WHY IS THERE NO CHOCOLATE CAKE FAIRY?

When your day hasn't been bad but you didn't really get anything done and well you really need something, just something, I'm not a big drinker, maybe if they made a Margarita with butter cream frosting, anyway, there should be a cake fairy, screw the tooth fairy and i can live with the leprechaun that visits my sons kindergarten class but God, please send me a cake fairy!!

the sound of silence

I will start by saying that i am not one who enjoys silence. whenever its really quiet i am always reminded of a horror movie right before the bad guy chopps off a head or something so i always have something on in the background (the idiot box, the radio,kyleigh whatever) but since mom had the boys in sacramento this weekend visiting with uncle lew and aunt sherri i was blessed with a bit more quiet then usual and with the girls all bunking in my room the combined noises that they make are quite melodic. For starter, Kyleigh, my beautiful 41 pound pixy snores Like a MIDDLE AGED TRUCK DRIVER. This sound only a mother could love is broken speradically by the sound of Ellie half sucking half chewing her thumb. It really is quite a sweet sound and i kind of wish i were the sentimental mom who would record this for all posterity (or at least the boyfriend at about 17) but alas i amnt.

it has been fun being all girls. we played beauty shop, went to build a bear workshop and generally just got our estrogen on but we are certainly ready for Mitchell to come home so he can take out the mounds of trash out

What have we been up to you ask????

we have been doing alot of this.

Note the concentration. she was all

about shooting that gun. She is a big

kid dammit!

We celebrated three of these

Connor is seven

and Brian and I, well, were older

please note that i am not nearly as old

as brian is, man he's old

There has ofcourse been alot of this, new fence, baseboards,yardwork, new disposal and faucet some painting blah blah bod and norm look out her come big daddy and ellie

And of course there has been a little of this, we are us of course.

But mostly everyone is healthy and happy. Ellie continues to surpass our expectations. as do all of the kids they came out of the school year with excelent marks. we couldn't be more proud of the lot of them. I'm so glad to be there mommy.

STRINGING CHEERIOS!!!

This takes serious concentration!

One for me, another one for me,

One for the string.

Ellie did better at this then i anticitated. unfortunatly we have one seriously short attention span and after about two dozen beads she decided it would be more fune to go and torture the bird. Oh the joys of living in a zoo!

Top 4 reasons I Love My Job! (in no particular order)

i suppose its cuteness like this that got me four kids.

truth in advertising

There is a blog that i read and so enjoy for it's wit and honesty, today she posted about blogs lately being all sunshine and roses. although i don't think shes referring to me in honor of the lovely and talented Sandra
@ http://jazzieandtahlia.typepad.com/my_weblog/
I give you, the reality of my day with four kids under 11.
we were up at 6:30 am when i awoke to Ellie's pull up on the floor (needless to say she wasn't in it)
the big kids were up at 7, Mitch still had homework from the night before and was actually late to school because he couldn't finish it ( i made him go to be last night, probably a bad call) we got the big kids off to school and mom and i tried to clean up the back yard. during that hour or so Ellie just kept yelling up up up up up up up up up up (i think you get it) so we gave up on that pretty quickly. we got through lunch and nap time without too much of a fuss. the big kids came home promptly followed by "mom, can i eat this, mom, can i eat that, mom, Ellie's eating my....., Connor ate the last ....." ( i think you get it) and i am a MORON, cuz i thought, hey let's bake some cookies, Ha have i mentioned I'm an idiot. got the cookies baked but the entire time ellie is ( alternately sitting in her high chair, laying on floor) yelling uh uh uh (her words for "iwant to eat some of that now") after all the kids eating more then there share of said cookies we ended the day with a rousing round of Human Fountain in the living room. so I'm off to clean up (i should be done some time before the Apocalypse). have a great night

FFFF Gotcha Clothes

This is my first attempt at the Fanily Foto Fun Friday challenge from Donna at Double Happieness. This week it is Gotcha day clothes. Well we certainly have us some of those. When Ellie came to the civil affairs office she was wearing tree pairs of pants, one long sleaved t shirt, two sweaters, and a thick jacket (please note it was 68* outside and about 80* in the office) It took us hours in the hotel room to get her to take of her many layers and we were surprised to keep discovering more clothes.
eventually we got down to skin and we discovered the dirtiest little kid. she didn't like the tub at first but over the last month it is now one of her faverite places to be.

when i took the clothes out to take the picture below ellie got very upset, so back they went into the holiday inn bag where they have lived since China.



Our sweaty girl in all her terrified glory

Ellies gotcha clothes
We sent three disposable cameras to the orphanage over the past year and in probably 70% of the pictures Ellie has some variation of these clothes on.

Thanks Donna for the FFFF. This was fun!