After I got the kids home I gave them canned soup, crackers and applesauce for dinner, which they barely touched before sheparding them out the door to Ho-Chunk language lesson. They did quite well and are actually absorbing the lessons while playing. If anything they are picking it up more now with more of a classroom approach than individual with the TV on in the other room. I know, a no brainer, but it might also because they are older and more apt to show off. I stopped at McDonald’s on the way home for a chicken select meal that we all shared before getting them into jammies, teeth brushed and downstairs for good night to Daddy and his gaming buddies before bed. Morella had one night terror and that was that!

The rest of the time was spent watching Big Bang Theory and researching our trip to India. I had been feeling guilty that I hadn’t researched anything to this point and was going to pack on a fly — but after reviewing the sites, I think I had it pretty well covered. I did learn a few things like, don’t wear sandals (whoops I was going to pack only those), wear 3/4 pants and not shorts when out and about, and that Morella especially is going to be harassed to have her photo taken and cheeks pinched. Neeners is a given, as her cheeks are just so pinchable. Oh and to bring balloons to play with in terminals and where ever that can be discarded. Good idea!

We might have a blip on the visas in that they are time consuming. Tim says that we should go ahead and get the tickets now and just hope the visas come in on time. I hope there is a way, other than Fedex and hoping that they go through faster. Ugh, I like to have the ducks in a row when it comes to situations like this.

Tim was using my Ipad tonight and I have to admit I went through a little bit of Words with Friends withdrawal while it was down there. It is just so nice to have on the side while doing other things. Breaks things up.

It was an exhausting day, but not in an overly stressful way.

Yesterday we had a play date with Mrs. Hooverson and her boys. It was wonderful and so nice get away from home. She even fed the kids lunch, which Morella ate. This whole “No More Milk in Sippy Cups” is starting to pay off. Well, with Morella at least. Neeners still doesn’t feel the need to eat anything other than candy and cookies.
Afterward we went to Target where I got some more organizing things. I am on a roll! I also got a MLP tent for 70% off which nosey McRella saw … but forgot about until today — which gave me plenty of time to hide it and pretend I had no idea what she was talking about. “Yes, we did see a pony tent, and I did think about it, but why would you think I bought it?”

It’s not quite lying….

It is so warm out that all the snow is melting. So after we got back I let them play in the “rivers” for an hour and totally soaking their boots. Which is a bummer today because it’s still super warm out and the furnace hasn’t kicked in, and so the boots are still wet. We don’t have galoshes for them … well Neeners has Morella’s old pair but I have nothing for Morella to wear.

It is great that the house is coming together, but it is also kind of depressing to think that is all I should be doing for the next three weeks. I just don’t find the immense satisfaction in having a super orderly house that some people do. I would much rather have immense satisfaction from being super creative and awesome — which feels like it has been awhile.

Also my guess for the Mysterious Stranger on Once Upon a Time is that he is the actual author of the book the boy has been reading. And Rumple is still my favorite character.

Monday – Left the house to go to the Clinic for the children’s shots.

Tuesday – Watched TV. Birthday. Morella was ill from shots. Left house briefly to buy a cake and some side salads at HyVee.

Wednesday – Stayed home. Soren was here.

Thursday – Went to the UW Hospital for adult immunizations. I got five shots. Tim got four. My arms hurt and Tim said he was rock solid. Later I took the kids to a Ho-Chunk language lesson, Micheal’s and Target.

Friday – Stayed in the house all day. Soren was here. We took naps. Tim had a reaction to his immunizations and was fevered and sick.

Saturday – Took the girls to the Post Office and then Mall to play with the Train Table at Barnes and Nobles and then get a Calendar with Sigrid and Matt — the played in those car carts that you have to rent for awhile.

Sunday – Stayed in all day. The kids left for 40 min to play outside while Tim shoveled.

Yesterday we instituted – “No More Milk in Sippy Cups” rule. Which is, you only get milk with meals and that is it. Otherwise you get a water in your cup, and most importantly, you get water in your cup when you go to bed at night. Morella was pretty worried about it, but in the end was okay. She didn’t eat much last night, but then again neither did Neeners.

This morning she woke up at 7 and ran into our room saying “I am hungry!” Tim got up to get her some breakfast but she didn’t eat anything. She sipped some milk and then went back to bed only to emerge five minutes later saying she needed to “spit up”. So she went to the bathroom and spit up. She worked on a saltine after that, and then barfed it up a bit later. Currently she is on her second piece of toast — we feel that might be too early but the girl is hungry and gobbling it up. We’ll see.

Okay so I do get out of the house … occasionally. But you know, when it is warm and sunshiny (it is not sunny today) then I leave the house for several hours each day. In the height of summer awesomeness we only spend a few hours inside a day.

So the girls are watching a lot of TV this morning. They usually never watch more than an hour a day — broken up, so days like this is a holiday. I am not sure what to do with myself in these cases since they are so absorbed. Do I take a nap? I spent a lot of the morning reading articles all over the internet. I can’t remember the last time I went surfing actually looking for things to read. Generally it feels like I am catching up when I am on.

The coffee is gone and it’s not even 11. I am showered and dressed though, so that is a plus. So when is Neeners gonna get this? Tomorrow? Later today? They were kissing and hugging each other Saturday night so any hope of not having shared germs was lost then. Maybe Neeners nagging cough (she coughed so much two days ago that she barfed) is keeping it at bay.

Maybe I will think of this an golden opportunity to do more “deep” cleaning of the house. Last week the floors were all hand scrubbed. I found the floor to my bedroom yesterday. I should keep up with the theme of clearing off surfaces. I have a pile of papers all over the place that need to be addressed.

Oh, gotta make more toast.

Looks like we might be heading out the last week of February for India, which gives me a month to get things in order. I am starting to formulate a fantasy that I can declutter and clean this house to amazing specs before the trip so that when we return it will be .. nice.

The girls are sitting on the floor watching Little Bill. They have a My Little Pony tea pot house sitting on a plastic bagged 30 rolls of Cottenelle toilet paper with mardi gras beads drapped all over it. Right now it is their “Teaboat”. Ha ha. Teaboat/train. I got the girls some $1 spray bottles last night at Target with the idea that we would go out with some colored water and spray the snow, but Neeners lost her freaking straw in the car ride home. I hope I can find it this morning and that she didn’t actually lose it at Target. I guess I can use the old, washed out Frebreeze bottle if that is the case….sigh. Neeners. Morella did say we couldn’t do it in other people’s yards because that might bother them too much. They might say “What the hay?”

Today was the grown up turns to get jabbed with needles. I was expecting three shots tops for me: typhoid, flu and tetanus, but to my delight I got Hepatitis A and polio (again). My arms are very painful right now and I just took some ibuprofen and am drinking a cider to drown the pain. Oy. Tim says that he is having no problems. I am sure you are all relieved to know that. The girls were good being there too and I think it was important for them to see that grown ups get shots too. Maybe it lessens the pain they were in.

Morella slept in until 9:30 this morning after going to bed last night at 7:30 and then she took a big 2 hour nap in the after noon and then went to bed at 9:00. I am shocked that she is sleeping so much. Maybe she is still processing her shots but also, maybe she is growing. They are starting to get through their clothes faster. It will be fun trying to figure out what to bring to India — lots of summer dresses, t-shirts and shorts — which will hopefully make it easier to pack and treat the clothing with insect protection.

Tonight we had our first ho-chunk language lesson of the year and it went well. After that I took the girls to Micheal’s to look around. I got a $2 dollar grab bag that had a ton of great things in it. It was like Christmas in a plastic bag. Then we went to Target to get some toothpaste and more band aid’s because the girls go through those things like candy. I was getting tired of using berry flavored Aim. I like having a minty mouth after brushing my teeth.

I think I might actually be able to go to bed at a decent time tonight and hopefully not sleep in too late tomorrow. We don’t have any plans for this weekend. I wonder how we will fill it. It’s has been awhile since we had nothing on the docket.

Ugh, I don’t have anything else to say right now. This past weekend I had a lovely dinner party hosted by my friend Lowen on Saturday. I got to play Catch Phrase for a few rounds and that was exciting and we did fondue. Then Sunday we had Madison’s best brunch at the Fitchburg Great Dane. Monday the girls got their shots and earned themselves a new pony and an afternoon of TV watching on the couch. Morella got four shots and she had a fever from them on Tuesday, which was my birthday. We stayed in the whole day — with a short outing to get a cake and some side salads to accompany our bagels and lox dinner. Tim gave me a drill set and some Walking Dead comics, Catch Phrase, more memory for the Xbox so we could download more Borderlands games and a new download. I gave myself an owl rug, trash can, shower hooks and a bath towel set. Tim’s Mom gave me a black and white Owl handmade pillow case and gift card to the movies and my only birthday card. My friend Laima gave me a post card book, and my friend Emily gave me a new journal. I think I made out pretty good!

Now begins the 36th year of my life — I can’t say I am in my late 30’s but I still stand by being middle aged.

I was just talking with Tim last night about how Neeners and Soren are competing for attention, and how by next year these two are going to be best buds. It’s hard to see it right now because Soren hasn’t passed the 17 month mark, but it will come.

Yesterday after an enormous fight with my Mom calling to ask for money, I took the kids to the Children’s Museum. They hadn’t left the house since Tuesday when I took them out to play in the front yard….and before that it was … oh I don’t know, Sunday. It was the coldest day of the year and we haven’t been there in like 8 months, and I had let my membership lapse back in October. I was going to wait until I knew I was going to need it — like now. Off we went and got there around 12:30. We played for 20 minutes and then ate lunch and then played more for a total of 3 hours being there. I maxed out our parking for once. I LOVE going there around that time because everyone is home with their napping kids.

I think we will be going more often now that Neeners is older and is more interested in playing with the things and doesn’t need a nap. Those pesky naps. I know people love them. I loved them…but honestly putting life on hold for them and walking around them like you are eggshells sucks. I find it way easier to just go about our day and then if a kid crashes out for a 1/2 hour later on, then so be it.

We came home and watched Super Why while Neeners while we all passed out on the couch for a while. Neeners actually fell asleep in the car ride home and Morella and I just rested and chilled. OH I made myself one of those Trader Joe’s Instant Coffee with Sugar and Cream coffee’s and it’s good. Yeah, it is. I might have to go back and buy more of them. It was $3 something for 10 packets, which is a lot cheaper than the starbucks version that doesn’t even have cream and sugar in it. It is just nice to have an instant option late in the day when going back out is a pain in the ass, as is making another pot of coffee. Plus, I feel very European having instant coffee in the afternoon.

Big news last night. After going to the bathroom countless times to rip off little pieces of paper and stick them in butt (trying to push the poop back in), reading books and singing songs and trying and trying and trying, I gave up and went back to the living room to work on a duplo maze when I heard a miracle “Mommy! I pooped in the potty.” I rushed in there to see two small turds sitting in the potty and Neeners standing there pant-less. I I checked her pull up (which she still had on after an museum accident) and it was clean, as was her butt — she really did sit down and let poop fall out of her butt! Hurray! I promised her soda if she could do it and I had to pay up. I went into the kitchen too look for it and discovered I only had Coke Classic. No way on earth would I give those kids coke a 1/2 hour before bedtime. So I called my neighbor and asked if she had a can of clear soda she could spare and ran over to get it. She had Sprite Zero. I guess I need to go and buy some pooping soda today. Or walk there…oh I guess I could sled them there. Park our sled next to the building…chances are someone would steal it though.

Last night while Tim was at gaming I sat on the couch and watched TV: Modern Family, Once Upon a Tim (The queen is beautiful…come on, she is….and there is just something about Rumplestitskin…and the new guy in town IS very handsome). I finished the evening with some ridiculous Family Guy and Big Bang Theory before going to bed. I hate periods. I wish I could turn them off. I still think those women who talk about how awesome or powerful or whatever they feel about it are deluded.

Oh the show is over. I guess it is time to turn of the TV and let the girls start fighting about something.

Normally on a Wednesday I try to leave the house. In the winter it usually means to watch a movie. I love watching movies because I can immerse myself fully into the story and forget about everything else for two hours. If I watch movies at home, I get distracted by all the crap that needs to be done and my fingers get fidgety and demand something to do so I have to multitask. If I don’t then I feel guilty about not doing anything but watching TV. At the theater, well then, that is watching a movie and I paid for the right to just sit there and enjoy it. It is very revitalizing and afterwards I feel a little more alive than usual.

Last night I didn’t go because Neeners had slipped on a piece of fabric and hit her head. She cried for about 30 seconds and then suddenly stopped and started to fall asleep. I swear she did pass out for a second or two because she was disorientated for about 5 minutes afterward and quiet and sedate for about an hour. Tim and I were scared so we called the nurse and she talked us down a bit, so we went with the watch her route. Tim had also checked her pupils just after it happened as we kept her awake and she was okay. She went to bed okay, coughed a ton a little while later and I gave her some honey. At one point she did night walk and so I scooped her up and put her to bed with me. When she woke up later she went back to her own bed. Still by morning, Neeners was poking me in the ribs chattering on and on about … uh I don’t know because I am so tired and waking up. Hence, Neeners survived the night unscathed! Hurray!

The other not so joyful things that happened yesterday, included calling a furnace repairman to come and change our filter for $93 dollars (Thank goodness I had that 25 dollar off coupon). Apparently the dust from the drywall finally made it’s way through the duct work and clogged the filter right away. For the record Tim HAD changed it only 2-3 weeks prior. If drywall dust gets in the filter it is unable to function at all. “Intolerant” our cheerful technician said. Why not? We paid him nearly a hundred dollars for 3 minutes of work.

Then we noticed that the corner ceiling in the office was looking wet. So we had to bring in a water specialist or two, a handy man or two to all look at it and in the end decide it was from a small ice dam, and we need to snow rake higher up on the roof, turn off the humidifier for awhile (even though Neeners still has croup it actually doesn’t seem to help her one way or the other), and eventually get a house audit for energy efficiency.

Then mid way through the day we got a surprise visit from our Ho-Chunk language instructor who stopped by to give us his new schedule for the year and drop off some new materials. Morella made sure to show him all her most important peacock items.

Throughout all of these phone calls, visits and trying to figure out what we need to do, the kids were NOT cooperating. Neeners and Soren are locked in the immortal battle of rivalry, especially after 1:00. So for the last three hours of Soren Time they were each taking turns crying, crying together and throwing tantrums left and right. Morella would throw in a temper tantrum or two herself when she felt she was being too ignored. It was so ridiculous that at one point I recorded the them on the video recorder for future chuckles. Because I am sure in a couple years it will be funny. Oh, it wasn’t that bad. I mean, it helps so much to know that one of them goes away at 4 and the other will probably pass out from exhaustion. I can’t imagine having that all day, every day. And of course, they are only at their worst when you have house worries to deal with immediately.

You know, I would have liked to have seen a woman repair technician come to the house for a home problem. They were all male. The only women I got to interact with were the ones who answered the phones.

Oh and then to top it all off, I had one more unexpected visitor that will annoy me for the next 3-4 days — Aunt Flo. BAH! If ever there was a day I was glad to see the behind of, this was it.

Onto today. I got to sleep in until 8 (thanks Neeners), made some coffee and the girls have been playing together well. I made them some toaster strudels for breakfast and have planted myself on the couch with delicious coffee at my side. There have been a few trips to the bathroom because Neeners keeps wandering in there to rip little pieces of toilet paper and flush it after pulling her pants down. She is trying to poop. She knows to go to bathroom but we can’t get her to sit on the potty and just … do it. She hasn’t pooped in two days! Well, actually that isn’t true. She did poop two days ago but only a little bit. She was throwing an immense tantrum and I guess straining herself so much that some poop escaped. But it was only a teeny bit, so it shouldn’t count for much.

Alright, I am starting to feel more like myself again. Besides I gotta finish the letter to my Mom that I tried to write yesterday.

–had Chuck, Kathleen and Daphne over for a successful playdate on Saturday. I love playmates with older kids because they keep themselves occupied enough to let the adults visit.

–Today we went to the Big Backyard in Brookfield for my nephews 1st birthday party. A ball was had by all.

–Last week we had another birthday party for one of the kids in Morella’s playgroup at Madtown Twisters. They loved running around, jumping and climbing. I like that we have had these opportunities to get the kids out and physical. Though maybe that is where they have been catching their mystery bugs. Ahh winter.

–Applied for our passports as a family last Wednesday. Now it is a waiting game for the passports to arrive and then schedule when we will leave for India and buy our tickets…and of course the million other things we will have to do.

–Dr. Appointments have been schedule to make sure we have the best immunization possible for the week of my birthday.

–We officially refinanced our house for 3.875 interest on Thursday. We will save about 200 a month and 30k over the life of the loan.

–I finally cleaned the house. This is big because I had been feeling so poorly for so long. I can’t believe how much more energy and zest I have again. I am even doing the push up challenge again and keeping up. The goal is to do do as many push ups for the day of the year. It is easy now at 15. Last time I made it to 90 something and the benefits to strength lasted quite a long time. Totally worth it.

–we just beat Borderlands and the zombie download again and have moved onto the underdone download. Tim also got me going on the Walking Dead Comics, and I have finished book 4 and am anxiously awaiting birthday comics.

–oh yeah and we started potty training Neeners last week. So far so good, except she hasn’t pooped on the potty yet and is in great distress about it.

One thing I was sad about was thinking about how in 10 years I am going to look back on what a whippersnapper I am now. Sigh.

Anyway. So then we came home and the girls rode their scooter outside while I vacuumed the car. Then we all went on a family dog walk. I made fish sticks and mandarin orange and spinach salad with home made dressing (feta and almond slices) and we ate. Then I played with the girls for an hour and put them to bed.

Morella got up only once and I even worked on a project in which I painted some wood with old paint and stuck glitter on it. tomorrow I intend on gluing some fancy pictures to it before screwing in a ton of little cup hooks. I plan on hanging this in my room and draping dozens of necklaces and bracelets on it. While I was working on that I watched the movie Possession, which I know is a favorite for some of my friends. It was nice.

Today was good. Very productive and lots of little tasks were completed. I realized however after the girls went to bed that I had overdone it. It is so difficult to restrain yourself on the first full day of feeling better.

Oh Laima came over with the auctions Tim and I had won from her party. I took photos of the cards and the end result, which I will share you when I get around to hooking up the laptop again.

Lastly, I am feeling melancholy over putting the Christmas decorations away this weekend. In particular the Christmas clock that plays songs every hour. The next time we take it out and hear those tinny tunes the girls will be 3 and 5 and a whole year will have passed filled with exuberant life. But it will go by so fast. So very fast.

This year has been off to a weird start. On New Years eve Tim and I went to Laima’s every other year (biannual?) NYE party while Amber the awesome babysitter watched TV and occassionally put a sleep walking kid back to bed. The party was wonderful with photo op boxes, brown bag auction of stuff — Did I win anything Laima?, and fondue. But about 45 min before midnight I started to feel hot and then got a bad case of body ache. You know how you feel when you have the flu with a bad fever? How your whole body just aches and it hurts to exist? Well, it was like that. At Midnight we left and came home and I was in bed by 12:30. But during that time I realize that these symptoms were familiar and the cause is my winter enemy — iron deficiency. Ugh!

So I started some supplementation aand working on eating iron rich foods (none of which I had consumed for at least a month or two) but it took until today for me to even feel a semblance of myself. Sunday we visited the grand family but I was so tired and ill feeling that it was a bit of a blur. Monday I felt marginally better but stayed in bed for the majority of the day. Tuesday better yet — and I got some vitamin b-12 in addition to a different kind of Iron supplement than my old stash. Today…finally…relief.

So apparently one of my new years resolutions is to consume more iron. My other new years resolutions are all of them. Yep. I am going to:

1. Lose weight
2. Get fit
3. Get out of debt/budget
4. Learn something new
5. Quit smoking
6. Drink less
7. Spend more time with friends and family
8. Get organized
9. Enjoy life more
10. Help others

There. Some of these are in the bag. An actually by trying… I mean to say, “I’ll keep it in mind” and see what happens.

In fantasy land my real goals would be:

1. Go to bed at a decent hour like say…10 or something.
2. Declutter the heck out of this place
3. Keep writing my Mom every day
4. Write more in general
5. Ho-Chunk language

okay, so they aren’t fantasy land…so why not just add them to the rest, for a total of 16 (remember iron is one too).

Anyway, in other news I went to our first book club meeting of 2012 to discuss Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner. I started it last night at 7:30 and finished the last chapter at the meeting while we ordered.. I thought it was good and I really like the writing style, flow and descriptions. I liked the emotions it evoked. We had 8 people show up, which was awesome. We have such a good book club. Next up for February is Nurture Shock. It is nice to throw in a parenting book every now and then since we all did meet from socializing our first borns.

So there, I read a book, cared for three kids 4 and under while doing so (and they weren’t easy today) and made a healthy, nutritious dinner from scratch — oh yeah and went to book club. oh and there was a play date yesterday, so I am practically a social butterfly!