A Little More Than Spilled Milk

I think I'm going to use Fridays to catch up on the past couple of months. Here's a good one for you. About a month ago, I was working on something and I heard Lexi scream out crying. This is what I found:
This bowl of Lucky Charms was on the counter, waiting for me to do the dishes. Lexi spotted it, wanted it and grabbed it. It was a little more than she bargained for!

At first she was really sad and upset that this happened to her.

But because I was laughing uncontrollably, she decided to join me. The marshmallow stuck to her forehead is hilarious!

Lucky it was so funny, because cleaning up the mess, not so much. Although I've had much practice thanks to another little monkey I know.

He is unsure whether he likes someone treading on his territory or not. He's used to being the only mischief in town.

Leprechaun Shenanigans

Last night when I went to check on the children at 10:45, T Jay was still wriggling in his bed, filled to the brim with excitement at the thought of another leprechaun encounter this St Patty's day. Well, he got one...
It appears that the little guy swiped some of my yarn and tied it to Summer's Barbie car and drove it all over the house, around furniture, outside, around trees, cars, swing sets and left us a nice St Patrick's day web! He seems to have crashed here and lost hi loot. His loss, our gain.

His escape route

He left us a note telling us that this would clean up his mess. It did not. Silly string makes the problem worse. And it makes little children shriek with joy!

The web out the front

Yep, we were up at 5:30 and ready for school! Thank you, leprechaun.

Matthew, armed with scissors to clear the way. After all of that work, the breakfast of champions.

Wait, he's still here...

Nope, it's just Lexi, enjoying her good fortune on this very lucky day!

Islands of Adventure

Hogsmeade Village

We decided to surprise the kids and take them to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of adventure. Jess has been working and travelling a lot, so we ended up going literally, on a "random Tuesday." Although it was not quite random enough and we were there with a bazillion other people!
On Monday night, we told the kids that we were going to Orlando to buy Daddy some work clothes. We didn't leave until 6pm, so I thought we might get questioned a little more. About half way there, Summer spoke up and said she thought we ought to get a hotel so we wouldn't have to drive back so late. Jess just told her, "okay, that's a great idea." An idea that was part of the plan all along! The kids asked us the next morning if they were going to miss school. Jess said they did miss their school at home, but that we were going to find a school in Orlando for them to go to. Immediatley, they all got shy and nervous and said they didn't like that idea. Jess just said that we would stop by and check it out and if they didn't like it, we could just go shopping. They all agreed to this and we set out to the park. As we pulled in to the parking area T Jay wondered why you had to pay to park at this school and that their school colors must be blue and yellow, because that's what all of the workers were wearing. Jess and I slyly smiled from the front seat. We finally told them as we were walking to the park that Hogwarts was the school we were taking them to. Cheers, excitement and relief came from Summer and T Jay. The younger two joined in on the celebration because that's what they do!

Wands at the ready as we made our way though Hogwarts.

Waiting for Jess to buy our Butter beers. He stood in line for 20-30 minutes for those drinks. Summer was not impressed with the amount of time that took. It was really good, though. Cream Soda like with some kind of cream on top. Yummy!


We moved on to the Dr. Seuss area which was surpisingly empty compared to Harry Potter. The kids had fun watching these storybook characters.

Matthew thought it was hilarious that Thing 2 was sitting in the stroller with him.

Green eggs and ham anyone?

This was the last ride that Jess took T. Jay and Summer on. Matthew was too short to ride, but he was told that he wasn't allowed to ride because he ran away from Jess. Is it cruel to do that. T Jay kept correcting me, "No Mom, he's just not tall enough." He was not getting my drift! They came off of this ride looking like they fell out at some point!

This was an extremely fun family day. Yesterday Matthew asked me if we could go back again the next day. He could not fathom why I said no.

Things that make you go hmmm...

Today has been interesting and uneventful all in one. Uneventful, because it's been raining and aside from a trip to the YMCA and the grocery store nothing is going on. Interesting because I have spent the bulk of my day with Matthew and Lexi. While watching Matthew bounce around the gym in his class, I started to feel really bad. I was in mid sentence with someone when I excused myself and practically ran to the bathroom. My mouth was watering so profusely it was hard to keep up. I was holding Lexi and standing in a stall wondering what in the heck was going on. As it got worse, I grabbed my hair. So I'm standing there in a public bathroom holding Lexi in one arm and my hair in the other hoping that the one person in there would leave a little quicker! Sure enough, I was there for a reason. It wasn't as violent as it is when I have a stomach bug, and I will say that of all the things to throw up, apple isn't that bad. Gross, I know, but I didn't know there was a difference. Lexi kept saying, "Momma puke, ha ha Lexi puke. No Momma puke" It was really funny. She acted like we do that all of the time! After a few seconds, the other lady in there asked if I was okay. I have never really been sick with any of my pregnancies, so this is all very foreign to me. I still get caught off guard when I feel sick. This is only like the second or third time, but I think, "Am I really going to throw up right now?" Sure enough.

On the way home from gymnastics, Matthew thanked me for choosing this planet. I'm not sure what you say to that, but I told him "your welcome" anyway. I would love a front row seat to the movie that is his thought process!
So to all of my friends and loved ones, Thanks for choosing this planet!

Explanations

So clearly the posts have been sparse, if nonexistent as of late. Having now shared the reason, I'll elaborate a bit. So yes, 5 will be our number. Crazy! But we've always been a little crazy around here, so why should this surprise us? Anyway, a bit about how I do pregnant. Usually there's not much to tell, each one being a little more tired, and maybe a short wave of nausea followed by an ever growing basketball belly. Carrying boys seems to make me more tired in the first trimester, and I always want sweets with the girls and salty and sour anything with the boys. This one has definitley kicked things up a notch! We found out about this little surprise act on New Year's Eve day. This news was quickly followed by a family bout with a stomach bug. The symptoms and the utter exhaustion never left me, until just about 2 weeks ago! My house was left to take whatever was dished out, and I just watched the effects from the couch. My kids never seemed to notice my self induced "vacation." Odd, huh? Anyway, so I clearly have had no energy to keep up with my home or my kids, so naturally the blog was at the very bottom of the totem pole that is my life! Well, I'm back and feeling better and playing catch up. Just in case any of you are thinking of taking a vacation from responsibilities any time soon, I am still playing catch up around here and it's been two weeks. I'm not sure I would recommend it.
In other news, I (and Jess) have thought/known I was having a boy from the beginning. I went in last week to have an ultrasound to verify my due date. While she was looking at everything, she asked me if she could see the anatomy, did I want to know what I was having? I felt a little guilty that neither Jess nor the kids were with me, but I told her, "I already think it's a boy, but sure." She smiled and nodded that it was a boy. It was VERY obvious that it was a boy! And at only 14 weeks, too! For those of you who think I'm awful for not waiting for Jess, he didn't care at all. Like I said, we already knew anyway, just nice to have proof. So there you have it. I have several things to post that we have been up to that last few months. Maybe I'll get to it, maybe I won't. Perhaps a weekly retro post will take care of it.
Today's agenda holds cleaning the upstairs and moving small furniture off of the carpet because Wednesday, we are having our carpets cleaned. We are going to Orlando tonight so that we can surprise the kids with a Day at Islands of Adventure to see Harry Potter world tomorrow! I'm looking forward to a family day.

So many Surprises, So early in the year...

The Valentine's cards we gave to the kids this year...
Here we go again!

Party of 6

On Wednesday night, Summer and I sat down and watched a little food network before I started making dinner. The Barefoot Contessa was on and she was making some amazing Italian dishes on the grill. Bruschetta, a salad with Fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, cucumbers and grilled veggies. By the time the show was over, we were both salivating over the dishes that she had made. I got up to decide what to make for dinner, and we had no fresh produce, no fresh mozzarella, no thawed meat-nothing. I decided to pack the kids up and take them to an Italian restaurant that wasn't too far away. I figured that Jess could meet us there as it was on his way home. Now, any of you who know me well, know that I don't like to go out to dinner with the kids unless it's for the early bird special. Anything later, and it's like trying to contain 4-6 wild, ravenous beasts (myself included) while we wait for our food (that is usually sub-par). I mostly feel I can make something better, faster, and with out trying to maintain my dignity and sanity in public with 4 hungry kids all while the elderly of the world look on. I was desperate for good Italian food. The place we went was really good. I ordered appetizers before we even sat down to pacify us all while we waited for our meals. The caprese appetizer was by far the highlight of the meal for me. For the kids, it was the battery powered candle on the table. We ordered too much food, and it was all delicious! I took the two little ones home with me, and Jess waited for the bill. When he got home, I asked him what the total was. He told me a number that was higher than I was expecting, so I assumed he was joking. A little later, I picked up the copy of the receipt that was on the counter. As I examined it, trying to decide why it was so much higher, I noticed that they had automatically added a 20% gratuity onto our check, and then Jess, not noticing that it had been added, put a tip on the bill when he signed it. What?! Why would they do that? I decided that I was going to call them the next day and find out if that was their policy. When I called, the owner answered the phone. When I asked him if it was standard to automatically add gratuity onto checks at their restaurant, he told me that on parties of 6 or more, that was standard. That as if 6 entrees are entered into the computer it automatically adds it on. I then asked him, even on families. I explained that I was there the night prior with my 4 kids and husband and gratuity was automatically added to our bill and the waiter was tipped twice. He told me that the server should have told us about that, and to bring our bill in and he would refund the extra money. I was happy with that solution. But seriously? Our family is large enough to fall into that category? Our "party" is so big we are in the "gratuity is automatically added" category? I wonder if it was happened before and we never thought to check for it. Crazy! 6 is all it takes now.