Is It Only Monday?

My brain is scrambled trying to think of a coherent way to present this post, but since there isn't any real coherence, I'll just knock it out in bullet point fashion.  {Although, seriously -- is it only Monday?? It seems like the weekend was already forever ago.}

• This birthday week is coming in hot!  My brother Freddie one-upped Grace this weekend by sending me an hilarious gift in the form of a Bob Ross Chia Pet.  Hahahahaha.  To clarify -- I do not have an unhealthy obsession with Bob Ross.  Hahaha.  I just loved watching it as a kid and when I discovered it on Netflix over Christmas break, I forced the kids to watch a few episodes of it with me as well.  The kids were split on their opinions -- Ethan, Jane, and Sophie found it equally mesmerizing and satisfying, while Grace and Alex hated it.  Which is why Grace thought it was so funny to get me the Pop Vinyl figure.  Freddie's gift made me laugh out loud, because truth be told, I've always wanted a Chia Pet!  Hahaha.  And the kids were equally tickled as well.

Our FHE activity tonight was to get our Chia Pet started.  :)

• Guys.  I have a Sonic Ice Cream Slush problem.  No joke -- I've been there pretty much every day for the last couple of weeks to get my hit of half-blue-coconut-half-cherry.  So, when I went there this morning with Isaac -- to get out of the house and out of the way of the painters -- and discovered the slush machine was broken, you better believe I drove to the next city over to go through a different Sonic drive-thru to get my fix.  And yes, we all agree it's a problem.  

It's the best flavor combo EVER.  It totally reminds me of my favorite Paradise Ice order -- half haupia, half cherry, stuffed with ice cream, and topped with a snow cap of sweetened condensed milk.

• While out and about trying to keep Baby Godzilla from wreaking havoc on the painting process at home, we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch so that Isaac could get some energy out by running around the play place.  The funniest part of the whole outing was hearing the other kids who were there quizzically ask if he was wearing shorts or toddler pants because they couldn't figure out his outfit.  Hahahahaha.  Well, when you're only 2, and you're wearing your 6-year-old big brother's shorts, they DO hang down to your ankles like pants.  Hahahaha.  Adding to the look was his "Incredibles" pajama top and mix-matched Paw Patrol socks (with Zuma on the left foot and Rocky on the right, because it MATTERS, guys).  This kid is an absolute nut job and I love him so much.

• My afternoon was interrupted with a phone call from the school nurse saying that Jane was in the office and looking miserable and complaining that her stomach hurt, so that was fun.  I don't know what the deal is with these sick kids lately.  She hasn't had a fever and it's not like she's throwing up, so I don't really know what to do.  Her asthma has been acting up, however, and we're getting closer and closer to allergy season, so I might take her into the doctor tomorrow to see if there's anything else that's wrong.  But I'm REALLY keeping my fingers crossed that we can get through this winter without anymore sickness!

• Which leads me to my buried lead.  While driving home from work this evening, Scott called me and told me that he was having some chest pains and shortness of breath and that he thought he should go to the ER to get it checked out.  NOT the kind of call anyone likes to get, but so far, things look okay.  Traffic was really bad, so he didn't end up getting to the hospital until around 7 PM.  As of right now, his EKG and chest X-ray have both come back normal and his first set of blood work came back looking good.  They'll do another round of blood work in about 20 minutes, and if that comes back normal then he'll be able to come home.  They've given him some pain meds and that seems to be helping, so we're hoping that it's just a muscle spasm type thing and not anything more serious like a heart attack.

And there you have it.  Just another Manic Monday?  Let's hope the rest of the week is less eventful. 

An Early Birthday Present

Today was a long and aggravating day.  To start off, I was up in the middle of the night with Jane who was feeling sick, then when Alex discovered this morning that Jane would be staying home today, he mysteriously developed the same stomach ache and illness that she had, Sophie missed the bus because she couldn't find her shoes in time so I had to drive her to school, Grace woke up this morning with a headache and fell back asleep for a little more shut-eye which prompted another trip out -- this time to the junior high to drop HER off, and Alex was a vein-popping, screaming, mega-emotional-monster for the majority of the day.  Oh, AND I had painters here all day long to enjoy the chaos with me!  It was a delight.  The only real highlight of the day was that Isaac took a much needed nap this afternoon while the Tweedles had "quiet time" and the Bobbsey Twins (aka Ethan and Grace) were out for the evening at a friend's house and therefore unable to upset our family Movie Night plans by vetoing what the younger ones had chosen.  {Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip, in case you were wondering.}

But forget about today.  I'd rather go back to yesterday when I was surprised and delighted by an early birthday present from Grace.  She's been telling me for weeks now that she knew exactly what she wanted to get me and that it would be the PERFECT gift for me and a few days ago, she pulled the trigger on Amazon.  When the box arrived yesterday, she shooed me out of the kitchen so that she could wrap it up and then presented it to me to unveil.  (Obviously, we're not patient enough in this family to actually wait a whole week to open a gift!  Hahaha.)  I started laughing as soon as I tore the paper and saw what was waiting inside.  Grace and her sense of humor are a treasure.   I will happily display my Bob Ross vinyl figure for years to come.   Everyone else up in this joint has a tough act to follow come next Wednesday, the 28th.  ;)

Her clue to me was "Nick Jonas."  The matching hair between the two was supposed to be the overlapping tie-in.

Now I'm feeling inspired to go and paint some happy, little trees.  Hahaha.

And So It Begins

Today was Day 1 of Operation "Get the House Ready to Sell!"  The painters arrived this morning and while they got to work, we got out of dodge to keep the kids away.  Since it was President's Day, there was no school, and thankfully Scott was off of work.  We spent the morning at the church building, where the kids were excited to run around the gym and play ball (both basketball and volleyball -- along with a little dodgeball with some other kids who were there, too), before picking up some drive-thru for lunch.  {I know it may sound crazy, but with 6 kids and lots of strong opinions, it was almost impossible to decide on the one place that everyone wanted to eat.  In the end we did McDonald's for the bulk of the family, and Panera to-go for the rest.}

 The whole house is going "Accessible Beige" by Sherwin Williams, per our realtor's suggestion.  It's not a whole lot different from the current color, but there's nothing like a fresh coat of paint to give a house a facelift.

Dining Room almost complete.

Once we were home, Isaac was content to chill in the TV room with a little Backyardigans, while the other kids played outside and Scott worked on cleaning out the garage and I worked on cleaning up  the front yard.  With the weather a balmy 70 degrees today it was the perfect chance to get some outside stuff done before it turns cold and/or rainy once again.  We finished the day off with a delightful evening spent with friends who were so kind to think of us and invited us over for dinner and a chance to hang out away from the paint fumes.  ;)  The only negative of the day is that I kinda threw my back out with all that yard work this afternoon and now I can hardly stand up straight and walk.  Dun dun dun.  Hopefully, a decent night's rest and being able to take it easy tomorrow while all the kids are at school will be enough to restore it to working order.  We shall see!

 There was a LOT of junk to clear out of the garage.

Ethan was the only kid who kinda, sort of, almost ended up helping.

Life is Like a Box of Conversation Hearts

True story -- the first time I ever talked to Scott, I told him that the quickest way to my heart is through a box of conversation hearts.  Hahaha.  Of course, the only reason he was calling me then was to interview me for a Valentine's Day edition article in the school paper, but he must have internalized that memo early on.  ;)

This year's 5 Days of Valentine commenced as usual, with some token gifts, treats, and poems.  Yes, you read that right.  Haha.  Several years ago (I think maybe even when Ethan was a toddler), I decided that 1 day was not nearly enough to celebrate all the love in our life.  So I decided to extend it to 5 days instead.  Every year on February 10th, our family holiday begins.  While I was at Target on Saturday (getting stuff for Sophie's birthday party) I grabbed a few Valentine items for the duration and Day 1 was a success with some skittles.  The next day, I opted for a more "creative" option with hopes of speaking to my "words of affirmation" love language-ers, and "A Haiku for Day 2" is how it went down.  Hahahaha.

ETHAN:

Persistent Constance

guarding a tender, soft HEART,

You are a good egg.

GRACE:

Fun-loving-est face,

Housing layers of cray-cray;

Always good with babes.

SOPHIE:

Sparkle, jazz, PIZZAZ;

Powerhouse of sharp wisdom,

Lighting up the light.

JANE:

Funny face I love,

Giggles and tweedling too;

Book-worm-y sweetheart.

ALEX:

Lover-est of Boys,

Cereal munching by Day;

Mario Master.

ISAAC:

Sugar-baby Lamb,

Snuggle-buggle, Dumplin' Buns,

Precious Child of God.

(I wrote them on Sunday night while it was still technically Day 2, but the kids didn't see them until they came down on Monday morning.)

Monday night found Jane frantically tackling her school project to bring in a decorated box to hold Valentines, along with the Valentines themselves.  She's known about the assignment for over a week now, but of course, she decided that bedtime the night before it was due was the PERFECT time to get it done.  Hahaha.  Oh Jane.  Thankfully, Sophie was surprisingly willing and excited to help her, so while Scott and I were trying to get Frick and Frack (aka Alex and Isaac) in bed,  the crafting twins were hard at work destroying the computer room.  Jane and her trusty Pinterest skills found an owl idea for her box and then, thanks to Sophie and her already-created-and-at-the-ready origami, she decided to give everyone in her class a paper crane for the big day.

 {Sophie already had 15 cranes in a basket on her desk and only had to make 4 more on Monday night.}

 Fun Fact:  Jane's favorite font is "Comic Sans."  Which, I don't know why, but that makes me laugh so hard.  Hahahahahahahahaha.  It's just so on brand.

 {Everyone loves a good photobomber.}

 Isaac was SOOOOOOOOO excited and proud of this Mario shirt I got for him at Old Navy -- now if only he'll start to wear his OWN clothes and not just Alex's.

 Alex's cute Valentine bag he made at school today.

Even though I certainly didn't do anything all that big or extravagant, it really warmed the cockles of my heart to see how excited the kids were each day to discover what I had planned.  Although -- truth be told -- I'm also kind of glad that the Five Days are done.  Hahahaha.  It's a little exhausting to think of 5 things times 6 kids, even if it is mostly just trinkety tokens.  ;)  

To close on some unrelated news, Dumplin' Buns has fallen asleep on the couch at the exact same time (2:15 ish) for the past two days in the most uncomfortable looking positions possible for impromptu naps that have thankfully not interfered too badly with bedtime.  I guess all I really need to do to make him take a nap these days is to park him on the couch in the early afternoon with a show on and he'll just fall right to sleep!  Hahaha.  J/K.  That doesn't always work -- and I don't even know if I want it to, because it usually makes his bedtime EXTRA late as a result.  But for this week, he must really just need to catch up some sleep.  Now if only I could do the same...  ;)

Playing "Twister" on Jane's Rainbow Baptism Quilt, Sunday after church.

 A Shopping List, by Grace

Vanilla Ice Cream

Neopolitan Ice Cream

Popsicles (Regular & Jolly Rancher)

Orange Concentrate

Lemons

SUGAR

That's all I really need. 

XOXO

Grace :)

Tweeny Bopping

I don't know what the deal is, but the last few birthday celebrations I've thrown together for the kids have felt very half-heartedly and hastily thrown together.  Even though I've still spent TONS of time throwing said celebrations together.  It's quite the paradox.  Haha.  For Sophie's Saturday extravaganza, I took Jane with me to Target to shop for everyone's presents and to grab the necessary supplies to create some allergy-free treats.

Once we were home, I got to work whipping up her requested "microphone cake" out of Rice Krispies, marshmallows, and "Sophie butter" (Smart Balance Light).  I made some make-shift molds using a couple of small Tupperware containers and then fashioned a microphone with the set up Rice Krispie treats.  After mixing up some icing, I covered the bottom piece with some black fondant that I was excited to find in the cabinet and then frosted the top and attempted to pipe a microphone-y design over it.  I was semi-successful.  Ish.  In all honesty, the end result didn't look too great -- I was trying to get a gray color for the icing and that didn't work so I decided to make it purple.  But that didn't look quite right either.

 {It looks a little rough.}

In the end, the cake looked nothing like the image I found through my Google searching, but I think it was passable enough for Sophie, and we were almost ready to get on with the show.  Before we could, however, I had to whip up some normal cake for the rest of the kids, because NOBODY likes her version of Rice Krispie treats.  While I finished up the Rainbow Party Chip cupcakes, Ethan was a dear and gave in to my incessant demands for help by wrapping all the presents, and after rounding everyone up we were ready to sing.  :)

 {That piping job, though.  YIKES.}

 {Isaac has been eschewing clothing as of late.}

 A Maddie Ziegler novel from Alex...

 ...some cute magnetic cacti book clips from Isaac...

..."642 Things to Draw" from Ethan...

We sang, she opened, and the kids ate -- and it was over just like that.  It appears as though Sophie enjoyed all her gifts -- and she obviously enjoyed being the center of attention -- and with the smorgasbord of cupcakes, Rice Krispie treats, ice cream flavors, and popsicles to make everyone happy, I think it was a successful birthday party.  Which makes it that much weirder that it still ended up feeling so hastily done.  Oh well!  All that really matters is that Sophie was a happy camper, and I'm pretty sure she was, so it's all good.  ;)

 ..."Ideation" -- a new journal, from me and Scott...

 ...Mix & Mash slime from Jane...

...and an inside joke Barbie from Grace. 

I'm Giving Myself An Award

Fact no. 201 about me -- I hate making phone calls with every fiber of my being.  Phone anxiety is a real thing, people, and I'm only half joking when I say I've got it.  So, when I had to sit down at the beginning of the week to start making all my calls to get things scheduled around the house, you better believe I sat there for a good 15 minutes just giving myself a pep talk before picking up the phone to call all the painters, cleaners, carpet people, window washers, and repairmen that I needed to.  Hahaha.  

With that being said, I figure I deserve some sort of award for overcoming my hurdles this week and taking care of business like a big girl.  And since I can't find any actual awards for such basic adulting skills as talking on the phone, I decided to create my own.  Thank you Bitmoji for helping me to feel extra proud of myself this week!  Hahahahaha.  

{For a fun trip down memory lane, you can check out my other lists of 100 things about me here and here.}