Inquisitive 3 year old...

It's Monday morning...nice ease into the hectic week as Matt takes the kids to the bus and I get about 30 minutes or so before the littles start creeping out of bed.

I literally had the following conversation with my 3 year old about 5 minutes ago...
Livi asks, "Momma, what is in the cemeteries?"
Me, "dead people".
Livi:  "Are they coming back to life?"
Me, "No, their bodies stay there and some people believe they go to heaven".
Livi: "Is Jesus a Zombie? Lola said he died and came back. Isn't that what a zombie is?"


Serious...no, for real, serious conversation I just had...What would you say?? It's too early on a Monday to be having these deep conversations with someone, let alone a 3 year old...often I find myself thinking..."What the..."

So I responded, "I don't know Olivia. I guess that's what zombies are...but zombies are made up. They're just on TV." She seemed okay with that and walked off to continue playing with Mads. I know it'll come up again. Her brain is always stirring...

I've recently started drinking coffee...I thought it would awaken me and keep me "on my toes"...apparently, I wasn't born to be a coffee drinker. I'm either still dragging or my eyeballs are shaking from left to right waiting to burst out of my head and I can't focus and wanna do nothing but lie down and take a nap because I have a headache.

...now Livi, on the other hand, just walked by and took a sip of my coffee...
hmmm...that might explain a bit...

(cut away to a Starbucks commercial...)

They said, 'what'...?

My kids say the funniest things...

Earlier this evening, this actual conversation took place:

Niko: "mommy, were you a cheerleader when you were little?"
Me: "Yes"
Niko: "you were?!! That means you were pretty!"
Matt: "she's STILL pretty, Niko"
Niko: "oh yea! You're pretty now but when you were a little girl, how come you looked Chinese?"
Me: hahahahahaha!!!!! "what do you mean?"
Niko: "well, you know how there's pictures in Lola's basement with Uncle Neil playing football? Well there's a picture of you standing next to auntie crystal and you look Chinese!"
Me: still laughing...I know EXAcTly which pic he's talking about!!
"Niko, ask Lola why she cut my hair like that"
Niko: "yea, promise me you won't ever cut your hair like that again!"
Hahaha!!!!!

And then earlier, I witnessed Sophie sitting on the couch watching tv picking her nose...
Me: "hey, what's in there? You digging for something?"
Sophie: barely looks at me "gold. I'm digging for gold"
And goes back to watching tv

And tonight before bed...

I'm layingvwith Madi...
She's sucking on her fingers, sniffing her blanket...I was curious so I asked her to close her eyes...
I put my blanket up to her nose and asked if it was her blankie...she said no
I put her blanket up to her nose and asked "is THIS your blankie?" she just smiled...
So I laughed at her...
I asked, What does your blankie smell like?"
Madi: "happy! See...my hands are happy!"

Hahaha!!

(cut away to a Cash for Gold commercial...)

I'm a lover AND a fighter...

isn't that how the saying goes?? It's been an emotional and mental roller coaster around here these past few days...
Hmm...where shall I begin??
Some unexpected things came up with Hazel Brown Designs...I won't go into detail at this time, however, I am dealing with it and while it's a HUGE annoyance, I have contacted who I need to contact and will continue to march on.
While dealing with said annoyance, I spent several hours on the phone instead of tiring my kids out and enjoying the day with them before the 1st day of school. The leg on my kitchen table fell off...yup, was trying to move it over so I could fit the baby's jumperoo through the back door and it just fell off. It's a new table!! Well, fairly new. I told you, that's part of the fighter in me...I'm like Hercules.
Then, I tried to get some work done in between phone calls but it didn't last for long because I realized my iron was broke...didn't want to work.
Did I mention my awesome husband who works for an awesome company came home like a superhero to fix the table, work from home, and help keep the kids quiet so I could have some grown up phone conversations to deal with previously mentioned annoyance (please see above, I know, details will come later).
I realized yesterday at 6pm that dinner was not ready and I had neglected to go to the grocery store as Niko will be spending his first FULL DAY of school today and I needed to pack his lunch. So my wonderful and supportive husband ran to McD's to pick up dinner for 7. I broke down and cried at the though of having to pack his lunch...ridiculous, I know...but if you know my son, his energy level functions at a 9 for a good chunk of the day, and Lord knows he eats and asks for a snack at least 12 times before noon, so trying to think up what would keep him satisfied at lunch until 2:45p when he walks through the door was kind of challenging. Well, uh, yea, THAT and the though of not having him around for lunchtime was kind of...sad...ughh...here come the tears...hold on...

OKAY! So fast forward, got the lunch packed, got his school bag ready, laid out his clothes, slept like a baby! I was exhausted.

This morning, I managed to get them out the door and to the bus stop and snapped a few shots...

Ahh...the traditional "Stand by the front door" back-to-school shot...

Walking to the bus stop, praying that Niko makes a wise decision to stay out of the sprinklers!!

The gang...

Getting on the bus...I didn't even cry...

That's right! I didn't cry...I cried the night before thinking about lunches...and earlier in the morning when he told me he wanted to walk to the bus stop alone. Somebody please freeze time...now...PLEASE!!

Now with all that said, I will continue to work on this annoyance today, I have a photo shoot to prepare for on Sunday for Hazel Brown Designs...the little models will be ready so it sure would be nice if I could have their clothing ready, get emotional as Sophie will have her kindergarten preview tomorrow and her first day on Friday, get the house cleaned so I can have people over to celebrate Mom's birthday...hmmm...if you need anything, DON'T CALL ME!!

Okay, and last but not least, some wonderful people whom I don't even know helped me out a ton yesterday. Thanks to them and to the great friends, old and new, who got me in touch with them....and to my awesome husband who always has my back. In the whole scheme of things, I really do feel blessed to be surrounded by some terrific people...and when all is said and done...they are what's important...not some stupid annoyance...

(cut away to your favorite children's clothing designer commercial...hmmm, say, a Hazel Brown Designs one! : )

7 days and counting...

Holy cow! Is it already time to go back to school!!? The kids start up next week. I have yet to get Nikolas a school bag and lunch sack. I know, I'm such a procrastinator. I swear, I had more time left! The kids have been spending the summer in the pool...we got a metal framed intex pool...so bigger than their blow up kiddie pool but smaller than a "real" pool and not too difficult to maintain. They love it! Nikolas, Sophie and Livi took 2 weeks of swim lessons and the 2 older ones are swimming now! Olivia is still a bit hesitant to try but still loves the water. It has been such a hot summer that it's been great. I was just telling Matt that the kids hadn't even been on the swing set at all since we got the pool.

Here's some pics of my little water babies...

The girls at swim lessons...

Even Fi enjoyed the water!...

(Cut away to a Little Swimmers commercial...)

Lookin' good...

Niko has been wanting to cut his hair short like Daddy. I haven't let him because I love his hair longer with curls. Well, summer has a crazy way of getting you to do things you wouldn't normally do or allow...
so...I find myself gobbling down my lunch, Matt running out the backdoor with clippers and calling Niko to follow...
Matt strategically places a chair out in the yard directly in my view and I go running out back. Now it may seem as if I had no idea he was gonna do this. I don't wanna steer you wrong. Niko brought it up over lunch, I looked at Matt and said "Well, I guess. But do it outside. I don't want that mess in the house!"...and then yes, in the blink of an eye, they were outside.

And this is where I start thinking, "uh oh...what was I thinking?"...

Look at all his hair!! It looks like little hamsters in the yard!

 

We thought he could sport an "original" side mohawk but he wasn't going for it...

Here he is...just getting cleaned up...he looks like a little man : (

So I laughed and laughed because I think now he TOTALLY looks like a mini-Matt. Well, Niko LOVES that he's daddy's little sidekick and he says, "Daddy, Daddy...do you know who's calling you?" and Matt says, "Who?" and Niko answers, "Junior!" haha...
He tells me he's gonna keep his hair like this even when he's a daddy. He tells me he never wants to grow his hair and have curls ever again. I'm not gonna argue with him. I'm gonna let him enjoy it. But between you and I, being his mommy and all, I think curls are in his future!

(cut away to a Fantastic Sam's commercial...are those still around??)

Wedding weekend and then some...

Some pics from Apple & Ray's wedding this past weekend.

Niko and the girls were great! Niko loved wearing the tux...when we went to the bridal shop to pick it up, he tried it on and said, "Wow! I really do look like James Bond!" hahaha...the kids is funny. He's been watching James Bond movies with Lolo. Olivia wanted to dance all night, Sophia thought the music was too loud and Madi passed out soon after dinner and slept in the stroller with the music bouncing off the walls!

Last week, Sophie had her professional pictures taken with a photographer in the city. Her comp cards should be done soon and we'll be submitting to the local modeling agencies. She really surprised me with how she handled everything. She didn't fuss over hair and make-up...by the 3rd outfit change, she knew how to take her shirt off without getting make-up on it and seemed to feel at home and comfortable. We'll see what happens!

Ahh....a few weeks into summer and it's finally starting to feel like it. We'd been busy with weddings and had family visiting so we've enjoyed not having any schedules or things to do these past few days. Niko has a follow up with the orthopaedic surgeon for his arm and if all is well (which he's pretty much gained full movement and rotation of his arm) he'll be done with PT.

Let the playdates commence and the backyard bbq's begin!!

(cut away to a Banana Boat Sunscreen commercial...)

A few of life's lessons...

It's been a pretty eventful week...and it's only Wednesday...and I'm emotionally spent.

Nikolas got his cast off. He will be doing PT for the next 3 weeks. He's only been to one session but he has exercises to do 3x's daily. He's working so hard and doesn't put up a stink when I tell him it's time to do his exercises. When he's done with his reps, he gives me 5 more good ones. He really wants his arm to be like it used to be. Yesterday he was out on the back patio drawing with chalk. He seemed to be doing fine and then just busted out into tears. He said, "I just want my arm to work like it used to." Whew...take a deep breath. It's frustrating for me to see my kids like that.  Matt asked me if I was a superhero what would my super power be...I said, to be able to think something and snap my fingers and it would happen. I said, when Nikolas came to me crying at the backdoor, I would've wished for him to be okay and for no broken bones and POOF, he'd be fine. But Matt reminded me that if he never falls, he'll never learn to get back up. He's such a wise man, isn't he?
Well, yes, as a mother, it's easier said than done. I could stand there all day and pick up the pieces for my kids, kiss their boo-boos and wipe their tears away. But I want them to grow up and be self-sufficient, have great self esteem, be self thinkers and be able to thank me later for loving them lots and lots and letting them fall and helping themselves up...knowing always in the back of their mind that I'm their #1 fan. Whew...and he's only 6. It's gonna be a loooong road! haha...a great one, at the very least!!

Then came Sophie's graduation...from pre-school, that is...

We were just doing this last year for Niko. And here we are one year later and it's Sophie's turn. Time sure does fly!! At the ceremony, the owner of the school said a few words including something to the effect of their childhood school years flying by and soon we'd be sitting at their high school graduation. That hit me hard...I don't know what it is...it's like yesterday they were babies, learning to crawl, learning to walk, feeding themselves, learning to talk...and for some reason, it's all too easy for me to picture them graduating high school. These past 5 or 6 years have flown by...I just want it to slow down for the next 15...

Never again will the allow me to dress them up as Minnie and Mickey...

And in 10 years, this will be them...behind the wheel, driving to school together...

Oh man!!

(cut away to a Kodak commercial...)

Knots...

Sophie ties knots all around the house. I think it kind of started when Nikolas learned to tie his shoes and she insisted that she knew how too. So she just keeps tying knots and knots and knots and never gets to the part where you make two loops and pull one through...

Here's some photos of her creations...

One time I walked into their bedroom and she had tied socks all over the wood slats underneath her bed on the bottom bunk...so Livi was not too happy about it! So funny....

So this evening I'm going through Nikolas' school bag and realized I needed to send $5 to school for their Mexican Fiesta next Friday. I rarely carry any cash, my husband wallet is empty and as he's about to leave to make a run to the bank and find somewhere to make change at 10 o'clock at night, he says, "don't the kids have any money?" Ooh...so we're running all over the house and all the kids are in bed...looking for Niko's wallet and Sophie or Livi's purse...

In the midst of the chaos and my husband not even trying to be quiet or keep their rooms dark, we stumble upon 2 packed bags in the girls' closet!! All these times that sophie had told me she was ready to visit great grandma and great grandpa...she meant it! Found a bag packed with sunglasses, some clothes, some barbies and blocks and another back pack filled with Livi's clothes, some headbands and clips and some burp cloths. Sooo funny! Me and Matt were cracking up.

We also found Livi standing next to her bed, she had fallen over onto her mattress and fallen asleep. (This kid never stays in bed). So I went to grab the camera and she had already climbed up into bed...

Little Booger!

(cut away to an American Airlines commercial...)

Our May..so far...

Sorry to neglect the blog...life's just kind of been happening. Nikolas has adjusted to his cast quite well! Running, jumping, climbing, rolling around...and zipping his coat, putting on his shoes, pouring a glass of milk...all things he can do (and then some) with just working arm. It's amazing. He only needs to wear it for 2 weeks and he's counting down the days until it comes off on Monday.

Sophie and I took a trip downtown to a talent agency, we won't name names. She's been "signed" and now we're in the process of getting her photographed for comp cards. Sounds crazy. I don't think I actually know what I'm getting myself (or the girls) into...but I'm sure it'll be an adventure. Sophie likes getting all dressed up and must change her clothes a handful of times each day. Olivia is quite the little ham...like...

We finally went to Menards to get a catalog for cabinets (entertaining the hours spent daydreaming about a new kitchen...or half new)...and my kids, all five, are mostly behaving in the cabinet department of the store while my husband and I speak with the sales lady...and we look over and Olivia is singing into the handle of the scrubbing brush while watching herself in the backsplash tiles....

She is quite the character...that little Olivia of mine.

Madeline...check her out.

Developing her own little sense of fashion, I guess. Such a cutie! I could eat her.

Sorry I'm rambling...I'm trying to watch Desperate Housewives and blog at the same time. Am I the only one who still watches this show?? I think it's great!! This and General Hospital are two shows that I tivo and HAVE TO watch. Sure I tivo other shows, but don't really care if I watch them. Like AI...haven't watched anything this season! It's terrible! I really want to but just don't have the time. Anyway...

here are Niko's soccer pics and some of his hockey practice...taken the week he broke his arm.

(cut away to a commercial for the latest drug for ADD...sorry for the jumpy post!)

Where's the Fire??

We survived the first night with Niko's arm in a sling...but not without tossing and turning and hearing him whimper and cry every time he moved. Matt got up with him everytime to help him get comfortable. I got up with him this morning at 7am to watch XMen. By 9:15am he had said "I wish I didn't have a broken arm" about 5 times. Once he gets his cast on, he'll be better. It won't hurt him anymore. I think this is the longest he's gone without running and jumping!!

So Livi was the next one to roll out of bed and daddy took her to the grocery store with him. She scored a picture with one of our fine firemen of Naperville...

 Isn't she a cutie!?? I love how her glasses are over her hair and over her ears...I could eat her up!!

Then I heard Fiona crying so I went up to get the babies. Fiona instantly stops when she sees me and flashes me a gum-full of smiles! I love it! She's always so happy. And my girlfriend's mom, Mary, always says she never sees any pics of Fiona...so here's a few...

she's rolling over now....

...goofy girl!!

When I got in the girls' room, Madi says, "Momma? Where daddy go?" She must've seen him out her window leaving to go to the store. Then she hands me her diaper that she had taken off and says, "I go pee pee"...Oh, lovely!! I think I could start potty training her...but then I think again...I don't even wanna go there right now.

So now, Matt's on a run to Costco with the three big girls. Yes, our family is big enough that we need to get 3 gallons of milk, 3 dozen eggs, 4 loaves of bread, the giant bag of breakfast sausages, 10 pounds of ground beef, and then some. I used to see people in line there and think "what's that lady gonna do with all that meat?" or "how long does it take them to get through all that milk?" and now...I know.

So, I'm hangin' out with Fi and Niko's watching Star Wars on Matt's laptop. I should probably get showered and get some stuff done before I go downtown for my cousin's bachelorette party. What does a 33-year-old mom of 5 wear to the club these days??

(cut away to a Huggies Pull Ups commercial...)

Trip to the ER...part 4

Sounds like the same tune we sang last spring…Sophie went to the ER twice…once in April for hitting her forehead on the Power Wheels Jeep windshield, and another in June for running in her room and jumping on her bed and knocking the corner of her forehead into the corner of the sidetable. Ouch! Makes me cringe just thinking about it…big, huge, open gash…Matt has taken them everytime. And so today was Niko’s turn…his second time, as well. When he was 3 years old, the old window in his bedroom came crashing down on his hand and we thought he had broken some fingers (which he didn’t)…but Matt took him to the ER. And today, Niko decided to jump off the swing, y’know…like we all used to do back in the day, except he landed face down on his forearm/elbow.

Oh, man…he came running to the back door crying, saying he fell on his arm. I didn’t understand why he was crying because there was no blood, no bruise, no swelling, no sign of anything! So we iced it, I asked him to wave to me and lift his elbow, which he did, so i thought he’d be fine once the initial shock wore off. He took a short nap and I asked him how his arm was and he said it was better. Although, I didn’t ask him to show me to move it again. So when Matt showed up from work this evening, he tried to move his arm and Niko screamed!!! Oh, man, I felt so bad for the little guy : (
It was off to the ER for Niko and daddy…and I got frequent text updates from the ER…we’re in the room and the doctor will see us in a few minutes…okay, we’re waiting to have x-rays taken because the doc thinks he broke a bone…then I got a call…”Yup, he broke the ulna and there’s still a little swelling so they can’t cast him today. He’ll get a splint and sling and then have to go back on Monday to get a cast”. My heart hurt for him…poor guy. And even hurt worse when Matt sent me these pics from the ER…

What a trooper! I couldn’t wait for him to get home. Daddy made a special trip to get Slurpees!! Every little boy who breaks his arm needs a Slurpee to make everything better. He also had me and the girls waiting for him when he arrived. Sophie was near tears just thinking about his broken arm. She said, “I don’t want Niko to have a broken arm!!” and Olivia said, “I feel bad for Niko”. They’re definitely sweet when they wanna be! When it matters, anyway, right?? : )
Well, daddy has already given him the talk on how if he plays this right, he’ll have 4 girls waiting on him for the next 6 to 8 weeks…I already had to put the kabosh on the 3rd Airheads candy of the night (AFTER bedtime!)….
Now he’s settled in bed watching Batman…oh boy…I have a feeling this kid isn’t gonna mind his cast so much after a few more days of this special treatment ; )

(cut away to a Band-Aid commercial....)

They grow up too fast...

So Niko and Sophie come in from the backyard..."Mommy! We have a great idea! Sophie and me wanna live in the swingset!" Oh geez, I think...I can't wait to hear this one. So Nikolas quickly gets to drawing his "plans"...I can hear them discussing the details..."We can put a couch in there!", "We'll have to cut your bunk bed in half because it won't fit", "No, no, we need to put a roof on it so we don't get cold!"...and here I'm thinking, "wow, they're really putting some thought into this!"

A few minutes later, Niko brings the plans to show me...

Niko: "Mommy, can you show this to daddy so he can build this for me?"
Me: "Why do you want to live in your swingset?"
Niko: "So we can live by ourselves!"
Sophie: "Yea! We want to live by ourselves!"
Me: "Well, if you want to live by yourselves you need to get jobs and figure out how you're going to pay for this."
Niko (not phased by what I just said): " Look! This is my room, this is my bed, the cable box, the tv and the stairs to go to Sophie's room." (typical boy stuff...had to make sure he had a cable box!"
Me: "How are you going to get a tv or a cable box?"
Sophie: "You're gonna get it! And when we run out of money, we can move back home!" (typical girl, right? lookin' for someone else to pick up the tab...)
Niko: "We're gonna get jobs mom. And Sophie's gonna live with me. And my girlfriend. And Sophie's boyfriend. Do you have a boyfriend, Sophie?"
Sophie: "ugh...(rolls her eyes)...yeeessss...."
Niko (thinking to himself): "Wait...do I even have a girlfriend?"

Well...he thought about that one for a few minutes...long enough for me to make and serve them some PB&J's...

Niko: "Oh yea, I do have a girlfriend. Her name is Gianna. Mommy, just don't worry about it. Can you give this to daddy so he can build it?"

Sure son...I'll get right on that...

(cut away to an e-harmony commercial...)

Shopping gals...

yes, they sure are...
we went to exchange some shirts I bought online and ended up holding our own fashion show in the girls' department.

These girls sure are funny. We had a great time laughing and dressing up in the back of the store!

(cut away to an Old Navy commercial...)

DO NOT ASSUME...

So, from following this blog, you know Madi's inability to part with her Spiderman cap. She left it at Lola's this past weekend as we had a wedding to attend and it seemed she was fine with it. But when Lolo came by yesterday, he brought it and I just left it on the stairs to see if she'd even notice. Ha...she immediately saw it and yelled "Bada Man!!" and put her cap back on like it was nothing. Well, back to the drawing board...and surely you can tell that it truly doesn't bother me that much...what bothered me was the "pink towelly, terry clothing thingy you hold your hair back with to wash your face at night" imposter that my mom felt was a good replacement! Oy!

And thank goodness...that has been retired to...THE TRASH!!
Anyway, you can imagine my initial "could it be?" thought when I found this upstairs...

I felt like a detective. It was like THE CLUE. I was getting so close to solving the mystery...until I pushed open the bedroom door and found this...

Now, you're thinking (and I'm definitely thinking) "What a beautiful ending to this ongoing comedy/romance/drama...she has made the difficult and heart-wrenching decision to party with her Spiderman noggin-protector and allow her umcombed, tattered, rarely seen hair to shine in the light and flow freely!!

ahuh...WELL THINK AGAIN!! IT ISN'T OVER, FOLKS!!

When the once loyal superhero cap wearing fan turned flowery headband glam girl appeared downstairs...this is how she appeared...

and in case you missed that...here's another shot...

And I'll take it...right...it's Friday afternoon and the weekend can only GET BETTER!! She's lucky she's so stinkin' cute!! I could gobble her up.
And fortunately, she's not the only victim of the space invading stretchy knit headbands and flowery clips...

Have you met our sweet Fiona?? I knew she'd be making an appearance, soon!

Ahh...the joys fo being the baby sister...

What a trooper!! Give this girl a meal!! and look...she's starting to hold her own bottle!! Way to go Finn!

and with that...we'll wish you a wonderful weekend!

(cut away to an Herbal Essence commercial...)