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!

Really, your kid is an honor student...well that's great...oh mine...yeah he has an extra chromosone...beat that!

It all comes from wanting answers...and boy howdy did i get my answer. See the cutie pie up above...that's Gavin, my youngest. he is a pip let me tell you! didn't expect to have a 4th kiddo but he sort of snuck past his father's vasectomy and well...boom there he is.

A difficult child at birth he continued with that trend through toddler-hood. Was diagnosed with autism at age 2...we cried, then got learning.

At age 6 he was diagnosed with epilepsy...we cried, got meds, then got learning.

At 7 he was thought to have a really huge named disorder but essentially it was because of large cafe au lait birth marks on his body...tests came back negative..we cried (this time with happiness) and took the suggestion of genetic testing..yah know, for shits and grins...nothing better to do with our time.

Yesterday, we found out Gavin has 47 chromosones (while the rest of the regular folk have 46) and a disorder called Isodicentric 15. I cried, and cried, and cried...ate some chocolate...and got learning.

Not much changes as of yet. We get new meds for the ADHD that has decided to rear it's ugly head (since his epilepsy is under control..it made room for the ADHD to come on over) we get continued therapy...and we get to add a cardiologist to the list of doctors because with this new name, we magically get a possible heart condition, and we have to watch his kidneys.

Let it be said, when we do something in this house we do it ALL the way!!

for more information on Isodicentric 15 please visit www.idic15.org

Spring!!! Sort of!

Well, here comes the daffy dillys! So 2 weeks ago we had gorgeous, 70 degree weather...shorts weather you could say, and now we are sunk back in sub artic temps...the poor flowers are all sorts of confused and the humans (mainly me!) are frusterated with it all. So here are two pictures representing Spring in New Englad...an icey birdbath..with a couple of Cody's gnomes and a little daffodill poking it's head up in surprise at the cold.

When the world gets you down....take a bubble bath

Gavin has had a terrible, horrible, no good, yucky kind of week. Let's just say his behavior has been less than stellar at school...medication change, spring allergies, growth spurt label it what you will. He has not come home all week with a prize from the classroom treasure box....he has been pulling his friends hair :(

So, he sadly walks upstairs and goes into my bathroom..."Mom, I need a bath" he says staring at my big tub. "yeah, buddy...you do" "yup...in mom's tub...with bubbles"

so he did. he even used Mom's fancy Lollia bubblebath...just 'cause.

A funny thing happened on the way to the doctor's....

WARNING: THIS IS A GIRLS ONLY POST...'CAUSE THE GUYS JUST WON'T GET IT.

Ok, so, gyno visit aka "big girl doctor appointment" was yesterday....all is well, test results back in a week....BUT, of course, everywhere i go...there is sillyness involved.

I'm waiting and waiting and waiting and of course thinking...if i could just get up and reach over for that magazine on the counter i could have something to do...but i'm kind of stuck in one place with a towel draped over me and i just know the second i get up...the doctor will walk in. So i sit and wait...then i start to feel a tickle in my throat...i know i have cough drops...again, across the room...still tickling...then i get this thought..."OMG what if i have a coughing fit and shoot the metal thinggeemahoober out and shoot it through the doctor's eye" yup, that's me, i do think of these things...now i'm stressing out and the tickle is worse than ever...In pops young nurse perky pants to tell me "Honey (mind you...she is far my junior and calling me honey) we didn't forget about you...Dr. ** is just stuck" and she leaves the room....and i said outloud to the empty room

"Stuck in WHAT exactly???"

the visit pretty much went downhill from there....i managed to control the cough and not cause anyone bodily damage...but it was hard not to laugh.

Giving some love shout outs to my favorite socks

So as the weather sloooowly gets warmer here in the great North East I think yippee and then awwww because it will mean having to put away my socks. I love socks, well not just any socks...i like these socks...Soulmate Socks made in Vermont. Ok ok so as a rule i am not this picky about clothing and name brands and what not...but if you have ever slipped a pair of these onto your feet you would understand. They are wonderfully mismatched on purpose (because life is too short to wear matching socks is there motto) and so cottony and warm...ahhh and the colors!! Super Cute!! I wear them to school all the time and my feet feel good all day, the kids can catch a peek at them under my crocs and it makes them laugh that "Mrs. Jette can't match her socks!" My favorite Christmas present this year was my box full of socks..OH and they are awesome to hike in...not only do you look super cool with them under your hiking boots but your feet stay dry and comfortable!

******** WARNING, THE FOLLOWING IS FOR THE LADIES EYE ONLY...MEN THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU...YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ********

oh yes, today is my "big girl" doctor appointment....fun fun fun, i'll be wearing my socks...makes my gyno laugh, and lets face it...his job isn't the most pleasant, he needs a laugh.

later sistas!

Nicole

Hi my name is Nicole (hi nicole) and well.... I like gnomes.

I successfully horrified my teenager yet again! I'm getting rather good at it really. At this point I think I have managed to guarantee she will NEVER EVER bring a boy by to meet me, and it is all because of a gnome...or possibly 12...that appear in our yard every spring.

Ok, it innocently started as a joke, and a few years back. My Cody was totally in love with this former neighbors yard/garden that was a gnome bedecked delight...she really had a fantastic garden. so we started buying our own gnomes, and every spring we add another to our collection, never spending more than a few dollars on each....needless to say, they are a little tacky...add in his Big Mimi (his beloved great grandmother) who dares not visit without bringing a new gnome to his collection and you have a yard full of gnomes. Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, so out they came and he very carefully arranged them around the yard, peeking out behind a shrub or placed were they will be hidden (eventually) by flowers, he is 9 and really how many more magical years do i have left before he becomes a moody pre-teen then morphing into the "i was hatched, i do not have parents" teenager so yes i encourage the gnomey behavior! So happy Spring to all...and get out there and plant a gnome...or a dozen :)

I'm so pale, i make the Twillight Vampires look like they just came off a Tropical Vacation!

Because the weather has turrned for the better and the sun is shining and it looks like the temps may creep up near 70 today (can i get a yippee!!) i decided to go through the summer clothes, and try on the shorts from last year...just for fun. Low and behold the suckers still fit! HOWEVER, the light reflecting off my pale and quite ghost like legs nearly blinded me and left me with spots before my eyes. I imagine the cat was laughing at my stumbling stupor as I quickly tried to pull the jeans back off to stop the disco globe like effect of light that was bedazzling around my bathroom. Sigh, don't even suggest bronzer as it leaves me orange and looking like an oompa-loompa, i've tried them all. I suppose i can console myself with the fact that i do have good skin, although pale the women in my family do age well. So i'll slather on some SPF 2,000 and try to keep from sparkling outside while outside today doing some yard work and just enjoying the warmth!

Happy St. someperson day....or something like that

Let me state right off, i have nothing against being Irish...many of my friends have been kicked in the arse by the blarney stone or had a leprechaun dropped on their heads. HOWEVER, i'm not irish, I'm Scottish...and yes there is a difference. So my kids don't wear green on st. patricks day and quite honestly i think corn beef and cabbage smells like feet when being cooked. just can't do it.

so today it's all about cleaning closets...not exciting to say the least but badly needing to be done

I can see clearly now the rain has gone....FINALLY!

Wow!!! 4 days of non stop rain, 7 inches fallen in total..and my basement has become an indoor swimming pool..not by my choice. So today is all about pumping the water out and splashing around in my boots. I can just see the clouds starting to break up and maybe the sun will make an appearance today. I know it rains in the Spring but this was Mother Nature going above and beyond!

No work today, i have a million kabillion things to get done, swap packages to send out (i am involved in several knitting swaps http://www.ravelry.com/) laundry to do, market to get to, and i must do something about the mutant dust bunnies that are threatening to take over the house! I would love to drag the big old rubbermaid containers out of the attic as well and see what spring/summer clothes are being handed down to what boy but my limited time may not allow me to get that crazy. I'll pace myself and occasionally refuel with coffee.

These are some flowers from my garden last summer

I wish i could take credit for the beautiful photos

but they were actually taken by my 14 yr old daughter Emily

aka: Baby Diva