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My neck hurts today. I seem to get that tortucali.s..slslhlsj  … uh kinked neck on a monthly basis.  Maybe it was because Morella ended up in my bed for most of last night and then tagged teamed with Neeners. But really, she kept to her own side, whereas Neeners wants to cuddle.  So it’s probably Neeners fault.

Last night I felt miserable! The cold hit its peak and was exploding every other minute. It made me think of how Morella cries when it is like that and how miserable it just is.  Regardless,  Tim made dinner and we made some sugar cookies, then decorated them so that we would have Christmas cookies, real home made hot coco on the stove, Christmas music and a cozy living room to decorate the tree.  Morella and Neeners did a fabulous job, and yes the bottom is a little more decorated than anywhere else, but I don’t feel the need to fix it. It looks fine. I looks like kids helped and did an awesome job of it.

I have done two online shopping things this year. JC Penny and GAP … I usually never shop online for Christmas presents, but this year the deals were good enough to not get dressed and go to a store hoping that they would have what I wanted.  So that will be fun to get things in the mail.   What I really need to do this morning is check my credit card balance (we have been using that card more to pay for everyday things to get the rewards money) and pay the mortgage.  I also need to take a shower.  Who knows, maybe it will help me feel better.  Oh you know what would make me feel better for sure?  Pain killers.  BRB.

There we go.  The girls have been playing so well together this morning. I didn’t get up until close to 10. Tim let me sleep in…he says…but you know the girls play together so well in the morning that we can get away with sleeping in or dozing.  My excuse is that I was up several times … and uh, I am sick.    You think I would feel better though, and why do I feel guilty about it?  I mean, they are doing great playing with each other. What am I supposed to do? And yes, I have been on the laptop a lot this morning, but I had Christmas shopping to do!  And now I need to post because I haven’t posted frequently in forever.   I think I mentioned it already, but it is because Tim works from home now and my access to the desktop is limited.  You just can’t do that much on the Ipad other than look at things, not without it being a big of a chore.

Today.  I have to shower, pay some bills, take the kids in for their flu shot, clean up.  Get Morella to work on her birthday thank you’s a little more, work on cleaning up the house (forever in progress).  I also wanted to look up ideas for Christmas countdown activities. You know each day the kids get to move the candy candy to the next slot and then pick a fun activity out of a stocking.   I also need to write an email to the book club because I have been awful about it.  I am not a very good book club leader right now.  I am not a very good leader in anything at this point, to be honest.  I feel like my focus the last few months has to been to reconnect with myself and old friends, the house and the enjoy the holidays with my kids.   Maybe I spread myself too thin.

Alright. I gotta take a shower, get dressed, get Morella dressed and unassemble the “mountain” that the girls built in their room that has every single stuffie, blanket and pillow in the house thrown together.  Hold on, I’ll take a picture. I will have to use Tim’s phone camera. His phone is like new, whereas mine is beat the heck up.  Case in point why more women’s clothing needs pockets.  I apologize for the big size. The laptop doesn’t have a photo editing program on it.

Coffee is brewing, the kids have been fed and its now almost 10:30. Neeners has been staying up late and getting up early to rampage around the house. It’s hard on a Mom, I tell you. Anyway. We are all up now, though I still haven’t put in my contacts and my day never feels started until I take these broken glasses off. [Break for tying brown ribbon on Apple Jack] The kids knocked them down a couple weeks ago off my night stand. I knew they had fallen, so I had taken extra care to step down far away and … crunch. Sigh. I have a newer pair but I don’t like them because they keep stretching way out and falling off my face. I have had them adjusted twice and … ugh. This old trusty pair also has nose pieces, which I find I like very much. You don’t need to adjust them as much. [Break to tell Neeners I don't know where another school bus is.]

There I got a cup. I also found “mocha chocolate spoon swirl” that I got in the spring [Break for tying another ribbon on Rarity] a while back. The handle was broken but the rest was wrapped in plastic and still looked good. So far it is pretty good and I feel all fancified. [Break for putting on animal saddle onto Twilight Sparkle].

I have another cold and I blame it on running out of fish oil. I had gotten a huge vat of it back in the spring at Costco with Lowen and had filled my old container since the new one was so big. [Pause to admire the bucket on Rainbow Dash's leg]. I have now been out a week and I have no idea where the big container is. I think it might be in the hallway closet since I searched the basement to no avail. Stupid, stupid colds. Last year I was vigilant about fish oil, and barely got sick. This year? Ugh. [Pause to break up a fight. Morella is hoarding toys and Neeners started playing with some of them.]

Thanksgiving was good. We got up, watched the Macy’s Parade and got ready. Then we headed up to visit my brother and have dinner at his neighbor’s, who is my younger brother’s aunt. So it’s not like we totally just crashed a thanksgiving. The food was awesome and plentiful, the kids all got along great, they had kittens for Neeners to crush on, and the weather was play outside warm. We just had to stay near the house because the woods were echoing with the sounds of guns. Seriously, what happened to the old fashioned one shot, pause, another shot? The noises I was hearing sounded like an all out war. I was also a little disappointed later to realize I barely hung out with Shane, but that was because he kept going back to his house and I couldn’t leave the kids and they wanted to be around the other kids. Oh well, it was probably for the better. He had chainsaws all over his kitchen. Maybe I will go and visit him again before Christmas, though each weekend seems so busy. I could go on a Monday or Sunday though. Hmm.

We headed back around 6:30 and made it home by 9 ish. We had to stop in the Dells for a potty and donut break. It was one of the only gas stations open in the whole area. [Pause to tell Morella that Twlight Sparkle keeps falling out of the scooter airplane because she wasn't made for that toy]. I had seriously considered going out and doing some black friday shopping because most of it started at midnight. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had many chances to do shopping after midnight and it just reminded me of those exotic store openings only for celebrities after hours. In the end, I was tired and I saw that I didn’t want most of the things offered. I checked out JC Penny and saw that their deals were available online right away (stores didn’t open until 4). So I shopped there. I got an awesome wooden, adjustable easel that can also convert to a table for only $40. Incredible. I also got a nice pair of leggings for 9, a pair of delicate white, ruffle [Pause to listen to Morella's heroic tale of finding Neeners kitty] ballerina jammies for Morella and a 7 pack of My Little Pony Underwear for Morella. I admit, Morella won out on this one, but she outgrew her underwear went from 20 pairs to 6. I think the Easel might be the “big” Christmas present for the kids. [Pause to play christmas music on Pandora].

After I finished my shopping, Tim and I played some Borderlands and then went to bed. Friday we spent it home and in the backyard, working on individual projects and recovering from the hustle and bustle. Saturday Morella’s friend Noah for over for the afternoon while his parents went to a Badger game. I got a lot done during the day even though I was low energy and not focused (getting sick). I cleaned the kitchen, made dinner (meatloaf), took down some birthday decorations and converted the pink ones into little pom pom’s, looked at a bunch of old magazines, cleaned Morella’s room (she trashed it with Noah) and some other stuff that I can’t remember right now. Oh I bathed the kids too, that has to count for something. No more coloring on the walls though, the washable crayons are super hard to get out of the sanded grout lines. OH well, there are a thousand other things they can do in the tub.

After the kids were supposed to be in bed, I figured it was time to start working on Neeners stocking to see if I could finish it before Christmas. First I had to spent an hour looking for it. Eventually I found it behind the couch. Hurray! Of course the whole time I had a little helper…Neeners did not go bed. Instead she followed me every step of the way and asking me what I was doing. After I found it, I sat on the couch with a hot drink and choose a movie to watch. We had recorded a bunch of ones from the free VIP Uverse weekend. Neeners stayed up and watched Gnomeo and Juliet (bleh) with me and lounge on my lap with teary eyes and a sniffley nose. When I saw the state of how miserable she looked I realized then that I was sick and it wasn’t just a blip. After the movie was done I put her to bed and watched Gulliver’s Travels (Jack Black) and worked on the stocking. OH man, to be able to sit down and do my two favorite things — watch movies and craft? Heaven!

[Huge time taken to look download and look through photos to post from Gaga Lori, and then realized I had closed this window, and then Morella feel backwards into a hard box, and thank goodness for autosaving drafts].

Here are some choice photos taken by Gaga Lori (My younger brother Andrew, who didn’t feel the need to show up because he is 20 and full of it). I have yet to look at my camera.

Dessert eating for all

All the kids playing after dinner

Half of the grownups taking their turn at the table.  Why are we all wearing black?  Sheesh.

Cody and I outside watching kids and looking at Lil Bit.

Thanksgiving Sunset in Dells Dam

Shane returning from giving the girls a ride in his Tank.

After coming inside crafting.

Neeners getting ready for her first kitten holding, which she kept up the rest of the time we were there.

Neeners, the Kitten Whisperer. Tim and I were genuinely sad that we couldn’t bring one home for her. However, we have three bastards that need to go before we get another one.

Well, I suppose that took up a major chunk of the morning. It’s 12:00 now and I should probably think about paying some attention to the kids and working on clearing out the space where the Christmas tree will go. I finally broke down and took some tylenol and feel a little better. Or maybe it’s because I am almost through my second large cup of coffee.  Whatever, it’s time to go.

Tonight as we put the girls to bed, I hugged Morella and kissed her thrice as it would be the last time for my three year old Morella. Tonight at 1:42am I will have a four year old daughter. A bright, beautiful, funny, silly, creative, loving, sensitive sweet sweet little girl. Though I can’t tell you that she is little within her earshot, or she will be quick to correct.

“I a big girl.”

In the journey of three, Morella has:

–Become a fish and loves to be in the water
–Gone on her first family vacation
– Ridden a boat three times
–Rode in a horse drawn carriage
–Learned how to pump on a swing
–Mastered using scissors
–Learned to draw recognizable figures and things
–Excells in speaking (maybe a little too much
–Feeds the cats and dog
–Became best friends with her sister
–Learned how to peddle a three wheeler bike
–Can ride and do tricks on her scooter better than any other kid I know
–First tea party
–Knows all about My Little Pony Friendship is Magic
–Put on her first dance recital (in house specials)
–Took pre-ballet
–Participated in two seasons worth of soccer (Team Unisaurs)
–Had a great birthday where no one got violently I’ll
–Got a membership to one of her favorite places, Olbrich Gardens
–Participated in Ride the Drive
–Rollerbladed with her Daddy
–Painted the basement and bathroom with me
–Became a wonderful shopping companion
–Understands social embarrassment (we are struggling with this)
–Started sharing a room with her sister
–Began picking out her own library books
–Can put train tracks together
–Is brilliant in imaginative play
–Her hair is now halfway down her back
–Is 40 3/4 inches tall
–Has started to eat more than just the frosting on cake
–Can jump 360
–Is a great help in the kitchen and can measure accurately
–Had her first overnight stay at her grandparents (2 days)
–Went to Bay Beach 3 times
–Stayed at her Dega’s for a week with me and Neeners
–Still loves pink
–Was a butterfly Princess Fairy for Halloween
–Can compose songs and loves to sing
–Favorite song(s) Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO, Winnie the Pooh Theme Song, Sky Full of Lighters by Good VS Evil
–Switched to whole milk (flavored with strawberry syrup)
–Progressed to more complicated stories (fairy tales, wordy books)
–Can make up and tell her own stories
–Still gets pretty nervous and scared about tension in movies
–Had her first real fever dream
–Struggles with nightmares after late bedtimes and “scary” things
–Can count to 10
–Can climb most play structures unassisted

And finally, the last day of being 3.

Happy Birthday to the girl who made me Mom.

Tired. Ugh. I should really be in bed right now instead of tapping put a post here. But some post is better than no post.

It has been a flurry of activity. Last week Tim and I were sick, finishing up the window, bathroom wall replacement, plumber installing valves, a day trip to the Kalahari resort and water park (I got to ride on a water slide for the first time in my life!), taking a tiling class, figuring out how to lay tile, starting my tile project, and now the girls are sick too.

Morella was up every 30 minutes last night crying about how miserable she was with her runny nose. Eventually I took her to bed with me where she slept for a couple hours before unreasonable demands set in and she went back to her bed. So today might be more of a survive kind of day. Which is okay because since I started to feel better I have been a flurry of activity.

Soren is here and Morella won’t stop talking my ear off.

Phil, my address is the same and I would love to hear from you! I will email it to you just to be sure.

My bathroom project is on hold…rather delayed due to illness. Tim and I are both sick and battling a chest cold. Mine came on quite suddenly yesterday, though if I were to be honest I have been low energy and tired all weekend. So perhaps I was coming down with something..this thing.

We had to bring in a plumber to install the new bath fixtures yesterday morning. He came at 7:50 even though he was supposed to be here at 7:30. What really matters here is that I was up at 7 and hurting because it was so early. Anyway, Bob the plumber comes to the door brandishing blue booties and asking if he should wear them. He was tall, like 6′5″, and was incredibly polite. I was getting ma’am every other word, and he was very careful with how he phrased everything. I was actually impressed with how proper he was and thought it was intriguing to run into an old fashioned gentleman in the plumbing business. About half way through his stay here our contractor came to work on the outside bathroom window trim. He came in, and Bob kept calling Dave “Buddy”. They exchanged some small talk and then helped each other out in a screw extraction from the bath wainscot ( at my repeated insistence that they find a way to make it work, otherwise inwas facing an extra 300 – 400 dollars for labor).

Anyway, the shower and tub valves were replaced, I had him replace our bathroom faucet to a single handle (it was leaking excessively and the throught of dragging two kids around with me for another morning was disheartening…besides I was sick), and the screw was extracted so that I can put my old wainscot back in, with new screws. I was in the bathroom looking at the walls when I heard Bob talking with Dsve, who was in the front yard sawing. They talked for about 10 minutes, and as they kept talking I was curious to know what they were talking about. So I cracked the new window a bit and eavesdropped. I was shocked when I heard Bob drop the F-bomb every single sentence he uttered. Sometimes he started and ended the sentence with some variation of the “fuck.”.

I later asked Dave if I had accidentally overheard right, and that he was swearing a lot. Dave, matter of factly, replied “yeah, those contractors always talk like that.”.

That totally explained why Bob was almost incredibly polite. Ha ha ha. Now I sort of wished I had been dressed, with make up and hair done in a clean house have played my part better.

………….

Tonight I went to bed early to watch a movie, and try to recover faster after the girls were supposedly in bed. I heard Morella weeping in her room for about five minutes before I got up to see what the problem was. I peeked in and asked her “What is your problem?”

“Neeners!” she wailed. I looked towards Neeners bed trying to see her in the dark.

“What is the problem with Neeners?” I asked.
“Neeners won’t stop…..wailing…mumble mumble…” crying continues.

“Morella, what is Neeners doing?” I asked and stepped into her room to look. At that point a little head pops out from under the covers, next to Morella in her bed (pushing her out) saying brightly “Yes Mommy?”

Ha ha ha. Poor miserable Morella had been begging Neeners to go back to her own bed that whole time.

……………

I gave the kids their own individual baths in their fly boats this morning. I put their clear storage bins in the kitchen and filled them with water. They loved it and now their hair doesn’t look as greasy anymore. I myself even managed to take a bath awhile later in the tub and felt so much better afterward.

Now to get a good nights sleep so that I will be all refreshed for tomorrow’s fun at the Kalahari water park in Wisconsin Dells. Tim’s parents are there for a conference and will be giving us their water park passes. Woo!

We went to Mt. Horeb to look at trolls, walk around and eat dinner at the Grumpy Troll with Ann and Noah. This was the closest that the girls wanted to get to any troll.

Noah

On Thursdays, Hilary has been coming over for a short visit, and this last time we told Lowen she should come along. I hope this becomes something fun and I remember to bake delicious things on Wednesday.

We went to Crackle and Froth with Peter and Ann. This photo came out well with them.

I just realized that my camera has lots of cool effects on it! Here is Tim at the Great Dane for lunch with the girls and I.

Morella ran into her friend Bree at Trick or Treating at the Zoo. This first Halloween event was the best the girls looked, Neeners in her pumpkin suit aside. We met up with Chuck and Kathleen and Daphne for a brief minute, and saw the Red Panda for the first time.

Hayride at Elver Park followed by Smore’s making.

Trick or Treating in comfort — at the Overture Center while trick or treating on State Street.

Every time Morella wore her costume we face painted a different butterfly mask onto her.

Thumbnail, click image for larger photo. (If Morella or Neeners saw it of me just casually, I would expect some more nightmare nights). I went to the Inferno with Sigrid on Saturday night and had an absolute blast being a zombie. Seriously, I shuffled around the entire night on the dance floor and looked at people like they were hamburgers. I got several “Creepy” comments, which was awesome. No one hit on me, surprisingly enough. Also I am pretty sure I was the most comfortable person there in my jammies and Tim’s puppy slippers.

There we go. I gotta go and write a big check out to our contractor for finishing up the bathroom. The plumber just left this morning and was the most expensive thing yet — $500….ugh ugh ugh. That brings the total bathroom renovation cost up to $1600 I think. But, things will look so much better after I am done tiling…and painting…right? As most people keep saying “tiling isn’t that hard….” Or is it “Tiling doesn’t LOOK too hard”. Hm..