Letter from the school

Dear Parent,

Your daughter(s) Gabby and Kassie has/have had a bump on the head today, Thursday, 29 April 2004.

It has been dealt with by the staff and you children do not appear to have suffered and SERIOUS effects from this, but should they have any of the following symptoms please contact your doctor without delay.

vomiting
drowsiness
change in behavior

OR ANY OTHER UNUSUAL SYMPTOMS OR BEHAVIOR

Yours Sincerely

(insert headmistress name)

Both daughters? And what is unusual behavior in a child anyway?? This is the second letter I have had in three weeks about my daughters running into each other and banging heads. Isn't that a bit unusual???

Bright Ideas (Top Five)

These are the top five bright ideas my kids have ever had (that I can think of at the moment.) I would love to hear yours (just to make me feel better today). These are in no particular order.

5) (Age 4) Gabby used the chest of drawers to make stairs, pulling the drawers out at evenly placed intervals. She then climbed up them and toppled it over on top of herself.

4) (Age 3) Brittany decided, after having pancakes for breakfast one morning, to use all the leftover ingredients to make pancakes on my sofa. This included: eggs, oil, flour, and milk (not to mention the syrup)

3) (Age 3) Came into the living room to find my little Bela making a living artwork of her friend Ian. He was covered from head to toe in green marker and grinning from ear to ear. Luckily it was washable.

2) (Age 3) Gabby found the chocolate ex lax (stool softener) and ate a bunch. (enough said)

1) (Age 2) Brittany got a stool and tried to crawl in the open window of our little car. She got her head and arm in and to brace herself reached in and grabbed the window roller, which in turn rolled the window on her arm and head and she got stuck. Luckily I wasn't too far away.

Bubbles Anyone?

AND THIS.... is how I spent my morning.

Brittany was trying to be helpful and since we ran out of dishwasher detergent and she wanted to start the dishwasher, she decided to FILL the whole dispenser cup with washing up liquid. I have run it through three times already. I keep dishing out bubbles so it's not too messy. UGH! Bela and Danijela have had a blast playing in the bubbles.

Newest Blog

Everybody welcome my newest blogging friend, Trish.

Customer what???

A phone call to Customer Service:

Dialling..."The toll free number you have dialled is not toll free when called outside the United States. If you do not wish to be charged for this call, please hang up otherwise stay on the line and your call will ring through shortly."

"Hello and welcome to our automated customer service line. Para instucciones in espanol marque uno. For instructions in English press 2"

I press 2.

"Hello and welcome to our automated customer service line you will now have several choices. Please do not press any numbers until you have heard ALL of the choices. You might get it wrong and then you would have to start over again. Please have all of your account information ready as we will speak very quickly and you won't have time to look for it. Listen closely to what we say because it WILL be a bit fuzzy but it is not our fault we recorded this ten years ago!"

For information on your credit card account press 1
For information on your checking account press 2
For information information on your savings account press 3
For information on our loan services press 4
For information on someone else's account press 5
For information on your dog please press 6
For all other services press 8
To speak to a customer service representative and be degraded because you don't know how to use this automated service please press 0.

I press 1
You have chosen number 1 if this is correct press 1 if this is incorrect press 2.

I press 1
You have chosen information on your OWN credit card account. Please enter the account number followed by the pound sign.

Account number 1234567890#

You have entered account number 1234567890 if this is correct press 1 if this is incorrect press 2

I press 1
Please enter your ten digit pen number followed by the pound sign
1234567890#

You have entered 1234567890
if this is correct press 1 if this is incorrect press 2
I press 1 (getting very annoyed by this point)

For payment services press 1
For information services press 2 (what the heck is that anyway)
For all other options press 3
To start the menus over press 4
To sit around listening to someone give you directions for an hour for no apparent reason please press 5
To return to the main menu press 8
To speak to a customer service representative and be degraded because you don't know how to use this automated service please press 0.

I press 1
You have chosen payment services. If this is correct press 1 if this is incorrect press 2
I press 1

To tell us you have made a payment press 1
To tell us you are going to make your payment late press 2 Please allow extra time for this option as you will have to be redirected to a customer service representative who will then redirect you to another, who will then keep you on hold for an hour while you listen to crappy music. In the end, we will not let you reaarrange your payment even though we sent your bill two weeks late to the wrong address.
To make an automated payment arrangement press 3 You must have a touch tone phone for this option (uhh how did I get this far without one?)
To hear the definition of the word payment press 4
To find out when your payment is due press 5
To try to figure out why your payment is due even when we don't send out a statement press 6
For all other options press 7
To return to the main menu press 8
To speak to a customer service representative and be degraded because you don't know how to use this automated service please press 0.

I press 3
You have chosen make an automated payment arrangement. If this is correct press 1 if this is incorrect press 2

I press 1
Please enter your account number (didn't I already do this?) followed by the pound sign
1234567890#

You have entered 1234567890
if this is correct press 1 if this is incorrect press 2
I press 1 again (a little harder than the last time because of my irritation)

We will now ask you the date you would like your payment to post. Please enter the number of the month first and then the number of the day. If you want your payment to post on January 1st you would type in 0101 followed by the pound sign. Remember there are twelve months in a year and not all months have the same number of days. Please keep this in mind when you are pressing numbers.

I type in 0501#
You have entered May 1st. If this is correct press 1 if this is incorrect press 2. Remember you can press 0 any time to speak to a customer service representative.
I press 1

Please press 1 to use the checking account information on file. Press to to enter new information.
I press 1

We will now ask you the amount of the payment you would like to make. Please type in all of the numbers in dollars and cents. if you want to pay 10 dollars you would type 1-0-0-0. Please enter the amount you would like to pay now.
I type 10000 (which should be $100.00 right?)

You have entered 10,000dollars if this is correct press 1 if this is incorrect press 2.
I PRESS 2!

A payment in the amount of 10,000 dollars will be taken from your checking account on May 1st. Please be sure to record this in your payment record. Thank you have a nice day!! (The whole time I am pressing 2)

To return to the main menu press 1
To speak to a customer service representative press 8
To end this call please hang up.
To cancel this automated payment speak to customer service.

I press 8

To speak to a customer service representative, Please dial 1-800-555-5555. Our business hours are 8am to 10pm Eastern monday through Friday.
Thank you! CLICK

Ever Wonder

Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?

Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?

Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!

Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Clean House

I was feeling a little bad yesterday. Somebody tried to give me a compliment, but as usual, I took it the wrong way. The exact wording of this compliment was this: "Angie, I admire the way you can sit and still feel comfortable in a dirty house." Now this got me to thinking...Do I feel comfortable in a dirty house? The very simple answer is no. Do I have a choice in the matter? Well, yes, but if I got up cleaning in the morning and cleaned all day long, without break, and I never actually went to bed because there was sooo much to do, so I cleaned all night long...there would still be things that didn't get done. So, do I sit in a dirty house? Yes, sometimes, but the truth is I hardly ever sit, I work all the time, and when my kids come home I would rather spend time with them than to still be working and when my husband comes home I like to spend time with him as well.

My friend, who is a mother of six, once told me, "Cleaning your house when your kids are little is like shoveling snow in a blizzrd." It is my motto. I live by it. And yes I do clean, and yes my house is still messy, and yes sometimes I do sit down in it, I am not comfortable with it, I have just learned to accept it.

Cleaning and dusting can wait till tomorrow. For babies grow up so we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs, and dust go to sleep. I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

.

Top Five

Okay here it is in Answer to Genuines top 5

These are my top five favorite men of all time besides my wonderful loving hubby.

Sorry about the layout of the webpage they changed it on me and I can't figure it out.

1) Mel Gibson (I think he has a wonderful look in his eye)
2) Heath Ledger (now you see why i like the Patriot soooo much, two from the same movie)
3) Noah Wiley (definitely worth my time)
4) Lou Diamond Phillips (he has such nice lips)
5) Goran Visjnic (need I say more?)

My hubby's list
1) Catherine Zeta Jones
2) Nicole Kidman
3) Shania Twain
4) Jennifer Grey
5) Liv Tyler

He can find his own pictures. Grin. What are yours?

Learning to Drive a Bit Early

The Dad

And I could not resist posting this picture. it is just too good.

The race is on

The sun was so bright and shining and it was sooo nice and warm today we decided to take a family walk. The walk took us to the running track where the girls decided to run. i wish I would have had my camera. Brittany had her big clunky school shoes on. The sole is about two inches thick. Gabby Kassie and Bela were wearing little pink sandals they ALL decided to run without shoes. These kids raced around this track time and again either with the sandals on or barefoot. Brittany ran around the track, which is 1/4 mile, 3 times. Gabby did four, and little Kassie actually RAN around the track 2 times with her pants falling down cause she is so skinny. Well they are very tired now and having dinner. Do you think I will have a quiet evening??? I don't think so Danijela slept the whole time in the stroller.

Warning

Contrary to popular belief...doing drugs while you are pregnant does have side effects.

We don't know what happened to this one.

Market Day

I love market day. As soon as I drop the kids off at school. My friends and I load into my van and drive the back roads to a little town called Knaresborough. We start out the morning with a nice cup of lavender tea in the Lavender Tea Room, right above Ye Oldest Chymist Shoppe in England. We also have nice lavender scones with strawberry jam. What a great start to the day.

That's a picture of my friend Mary in the tea room.

After our great breakfast we spend the day walking around Knaresborough browsing the little antique shops and buying our fruit and veg. One of us may find something to buy in one of the shops, but mostly we just look around and enjoy the day.

Sometimes we take the kids and they get a little tired, but they always find a place to sit.

What she didn't know is she was sitting on the oranges. Orange juice anyone?

I just love the look of the old buildings. They are very English.

After a long day of walking and shopping it's time to go home. Some of us have to take naps.

Thought this was nice

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye."

Bela

Picking Bela up today after her first day of playgroup after Easter holiday, I told her how very much I missed her. "Did you miss me Bela?", I asked. After a short pause Bela replied..."I missed Danijela"

Enough said.

View image

No parents allowed

Brittany's Year 5 class is going on a three day trip to the seaside. 3 days in Northumberland with 3 teachers, about 25 kids, and a few adults that I have never met. What would you do?? This is a ten year old girl here.

The letters went out at the end of January saying they would be taking a trip. So I called the school and asked for more details. No details about the trip were available at that time, but you had to make a decision about the trip by mid February and put down a deposit. Now...how am I supposed to make an informed decision about this trip if I have NO details...hmmm. Well I thought, maybe, that I would just send my husband along on the trip. Then I would feel better about making this uninformed decision.

NO PARENTS ALLOWED. Wow there's something to think about. Apparently, our ten and eleven year olds need a break from us. So , they would rather have the headmistress's sister and the class 3 teacher's partner instead of a good group of parents. People I don't even know would be responsible for taking my daughter to the seaside and keeping her in a hotel for two nights. I've seen how some of these trips end. Needless to say, my little daughter's heart is broken because her mother said she couldn't go and I am planning a fun trip for those three days while everyone else is gone.

First birthdays are really for the parents! I mean Danijela just kinda sat there and looked at the wrapped packages. She wouldn't even try to open them. In fact, she hit them. I think maybe she thought they might break open. So I sit there with her in my lap, opening the gifts, trying to get her to show a little interest, while she is looking around at everyone in the room. Overwhelming to her, to say the least. As I open each gift I show it to her, she points and then we move on. So all the gifts are opened and she is sitting in the middle of her pile of toys trying to figure out what to do first. Baby doll has become the best gift of all. Let's not bother with anything else. She would have been happy with that one gift and nothing else. We figure she is getting tired after having the whole day with no nap so we decide to do the cake and get it over with. So she is sitting in her little chair waiting for her food and we come out with this big cake. The look on her face said it all, "what is that?" I had to blow out her candle. I tried to get her to put her hands in the cake and she just flat out refused. I had to cut her a piece before she would dive in. She was sooo cute. She picked up that large piece of cake and bit off the frosting. Of course I think we all enjoyed watching her more than she enjoyed eating it. All in all it was a good day. More so for us than for her. Anyway I have posted a new photo album. Hope you enjoy.

Quotable quotes

Brittany Age 2 in the middle of a large bank lobby "Mommy, i want a Mexican" Pointing at the magazine lying on the table.

Gabby Age 2 "Watch this Mommy." Followed by Mommy's "What's the doctor's phone number AGAIN!"

Kassie Age 2 "When i grow up I want to be a sad puppy"

Bela Age 4 after a long hard day at playgroup "Mommy somebody needs to charge my battery"

Where is my BIG washer????

Okay so I am trying to keep up with laundry and can anyone tell me how I am supposed to do laundry for seven people in this...?

If the baby can barely fit her head in it how the heck am I supposed to fit more then one pair of jeans in there? I mean, come on, I could literally do laundry for twenty four hours a day, seven days a week and never get it done. I can't believe that you could even do laundry for ONE person in this BOWL.

I have mounds and mounds of laundry. I hide it in a closet and when we run out of something I dig it out and that is the load I do next.

Laundry priority list:

!) Things that smell-definitely the utmost of importance
2) Underwear-and only because I can't stand the kids whining cause they have a wedgie. At least I can fit a couple pair of underwear in that thing.
3) Towels- don't you hate when the kids use sheets to dry off with????
4) Socks-okay socks really aren't a priority as long as they are clean, who cares if they match or even if they fit for that matter. In fact I have found that socks make great dishcloths when you can't find one clean.
5) uniforms-the school tends to get kinda cranky when I send the kids in their underwear.
6) Whatever else I can fit in the load that is running at the moment.

I have learned a little secret to not running out of clothes when you can't keep them washed...buy more.

Never a dull moment on the assembly line

Out of bed and into the tub... youngest to oldest. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 we don't use names anymore it takes too long. Number one take number five and put a diaper on her...no dry her off first. Number two stop hitting number three. NoNoNo we put the soap on our bodies not in our mouths. Number two help her rinse that out. Okay all out and dry off. In a line for hair...number one first you have the most. I brush all four heads (baby has no hair yet she is just screaming in the background cause nobody is holding her) I let her continue screaming and take the hair baubles and give everyone the same hair-do. two piggy tails, one on each side. Now dressed, number one dresss number five and number two dress number four and number three...well i will be lucky if you can dress yourself. No you can't wear two different socks and your shoes are on the wrong feet and what is that you have on??????? no you can't wear purple stripes with blue polka dots and get that thing off your head. OH MY GOSH what did you do to your hair!!! Now I have to start all over again with you. Meanwhile number one and number five are ready so I send number one out to get number five some breakfast...number three comes down from upstairs completely naked swearing there is nothing to wear even though I just hung and sorted clothes last night. I even put them away myself...number two and number four are wrestling in the entry way they are both dressed, but no shoes and hair is a mess already. Hmmm I grab number four fix her hair again get hrer shoes on set her at the table with a bowl of cereal and now number one number five and number four are ready and eating. Number two however has taken the cereal box and cut it into bits in the middle of the living room floor while number three is STILL naked and sitting watching TV. TV OFF and me upstairs with number three in tow. Pull and outfit out of the closet and watch her put it on (it's the only way to get it done). Drag number two into the kitchen and number three following. WOO HOO all five at the table just as number five finishes and throws the rest on the floor. Filthy from breakfast (why did I dress her first?????) I take her to change into soem clean clothes and put her in front of her toy box to go check what is happening in the kitchen where I heard a scream and a "MOM!!!" Number four spilled her milk...again. Clean up the milk and get number four a new outfit. Meanwhile number one and number two are having a fight over the cereal box. i choose to ignore that one till I hear a huge smack and send them both stomping off to their rooms. Okay number three is sitting quietly at the table eating her bowl of cereal number four is done and playing with the baby, laundry is in, dishes done, table cleared except for number three and her bowl of cereal that is taking soooo long to eat. Kids dressed hair fixed ahh it's time to head out the door. OH MY GOSH I AM STILL IN MY PAJAMAS!!!!!

Small blessings

I have just been sitting here reflecting on how wonderfully blessed I am. Sometimes I forgot how good things are...getting bogged down with finances or other mundane every day things. Then I remember the small things that make life so wonderful. Danijela's tiny, chubby fingers tangled up in my hair. Isabela and her infinitely wise questions e.g. "If God made everything, then who made God", Kassie and her big eyes and quiet smile, Gabby and her energetic, artistic, bubbly spirit, and Brittany, with her practical way of always being there to help me when I need her. Last but not least my ever caring, never failing husband, without whom I would be lost.

And when I counted my six blessings I realized that it was not just about the endless loads of laundry, the filthy kitchen floor, the runny noses and the messy hair, the mounds of toys in the middle of my living room...it's not about what I can't get done... but more about the lives I am holding tightly in my hands and the hearts that I will teach to fly.

Contest

Okay...so we are having a naming contest. I called it Memoirs of an Ordinary Housewife, but there have been several suggestion for better titles.

It's a Wilson Thing...stemming the apple
It's a Wilson Thing...like a tennis ball only bigger
It's a Wilson Thing...thesixofus+1

Make your suggestions for a name for us.

We can thank Amber for the suggestions so far and for all the help with this site and don't forget to visit her amberbamberboo
I had a great day visiting with my long lost cousin!!
And now the kids are in bed and the hubby is sitting at his computer and I can sit down and type my wonderful words of wisdom.......uhhhhh.

Maybe I will be wiser tomorrow.