my brother

I'm just trying out posting a picture. This picture cracks me up. this is my brother at my twins birthday. He is definitely in the party spirit!

Happy Thanksgiving

I have a lot to be thankful for. Probably the biggest thing I'm thankful for is being able to stay at home with my children. It is quite the luxury and one I often taken for granted. Trust me though, getting here wasn't easy. I have worked my butt off in the past and I am thankful I don't have to do it now. At least not in the same way. I am thankful that I have 3 girls. Getting them wasn't easy either. And I am thankful for my husband. He is loving, supportive and thoughtful...things I haven't always made time for recently. I'm thankful for my friends and family also.
For Thanksgiving this year, we decided to spend it in Asheville, NC. It sure was nice to be back in the Carolinas. I just feel better in North Carolina. Home. We spent a couple of beautiful days at the Biltmore House...speaking of beautiful. If you've never been, you really should go. We just kind of hung out there and enjoyed the weather, the shopping and the dining. Nothing fancy. The girls had a good time and we even got to see St. Nick. I have an adorable picture of Rachel's first encounter with Santa and her expression is priceless. If I ever figure out how to post a picture, I'll put it on.
Even though I enjoyed my trip, I do feel like I missed out on the whole Thanksgiving tradition. That's pretty much the problem though, we have no tradition. Each year it varies and it never seems to be the same twice. My Aunt used to host it. She would do ALL the cooking and invite the whole extended family. There are alot of us. It was so great to see all my cousins and Aunts and Uncles - People that I think about often, but don't see or talk to nearly enough. Unfortunately, it did get to be too much for my Aunt and she stopped hosting it. No one picked up that ball. Maybe I should. Sometimes, I go to my brother's on the outer banks of NC. Sometimes I go to my in-laws, also on the Outer Banks. I've actually hosted it for my immediate family a few times. I like to cook and I enjoy having family around. Anyway, the girls weren't exposed to anything 'Thanksgiving' this year, except the turkey we ate at Cracker Barrel. Oh well, maybe next year.
Now all the hype will start for Christmas. I do plan on doing a better job with the Christmas experience for my girls...and I don't just mean presents. Wish me luck though. I'll need it.

Holiday Shopping Extravaganza

Ok, my husband's out of town and I chose not to stop on the way home. Everyone was asleep then. As I doled out dinner, I realized we weren't going to have any milk for the morning. I'm leaving in the a.m. and won't be home for lunch, so we weren't going to have any milk for lunch either. Crap. I have to go to the grocery store. Usually, after dinner, we start our bedtime routine. The girls usually play while I clean up, then we head upstairs for bath and bedtime. Not tonight. The closest grocery store is 10+ minutes away. I figure I will be cutting it close, but we can make it. Then I can't find my keys. What did I do with them. I had them when I got home. WHERE ARE THEY. I throw a fit, a temper tantrum, cussing and fussing as I look. No keys. Where the #*%@ are they. I am running out of time. Finally, I find them hanging on the hook where they belong. Ok, I finally get everyone strapped in, to the store, unstrapped, strapped back in the stroller, rush into the store in the middle of the night (ok, it's actually only 7:15, but it feels like much later to me since I haven't been 'out' this late in about 3.2 years) and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but Santa. Publix is having their holiday extravaganza. I'm not sure that's actually what they called it, but there are special savings all over the store, men in suits (not santa suits) looking very important and free samples everywhere. "There's even shrimp!" Great. I was hoping to spend less time in the store than it actually took to get there. Santa tries to coax Rena to him and I encourage this behavior to no avail. That's ok though, 'cause I really want to get my milk and get out. I turn towards the deli department with my double stroller and shopping cart in tandem, and I kid you not, there are at least 100 people standing there. Seems there's a little choral singing going on. We've just missed the songs and the crowd is beginning to dispurse. It's like the freaking State Fair. I can't move, much less negotiate the stoller and cart. I finally make my way out of the crowd and fill my shopping cart with much more than I came for. Back home with 3 sleepy girls, 4 gallons of milk, and visions of sugar plums dancing in my head.

The Playgroup

OK, this happened a few weeks ago, but I feel the need to share.

One of my neighbors invited us to join her playgroup. She's really sweet and has a little boy. (he's the only boy in the group). The playgroup is organized by a girl named Natalie. Her daughter is Emma Elise. Emma's report card will say "Doesn't play well with others". She's best friends with another little girl named Dallas. (I know) Dallas seems to be sweet enough. she's a follower. Those are the main characters. I really liked Natalie to start with, even though her kid is a brat. But now, I think she's a little clique-y. Rena has gotten her feelings hurt a couple of times because these 2 little girls are blatently excluding her. I decided that even though I was having a pretty good time, I couldn't continue to go if it wasn't working for Rena. Then, a couple of weeks ago, we were at Natalie's house for Halloween. I had offered to have it at my house, but Natalie had 'already told Emma we'll do it here'. OK. We were all supposed to bring something yummy to share. OK. We were supposed to dress the kids in their Halloween costumes and bring a change of clothes. OK. Now, Natalie's house has stairs that don't have a baby gate, so I have to constantly be on guard. The kids are constantly going up and down the steps to play both in Emma's room and in their little playroom. Well, I busted my ass to get there that morning. I dressed all three girls in their halloween costumes, plus shoes and accessories. I packed a change of clothes, diapers, wipes, snacks and lunch. I made, from scratch, a pumpkin cobbler - quite yummy if I do say so myself - and brought it, still warm from the oven. OK, maybe I was PMSing or something, but here's how it went. Oh yea, it was POURING DOWN! All three had fallen asleep on the way, so I decided to let them sleep for a couple of minutes and perhaps enjoy a little adult conversation. That didn't really work so well. Then Natalie said 'let's get some pictures, the kids are tired of being in their costume and are ready to change.' My girls are still in the car! OK, so I go wake them up, bring them in and when I get the last one in, and get my camera out, everyone dispurses. I kid you not. I didn't get one picture. Alright, I change them into their playclothes and off they go, in 3 different directions. When it comes time to eat, I practically have to beg people to try the cobbler. Then, one of the little girls named Sophia pushes Rachel down the steps. Luckily, I was standing right there and happened to catch Rachel by her ankles as her head hit the first step. This wasn't a little push. She said "you're going down" and punch/pushed her. Now, the little girl is only 3 and didn't really understand all of the consequences of that action. My heart was racing and I told her in no uncertain terms that she was to come with me. I went to her mother and told her what had just happen. Even though Rachel was Ok, everyone should have been coming to me and seeing if she was alright. But, what happened next? Sophia's mother started crying, apologized to me and said they had to leave as punishment for what had happened. OK. Except for the crying, that was the right thing to do. Natalie told her she should give her one more chance (To what?!!! Push Riley down the steps!!!) Needless to say, the attention got focused on Sophia and her mother and I even found myself trying to comfort them!!!!!! When I left, I apologized to Natalie (why the HELL am I apologizing? what is wrong with me) for Sophia having to leave. She tells me that because Sophia is so big people think she's older and treat her like she's older and really she's just a young 3. I didn't treat her like anything! Any normal mother would have snatched a knot in the little whiny shit and raised hell with the mother. Again, what is wrong with me?! I packed up my girls and questioned my participation in this group. Was I blowing everything out of proportion? I'm still not sure. Oh yea, I also asked if anyone would be willing to host a Pampered Chef party for me and they acted like they couldn't hear me. Lovely. Ironically, Rena's having fun now.

High School Revisited

When I moved here in January, I didn't know anyone but the friend of a friend. I've seen her once in 11 months. Not long after getting here, I found out that a friend of mine from high school lived close by. I hadn't talked to or seen this guy in 20 years. Now, 370 miles from home, I find out he lives closer to me now, than he did in high school. He and I had been close friends and I am amazed at what a small world we really live in. A mutual friend tried to put us in touch and I called him in February, I think. I didn't hear anything back from him and I decided to leave the ball in his court. I knew he was married with children and I didn't know if his wife would be weird and all jealous and stuff. Well, just a few weeks ago, I looked for an email for him and found one. We planned to meet for lunch this week. We met at 11:30 and didn't leave until 3:30! What's amazing to me is how we can lose touch with friends and then when we see them again it's like no time has passed. I learned all about the grown up Stuart and his family. He learned about the grown up me and my family. We talked about things that had happened in high school, and where everyone is these days. It really is nice to have a shared past with someone. I could have talked for 4 more hours and I think he could have too. It was a really nice time and I'm so glad that I tried connecting with him again. We have made plans to get together with our families and I hope we will. I truly believe that all things happen for a reason, even though we don't always get to know why. I'm happy to know that I've got a high school buddy living just miles away...even if I don't ever see him again. But I hope that won't happen.

Swimming Lesson

Today we had swimming lessons for Rena. She really likes swimming despite the rough beginning. (She threw up on the way, because I was driving like a maniac trying to get there on time. We were 20 minutes late.) I actually made it on time with a few minutes to spare...a real rarity for me. I had packed bathing suits for the twins and myself. I swam laps while Rena had her lesson and then I decided to get Ray and Riley out of the day care so they could swim too. It was their first time in the pool and I learned a few thing. First of all, it's difficult to watch 3 no-swimming girls in a public pool. I kept losing Rena. I might have to dye her hair a really wild color so I can spot her immediately. Second, election day/schools out is probably not the best time for a pool initiation. Third, the child-proofing test child(that would be Riley) needs to be watched extra carefully in the pool. All in all, it went pretty well once we got there. Rena had fun playing with the swim instructors daughter, Rachel learned to bounce in the water and Riley learned to go under...3 times. All is well that ends well and I had 3 sleepy girls on the way home. That gave me a little time to explore the area.

The Paci Fairy

My first official blog. I have lots of blogs stored in my head, but I'll start with Halloween. The paci fairy paid us a little visit by the light of the moon on Halloween. For those of you not familiar with her, she rounds up all of the pacifiers lying about and takes them to the new babies. This will never work, I thought. We had been preparing our 3 year old since the first failed attempt a few weeks earlier. I was tired of the paci's. Plus, I can't really remember the last time any of them passed through the dishwashing cycle. My 3 year old was rather attached. She needed bunny and paci to sleep. Actually, as she tells it, Bunny needs a paci to sleep. She just happens to keep it in her mouth. But low and behold, the paci fairy came and took all of the paci's and left a scooter...with a convienent place for Bunny to ride.

My husband left town for the next 3 nights and I was left to deal with the fallout. The biggest surprise was that there was none! The big one (that's the 3 year old) not only went to sleep the next night without a paci, she went to sleep in her own bed...something that happens once in a blue moon. Will wonders never cease. Had I know that the transition would have been so smooth, I would have had the paci fairy come much, much sooner.