You Capture- Pink

When I was a little girl I absolutely loathed pink.   Even all the way through high school I don't think I owned one item of pink clothing.  Not until my late twenties did I realize that I could be strong and fierce and feminine all at the same time.   It wasn't until then that I started to appreciate pink.  Now it is one of my favorite colors.

A soft, peachy-pink is hands down my favorite color in the world.

A nice, bright, florescent pink is always a great pick me up.

And a delicate, cotton candy pink puts a smile in my heart like I never knew it could.

Ahhhh... pink. 

A Weekend In Pictures

It was a wonderful weekend.  A busy weekend. I'll sum it up in pictures.

There were flowers, cards, a day shopping and having lunch with Todd sans kiddos, and lots of birthday hugs and kisses.

And of course, cake!

The next day there was more shopping and some Easter prep too.

Then it was Easter!  After a quick search everyone found their baskets. 

Commence the sugar overload!

Time for church.

A family picture before lunch with my side of the family.

The kidlets with Grandma.

Sitting outside after lunch.  The princess playing with sticks.  hehe  (the boys have silly expressions on their faces because the sun was shining in their eyes a bit and I told them to close their eyes and on the count of three lift their heads up, open their eyes, and smile.  It worked!  Thank you America's Next Top Model for that little trick!  ;)  )

From lunch with my family straight over to Todd's folks for dinner with his family.   Some of us were a bit tired.  A certain little lady fell asleep on her Auntie Kris for a little while.

After the nap it was all fun and games again.  The boys were tearing around with their cousins, playing so wildly that I could not capture them in pictures.  Luckily, Grace was very excited to repeatedly show people her pretty dress and fancy new shoes, and happily posed for pictures.

Sitting with Grandpa.

Cuddling with Grandma.

And we made it through.  Happily.

And with a bit of silliness.

How was your weekend? Did you make it through?  

You Capture- Spring

The Good News:  Everyone is feeling well and healthy again.

The Bad News:  This is what my You Capture picture looks like for Spring. 

Yesterday we received a little surprise in the way of 2 inches of SNOW.  Snow.  On April 19th.  I was so excited that Easter was going to be late this year because CERTAINLY Grace should be able to wear a pretty little dress this year.  Looks like, maybe not. 

My birthday is on Friday.  Is it too much to wish for normal weather?  I'm not asking for 70s and 80s.  Just our typical upper 50s would be appreciated.  You know?  Spring?  I'd like a little bit of that. 

How is your spring?

Just Thursday- Sick

Outside my window... it is rainy and dark and dreary and cold.

Today I feel... sick.  Again.

I am thankful... I am not as sick as I was two days ago.  I have never been sicker in my life.

Tomorrow I am going... to feel better.  I hope.

I am wearing...jammies

I wish... I could eat something.

This weekend... I'm going to catch up on my sleep.

I am reading... nothing

I am working on... getting better (notice a pattern here?)

Yesterday I... thought I was getting better.

I am hoping... I will be 100% tomorrow.

I am hearing... the wind whipping through the trees outside.

I bet you didn't know...  I lost 5 pounds in a day and a half.  Not good.

One of my favorite... tv shows has turned to crap.  Survivor was really boring last night.  Time to get rid of Boston Rob so it can get back to Survivor and not the Boston Rob Show.

Still Waiting...

Still waiting for the sickies to pass.

Still waiting for the weather to warm up.

Still waiting to put the winter jackets away.

Still waiting for spring to feel like spring.

But in the meantime...

Joey and I (the two sickies right now) are snuggling up in the house while Todd takes the rest of the kiddos on a walk.  It may not feel like spring around here but they still want to be outside taking in the fresh air.  This time Grace can join them on a walk too.  The very first walk she is actually walking with everyone and not in a stroller.  My how time flies.

Soon it will be spring.  I mean it will actually feel like spring.  The weather will eventually get warmer.  Any day now!  We will all be healthy and playing outside in the warm sunshine.  But for now we are still waiting.

Tell me, friends, what are you waiting for?







Hosted by Cecily and Lolli   

I Cry

A few weeks ago Grace woke up crying from her nap. It was earlier than she usually wakes so I waited to see if she would fall back to sleep.  She didn't.  When I went in to get her she was still crying.

"Why are you crying, Gracie?"  I asked her.

"No know!" she answered back shaking her head.

"You don't know?  Are you just whiny?"  I prodded further.

"No." she said using her most favorite word.

Since that little incident every time I go in to get Grace out of bed she loves to tease me.

"I cai!" she tells me, regardless of if she is actually crying or happy as a lark.

"Oh baby, don't cry!"  I comfort her each time.

"I whiny!" she adds.

"Don't be whiny!" I tell her as we both laugh. 

It really is cute.  And she does this EVERY time I come to get her.  It always cracks me up.  And lately I could use a little laughter to get me going.

I have had close to no sleep the last four nights. 

It started on Sunday night.  Ben woke up screaming and crying because he had thrown up all over his sheets, blankets, stuffed animals, and floor.  The hubby and I went to work cleaning up the boy, the bed, and the floor and then got everyone back to sleep.  An hour later the same thing happened again.  And then a couple more times after that. 

The next day he seemed to be feeling better.  He was eating small amounts of food and feeling fairly well.  That night I was very excited to go to bed and actually get some sleep.  But that didn't happen.  Ben threw up in the middle of the night again.  By the time everything was cleaned up and everyone was back in bed a huge thunderstorm rolled through our area.  It was so loud I just could not fall asleep.

The next day Ben was right as rain.  He ate breakfast, went to school, and even went to swim class at night.  Yay!  And that night he slept great.  But Tommy didn't.

It started at about 9:00 on Tuesday night and ended around 6:30 Wednesday morning.  Tommy puked round the clock just about every hour.  I think I may have gotten a half hour of sleep that night. 

By Wednesday afternoon Tommy told me he was 100% better.  Great! 

By Wedneday night all of the boys were overtired from being awakened by their brothers' puking for the last three nights.  We put them to bed and crossed our fingers.  I knew this night would be better.  I even allowed myself to have a drinky poo while watching Survivor.

Todd (who was starting to feel sick himself) and I attempted to catch up on our sleep and headed off to bed early.  Unfortunately, I was so paranoid someone was going to call me that I couldn't fall asleep.  Then someone called me.  Joey threw up four times last night.

I am running on fumes today.  I am sick of doing puke-soaked loads of laundry in the middle of the night.  I must get some sleep.  I hate vomit.  When will this end?  I hope Grace isn't next. Why must these vomit attacks always happen in the middle of the night?  Poor kids.  Such troopers.  My stomach is really starting to feel icky.  I'm exhausted.

I cry. 

I whiny. 

Friday Afternoon

It is Friday afternoon.  I'm sitting in my library with the door closed, taking turns folding laundry and drinking my coffee.  I closed the door to keep the sock stealing dog and the laundry unfolding tornado, Grace, out of my way.  The muffled chaos is just a bonus. 

It was supposed to be a rainy/snowy day but as I sip my coffee I glance out the window and see the afternoon sun beaming off the driveway in long streams of yellow.  Thank God it did not snow again.  I don't think I could take that today. 

Today was a tough day.  Feeling somewhat confident I dragged my two youngest with me to Target so I could try on swim suits.  My confidence did not last long.  Knowing I am close to my goal weight gave me undeserved swagger.  The same goal weight that used to look great on me now looks lumpy, and flat, and pale, and mushy, and just wrong.  Apparently, the weight distribution center goes wonky after a certain age.  Or maybe it is after a certain number of children.  Either way, nothing is where it should be.  I ran a total of 70 miles last month and this is the result?  It has made me a bit depressed, I'm afraid.

Now I'm sitting here, my hair still wet from the shower I took after my run, contemplating exercise and the whole point thereof.  Part of me wants to just tell myself to buck up.  Enjoy the body I have while I have it.  I know someday I will look back on this body and wonder what the hell my whiny 34 year old self was complaining about.  Another part of me flashes back to that image in the store's mirror and kinda wants to cry.

*sigh*

Such trivial things clogging up my mind.  It is a privilege, I know.

I have been quiet this afternoon.  Just listening.  I don't feel like talking much.  I don't know if I have anything good to say.

The kids are happy to talk for me.  They talk all day long.  Nonstop.  They are talking right now.  Loudly, as a matter of fact.  I hear them wrestling in the next room and I set my laundry aside for a minute to supervise and make sure it is not getting too rough out there. 

Grace squeals and runs up to me.

"Ho me!" she says with her arms raised up to me.

I immediately pick up her long, skinny body and hold her to me.  She squirms and wiggles, her pink Nike warm-up outfit slippery in my arms.  I have to wrap both my arms tightly around her to make sure she doesn't shimmy free.  She wraps her little arms around my neck, smashes her cheek against mine and says, "I lub YOU !"  To which I, of course, reply "I love YOU!"  And on and on this (my favorite) game goes.

"Hey mom, are you done folding laundry now?" Joey asks me as he slams his brother to the ground.

"No.  Not yet."  I answer back.  "Sheesh! Careful with Ben!"

"I lub YOU!" Grace says to me and I respond in kind.

"Well could you finish?  Because I want to snuggle with you.  I haven't snuggled with you all day."  Joey says as Tommy climbs on his back.

"I lub YOU!" Grace laughs as she squashes my cheeks in between her dimpled hands.

Completely relieved and amazed that my 8 year old still wants to snuggle with me all the time I tell him, "I'll hurry, Joe.  Then we can have a nice, long snuggle, okay?"

He nods his head and goes back to tackling his brothers on the floor.

"I love YOU!" Grace squeals in my ear and I whisper back in hers, "I love YOU!"


"Mom, my best friend Sara?  She is going on a cruise next week."  a redfaced and hyper Tommy tells me excitedly as he bounces from foot to foot.

"Wow."  I respond, trying to sound just as enthused.

"That's a silly time to go on a cruise."  Tommy says matter of factly while he pushes Ben into Joey.

"Why is that a silly time to go?"  I ask him.

"Because she is going on the weekend.  She said it is gonna take five days to get there.  That's a long time.  She's gonna miss some school." he answers.

"Oh."  I guess I can see his logic.

"I told her I hope she doesn't get attacked and eaten by a giant squid. Cuz she has to go on the ocean." Tommy tells me.  I can't help but laugh at that one.  What a way to wish a friend well on their vacation!

"I'm gonna say a prayer for her tonight so she doesn't get eaten by a giant squid."  Tommy decides.

"But she'll be alright, Tommy."  Benny reassures his big brother as he comes up for air from the dog pile.

"Unless she gets eaten by a giant squid."  Tommy corrects him as the three boys continue to smash into each other.

"Mamma!!!!"  Gracie says, grabbing my face to get my full attention, "I LUB YOU!!!"

And with that my mood is rescued.  Laugher when I didn't feel like laughing.  Love when I need it the most.  It is just the reminder I need.  Thank you, my lovies.  It is so worth it.