Rain Rain Go Away

Ok. I'm done with the rain thing. I don't think it has ever rained this much since I've lived here. It's like being in Idaho--with the same temperatures. Last week we had a couple days at 70 and then pfft. back to 50 and pouding rain.
We were all a little stir crazy by the end of the day today so we played run from the ticklemonster (I walk around threatening to tickle and they run screaming around and around the house) and then we played "Dinosaur and Bobcat" (a perennial, though inexplicable favorite), then we played some hide and seek. I just bust up laughing every time we play hide and seek because Laney is the worst hider in the world. I say "ready or not" and she says "I'm here mom!"
The twins are both talking (Kenna with more success than G) more and more. Trying out lots of new words every day. Kenna is working on her panting kitty impression. Griffin loves to play a puppy. Yesterday Laney threw a toy for him and he crawled over to fetch it, picked it up in his mouth, and then he ran away with it. He's got the most realistic puppy impression ever.
We went visiting yesterday. First to Olive and Don's and then to Debbie's. The girls like Prince but Griffin thought he was definitely not good. Not good at all. They all had fun and ate about a pound of animal crackers. Debbie and David were working on their backyard. They are in the process of putting in a pool. Angelica was getting her senior picts done.
I guess the big news is that we're working on house hunting in Idaho. Hopefully we'll be able to buy a second home up there some time this spring. We've decided to sacrifice buying a different home here and buy a second there instead. We'll just have to make do in this one. I'm excited about the prospect of having our own house up there. The first round of home tours didn't go very well, but Dad is going to go look at another one tomorrow.

Feb's Got the Bad Ju Ju

February needs to be over now because it obviously has bad ju ju. We've been beset by illness the whole month and I'm sick of sickness. Mom and Dad were here last week and we had a good time in between being sick (and the rain!). We managed to get strep throat, ear infections, food poisoning in the 11 days that they were here.
Kenna is still a little sick and I'm a bit concerned. Today she seemed like she was pulling out of the funk though so hopefully she's on the mend. She bit Griffin twice and I'm not sure she's bitten him once all week.
Dad went home and had a stroke. I got the call at 1:30 in the morning. He felt it coming on and took aspirin though so that helped. Quit smoking Dad. Please!!
I went to the dr the day that they flew out because I've been having a lot of pain in my feet (and pain in my knees, hands, wrists and hips). Got the call back today that I have rheumatoid arthritis. I was sort of wigged out about the prospect earlier in the week after I came home and looked it up. Turns out that it is the number 1 cause of people being on permanent disability. neat, huh? I've decided that I'm going to buy a piano. I've put off buying one for a long long time since I didn't really have a place for it, but you know, who knows what time will bring now and if I want to play I need to get on it now.
Oh yeah, I also got the questionaire from my high school reunion. What have I been doing the last 20 years? What did I do in high school? I have no idea.
Onward. God hates a coward.

Congratulations! It's a Stone.

Yesterday morning, Charles woke up sick. He was up about 5:30 and I thought at first he'd acquired Laney's tummy bug from last week. By 6 I was up with him and decided to take a shower since he seemed to be getting worse (good thinking on my part). By 6:30 he was literally rolling around on the floor. He told me that the pain was bad in the right lower side of his abdomen, so I thought he might be having appendicitis. So I called Diane, woke the kids up, grabbed them clothes and diapers and threw everyone in the car. Charles was actually puking by this point so he got a bucket too. What I didn't have? A charged cell phone, gas in the car, shoes for the kids or underwear for Laney. I ran yellow/red lights about three times on the way to the hospital, once right in front of a cop. Laney thought the sudden acceleration through the light was awesome (we did the other two on the way to the hospital). Sadly, during my husband's excruciating ordeal, I had to stop for gas after dropping the kids off since I had NONE. I was starting to envision what it would be like to run out of gas 2 miles from the hospital with no cell phone. When we got there, Charles walked in to the waiting room and sort of collapsed on the floor in pain while I tried to get someone to help him. I realize that they are used to these sorts of things, but it would be nice if they had at least some sort of urgency in helping you get care. They took Charles back and I went to park the car, by the time I got back he'd already been seen by the dr. and diagnosed with kidney stones. As painful as it was, I was glad that was it and we didn't have to do surgery. They morphined him up and it took the edge off. They released him at about 10:30 or so and I took him home then went to get drugs and kids. His second narcotics r/x in a month. Oh, and did I mention that we were in the midst of the biggest storm Arizona has had in 17 years? I was wondering if our tree in the front yard would come down and finish off the day in a super special way. It's still standing though.
We watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang last night and Laney stayed up too late. I haven't seen that movie since I was about 8. Laney slept with us and hogged the bed all night. On the up side, my shoulder quit hurting. I think it must have been dislocated. On Monday night I woke up and it sort of slid and popped. Tuesday it was super painful when I let my arm relax but it's pretty good now.

Monsters Taste Like Beans

So Laney woke up hungry today and told me she would eat monsters because monsters taste like beans, but Daddy had pumed them all (aka shot them). She had cereal for breakfast instead. She's been sick for about a week and needs to make up for it now I guess. Had a little tummy bug and her first bout ever of the runs. That's right. Ever. It is so hard to know whether she's really sick or not all the time since she tells me things like "I can't get my carseat straps on because I'm sick" or "I need to eat cheetos because my skin is sick" or whatever. She's inherited her father's hypochondria and usually has an iron constitution. I don't always take her seriously when she tells me she is sick. So Saturday night she said she was, after drinking two glasses of strawberry milk, and I asked if she was ready to go upstairs. Before we even got going she puked violently all over the kitchen floor. Charles bathed her and I got to clean up.
Which leads to the other piece of news. I've injured my shoulder (repeatedly since having children) and something is really wrong now. I think I'm going to have to cave in and go to the dr. I had to use my left hand to mop and that hurt my hand so now I have a sore hand and hurt shoulder. I'm starting to wonder what the heck is wrong with me that all of my tendons and whatnot are hurting (feet, knees and hips hurting too lately). Ok, Laney might have got some hypochondria from me too. But really. My ability to ignore the pain is starting to get stretched.
Griffin and Kenna are as feisty as ever. More words every day and a pronounced interest in the potty.

Booger Monster

I was playing with the kids and Laney told me that I could be the booger monster and she would be the princess. I'm so flattered. Just thought I'd share that.
So if you read the previous post and it sounded like I was suicidal or something, it was late at night and I was tired when I wrote it so maybe it was more bitter than intended. I'm ok. Honest. It's just nice to vent about it every once in a while when I'm feeling stressed. This week has been a major improvement and we're all ok.
Today I took the twins to their first gymnastics class and it was fun but hard work for me. And hard work for the instructor who had to take one of them since it was a mommy and me sort of thing. I'll be getting my money's worth there! It was totally up Kenna's alley. She was the demo kid and loved everything, somesaults, handstands (all assisted of course), walking the balance beam and running down the trampoline. G also thought it was fun, even when I accidentally whacked his head on a bar. I'm a good mom like that! We went from there to have coffee at B&N with Richelle and terrorize their kids department. All in all a good day out. I was suprised that nap time didn't last longer since we were so active in the morning and they were both up last night. Griffin woke up at about 1:45 and didn't go back to sleep until about 3:30. He woke K up with the first round of protest and so I couldn't sneak him out. I felt so bad for Kenna because I'd already picked him up when she stood up and said "Momma uppy!"since I couldn't really get her too. So I held him and hugged and patted K over the rail until she was ready to lay back down. She's a great sleeper. G on the other hand... we went round and round for quite some time. He likes to get in bed with me, snuggle, then get a second wind and start singing and whacking daddy. Stinker.
We played play dough again this afternoon. Play dough gets amazingly gross and stain causing if you get it wet. Do not, I repeat, do not get it wet! Yuck.
This evening I went out and left Charles to do bathtime and bed on his own (I haven't got the report yet but it seems like things went well). I had to do my stint at sorority city council. Which was interesting.

New Year, Same Stuff

So it is a little weird that we started this year similarly to 2009--Charles unable to walk and in a cast. Sigh. I was holding it together pretty well through Christmas but by the two week mark without a break I was starting to lose my mind. I had to give myself a timeout a few times before I smacked the face off of one of my children. It's not the taking off the diaper and throwing your poop all over the floor, it's not getting into the pantry REPEATEDLY and dumping the contents all over other portions of the house, it's not the sassy attitude and unwillingness to take a nap "actually". It's the screaming. Especially when they all scream, cry and hang on me at once. I just can't take the noise. It's like it short circuits my brain or something. But thank god, Christmas break is over now and we're back to our old routine and that helps a lot.
I'm starting to plan a vacation for myself. I've decided that once Charles gets well again, I'm going somewhere else. Without any of them. I don't know where yet. I think I made this same resolution last year and never did it. This year will be different! I just have to figure out what I want to do...
So on to 2010. Hopefully it is a year that brings completely healed legs!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! We had a nice Christmas and now I'm sitting here in the messy aftermath. Charles and I stayed up late doing the Santa thing. We even set up the train tracks on the train table and it was really fun. When the kids finally got up in the morning (I was growing impatient! They slept in on the only day that I didn't want to!), Griffin was just thrilled to see it all laid out below. They were all excited to go downstairs and see what Santa brought We opened presents and had breakfast and I think that was one of the best parts of my day. We had breakfast in the dining room and the kids didn't have their booster chairs. I sat there looking at my family in the sunshine--Kenna and Griffin sat across the table from me on their own and I could just see Kenna's eyes. Seeing their little faces around my table was just the best. I was really proud of my breakfast too, since I made my own bread just like my Mom always did. Cinnamon swirled wreath bread, scrambled eggs and sliced oranges. Next year, when Charles can walk, we'll have frittata like his dad always used to make. Later, we played with toys and hung out. Last night, walking in after dinner at Debbie's carrying sleeping babies back into my messy toy strewn house I was struck by how my house smelled like Christmas and it was just such a nice feeling to be coming home with my family on Christmas day. I guess it must be the result of baking the bread, but my house just smelled like home always used to smell when we would come home from my Grandma's.
Today I had the traditional day after Christmas. I laid around and did close to nothing (except read a book). I still had to do all the mom stuff and the waiting on Charles stuff, but I kept it to a minimum ;-) I did kick some of the toys under the tree before the pizza guy came. I also ate too much junk food. This is all working up to the traditional feeling gross and needing to eat better and clean everything by New Years day to start fresh again. What can I say? I'm a traditionalist!