4 Kids & A Large Coffee

Here's What's Doin'....

2011-06-29T08:21:00.007-05:00

Hello Again!

Remember me?

Well I am not sure I have an audience anymore, but I just thought I should check in just in case.

So I have been very busy lately. My 10 year old has left me and gone to sleepover camp for the first time. I miss her like crazy but she is having a blast!

My almost 13 year old is getting ready for her first trip to Israel with my mother-in-law. And also getting ready for a month of camp shortly after she gets back.

My house is getting quieter and quieter.....

But, the fun busy part of my life is the baking I have been doing!

I started selling desserts out of my house, and having a lot of fun doing it!

I always felt bad making desserts for my family because they always ended up in the garbage. We are just not big cake people. So this business is the perfect thing for me. I get to make cakes and cupcakes and pies and they make it out my front door in a pretty pink box, instead of a garbage bag!

I spend a lot of my time googling new recipes and creative ideas for decorating, and this morning I found my new inspiration, which I hope to replicate and send up to Emily at camp!

Get ready for it.....

Here we go....

The perfect treat for a 10 year old and all her friends.....

Justin Bieber Cake Pops!!!!! and the background purple ones that spell out I (heart) Justin Bieber!

Emily would die for these....

So thank you Bakerella for posting all your fans' pictures on your site today!

Another idea I am working on is from i am baker's f
lickr group pictures.... gonna try this one out today....

isn't it cute? It's a sugar cookie pop!

I'm in love with it. Wish me luck!

I'll post pictures (but only if they come out good)

:)

He Scores!

2011-01-26T07:00:00.001-06:00

The Bears may not have scored enough points to go to the Superbowl.....

The fans may feel pretty stupid for sitting out in the freezing cold, watching the Bears not score enough points to go to the Superbowl....

But there was one guy that scored a lot of points with me during that game....

It was the guy that wanted to watch the Bears so badly... that he did something I never in a million years would have believed if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes....

The guy who had a friend sitting on his couch eating a hot dog... cheering on the Bears....

While his wife was baking....

His older kids were playing....

And his youngest daughter was sitting next to him on the floor...

Giving him a pedicure!!!!!!!!!

Yes, Bears fans, that is a true fan.

If you know Jon, you know that he does not get pedicures.

He leaves the girl stuff to us girls.

But if that's the only way he can watch the game,

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

At least it was blue.

Wanna see some pictures?

Cake Pops

2011-01-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

I don't know if any of you are familiar with bakerella, but she makes the cutest desserts I have ever seen. I think she is widely known for her cake pops. It is cake and frosting mixed together, dipped in chocolate, on a lollipop stick. I have seen all the normal looking ones at some friends houses.... drizzled with chocolate or icing, or with sprinkles on it. And I really would never want to it eat them but they are definitely appealing. But when I see all the cute ones Bakerella makes, I just wanna get in my kitchen and try to make them myself.

like these:

and these...

and these....

and these...

So cute!

Big Kids are... well Big Kids

2011-01-24T15:24:00.005-06:00

On Sunday, Jon is taking Jessica and Emily to Vail.

I am terrified.

I am kind of a control freak. I like to know where my kids are, what they are doing.

The fact that they are flying to Colorado to ski down a mountain for 5 days without me is freaking me out a bit. I know that Jon will take care of them. I know that they will have so much fun (this is their first time). But I am so worried about them getting hurt. We went to Vail 2 summers ago. I know how high those mountains are. They are not like the little hills they ski down in Wisconsin!

Jon told me that they will be in ski school the first day, that I shouldn't worry. How do people just put their kids in ski school? Without knowing the instructor? Or where they will be skiing all day? What if they get hurt?

I just wish those mountains weren't so high.

I tried to ski once. When I was visiting my cousins. We went to Vail. I was 15 they were like 3 and 5. I had an instructor. I knocked him over and we both slid down the mountain. Or maybe I should say somersaulted down the mountain. I quit that day.

I think they will have a good time though. They are so much braver than I am. Especially Emily.

This happened to me last year. When I went to Miami to run my half marathon. I was so worried about them. I prepared all their lunches and clothes and suitcases to go to mom's for the weekend. And that was all the kids. This is just Jessica and Emily.

Maybe I am just gonna miss them.

It's gonna be really quiet in the house without them. When Will and Alyssa go to sleep, who will I watch Chopped and Cupcake Wars with?

Maybe I should look on the bright side...

I will have much less laundry.

I will not have to make real dinners.

I will not feel guilty for not making real dinners.

I will not have to wake up early to get Jessica to school on time (she starts earlier than the rest of them).

The house will be a lot neater....

Ok, ok. I'll stop freaking out. I am gonna let them enjoy their trip with their Dad, and not be nervous, or worried, or jealous that they are having fun without me.

Time to cut the cord. I know, I know. They are 12 and 10. They are not my babies anymore.

I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of time on facebook next week. Maybe I'll even blog more often.....

New Things To Try

2011-01-16T01:00:00.002-06:00

I have been looking for some new fun things to bake and craft. I came across a few new blogs that I like with great ideas. If I ever make any of them I will post pics.

Been really busy and haven't blogged in forever. Truthfully, I haven't even read any blogs in months. I am very busy getting deals for wedeal.com and I am seriously exhausted by the end of the day. I give all you working moms a lot of credit. I only work a half day a few days a week and I am totally exhausted by the end of the night.

Anyway, I hope you all forgive me and hope that you all check in on me every once in a while....

These are a few of my accomplishments while I was on my "blog break".....

- found a great recipe for buttercream, which I changed a little and made better, and no longer have to buy it from someone when I want to make cakes.

-made an amazing shower for my cousin with my mom and siblings.

-gave my kids an amazing winter break filled with sledding, roller skating, ice skating, bowling, ceramic painting, cupcake war baking, mini golfing, overnight waterpark trips, movies, shopping, and playdates.

-found the show Chopped on the food network (love).

-made a kiddush/lunch for my neighborhood on my husband's birthday.

-went to a Bulls game (3rd row!) for the first time in 10 years.

-played in the snow... well the kids did at least.

-and made lots of fun, pretty cookies.

Here are some pictures.....

some of us skated in our Uggs...

Alyssa and her bestie.... popcorn picnic & funny faces in a photobooth.

Oh yeah, Emily and her friend held a baby alligator.

These were my cupcakes for cupcake war.... each cupcake had to have a theme.

Will was the judge.

Shabbat present for a friend.

Bar Mitzvah cookies...

cookies for a friend who had a baby....

These came out bad. I used chocolate instead of icing :(

Icing is much easier.

This Child Is Not Mine....

2010-12-22T08:09:00.004-06:00

My kids are on winter break. I try to make sure to do something fun every day.

We went to Brunswick Zone with Jessica's friend the other day. Each of the kids bowled one game, Alyssa won by the way! Anyway, afterward they played in the arcade a little. Alyssa won 2 tootsie rolls from a candy machine just as she was telling me that she had to go to the bathroom.

She ate one of them while we walked there. I held the other while she did her business. And then I gave it back to her.

I told her to wait right next to the door of the stall so I could see her, while it was my turn "to go."

It was only a few seconds, but as I was about to flush I heard the sound I was hoping not to hear....

It was the sound of an unwrapped tootsie roll falling on the bathroom floor right next to a toilet. Then I saw something that made me think twice about whether this child could actually be mine....

Before I could get the words, "No! Don't eat it! " out of my mouth, a little hand picked up the candy and.........

SHE ATE IT!!!!!

Oh my god! I wanted to throw up!

This child cannot be mine!

Favorite Drinks

2010-12-21T06:30:00.001-06:00

I have a new favorite drink. Well, it's not really new but I have been obsessed with it for the past few months, so it's my new favorite drink. Obviously, it is from Starbucks. Can you guess what it is??

OK. Fine. I'll just tell you.

Vanilla Rooibos Tea. Mmmmmmm.

And the best part is that I just keep buying tins of it, so I don't have to always run out to Starbucks to get it. Don't get me wrong, I still require my daily dose of espresso in the form of a grande nonfat one splenda latte, but I can drink vanilla rooibos all day long.

And I do.

What's your drink this winter?

Feeling A Little Purple Today

2010-12-20T00:41:00.004-06:00

So I decided to go on blogger last night. Not sure why. I mean it was way past midnight and I probably should have been in bed, but I had this guilty feeling. I couldn't remember the last time I blogged. Or what I wrote about. I decided to check in on a few friends of mine.... hoping they hadn't blogged in a while either. But of course they totally have been keeping up with it... Not like how they used to, but at least once a week. Anyway, while reading through some of the blogs I've been neglecting, I noticed that a bunch of people changed their background. And since I was feeling purplicious, I decided to change mine too. Hope you all like it. That is, those of you who still bother to check if I ever blog anymore. :(

So, last night was a very big first. My little Alyssa, who is now 3, and is so cute and grown up, and can totally take care of herself, but is still my little baby, had a sleepover at my parent's house. And in case you were wondering why, it was because we went to a bar mitzvah that was ending really late, and it is easier for my mom to watch her at her house than ours, and cuz I am psycho and I like it better when my mom babysits than a teenager, and cuz Alyssa really, really, really wanted to sleep there.

If any of you know me by now, you know that I am a total control freak. I don't just leave my kids. Even with their grandparents. So this was huge. It's not that I don't trust my parents. I knew she would be fine and happy, I just like to see my kids and know what their doing. But I am insanely attached when they are little, like 3 years old....

The bar mitzvah was fine. I didn't worry for a second. Didn't check my phone, didn't wonder what time she went to bed, if she remembered to make on the potty..... It was when I got home with my other kids, that I started sweating a little. It was midnight. Everyone went to bed. And I sat downstairs and felt like my arm had fallen off. It was just sooo weird to not have Alyssa in the house with the rest of us. I called my mom. Everything was fine. "She was sweet, and cute, and went to bed so nicely...."

I finally fell asleep at around 1 am. At 7am I woke up in a panic. Alyssa always wakes up at 6:30. I went downstairs, and checked my emails, facebook, work contracts.... At 7:45 I called my mom. No answer. I started getting nervous. Alyssa had a cold and didn't eat very much on saturday. She should have woken up early, after all she went to bed pretty early.... The last time Alyssa slept till 8:15 she was sick and dehydrated and unresponsive. We ended up in an ambulance on Shabbat. She was soooo sick. I decided that I should just drive over there and make sure she was ok.

At 8:15 I walked into my parent's house. And was greeted with "Rayli, what are you doing here?" I think my parents thought I was totally nuts. My dad insisted that she was fine, that they both had checked on her throughout the night. I ran upstairs to see for myself...... and there all comfy and cozy in bed with 3 stuffed animals was my sweet little Alyssa. With all my psycho babble, I had started to wake her.... She sat up in bed, and said in the sweetest voice, "Hi Mommy, I missed you."

She was totally fine. She was so happy, and had such a good time.

I, on the other hand, was a total mess. What is wrong with me??? Why is it that when my kids aren't with me, every worst case scenario runs through my head?

Oh, and just wait, Jon is taking Jessica and Emily to Vail in a month.

Don't even get me started......

The Hangover...

2010-11-09T14:19:00.007-06:00

I was home with Alyssa and Will last night. Jessica and Emily were at the Bull's game with Jon. I got the little ones in bed at 7:45, cleaned up a little, did some work on my computer, took a long hot shower (with no one around to bother me, it was a pleasssure!), went downstairs to fold some laundry, decided I was too exhausted to do it, and went up to bed at 9:30. Yes, 9:30. If you know me, that is very, very early. My girls don't even go to bed at 9:30. But I was physically and mentally exhausted.....

At around 10:30, I was awakened my a 12 year old girl who was telling me she didn't do her homework yet. She had basketball after school and then went straight to the Bull's game and she needed to do it. I dragged myself out of bed, said good night to Emily, walked Jessica downstairs and told her to go to bed after her homework. Not sure what else happened after that. I kinda remember blow-drying my hair, so it would be easier to iron in the morning, and crawling back into bed.

At 5:45 am, Will was up and wanted to go downstairs. I had a crazy migraine and felt like I was gonna puke my guts out. It was like having a hangover without having the fun the night before. I felt awful. I turned on the tv for Will , checked my email, and laid down on the living room couch. Shortly after, Alyssa woke up... and then the morning began.... Making lunches, giving kids breakfast (I think Jon might have done that), ironing hair, getting dressed, taking big kids to school, taking Alyssa to school, and then the slow drive up to northbrook to have a meeting at work. Why is it that everyone driving on the Edens had to slow to check out an accident, which wasn't even so bad, causing traffic to slow to 25 miles per hour! I hate that.

Anyway, about 10 minutes into the meeting my excedrin migraine finally kicked in, and I felt much better. I even signed another contract today. Yay!

Anyway, I think I am going to enjoy the beautiful weather and take Alyssa to the park. Gotta enjoy it while we can....

Hi. It's Me.

2010-11-08T13:47:00.005-06:00

Seriously, I almost forgot my password!

It has been a while since I posted last. I think I totally lost my audience. Apparently my bloggy friends and I have been so chatty on facebook, that we have nothing left to blog about.

I also have been really busy with my job. That sounds so weird. My job. I have been working for a month and am about to see how it pays off. I work on commission so I have to wait for my deals to go online to see how much I make on them. Anyway, I am pretty excited.... I have 5 deals dated in the last 2 weeks of November and then 3 more (so far) in December. It is so hard to get these deals contracted because my day is so short. I only have till about 12:30 to work, because Alyssa ends school at 1. And usually you have to go to the place twice to get it all done. Unless you have an awesome merchant who wants to get it done right then and there (that only happened once so far). Or you hear a lot of "no" and "we're not interested right now." Sales are hard. But at the same time, feel really good when you get the contracts signed.

Anyway, while I was neglecting my blog, Emily turned 10 and Alyssa turned 3. We had 2 wonderful birthday parties, and I killed myself to make each one special. As usual.

By the way, I just checked out my last blog, about that nasty cat, and realized that it doesn't say the date anymore. And I was so expecting the blue sky, green grass layout. I totally forgot that I changed it!

Anyway, Emily had a cupcake decorating party for all her friends, and Alyssa had a cinderella family bday party. It was perfect except for the fact that Jon was sick in bed and did not get to see our baby girl blow out her birthday candles. Truthfully he didn't get to see any of it. I guess there is always next year.

I am so tired today. Can't really think of anything interesting to say, so I won't bore you any longer. Have a great day, and hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow...

Beware Of Cats

2010-10-15T09:48:00.004-05:00

I was in my kitchen getting Alyssa a drink yesterday afternoon, when out of the corner of my eye I saw something black in my backyard.

I looked out the window and right at the steps of my deck a big, black, long haired (and this hair/fur was sticking straight out!), gross cat pounced onto a baby bunny.

It killed it.

And ran away with it.

Oh My God! I have never seen anything that disgusting in my life!

I went outside to make sure it wasn't eating it somewhere in my backyard. The last thing I wanted to see was little baby bunny remnants on the grass outside. Seriously, the thought of it makes me kinda sick.

Well, that's my story of the day. Hope you weren't eating lunch when you read it.....

Not Sure I Wanna Tell

2010-10-14T09:39:00.008-05:00

I found a new blog with a million great ideas for making cakes and cupcakes and cookies even cuter! She has great ideas, and I think I am going to have to copy a bunch of them.

But you know when you find something really cute and you wanna use it for a while before you let everyone know your secret???

Adina, don't worry I will definitely share the link with you.

Ok fine, I will share the link with everyone...

the blog is called i am baker. She makes really cute desserts AND shares recipes. See why I didn't wanna share?!

Anyway, enjoy it. And if you make any of her stuff let me know.

Ok, who watched Oprah yesterday? Loved it. It was so hilarious. And you know, I kinda liked Dr. Phil on the show. I guess he's not as big of an idiot as I thought. And Dr. Oz, like him too. Anyway, the questions and answers were really fun to watch... especially with Jon, who will probably not admit it but he LIKED watching OPRAH!

WeDeal

2010-10-13T11:55:00.005-05:00

Or at least we try to.

I just started working for wedeal.com. I am supposed to be contracting deals for them. The first day was a little tough, but I feel my confidence coming back and I am hoping to get some good ones contracted soon.

If any of you are interested in signing onto their website, I gave you a link above. It's free and they will send you their daily deal via email. They are mostly north shore (north Chicago suburbs) right now and are hoping to expand soon.

Anyway, I feel good dressing a little nicer on the days I work. Blowing my hair, instead of wearing a ponytail. Not only dressing in Mommy clothes (jeans and a hoodie) all the time. Kinda fun. I actually feel like a grown up for a few hours a day, instead of just running errands and doing stuff for the family.

I really like the guys at the office, and oddly enough one of them grew up on the same block that I did!!!! How crazy is that?!?!

Anyway, the girls and I have been using our DVR lately (my mother's day present that was finally hooked up about a month ago). I LOVE it. So nice to be able to dvr all our tv shows and be able to watch them whenever we want. I am still not sure how to watch it without commercials though. I can do it when I am watching it later, but I thought you could do it while it was recording. If anyone would like to fill me in on that secret... please do so in the comments.

The annoying thing was when I recorded the amazing race and later tried to watch it, only to find out that it was 60 minutes instead! Probably cuz of a delayed football game. That makes me hate football even more.

I had about 3 or 4 mini heartaches today while watching Alyssa swim at school today. She is fearless. She was holding rubber duckies and almost fell off the tot dock 3 times. One of those times I actually screamed, but she got her balance and was fine.

The teachers take the kids one at a time to swim after the ducks. They sometimes let their faces go a little into the water to let them get used to the feel of being in water and swimming in water.

But the crazy mother in me freaks out and can barely watch, thinking that she is gonna drown.

Even though they are holding her.

But I do trust them. And there are enough of them there taking care of our kids. But as most of you know, I am a total control freak and feel totally on edge watching it from a viewing room way out of Alyssa's reach.

So every wednesday morning that's where I'll be. Watching my daughter.... making sure she isn't drowning.... satisfying my crazy mind from going wild with "what ifs."

Mad About Mad Men

2010-10-11T06:54:00.004-05:00

Don Draper...... (sigh)

Need I say more.

Are all of you in love with him too?

There is just something about him.

He's not perfect.

He cheated on his wife about a billion times, without feeling bad.

(truthfully, I didn't care either... Betty is a bore)

He isn't the nicest boss at work,

But just look at him!?! He looks great in a suit and his slicked back hair.

Now all he needs is Peggy. I'm rooting for the 2 of them.

First of all, she is the best dressed woman on the show.

Did you see her outfits last night?

ALI, I am talking to you.

The red and white? LOVE.

The black dress with the white vertical stripe? LOVE.

And she probably is the most interesting personality on the show. As far as the women go.

Anyway, if you have not seen Mad Men yet, stay home today and watch it.

Best show on tv.

*and while you are sitting there with your coffee, watch Kardashians too. Just saying.

Sadness...

2010-10-08T16:55:00.011-05:00

I went to the funeral of an 8 month old this afternoon.

It was the most gut wrenching thing I have ever done.

It was only the second time I had been to a funeral graveside.

It was the first time I was standing in full view of the family and grave.

It was the first time "the family" was our friends.

It was the first time I ever saw such a small casket.

It was the first time I had to watch a family literally lean on each other sobbing over the death of their daughter and sister.

It was the first time I saw my kids' friends in such horrible emotional pain.

I could not do anything but sob.

It was hard to hear the nonstop crying of a 9 year old.

Even harder of a 15 year old.

Laying their heads on their parents' shoulders. Held in their parents' arms.

It was the first time I ever saw our friend sob so hard that his body shook.

It was the first time I ever saw the family throw dirt into the grave, onto the casket of their beloved baby.

It is really interesting to watch, really. The way each person does it so differently. Traditionally, you are supposed to bury the body quickly, and the friends all help do it. But to watch the family do it, is very emotional.

To watch the father, 39, shoveling the dirt as if on a mission. serious. yet a deep sadness, visible, even though it is hidden behind his sunglasses.

The brother, 21, more thoughtfully. trying to make sure he is getting the dirt where he wants it to land. tears falling down his face into the grave below him.

The brother, 19, ever so gently lifting the shovel and then squatting down to gently place the dirt onto his beloved baby sister. as if tossing the dirt in like all the others, he may somehow hurt her. tears falling straight from his eyes onto his sister below. by far the hardest to watch.

The sister, 17, not really wanting to do it. but perhaps maybe just doing a little. a little bit to make her feel better. to have some needed closure. to possibly just get a peek into the grave of her sister who is no longer.

The other sisters, 15, 13, with a little help from their father. not really wanting to. perhaps too sad (15) or too scared (13).

The mother, 39, topping off the full grave with a little bit of dirt. All the hours of watching over her amazing, fighting, sick baby. All the love and care she had given her in her short life. There for her, even at the very end.

I walked away thinking about their other sister, the 2 year old. The one who was at my house having a playdate with Alyssa. The one who loved her baby sister like I've never seen a 2 year old able to. The one who plays with every baby she sees in the baby gym after school. The one who always looks inside every carseat she walks by when we play at the park after school. The one that probably does not understand that her baby is no longer at the hospital, and will never be able to see her again. I wept for her as I walked back to the car.

Luckily for her, my kids were playing freeze dance with her. And she was chasing Will around the house when I got home.

Luckily for her, she will not have to remember seeing her baby sister being buried.

But this is a strong, close family. They care a lot about each other and will be there for each other. Just like the sons were rubbing their father's arm while he was shaking, I have no doubt in my mind that they will get through this pain together.

I Think I Found Myself A Job!

2010-10-08T12:11:00.003-05:00

Have you ever heard of wedeal.com? Ok, I hadn't either till my sister sent me a link to their site for a coupon for a store I shop at all the time (such a deal... which is not always such a deal, hence the excitement of the coupon)! Anyway, it cost $25 for a $50 coupon for the store. Now we all know that I can't really get much there for $50, but if I am gonna shop there anyway I might as well be getting $25 off my purchase.

The problem happened when I clicked on purchase, and suddenly a message popped up that said the email with the coupon would be sent to me at hotmal.com .... I FORGOT THE I in hotmail. That was soooo annoying. I tried calling and emailing but couldn't get through to them. Finally, a month later, it occurred to me that I could just call the store and talk to the owner. So I did. And she gave me the cell phone of her wedeal contact who gave me the cell phone of the guy I needed to talk to.

He was really nice over the phone and said he would resend it... Anyway, the next day I went on their website and saw that they were trying to make a page of deals for my area. I decided to go for it. I called the guy back and asked if they were interested in hiring me to find their "deals." I met with the 3 guys in charge about an hour later, and voila I was the proud owner of a part time job! Yay me!

Anyway, I am really excited about it, and I hope all of you (especially chicagoans) will sign up on the website so I can get you all great deals, plus the ones that are already on there! I hear there are some good ones coming up!

Have a good weekend, and let me know when and if you buy something!

My Week Of Torture

2010-09-15T06:37:00.001-05:00

My week of torture began with a squirt.

It sounded like someone had reached the bottom of the ketchup bottle.

Except I was in my car driving and Alyssa was in her carseat behind me.

My week of torture started when Alyssa unbuckled her carseat buckle and took the bottle of sunscreen in the seat pocket in front of her and poured it all over herself and her carseat till it went "squirt." That's when I stopped my car at a red light and turned around to see a white greasy mess sitting half buckled in her car seat.

"OHMYGOD!" was all I said over and over as I drove the last 2 blocks to my brother's house to pick up Jessica and Emily.

My week of torture continued the next day when Alyssa said, "Mommy I pooed." I responded, "OK Alyssa, I will be there in one minute."

One minute later, when I walked into my family room, I almost had a heart attack when I saw poop in my daughter's hand and all around her.

Of course I screamed on top of my lungs. And then yelled at her. And then explained the one thing you think you would never have to explain to someone.... "Poop is yucky and gross. And we don't touch it. It goes in your diaper and in the toilet and never ever on your toys and floor!"

OHMYGOD!

That night my friend took me to the Rihana concert... which was amazing!!!! I had a great time... maybe too good of a time because the worst torture was still in store for me... no pun intended. Well, maybe slightly intended.

It was the week before school, and Will needed gym shoes. So the very next day we went to Nordstrom. I had my 10 year old nephew along with Jessica, Will and Alyssa. They all looked at the shoes while Will picked out a couple pairs that he wanted to try on. It was taking a long time to get someone to help us, so Jessica and my nephew went to look at clothes. Will sat down to wait, and I walked a few feet away to try a dress on Alyssa.

The dress looked great on her, and I reached over to grab a pair of leggings for her. Suddenly she ran off, so I put the leggings down and went after her. She had turned the corner a couple racks away but when I got there 5 seconds later, she was gone. It was like she disappeared into thin air! I looked into the purse section, but didn't see her. Walked around the kid's clothing racks, and didn't see her. I got nervous and grabbed Will. I told him to drop the shoes and come with me to find Alyssa. I ran into Jessica and Avi, my nephew. They hadn't seen her either. I got nervous and started to cry. Where could she have disappeared to, and why wasn't she answering when we called her?

I went to the manager of the kids department and through tears, described what she looked like and the dress that she was wearing. Then I started looking for her and calling her name again. She loves the escalator so I sent Jessica and Avi upstairs to look for her. It didn't make any sense. How could she disappear so quickly? After about 10-15 minutes I thought, "This is it. She's gone. Someone took my adorable, amazing, crazy daughter and I'll never see her again..." I was frantic.

Suddenly I hear a voice say, "Is this your daughter?" I ran towards the manager with tears streaming down my face. And there was Alyssa. She was hiding in one of those white cubbies that hold the long dresses. She had jumped in there.. only a few feet from where we were standing trying on dresses. She was sweating. I gave her a hug and through my tears asked her, "Didn't you hear me calling you? I was so worried about you." And she looked at me with a big smile on her face, giggled, and said, "Mommy no see me" in her most proud "I had the best hiding spot ever" tone of voice.

I did not feel well. I wanted to hug her as tight as I possibly could. I am NOT a mother who loses her kid. I could never be that mother. I put her in her stroller and told Avi and Jessica t0 guard her with their lives. We came to get Will his shoes for school, and that's what we were going to do.

Of course when it came time to pay, and I opened my wallet, I realized that I had left all my money, my ID, and my credit card in the little purse I took to the concert.

OHMYGOD!!!

I wanted to just die right then and there. Because not only was I the mother who lost her kid, but I was also the mother who drove to the mall, with four kids, without her credit card, license, or ID.

So we put the shoes on hold, left the store, and went to get Emily from my brother's house (Avi's house). All I wanted to do was go home and forget about everything that had happened so far this week, but when we got there I somehow decided to feel bad for my nieces and nephew on this hot day, stuck at home with a babysitter.... And decided to take them all out for ice cream. That is, after I stopped off at home to get my money, ID, and credit card.

So there I was with 7 kids... 3 of my own (jessica stayed at the mall with her friend) and 4 of their cousins. I got everyone what they wanted and sat down at the table with them. For about 2 minutes. Because suddenly a teeny tiny bee came along and caused 7 children under the age of 10 to run around like maniacs. "Aaaaahhhhh.. a bee! Get it away from me..."

Really? I mean, wasn't today, and yesterday, and the day before hard enough????

I told them to either finish their ice cream and deal with the bee or just throw it out and be done. A couple of them threw their ice cream out. The rest moved to a bench a few feet away.

Now it was time to go. I had had enough. I wanted the day to end. I wanted to take everyone home to their own houses. I wanted to plop my kids on the couch and put on a movie. I wanted Alyssa to be at home, where I knew where she was and what she was doing....

But Will had to go to a birthday party. So I took them all to the birthday party place, dropped off Will and went back out to my car which actually looked more like a trampoline because there were 6 kids inside it, jumping up and down.

The day was very stressful, I was a few minutes late to pick up Will, and he told me "I have a lot to learn about being a mom..."

He didn't mean to be hurtful. He actually said it kind of jokingly, but after losing Alyssa in the morning, and the ice cream situation, and the crazy drive home from the birthday party place (the kids were chanting "Wipeout!" the whole way home cuz they wanted to go to my house to watch it.... I said no, obviously, cuz there is only so much torture I can take.) I took it very personally.

I ended the day in tears (again). But at least knowing that there was no way the next day could be any worse.

OHMYGOD!!!

I am getting all tense just thinking about this.

I need a massage.

And a pedicure.

Surprise!

2010-09-14T14:20:00.004-05:00

I was having a very normal day, when I got an email from flower of the month club. My SIL and BIL got me 4 months of flowers!!!

So unexpected.

So unnecessary.

So excited!!!!

Yay!

Back To School.... Finally

2010-09-13T01:27:00.003-05:00

It has been a long summer.

And what I mean by long is loooooooooong!

I have spent countless hours at the pool, the beach, the park, the farm, the movies, and the mall. We went strawberry picking, to the Jelly Belly factory, 2 local carnivals, Legoland (twice), Navy Pier (we saw the tall ships), the Kohl's Museum, Chucky Cheese, and every restaurant in the neighborhood. And let's not forget Starbuck's, because really... who can make it through the day without an iced latte. And we might want to include Dairy Star, our neighborhood soft serve ice cream shop, because apparently kids need that as much as I need my Starbuck's....

I have chauffeured my 12 year old daughter anywhere and everywhere she has wanted to go at all hours of the day and night. I had my daughter's Bat Mitzvah, a nephew's Bar Mitzvah, a brand new baby nephew's bris (circumcision ceremony), plus several other friend's daughter's bat mitzvahs... The girls and I took Alyssa for her very first manicure, and although most of her nails were smudged when we left, it was very cute.

I have spent 24/7 with Alyssa for three and a half months... without a break. Unless you count the Rihana concert!!!!! That was fun! And have spent most of my days doing nothing for myself. I got about 9 workouts in the whole summer (sad face). My days started at 6:30, 7 if I was luck, and I got tortured by my mischievous daughter whenever I least expected it. More on that another time.

But today is the first day since early June that all 4 of my children will be in school. My sanity will hopefully return. I will be more calm, less stressed. I will enjoy the silence of an empty house........ I will be able to workout and run an errand without my kids on top of me, or fighting with each other, or screaming, or arguing over a radio station or television show. Alyssa will not be begging me to turn on a movie in the car. I will not buy a million things at Target that I don't need... like cookies, or cool pens, or a big ball. I will not have to yell at anyone to turn off the tv and get dressed so I can leave my house.

I should be thrilled. I should be jumping up and down. I should be throwing confetti into the air....

But for some reason I'm sad.

I didn't get to take Alyssa back to the farm like she wanted to. And I never took her to the splash park at The Glen. And she wanted to ride the ferris wheel again at Navy Pier...

Having 4 kids is hard. And stressful. And I wish I could do stuff with each of them separately sometimes. There are very few things you can do with a 12, 9, 6, and 2 year old and still keep everyone happy and entertained. I exhausted myself every day trying to make sure they were always doing something fun.

It was hard work.

I am happy to hand them over to their teachers so I can have a little "me" time, but oddly enough I am still kinda sad about it.

Maybe it's because when it was just me and Alyssa in the beginning of the summer, while the others where at camp all day and Jessica was at sleepover camp, it was so easy and fun. She is so active and energetic. And when you give Alyssa 100% of your attention she is the most fun kid in the whole world...

So, if you see a little tear fall down my cheek at Alyssa's school tomorrow...

remind me about the days when I could not give her 100% and then come have a latte with me...

Sweet Child O Mine

2010-07-22T07:00:00.003-05:00

Will might just be the sweetest boy in the whole entire world. I know you might all think that about your son, but really he is. I sent Will to camp yesterday without looking at his camp calendar for the first time this summer. I vaguely remembered seeing something about him going to a science museum...

Anyway, I got a call from the camp at around 10:30 saying that I didn't remember to send him swim shorts, but that I can drop a pair off at the camp for him to swim later at the undernighter. Of course I had no clue about the undernighter. So there were 2 strikes against me already... all by 10:30 am. My 6 year old did not have his swim shorts for his trip and I didn't get to tell him that he was staying at camp till 6 pm and having dinner there.

I drove to the camp, dropped off a swim bag with all his stuff, wrote his name on a big piece of paper so they wouldn't miss it when they walked into the office, and left the camp feeling a little better.

I spent the day at the pool with Alyssa, Jessica, and Jessica's friend. At 6 oclock I went to get Will. I walked to where his group was standing and saw the most smiley boy in the world. I resisted the urge to kiss him on the cheek so I wouldn't embarrass him, and asked him how his day was. Will said that it was sooo fun and was practically skipping to the car. Suddenly I remembered that we didn't have his swim bag. Upon which Will said, "Mommy, we forgot to bring it." I told him that I was sooo sorry he didn't have it for the trip, but that I did bring it to camp so he could swim at the undernighter. He said that the counselors didnt have it "but don't worry, it's ok, I still had fun." I went back to ask the counselors where his swim bag was. They had no clue what I was talking about. I saw the director and asked her. She talked to them yada yada yada.... and then went in the building. I guess what happened was that she put it on their group shelf, somehow it fell, and no one ever saw it. So after a day of being outside, in the heat, without swim shorts- which means no sprinkler or pool at a science garden, he didn't even get to swim back at camp.

I felt terrible. All the counselors and staff felt terrible. They all came over to apologize. And my sweet little Will, still smiling, said "it's ok. I still had fun!" We got the swim bag back and walked to the car. Will told me all about the cool things there were to climb on at the field trip, and that there were other kids whose moms didn't send swim shorts (thank god). He told me that during swimming at camp, he and 3 other boys found stuff to throw in the pool, and that it was really fun. He also told me that after they ate hot dogs for dinner they had this really yummy circle cake thing that was covered in chocolate and he really liked that.

What a sweet, happy, easy child. I had to hug him and kiss him when we got home, obviously. Later I gave him a bath. He was exhausted and his legs hurt so he relaxed in the bath, that is till Alyssa got naked and joined him. Then it was a little crazy.....

After he got into pajamas, he asked me if he could blow dry his hair. Jon was like, "you wanna what?" I was so excited! I love when Will cares about how he looks! He blow dried his hair in the bathroom and it looked great.

When I laid with him in bed I told him that it was really cool of him to want to blow dry his hair. He said, "well you do it too."

But of course, we all know that it is much cooler for a 6 year old boy to want to, than for me to want to. And, I gotta tell you, his hair did look much better.....

Visitor's Day

2010-07-12T07:45:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was Visitor's Day at Jessica's sleepover camp (Moshava). I was sooo excited to see her! I packed up some of her favorite foods, ceasar salad, sesame noodles, and cookie sticks. I brought her another birthday package, a little something from my mom, a card from my MIL, and designer cookies from my awesome friend Adina... except oops... forgot to take a picture! They were so pretty! Hot pink ipod cookies! What could be better than pink ipod birthday cookies for a 12 year old? Well, last year's were really good too actually... juicy handbag cookies.....

And now that we have that picture up, let's compare it to this year's so we can see how old my little girl has gotten....

This is her this year....

And this is how you know she is really an almost teenager...

Definitely from this one....

She saw Emily's new cell phone and sat down and used it for an hour..... at least she was talking to her aunt. She hadn't texted or called anyone in 3 weeks! Can't blame her, that is a long time for a kid these days...

It was pouring most of the day, but that didn't stop Alyssa. She kept running around in the rain. Especially cuz she loved this swing....

and the big kid on the end.... who is Emily's age but friends with Will and apparently is Alyssa's new crush. She was almost as excited to see him as Jessica, and he isn't even at camp for the summer. He is at home hanging out at our house a lot. Alyssa ran around with him for hours and he and Emily took her out in the rain to play.....

This is by far one of my favorite pictures...

Not because my kids and nephew look so cute but because if you look closely you will see that the mattress is so thin that you can barely see it, and it looks like they are just sitting on metal.

And the crazy thing is that apparently Jessica has the "best" mattress in the whole bunk! All her friends said so! It's the best half inch mattress they've ever slept on!

I can't wait till she gets home to her pillow top mattress.

Camp is funny like that.

My Week In A Nutshell...

2010-07-08T06:30:00.018-05:00

I have been trying to keep Alyssa busy with Camp Mommy this summer. I decided that maybe I should have a little fun too, and the other kids (when they are around...).

Sunday, Jon and the kids washed our cars

and then we all went to the 4th of July carnival in highland park. We go every year. We actually call it Max's birthday carnival, because July 4th is my nephew Max's birthday...

Monday we went to the beach with the crabbiest, should have left him at home, husband/daddy in the whole world. It was hot, but fun. We got 2 compliments on our sand castle/canal/ swimming pool for Alyssa (cuz she sat in it....). And even I, who usually does not sit on sand, got down and dirty with the kids. We also rented a family bike, which me and the kids LOVED. Especially Alyssa and Will. There was not even one inch of me that was sand free, and it was obvious from my driving on the way home... C'mon it's hard to just sit there and drive and not try to get it all off of you....

Tuesday everyone was back at work and camp. Alyssa and I spent the day at the pool, where she told a kid's babysitter that her belly pierce was "ew" and learned that her baby doll has a pee hole and can "pee" in the pool (along with all the other kids there). Alyssa got a surprise visit from the no longer grumpy daddy, and I unfortunately got purple lines on my back where I couldn't reach to put on sunscreen. Ouch. But I must admit, Alyssa is totally hilarious to watch in the pool, and my burns are totally worth it.

Wednesday.... another 94 degree day. I could not bear the thought of exposing my shoulders and back to the sun, so I took Alyssa to Make A Messterpiece. She made a bunch of messterpieces and plain old messes! She of course was a total nutcase, running around like a maniac, but guess what? It wasn't at my house, and I did not care. It actually was kind of fun, and I couldn't help myself... I made a messterpiece of my own! I also learned that Alyssa loves rain boots and desperately wants a pair. (They have rain boots there for one of their exhibits that involves goggles, rainboots, a raincoat, drums and paints... I was not mentally prepared for that one. Maybe next time...)

Today is going to be Wagner Farm. Alyssa loves animals and would like to see some "moo's"... I'm a little nervous, and am actually thinking of getting a pair of rainboots to wear on the farm. I don't want our feet to get gross and stinky. Who knows what we are gonna step in????

Tomorrow we will go back to the pool.....

What have you all been up to?

Call Me Julia....

2010-06-30T09:50:00.002-05:00

When I was around 15, I LOVED Julia Roberts!!! I thought she was gorgeous. It was the nineties. Cool was different then. I loved her hair, her face, her fidgety-ness. I saw the movie Pretty Woman about a million times. Loved Sleeping With The Enemy.

Well about 2 weeks ago I got my hair cut. It was the normal hair cut I always get. By the same hair person, Jackie. But, she cut my layers a drop shorter than normal.

And with the humidity we've had these past few weeks, I've been feeling a little frizzy and crazy curly. Unless it is blown straight, which I never have time to do anymore... It is a crazy, frizzy curly mess.

Funny, it kind of reminds me of Julia Robert's hair in the movie Pretty Woman.

Except it's not the 90s anymore. And that kind of hair is totally gross. Not sure why I ever liked it on her.

*Will post a picture of me soon so you can feel my pain.

Hello Out There, Remember Me?

2010-06-28T11:00:00.003-05:00

It has been so long since I have blogged. It has been so long since I even had a chance to read all my favorite blogs, but that will now change because last week, after months and months of planning, was JESSICA'S BAT MITZVAH!!!!!!!

It was so fun! It was everything I imagined and then some. Everything looked just as I imagined it! Truthfully, it was even better! It felt so good to finally be able to enjoy myself at an event that I had been looking forward to for almost a year. Jessica looked amazing! She spoke wonderfully. I was so proud of her! It was so fun to see her with all her friends having a great time! And I was so happy that so many of my friends and family were able to be there with me!

I was very stressed out all week, worried about everything being as amazing as I had dreamed it up to be. I was even more stressed because I did not get to pick up my dress from alterations till friday afternoon, a day and a half before the party. And then even more stressed when I tried the dress on saturday afternoon, and the alterations were not done as well as I'd hoped. I was actually so nervous and worried that I made Jon come home from our neighbor's house, so I could cry to him in my bedroom. :(

The morning of the party, I woke up at 6:45. Someone (from the catering place) was coming at 7 to pick up my place card boxes to take to the hotel. When she got to my house she informed me that the hotel had no power. Not exactly the news I was expecting. The caterer called me and said that if we couldn't get power in the next hour and a half, we would have to move the party elsewhere and start an hour later. More tears. A lot more. I cried for about an hour while ComEd fixed it. But by 8 we were good to go. Jessica, Emily, and I showered, went to get our hair done, and Jon bathed Will and Alyssa , and took them to the hotel.

Jackie (hair person) was amazing! She did her magic and the 3 of us looked awesome! Pulling up to the hotel, now stressfree, I walked in to see the most beautiful display of all the things I spent all year buying and designing to make the day as perfect as it was. I couldn't have been happier. The room looked amazing! Our theme was Alice In Wonderland, and although I don't have too many pictures, I did take a couple...

My Placecards... (took this pic at home, they were spread out)

The tables with the florists centerpieces...

There were also purple tables.... didn't get a pic...

Centerpieces I made... (didn't get pics of all 3)

Some other stuff I did...

I bought these awesome huge cards. They don't look big here...

But they do here....

Jessica, making her entrance...

And getting down...

The DJ, who seemed to think he was John Travolta, did a great job with his 5 other guys (well 2 were girls). Anyway, except for the fact that he did not bring his box of stuff to give out to the kids (thank god I brought extra stuff), he did an amazing job, and in the words of my cousins, "his dancers were sick." Sick meaning amazing, cool, hot. I had a really fun time. Obviously.

I can't believe that it was only a week ago, and I kinda miss having something to do. Not that I ever don't have stuff to do with a husband and 4 kids. But I mean something fun and creative to do. I worked for weeks and months on her montage. It still makes me cry when I watch it..... I feel kinda like how I did after I ran the half marathon, like I no longer have anything that's mine, and mine only, to be doing.

Luckily camp has started and it is just me and Alyssa, who is happy at the pool or beach, at home. So I can soak up some sun and enjoy summer. No Will, who wants to stay home and play wii everyday. But I love him anyway. Emily is at a sports day camp and Jessica is at a sleepover camp in Wisconsin.

Anyway, I have a lot more to write, but I think I will save some for tomorrow.... Thanks for sticking with me while I disappeared for a few months!!!

Enjoy some of our photobooth pics....

What's New? Thanks For Asking....

2010-05-24T13:03:00.008-05:00

Well, the invitation company finally got my invitation printed correctly. It only took those geniuses like 3 times to get it right. And 3 times to get the address labels written the right direction. Stress... lots of sleepless nights over those things.

Anyway, I was very excited to send them out this morning! Too bad I was supposed to send them out 2 weeks ago. And also too bad that the company sent me 22 envelopes less than they were supposed to. I wish I knew the name of the company so that I could tell all of you not to use them, but only my invitation lady knows it... I should probably find that out. If it weren't for my amazing invitation lady who told me to pay $10 for a proof, I would have gotten messed up invitations and labels.

Now that the whole invitation ordeal is over, I can spend more time thinking about how much my leg is killing me. Seriously. I feel so dumb because I did it to myself. And now I feel like an old lady, having to do everything carefully as to not upset my stupid pulled hamstring!!!!!

Getting out of my car hurts, sitting on the floor hurts, truthfully I think it's the getting up that hurts more than the sitting. I sat on the edge of the basketball court to watch Jessica and her friend roast marshmallows last night and I hurt it even more. Dying today... ouch.

I wanna go back to bed.

I tried running last week. I lasted a half hour. But I was in pain doing it, and had to lean on the right to put less pressure on my left leg. This totally sucks.

Tonight Emily is getting an award for her essay she wrote for the Asher Essay Contest. She had to write an essay about what it means to be a mentche. Only one person was chosen from each grade. She wrote it all by herself, as you will see.... This is what she wrote:

Being a Mentche

I specifically think that it is important to behave politely, caringly, and respectfully. If your friend behaves like that you are lucky because you have a role model to look up to. This unique word is called a Mentche. A Mentche is most likely to have good behavior, incredible manners, and a true heart.

The importance of being a Mentche is to be polite, caring, and respectful. It is important to be a Mentche when you are little so it will click to you forever. If you see someone not being a Mentche do not just stand there and watch what is happening. Teach that person to be a Mentche. Teaching people to be a Mentche is actually being a Mentche.

A Mentche is a very polite person who uses their manners. A Mentche does not interrupt. A Mentche does not only care for his/herself. A Mentche cares for everyone. A Mentche cheers people up when they are sad. A Mentche is not spoiled. A Mentche solves problems. Last, but not least, a Mentche does not brag.

A Mentche gives respect for everyone. A mentche talks when it is his/her turn. A Mentche rises when an adult walks in. A Mentche says please and thank you.

Clearly I can see that it is amazing to be a Mentche. It is good to be a Mentche because you earn respect, politeness, and caring from others. All in all, I think it is extremely important to be a Mentche.

Isn't she cute???

Will's Way, Every Day

2010-05-17T06:30:00.002-05:00

The other day Will was eating breakfast #2 while I was washing breakfast #1 dishes, and he said...

Will: "Mommy, is it true that at Subway there is no such thing as no?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Will: "Can you really have it your way every day?"

Me: "What are you talking about?"

Emily (from the next room): "It's their commercial..."

Me: "Oh... Um... Yeah. I guess it is true. They mean that you can pick what goes into your sandwich and they'll make it exactly how you tell them. So yes I guess at Subway there is no such thing as no."

Will: "So if I go in and ask for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, they'll give me one?"

Me: "I think you just got them there, Will. They don't have peanut butter and jelly. I'll let them know though. You never know, maybe they'll add it to their menu."

Hahahaha. He's too funny.

*Subway Owners.... If for some reason you are reading this... my kid would like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich his way every day.... reduced fat Jif and grape jelly. Thanks!

"I Caught Myself A Baby Bumblebee... Won't My Mommy Be So Proud OF Me"

2010-05-14T15:55:00.006-05:00

When I picked up Alyssa from school today, I noticed a bee sting on her finger. I asked the teacher what happened to her. She said she had no idea. Alyssa didn't come crying to her or anything.

They gave me some ice to put on her bee sting. Alyssa said, "I'm otay, Mommy" and I left.

My theory: a bee was stinging Alyssa. She ripped off its wings, squashed it with her bare hands and stomped it into the ground. She's just that type of kid.

Blah Blah Blah

2010-05-14T14:08:00.001-05:00

I've kinda been down in the dumps about cooking and baking lately. I am just not enjoying it at all. I feel like it is just not fair to have to spend all my time buying all the ingredients, cooking the food, and washing all the dishes.... Oh and the worst part is deciding what to make. I have a house full of picky eaters.

Anyway, I woke up this morning knowing that I had a morning full of cooking and was miserable. But I decided to make the best of it. I took my kids to school,went back home and turned my kitchen into a night club. I turned on B96 and danced and sang along to all those trashy songs while I cooked. And you know what? It wasn't that bad.

I might have to do that more often.

I decided to make foods that everyone will love, so that they will remember how awesome a mom/wife I am.

This afternoon Jessica and I will bake personality cookies. We did it on mother's day and I saved some of the sugar cookie dough so we could do it again. We roll out the dough and use circle shaped cutters. Then we use sprinkles and chocolate chips to make the faces. Mini chocolate chips for the eyes, ice cream sprinkles for eyelashes and eyebrows, and lip sprinkles for the lips.... duh.

They were really cute when we made them last week. I was thinking of getting red and pink food coloring spray so we can make rosy cheeks....

Ok, gotta go make wontons (Jessica's favorite).

Anyone cooking anything good this week?

Oh Snap!

2010-05-13T14:27:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I borrowed a friend's p90x dvd. I asked him if I could just borrow it for one night. I think I've had it for almost a week. I told him to give me an ab one and a cardio one. The ab one was really hard. There are some moves that my body was just not made for.... maybe in a few weeks if I keep at it, but definitely not just yet. I would describe the pose to you, but it doesn't read well... and this is not that kind of blog.... ;)

Anyway, the cardio x starts off with 10 minutes of yoga. Holy hell! Who knew yoga was soooo strenuous! Seriously, it was way harder than any Jillian workout I've ever done. My arms were burning! Then the rest is kickboxing and cardio. It was so much fun! The next day I ached all over and was thrilled about it! My arms, shoulders, waist, abs, legs.... EVERYTHING. That's when I knew that there was no way I was returning it without doing it again.

Well, I was doing it again just a little while ago. My arms were kinda achey so I took a 20 second break during the yoga part. Then as I was getting back into it I guess I lifted my left leg up a little too quickly, and heard (and felt) a snap in my upper back thigh, right below my butt. Pain. Pain. Pain. I walked around the room saying ow a million times, a little frantic till it felt a little better.

Of course I still wanted to do the workout, so I jogged in place during the rest of the yoga. The kickboxing did not come easy. I couldn't kick high or fast with my left leg, and kicking to the side and back with my right leg didn't feel so great either. So I did low kicks. The cardio was all good, and I got a good sweat out of it.

Now, if I were a guy, I probably would have sat on the couch whining and complaining. But we women are tough. We can deal with a little pain.

Anyway, not sure what I pulled, but I'm sure I'll be all better by tomorrow. After all I have to do this workout as often as I can before he makes me give it back.

And next time, I am NOT stopping to rest in the middle, cuz it turned out to be more painful than if I had just completed the yoga part aching arms and all.

A Birthday & A Surgery

2010-05-11T16:00:00.003-05:00

Hey, I just noticed that I missed my blog's birthday. It was one year on the 9th. Maybe I would have noticed if I had actually blogged consistently. Anyway, happy 1 year to me and my blog.

Emily had a minor surgery yesterday afternoon. I picked up all the kids from school at 2, and Jessica babysat for Alyssa while Will went to a friend's house, and Emily and I went to the plastic surgeon.

Two years ago, Emily and I noticed a little mole on her hairline. Over a year's time it grew onto her forehead. It was growing pretty quickly, and even though the dermatologist said it didn't look bad, we decided to get it removed. The initial visit with the plastic surgeon was last october. She only does these surgeries once a month, so it was really hard to get yesterday's appointment.

Anyway, Emily was really brave. She was so scared but sat very still as the doctor cut into her head. I of course was standing next to Emily and watched the whole thing. It was kinda scary watching that, but pretty amazing too. She got 7 or 8 stitches in all.... just slightly over half an inch.

Now's the really hard part... no gym or sports for 2 weeks. For Emily that is a big deal. Nothing can touch it. With Alyssa running around the house with giant bubble wands, it is easier said than done.

Emily took the day off of school today to chill in her pajamas and watch movies all day. Tonight she will be able to wash her hair finally. It has lots of funky stuff in it... cannot wait to wash it!

Anyway, that's all for today.

Happy Birthday to my friend Orah!

My Pictures Have Arrived!!!!

2010-05-10T01:00:00.003-05:00

Remember I told you about the beverly hills photographer that took pictures of me and the kids (Jon was at the casinos) at our hotel in Vegas?

Well the pictures are so great! I love them! He even put some of them on his blog. These are the ones that I loved, keep in mind that these are pictures of the pictures. The real ones are so clear and the color is amazing. We are still missing one of Jessica, but when I get that one I will post it. Here they are:

Do you think I bought enough pictures of Alyssa??? Truthfully it was impossible to choose which ones to get. He took 86 pictures. And they were all good! Actually, I take that back there were 2 that I looked ugly and fat in, and made him delete them. So 84 pictures to choose from. And with kids this cute it's hard. :)

Stuart, the photographer, posted his favorite pictures from the photoshoot on his blog. Check it out, the color is sooo much better!

Here is a link to it:

Stuart Townsley, beverly hills photographer

He is awesome!

And is really fun and out going.

And I don't want to embarrass his girlfriend, who was helping him by shielding the sun and wind, but......

the picture of my kids piling up on top of each other... it was crazy windy outside, and every time the wind blew, her dress would get blown around. We were all on the ground, and I started to laugh cuz every time the wind blew we could see her butt and thong. Hahahahaha... it was really funny and awkward cuz she was holding this big thing so she couldn't hold her dress down. After a few minutes she was like, "God, it is so windy!"

I said to her, "Yeah, don't worry, we only saw your butt like 3 times."

hahaha

It was really funny! That's what's so great about them. You can totally joke around with them and have fun. I think that's why his pictures come out so great. He really gets to know you a little and makes it fun.

He'll even gossip about the "monster mom" (as Will called her) over breakfast at the hotel.

This Week At Our House.....

2010-05-07T13:12:00.010-05:00

Jon coaches Will's baseball team.

Wednesday night Will had a game (after his one hour hockey class... which I took him to. Again. More on that later.)

I stayed for half the baseball game and then took Alyssa home.

When Jon gets home he says to me...

"I think I sprained my ankle."

Me: "how did you sprain your ankle?"

Jon: "at baseball."

Me: "at baseball? all you do is pitch a ball to first graders."

Jon: "Yeah, well I was trying to pick up a ball and totally fell, and I think I sprained my ankle."

Me: "I'm sure you're fine"

It was totally NOT swollen. It looked totally fine.

A couple hours later, while drinking a few beers on the couch...

Jon: "it really hurts. I really think something's wrong with it. I can barely stand on it."

Me: "Are you just saying that so you can just sit on the couch and drink beer?"

Jon: "no. I swear."

Me: "Well then how did you get the beer?"

Jon: "I got it from the fridge."

Me: "whatever"

Jon: "I'm numbing the pain."

The next day he was on a pair of crutches.

Me: "I think you like using those crutches."

Jon: "Are you serious?"

Me: "yes."

Jon: "You're crazy."

So now I hear, "Emily, can you get me water? Rayli, can you get me more ice..... "

I mean he was picking a freaking ball off the ground!!!!!!

I do believe him that he is hurt and in pain. I'm sure he did somehow sprain his ankle while picking up a ball, but I must admit that I was a little skeptical at first.

I did make him crawl up the stairs and sit in the bathroom with Alyssa while she took a bath so I could watch Survivor with the other kids.... I'm mean like that.

Anyway, Emily has been really wanting to try out Will's hockey class, and on wednesday she did. Pink gloves and all! She looked adorable and had fun too! So now we will have 2 kid hockey players in the family. And Jon is definitely smiling about that!

Jessica was away for a couple nights for her sixth grade trip. It's amazing how much quieter the house is with just one kid missing.

On sunday she invited a bunch of friends over for a bonfire to celebrate Lag Ba'omer. We cooked hot dogs on skewers over the firepit (and then on the grill just in case). I made salad, pasta, french fries, popcorn, spilled chips all over my kitchen floor and made Jon go out and get new ones, fruit, cookies and we had a picnic on the basketball court. They made friendship bracelets for each other. And when it started to get a little dark we made smores over the fire. They had a really good time!

Alyssa had a Mother's Day Brunch at school.

She's such a little cutie!

Hope you all had a great week! And Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

Squirrels and Manners and a Laugh

2010-04-30T09:59:00.010-05:00

We have a bit of a problem with the neighborhood squirrels.

Not only do they eat through my garbage cans, take all the food out of my garbage can, eat it on my deck. Yes, I watch it eat leftover chicken, bread, pizza, cookies, steak bones, I even saw it eating our keurig cup coffee grounds!

When I'm cooking, it comes up to my kitchen window and watches me. I must have the best food and garbage in the neighborhood.

But this squirrel has reached a new low. It had done it before, years ago, when I used to have a Honda Odyssey. It ate through my transmission wires!!!!

Sunday morning, I tried to start my car, and the whole car started shaking and the check engine light went on. I knew what had happened since the squirrels had done it to me once before, and we had Ford tow my car. I mean, how annoying. I hate squirrels! Seriously, I find no reason for them to be alive. I actually killed one once, It was gnawing and scratching on my bedroom window. I would hear it at night. It shaved away so much of that old wood that I was afraid it would be in the house soon. So one morning I put a wrapped piece of rat poison (thank you home depot for having individually wrapped rat poison) on the window sill.... and I never heard from that squirrel again.

I'm thinking of buying a few more to keep in my garbage can.... (evil laugh)

********************************************

Anyway, when I went to pick up my car, I saw something even more disgusting. The woman in front of me was flossing her teeth while in line to pay for her car. Flossing. Her teeth. In line. And it wasn't a big piece either. I was totally nauseous. After she finished she picked up the pen and signed her receipt and walked away. I didn't want to touch anything she touched. That is so gross. When I had to sign my receipt I tried to take the pen from the woman behind the window, but she told me that it was hers... So I quickly picked up the dental floss contaminated pen with 2 fingers and scribbled my name. Yuck. That is so gross and rude.

Some people have no manners.

And now I will leave you with a funny Will comment.

The other night Jon told me that after I left baseball (he's the coach I was just watching Will play for a little) 2 kids were scratching each other's eyes out, fighting over who would play third base. I couldn't believe it so I said, "Will is that true?" And he said, "No...." So I looked at Jon and said, "I can't believe it" and Jon said, "I promise, they were totally going at it." So Will said, "Oh yeah, Daddy, well how come they still had their eyes at the end of the game?"

Hahahahahaha. Gotta love that kid.

Have a good weekend!

Have You Missed Me?

2010-04-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

So life has been kinda crazy lately. Lots of bat mitzvah planning, lots of soccer and baseball and hockey and basketball.... seriously there is way too much sports going on in my house. Will has baseball on sundays, mondays and wednesdays. Hockey on wednesdays. And soccer on sundays. Emily has soccer on sundays and tuesdays, and is going to start hockey sometime soon. Jessica has basketball on mondays and thursdays. Plus a million hockey and baseball games on tv. I can't take it anymore!

So the other night I insisted on no sporting events on tv. I watched my shows..... Biggest Loser, The Hills, and The City and The Hills Aftershow. So relaxing...... no buzzers going off, no background announcers giving a play by play, no annoying mascot hawk calls... I hate that mascot. I cried during The Biggest Loser..... love that show. And The Hills actually had a great scene about Heidi Montag. Made even more funny on the aftershow. But kinda funny in a mean way, actually. (I looked for it on youtube but it's not up yet.)

Poor Heidi Montag. Her confidence must have been very low to have 6 surgeries.... and then for her to finally feel beautiful (even though she looks terrible), to have her mother tell her that she looks awful. Felt really bad for her.... But seriously, what was she thinking??? It was actually pretty sad. But the aftershow made it hilarious. Hope some of you caught that.

Anyway, I think the last time I blogged was the night before I went dress shopping with Jessica.

I had three stores in mind to go to. I told myself that this was Jessica's day. I was gonna let her pick out the dress that she loved and felt beautiful in. Jessica has been really picky lately and I just wanted her to feel amazing in her Bat Mitzvah dress. Well about 10 minutes after we got to the first store she found her dress. She loved it right away. I would never have guessed that this would be the dress, but she LOVED it! She was actually skipping to the mirror and twirling around. I let her pick out another dress that she could wear to shul (synagogue) the weekend of her Bat Mitzvah. Then I found another casual dress for Jessica and a dress for Emily too (she gave me those half off... yes that's what happens at a store when you spend a lot of money).

I still gotta find myself and Alyssa something to wear. I feel like time went very fast and I'm hoping I will get everything done.

Anyway, this weekend is Jessica's friend's Bat Mitzvah. We are having some girls sleep over and Jessica is very excited because one of them is her friend from LA. Apparently when someone becomes Bat Mitzvah their friends make them a memory bottle. Jessica had never done it at our house, so last saturday night we had her friends come over to make a memory bottle for the bat mitzvah girl. I had no clue what they were supposed to do. Apparently they take a wine bottle and decorate it and then melt crayons down it. They put stickers and pictures on it and then put their song inside it.

Well, they did all that and then I gave them more stuff and they decided it might be better to attach the song to the bottle instead of in it. My kitchen was a mess of glue gun drippings, flowers, pipe cleaners, stickers and paper scraps.

They wrote the most ridiculous song to the tune of True Friend. And after half an hour of helping them redo their song and cleaning my craft covered kitchen, I finally got the kids to bed a little after 11. Not my idea of a fun saturday night.

Of course it was all worth it when they said it was the best memory bottle ever. I mean, why do I even care about that? Not sure but I do.

Anyway, the girls and I took Will to hockey yesterday, apparently I have been conned by my husband into taking Will to hockey by being told that it is hot to be a hockey mom. He may think so, but all I know is that it is anything but hot in that skating rink. Note to self... bring jacket to hockey next week.

Will was so cute. He was trying to impress us by skating as fast as he could. He really wanted Jessica and Emily to see how much better he was than when they saw him skate last time. He may be small, but he is tough. He tries and tries and never gives up, even though half the kids are double his height and speed.

For a treat (and dinner) I took him for ice cream and then straight to baseball. That little boy was a tired, sweaty, stinky little guy when he finally got home.

Let's see what else have I been up to???

Hmmmmm....

Oh the freakin landscaper asked me if I gained a little weight. WTF???? What a jerk! So I am back to being strict starting today. Gotta start making more time to work out and eat better. I have been a little lazy with my workout schedule lately. Tired and busy... but that will no longer be an excuse.

Nothing like having a complete stranger tell you that you're fat.

Random Blabber

2010-04-21T07:00:00.002-05:00

So I've been crazy busy with all the details of Jessica's Bat Mitzvah. Oh my god! Who knew there was so much to do???? I guess it doesn't help that Alyssa hasn't been sleeping well. I am totally exhausted!

Today I am letting Jessica ditch school so we can go shopping for her dress. You may wonder why I don't just take her on sunday. I think I might be wondering that too... if I didn't know about the unwritten rule that when planning a Bat Mitzvah you must take your daughter out of school at least twice to do "bat mitzvah stuff." Everyone does it.

I took Jessica invitation shopping which was not fun because she is a preteen and hates everything. I have been told by other moms that 12 year olds are the worst. I am starting to agree. But because I love her, I won't list all the reasons why...

On another note... I told my cousins to go to American Laser Center and guess what???? Because they did I got $250 in the mail! It's a mastercard debit card... can be used wherever they take mastercard! I put it in my pocket yesterday morning. Then decided to change midday cuz it got warm out. Then when it got cold again (that's chicago for ya) and I wanted to change again I realized that I threw my hoodie with the debit card in the hamper. Of course my cleaning lady had taken it down to be washed. I thought I lost my $250 forever! Luckily it was a card not a check and it just looked shiny and clean when I found it at the bottom of the washing machine. I know, I am very responsible. By the way, if you ever run out of cash and you need a little money, my laundry room is the best place to find some. Oh, and if you decide to do laser, tell them I sent you.

Anyway, Alyssa is becoming quite verbal and I am loving every second of it. Every morning when the older three get out of my car to go to school, I say "bye guys. have a good day. love you." So now every morning Alyssa waits for them to get out and says, "bye guys. I love you!" She started calling Jessica "Ca." And when she is looking for her around the house she says, "I can't find my Ca."

She takes really good care of me. When I sneeze she says "bless you, mommy" and if she hears me say ouch or oh no, she says, "oh no, mommy. are you otay?" Otay... gotta love that.

Not sure if I told you all, but Alyssa had a terrible rash for a couple weeks. She would cry a lot, especially when I had to diaper her. I took her to the doctor on friday, because I wanted him to see how bad it was.... (all the other diaper rash recommendations were not helping). He prescribed this miracle cream that made it go away so quickly!! If only I had insisted on going into the office sooner. Anyway, when I first got the cream Alyssa was scared of it. I laid her down on the floor crying her eyes out. I was looking for the cream but couldn't find it. I said to her, "Alyssa did you hide your cream?" and suddenly she stopped crying and said, "yes!" hahahaha. The kids and I could not stop laughing.

And apparently she likes hiding things because yesterday Jon's car keys were missing. I found them in her room.

Can't wait to see what today brings...

Wish me luck (and a lot of patience) in finding a dress for Jessica today!

Happy B-day 3 Months Late

2010-04-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

On January 1st I gave my husband a fire pit for his birthday. He always wanted one for the backyard. He used to always go to his friend's house to have a beer and hang outside talking by his fire pit. I was so excited to give it to him. Unfortunately it sat in its box (in my dining room unfortunately) for months.

I told Jon that I could return it if he didn't want it. He said he did but it was too cold outside to use it. Ahem, he used to go to his buddy's house in the middle of winter... but whatever. We'll forget that fact.

Well finally, after months of waiting, Jon put the fire pit together and actually used it! The kids were so excited! Months of marshmallow toasting dreams were finally coming true. Jon sat with his beer by his fire pit toasting marshmallows with the kids.

It's kinda fun.

A little white trashy.

I'm thinking that I should buy some 12 inch stone squares to make a nice little area around it instead of it just sitting on the grass.

I'm also thinking that maybe the girls should invite their friends over to cook themselves some hot dogs on a stick and make some smores. Everyone loves smores.

Although it would be easier to just grill them on our grill.

I'm such a kill joy.

Anyway, it would have made a great picture to show all you guys but I was too lazy to get my camera. Sorry. I'm so tired lately... it's annoying.

Next time... I promise.

"I Love You"

2010-04-14T03:26:00.004-05:00

Why am I blogging at 3:21 am? It is not by choice. It is because a certain someone who sleeps diagonally woke up and came into my bed. I cannot sleep with kids in my bed. Not even a cute little two year old. She moves, she leans on me... I am a very light sleeper and would rather not sleep at all than sleep with a child all over me, moving around every so often.

But that crazy, diagonal sleeper has won me over recently. She can do no wrong. She started saying "I love you" to me. Not only does she say it, but when I put her to bed she holds my face in her little hands and says, "I love you, Mommy" and kisses me on the lips. I almost melt every time. There is nothing more precious than that.

So she may be in my bed. And I may be exhausted tomorrow. But the little "I love you" will make it ok.... at least for a little while.

And the Starbucks venti coffee will help too.

Sadly, I'm Back.

2010-04-12T10:21:00.004-05:00

I had such a good time on vacation. I really didn't wanna come home. I am totally serious. I was ready to leave everything behind and stay in Vegas.

The hotel wasn't the fanciest hotel I was ever at. And the rooms weren't super fancy either. But the hotel was really pretty and comfortable and had the nicest people working there. It was really big, with lots of places to walk around and hang out. The lobby had all different shaped couches and chairs and tables to play cards at, which my kids and their friends did every single day.

There was an adult pool and hot tub, kid pool with a water slide and volleyball net, a putting green, basketball court, a small beach with paddle boats and kayaks. At night outside by all the couches, chairs, and 4 poster beds there were fire pits which were lit every night. There were lots of places to walk around on the roads, and golf course paths.

But probably my favorite part was every morning when I opened the drapes and the sliding door to the balcony and saw the sun, the mountains, the lake. It just made me feel good. It was just so beautiful.

Walking uphill surrounded by mountains and beautiful homes was pretty amazing too. We were in Vegas but also in the middle of no where. We were about a 30 minute drive from the Vegas strip.

We went with the kids and my parents, my sister, and cousin to walk around and see all the hotels one day. We saw way too many cheesy wedding chapels. Do people really get married there? We went to Treasure Island, The Mirage, Caesar's, The Venetian, The Palazzo, and my favorite The Belazio....

The most beautiful lobby/garden I've ever seen... all made of real flowers

We went to a fashion show in the mall there.... my girls were in heaven. They thought it was the coolest thing ever! We are major Project Runway fans.

But, it definitely was not a place for kids. Way too many boobies everywhere. My girls decided that Vegas is a disgusting place, and truthfully I thought it was pretty raunchy too. Especially the guys passing out the cards on the street wearing t-shirts that say "enter to win a free girl" .... definitely not a contest I want my kids to know about. There are all these places to take your kids to that are kid friendly like the shark reef at Mandalay Bay

and the Titanic exhibit at the Luxor, which we loved. It's just a shame that you have to see a million sets of boobs and posters of girls in thongs that say stripper on your way there.

I wanted to teach my kids that gambling is kind of a waste of time and money, especially slot machines. I told my kids that people put so much money into them and never win. So I put a dollar in one. Of course I won, but only 2 dollars, and my kids are like "Mommy you won! You said no one wins!" Will really wanted to play those "games." He thought the slot machines were like chucky cheese games. Pretty true, actually. We give the kids money to put in those stupid games.

Anyway, Jon made a few bets for some friends and for us. So we left a few hundred dollars richer. Well, not really. I spent it before he even picked up the winnings. There was a beverly hills photographer at the hotel that did a photo shoot of my kids. I ordered the pictures.... can't wait to get them!

Here are some pics from our trip:

Limo ride to the hotel...

Fountain in front of Caesar's... (Annie, if only you were there a few days earlier... I could've run across the street to Harrah's and say hi.)

Bum on a bridge. I thought his sign was really creative... That is till I saw about 3 other guys with the same one.

There is a man in that Welcome to Vegas sign... nice place to leave the tips pouch.

Life jackets AND life guards..... heaven!

paddle boats

The back of the hotel...

love it here...

Oh, and of course I went to that pawn shop from the tv show, Pawn Stars. The line to get in was a block long in the morning. I went when there was no line, but the guys weren't there anymore... That's probably why there wasn't a line. Still cool.

It's hard to get back to reality. The cooking, grocery shopping, laundry, carpool.... the list goes on.

But you can't be on vacation forever....

Not even if you tell your husband that you want to stay longer and ask him if you can change your flight to stay an extra few days..... just saying.

Vegas, Baby

2010-03-29T18:25:00.004-05:00

Here I am in Vegas at a resort with 2 big pools, that is so kid friendly that one of the pools is only 3 1/2 feet deep, has life guards and life jackets, a volleyball net (in the pool), a small park next to the pool, and basketball court, ping pong tables, 2 hot tubs.... You get the point.

Tonight is the first night of Passover, and it should be a busy day. But luckily my parents took us away on this awesome vacation. I ran/walked 7 miles today! And played about 6 games of war with Will. We are having fun! I'll hopefully blog more later.... Gotta take Will back down to the pool.

:)

A Little Too Much TV?

2010-03-22T00:18:00.004-05:00

One more week till I go on vacay with my family, my youngest sis, my cousin, and my parents. The hotel looks amazing. I am so excited! I cannot wait to be able to relax... God knows I need to.

I took a nap yesterday. Who naps on a sunday? That's how exhausted I was. Jon just moved offices and was there most of the day, while I dragged the kids around to birthday parties and back to back basketball games and my MIL's school play (she's a principal)

Although I have been staying up really late renting movies on demand. A girl needs her tv. I should have a movie day again while I'm packing this week.... Is the Blind Side on demand yet? Or I could watch the Hurt Locker or the Informant.... Last night I watched Inglourious Basterds. Crazy movie. Really good though.

Have any of you been watching the Amazing Race? Jeff and Jordan from Big Brother were on it (they got eliminated last night). I mean they are cute and all, but definitely not the smartest couple in the world. I mean they are so freaking slow! It's a race, that means you are supposed to do things quickly!!! It was so frustrating watching them! I am very impressed with the police officer guys coming in first place for the third week. And surprisingly the old guy and his daughter are still keeping up with everyone. After watching him fix his car with duct tape I decided that I should keep a roll of it in my car at all times. You never know. Duct tape really can fix everything. Caite is a total brat and a trashy idiot. Brent should break up with her.

I also watched Undercover Boss last night which I totally loved. I think that is a great idea for a tv show... especially for reality tv lovers like me. Even Jon liked it. And he really hates all the tv shows I watch (Project Runway, Survivor, Biggest Loser).

Oh just thought of one more that I watched recently... the Jessica Simpson one... The Price Of Beauty. She is pretty dumb but I liked watching her show. I must not be very picky.

Oh wait, 2 more... I also love American Pickers and Pawn Stars.

God, no wonder I'm so tired. I've been staying up late watching way too many stupid tv shows!

Well, I'm calling them stupid, but I really like them...

Good thing there's a Starbucks on every corner... I could not live without caffeine.

Mmmmm Chocolate.....

2010-03-18T13:09:00.006-05:00

I really want chocolate today.....

Thankfully I do not have any in my house.

Well I do have mini chocolate chips and a half of a dark chocolate bar but I need those for the desserts I'm making for my shabbos (saturday lunch) company.... so luckily no chocolate that I can eat.

I just admitted to having taken inventory of all the chocolate in my house... I am totally embarrassed.

Why do we women crave chocolate???? So not fair! Why don't I ever crave apples? or celery?

I guess I will just sit here and eat some pureed vegetable soup and pretend it tastes like chocolate...

It's not working...

What Is That Big Thing?

2010-03-17T14:04:00.004-05:00

I came home at 2 in the afternoon starving.

I hadn't eaten all day, unless coffee counts.

I had to help my grandmother clean for Pesach (Passover) and was annoyed that once again, I would not be able to work out while Alyssa was at school. But then I had a great idea, to drop off Alyssa at school and run to my grandparent's house. So that's what I did... Ran a mile to their house, cleaned out cabinets, washed and dried dishes, and put them away. Then I ran back to pick up Alyssa, and went to the grocery store. Good idea right? The running part?

Anyway, by the time I got home I was starving!!! I was trying to be good. I was warming up some soup I had made, but it was taking sooo long. And I was staaarrrvvving!

While devouring some mixed nuts I was wondering what the hell those big ones are, and why they are mixed in with the good ones? When you open a can or jar of mixed nuts, you look for the almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews... If you are really hungry you'll go for the peanuts... but what are those huge things? Like anyone is really gonna eat those enormous nuts? Maybe they are just filler. To add extra weight so they can put in less of the good stuff...

Whatever they are.... I will never be hungry enough to eat them.

*By the way, I googled images of mixed nuts, and they don't even put the big one in the pictures! But if you look closer, you can see one of those huge things hidden in the middle. It's kinda like Where's Waldo.

New Favorite Song

2010-03-15T10:26:00.006-05:00

This is Emily's new favorite song..... RUDE BOY.

Inappropriate as usual. There are not very many appropriate songs on the radio these days.

A few weeks ago Emily and I were in the car and she said, "Oh my god, I love Rihana's new song!"

Not hearing it yet, I didn't know it was about to play on the radio.

I said, "Oh yeah, I wanna hear that CD. I heard she wrote it about Chris Brown and her new boyfriend. What's the album called?"

Suddenly the most inappropriate song that my daughter could ever sing along to came on the radio and she answered, "Rated R."

"Hmm..." was all I could think of as a response.

But I must admit... I do like that song.

Relaxing Morning? I Think Not.

2010-03-12T09:28:00.005-06:00

Got the older kids to school early this morning.

Decided to stop off at Starbucks and grab a latte and have a relaxing morning, letting Alyssa play in the baby gym before school started...

Ordered my grande nonfat one splenda latte. (and an iced water for Alyssa... starbucks cups make everything taste better.)

Knowing I never have cash, I took out my wallet to get my credit card to pay the $3.83.

Unfortunately for me, my credit card was not in my wallet.

More unfortunate... I had no clue where it was.

With Alyssa in my arms, I started going through my purse taking out pennies and dimes in front of a long line of customers... totally humiliated.

So glad that is over.

I still can't find my credit card though. I do not know where it can be.

I do know that Jon is gonna be totally annoyed with me if I can't find it.

At least I know something :(

Girls

2010-03-10T07:26:00.013-06:00

I have been looking through old pictures of Jessica lately while trying to get her montage together. I saw all the girly things she used to do...

like, tea parties with her dolls..

and dress up....

I can't show you any more pictures.... montage.... but there are many.

Then I thought about the things Alyssa plays with...

Cars, trains, Ben 10 guys.. she likes spiderman costumes and batman...

She likes sports, and rough housing...

She does do some girly things sometimes, I guess. Maybe it's ok to be a tomboy if you do it with a girlish flair...

And maybe it's ok to wear a boy's Cars shirt if you are coloring on a hello kitty notepad.

But I would really like to get her back more towards this...

I decided that it may be my fault that she likes boy things. Maybe I should have directed her towards the girly stuff instead of always letting her play with Will and his things.

So this past weekend I decided to bring up little chairs, and dolls, and play food and dishes so that she can learn about tea parties.

And guess what? She loved it. She wanted to do it all day!

And yesterday afternoon I decided to take her shopping with me and the girls. We went to Justice, one of the most girly stores in the world. Alyssa ran in and out of the fitting room while Emily and Jessica tried on clothes. She stared at herself in the mirror. Oh and she licked the mirror a few times (gross). She ran over to a rack of t-shirts, and insisted on trying on a hot pink t-shirt. I wasn't going to let her because the smallest size in the store is a 6, but little girls know what they want, and she wanted that shirt. Of course it fit her, and so did the shorts.. so embarrassing!!! She is still wearing that t-shirt right now actually. She wouldn't take it off. And that is pretty gross since she laid on the store floor with it on, and ate dinner with it on, and slept in it...

This is her picking out a book to read last night. She chose Star Wars... heroes and villains.

This is her throwing a tantrum... size 6 shirt.... my little giant.

It's too bad I didn't think of taking pictures at the store.

Ah.... an afternoon shopping with the girls... what can be better?

I guess it's kinda like the husband watching Will play hockey...

By the way, Alyssa wants to do that too!

I'm Still Here

2010-03-08T12:58:00.003-06:00

Sorry I havn't blogged in a while. I have been really busy trying to get Jessica's Bat Mitzvah planned. I started making her centerpieces (which are coming out awesome by the way) and I am just about done with her montage. Just need a few more pictures.... I am having so much fun doing it... so glad I decided not to pay someone else to do it. I love my mac.

Anyway, I am dying to show all this stuff to you, but I can't. Not till after June 20th (our new bat mitzvah date).

In other news Pesach is coming (Passover... jewish holiday). Vegas, baby. That's where we're going. The Lowe's Hotel in Lake Las Vegas. My parents are taking us and and my youngest sis. Thank god... I sooo need a vacay. Ten days of no cooking or cleaning..... just hanging by the pool and maybe a little gambling. Never been to Vegas... Gotta do a little shopping for our trip... :)

So, did any of you watch the Oscar's last night? I'm sure you ALL said yes. Who doesn't watch the Oscar's? K. Can't chat about it now, got a sick kid at home.

More tomorrow.... hopefully.

A Little Clingy... actually a lot

2010-03-02T00:29:00.008-06:00

Alyssa has been very attached to me lately. She wants me to do everything for her. She wants me to be near her all day. Lately, she won't let Jon come in the same room as her. Oh, and he's not allowed to talk to her either.

It's kinda getting out of control.

Last night Jon walked into the kitchen and she started crying and ran to me. And she won't let him give her a bath or put her to bed... When she wakes up in the morning, she crawls into bed with me. She says, "Way Uh Mommy" (wake-up... if you didn't get that). She will stay there next to me asking me to take her downstairs, to turn on Scooby Doo. She used to let Jon take her downstairs if he was up. But now she would rather stay in bed with me and wait till I am ready to get up and take her downstairs, than go with Jon.

It's really hard on all the kids too. She doesn't want to share me. If someone else asks me to do something, she runs over and tries to make me do something with her. If Will wants a hug, she jumps in my arms, pushes him away, and says, "My Mommy!" She is totally distracting, and makes it difficult for me to spend any quality time with my other children. The kids are feeling it too. They tell Alyssa, "She's our Mommy too." And I try to make a screaming Alyssa watch me hug them also. She is just totally nuts.

It's hard for Will especially. He wants me to do stuff for him also. He wants me to put him to bed, and lay with him, and talk with him.... He wants me to read him books without Alyssa all over me, whining and trying to take the book away from him. Last night he "read" me the book Little Pea. He actually knows the whole book by heart and can "read" it and is very proud of himself. Truthfully I was pretty impressed. Alyssa climbed up the top bunk with me to Will's bed, and was mostly quiet and not too grabby while he read it. I was sitting by the ladder when I said to Jon. "Maybe I should go out one night and give you some alone time with Alyssa so she can start liking you again. Or better, since she loves your car, maybe you should go out with her for ice cream or something. We could all use a little break from this craziness. Oooh, better yet, maybe I should take another trip to Miami!" I looked at Will and said, "Just joking, I'm not going anywhere. Would you be sad if I left?" He said yes. I said jokingly, "Maybe Alyssa should go to Florida. Would you be sad if she went to florida?" And he said no. I said, "How about Daddy? Jessica? Emily?" Each time he said yes. I looked at Jon with a sad face and said to Will, "You wouldn't be sad if Alyssa went to florida?" He said no. I looked back at Jon and then we started talking about something else, when Will interrupted and said, "Okay, so who can take Alyssa to florida? A babysitter? I mean she could be ok with a babysitter probably."

Purim Has Come And Gone.....

2010-03-01T10:37:00.001-06:00

Purim is probably the most fun and exhausting day on the calendar. The costumes, the mishloach manot (creative food baskets), the shul (syngogue) dinners and parties, friends and families getting together.... Sharing their favorite and least favorite (for those mean people like me) mishloach manot with their friends and family. Not only was making our MM (for short) exhausting. But delivering them was too. And I only did half of them! Jon and the kids did a bunch in the morning.

I was never able to stay home before. I am usually the one dragging all my kids to shul and then to deliver all the stuff, while Jon is at work. This year I got to be home in the morning while they delivered some, and you know what? I kinda like to be home and chat with my friends who stop by with their MM. It is a lot of fun when you are home to accept them, instead of coming home to a crazy amount of packages by the front door.

I forgot to take a picture of my favorite MM. I usually like to do that. Oh well. But my favorite one was made by my friend Lindsey. It was an under the sea theme. A plastic fish bowl filled with fruity pebbles on the bottom. Some gummy fish "swimming" and a net with a little mermaid cookie, a starfish, and not sure what else.... and a picture of her daughters dressed up as ariel and sleeping beauty. She wrote a poem and stuck that in too. The presentation was great. Even better was that my kids won goldfish at their school carnival last week and now I have a fishbowl to put them in, instead of the glass bowl I was using!

Anyway, there will be a short Not Me Monday section here so I can link up to Mckmama...

I did not stay up all night to do my Mishloach Manot. I did not think they were awesome when I went to bed at 6:05 am. I did not hate them when I woke up. And definitely was not totally upset all day.

Ok. back to normal. So I got most of my stuff together for my MM in advance. But since I have a crazy, 2 year old, tornado mess of a child. Love you, Alyssa. I could not do anything until everyone was asleep saturday night. Because if I had put it all together and left it sitting out it would have been all opened and thrown around and then where would I be??? Anyway, our shul had a Purim party after we read the Megilla, and I did not get all the kids to bed till way after 10 and did not even step foot into my kitchen till after 11. Plus I had to make sixty something cupcakes. And then put all the stuff together. And then wrap it in cellophane...and put a card on. So yes, I am a little obsessive and I need it to look good and all, and I thought it would. But with all my hard work and all my efforts, I just wasn't loving it this year. (Luckily I already thought up next years idea, and it's going to be much easier!)

Anyway, when my kids were little, I was able to do a theme. It was easy... they wanted to be princessy or girly and I just matched up a theme. They always wanted to match each other. Over the years things have drastically changed. They like to dress up with their friends, and definitely not with each other. So, since I like themed MM, I make them dress up for our family picture, and then get another costume that they want. This year I decided on pirates. But on their own, Jessica was dressed for a masquerade ball. Emily was supergirl. Will and Alyssa were supposed to be Mario and Luigi, but at the last minute, literally, Will freaked out about the mustache, and took the old power ranger costume out of his closet. So Alyssa was a care bear that was from Emily when she was 4.

So this year was pirate themed....

Taking the family picture is easier said than done, as all you parents know. Alyssa only lasted for 2 pictures before her melt down. The first pic was great except Will put his sword in front of my face. I wanted to use it anyway, but Jon wouldn't let. Below is the second pic. My camera's self timer gives you 10 seconds till it takes the pic, and with 2 seconds left to go, Alyssa dropped the sword (one of many props she insisted on holding).... I was like, "don't pick it up!" and then the picture was taken, the melt down began, and that was it. Walgreens did a pretty good job helping me crop, and print, and black and white it though!

And this was my MM....

Well, before I wrapped it...

This is what my dining room table looked like at around 4 am..

This was my favorite part. The treasure chest... with chocolate coins and rock candy jewels.

I made cupcakes, chocolate chip cookie bars, and a roll with an X on it in food coloring markers. I thought it would be really cute, but was not thrilled this year. Plus there were a few more people I would have loved to bring MM to, but it was either... be done or be divorced. So I chose to be done :)

Whatever. There's always next year.

Here are some pictures, my camera died so I don't have so many.... These were taken at our shul party.

Emily and her best friend (who bailed on the supergirl costume). We still love her though.

Jessica and one of her good friends

Will and Alyssa with my nephew, the zombie skateboarder

Will with my other nephew, the caveman (it was a great costume without the sweatshirt!), and the Joker

Emily and her besties!

And, Alyssa flirting with her friend from school

The Costume Store

2010-02-23T23:48:00.007-06:00

Taking 5 kids to a big costume store is not the best idea in the world.

Especially when one of those kids is Alyssa. And she wants to try on every boy costume she can find.

Emily chose her costume in about 3 seconds. She tried on the supergirl costume, it fit, she was done. Jessica and her friend were not sure what they wanted to be... they kept looking and looking, trying things on and taking them off. 11 and 12 is a hard age. It's kinda like you are too small for the adult costumes and too big for the kid costumes. And the tween costumes are way too sexy. What's a girl to do?

I gave Alyssa, who had grabbed a batman costume, a rainbow brite costume. It was so cute. She went to the dressing room, threw all of Jessica's stuff out of it, and closed the curtain. She did NOT like the rainbow brite costume!

Will was trying on spiderman. He looked really cute in it until Alyssa started grabbing it off his body cuz she wanted it. I took it off Will and put it on Alyssa. She was soooo happy. I told Will he could have the spiderman costume, took it off Alyssa, who started screaming her head off, and went to look for more costumes for the older girls.

I found an even better spiderman, one with "muscles," and told Will to try it on. Alyssa ran over, pushed Will down, and told me to put it on her. I gave Will the first costume and put the puffy spiderman on Alyssa. She walked around the store in it. The guys who worked there were like, "Aw look how cute she is."

I told them it wasn't so cute that my daughter was a boy. This was killing me. She is supposed to want something pink. A princess dress, a ladybug, a ballerina.... anything! I know that she only wants the boy stuff because she loves Will. She wants to do everything he does. But I mean, come on... I wanted a girl so badly, and I have a girl-boy...

Well, that's not completely true. She does like jewelry.. especially necklaces. And she does like to dress up sometimes. But my other girls were all into pink when they were little, we only had girl stuff in the house, and I kinda expected the same from Alyssa.... sob.

Anyway, I told Will that he couldn't be spiderman cuz Alyssa would try to take it from him so he decided to be Mario. Of course as soon as Alyssa saw the Mario costume, she took the Luigi one. I put both of them in their costumes and decided that having them pair up as Super Mario Brothers was a fitting costume, and told them they could have it.

Jessica and her friend still hadn't chosen a costume. Well, not one that fit them at least. They decided to buy these beautiful masquerade masks, which I was happy to buy because it had already been 2 hours and I was ready to go home.

Oh I almost forgot... While they were choosing their masks, Will had to go to the bathroom. The bathroom was in the wig room. I closed the door behind him and decided to play with the wigs. I put on a hot pink bob with long bangs and walked over to the bathroom door giggling. In a voice not my own I said (while opening the bathroom door) "Little boy, is there something I can help you with?"

I have never seen the look of absolute terror like I saw at that moment on Will's face. And the scream! Hahahahhahahahaha. I am evil. But that was the funniest thing I ever saw! I am still laughing......

Anyway, I went to pay and realized that this was actually gonna cost a lot. Plus I had no clue how much Emily's costume even was. She rang me up, and I asked her if I could get a discount for buying 5 costumes. She said that they normally don't but she would ask the manager. He told her to take 20% off of the total! Yay me! I never get things on sale. Anyway, We walked out of the store... I was all excited about saving the 20% until I saw the orange ticket on my windshield.

$50 parking ticket. My meter had expired. Suddenly I was not so happy anymore. But so it goes. At least my kids had their costumes and I was finally able to leave that store.

**For those of you that are wondering why I am buying costumes in february... it is for a Jewish holiday called Purim. Each year the kids dress up, we go to synagogue, and the following morning deliver a basket of food to our friends. It used to be a few snacks on a plate when I was little, but over the years people have gotten creative and have their families dressed in themes to match their package of food they were delivering... This is one of my favorite holidays because we get to show off our creativity... and it's so much for for the kids!

I'll post pics next time...

While The Husbands Away.......

2010-02-23T13:10:00.006-06:00

The wife will have absolutely no time to herself. No time to blog. No time to facebook. No time to breathe without a kid on top of her.

She will have to take out the garbage when it smells up the kitchen, take the garbage cans back to the house cuz Josh didn't do it, and shovel the slurpee-like snow off the walkway...

All this while she still does her normal laundry, cooking, dish washing, kid- bathing, helping with homework, take the 5 year old to hockey.... not an easy task. I've never dressed a kid for hockey before... I was sweating when I was done!

Spending her only free time on Monday at the FORD dealership to get a windshield wiper fixed (it flew off while I was driving), and an oil change (2000 miles overdue.... who knew?), and tires filled with air (that is due to my awesome parking jobs of rubbing tires against the curb and wearing out the rubber. They suggested I buy all new tires.. actually only 3 cuz I already had one new one from the giant hole I got in one a few months ago).

Oh and let's not forget sunday when we went to the school carnival and 2 basketball games all while having a migraine that made my eyes tear. The 2 hours I was home, my poor kids were on their own while I was sick in bed and almost threw up. It was a fun day... especially when Alyssa kept laying on the basketball court and my favorite ref was getting mad and a certain friend tried to throw a basketball to Will, but it bounced off his kid's toe and rolled right into the game to the ref's feet!!!! And he got pissed and threw it back at me (cuz he assumed it was my ball) while he was simultaneously being yelled at by one of the coaches (Benzie) for not calling something.

I actually apologized to the ref and told him the ball wasn't mine, and this is what my formerly favorite ref, the one who used to compliment Emily on her games and give Will a ball to play with during halftime, said to me without looking up from his phone...

"Like it even matters that the ball wasn't yours. If your daughter lays on the court and someone steps on her head and hurts her and she dies, that will be your fault."

Thanks asshole.

I didn't say that. I was actually nice to him. I had apologized nicely, let him take his anger out on me, stood there for a minute to let him feel like an asshole and then walked away.

Anyway, I'm taking the kids and their friend out of school a couple hours early today to go costume shopping for Purim and then out for dinner. Hoping for an easy night.

The husband comes back tomorrow afternoon.

I think I need a vacation from his vacation....

Shopping With Bobby

2010-02-18T11:21:00.005-06:00

I call my grandmother Bobby. It comes from the word Bubby, but my family transformed it into Bobby. Not sure why. I actually never even thought about it till just now.

Anyway, she asked me to take her grocery shopping today. It turns out she wanted to go to a fruit market I never heard of (on Devon and Western for all you Chicago people). I always dread shopping with her a little because it takes a loooong time. And because she cares about every single penny. Not that it's a bad thing to be a penny pincher. I have plenty of friends who are, but here, let me explain today's hour long vegetable/ fruit shopping experience.

I picked her up at 9:39. She took my Zaidy's (my grandfather) handicapped card because according to her, "invalids don't have to pay the meter." I said, "Bobby, the handicapped card is so people can park closer. They still have to pay." This is all besides the point because there wasn't even a parking lot and there were tons of places to park on the street. She said, "Fine, if you want to waste your quarter, that's up to you." So I wasted my quarter and paid the meter.

Inside there were a million vegetables I never heard of. She took a shopping cart and started loading it up. Cabbage... 25 cents a pound, onions...4lbs for a dollar, lettuce.... 2 for a dollar, potatoes... 10lb bag for $1.49. I actually did buy a few things, but my things were not on sale... of course... but who could turn down fresh mint leaves and peeled garlic....

Then suddenly I felt like I was on Let's Make A Deal. She turns to someone who worked there and said, "why are the jumbo eggs $1.99 a dozen? That is too much. I've seen it elsewhere for $1.59." To which he replied, "Well egg prices change every week. This was last weeks order that was a lot. The next order we get is cheaper so the price will be less when we get it in. "Then my Bobby said, "Well why can't I get the better price today?" So the guy said, "Fine. You can take 1 dozen for $1.59." She turns to me and tells me to put 4 in her cart. Then after picking out grapes for 79 cents a pound, bananas, apples.. 4lbs for $1.99, celery, cucumbers, grape tomatoes... 99cents.... you get the point, she picked up a bag of baby carrots and walked over to a woman who I guess must be an owner. The woman said, "You look beautiful today." My Bobby said, "Today? I look beautiful everyday... but why are these carrots $1.29? They should be 99 cents." The woman said, "Well since I like you, I will let you have them for 99 cents." Upon which I was told to go get her another bag.

Then the whole egg situation happened. She asked her to tell the check out lady to charge her $1.59 for the eggs. When they rung up as $1.99, the owner said she would give all 4 to her for $1.89. When my Bobby insisted she was told that she was told $1.59, the owner offered her all 4 for $1.79. And finally went down to giving her all 4 for $1.59. I stood there in shock watching all this happen.

Besides the fact that I am a person who would pay more to not make a fuss, I felt like I was suddenly on a game show. I couldn't help but speak up,and what I said was, "I have never seen anything like this in my life. Who knew you could bargain for your groceries at the grocery store!?!" The woman looked at me and said, "Only for her. What can I say, I like her." I was in complete shock over what I had just witnessed. The checkout girls were laughing along with me. My Bobby's total was $34.03 for like 20 bags of groceries. Crazy.

Lady In Black

2010-02-17T00:10:00.004-06:00

Sunday night, I was getting dressed to go out with Jon to a sheva brachot that was kinda like a wedding. It was at a hotel, there were a lot of people invited, and I heard that it was going to be pretty dressy, which it was.

I wasn't sure what to wear. I tried on a few outfits... all black of course, because as Will told me when we were shopping at Bloomingdales, "women love to wear dark colors." He said that to me when he saw a yellow dress and commented that the dress "was just too weird. Moms don't wear yellow." Which is definitely true about this mom.

Most of my clothes are black. I love black. Looks nice, goes with everything.... Jessica actually told me once that I "have to start wearing more color or people will think I'm goth." Let me tell you, that may be the one thing in my life I am not worried about. I have a few pinks, a couple greens, and even a blue. I sometimes switch it up and go brown.... but black will always be my one true love.

I try to shop for a more colorful wardrobe, but always seem to come home with a new black something. I am the queen of black skirts. I love them. Short ones, shorter ones :) and then a few that cover my knee, and even a couple that go mid calf. There are pleated ones and a- line ones and drop waist ones. There's one that has a belt, a layered one.... They are all different to me, even if they may just look like a sea of black hanging in my closet.

Anyway, sunday night I was deciding between a black dress, a black short (but not too short.. just above the knee) pleated skirt with a black sequined 3 quarter length sleeve sweater, or a black top with beads (Will picked it out for me the day he was my personal shopper) with a layered black skirt.

Jon liked the first outfit, I liked the second, Jessica liked the third. I tried them all on again.... I know all you men out there are so happy you don't live with me.... and decided on the outfit I liked. I ironed my hair, put on my makeup, and slipped on the highest patent leather black heels I owned. Always fun to wear those... even though they are hard to walk in. For once I actually liked what I saw in the mirror. I was praising myself for the 250 crunches I did the night before, as I admired the lady in black smiling at me in the mirror.

You are probably wondering why I am writing this whole long boring blog post about getting dressed. Well, I am writing it for myself because it was one of the few times I left my house knowing I looked good. I felt really pretty and feminine. I am usually my biggest and harshest critic, and for once, I did not have a bad thought about the way I looked.

I had a really nice time out with Jon. I sat with my good friends. I had a little wine and some sushi. And just felt really good about myself. That does not happen very often.

Of course the night came to a sudden halt when we went to pick up our kids from my parents' house and Jessica was puking her guts out....

But you know, nothing's perfect. At least it wasn't my bed she was puking in... yuck.

I did what any other mom would do. I took my kids home. I got into some comfy clothes (also black.... black long sleeve tee and leggings... I am the queen of black clothes) and prepared myself for the long, sleepless, vomit cleaning up night I had ahead of me.

At least my hair still looked good.

Stressed Out

2010-02-16T14:56:00.002-06:00

Never ran at 7.0 before.

That is till this morning......

When I got so stressed out over planning my daughter's Bat Mitzvah that running as fast as I could seemed to be the only thing to do.

Granted I only had time to run for 17 minutes.

But still. It counts.

I did feel a whole lot better afterwards.

And now that the happy feeling is once again leaving me, and the bottomless pit of stress is returning.... I might have to do it again.

At least I'll get skinny.

Jillian Michaels and Survivor

2010-02-12T11:04:00.006-06:00

I decided to do the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred dvd yesterday. Will was home and Alyssa was sleeping and I knew that if I even attempted to step on the treadmill someone would be calling my name or wake up crying... so is the life of a stay at home mom....

I used to do Jillian's 30 day shred all the time last summer, and actually lost 8 pounds when I did it regularly. I havn't done it in months because when I was training for the half marathon, the trainer said that we should only run, not combine cross training or other workouts, because we wanted our body to focus only on the muscles we use for running.

Anyway, I did it. And when I was done was a little disappointed. Yes, the pushups part was hard, but I really did not feel like it was that challenging...

I stayed in my workout clothes hoping to run on the treadmill later. I picked up the girls from school, went to Michael's to get a green showboard, went to Costco to stock up on veggies, and then home to make dinner and have homework time so that we would be done in time for Survivor!!! Yay! Heroes vs. Villians.....

Ok, I must break away for a second to talk about how excited I am to see Boston Rob again!!! And James, he's such a cutie. And Amanda, Cirie, and Stefanie!!!!!!!! I love Stefanie! I cannot believe 30 pound Courtney is back and horsemouth Danielle. Who wanted them? Where's Ozzie? Tom aged A LOT! Colby is no longer good looking... Ummm... let's see Parvati always adds a little fun. And Jerri and Coach with a possible hookup??? Randi is as bitter as ever. Tyson is totally insane, my kids were laughing at his leopard print speedos. Sandra taking off Sugar's bra during the challenge was pretty b*tchy, but you go girl Sugar! Rupert is the same as always. This is gonna be a great season! I am so excited about it!!!!!

Anyway, after 2 hours of Survivor :) and trying to get Jessica to finish her homework and Emily up to bed, I was way too tired to run and gave up on the idea... still upset that I didn't have a good workout.

I was upset and annoyed......

until this morning......

when I woke up and went to the bathroom to pee....

and almost screamed as loud as I could as I sat on the toilet (I would have but Alyssa was still sleeping).

My ass was so sore!!!!

So I thank you Jillian Michaels for literally kicking my ass... all those squats did the trick whether I knew it or not...

That is why she is my hero.

The Many Sides Of Alyssa

2010-02-10T14:16:00.002-06:00

I think Alyssa may have been The Little Mermaid in another life. She started combing her hair with her fork (dinglehopper) while eating her lunch the other day.

Afterall, she does like to be naked....

And she loves taking a bath....

She could have also been the girl from the book Purple, Green and Yellow by Robert Munsch.

She does like to draw all over her body...

And like the girl in the book does to her father, she told me that she wants to color all over me too!

What I do know about Alyssa is that she is OBSESSED with cars. All cars. Especially Jon's (black mustang convertible). She loves when we are in traffic and there are cars all around her, or on the highway, or even just walking down the street. She is obsessed with the Disney movie Cars and owns almost all of the cars from the movie.

She even wears boy's Cars pajamas (because Disney doesn't make any Cars clothing for girls). But she does look pretty cute in them, I must say...

*Is everyone noticing that Alyssa is double the size of Will.... He will be 6 next month and she is 2 1/2.... Crazy!

I'm Outing Myself

2010-02-09T06:55:00.001-06:00

I like to read trashy novels.

So when I went to the airport last week, crying my eyes out.... a total mess over leaving my kids and going to florida, I went to one of those airport shops and bought a couple books to cheer me up (and so that I could do something productive instead of crying the whole 3 1/2 hours on the plane). I'm embarrassed to say it, but I will, since I seem to write everything on this blog.... It was called The Quickie by James Patterson. I am not embarrassed to admit that I like to read trashy novels. Well maybe a little embarrassed, but I think most woman do. The other book I bought was Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella (author of Confessions of a Shopaholic).

I read Remember Me which was just a fun, easy, not too trashy, would like it to be a little more.. kind of book. For those of you who read it... I have two words.. Mont Blanc... Hahahaha. I liked that book.

I was way too embarrassed to read the other one on the plane. Especially not while sitting next to a guy who had his wife's hand on his leg and was going to Cancun for a getaway.

Anyway, I am reading it now and you know, I think I would really like to meet this guy James Patterson, because his "quickie" in the book lasted well over an hour. And if that's his idea of a quickie.......

The only quick thing about the book are his chapters. So annoying. Only 2-3 pages each. His writing is awful. I can't believe people read his books! I am not a great writer myself, but I am finding it quite painful to read. And this is coming from a woman who enjoys reading Junie B. Jones and the Dear Dumb Diary Series! (With the kids of course...)

I think that now that the good part is over, and truthfully it wasn't even that good, I might have to pass this book on to whoever has enough tolerance to read it. I think I'll stick to Nora Roberts for now... Anyone read Northern Lights by Nora Roberts? That was a good book.

I do read other books too. Not just fun and trashy. I loved A Child Called It and the ones that followed. Made me sick to my stomach that any person could be so cruel. Made me want to crawl into bed with my kids and give them a hug.

And I used to read all the Oprah book club books. But these days I don't have a lot of time to read, so I prefer the easy, fun, not too heavy ones.

Oh.... and US Weekly and In Style..... do those count?

It Must Be Monday

2010-02-08T11:19:00.004-06:00

I went to the grocery store,

parked my car,

opened the door,

and realized I left my purse at home.

Went home, made a cup of coffee,

sat at my computer desk....

took a sip of my coffee

to wash down my giant pill (antibiotic... toe...),

choked on the huge thing,

spit coffee all over my computer desk...

It must be Monday...

And more great news...

It's supposed to snow tonight...

Ok, So My Dad Is A Urologist...

2010-02-05T11:44:00.003-06:00

If you didn't read the comments from yesterday's blog, my friends all went to town on the fact that I went to my dad, the urologist, to take care of my toe...

Listen all you laughing girls out there. If I trust my dad to do my son's circumcision, and thousands trust him to do their vasectomies, I think I can trust him to slit my toe! It's just a toe!

****************************************************

Anyway, I went to the grocery store to buy Jon some beer the other day and I didn't get carded. I told the woman that it would have been NICE if she would've carded me, just to make me feel all cute and young. I miss those days...

But I did run into a friend I havn't seen in a while and she told me I looked skinny. So that made up for it! Thanks Rachel! Me, You, Shosh, and coffee... let's get on that.

Gross-Out Alert

2010-02-04T06:58:00.008-06:00

I ran 3 miles on my treadmill yesterday. It felt so good to only run 3! I feel really great and am finally losing weight!

Anyway, I took a quick shower and then took Will and Alyssa to the Disney Store. They have been obsessed with the Cars movie, and have a pretty big collection of cars. After that I decided to stop by my Dad's office (he's a doctor) to have him look at my toe. It got kinda messed up from running, and it recently started getting swollen and purple.

I totally thought I would just need a topical ointment, but apparently it is a major infection and he had to numb it up (serious pain... I screamed) and then slit my toe with a scalpel to let whatever it was get out. Now I don't know about you, but I might be the worst patient in the whole world. I do not have a high threshold for pain, and this really really hurt. Will and Alyssa were in the room with me and poor Will was crying cuz he's never seen me in so much pain.

I guess blood was collecting in my toe. My dad said he doesn't know how I've been walking on it, let alone running. Anyway, he seems to be really worried about it turning into cellulitis (just a side note, no woman should ever have to have something that sounds like cellulite) which I guess is pretty bad, and put me on 2 strong antibiotics and told me to soak my foot a few times a day.

So I guess running will have to be put on hold for now until I am all better.

Well, all that happened between 4 and 5 yesterday. And my niece was having her erev shira (kinda like a play, choir and dance all together) at 7. I really really didn't want to go. I was very nervous about the pain in my toe, and all I wanted to do was stay home. I called my brother to try to get out of it, and he told me that if I'm hurt I should stay home, but that she'd probably be sad.

So instead of sitting down and resting my foot, I had to make dinner for my family as fast as I could, get changed, and go to the nearby public school, where they were performing. When I tell you it was long and boring it is an understatement. She only sang 2 songs, and the rest of the time was so boring that me, my mom, Jessica, Emily, and my niece Aliza were all texting the whole time and playing on their itouch. It didn't end till 10!!!! And the only reason I stayed was so my niece would see me at the end.

My kids were bored and tired, and all we wanted to do was leave. But we stayed. And when it was over I gave her a big hug, told her she was great, and after talking to us for 3 seconds she said she had to go and went off with her friends. Pretty typical for an 8th grader I guess. She was very excited about the "cast party" that they were going to which would end at midnight. Ummm.... aren't kids supposed to go to bed at night? That's all I wanted to do. Even my little first grade niece was still running around with her friends....

I must be old.

The Marathon!!!!!

2010-02-03T01:38:00.002-06:00

It was amazing!!!!! I was nervous and excited, but I never could have imagined how exhilarating it would be to run in the Miami Marathon!!! (well the half marathon anyway)

I could not sleep the whole night before.... Just laid in bed with my eyes closed till 3:40 am. I had called the front desk of the hotel and asked for a wake-up call, but I knew I wouldn't need it. Got dressed, had a teeny bowl of cereal, and went down to the lobby. In the lobby were over 200 hyped up marathon runners... We took a bus to the Port of Miami (American Airlines Arena)... where we stood in 91% humidity waiting for the race to start with 18,000 other people. There were photographers and news cameras. There were beach balls being tossed around over our heads. They announced all the charity teams (us- yay!) and welcomed us all. This started at 5:15, and just before 6:15, which would be the start time, they had fireworks, and steam blowers and confetti... It was really festive! Really exciting!

I'm not sure that you all remember but I was kinda stressed about wearing spandex and what I'd look like in it. Well, my shirt was so big that I did not even have to worry about it. Between being 5 feet tall and getting a size too big, it basically looked like a mini dress. Oh well. At least I didn't have to worry about people staring at my butt the whole time... Cuz trust me I was looking at everyone else's. I mean, when you are running for hours what else are you supposed to do? There were all types of bodies running.... pears, apples, stringbeans, Kim Kardashians... I was wondering how one girl fit all that booty into her spandex. Then there were those hard bodies that made you want to run faster in hopes of looking like them!

It was so humid, that even at mile 2, when it was still dark, everyone was totally drenched. Kinda gross huh? At around mile 4 or 5 we must have been in south beach. On the sidewalk I saw the back of a tall, thin woman with long black hair, and thigh high black fringed boots, and little tiny black booty shorts. She was about to turn around, I was totally expecting to see a topless woman with big giant boobs, but when she turned around, she was a HE. And I couldn't stop laughing, which I think was the point. It was hilarious. There were so many people on the sidelines cheering us on... it was really awesome!

I felt really good the whole way. Mile 12 and 13 each felt like 2 miles, but with all the people holding out cups of water for us, I made it through. I cannot stop running, because my muscles tighten up, so I would grab 2 cups while running drink a little and let the rest pour down my shirt. It kept me cool and totally worked for me.

What I didn't expect at the very end, was how emotional I would be. When you reach mile 12 and you know you are almost done, it is so overwhelming you want to cry, you don't, but you feel like you want to. When I saw 2 kids and their dad with a poster that said "We love you MOM! You can do it!" My chest kinda tightened, I felt overwhelmed with a sadness knowing my family wasn't there waiting for me. But I saw my friend's kids and my other friend's husband, and waved to them! I waved to anyone in a Team Lifeline shirt, because there is just some sort of special camaraderie you have with other marathon runners suddenly.

But it was also such a happy and proud and overwhelming feeling too... knowing that I was at the end, that I did it, that it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. That I actually felt amazing! I felt like I could really do anything I wanted to do in life!

Well except continue to run... cuz after I crossed that finish line I wanted to sit.

My time was 2 hours and 32 minutes. I was really happy with it. I had wanted 2 1/2 hours but got sick at the hotel (my throat had been hurting and I lost my voice) and wasn't sure I could pull it off.

When I crossed the finish line a woman put a medal around my neck and told me to go get a drink. I drank 1 1/2 water bottles and poured the rest over my head. I sat on the curb and stretched my legs for a little hoping to see my friends. I didn't, so I started walking to the Team Lifeline tent. People were sitting around eating bagels and muffins and granola bars and I just felt nauseous watching them. I totally cannot eat after I run. Not for a few hours. I was really hot and looked around for something cold, but there was nothing. I felt like I needed something so I drank the juice of a fruit cup and sat on the grass till I felt better. Finally I found the Team Lifeline tent and made my way over. I told the guy in charge that I wanted to go back to the hotel and needed to know where the shuttle bus was. He told me it was 5 blocks in the direction I had just come from!!! Oh man. I was tired and needed to cool off, but there really was nowhere to do that. I am used to running in the freezing cold, cooling off immediately and sitting on my couch with ice afterward. I started to walk away, but suddenly did not feel well at all. It had been a half hour since I finished and all I wanted to do was lay down somewhere. I decided to walk back to my group because I didn't feel great, and as I did the world started turning white, which as a fainter (happens a lot to me, especially when I'm pregnant, very hot, or low in sugar), I know means I only have a few seconds. So I laid down on the grass and told a random stranger that I might faint.

I guess that guy told the other person in charge who came over and asked me if I was ok. I said that I wasn't and that I needed him to pour water on my face and head. He did, a little apprehensively, and I started to come back. It was totally embarrassing, but I did start to feel better after a few minutes. He called the medic over and they took my blood pressure and my blood sugar level, told me to eat, to which I answered I couldn't. And when I sat up and saw a stretcher... I told them that I was totally fine, that this has happened to me lots of times, that I know how to take care of it, and that there was no way in hell I was getting on that thing.

Then my friend Orah came over and took care of me. They finally got me some ice which she held on the back of my neck for me till I felt better. I felt totally fine, and truthfully I hate having to be taken care of, but I appreciated it from a friend perspective. Thanks Orah! Then we walked to the shuttle bus together. A few minutes later I felt on top of the world. I got my bag from bag check, called Jon who had actually texted me my time, he had been checking on the internet! It was sooo good to talk to him. I was so happy to share this awesome feeling with my husband and family! Then I called my Dad, who has never been so proud of me in my whole life!!!! He was so proud, and so excited! I never heard him sound like that! It felt great!

Anyway, here are the pics that I have. They were taken after the near-fainting episode, so I am totally disgusting in them. But I don't care. I'm really proud of myself, no matter what I looked like... If anyone wants to share a picture of themselves after they don't sleep, get out of bed in the middle of the night, run 13.1 miles, almost faint, and have 2 bottles of water poured on their head... I would be happy to post em!

Leaving On A Jet Plane.....

2010-01-28T08:32:00.003-06:00

Today is the day!

I am leaving for Miami in 2 hours.... I probably should actually leave and go to the airport, but I just wanted to say goodbye to all my blog friends! Wish me luck, and if you see my kids..... give them a great big hug from me!

Free Money?

2010-01-26T00:53:00.006-06:00

I hate when gift cards have an expiration date. There is so much stress to use it before it expires, and you usually end up spending more than you had on that little card.

In december I went to Abercrombie to return some t-shirts Jessica decided she didn't want. I walked in the store and returned the shirts and, of course, happened to see the jeans she liked were on sale and some cute tee's. Then I grabbed a sweatshirt for Jessica and one for Emily and went to pay. That totaled $108. They gave out gift cards for $25 if you spent over $100, which duh everyone probably does there. I was so excited about it.

Today I looked at the gift card and noticed that it expires on January 31. That's this sunday. When I am going to be in Miami. So now I only have 2 days to get over there (20 min. away) and spend that $25. Kind of annoying isn't it? But more annoying would be wasting it. And since I have a laser appointment on wednesday, I guess that means I have to go there today. That means forget about going to Costco which I really needed to do...

Oh well. What's more important anyway, free Abercrombie clothes or fruits and vegetables?

Tears Of Sadness & Joy

2010-01-25T10:00:00.003-06:00

So this is the big week! The week I am leaving my children for 4 days. The week I am running 13.1 miles at my first half marathon. I am excited and nervous... I feel like I have a million things to do.

I have already started crying over not being able to see them or put them to bed at night, not being able to hug and kiss them goodnight. Last night I was crying when I put Alyssa to bed. I'm gonna miss laying next to her warm little body while she acts silly and rolls around till she finally drifts off. And I'll miss talking to Will in the top bunk, telling him I love him, and him responding I love you more. It won't be the same without hanging with Jessica and Emily, playing games on their itouches and reading in bed with Emily. And what about our friday night perpetual commotion games???

I think I'll probably be a train wreck thursday night, and hopefully ok by friday.

But I know they will be fine. I know that Jon will take care of them, and that they'll have fun at my parent's house over the weekend. Will is looking forward to a birthday party he has on sunday, and the girls have their basketball games.... It's just that I do everything with them and I'm not used to not being with them.

Breathe, Rayli breathe.......

Speaking of basketball..... Emily had a crazy game yesterday! I wish you could have seen her. They were playing a really hard team and only had 4 players. So they had to play the whole time! They were down 7-0 and then down 20-8. It was horrible at first. I felt like the team was depending on Emily to win it (she scored 17 out of 22 points, last week).

She kept getting the ball. The coach wanted her to bring it downcourt every single time. At halftime it was 21-16. We were catching up. We kept getting closer, sometimes only 2 or 3 points away, but still trailing.

Emily was a rockstar! She was scoring most of the points, and running downcourt as fast as she could. Her teammates made a couple shots, one girl was great at intercepting the other team's passes, but that team was tough. Finally it was 29-28 with only one minute to go.... I was preparing to comfort Emily. To tell her that it's ok sometimes to lose. That it was a hard team, and she played amazingly....

Then Emily got the ball and the opposing team was after her. Seriously, I could barely see her through the swarm of the other girls attacking her, trying their hardest not to let her shoot. Suddenly I see the ball go up into the air and right through the hoop, winning the game for our team! I turned to Jon, and asked if that was Emily. I could not believe she made that shot!!!! It was crazy! Our team won 30-29... it was a great game!

Emily is a rockstar!!!! She is amazing. She just wants to win at all costs, and I totally admire her determination and will. She has this drive. She needs to do everything as best as she can.

I know she gets her competitive nature from me, but I hope that natural drive to succeed is from me too, and I hope to someday discover it.

It's My Birthday And I'll Run If I Want To.....

2010-01-21T11:08:00.005-06:00

As I sit here dripping sweat from every single inch of my body (I'm waiting for the shower to warm up) I am thrilled with my decision to not go out for breakfast with my sisters and mother this morning. I am 650 calories in the negative for the day. Is there any better way to start off the morning of your birthday???

I woke up this morning exhausted because Will couldn't sleep last night, and therefore neither could I. I had a migraine and felt awful. Poor Emily really wanted me to be excited about my birthday but I just couldn't.

Now, a latte and 5 miles later I am happy as can be. Emily really wants it to be a festive bday so I might have to go out and buy myself balloons or something. It's kind of weird how when you are a mom you not only have to make your kids' birthdays fun for them, but you have to make your own birthday fun for them too. Their favorite was the year I made myself a candy land birthday cake and they were able to play the game on the cake.

This year we will go out for dinner and maybe my mom and Jon's mom will join us. Maybe my sister if she wants to. I will buy myself balloons and donuts for the kids (because you have to give out donuts on your birthday it's a rule, at least at my kids' school). I don't really want to eat anything fattening so I am gonna be annoying (well to them at least) but Will really wants to make rainbow cake, so that's what we are going to do.

Truthfully, the workout, shower, and hair appointment for tomorrow is all I really need....

Well there are other things... I mean I am a girl... but you know, I mean like I don't need them today.

Annoying?

2010-01-20T09:30:00.006-06:00

My husband thinks I'm annoying.

He hates that he can't plan anything for me without me guessing what it is first.

I can't help it if I'm super smart!

I've known him since I was 15, and tomorrow I will be 33. That's 18 years! Of course I know him and every move he'll make.

My friend invited us for dinner friday night. She is having two other families also. So yesterday I was mumbling out loud, but to myself.... "hmmm... what kind of birthday cake should I make myself this year?" Then that got me thinking, and I said, "Jon I really don't want to celebrate my birthday at Aliza's house. I'm not a kid and we don't need to celebrate it all weekend long. Let's just do something just us on thursday, my real birthday. Oh so you should probably cancel the cake order you probably made and tell Aliza that you are not bringing it over."

That really annoyed him. Because he HAD planned that.

Hahahahaha!

I was gonna let him do it, and pretend to be surprised but since my birthday is tomorrow and not friday I decided to put a halt to it. I'm not really a birthday person anyway. I definitely do not need to celebrate it twice.

Some people think they have to do something special, need to get cards and phone calls. Not me. My sister called me and said she wanted to take me out to eat or something tomorrow. But truthfully, all I want to do is take the kids to school, run five miles, and shower. After school I promised Will he can go to Dunkin Donuts to celebrate my birthday and we will make his favorite rainbow cake without frosting. He was excited for that. The girls want to take me out for dinner. And Jessica wants to go shopping. As usual. For herself.

Friday, I will treat myself to a haircut and blow dry (after I run 3 miles...). I am looking forward to that.