It feels like it's been raining here for weeks!  I can't take these gray miserable days cooped up in the house. 

The boys were/are sick-- just like me and Wayne.  They coughing is horrible but at least my nose is free and clear again.  Both boys have had slight fevers but no other flu symptoms.  Too many people I know right now have H1N1 and it's freaking me out.  It doesn't help that I've been eyeball deep in zombies lately-- things like I am Legend full of "infected humans."  I keep thinking about Stephen King's The Stand and how most of the human populace was wiped out by a super flu.  I'm so optimistic and full of sunshine, aren't I? 

Tomorrow is supposed to be trick or treat night here.  I really don't understand the whole idea of scheduling trick or treating on a day that isn't Halloween and for only two hours.  On a work/school night.  When Halloween is on a Saturday.  Pennsylvania is so weird.  I'm sure it has some kind of bizarre religious reasoning behind it.  Can you feel my rolling my eyes? I still don't have costumes or candy for the munchkins either.  Joey wants to be a ghost and that's easy enough.  Andy wants to be Lightning McQueen.  Of course, when I asked him a month ago, he said it was okay for me to give his LMQ costume to one of my friends.  Now, he'll hear nothing of being something else.  So I am in a bit of a bind.

Saturday, they'll be at Steve's for trick-or-treating there.

I'm tired and feeling down because of the weather.  It's tough to get motivated for anything.  

The past few days, I've been working on making ornaments for the Christmas tree at Andy's school.  I have a Cricut cartridge with script school subjects and icons.  I've been cutting them out and mounting them on a white background then totally glittering the word.  They're cute on the table.  I hope they look cute as an ornament.   I need to go over to the school and straighten the tree out.  It is looking a little bent and beat up in the storage space.

Bleh.

I guess I didn't write a post about it when it happened.  Sometime in June or July Steve asked me to make sure I was early for our Tuesday exchange of the boys.  Something special was going on at Sesame Place involving the Food Network.  I kept thinking about it and thinking about it and guessed correctly before Steve told me--- The Food Network was filming an episode of Dinner Impossible with Chef Robert Irvine at the park!

Lucky boys that I have, they were invited to attend the meal along with their dad! 

That particular day, the boys wanted to play in the wave pool area.  Fine by me!  I stood at the top of the stairs and got to watch the chef at work, running around the picnic pavilion.  Of course, that's the day that somehow my stupid camera got turned on in my bag and the battery died.  So I tried taking pictures with my cell phone and they didn't turn out at all.  Grrrr. 

They had the chef there to celebrate Sesame Place's 40th birthday.  Maria (from Sesame Street) was there, helping to cook.  THat woman does not age!  Elmo and Cookie Monster were there.  I wanted to see Kevin Clash, the puppeteer who does Elmo in the worst way but those darned kids kept needing me to be their mother when I was busy trying to be nosy.  :) 

Steve and the boys got to eat the meal!!!  He said it was things that started with the letter B. 

I've been waiting ever since then for the episode to air.  It was on Food Network this past Wednesday night.  You can see Steve and Joey, very blurry in the background at the very end of the show.

Andy is sitting at the kids' computer desk that we assembled yesterday so that I don't have to fight for computer time.  He is playing JumpStart Kindergarten and out of nowhere, he just recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Yesterday, he was singing the Days of the Week song.

And oddly, yesterday at the dinner table, he was humming the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

He's such a little sponge and so, so, so, so cute.  Kindergarten is awesome.

Checking Facebook, I see a post from the friend who babysits the boys on Mondays.  Her status update was posted at around 9 am, about an hour and a half after the boys were dropped off.

Her update:  Person's Name Hates Mondays!!!

Now, Monday is the only day she has Andy and Joey.  They'd been there for a little while when she made that post.  I am assuming it has something to do with my kids.  It's an assumption, sure, but she's also commented to Wayne that if she didn't need the money, she wouldn't be babysitting. 

Argh.  Why does this have to suck so much? 

Recent things said that had Wayne and I rolling...

In the car with the boys on the way to the babysitter...
Joey:  I not a Joey, I a Obot

Mommy:  What kind of Obot are you, Joey? 

Joey: On the ground.

Mommy:  What do you do?

Joey:  I make garbage squares.



In the car on the way to see their dad:

Andy:  Mommy, is money an object? 

Mommy:  Sure, I guess.

Andy:  NO!  Money is no object!

(have no idea where *that* came from...) 

There are four children here.

One is sitting nicely on the couch watching a DVRed episode of Yo Gabba Gabba.

One is in timeout in his room, screaming.

One is reluctantly cleaning something up after complaining about it loudly.

One is counting.  I don't know why.

The amount of screaming in the house is unbearable- both from kids and from the adults.

If they would only listen and do what we ask.

Why, oh why, must it be a rainy day?
 

Last Saturday, Wayne and I took the whole posse of kids to Opening Day at Sesame Place.  It was rainy and miserable but we had a good time.  While in one of the gift shops I noticed a tiny corner with scrapbooking supplies.  OOH!  They had a Sesame Street themed album and a bunch of stickers and papers.  I wanted it.  We go to Sesame Place a LOT.  Still, I told Wayne I'd get it another day and walked out of the store.  Later on, Wayne disappeared for a long time to take Lexi to get some cotton candy before the parade.  He returned holding a suspicious, flat, squarish bag.  Happy Mothers' Day for me!

On Wednesday, while Wayne and I were painting the living room, I saw the UPS truck stop in front of the house and pull out a big, green Proflowers box.  I glared at Wayne because I told him no flowers for Mothers' Day.  He shrugged as the UPS man walked up the driveway.  I was so confused.

Inside the box was like 100 small, multicolored lilies.  The bouquet was so big, i had to break it into two vases to really show off the blooms.  the card said:


Steve ordered flowers for me from the boys.  I was very touched. 

Yesterday, before Lexi and Nahan left to go back to their mom's house, all the kids came out with a card, they'd signed themselves, a bouquet of daisies and a digital photo keychain for me.

This morning, I slept in until 9:30 and woke up to a bacon and egg breakfast on the table, waiting for me. 

This Mothers' Day, I am feeling very loved and very spoiled.

Right now, Joey and Wayne are napping.  Andy is playing games at Sprout.com and I'm about to go outside and get the newspaper.  Later on, I think we may go play mini-golf or head to a park so the boys can run around and I can look at them and get all weepy over how much I adore them.

Today was opening day at Sesame Place and we were there, rain and all, with all four kids.  It is seriously difficult to do anything with all four kids.  If it weren't for the sit-and-stand stroller, we couldn't have done it.

Nathan is a runner.  I must have said it ten or more times today, "We need one of those baby leash things for him."

Joey was in and out of the back seat. 

Andy is dealing with allergies and sinus stuff and was just not himself today.  He wouldn't go on any rides.  He wanted to go into the water but it was just too cold.  

Lexi wanted to hang out with my sister and niece all day.

The kids, minus Andy, rode the Vapor Trail roller coaster, Elmo's Flying Fish (fish shaped flying cars, spins around in a circle), this bouncy thing called Blast Off and the carousel.  We also saw the Elmo's World show and the parade.  Doesn't seem like all that much but we were there all day. 

We had a picnic lunch in the parking lot.  In the afternoon there was ice cream and right before the parade: cotton candy.  

Going through pictures now.  I look horrible in all of them.  I had a lazy, sloppy pony tail leaving the house and the rain didn't help matters much.  I need some sun on my face. Argh.

Spent all day yesterday at my mom's group's charity crop knowing there was gorgeous weather outside and that Wayne had the boys at a playground.  I imagined that today we would go out in the yard and start sprucing it up for spring, killing and pulling weeds, mowing, enjoying the sunshine, throwing a frisbee or football around.

Not so much.  I started doing laundry right after breakfast and hanging it outside in the sun.  The boys followed me out, presumably to play, and instead went on a whining, screaming rampage about every single thing I said or did.  So after arguing and cajoling and laying in their darkened rooms for an hour, they both finally went to sleep and I've been sitting here at the computer reading Huffington Post.

Maybe when they wake up (and I hear Joey now) I can have my happy fantasy? 

Every day I put a little note in Andy's lunchbox.  Often it's a reminder to listen to his teachers.  Sometimes it's a goofy poem.  I always tell him I love him and that I'm proud of him.

Tonight I was sitting on the couch and Andy came in from the kitchen and said, "Mommy, I have a dinner note for you," and he handed me this.



I am going to save it forever.

The process of trying to get Andy educated continues to be a massive pain in the tush. 

Last week I went to get the packet of information to get him registered at the local elementary school for kindergarten.  It's literally on the same road as my backyard, on the other side of this small town.  I Mapquested it earlier today... it's 1.95 miles away.

But that's not the school he will go to.  Get this, he has to go to a school NINE MILES away because for some reason, all the kids from this development get bussed to this other "historic" school-- a building that looks like it's at least 100 years old and is scheduled to be demolished in 2010.  Just long enough to force Andy to go there.  I am NOT happy about this.  I have issues with school buses as it is and now they're telling me I have no choice but to put him on a bus, driven by a stranger, to go 10 miles twice a day?  
( Click for map )

I don't know what to do.

Last night, we stopped at a gas station on the way home from dropping Wayne's kids off with their mother.  We pulled up to the the pump and Andy was reading the buttons.

"We get 87 regular gas," he said.

"Yes, Andy, we get regular gas and that has 87% octane," I replied.

"90 gas is Plus," he continued, "and 93 gas is Super Me."

Wayne and I looked at each other and laughed hysterically.  Super me= supreme.  I can totally see how he figured that one out.

I would like to proudly proclaim that TODAY, from the time he woke up at 6 am, until he went to bed at 8:15, my gorgeous, brilliant, hysterical, adorable son, Joseph Steven, at three years of age, remained dry.

There was not one accident, at home or school.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
 

The last thing I posted was about my friend dumping Joey.  That was Monday.  Tuesday we woke up and took Joey to a different friend's house.  

Friend #2, Rachelle, is a Supermom.  Like so much of a supermom that she should wear a cape and leotard.  She's AMAZING with kids.  She's always doing crafts and teaching them stuff, and being fun.  She is amazing.  I am thrilled that Joey will be with her for the month.  

Tuesday started with dropping Andy off at his school and then we drove over the mountain behind our house in pretty crappy weather to get to "Joey's School," Rachelle's house.

Drop off went fine.  No crying from Joey.  We got in the car, with me in the driver's seat.  I made a comment to Wayne about how we'd have to fly up the Turnpike and I wouldn't freak out as much if I was the one driving. I shifted the car into reverse to go down the long, narrow driveway.

And I went right off the asphalt, onto her lawn and thumped into her mailbox, knocking it askew.  

And then I tried to move forward to get back on the asphalt and spun the tires in the mud.

And then Wayne got out of the car to see what was going on and I spun the tires again, this time covering him in mud.

Yes.  Seriously.  I wish I had taken a picture.

It took someone coming down the road to bump me back onto the driveway so we could go. 

We wanted to stop somewhere and get Wayne a new ensemble but nothing was open at 7:30 in the morning.  We were about half an hour late to school.  Wayne taught class all day covered in mud.

Days 3 and 4 were much less crazy in the morning. 

On Thursday we were in the car from 1:00 in the afternoon until after 7 pm.  We left school at 1 and went to pick up Lexi and Nathan.  Then we went to get Joey, then Andy.  We stopped at home for five minutes for Wayne and I to change clothes, not even pulling the kids out of the van.  We drove to a halfway point to meet Steve and exchange the boys and then back home.  

It looks like this: 

( Click for map )
 

 

I just left Andy on the computer for 10 minutes and he posted in the law students community. 

Here it is

It was confusing enough that a few people replied.

Ha.

Five years ago my Andypants was born. I'm stunned that so much time has passed and so many things have changed in that time.  I look at his beautiful face that looks so much like mine and I can't see the baby that he was anymore.  He's full of his own opinions and is adamant in expressing them.  He knows what he wants.  He loves his games and activities that he finds online and he amazes me with his ability to read and sound out words. 

I love that his is freely affectionate and still loves to climb up on my lap, give me hugs and kisses and tell me that he loves me.  

This past year he freed himself from diapers-- a feat I thought he'd never accomplish.  We still have accidents when he doesn't want to take a break from his games to run to the bathroom.  

Right now, he still loves his "best friend," his stuffed Lightning McQueen pillow and playing with the computer and his Click Start.  He is obsessed with chicken mcnugget happy meals from McDonalds.  Sometimes he loves his brother and sometimes he doesn't.  He prefers to eat "kid food" but can't really explain what it is so much as what it isn't. 

He drives me absolutely insane when he's acting up and yet I'd give my life for him.  He has one of the most amazing smiles I've ever seen.

Happy Fifth Birthday, my Andrew Patrick Ruffing.

I got this in my email and had to share...

Dear Santa,
I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my own doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out -- over several Christmasses.

Since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles; and who knows when I'll find any more free time in the next 18 years, so now - -

Here are my Christmas wishes:

( Click for the rest )

Cleaning up the mess of papers Andy left on the floor, I found this drawing.  I thought it was so cute, I had to share.

I am having the darndest time finding the outfit I want for Lexi for Christmas.  The boys' clothes all came from the Osh Kosh B'gosh outlet.  

Nathan is wearing an navy blue/green/beige button down, plaid shirt with navy corderoy overalls.

Joey is wearing navy cargo pants and the same shirt as Nathan, but with a beige sweater vest.

Andy is wearing beige cargo pants and a Navy sweater with a green and beige snowflake pattern in a band across the chest.

So for Lexi, I wanted a beige snowflake sweater and a navy blue skirt.  I can't find this anywhere... suggestions? Help!

Caly?

Spent Wednesday and Thursday night in Jersey with my family.  Wayne and I slept in my sister's old room.  It was very strange and very sad to not have the boys with me.  I did get to spend some quality time with my Foobie playing Guitar Hero. 

Friday morning we left Newark and went to Ikea for their opening and got a set of bunk beds for Joey and Nathan.  Joey loves it.  He's such a little monkey, I'm not concerned about the climbing at all.   When he saw it on Saturday night in his room, his eyes got really big and he ran to the ladder to climb up.  He said, "I high, Mommy!" and laughed.  Andy was excited and said, "There's one for each of us," and I had to explain that his bed is in his room. 


I took photos, of course.  Need to edit and upload. 

Friday we also went to Toys R Us and got some good Christmas gifts for the kids.  We focusing on imaginative play and games this year.  NO ELECTRONICS!  I need to order the cardboard blocks from Lillian Vernon that I have been psyched for all year.  From there we drove home to Reading and stopped at the VFO Outlets and got Andy, Joey and Nathan's Christmas outfits at the Osh Kosh outlet.  They didn't have anything for Lexi.  The boys are wearing casual Navy blue with accents in beige and green.  For Lexi, I'd like a navy blue corderoy miniskirt and a beige sweater.  With any luck, a beige sweater with a navy blue snowflake on it.  (If anyone has seen one...let me know!)  I also was able to find some new bras for myself (3) and some new tops.

We stopped at Michael's to see if their $30 Cricut cartridges were any of the ones I want and alas, no.

Once at home, Wayne started putting the bed together and I sort of vegged out reading Twilight for the third time.  

Saturday morning, after poking around the house a bit, we went out to the Christmas tree farm and got our tree.  This year we got a white pine, the kind with the long, softer needles.  I love that they cut it down for us, so we know it's fresh and won't get all ugly before the holiday.  Wayne struggled with it,  putting it into the stand and straightening it with minimal help from me.  We had them cut the bottom row of branches off and that resulted in a tree that has a longer bare trunk than usual.  It looks a little odd, but I don't want to fuss with it.  There's plenty of room for presents underneath!  

We spent the day cleaning and prepping for my crop yesterday.  The house looked fabulous.  I think once the tree is trimmed (it's standing next to me naked.  The tree is naked.  Not me.  Just saying...) I'll do a video tour of the house.   We had swedish meatballs for dinner, courtesy of Ikea and just as I started cleaning the fish tank, the boys arrived.  I missed them SO MUCH.  I couldn't wait to smoosh them.  Nothing really seems right when they're apart from me.

My boys were very good yesterday, up until dinner time.  By then they were getting a little manic and crazy.  Joey was over-tired.  I'm guessing nap and bedtimes were a little askew on their trip.  

It's gray and ugly outside and dark already at 10 to five. 

The house is trashed.

The kids are learning to freeze dance to "Birdhouse in Your Soul" and how to form letters for "YMCA." 

Sometimes four is fun.

Woke up this morning and dressed the kids and headed out to "book club" playdate style.  I'd suggested a book club to my mom's group a few months ago and there was good response but a split down the middle on when to get together to discuss the books-- some people wanted playdate get togethers with kids and others (ME!!!) wanted grown up time to have uninterrupted grown-up conversations.  It went as I expected it to, with frequent whining interruptions.  No get together next month with the holidays.  We'll shoot for a January coffeehouse get together to discuss some nonfiction book about raising boys.

Andy begged for a happy meal on the way home and I got him one.  And Joey too, of course.

It's cold and rainy here which leaves me in a gray kinda mood.  Wayne is picking up his kids in his car, which I am not too keen on since it needs brakes and it's raining.  When Joey gets up from his nap, I'll take the boys out to Steve.

I'm hungry and I think I want soup for lunch but I'm not sure we have any.  Have to thaw my ground beef for meatballs to go with spaghetti for dinner tonight.

Is my life exciting or what??? 
 

1. Stop talking about politics for a moment or two.
2. Post a reasonably-sized picture in your LJ, NOT under a cut tag, of something pleasant, such as an adorable kitten, or a fluffy white cloud, or a bottle of booze. Something that has NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICS.
3. Include these instructions, and share the love.

Joey is endorsing Rocco Mama for president.

Go out to Chili's for dinner tonight.  

Today only Chili's is donating 100% of their profits to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. 

St. Jude is an amazing hospital that never turns away a family for their inability to pay.

From their website:
 

St. Jude is unlike any other pediatric treatment and research facility. Discoveries made here have completely changed how the world treats children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. With research and patient care under one roof, St. Jude is where some of today's most gifted researchers are able to do science more quickly.

St. Jude researchers are published and cited more often in high impact publications than any other private pediatric oncology research institution in America. St. Jude is a place where many doctors send some of their sickest patients and toughest cases. A place where cutting-edge research and revolutionary discoveries happen every day. We've built America's second-largest health-care charity so the science never stops.

Today is a part of Chili’s “Create-A-Pepper to Fight Childhood Cancer” campaign. During September—which is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month—guests can make a donation to St. Jude and receive a coloring sheet they can decorate and have displayed in the restaurant.

Guests can also purchase Create-A-Pepper T-shirts ($12) or you can purchase 2008 limited edition Chili’s – St. Jude keys ($5) that you can be cut for use at home. Sixty percent of the purchase price of the T-shirt and keys will go to St. Jude.