Whoooo is having a birthday?

Courtney almost did not celebrate her birthday this year.  I had been hounding her since the beginning of school to let me know what she wanted to do (party, movies, big, small….) and it came down to the wire.  I had been talking to my mom earlier on the day Courtney finally said anything, and I told my mom “She has until the end of today, otherwise she gets nothing…no cake, no presents, not even going to say Happy Birthday to her!”  (Yes I know, I was being a bit extreme, but there is little in this world that bothers me more than someone else's lack of planning and forethought coming back to bite ME in the ass!)  So she finally said, just a cake-no big deal.

Well, I wanted to make a little deal out of it…so I made her some cupcakes that look like her second favorite animal, owls.

  

Cooper said they were turkeys…I failed.

But at least I tried to do something special…not like I went to Wegman’s and bought an entire sheet cake and had a picture of a unicorn put on it like her bgf Al did. (Double fail for me, I got upstaged by a store bought cake?!?)

Oh well, good thing I got her an i-pod touch.  At least I got to be cool for a little bit that night.

 

Love

C

so.not.ready!

During the very first week of high school, Courtney was asked to go to the Homecoming dance.  It was hard enough to send her off to high school, but then for THIS?!?

Since she is not much of a girly-girl, she wanted Granma to make her dress so that it would be long yet short enough, and ‘show’ too much.  This is what she looked like.

 

…and this is what she looked like when she realized ‘yep, my mom is that mom’…

Still not sure why it was shocking to her that instead of just dropping her off at dinner with her friends, that I dropped her at the door, parked the car, strolled right up in there and got a few pictures…does she know me at all?!?

Love

C

Look who’s 2!

Wyatt had a typical 2 year olds birthday-that is to say, very low key.  Boyfriend loves to watch Blue’s Clues (sings and dances and everything!) so I hedged my bets when it came to cake.  I went with the ‘traditional’ Blue’s paw print out of cup cakes.

 

 

I think this makes me 4 for 4 when it comes to Blue’s Clues birthdays!

Love

C

Such a bad blogger!

Between the kids, businesses, PTA, the house, and trying to save relationships, I have had very little time to put thoughts/pictures together. 

Since it’s New Year’s Eve and I’m alone till Jeff is done work, I am going to try to get caught up since I last posted in September.

So long as I don’t get sucked into picture sorting/scrapbook planning, I should be able to bang out a few updates tonight.

Wish me luck…I’m going to need it!

 

Love

C

Welcome Class of 2015

It really is difficult to swallow that Courtney is a Freshman this year!  I fear that if I blink I’m going to miss her graduate!

This year when we took her for her ‘Back to school hair cut’ we opted for a straightening treatment.  (Think a relaxer, usually used on ethnic hair types.)  I have NEVER seen her so eager to take a picture before!  She loves how easy it is now deal with, and how much confidence it has given her.

For awhile now, Courtney has been stopping by Chrissy’s house to pick her up for the bus stop.  Chrissy decided to change things up a bit, at least for the first day!

I am not sure whose idea it was, but Courtney seems to be showing some interest in the Drama Club at school (insert mommy’s happy dance here!) with the stipulation that she never has to be seen on stage.  I just may have a future techie on my hands!

Thankfully most anybody reading this will already be sitting, but so I can say I warned you…make sure you are sitting down.  Courtney.likes.geometry!  I know what you’re thinking, “There is no way she likes a math class!” but thanks to being very adept at visual learning, she has discovered how easy geometry is! (I told her for the last 3 years her day would come, and now it has.)

Courtney is growing into such a caring and empathetic young adult…sure we have our ‘teenager’ moments, but I thank the universe for not making her exactly like me at that age!  I like that we are so similar, it helps us communicate (most times) and I would not change a thing!

 

Love

First day of Kindergarten 2011

Jilly is growing into such a lovely young lady.  All the parents at the bus stop love how bubbly and happy she is, even though she has to be at the bus stop at 7:20.

But what they know or have the ‘joy’ of experiencing is the holy terror that she can be very first thing in the morning.  Jilly is not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, and for the first 5-10 as long as you don’t speak to her, she seems willing to let you live.  Keep in mind this only applies to mornings she has to be woken up, if she gets up on her own she is content. 

 

So far, Jilly loves school, her teacher, the other kids…all of it.  She reminds me of another little girl I know…..

Cooper's 3rd Birthday (slideshow edition)

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Nothin' New

No new pics yet. :0( But let's do this youngest to oldest...

Wyatt- Oh my little monkey man! The boy is going to be 10 before he eats a complete meal of 'real food'. He will eat real fruit, loves raw or cooked green beans, and (shocker) loves to eat Ho-Ho's! But when it comes to things like noodles, rice, or meats you would think someone was trying to kill him with the epic fit he can pitch! Cute, but frustrating for the cook. He loves to dance, run, play ball, look adorable, and especially loves to torment all the girly monkeys every chance he gets.

Cooper- Making such great progress with the potty training. Girl has a vocab that can only be described as amazing. And when she tries to tell you a story, or ask you a question the looks she can give will drop you to your knees in instant laughter.

Cute Cooper story-We were at CVS picking up a prescription and the clerk asked for the phone number. Since Jilly knows it she started spitting it out. Not to be out done, Cooper gave her version: six, six, six (pause) six, six, six (pause) six, six, six. It was ridiculously funny, so much so that even the clerk was in stitches. Girl scares me sometimes!

Jilly-Not to much to report here. Still the little ham, loves to sing, dance, and be the ring leader.

Courtney-Has turned into quite the little social butterfly as of late. I think the record for days at home without having someone spend the night or going to someone else's house to spend the night is currently 4. She's still riding, hoping to get back into the hunter shows. She didn't really care for the dressage shows, but is putting a lot of the things she has learned to good use with Moose. Happy to report she made the honor roll for the entire time she was in middle school. Best part...she finished Algebra I with a year long average of an A-! Her hard work is paying off, and she is beginning to see for herself how good it feels to put in your best effort and see things through to the end. We could not be more proud of her!

Me-Found out today that my Ortho is retiring the end of this month, which leads me to believe that he choose not to do something proactive about my knee. I'm to the point, it is what it is and until it decides to flair up again I'm just going to do the best I can and push though each day as best I can. I have gotten some of my products from Chrissy Curtis Crafts in a local retail shop. I will find out next week how well the first round of items sold. BugnBean will be at another show on the 9th of July with new product in tow. I think some of the improvements we have made are going to make the horse world stand up and take notice.

Jeff-Has been enjoying his Father's Day present along with the kids almost every single night. We gave him the NFL Training Camp game for the Wii, and it has a 60 day challenge that he really enjoys. He told me this morning that in the last week he has lost 5 lbs. The best part is when all the kids get up there with him and start doing the drills. I'm going to take some video of it tomorrow night. it is so precious.

As we do every year at this time, we are getting geared up for our 4th of July picnic and firework viewing. Lots of cooking and baking and crafting to be done before Monday. Good news is the camera is fixed so I will have plenty of pics of the whole event.

Well, that about does it for us.

Love

Footnote to Jilly's 5th Birthday

I happen to believe that those who have left this Earth still communicate with us. Five years ago when we were blessed with Jilly-Bean, I was outside on the back porch the night we came back from the hospital and was amazed at the amount of lightning bugs/fireflies/June bugs that were in the trees. So every year I look forward to being wowed...and every year I have been disappointed. And then it hit me this year. All the 'lights in the night sky' was the doing of my grandmother, Nana (with Pop-pop by her side) letting us know that she had her hand in bringing Jilly to us. Jillian was one of the few names Jeff and I could agree on, and was the name of my grandparents oldest daughter who passed away from SIDS. We wanted to honor our grandmothers with Jilly's middle name Grayce. Grace was my Nana's name, and Gray was Jeff's grandmothers maiden name.

I'm sitting here tonight, wondering where my 'night lights' are wishing I had the counsel of the woman from whom Jilly gets so much more than a name. I just hope I can do the Little Miss justice.

Love

Bug n Bean

This is the second time Bug n Bean has had the chance to set up a booth at a horse show.  We had quite a few sales, saw many old friends, and met new ones.

We are looking forward to many more shows, the debut of the new website, and even getting some of our wares into a local shop.

Exciting times ahead!

 

Love

Wrap up

And that gets us up to date on things with pictures.



In other news...



Cooper decided last week that it was time to go on the potty, and has been fantastic about it.



Jilly and I will be going to kindergarten orientation tomorrow where she will get to ride a bus for the first time.



Wyatt has figured out how to get up on the couch by himself. He also figured out how to move the baby gate that we now have to secure in the doorway. (We have been leaning it up against the wall so that the girls can get to the bathroom with no help...)



Courtney is studying for her final exams and gearing up to start High School in the fall. (Let the fun begin!)



We are in a holding pattern when it comes to my knee. The Ortho says since the MRI did not confirm his findings (he thinks he was sent the wrong report, but can't do anything about it) that the insurance company will not allow him to do anything for a month. My appointment with him is on the 27th, and I'm just hoping that I can hold out that long. It is almost impossible to do anything these days, especially sleep. Hopefully I can last these next two and a half weeks.



There is nothing new with Jeff, and I think he likes it that way.



Both businesses have bright futures with some exciting things on the horizon.

Hopefully we will have the camera figured out soon, the blurry fuzziness is driving me nuts!


Love

Preschool Graduation 2011

Jilly had another fantastic year at preschool.  She made a few new friends, but mostly enjoyed paling around with the same friends she made last year. The class is only 15 kids, last year Jilly was one of only five girls, this year there were six.  I love that she was able to become friends with these girls, and can only hope that since none of them will be in the same schools next year, that we can keep in touch with them and still have fun.

Here are Brooke, Sarah, and Jilly.  They were inseparable  when it came to drop off time. 

Here is Nicolas, Jilly’s ‘boyfriend’.  Jilly is enamored with Nicolas, but I think she loves his Mom even more!  Jilly will run to Nicolas’ Mom and give her huge hugs and tell her how pretty she is.  It is too cute!

The kids are getting ready to start their program. The boy to the right of Jilly is Reese.  Thankfully for Nicolas, Reese is more enamored with Wyatt.  Everyday Reese has hugs and kisses and tickles for him.  Reese has a younger brother, Quinn, that will be in the same class as Cooper at the preschool next year.

Here is Jilly and Mrs. P. getting ready for her solo.  Jilly chose to sing a song they sang for the winter concert.  She was loud, mostly in tune, and did the little dance to boot.  I really think Little Miss Jilly will follow Mommy’s footsteps and be a ‘drama geek’ as she gets older.

Mrs. P, Jilly and Mrs. Janda after before we headed out to the playground for the picnic. 

Mr. Jamie giving Jilly her purple bear with a graduation cap.

 

We have been truly blessed by the teachers and staff at the Douglass Community Center preschool. They have been witness to many milestones, and great guides and role models, and not just for Jilly but for all of us!

 

Love

Jilly’s 5th Birthday

*Please be advised that we have been experiencing major issues with our camera since the trip to the National Zoo in late April.*

This is the last year that I will be able to take a picture of Jilly on her birthday at the exact time she was born since she will be in Kindergarten next year.

We usually try to keep birthday ‘parties’ to the weekend, but this gets very tricky with Jilly being born so close to Memorial Day weekend.  Jilly asked to go to Chuck E Cheese for her birthday, so that’s what we did.  The kids ran around, played games, rode rides, ate pizza and cake, and had a blast.

They all had so much fun, and seeing as how it was almost deserted on a Tuesday night, we will most likely be going back for Cooper’s Birthday in July.

Love

Mother’s Day photo shoot 2011

I wanted to give pictures of the kids again this year for Mother’s Day.  Here are a few of my favorites, I must say that I love being able to see the kids personalities through pictures.

And here is what I made for my Mom for Mother’s Day using some of these photos.

I covered a 20x20 canvas added photos of all 6 grandkids with a few embellishments.  I can safely say this is one of my crafty projects that I am most proud of.

Enjoy

National Zoo field trip 2011

We had a great day at the National Zoo again this year for the preschool field trip. We could not have asked for better weather, not too hot and just the right amount of sun.  This year we opted to arrive in time for the class lunch and cruise the Zoo for the rest of the afternoon.

Jilly, Cooper and Wyatt adore the teachers, and all have many friends that we chatted and walked with and saw some animals with.

I think it is safe to say that we as a family will keep enjoying these field trips even once the kids are done in preschool.

It's about time!!!

After a trip to the ER, the primary care, and an Ortho, I finally have an MRI scheduled for my knee. It seems that the insurance company is having me jump through so many hoops just to get it checked out. The Ortho is pretty sure I have torn my ACL and it will need surgery, he wants the MRI to see if it's just a quick little repair, or if I will need to have the ligament replaced entirely.

It is near impossible to get around since I can't put much weight on it, and once Jeff gets home at night I have been taking pain meds. So the loopy-ness of the meds has prevented me from blogging, crafting, and well just plain old making any sense what so ever.

I have tons to post, and will try to get to it early in the day before the searing pain sets in during the afternoon or before I take and meds.

Love

Easter 2011

 

As I said, it has been chaos in this house as of late. Once I realized that we have no chickens to lay eggs, and the grocery fairy is MIA, I ran to the store first thing Saturday morning. Thankfully I had already bought the dye, and basket fixing's.

This year the dying was mostly for the 2 little girly monkeys. Courtney has been growing into the teenager that she is and decided she didn't want to dye any...at first. She said "Would it help you if I dyed eggs for Wyatt?" I think she wanted to be part of things, but just didn't want us to know she wanted it....ahhh teenagers. So 2 dozen eggs were dyed, and no one got any in their hair (which is a first....and in all honesty, it's usually me!)

Since we are not big on the church going, we slept in....and by that I mean it was 7:30. With eggs hidden and baskets waiting to be ransacked, the girls descended the stairs and went crazy looking for their eggs. (Since the mommy screwed up and bought 2 boxes of the same type of dye, we had to use stickers to sort out whose was whose...I always have some sort of unconventional solution in my bag of tricks!)

 

Wyatt loved finding eggs (I kept most of his right on the floor). But I think he loved chucking them around the house even more!

 

After all eggs were found, baskets were dumped, candy sorted and toys were being played with we had breakfast. Now only in my house would we decide to have fried egg sandwiches on the one day of the year that we have hard boiled eggs in the house! And it all seemed a little too much for Wyatt who proceeded to take a nap in the play pen the first chance he got.

Craziness

The month of April had been a whirlwind to say the least. Preparing for a big horse show that didn't end up happening, a charity event, a visit from Grammy, Spring Break, and Easter. I feel as if this is the first chance I have had to breathe.

Grammy got here and back to New Jersey (without any speeding tickets this time!) and it was as usual a wonderful 5 days. The little girly monkeys love picking Grammy up from the "home-tell" and getting to hang out and play. Grammy even sat and played some board games with them on afternoon at Granma and Pop-pop's house. They all sat and watched the Phillies win a baseball game.

I have a special place in my heart for Grammy, and always will.

Charming

My kids crack me up every day! Spring Break has given Courtney the chance to be at the barn most everyday, and even a day full of cleaning tack in the rain was enjoyable for her. We have a tradition when it comes to getting Courtney out to Berryville to ride. The little monkeys and I stop at 7-11 and get a snack. Sometimes it's a hot dog, others they opt for a lunchable, but then we either get apple slices or donuts as well. The girls love the mini powdered Hostess donuts in the bag.

Well, we were there yesterday, and Jilly had her bag in hand and was heading to the counter to pay. There was some sort of District Manager in the store trying to show the Store Manager a few tricks to upsell at the counter...one of those tricks was to put some donut holes in a cup and offer them at a bulk rate. He saw the girls with their bag in hand and asked them "Wouldn't you rather have these fresh donuts instead?"

Now most kids would have gone along with this, but not mine! Jilly looked him right in the face and told him "No thank you, I like these." Being a good salesman he tried again "Are you sure, these are some really good donuts?" To which Jilly said "No, I like these ones."

You would think it ended there, but oh no. Still trying to make the sale (and the point to the other manager) he offered the girls a bite "How about you try a bite, then see if you like these too?" Now, when have my kids ever refused a sweet treat...? That's right NEVER. So they each proceeded to pop a donut hole in their mouths.

Thinking he had made the sale, he asked them "So, would you like these now? I can put that bag back for you." And as sweet as could be Jilly said "No thank you, I still would like my powdered ones." Kiddo knows what she likes!

So then I'm sitting there with this manager having opened a container just for my kids that he can't sell now, so I said we'd take them home for Daddy to have for dessert. And without any hesitation in the least he says to me "Oh no you won't honey. I'm buying those for your kids, you make sure they enjoy them...after they finish the powdered bag!"

The man would NOT let me pay for them. I'll grant you we are talking about a whopping $1.29, but it is the kindness he showed to my kids that made me think to myself Why can't we all be a little more like that? A little more about others and less about what we stand to get out of the way we treat others?

As I was getting the kids in the van he tapped me on the shoulder and said to me "The only reason I did that was because your kids have some of the most beautiful manners I have seen in a long time. You seem to have your hands full, but I applaud you for teaching your kids how to be polite." This totally floored me! All I could do was thank him for his kind words.

It is nice to be appreciated in the moment for the things I teach my kids, cause goodness knows it won't happen again until they have kids of their own!

Here we go again...

With the shift in weather, Courtney is home today, Jilly seems a little stuffy, and Wyatt is either getting sick of cutting more teeth. We are really sweating this whole gov't shutdown thing. We would then have no income, unless I go and find someplace to wait tables. (Easy to walk away from once the gov't reopens.) My charity event was a decent success. It was very fulfilling to know that I was part of something that was altruistic. I never feel better about things then when I am doing something for others. This weekend is looking to be pretty packed between horse riding, birthday parties, and another charity event. Not too much else going on right now, hope all are well! Love!

Quickie

I would love to be able to sit here and write about the seemingly 100 things my monkeys have been up to recently, but sadly I do not have the time. So you'll have to just deal with a quick recap. Yesterday, Jilly and Courtney got to go out and ride their ponies, they had a great time. Many thanks to Gran-ma and Pop-pop for taking them! About a month ago on our way home from one of Courtney's dressage shows, we stopped in a 7-11 real quick for lunch. We had some hot dogs, but little did I know what we were starting! Both Cooper and Jilly now think that "11 and 11" is an actual restaurant and we MUST stop there every time we go to the barn now! Thankfully, it's not expensive to stop in for a snack of even to gather supplies for a "Magic van picnic". Wyatt had his 18 month check up, and boy is growing like a weed. Nothing to worry about, right on track for his age in every way. Cooper has had some recent success on the 'big girl potty', she's getting the hang of it. All little Missy wants to do is go to school, read, play board games.....it's hard sometimes to keep her challenged. She's not even 3 yet, but has a better mental capacity then some of the 4 and 5 year olds we know! Boy oh boy, are we going to be in trouble!! Miss Jilly can't wait to go to kindergarten next year....mostly due to the fact that she gets to ride the bus. She knows her phone #, address, birthday, but most of all she is learning that when she uses her "Princess manners" she gets a more favorable result. Courtney is gearing up for high school. (Damn, that is SO hard to believe!) She is on the honor roll, keeping up with a difficult school schedule, and still getting out to ride 3 times a week. She's looking forward to the warmer weather so she can spend more time with the ponies. Jeff....well he's not doing too much that warrants any conversation. As for me, I have been wicked busy gearing up BugnBean for the show season to start up again. (I have to say, how I never went into 'marketing' as a profession is sometimes beyond me!) I also just held my first charity event to benefit Jilly's preschool, and I have been asked to be a guest at another charity event on April 10th. I have made the plunge after many months of debating to open an online store to be able to sell some of my creations ( chrissycurtiscrafts.etsy.com) and I am hoping it will take off. We are looking forward to a visit from Grammy, Spring Break, and Easter, this month. It is getting close to the end of the school year, so Courtney is looking forward to the class trip to Hershey Park, and summer vacation. I say bring on the heat (so I can hang by the pool) and bring on the good times of horse shows, playground play dates, and family picnics! Love!

Time to take a break.

After a six week struggle, I can now officially say that I have hosted my first crop. It was a lot of work, but I was pleased to raise money for the Douglass Community Center where Jilly goes to school now, and Cooper will go next year. I have many stories to get everybody caught up on and will do so soon. Right now I plan on relaxing with my monkeys for the next few days before gearing up for another charity event I have been asked to be part of in mid April! It looks like my little crafty business just might be taking off finally.

Just Plain Funny!

So the past 2+weeks have been hell on my family, but on Friday Jeff and I came to an understanding that allowed us to get back on the path of being a family again. Needless to say, the kids are happy that Daddy isn't "at work" all the time now, and they are slowly getting back to their normal.

Last night we celebrated Aunt Ginger-beth's birthday with a family dinner of scallops/shrimp alfredo and salad. Sounds so simple, but it was SO delicious! Ginny loves her seafood, so every year for her b-day dinner she gets it! The gilry monkeys helped me make the cake which was butter pecan with cream cheese icing. There was only 1 piece left, that's a record!

Sadly I have no pictures...'someone' (we don't need to mention my name) let the memory card fill up on the camera, so the only pic of the evening I have I had to swipe from Face book. Aunt Amber took this picture with her phone and it sets up the next few stories perfectly.

First funny story happened as soon as we pulled in the driveway. We were all piling out of 'magic van' trying to make sure everyone had everything they needed, and I look up to see Russell looking very confused. He started to shake his head at me, and before I could ask he said "I looked over and thought Courtney was you. It took me second to realize it wasn't you." People keep telling me we look exactly alike, and I can only see it in pictures.

Second funny story happened after dinner, and Jeff had said not 5 minutes earlier that Cooper is a 'mini-mommy'. Which is true, girlfriend goes around picking up after everybody else, and has NO problem telling you when you're doing something worthy of time-out! Well, most everybody was in the living room and Courtney was holding Zee (girl could not be persuaded to put the baby down!) and Zee started fussing. (She was tired, and a little coldy) Out of nowhere Cooper pipes in "Give it to me, NOW!" Cooper thought she was the only one who could stop Baby Zee from crying, again the 'mini-mommy' in her.

It is always great to see the kids together, how well they play, who is taller then who this time. They are at the age where imagination takes over when they are playing and it can be beautiful, or even down right scary. Jilly and Riley were playing and they walked into the kitchen while I was feeding Wyatt. Jilly announces to me "Riley-man is the Daddy, and I'm the Mommy." And I looked at her and thought, hey kid, this is Virginia not West Virginia! It was harmless, but still just a little scary.

There is one more story, but this happened the other day. I was getting ready to vacuum, and both girls pulled out their toy vacuums. I did my thing, went and put mine away and Cooper walked up to me and asked "Mommy, can I have a screwdriver please?" This was interesting..."Coop, why do you need a screwdriver?" *Cooper cops a teenage like attitude with hands and huffs* "Because I have to fix mine vacuum Mommy, it's all out of dirty!" It was too stinking funny, but that's just my little Cooper-Doo, a riot!

That's about all from the last week.

Love

Expansion

You see this picture and I'll bet you said "Awwww!" Well let me tell you more about my little 'seam ripper'. For the past week Wyatt has been waking up, almost like clockwork, between 1 and 2 am. I give him milk, change his shorts and he lays down...45 minutes max. Not from Wednesday night into Thursday morning. He got up about quarter of 2 and proceeded to have his milk, get his shorts changed, and then just could not be consoled. It was just before 6am and I knew there was no way I was going to get him upstairs without running the risk of him waking up, so we crashed for a short bit on the couch. Courtney took this picture so it was sometime between 6:30 and 7:30 am. The little girly monkeys woke me up then, and Wyatt was done sleeping as well.

As ready as I was to pull my hair out while he was irate, this picture almost makes up for it...ALMOST! It just goes to show you that you can never know which of your kids is going to rip your heart out, and on the other hand, you never know which is going to start crazy gluing it back together.

"Just hang in there..."

...if I have to hear that one more time, I'm going to lose what's left of my sanity. The funny thing about kids (well my kids anyway) they are either like a seam ripper or they are like crazy glue. Let me explain.

Kids test their boundaries, our patience as parents, and there are times when they can say just one simple sentence and devastates you (seam ripper). Or they can bring you the greatest joy imaginable with an unprovoked hug, or a 'just because' kiss (this picks up a few pieces of the broken heart and 'crazy glues' them back into place). And even though I did the single mom thing while Jeff was in Africa, this is much different, and I truly think the monkeys can feel it. They have been themselves, bouncing off the walls one second, and snuggling with me or each other the next. Being 'super good listeners' followed by me wondering when did they go deaf?

(By my calculations, roughly 216 hours have passed since Jeff and I decided we needed to be apart for awhile. In that time I have slept approximately 18 of those hours. So please forgive me if I make no sense to you, it all makes perfect sense to me.)

We were told we'd be getting a 'light wintry mix' starting sometime on Tuesday...that changed to a forecast of 6-8 inches of snow starting Monday. I did not get that info until dinner time on Monday, so I had to rely on Courtney. The monkeys all ate dinner, we played, did the whole bedtime routine and I layed the 3 little ones down. I left Courtney 'in charge' while I ran to Target for the basics. She had no problem, they all stayed asleep, and then she got bored. While I was out she decided to (....wait for it.....) straighten up the living room AND fold laundry (GASP! and I didn't even have to ask her to do it.)! For a 14 year old to pass up the chance to grab the computer and decide to help just goes to show me that the way I choose to parent is the right way for what we would like or kids to be.

So I get home from Target, she's holding the door while bring bags in. When I left (I was gone for maybe a half hour) it was raining, but by the time I hit the parking lot again it was a sheet of ice. Literally, you could skate to your car. So I told her I was going to put some icy-melty stuff down so the 6-8 inches of snow that was supposed to fall would be easier to shovel in the morning. There I am sprinkling this stuff over the sidewalk and driveway, and then it happened. Well, I'm not really sure how it happened, bottom line I lost my balance and slipped on some ice and hurt my wrist pretty badly.

It is now Thursday, and I still have no idea if it is broken. All I know for sure is that it hurts like hell, and is about 6 different shades of purple right now!

This is just going to have be one of those things I have to get over. "It'll be OK, just hang in there!"