Happy Birthday Bud!

He's finally seven! I never really gave the age of seven much thought. It's not like five or ten or twelve...it's seven. So my son turned seven on April 16th and ever since that day I've looked at him differently. He seems more gangly, his arms seem longer and skinnier and just kinda out of place. His legs seem less coordinated and his torso is long and lean. But he's only seven! He's talking to me about recycling! He told me yesterday he needs to be more responsible, to which I replied, "Yes, you absolutely do!" He seems to be maturing daily. He's growing up. But he's only seven! He was talking about something yesterday and said something like "next year when I'm in second grade..." Wait just one second, you were just in kindergarten and now we're talking second grade? How did that happen exactly? I have had this dream of being a stay at home mom with all my kids in school all day forever. My house will be clean, spotless even. Dinners will be planned and made and ready to eat by 5:30. Laundry will always be clean, folded and put away. I can scrapbook for hours and nobody will try to steal my stickers. I have been looking forward to this for a very looooooong time. However, that time in my life seems to be right around the corner and now I realize life is going by way too fast. This house will be very quiet when both of the kids are gone all day. A lady from a bible study I attended read this poem outloud one day and I found myself crying at the end. The thought of a quiet house with no kids running in and out makes me sad. I want it so badly, but when I think about it as a reality I want to stop time and enjoy where I'm at today. This motherhood thing is a tough job! But I'm thankful every single day I was blessed enough to be able to experience it. Enjoy the poem.

One of these days you'll explode and shout to the kids, "Why don't you grow up and act your age?" ...and they will. OR: "You guys get outside and find yourselves something to do. And don't slam the door!" ...and they don't.

You'll straighten up the boys' bedroom neat and tidy -- bumper stickers discarded, bedspread tucked and smooth, toys displayed on the shelves. Hangers in the closet. Animals caged. And you'll say out loud, "Now I want it to stay this way.'' ...and it will.

You'll prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn't been picked to death and a cake with no finger traces in the icing, and you'll say, "Now, there's a meal for company.'' ...and you'll eat it alone.

You'll say: "I want complete privacy on the phone. No dancing around. No demolition crews. Silence! Do your hear?''...and you'll have it.

No more plastic tablecloths stained with spaghtetti. No more bedspreads to protect the sofa from damp bottoms. No more gates to stumble over at the top of the basement steps. No more clothespins under the sofa. No more playpens to arrange a room around. No more anxious nights under a vaporizer tent No more sand on the sheets or Popeye movies in the bathrooms. No more iron-on-patches, wet, knotted shoestrings, tight boots, or rubber bands for ponytails.Imagine. A lipstick with a point on it. No baby sitter for New Year's Eve. Washing only once a week. Seeing a steak that isn't ground. Having your teeth cleaned without a baby on your lap. No PTA meetings. No car pools. No blaring radios. No one washing her hair at 11 o'clock at night. Having your own roll of Scotch tape. Think about it. No more Christmas presents out of toothpicks and library paste. No more sloppy oatmeal kisses. No more tooth fairy. No giggles in the dark. No knees to heal, no responsibility. Only a voice crying, "Why don't you grow up?'' and the silence echoing, "I did."...Erma Bombeck

It's Monday

Ok, so here is how this morning went down...it all started at 2 a.m. when I felt this presence next to me in my bedroom. It was my 4 year old. She said she saw worms in her bed. Seriously, worms? She said she saw them and she couldn't sleep in her bed, she had to sleep in mine. So I walk her to her room to see these worms. She kept saying, "There they are mommy, I see them!" I tried to get her back into bed but she wouldn't budge. The screams of a 4 year old at 2 a.m. can wake the entire city, so I put her in my bed. For a little thing the girl takes up a lot, and I mean A LOT of space in bed. My husband finally took her to her own bed at 3 a.m. Between 2 and 3 I could hear the cats running and running and running! Needless to say I didn't get much sleep. Fast forward to 6:15 a.m. My 7 year old is awake, I'm awake and ready to hop into the shower because I have to be to work at 8.am. today. So I get in the shower, things seem to be going pretty good. Then my son and his friend are in his bedroom talking so loudly my daughter wakes up and she's screaming. Something has happened to her arm. She won't let me see it, she won't try and bend it. At this point she's screaming so loudly I'm afraid she's managed to break her arm. I quickly realize it's getting close to time for the bus to come. I yell at the boys to get ready. She's still screaming, I can her the boys arguing over who's getting ready the fastest. I've barely had time to finish my cup of coffee! I look at the clock and realize the boys are going to miss the bus. So I start screaming at them to hurry and I notice the bus going down the street. Bye bye bus. We missed you again. At this point I feel like I'm in a horror movie. So I throw the boys in the car, thank goodness I'm dressed and not in my pj's at this point. However, I have no shoes on. So we race down the road and catch the bus at the last second. My son gets out of the car and his friend shut the door on him. He's now screaming and the bus driver is sitting there waiting! Can this really be happening? I have to leave in 2 mins....so he sucks it up and gets on the bus. I get home and my duaghter is still sitting in her bed screaming. My dad and his wife are in town and are planning on watching my daughter while I'm at work. They are still sleeping and I'm down to 1 minute and counting. I can hear my dad's wife yelling at him to get up. He, ofcourse, has selective hearing and cant' hear her. She has arthritis and can't seem to get off the couch. I ran downstairs yelling at my dad to wake up. I turn on the lights and start shaking him. "Dad! Dad! Get up. I have to leave, Hannah is crying and Susan can't get off the couch!" I felt like such a parent. Total payback time! So my dad flies out of bed. I have NEVER and when I say never I mean never, ever, ever, seen my dad move that fast. He's up and out of the bed and trying to find his glasses. So I go up and get my daughter and tell her she has to get downstairs now because I have to leave. She's still crying. So I finally got out the door and still managed to have time to stop and get coffee and a muffin. And now I'm exhausted retelling the long, horrible story. Is it too early for an old fashioned?!!!

Sick kids

Ugh! I am so sick of sick kids. We've had strep throat so many times this past year I've lost count. A week or so ago my son was diagnosed again with strep throat. This afternoon my daughter was tired and took a short nap. She woke up with a fever of 100 degrees. My guess is it's strep throat. She said her mouth hurt. She didn't eat (totally unlike her). And she went to bed early, which is weird since she had a long nap. I will be so glad when illness has left the building. Luckily I've only gotten strep throat once. My husband must be immune, he never gets sick. I'm thankful to have a cushy job that has no real schedule. Looks like I'll be missing my regular Monday day at the office tomorrow. Hopefully I can get through the night without anyone waking me up crying or puking!

Wisconsin in the Fall

I love living in Wisconsin in the Fall. The colors are beautiful and the air is crisp. As a child my maternal grandparents took me to Wisconsin Dells every Fall. We'd look at the leaves, pick apples and take in all Wisconsin Dells has to offer. Oh, we also bought lots of cheese. Now I am a real, honest to goodness Cheesehead! I took these pictures last October while attending a woman's retreat with my sister-in-law. They really reflect the beauty that is Fall! We're turning the corner from one of the hardest, longest, snowiest Winters ever...we just got almost an inch of snow last night. Even though it's been a long Winter I'm already anticipating Fall.

It's black it's white...

This is a shot of my son and his cat outside. The eyes on this cat freaked me out a bit, but look very cool converted to black and white. The cat's name is Lion Head.

And now I'm singing ...it doesn't matter if you're black or white...by Michael Jackson. Man I miss those days.

16 is my favorite number

My favorite number is 16. The number 16 has many meanings to me. Firstly, I was born on January 16th. Secondly, my husband was born on December 16th. Thirdly, my son was born on April 16th. Lastly, my daughter was born on January 30th...where is the significance of 16 with that, you ask? Well, she was born on my aunt and uncle's 16th wedding anniversary. So I have adopted the number 16 as my lucky number. Whenever anyone asks me to pick a number I always pick 16. If I were to be lucky enough to be on Deal or No Deal, I would pick case #16. So, when it came to chosing a name for my blog it only seemed right to add the number 16 in the title.

The really funny thing, well to me anyway, is that I am terrible with numbers. Really, I am. I still count on my fingers. My almost 7 year old is better at math then I! I am really dreading the time, and I can feel it coming, when he asks me to help him with his math homework. I am preparing myself to look like a fool!