Yeah, I like it too - Life

I don't want to grow up........

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:25:23 -0400

Some days I wish I wasn't a grown up. Like when a kid runs his bike into our water heater, causing it to break and spray water all over the place. Like when I see the huge amounts of laundry I need to do, or the big stack of bills I need to pay. Or when I need to make dinner or buy groceries. Sometimes when I stop and think about it, I can't believe I'm almost 30. How did 30 years go by that fast? I remember thinking when I was a child/teenager, "Why do grown ups think time goes by so fast?, I wish it would move a little faster." If I only knew. Ahh well, I guess being a grownup isn't all bad. Having cute kids helps. And occasionally I do get to buy myself something. I get to stay up late and eat what I want (probably not a good thing). I hope the next 30 years goes a little slower.

So Cute.

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:03:01 -0400

Last night Lori did her first real laugh. It was So Cute. Really. She was taking a bath. She LOVES the bath. She has started kicking and splashing, it is adorable. Well, Ben and I have been trying to get her to do a real laugh. She smiles all the time, but no laughing. Then last night, she did it. And it was worth the wait. Really, so cute!!!

Panic! (well sort of)

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:00:59 -0400

School started today. This is a bitter sweet time. I'm relieved that I don't have to try and keep the three oldest kids busy. It'll be pretty quiet around the house. I'm looking forward to spending some bonding time with Lori. On the bitter side, it looks to be the busiest school year yet. Elise is trying out for the girl's track team, joining the dance club,playing cello and still doing gymnastics. Jake will probably be joining some clubs and he's starting strings this year. Plus all the normal church activities (scouts,mutual,activity girls etc....)

So I've been thinking about this stuff, then I realized Halloween is pretty soon. Time for costumes. ( I still need to post pics from last Halloween) If Halloween is soon, that means Thanksgiving is soon, which means Christmas!!!! (Here comes the Panic)

This year seems to have flown by. I am hoping to blog a little more the rest of this year. Like my sister, Nicole, I, too, have been spending a lot of computer time on Facebook. So if you miss my blog, you can check my facebook status for little snippets of my daily happenings.

Oh, yeah, I finally finished decorating Elise's new room. Someday I'll post pictures. It turned out pretty awesome. I even gave into her desire to have posters of her favorite Disney sponsored band. (but only on the BACK of her door)

What's in a name?

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:56:39 -0400

I was waiting for Ben to tell the story of how we chose Lori's name, but he hasn't done it yet, so I thought I'd go ahead and do it.

When I was pregnant, before we knew the sex of the baby, Claire had an idea for a baby boy's name. Here's the conversation we had:

Claire: Mommy?
Me: Yes?
Claire: You know how there's a baby Tiger?
Me: Mmhmm
Claire: Well, I think if we have a boy we should name him Truck.(she was dead serious, this made perfect sense to her)
Me: (giggle) We'll see. It may be a girl.

So, Tiger is the name of the son of one of our friends from church. He is really cute. I've known his parents for quite some time. His mom taught me in sunday school when I was 10 or 11, I think. We told them what Claire had said. They thought it was really funny. They proceeded to tell just about everybody we went to church with. I had people come up to me several Sundays after that and mention the story. His mom, even offered me $10 to name our baby "Truck".

Then I found out it was a girl. Of course, Truck wouldn't work for a girl. A few people suggested some different car names that sounded a little girly, but most of them were pretty ridiculous. Then about a week before my due date, I got a call from Tiger's dad. He left a message, he said that he and his family had been sitting around the table discussing our baby's name. (We still hadn't picked a name yet, we were debating between Lucy and Laura.) It came up in their conversation that in England they call trucks, lorries.

Ben, upon hearing this, had decided that was it. Her name had to be Lori. The story was too good. I needed a little more time. After she was born, it took us several hours to finally make it official.

Now we have a new Yaris and a new Truck

Needless to say, Tiger's family was tickled pink by our choice. Claire was excited when she realized that she was the one who named the baby.(We had to explain it to her)

Hopefully little Lori won't mind having the nickname, Truck.

Little Lori...and other stuff

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:30:00 -0400

It's been a while , I know.... I haven't had much time or brain cells lately to form cohesive thoughts.

Lori is a really good baby. She usually only cries if she's hungry and when she gets her diaper changed. (except for a few nights when she was up a lot with a gassy tummy) She's a pretty happy baby. She eats really well. And she's super cute. The kids love to see the cute outfits I put on her. They want to hold her a lot. They love their new sister. It's taken some time to feel somewhat like a normal person, but I'm getting there.

Elise graduated from elementary school. Next year she'll be in middle school. Craziness. She'll be going to the same middle school I went too. We went there for an orientation. It was very surreal. It made me feel very old. Elise will be participating in a same sex program. She'll be in classes with all girls, except for P.E., art, and music. I'm really excited about the program. We'll see how it goes.

Jake will be in 5th grade. He struggled this past year, I'm hoping this upcoming year will be better. Claire is starting Kindergarten. I think she'll do great, she's very smart and sociable. I am a little sad that she's not my "baby" anymore.

It'll just be me and Lori at home during the day. I'm looking forward to it. I'm planning on walking at the mall in the mornings. My mother-in-law asked me to. We used to do it when Jake was a baby. I think it'll be good for me to get some exercise, and get out of the house for a bit.

Now I just have to survive the summer. I start doing daycare again on Monday. I keep telling myself. it's only a month and a half, I can do it. I just need to keep them all busy, so they don't drive me crazy.

p.s.,
thanks for all the congrats on Ben's blog.

Final Countdown

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:03:14 -0400

Four weeks until my due date. We still haven't picked out a name. I like the name Lucy. We've also thought about Jules. Nobody else seems to like Jules. I thought maybe Juliette, and her nick name would be Jules. Ughh. Ben hasn't been too helpful with the name search. He shoots down everything I suggest.

I'd like a name that fits in well with Elise Michelle and Claire Danielle. Both have french names for their first and middle names. I just can't seem to find one. I think Noelle would be a good middle name.

This pregnancy seems to have gone by pretty fast. I'm not sure if I'm ready for a baby. It's been 5 1/2 years since Claire. I am a little nervous. Claire was a pretty good baby. She was happy, slept well, kept herself entertained, was healthy, and loved to be around people. I'm scared this one will be a terror.

Maybe I'll finally get a baby with red hair, or at least one that looks a little more like me.

Four more weeks, It'll be nice not having to go to the bathroom every twenty minutes. And to be able to put my shoes on like a normal person.

I hope all the mom's who read this had a nice Mother's Day. Ben made pancakes, and I got a ton of homemade cards and other goodies from the kids.

Star light,Star bright

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:27:26 -0400

The other day, Claire and Hannah (the little girl I babysit), were playing with a toy cell phone. They would take turns "calling" friends and family members. After their conversations, Claire would ask Hannah,"What do you think insert name of friend is doing right now?" After doing this for a little while, Claire asked Hannah for a favor. She asked her if Hannah happened to see a wishing star that night, would she make a wish for Claire. (Just in case Claire didn't see one) She asked Hannah to wish that she could always know what everyone was doing.

I'm pretty sure I never made any wishes like that when I was a kid, or was smart enough to have a back up plan in case I didn't see a star.

Anniversary Plans?

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:44:00 -0400

It's that time of year again. May 3rd will be our 11th wedding anniversary. It'll probablly be our last chance to go out before the baby is here. I really want to go to this. We saw them many years ago, and it was awesome. (we are both big fans of their comdey show that used to be on tv)

I'm going to sart looking under the cushions for some spare change. The kids have probablly beat me to it, though.

Kids in the Hall Quotes:

Dave: Hi, I'm just writing a letter to someone in the hospital. You know it's always kinda hard to find the right words to say. You know, somehow "How's the weather in the hospital? Sure is nice outside" just doesn't work. But you gotta try, you know, you gotta show your concern. So here's what I got so far: "Dear Guy, I clotheslined as you went by on your bicycle. You don't know me, but I'm the guy who broke your collarbone. Now, I've asked myself over and over, why did I clothesline that guy? Perhaps I watched too much slapstick as a kid and expected you to get up after being violently assaulted. Imagine my confusion when you did not. Although not so confused that I'd actually hang around. In all fairness, it was pretty funny. I mean, the last thing you'd expect as you were riding merrily by on your bike is that someone you didn't know at all would stick out his arm and crush your throat. I mean, you really should've seen it, it was just like, wham! Bam!
[chuckles]
Dave: Anyway... in closing, as you lay there convalescing in your hospital bed, I'm forced to wonder, what were you doing riding your bike on the sidewalk anyway?... SideWALK? Maybe sometimes we bring heartache upon ourselves. Signed, the guy that collapsed your trachea."

------------------------------------------------

Guy #1: I know it's a clichÈ, but my favorite album of all time is still "Sgt. Pepper's."
Guy #2: "Sgt. Pepper's"? What's that?
Guy #1: Only the Beatles' most famous album!
Guy #2: I'm sorry, the Beatles? Who are they?
Guy #1: The best group of the sixties!
Guy #2: Oh, the sixties. I didn't hear much music in the sixties.
Guy #1: What are you talking about?
Guy #2: Well, dad always was a little crazy. After the car accident he started medication and things got worse. One night he woke me up and knocked me out. He brought me down to the basement where I lived for the next ten years. I heard no music, I had no friends. They shoved food under the door so I had to eat pancakes and pizza. It was awful, but I survived.
Guy #1: Gee, I'm sorry. I, uh, didn't know.
Guy #2: Of course I've heard of the Beatles!..
---------------------------------------------------
Dave Foley: I once shot a man just to watch him die, then I got distracted and missed it. Oh my friends tried to describe it to me, but it just isn't the same.

Pretty Sure

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:05:27 -0400

About a week and a half a go, I had an ultrasound. It was not fun. My appointment was for 9:30 at the hospital. They asked me to get there at 9 to do paper work. We were in the waiting room until 11:30. It was a really horrible wait. They had crappy magazines, there was some old hippy couple sitting next to us. The guy was reading a starwars book, had long grey hair, and kept making stupid jokes out of the doctors names we heard over the intercom. I'm pretty sure he is no stranger to the marijuana.

After finally getting called in, we find out the lady doing the ultrasound had just transfered and it was her first day working there. The equipment was older, and she hadn't used that kind of machine for quite some time. She took FOREVER. She said she needed to take 2 pictures of every body part. Then she had problems getting a profile of the baby. Then OF COURSE the baby had crossed it's legs. She said she was "pretty sure" it was a girl. By the time we left it was getting close to 1 pm. That's almost 4 hours. And all we got was a "pretty sure".

Now we need to come up with a girl name. Any ideas? It may be a good idea to come up with a name that could fit a girl or boy. I'm not sure how reliable "pretty sure" is.

I forgot to mention that the baby is healthy, no extra digits or anything.

Unemployment--Update

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:54:51 -0500

Ben has a job! He started this past Tuesday. I'm sure he'll get around to posting about it once he recovers from the shock of having to work again. I am very relieved. Being unemployed is not something I ever want to deal with again.

....he never did get around to doing the things on my list.

The Couch...(my new best friend)

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:23:00 -0500

Hello, blog world. It's been a while. I've been busy avoiding house work and watching tv on DVD. I am ready for this writers strike to be over with. We are running out of new shows on DVD to watch.

Not too much going on. Ben is unemployed (for almost 2 months). I'm still pregnant(23 weeks). Today is Claire's 5th birthday. I finally got around to reading another book, John Adams by David Mccullough.

Ben's Unemployment:

With Ben being home all day, I found it hard to stick to my regular daily routine. Not really sure why. All he really did to interrupt my daily routine was to be on the computer when I usually use it. It took almost a month for me to feel like my life was getting back to a normal routine. When we would occasionally end up in the same room. We'd look at each other for a minute, then I would say "You really need to get a job". It's funny, you'd think I'd get him to do some of the things around the house I've been wanting him to do. A few days a go he asked me to make a list of some stuff for him to do around the house, we both thought it was amusing that we had waited so long to do that, Now that he may actually do the things on my list, I'm sure he'll get a job any minute. Hmmm....we should have written a list 2 months ago.

Pregnancy:

I seem to be past the nasty nausea part. I've had more energy lately. I'm hoping to get an ultrasound soon so we can find out what sex the baby is.
The baby has sarted moving, which is always exciting, if a little strange. Four more months to go!

Claire's B-day:

This year we just had a small family party. Claire asked for only one thing this year. The new barbie that has a butterfly on it's arm. When she opened it, she was so excited she shouted,"Hallelulah!!"(She mispronounced it a little.) as she jumped up and down. For me, being the person who bought it for her, it was very satisfying.

John Adams:

A great book. John Adams was never one of my favorite founding fathers. This book completely changed my mind. I think I learned more about the birth of our nation from this book than any I've read so far. Since John Adams was an avid letter writer, I think we get a much more personal knowledge of him than of any other founding father. I got teary eyed when he died, even though it was almost 200 years ago. Every time I read about this part of history, I get excited when I get to the part were we declare independence. The more I read about this time period, the more I dislike Thomas Jefferson. I need to read a Jefferson biography, just so I can judge a little more fairly. --I highly recommend this book!

Another Ornament

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:35:08 -0500

I found another paper ornament I want to make. I made the other ones I posted about. Elise and Jake liked making them, and they turned out pretty cool. I may have to make these ones too.

I've been thinking, maybe one of these years I'll decorate my tree with a retro theme. I really like these glass ornaments. And here is one shaped like a cupcake. And diamond shaped ones. Every once in a while I think about putting tinsel on the tree. But I don't think Ben would let me.

Almost Christmas

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:11:09 -0500

Since last year was so so hectic around Christmas, with us moving, I've been hoping this year would be a little less stressful.

I always get all these fun ideas, but never seem to get around to doing them. I see all these cute crafts, yummy recipes, or cute handmade gifts. Then I remember I haven't done any present shopping or done any decorating. Claire has been begging me all week to get out the xmas decorations. I'm hoping to get around to it this weekend. One of these years I'll plan ahead so I can be a little more relaxed. Before having kids, I had no idea how much work it was.

Luckily, we still have month. I would really like to do some fun stuff with the kids. I saw these homemade ornaments. I think they look really easy to make. I'm going to try and come up with a few more crafts and some recipes to make.

I also like to keep a Christmas binder. It helps me organize my gift lists--what I want to buy, what I have, what I want to make..... I get the worksheets from this site. It helps me a lot.

This year we will be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Ben's family. We may go see my family for Christmas dinner, if Ben doesn't have to work the next day. I love being able to spend time with family. I think it makes the holiday season even more special . Even though Ben's family only lives a few miles away, it still seems hard to find time to see each other. Life can get so busy.

If I find any good crafts or recipes, I'll pass them along.

maggots are so gross

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:12:00 -0500

For the past few weeks we have been having a moth problem. I noticed they were mostly around our pantry/kitchen area. They are small brown moths. A few days ago I was making Claire some chocolate milk. I took a sip to make sure the chocolate to milk ratio was right. I got more than just chocolate milk. There was a piece of something solid in the sip I took. I spit it out. It was a maggot. In my mouth. Amazingly, I did not vomit. I've been having issues with nausea since becoming pregnant. This did not help. Even though it's been a few days, I still get sick to my stomach when I think about.

I decided to look up these moths on the internet. I found out they are Indian Meal Moths. I found where they were living in my pantry. A bag of birdseed and squirrel food. I got rid of them and any opened package in my pantry. I'm hoping the moths will be gone for good. I'll probablly never drink chocolate milk again.

A Poetry Reading

nospam@example.com (Cyndi) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:15:00 -0500

A few weeks ago the kids did a little poetry reading for Ben's parents(in person) and my parents (via the phone). It was written by Jake.

There's three kids in this family that you all adore.
Soon, in June, we will have four!