NO school Monday's...

Today was one of those days where more than one was not feeling good so they ALL stayed home SICK! You see last night out of the blue while at a CHRISTmas performance Lindsey threw up multiple times. Right there at the end of the pew in front of a packed church! It was bad! Luckily my 20 year old cousin came to our rescue & cleaned it all up. What else that I found amazing was that not one other person got up once she did it. They all just went along watching the performance! WOW! I really don't know why she threw up or where it came from but she did so there would be no school for her today. Well it seems that Avery did not want to be outdone by her sister because she too threw up on the ride home. Sigh... I just hope it ends with her! I could tell it was going to be a LONG night!

I prepared them like my mom always did us by placing a "puke bucket" by their heads & lined the edge of the bed with towels. If they were going to threw up again I was ready! I have to admit that before they actually fell asleep Linz threw up one last time on of all things her "Patty"! I think she was SO tired from throwing up that she didn't even care that she had to fall asleep without her! I checked on them a few times before I went to bed & they were all fast asleep! YAY! Apparently over night Avery threw up one last time, a small bit, but none the less I had to wash ALL the bed linens! She was clingy & not herself all day! I guess the silver lining in all of this was that none of them had any fevers! I decided to keep to the BRAT {Bananas, Rice, Apples & Toast} diet just in case they were not really over this illness. All things bland were my friend today. The one EXTRA thing I let them assist me in doing was making cut out sugar cookies. Boy was that a mistake! The darn cookie dough stuck to EVERYTHING!

In the end I was better off making our designs by hand! I made each of their letter's, the B & the A were "interesting"! Heck I even made a snowman without even trying! LOL! They were SO excited! From mixing the batter to cutting out the first cookie to seeing them bake in the oven it was quite an experience! There's nothing like...

NO school Monday's...

my ear hurts mommy...

These are the words that have spread like wild fire across this house the past two weeks. It seems that just when we get a child well another one gets sick. sigh... Yes two of them had ear infections at different times but are they really getting each other sick? I mean an ear infection is not contagious. One child said their ear hurt & after being checked it was A OK. SO what is this mommy to think? The minute they said "I want to go to the Doctor Mommy", I got suspicious. You see most children do NOT like going to the Doctor even if they are under the weather. I started thinking of what they LOVED about their Pediatricians office. Here's the list I compiled...

1. She is one of the nicest Doctors we know. She's always explaining what she is doing so not freak them out.

2. She has a HUGE chalkboard painted on the wall in the waiting room for them to draw on. VERY cool! Check out the person Cam drew!



3. They give out stickers & lollipops after each appointment. Who wouldn't LOVE that!



That's it!! It has to be the lollipops! No child can pass up a goody! (= Not that they don't love Dr Mahoney but I really do think they like getting the treat! Hmm... I think I am going to pay closer attention the next time they say...

my ear hurts mommy...

a day off with Daddy...

I must say that we LOVE it when we have our Daddy home with us mid week. Such a treat that does NOT happen that often! The only bad part of this equation is the reason he is home, he is sick. In fact we both are sick. He is worse off than me & for him to take a sick day is a feat within itself. He by far is the WORST patient ever! When he is feeling under the weather he is like my sixth child! ugh! {Do you think that is why God chose women to give birth instead of men? hmm...} (= So even though it is nice having him here it really isn't much fun! We made him some of my Uncle's famous "Greek Soup". SO SO yummy & great to eat when you are sick! Nothing like chicken soup when you are feeling ucky!

Now if I could just get some of my "to do" list accomplished I'd be a happy camper. Never seem to get those "things" accomplished so I am going to try & sneak a few things in today. It's a rarity to have an EXTRA set of hands, especially ones belonging to Daddy, that I better take advantage of it. Even if Daddy has to "watch" them while lounging on the couch I AM CLEANING TODAY! There is SO much crap to sift through and get rid of. Sigh... It seems that we have an over abundance of "stuff". Especially with Christmas & their birthday coming up! We need to de clutter! They will not even know what they are missing! Right? I just need to get their Daddy to assist me in this activity. That is going to be difficult! ugh! If he can keep them occupied long enough for me to accomplish my goal I'll be SO happy! Oh to have...

a day off with Daddy...

could a day be any longer?...

Today has been one ROUGH day! In a matter of a few days I came down with something similar to the flu. I ache ALL over, have a fever & my cough is TERRIBLE! I feel like someone is standing on my chest when I cough. Sucks to be me! My Dr finally called some meds in for me so hopefully I will be on the mend soon! Bad part is that it seems that Cam & Bren have caught it too! I know it will not take long for the plaque to infect the other two! ugh! Let's just say if I could I would have stayed in bed ALL day I would have! To make my plight a little better I tried something new. I did an early morning nap, something the tribe has not had in like a year! All seemed good when they went right down at 1045. No crying or craziness, just peace & quiet! There I was in bed "resting", ahhh... That was until Mr B woke up around 1130 wailing. Remember, he is the sickest of the bunch! I carried him into our room & he laid there content as could be next to his mommy! Awh... If I wasn't SO sick I would have taken a picture! LOL! We ended up lounging in there for about an hour until lunch time. I could actually make lunch for all of us without interruption because the girls were still sleeping! They slept for about 3 hours! CRAZY! This late morning nap may be worth something after all! LOL! The only downfall was that they were wired ALL afternoon. That rest gave them more energy to get into even more trouble! Like I said it was a BAD day! To make matters worse Daddy is leaving me alone tonight due to a meeting he has to attend. I literally want to put us all to bed right after dinner! Wonder if they would even notice the time change, hmm... All I know is that come bed time I will be saying...

could a day be any longer?...

kicked OUT of the house!...

Today I took the tribe on an afternoon adventure. It was really just running errands but I always bill it as something "SPECTACULAR" to them so they will get excited! We were sort of kicked out of the house due to Daddy being sick. He has the flu or something close to it, feels yucky & was in a foul mood! He could not take their abundant energy or whines any longer! When he is sick you better stay clear of him or else! hehee. I needed to get the tribe out of dodge before they really ticked their Daddy off! He ROARED & we fled! LOL! We needed to drop off his RX at the local pharmacy so that was stop #1. To go anywhere you have to drive like 20 miles so they spot cars as I drive. This has become one of their favorite activities! It seems that EVERYWHERE we go they are always on the hunt for certain cars. Like Grandma's car, Mommy's car, I never get that one because we are always IN it! LOL! Then there's Vinny's car (My mom's neighbors son) & Daddy's car, they both drive a truck. I guess it's better that they don't yell out their version of "truck" so we just say car. It is SO cute how they can spot their car's a mile away. They only do this with these four types of vehicles. Weird huh? We, I mean I, decided to do a little shopping. If we needed to waste some time why not at a store? LOL! We needed to waste some time & stay FAR away from home. SO there we were at Home Goods. This is one COOL store! First off I have to plead with the company to get some bigger shopping carts! Not accomodating for multiples in the least! I had all 4 of them crammed into the SMALLEST cart ever! I whipped out my stash of chocolate & they soon forgot how crammed they really were! hah! I do think seeing 4 kids in a tiny shopping cart was even more of a spectacle than our BIG blue quad stroller! We got a few stares & MANY comments! (= I really LOVE Home Goods! They have SO many neat home decorating things & best of all they are cheap! I even found us a 5th Anniversary gift, funny because we just celebrated our 6th Anniversary! LOL! We had wanted a BIG wooden bowl since wood is the gift for the fifth anniversary. I scored a HUGE one at a GREAT deal! Now on to Iron which is the gift for your sixth! hmm... At this particular store they are attached to a Marshall's. So I had housewares on one side & my next favorite thing, clothes & purses on the other! Needless to say I got some of my Christmas shopping taken care of today! We stayed later than expected & started to venture into the nap hour. These kids of ours need their nap! When they need sleep they get CRANKY! I think I pushed my shopping excursion to the limit & we needed to head home. The tribe has this new game they like to play regarding where they sit. The "twins" will rush the door & grab the two front seats, Camryn & Brendans normal seats, and then start buckling themselves in. YAY for helping mommy BUT this is when the fight begins about their seating assignments. Again I turn into a referee. Brendan starts whining about how he wants HIS seat and after TOO many bad experiences with one of the twins harassing or harming him I agree. No "twin" sits next to Mr B! SO to stop the crying & commotion I tell Cam that I need her to sit next to him because she will "love" on him. I could tell that she really wanted Avery's seat in the back but she obliged me. Everyone gets buckled into their proper seats & we're off! We get about a block down the road when what does Cam do but try to grab her brothers arm. She is SO smart. I think she figured if she also treats him bad she won't be made to sit next to him in the future. She has another thing coming because I am on to her! LOL! Despite Daddy being sick it was fun running errands with the tribe even if we were...

kicked OUT of the house!...

not feeling SO ucky!

This past weekend was pretty full! I thought I was being smart by working a TON of hours the weekend so I would not have to work the weekend of the reunion. (Working part time to keep my benefits I have to work 40 hours every 2 weeks). Well, It all backfired & I am now sicker than a dog. I think I have caught thee worst cold from either wearing myself too thin OR from being drenched by a BAD rainstorm during my brother in law's wedding. We ALL got soaked. The kids loved playing in the puddles & getting wet! I am sure that if asked they will tell everyone that it was the COOLEST wedding ever! LOL! I just wanted the sky to clear up & for my hair/clothes to be dry! hehee! On the way home Michael & I said we needed a HOT shower & warm bed! Then I added that I just wanted to sleep, sleep, sleep. By the time we got to my mom's my throat felt worse, my nose was getting runny & I was feeling ucky! I would have given anything for some Nyquil! That stuff really works! I have started using this "new" thing Dr Oz talked about on Oprah, a Neti Pot. It works wonders too! It is this little tea pot looking thing that you put really warm salt water in & then pour up your nose. It sounds gross & some people ask why would you INTENTIONALLY put salt water up your nose!? LOL! It really does the trick! I'm kind of addicted to it! Now if I could just sleep I would be all set! This weekend will not be any better in the schedule dept. We are attending my 2nd cousin Dylan's Barmitzvah. He turned 13 & it is one BIG party. This event has been planned forever & Dustyn cannot wait to go. Heck we want to go too! I just hope that I will feel better by then! I think we have the child care covered since we will have my good friend Debbie, her daughter Jackie & my nieces Katie & Sarah watching them. 4 babysitters for 4 kids! Trying to prepare all the stuff you need for a night out is a lot of work. I had to line up babysitters months ago! The babies will love having all of the attention & they will not have their schedule interrupted, YAY! So for the next few days I am going to rest up, eat well, take plenty of vitamin C & hopefully by Saturday I will be...


not feeling SO ucky!