Ironed Sheets, Almost Set House on Fire, Played with Dead Snake

I just want to start this by saying, even though I like to write, being able to put commas in the right places or even stay within the same verb tense or whatever, passed me by a LONG time ago.  I struggle with it when I am writing something that I want published or let's say, made into a movie... but that's what editors are for!!!  Thank God for them! HA! So if you are a grammar or english snob... just deal with it, okay?!? =)

Yep.  That's just about how my life has been this past week or so since I've last written.  It's amazing all the small little things that are just so cute and funny and yet, forgotten when not recorded.  And I have always wanted to record them all so as to never forget!  I call my Mom every time something worth recording happens because I found out one time that she actually writes it all down!! Awesome!  Uhh... I hope she still is because I look forward to crying my eyes out to all of it one day when my babies are grown!

One of the most exciting things happening around here is the construction of our "library"!  I have always wanted one and few people know that I actually put together one in our basement when I was a kid.  I'm pretty sure I even had a card catalog.  Yes, super dork here!  But who can resist rows and rows of books?!?!?!?!?  My favorite scene from a Disney movie is when Belle gets taken to the library! WOW!  I will have one like that one day... but for now, what we are building will be awesome!  And if I get my way (which according to my husband, I do) it will look as though you've stepped into the Gryffindor Common Room (and if you don't know what that is...we're not friends anymore!!! JK=), just smaller.  Oh yeah, Mom and Dad?  Can I have a persian rug to go in there?  =)

This is what it looks like now...

Olsin stayed home sick today... complications you really don't want to know the details.  Long story short, he's been tested for salmonella poisoning, E-coli and something else I can't remember.  The Dr. asked me if he had been playing with turtles, frogs, etc. recently... uhhh... most likely!!!! Ha!  I had planned to work out today, but that didn't happen with my little friend in tow.  He managed to manipulate me into taking him to Toys R Us, little stinker, and buy him new transformers.  So, my day then consisted of me learning how to turn transformers back into their vehicle form while watching Tom and Jerry.  I gotta admit, I'm pretty darn good at it now.  Picking the girls up from school, Olsin wanted to visit the butterfly garden.  We found the one caterpillar left on the butterfly weed and it pooped on Olsin's hands as he held it.  We went straight to the school restroom to wash his hands, walked back outside and he started playing with the bird poop on the ground.  And we wonder why he's been sick?!??

Dylin has been doing so wonderfully well at school it really surprises us all!  She did bring home a B last week though.  It was a worksheet with two categories "real" and "make-believe" and they were supposed to glue the words underneath that matched.  Well, we were reviewing it and what she got wrong was "ELVES" that she had glued beneath REAL.....  hmmmm.... so I asked her why and she said, "Well, Santa has elves so elves are REAL!"  Couldn't argue there.  What are they trying to teach them in school nowadays! =)

Aedin has been taking gymnastics twice a week now in a preteam class so they are working harder on the skills she has.  They were doing beam yesterday and practicing jumping.  Well, most of the little girls got maybe a couple inches off the beam... it was scary... and Aedin's second time doing it the coach was really encouraging them to jump high and... she did!  Like a complete tuck! It scared the living crap outta me, probably why there's a nice thick glass between the parents and kids to stifle the screams... but she landed great and then did it again and again.  I don't think it got any better each time she did it... that is, for me. =)

On the way home from school yesterday, Olsin had stopped on the sidewalk to look at something.  When we finally caught up to him we saw that he had found a snake... a dead snake!  So, of course I picked it up.  So did Aedin. =) Dylin pretty much screamed the whole time, totally takes after her Daddy there!  Olsin kept telling me that he wanted a pet snake.  I kept trying to explain to him that it was dead.  But he wants it... but it's DEAD.  I really couldn't figure out how else to put it.

All my kids love candles... and they try to sneak them into their rooms too, sometimes successfully.  But, I explain how dangerous that is and always try to be such a good example to my kids with fire so that they too will be safe.  We have fire escape ladders in every room upstairs!  We are safe!  And they all know how to use them, apparently before I taught them, but that's a story for another time.  Well, last week before my contractor was to show up to start work on the library, I had to clear out the room.  I kept putting it off, as many times as Terry offered to help me with it, yet insisted that it wasn't that much stuff, no big deal.  OH MY GOSH.  There was so much crap in there it took me an hour longer to get it all out than I thought.... thank goodness the carpenter was late!  We always joke about lighting a match and just looking the other way... cause it gets so overwhelming... ha.  Well, I had on my brand new headphones, those big ones that block out all other sound, that Terry had just gotten me for my birthday, while cleaning out the room.  When my contractor (Terri) showed up I took them off and threw them and my iPod onto "the black thing" (that's what we call it because we are not classy enough to know what the darn thing is called... Annemarie, what do you call yours???) and started talking logistics.

About an hour later we are still talking and the carpenter's helper showed up and I heard him saying something like, "en fuego?"  It was then I could smell it.  I rounded the corner to find 18" flames coming out of the candle on "the black thing" dancing along the frame of the picture I have hanging above it.  Apparently, when I tossed aside my headphones I didn't exactly look where I threw them.  WOW.  How irresponsible of me!  I would've never known! Thank God those guys were there to pick up on my stupidity!!!!

The damage... doesn't look near as bad as it did with flames shooting out of it.  Should've taken a picture then, actually contemplated it, but thought saving the house might be more important.

I called Terry to say that I ruined the birthday present he'd given me.  He immediately thought I was talking about the car.  But, he did show up the next night with a new pair.  What a sweetheart. <3

As for ironing sheets... I really cannot believe I have turned into this person... but it just really irritates me if they are wrinkled!!!!  I used to make so much fun of my roommate Candice in college for ironing her sheets, I mean, really?!?, but here I am.... =)

Here are some pictures of our little movie stars.... we had a blast.  The rain ruined much of the shooting schedule but both Aedin and Colin got into ONE good scene.  So we're very happy about it! =)

Outside Kerby Lane... one of my favorite diners!

Breakfast for dinner!  Yeah!

Turns out the kids really liked it too!

I have had to take down several photos because we could potentially get in "trouble" for having them up on a blog.  The costumes they were wearing in the photos were NOT used because they never got the chance to shoot an additional scene, but they were on location, NOT on set... but just wanna we safe here. =)

Never a Dull Moment

MONDAY

You know, we always say that about our family but last night I realized I hadn't written anything on the blog all week.  I refuse to just ramble so I assumed that nothing worth reporting had happened this week and then all the memories started flooding back in...

Aedin and I went to Target Monday night after Dylin and Olsin were in bed (Daddy was home=) to find a new gymnastics leotard for her, as she is now in a pre-team class.  Eighty bucks later we didn't have a leotard but a bunch of stuff we apparently needed.  We did, however, settle on a tank top and shorts.  We got a matching set for Dylin too.  When I was pulling out of the Target parking lot something pinched my neck.  I figured it was the chunky necklace I was wearing so I reached to adjust it... when I noticed that what I felt DID NOT FEEL LIKE MY NECKLACE!!!!!

I slammed on the brakes, grabbed whatever was on my neck and threw it down into the console area of Terry's car. (Why I was driving Terry's car is another story.... another time=)  I jumped out of the car screaming and dancing around the parking lot because surely there was something ELSE on me.  I always feel that way anyway, once I find one bug on me.  Aedin at this point is screaming at the top of her lungs in the back of the car, unsure of what's going on.

I finally stopped my dancing around like a fool to rationalize with myself that at some point I WAS going to have to get back into the car.... and find out WHAT was in the console.  Turns out it was a cricket.   And normally I am not at all averse to the idea of picking up or catching a cricket for Olsin to play with... but there's just something about having to pick up something that was just ON me... and on my NECK!

Rationalizing again... going to have to stop blocking entrance/exit to Target and go home at some point.  Ugh.

Grabbed said cricket and threw very far away.  Spent rest of car ride home scratching and jumping all over... so ridiculous I know.

Aedin eventually recovered from my psychotic display.  I'm surprised my children haven't told me that I embarrass them... yet.....

Sidenote:  had to take Terry's car to pick up bikes from school because it was raining after school and we couldn't ride home.  Guess who rode home anyway, ditching his sister doing so as she was going to ride with him so he wasn't alone.  As I'm driving down the street trying to catch up to where they would be to make sure they wouldn't be hit by a car... I see Dylin walking with my neighbor... huh?

Apparently, she was very upset because Olsin had left her and she didn't want to ride by herself and now she was freaking out because I had left her too.  Well, we finally caught up to Olsin who was more than happy to ride home all by himself... and upon arriving at home (after listening to Dylin freak out the whole way because she was so worried Olsin was going to get hit by a car - such a good heart, that one!) Olsin announced that HE WON! because he beat us there.  Try explaining to a 5 year old that it doesn't count when you leave someone behind... but I WON! yeah, we are still working on that one.  =)

TUESDAY

Dylin had dance class and it was Teacher Night at Chick Fil A so we dropped Dylin at dance and headed out to Chick Fil A only to realize that it was actually Thursday night, not Tuesday night.  Did we stay to eat anyway?  Nope.  Walked right out despite the confused looks on several employees' faces.  Ha.

WEDNESDAY

Dylin got a color change because she was talking while the teacher was at the restroom.  So it was another kid who "ratted" her out when the teacher got back.  =)  She claims she wasn't talking to anyone but just mouthing words to herself.  Funny thing is... that's totally believable.  I'm surprised the child can read... her brain doesn't slow down for anything; she's in a constant "Dylin" imaginary world that no one else can break into.

THURSDAY

Hung out in Dylin's room with the kids; they were putting on a show for me.  I really gotta start videoing this stuff.  Aedin played an accordian and did some gymnastics.  Dylin was the "pronouncer" as she called it and Olsin got out there to play some accordian and decided a few seconds in that it just wasn't for him and switched into air guitar mode and thrashed around.  He then switched into breakdancing and threw out a few handstands and rolled around on the floor in a totally awesome way, I gotta say.

Found out that Spy Kids 4 was looking for kid extras ages 9-11.  Submitted Aedin and Colin adding that they are literally months away from their criteria.  Sent info onto a friend whose son likes to act also.

FRIDAY

Olsin cut his hair at school, then he cut his sleeves and then he cut a big hole through the front of his shirt.  Each time being redirected by the teacher to not cut anything other than paper... and to do his work.  He managed to make it the whole week with green dots... and got a yellow one today.

My friend called to say her son got chosen to be an extra in Spy Kids 4.  We still hadn't gotten a call.  I panicked thinking maybe the files I sent were too large and I needed to resend them smaller... so I did.  Literally moments later, I received the call that Colin and Aedin had been chosen as extras.  I was very calm on the phone, hung up and started screaming up to Aedin that she was going to get to be in the movie.  She then screamed for a few minutes.  All is very exciting right now... we will find out more information in the next couple days.  What I know now is that Aedin and Colin won't be feeling well on Tuesday and will not be able to make it to school. =)



There is certainly MUCH MORE that I have missed... and I will add it as I remember. =)