Urrrrrr! I am NOT having a good day. Yes, it is PMS. Not that I am sure you all want to hear about it but it is ruining my day. Someday someone should find a cure for this damn hormonal imbalance that makes me want to rip everyone's head off and stuff it down their throat! Urrrrrrr!

I have no plans for today. I got up and exercised for a hour again this morning. That always makes me feel good. I am really beginning to see muscles throughout my body now. I was reminiscing through our wedding book today and was amazed at how little I was then and how I thought I was fat. Sheeesh! What I would give to be that little again, even if for a day. It would make me appreciate where I am now, I think. It is so funny as I look at our wedding pictures, I really don't see a big change in Billy and I but everyone else seems to have changed a ton since our wedding. I am sure we have too, I just don't see it. I have been thinking a lot about renewing our vows and having a small intimate wedding. Now that I am older, I can see a lot of things I would have liked to have done at my first wedding and it would be so much fun to renew our vows to each other. Maybe in a few years. :)

I still have oodles of blankets to wash and no desire to do them. They are all currently piled in the hallway blocking the way to Mr. Bill's room. I suppose I better get them washed so Krissy and Lance have some to sleep with while they are here. I just have no motivation today. The sun is hiding behind the clouds, only to peek out every so often. The bugs are horrible here despite that the town of Brandt just sprayed about a week ago. I can't even go outside in the heat of midday without getting eaten alive. We have gone through 2 and 1/2 cans of bug spray so far this year. I am ready for the 100F temps so the bugs DIE DIE DIE!

Our new kitten, Mouse, has successfully litter-box trained herself. We have a kitty door in one wall in our office that leads to the cat food, water, and litter box. She figured it out yesterday and now can get in and out as she pleases. The other cats are rather peeved at her and hiss and growl everytime they see her. Cats!

Well, I have vented and rambled enough to all of you. I am off to check the mail and maybe play on the internet for awhile in the hopes of fixing my attitude so my kids don't suffer today. TTFN!

Oh! Owie! Ouch! Ow! Oh! Owwwwwwww!

Yesterday the sun came out for the first time all summer (okay a small exaggeration) and we spent all day outside. Unfortunately, I had run out of sunscreen over the weekend and so we couldn't protect ourselves from the sun. The kids hardly got burned at all but I sure got it good. My shoulders and neck are the worst. I will have to get to the store asap because it is supposed to be nice all week. I guess I will have to keep a shirt on until I get into town. :)

Since I spent most of the day outside, I didn't get much accomplished inside. I started the laundry but didn't get too far. I washed our down comforter first thing in the morning but it has to dry for four or five dryer cycles or else the feathers stay wet and our bed smells like wet chickens. Ewwwwww! So once I finally got it dry, I think I got two or three other loads of clothes done. Billy ended up working late last night so I made the kids dinner and got them ready for bed. Mr. Bill and I sat up and watched t.v. and read some books for an hour and then we went to bed too.

While I was exercising this morning, Billy came out of our room carrying our blankets (the down comforter I HAD JUST washed) and said the baby kitty peed on it. Urrrrr! So today I have to wash it again! I figure I will get the clothes done first today so everything else is done and then I will throw it in the washer. What a pain!

I found out the other day that my older sister is getting married in December. My younger sister is getting married in April of 2005. I guess it is the time for weddings. :)At least they have an adundance of flower girls should they want them. And I have one ring bearer, although he may be a little young yet to get him to walk down the aisle. I am excited for both of them. I hope their marriages are as happy and fun as mine have been.

Have a great summery day today!

Whew! It is finally Monday.

Friday we had a blast at the Dak Picnic. The kids and I left Brandt and got to Brookings at 4:45. We picked up Billy at work and headed off to the Park. We headed right over to the inflatable toys. This year they had an obstacle course, boxing ring, huge slide, basketball, and a jumping cage. The kids spent the first hour playing on them all. After that we went and ate hamburgers, brats, salads, and ice cream. We watched the pie eating contest. They had two prelims and then the finals. During the second prelim, they were missing a contestant so they asked for volunteers to fill his spot. A gal from the audience joined in then. She beat all the guys in her round and then went on to win the competition. It was a messy and funny event. After that we took the kids back over to the toys to play for another hour until they closed them and started deflating them all. We stopped at Walmart to pick up Marea's prescription and then I dropped Billy back off at work (overtime again. :( ) and we headed home. I got the kids home and put them all to bed. I checked the answering machine to find Karen and Angie had called three times during the evening. I called Billy at work and told him. He decided to wait and call them in the morning.

Saturday we got up and Billy called his mom. They did want to come up and would be up here later in the afternoon. We spent the morning cleaning the house and childproofing. While Billy was outside mowing the lawn (so we could put up tents) he heard a kitty meowing. He followed the sound and found a cute little baby kitten. It is probably a month or two old. He brought it in the house and showed everyone. Of course we all gushed and oooh and aaah. I had been thinking about getting a baby kitten before we acquired Ghost so I was excited to see the kitty. In the end we decided to keep it. Her name is Mouse.


Karen and Angie arrived at about 4:30 with Kirstin, James, and all four of Melanie's kids. It was pure chaos from that point on. We tried to keep everyone outside playing. We set up the tents and the kids played in the yard. Since it was our anniversary on Saturday Karen and Angie brought us a new grill as a gift. It was really nice of them to think of us. Billy and I assembled the grill and we fired it up shortly after to start dinner. Fortunatley Karen and Angie brought food. I don't know how we could have afforded to feed all those kids. We ate dinner and then the kids all ran and played. We took them in about dark and I showered my kids and put them in their pajamas. We took them all out to the tents then. Becca, Marea, Angie and I stayed in the house though. Angie and I started wrapping Mr. Bill's birthday presents after everyone went outside. When we finished wrapping, we sat and talked for a good three hours. We talked about her life, the problems with Jozey, and Marea. I told her what we had planned for Marea and that she does not understand that Angie is her mom. I talked and talked and tried to tell her that Marea would know she was her mom as she got older but right now it was all too confusing for her. Angie talked too and gave me a whole new impression of her. I had always sort of distanced myself from her because, honestly, I cannot deal with the drug and alcohol part of her. I was surprised by many of the things she said and admitted. She is very much still playing the victim in life but she is starting to accept some things in her life. Baby steps, but they are steps.

Sunday morning kids started filing in out of the tents by 9a.m. The new kitten spent the night in my bed. Apparently she likes to sleep with someone or something warm. LOL It had rained during the night so everything outside was went. Billy took Mr. Bill into the tent but brought him back about 2a.m. because he was crying. He sounded like he had a sore throat when he cried. He stayed awake, crying, until 5a.m. when he finally fell asleep. We got the kids breakfast and then the adults. Apparently Angie and Karen don't eat cereal so we ate the last of the eggs. I still had to make a cake for Billy's birthday party so I ended up running to the store for eggs. Melanie and Chris showed up about noon so we started grilling steak, hamburgers, hotdogs, etc. for lunch. We quickly discovered something was wrong with the grill though as it wouldn't get any hotter than 200F. Angie had taken control of the cooking and just told us to leave it shut and it would cook. Well it did, at 5:00 p.m. we finally got to sit down and eat "lunch". Billy is going to check out the grill tonight to see what the problem was. Billy and I went in the house to print out a few pictures we had taken. While we were sitting in the office, we saw Angie and Karen walking to the camper with Marea. I freaked and told Billy to go get her. I was so disappointed in both of them. I had hoped that talking with Angie helped her understand why she can't do that kind of thing to Marea but obviously I had talked to myself the night before. Billy said he got to the camper and Marea was sitting on Angie's lap while Karen stood there blocking the door. I can only imagine what happened in those 5 minutes.

While we were waiting for the food to cook, we did Mr. Bill's birthday party.

(To see more pictures go to our family website. The link is in my profile in my blogger. Just click on Mr. Bill's name and go to his two year old page.)
I made a half chocolate/half strawberry cake for him. We sang happy birthday to him and he tried to blow out his candles. He didnt blow quite hard enough though so the other kids helped him. He loved opening his presents. He couldn't wait to get into each one. Once we finished opening presents, we ate cake and ice cream. We cleaned up the party and the kids all went outside and got in the pool. They swam and we finally got to sit down to eat. Shortly after we ate, everybody started packing up to leave. Melanie and Chris left first. We helped Karen and Angie pack up their remaining things. While we were filling the van Billy took Kirstin and James on a bike ride. I turned around from sticking a box in Karen's van and realized I didn't see Mr. Bill. I told Billy, who had just pulled up, to check the other side of the house. I ran inside to see if he had gone in. I didn't find him in the house and Billy didn't find him outside. About that point I freaked. We all started running around the neighborhood looking for him. Finally Angie came out of the neighbors yard two houses down with him. She said he was sitting on their porch crying and told her he couldn't find his mommy. He was crying and kept saying, "I got lost!" I hugged him and cried too. I was so scared. I knew I should have kept a better eye on my kids this weekend and that just verified that fact for me. I am NOT overprotective, I just care about my kids. After we found him Karen and Angie left. It was so amazingly peaceful to sit and not have fifty people running around my house.

I spent most of the evening cleaning up my house. I made the unpleasant discovery that someone had peed in the corner of the girls' room upstairs (a kid) and it smelled horrible by last night. I sat and scrubbed the carpet for a good half an hour. I sprayed it with febreze and aimed the fan at it. I didn't notice a smell this morning so hopefully I got it all. Otherwise I will be doing it again today. :( I also have a gazillion blankets to wash and so much to finish up today. It will be a busy day today. Billy is going to take off Thursday and Friday so we can spend some time as a family.

I am so glad it is Monday. I packed enough stress into one weekend to last a lifetime. I must say I am incredibly thankful for finding this blogger. Instead of dumping all of this on someone, I knew all weekend, that I could come here and scream, yell, vent, and holler if I needed to. It makes life so much easier to know I have somewhere to go with my thoughts. If you all don't have a journal, you should get one!

I hope you all had a good weekend. Have a great Monday, I know it has to be better than this weekend. :)

How do you like my new and improved blogger?

I am running out the door as I type this but I thought I would pop in and give you all a quick rundown. :)

I spent most of today doing laundry and cleaning the house. I just made a pathetic attempt at redecorating my living room to no avail. It is such an awkward room that I really can't find a balanced and attractive way to arrange it. All that is in the room is the couch, rocking chair, entertainment center, and currently our piano which won't be staying there. I moved the piano twice and the entertainment center once but neither look good and I just can't find a way to do it. There are two walls with great big picture windows that are 1 foot from the floor and the other wall has two large pocket doors. There is no fourth wall as it is a walk thru into the dining room. I really have no place to put furniture. It is very frustrating.

We are off to the Dak annual picnic. It is usually fairly entertaining so hopefully we will have some fun and good food too! I will be sure to come back on Monday and let you all know how the weekend goes. Until then TTFN!

I had a much better night last night at least until 5:50 a.m. when I woke up because my heart was racing and I was having a freaky dream. If I analyze it myself it would be that I feel like I am being pulled in too many different directions and I am losing control of my life. I guess I better pull myself together eh?

Yesterday was a pretty boring day around here. I spent the day entertaining myself and the kids. After Billy got home from work we headed into Brookings. John Thune was throwing a little picnic thing and had invited us via a recorded telephone message. Billy said earlier in the day John Thune had toured Daktronics and got to meet Billy. We ran into him at the picnic and he was very friendly. He talked to the girls and Billy and I. After we ate we all went up to tell him thank you (teaching good manners here). It was a nice afternoon to spend at the park. After that we went to the grocery store. I spent 70.00 on what seemed like no food at all. I got enough to last us about 2 weeks so that is pretty good. Once we finished at the grocery store we headed to Walmart to get cat food. We ran out on Monday and the cats are not very happy to have to eat dog food. They have been following me around the house meowing at me. They devoured almost a whole bowl after we got home. We got the cat food and several other items we didn't need (as usual) and got out of walmart for under 10 bucks! We went then and got Billy's van and we went home. By this time is was 10pm so the kids went to bed and so did we. It was a full evening but fun.

Tomorrow is the Dak company picnic. It is always a fun time. They rent those inflatable toy things for the kids and adults to play on and they serve food. It should be fun as well. We are going to have Billy's Birthday party on Sunday because our anniversary is on Saturday. Billy turned 2 on the 21st but we are celebrating this weekend.

This year is our 11th anniversary. It is so amazing to me to sit back and think we have been married for 11 years. That is such a long time and it feels like is has been 2 or 3 years. Billy and I met one spring day in Hot Springs. My friend Leslie and I had just finished track practice and we were on our way home. She was driving and decided to cruise a couple of times before heading home. On one trip through town we saw Billy and his friend Jason walking. I jokingly suggested to Leslie that we should pull over and talk to them. To my surprise she agreed and stopped the car. They came cruising with us after that. We spent most of the day together before I had to go home, as did Leslie. Billy and I hit it off immediately. Leslie and Jason sort of hung on each other but I don't think they clicked with each other. I don't remember exactly what transpired for the weeks after that other than a few isolated incidents where I ran into Billy downtown. At some point that summer Leslie, Jason, Billy, and I were walking downtown and Leslie and Jason turned to us and said, "So are you guys going out or what?" I looked at Billy and he looked at me and I said, "I don't know, do you want to go out together?" He nodded and as they say, the rest is history. Billy was 13 and I was 15 when we met. We fell for each other hard after those first few months. Billy left to go to his mom's that summer and I thought my heart had been ripped out. It was such a horrible feeling to have him gone. Once he came back we never left each other's side. We spent every day and every minute we could together. The few friends we did have became obsolete. We were wrapped up in each other and our own little world. Leslie and Jason never became a thing and they both moved on. Billy and I dated for three years. I graduated from High School in 1992 but Billy had two years of high school left. Afraid that I would go to college and forget all about him (as everyone told him I would) he applied to the school board to take his last two years together so he could graduate early. I moved in with Billy at his house that year too. He finished high school in 1993 and we married that summer. It was a beautiful wedding day. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. We got up and started getting ready for the wedding. I went to my mom's to get into my dress and they drove me down to Keith Park where we were married. I remember how excited I was more than anything. I loved Billy so much that day I thought my heart would burst. I never imagined 11 years later we would love each other more than we did then. Billy is my friend, my cohort, my support, my treasure. He is my world. I am so glad I found such a wonderful person to share my life with. I would do it again a million times. Happy Anniversary to my husband of 11 years, may we have 100 more! (Not that he will read this! :P)

I stepped on the scale this morning and to my surprise I am down a pound finally! I am at 146 now. Only 11 more to go. It pumps me up so fast when I see that number on the scale go down. It makes all this effort worth it. I don't want to end up and old fat lady. LOL

Well I am off to get moving today. Have a great day everyone!

I am off to a slow start this morning. I have not been sleeping very well the last few nights. I am not really sure what the problem is but it is affecting my ability to function during the day.

Monday I spent the day cleaning, rearranging, and doing laundry so I didn't have time to get on here and post. It was a bleary day outside so the kids spent the day inside playing while I cleaned up the tornado the weekend had blow in. Mr. Bill had a night terror episode again. This time is started literally one minute before my alarm clock went off so I didn't get to exercise. He cried, screamed, and kicked until almost 7:30 am. He finally fell back asleep and naturally the girls got up at 8:00 so I didn't get to go back to sleep. We all went for a walk after Billy got home from work though so I did get some exercise in.

Yesterday I just didn't feel like doing a whole lot of anything. I watched a lot of t.v. and played with the kids. Becca's friend called yesterday morning and wanted her to come spend the night for her birthday so Becca got packed and they came and picked her up. This is a friend she has spent a couple of nights with so I was comfortable letting her go. Last night Becca called and wanted to spend the night again. I said no because it is so hard for Becca to come home. She is grouchy, whinny, and yells a lot. We got a good dose of it after she got home last night. I told her if it continues she won't be spending the night anywhere again. She is doing better now that she has gotten some sleep. She didn't get up until 10am and that was only because Megan and Cassie went upstairs to get dressed.

Today I got up at 9:00 after a rough night again. I didn't get to exercise but I will be outside in the yard working today so that should tide me over until tomorrow.

The remodeling bug has bit me again. After letting the bathroom we are working on sit for several months now, I have the urge to get back in there and get it done. We are so close to finishing it. I need to get a bucket of drywall mud so I can finish mudding the walls and ceiling. Once that is done we are going to put in the ceramic tile we bought. I am excited to see what the finished room is going to look like. I need to get the trim painted as well as the door. Billy has a few other projects he needs to do so hopefully I can get this done so he will get his other stuff done.

Billy's mom and sister want to come see us this weekend. I told him to tell them they can come only if they take the camper home with them! I doubt he will tell them but hey weirder things have happened right? I always have mixed feelings about seeing them. I don't mind Karen coming but Angie creates so many problems with Marea while she is here that it really isn't worth it to me. Marea has behavioral problems for sometimes weeks after Angie is here. It would be okay if Angie would accept that she is AUNT Angie now and not mom but she doesn't. Despite our best efforts Angie always somehow corners Marea and gets to talk to her for a few minutes. I can only imagine what is said during that time. It is also hard because her half-siblings know that she WAS their sister and they tell her as much. Marea is having so many problems "fitting" into our family as it is. She really doesn't need that kind of crap. In the past I have grit my teeth and let it all go but I am getting very very tired of it all and I am the one who has to deal with Marea after they are gone. I may just have to open my mouth while they are here this time. :(

Have a peachy, sunshiney day ya'll!

It was pouring down rain and the temperature was right at freezing. I continued to poke along the highway trying to keep my car going along in a straight line. The roads got more slippery by the second. The rain was freezing to the windshield faster than the defrost could melt it off. I maintained my death grip on the steering wheel and fought off the exhaustion I felt from a full day at school. I was returning from my daily trek to Madison Middle school where I was beginning my student teaching experience. It was a nice January day as I left that morning but as I got in my car to head home that afternoon the rain began. At the advice of many people at SDSU, I had taken the highway instead of the interstate that day. I was approaching Volga and singing along to the radio. I suddenly felt a moment of anxiety as I pondered what would happen if I got into an accident that day. Usually when I am driving and that happens I say a quick little prayer to God asking Him to get me home safely. That day I felt invincible I guess. Instead of saying a prayer, I thought to myself, "Why bother? I have never been in an accident before." Immediately after finishing that sentence I went across the railroad tracks that cross the highway. On the other side of them a large puddle had collected. It must have been frozen underneath because my car lost control and started spinning endlessly. I attempted to pump on the brakes to stop the spin I was in. I finally realized I was not going to stop so I took my foot off the brake and held on. I slid backwards into the ditch and my car continued to roll up onto the drivers side of the car. Once the car stopped, I turned off the key and sat for what seemed like forever. I looked up at the sky and said, "Okay, I get the point." It was that moment in my life that I realized I could no longer deny that God was watching over me. Shortly thereafter a good looking guy jumped down in the ditch on his cell phone. He yelled to me, "Are you hurt?" I yelled back "NO! But get me outta here!" I had been wearing my seatbelt so I didn't move from my seat through the whole ordeal. I turned the key back on so I could roll down the passenger window. The guy grabbed my hands and pulled on me as I climbed up the side of the door. I quickly mentioned I was pregnant to him so he would not pull me over on my stomach. He groaned (I assume because he was picturing a great big gal, but I was only 3 months along at the time.) but he pulled me out and carried me up to the side of the road nonetheless. I will be forever grateful to that nice guy but more importantly, to God, who I know will be there when I need him and if I ask.

Fun Fun Fun!

Friday I took the kids into Brookings to join in on Larson's 50th Anniversary Celebration. We arrived in town at 5pm to pick Billy up from work. We went to Walmart to kill some time then, because the celebration didn't begin until 6:30pm. We got done at Walmart at about 6:15 so we headed over to the Swiftel Center. They had booths set up for face painting, tatoos, ice cream, cotton candy, popcorn, pop, and cookies. AND it was all FREE! How awesome is that?! The kids got their faces painted first and got a larson logo tatoo. After that we hit up the cotton candy stand. Yummmm! We took our blankets then and crashed in grass. We sat and ate our cotton candy and froze our tushies off. It was about 55F and windy. A band started playing music at about 7 pm, classical stuff I think. Then a drum line came out and started playing. They were good. I think they were called Su Fu Du. They danced and played drums and cymbals. It was cool. After that they did the speeched and boring stuff (thanking everyone). They did inform us though that Larson's had bought the old motel land next to Hillcrest pool and donated it to the city. They are going to help the city build an aquatic center there by paying for 2/3 of the project. How awesome is that??! The center is going to have waterslides and a bigger area for the little kids. What fun! I can't wait until it is done. :) After all that was over the acapella group Tonic Sol Fa came out. I had never heard them sing but was totally amazed by them. It is four guys who get up and sing with no music! There were awesome. At one point they pulled a guy named Justin out of the audience and handed him a tamborine. He played it for a little while and then went and sat back down. Then Tonic Sol Fa sang a song just for him. It was funny. A few songs later one of the memebers introduced a song and jokingly told Justin to get up and start a conga line. Well, us South Dakotans, you know, we follow orders so pretty soon half the crowd was up on their feet behind Justin waiting for the song to begin. Tonic Sol Fa laughed and decided to sing a song that had a conga beat. So the conga line went around the crowd and then Justin led them all up on stage and around the four guys of Tonic Sol Fa. They had to keep singing the end of the song over and over (When the sun goes down over the water...)until everyone was off stage. It was hilarious. My stomach muscles hurt so bad from laughing by the time they were all done. To end the show Tonic Sol Fa sang the Star Spangled Banner and the fireworks began. It was a pretty show and the kids all actually enjoyed it despite the fact that we were all frozen by then. We cleaned up our camp area and headed to the van. It took us almost an hour to get out of the parking lot but it was worth every minute of it. We got home at about 11:30 and we all crashed into bed. What a great way to spend a friday evening. :)

Saturday we awoke to the phone ringing at 7am. Apparently Kristina had gone to a rummage sale I had mentioned to her that was in Brookings. It was a daycare that was going out of business so she figured it would have some good stuff. She called to let us know what she got and wanted to know if we were going to come out to the lake in Watertown that day. We said sure so we got the kids up, fed, and dressed. We had intended to just go and visit for a couple of hours since we had Jordon and Allison's wedding at 5pm in Sioux Falls. Once we got to Watertown it was 11am. The kids ended up getting in the boat, the paddle boat, and the lake. It is a good thing I carry a diaper bag with clothes for each of my kids. :) We spent about two hours there and then we came home to shower, change, and get dressed for the wedding. I put hte girls all in their easter dresses and Billy and I got all gussied up too. We got to Sioux Falls at 4:30 and stopped to pick up Sarah, Bob's wife. We went to the church then and got seated. About one minute after we sat down the wedding started. That is the first wedding I have ever been to that started on time. LOL It was a nice wedding. We all got a handful of rose petals on the way out the door to throw at the bride and groom. It was really beautiful, much better than rice or bird seed anyway. :) After that we went back to Sarah's house to change into jeans and t-shirts. (Thanks goodness we brought them, just about everyone else at the wedding was in casual clothes). The reception started at 7 and the wedding ended at 6 so we let the kids jump on her trampoline for 45 minutes and then we headed to the reception at the Pavilion. The had resevered the stage and it was so awesome to walk in and see the huge seating area with three balconies. It was quite a site. We did the usual wedding stuff, eat, dance, talk, etc. The kids, Billy and I got up and danced to the chicken dance, hokey pokey, and the dollar dance. Billy IV wanted to dance with the bride because he thought she was a princess (his words) so we paid a dollar for him to dance with the bride during the dollar dance. Cassie and Marea danced with the groom for a dollar too. Becca and Megan were too chicken. By the time we were tired from dancing it was 10pm so we decided to head home. It was a long day, but so much fun.

Today we got up at 9:30 and we tried to go outside and play with the slip and slide that we bought at walmart yesterday but it was too cold to stay out long. We came in and hotdogs for lunch. While we were eating Becca got bread stuck on the roof of her mouth. While pulling it out she accidentally pulled out one of her loose teeth so the tooth fairly shall be visiting tonight. :) The kids and Billy are now watching Harry Potter and eating popcorn. I decided to come in here and "play" on the internet. Billy got his father's day present last week so today he just gets to be lazy. :)

Since many of you have expressed your concern over my weight loss, I thought I would post a picture on here of me. As you can see I am not obese or extremely overweight. According to the doctor's charts I am bordering on being overweight for my height and I do have 12 pounds of baby fat that I am still carrying from all my pregnancies. Mostly I want to be healthy, not thin.

Today is promising to be another busy day at the Sides house. There is a free, fun activity in Brookings today in honor of a local business. They are having activities at the multiplex and then fireworks at 10 pm. We are going to take the kids in to have a little fun.

The weather is not cooperating though. Today is June 18 and it is going to be all of 60F for the high! How absurd is that?! It is even worse on the other side of South Dakota, they are looking for a high of 45F and snow! EEEEEKKK! It is June right?

I have a headache already this morning and the kids are at each other's throats. I am so ready for the weekend when dad can take over and I get a break. :( Please make this day go quickly!

Have a good day ya'll!

Here are the pics of Meggie's birthday party I promised you:

Megan with her Barbie Cake

Megan with the neighbors and her presents

Can I sit down now? :)

Yesterday I was so busy running around that I never got time to get online. I had to get the kids up, fed, and beautiful by 10:30 so we could get three of them to the doctors office. Billy IV and Megan were due for their yearly checkup and Becca had some warts she wanted removed. Billy was first, they weighed and measured him. He weighs 24 pounds and is 33.75 inches long. He grew 3 inches since his 15 month check-up and gained 3 pounds. The doctor did the once over and said he looks like a healthy guy.

Megan was next. She weighs 45 pounds and is 45 inches tall. She was really impressed that both numbers were the same. She got the once over too and the doctor said everything looks good. He listened to her heart for quite awhile though. I wondered if maybe her heart murmur was present again but he didn't say anything. Usually it only shows up when she is sick.

Becca was last. She does so awesome with having her warts burned off. She has two on her lower lip area and one on her hand. The doctor put a q-tip on each one at least twice and she didn't cry the entire time. She has had this done four times now. The first time she was 5 years old. She didn't cry the whole time we were in the doctor's office but as soon as we got to the car I could see the tears welling up. She was fighting them back quite well, but I told her it was okay to cry if she wanted to. Then she let it all go. She cried for quite awhile. I just sat and hugged her. I have never had warts so I don't know what she is going through but it always breaks my heart to see my babies go through things like that. She sure is a tough girl.

After we got done at the doctors office we headed off to Daktronics to see if dad wanted to have lunch. He came out and we went to BK for lunch. The kids played in the play area for awhile and we sat and talked. He has been so great lately. Last night he came home and helped me make dinner for the 4th or 5th night in a row. I almost enjoy cooking when he is helping. (I said ALMOST!) LOL He sure fulfills so much in my life. I cannot imagine what I would do without him. He has been there for me for so many years. Last night we spent a couple of hours playing on our computers. I am so glad I was able to buy him one too.

Anyway, we dropped Billy off at work and I took the kids to our next appointment. Billy and Cassie had to be recertified for WIC. It is a federal program that helps to make sure kids and pregnant women eat nutritional foods and stay healthy. Megan is very afraid of this place since she has had her finger poked several times there. She kept asking me if she had to go back in the room with us. She didn't want to listen to Billy cry. They had to poke Billy's toe to test his hemoglobin. I told her she did have to come back with us and maybe she could kiss his owie for him. She didn't think that was a good idea. :) While we were waiting for our turn a lady came in with a five year old girl. She needed to have shots done. The nurse asked her if she had had any shots since birth and the mom said no. I was shocked! How could you let your child go that long without getting one shot? Now she has to get her daughter all of her shots in the next few months so she can go to kindergarten in the fall. That would just be awful. The little girl got 5, count 'em, FIVE shots yesterday and that was just the beginning! I am so glad I got my kids their shots as they were due so we don't have to play catch-up now. It is so hard to watch them get their kindergarten shots at 5 I can't imagine doing all their shots then.

When the nurse was ready for us, I put Billy on my lap and he just sat on my lap and watched as the nurse poked his toe. He didn't cry or yell or anything. Mabye he was in shock? LOL He got a bandaid (which he hates btw! What a strange kid. He hates to have a bandaid and he pulls them off as soon as he can) I was glad he was okay with it all. Megan was so busy reading a book she didn't even notice they had done his toe! Go figure! LOL

When we finished at WIC we came home. By that time it was 3:30 and I was exhausted. :) We came home, had a snack, and we all crashed in front of the t.v. I spent the evening picking up the house and putzing around the house. It was cool yesterday so we didn't spend much time outside. I am hoping today will get warmer.

We got a surprise call from Bob this morning. I answered the phone and he said, "Can I speak to Megan Sides" I was shocked some guy was calling for her. I said "She is only 7". Then Bob laughed and said "I know" Then I realized who he was. LOL I gave the phone to Megan then and they talked for a few minutes before Meg realized she had to go to the bathroom. Becca jumped up to talk while Megan was gone. Bob just had a few minutes so we said goodbye after Becca talked. He said he should be home for sure in August so we are going to hold him to it this time. :)

I have been having some odd symptoms the last few days that are making me wonder if I don't have an ulcer. When I had my gallbladder out in 1998, the doctor suggested that I had an ulcer but I figured he was wrong and it was just my gallbladder but lately I have had a pain at the top of my stomach and I frequently have heartburn. I am also nauseated a lot. This morning I almost threw up the heartburn was so bad. I dreamt all night that I was throwing up so I wonder if it wasn't bothering me last night too. I ate a tums and that seemed to calm my stomach enough that I didn't throw up but it still hurts. I don't want to go the doctor just because I don't want to hear him tell me something is wrong. That is a gift I got from my mom. I am so scared to end up like her that I spend all my time doing the opposite. I will probably give it a few more days and then go in if it doesn't stop. I am probably not helping it any if it is an ulcer because now in addition to my daily stresses, I am worried about having an ulcer. LOL ^^^I give up!^^^ LOL :)

Well, I better get some quality time in with my kids. Have a great, stress-free day today!

Sleep is such a glorious thing isn't it? I sure wish I could get more of it. LOL Last night I was ready for bed by 7 p.m. but didn't actually get there until 9:30. Mr. Bill was not ready for bed and dad was busy hooking up his new computer (yes it arrived yesterday) so it was not easy to fall asleep. I finally did though when I sent Mr. Bill into the kitchen to bug his dad. :) I woke up at 3:30 and again at 5:00 a.m. because Mr. Bill couldn't find his water.

I got up and stayed up at 5:51 a.m. to exercise. I didn't get very far into the show before our dumb dog (who Billy forgot to kennel last night) puked in the middle of the living room floor. As he started again, I ran him to the door and threw him outside. I contemplated waking Billy up to clean up the pile his dog left on the carpet but decided to be nice and clean it up myself instead. I accomplished this during the commercials in my workout. (I am supposed to keep working out during the commercials but today that just wasn't going to happen.)

Yesterday I got all the laundry done and I finished mowing the lawn. I swear I have mowed more this year than I did all summer last year! Our grass is so green and thick. I have been throwing down grass seed to see if I can take advantage of this wet spring and get our grass even thicker. Maybe that will choke out these weeds that are taking over our lawn. I asked our neighbor what he uses to kill the weeds (he has none in his yard) and he said the stuff he uses is 150.00 a quart! Eeeek! I am pretty sure I won't be buying that stuff. So now I am trying to find a "natural" (i.e. cheap!) way to get rid of them.

Our neighbors dad came home from Iraq two days ago after being there for over a year. There are signs all over Brandt welcoming him back. It must be so strange to return to your family and life after being gone for so long. Not only that but it wasn't exactly a vacation over there. I can't imagine the trauma and stress they lived with and now he will have to find a way to "fit" back into life in the good ole' USA. I also saw on the news this morning that "they" are recommending all Americans leave Saudi Arabia after the recent kidnapping of an American Contractor. My response to this is WELL DUH! Why are people living in other countries right now anyway. There aren't many people over there who like us at all. Why would you live somewhere you are hated when you know you have the opportunity to leave? I am quite content right here on US soil. I doubt I will ever leave, even for a vacation.

Have a wonderful Tuesday and hug someone you love today!

What an amazing weekend!

Friday we started off the weekend by swimming in the pool, going shopping, and getting the last few things for Megan's birthday party. While the kids and I were outside in the pool the delivery man showed up with part of Billy's father's day present. Only the monitor came on Friday. I am hoping the rest will show up today. We decided in order to forgo the stress, we didn't invite anyone to Megan's party but our neighbors.

Saturday I awoke to the sound of the dishwasher running and the kids eating breakfast. Apparently my dear sweet husband got up before me and started cleaning and fed the kids. This rarely (if never!) happens at my house. I was sure to thank him for letting me sleep. We got the house picked up after that. We put up the decorations and I started the cake baking in the oven. Megan wanted a barbie cake (the cake is baked in a bowl and you jab a barbie in the middle of the upside down cake so the cake is the dress) so I began the preparations for that. It took a good hour for the cake to bake. The neighbor kids came over during that time so Billy took them all outside to play and swim in the pool while I finished getting ready. I got the cake out and cooled but it was so hot in the house that the frosting was melting before I could get it on the cake. I stuck the barbie in the fridge to cool off the frosting. Once she cooled enough I finished decorating her and put her back in the fridge until it was time for cake. Megan was pretty impressed by her cake. :)

We sang happy birthday, ate cake, opened presents, and then went outside to "break" the pinata. The pinata is actually the kind you just pick a ribbon and pull until one pulls the door open. The kids still had fun with it. The neighbor kid put her bag directly under the pinata as the door got pulled open and caught almost all the candy. She really thought I was going to just let her walk away with all that. I grabbed her bag and dumped it all on the ground so the other kids could all get some too. She was pretty mad at me but I thought she was being a brat. I would have talked to my kid about sharing properly if she was mine. Her parents just stood there and laughed.

After all the birthday fun was done, we all spent the day outside in the pool. Once the kids got bored with that we went inside and Megan broke out all her new toys. They spent the next several hours playing with them. Even today they are still playing with them.

Sunday I got up and showered. As I was going to blow dry my hair, I discovered my blow dryer had bit the dust. I thought it was acting a little strangely the last few days but really didn't think much of it. Billy took it apart to see if he could fix it but it was dead. So we ran off to Target in Watertown to get a new one. We figured since we were going all the way to Watertown we might as well grab our swimsuits and go to Lake Kampeska to swim too. We spent the remainder of the afternoon in Watertown. She drove around the lake after we were all done swimming and stopped to play at a couple of parks. The mosquitos were horrible by this time and even though we were all covered in bug spray we ran for cover in the van. We stopped at Burger King on the way home. Once we got home we showered and changed and soon it was bedtime. Marea was being a pain by the time we got home because we realized we had forgotten to give her her medicine with her breakfast. I sent her to bed at 7 p.m. thinking she would just lay up there for 30 minutes or so and chill out. She actually fell asleep and didn't get up until 8 a.m. this morning. I guess all the swimming, playing, and running finally caught up to her. LOL

Despite my poor eating habits this weekend (cake, BK, pop, etc.) I didn't gain any weight and I am looking skinnier and skinnier. I am happy with myself. If I could just get a few more areas toned I think I could be content at this weight. :)

Overall, it was a great lazy and hot summer weekend. I love the summertime. I sure wish I lived in Arizona. :) I will try to get some pics up by tomorrow of Megan's party and the weekend. :) Have a great Monday everyone!

The sound of a kid who is not potty trained in the bathroom is never a good thing. While innocently sitting here reading my email, I hear my little guy shut the toilet. Now either he has decided to start potty training or I am going to go in there and find a whole roll of toilet paper in the toilet. Guess which I found? ;) This is not the first kid to try and clog the toilet. I am just grateful that I got to it before he flushed it!

Last night we went to Watertown and finished getting Megan's Birthday presents. We are having her party tomorrow. It will just be a small family affair. We got her a pinata at Walmart. She is very excited to get to put the candy in. It is the kind of pinata with the ribbons on the bottom so you just pull a ribbon to open it, you don't have to smash it. :) I got Megan the usual schmeel of toys. Hopefully I got at least one toy she will actually look at for more than 10 minutes.

Last night at about 4:30 a.m. Mr. Bill started having one of his night terror fits. He started this when he was about 2 months old. He wakes up (at least we *think* he is awake) and he screams, kicks, cries, etc. for several hours. Nothing we do calms him down. I am not even sure he is aware we are there. I usually get up and hold him and walk and talk. Eventually the sound of my voice talking about nothing gets his attention long enough to pull him out of it. Last night the episode only lasted about a half an hour thank goodness. I feel so bad for him when this happens. Apparently it is something that he will grow out of but it sure throws us for a loop.

After Billy fell asleep I couldn't go back to sleep. I layed in bed stressing over money and the lack thereof. :( I discovered Billy III was also still awake and stressing over his eval! LOL We are a good pair aren't we? So we sat and talked and discussed and tried to come up with a way to alleviate both of our stressors. I am not sure we got anywhere but it soon was 5:51 a.m. and I had to get up and exercise. Billy III went back to sleep for an hour. I am sure I am going to feel the pinch this afternoon. :)

It is SUPPOSED to be warm and sunny today but so far we are still cloudy, windy, and cold. I hope the sun peaks out soon. The kids are dying to get back in the pool.

I was searching ebay last night for a treadmill. I found several for .99! Yes, 99 cents! Some of these treadmills are nordic track and other high end brands. But the catch is, you pay 200 shipping and handling. Some places will let you come pick them up but I am pretty sure a short jaunt to Georgia, Texas, or Washington would cost me at least 200 in gas anyway. Oh well, back to hoping Santa will bring me one. :)

Well I am off to do something today. Take care of yourselves and smile a lot today. :)

Shopping, shopping, shopping! I shopped till I dropped yesterday. Unfortunately it was mostly for stuff like shampoo, diapers, soap, etc. but hey! it was still shopping! LOL I got one present for Megan's birthday. We really want to get her a scooter but WalMart only had one and it wasn't one we wanted so we are going to check out Target tonight. Walmart was out of a lot of stuff yesterday. What is up with my WalMart eh Steve? Are you guys preparing to move already?! :)

I also bought Billy and I some much needed clothes. Billy seems to have hit a growth spurt at 28 years of age! :) He has been in a 28/32 jean since I met him but lately I have noticed his jeans looking a bit tight. I got him two pair of 32/34 yesterday and they fit really well. I also had to get him bigger underwear. I think he has gained 25lbs in the last year! Yikes! It doesn't even show on him though. I really don't know where it is. He is is still stick thin. I wish I could gain 25lbs and not have it show! LOL I got myself a few shirts too. I seem to have lost all of my summery shirts somewhere. I pulled out my summer clothes and I only had one or two t-shirts. Anyway now I have some more stylish clothes that don't make me look bigger than I am.

I also had the pleasure of going to renew my driver's license in Brookings yesterday. I walked in and there was just one other person getting their license. I was in and out in 10-15 minutes. The new license's are really cool. I like them much better than the old ones. They haven't gone up in price since I got my last one either. I was surprised. I got my pic taken and did the eye exam and passed both with flying colors. :) I actually don't mind my picture too much. It was sort of shocking to compare the two pictures from my old license to my new one. I don't look like a teenager anymore. :)

I worried about the eye exam because I have this issue since I was pregnant with Becca about seeing correctly. I can read stuff up close just fine but when I look up at something far away it takes my eyes awhile to adjust. I went to the eye doctor a few years ago and he said it is just because I read too much up close and so those muscles are stronger than the ones I use to read far away. He said I could get glasses to help with it or I could practice reading at different distances everyday. I had a little trouble pulling the letters together at the exam but I did get it right. I am the ONLY person in my family who doesn't have glasses. My dad didn't need glasses until he was 50 something and then it is just for reading. I hope I can stay glasses free. :)

I also put myself down as an organ doner on my license. This has been an issue between Billy and I since we met. He does not want me to be an organ doner and I don't want him to be cremated. I hope by the time I die, he will have changed his mind and allow them to donate my organs to help save others. That would be the ultimate gift, I think, to help someone else's mom, sister, wife, daughter, etc. live a long full life. I realized the other day that I don't really care so much anymore if Billy gets cremated in the end. I will love him whether he is here or not. I will just put up one headstone for the two of us anyway. :)

I finally got tires put on my van yesterday. It was only 83.00 for two tires installed. That is sooo much cheaper than Big O. Now we will have to see how long these tires hold up. If they are good ones I will probably go back and have the other two done. The guys at the station were really nice too. I was very pleased with our service.

I also am very very pleased with Godfather's pizza in Brookings. We hadn't ate there in quite awhile but we went a couple of weeks ago when they had their buffet out. (Tuesday and Wednesday) We went again last night and I am soo impressed. They ask you when you order if there is a specific kind of pizza you would like on the buffet and they regularly stop by to ask you how everything is. They are very friendly and helpful and the buffet is cheaper for all of us to eat than it is to go to McDonalds. It was only 21.31 for all 7 of us to eat and that INCLUDED drinks. How awesome is that?! When we go to pizza hut we get one pizza and drinks for 30.00+


Today is another rainy, bleary, and cold day. I am getting the kids and myself motivated today anyway. I decided we need to get the house cleaned up and organized. It is getting wrecked from having 5 kids home all day. So far we have gotten the upstairs done and now we are going to tackle the floors, bathrooms, and the living room. It will be nice to sit in a clean house for a few hours. :)

TTFN!

Busy, Busy, Busy! Today is going to be a fun but busy day.

I have to drop the van off at our local gas station to have two new tires put on. The front one has a continuous leak. I was going to take it to Big O in Brookings, where I usually get tires, but the guys here said they could meet Big O's deal so we are going to try them. I am a little nervous leaving my van at a small town gas station but I am going to see how it goes. :) After the van gets done then we are off to Brookings to buy Birthday presents and household junk. We are going to have Megan's party on Saturday since her birthday is in the middle of the week next week and we have a wedding that weekend. She is very excited to be finally having her birthday! Once we are done shopping we will probably go out for dinner and then we need to hit the grocery store. After we get food, we will come home. It is going to be a full and expensive day! :)

I got Billy's father's day gift yesterday. I ordered a Dell computer for him. I checked out their supply of refurbished computers and they are fairly reasonably priced so I ordered him one. Our old one is really getting ancient (It has 4mb of RAM and the new ones don't come with less than 40mb!) I got an email today saying it shipped this morning so it should be here in plenty of time for Father's Day. He is going to be so excited to have a functional computer! Now I just have to figure out where we are going to set it up at! LOL

I made appointments today for the kids to get to the doctors. Billy and Megan are due for their yearly checkups and Becca has some warts she wants froze off. We have it scheduled for next week. I am glad we are done with immunizations for awhile. I just have Cassie and Billy left. They will need their kindergarten shots when it is time and then we are done. It is so amazing to think my kids are all getting so old. :) Marea got her shots at her visit in February so she is ready for Kindergarten! Next year I will have three kids in school full time and Cassie will go half days in the afternoon. I won't know what to do with myself. :)

We have lost our summery weather here in South Dakota again. We had three days of sunshine and now it is back to cold, wet, and bleary. I even set up the kids swimming pool and now I will have to dump it before we get to use it again. I may just buy some chlorine stuff today so the mosquitos can't breed in the water in the pool. Then I don't have to dump it so often this summer. I hope summer comes soon. I love when it is 90F! I will move to Florida yet! LOL

Yesterday was a pretty boring day around here. I finished washing the gazillions of blankets that have piled up in the laundry. I also got all our sleeping bags washed so we are ready to go camping. I spent most of the day putzing around the house. The Schwan's man was supposed to show up yesterday and I was all ready to order some ice cream and stuff for Megan's birthday and then he never showed. That is the first time in two years he hasn't shown up. I wonder if his truck broke down or something. Maybe he will show up today. If not I will have to get ice cream at the grocery store and pray it doesn't melt too much on the way home. :(

My weight fight is holding steady. I am still at 147 but at least I am not going up. I am going to try going back to the rapid plan for 2 weeks again and see if that will drop two or three pounds for me. I will start it tomorrow. Somebody check on me to make sure I am doing it, I think it is going to be harder to stick to this time around. :)

I talked to my SIL yesterday. Apparently my nephew is still in foster care and they meet with his mom today to discuss what happens next. We all have come to the decision that he is better off in foster care than being dragged from one bar to the next. There were rumors circulating before my SIL got in trouble that he was being left in the car while she was in the bars at night. I don't know if it is true or not but I certainly wouldn't put it past her. Drugs, alcohol, and the like rule her life. It is her life. I don't think she can function anymore without all that junk. I truly think her son would be better off in a family where he is cared for and loved. I should probably call the social worker and see what is going on with this case. I still haven't decided what I am going to do if he is put up for adoption. My husband is game either way. He is such a great person. Many days I wish I could be as loving and forgiving as he is.

We heard news the other day that Bob may be coming home from Iraq as early as July! I am so excited for him. It will be so nice to finally have him home. I try not to get my hopes up or the kids hopes up but we are holding on to the thought that he will be home soon. They just sent home another guard troop so it is possible that he will get to come home soon. :) Becca talks about her Uncle Bob to anyone who will listen. You can tell she is very proud of him for being over there but she is also very worried about him. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a child trying to understand why someone is over in another country in the middle of the fighting. It is hard enough for me to understand why we are doing it and I am an adult!

I was going through some old boxes the other day and sorting some stuff. I found a bunch of letters that Billy and I wrote to each other when we were dating. Quite frequently, in the summers, he would go across the state to his mom's. We wrote to each other quite a bit then. My husband, who hates to read, actually wrote me several letters that were quite good. I also finally found the "reason" we decided to get married. It has been a long standing joke that Billy never actually proposed to me. We went shopping one day in Hot Springs and I stopped at a Black Hills Gold jewelry store. I was looking at the rings and trying to decide which one to buy. I couldn't decide on one so I said maybe I would get two. Billy just nodded and that was how we got engaged, I bought TWO rings. (Notice the *I* bought them part. I paid for my own rings. LOL But then Billy was still in High School and I was the one working so I was the one who bought everything for us.)So later that day we told everyone we were engaged. I put one ring away for the wedding and wore the other. Anyway, back to the letters. In many of the letters he said things like, "I am ready to marry you whenever you are ready" "I can't wait to marry you" etc. So that is how we decided to get married. LOL We were young, I admit, but we also had good heads on our shoulders and I doubt you could have found two people who love each other more. I would be nervous for any of my kids to get married at 17 and 19 but I would not stop them. I am so thankful to my mom and Billy's parents for never telling us we should not get married (not that it would have stopped us anyway). It was so nice to feel the support and love our parents had for us. I wouldn't change a thing about our proposal. I love my husband more today than I did then. I never would have thought that was possible back then.

I haven't talked to my mom for quite awhile. It is depressing to me to talk to her now. My mom has been, how do I put this?, very ill? for the last 10-15 years. She used to be a healthy vibrant woman. During my high school years she got hurt at work. I think at that point she realized she could get a lot of attention by being injured/sick. She had a very tough childhood where attention was lacking so I think this filled a deep void for her. At any rate, over the next several years she quickly acquired disease after disease. She has chronic pain that I truly believe she does have but she exaggerates the issues so her doctors pay attention. She has been on strong painkillers for about 10 years but in the last 2-3 years it has become a legal drug habit. She is seeing things, is paranoid, feels like we are all conspiring against her, etc. The sad part is she doesn't even realize how far gone she is. Unfortunately she has found a doctor who hands out prescriptions first and asks questions later. I feel like I have lost my mom. I don't want to talk to her and I try not to go visit too much. I don't want my kids exposed to her problems and I feel if I ignore the problem it will go away. Dumb I know but I don't know how else to deal with it. My mom is only 54 but if you met her you would guess she is 70. She never goes anywhere because she says it hurts too much to walk, she doesn't do anything around the house as far as cleaning, cooking, etc. She sits on her computer all day playing internet games and drinking coffee. It depresses me to see her that way. I wish she could be a healthier happier person. I never saw my kids grandmother like this. I wanted her to be involved and fun. Unfortunately, they are the ones who will be missing out. My kids still worship grandma, but I am sure it won't be long before they start to see her for who she really is. It is so sad that she can't be here for us.

Enough rambling for today. I am off to get this day moving! Have a great day ya'll!

Monday is here again!

This weekend was a fairly productive one for the Sides family. Saturday we spent the day outside enjoying the sunshine and heat that I have so longingly been waiting for. The kids played in the sprinkler and rode their bikes around the yard. I even had to break out the sunscreen!We went for a four mile bike ride this weekend. The kids don't seem to be enjoying our rides nearly as much as they were before. We may have to stop for awhile.

Sunday we got motivated. Billy and I cleaned up the attic. Last year we had a contractor come spray insulation in the floor of the attic and we also had duct work put into the upstairs so we had piled all the boxes into the center of the attic and their was insulation everywhere. I got the boxes organized and cleaned up and then we swept the floor. It looks so much nicer up there. We talked about finishing off the attic to make two more bedrooms for the girls. It is a huge attic. The ceiling at the peak is probably 12 feet or so. It has a cute loft area above the dormer that we could fit a bed. I am sure the girls would find that exciting. :) After we finished the attic we tackled the basement. It has been messy since the new furnace was put in. Billy and I sorted through all the stuff a few weeks ago so yesterday we got all the garbage out and organized the rest of the stuff. You should see our garbage pile today. :)

Billy then worked on some plumbing in the basement. The old bathroom seems to constantly be springing leaks so he fixed a few of those. I can't wait until we get the new bathroom done so we can rip the old one out! :) While Billy was plumbing, I decided to get out the paint and touch up the garage and shed where the paint was peeling. Billy got up on the top of the garage to paint the very top. I am just too ladder shy to climb that high. The girls thought it looked like fun though and followed Dad up the ladder. I got a picture of them all sitting on the roof.


It is sad to think we just painted the buildings last summer and already we had a lot of touch up work to do. It is a good thing I got an extra five gallons of our paint color. It is color matched to the siding so it all looks cohesive. By the time we got all that done it was 7 p.m. so we decided to call it a day. The kids got some more time in the sprinkler and the wading pool. I had contemplated setting up the big pool today but it looks incredibly windy and I don't care to fight the wind just to set up the pool.

Well, it is Monday and that means laundry. Have a great day and spend time with someone you admire today.

On Tuesday my dear sweet husband decided to risk driving home with the low fuel light on instead of taking the time to stop and get gas. I got a phone call at about 5 p.m. from him asking me to come get him at the Brandt turn and bring the gas can. I loaded the kids into his van (yes, he was driving MY van) and we went to where he was. He put the gas in but the van still wouldn't start. I suggested maybe it was because the van was sitting on a pretty good slope so he pushed the van forward almost into the farmer's corn field where the ground was flatter. After a couple more tries the van started. We took both vans to the gas station and filled them up (gas was only 1.96 that day! :) While we were there the gas attendent came out and said, "It looks like you need a new tire there. I can put one on for pretty cheap." Billy told him we don't really need one yet and we usually get tires at Big O (At least Jodi does, Billy has never been around when I decide to take the vans in for new tires. ;) After we got gas, we brought both vans home and then we all played outside. A little while later I noticed the front tire on the van was a little flat. I showed Billy and he jokingly said he probably ran over something in the field. A couple of hours later I noticed the van tire was totally flat! URRRRR! So now we have to get a new tire, and will probably get two so they match.

Yesterday after Billy got home from work we decided to go for a bike ride. We loaded everyone up and as we were leaving Billy said it looked like my back tire needed some air so we went to the gas station to fill it up. As we turned off the highway to go back into Brandt we noticed a red car driving down the highway. We kept going and then Billy said he thought maybe that was Sarah. We realized then that is was because the red car stopped at our house. We decided to nix our bike ride then and go home so Sarah didn't drive all the way from Brookings for nothing. Sarah is sort of a friend of ours. I say sort of because we never really initiated this friendship nor do we do much to continue it. Let me explain: We met Sarah shortly after we moved back to Brookings in 2000. We were renting a trailer north of Brookings and she was renting the trailer just north of ours. After we had been living there for a few months we would see her outside during the day. Eventually she started coming over when we were outside and then one day she came over and stayed for several hours. We finally had to almost throw her out at 1 a.m. that night because we were going to bed. Sarah is 21 and her boyfriend is 30 something. He works from 4 in the afternoon until 2 or 3 in the morning so she is alone all that time. She started coming over almost everyday after that first day. She started telling us about herself and her life. We discovered she had had a baby the previous year which had many severe birth defects and it died shortly after birth. She talked to us endlessly about him and how much it hurt. We tried to be there for her because we figured it was a very difficult time in her life but nothing we said seemed to have any impact on her. Then she decided they were going to have another baby and they began trying to get pregnant. She constantly talked about that and how hard it was and wanted to know why it was so easy for us to pregnant and she can't. (I was 3-4 months pregnant with Billy at that time). I tried to reassure her that it would happen and not to worry. She started coming over right after her boyfriend left for work and didn't leave until we almost pushed her out the door at night. It got to the point that we made sure we left the house before her boyfriend left so we could have some alone family time. It was not pleasant. Then we found this house in Brandt and were so excited to move. We figured once we moved we would not see her again and we wished her well. We were wrong. After we had been here about a year, she showed up at our door. Apparently she found where Brandt was and drove up here. She asked at the post office to see if they knew where we lived (it is a town of 100, so they knew). Since then she has been showing up whenever she feels like it. It is sort of annoying because she doesn't call to let us know she is coming and she doesn't even ask if she can. She got pregnant right after we left Brookings and now has a healthy boy who is 15 months old. Yesterday when she came she informed us she is pregnant again and due in December or January. It is an odd relationship. I am not really sure what she gets out of visiting with us but it must be something because she keeps coming back. :)

I am having a really rough week with Marea. I wish I knew what set off these downhill runs so I could stop them before it gets bad. She thinks she can take control of everyone and everything so I am constantly in a battle to maintain that I am the mom and she is the kid. I hate these times.

The rest of the kids are doing great. Megan has become my little helper. She likes to do anything she can to help me. I think that is her way of saying "PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" LOL Being that she is the middle child and the least demanding of my children, I figure I better jump when she is asking for attention. She is so independent and always has been that sometimes I forget she still needs me. I have to stop myself and make sure I spend some time with her each day. Cassie walks around telling me she loves me all day. She is such a loving person that sometimes it makes me uncomfortable. I am not a huggy, touchy, feely person but I try for Cassie's sake. You should see her and my sister Vonnie. They are both touchy people and they sit and hug for hours when Vonnie is here. If I didn't know better I would swear Becca is hitting PMS. She has been soooo moody lately. It is hard to know what to say or do around her so you don't set her off. Right now my solution to her fits is to send her to her room until she can calm down. I am hoping that will help her when she really gets PMS to calm herself down. I can't even imagine what it will be like in my house in 5-6 years. Four teenage girls in one house. OY!

On that note, I better go get these girls in the shower. Have a wonderful sunshiney day everyone!

It is only Thursday! Cripes this week suddenly came to a grinding halt! I thought it was Friday. :( This is what happens when you have no where to go or anything to do, the days just blend into each other. :)

Morning started with a bang here. The kids are at each other's throats and not playing nice. We finally got outside for a few hours yesterday but then the rain came again and we were forced back inside. I so hope the sun shines today cause I don't know how much more of this bleary weather I can take.

While we were outside yesterday I picked up two fully grown dead birds in the yard. Last week we picked up 20+ baby birds that didn't even have feathers yet. I don't know what is going on with them this year. I wonder if someone is spraying something they are eating and passing on to their babies. It is sort of eery to find several dead birds in my yard each day.

I called the extension office yesterday to see if they could help us with our 6 pine trees. They are 60 some feet tall but 3/4 of the branches are dead. We want to know if there is anything we can do to save them or if we just have to cut them down. The extension people weren't in so I left a message. He called back at 7:50 this morning. What an efficient guy eh? Unfortunately he didn't know what to do so he gave me another guy to call at SDSU. I will try them after lunch and see if they can help save my trees. I would hate to cut them down after they have been here for so long.

Billy is due for a raise and eval this month. Dak always gives him a raise but I wish for once they would see how valuable he is to their company and show him. Everyone is constantly ooohing and aaahing over his work but it never shows in his paycheck. I told him if he went to work for Disney he would probably start at 89K and their top animators make 100K-150K. We just don't want to move to California though. We have explored Pixar and Dreamworks too. It bothers me that they take advantage of his good nature. I guess it is easy to judge when I am sitting at home and not the one in the office. There! I have said my peace! LOL

I am still on this weight loss bandwagon although I fear it is not moving. I don't know what else I can do to get it going. I am stuck at 147 and the scale shows no signs of moving again. I am about to schedule an appointment with my doctor to see if he has any suggestions. I am eating about 1500 calories a day which should be perfect to lose weight. I have read and reread Dr. Phil's book but I am not learning any new tricks. I exercise 1 hour 5 days a week now. You would think something would happen wouldn't you.

Well I am off to run this house. It seems to crash and burn when I am gone too long! Have a great day and smile a lot!

Even ghost didn't want to get up this morning! :) She sat and watched me exercise for a few minutes and when I glanced over at her this is what she was doing. :)

Today the sun is supposed to come out here in South Dakota. I am beginning to wonder if I live in Oregon with all the rain we have been having. My garden is loving all the rain though. My radishes popped up after only one week and today I went out and saw my peas are up and big too. I am excited to start getting vegetables from the garden. A few of my tomato plants died. One night must have gotten too cold. I might go get some more plants since I forgot to get cucumbers anyway. I have a small herb garden growing this year too. I am hoping it will inspire me to cook a little more. I really wish cooking wasn't such a chore for me. I just don't enjoy it. I would honestly rather clean the toilets than cook.

Yesterday though I spent most of the afternoon making muffins. I baked Banana Streusel, Cranberry, and Chocolate Chip muffins. Megan helped me make them. It was a lot of fun. Billy III really liked the Cranberry ones which surprised me. I didn't think he even liked cranberries. Shows you what I know eh?

Billy and I have our computers networked now so the last few nights we have sat up playing Star Wars together. It is a lot of fun. I play occasionally on my own too but now that all the kids are home it is hard to sneak in a hour of mommy time. I never would have bought this game had I seen it in the stores but it is a pretty fun game. It can also be played with other people over the internet. We haven't gotten brave enough to try that yet.

Last night Mr. Bill would not lay down and go to sleep so he climbed into bed with us. I told him to lay down and go to sleep and he yells at me, "I don't lay down and sweep!" I laughed and told him he had a crappy attitude and I also grabbed his nose. He laughed and said, "I don't have crap on my nose!" I said, "Nope you have a crappy attitude!" He said, "No tude!" LOL

This month is going to be a busy one for us. Megan's birthday is on the 17th, Billy IV turns two on the 21st, and our 11th anniversary is on the 26th. We also have to squeeze father's day in there somewhere. On top of that there are three weddings this month that we would like to attend. One is in the hills, one in Iowa, and one in Sioux Falls. Megan is very excited to be finally having her birthday. She has been planning for it for months. :) Billy IV is obviously totally clueless. I am excited for him though. I love watching him get older and smarter. He is definetly all boy. I told Billy III it is going to take some getting used to seeing him completely covered in food, dirt, mud, etc. He doesn't even mind when he is dirty. Lately he has begun to eat his meals like cookie monster eats a cookie. It is very scary. I hope table manners kick in before he is 10. LOL

Did all you South Dakotan's get out and vote? Yesterday was the special election here in SD. Stephanie Herseth won by 2% points. What an amazing election that was. I checked the news first thing this morning to see if she had won for sure. Larry Diedrich gave his speech already this morning and Stephanie is due to do hers soon. Those of you who know me, know I am not much into politics. I am a registered independent because personally I think the "party" idea bites. I think we should all choose a leader based on their qualities not because they say they are democrat or republican. But since I don't seem to be the majority, the parties remain. :)

Well I best get the rest of laundry done and try to get some outside time today. I am sooooo ready for the sun to peak through. Have a great day everyone.

Salespeople! URRRRR! I hate door to door salespeople. This morning in the middle of my cleaning spree a nice Georgian college girl knocked on my door. She is selling books for kids. How convienient that she find a house with five kids. I amused her by listening to her sales pitch and then politely informed her that I don't have $80 laying around for a set of books. She started in about how good the books are, how the kids would enjoy them, blah, blah, blah. At least when they call on the phone I can just hang up. When they are standing in front of me I just wimp out. I think I do it because I put myself in their shoes and I know how hard it is to sell stuff to other people. So I did what I always do, buy the cheapest thing they are selling and usher them out the door. Do you think if I put a no soliciting sign on my door they would actually listen?

Yesterday we spent the day entertaining Becca and Megan's friends who had come for a sleepover. We awoke and got every one dressed only to discover the 9 year old friend had peed while sleeping that night and she happened to be the one on the couch. I wouldn't have minded so much had she told us the problem. Instead I found out when I sat down on the couch. Ewwwww! So today my couch is ripped apart and being washed.

We went for a 4 mile bike ride on Sunday again. It was really windy so we cut our ride a little shorter than usual. It was still fun. We have found some flatter roads that require a little less effort so I think we will start riding those more regularly. We took all the kids to Burger King yesterday too. It was fun to get out of the house. I am really ready for this windy weather to get out of here. While we were driving around Brookings we drove by SDSU (the college) and the kids kept saying "Wow! Those are big parking lots." Becca turned to the kids and said, "Well, duh! They have to be that big because teenagers drive in them." I tried so hard not to laugh. Apparently teenagers need bigger parking lots! Who knew?!

While we were at Burger King, I couldn't count the number of people who blatantly stared at us. I realize we have a lot of kids but you think people would get used to seeing a large family wouldn't you? I am really getting tired of people whispering under their breath as we walk in the mall, as we sit down to eat, shop at walmart, or just do anything in public. I feel like we have a huge physical disorder the way people stare. I actually prefer those of you who are daring enough to ask me if the kids are all mine. At least then I can tell you my husband is 28 not 18 and I am not 50 years old!

No one told me once you got married and became parents that guilt would become a fairly regular visitor in my life. Before I married and had kids I could do most anything I wanted without an ounce of guilt. Now I feel bad for not buying my kids all the junk food they want, buying the newest shoes, buying name brand clothes, running off to every event or activity they want to do, etc. I have realized that people push other people to do things using guilt. Why do we do this to each other? I know as a mom, I lay enough guilt on myself, I don't need others to add to that. I try to reason with myself when I don't buy myself new underwear even though my old ones have holes and I haven't bought new ones for well over four years. But, in the end I feel guilty because I know I could have used that money to buy something else for someone else. I think we all beat ourselves up enough. Dr. Phil always talks about turning off that internal dialogue that tells us we are not good enough, strong enough, happy enough, guilty enough, etc. I think it is time for me to listen. Dr. Phil knows all! :)

I have been watching a new PBS series called Colonial House. It is a few 2004 families who voluntarily went to live in the 1600's. It is staged as the new colonist's came over on the boats and tried to set up life in the USA. This is my kind of reality show! I am soooo fascinated by these shows. I watched their previous one, Frontier House, which was set in the 1800's too. I am loving Colonial House. I am afraid I missed the last episode though as it wasn't on last night. I know it will rerun if I did. I would absolutely love to go on that show and live in the 1600's. I have always been amazed at the work that went into running a household back then. I can't imagine working from sun-up to sun-down just to survive. I would love to do it for four months. I am a little disappointed this time around as it seems the producers are allowing the colonist's to deviate from the "norm" for the 1600's quite a bit. I may do it in a few years when I don't have to have five kids in tow. I can't imagine having five kids in a time like that. I can see why the kids started working so young. They had to if the family was going to survive. I don't think my husband would want to go but I am sure he would if I asked. Something to consider.

Well, do I feel better know? Yes, actually I do. I am sorry this is such a down post. Somedays just aren't peachy in the life of Jodi! But then, the day has just begun so hopefully the sun will come out yet today! Have a great, smiley day ya'll!

P.S. Found out last night my SIL was bailed from jail. I guess old habits die hard. Hopefully we find out tomorrow what hoops she has to jump through to get her son back. :(