5 years!

Today is my 5th Anniversary! I can't believe that it has already been 5 years. Bart totally shocked me this year and asked my mom to watch the kids so we could go out to dinner and stay over at a hotel. We went last night to a great dinner, and stayed at the Marriott in a nice room with a lake view and whirlpool tub. He really got me this time! Usually we plan together to do something. It was my first night away from Hayley too. We went to breakfast this morning and then did some errands. It was nice!

Missing Gram

Freebie

Check out this freebie! Can't beat free right? It looks deep but it is only up to Caleb and Meghan's belly button. Of course we haven't had any great weather lately so we haven't used it much. I hope we get to a little!

Speaking of weather, that storm last week was indeed a confirmed tornado. Yikes!

The in-laws have been here and we are doing more work in the basement. I can't wait until it's finished. The extra space will be awesome!

We had meltdown city here yesterday when the kids were fighting over the blue pool noodle. No one wanted the green one. You would have thought the world ended. Over a color!!!!!!!!!!! Wait..when does preschool start?

Wahooo!

I am so glad Aaron won The next Food Network star!

Bills, and other stuff!

We just got our tax bill today. They raised it 500.00! Cripes! But we have 2.5 acres of land, but still we live in the freakin boonies! 2400.00!! We also got our pre-buy bill for fuel. It is going to cost us about 1000.00 more than last year. I have been trying to think of ways we can cut back. I just don't know how people are going to do it? I feel bad for the older people. Everything has gone up. Ugh.

I am glad that we have a garden, we are getting zucchini and cucumbers like crazy now. Meghan loves cucumbers, as do I. They are so good when fresh! Plus no points! Yum! So far we have one pumpkin, and it is getting huge! I really hope we have more than one because the kids would fight over it. LOL

I can't believe that I am not going to have anymore kids! It just seems so weird to me. But realistically I know we can't. The way the economy is going, we wouldn't be able to afford it, if we plan on helping with college too. It just makes me sad to know that Hayley is my last one. :( Maybe that is why I haven't moved her out of my room yet. Yes that's right, she is still in my room in her bassinet. Man, the time flies!! I can't believe she is already 3 months old. Knock on wood, she has been sleeping through the night for 2 weeks.

For once we don't have many plans this weekend. We are going to a birthday party tomorrow night and that's about it. My in-laws are supposed to come up next week, and I REALLY want the basement finished. We will hit a year in October. Seriously it needs to get done. I am at the end of my rope. Especially lately because it has rained pretty much everyday here, and if the basement was done, the kids could go down there and play. UGH!!!!

Storms & Smiles

Wow! We had a huge storm yesterday around 3pm. I was a little nervous, the wind was whipping and it was pouring and thunder and lightening. Caleb and Meghan were up to my gram's and it was just me and Hayley. I heard a big snap, I thought a tree was going to fall somewhere around our house. We had one fall last winter that hit our house and dented and put a hole in our vinyl siding. Turns out the snap I heard was the tree near my gram's house, that landed on her garage/barn roof. That was nothing compared to what happened down the road, there were dozens of trees knocked over, even uprooted all down the road. A couple from our church had trees all over their yard down, and thankfully just missed their newly built log cabin. It did however hit one of their trucks and hit his shop. We keep hearing stories of other people's sugar houses that were ruined, enough so that they won't be able to sugar next year I guess. Someone said it was a tornado? I highly doubt that, but it almost looks like something did come through town and explode. There is just certain spots where the tops of trees are over and everything. Bart had to leave his car and walk home because both ways were blocked by trees and power lines. We had no power for about 10 hours. I brought my camera to try and get pics, but I felt weird about it. So I only snapped a few when people weren't looking, but they didn't turn out so well.

I also shot this video of Hayley. Please excuse my annoying voice, in fact you don't have to have sound on. LOL But you can hear her grunting noises!

Say a little prayer

One of my best friends, Jessica, who lives in Florida has been TTC and now is going in on August 4th for an operation to open her tubes and such, in hopes that she might become pregnant. Could you please include her in some of your prayers. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

In a funk

Man, I don't know what my problem is lately, but I am for sure in a funk. I know I am not PMS-ing, so I have no idea what is going on. I am cranky. I'll tell you one thing. Dieting doesn't help that either. Poor Bart I am so cranky I don't hardly want to talk to him. I am sure the feeling is mutual. Guess I am just having a pity party...wanna come?

We officially paid off the van yesterday. Just in time for the rear hatch part to break. Yes, that's right I can't open my back door unless I want to hold it open while loading. Doesn't look like that will be happening. So....we have to call and get it fixed. We are supposed to be trying to get another year out of this hunk of junk. I am not confident I really want to drive to Maine in it. Ugh. On one good note, I deposited 115.00 in change yesterday! I brought all our change in to the bank and they have a machine that counts it. I am sure I have just as much in cans to return too. But I can't bring those back when my door is broken.

Bart is working from home today. Usually I used to like that, but now I see that it just makes things more complicated. The kids want him to play, and he can't so they whine, and then they try and shut his laptop off etc. So I would actually rather him go to work. It's just easier for me and him, I am sure.

Caleb & Meghan's 4 year checkup

Caleb and Meghan had their 4 year appointment today. They did great, they were talkative and did all the things they were supposed to do for the nurses. Unlike last year when they couldn't do the eye or hearing exam. Before the Dr. left he told them they had to have some shots today. They appeared to be listening but didn't really get it, apparently. Then the nurse came in, and Bart took Meghan out, and I held Caleb. Ugh. I hate this crap. Seriously. Why am I always the one holding them while they get shots? Poor kids, Caleb cried and cried. Meghan came in and asked the nurse why Caleb was crying. Little did she know. They wanted them to look at a pinwheel and blow it. Umm, yeah after the first shot the pinwheel is no longer working. Meghan of course cried too, and you know she broke her arm last year...I think she cried more today then when she broke a bone. Ugh. Glad I don't have to do that again for a year. Oh wait, Hayley has her 4 month appointment next month. Ugh. I now know the meaning of "it hurts me more, than it hurts you".

Anyways here are the stats. Caleb weighs 46lbs and is 43 inches long. He is 95% for both height and weight. Meghan is 38lbs and 42 inches tall. She is 95% for height and 75% for weight. They even took their blood pressure, and a urine sample (that was fun). You know we have to pay a 20.00 dollar co-pay per kid...I think that for twins we should get a discount. I mean we use one room. Rip-off. Oh and then the Dr. asked them what they like to eat. I was like great, please say something healthy. Caleb said hot dogs. I guess, at least it wasn't chocolate chip muffins. LOL Meghan asked me what to say and I said applesauce. But I wasn't lying, Meghan eats that all day long. Apparently she is like Bart who loves veggies, fruits, and pasta. Caleb on the other hand is like me and likes sweets and meat.

The 4th of July

I am trying to catch up on some posts since I was gone camping and now that my internet is normal again I can! On the 4th we went to a parade and then this little thing they have after. Here are some pics!


My mom and Hayley. So sweet!
Caleb and Meghan with cotton candy! Yum.
Hayley in her 4th of July outfit.
Hayley and my dad.
Caleb and Meghan waiting for the parade. Think they are excited?

Random thoughts

Here is a pic of our garden. I can't wait for fresh veggies!


Here is Hayley on her playmat. Love her chubby cheeks!
Caleb and Meghan came dressed like this. I am sure Caleb will love this pic later. Ha, ha!

I am happy to report that my internet is back to normal! YAY!! That was the longest 30 days of my life!

I am packing and getting ready to go camping. Crazy? Yes, probably. I hate packing for it. You have to bring so much crap. Ugh. I am not sure how fun and easy it will be with 3 kids, but oh well it's only for 4 nights or less if it rains! We come back on Saturday and Bart will be back to work on Monday. BLAH! Caleb and Meghan have their 4 year appt on Monday and I am so not looking forward to it. They have to have shots. Ugh. I feel like I betraying them by not telling them. Maybe a bribe will work?

I am still *trying* to lose weight. I have started a separate blog for that. If you want to read about my struggles, then you can go here

Nothing else is new around here. Bart has been on vacation, the kids are normal (fighting, playing etc) Hayley is awesome, she is so content and happy. She has been sleeping through the night for a couple of nights in a row. She pretty much is cranky if she is hungry or tired. Maybe she just seems easy after having twins.

Does it mean I am old, if on our oldies station I heard Heaven by Bryan Adams? I mean I know that song. Geez I am only 29!

Wish me luck and pray for good weather!!

Strawberry jammin it

Last weekend we went strawberry picking with my sister and her family. Caleb and Meghan loved it. Hayley slept the whole time. This year I wanted to make jam again but more of it since I didn't make much last time. So we picked two flats of strawberries...I made A LOT of jam. This post only took me like two days. Hopefully my internet is up and running faster soon!!

A few more rants...

Well since we have the best luck on the planet, let me tell you what we walked down on yesterday. Water all over our basement. Our heating system had a pipe spraying everywhere. We had to shut the water off most of the day. Luckily for us my father in law is handy, and that we were home. My FIL came and fixed it last night. LOVE HIM! (except we are still waiting on the basement to get done, I digress) Nothing was really damaged that we have noticed yet...I did have a brand new printer in a box still that was a little wet, I just don't have the courage to open it yet.

We are approaching the 30 day mark for our deathly slow internet because we violated our policy. We were told that every day it should get better. I called last week because I couldn't get on. They blamed it on the weather. Bart called last night and was on the phone an hour and they gave him loads of reasons why our internet could be slow.

1. It's our router (umm it wasn't hooked up)
2. We have a virus (umm we have up to date virus protection until Fall 2009)
3. We need to clear our "cookies" (give me a break)

And the list goes on and on. Pretty much had us running in circles. They said they have us listed with 3 routers and 3 mac ip addresses? Umm I don't even have a mac (if that is even what it means) and we certainly don't have 3 routers. We can't deal with the one router we have because it sucks. Bart to my surprise got angry and was pretty much calling their BS. He is going to call and speak to a supervisor today. Oh, they had us go to a website to check our upload and download speed. Download was 125 kbps and upload was 24 kbps. They also said we violated our policy again? Umm HOW ? We can hardly get on let alone upload so much that we violate our policy. They said we got an email on the 18th. Nope, no email. They also suggested we unplug our modem for 3 days. Let's just say that if we had another choice for internet WE WOULD BE USING IT. Ugh.
Have a good day! :-P

Picture post

My mom took this one...


This one cracks me up


I may be partial, but isn't Meg beautiful?
Me & my girls!

Hayley's 2 month stats

Hayley had her 2 month appointment yesterday. She weighs 13lbs 8oz (97%) and was 24 1/4 inches long (97%)!! My little chubby girl! Her head measured 41cm I think. The poor little girl had to have 3 shots and the oral vaccine for rotovirus. I have never heard her cry like she did yesterday. I felt so bad for her. The Dr. said that she looks great! He did agree with me when I asked about her belly button. She has an umbilical hernia. He said they don't do anything for them and that over time it will just go in. If it hasn't gone away by the time she is 4 then they might have to do surgery. But he did tell me that they have never had to do that yet.
She was fussy and cried a while last night, but she was all smiles this morning!

sucky

This week has been crappy. I wrote down everything on Weight Watchers, blah, blah. Didn't lose a thing. Blech. I am trying hard not to lose motivation! Next week has to be better, right? Maybe I will be getting Aunt Flo....there has to be some reason...

Then yesterday Bart took half a day off, and we all ventured to do some errands. We just pulled into Costco when his phone rang. It was a partner from his office. He didn't get a promotion to manager this year. You know what I would like to say to that? Use your imagination. It's not because he didn't earn it, that's for sure. There just isn't the "need" and a lot of other B.S. It irritates the crap out of me. He works SO hard, too hard sometimes!! I mean this year alone he had 300 hours of overtime. Too bad he's salary. I feel so bad for him.

I dread Tuesday...Hayley has her 2 month appointment and she has to get shots. :( She is smiling a ton now! It's so cute. She has been trying to laugh too, but we haven't gotten the full laugh yet.

Today we are headed to a baby shower and then a birthday party. Fun, fun!

8 weeks

Hayley is 8 weeks old today. I can't believe it! Time flies. She doesn't look like a newborn anymore :( Caleb and Meghan adore her, maybe a little too much sometimes. Hayley is a good baby, and loves to eat! She has the cutest chubby little thighs and cheeks! I feel so blessed.

I am currently doing Weight Watchers. I was going to wait until the Fall to start, but I am really unhappy with my body and I want to lose weight before we go to Disney in November. It's not easy (obviously) for me in the summer time. But I need to lose this weight! I lost all my pregnancy pounds from Hayley, I just need to get the pregnancy weight off from Caleb and Meghan. I am doing the online version for right now and might start going to meetings in the fall. Now if I could find some time to exercise...Caleb and Meghan start preschool in September and I will be able to walk when they are there in the mornings. So far I have lost 2lbs. I have to say I was a little disappointed because usually when I start WW, the first week I lost a good amount and this time it was 2lbs...which I know isn't that bad! I wish I didn't have a huge sweet tooth!

$700.00 later my van looks new! Well except for the rust. Oh and my internet is still freakin slllooowwww. Bastards.

Rants

Where do I start? Last week I was on the way to go grocery shopping with Caleb and Meghan. Bart was going to stay home and watch Hayley while working. It was a crappy rainy day, and half way there my car dies. So I call Bart and have him come to pick me up, only to realize 3 kids won't fit in a Honda Civic. So I call my awesome cousin Heidi to come and save my ass. So she came and brought one kid all the way to my house for me. (Thank you so much!!) We have the car towed, thank goodness for Allstate Motor club. We have it fixed, it was the alternator. I was secretly hoping that it would be something not worth fixing so we could get a new (used) van. No such luck. Fine whatever. I decide then to obsessively clean my car. Next morning Bart goes to start it. Nothing. So tack on a new battery to that list. I was just happy to have my van back all in all. Until yesterday.

Should you be worried when your children come in and say "Mommy, window broken on car" I think we all know the answer to that. YES! I said "A window better not be broken!" thinking that they cracked a window. I walked out and saw black tinted glass all over the ground. The whole rear side window was gone. ALL OF IT. There is no way that Caleb and Meghan could have done it. Most of the glass is on the outside of the car, so we have come to the conclusion that it burst because of this obsessive heat lately. Seriously, WTF? Do you think this an omen to get a new van, or am I just imagining it?

Let me also add Wildblue satellite internet to my list of rants. Their customer service, SUCKS. But because I live in the boonies, they have us by the balls and they know it. I signed up for this awesome service, if I could use it called Carbonite. They back up your files and it cost about 50 a year which isn't bad at all considering I have no time and I am really worried about losing my photos. So I signed up for their 2 week trial, and was feeling good about it. Until one day when my internet was slower than dial-up, if that is even possible. So Bart called and then they told us we had exceeded our bandwith. I didn't even know we had a limit. But apparently it is in our fair access policy, listed in our contract that I signed 2 years ago. Do you think I remembered or really even read it? No. They said that they had sent us emails warning us. We didn't get those emails, because they had the wrong one listed. Which is such bullshit because I have had to call there numerous times before and they have sent me emails. Bart asks how long before our service is normal again, after deleting Carbonite. Umm 30 days they say! We mention that we have been a customer for 2.5 years and have never once come close to going over. The only reason we did this time was because Carbonite was backing up our files. We always pay our bill on time etc etc...nope can't help you. Bastards. HOW LONG BEFORE WE CAN GET HIGH SPEED IN THE FREAKIN ASS BOONIES?!!!

There I am done, for today.

Introducing Hayley!!

Hayley Marion was born on April 22, 2008 at 9:14 am weighing 8lbs 14oz and was 21.5 inches long.

Please pray for Tricia!

I know I have posted in a long time, but I do read a lot of blogs. One of my newest ones is about a woman named Tricia who has cystic fibrosis. Her husband writes daily in his blog about her and their preemie Gwyneth. They have amazing faith, and just found out tonight that she has a set of donor lungs that are a match for her. She is currently in the OR right now, and I am asking anyone who even reads this to say lots of prayers for her. This is their blog, please check it out!
http://cfhusband.blogspot.com

Thank you!

Also please remember and pray for the donor's family at this time as they are grieving.