oh come let us adore him

oh come let us adore him

oh come let us adore him

CHRIST the King.

and adore him we did for about 30 seconds...

and then he started to cry, was returned to his actual mother and was promptly replaced with a doll...

 

I sat in the pew quietly cheering for one very proud camel...

and one slightly embarrassed shepard...

After singing Silent Night, they filed back out and we celebrated...

another successful Christmas pageant with relatively few hitches...

and most importantly the birth of the baby who would change the world!

happy birthday tommy

Today is your birthday, one of your small brothers was a little impatient while I was decorating your cake

Today is your birthday, I watched several YouTube videos demonstrating how to properly frost a layer cake, I think I did OK

Today is your birthday I hope you don't mind the pink wrapping paper, ironically that is the only color I had

Today is your birthday, please don't argue with me about the number of candles on you cake, I realize there are actually nine and that you are only six

Today is you birthday and you didn't blow out any of your candles on your first try, I guess that means nine girlfriends, Hmmmm...

Today is your birthday, I hope you liked your surprise rainbow cake, it took me about three hours to make it and you enjoyed about three bites. 

growing like a weed

every morning he's a little heavier...

every month I'm making the car seat straps a little bigger...

every time I turn around he's outgrown his shoes again...

he's growing like a weed

I'm feeling a little queasy...

Since last Monday I (well, mostly Scott) have been doing load after load of puke laundry.  It started with one bad night last week when one said child went from bed to bed to bed throwing up each and every time I cleaned him up and tucked him into another bed.  The bug has been slowly traveling from one boy to the next despite my disinfecting and quarantining. 

For the last five or six days, vomit has managed to find its way into each and every day.  It's usually in the form of a small boy frantically telling me he needs his "choke bucket", a plastic toy bin that's been converted recently into the barf bucket.

Today was no different, it started out fairly normal for us.  I woke everyone up, sang happy birthday to Tommy (6 today) and told Tommy he could pick out whatever he wanted for breakfast.  Pancakes, omelets, scrambled eggs, you name it.  He chose what every six year old birthday king would... McDonalds.  I agreed only if everyone loaded up into the van right away.  Due to the freezing cold weather we had all been a little sluggish this morning and were running behind.  We raced to the van and loaded up.  The boys cheered as I scraped the frost off the window with my debit card.  Snow! Snow!  Snow!  No boys, that's called frost, sorry. 

We were off.  I hit the McDonalds drivethru and peeled back out onto the highway.  Traffic was thick and I was watching the clock.  I was facing forward and blindly handing sandwiches and hash browns behind me to cold little hands.  I snuck a bite of Tommy's McGriddle as I passed it back.  Soon I could hear Finn frantically looking for his choke bucket.  I dumped out the McDonalds bag and threw it at Tommy instructing him to hold it for Finn.  Apparently he wouldn't get his seat belt off fast enough and I saw eggs fly up from the backseat and stick on my radio.  At that very minute something in my esophagus reminded me that I have no business eating McGriddles since my lap band surgery.  I grabbed my Target bag with the Christmas photo cards (the very photo cards I will be sending some of you) in it and dumped them onto the pile of already dumped out McDonalds food.  I was attempting to aim for the bag and keep an eye on traffic and console a still retching Finn in the backseat when Gavin noticed me vomiting next to him in the front seat.  I guess the flying eggs had made him a little queasy and me gagging put him over the edge.  I made a snap decision and threw the Target bag his way.  Meanwhile, I threw up in my hand.  Gavin missed the Target bag for the most part and threw up on his multiplication homework.  Still deciding what to do with a handful of McGriddle I looked around for some options.  As I looked up, the car in front of me had stopped very quickly.  I slammed on the brakes loud enough to make a squealing noise.  Then suddenly, Finn's car seat flew 5 feet to the front seat.  He had been buckled into his car seat in the last row of the van seating.  Now he was upside down in a car seat turtle shell in the front seat.  In a traffic jam of sorts, I couldn't pull over immediately.  I consoled him best I could as I tried to get off the road as soon as possible. 

I pulled into a used car lot and uprighted him.  He appeared unharmed.  He was conscious and breathing fine, covered in vomit but breathing fine.  I replaced the car seat with him still attached, we are in a bit of a time crunch remember?  I raced back to the driver side and jumped in.  I handed out wipes to everyone and assessed the homework.  Not destroyed but splattered.  I wiped the homework and Gavin's tears.  Gavin was on the last problem and it happed to be the part of the homework that bore the brunt of the damage.  Only wet now from the baby wipes, I had no choice but to open up my window just far enough to stick my hand out (now 41 degrees out) and let the homework flap in the wind to air dry.  Most people would just turn on the heat but that gave out just after the AC went out.  Who am I kidding, this doesn't even happen to normal people.  I drove for the next 20 minutes with a numb hand. 

We were the last car allowed into the parent drop off line as I pulled my arm back in the window.  The answer is B Gavin, just fill in B.  With that, I slid the van door open and sent them off hoping they would have a better day.  I yelled Happy Birthday as Tommy skipped off to school unfazed. 

I was headed home when I remembered we needed to pickup beer and blueberries.  I'm not joking, this was our grocery list.  So I brought the boys to the grocery store.  Our family is the reason the store now has disinfectant wipes near the carts.  As we loaded up the van and I secured the children, the scavenging birds recognized my van.  They flew over and weren't shy as the hopped up into the van to see what they could find.  The boys squealed with delight as the birds hopped about eating bits of egg and hash brown.  I just sat there in amazement.  Was it weirder that birds were eating vomit or that they were eating their own unfertilized eggs?  Then I quickly realized that were we drawing a few onlookers and that I was the weird one here not the birds.

Christmas Letter

I spent the day yesterday designing my Christmas photo cards and writing my Christmas letter.  Today I will spend the day folding letters, addressing envelopes, and sticking stamps. 


Dear Family and Friends,


It’s that time again for the annual Christmas letter. I recently heard a morning radio show making fun of annual Christmas letters. There are people out there who despise the Christmas letter tradition. Who knew? Not me apparently. I hope that none of you make that list. If you do however, please disregard this lengthy letter from your southernmost relatives and have a happy holiday.

Now, for those of you still reading… I hope this finds you all in warm houses and in good health. 2010 has been interesting, but I predict 2011 will be the year of change. Scott will be transitioning into a new area at Fed Ex, I will be venturing into a new project at work, and for the first time in what seems to be forever, I am NOT pregnant with a little boy. Not pregnant at all for that matter. Without further ado, here is the latest from our noisy household.

I spent the year trudging through the nursing program and graduated (actually there’s a little more to it than that, but for all intensive purposes, I’m done). I went to school five days a week and worked the other two. It was an exhausting schedule that left little room to study and do optional tasks like laundry and dishes. I continue to work in the ICU but will be transitioning to a new job in February. I was nominated to work with a team on a new electronic medical record system that will be rolling out to all of our hospital campuses. I will be a credentialed trainer (or so my new job title says) on the clin doc team and will be training all of the hospital employees how to use the new computer system. Each nurse needs 24 hours of training to be competent, so I imagine the training is fairly intense. In an effort to make the training more tolerable, I’m already planning my standup comedy act that I will perform to my captive audience. I do take time out to play with the boys, blog and garden whenever I have the chance.

Scott continued to run his Fed Ex Ground route this year, but recently sold it in order to buy a Fed Ex Home delivery route. Lots of changes and politics over at Fed Ex Ground made this a better fit for us. He should be starting with Home Delivery (where Tom and Annette currently own routes) in January. It means better hours and more time with us. Scott has had to work extra hard this year to pick up the tasks that I no longer had time to do. He has always been a great help with housework and the kids, but this year has been extra hard. Most mornings, Scott would dress four sleeping boys (with the clothes he laid out for them) and tuck them into the van still sleeping. He could pack and unpack the diaper bag better than I could. He picked up all of the dishes and laundry and I still couldn’t tell you where we keep our mop these days or if we even own one. More and more I watch the boys gravitate toward him and bond over manly (I have no desire to join) activities. Last week they went to a WWE wrestling event (fight, match, show, whatever). Hmmm… no thanks, why don’t you just make it a boys night!

Gavin is my glorious eight year old now. I love love love eight year olds. He’s developing this really clever sense of humor which is such a change from the serious boy he’s been since birth. Gavin is thriving in school, mastering multiplication and leading his class in Accelerated Reader points. He loves school and socializing with friends. It’s important to look cool in third grade so he plans his outfits more carefully than the other boys. Gavin loves to skateboarding, scootering (what do you mean this isn’t a word? spell check must not be raising a house full of boys), and swim. He can also spend an entire afternoon on YouTube or with his nose buried in a chapter book. Did I mention I love eight year olds?!?

Six year olds, not so much. Tommy is still a challenge, although not my biggest challenge anymore. Tommy is either wonderful or horrible, the best or the worst. He never falls anywhere in between. When he’s wonderful, Tommy will be my best friend and offer to give me a back massage. He loves to cook with me in the kitchen and he will always try new foods. Tommy loves to help me in the garden. He spends a lot of time riding his bike and loves to socialize with anyone, preferably strangers. He’s my cheerleader when the two of us go jogging. Actually he rides his bike with a light strapped to his forehead and leads the way. “Great enthusiasm Mom, is that all the faster you can run though?” On the horrible side Tommy still stays at my side (he prefers the front seat in the van right next to me) so we can debate and argue and disagree. He spends a fair amount of his time in Time Out, doing punishment jobs and walking the last ¼ mile home while the rest of us ride in the van. He gets crabby and irritable and usually still falls asleep on the way home from school. Even though he can drive me crazy at home, his Kindergarten teacher loves him. Tommy loves school as well. He particularly likes hot lunch.

Finn is a little bit harder to appreciate these days. His speech isn’t growing as fast as he is and this has left him frustrated with the world, along with his stubbornness, persistence and determination. When Finn wants something, he wants it NOW. He won’t take no for an answer, ever. He also insists on being Petey’s manager. Finn holds Petey’s sippy cup and allows him a drink only when he feels necessary. Finn picks out what toys Petey will play with and takes them away without notice. He tells Petey where to sit, what to do and how to do it. When we walk in a store or in the library, he holds Petey’s hand and will not let me get too far ahead. It’s sweet that he cares so much, but it’s smothering for Petey. Sometimes, I will put Finn to bed and wake Petey up just so he can have some free play without his handler. Finn tries to run our household and doesn’t get discouraged when someone bigger than him wins a battle. Finn is a persistent little schemer that will stop at nothing to get his way. If any of you out there need a manager or an overbearing personal assistant for your small children he is available for loan. It’s a little tough to think of a great personality trait for Finn right now, I’m at a loss. He has nice hair? Does that count? Actually, it’s just like too much of a good personality trait. Finn’s caring, just too caring. He’s protective, just too protective, he’s determined, just too determined. All joking aside, we do love him sooooo much, the terrible twos and threes are just exhausting. I’m sure this will settle down and soon he’ll be able to express himself better as his speech improves, but until then, Lord, grant me patience please.

Petey is the child I’m most excited to wake up in the morning. Even though he’s pretty serious most of the time, he melts my heart. He’s pretty laid back and tolerant of most everything the bigger boys do to him. He’s a man of few words and is happy as long as he has his sipper cup and a snack. He spends most of his day trying to get away from Finn. Petey is my only boy who loves animals. He’s the only one that gets excited when the cat jumps up by us or when we see people walking dogs. He’s a huge eater and is willing to try anything. Petey finally started to walk at 15 months and has been unstoppable since then. He’s pretty easygoing but dislikes the camera, his car seat and Finn. Unfortunately, he spends a good portion of his day scowling (he even has scowling tan lines) because these things are a part of most of our days.

We all look forward to 2011 and the changes that are in the air. As usual, I have more ideas than time or money, but we all agree that this year we need to focus more on spending family time together. Look out; we could be visiting any one of you this year with our little troupe of gentlemen.

Until then,

Stay Warm, Stay Healthy and Stay in Touch,
Erin, Scott, Gavin, Tommy, Finn, and Petey

it's a circus world

Long lines, uncomfortable seating, loud noises, strange animal smells, carnivores eyeing up my many small boys, six dollar cotton candy.  Yep, we went to the circus last night. 

We had a fabulous time.  We bypassed the long ticket lines by buying our tickets online.  With the coupons we had, the kids got in free.  Free admission but nothing else free inside. We could have easily spent another hundred dollars in there.  When I saw the cotton candy man walking our way I tried to distract the boys which the cotton candy man recognized.  He made sure each one of my googly eyed boys took note.  The ringmaster continuously announced every optional souvenir, ride and food the circus had.  Each time the boys would look my way and each time I would shake my head.  I brought bottled water and dinner, stuffed squash.  Who eats stuffed squash under the big top?  We do.

It has been quite a few years since I've been to a circus.  The last time I was at one, I can clearly remember daydreaming about leaving home and living the glamorous life.  I would be the trapeze girl with the beautiful costume with the spotlight on me.  This time I watched the trapeze girls with a knot in my stomach.  The nets weren't nearly large enough, there out fits wear far to revealing (as Tommy pointed out), and the risks they took were ridiculous.  I was a nervous wreck until they finally bounced down into the safety net.  Every thing I had once fantasized about the circus life now seemed like such a bad idea.  Risking your life just for a cheer from the crowd and traveling every day of the year.  I was amazed at the amount of children that helped and even participated in the show.  I wonder what kind of life that must be. 

When I wasn't covering my eyes, I could see Gavin and Tommy's light up with amazement at every act.  "If I were in the circus I would be that guy, no that guy, no I would do both."  The show was almost two hours long and even though our butts were numb, we were all sitting there with a smile on our faces. 

As we drove home, we recalled our favorite acts and decided what our circus jobs would be.  Tommy suggested I be a dancing girl with clothes on as opposed to the dancing girls that weren't wearing enough clothes.  Tommy decided he would be a clown and Gavin would be the scooter driver, not that there was a scooter driver, I guess he's just really stuck in this scooter phase.  As I tucked them in we all hoped for circus dreams. 

This morning I awoke to some loud noise in the living room.  As I snuck around the corner there was Gavin.  Holding a small circus in the living room.  He was trying his best to convince Elliott to sit on top of an over turned clothes basket.  Elliott was less than impressed but too lazy to walk away.  The day continued like this.  Tommy held an all day circus in my bedroom.  We have a four post bed in which he constructed a big top.  On more than one occasion I walked in to see Petey trapped under a clothes basket.  When I inquired I was instructed to stay back, Tigers are unpredictable animals.  At this, Petey snarled at me from behind the cage.  I did have to perform several circus rescues for poor Petey throughout the day.  The swing set was turned into a trapeze and high wire act.  Unfortunately Finn was forced to take part.  Like a child who had been sold to the circus, Gavin and Tommy loaded him into Petey's baby swing and swung him far higher than he was comfortable with. 

Late today, we're still talking about the circus.  The boys are still dreaming about joining a traveling show and I'm still fascinated with the circus life.  I think I'm going to look to see if there's a documentary about living in the circus, because that's the sort of thing I would like to watch and the boys are already on the Internet looking for the next circus coming to town.  Well worth the $24.00 in tickets and the grief I had to take when I refused to buy anything else, this has spurred their imaginations more than anything has recently.

Congrats Practical Nursing Program 2010

Last week we graduated from the nursing program.  Actually, they graduated, I just pressed play on the Ipod to start the graduation music and managed my crazy boys.  Due to the time I missed during my surgery I have to come back in January and make up the Pediatric Nursing section and then, very quietly at the receptionist's desk I will be handed my diploma.  No balloons, no cake, no celebrations, no inappropriate (but seriously funny) slide show.  Just me and the annoyed receptionist.  There will be a feeling of relief, but not really a feeling of celebration.  I'll probably celebrate by going to the thrift shop alone and buying stuff for the boys.  It's strange. 

So now I'm stuck, not graduated, but just waiting till January.  I'm taking some online classes but am bored to tears already and I'm only on chapter one.  Who cares who invented the light microscope or who decided how to classify microorganisms.  Not me, that's for sure.  I do better in the classroom.  Playing practical jokes on my classmates and competing for the top grades.  I can be so immature when it comes to joking around.  I was always the one annoying the really crabby mature students by turning off the lights or putting parts of the colon model in a particular classmate's backpack.  Why is that funny?  I don't know.  Just my sense of humor.  But I won't have that anymore.  Now I will be in a virtual classroom with one hundred of my closest anonymous classmates.

So here I sit at the local college.  Not that I'm a student of this local college, just that they have a really nice quiet library.  I say quiet because it's only seven.  Far too early for real college students to wake up.  I'm supposed to be logging into my classroom with all the other online students.  But instead I am sitting here reading blogs and typing blogs and anything else to stall studying.  I'm tempted to look on Craigslist today for a tent.  Not that I have any camping plans coming up, but today I just feel the need to own a tent.  I'm also going to return a call to a man in North Carolina who is interested in selling me above ground raised be garden kits because I may or may not have recently emailed him claiming to be starting an organic garden building business.  I'm also supposed to be calling to make the vasectomy appointment today.  Although I still think I'd prefer talking to my microbiology class than the urologist.  I'm also going to type my Christmas letter today and need to find a recipe for something I keep seeing called Texas Caviar.  I hate all the ingredients but think it's something I should force myself to like.  It looks really healthy.   Seriously, can you say scatter brain.  It's a wonder I get anything done at all going in so many directions. 

Time to stop procrastinating I guess and get logged on. 

Have a great day.

Johnny Appleseed

Oh, the Lord is good to me

and so I thank the Lord...

for giving me...

the things I need...

the wind...

and the rain...

and the appleseed...

the Lord...

is good...

to me.

days like these

When your morning starts out like this it seems that the pace is set for the rest of the day.  An argument between boys lead one boy locking the other out and then locking himself out.  This boy shall remain unnamed in this post as he's already had one bad behavior post this week.  While waiting for Ed the locksmith to show up this morning, I made breakfast for the boys.  Lack of menu planning and lack of kitchen cleaning meant breakfast looked something like this...

That really looks sad.  I'm hoping that this happens to all of us once in awhile and I'm just the exception who takes pictures and blogs about it.  Who knew they would all like the Lipton Noodle Soup that I had on hand from my post surgery diet?  I didn't photograph the broccoli with cheese that they all ate in addition to the soup.  I do believe one child also had some rainbow sherber`t.  I should probably start planning my Mother the Year acceptance speech. 

As I pulled into the school parking lot, I acknowledged that fact that I had just blown their perfect attendance record by bringing them late.  I was more disappointed than them but it still added to the rotten morning I already had going.  When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping right?  After the office staff was done admiring all four little boys and asking all sorts of questions (this shouldn't ever get old but sometimes it does), they came up with a great idea.  I got the usual questions about the hand me downs.  Yep we really get our money's worth out of clothes.  My new favorite office girl suggested I go through the lost and found as it was about to gbe donated to Goodwill.  I was stoked.  Free clothes.  Sure.  I was escorted to the cafeteria where I scored a new lunch box and two Tony Hawk sweatshirts.  I thought for a brief moment that things must be looking up. 

A very brief moment and then my phone rang.  It was Scott calling in with my to do list for the day.  I was supposed to call the city to get a building permit for the fence we already put up five years ago, call code compliance to beg for mercy (we are supposed to be fined $1000 for every day we have our fence up without a permit, over a million dollars now), call the IRS about a letter we received, call our attorney and call our mortgage company to ask some questions and try to make an appointment for his vasectomy.  When I seemed shocked at my to do list of ugly alligator projects, I was reminded that it was me after all who had the day off.  

I have one child who is looking very suspicious across the room from me on the other computer, I will be checking that browsing history shortly, a small child with poop pants on sitting on my lap, one boy who is dripping wet telling me to come outside and see the sprinkler system he just installed and one boy who is gnawing on the entire block of cheddar cheese and leaving filthy little hand prints all over it.  If all days off are this much fun I'm going to seriously consider some overtime.

The only good news is that it's almost five pm and tomorrow is Saturday and I work but Scott has the day off.  So maybe I'll wait till about eight am and give his a little call with his to do list.  If you could just buy a new toilet and install it, fix the ceiling fan in our room, find our bath tub drain, fold all seven loads of laundry on our table and clean the van.  What do you mean you can't get anything done when you have the kids?  It's actually an advantage, you have four little helpers.  I'm sure you can get it all done and oh yeah, could you call and make all four boys appointments for physicals and dental cleanings and if you have any spare time, try to come up with $1,347,896.00 for the city, I got some letter about a problem with out fence.  Thanks so much, and try to think of something good for dinner. 

say cheese...

american...

and asiago...

and blue...

and cheddar...

and feta...

and swiss...

and goat...

and mozzarella...

say cheese

Tommy the Terrible

Some children are so easy to discipline.  Gavin usually requires no more than a stern look or a gentle reminder.  Finn usually responds by me physically getting up, coming over, getting down to his level and explaining why we need to do or stop doing as the case may be.  I have complete verbal control over Pete right now.  I can guide him from across the room.  Tommy however, is a completely different animal. 
Tommy has a hard time with the ride home from school.  He's hot (the ac in the van is and has been out for quite some time), he's hungry and thirsty, tired and super irritable.  I try to be consistent with snacks and cold drinks but we do live in FL and I'm in full time school myself and most honestly am a poor planner.  Usually we do OK, but there are days when I fail to plan and Tommy lacks self control.  This is a recipe for disaster.    On those days he does OK as long as he's the center of attention and I ignore everyone else, this of course I refuse to do.  The other boys deserve a turn to tell me about their days and ask me about mine.  I make sure to give Tommy his fair share of my attention but then explain that we are all going to take turns and this is usually when things turn for the worse. 

When Tommy starts talking back to me or his brothers, the most effective technique seems to be to get him out of the van.  I pull over, open the van door and tell him he needs to get out.  I shut all the doors and we wait.  After a minute or two, I roll down my window and ask if he's ready to apologize and start over.  He's usually sorry and ready to try again.  I explain the rules again and let him back in.  Some days, this can make for a long ride home.  We've been known to pull over 2 or 3 times on a rough day. 

The other day was one of these rough days.  I tolerated things until we turned onto our road when he decided to push me over the edge.  I pulled the van over, opened the automatic door and in barely a whisper explained that he needed to get out and could walk the rest of the way home.  When I pulled into the driveway I glanced back without being noticed.  There he was trudging along, head hanging.  Good, I'd made my point.  I unloaded the other boys while occasionally checking on Tommy. 

Once I had all the other boys in the house, I slipped out the backdoor and hid behind the fence to spy on the unruly one.  Now he was sitting on the side of the road taking his shoes off.  Hmmmmm... Interesting.  He started walking again.  He would occasionally stop and shuffle the load he was carrying now.  Walking barefoot I noted.  As he got close, I slipped back into the house to avoid being noticed.  Soon I heard the doorbell ring.  I opened the door to a smiling very apologetic Tommy.  After being forgiven and reminded why he had walked home, I allowed him to come inside.  Before coming in, he presented me with a gift.  He brought his hands out from behind his back to reveal his socks, stretched and bulging.  Inside were some very nice rocks, a yellow flower and one lemon. 

After that, he ate dinner, took a bath and went to bed (at 6:30).  I threw away his destroyed socks and tucked him in and made a nice tall glass of ice water with lemon.  Even though he's the most difficult to discipline, he is also by far the superior apologizer of all the boys.  Rocks, flowers and lemons, every mom's favorite right?

I Have a Secret

I have a secret.  As most of you know I'm not a very good secret keeper, especially if it's really juicy.  Certain secrets are the kind that would mean nothing to the general public, but must be kept at all costs from those close to you.  Today I share my secret with you...

I have the day off!!!  To those who don't know me, this may sound like no big deal, but those of you who know me, know that this just doesn't happen.  It's been weeks, if not months since I've broke the school work, seven days a week cycle.  I've carefully kept this secret all week. 

This morning I loaded up the boys as usual.  Big boys heading to the bus stop and Littles to Miss Tammie's.  If anyone was paying close attention, they would have noticed that I didn't have on any shoes and I didn't take my debit card.  But at 5:30 in the morning, no one's paying much attention to anything.  I waited at the bus stop with the Bigs, standing in the rain bare foot.  While we're on the bus stop topic, I must update you all on Chatty Kathy and her cat key chain.  She's become much more tolerable (or maybe I'm more patient) recently and has been waiting with her step dad who actually gets out of the car and chats with me.  The bus couldn't have come sooner today.  I was so anxious to send off my boys and get myself home for a little peace and quiet.  Next, I tiptoed into Miss Tammie's and put the Littles in their nests and left their diaper bag. 

I drove home in silence, actually no, I drove home listening to the morning talk show that I never get to hear the end of.  It was really nice.  Then I pulled into the driveway and the guilt set in.  I walked into my totally quiet house.  No screaming, no fighting,  no whining.  I did however have weeks of laundry and several days of dishes to keep me company.  Plans of a hot bath and a good book and maybe an episode or two of Housewives of Anywhere slowly slipped out of my mind as I confronted Finn's latest disaster.  Three days ago he decided to empty, completely empty my game closet.  Not just take out all the games, take out all the games and dump them out.  So I sat quietly sorting though Cranium, Things and Uno cards.  One thing lead to another and soon I had been cleaning for four hours straight.  Hmmmmm.... so much for my indulgent day off. 

A weight update:  I impatiently waiting around at minus 22 pounds.  I've been back to the doctor for my first fill.  The band is designed to receive fills or unfills of saline until you reach your desired amount of resistance.  It can take up to a year of filling and unfilling to get the adjustment just right.  I still have very little restriction so will be going back next week for another fill.  It is frustrating losing so much in the beginning and then watching the weight come off at a snail's pace.  However, I am taking this time to focus on all the things I am supposed to be doing like exercising and not drinking while I'm eating.  I have to remind myself that this is just a tool and I still need to put in the hard work like anyone else who wants to lose weight.  Sometimes I find myself thinking, I'll work really hard once I have good restriction even though I should be working really hard right now.  All in all, 22 pounds less, I'll take it. 

I must return now to my day off and see what I can do about the office.  It's in even worse shape than the game closet and I don't think I could rest without feeling like I'm wasting my day.  So off I go.  But just one more secret before I go...

I have tomorrow off too!!!

At The Beach

At the beach, you can put your hands and feet in the sand instead of your head...

At the beach you can swim with your pants on...

At the beach you can show your true colors...

At the beach you can claim your very own piece of the pie...

At the beach you can act cool as a cucumber...

At the beach you can put your differences aside...

At the beach you can reach for the stars...

At the beach you can stare out into the ocean and think deep worldly thoughts... 

At the beach you can band together and foil your mom's plan for the perfect Christmas card...



At the beach your can broaden your horizons...

At the beach you can reach out to the less fortunate, the short legged and diapered...

At the beach you can pull your own weight and that of your best friend...

At the beach you can be the leader of the pack...

At the beach you can become four peas in a pod...

At the beach you can get your feet wet...

At the beach time stands still...

At the beach you can march to the beat of a different drum...

At the beach a picture is worth a thousand words...

At the beach you can hear the seagulls cheer and the waves roar as we trek back to our van with four very wet, very sandy boys.