When?!

When exactly is summer, or SPRING for that matter, going to grace us, forsaken Minnesotans, with its presence? I am so very sick and tired of cold, ucky weather. The low temperature last night was 31 degrees. Over the weekend, my dad received FIFTEEN INCHES OF SNOW near his home in Alexandria. I would like to inform Mother Nature that her behavior over the past week has been completely unacceptable. Do I need to remind her that it is almost MAY?! Enough complaining about things out of our control...

For the upcoming weekend, I don't care what the weather will be like because I will be happily relaxing inside a beautiful lodge "up north" with lots of awesome friends but minus my children and husband as I scrapbook until my little heart is content. Life is so good. I can't wait!!!

Necessity: Mother of Innovation

When the weather finally begins to warm up in Minnesota, it's a bummer when all it does is rain. The poor little ones are too small to wade through the mud bog we call a yard and I, as their mother, am not brave enough to deal with the horrendous mess of allowing them to have at it in the mud. Granted, it would probably be a fabulous set of pictures for the scrapbook, but the potential mess! I haven't decided it's worth it yet. I digress and am off track... The young ones and weather. So it's finally warm enough to play outside without being bundled up like a stuffed sausage, but the weather has not cooperated for a couple days. It's been raining and icky out. Today I was stir crazy and the children had lots of energy, so we decided to make the best of the situation. What better way to spend a miserably rainy, dreary, damp, cold day in the house than... by building the mother of all forts!


The construction site that E deemed most acceptable for our masterpiece was smack dab in the middle of our small kitchen, which I must agree was a wiser choice than the middle of the even smaller living room. We used all of the kitchen chairs and a bazillion blankets of every size. Hours later the children are still bumbling in and out of the fort on non-stop, worthy missions. Score two points for mother today. Every one's stir crazy energy was channeled into good use.


To cap off a great afternoon, we picked up a $5 pizza at Little Caesar's and had a picnic in the middle of the living room, complete with cucumber slices and strawberries on a blanket while watching a Barney sing-along (a major treat since I have a strict rule about no television during meal / family time.) Indeed these are the important memories we each have an opportunity to create for our children each day.

Hanging with Family

These are the days... just hanging out with my fabulous family. C was on jury duty this week and was released early yesterday afternoon, so I made the executive decision that we (C, me, MJ) should take the little munchkins on a last minute field trip to Como Zoo. It was a balmy 75 degrees with spectacularly sunny skies -- 75 degrees in Minnesota in April! Indescribable! We had a blast.

Blurry Eyes

Breaking news! Scientists have proven that most mothers do not get enough sleep. Hello... is this news to any of you mothers out there? Proving that any parent, specifically moms, do not get enough sleep is similar to proving that men dislike having their testicles kicked repeatedly with a steel-toed boot. And to make matters worse -- the article stated that 46% of the women surveyed felt they are getting enough sleep. WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?!

Each night I get between 5 to 6 hours of excessively interrupted sleep. I was not naive enough to believe I was alone in my sleep deprivation, however, now it turns out that almost half of those psychotic women surveyed are saying that 4-6 hours is "enough" sleep, as well as some odd women (who must be lying?!) actually claim to get a full 8 hours of sleep each night...

I am in denial that there are real people out there getting real sleep. I'm so tired and grumpy and plain ol' unstable right now. I just want to crawl under my kitchen table and sleep for a week or perhaps just laugh hysterically while tossing Cheerios at the cat in an effort to amuse myself into staying awake.

Talk to me, people! Exactly how much sleep are you getting? Is it enough? How long until I go completely mad from lack of sleep?

Lately

Lately I've been thinking. Thinking about de-cluttering my house and life. Cleaning up the messes that don't belong. Throwing some old thoughts and worries out. Simplifying things, re-prioritizing, organizing the chaos that I let build up around me. I've been thinking about the things (people) that I need to surround myself with to be happy. I want to be conscious to focus on what is important and to let go of the rest. I think I can do it. I think the journey will be good.

Not Important

I have always tried to resist the urge to wallow in the extremely distasteful, over-inflated sense of self-importance that I previously assumed most bloggers felt. I strongly believe that it is positively foolish for me to hold my rantings in such high esteem that I would expect others to actually want to read my blathering.

I am aware that my blog and opinions are useless and irrelevant. For the record I would like to state: I know that I spew lots of mumbo jumbo.

Surprise!

On Saturday evening, Erin (girlfriend of the century!) teamed up with Susan (Mitch's mom) to throw a surprise 30th birthday party for our dear friend, Mitchell. C and I parceled the children out to the various grandparents homes and prepared for a night of adult pleasures. Fantastic fun was had by all! Mitch ended up being genuiningly surprised (yahoo!) and Erin could stop all of the "lying" which was driving her batty as she tried to keep the party a secret.

Some people may have possibly had a teensy bit too much fun -- with a captial F! My hubby had to call my baby sister to give us a ride home from the bar/restaurant at 2 am since we were in no shape to drive. Molly, the dearest sweetie, also gave Mitch and hottie Erin a ride home. This morning my poor husband was in bad shape. I have never seen the old man so hung-over and miserable the day after a party. Hee-hee! It was excessively pitiful.

Precious Children

E was happy to pose for the camera this weekend as she prepared to go on a "date" with her dad to the "My Guy and Me" Dance sponsored by her Girl Scout Service Unit.

LOVE those gorgeous brown eyes on H...

I like the way the light comes in from the window and shines on G's face.

Last but not least, my little man, D

Green Things

How many leafy green strawberry things (the top stem part), do you think a child can eat without getting sick? Just curious...

Cuteness Expires Between the Hours of 10pm and 6am

I adore my children. I truly do. They are the light of my life. Each and every one in their own special way. So very beautiful and captivating and exceptional and treasured and priceless.

However, occasionally I forget how precious they are. For example, between the hours of 10pm and 6am... or this morning when D woke up around 5:00am and stared me down while throwing his head back screaming his darling head off as I squinted my eyes and pretended to still be asleep... or last night when G woke up around 2:19am shrieking that she wanted more water in her sippy -- when it was already full... or right now as I watch G dump a cupful of approximately 536 coins all over the kitchen floor and begin to giggle as D hangs precariously from the edge of the kitchen table, trying to defy gravity with his tiny hands clinging to the tabletop, his legs swing wildly with only his little belly pressed against the table in an effort to suction cup himself to the table (moments ago G pulled the chair out from under D's feet.)

Such is the life of an overly tired mom. Yet, I wouldn't change it for the world and I know these days will pass. All too soon their little pitter-pattering feet will turn into sulky, clod-hopping, teenage feet and I will long for the sleepless nights of now.

The Beginning

I am always told by my fabulous husband and family that I talk too much. So I was quite shocked when I decided to start a blog for the family and I was suddenly tongue-tied. I know you are asking yourself -- is it possible for Ann to actually be quiet and not have a TON to say?! I guess I just don't know where to begin. My intention for the blog is to update family and friends on life's grand adventures. As everyone moves to the ends of the earth, technology is a fantastic way to keep in touch. I suppose I will mainly blog about the children, since I do tend to blather about them the most. "Aren't they cute?" "Do you know what E, H, G or D did today?" "Highest bidder can have cute red-headed children..."