It's Just Never Easy, Is It?

This month has just flown by. It's hard to believe that it's going to be Thanksgiving tomorrow. It seems like just yesterday I was wondering if it was too early to put up Fall decorations when it was still blistering hot outside.

At least it has cooled down some!

Things have been kind of hectic around here. Saturday night we got a call from Orian's teacher, requesting a conference on Monday or Tuesday. As it turns out, Orian is failing EVERYTHING. Yeah, EVERYTHING. He has a 10 in spelling!!

He just doesn't do his work in class. He might start something but only does a small portion of it before he begins goofing off.

All his testing shows he has a high IQ and that his abilities match (and often exceed) those of his peers, so it's not like he's struggling and doing his best and just not making the grade.

He is just extraordinarily lazy. I'm about at my wits end with it. We can motivate him for a short period of time, but as soon as he thinks he can start sliding by, he will. UGH.

Tuesday after the conference his work had improved. He simply HAS to get serious or he will repeat the 3rd grade. Pretty sad for a kid recommended for TAG.

Annnyways...

So, it's been getting colder here. Isabella hasn't been playing outside as much lately but she insisted on Monday. It was cold so she was in tights and a long-sleeved dress, but she quickly stripped off her tights.

She enjoyed drawing with sidewalk chalk and picking small flowers. (Ignore the yard, Adrian has decided mowing season is over, LOL)





We had a busy day that day and she had gotten up early so she was cranky. After the Parent-Teacher Conference, we came home to find a package from my new favorite website (www.figleaves.com). She entertained herself by peeling all the shipping stickers off the box.

I left the room for a few minutes and noticed that she was quiet, even for sticker-peeling. Imagine my surprise when I came back in the room and discovered that she was dead.





Ok, luckily she wasn't dead, but I've never seen a child fall asleep in a more alarming position and I've seen kids fall asleep in A LOT of positions. No worries, I laid her down and didn't leave her like that!

Yesterday was busy too as I had so much work to catch up on to prepare for our trip. One of the things I worked on was a set of votive candle holders with colored leaves and decopa...decopague...decopaj...with water and glue...and tissue paper.

Isabella had a great time "helping" and painting with water and drawing with her crayons.



Later when I finally got her down for a nap (naps 2 days in a row...it's incredible!), I worked on the kids' annual Thanksgiving shirts. I'll post pics of the boys wearing theirs when we get back, but here's Isabella's T-Day outfit.



I would have liked to pair her shirt with a denim skirt and some crazy fall-patterned tights but we didn't have that, so instead she gets hokey turkey pants, haha!

And of course, things can NEVER go smoothly. Yesterday Xavier came home from school and informed me that he had left his "jacket" at school. What he meant by "jacket" was $30 GAP pullover hoodie that matches his brother's and is absolutely perfect for pulling on when it's cold and taking off when things warm up.

I was not happy about it. The boys keep leaving crap at school.

I sent him back to go get it. He had left it in his desk, which is not allowed. His teacher took it out of his desk and then another student came in and took it home with her.

How this student didn't realize it didn't belong to her is beyond me. And how his teacher didn't realize that Xavier wears it to school several days a week and so it must belong to him...especially since it came out of his desk...again, beyond me.

I was a little angry.

Xavier felt horrible about it, and he kind of should. He has to pay attention to his things. I don't look for the hoodie to come back. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Of course, that doesn't do us any good for the Thanksgiving break.

I took him to GAP and got him a new one. The only pullovers they had said "Football" on them, so we got a zip-up. The new one has a fur-lined hood and jacket lining inside. It's a size 12 too so he should be able to wear it next year and then gift it to Orian.

So now I've got cleaning, packing, and cooking to do. And of course I'm sick again. But I'm excited about our trip!

Changed my mind...

I don't know if it's the sweater or what, but I think I look bigger, so I decided to post a 32w1d pic for comparison. From the front I just look like a regular fat person, though!



Also, I finally figured out how to fix the other post, so if you want to see the pics, be sure to go back and look. :)

Successes and Epic Fails

After the weekend was spent getting the kids' rooms (except the loft) in order, I decided this week to tackle our master closet, FINALLY.

I didn't take a before pic, but let me paint a picture with words:

The floor was covered in stacks of an unholy number of ACU pants and tops. Random books scattered about. A duffel bag here, a small luggage bag there. A huge, impeding stack of coat hangers made opening the door all the way impossible. Here's a shoe. Oh, look, there's its mate. Oh, no it's not. Baby clothes. Maternity swimsuit. A t-shirt I didn't know I had. The shelves were exploding with t-shirts and jeans and shorts and everything else.

Some minimal effort at folding and stacking in an organized manner had been made, but not enough. The closet bar was straining under the weight of 12,003 shirts, pants, and dresses no one will ever wear.

Now the photos you are about to see may not look like much, but please believe me when I say it's a HUGE, monumental improvement.






Look at the floor. It's empty!



I took some pics of the boys' room too. It's not the most awesome room ever, but at least it's clean!







And here's their closet...



Orian's Lego bucket is in the closet, and he plays Legos in the closet, LOL. It's a little weird.



It's a relief to have those things taken care of even though there is still so much to do. It takes me a while to get things done because when I start to work on something, THIS happens:





Among my other recent failures, pumpkin fudge. It was more like pumpkin sludge. Delicious, sweet, sugary sludge. Nice.

And then yesterday I ruined my area rug. I was vacuuming and smelled a burning smell. I turned it off immediately, but it was too late. Not sure what happened, but there's a melty, burny hole in my rug. D'oh!



Arrgh.

I am 32 weeks today and took a pic but when I uploaded it I noticed I look pretty much like I did at 29 weeks. So, if you want to see a belly pic, look at the one from 29 weeks. HA. I seriously didn't see any change at all.

PS - I had to do and re-do, and then do and re-do again this stupid post because it kept messing up. Because I put so much effort into it, it's only fair that EVERYONE who even GLANCES at it leaves me a comment. Seriously.

New Furniture in the Girls' Room, Less Crap in the Boys' Room

This morning I made Pumpkin Waffles with Maple-Apple Syrup (well, just regular maple syrup...we were out of apple juice!). Adrian and the boys were crazy about them.

Maple-Apple Syrup
1/2 cup maple-flavored syrup
1/4 cup frozen (thawed) apple juice concentrate
Waffles
2 1/3 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Powdered sugar, if desired
1. In 1-quart saucepan, heat syrup ingredients, stirring occasionally, until juice concentrate is melted and mixture is warm.
2. Heat waffle iron; grease with cooking spray, vegetable oil or shortening. In large bowl, beat all waffle ingredients except pecans and powdered sugar with wire whisk or hand beater until blended. Pour batter onto center of hot waffle iron. Close lid of waffle iron.
3. Bake about 5 minutes or until steaming stops and waffle is golden brown. Carefully remove waffle. Sprinkle with pecans and powdered sugar. Serve with syrup.

(From the Betty Crocker website)

Yummy!

I spent pretty much the ENTIRE day working in the kids' rooms. We bought a super cute girls' dresser set on Craigslist and Adrian picked up most of it last night and then went back this morning to pick up what wouldn't fit.

I'm super impressed with him! This stuff is pretty heavy and he got it all up the stairs and the pieces all put together all by himself.

While he was gone Orian and I moved Isabella's old dresser into the boys' closet. It's a baby dresser, but hey, it's in the closet. No one's going to see it. And it's not too obviously baby-ish. Well, yeah, it kind of is.

The boys had some of their things in plastic storage drawers in the closet, so now those will go in our master closet. It's a scary mess in there so I'm going to be organizing it tomorrow.

Last week when the boys brought their laundry down I thought it seemed like a pretty small amount.

It was.

The boys' closet was 1 foot deep in dirty clothes. Nice. I have been too sick to really go up there and check on things and I guess THAT'S what happens when I don't go and check on things.

When Adrian got the girls' dressers assembled I wiped them down with a magic eraser and they look great. There was some crayon on one of them and it came right off. The dressers are wood but have some sort of laminate finish, which I like because it makes them super easy to clean.

I re-organized the girls' room and sorted out the toys and clothes. Dahlia will have plenty to play with when she's ready! Isabella loves her dressers. She calls one of them her "house" because she can open up the cabinet and get inside.

Here are some pictures of the new dressers. Isabella has torn the ribbons off her wall and I haven't fixed it yet. I don't know when I will because I need a new, more stable, less caustic method of attaching the ribbons. Ideas, anyone?

The dressers don't look as clashy with the paint as they do in the pic. In the room lighting they actually look very nice with it.











The dressers don't match the bed, but no one uses the bed anyways! Well, the Carebears sleep there, but Carebears aren't picky.

The boys' room was a major project. What a mess. They just never put anything away properly. I can organize and organize and re-organize and within days it's back to looking like crap. Ugh! I guess that's what boys do. Keeping things straightened and neat is not really a boy priority.

The closet dresser is now a school clothes dresser and then the main dresser in the room is for play clothes. I sorted through several big boxes of toys they had crammed in there and found some interested items.

I found some missing clothes of mine and Isabella's, too. And one of Adrian's socks.

I condensed all the Lego pieces into one HUGE box, much to Orian's delight. The boys were really excited by all the toys we found. I keep telling them that if they would keep things put away in the right places they would have more fun because they would know where things are.

I got their bookcase straightened up and re-boxed all the stuff in their room. Really, the only toys in there are the Legos, the UB Funkeys, and the Gameboy stuff. I like it better that way. Toys in the loft. Clothes, books, and beds in the bedroom.

I didn't take any pictures because I was waaaay too tired when I got finished several hours later. I should have taken before and after pictures!

I ended up with 2 trash bags filled with loose papers, broken toys, and crappy fast food toys. I hate those stupid fast food toys.

I had a My Pet Monster (the kind you draw on) that I could have given away but someone had written something about farts on it, and it dried that way. I don't think anyone would want that. LOL.

Tomorrow is our closet, laundry, laundry, laundry, and then hopefully some projects. I have some Thanksgiving outfits to do for Isabella and then the kids' "Thankful" shirts they wear every Thanksgiving. And two different votive projects.

I should be doing Thanksgiving crafts with the kids. I am really slipping. But I'm finally feeling better, so maybe this week. We're running out of time!

Sick House

I feel like I haven't posted in forever, but we have all been sick. The boys had a cold briefly last week but then Isabella and I caught it. Adrian had it for a few days over the long weekend (bummer), but he's all better now.

Me and Isabella, though...still sick.

She was miserable for days. Snotty nose, grouchy, coughing. Today she is just well enough to be a PITA. On the plus side, she peed in the potty today. On the downside, she dropped a poo on the floor when she unexpectedly whipped her diaper off.

I have been ill, ill, ill. It feels like sinuses, and a cold, and allergies, and lung crud all in one. I can tell I'm getting better but it's just taking soooo long.

Isabella keeps trying to nurse and she can't because she can't breathe. It's very sad. And especially sad for me because I have to humor her for the time it takes for her to realize that it just ain't happening.

I don't think she'll wean before Dahlia gets here, so looks like I will be tandem nursing. I have a feeling I'm going to be very annoyed from being over-touched. And I can just see Isabella getting territorial about it, LOL.

She loves to tell her brothers "Shoo! Shoo! Away!" and "I busy!" Poor Dahlia is going to be minding her own business nursing as newborn is entitled to do, and Isabella is going to come bounding up, knock her out of my arms and tell her, "Shoo! I busy!"

So, I haven't done laundry in nearly a week. Just a load here and there. Not enough to keep things from hitting critical mass.

Adrian has been doing the dishes and cooking as well. I'm pretty impressed with him. He made a potato soup with red bell peppers, garlic, and onions tonight and it was really good.

The boys have been pretty helpful since they know how rotten I feel.

Catching up on housework is going to be difficult, though. Adrian and the boys have kept up with the normal "surface" maintenance stuff like picking up and vacuuming, and I have tried to pick up as I feel up to it, but there's a lot of scrubbing that needs to be done.

I'm sure my house is cram packed with sick people germs right now.

The boys are busy compiling their Christmas lists. I am trying to prepare them for the shock of getting like 1 game and then a few other less expensive things. Games are just so expensive, but then again, that's what they will use the most. If we get them a lot of less expensive toys, they won't get played with since they've mostly grown past that. Orian does like to play with toy swords and guns, though, haha. As does Isabella...she says, "Chop, chop!"

I got her a big kitchen playset from someone on CL the other day for $30. It's in like-new shape and very clean. Great bargain! That will be her big gift.

I haven't been good about keeping track of the Christmas fund. I have forgotten how much I have tucked away. It's grown, but I will have to look later and see how much is there. I also got the refund today for my contacts, so there's $30. Nice. :)

When I feel better I have several things to sell on CL and of course, doing it around payday is good because people are more spendy then. I have some writing money I need to withdraw for the Christmas fund and more work that I'm doing now that should contribute nicely.

Of course, I also need to be saving for my doula expense, so I'll have to figure out how much I want to set aside for Christmas and then start putting everything beyond that away to pay for my doula.

What else? I don't know if I posted this, but we spray painted our dishwasher black. LOL. It's the poor man's appliance upgrade. It looks fine so long as you view it in low-light.

An unexpected side effect was a black floor after all the particles in the air settled, but that's mostly scrubbed up. I wanted new flooring anyways. HAHAHA.

I have several fall crafts I want to do but have just been feeling way too rotten to get started on them. Maybe this coming weekend.

I guess I'm entitled to be random since this is my blog, so I'll share a couple of funnies...

Isabella is really into counting, although her consistency in counting correctly is somewhat lacking. We were surprised and laughed really hard when I asked her the other day, "Aww, are you sick, baby?" and she told me, "No. I sefen." LOL!

She also blessed me this morning when I sneezed! Her vocabulary has exploded recently and she is speaking in sentences more and more.

And here's my funny from probably a month ago. I took Xavier with me to go to Wal-Mart to pick up some staples and we saw an obviously homeless man on the corner at the stoplight selling newspapers.

Xavier said, "That doesn't look like a very fun job."

I said, "At least he gets to work from home."

We both LOL'ed at my genius comment.

I feel like one of those lame people who sends their stupid quotes in to Readers Digest, but dammit, that really was funny!

Ok, gotta go switch out the laundry. The boys are down to 1 and a half days of clean school clothes left!

29 Candles, 29 Weeks

Adrian celebrated his 29th birthday today. Yep, he was almost a Halloween baby. :)

I spent the morning swapping out Halloween decor for Thanksgiving stuff, and baking his cake. Which was an epic fail.

Not only did I break the cake flipping it out, but I suck at icing cakes, and poor planning/spacing made for some ridiculous "decorating". Never ask me to make a cake for you. I am HORRIBLE at it!

One of the interesting things I learned (or maybe I knew it before, but just never noticed), is that it's really hard to find a single box of candles with at least 29 candles in it! I did get one with 36, but they were tiny and very plain. Apparently old people must like short, plain candles.

The cake put off a lot of flames:



Blowing out the candles. Xavier told us that when you blow out the candles on your birthday cake, however many are left still lit are the number of girlfriends you'll have. Adrian could have 2, but he decided he already has too many women in his life, LOL.



Orian is such a happy guy.



Isabella liked the icing.



Adrian got lunch at Pluckers (wing place) and Fall Out 3 (video game) for his birthday. The boys made cards for him too.



Old Navy is moving to Harker Heights, so the normal sale they have going was + 30% off. I got a nice little dress for Dahlia and jammies for both girls for cheap. Isabella likes her new jammies because they have "meow-meows" and butterflies on them!



And finally, I didn't take a 29 week picture on Thursday, so here's me at 29w2d with baby number 4.