Debby this is for you....Trip to Cleveland.

Warning to all my church readers: There may be content that you either don't understand because my family is super weird or may be slightly offensive but that is how my family rolls.

So my amazing sisters came up with the brilliant idea of a girls only weekend in Cleveland. No guys, no kids, no problem I am there. The best part was that we were going to meet there on my birthday which was a Wednesday. Long weekend and my birthday???Does it get any better??? So my mom flew in from OKC and I drove up from Louisville after finding help to keep my kids from being at home alone (thank you forever Suzanne).
After a five hour drive I pull in to find my sisters, mom and several friends (Debby and Natalie are out to get all their childhood friends to move to Cleveland--so far it seems to be working) waiting outside anxiously for me to arrive. Isn't that always the case? We decided that the best course of action would be to eat ourselves silly and stay in that night. Good plan. I kept forgetting it was my birthday (blocking it out actually) and everyone kept reminding me. We watched a cool movie called "Little Miss Sunshine" which convinced me that I need breakaway pants.
Debby lives in this amazing old Craftsman style house. It has all the old built ins with leaded glass, window seat, side sun porch (Annie the doggie loves to survey possible enemy invaders there) and this fabulous front porch that is perfect for sitting. Not just a regular decorative porch that is the norm today but a huge deep porch that you could fit tons of people on. Every morning we would troop out there with coffee (Diet Coke for me but I took deep whiffs of the lattes) and sit there for hours going "What do you want to do today? I dunno what do you want to do?" Old porches are just like that. You lose track of time and that is just fine.

Anyways we went with Natalie to buy a new car and she, Genny and Debby were a wonder to behold with the dealer. He had no chance. They have this routine down where they completely play off each other and act goofy. Build up his ego, etc, etc. By the time we left I think basically Natalie got the car for some ridiculously low price and the guy was under his desk crying and yelling "Not the face, not the face!!!!" The finance manager was next to him. It was a wonder to see.

I think that night we went out to dinner where we found out that apparently the Grinch has a key party which is why Whoville is such a happy place. Debby, Natalie, my mom and I were laughing so hard that the rest of the restaurant was hoping we would choke.

I was also introduced to a fabulous new game called Set. During the game Debby I discovered that we were very awesome and even came up with a cool hand movement (movement NOT gesture) to prove it. Debby had an unfair advantage because she kept calling attention to her rack and distracting us from the game. (We get really weird when our family is together. For example we have a Christmas snake that holds a more prominent position on the tree than the angel--told you.) Stacy Long lives close by and Ginny Meyers lives upstairs so they got to be part of the weirdness but they are equally as strange so they always fit right in.

Natalie is about the most talented person I have ever known but that is a whole other (long) post. She used her amazing talents in the kitchen to make the most delicious cupcakes evah. She and my mom also made the infamous family no-bake cookies. I was going to swan dive into them but Debby distracted me with her rack again and ate some.

While I was there we went to a museum at Case Western Reserve University where Natalie works. There was some really amazing things there. I got to see a Faberge egg for the first time ever. I LOVE Russian history especially the last ruling family so that was very neat.

We also weeded Debby's garden which is no small feat since she lives on a corner lot. Apparently this had not been done in about 10 years (according to several neighbors who were amazed at the change) but it didn't even take an hour with all of us doing it. Why is it so much easier to do those things at someone else's house? It looked great.

On the last night we went to the West Side market. People if you have ever been to a farmers market picture it 100 times bigger and in two historic train stations. On top of that they have anything you would ever want to buy: meats, spices, tea, milk, all dairy, cakes, pies, any pastry you can imagine. Some of the families have had their permanent booths there for decades AND it is year round. If I listed everything I would sit here all day but suffice to say if you are looking for it they have it. We bought $40 worth of desserts and made a rule that no one was leaving the table until someone got sick. So no one actually got sick but we all came close. It was great.
I have also learned to text like a pro (no I don't do it while driving). It was one of the best trips ever. It is definitely an annual event from now on.

My mom is absolutely convinced that we ate paint chips as kids after being locked up with us for four days but she had a great time on the porch. We also never took any pictures which my dad was less than happy about but we were too busy parking our behinds on the porch to bother. I think Stacy took a picture. Oh well.

Thank you so much Debby for allowing us to invade your home and to you and Nat for the idea. I desperately needed it.

My first tag.

I don't really get the whole tag thing. How am I to know I have been tagged?

The Rules:

Link the Person who Tagged you.

Mention rules on your blog.

Tell about 6 quirks of yours.

Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.

Leave a comment to let them know.

1. I am more into college football than my husband. Yes other guys it is true. I am, in fact, the coolest wife ever. On Saturdays you will find me glued to college footballs games, scores, replays, etc. My dad and I call each other no less than a half dozen times and will sit on the phone to watch the end of an exciting game (Oklahoma State vs Missouri for example). BTW I will root for OU over BYU anytime. Sorry fellow church people but I have been on campus exactly once and if 12 million prayers LDS members can't help them win a national title in over 20 years I don't think much else can.

2. For some odd reason the term "crackhead" is a term of endearment in our house. I am not sure how it was started.

3. I have some serious OCD issues with loose hair. If I see it on the counter, shower floor, clothing, etc I will basically stop whatever I am doing to get rid of it.

4. I am the opposite of a morning person. I would like it so much more if it were later in the day. I have two children who are full-on morning people. Must be a gene defect. I think the youngest is evolving into one as well. Just to clarify though I do get up and get four kids dressed, fed and out the door on time.

5. If I could drink coffee I don't think I would ever stop. I drank coffee for many years before I came back to church and I still love the smell. If they ever ask me to revise the Word of Wisdom that is the first thing gone.

6. I sleep with my kids on a fairly regular basis. Several reasons for this. I am a night owl and I don't want to wake Scott so I crawl into bed with one of the boys. Also the oldest is 10 and still wants to "snuggle". Seriously how many more years will that last? Also I sometimes get the "what if" mother fears and have to reassure myself that all is well so I snuggle with them and just fall asleep. Don't tease the boys. They will never forgive me.

I thee tag: Emily R, Allison R, Holly C, and anyone who took the time to read this.

My gas is .90 a gallon.

Yes it is true. Don't hate me because your gas is expensive. I drove 660 miles and it was less than $25. Veggie powered cars are cool. Yes you can stand near me.
I drove 660 miles because I spent 5 entire days in Cleveland with my sistahs and my mummy (I love mummy and so does Annie). That was almost better than the veggie powered car. I will have to blog about the week w/o kiddos later because I am tired. It was the best trip ever and I can't wait to do it again next year.
I did find out why Whoville (The Grinch) is such a happy place though. My mom is so funny. this is an inside joke in case you are wondering why that makes no sense. You had to be there or at least be in the zip code. Silly Who's.

This and that.

So the kids are out for five days right now. Fall break and parent/teacher conference. To keep the craziness alive around here Reece decided to gash open his leg when we had a total of 9 boys, 1 girl and four moms at the house. To backtrack, on Saturday I ran into Larissa at a yard sale and her husband is MIA right now working on a grant at the hospital, also ran into Beth who is in the middle of a divorce and Anne who is divorced. Scott was out of town so we decided to get together, order pizza and unleash the kids into my basement. All was going well when I heard this blood-curdling screaming from the front (where they were not supposed to be). My first thought was that one of the kids has been hit by a car because I had never heard Reece scream like this. Then I saw the blood pouring out his shin. he has slipped and fallen onto a metal trailer that a friend has in our driveway. It was very gory. I wouldn't even post a pic if I had one. I will spare the details but we opted to not go for stitches because on the shinbone is very tricky and we thought he would tear through them. Plus he had just been in the E.R. last month when he gashed his forehead open at scouts.

Scott has to show Reece a couple of his scars (of his hundreds-no kidding) so Reece would not feel self-conscious. I have to give kudos to Larissa for calming both Reece and I down and being the soothing voice in the midst of the chaos. She is amazing. I love my friends. Reece was ok but Scott was really worried since he was in Ohio and totally helpless in the situation.

Noah also managed to bang himself up pretty good as well. He was running and tripped on his own toe (we are working on coordination). I actually heard his forehead hit the driveway. Having friends who are married to doctors is a wonderful thing. We watched his pupils for several hours and he was determined to be fine. He had a bump on his head so big that he kept trying to get it off. He has no spacial awareness of his ginormous head.

In great and wonderful news Parker was evaluated by a psychologist and was found to NOT be on the autistic spectrum. Just typing that makes me tear up. Three years ago our family was dictated by what he could handle. We have been so blessed to find wonderful therapists and teachers who did not coddle him and pushed him over and over. He is now the top reader in teh entire first grade at his school (well over 100 kids) and is reading almost two full grade levels ahead. All his academics are well above his grade level and his IQ score (which he took while he was still 5) came back at 118 out of 150. We still have to deal with his anxiety over certain things, a little OCD, auditory sensory issues and some social behaviors but he is officially transitioning into full mainstream classes because "There is no reason for him to be in ECE" (exceptional child education--a PC way to say special ed). We still have challenges and he is still quirky but we have come so far I cannot even believe it. Now if we can find the magic pill for Noah to talk then life will be just about perfect.

I read one of my friends blogs a little while ago. She has a very autistic child and deals so well. I know there are times that she struggles as she also has five other children but she is amazing. She referred to the parenting of Jericho (her son) as a "calling". I have never thought of it that way but what a great way to classify parenting special children. It really made me stop and think that I was given these children who have issues for a reason and I know a couple of them (I will share later) but it is interesting to look back and see other reasons that they were placed with our family. There are days that I come apart and have a meltdown because it is difficult to have children who are not what most would consider "normal". Many people back off from families who have kids like this because they do not know how to deal with it. To those people I give the following advice: Please do not leave. They are still children and we still need you. The best thing you could do is be there when we need you and PLEASE offer to babysit once in awhile. You cannot imagine how wonderful a gift that can be.

On another wonderful note I am leaving town on Wednesday (my birthday) for five whole days!!! My mother is flying in from OKC and we are going to Cleveland where my sistahs live. No husbands, no kids, no real responsibilities. I cannot tell you how much I need this. Once again I have to give a shout out to my dear friend Suzanne who has so kindly offer to be with the kids when Scott is at work. She is so selfless and giving. I don't know what I would do without her.
I know I will actually miss my kids even though I have to get away from them all. At night I lay with each of them. When they go to bed they always want to know when I will come up to "snuggle". Many times I fall asleep with them because I know that in the not so distant future they are going to be too cool to "snuggle" so I am soaking it up while I can.