I'm going out tonight....with grown ups....real live grown up people (well, ladies above a legal age to be sure...as far as behavior goes, it's questionable) So if you don't hear from me in few days....I had a DARN good time :)

The demise of the beloved Red Vaccuum.

Today Gavin and I (Hoobie and Mom!) will be performing open machine surgery on our beloved red vaccuum (did i spell that right? one c? ) No vaccuum (however you spell it) was ever loved more than ours...not only is it racing red..Gavin's favorite color, but it's something he just loves to obsess over. All my friends know that as soon as he walks through their door they better just move out of the way so he can find their sucking up of the dust apparatus (i'll go back to misspelling vaccuum) and comment on the size and color of it. It's his thing..however, do NOT turn it on...no no no no. See some vaccums are just too loud or have a weird whining noise that puts the hair on his neck on edge...we had to go through several experimental vaccums before we found the beloved red dirt devil. It calms him to use it, and lets face it, i'm not going to argue if somebody else wants to run it around the floor...i'm not THAT crazy!

So yesterday it began to smoke, and a horrid burnt rubber smell filled the room....it's only the belt and should be an easy fix...but i'm not what one might call mechanical and i might just make things worse. we shall see.

I blinked and the weekend was gone.

Ahhhh school vacation! I'm full of all kinds of wonderous bonding ideas at the beginning and at the end I would give my children to the first wandering band of gypsies that happen to go by our house (not that we get wandering gypsies all that often...but quite frankly it sounds nicer and more romantic than saying "i'm ready to put my kids out with the recycle bin")

Anyway, our big adventure this week was heading out to the Dr. Suess sculpture garden in Springfield. The day was perfect, not hot but blue skies and a nice breeze. It was a long ride, the youngest lost his cool after about an hour but we managed (ok, i threw a Happy Meal his way, it smoothed things over) and really enjoyed our day. There is also 4 different museums there as well, the boys really like the science/nature museum and baby diva was all about the sculpture and art, so a little something for everyone. Best part was they all fell asleep on the way home and I got to listen to what I wanted on the radio and was able to hold a conversation with my cousin Jen (we kidnapped her for the day...ha ha ha, she is still recovering I'm sure).

Longest Week EVER!!!!!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to loose my mind this week....no no really, I feel it just might happen.

Sooooooo Baby Diva (my eldest and only daughter) sprained her quad muscle in her leg...no we don't know how it happened so she was out of comission for the beginning of the week, missing dance and baseball and making her most cranky.

Gavin (aka Hoobie or Tribble Boy) just hates the lack of rountine, and try as I might...can't seem to do the same thing every day. Austism can really suck during vacations..he is currently crying at the window because the trash man hasn't been by yet to get our trash....and i have no idea when this will happen...grrrrrr.

the other two boys are just whiney. One has a cub scout project that he needs to get done, and god forbid he should follow any instructions (typical male!) so i'm looking at this glue and popsicle stick contraption that is supposed to be a bridge and I'm shaking my head as to how I'm going to fix this without having to set foot in a store (see note on Hoobie...not taking him out into public)

The oldest boy is mad. None of his friends seem to be around, of course he does wait until the last possible minute to make plans with them..but that (according to him) should not matter, they should be waiting for him to invite them over to play....i managed to wrangle a grandparent into taking him to the movies.

Sooo yeah, longest week ever and it's only Thursday!!!

"Don't stand still too long...Mom will box you up for a yard sale!"

Now just to set the record straight, I am not by nature a clean freak...I believe in free ranging my dust bunnies and it's really ok for the dishes to sit in the sink for the afternoon. My bathrooms are about the only room I make a supreme effort to keep very clean...mostly because there are 4 boys in this house who cannot aim with any accuracy at all.

But once (or sometimes twice) a year a bizarre phenomenon occurs that throws me into a tizzy of cleaning, I become a raving lunatic scouring every inch of the house and purging closets like a demon...... THE ARRIVAL OF MY GRANDMOTHER!!!!

I have two weeks or so to make sure this house shines (like the top of the Chystler building...ala Ms. Hanagain from Annie) and that places I know she will never ever look are neat and tidy. Combine this with outrageous PMS and you have a recipe for disaster...so I clean between bouts of hysterical crying and chocolate gorging..good times.

There is absolutely no reason for me to act like this, that's the kicker. Gram has never ever judged my cleaning, she knows how hard it is to keep the kids happy and take care of the house, it's near impossible some days. So Why??? I'll tell you why...it's not that she ever spoke out loud the words "Gee would it kill her to run a cloth over these shelves" it's the look of disgust..pursed lips, crinkled nose, one eye slightly closed. I'm telling you her look of death could end all wars presently going on in the world.

Because I hate to suffer alone, I've enlisted my cousin to share in the carnage. She is a trooper, I plan on using her as the human shield.

School Spring break is upon us....do i have enough mac and cheese?

April is Autism Awareness Month, be award, be understanding,

It's that time of the year! Spring break!!! One whole week when the kiddos are all home and all bored at the same time! yahoooo! Can't wait for it! So today was the emergency run to the store for the kid food essentials (juice boxes, mac and cheese, and other various snackies) and of course coffee for mommy because if mommy ain't caffined up nobody is safe!

Our plans for the week are low key to be sure. Everyone can have a friend over but not all on the same day...been there done that...it's a little much for me to handle. And Gavin has a special bowling day with his "peeps" that should prove to be a lot of fun.

Cannot believe how much the chicks are growing!! They are going through their awkward faze right now, kind of feathery but still fluffy...and they are ditzy as all get out. Still, we love having them just as much...have been bugging the beloved to get on building the coop because before you know it they will be ready to move out of the laundry room and into roomier accomodations.

We had a frost last night, i was running around the backyard trying to cover all the baby plants up with compost to keep them warm..i think they all survived. It's all just cold weather crops at the moment (potatoes, kale, garlic, pumpkins) but i wasn't taking any chances.

Mother's Day is just around the corner and this year is going to be a good one...I'll be spending it with my favorite Mommies!!

The Girls have arrived!

Tuesday afternoon the call came in from our Post Office Hello, just calling to let you know your chicks have arrived...peep peep". the kids happened to have that day off from school so we all bustled into the car (ok Baby Diva was elsewhere but i did have one of the boy's friends over, my second son Seth) and "went downtown to pick up some chicks" which my eldest son found hysterical...and i found a little creepy :)

We took our peeping box o'chicks home and got them settled in. We have 4 gorgeous Partridge Rock Hen chicks all fluffy and brown and little nutty...they just bounce around peeping, pooping and eating! We can already see that they are getting bigger and while we haven't figured out which one is which yet (their names are Nugget, Noodle, Parmagina and Patty) we can definatly see different personalities in all of them. The kids love going in for a Chick Check in the morning and thankfully the cats don't seem to have a clue they are here...or maybe they could care less..which is just fine by me!

Spring! (the musical...kidding, i won't sing i promise)

Ahhhhhhh lovely lovely signs of spring! I have some bulbs coming up (and apparently some dandilions as well....dang it!) dropped the 'taters in the ground and my garlic is popping up as well...and just look at my cute little peach tree with it's pretty little flowers! I love the colors of them...the apple trees are budding as well but they are not as impressive as these yet..sorry apple trees no offense.

Longest Day Ever! And it ain't over yet!

Well the boys were up waaaaay earlier than is decent and begging to get outside and hunt for eggs..i managed to put them off until Mummy could at least get a cup of coffee in her system and BAM they were out the door.....80 miles an hour flying around the yard yelping and screaming like a bunch of crazed banshees looking for trouble! It took me: 3 hours to find suitable egg stuffers/ 1 hour to stuff the eggs /and 30 minutes to hide them (with the help of my daughter...baby diva...who chose not to partipate in the hunt due to her advanced teen age.) and a whoping 5 minutes for it all to be done and over with. Now what? they asked....

so i tossed them outside to play....all day. we planted our peach trees and i got to rotatill the garden (ooooh me and machinery...horse power baby!) they practiced some baseball, managed to get them in the shower thankfully before the grandparents came over for cake in the afternoon and baby diva (emily) managed to get sunburned, fall asleep and miss most of the fun...sigh, when will she learn we are pale pasty people and sitting in the sun is not an activity we should really partake in..unless slathered with sunscreen approved people who live on the sun??

Well anyway, now it's 6 pm, a quick dinner...another bath for the youngest (filthy boy!) and they are bored, tired (the sugar rush is long gone) and cranky....ugh! School tomorrow!!! yipppeeee!!

Happy Easter to my Peeps.....mmmm peeps!

Happy Easter to all my "peeps" here are some of my favorite displays of peep love...remember to leave them out a few days to mature before biting their little sugary heads off!! no blogs for this weekend as i'll be busy with the kids! So everyone enjoy!