An hour of my life today

Both kids are in the bath tub.
Phoenix is crying to get out cuz Ana splashed him.
I take him out where he cries cuz he wants back in.
I put him back in and he wants back out.
I take him, dry him off, & put a diaper on.
Ariana is now yelling that she wants out.
Phoenix is following me with his arms reached up and crying.
I pick him up. He wants down.

I need to pee.

I put him in the high chair with some snacks while I get lunch started. Ariana is now screaming. I go to the bathroom where I find her standing, dripping wet, on the bathroom rug. She wants a towel. I reply that there is one on the toilet seat at which she tells me smartly that she can't get it around here. I can tell she hasn't even tried.

I get the towel wrapped around her. She is cranky and I let her know lunch is ready. Would she like a cold or warm hot dog. "I don't want a hot dog." That is what is for lunch, I'm not making anything else. She chooses not to eat. Phoenix in the meantime is plowing through his mac & cheese and hot dog like I haven't fed him in a few days. He wants more. Ariana wants vanilla wafers. I tell her I will get to her in a minute as I'm dishing up for food for Phoenix. This throws her world off balance and she starts to spiral downward.

I need to pee.

Ariana continues to scream and I let her know if she does not stop she will be going to her room. The 4 year old scream continues. I pick her up and deposit her on her bed. I calmly inform her that I will be happy to get her juice and wafers after she calms down. And I walk out. Now, walking out always sets her off more. And of course, this time is no different. She hurtles herself at the door, kicking and screaming. I come back into the room and let her know that if she kicks or hits the door again she will be in sitting in the middle of the floor of the kitchen for a timeout. Amazingly, this stops that particular behavior. But nothing can quiet that primal screaming. I know that I need to leave and let her scream it out.

I come back into the kitchen where I find Phoenix has taken off the bib and is covered in mac & cheese sauce. His nice clean skin and hair is shiny and stinky. Great.

I need to pee.

He indicates he would like more food, so I shovel the rest at him. Not caring about the bib anymore. Ariana continues to scream. I am quickly losing my sanity and call Jason at work. Of course, he is still out to lunch and I get his voice mail. "You suck," I tell him. "You suck cuz you get to go to work and I'm here." Nice message huh.

Phoenix is now throwing his remaining food on the floor. I take him out and clean him up. There are noodles everywhere. All over the high chair and the floor. And aren't mac & cheese noodles fun to clean? Um, no. By now, Ariana is losing steam and is softly whimpering. I go in to her and give her her juice & wafers. She says she wants to watch tv. I let her know it's rest time and she can lay in her bed or lay on my bed and watch tv. "You pick" is her response. "No, you pick or you are staying here." She chooses my bedroom, but wants me to carry her. Hell no. Your legs are fine, if you want in the bedroom then walk.

I need to pee.

We all gander into my bedroom where Phoenix has found all the kitchen chairs (which are in hiding as he likes to crawl onto the table now) and is in 7th heaven. Ariana climbs into my bed and is doing that lovely pitiful cry that kids do. She wants to watch PBS. And I can't find the remote. (Our tv in this room is old and the buttons on the tv are broken, thus we need the remote) I can't find it anywhere. Phoenix is climbing the chairs, Ariana is crying louder, and I am swearing about the damn remote. UGH, why does life suck like this sometimes! I tempt fate and put new batteries in my remote (which was dead due to an exploding battery last month) and alas. It works! I turn to PBS and the elder child is calmed a bit. Phoenix is now standing on the lower rung of the back of the chair. Thank goodness it was against the bed or he would have toppled over.

Uh, I really need to pee.

I take Phoenix out of the bedroom and close the door. Only to hear Ariana screaming. "There are crumbs in here." Um, yes...you are eating vanilla wafers in my bed. Of course, you made crumbs. So I clean them out and get her settled. Phoenix is back on the frickin' chairs. And he smells.

I take him to change the poopy diaper. Get done and he starts to cry cuz he wants up on the chair in the living room. Usually he finds whatever box or toy he can use as a ladder, but not today. Today, at this moment, he'd rather scream cuz he can't get up. I lift him up and he is happy looking out the window. Oh man, I really need to pee.

I get to go pee. ;)

I come out and Phoenix is trying to crawl from the armchair to the toy box. I remove him and the phone rings. It's Jason. "You suck," I tell him.

Roll Call

I'm stealing this from a blog that I read, and she stole the idea from someone who stole it from someone. ;)

I know you are reading this, and I humbly request that YOU (meaning everyone) leave me a comment to say hello. If you do not have a google account, you can leave a comment as anonymous and just sign you name at the end of your comment. I have my faithful few who comment, but would love to see a quick note from each of you who stop by. Whether I know you or not, give a wave.

A blog I follow (Suz's-life through my eyes) get's unbelievable traffic and she receives at least 50 comments each post. Of course, she's having quads and had a very large following. I'm not doing anything that exciting. ;) But I'd love to see some more comments.

Come on, it won't hurt (in the famous words of my daughter).

Bay Beach

We spent a few hours over at Bay Beach last week and had a blast. It was a tad bit too hot and we cut the afternoon short as the sun was starting to affect Phoenix. Here are some pics:

The boys ride the swings


Ariana & mommy on the merry-go-round (a must do)


This guy thinks he's Mr. Cool


Some crazy people on the Scrambler


Come and Ride the Train


"I wanna pony"



"I beat you!" "No, I beat you!"


Misc Rides


What a daddy doesn't do for his daughter

Movie Star

She loves to ham it up for the camera. These were taken while we were camping last week.

Book 7 Party

Here are some pics from the Harry Potter Party I went to at B&N. I had a blast, and was the 15th person to purchase the book. My girlfriend, Krista, was first in line!

Whirlwind

It's been a whirlwind of a week with lots happening. I'm looking forward to settling back into regular life here this week. I'm hoping to get some pics up soon from camping and from the park from this last week. For now, I'm a bit off on the blogging. In a funk for again I think.

Little Shit

Okay, I hear Phoenix crying in the bedroom and I'm working my way there. He had been laying down for a nap, but apparently it was a short one. The crying increases in level and intensity. The last time that happened, he had a foot stuck in between the slats of the crib. Not this time.

That little shit somehow crawled out! And he's pissed because he cannot free his blanket from the crib no matter how hard he tugs. This child will surely cause my grey to come in more quickly, me thinks.

Sniff, sniff

I finished the book on Sunday. (We got home from camping about an hour ago)

Ah, I laughed and I cried. Excellent as usual.

In just 12 hours...

I will be reading the last Harry Potter book. So many questions. Is Harry a Horcrux? Is Snape really on Voldemort's side? Who dies? Who is R.A.B.? Ah, hopefully by tomorrow I'll have some answers.

Yes, I am a dork. I am attending a HP Party at our local BN. A girlfriend and I are meeting there and will spend all evening waiting. And yes, we are dressing up. (Told you I was a dork.) But it's all in fun, and hey I can say I went all out for the last HP. I went and picked up my wristband this morning, and I am guaranteed my copy. I hope to knock out a few chapters tonight when I get home, and then finish it tomorrow. I will have to fight the urge to just read one more page so I can get some sleep. All reports & stories will not be listened to until I finish. Can't have anyone spoil it for me.

Signed,
A Potter fan

Funny joke

ESTATE PLANNING 101

When Dan found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a woman to enjoy it with. So, one evening he went to a singles bar where he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her natural beauty took his breath away.

"I may look like just an ordinary man," he said as he walked up to her, "but in just a week or two, my father will die, and I'll inherit 20 million dollars."

Impressed, the woman went home with him that evening and, three days later, she became his stepmother.

Women are so much smarter than men.

Complaint

Okay, so as you can see below we went to see Harry Potter last night. My complaint is all the damn ads at the beginning of the movie! WTF?! They used to just have one or two ads and then the previews. Jason would grumble and I'd say something about how they can make some money with the ads, etc. Well, now I'm complaining. There was like 6 minutes of advertising last night. An ad for ALL laundry detergent, then one for Snuggle fabric softener?? Then some weird ad for a vehicle. And the military ads (Marines & Reserves). And don't forget about the ads for new television shows. Oh my, I'm so going to run out and buy all those items and watch the tv shows now!

The previews shown were pretty good, but it's starting to get a bit annoying when the movie is supposed to start at 5pm and the film doesn't begin until 15-20 minutes later. I think it's also a subliminal way to get you to eat more freakin popcorn and get more overpriced candy.

Just show me the previews and start the f'in movie!

Bonus

Okay, I finally saw the new Potter movie last night. And I'm just not quite sure how I feel about it. I have officially chosen to look at movies that are made from books as pure entertainment now. A bonus to the book.

There are just too many things I think that are important to the story that end up on the cutting room floor. And the changes with the HP films with directors gives each movie such a different feel. From film 1 to film 2, the scenic landscape differences alone disturb me. For Order of the Phoenix, the directorial changes are a bit disappointing. The dementors are different, the Death Eaters are clothed different now (is this because they are formed back again or due to the director I don't know), the scenes in which Sirius talks to Harry in the fire are completely different. Those are film discrepencies.

And then there is the info that is left out from the book. The movie is called HP and the Order of the Phoenix. Where was the Order in the film? It just wasn't enough for me. I wanted to see more of Grimwauld Place and of the members of the Order. The scene in which Harry and the Weasley family go to the hospital to visit Mr. Weasley and come across Lockhart and the Longbottoms was not in the movie. And I was looking so forward to it. I wanted to see the brain blog thing attack Ron in the Dept of Mysteries. And what's with the entire DA hearing the prophecy?

Did I enjoy the movie? Completely. It was a good movie. It's just not the book. I miss all the little details that make a book a book.

So, I had a wonderful evening out with my husband and got to enjoy some Harry Potter too. Now, it's just waiting until Friday at 12:01.

The Phoenix Trantrum

This boy sure knows how to express his unhappiness. First he screws up his face and then the wail starts. Then he plummets to the ground with a full cry. He may roll over and pause the tantrum to see if mommy is watching or concerned. Next step is rolling back over and continued crying. 10 seconds later he staggers back up and is back to normal. It's quite amusing and always evokes a throaty chuckle from me.

Exuberance

Vivaciousness. Heart. Vitality.

These are words that describe my eldest child, Ariana. She is one who feels strongly and openly. We've always joked that she has two speeds, fast and faster. The only time she stops moving is when she's sleeping. Of course, she'll occasionally just pick out a book and sit and "read" it by herself, or sit to watch part of a movie. But most of the time, it's like she's got jumping beans in her little body. She can't just leisurely walk, she runs, hops, skips, and jumps to arrive at her destination. Whispering is a game as using a loud voice is more her style. She feels strongly and it's great to hear out of the blue, with no prompting, "Mom, I just love you so much." On the flip side, her energy makes her grumpy moments that much more grumpy.

Many people often say they'd give anything to have just a bit of her energy. I know I would. I'd also give anything at times to have her just sit quietly. But that's not my child. Can she be exhausting? Certainly. But her expressiveness and energy make her who she is. The girl who delights in the tiniest bug, who can find dinosaurs in the clouds, runs full tilt into the lake, leaps from the furniture, and who can give crushing hugs. And I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Quote

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."
~ Albert Einstein

Choices

This is a big week for me, and our family. Decisions will be made that affect our lives. I am thankful for the opportunity to make choices. They may be difficult to make but we can make them. There are so many things floating in my head I can barely keep everything straight. If we did this, what would happen. If we chose not to go a particular route, how would it impact us? It's not easy, but choices will be have to be made.

Moment in Time

Did you ever have a moment in your life when all you could do was say "FUCK!"?

Happy Birthday America!

Our country is 231 years old today!