Luke Nightcrawler

Today was science day at Nathan’s school. They got to get their hands dirty with some worms. They also got to bring one home as well. Yeah for me.

As he sat in the back seat holding his plastic ramekin full of compost and wormage, we got into an argument regarding what to do with it.

He told me that its his new best friend Luke Skywalker and he was going to live at our house.

I explained to him that worms need to live in the ground and we could put him in our garden and he could live there.

He countered with, “this is an indoor worm and he needs to live in the house.”

Stooping to his 4 almost 5 year old mentality where anything about poop is funny, I said, “lets put him in the garden so he can poop in it and make fertilizer for the plants.”

Nathan:”OK!!!”

End of discussion except that he keeps going out in the rain to visit him.

I Know, I Know

Its been over a week since I’ve posted. My sincerest apologies.

We got home from Chicago at 4pm on Friday and got back in the car to drive to Lake of the Ozarks at 5pm. Luckily the kids were mesmerized by the DVD player and didn’t seem to mind.

We spent Saturday there and came back on Easter after an egg hunt at the local Lyons Club.

Monday I woke up at the crack of dawn to get the kids all signed up for their summer activities through the local parks and rec department. Ricardo took the day off and finished painting the hallway. Yeah!

On Tuesday we had a playdate at our house. The kids had a blast running through dog poop that Ricardo “picked up” the day before.

The cable guy came to switch us from Dish to Cable, because we couldn’t get the HiDef signal from Dish. God forbid. That meant end of internet connection for me, because we also got new internet and phone as well. I was at Ricardo’s mercy for rehooking it up.

Wednesday was Nathans first day back at school and I was in charge of his Easter party. It was really more of a Resurrection party.

Thursday I put the down payment on our carpeting for the basement. Then I took the 3 kids to the grocery store. I try not to do that, but we were out of all produce and milk. I decided to pretend I was rich and shop at the local midranged chain, rather than buying mostly everything at Aldi. I spent $100 more than I would have at Aldi.

Friday Nathan had school and we had another playdate.

Today we went shopping for flooring for our upstairs. The Pergo we currently have got warped from the water damage. I’m really trying hard to convince Ricardo that we need real wood, not laminate. We’ll see. The guy comes out on Thursday to measure and give us some price quotes. Here is the dilemma…The Pergo we currently have is 1/2″ thick. Most laminate floors are now way thinner. So that means all the baseboards and door frame casings would have to be replaced too. Which means a lot of paint touch up as well. Even though insurance will cover it, I just don’t want to deal.

Now my mom and her new “male friend” are coming over for dinner. I see a drunken evening in my future.

Our Chicago Trip Update

I will never be able to drag my kids home tomorrow. (In all seriousness Chicago is supposed to get 9 inches of snow tomorrow) They are having so much fun.

Yesterday we went to Woodfield mall. After a brief visit with the Easter Bunny, Nathan spotted the Lego Store. He was like a kid in a Lego store. It was so hard for him to decide what to get. He settled on some sort of Star Wars flying maching that included Anakin Skywalker and R2D2. It only took me and hour to put together. After the Lego store we passed Build-A-Bear. I put my foot down at spending $40/per stuffed animal per kid. I compromised with the Disney Store. Piper Ann got a little stuffed Dalmatian and Oliver got some little Dalmatian figurines. (The Easter Bunny brought the movie early for the trip).
After the mall we went to the greatest restaurant ever, if you’re a boy between 18 mos and 6 or so. The Choo Choo is a train themed restaurant in Des Plaines, IL. They deliver your food to you via train. How awesome is that? After a nutritious meal of cheeseburgers, french fries and milk shakes, we took a ride on the little train car (it just moves back and forth) and invested some hard earned coinage into the little vending machines. The boys got miniature ninjas and Piper Ann got a couple braceletes.
After lunch, a nap was desperately needed. The kids slept too.
Later that evening I finally got my Wayne’s pizza while my friend brought over her almost 1 year old son. My kids love babies!

Today we headed to IKEA. They have a free play area for kids who are potty trained. Oliver wasn’t too happy that he couldn’t go, but Nathan and Piper Ann were in heaven.
I got to satisfy my sushi craving for lunch. We went to Sushi Station. Who doesn’t love food served from a conveyor belt? There is a different assortment of fruit, sushi, and dessert that comes by your table. You just lift the little door and take what you want. Everything is priced by color of plate, so you have stack them up after you eat their contents. They too have amazing vending machines. Oliver got two miniature emergency vehicles. Piper Ann got 2 Hello Kitty figurines and Nathan got 2 Pokemon figurines. Luckily he got at least one of the ones he wanted.
They spent this afternoon building a fire in the firepit. They actually watched grandma do it, but had fun regardless.
Now hopefully I won’t return from vacation to find my basement full of water…again. Have you heard about the flooding in Missouri? Its not to far from my house.

Happy St. Pat’s

Well, we made it. Yes a day early. I got a wild hair up my “you know what” this morning and decided to leave today.

Most of the trip was uneventful. I came up with this brilliant idea…I rented a couple movies for the ride from Redbox. Tomorrow, I will return them here. It only cost me 2 bucks for a couple hours of entertainment!

We hit a rough patch when Oliver decided he was done with the car, and to prove it to me he threw his “nigh, nigh” (blanket) on the floor and then screamed for it. So I had to pull over and give it to him. 5 minutes later Piper Ann decided that she had to go poop, so we stopped again. Of course nothing came out.

Nonetheless, we made here safe and sound.

We’re Headed to Chicago

This week is Nathan’s Spring Break, so we’re headed to Chicago. My sister just moved back from Hawaii, so the kids are really excited to see her. All Piper Ann talks about is having Aunt JuJu hold her. It won’t be a complete trip without visiting IKEA. Ricardo is elated at all the “crap” I’ll bring home. He despises IKEA. I’d also like to ride the train downtown and take the kids to FAO Schwarz.

I’ll also have to have a Wayne’s pizza. I’ll also have to have an Italian Beef somewhere. The frozen stuff from Aldi just doesn’t cut it.
We also have a tradition of stopping in Springfield, IL for McDonalds and then a walk through Big Lots.
So, I’ll probably manage to gain 10lbs in the 4 days that I’m gone. We’ll return Friday and then leave Saturday for Lake of the Ozarks to visit the in laws for Easter.

Go (Away) Cards!

I don’t really like birds. In cages or in trees they’re fine. The songs they’ve been singing yesterday remind me that Spring is almost here, but other than that you can keep them.

So the other day I was cleaning up around the house and went in the garage to throw something away. I had left the garage door open, so I closed it. A while later I had to go back to the garage to throw something else away (don’t worry, we do have indoor trash cans). I heard a bird chirping in the rafters. I thought to myself, “oh, a bird must have flown in earlier and got trapped when I closed the garage door.” So I opened it again.

Well, the garage door freaked out the bird (which was a red cardinal) and it made a b-line right for my head through the house door that I left ajar. I watched as it flew upstairs. “Holy crap, there’s a bird in the house.” I could see it flying from room to room. I thought, “there is no way in H E double hockey sticks I’m going up there.” The kids thought it was awesome. They all went up there to freak it out some more.

I got brave and went up to open all the windows, except in Nathan’s room where it was. I peered into his room and saw it fly into the window pass out and try again.

Finally I called Ricardo and said, “THERE’S A BIRD IN THE HOUSE. YOU HAVE TO COME HOME AND HELP ME!” Luckily he had some free time, so he came home and shushed it out the window. Ugh.

While I don’t love birds, I wouldn’t take my hatred as far as Big Binder has with butterflies!

I Still Got It!!

No, I’m not about to tell you all about how some really hot guy came up to me and asked me for my phone number.

I still have the ability to fully function as a human being using only one arm. Anyone who has had a baby knows exactly what I’m talking about. You know the ability to cook dinner, wipe a snotty nose, or go to the bathroom all while using one hand.

I watched the Diehl boys for a couple hours today. Poor Jack Henry just wanted his momma so bad. I prepared lunch for 5 other kids all while using one hand.

I think this is a trait that all females get. There is no way Ricardo could ever do that!

We Have a New Baby in the House!

And it comes in the form of a flat screen TV.

At 6:45 this morning…

Ricardo:(whispering to me as I’m sleeping) Do you want me to set the alarm for you?

Me: No, I’m getting up.

Ricardo: Make sure you turn off the TV when you leave, otherwise it might burn in an image.

Me: Love you too!

A Lot Harder Than it Seems!

I got this from Rocks In My Dryer…

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Happy 35th Birthday Ricardo!!

You’re still 6 years older than me! Your parents should have named you Bob or something to match your palindromic birth date…3-7-73.

We made him a giant pan cookie, decorated it, and took it to his work. Then we went to Red Robin for lunch to claim his free meal. Thanks for the tip Big Binder!!
Tonight we’ll just have pizza and beer. I shouldn’t say, “just,” I love pizza and beer.
Tomorrow we’ll go out and party on the town…after he finishes painting the hallway. J/K!