Free breakfast on Mondays!

Today we had more great adventures. In trying to get out the door, no one wanted to eat breakfast. Not wanting to shell out money for hungry kids, I did my best to get them to eat before we left the house. I was not very successful. We headed off to Ikea right on time. Upon our arrival, we discovered that we were 10 minutes early and the store did not open until 10. We then discovered on Mondays, they have free breakfast! Jack pot for those who did not eat. Eggs, bacon, potatoes, all for the right price. Vinca and Nigella met us there and we had a great morning. We were able to drop off Six and Four at the childcare center. Seven enjoyed wandering around the store with N. I found some great small bowls, perfect for kid snacks 4 for $.99. I also go something new for my table. We had a wonderful visit and were off to the Mall of America when done.

At the MOA, expectations were high. We've had many adventures there in the past. Not all experiences turn out the same based on the budget. Today we were ready to have mini corn dogs for lunch and just see what we could see. We really lucked out when a random lady gave us 5 mystery tickets. They were good either for one ride, rides all day, or rides for a year. The first ticket N had scanned was good for 100 rides! Jackpot! Orchid, Uncle T and Baby Orchid met us and enjoyed some rides. It turned out to be a fantastic visit to the MOA. Uncle T wanted to reward the kids for raking leaves yesterday. He paid them for their hard work, then they all picked out Lego's from Legoland. Talk about treats!

We are now ready to eat and waiting for Daffodil to come over. Rumor has it she is bringing pumpkin cookies. Another great end to a fabulous day.

One beautiful October Sunday

Today was a gorgeous day. We celebrated the baptism of sweet Baby Orchid. She was so good through the entire service. Bonus! Daffodil and her family were at the service. The just happened to be in the MPLS area for the weekend. It was brief, but great to see them. Really special they were able to celebrate Baby Orchid's big day. Orchid's MIL made a wonderful meal we all enjoyed after mass. We visited with friends and had a great afternoon. The kids enjoyed raking leaves in the yard. Cheap labor. Orchid and Mum broke out the rootbeer floats. My kids will work for rootbear floats. We had to say goodbye to everyone early as they all must work tomorrow.
We will remain in town and enjoy seeing some friends we haven't seen for some time. A trip to Ikea is in the works for the morning. Haven't briefed N yet, but did get it out to my peeps on FB. : )

4,000

4,000 views on our blog! Amazing people have looked at this information 4,000 times.

The car is loaded, but there are many things to add. Some I will do tonight, but others will wait until morning. There is a pile by the front door ready to go.

Everything was going smoothly with my night. Zinnia came over to watch the troops while I ran to the bank and Pat's alone. It was so much faster than taking everyone with. We made a pizza for supper, simple and easy. I had a ton of things to do after watching Sweet Pea all day. I cleaned the car, finished the laundry and packed many items necessary to take three kids on a 12 hour car ride in a Toyota Camry. Yes, maybe we are crazy. I hope my family realizes how crazy we are to keep doing this. Crazy about them? Or maybe it's baby Orchid? : )

I brought the kids out to Zinnia's to run off some energy tonight. They were in bed later than I planned, but should sleep good tonight. The boys have been up coughing with some congestion lately. No fever, no runny nose, just dry cough and congestion. I hope they sleep well tonight. On my way home from Zinnia's, I discovered an entire bottle of Gatorade leaked on the front seat of the car. This is the task that awaits me yet this evening. Well, that and cleaning the bathroom. I like to come home to a clean house. It's almost 10 o'clock. I better get the rest of my jobs done. I haven't seen 10 o'clock all week!

On the third day, I see the light!

Friday is usually a great day of all of society. Things feel different on Fridays. The weekend excitement is in the air. Yesterday, I had my doubts about the situation with Sweet Pea. I wasn't sure I'd make it until 1 December. Today, I am so happy to say has been much, much better. We were out and about during preschool. She took some good stretches of naps during that time, as long as the car was moving. Once we were home, she ate a really good lunch. Still won't take a bottle from me, but I did get her to take one drink from a sippy cup. She played with Eliana in the living room on the floor the entire time I cleaned up the kitchen. I was amazed. She didn't fuss about wanting to be held! We may get through this yet. The problem is we are done now for 3 days, well 5 if you count the weekend. Our trip to MN is planned and we won't see Sweet Pea until next Thursday. I hope it won't be like starting over again. I did get a book I've been waiting for at the library today. I am so anxious to read it. I'd like to drop everything and read, but alas, I have quite a list to get done before we can head out of town tomorrow.

Fussy, Fussy

Day two with Sweet Pea. She is fussy. I don't think she is like this at home. It's rather frustrating. She was better this morning than yesterday, but still did not want to be put down. We brought out the umbrella stroller and the kids pushed her around in the house. She seemed to take comfort in being in the stroller. Maybe it made her more secure? Anyway, the kids entertained her well.

Flu shots were on the agenda for the morning. She was great during that time.

We returned the boys to school and headed to town for some necessities. The trip through Sam's was good. She rode in the stroller no problem, but I knew we were on borrowed time. Four had some attention issues when we tried to influence her on being quiet in the car. Sweet Pea fell asleep on the ride home. Of course she woke up as soon as we got here. We fed her some peas and squash. No nap was in site for her, I was only dreaming for me. We walked her around the block a few times. She fell asleep, but woke up when the ride was over. We rocked in the chair and I think she slept for about 20 minutes. I held her the rest of the afternoon. What am I thinking? I didn't even do this with my own kids. I think if and when I can get her to take a bottle, we will do better. She did get down and play a few times today. Being in the stroller helped. I think she will be better as she becomes more familiar and comfortable. Verbena had a discussion about watching other peoples kids yesterday during soccer. It is always more work than you anticipate. Maybe I'm not cut out for it after all. We will see. She ate again and is on a walk with N and Four. Time to go get the boys.

First morning with a baby in the house

Well, so far so good with Sweet Pea. She fussed a little in the morning. The kids were very excited about her. She arrived at 10 to 7 and they were already done with their breakfast. It's picture day so they left in polo shirts, not their first choice. I was surprised not to have more protest from Six.

Would you be surprised to hear that Sweet Pea seems to be really taken with N? She is a cat napper. She's taken three cat naps this morning. She fell asleep on the ride back from preschool. We fed her, changed her and now she is napping. We shall see how the afternoon goes.

A new addition

Tomorrow Baby Sweet Pea will join our household. She will be with us until the first of December. My group is so very excited. Four is eager to use whats left of our baby things. I brought home Sweet Pea's supplies from the PTO meeting tonight. She is adorable and will do well at our house. It's late and she's coming early, I better get to bed.