Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!

At 6 am tomorrow morning, 3 fabulous Divas will start their journey to parts unknown (ok, it's North Conway, New Hampshire...but that sounds less dramatic) to spend 2 days without their children, without their husbands and without a care in the world, their mission..to relax, decompress after a long sticky summer and clear their minds of mac and cheese and dirty socks. The Diva 3 will enjoy a concert by Natalie McMaster, dinner, min golf, and ice cream for lunch. ahhhhhh. Now if I can just survive the 3rd rainy day in a row with crazed cabin fevered children I'm all set :) Later!

I'm going back to school...and I hope I get a "Bee"

for many years now i have been facinated with the hobby of beekeeping, but of course it seemed like such a huge project I certainly did not want to jump in without any kind of guidance! So this winter I will be enrolling myself in Bee University! It's a 6 week course that gives you the ins and outs of keeping bees...i'm so excited! The bee population is dwindling, i can vouch for that noticing a lack of bees in my backyard...and my backyard is a bee buffet with all the flowers and plants I have! It may not make a huge difference, but i feel that my little effort could help...plus, fresh honey! beeswax for soap and candles (which of course i'll have to learn to make...another course maybe?)

zzzzzzzzzzzz...mom....mom....moooooommmmmyyy

It's been 14 years since I have had a full nights sleep...what an awful reality! Finally it's starting to catch up with me as I am so tired this week I could fall asleep standing up. Lately the youngest has taken to playing "midnight visitor" with me...of course that's just the time it starts...as I escort him back to bed every hour or so reminding him that "we are sleeping, it's night, I will see you in the morning" only to hit the pillow and within minutes hear the pitter patter of feet and feel the warm, stinko breath of an 8yr old in my face...ugh!

Meanwhile...the beloved snores next to me...oblivious to all around him, only to wake in the morning and go "hey Gavin slept through the night..isnt' that great" and then I punch him dead in the face.

No no no, not really, I don't do that...but boy howdy am I thinking it!!! So maybe the sand man will take pity on me and dump a truck load of the sleepy sand on Gavin and maybe I'll only get one or two "mommy..you sleep with me" requests. I think these are the joys of parenthood they speak of in all those expert parenting books. oh that and poop being smeared on walls.....that's a joy too.

Ritalin...the musical

Note my desperate attempt in this picture to keep my son from attacking and killing Marvin the Martain for whom he had a personal vendetta against...this was 24 hours ago...pre Ritalin. Horrors! My life had become unlivable as I watched my poor kid try to maintain some sort of sanity while his brain was being fueled by high octaine signals. We had gotten to the point where I couldn't be alone with him because he would attack me, biting, scratchin, hitting. He would run full force from one activity to another, never staying more than 2 seconds and then throwing the said toy across the room. He wouldn't stay buckled up in the car and would scream like someone was murdering him....charming no?

My son has isodicentric 15. A duplication of chromosone 15. No, you can't remove the extra bits...and yes I did ask. This duplication can cause epilpesy, ADHD, and autism. We got blessed with all 3.

Today, finally, his neurolgy team listened to my desperate plea to help him, me and his siblings. Today we started Ritalin. I cannot tell you the marvelous change in him. He is calm, nobody has been hit all day, he is talking in nice conversations, he is playing on his own and with his brothers....wow....wow wow wow!

Don't judge! I've tried changing his diet, chiropractics, chanting, drumming, horse back riding therapy. I didn't just say "give me the drugs dammit" but now that i see how much happier he is with a calm brain...i kick myself for not doing this sooner. I cried a little today for the loss of the turbo charged kid I've known for the last few years but said hello to the little guy asking me to sit and play trains with him...and I did so without having to resort to ninja like moves to avoid a wicked hair pulling :)

Baby Diva....not so much a baby anymore

So tonight I dropped off my beloved little girl (ok she is almost 15...and towers over me, but hey!) on her first official date...with a boy....whom i met for the first time at the drop off. I can't say who was more nervous; him, me or Emily. Of course I had been razzing her all day about it. Threatening to send her father instead of me (no mom pleeeeeeeeeeaaaase no) or pretending I was going with them...i even offered to share my popcorn...tee hee. then I said no of course i wouldn't sit with them...i'd be happy to sit a few rows back and yell "HAND CHECK...GET 'EM IN THE AIR BUDDY!" every few minutes, again, horror looks.

I packed up her little brother (who was rockin' his pajamas) and drove her over...I met the boy outside, he seems nice, it took all I had not to hand her a rosary and say "remember you are a child of Christ" but no...i restrained myself. Now I have 2 hours before I go and get her...I think i shall consume a gallon of Peanut Butter Paniac Ice Cream. sigh. why do they have to grow up???

Summer days and knitting nights....

There is nothing quite like a day at the beach, sunny skies, itchy sandy bottoms, waves just big enough to boogie board in but not so big that you get knocked over, just a hint of floating seaweed (ewwwww...it's slimy!!!) digging a hole to the other side of the world, then getting buried up to your neck in the hole....good times! Even better...stopping at Moo Moo's Ice Cream shack on the ride home! The best is the last few minutes home, when all the kids are sleeping in the back of the van....and it's quiet!

After we get home and the kiddos are showered, powdered, fed and pajamad...I get to work on my knitting! I'm a felt bag obsessed girl right now, pictured above is my latest...came out a bit smaller than I expected (could be because I got distracted while it was washing and didn't check on it...ooops!) but no worries!