It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time

So, I'm still a wee bit behind in everything.My 'break' left me incapacitated during a time when I had little extra to waste, and now I am paying the price.

School is back in session, which means I am going nuts trying to wrap up school shopping (surprisingly my boys are VERY difficult to please in the clothing department), stocking up the pantry, and preparing lunches in mass quantities on Sundays so I can make my mornings just a little smoother (that's where the photo is from, my assembly line of PB&J, prepared and frozen the week prior). I've also got the added bonus of driving Nate to school every morning for band and picking him up every night after soccer. No big deal since I do nothing in the morning and my evenings are completely free.

Lucy, even though she doesn't go to school, is a whole other story. The kid still isn't walking, but she crawls at speeds I didn't know were possible by an infant. It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't rush over to the steps and climb, or to my flip flops for a quick lick of their soles. I swear the kid is going to be a brick house, with an iron clad immune system.

Then I have my crafty thing, which keeps me just a wee bit busier, trying to be creative and such. I'm still sewing daily, but have barely any time for anything else. Poor ky&co blog is so neglected right now, I'm almost afraid to log on over there.

And of course, there is my dear EFC. With less and less frequent posts, and occurring on days you swore they did not. And that would be true. I try to start a post, get side tracked, and return later. So that would be why it is Tuesday and you are just now reading this post from Friday. Because I had every intention of writing this post then, only titled 'Slow Poke' because I had not made 2 loaves worth of PB&J for the kids yet.

I promise I am going to start to do better. I still have lots to say, specially now since the kids are in school, I just need a minute to adjust to another fall on the go. (Since our summer was so laid back...)

SO, stick with me. I'm a bit of a slow poke now, but I'll be back full time soon. Then you'll be sorry...

The Big Day

Today was the day. THE day our little guy got on the bus. All by himself. (He didn't even want us to go, I asked.)

I did well, only cried a couple of tears. Turbo and Nate knew it was coming, so they were harassing me all morning. I barely got one teensy tear out before they were torturing me further with their words. Brats.

Rex did well too it seems. He got off the bus with little memory of the day. Until Nate came home, then he poured out all of the days events to his big bro. (Turbo & I listened from the next room.) Turns our he's got a Turbo and a Nate in his class (we still need to verify that with the teacher, but Rex swears it), he loves the gym, likes his teacher, digs the long bus ride.

All in all he likes it just fine. When we asked if he's planning to go back, he replied about the way we expected him to...he said he'll go back, but as soon as they start giving him homework he's going to quit. We thanked Nate for that one. Then we told Rex he was going to have to deal with the homework for a pretty long time, so he might as well enjoy it while it's easy stuff like reading and writing his ABC's. So far he's agreed to return.

Ketchup - Nate

Nate has by far been the busiest of all of us while we've been away.

The guy finally wrapped up his summer of soccer (with no goals but a few headers and a new found fondness for the sport).

Then, after finishing one activity, he went all out for the next. The annual Gurnee Days parade! Poor kid practiced 2 hours a day at home, then 2 hours a day at school, Monday through Friday just to get it right. I'd say the practice payed off, since he did a great job this year marching with the snare drum!

Like we do at the end of every summer, I also had Nate go through all of last years school clothes. (Since most of them sit in huge Hefty big bags under beds and in closets while we lounge in swim suits and sorts all summer, we've made this as much of a tradition as the parade.) To our surprise, Nate tried on his stuff only to find he has grown a good 2 inches this summer. We laughed and laughed when his jeans were buttoned at his waist and inches above his ankles.

Whats scarier than his height (way too close to me these days) is his eagerness to hit the mall. Something tells me this is the start of some teenage fashion trend that I will no doubt hate. But, if it gets my pair of Chuck Taylor's out of his closet and back into mine, I guess I won't complain.

Ketchup - Rex

Aside from terrorizing his baby sister, big brother, dog, parents, and pretty much everyone else he come in contact with, Rex has been a pretty mellow fellow.

He's been spending his last days of summer learning to tie his shoes, memorizing his phone number, and practicing writing his last name. While we've been spending a lot of time easing the kid into school mode. Being a stay at home preschooler, he already knows a lot, but for some odd reason he was under the impression that kindergarten will be all fun and games. Like, video games, computer games, board games. Not so much learning, but a really long play day. I swear Nate told him this nonsense, but Nate swears he did not. Either way, Turbo and I have been schooling the guy on school, just so he's not disappointed when he gets there.

He seems to be doing alright with the last minute educating, and is really excited about starting school next week. I, on the other hand, just want him to stay home forever. I hate the first day of school. Not the one that comes every year, when I can hardly stand to have the kids in the house complaining about how bored they are and my brain is fried from having to find something for us to do everyday, but the FIRST day of school.

Oh, how I will cry next week. My little guy will step on that bus and out of the house by himself for the first time and I will be a mess. I trust him, I know he will be good and do well, but I hate acknowledging that he is this old. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't want my kids to be babies forever, nor do I want them to cling to me as they grow. I want them to be independent, to be smart and secure, to act responsibly and appropriately as Turbo and I have taught them to. I just have a hard time watching it happen.

Getting on that bus is the end of an era for Rex. Just like I know it is coming for Lucy, I know it is here for him. He is not a baby, hardly my little guy anymore either. I guess as a mom those are the milestones that you struggle with the most. They hurt and they are difficult and they are scary, but then you consider how hard you've worked for the last 5 years and know that every minute of every day was preparing him for this moment and every one after and you have some faith that everything will be ok. That he will be ok, that I will be ok.

But just in case I am not, Turbo took three days off next week to help me cope. He's so darn smart...

Ketchup - Lucy

I want to fill you all in on the goings on here while I was away. You'd think I would be short on stories since I was incapacitated and hardly aware of my surroundings, but boy are you wrong. Turbo & I actually decided that my drug induced stupor led to even more bizarre behavior from the kiddos and, believe it or not, the strangers around me.

I figure I'd start with Lucy, because at a whopping 9 months old she is my easiest child to explain.
Here is what she has been doing...

She has teeth, just two, but teeth all of the same. And with these teeth it is obvious her new favorite thing to do is bite. Yup, within a couple weeks of having teeth she tried as hard as she could to sink her brand new and pearly whites into Rex's arm. He was playing with her toys and refusing to share, which she saw as the perfect reason to chomp. Don't foresee this happening too much in the future, do you?

She still eats like a cow and has perfected her 'num num' noises while she stuffs her face. However, she now starts num num-ing long before the food makes it to her tray. As soon as the stuff is out of the fridge/pantry she gets going. Or if she sees something she likes in the shopping cart, or on the shelf at the store, or in my purse, or in someones hand, she gestures for the immediate transfer to her hands or, better yet, mouth. It is hilarious to an outsider, but worrisome to Turbo & me, the future parents of Lulu the Giant.

Newest in the little world of Lucy is the dance party. Turn anything resembling music on and the kid starts bopping around. Sometimes she even tries to sing along, making Rex's rendition of 'Can't Touch This' one step closer to tolerable. (By the way, we didn't teach him that song. Credit for that one goes to a handful of kids on a Wisconsin playground. Not that we would ever fault the little lads for being 10+ years behind the times, but c'mon...)

These days she claps and stands on her own. She's just now started to climb up the stairs, something we could have waited a few more months for. We think she is starting to talk a little, we've noticed consistencies in her words like Dada and baba and swear she says yay and it and this.

We're on the brink of an entirely new era with our little princess, one that is exciting for her and terrifying for us. Having done this before, we know all of this cuteness leads straight to a terrible toddler. Since we lived through it with Rex we think we deserve an easy round, but are starting to think that is not even close to what we're going to get.

MIA

I suppose I owe everyone a bit of an explanation for missing nearly two weeks of blogging.

Truth be told, I spent the first week living like a rock star. Sitting in the house, high on prescription drugs, neglecting all of my daily duties (including this beloved blog), barking obscenities at those around me.

It would have been a fabulous little experience, if I didn't have a kidney stone too.

Yup, I was completely out of commission and rendered useless because I enjoyed a few too many cups of my morning brew (which really outlived the morning by a number of hours) and a not quite enough of any other fluid. Apparently my body does not do well when it gets dehydrated. Not well at all.

I spent an entire week in horrifying pain, on a whole lot of vicodin, and really didn't do much of anything else. To top it off, Lucy was also sick with a cold. So neither of us slept much, we were both crabby, and I think for the first time Turbo and the boys realized what a mistake it may be to have two girlies in the house.

The second week I played 'ketchup' with the world around me. Even though I took a week off, nothing else did. I stumbled out of my own Michael Jackson fog (not too soon I hope) to mountains of laundry, enormous school supply lists, and a few messy bedrooms. Plus, we still had weekends full of activities. Even with the drugs, there is no way I would miss BBQ's, birthday parties, and kids sports!

So that's my story. Nothing glorious, nor fancy, nor exciting. When my SIL emailed asking where I was, assuming we were on an impromptu vacation, I wish I could have answered, 'YES! Turbo and I dumped the kids with my parents and we have been sitting in a B&B on the beach and I don't care about blogging or cleaning or anything else.'

But I had to answer truthfully. I was at home, doing nothing, missing my blog and my sewing dearly, while Turbo checked my med bottles to make sure I wasn't going to OD and we still had the kids and they were driving me nuts and the money I wish I spent on a B&B at the beach is going to pay off my Dr. in a few weeks and so on and so on and so on.

Not a glorious end to my summer, but an end all the same. Now you just have to give me some time to catch you up on my stories. Oh, are there stories...

Out of the Office

Sorry for the absence...I will explain EVERYTHING later.

So Sorry I Forgot...Said the Slacker

I often talk about how much of a slacker I am. I forget stuff all of the time.

Well, this is what really happens...It's not that I forget the occasion or event or plans and commitments I've made, I just have absolutely no idea what day it is. Ever.

Like not so long ago, we went to a BBQ at Turbo's bro's house. When Turbo called to tell them we were running late, my SIL said no problem and joked about waiting however long it takes for a cheesecake on her birthday. Turbo hung up the phone and said, 'did you know today is LisaE's birthday?'. And, though I had forgotten it was her birth DAY, I said, 'It's the 11th?'. That's how I work. Yes I knew it was her birthday, but I had no idea it was July 11. Had anyone along my morning said, 'hey it's July 11' I would have turned to Turbo and told him, 'ooh, it's LisaE's birthday today'.

So, now that you know this I can tell you what I've done that makes me a slacker this time.

Yesterday I flipped the calendar over from July to August. Yep, yesterday. When I did this I saw the string of birthdays I have forgotten and neglected. Not that they are big ones. Just Nana, my great-grandmother in her 90's, and Becky, the one cousin I have that I spent my entire childhood plotting and playing with, and Bill, an uncle celebrating his 50th year. Nope, no biggies.

I know that when I talk to these people, when I finally send them a belated card or gift, they will agree it is no big deal. They will giggle off my apologies, tell me they understand because I am so darn busy all of the time, laugh at my laundry list of excuses. Most likely we will laugh a bit together.

For now, I feel terrible. Horrible that I forgot. And I really really really do hope they understand that my mind is a very mysterious thing. Mysterious, unpredictable, but mostly a bit foggy these days.

fortheblog

Turbo and I often argue about what we consider 'blogworthy.'

I think funny stuff about the fam are a must have. Plus our trips around town and updates on the holidays. I like to include our daily antics, the kiddie shenanigans, some drunken escapades, and the occasional rant and rave. I love posting photos when I can, especially of those moments when the camera is handy and one of us is in a position too funny to try to explain with regular words. That is what I want to savor and share.

So a typical ky post to sum up this weekend goes something like this...

Saturday Turbo & I pulled out a handful of recipes and had the kids search through them with us for the perfect family meal to make together. We chose a spinach Manicotti, with some meatballs on the side. We loaded everyone up and went to the store to buy the long list of ingredients, then settled in at home and went to work.

Everyone helped a little bit, from mixing to stuffing to baking. It was awesome and the food was even better. Lucy was by far the happiest with it, she giggled and made her little 'num num' noises while she stuffed her little face.

And blah blah blah blah blah you get the point. here's a photo.


While Turbo reads and loves my blog (right dear?) he thinks my content could be better. He is witty and funny and smart and thinks the blog should be too. He'd prefer less about our silly life and more about the occasional oddity we encounter along our way.

So a typical Turbo post to sum up this weekend tends to sound a bit different than mine, perhaps something like this...

Saturday we made Manicotti with the kids. Since we didn't have everything we need in the house we had to go to the store.

We walked in the store only to find ourselves in the middle of a heated argument between two men. An elderly man and a fat man were yelling at each other over the last Hoveround available in the store. The fat man had been waiting for the scooter for a while (yes waiting on the bench in the front of the store for one of these babies to be returned) when the old man came in and tried to steal the thing.

While the two of them fought, some old lady walked in the store, sat on the scooter and took off shopping. It was hilarious.

Then we went home and made some awesome food.

(I was told by Turbo after he read this post that I did not get his version of our day correct. That if he had written it he would have been sure to include some important details in the grocery fight...apparently he feels it is imperative that I tell you that during the fight the old man told the fat man that he should respect his elders and that he should try walking around the store for once...of course this did send us into fits of giggles for obvious reasons at the time. I just forgot.)