A LONG TIME COMING

It's official, after 5 years of dating and 7 years of marriage, the Mr. and I finally opened up a joint checking account.

It has been years and years and years, alright, 7 years to be exact (but it does feel like a lot longer than that), since I have had a checking account. 7 years since I have balanced a check book, deposited checks, or made withdrawls.

7 long years.

So you can imagine that when I went to the bank for the first time to make a withdrawl I sort of embarrased myself. Actually, not sort of embarrased myself, I really embarrased myself.

I am sure you are intrigued now, right? You are dying to know what it is I did to embarass myself so.

Well, as I said, I went to the bank to make my very first withdrawl from this joint checking account. No problems there, right? I made my way up to the square table found in the middle of the room, where you can write out your withdrawl or deposit slips, and do whatever else needs doing before getting in line to see a bank teller. I set down my things and got to looking for a checking account withdrawl slip. I looked, and looked and could not seem to find one in the neatly stacked piles of different slips. Hmmm... I kept looking through them as if one would magically appear, but unfortunately it did not. I saw some of the other people at the table looking out the corner of their eye at me, probably wondering what the heck I was doing. I almost wanted to stop and say, "Give me a break here folks, it has been 7 years since I have had to do this sort of stuff." But I thought better about it as I figured it would make me look pretty pathetic.

I finally gave in and walked up to one of the tellers:

"Excuse me sir, I cannot find and checking withdrawl slips over there."

I received a sort of confused blank stare in return from this young teller boy.

"Oh. You have to write out a check to cash for the amount you want to withdraw and sign it."

Me, laughing: "Gosh, silly me! It has just been so long since I have had a checking account, I don't know what I am doing anymore. My husband has always taken care of the finances so there was never any need for me to have an account."

Darn it that sounded pathetic.

Another blank stare in my direction. At this time I decided to quit while I was ahead, walk away and fill out my check.

I was hoping as I waited in line that I would not get the teller that I had embarrassed myself thoroughly with earlier. Turns out I was not so lucky. I could tell as I handed him my check that he was trying not to laugh at my situation. As he busied himself with my transaction, I started thinking, and decided I needed to start talking again, defending my "slip up" of sorts. Always a bad idea.

"I am so sorry about earlier, how embarrassing for me not even knowing how to take money out of a checking account, right? Gosh.... I really should have remembered how to do all this, although I thought I remember back when I had an account that there were actual withdrawl slips that I used to take money out of my account. I guess I just don't remember ever having to write a check!"

This time I received a response from the young teller boy, along with a look of pity : "It's alright Mam, really." He handed me my cash, which I took, and shoved in my purse. I gave him a quick "Thanks", turned around, and made a very swift exit out of the building.

Clearly seven years was too long to go without having a checking account and frequenting the bank. Clearly. Lesson learned.

A RARE FIND

I came across this quote today and found myself reading it over and over again. It is rare that I find any quotes that are inspiring to me, worth remembering, going back to read, or hanging on a wall in my home, but this one definitely is. I really do love it.

I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together. - Marilyn Monroe

I could go on and on as to why I love it so much, and what it is about it that makes me feel so inclined to read it over and over again, but that won't be necessary. I think it speaks for itself.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Liv had her first taste of the time out chair yesterday, and she really did not seem to mind it all too much.

Hopefully the more she lands herself in that chair, the quicker it will come to her that it is indeed a form of punishment and is not meant to be fun.

Speaking of Olivia, I finally got around to getting out and purchasing her a winter coat.

I think she wears it well. No?

Both Ava and Lucas have really been into practicing their writing skills. Here is Ava's latest:

Seems she is into writing full on sentences about what she enjoys doing with her free time. Not quite sure why she scribbled over some of her writing.

Lucas seems more interested in writing his feelings down on paper. Some sweet nothings for his family. He decided for some reason to be very formal with my note, and call me by Maria. He stopped after writing a note to Daddy, claiming that he was just too tired to write any more. I am sure Ava and Anthony do not mind.

Very nice notes -- You think he may want something?

Oh, and this is where you will find Anthony pretty much every waking moment we are not out of the house doing something.


That's right, smack dab in front of the T.V. with either Wii remote or Playstation remote in hand, jamming out to video games. And the Mother of the year award goes to [drumroll]..... NOT me. Anthony is way over the top, crazy-obsessed with his video games. It seems if I were to permit, he would play them from sun up to sun down. No jokes here. I have to get a handle on this, pronto - otherwise I fear he may turn into a video game playing zombie.

We decided to paint pumpkins yesterday, and I think they turned out quite nice.

Lucas went with an all yellow theme. I had told Ava I would start on hers while she got ready for dance class. Turns out she liked my paint job, especially the hair, and decided she wanted me to just do it for her. Which was just fine, as I was really enjoying myself. Oh, and notice how there are only 2 pumpkins? Anthony decided he was in no mood to paint his pumpkin and would rather plant his rump right on the couch to play his video game. And I let him as I just did not want to fight with him over painting a pumpkin. Again, the whole mother of the year award thing does not apply here.

And finally, I could use a night out on the town.

And that is all I have. Just a few random thoughts, things to share.

TO NAP OR NOT TO NAP

We seem to be having some problems deciding whether or not Liv still needs two naps a day. I know from experience that little ones usually go down to one nap a day when they get to be about 15/18 months old, but I am just not sure if Liv is ready for one nap.

This certainly does not bother me one little bit as it gives me two extended periods of time during the day to myself while the other kids are at school. And I deem this to be a very good thing - So let's just say you won't see me pushing her to stay up in the morning and only take that afternoon nap, no you won't.

Well, the other day after getting the kids on the bus and Anthony off to preschool, I decided to run a few errands with Liv. It turned out our errands took a little bit longer than expected, so I did not get her down for a nap until 11:30 that day. By the time she woke up, played for a while and ate, it was just too late to try and get a second nap in for the day. She seemed happy enough, no melt downs, tantrums, or crying out of sheer exhaustion. Maybe she was ready to go down to one nap a day. Maybe?

I was debating this fact as I was getting dinner on the table, wondering if it was time, time to get rid of the ever coveted morning nap, when I saw this.

While I was busying myself with getting everyone at the dinner table and fed, Liv decided she just could not keep her eyes open any longer and fell asleep. Right there on the kitchen floor in front of the stove. At 6pm.

Turns out she still does need two naps a day. At least for now, and this makes me one happy Momma.

Animoto.com

SUNDAY FUNDAY

The story of our day out at the apple orchard and pumpkin patch, in pictures.

How is that for packing all kinds of fun into one day?

ON TORNADOES

When we are driving in the car the kids usually get antsy and bored, yelling out "how much longer?" Or "When are we going to be there, it is taking forever!" I am sure if you are a parent, you have been blessed with hearing these sorts of things too while in the car, and know how irritating it can be.

So I usually come up with something to keep them entertained when I begin to see those I-am-going-to-start-complaining looks come across their faces. My entertainment usually consists of dancing silly in my seat and singing along to the music that is playing, or making funny faces in my rear view mirror so that the kids can see, or asking about their day at school.... You know, anything to keep them occupied. Sometimes I am lucky enough to not have to come up with something to ward of the complaining, as they end up distracting themselves with a topic of conversation. Yesterday was one of these days, and Lucas was the one to come up with the topic.

"Hey, Mom? What's a tornado?"

"It's a really big funnel of wind that swirls around really, really fast in the air."

"Does it break things?"

"Yes, it does. It breaks pretty much everything in it's path."

"Can it break a tree?"

"Yes, it can rip a tree right out of the ground and suck it up into the funnel."

I could tell both Ava and Lucas found this really cool by the looks on their faces. Anthony just seemed bored with the conversation, and Liv spent her time simply looking out the window. Whatever the case, Ava and Lucas were entertained by this conversation, so I decided to keep going with it.

"Isn't that crazy how strong a tornado is?"

"Can it lift that [pointing to a water tower] right of the ground?"

"Yes."

"How about a house, can it lift a house right off of the ground?"

"Yes."

"Can it lift the roof right off too?"

"Sure can. Tornadoes are so strong they can lift cars, bikes, houses, water towers, trees, pretty much anything you can think of off of the ground."

[laughing with excitement] "Wow!"

Ava was listening intently this whole time, but really did not have much to say until now:

[very seriously] "Hey Mom? Can Daddy lift a whole house and the roof off of the ground."

"Oh, no Honey. Daddy is not that strong, no one is that strong. Only a tornado can do something like that."

[under her breath] "Darn it. That would have been so cool."

THE TOOTHFAIRY MADE AN "OOPS"

Miss Ava lost her 6th tooth on Friday night. She was so very excited about this, mostly because of the fact that she was able to put her tooth under her pillow and wake up with some cold hard cash in the morning; but also because this meant she was closer to getting braces.

Yes, my 6 year old is excited at the prospect of being able to have braces. Not sure why, but she is. And she knows that they begin treatment after she has lost her 4 upper front teeth and her four lower front teeth. Seeing that she has lost 6 of them already, she is only 2 away from her dream coming to fruition.

With the excitement of being able to get some cash, and some braces she raced off to her bedroom to place her much adored tooth underneath her pillow for the Toothfairy to find.

Later that night I was racing around getting the kids ready for bed, as always this is a crazy time of the day. The Mr. is most always working at this time, so I am left to get everyone's jammies on, brush teeth, read stories, say prayers, and tuck them all in. After all this is done, the first thing on my mind is the couch, second, the remote, and third, a glass of wine.

And that night was no exception.

I got the kids to bed, poured my glass of wine, found my show on Tivo I wanted to watch, and planted my butt on the couch. After a couple hours of relaxation, I made my way upstairs, put my jammies, on, brushed my teeth, and tucked myself into bed. Nighty night.

The next morning I woke up to my usual routine, raced downstairs to get breakfast on, and outfits ready for the day. Lucas came down the stairs and as I busied myself with getting him dressed Ava came running down the stairs yelling "Mom! Mom! The Toothfairy forgot about me! The Toothfairy did not come, she did not take my tooth, I don't have any money!"

Under my breath: "Shit." [Listen, I don't swear much, but in this case this was the first word that came to mind.]

I just started talking, making things up as I went as I really did not know what to say. How could the stupid Toothfairy [AKA Mom] forget?? So here is what I told her:

"Oh, honey. I totally forgot. the Toothfairy does not work on Friday nights. She takes that night off because she has to get home for a while."

"Why?"

"Well.... Because she has to drop off all of the teeth that she has gotten throughout the week. She just can't carry them around anymore as they get too heavy."

"Well when will she come?"

"She will be back to work tonight after she gets home and drops the teeth off. I promise."

"Where does she keep all those teeth in her house? Can she fit them all in there? That would sure be lots and lots of teeth."

Good Lord, look what I have started.

"Oh, she has a really big house and lots of room to store all the teeth. Plus all the little boys and girls teeth are so small so they don't take up a lot of room."

"Where does she live?"

"She lives in Toothfairy land."

I know, I know, bad answer. But heck, I don't know where the Toothfairy lives - this is the only thing I could come up with.

Thankfully she seemed to be satisfied with my answers, and dropped the subject. She ran back up to her room to once again, place her tooth under her pillow in the hopes that the Toothfairy would actually remember - ah, I mean be back from dropping off her tooth supply at home, and come to take her tooth.

Turns out she did remember. And to apologize for her not being able to make it on Friday, the Toothfairy decided it was only fair to leave her a little extra this time around - $3.00 to be exact.
Turns out Ava was quite happy with her $3.00,

and was quick to forgive the Toothfairy for not being able to make it on the actual day that she lost her tooth.

Once again, all was well in the world.

WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO...

The weather this weekend in the lovely midwest was, let's just say, less than desirable. It was freezing cold out, windy and snowing. Yes, snowing. It is only October 12th and we have already gotten a few inches of snow, which is so very depressing as if you live in the Midwest, or know of anyone from the area, you are aware of how long our winters can be.

This weather would have been managable if we were able to get out of the house, and do something, but that sadly that was not the case. Anthony is still getting over his cold, so I did not want to venture out anywhere with him. Plus, Dad was busy working all weekend, and trying to plan and carry out an outing by myself with the 4 kids can be trying to say the least. Because of all this, I was left stuck at home in the house with 4 kids for 2 straight days. Seeing that we have all pretty much been sick for the past 2 weeks, we have utilized all of our indoor fun things to keep everyone occupied. The kids are tired of all the board games, movies, video games, and toys we have in the house. They are tired of coloring, making crafts, and creating fun snacks out of whatever we can find in the fridge. Everything is boring to them, and frankly, I don't blame them.

Sunday afternoon rolled around and I found the kids moping about the house, slouched shoulders, looking grumpy and bored. I was racking my brain for some good ideas, something, anything to keep them occupied and happy. Anthony was easy, he had no problems gluing his face to his Playstation 2 Star Wars game for hours on end, so no worries there. Liv naps a lot and is content playing with her toys. It is Ava and Lucas that seem to always have to be entertained, and get bored so very easily these days. I thought, and thought and thought- nothing was coming to mind. While engrossed in all my thinking I did not even realize that Ava and Lucas were no longer in the same room as me, whining about how bored they were. This was strange. Not only because they had left the room without me giving them something to do, but that it was so very eerily quiet in the house.

What could they be doing?

I called out for them and got nothing. I checked the bathroom, playroom, even stuck my head outside to see if they had ventured out into the freezing cold. Still, nothing. I made my way upstairs to their bedrooms, and there they were.

Turns out they decided to do a little art project, a collage of sorts on their closet doors. What sort of Collage you ask? Well, a collage of various different pictures of women they had cut out of my Victoria's Secret magazine earlier today. I found women taped to both of their closet doors sitting in provocative positions wearing only skimpy panties and bras. I found some standing wearing nighties or other types of lingerie. Ava managed to cut out a few pictures of women who were actually clothed,

but Lucas, no. All of the ladies he chose for his collage were wearing next to nothing. Except for the girl in her sweatsuit.

They were very proud of their little art projects, and I do have to say I got a good laugh out of it.

MAKING THEIR LISTS, CHECKING THEM TWICE...

So as not to forget a single item that mean old Mom and Dad did not purchase for them, that they have been pining for over the past year.

Lists? What lists?

Their Santa lists.

Yes, Ava and Lucas decided yesterday that they needed to get going on making their lists for Santa. 'Cause, you know, it is only a mere 3 months away. I figured, why not? Let them have at it.

They made their way to the kitchen table, pen and paper in hand to start on their lists. They sat there nicely at the kitchen table, talking amongst eachother and coming up with things that they each wanted: "Oh, yes, that is right Ava, I did want that snowboard. Mooooooommmm!! How do you spell snowboard?" "Hey Lucas, I know, I want Ivy, Julie's Best Friend!! I totally forgot about that." "Oh Ava, and what about a fish, we both want a fish - maybe we could ask for 2. Moooommmm - how do you spell fish?" "Oh, oh, oh - I want a guinea pig! And let's write down a bulldog too, Daddy want's a bulldog."

It went on like this for some time, maybe an hour or so, and then they finally presented me with their lists that needed to be sent off to Santa.

[Miss Ava's list: Computer, Four Wheeler, Fish, Snowboard, Stuffed Animal Dog, Glow in the dark teeth (not sure where this came from), Whoopie cushion, Ivy - Julie's friend, Bulldog, Guinea pig.]

[Lucas' list: Snowboard, Nerf Gun, Four Wheeler, 2 fish, Glow in the dark teeth, Bulldog, Nerf Sword, Bow and Arrow.]

Yes, these were their lists. And I do have to say, there were some very odd, and very expensive items that they were requesting. But I said nothing - well, except for this: "Your lists look great! But just remember, Santa does not always bring you everything you ask for, and he never brings real, live animals." [I have a strict no animal policy in this house, I know, I am a mean, mean Mom, right?] All I got were some blank stares back in response to that question. I guess I did not have the heart to tell them the cold hard truth. That Christmas was not going to be like it has been. That we were not going to have as many presents under the tree, or goodies stuffed in the stockings as years past. Because well, Santa is just as much a part of this recession as your good old Mom and Dad.

Anyway, after I read them over, I was given some very specific directions. I was NOT to send those lists off in the mail - at least not yet. Why, you ask? Well, duh....They just could not think of everything they wanted right now, so they would be adding items to their lists at a later date. When they were officially finished, I would be given the O.K. to send them off to the North Pole.

Turns out my telling them that Santa won't be able to bring them everything on their lists did not sink in.

AN INSPIRATION

About a year ago I decided to start this blog. I had thought a lot about blogging for years before I actually started my own, as I knew a few friends who did it. I spent some time reading their blogs, and thinking about starting my own. But was not quite sure how I would make that happen. I envied these girls for finding the time to sit at a computer and journal about their day to day lives. It took time out of their day to day schedules but seemed well worth it to all of them. And of course, why wouldn't it? It seemed to be such a perfect gift to give their children, a book of sorts, that they were writing, that would one day be given to those children.

For quite a while I went back and forth on whether or not to start a blog:

I don't even know much about computers. I don't know anything about web design, or how to set up my own website. This seems sort of difficult, plus I am not sure I will find the time to write as much as I would want to. Maybe I will start it when the kids are older - but if I do that, then many of their early childhood memories, the cute stuff that happens on a day to day basis, will be lost over the years. Maybe I'll wait.

And I waited, until I came across this.

1 Killed, 2 Injured After Plane Crash
POSTED: 6:46 am MST August 19, 2008
UPDATED: 10:29 am MST August 19, 2008

MESA, Ariz. -- A small plane crash near the town of St. Johns has claimed the life of a Mesa man while seriously injuring two passengers, authorities said.
Douglas C. Kinneard, 48, was the pilot of a Cardinal Cessna that struck a utility power line before crashing into a woodpile in a residential neighborhood in St. Johns Saturday, according to City Manager Greg Martin.
Kinneard died from his injuries Sunday, authorities said.
Family members said Christian Nielson, a licensed pilot, and his wife, Stephanie Nielson, are in critical condition at the Arizona Burn Center at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix.
The parents of four young children, Stephanie Nelson has burns over 80 percent of her body; her husband is burned over 30 percent of his, family members told The Arizona Republic.
"We want prayers. We could use all the prayers we could get for them and their children," said Courtney Kendrick, Stephanie's sister.
Stephanie's family flew in from Utah to care for their daughter and her four children, ages 2 -6 years old.
"It'll be a long time before [the children] get to see their parents again, but through family and friends we're going to fill in there," said Cindy Clark, Stephanie's mother.
The Nielsons were flying back to Mesa from Grants, N.M., where they were on a weekend trip to a ranch Christian's family owns in the area.
Gary Platt, a worker at the airport, said the plane stopped for fuel and made its takeoff attempt around 3:45 p.m. Saturday.
Platt said witnesses said the plane wasn't able to gain much altitude before its right wing dropped, rolled and made a nosedive into the ground.
"People said the three in the plane struggled to get out and when they did they were running with their clothing on fire," Platt said.
Matt Hale, a relative of the pilot who lives in Utah, confirmed that Kinneard died Sunday night at the hospital.
The crash is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration. The site of the crash is about 18 miles west of the Arizona-New Mexico border.

After reading about the Neilson's story further, I found that Stephanie had a blog. So I stopped by that blog to read a bit. It turns out I did not really leave the computer much, except to sleep, take care of the kids, and go to the bathroom for a few weeks. I read, and read, and read.

Now I am not one that really enjoys reading about other people's cute kids, and the oh so funny and silly things they do. How their lives as Mom's are all rainbows and butterflies, or horrible, crappy and nothing short of doom and gloom. Actually this is one thing about blogging that I never understood. How all these people were so enthralled with other people's blogs. After reading Stephanie's I finally understood.

Shortly after reading her blog - actually within the week, I had worked my way over to blogger and started up my own blog. I was so inspired by her writing, and her story that I felt I just had to finally take the plunge into this blogging world.

So why do I bring all this up? Why talk about what inspired me to start blogging?

Well, because I was reminded of who inspired me yesterday. The Who? Mrs. Stephanie Nielson. She was on Oprah yesterday, talking about the plane crash, and her struggles and hardships she has endured having to deal with being burned over 80% of her body. Throughout the whole show I sat in amazement at how strong she seemed, how happy she seemed, how thankful she seemed to be alive and well.

Even though she does not read this blog, or even know who I am for that matter, I want to thank her for inspiring me to finally start my blog. But more importantly, I want to thank her for being such a strong, amazing woman, and for showing everyone out there that you can make it through and come out on top when faced with a tragedy such as hers.