Life in a Teacup

OK Dy..... Im peeking out from the boxes

2005-08-22T07:33:00.000-07:00

Did you know there is something satisfying in cleaning a bathroom becuase your little boys made it dirty - NOT beacuse there is constructino dust all over it???

We are now about 85% unpacked and things are starting to feel like *home*. We're trying to get back into simple routines - getting the wash done, remembering house rules, etc. It feels good.

Dy - for your friend who wants to know how to make kettle corn... I use an on top of the stove popper and fill it with 1/2 cup popcorn, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup oil. Pop as usual. Dont forget to salt it a little when it's done!

Jumping on the bandwagon

2005-07-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

10 years ago: I was a newlywed. I just quit my teaching job at the juvenile prison and trying to get parolees work in the job market. I HATED that - so I was interviewing for more teaching jobs - I think at this point I had just been hired to start the Alternative HS. We were still in ana apratment.

5 years ago: I was in my second house pregnant with my second son. My eldest was almost 2. I was a SAHM and had no plans for working!

1 year ago: I was pregnant with son#4. Sons 1-3 were 5 ,3, and 1. Still a SAHM. No clue I was going to in 6 months. DH was working obnoxious hours adn gone 4-5 nights per week.

Yesterday:SUNDAY! Always a nice day cause HD is home to help with the boys. The boys blew their allowance on vending machine aliens who now fly around the house especially when I throw them after stepping on them! Another great day taking the boys swimming. And it wasnt bloody 100 degrees outside!

Today: 100 degrees again today. Sigh. Swim lessons for the boys and library time. It's hot. I'm cranky and wishing I could go buy a Blizzard but the boys didnt eat a good dinner so I cant reqard anyone with ice cream.

Tomorrow:Swim lessons and perhaps bowling. The boys earned bowling money and are anxious to go. At least the bowling alley is air conditioned!

5 snacks I enjoy: peanuts, blizzards, caramel, peanut butter, kettle corn - homemade of course!

5 bands that I know the lyrics of MOST of their songs: Honestly, none. Im not a know the lyrics to the owrds kind of gal unless you count kids music.

5 things I would do with $100,000,000: oh goodness - not much you COULDNT do with that much! boys college funds - check. no debts- check, household cleaning amd gardening help - check, travel - check!, helping others - crisi centers, boys and girls clubs ad the like....

5 locations I'd like to run away to: Thailand, Italy, Greece, Canada, Ireland

5 bad habits I have: Nitpick over money, sarcasm, envy the greener pasture, bite my nails, nag

5 things I like doing: hanging out with dh and boys, reading, shopping, finding bargains, being a mom

5 things I would never wear: thongs, paisley, velour, half shirts, ball gowns

5 TV shows I like: no Tv right now! I was pretty big into reality TV - Amazibng race, Survivor, The Apprentice before move

5 movies I like: Hmmmm - until Netflix I hadnt watched ANY movies in years.

5 famous people I'd like to meet: John Travolta, Gene Kelly, Laura Ingalls, Harriet Tubman, JOhn Grisham

5 biggest joys at the moment: The boys, DH, Moving into the house!, having the funds to finish the house, my Internet access is back!

Where are you???

2005-07-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

I posted. It shows up when i look at my blog. But if I come through a bookmark - no new posts. :-(. This is kind of annoying!

Wouldn't it be nice if everything we left looked the same when we came back....

2005-07-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

I didn't mean to take a 2 month break but it's kind of nice to have SOMETHING in my life I can put down and when I return it's EXACTLY like left it! :-) It certainly doesn't happen very often with the boys around.

I wont even go into a 2 month update. Focus forward or fall flat on your face.

The house WILL be done by the 31st. Even if it's not... we're moving in. We gave notice. We begin packing - again. We're even counting down the days. T minus 25!

Friday night is DATE Night. We're meeting some new friends for Mexican food and Margaritas - I even found a new babysitter! YEEHAW! It's a good thing we like Mexican food - all the restaurants in town are Mexican or Chinese. 95 degree weather doesn't *feel* like Chinese food weather.

Last night we hung out at the community fireworks. The night before we set off a few of your own. Baby did NOT like fireworks so 2 yr old spent the whole Big shebang fireworks show with his arm around his little brother and saying "Its OK *J*. Don't be scared." I think the 2 yr old missed most the pyrotechnics.

Living this far north causes it's own problems though - we've stayed up till after 10 two nights in a row and since the boys do NOT sleep in after late nights today was kind of hellish. Boy 2 and Boy 3 took LONG naps but were still in rare form (well I wish it was RARE!) today.
fingers crossed that tomorrow isn't so blasted hot and the boys are a little more rested.

I promise I'll be back!

So what'd you do this weekend?

2005-04-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

We bought a piano. THEN we asked the boys if they wanted piano lessons :-) Luckily Boy 1 said yes and we have a couple more years to work on the rest of them.

It feels weird making a big purchase that big when we dont even have a house to put it in. However the piano is safely in the storage unit and I'm beginning to think of where it can go in the house. I better put out feelers for a teacher too!

Wow, it's been a long time!

2005-04-24T14:08:00.000-07:00

I guess that's what having sick people in the house for 2 weeks does to you. We *think* all the vomiting and runny poops episodes are over. Thank GOD! I'm so tired of laundry! Course I put back on most the weight I lost while sick. Ah well. I did buy some new DVD exercises so I can get busy doing those. It's pretty funny watching all three older boys attempt to do grapevines, chasses, etc along with me in a teeny tiny space! I haven't been good about doing them every day yet... but every once in a while I've pulled them out.

We went to the home show yesterday - had to drive to baker City to go - that's a 45 minute drive. It was one tiny building with 15 vendors I think and none of them were really home show stuff.. just the fluff. No window sales people, gutters, siding, etc. Just Pampered Chef, Banks, and groups like Kiwanis. And I don't think I won any raffle drawings! Ah well. WE found a cool park in baker City and it got us out of the house. I will say.... living in this part of the state really is beautiful even outside of my teacup - there's another teacup just on the other aside of the mountains and it's just as pretty.

Saw Ocean's Twelve last night. I didn't like it near as much as I did Ocean's 11. And since I was tired I really couldn't follow along! I had to finish it today during Nap time. I would say I'd highly recommend it. If you love the actors though it might be worth renting it. I'm liking this blockbuster online thingy... but IM afraid IM watching way more TV than I should ! I'm just tired of nothing but PBS.

Nap time's over!

I know it's dumb

2005-04-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting here wistfully thinking of my friend who has made a commitment and is working out three days a week (Hi Jane!) and KNOWING she's going to get skinnier and healthier and all that.... and I'm eating an ice cream sandwich. Not even a GOOD ice cream sandwich! I coud blame it on finally being able to eat after days of yuckiness in the house.... just like I have lots of good excuses for why I cant work out three days a week but the truth is I'm weak about food. It sounded good and I wanted it. Blah. I guess I should go take another look at the picture from Easter.

Speaking if yuckies in the house we MIGHT be climbing out of it. I havent figured out if tomorrow will be another stay home and rot your kids brain on TV day or if we will venture out. I guess it depends on how Boy 1 and 3 are doing. I realized that today is the first day of school Boy 1 missed. Not too bad :-)

Am I a bad daughter? I just told my mother I dont want to follow them home in late June - they're driving up to see us and thought we could *caravan* back to their house and then she would drive home with me as far as Portland on the return trip. Somehow getting in the car for a 15 hour+ drive with a 5 month old doesnt sound fun. Especially when you factor in that both grandparents have to work while we're there. Then I have to entertain the boys by myself in someone else's house without as many toys and no matter what they say... work ALWAYS takes longer than they think it will. Especially after being gone for a week.

Back to working out... my dear husband told me wonce we moved we were abOTH going to get back into a habit of working out.... he would figure it out so we could both find the time to do it. Well now he's saying once we move into the house... Ya know I bet in July it will be Once the summer construction season is over..... :-) nice to know I'm not alone in my fantasy excuse riddled world :-)

YUCKIES go away!

2005-04-11T06:54:00.000-07:00

So we had a wonderful potluck at new friend's house for her youngest's 2 yr birthday. 10 boys (6,6,6,4,4,3,2,2,11 mos, 3 mos) and 9 adults . The kids played soooooo well together. It was great to watch and listen to the 2years olds actually play TOGETHER - and giggle. I made some awesome foccacia bread and pretty darn good oatmeal bread to take as well. We were talking about doing it again when the weather's a little nicer so we could ahve a fire in the pit outside, hike up the mountain to watch the sunset, and enjoy being outside watching the boys run with the horses. Then Boy 3 vomited his dinner all over me.

Not just a little bit, but LOTS of it. He had a bath, I had a bath and we both had borrowed clothes before we left their house. We couldnt even get out the door without him christening their hall carpet either. All the way home - vomit, vomit. ( It's a 30 minute drive) Then boy 2 got sick. A sleepless night with them both awake every 20 minutes to get sick. Yawn.

It was a very quiet day yesterday as we spent most the time watching videos and taking naps. Oh and laundry. lots and lots of laundry. And since boy 2 got up this morning at 6:15 he has since gone back to sleep. I think today might be a quiet day too.

Must call new friend and see if we shared bugs with her. I hope not!

catch 22

2005-04-07T13:03:00.001-07:00

I was hoping to not be as busy here and also break the kids of the habit of HAVING to do (well ok WANTING to do) something every day...... but not going out means I dont get to talk to adults. living in a small apartment means the boys are cramped in their running, playing and other stuff.

ugh,

another catch 22 - more online shopping means more Fed Ex and UPS packages. Ups has completely given up and just calls me now when I have a pacakge and I drive over to pick it up. Fed Ex.... well I'm on day 7 of trying to track down my package and we've already burned through over a dozen employees. Im currently working with the senior manager in Pasco Washington who apparently oversees the terminal here. Supposedly SOMEONE is delivering my package today after 4 pm. Hmmmpph. We'll see. All I gotta say is it's a damn good thing it's a 800 number I've been calling cause I'm up to over 2 hours on hold now (cumulative) as they check things out from their end.

R

catch 22

2005-04-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

No wonder no one is at the PTA meetings

2005-04-05T21:35:00.000-07:00

So I go to the PTA meeting partly to check it out - and partly to here about the budget cuts at school next year - that part is just too depressing to even think about let alone write about.

SO I stick around for the rest of the meeting which seems to consist of the officers of the PTA and the principal. Not one person asked my name. Not one person asked me if I was new. Not one person even looked at me. Now this is a PTA where you have to pay dues to belong - ooooookkkkkk - we didnt pay dues in Salem. But I can see where paying dues makes a lot of people feel like they are doing something for the PTA/SCHOOL without having to do anything. Apparently there are quite a few MEMBERS of the PTA - but they dont come to meetings. And it was even more telling when the principal later said - "a lot of things run on their own becuase it's tradition." Um hmmmm. I dont think anyone is actively searching for potential pot stirrers - so we'll just keep the decisions and all that being made by the same people. (Oh yeah... and the current chair has a 6th grader - so her kid wont even be in school next year - but she's sticking around to help out! )

I have to say... I might just continue to volunteer to make cupcakes for the bake sale when they ask - but Im not sure Im headed to sit in any more meetings!

Having Fun

2005-04-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

So if you are at a new friend's house and your kids disappear into the hay fort in the barn just what kind of answer do you want to hear to the question "Hey boys, whatcha doing?"

Yep, "Having fun!" It doesnt really matter what they were doing - they were outside and having fun with new friends.

I'm glad we got to the friends though.... I got pulled over by the state trooper for going 69. I forgot these country roads are only 55 mph... he told me it was a little frosty and a little busy for that speed - ummmm, busy??? If that's busy then I hate to see slow! Anyhow I was lucky and he just told me to slow down 7 or 8 mph. Then new Mom friend forgot to tell me it was 8+ miles of gravel road to her house - she's out on 80 acres. But we got there, we had fun, and we safely (and in a timely manner) got Boy 1 back to school. SO other than Boy 3 falling asleep and having his nap in the car rather than during naptime - it was a great morning.

And I have a new found love for homemade organic peanut butter!

April 2...we made it!

2005-04-02T06:16:00.000-08:00

so yesterday was a big, hug, horrible, what else can happen kind of day. if you know me well you already heard the horror stories in email form and I'm too pooped to retype it again! We have fingers crossed that today is better and that was a freak of life type of day.

Not enough snow to play in....

2005-03-31T20:28:00.000-08:00

but enough ice to slip down the 25 stairs! At 9 am the stairs were still covered in ice and it was a treacherous walk to the van with the four boys. I get extra exercise points for going up and down them 3 times to hold various hands.

You know what I hate worst about moving? Trying to figure out all the utilities you need, which phone plan to buy, new cell phones, etc. I have begun and cancelled two internet connections in the last month. There is NO DSL or cable modem available. I have changed my telephone service twice. I have ordered a new cell phone and am getting that established - picking a plan was murder! I liked my old plan and my old rate. :-( Plus I wasnt happy that they charged me $12 for the charger which goes with my "free" phone - and I have a charger that would have worked. Im still working on getting that money back. I am trying to figure out the best way for people to get in touch with me when Im online or out of the house. Apparently people have been trying to call me and the line has been busy. Ummmm that might have something to do with the hours I'm spending online searching churches, home churching, activities, libraries , dentists, cell phone plans etc!

Also... apparently both Fed Ex AND UPS cant seem to find Apt P. UPS delivered something to the wrong apartment one day and today just gave up and asked me to come pick it up (and they're only open 3:30-5:30 pm). Fed Ex hasnt actually made it up the stairs yet - or called. I cut out and taped a HUGE P to the wall of the building after last time. I think the guys are lazy. The little paper boy can find me and he's 12!! I'd get things delivered to the house but Im afraid of having them sit out there for 24 hours.

Ah well... maybe it'll save me money if I stop ordering for a few months...... nah!!!!!!

White stuff falling from the sky

2005-03-30T16:27:00.000-08:00

this isnt hail this isnt a snow flurry - we have all out snow coming down. I cant remember when I last lived somewhere it snowed after Easter. (Maybe Minnesota - but I dont remember that far back!)

Will it stick? Will it melt? Will there be snowball fights and snow men? I'll let you know tomorrow!

Busy Busy Busy!

2005-03-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how busy one can be just in doing *stuff*. I think part of it is having Ben go to school in the afternoon - it kind of breaks the day up. If we run errands or go somewhere I want to be gone the whole morning - not in and out. the 25 stairs probably has something to do with that!

We've decided to Home church since we dont have a church here in town - what an adventure that's becoming! Websites with out of date links, libraries without resources, etc. I know we'll muddle through somehow - and it's better than nothing! It's nice that Mike is on board with this, he's been coming home with a question for dinner discussion.

I'm also trying to explore the whole approach we're going to take for allowances. Heck if it's anyhting like our approach to chores we're in trouble! we start then kind of forget to ask the boys to do them! plus it's kind of HARD to come up with chores for a 6 and 4 year old to do! Even the 2 year old screams he wants to clear the table - tipping food off the plate the whole way there! Who ever thought of puttig carpet in a kitchen! Dumb dumb dumb.

Parenting classes start next week. Next week is the Readthon. The week after is a Harlem Wizrds game (which mike is taking the two older boys to), the week after that is the school carnival. Things are getting busy!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

2005-03-28T12:36:00.000-08:00

Well that was an odd feeling. We had a marvelous time going to Portland and Salem to see relatives and friends. It didnt feel like we had been gone for over a month at all! But then driving home and entering the teacup felt very normal too. The boys did keep asking where we were going - every time we said Home but I think they were still a little confused - and perhaps the head colds were affecting their understanding!

I am so very grateful that we seem to have good travellers. The boys made the trip (just under 5 hours each time) with only one stop of about 15 minutes each way. A little bribery with snakcs, some nap time, stories on tape when the arguing started - and they did fine. IM not sure we'll be so lucky if we head to California this summer! Even the baby slept almost the whole way each time.

It was such a wonderful time to see people we care about and just sit and chat again!The boys got some good runing around time, yelling and wrestling time in with friends. it's been so long sicne they could just let loose that way! I think they noticed becuase Boy 1 asked me today why we didnt have an apartment with a big backyard to run around in. I think we'll be spending some extra time at the park todaya fter bus drop off. Well, that is if it's not hailing! It's hailed a couple of times already today!

I'm hoping to make it back to Salem again in June - or July. But that seems sooooooooo far away right now that I'm not thinking about it! Let's hope school and routines keep me busy here.

I'm pretty proud...

2005-03-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

I went to Costco and didnt buy anything not on the LIST! And spent only $140. wow. Considering I'm not going again for MONTHS that's amazing. Now to fit the 40 pound laundry soap, 40 pound cat litter, crates of diapers and such into the van with all the other STUFF. hmmmmmmmmm

Packing

2005-03-24T08:56:00.000-08:00

DO you know how much STUFF it takes to get 6 people on the road for a measly three days??

THREE suitcases (and luckily DH is good about packing light and can squish in with one of the
boys suitcases).
ONE bassinette.
UMPTEEN Diapers in two sizes.
A bear, a Pterodactyl, a lizard, a parrot, a frog, a woodpecker, and another bird I can't
remember what kind.so everyone can sleep tonight
Extra shoes for everyone cause mud puddles will happen.
One dog crate to be returned to owner.
One cooler to be filled with cold Costco items for return trip.
One HUGE box filled with four Easter Baskets, plastic eggs, grass (which we will leave at
Grandma's heh heh), basket goodies , etc.
Pillows - cause no one has enough pillows
Three sleeping bags
Snacks, juices, and toys for the car trip

and more.... I just havent fnished packing yet!

Now you know why we dont fly.... we are too jealous of all the people who bring a tiny roll on suitcase which fits in the overhead bin!

The little Pitfalls of Moving.....

2005-03-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

So we're having birthday cake tonight for Hubby -can't find the birthday candles. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa had sent us some EASTER Candles and we figured we'd just top the birthday cake with a couple of candles looking like Easter eggs. They'd do in a pinch. Ummmm.... apparently the matches are packed too. :-(

Did you know in my little teacup it took me THREE stores to find a NEW dictionary! WalMart only carries them in September. One bookstore only had used dictionaries. Now Im not against buying used books, I might have even given a used book for a gift before.... but a dictionary??? Seemed a little cheap! Course then I found out the price of a good hardbacked dictionary! No measly 75,000 entry book for my man.... NO! He needs the one with over 400,000 entries! Who am I kidding? Half of his crew can't read! Ah well - it'll look good amongst all the Engineering text books in his cubicle.

Spring Break and yet morning comes so early!

2005-03-23T08:02:00.000-08:00

Some day when the boys are all teenagers I'm going to go into their rooms and wake them up at 5:30 am on a weekend morning and start yelling, running , and generally be a young kid so they cant sleep! We've noticed since the boys are sleeping in the same room morning wake up is getting earlier and earlier and earlier.... earlier sunrises and an East facing window might have a part in it too.

Mid way into Spring Break and NOTHING on the agenda today. Which might sound nice... but to me sounds scary! I think We're headed out to Wal Mart (the only *store* in town) to buy Daddy a birthday gift. Im rejoicing at getting the boys out of the house ( no snow today) but shuddering at navigating the super skinny aisles with a cart and four boys.

The boys are currently glued in front of the TV watching Peter Cottontail - another plus of Spring Break We dont have the "no TV before school" rule to follow! Yesterday they watched TWO shows... they were in heaven! I think this is the 3rd time in 4 days they've watched Peter Cottontail! It goes away again after Sunday so I guess that's OK.

Laundry's done and I need to get packing for the weekend trip!

Sick friends and cancelled play dates

2005-03-22T13:16:00.000-08:00

You know, having a play date scheduled and then having said play date cancelled because of someone being sick is always a high possibility when you are maneuvering to get SEVEN young kids and two adults together. But that dosn't mean it doesn't suck when it happens - especially when you dont really know very many other people to call for play dates!

It's Spring Break and we had made plans for another family of 3 boys to come over and run through the apartment we're in - we figured the college kids beneath us are on Spring Break too - and gone - so why not let the boys yell and run as much as they want. Seven boys from 2 months to 7 in the house was sure to generate some noise. Invited family - SICK. We had plans to meet up with another family of three boys tomorrow - once again seven boys ages 2 months to 6 to run and yell and have a jolly good time being boys playing with boys ( something my boys desperately miss since moving to the teacup). Invited family - SICK. Now I have nothing planned for tomorrow. To make matters worse - we're going to a petting zoo on Thursday so Boy 2 can show off his preschool - however petting zoo is outside. Outside - it's currently snowing. I know the animals dont mind being in snow but it does mean I have to dig out mittens, hats and those heavy coats again!

Not all was lost this morning though - we headed off to Indoor Park which is basically the big open area of a local church who has stocked it with large toys for preschoolers. The boys run, play with others, refuse to leave and put their shoes on, and we burn a morning away. I was so proud of my 6 year old - Everyone else was under the age of 5 and I heard him showing a boy how to do the game he invented and giving great praise to the boy when he did it. Boy 1 and Boy 2 both were very good when another child took off with the toy they abandoned for a moment - though I did notice they immediately retrieved it when he momentarily abandoned it! Not one whine or complaint about "I had it first!" YEAH! The lessons about sharing and not living the toddler creed (If I had it once , it's mine. If I looked at it once, It's mine. If I even thought about it, it's mine. etc) once you are past two seem to be sinking in. Not only that - but they didnt try and get me involved to solve the problem. Proud mommy moment.

Baby's waking -

SNOW!

2005-03-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

We told the boys that when we moved to the Eastern part of the state that they would see snow more often. Well, since we've gotten here we've had abnormally warm days - as warm or warmer than the Valley (Big V for the BIG valley compared to our little valley). Today, second day of Spring Break - we woke up to SNOW! And it's still snowing! Of course this means we might not be able to make it out over the mountains to spend our Easter weekend with friends - but shhhhh.... we have fingers crossed about that! The snow is starting to stick to the grass and I have three little boys just hoping we can get enough to go throw snowballs. The fourth little boy, well, he probably wont enjoy the snow quite as much since it means being bundled up in a mummy man outfit which is too big for him!