Feeling tapped out.

Yeah, I haven't posted in a while. I'm just feeling overwhelmed at the moment -- overwhelmed mostly by the sheer volume of things I need to accomplish every day. Did you know that three small children can generate a massive amount of dirt in a day? I swear I spend 50% of my life cleaning up the routine stuff -- diaper changes, face washing after meals, dishes and laundry. Add to that the time I spend doing the other things that need cleaned/cared for -- sweeping, mopping, dusting, oil changes in the van, pool maintenance, broken microwaves (add appliance repairwoman to my job description, though I suppose that story deserves a post of its own someday), etc. -- and there just doesn't seem to be any time left at the end of the day. I keep telling myself that once school starts for Reid (on Wednesday) and we get into a new routine, things will get better. I think that I might be delusioned to think that, but I'm going to continue believing it until I've been proven wrong.

So, anyway, that is what I've been doing -- busy chasing the kids around cleaning up after them. And I'm out of time for now, so off I go to try and get the dusting finished before the kids come back from their evening stroll with Grandma & Grandpa.

I have a teenager!

Yes, yes, I know this post is a bit late. The last two weeks have been super busy. Hannah's birthday was on the 10th, then we travelled to Ohio to return her to her dad's house for the school year and now we've spent this week recovering.

Did I mention that I can't believe that I have a teenager? Where oh where did the last 13 years go? It is strange to realize that we have just a few more years before she is heading off to college as an adult.

So, Hannah requested a chocolate cake covered with fondant for her birthday. She isn't a flowery, girly girl, so I decided to try a soccer ball cake, as she will be playing soccer this fall. That is the short version of the story, anyway...I definitely didn't have a clue how I was going to pull off a soccer cake, but did it anyway because she liked the idea. So, here is the cake:

I was totally displeased with it. The top was okay, but the sides just look warped and strange. The cross lines between the blue patches are all wonky on the sides. She was happy with it, though, so I suppose that is really all that matters.

And here is a pic of my birthday girl!

And this is what I believe will be labeled as the "official" 13th birthday picture. I used to have photos taken at Penney's or Sears or some such place each year, but I realized that I was getting just as good (if not better) shots on my own than I can get with their (often) inexperienced staff.

Happy birthday, Hannah!

Vehicles!

Last week was a pretty "interesting" week. On Tuesday evening I decided that I just did not want to cook (or do anything for that matter). I asked John & Betty if they would like to join us at MiCasita, a local Mexican restaurant chain, and they agreed to join us for the outing. Now, we don't all fit in my van anymore, which is the only vehicle with a car seat for Lucy in it (the middle seat in the 3rd row is rendered useless because the boys seats overhang so much). So, Betty & I and all the kids headed to the restaurant in my van. John was going to follow shortly after in another vehicle, as he was getting cleaned up from mowing lawns. The restaurant is only about 5 or 6 miles from our house -- a straight shot down a busy four lane road. We were about 2/3rds way there when I suddenly lost the ability to accelerate. All the lights stayed on and the engine seemed to keep running, but I just couldn't go anymore. I panicked for a moment and then things started working again. I decided to keep driving, as we were most of the way to the restaurant at this point. As I was waiting at the light to turn left into the restaurant parking light, it happened again. And this time it did not resolve itself. I was able to get it to coast at about 5 MPH across the road and into the parking lot. And once I turned it off, it would not turn on again. We decided to go in and feed the hungry kids and worry about the van when we're done (well, I worried about the van and everyone else enjoyed dinner). We called John & asked him to bring their Suburban, so that we had a working vehicle we'd all fit in (but we'd have to move those stinking car seats, which is no fun). Thank goodness we weren't all in my van, else we would have had to figure out how to get one of us home to get the truck!



When we came out, we were able to jump it and get it to, again, coast but it would do nothing more than that. John tried to drive it a bit, but then it died for good. The auto shop, which I was -- ironically -- going to take the van to the next day for some routine maintenance, was just down the road. This is where I have to say -- I LOVE AAA!!! They towed the van (fairly promptly) down to the auto shop -- in fact, they let me leave the vehicle in John's care so that I could take the kids home and get them ready for bed. I will NEVER go without a AAA membership again!

Now, I'm not a car person, so no one start asking me to explain anything technical. All I know is that they had to do something to the alternator and the battery needed replaced. All is in working order now. I am just so grateful that this happened last week and not this week. I'm leaving for Ohio on Wednesday. I cringe to think what would have happened if the van had broken down on I-77 in West Virginia!

More knitting!

Hannah wanted me to make her a new hat for this winter. We poured over tons of patterns before we stumbled across this one. It is called "Bella's Hat" (which I got from here), which is designed to match the mittens that Bella wears in the movie "Twilight". I think the only reason she picked this pattern is because it has a "Twilight" link, but I don't care -- I actually really like the pattern. And I adore the mittens, which I'm going to make for myself (and a hat, too) when I finish one of my other projects (I have two others going right now -- a cardigan for me and a sweater for Ross).


I knit this with two strands of yarn held together, which I didn't particularly like. I had to tear it out after I was about an inch into it because the two strands were so tangled that I couldn't get them straightened out without doing so. Then I almost finished it, before I decided it was a touch too small and needed to be knit on larger needles. The third time was the charm, though, and I'm quite happy with the results. The hat is a little fuzzy, though, from all the extra handling. If I hadn't mucked it up the first time, I could have probably finished this in 3 hours (and I'm a slow knitter).

Hannah had been harassing me daily about when I was going to make the hat, so I might have waited a while to do it, but I couldn't stand the constant harassment. I tried to point out to her that she wouldn't need it until AT LEAST sometime in September (perhaps a cool Friday night football game?!?!). That didn't deter her from thinking that she needed it now. Oh well...it didn't take long and is done...

Did you hear that?

I'm sure you must have. If not, listen closely for the faint sound of someone exhaling loudly all the way in Iraq. A deep sigh of resignation, as his silly wife has become obsessed with something new.

And, before I go into details, I'm going to place the blame for this obsession on a dear friend -- my high school friend Susan (well, and a bit to my good friend, Jessica, as well). Susan got married, hmmm let's see, six years ago I believe. When I went to purchase her shower gift, I was horrified to find that she had registered for Fiestaware. Well, I was not horrified with the Fiestaware itself, but the fact that she had registered for one set of every color. "What was she thinking?", I said to myself, "that is going to be hideous!" So, I purchase her a set (a cobalt set, I do believe) and shrug my shoulders, "whatever she wants, its her house". Fast forward a bit to a baby shower being hosted at Jessica's house (a co-worker at Battelle and a good friend). As we're standing in the kitchen, prepping for the party, she opens her cupboard only to reveal a vast and colorful Fiestaware collection. My reaction was not one of horror, but one of pure delight. It was so colorful and fun. I fell in love instantly. And, of course, each time I've been in Susan's home since, I have been attracted her colorful collection of dishes. And, of course, I've been wanting my own set.

Now, I have my own full set of nice stoneware that we received as wedding gifts. I keep reminding myself of this - I do not need dishes. But after 5+ years of wishing for my own collection, I caved. I bought 4 pieces on Friday, though I was totally irritated to discover that the platter I purchased was warped and needs to be returned. Pretty aren't they?


I have no intentions of getting rid of my other dishes, partly because it will take me a long time to collect a full set of the Fiestaware and partly because the dishes were wedding gifts and I can't bring myself to part with them.

I'm fortunate that my husband, though he doesn't understand why I want new dishes, is just happy to make me happy. I'm a lucky gal!

We call her Miss Fang!

So, Lucy's top lateral teeth came in before her top center teeth. The look is quite precious on its own, but she also makes this face where she opens her mouth and kind of hisses at us (makes me think of the vampires in "Twilight" every time she does it) and the effect is hilarious! I've been trying to catch both the look and the teeth on camera for a while now. I finally caught it today, which is good, because her center teeth are just about to come in. I'm sure some day she will be thrilled that I captured this look on camera!

And a couple just too cute not post pictures: