Spring Break - Days Two and Three

Day two of Spring break was pretty tame.  That's because by the time we got home from Tepanyaki the night before (where I totally won the shrimp eating contest - but that's because Josh only ate 5 fried shrimp), Spencer was coming down with Cole's cold.

So Tuesday morning was full of sniffles and clearing throats and general malaise.  We all decided to just camp out and home and take it easy.  We streamed the movie "Turbo" and watched that downstairs while we ate lunch.  I don't know why the kids find that such a treat, but they sure love it.

We would have stayed in pajamas all day but Spencer had an orthodontist appointment at 2:30.  Seriously, Maren, could you not have found a better time for an appointment?  (The answer is no, apparently not.)  The appointment was only about 10 minutes long, but it was dang cold outside - there were even some pretty good snow flurries.

So of course the kids had hot chocolate and graham crackers for their afternoon snack.  Hot chocolate.  During Spring Break.  Indiana.

I don't remember much about the rest of the day other than at one point Josh complained about being bored so I told him to go clean the basement.

And he did.

Good heavens!  The last time we cleaned the basement you would have thought we were killing the child.  Well, whatever. He did a good job, too!

That night we had waffles for dinner because it was National Waffle Day, and when it's National Waffle Day there's really only one thing you can have for dinner.

This morning we woke up to even more sniffles - Josh now has the lovely cold that Mr. Cole has been sharing.  There was still some malaise, but everyone agreed we should still go see "Muppets Most Wanted".  The movie itself was alright - not nearly as charming as the last one, a little too self-aware, but oh well.  That hardly matters because I only got to see about half of it.  Tess is still at an age where sometimes she'll actually sit through the whole movie and behave, and sometimes she just won't.  She ended up wandering the theater for the last 45 minutes, which was fine by me but not by Cole, who insisted on following her and being naughty.

I kept the chaos to a minimum since there were two other families in there, but seriously, you can't expect perfect silence at a children's movie at the 11am showing on a Wednesday.  Just sayin'.

On the way out to the car I picked up Tess and realized that the child had a slight fever.  If I hadn't felt her I would've known something was off since she fell dead asleep within two minutes.  She looked like this by the time we got home:

I don't know why I get such a kick out of this picture, but I do.  How in the world did that IKEA card stay so precariously perched on her knee the whole way home?  And where did that toothbrush come from?

I suspect tomorrow will be more sniffles and more malaise and more sheer laziness because I'm not planning on taking these sickos anywhere.

"Spring" Break - Day One

So here we are on the first day of "Spring" break.  I use that term loosely, mainly because it is so dang cold right now.  Okay, we've had colder, but still it's only 36 degrees right now and we're expected to get a good inch of snow tonight.  "Spring" break indeed.

I've spent the morning running errands with four children.  This included dragging everyone down to the library, finding a ton of books, including research books for Spencer's upcoming project on the Jim Crow laws (don't get me started on that... I'm sure it'll come in due time), only to realize that I had left my wallet at home.

#$%#^#$%#!!!!

So, back home we went and then back to the library and then out to lunch because I still had more errands and I just knew that if we went home and then back out again (again) there would be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.  So it was worth it to me to take 'em all to the Subway at The WalMarts, which, for some reason, was quite exciting to the kidlets. Spencer scarfed down a footlong BLT in no time flat, which was pretty impressive, mainly because Spencer has never really been a big eater.  Growth spurt time!

I spent the afternoon cleaning and keeping the peace.  I threw some kids outside, but most came back after a while.  So then Tess and I started a little Easter project, but she soon got so super grouchy that I insisted she take a nap.  After 20 minutes of negotiations and cajoling and a little trickery on my part she consented.  Then Cole helped me finish the project.

Not bad, right?  Tess fell in love with the giant egg in the middle during a trip to Hobby Lobby last week.  I bought it because a) it was something like $3 and b) I'm pretty sure everyone needs a giant egg hanging from their mantle.

I also spent a bit of time researching DisneyWorld trips.  GOOD HEAVENS, Disney is expensive for a family of six!  I have come to the logical conclusion that I will have to sell one of my children in order to afford any sort of decent trip.  This will not only bring in some extra trip income but will also lower the overall price of the trip.  Two birds - one stone.  I have all the answers.

To round out the night we are taking the kids to Tepanyaki Grill, which they are also quite excited about.  Josh has recently fallen in luuuuurrrrve with shrimp and has challenged me to a shrimp eating contest.  For the last several days he's been telling me about his eating strategies and what he's going to eat for each time he goes through the buffet. The boy has a solid strategy; it'll be a shame to blow him out of the water.  (Okay, actually, he has a solid chance.  I mean, I do love shrimp, but I suspect my heart isn't in this quite as much as Josh's.)

Spencer's Last Pinewood Derby

Wednesday night was Spencer's last Cub Scout Pinewood Derby.  Tess and I didn't go because Tess had been sick and we didn't want to share in that fun.  (A newly potty-trained toddler with intestinal issues in the night?  That's a nightmare I'd rather not revisit.  Ever.)

So it was a Madsen boys' night out, and Lance was in charge of taking pictures for me. (Because, you  know, I love the Pinewood Derby so very much and was quite traumatized about not being able to go.) ((That was sarcasm.)) (((I'm a terrible mother, but this blog has well established that already.)))

That's a motley assortment of Cub Scouts!

The cars - they all look pretty great this year!  Spencer's is the teal one with the red stripe and the silver rockets on top.  (They look like bolts, but trust me, they're rockets.)

As you can see, Spencer was super excited to have his picture taken.

Spencer placed 4th overall, which is pretty good.  And consistent - I'm pretty sure that's what he placed last year, too.  Lance and I think this is perfect, because it's good enough to not be embarrassed, but not so good that we have to go on to the next level of racing.  (Bad, bad mother, I know.)

Thus ends Spencer's derby career.  But never fear - this time next year will be Josh's first race!

Princess Cup

What do you do when your little princess isn't drinking enough now that you've thrown all of the sippy cups away?

Buy her a princess sports cup,  of course!  Okay,  I know it's pretty much a sippy cup,  but I had to do something.   She was seriously not drinking enough and getting dehydrated and GROUCHY. Well,  grouchier.  I'm hoping once it gets hot outside it'll be easier to get liquids into her in a regular cup.

p.s. I love that Tess is a girly girl and a Tom boy at the same time. That football shirt is one of her favorites,  and lately she had loved playing rough and tumble with her brothers.   While in a tutu.

Milk BOMB

I just accidentally dropped an entire gallon of milk off of the banister and down a flight of stairs.  That's a good 10-15 feet.

The explosion - and the mess - was as spectacular as you could imagine.

I will admit that in my rush to get the wet-dry vac I stopped for half a second and thought about taking a picture.  But then decided against it and started sucking up all of the milk.  Now I kinda wish I had, because the carnage was pretty impressive.  The jug exploded nearly in half and milk dripped down the walls, higher up than I am tall.  It was like a cow horror movie.

Thirty-five minutes later and everything is as cleaned up as it's ever gonna be. 

As far as messes go, this ranks right up there with the time Spencer threw up all down the wall and onto Josh when he was on the top bunk.  I had to clean everyone and all the bedding up in the dark.  Didn't wake a single child, so kudos to me.

So... how's your day going?

St. Patrick's Day

I would be more into the whole St. Patrick's day thing if anyone in my family (besides me) liked corned beef and cabbage.  But they don't.  Plus, I read somewhere that corned beef isn't really even that Irish; only the Irish immigrants in New York made it kinda popular.

Anyways.

But I am into shaking things up a little now and then, and I'm also really into my gel food coloring, which works like magic.  So I used some of it in our oatmeal this morning.

Okay, at second glance it looks more like an April Fool's joke rather than a St. Patrick's Day celebration.  Whatever.  We all got a kick out of it.  (Well, not Josh.  He threw a huge fit and refused to eat it and generally made everyone's morning miserable.  I pretty much booted him out the door when the bus came.)

For dinner I made little individual shepherd's pies that were so yummy and cute!  (Not cute enough to remember to take a picture of them.) Lance and I ate them, while the kids turned their noses up at them and ate applesauce and bread and jam.

The bread, if I do say so myself, was pretty awesomesauce.

Pinterest is awash with rainbow bread recipes, but ain't nobody got time for that around here.  (It was a two-color bread busy day.)

This evening we had one of the most anticipated Family Home Evenings of the year: emergency preparedness.  I don't know why, but the kids always get a huge kick out of it.  We had fire and tornado drills and talked about what to do in different emergency scenarios.  I also talked about what to do in case of an emergency at school; I didn't want to come out and be straight-forward about school shootings because Josh is pretty sensitive to things like that and I didn't want to freak anyone out.  So we talked about always listening to the teacher and if she says hide then you hide in the best place possible away from the door and you stay as still and as quiet as possible.  The boys surprised me by telling me that they have lots of "lock-down" drills and they knew what to do.  I wonder if they talk specifically about shootings during these drills?  This both reassures and disturbs me; I'm glad they're prepared, but sad that they have to have drills for that sort of thing.

For dessert we were supposed to have Mint Chip Ice Cream Brownie Squares, but, again, it was a busy two-colored bread kind of day, so they weren't all assembled and beautiful.  The children did not care and gobbled them up, quick as you please.

Spencer's getting so big.  Seriously, child, quit with the getting older.

Cole was SUPER HAPPY about the dessert.  Plus, he loves getting his picture taken.  (Looks are so deceiving - this kid was something of a monster today.  I wish I could convince myself that this is just a phase, but I'm pretty convinced he just has a tough, uber-stubborn, super-defiant personality.  Oy.)  Highlights of the day included him and Tess flooding the bathroom - again - and him getting ahold of my perfume and spraying a ton of it.  Silver lining: my bathroom smells fantastic.  (And probably will for weeks.)

This one is putting me in Pooping Purgatory.  We'll just leave it at that.

And this one refused to have his picture taken.  Perhaps he's a leprechaun?  Or maybe just a punk.  (My money is on the punk.)

Couch in Time Out

My kids have gotten totally out of control as far as climbing and jumping on the couch is concerned.  No amount of yelling, screaming, ear-flickings, threats, bribes, time outs, sweet talk, or downright beatings (there were no beatings) seemed to work.

IT DROVE ME NUTS.

I didn't go through all the effort of buying this nice couch (not to mention spending all that money!) only to have my children destroy it.

And destroying it they were - the edges were getting frayed and I can only imagine what all of the jumping was doing to the springs.

Plus, whenever they went to someone else's house they seemed to think it was okay to jump on the couches.  WHICH IT IS NOT.

It was seriously like a compulsion or a habit; half of the time they didn't seem to to even realize they were doing it until I pointed it out.  Cole is by far the worst culprit and was the instigator at the beginning; but just last week I had to get after both Spencer and Josh several times each, and they are both certainly old enough to know better and control themselves.

So the other day I got fed up and took matters into my own hands.

Yes, the couch is now in time out.

It was either this or murder the children.  (I'm kidding.) ((Mostly.))

There is sits, forlornly against the wall, with an itchy rug on top to protect it.  So far my plan has worked pretty well.  How long will the couch have to be in time out?  Several more weeks, I suspect.  So if you come over, be prepared to either sit on the floor or use the downstairs couches.  (I'm kidding.)  ((No I'm not.))

Born Under a Lucky Star

This morning as Spencer was leaving for school I reminded him to bring home a big project he is working on that is due tomorrow.

He went to school.  He came home.  He started his homework.

He did not have the project.

I got mad.  But I did not yell, so Go Me.  Instead, I called the school.  As luck would have it, Kindergarten parent/teacher conferences are tonight, so the school was still open.

So I loaded all four children into the car and rushed down to the school, herded them into the school, checked into the office, got after Spencer several times for this obnoxious attitude, saw the vice principal (who I like) give me a sympathetic smile during one of my reprimands to Spencer, and then herded them all down to Spencer's classroom.

It was as fun as it sounds.

Spencer's teacher was just packing up to leave.  She was pretty happy to see us there, because she had noticed that he had left his project on his desk and she knew he'd get in big trouble if he didn't finish it tonight!  (She's a really great and nice teacher.)  ((And probably a much nicer mom, mainly because she only has one child and he's a baby.))

So we got the project, walked back to the car, got after kids for running, got after Spencer for being obnoxious again, lectured Josh about the difference between telling me what I need to know and tattling, and herded everyone into the car, and got home.

This was twenty minutes ago.  For the past 10 minutes I have been arguing with Spencer over his geometry homework.  Hey, I might have had geometry 20 years ago, but I got an A+ in that class and know how to find the perimeter of a dang shape.  Spencer disagrees.  He said, and I quote, "FINE!  But if I get this wrong it'll be ALL YOUR FAULT!!"  To which I had to respond, "That's fine with me.  It's not my grade.  And I'm NOT wrong, because I am brilliant."  To which Spencer just rolled his eyes and stalked back into the kitchen.

I can't wait until he's in calculus when I can just shake my head and say "Sorry. I took that in college from and Chinese TS who I couldn't really understand and never really got it, so, good luck with that.  Oh, and don't ask your father - he was lucky enough to never have to take that class."

What's the point of all of this?

I'm ready for Spring Break.

Bed Head

Tess has spontaneously decided to start taking naps again after lunch.   It's a glorious thing.   As is her nap time bed head.

Spencer's New Bed

Remember waaaay back on the first of February when we switched Tess from a crib to a bed?  And how her new bed was actually Spencer's old bed and the plan was for him to sleep on the trundle bed for a week or two while I bought a new bed for him?

Well, a MONTH AND A HALF later and the poor child finally has a real bed to sleep in!

Seriously, this whole bed thing has been so long and drawn out - I'm starting to call it the closet project of the bed world.

Fairly soon after we switched the beds I found and AWESOME deal on Overstock.com for a memory foam mattress.  So I bought it.

It came in the mail like this and it was pretty cool to watch it expand when we took it out of the packaging.  It smelled pretty weird, too. (But the smell finally went away!)

And then I found awesome deals on Target for bedding.  So I bought that, too.  And for a good month I had everything I needed except the actual bed.  My storage room was full, and every time I went down there I'd get irked by the fact that I still hadn't gotten the bed!

Finally I made it up to IKEA to get the bed.  From the website I thought that the slats that came with the bed would be enough and that we wouldn't need to buy box springs.  But once I was actually there looking at the bed I realized that that would only be okay if we didn't mind the bed being super low to the ground.  No thanks.  So I bought the bed with the idea that I'd stop buy Sam's Club some time during the next week and pick up some box springs.

**Random side note: I never blogged about my IKEA trip.  It was great!  Gigi and I had sooo very much fun, as we always do.  It was great just to have a day off and chat and laugh the whole time because we really just don't get to see each other very much anymore.  We left Chicago a little earlier than normal because a big snow storm was coming in.  We stopped in Merrillville for some dinner and decided to eat at Abuelo's, which Gigi aptly dubbed a "Mexican Cheesecake Factory".  This tickled me to no end.**

Anyway, back to the bed.  So I meant to get to Sam's Club and never did, but that turned out to be okay because Lance did some better measuring than I did and it turns out there's no way a queen-sized box spring would have fit in my mini-van.

But so frustrating!  What to do?!  We couldn't think of anyone we knew with a truck and the weather was yucky anyway.

But then the internet came to the rescue and we actually found a good deal on Amazon!  (Seriously, that site has everything.)  The boxspring kit got here yesterday and Lance put it together.  When I came home from taking Spencer to piano lessons Lance told me the bed was all done, bedding on it and everything.

What a great husband I have!

I went downstairs and found this:

What a great husband I have.  He's great at putting things together - not so great at furniture placement.  (Yes, that is the nightstand behind the headboard.)  I had to laugh just a little bit.

After a bit of cajoling I got Lance to help me move the bed to it's proper place with the headboard against the wall.  Then Spencer had to test it out.  (Dang - just realized how off-center those pictures are.)

He declared it "okay".  Oy, 10 year old boys.  It's a great bed!  And it's queen sized so guests will have plenty of room.  (We love you, Spencer, but the size of the bed is not for you. It's for the guests who will displace you during their visits.)

Not a bad looking room!  Maybe some day I'll even get around to repainting it.  And maybe even replacing the dang bent curtain rod.  (Bent courtesy of some young children who think hanging on curtains is a great idea.  Grr.)

Mud

The last two days we had beautiful weather with temps in the mid-60's.

Today it's snowing and cold and nasty and school is closed.

But for two glorious days the kids escaped from the house and ran free and wild in the back yard.

Only to return like this.

Maybe the snow's not that bad...

Bad Attitude This and That

Have you noticed a lack of pictures on my blog lately?  I have. It's because Cole is OBSESSED with pictures and video lately.  To the point that I have to hide my camera and phone because he will sneak them away and fill up the memory card with photos and videos.  (Yes, my phone has a password; he keeps trying to crack it.)

So I just don't even want to get my camera or phone out for anything because it's not worth the huge FIGHT with him about it.  Growl.

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Did you know you can shrink Crocs in the wash?  I got some Target brand crocs on clearance for Cole last fall and he LOVES them.  But they got so filthy the other day and I was washing a load of towels and stuff, so into the washer they went.  And then I forgot they were in there and into the dryer they went.  Oops.

Well, hopefully Tess can use them in a year or two.

Maybe this is why Cole keeps giving me such a hard time in so many ways.  I keep ruining the things he loves.  (Or maybe he's just a punk.)

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We had an RS activity last month about learning to clean like a pro.  I hadn't been happy with my cleaning routine lately, so in the last few weeks I've switched a few things around and shaken things up and bought some new cleaning supplies and now?  I like cleaning again!  Well, like is a strong word.  Tolerate more?  Hmm... well, I'm happier with it, which means my house is staying cleaner.

Well, clean is a strong word.  Clean-ish?  With the kids and spring mud and the herd of neighborhood children who are obsessed with coming in and out of my home, my house is never fully clean.  But cleaner than it was, yes.

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Tess still won't poop in the potty. She also won't use the potty anywhere but at home.  It's Cole all over again.

Which makes me wonder - what in the world did I ever do to deserve such potty training misery?  Seriously, I've read and researched a ton about and have tried everything I can think of and... nothing. Nothing but pain and misery and frustration and lots of poop.

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Josh is still having tantrums. Like, serious, fall on the floor, kicking and screaming, cartoonish tantrums.  It's ridiculous.  When will this phase be over?  Can I start charging him for each tantrum?  The boy does like money...

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My hormones are still out of whack.  My medication dosage has been changed again, so it's a wait and see game.  I have trouble sleeping, my mood swings are stupid, even if I do get enough sleep I'm super tired and weak, and I even have muscle aches and pains.  (Actually, the aches and pains are often what tips me off that things aren't right.)  All during church on Sunday my legs just ached and ached and all I wanted to do was go home and down a bottle of ibuprofen and soak in the tub.

Not that I don't like my GP, but I'm wondering if it's time to go see an endocrinologist.  Could they be of more help, or would it not be worth the time and expense.  Hmm...

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On a happier note, it's been warm enough that I went running the past two mornings.  It felt great, considering I have been running in several months.  But now another big snow storm is coming.  Dang.

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I've run out of things to complain about.  This is good.  But it felt good to get it all out.  Thanks for your patience.

Dirty Math

1 extreme, never-ending winter + 4 slobs for children + a mom's who's tired of getting after the kids to clean up + again and again and again = 1 disastrous house

Seriously.  It seems like all I've been doing lately is picking up and wiping and cleaning and then starting all over again because while I pick up one room someone is destroying the next room.

I give up.

I think I need a sign for the front door that says something along the lines of "Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here".

I bet there's a free printable for that somewhere on Pinterest...

Well, whaddya know!

Coat Closet Redo

With four kids, two adults, and one ridiculously extreme winter, our coat closet was out of control.  It was stuffed to the gills and the Command hooks I had on the door for the kids kept breaking because those dang kids keep growing and their dang coats keep getting bigger and heavier.

Here's the before picture, only I forgot to take one before I took out the 387 coats and jackets and snow pants that were jammed in there.

Pinterest came to my rescue with a pin that showed a closet that got rid of hangers and just used hooks.  "Aha!" I thought, "That's the fix I need.  And it'll be super easy, cheap, and quick to do."

How foolish I am.  You'd think I'd know better by now.

It actually was easy and cheap.  But quick?  Try two and a half weeks.  First we had to wait for the hooks to come from eBay. (Thirty hooks for $30, including shipping.  Can't beat that!) Then I decided to use some old paint for the inside, because why buy new paint?  Except I chose the darkest blue and had to put on coat after coat after coat of paint, and that's with primer and stuff.  Sheesh.

Then I had to buy the wood, but things kept coming up and I couldn't get to the hardware store and when I finally did I waited and waited and waited for them to cut it but no one came even though I was told three times they would so whatever.  So then Lance had to measure it and try to cut it and then take it to our woodworking neighbor to have him cut it the right way. :)

And then it needed to be sanded and painted but another freakin' POLAR VORTEX came into town and it was too darn cold in the garage to do either of those.  Then Lance was super nice and sanded them for me and I bit the bullet and decided to paint them in the kitchen.  Only I realized halfway through that the paint I used wasn't true white but rather a very pale grey but at that point who cared?!

As soon as they were dry Lance put everything up in the closet.  I think he was pretty tired of all the winter coats on our floor.  (Side note: Lance had the largest number of random jackets in the closet.  Just sayin'.)

So as of last night, this is what the closet looked like.  Much better!

Okay, ignore the Grover Monster from Sesame Street blue - it's actually a lot darker in person.  It really could have used another coat of paint, but I ran out and there was no way I was going to buy more paint for a closet!

And finally this morning I was able to get everything back in.

See, you can hardly see the blue paint, so it doesn't even matter.  The bag-looking things on the left are rolled up snow pants, in case you were wondering.

Now everyone has their own coat hook - several of them!  No more excuses for coats left on the floor.  Not that that will stop Josh - that kid couldn't hang up his coat to save his life.

I still keep all of the hats and coats and stuff on top because my darling daughter has a tendency to get into things like that and leave a path of death and destruction in her wake. (Read: she likes to bite and unravel winter accessories.)

We even have room for visitor coats, whereas before the make-over I didn't even want to open the door, it was so awful.

I'm pretty happy with the whole project, even if it did take way longer than it should have.

Cookie Thief

Last night I caught Cole pilfering a cookie right before bed.  Thus kind of infraction is pretty minor, but according to Josh (king of ABSOLUTE FAIRNESS IN ALL THINGS), this was an offense worthy of capital punishment and couldn't believe my lax attitude.

Josh does not yet understand the wisdom of picking your battles.

As I was tucking Cole into bed I started singing "Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar? --"

"Cole.  It was Cole." Came the rather terse response from the bottom bunk.

It was all I could do not to pee my pants from holding in the laughter that would surely have offended the seven year old cookie cop.

I love these kids.

Haircut Princess

Tess has been in love with the idea of a haircut ever since her last hair cut was finished.  (She wasn't so happy during the haircut, but was apparently not traumatized by the event.)  About every other day she asked if she could go have a haircut.  Today was finally the day I could say yes!

Tess dressed very carefully in her sparkle tutu and pranced all the way into the salon.  She was disappointed that I got to get started first and that she had to wait, but she was so patient and good about it!

Finally, it was her turn.  She patiently sat through the spraying and snipping and styling and even more spraying.  Her reward was a rather large red lollipop and a new crown! (Miss Robyn knows how to cater to the two year old crowd.)

What a little diva!  I have to admit, though, that it's pretty fun to have a little girl to come to the salon with me.

A Pretty Good Description of My Day

Apparently Tess is trying her hand at wine making because I just found a handful of fermented grapes at the bottom of her lunchbox.