The Ironies of Life

Last February 16th, I made my way to Target and bought 72 Fun Dip Valentines. I knew Heather and Gwen would be needing them for Valentine's Day parties at school this year and I wanted to get them half off on clearance. How could Fun Dip possibly rot, right?

I remember putting them away and saying to Stan, "Help me remember where these are because it will drive me crazy next year if I can't find them." When, after searching the entire kitchen, I reminded him of this conversation, Stan pointed out that he probably suggested I write it down. Which I didn't. And I couldn't find those elusive Fun Dips ANYwhere.

I suppose the bright side is that I cleaned out multiple cupboards, organizing as I went, but no luck. It just stuck in my craw to pay full price when I have (somewhere!) 72 half price Fun Dip Valentines, so I formed Plan B. I bought cheapo puppy and kitten Valentines and decided to make cookies to sweeten the deal. Never mind that the butter to make the cookies and the plastic bags to put them in probably cost more than brand new candy Valentines. It was the principle of the thing.

Gwen's class party was scheduled for Wed. the 10th, so Tuesday afternoon Rachel and I were busy dipping cookies I had baked into pink icing. Heather's party wasn't until Thursday, but I made enough cookies for both of them and then we ate the rest. I planned on letting them set overnight and bagging them up before school Wednesday morning. Well...

...about four in the morning Gwen threw up and then Heather started at around six. Gwen was obviously not going to make it to her party. Poor thing! I was feeling fatalistic after all the stress those silly Valentines gave me, so I ate some to console myself and gave some to Michael and Kelly. There were still more than enough for Heather, with twenty something left for people around the house to eat. As the day wore on, Heather and Gwen started to feel better and by early afternoon were obviously well enough to go to school the next day.

Gwen asked if she could drop by the school to pick up her homework, so I dropped her and Rachel off and told them I'd be back after I got Summer. When we returned to the elementary school, Gwen got in the car and made the AWFUL announcement that her teacher had changed the party to Thursday! The kids and I just ate a third of her Valentines for breakfast!

Well, you know what I was doing Wed. afternoon...baking and dipping more cookies. I hope I have learned my lesson. I think I will go buy some (more) Fun Dip Valentines for next year and write down exactly where I hide them.

(Now where did I put that note?!?)

Awake at 4 a.m.

Yep, Naomi thinks it is time to be awake, awake, awake instead of asleep, so what to do but blog? She seems to like the computer screen, so here we are.

And here is Gwen, curling her hair, with a curler of her own invention on Friday.

Yesterday, we went out as a family for the first time since Naomi was born and consequently, had to take two cars - a milestone of sorts. We headed to the pet store, but Summer saw the music store next door, so we started there. Each of our pianists picked a new book of music to bring home.

The reason we went to the pet store was so that the four oldest girls could each pick a goldfish for a pet as a reward for getting ready for bed on time last week. So they each chose one out of the feeder fish tank and made the poor minimum wage, over wrought employee catch their specific fish.

Michael had fun watching the long, drawn out process.

And if you are wondering why there aren't pictures of Naomi, she was in the baby sling (I love it - New Native) the whole time I had the camera out. The one picture I took was an out of focus blob. Oh well, another time :)

Why My Kids Will Never Nominate Me As Mother Of The Year

Summer, Rachel, Heather, and Gwen, like most school age children around the nation, had last Friday off for Veteran's Day. So, being the fun and thoughtful mother that I am, I decided a school vacation day would be the perfect time to get flu shots.

Michael wouldn't lie down in the flu shot picture line, but here is his band-aid to prove he was a participant. He was the only one that cried, and only for a moment. Kelly actually laughed when her shot was done; she was so relieved to have it over with. Everyone was stalwart and brave.

It is a tradition in our house that when someone gets a shot, we all eat ice cream (a spoonful of sugar...) so we headed home for spumoni and pumpkin pie ice cream with caramel, hot fudge, marshmallow, maraschino cherries, and sprinkles. Yum!

Baby Picture!

This morning, I had my ultrasound. Everything looked great. Because of my age, I saw the perinatologist rather than an ultrasound tech, and he told me he didn't see any reason for me to have an amniocentesis, which was nice to hear. Here is the best picture. Isn't that a cute baby?
Oh, and for those of you wondering about the sex of the baby, the doctor took a picture, wrote down what he thought, and put it in this envelope. Happy peering :)