where to begin, we had quite a week last week....

we spent some time out in the snow and on the lake. we cleared a path on the ice, and i would lay the kids on it on their bellies and slide them. they thought it was hilarious. and wren especially loved it. she slides really far :)





koa's christmas program-





which was the morning after tyden and shaeya's. and we went straight from her program to ty and shaeya's party. and that was the end of school. yay!

dave and i went out one night for my birthday. so wonderful!!!!!

the girls and i did some painting-



















all fun and wonderful....and then we got hit.
with puking and diarrhea right before all the christmases. all 3 girls got it, and i was very busy cleaning up after them and holding them and stressing over what to do about the 3 christmas parties we had yet to attend.

in the end we went anyway, lovingly spreading our germs....sorry everyone!!!!
i truly hope no one gets it from us!!!
but it would be totally worth it if you did, right?? for the pleasure of our company at the parties???

so on christmas eve i climbed in bed feeling very tired and happy that the kids seemed to be getting better. 2 parties down and 2 to go (counting our own.)

and then my first gift on christmas morning was from my girls. merry christmas to me.
i was up half the night in pure misery and wanting to just die and be done with it.

by some miracle by the time the kids woke us up at 7 i was feeling a little better and made it through the day on christmas.
only to be hit again the next morning.
but at least i got to be a part of things on christmas day.




























this is where wren goes when she needs some alone time. i crack up every time.
see her feet?











smile, dave, i'm sure i'm not infecting you with my germs :)

after our own christmas we had my family's christmas.
we played 'deal or no deal' with $ from my parents. hilarious. we were playing for up to $150. some ended up with a hundred or a little over, but my sister and i ended up with $10 each. which my brothers thought was terribly funny. too bad for them my parents just couldn't let things stay that uneven in the end :)

so.....yesterday dave and the kids and i spent a quiet day at home. dave got to spend lots of good quality time with the kids as i was pretty much out of commission.

and then today.
today i am feeling better and actually able to eat.
sadly, dave is back to working all day and all evening everyday.
shaeya has been in bed all day with a fever, and wren just woke up from her nap with one.

we have a blessedly empty schedule this week. nothing to do but play with new christmas toys and recover from all the sickness.
my plan is to get in lots of quality time with the kids cause i am leaving them all for the first time in just 2 and 1/2 weeks!!!
i am very excited, and a little nervous.....

the 2 piles that are steadily growing.....





don't judge my tree. i let the kids decorate it this year.
they think it is beautiful, and i didn't have to do it.
and my nice ornaments are packed away in a box somewhere.

here are a few house pictures-









dave gave me my birthday present on sunday. an ipad.
i LOVE it. and so do my kids.
they spend a lot of time doing this- :)



....while wren quietly gets into their stuff.



her latest is "WHHHHY??"
it's so cute. (at this point)
she says something like "i want candy."
and when i say no, she instantly cries out "WHHY?"
she has no clue what 'why' means, but if the other kids do it then she should do it too, right? :)

here is a short video of tekoa. i let her try out the jumping thing at the mall.
she had the time of her life, and she keeps asking to go back and do it again.
"does grandma go to that mall? she needs to see me do that. or daddy? does daddy go to that mall?"




so.....
teacher gifts - done
christmas shopping - done
wrapping (and rewrapping) the gifts - done (for now)

christmas cards - mostly done

christmas songs - almost ready to perform
baking - not even close
laundry - way behind
house - falling apart at the seems

tomorrow we give out 5 gifts to people at 2 different schools, we have tekoa's christmas party in the morning, music at ty and shaeya's school in the afternoon, then a big family christmas with my dad's family here at the barn in the evening.

if i get to bed before midnight, and if i can somehow work in a shower and some coffee in the morning i should be allright....

so....turns out the haircut isn't as ugly as i once thought. i'm getting used to it and i am definitely not complaining about how much easier it is to do.





in other news- i have a new nephew! dave's sister jenn just had her 3rd baby- eliseo gonzalez.
he is so cute! and so little and soft....
i once said that i would ALWAYS wish it was me whenever someone had a new baby.....but i think that maybe being a single mom of 4 for 6 months is taking it's toll on me.
i actually don't think that i wish it was me. i don't think.... :)
but he is awfully sweet. can't wait to hold him again!



and i also have to confess that i reached my limit last week. something had to give- it was either the cats or the kids.....
i felt really bad for returning them but i had cleaned up kitty diarrhea for 5 days.
i had given them rice cause i read that that would help their stomachs, and then they were squirting out rice poop....waaay too much for me.
and the day that tekoa had rice chunks on her arm and wren got into the litter box completely sealed the deal.
i am officially done with kittens forever, and officially the world's cruelest most heartless mother.
and i am COMPLETELY OKAY with that.

christmas chaos is in full swing and i keep getting waves of overwhelmedness, but i just keep reminding myself that "i can only do the best i can do" :)
with 4 kids (times 3, cause a few others need me to get gifts for my kids from them) 11 nieces and nephews, a goddaughter, a few siblings, and 10 teachers to shop for; 100 christmas cards (i'm cutting back on cards this year- if you don't get one it has nothing to do with you. i mean probably not) to get out, 6 christmas events, 3 kids christmas parties, and 3 christmas programs to attend and including bringing food and gifts to each event i am officially busy.

oh yea, and i turn 30 somewhere in the midst of all that.
i have huge plans for that night. i will not only be attending an elementary school christmas program but leading the kids in a performance of few christmas songs.

don't like wishing christmas away, but my sights are completely set on our mexico vacation which is only 5 weeks away!!!!
i still can't believe we are really leaving the new house and kids behind for 6 days!!!
i can hardly even imagine what that will be like....





been forgetting to take pictures of the house but hopefully i'll take some this weekend.
the back porch has a roof and dave's been working on framing the inside and electricity.
and we're trying to pick out tubs, showers, and faucets in our spare time :)

the dreaded day has finally come.
i've known it was coming.
i just wasn't prepared for how angry and sad i would be.

i have seen it happen to others and have always thought it was so funny when it was them. i have even greatly enjoyed retelling other people's stories about it.

I AM NOT LAUGHING TONIGHT.

my daughter chopped her own hair off. i'm sure you cannot guess which daughter.....
her beautiful, long, silky, blonde hair.







my plan tonight was to trim shaeya's hair.
i bathed tekoa first and then put her in a pull up for bedtime. it was while i was helping shaeya wash her hair that tekoa got out the scissors and cut her own.

i walked in on her doing it and let out a yell that could have probably been heard for miles.
i don't think i have ever been so angry at a child.

i had to give her an ugly short haircut. i hate it.
and i will be real honest here and say that it wasn't the gentlest haircut i've ever given.......



and while i was cutting tekoa's hair wren did this to herself-





then while i was finally trimming shaeya's hair tekoa did this-







and then this-



i probably don't need to say that it has not been a good night here.
lots of crying and not only from the kids....
and tekoa has been wailing, "i want my mooooommy" through it all.
like i'm not right here fixing her hair and scrubbing off her marker and cleaning up her cereal.

it's nights like these that i'm wondering where their father is and WHY are we building a house again???

oh, and also....remember those 2 cute kittens?
well, we have 2 kittens and 2 cases of extreme diarrhea.
ready to throw in the towel- anyone want them?
and a short haired little girl to go along???

TRANSLATION:
"mom, i lied to you. please do not get mad at me. shaeya."
she definitely knows how to work the system, doesn't she??

here's one of tekoa's finer moments. this is especially for you, grandma :)
she is such a beautiful little princess, isn't she??



thought you'd all appreciate me posting that picture. and by some miracle none of it ended up on her sleeve or my shirt...

so......i've been avoiding the subject of our cat.....i've been a bit too embarrassed to admit that we have lost yet another.
everything was going FINE until we left for gulf shores.
she was living in the garage with the door open a little so she could get in and out, and dave was coming home every night so i thought she'd be fine.
well....we left and then so did she. we haven't seen her since.
and IT IS ALL MY FAULT. just so everybody's clear on that.
i cannot convince my kids that cats are made to live outside.

but yesterday we picked up kitty #3 and #4.
we are giving it one more try. with 2.
(my aunt convinced me that if anyone needed a replacement kitty it was us.)
we made them a room in the basement and these guys will probably stay down there until we move.
and so far everything's going great. i've hardly seen my kids since we brought them home.







it's been a good thanksgiving weekend.
and it's been made even better by the fact that dave has had a few guys helping him out this weekend so there is a lot getting done on the house.
yesterday the shingles were delivered and they spent the day shingling and setting more windows. can't wait to get out there and see!

what a weekend. where shall we begin?

the fun started on wednesday with a trip to the mall to gear myself up for all that was to come.
i have not invested much time or $ in to my wardrobe in the last 10 years because i am one of those people who gains 500 pounds when i'm pregnant. so i've been on this up and down weight gain/loss cycle for a looooong time.
i've been every size on the racks over and over.

but now that we're pretty sure we're done with pregnancy, and i'm getting close to being where i think i normally am, i decided it was time. that and the fact that i had a big weekend to prepare for.

so i took my 2 little ones to the mall with the intention of doing some major spending. i walked into the first store and started pulling clothes off the racks.
i had a pretty good pile in my arms when i heard a huge crash followed by wails of pain. i looked up to see my baby still in her stroller but face down on the tile floor- somehow tekoa had pushed the whole thing over forward.
i quickly dropped all the clothes to run and help, but by the time i got there tekoa was already pulling on the stroller and wren was dangling by her buckle.
once i got the stroller upright and wren out of it both girls were sobbing and clinging to me. i sat there on the floor with them for quite sometime with clothes strewn everywhere and all the store employees trying not to look at us.
needless to say i didn't get very far that day in my quest for a new wardrobe.

then came thursday which was a day to remember. an all day long 30th birthday event for my friend abby. it was a surprise orchestrated by her husband that included a limo, shopping, pedicures, dinner, and a long lost friend from england. :)
so fun. a wonderful and much needed break for me.
and shopping advice from the experts :) thanks girls!

friday started with a thanksgiving feast at the kids' school. okay the actual start to my day was my wake up call from wren at 6:30. she was in her crib screaming, "LET GO!!!" over and over. i got up to see what was going on and discovered that she had both her chubby little thighs wedged in between the bars of the crib and was yelling at her crib to let go. :)

so thanksgiving at school, a little more shopping, and then my monthly girl's night out with my cousins.
let me just say that it's not easy to arrange for sitters for 2 days in a row. but THANKS to everyone who helped (there were 5 total.) it was so wonderful and i appreciated the break so much.

then came saturday. all i wanted to do was sleep but i dragged myself out of bed, got the kids up and ready and we headed to the new house.
and it was a really fun day. the kids were SO GOOD. the 3 older ones actually played together and wren took a 3 1/2 hour nap in the van.
the weather was perfect especially since we had a fire going all day, and we got so much done. i gave the house a good cleaning and helped put on tyvek and then we set 3 windows. windows!!!!!!

this is the house on tuesday-









this is saturday.
see those windows??



and see that plank in between those ladders? i had to sit on that plank holding the huge roll of tyvek while dave pulled the ladder and plank away from the house so i could roll the tyvek behind it. scary (SO much higher than it looks, okay?) but fun.



see the window on the left? so exciting- that is wren's room :)



well, i think that pretty much catches things up. looking forward to thanksgiving with dave's family on thursday- my family is in florida without us :(- and friday is an extra day to work on the house :)
let's get this thing done already!!!