Rally time

Sturgis is jumping, folks! I haven't seen the crowds yet, but I can hear them as they roar past my house all day and night non-stop. You think I'm kidding. I'm not. Sam is trying to sleep, but the bikes keep waking him up. It doesn't help that our house is on the corner of a busy intersection where the bikes sit at the light and rev, rev, rev their engines. It's really annoying. I'm beginning to hate the rally. We don't have A/C (not that we need it this year, as it topped out at about 65 degrees today) and so our windows are always open. Some of those pipes are incredibly loud. You literally can't hear yourself speak when you are trying to have a conversation. Not that I have anyone to talk to since my husband has been made the Incident Commander for the big operation they do during the rally. I bet you guys will see him as much as I will in the next 2 weeks. But this is a BIG deal for him. It's a huge operation. And you know how much my husband likes to be in charge!

We had vacation bible school this week. I was put in charge of the nursery for the volunteers who worked VBS. I signed up to be a measly volunteer, but somehow ended up on the short list to be the crew leader over the kids ages 0-2-ish. You know how much I hate to be in charge! Really. I don't like to be forced to make decisions or have to be responsible for anyone or anything other than myself and my belongings. I'm lazy. I just like to float along and let other people make the important decisions. I don't want to have to think too hard. I'm sooo tired! Audrey had a great time at VBS though and next year Katie will get to go too. This year she stayed with me in the nursery. I probably shouldn't say this out loud, but kids REALLY get on my nerves! Maybe the nursery isn't the right place for me! Oh, it's okay, but I definitely could not work at a day care center and do that every single day. I don't have that kind of patience or emotional stability. See, I don't tolerate whining or crying or fit-throwing very well. When my kids do it, they do it from their bedrooms. You can't really do that with other people's kids. And I'm soooo not a snuggler. I hug my kids, but after a few minutes I'm pretty much done. Geez, I sound like lots of fun, huh? My kids are gonna need therapy as adults!

Before I start scaring people out of my life, I think I'll change subjects! We tried to re-do our camping trip last weekend. We packed the car Friday morning, loaded up and headed out to our campsite in the middle of the Black Hills National Forest about an hour and a half from home and any kind of cell service. This is a place that Vince and his co-worker TJ found. It's not an actual campground. It was beautiful! Just off the road into this nice flat spot in a valley with a cold, clear mountain stream running through it and surrounded by fields of wildflowers and cliff-faces, we met TJ and his wife Becca. We unloaded kids and dogs and started setting up camp. Vince worked on getting up the tent (I use that term lightly regarding this "thing" that he calls a tent) and I worked on getting everyone lunch. Five PB&J sandwiches and one fall out of the car later, I look over to see my hubby staking down this strange looking tarp-ish structure that I will call the circus tent. That's what it looks like because basically it's a tarp with a pole in the middle and then you stake down all around the edges. It's even stripey like a circus tent. There's no floor to this thing and you can't stand up in it. What?!! I thought he was bringing our nice, big, 2 room tent that you can actually get away from the bugs in. I don't know what I was thinking (strong use of sarcasm here)? Anyway, after he got all the cots and stuff stowed in there and his hammock strung up, we gathered around the fire pit to chat. Except, that's when I started to feel queasy. Not just about the circus tent. I tried to lay down and nap while they cooked their greasy, nasty, fleshy, hot dogs over the fire. I can't stand those things when my stomach is not flip-flopping. I didn't rest for very long when it hit me! Let's just say that the PB&J didn't stay. The stomach bug is especially not fun when you are not anywhere close to a real bathroom. But I was going to try to stick it out. Vince and TJ left for work and Becca and I stayed with the kids and dogs. Poor Becca. I was not very good company. I gave up being a sport and just went to bed at the first hint of twilight. I finally got all the kids ready and into the beds and had just laid down my head when Sam started puking too. I gave up then and there. I told Becca I was sorry, but I was going home. There was no way that I was going to make it through that night trying to take care of a sick kid in a circus tent with no bathroom while trying not to barf myself. I loaded up all living things and drove all the way home at about 10:00. I felt horrible leaving her there alone, but as soon as I had cell service, I called the guys and told them what was happening. I got home around 11:30 and unloaded the sleeping kids and barking dogs only to realize that I was locked out of my house! We are having issues with doors not working properly around here. After cursing my luck, crying for a few minutes and then calling my husband to cuss at him, I jimmied a lock with a giant screw driver. At that point I didn't give a hoot if I had to rip the door from it's dang hinges, I WAS getting in that house! I would deal with the consequences later. Vince and TJ finished up what they were in the middle of and drove out to camp. TJ and Becca stayed, but Vince packed up our stuff and came home. He got in around 3 AM. I'm glad we came home though. Sam and I were so sick. Then, Audrey got it the next day and then Vince and Katie got it Sunday. I have heard that it's going around. Lots of people have had this little bug. I never would have made it out alive if we'd stayed out there trying to camp. So, that makes twice we've had to cancel our little excursion. Third time's a charm, right? Maybe we'll try again. Maybe TJ and Becca will laugh in our faces!

Here's a popular topic on this blog--cleaning my house. I should be doing just that since we will have company during the rally and my sink is full of dishes and the laundry chair is full of clean, unfolded laundry just begging to be put away. I started to do the dishes earlier, but when I opened the dishwasher, I noticed that there is water sitting in the bottom that refuses to drain. Fabulous! I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have none at all.

You should see this

I just got through watching a show called "16 and Pregnant" on MTV. I wanted to post a link to the episode that I just saw because it really touched my heart. This particular young couple, both of whom have had a rough childhood, got pregnant and made the decision to give their baby up for adoption because they knew that they couldn't provide her with the kind of life that she deserves. Boy, did I cry! I was amazed at their maturity and strength and thought I should share their story. Their parents were actually angry with them for making the decision not to keep the baby and these kids still did the right thing. Even if you don't want to watch the whole episode, at least read the letter that this young man wrote to his daughter to explain why he and his girlfriend made this difficult decision. Amazing that he is a teenager!

http://remotecontrol.mtv.com/2009/07/17/online-exclusive-read-tylers-entire-letter-to-his-baby-girl/

I have added them and the adoptive parents to my prayer list and hope you will too. Here's the link to the video:

http://www.mtv.com/videos/16-and-pregnant-ep6-catelynn/1615511/playlist.jhtml

Nic XOXO

Nothing new

We came back from Ft. Collins with (drum roll, please)....NOTHING! We found a car that we wanted. Actually, we found many cars that we wanted! But nothing panned out for us. We are thinking that we should just keep driving this one for a while. We just can't justify being so upside-down on this car. Nothing we found was worth the money we would lose on this one, so I guess we'll just drive this one until it dies. Hopefully that will be after we pay it off! With my luck...let's just say I'm not going to hold my breath.

I took Sam to the doctor today to try to get to the bottom of this horrible cycle of sickness. He seems fine for a day or two and then starts all over again. When we were in Ft. Collins, he started running a very high fever and I just could not keep it down. For almost 2 days he was like that. Today, the fever is gone, but now he has diarrhea again. We got little sleep while we were gone. Partly because Sam was sick and partly because he was in a different place and didn't sleep well. I called the doc's office this morning to ask them some questions about what else I could do to prevent him from continuing to get sick and the nurse told me to bring him in so that they could run some tests. I took one of his nasty diapers along and they are testing it. The doctor said that maybe there is a bacteria or parasite that is making him sick all the time, and not a virus like he's thought all along. I'm really at my wit's end here. I'm so tired and have been so groggy and not feeling well. I have had a headache for days now, and I'm sure it's simply because I'm exhausted. When all 3 of them are sick at the same time like they were last week, I just want to crawl in a hole and disappear. It's soooo tiring! I don't know how anyone handles having sick kids or kids with special needs. I would literally lose my bloody mind.

Sam is becoming such a character! He's really getting more and more personality all the time. He even makes fun of me already! I had the hiccups the other day and Sam thought that was hilarious. He kept making a really loud hiccup noise and then laughing his head off. Great! I thought I had a couple more years before this one started to make fun of me too.

I have a funny story about Vince to tell you all. Since the kids have been sick I threw away their toothbrushes and needed to get some new ones for them. Then we went to Ft. Collins and I never got them one. Don't tell our dentist! When we got home last night, V needed to run to the store to get some milk so I asked him to also pick up some kids' toothbrushes. I didn't think anything else about it until we were getting ready for bed and I saw these giant dollar-store toothbrushes sitting on the counter. I asked V what the heck was going on. He said well, the kid's brushes were $5 and he wasn't going to spend that kind of money, so he got those instead. They were only .99. Let me tell you--these things are hilarious. Now, I agree that $5 seems a little high for a tiny toothbrush, and I don't really care what kind of brush they get, but these silly things wouldn't fit in V's mouth, much less the kids' mouths. I will post a picture of them. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pop!

I also have some news about the "incident". I talked to animal control and they said that the dog has checked out fine and that they had several other neighbors call them in regards to that dog and her owners. I know of the one because she told me, but I have no idea who else called or what was said. They have put up part of the fence and it's really nice to have that privacy. I think the dogs are barking way less. Of course, our pups have only been home since last night, but I think since the dogs can't see each other through the fence and bark face to face, they don't even bother one another. The animal control officer did say that the neighbor was disappointed that they were going to have to put up that fence because then we wouldn't be able to talk. HA! Like she ever talked to me before! Anyhow, here are a few pictures I took of Audrey's bite 9 days after it happened. Did the dog brush her shoulder or bite her? You be the judge.

I really should get off of this computer and get to the store so I can buy my kids some proper toothbrushes! Talk at ya later!

Repeats

Well, it's not bad enough that I repeat myself in person. Now I am repeating myself in blog form as well. Sorry. My life these days seems like that movie "Groundhog Day". I wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of a child crying, go see what's up, find someone covered in vomit or poo, clean them up, put them back to bed, wash myself up, crawl back into bed, and just when I have fallen back to sleep, start all over. Put that on a continuous loop and you have my life at this moment. Just switch from one kid to another every few days. Last night it was Sam-again. From 2-5 a.m. every 30 minutes he was up barfing. Then, it was poo after that. Now, Katie is running a fever. I don't know what kind of freakish superbug they are breeding up here in South Dakota, but we are apparently not very immune to it. I cannot remember a time when the kids have been so sick. I'm really tired of it though. Enough already. I don't know anyone else that has been so sick either. All of our other friends got the occasional illness this winter, but seem to be over everything now. Not us. I think some of you forgot to knock on wood after my last posting, didn't you? I blame you! Way to go.

Vince and I were supposed to take the kids camping tonight with some friends, but I'm pretty sure that's out the window. No one wants to camp with barfy-barfeson. Unless you are a college student at a party camp. But that's a story for another time. V was pretty disappointed. He was going to make it a working camp out. On top of his disappointment, add very little sleep, sick kids, and a tired, cranky wife and you have a recipe for diaster, folks. Boy, were we at each other's throats this morning! Then I had to round up all 3 stupid dogs for their annual checkups. That's lots of fun. Try 3 crazy beagles, 3 kids (2 of whom I think I mentioned are not feeling well) and one tiny vet's office. One of our dogs, Buddy, REALLY hates going to the vet. He tries to bite everyone except me. Last year, I had to administer some of his medicine because he wouldn't let anyone else near him. Now, we put a muzzle on him first thing and take care of him first so that he can go back into the car with a treat and try to settle down. The vet did mention last time that maybe we should try some doggy valium before he comes, but that costs more money on top of the $300+ bill. I bet the classified ads are cheaper. Then the vet asked if I brought in stool samples for them. Yeah, sure lady! I have nothing else to do than to follow them each around with a plastic bag on my hand trying to catch them pooping. I'm soooo done with these dogs. We have decided to kennel them when we go to Denver. It's just gonna be easier on us (and probably them too) that way. It's not cheap and Daddy is not pleased, but that's the way it's gonna be.

So, I need to get some more laundry going before I have absolutely no towels clean. We've been really hard on the laundry lately. My neighbor commented on the amount of laundry that she sees me hanging on the line outside. And that's just the stuff I hang up. And I still have piles of clothes everywhere!

And did I mention that our quest for a Honda Pilot is going to lead us down to Ft. Collins? LOL!

First sleep-over

Audrey had her first sleep-over this week. My friend Mindy and her kids came over for a playdate in the morning and when the littler ones were ready to leave, her oldest, Rachel wasn't. She and Audrey were playing so well so I told her to just leave Rachel and I would bring her home later. Later turned into suppertime and I asked Rachel if she would just like to stay the night if her mom was okay with it. She and Audrey both started squealing. I took that as a "yes" and called Mindy. She agreed, so it officially turned into Audrey's first sleep-over! They had a great time and really played well. There was very little fighting and it allowed me some time to get some sewing done while the little ones slept. 5 year olds are so funny, aren't they? They want to be independent, but not too much because with independence comes responsibility. Rachel apparently took off her socks somewhere and then couldn't find them when it was time for us to go for a walk to the park. Just like Audrey, I got the whole thing:

"Where are my socks?"
"I don't know. Where did you take them off?"
"I don't remember. Can you find them?"
"Uh, I don't think so, honey, and I wasn't the one wearing them. Go find them."
"But I don't know where they aaaarrreee!" (said in that whiney voice so familiar to mothers around the world.)

Sheesh! And I thought it was just my kids! But for the most part, they were great and well-behaved. I think Audrey had fun. Neither kiddo wanted it to end.

For the first time in over a week, all my kids are feeling well. *knock on wood* Sam passed it on to Katie, who of course, saved her barf for the car. But it's been several days since she did that and she seems to be feeling better. We did do the Y today. We were all so tired. It was not a very good day. The girls were crabby and I was working in a fog all day. I accidentally threw Sam's clothes away. He spit up and I had put his outfit in a plastic bag. I guess in my daze, I put it in the trash. When we got in the car I realized I didn't have it and went back in. There it was in the trash. Luckily it was close to the top. I grabbed it and on my way out the door my boss laughed and told me to get some sleep. When we got home, we all took a long nap. Even Vince.

The drama continues with the dog "incident". Now some other neighbors are involved because their dog was attacked by the same dog that bit Audrey. Animal Control left the note about our incident on their door by accident. So they called to talk to the AC people and tell them about the note and they also let them know about their dog getting attacked. Well, Kim is MAD at them. She saw me talking to them and accused them of taking our side. She told them that her dog was just reacting to our dogs and Audrey was leaning over her fence and that her dog just grazed her on the shoulder. WHATEVER!! She must be mentally unstable. I swear. We can't catch a break with her.

The search for a car has expanded. I have decided that I want a Honda Pilot. The problem is that there aren't many used ones here in RC and the ones that are here are out of our price range. The closest ones that we can find in our range are in the Ft. Collins, CO area. We are thinking about just making a mini-vacation out of it and going to Denver also to see the sights. Now, what to do with the dogs? Here we go again! Can't leave them here. Can't take them car shopping. Can't afford to kennel them. Stupid animals. Always cramping my style!

Well, I think I'm gonna go for a walk. I'm not in the mood to run, but need to do something today. I went yesterday with my friends Michelle and Teresa to the YMCA. We got on the treadmills and chatted away. We got a lot of giggling and talking done, and a little working out too. We went about 2 miles. I have gained some weight back. It happens so fast, doesn't it? I have just been eating and eating and not working out as much. Gotta get back on the wagon. See ya!