recently had tubes put in her ears and I can't believe the difference in her. Within a matter of days she was talking so much more and clear. Sometimes I don't know if that's such a good thing!

My husband and I got married last July and I don't know how I ever lived without him! He is the love of my life and my best friend. He works hard and alot to provide for us and he's just the kind of guy that doesn't know how to slow down and even if he did he wouldn't know what to do with himself! He's always got to be doing something! What I love the most about him though is that we can talk to each other about anything.

So as I'm getting used to this whole new world of blogging please bear with me! I'm not sure what I'm going to write about day after day but I'm sure with 4 kids I can find something!