Happy 4th Birthday, Isabella!!!

We celebrated Isabella's birthday at the Lone Star in Kingston. We had been partying so much up until her actual day, I think she was kind of sick of talking about it. Speaking of sick, she started acting funky while we were at dinner and by the time we got home, her fever was up to 102 and she kept complaining her mouth hurt. Three days later and she still isn't great. In fact, she is a major whine ass. Her little butt is off to the doctor tomorrow if her mood hasn't improved. Maybe they can give her a little Lorazapam. If not, I'll share some of mine.

We are back from Syracuse/Canada. It is nice to be home after 2 weeks away but we had a great time. Most of our time at the lake was spent cleaning/tossing out the many, many, many items my grandmother hoarded for 93 years. The woman should have bought stock in a plastic company. I swear she had about 1,000 baskets full of shit. I didn't get my ability to toss crap from her, that is for sure. Who would have known that a laundry room could take an entire day?? Or that she could paper the Eiffel Tower from top to bottom with copies of document from her lawyer and investment broker? It took me 2 days to sort her bills. I still can't figure out why she would have a telephone bill in the basement for one month and the next month, it would be in a file in the cabinet. Just when I thought I was done, I'd find another WHOLE box of them. OMG.

When all was said and done, every window has a new curtain rod and new curtains, there are new venetian blinds on all the sliding doors, a set of bunk beds are now in the kid's room, my room has a new comforter from IKEA on it, the garage is cleaned out, the basement is all fixed up. The place looks fabulous. Gram would be proud:)

In the middle of all of this, we invited Gram's bible study out to have their yearly picnic. It was nice to meet the women she spent time with over the past 7 years. It was very sad for them as this was the first picnic without her.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

It is amazing how quickly your birthday becomes so unimportant when 1.) you share it with Father's Day and 2.) your 3 year old's birthday is a mere 7 days away. However unimportant, I did have a great day:) Diet Coke from McDonald's and my favorite cookies from a local bakery, church, chicken fajitas for lunch, packing the car, dinner, and then ice cream. Oh, and in that busy schedule, I sold my great aunt's china cabinet for 250.00 dollars:) Mom would like me to put it towards bills but I would rather spend it.

We are off to Canada tomorrow. The car is over-packed and we haven't even put our suitcases in yet! I am hoping for a MAJOR mood change in Bella. She is beyond moody and whiny and demanding. She may be going south in a large envelope addressed to her father while we go north:)

Summer is here AGAIN!!!

And we are off..... off to Syracuse and then Canada, that is. My birthday is on the 20th and Isabella's is on the 27th so we plan to have tons of fun in the next few weeks. I am really excited about getting back to Canada and the lake house. Mom just purchased boat loads of new curtains and a set of bunk beds for the girls. Isabella can't wait to share them with Sadie...she plans on getting the top bunk and Sadie gets the bottom. I'll do my best to upload pictures and news:)

Elisabeth the Great just got 2 more awards at school. One of them, the Mount Nittany Technical Education Award, is given to students who show a positive attitude, strength, and creativity in their Technical Education class. Out of 250 7th graders, she was one of 2 kids to receive this. Brilliant. I am not sure where she gets her brains from but her teacher-ass-kissing definitely comes from me:) She gets out of school tomorrow at 1 and swears she won't be crying. Yeah. Right.

Isabella has been done since last Friday. She and Nanny spent the day together. She didn't even want me to go to lunch with them today and after it was over, she wanted me to take my own car back home. Unfortunately, Mom had dropped me off so she didn't get that wish either.

If you wonder where I've been........

I'll spill it and tell you. I have been at a new Mexican restaurant that is only 1 frickin' mile away from our house. If I had to (like in a snow storm), I could walk there....it is that close. OMG. I ate there 3 times in 3 days. Unbelievable. And the best part?? Elisabeth likes it! Elisabeth NEVER likes to eat out. Yeah for me!

In other family news, although not nearly as important as my gut, Isabella has 3 and a half days left of preschool. Because her birthday is on the 27th, she is going to celebrate it at school on Thursday. We are making ice cream cone cupcakes....48 of them. Don't ask me how I am going to get them all made AND get them in to the school. How do I manage to do this to myself? Seriously.

Elisabeth has 5 and a half days left of 7th grade. I think she is all done with her tests. Her last Science test score was NOT what we expected it would be. I thought it was completely unfair and told that to the principal in my email to him on Friday. He hasn't emailed me back. Now I am doubly pissed. He's getting another one tomorrow.

Bragging about Elisabeth

I just got an email from Elisabeth's English teacher. This was at the bottom....

PS PLEASE tell me what your secret is. . . Elisabeth is one of the kindest, sincerest students I have ever had! She has been an absolute joy to have in class.


I, of course, said that she takes after her mama:)

Just when I think she isn't listening....

We went out for a late dinner last night. I had food in the house but I didn't want to cook it and Todd didn't want to clean it up. While sitting at Olive Garden, Bella was doing her best to push everyone's buttons and Elisabeth was doing her best to talk over Isabella. It was absolutely exhausting. Have you ever tried to keep 2 kids happy by carrying on 2 complete conversations???? And then there is Todd---not having a clue what is going on and wanting an update. UGH!

About 20 minutes after arriving, the waiter finally brought Isabella her chocolate milk and, under my breath, I said, "Now maybe she will shut up!" I then hear Bella say, "Mommy, that is NOT a very nice thing to say!" No, it wasn't very nice but it was true.

Fast forward 30 more minutes.....I have added ice to Bella's soup about 10 times, had her dip her breadstick in my diet Coke because she likes them soft, listened to Elisabeth rant about her friends at school, picked up Bella's napkin 5 times, answered Todd's questions, listened to Elisabeth worry about her Science test that is coming up, given Bella a lecture on not dropping Daddy's phone on the ground, quizzed Elisabeth on her upcoming Science test facts, tucked duckies under Bella's butt because the chair hurt her legs....you get the picture.

Then, the statement I dread the most comes out of Bella's mouth: "I NEED TO GO POTTY!!!!!!" I look at Todd and he says, "NOT IT!". Elisabeth, bless her heart, says that she will take her. Quietly, I say, "Thank you Jesus!!" Isabella looks up at me and says, "MY name is NOT Jesus!!!"

I seriously give up.

Back from another adventure

We just got home for a 5 day trip to Jacksonville, Florida. Our main reason for going was to celebrate Todd's grandfather's 100th birthday. We had dinner with him on his birthday at his retirement home, again the next day with the whole family, and then again at the Chart House Restaurant (YUMMMMMYYYY!). I guess you can't party too much when you turn 100. We also had a chance to spend time with Todd's brother, sister, and her new fiance as well as his parents. Most of the time was spent, however, at the pool. Isabella learned how to swim without her floaties AND go under water while Elisabeth got a nice brown tan. I stayed out of the sun because I was on antibiotics and didn't want to get a burn. Todd, on the other hand, burned himself to a crisp.