Oh yeah, I forgot about this

About a week ago Nicolas got a hold of our phone. This is nothing new. I heard him pushing buttons and thought he couldn't possiblymake an actual call. I was wrong. He ended up hitting redial somehow and called daddy. They had a nice chat.

It had to happen sometime....

...when one of my children would eat something that wasn't food. Nicolas ate a lego tonight, we think. I heard the boys yelling at him to spit it out and when I got there there was nothing to spit out. He says he ate a cheerio, which could be true. With the state of our house right now there are any number of random things on the floor, the majority of which tend to be legos and cheerios for some reason. Anyway, it was swallowed, whatever it was. Anthony was upset, because he was worried about Nico I presumed. Not so. Turns out he is more concerned about the missing lego, if it is missing. Oh well. I told him he is welcome to dig through poopy diapers tomorrow to look for the lego if he likes but I am considering that lego long gone.

sticking something up nose - check
eating something that isn't food - check

Nicolas is on a roll, all we need now is stitches or a broken bone and he should be good to go until college, right? Right?!?! AAAAAAHHHH, please com visit me in the looney bin, please.

I just can't keep it inside!

Consider this a venting blog, which is why not everyone on my mailing list is getting it this time. I know what you are thinking, aren't all of her blogs venting blogs? Very funny, but no, they aren't. Most are just an attempt at recording the craziness around here for future generations, namely my son's wives to be who will hopefully get a kick our of hearing about their antics as children.

So, let the venting begin:

I HATE PACKING!
I HATE BOXES!
I HATE THE SOUND PACKING TAPE MAKES WHEN YOU STRETCH IT OVER A BOX!
I HATE NOT BEING ABLE Y PTO FIND ANYTHING!
I HATE THAT I HAVE PARKED MY KIDS IN FRONT ON LOONEY TUNES ALL DAY JUST SO I CAN PACK!
I HATE THAT NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY I CAN'T SEEM TO FINISH PACKING THE MASTER BEDROOM!
I HATE HOW CARDBOARD BOXES SMELL!
I HATE THINKING ABOUT HAVING TO UNPACK ALL I HAVE JUST PACKED!
I HATE BEING SWEATY PRETTY MUCH FROM MORNING TIL NIGHT!

Wow, that felt good. Ok, much better. Now add a glass of wine to this vent and I will be doing alright. Actually, just add a couple snuggles from my boys and I will be doing great! Thanks for listening, all.

It could be worse...

As if packing and living out of boxes and amidst a gigantic mess isn't hard enough, leave it to my 2 year old to add to the chaos. This morning he got into the pantry and opened up our tupperware tub that holds our pancake powder mix. He poured about half on the floor (this is from Costco mind you, so not a small amount by any means). Then he opened up the vanilla extract and poured it into the remaining mix that was left in the tupperware and created a lovely smelling sludge. Then he helped himself to some chips and spilled most of the bag on the floor. I would just like to add that most of the above mentioned items are currently packed in boxes so he actually had to search for them, find them, take them out, and create a mess. As I have said, he has a gift.

On to the move. I spent most of yesterday at our old house cleaning and patching paint. It was so strange to be there, not just because it was completely empty, but because it still holds so many memories. I stumbled across some toys that had been lost in the bushes and remembered how they got there. As I cleaned the tiny bathroom I actually had a fond memory of being able to hear what was going on in EVERY room of the house from that particular place. I am excited about the new couple moving into our home and I hope it will hold as many wonderful memories for them as it did for us.

I am still packing away. I feel like there has to be a bottom somewhere, but at the moment it is like looking into a giant chasm of boxes and misc junk. I started on the boys' room today and discovered that 5 years worth of books doesn't fit in just one box, or at least not one box that someone other than Hulk Hogan can lift! So, that meant yet another box that had to be packed. So much for streamlining things. The hardest part is figuring out what to pack and what to keep out as I will be going out of town the day we move and need to have clothes and other things available for packing and the boys will be going to grandma's condo for the weekend or at least part of it so they will need clothes and diapers and toys, etc. Part of me wants to try and be super organized and have us all packed and ready for anything tomorrow! And the other part of me just wants to pack MY bag, get outta town and let daddy deal with the rest. But that would be unfair and I would never do such a thing. Please don't take my actually getting out of town as me being hypocritical. I scheduled this trip long before I knew we were going to move.

I will say that I have gotten rid of a ton of stuff, which seems amazing to me seeing as how we just had a garage sale AND I got rid of a ton of stuff a year ago when we moved last time. I guess we just have tons of stuff, which means I could get rid of a lot more if I really tried.

Anyway, I must return to my boxes and tape and hope that somewhere in there dinner gets made without knowing where any of my pots and pans and utensils are packed and the kids have jammies tonight for bed. Talk to me in a week when I am on a plane to Pittsburgh. I bet my attitude will be a whole lot different!

Just had to share...

So a little while ago Nicolas got int trouble for saying something unkind to mommy. So like a good mommy she put said toddler in time out. He sat down, all the while holding his cell phone that he carries everywhere. Pretty much anytime he gets put in time out he immediately says "Sorry mommy" so he can get up right away, but I make him sit there for at least a minute regardless. This time, however, he felt the need to share his sorrow. So after saying sorry and not being allowed to get up he opens up his cell phone and says, "hello, grandma, I crying." It was worth a shot, maybe grandma would let him get up.

At least life is never dull...

Well, some of you know and some of you don't know that we will be moving at the end of the month. No big change, just switching to a little cheaper house in the same neighborhood. This will make two moves in a year and I hope it means no moves for a while. While renting definitely has its perks it can be a pain when you are renting out a place of your own. We were thinking for a little while there that we might have to move back into our tiny house because we couldn't find any renters. But, the Lord has blessed us with a great couple to rent our home and hopefully they will want to stay longer than a year. So, now comes the tricky part, packing up all our stuff to move it two blocks. Oh, did I mention I will be out of town the weekend we need to move? Yep, either I planned this really well or made a horrible mistake, we shall see. Regardless, I am packing my little brains out trying to have things basically organized for when moving day finally arrives. In the midst of all of this Joe got a serious staph infection in his elbow and even had to be hospitalized for a day to get IV antibiotics. Luckily everyone else has been well aside from a case of double pink eye in all three boys, but the drops worked and now everyone is well and ready for the move.

Aside from the stresses of moving we are feeling very blessed. Anthony is in his last full week of school and already talking about 1st grade and how excited he is to go to a new class with new kids. Being that he is our shy guy this makes a mother's heart very warm. He has had a great year of school and that means so much. Dominic will stay home another year which was a tough decision to make. We waited with Anthony to start him in school as he would have been the youngest in the class had we started him when he turned 5 and we really see how waiting has benifited him. So, we will do the same with Dominic and give him that same edge.

Nicolas is still our little covert operator. The kid is so fast and so quiet that it really blows your mind. The government should really study his tactics, I think they could learn a thing or two. I won't go into detail, as there is too much to tell, but he has recently stolen off-limit cookies, made long distance calls on our phone, emptied the printer of paper, poured water on the couch, and let's not forget pouring dishsoap all over freshly made rice krispy treats. The kid has a gift, it is his choice to use it for good or evil.

Dominic continues to be a spitfire. He moves constantly and it is actually hard for him to simply walk in a straght line. He has to skip, spin, jump, or dive from place to place. Of course we love this about him, most of the time, and his energy can be really infectious at times. Other times you just want to put him in a padded room so you can get a little peace and quiet. But then he smiles at you and all is forgiven. Since he was a baby that smile has melted many a heart and we are already seeing the effects it has on the ladies. He is like the pied piper with little girls. They just follow him around and he has no clue why, he just loves having friends to play with!

Well, I think I have caught you up on our lives and now I must get back to packing, ugh!! Just when I think I have a handle on things I find another cabinet full of random junk we don't need. At least this is a good chance to get rid of stuff. Anyway, hope you are all well.