What exactly does it mean when someone (total stranger) sees you with your 4 kids (under 5) and asks you "Do you work?" or says "You don't work, do you?"!?!?!? UMMMM...what exactly do you define as work? Do I leave the house everyday and get in my minivan to go to an office and get a paycheck at the end of the week? NO! Do I get up everyday and clock in as soon as somebody wakes up? YES! Do I get a good breakfast on the table, everyone dressed, Helena ready for school, homework done, playtime in, lunch on the table by 11:00 before the bus at noon, triplets down for nap, laundry done and folded, dinner started, snack after nap, playtime in/songs and music, make necessary calls and appointments, etc., etc., etc. done - YES - I do WORK - (the nanny has the day off)!!!
Do they really want me to go into my mantra of the top 10 things not to say to a Stay at Home Mom of 4? If people would just think about what they say we (stay at home MoMS) would not have the following list!!!
My favorites, in no particular order:
- Are they all yours? (No picked one up in the produce department, buy 3 get 1 free!)
- Did you use fertility? (And do I know you?)
- Was it expensive? (Again, do I know you?)
- Are they triplets? (No, I just got a deal on the same outfit, so I went with it!)
- Do you work? (Don't even get me started!!!)
- Better you than me (apparently God thought so too!)
- How do you do it, I can barely handle 1! (New Mom, so I give her some slack!)
- How do you afford it? ( Once Again, Do I know you?)
- You must have been huge - (looking at my belly the entire sentence!)
- You poor thing, I feel sorry for you? (What, What did you just say to me? I am blessed with
4 children - and one angel! Thank you very much!)
OK - now I feel better!! Venting is good!!!
March 12, 2008
March 11, 2008
Save the Date
Just a reminder to everyone to save the date - April 5, 2008 from 3-6, 6-9 and 9-12 the Discovery Health Channel will be airing Baby Madness! Keep a look out for my little Stars! I cannot wait to see which home video they will be using......
Rite of Passage - Peyton
This weekend brought on yet another "big boy" moment in our house.
Saturday night we moved our clocks forward before bed, so when I heard Preston scream at 6:30 am I almost forgot that my body was working on 5:30 am instead. It was not the usual, "I am up come get me" yell, it sounded like something was wrong. As I opened the door to their room, Preston had gone back under his blanket, but Parker was staring me in the face. So Parker and I went down to get some milk for everyone and my goal was to put everyone, including me, back to bed!
As Parker and I are walking down the hall to their room, Peyton passes me in the hallway!!! My first reaction was - " What the @#$%, I am not seeing this!?!?"....but I was. So now we know Peyton can escape at will from the crib.
Friday night I was just saying to the girls that we are pretty lucky and no one has ever tried to climb out of their crib, including Helena. Yes, I spoke tooooo soon. So now Jason and I had the great debate and we decided to convert his bed to a toddler bed with a side. Off to Babies "R" Us we go, because I did not buy any bed sides at the yard sale on Saturday.
So now we have Peyton in a toddler bed, a special lock on the boys bathroom door and yet one more security measure on the toilet itself in the event he makes it in the bathroom. There is a gate at the door to their room and one more in the hallway! So far so good, 2 days in a row Peyton had been in his bed when I go to bed and has been there when I woke up - I have heard little footsteps during the night only once, so not bad! We will see what the rest of the week brings!!!
Saturday night we moved our clocks forward before bed, so when I heard Preston scream at 6:30 am I almost forgot that my body was working on 5:30 am instead. It was not the usual, "I am up come get me" yell, it sounded like something was wrong. As I opened the door to their room, Preston had gone back under his blanket, but Parker was staring me in the face. So Parker and I went down to get some milk for everyone and my goal was to put everyone, including me, back to bed!
As Parker and I are walking down the hall to their room, Peyton passes me in the hallway!!! My first reaction was - " What the @#$%, I am not seeing this!?!?"....but I was. So now we know Peyton can escape at will from the crib.
Friday night I was just saying to the girls that we are pretty lucky and no one has ever tried to climb out of their crib, including Helena. Yes, I spoke tooooo soon. So now Jason and I had the great debate and we decided to convert his bed to a toddler bed with a side. Off to Babies "R" Us we go, because I did not buy any bed sides at the yard sale on Saturday.
So now we have Peyton in a toddler bed, a special lock on the boys bathroom door and yet one more security measure on the toilet itself in the event he makes it in the bathroom. There is a gate at the door to their room and one more in the hallway! So far so good, 2 days in a row Peyton had been in his bed when I go to bed and has been there when I woke up - I have heard little footsteps during the night only once, so not bad! We will see what the rest of the week brings!!!
March 3, 2008
Blogging Slacker....That's Me!!
Yes, I know I have been slacking on the family updates, so here is a quick recap of the last few weeks and I will be caught up with you all so we can start new with the fun stuff.....
Feb 14th - Valentines Day - We had a really nice family dinner and exchanged Valentines after having homemade cheesecake for dessert.
Feb 15th - Get call from MIL that she is really sick (actually had The FLU), need to find backup sitter for date night tomorrow. Luckily Big Denise is the epitome of a Big Sister and saves the date night.
Feb 16th - Go to see Larry the Cable Guy with cousins Molly, Brian, Walt and Melissa. Had a blast and laughed my A** off - he is a total nut and I cannot go to WalMart without laughing the entire trip. Go have dinner (and a glass of wine) afterwards. Get home around 11:00 p.m. - Preston is up with breathing issues. So glad I had the wine!!
Feb 17th - 12:30 am arrive at ER, 4:30 am leave ER, 5:00 am go to bed. Neb, neb, neb and neb a little more. Parker was feeling left out, so he joined in the fun as well. Neb every 3 hours throughout the night.
Feb 18th - My Birthday - Need to cancel drywall repairs first thing in the morning and hopefully can reschedule ASAP! Arrive at Dr.'s office with 4 kids at 11:45 am for an appt. they squeezed me in for. 12:45 finally see Dr. K after going through all of my snacks and juice that I have brought. Usually nap time begins at 12 noon.....need I say more. By the end of the appt. I am in tears and we leave at 1:30pm after I ask Dr. K if he will ever let me back in the office again!!
MOMs club party that night - everyone was so sweet and thank you again for the cards and presents, it was really sweet of all of you!!
Feb 19th - After having a really bad weekend and basically crappy birthday day, husband has to go to bb game with clients from work. I now look like football player with black smudges under my eyes because of the pretty dark circles. 6:30 pm I find some copies of recipes for church cookbook and need to run them to meeting I am missing due to bb game....Helena told everyone she got to go to a meeting with me and meet all of the Ladies - she liked out little adventure! (not to mention the box of Munchkins she was bribed with- not one of my better parenting moments!!!)
Feb 20th - Jason brings home a cake and I finally get to open my presents from him and the kids - notice date....He got me a great new camera, a cake from Girards (awesome French Bakery) and a new CD from the kids.
Feb 24th - Day trip to OC. Had alot of fun - lunch at Dough Roller - a couple games of ski-ball at Marty's (pictures of the kids coming soon - still learning to use new camera)- a trip to see the ponies - topped off with a Root Beer Float from Dumsers....not a bad day!!
Feb 25-26th - Drywall work is done, painters scheduled for Saturday - YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Feb 14th - Valentines Day - We had a really nice family dinner and exchanged Valentines after having homemade cheesecake for dessert.
Feb 15th - Get call from MIL that she is really sick (actually had The FLU), need to find backup sitter for date night tomorrow. Luckily Big Denise is the epitome of a Big Sister and saves the date night.
Feb 16th - Go to see Larry the Cable Guy with cousins Molly, Brian, Walt and Melissa. Had a blast and laughed my A** off - he is a total nut and I cannot go to WalMart without laughing the entire trip. Go have dinner (and a glass of wine) afterwards. Get home around 11:00 p.m. - Preston is up with breathing issues. So glad I had the wine!!
Feb 17th - 12:30 am arrive at ER, 4:30 am leave ER, 5:00 am go to bed. Neb, neb, neb and neb a little more. Parker was feeling left out, so he joined in the fun as well. Neb every 3 hours throughout the night.
Feb 18th - My Birthday - Need to cancel drywall repairs first thing in the morning and hopefully can reschedule ASAP! Arrive at Dr.'s office with 4 kids at 11:45 am for an appt. they squeezed me in for. 12:45 finally see Dr. K after going through all of my snacks and juice that I have brought. Usually nap time begins at 12 noon.....need I say more. By the end of the appt. I am in tears and we leave at 1:30pm after I ask Dr. K if he will ever let me back in the office again!!
MOMs club party that night - everyone was so sweet and thank you again for the cards and presents, it was really sweet of all of you!!
Feb 19th - After having a really bad weekend and basically crappy birthday day, husband has to go to bb game with clients from work. I now look like football player with black smudges under my eyes because of the pretty dark circles. 6:30 pm I find some copies of recipes for church cookbook and need to run them to meeting I am missing due to bb game....Helena told everyone she got to go to a meeting with me and meet all of the Ladies - she liked out little adventure! (not to mention the box of Munchkins she was bribed with- not one of my better parenting moments!!!)
Feb 20th - Jason brings home a cake and I finally get to open my presents from him and the kids - notice date....He got me a great new camera, a cake from Girards (awesome French Bakery) and a new CD from the kids.
Feb 24th - Day trip to OC. Had alot of fun - lunch at Dough Roller - a couple games of ski-ball at Marty's (pictures of the kids coming soon - still learning to use new camera)- a trip to see the ponies - topped off with a Root Beer Float from Dumsers....not a bad day!!
Feb 25-26th - Drywall work is done, painters scheduled for Saturday - YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 11, 2008
Rite of Passage - Preston
This weekend we witnessed another "grown up" moment from Preston - he walks up the stairs!! That is right, he holds onto the wall and walks up - just like a big boy! I can't even believe it - they are growing up so fast.
February 2, 2008
Cookbook Anyone?
As many of you may know, I have been on the Our Mother of Sorrows 75 Anniversary Cookbook Committee for several months now. I thought this would be a good way to have some Mommy time and get to know some people in the community. We are fastly approaching crunch time and the deadline to get the final draft to the publisher! It never ceases to amaze me how people in a community - any community - can rally around a cause and pull it off 200%. The books will arrive right before Mothers Day - guess what everyone is getting ????
Yes that is right 200%. We had a goal of 300 recipes in mind for the final draft, today we are looking at close to 600!! I still can't believe it. The recipes range from semi-homade to gourmet (we have several professional chefs in the parish!) Emeril and Rachel Ray have nothing on us!!! I am lucky enough to have 12 recipes in the book, some are my own and some were passed down from my Mom and Nonnie. I mean really, were can you buy a great cookbook with 600 recipes in it for $20.00. If anyone would like to pre-order one, no money needed, just let me know.
I am the youngest member of the committee and I have to say these ladies have taught me a lot! Not just about a good group of women (and Ken) who pulled together to make this happen, but about the church and the history it has in the area. The current church (building) is going to be 75 years old, however the parish is over 100. Several of the ladies were born and raised here, as were their parents....it is truly amazing to hear how the town and parish has grown. Tuesday is the annual Pancake Supper and we are really looking forward to going.
Growing up, I went to St. Clare Catholic School from 1st to 8th grade. We had 20 kids in my class and we grew up like brothers and sisters. Not everyone got along all of the time, but what family does? Today I still keep in touch with Becky - we met in the 3rd grade - and trust me, over the past 27 years we have had some fun - you know what they say about those Catholic School Girls)!! She and I ended up going to the same high school, being in each others weddings, seeing babies born, kids growing up and having to say goodbye to loved ones as well.
This is what I hope my kids will be able to say when they are getting ready to turn 34.
Just one more reason I love my small town! (Don't get me wrong, I am envious of anyone who has a coffee shop that stays open past 5:00 p.m.)
Yes that is right 200%. We had a goal of 300 recipes in mind for the final draft, today we are looking at close to 600!! I still can't believe it. The recipes range from semi-homade to gourmet (we have several professional chefs in the parish!) Emeril and Rachel Ray have nothing on us!!! I am lucky enough to have 12 recipes in the book, some are my own and some were passed down from my Mom and Nonnie. I mean really, were can you buy a great cookbook with 600 recipes in it for $20.00. If anyone would like to pre-order one, no money needed, just let me know.
I am the youngest member of the committee and I have to say these ladies have taught me a lot! Not just about a good group of women (and Ken) who pulled together to make this happen, but about the church and the history it has in the area. The current church (building) is going to be 75 years old, however the parish is over 100. Several of the ladies were born and raised here, as were their parents....it is truly amazing to hear how the town and parish has grown. Tuesday is the annual Pancake Supper and we are really looking forward to going.
Growing up, I went to St. Clare Catholic School from 1st to 8th grade. We had 20 kids in my class and we grew up like brothers and sisters. Not everyone got along all of the time, but what family does? Today I still keep in touch with Becky - we met in the 3rd grade - and trust me, over the past 27 years we have had some fun - you know what they say about those Catholic School Girls)!! She and I ended up going to the same high school, being in each others weddings, seeing babies born, kids growing up and having to say goodbye to loved ones as well.
This is what I hope my kids will be able to say when they are getting ready to turn 34.
Just one more reason I love my small town! (Don't get me wrong, I am envious of anyone who has a coffee shop that stays open past 5:00 p.m.)
Why I Love Mayberry!!
My brother often jokes with me that I live in Mayberry and actually, Church Hill/Sudlersville is a lot like it.
Where else would you find a sign that looks like this to announce a fall wedding!
Where else would you find a sign that looks like this to announce a fall wedding!
And where else would you find Cedar Run Farm. Lew Dodd grew up on the farm and now raises the cattle and hog just like his father did when he was a little boy. All you have to do to get farm raised, hormone and antibiotic free meat is drive up his driveway and meet him at the barn. That is his "store" where you can get a variety of frozen meats at a really great price. All less than 5 minutes from your own driveway. Plus is your order is more than $75.00 he delivers. Can I just tell you - his scrapple is the best around!!
When my neighbors car broke down, the lady from Jeannies Shore Good Produce (the local produce market where you can get a great chicken salad sandwich and milkshake, not to mention some fishing/hunting gear and the best corn around while waiting for your order), took her kids to school for her while she waited for the tow truck!
When I need an oil change, Dave from Rolands Garage on the corner, will come to my house - pick up my van - do the oil change ($25.00) - and return it to my garage within a few hours - so I don't have to worry about taking the kids out. I think they do it because there is always a batch of homemade cookies waiting for them when they bring the van back - ha ha ha!!
When Helena needed stitches because of the previously mentioned post, Mrs. Pauls, the principal, went to the hospital with us. (because Helena asked her to!)
Helena's bus driver Mr. Embert has a grand-daughter (Abby) that played on her soccer team and his daughter (Melissa, Abby's mom) was one of the nurses that took care of the boys when they were in the hospital last August.
Small town America - many, many people still ask us why we moved out to the "country" - these are just a few of the reasons......and let's not forget - at night when you look into the sky, you can see every star in it!!!
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