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.

The world's longest weekend or "Look Mommy has lost her mind!"

So the kids got out of school nine days ago for your typical weekend and by Sunday afternoon more than 25% of Louisville was without power (see previous post). Because of this there was no school last week. So a regular weekend stretched into spring break. I should count myself lucky though because we had power except for 7 hours the day of the storm. Some people in my church just got it back or are still in the dark! Vicki O. and her family are still living like pioneers and they had four kids to entertain this week including a toddler. I would have lost my mind. I feel bad because one of their sons is in the same class as Reece and had I known they were powerless I would had let him join the boy-fest at my house. One more male means nothing here. Just one more person who doesn't put the seat down.

Saturday I went yard-saling (is that a word?) with my friend Suzanne. I go different places with different people. With my Larissa is is the newer neighborhoods and clothes for the kids, toys games, etc. With Suzanne we hit the old neighborhoods and look for projects, dig through the basements and garages for cool old "junk". So at the first estate sale we were unhappy to find that it was run by a company and not the family which always means higher prices. So we head for the garage and the basement. It was mainly overpriced stuff but I came away with: a gorgeous wool/mohair throw with the original tags from Scotland (I know they thought it was poly because they only wanted $6), a bowl that I broke before I got home ($2), a bunch of napkins and the jewel of my collection..........an antique porcelain enamelware male urinal new in the box. Yes you just read that correctly. It was the male version of a bedpan (they had that too but I passed and now regret it---it was new also) and you would never know what it was if it had not been in the box. It looks like a really nice white enamelware vase which is what it will be once I figure out how to attach it to a wall.
We hit a church sale a well. They were moving and needed to clear the building. It was a circa 1940's church so no cool stained glass or anything. I did get an antique sewing table that is solid oak and still has the original brass locks on all the drawers-dovetailed drawers. It was obviously handmade and sits low so it is a perfect desk for the kids to do their homework. I have to strip it and refinish it but no big deal. Also we always need folding chairs for fight night so I got ten of those and a huge old chalkboard on a stand that flips 360 degrees so you can use both sides. I am hoping Noah will stop drawing on the walls. I spent $40 there but I think I did pretty good.

We saw another yard sale (in this area they are yard sales NOT garage sales) and stopped. The guy had great junk but he thought it was all treasure and priced it as such but I did manage to snag a set of shoe forms used to make custom shoes back in the day. They have knobs on them so they will look great in my future mudroom as coat hooks. I also got an old wrought iron candle hurricane sconce but it is missing the glass so I have to find one that fits. $6 to that guy.

Scott then called and told me four hours was long enough because he had to go somewhere so that was the end. Stopped at the farmers market and picked up some heirloom tomatoes, apples and honeysticks for the kids--natural candy!

As you may have noticed my posts are long and sorta ramble. I have to describe everything. I can't just say "I went to a yard sale and got a desk." I have to say how old, condition, type, wood, etc. That is just the way I talk so it is the way I blog.

Now I must sleep because the kids go back to school tomorrow!!! Yippee!!!! I can grocery shop in peace!

Hurricane strikes Louisville....film at 11.

So we were sitting in church on Sunday and my friend Heather and I were elbowing each other and pointing at the window. Pieces of trees kept flying past along with anything not nailed down. In the parking lot someone did a Marilyn Monroe with their skirt over their head but it was nothing to write home about. We went about our day and noticed that it was getting more and more windy. Scott left to do some visiting with people from church and the kids were playing in the basement. Our lights were flickering and my neighbor called me to ask if my power was flashing (it was). She was saying that she hoped the electricity didn't go out because she had just gone to the store. As soon as she finished that thought the lights went out and the phone went dead. After a couple of hours we ventured outside to survey the damage. One neighbor had their gutter banging against their roof, another had their chimney folded onto the top of the house, two were missing all the siding from the gables and I found one of our shutters on the side of our house. About a third of the houses were missing shingles. We inherited two watering cans and several frisbees that ended up in our yard.
The damage to the city is unreal. 301,000 were without power on Sunday night. Basically the city shut down. You could not sell your soul for a generator and the lines for gas and ice looked like something on CNN when they were showing Galveston. We got several bags of ice to throw into the freezer and then headed to some friends who still had power. We were lucky that we could get there with all the downed trees. Luckily we live in a new neighborhood where all the lines are buried so we didn't have to worry about the danger of live wires (there were at least 5300 lines down). At about 9:30 we ventured home to find out that we had power and the kids had no school the next day because the city's infrastructure was needing some serious repair. Also the schools had no power and so many roads and highways were closed because of downed lines and trees.
By the next day about 250,000 people still did not have power and the superintendent said that parents needed to make plans for the rest of the week because the possibility of school this week was "dire". And if that isn't enough they announced that if you don't have power right now you need to expect that your power will be out for 10-14 days!!! The kids are thrilled of course. It is like a mini-summer break. A snow day without snow if you will.

I digress as usual. People seem to be making the best of it. Some have gone out of town, some are having block parties and some are just cleaning up what they can. We have since found out that the winds were 75-80mph which is the equivalent of a category 1 hurricane. So here in the Ohio valley which is landlocked by 1000 miles or so kinda had a hurricane.

So Tuesday rolls around and the Ryder Cup starts in Louisville. You just know that the mayor is horrified by the timing of this storm. Here we have one of the biggest golf tournaments in the world that was four years in the making and you can't even go to the grocery store because the food spoiled. Luckily the golf course escaped most of the storm so GO USA!!! Another press conference, 215,000 people without power, no school on Wednesday (why don't they just call it off for the whole week now when we know they have no chance of holding classes until next week at the earliest?), worst power outage in Kentucky history, 300+ power poles are snapped, utility crews are in Texas but coming back, could be 10-14 days from now but the golf tournament seems to be going well. Sounds dire but the fatalities have been minimal.

I can't even begin to describe all the damage here. The above is just a taste. Everytime they show pictures of all the huge trees laying across the roads I just cannot believe how widespread this is. I grew up in Oklahoma City which is called tornado alley (I swear it really is) so this is not unusual for for me but it is unusual for Louisville. It has helped us see how prepared/unprepared we are for a disaster. Luckily we have a gas stove and oven and knew where the flashlights, batteries, candles and matches were. We also had a corded phone just in case. Noah was actually scared of the phone. I guess he couldn't figure out why I was attached to the wall.
I didn't go to the store until tonight and that was just because the kids had a sleepover so I went for provisions and Diet Coke (I need a one year supply). We would have been fine for awhile except we ran out of propane. I also could not find the crank radio so I need to locate that. It was a great test run for us unfortunately some people are still in the midst of it.

We had a family come over tonight who still has no power. They were dying for a hot shower and an outlet to charge the computer. We were happy to let them soak up as much electricity as they wanted. I feel very blessed to have power with the kids being home. The older two are fine outside unsupervised for awhile but the younger two cannot just take off to their friends house. Having the television has been a lifesaver. I also realize how small this is compared to those in Texas. It is like watching New Orleans all over. Entire neighborhoods are just somewhere in the bay as if they never existed. Who knows how many people were in those homes?

This is my first entry!

Wow I can't believe I finally did it. I know the page looks awful right now but give me a week or so to figure it out and I will put some pics up that are large enough to see.

So what does one put on their first blog? I guess I can give the short version of my life. I will cut to the Scott part. Scott and I met at a singles branch after I had been inactive for about seven years he was the Elder's Quorum president and they had been prepped by the branch president on my loooong absence. He invited me to a get together that evening and so casually got my phone number. Believe it or not he really did call me the next day. That was in late September of 1995. We knew within a few weeks that we were going to get married. He officially proposed on Valentines Day 1996. That is a whole other story that I will tell later. We were married in the Dallas, TX temple on June 22, 1996. A year later we moved to Wash DC so Scott could attend school. We found out December 26th, 1997 that we were pregnant. Shock. August 15th 1998 we became parents to Mikol Reece. Four months later we moved to Kansas City (technically Overland Park, KS) and bought our first house. We welcomed son #2 in June of 2000. Just to keep it all interesting we moved to Orlando in July of 2001. Later that fall we moved to Louisville for a temporary position--six months max. Eight years later we are still here and also welcomed sons # 3 and 4 in 2002 and 2005.

So I am the only female in a house full of men. I want my own bathroom where the lid does not even go up. Little boys have the WORST aim.

I digress. We are currently contemplating a move to Dallas, TX. Do I think it will happen? I dunno. We really like Louisville but there have been many times that I have felt lonely by the lack of family that I have here. Also when we first came here there were other families who seemed to have kids that were the same ages as mine but we just never connected. I would have to put the blame more on my shoulders as I tend to be an introvert and I think I come across as not interested in people if that makes sense. Basically I can be somewhat shy. People who know me are probably falling out of their chair laughing but seriously I don't know how to talk to people I don't know. That is why I married Scott. He can talk to a cornstalk.

I really do miss my family and I miss them for my kids as well. I had such a tight relationship with my grandparents and cousin growing up and my kids are missing that. But the debate currently raging is this: Do we uproot them from the only place they can remember and take a chance that we will like a new area all to be within a few hours of the family. I don't know yet. The talks continue.

My boys are the lights of my life. I marvel everyday at what I have been entrusted with. My oldest is the classic oldest child. Very responsible with his siblings, always my go-to kid. He is crazy smart and reads like a sponge soaking up the info. He is in a hurry to grow up but wants his mom to tuck him in every night. When he got stitches in his forehead last week he kept asking me if I was OK because "you get worried about me when stuff like this happens". Isn't that supposed to be the other way around. He usually has several girlfriends at any given time. He is quick to laugh and tries to make me laugh daily. #2 is a classic blond. He has the best of intentions but sometimes just forgets (in about 2 seconds). He just has so many things going on at one time. He is also my daredevil. I swear this kid was born without fear. If it is dangerous then he is all over it. If it isn't dangerous he will find a way to make me shake my head in amazement that he is still in one piece. He still finds time every night to sit on my lap and snuggle. #3 was my challenge for a long time. For awhile we thought he was somewhere on the spectrum but we have since discovered he has gobs of OCD and equal parts anxiety with sensory issues thrown in for fun. In the past 18 months he has gone from being overwhelmed and scared of everything to being a funny, affectionate, chatterbox who is also reading two grades levels above his own. He is the class clown and amazes me daily. Son #4. I hope someday I can write the same things about him as the other three. At the age of 3+ he still does not talk. He has a genetic disorder called Neuorofibromatosis type 1. I will not go into the looooooong mundane details but it was just a spontaneous gene mutation that has made him very developmentally delayed. He communicates but not verbally and not through signing. He knows what he wants and will figure out how to get you to understand. He cannot get his mouth and brain to work together yet so if he wants me to get something he takes me to it.

Scott. This could take days to sum up. He is an amazing husband and he sets the bar for fatherhood. He is my absolute best friend and is there for me when I need him. He works hard so I can be home with our children and for that I am so grateful. He is a great example to me and our sons. One of my daily goals is to make him smile. He has great laugh lines around his eyes. I am honored to be his wife for time and all eternity.

My extended family will have to be another post. I have to get the munchkins into bed. They ALL have school tomorrow. Three whole hours to run errands alone. I love them but I also need some time without them. It keeps us all happy.