au revoir 2009!

2009 has been year of ups and downs for me. The beginning of the year began with the agonizing fight and loss of Tuesday Whitt. I met Tuesday in 2007 with her sister and Mom. We knew each other through our twin group, and they are a great family. Very funny, real, and alcoholics like me. We got along great.

Another big loss for my family and me this year was the loss of my grandmother June Bills in February and her husband of 50+ years and my grandfather, Howard Bills, in June. Charlotte and I went on our third flight together (in utero) for June's funeral, and she accompanied me to Howard's funeral when she was only 3 weeks old. She would have loved to meet them both; and likewise.

The highlight of our year was the addition of our beautiful Charbaby! She is a light in my life when I am frustrated, spent, or sad.

The other lights in my life are the boys, of course! They make me laugh at least once a day and say the craziest things. I can't imagine my life without them. We had a lot of adventures this year - a fun summer at the pool and the beach, endless playdates with friends, birthday parties, temper tantrums, hospital visits, countless works of art, and millions of hugs, kisses, high fives, and peaces.

Favorite quotes of this year? Oh, so many choices....this one, from the Inauguration. Anything that made me laugh said by Sarah Palin, Tiger Wood's "coming out," and mostly everything said by Obama. Oh, and everything on "Family Guy" and "30 Rock."

There are those that make resolutions each year, and inevitably break them. I know I am guilty of it. Every year I plan to exercise more, eat healthier, be nicer, work harder....and January 3rd or 4th rolls around and I have given up already.

This year my goal is to be happier by making others happy.
Let's see if I can do it.

2009 Blog Adventure

click to open!

chugga chugga

Merry Christmas to all!

walkin' in a winter....oh, you know....

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of snow days. We would bundle up and sled down the Atwood's backyard hill, drink endless amounts of hot chocolate, put fresh-from-the-dryer hats and gloves back on, and go out again and again. When it snows, I still get excited, even though it is Saturday and I won't have a "real" snowday. I was very nostalgic today watching the boys and Todd play in the snow. What a great day.

Poor Char could only watch through her lovely pink eye:

lets see if this works....

things that have happened in the past 2 months when the husband is out of town.

1. Owen fell and cut his gum open.
2. Charlotte got sick.
3. Calvin and Jamison ate an ornament I have had since I was a child.
4. Henry had a serious stomach/poop problem that kept us up all night.

Oh, wait! AND....
5. The mouse that has been enjoying our crumbs was alive and writhing on the sticky trap this morning. Say goodbye to the salad tongs. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

par-tay

i know you want birthday party pictures but i'm lazy and the boys have made me mad enough that i want to delete the whole memory card.

Oh my goodness! Is it Friday yet?

Charlotte got her first fever yesterday and she has been demanding a cuddle all day long. Poor baby. I think she might have turned a corner, though. No fever since her last tylenol about 5 hours ago....

The boys.....sheesh.....tonight consisted of ear piercing screams, a bite on the cheek, another Christmas de-ornamenting by Henry, Owen feeding the dogs 99% of his dinner, and a door slam on my finger. Wah.

Sigh.

They are worth it.

Things a three year old might say on their birthday.....

"What dat lady doin over there, MomMom? She has red fingers like you." - Owen
"What dat guy walking a dog for? And he going fishing." - Owen
"Hey Ms. Daddy, I wanna show you somepin'" - Owen
"HooWah!" - both, when we see Christmas lights
"No, Mommy, dis is my trumpet!" - Henry, about his new saxaphone
"Dis is my matching game, Daddy. You can play with it, though." - Henry
"SCOOTERS!" - both
"I got a ticket from the policeman" - Owen
"Goddammit, goddammit, goddammit, goddammit, goddammit" - Owen

All in all, a good goddamn birthday.

3 years old!

Miss C, workin' it.

i love diapers. why would anyone want to be potty trained???

See? Charlotte agrees with me!

We began potty training yesterday. Made a big deal about the awesome big boy undies. Both boys were IN to it. Put on their big boy undies, and BAM! 2 seconds later, Owen had peed all over the floor. Okay, okay....we remained calm and put on the next pair. BAM! 10 minutes later, more pee. Owen lasted about an hour until he asked for his diaper. He's just not ready. Henry did a great job and had an accident or two, but peed in the potty for the most part!

This morning, we got up, Henry put his big boy undies on, and went the entire morning with no accidents!!! He was so excited and we were, too!

After nap time, Henry peed his pants approximately 327 times and the last time I said to him, "Do you need to pee pee?" and he looked at me, turned around and peed. We were at a friends house, and that was it. Diapers back on.

It was a huge relief when I put that damn diaper back on, I gotta tell ya. It's so much easier. Who wants to chase their kids around and ask them if they have to pee every 2 seconds and then run their asses to the bathroom if they look at you funny? Who wants to peel urine-soaked underwear and pants (and socks, ugh) off their whiny child every 30 minutes? And really, who wants to be trapped in their homes because their kid can't hold his pee long enough to go grab a bite to eat? Finally, who wants to do all this with a smile on their faces because all the psychological damage we could possibly do to our children when we get pissed off they pissed in their pants?

Not I, folks. Not. I.

So in the interim of running to the bathroom this morning, we decorated the tree. Our theme this year is "All ornaments that won't break." And the boys were very serious about decorating, as you can see from the pictures. They enjoyed putting "ormamems on our tree from homebepoh."

Things I am thankful for this year

1. Owen and Henry's ability to turn even the most routine task into an adventure.
2. Charlotte's ability to melt my heart with a single giggle.
3. The way Charlotte looks at her older brothers.
4. The way Owen and Henry have been talking to each other when they don't know we are listening.
5. How Todd does the laundry, unloads the dishwasher, puts the boys to bed, makes coffee, and does crazy dances for us all.
6. Everything bagels and cream cheese.
7. My Mom who understands that my lack of communication is a direct result of my crazy kids and busy life and isn't an indication of how much I enjoy talking with her.
8. All the people in our life that we can count on for anything.
9. Our wonderful caregivers that treat our children like their very own.
10. My beautiful kids and all the joy and humor they bring me (which far outweighs the whining, screaming, peeing, pooping, biting, hitting, frustration, ANGER, EATYOURDINNERNOW, STOPSLAMMINGTHEDOOR moments).

Happy Thanksgiving, friends and family!!

too bad they aren't in matching sweaters or this would seriously be our holiday card.

tidbits

* Having a birthday dinner for Grandpa, we were all discussing what our names were. The boys correctly identified Daddy as Todd, Mommy as Jane, Grandpa as Steven....Owen correctly told us his middle name (Thomas). Then we turned to Henry and asked him, "What is your middle name, Henry?" Without missing a beat, he answered, "Trouble."

* After dinner tonight, Owen got his potty seat (part of our routine now - iCarly and iPotty) took it to the couch, sat on it, and said "Look at me! I'm Mr. Pussy!" We still have no idea what the hell this means.

* I asked a class today how they could simplify their lives after we listened to the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts." One student raised his hand and answered, "No pants."

end of October.

The big boys in a baby swing. Why fight it?

Charlotte loves her yummies now....here is a taste of butternut squash. Yum-O!

O and Char:

tuesday tidbits

1. H1N1 is running wild! If we don't get it, it will be a feat of extreme immunity! Go, us!

2. The boys new favorite show is iCarly. Love it!

3. I have had "Party in the USA" stuck in my head for over 24 hours now.

hint: the prize-winning pumpkin has hair and vampire teeth

Vote for the 2009 Halloween Pumpkin Carving Winner to the right.

CHOICE 1:

CHOICE 2:

And our cute little baby pumpkin:

The whole family of pumpkins:

sporty AND fashionable

tidbits

1. Today in class, a student totally called my bluff by memorizing this song and singing it for the entire class. His reward was a bottle of Dr. Pepper that I keep under my desk. After winning, another student knocked his Dr. Pepper off the steps.
Me: Don't mess with the Pep!
Student: Uh oh, do you love Dr. Pepper?
Me: You disrespect the Doctor, you disrespect me.
Student: You want to be Mrs. Pepper, don't you?
Me: Yes. Yes, I do.

2. Picked up the boys, got in the car, and the Black Crowe's "She Talks to Angels" was playing on the radio. We listened for a minute then Owen said, "Hey Mommy! Is that Raffi?"

3. Todd brought home a Twix bar from the grocery store. He gave each of us a bite and Owen said, "This my favorite snack." Henry said, "Mm, delicious."

kids

pretty good birthday present

Love it! The Nobel Prize committee was thinking of me today when they awarded Obama the prize.

Picture and cnn story.

my biker chick and a flashback

boys now:

boys then:

and look how much Char looks like the boys! Sheesh!

pumpkin patch