I had to call Chris home from his "night out with the boys" because the TRIFECTA of pukeis happening right now!!! Joey, Sophia AND Vangie are all puking!!! You don't even want to KNOW how disgusting this is. I will give you a hint: Vangie leaned over the TOP railing and puked onto the BOTTOM bunk. DO you KNOW what it looks  and smells like when someone barfs from 4 feet high? Not pretty. Thankfully my brilliant idea of putting Sophia onto the floor saved her from being covered in it!!! THAT would have been horrible!!! Since I have been typing this, Chris came home and TWO different children have puked upstairs (thankfully in the toilet).  I have a rolled up comforter that is outside waiting to be hosed off..... so gross.

Lucy and are are (mostly) recovered from our sickness. I can tell little Lucy still doesn't feel very good... she is whiny and not her usually happy self. I think she will be 100% by tomorrow. I am also feeling MUCH, MUCH better!! This week has been crazy.... my wisdom teeth/dry socket has been SO painful (like a 7 on a scale of 1-10) and today for the first day in a week the pain is only at a "4"... tomorrow I should feel even better!  I have been taking it easy and have not exercised since Tuesday. Wednesday I did some super house cleaning and then Thursday I got sick... Tomorrow (Saturday) I may go for a run in the morning if I feel like it.  

Poor Sophia now has "the Virus". She started to look a little pale and said her tummy hurt... then she went upstairs to relax and came down for some water... and she looked horrible!! White, shaky... and then about 20 min later Vangie came downstairs "mommy, mommy.... Sophia  p-p-p-puked all over the bedroom floor!!!"  I was busy at that time so I told her to go tell her FATHER. And she did. And Chris cleaned it up. He said it was the biggest puke pile he had ever seen. I am glad that I did not see it.  Sophia went on to puke one more time and is now asleep in her room... on the floor. We made her a little bed on the floor so in case she pukes all over it is not all over her bed.  I hope that she sleeps all night and waked up feeling better tomorrow.

I Also have HUGE NEWS!!! Well, as you all know, I earned Chris and myself a fully expense paid , 5 start vacation to Atlantis in the Bahamas! Well, I was SOOOO excited about it becasue we had not had a vacation in FOREVER!, Or really, EVER. We never went on a Honeymoon... we just have never had the money to do so, and then we had kids so we never took the time... and so earning this vacation was going to FORCE us to go and just be together. WELL, about 2 weeks ago Chris came home from work and told me that he was NOT going to be able to go because the Submarine's schedule had shifted and he could not have that time off. I WAS SO MAD. And SAD. And felt very DEFEATED. The one thing I wanted more than anything was not going to happen.... and there was nothing that I could do.  So after crying about it for a day I got over it and decided that if Chris could not go, I would take Sophia.  -- because according to the rules of the trip, I could take one other person, but it had to be a spouse, child or sibling or parent.  Well, I found out TODAY (only 2 weeks before our trip!) That the boat schedule has shifted AGAIN and Chris will be able to GO!!!! I honestly can hardly believe it. I can now start getting excited about it! This is going to be the trip of a lifetime and I am so excited that I can hardly BREATH!!!

Chris is out "With the Guys" tonight. I don't like him to be gone late at night, but I know that sometimes guys just need to go out. And he rarely goes. ... like maybe twice a year will he go out with the guys. And they are guys from work. I told him to go out and have fun... but to remember that he has 4 small children and the day WILL begin at 7am tomorrow and he better be up and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with us!!! 

I am writing this from a supine position on the couch. Last night was one I hope to never have to repeat. But I know as a mom of 4 I WILL, but i hope I have a LONG TIME to recover!!

The evening started out normal. I fed the kids... (tacos) and I had tomato soup. Lucy had rice mixed with Avocado.  Then we did baths. Chris got home, the kids played with him for a bit and then it was time for bed. I went to bed pretty early also... about 9:30 I told Chris I wasn't feeling that great and I was going to bed. I blamed the feeling on my teeth.... since getting them pulled last week I have been dealing with Dry Sockets. UUGGHH. Super painful!!! I went back to the dentist on Monday and had them packed with some herbs that help with the pain. That helped a LOT for a few hours and then it all fell out. Soooo..... still lots of pain. Especially after I eat anything. And I have realized during this time of painful eating that I really like to eat.

Last night I am laying in bed and I awake around midnight feeling HORRIBLE. Like I am going to be sick. That is the most horrible feeling to wake up too. Hot flashes mixed with cold sweats. I would drfit off to sleep for a few minutes only to wake up and feel more sick. I ended up getting up and out of bed and getting sick about 5 times last night....  and around 2am I heard puking noises coming from LUCY'S room! Oh NO!!!!!! It is one thing to be sick MYSELF....  that is manageable. But to have one of your little babies sick is horrible.

I went into her room and she was bent over a little puddle of what had been her dinner. Since I MYSELF felt like the walking dead I woke up Chris to help me change her sheets while I washed her off and changed her shirt. Then I laid her back down and PRAYED that she would get better.  I went back to bed and tossed and turned... feeling horrible. And shortly I heard Lucy again.... washed her off again....  and then the THIRD time I had to go into her room I woke Chris up for the second time because I was giving Lucy a bath and getting sick at the same time..... not a moment I would EVER wish to live through again. We took Lucy downstairs... she didn't want anything to drink, so I just held her and rocked her and put her back to bed around 3am.

This morning Chris helped me get the big kids off to school. I am going to lay on the couch until I feel semi-normal. Lucy woke up and acted MUCH better. She was eating, drinking and playing. Whew, I am so happy she is acting normal!!!  I let her drink some electrolite drink and a piece of waffle. Now she is napping and THANK GOD I have not heard any sick noises coming from her room!!!

Above... Lucy on the turtle toy Papa and Grandma Kathy got her for her birthday... and also Lucy on the basketball court.

We took the kids to the park last night, and they ran around the  basketball with their Daddy.


 We went to Costco on Sunday... Lucy was being a grump all day. Here she is, looking not that happy!


People can see us coming a mile away, we have an entourage!

 The girls posing in the Costco Parking lot.

The three Schmittlings.

Today is 3 days since my teeth were pulled... I am still in pain, still cannot eat really without pain. I am hoping tomorrow things will turn around for the better!!!  My dentist lied when he said this would be a simple procedure. This is horrible!! Plus Lucy has not been feeling well... she has been crying and needing to be held 24/7. It's been a long week and it's only Monday!!

Today was one I will not soon forget!  It started off good.... I woke up sore from an 11 mile run plus hour of weight lifting that I did yesterday. I had committed to running 15 miles with my friend Elizabeth. I even had someone to watch Lucy so I didn't have to push her in the Jog stroller. However, Lucy had broken out in a red rash all over her belly the day before yesterday. AND she had a FUNKY liquid come out of her belly button. Very confusing... and very smelly. I had a hunch that It was the diapers that she was wearing causing the rash. So last night I switched  her from the Huggies in question into Luv's. Just to be on the safe side I let my friend know that I would not be bringing Lucy over... just in case this rash was something else, I didn't want to infect her kids!

My hunch was right and Lucy awoke rash-free this morning. Her belly button issue also cleared up. (I still have NO idea what the smelly liquid was!) I cleaned it out with Alcohol and peroxide and it is now fine. So even though my muslces were SUPER sore from yesterday and part of me wanted to bail out on my run today I put Lucy in the Jog stroller and met Elizabeth at 8am. We ran 15 miles together... we took turns puching Lucy. And Lucy, by the way, is an EXCELLENT stroller baby. She snacks, she naps and she loves to feel the wind whisteling through her little baby toes. She didn't make a peep the whole 2.5 hours. So, if you want to read more about my run go to my running website (www.schmitthappens.net/advocare)   Now I will move on to the REST of the day.

Lucy and I ate lunch and I made a quick Target trip to get a gift for a a birthday party the girls were invited to tonight. Then I swung by my friend Alisons house. Alison had agreed to watch Lucy for me because I had an appointment to get my two left wisdom teeth pulled. WOA! Wisdom teeth!?!  I know, it sounds scary. My Dentist assured me it would be an easy procedure. They would numb me up, pull them out and I would drive myself home and it would all be easy and good. The teeth were all ready "erupted". They just had cavities.. and to fill the cavities would be more arduous than just pulling them out. You don't even need your wisdom teeth anyway, and since they sit so far back in my mouth I have a hard time reaching all the way back there to brush, so I was fine with removing them.

I guess I should have known what was in store for me when everytime I mentioned to ANYONE that I was getting my wisdom teeth pulled they would act horrified. "I'm SO sorry!" they would say. To which I would reply "It really isn't going to be that big of a deal! I will be in and out!" To which they would look at me like they felt sorry for me and were in on a secret that I knew nothing about.

I dropped Lucy off with Alison and went to my appointment. I have to admit, I was super nervous! There is just something about knowing that you are about to have your teeth pulled out that can set the most confident person on edge. They sat me in the chair and I relaxed while watching Giada from the food network make some yummy bacon cauliflower casserole. They put some numbing gel on my gums... then after that took hold they gave me shots of numbing medication. The assistant was super pleasant and reassured me that it would be simple and easy. The Dentist came in and also assured me. I confided in him that I am normally a very confident person and I don't get worked up about things but I was NERVOUS! I was even shaking a bit and felt very jittery. Finally he started on my top tooth.  He yanked and yanked and YANKED... my the assistant had to hold my head steady because It was moving all around. He had to take a break because his arm was getting tired!!! He used different tools to pull and PRY and twist..... I was told that all together it would take about 10 minutes to remove BOTH teeth. It took 20 min for the top tooth alone. Finally it was OUT! Whew!!

He began on the bottom, but it wasn't numb enough and he had to stop and give me another shot. Then he began on the bottom. YANK, TUG, PULL, YANK YANK, and then SNAP! Something gave way.. oh yeah, that was the top of the tooth... and the roots were still in my HEAD. SO NOW the dentist (who appeared frazzled) was getting out all of his tools and really going to town, trying to get the roots out of my head. Lets just say that I am very glad I was numb. THEN after about 45 minutes he admitted defeat. I could tell he felt horrible when he told me that he was going to have to send me to an oral surgeon out in town because the root was really hard to get at, and he did not want to injure a nerve that was really close to the stow-away root.  I was SOOOO UPSET!!! All my teeth fears were coming true!

My dentist sent me home and said he would make me an appointment and let me know when... but as soon as possible because the root being left in would cause extreme pain and infection. My dentist also said he was not going to charge me for the extractions he did (errr... extractiona and a half...) AND he was going to pay for my visit to the oral surgeon. He said that this had never happened to him before and I could tell he felt bad. 

I took my numb gauze filled mouth and picked Lucy up from Alison's house (an hour late!) and came home. I laid Lucy down for her nap when the phone rang. It was my dental office saying they got me an appointment with the Oral surgeon but I would have to leave RIGHT NOW. It was about 3pm. I said, I would leave in 10 min. THEN I panicked because WHO would watch the kids?? Chris was on duty... Alison had a party she was hosting that night plus 3 kids of her own.... I called my neighbor Kimberlie but she was out...  Finally I called the boat and asked to speak with Lt. Schmitt. Then I almost started crying as I told him about my HORRIBLE experience and how I had to leave like RIGHT NOW to go to the oral surgeon. Thank GOD he was able to come home to watch the kids. 

I drove downtown into rush hour traffic and arrived at the office at 4pm. They were SO SWEET and kind and caring! They were working me inbetween patients but got me right back and numbed up again. ... and also let me know that once the numbing medication wore off it was going to hurt... aLOT! Then the Oral surgeon dentist did his magic and got that pesky root out. I was SO HAPPY. Then he packed me full of gauze and sent me on my way. On the drive home my mouth hurt more that it has EVER hurt! As SOON as I got home I took 2 vicoden and that hardly touched the pain. I was also STARVING. I was able to eat some baked potato and a chocolate shake. Chris drove me to Target to pick up more Vicoden my dentist called in for me, so I took one more.  It is now 9 pm and I think the worst is behind me. I will NEVER pull the other wisdom teeth unless I am at an Oral Surgeons office and am given some sort of GAS to knock me out a bit. Feeling all that tugging and pulling and DRILLING!!! (yes, they had to drill on that root to get it out!) took a lot out of me.  

Here are some pictures for your viewing enjoyment. First they poked me with at least 15 needles....
Then they used all sorts of scary dental devices to pull out my teeth!!

This morning started out fabulous. I got up at 4:30 am for a 7 mile run. I left the house at 5am and was back at 6am. Then I got the kids up and around for school. I will drop the 3 big kids off and then Lucy and I will go to out "boot camp" workout class. Lucy loves it because she gets to play with the other babies for an hour and Mommy gets to get her booty kicked and hang out with the other mommies!

Today will be a full day! I am hoping to get to Costco to pick up some stuff for the kids lunches.... juice and healthy snacks. I received a bill from the school for "school lunches" yesterday.... from LAST YEAR. The one reason I HATE having the kids eat school lunch is they way there pay-in system works. It is so confusing. I never had any idea how much money was in their account... It just seemed like I was ALWAYS getting bills owing more and more money... I was always paying! And now I am STILL paying. 

I also plan on making A FAMILY DINNER TONIGHT. I have not been very regular about his. And I `. I HATE making dinner. I LOATHE it. It's messy, it's time consuming...  making dinner requires planning that I rarely have time to do.  I USED to be great about family dinners. Back when we lived in Michigan and Chris was home... I'd plan out what we were going to eat.... shop accordingly...  and then actually MAKE dinner. SIGH. That was before life became so crazy. But as I was laying in bed last night I felt like I should be making more of an effort to have a "family meal time".

I think my hatred from family meals stems from my own experience as a child. We ALWAYS ate (well, most always) family dinners. But there was SO much fighting around the dinner table. My brothers were mean! They would fight with me all the time and I hated it. PLUS I would do all the cleaning up... as a "girl" that was my job...(hello, sexiast much?)  so my lazy brothers (sorry guys, you know I love you) would get to go do whatever  while I Had to clean up the MASSIVE kitchen mess. And it was MESSY... my mom was a MESSY cook!!! Dishes, sweeping... It would take an hour everyday. So I grew to HATE family dinners. So now when I think of family dinners I get all tense.  I want to make it a happy experience for my kids. Which means I need to step up to the plate and plan it out, make the food and sit down together. It will be hard but I will try. 

What will tonight's dinner be???? Hmmmm... I have no idea, i need to see what I have in the freezer.

Friday afternoon I around 1pm I got home from running errands to a VERY hot house. It was over 80 degrees. Our A/C was dead. Oh NO! I called the maintenance line and was informed the very earliest they could come out was MONDAY at 3pm. REALLY?? I told them I had a baby who couldn't sleep well in the heat. (they didn't care). The lady said that they were already almost done working for the day (yes, at 1:30pm.. must be a tough life!) and they don't work on weekends. Hmmmm. How convenient for them. UUGGHH!!! I was desperate as the sweat dripped off my forehead. Please come fix it.... It is soooo hot in here. They didn't care. They probably hung up the phone and laughed at me.

Friday night was miserable. It was SO hot in our house! We opened up the doors and windows. I set up all the fans we had. It still felt like a furnace. The master bedroom was especially Sauna-like. It is in a area of the house with NO windows on the side where the wind was blowing from. It literally was 10 degrees hotter in the master bedroom. Walking into it was like walking into a wall of HEAT. I would rather be miserable all night than the kids though.
 
I set up the fan to blow RIGHT On me and still I tossed and turned. I woke up really early Saturday morning (5:30am) and finally the heat and broke. I put on my running gear and walked down-stairs. Now the downstairs felt like a sauna from being shut up all night. I went out for my run (13 miles) and when I got back around 8:30am I could see Chris tinkering with the A/C. I walked into the house and it was hotter INSIDE than OUTSIDE. The kids were eating their breakfast and Lucy was walking around in only a diaper looking hot and sweaty.

Thankfully my husband is AMAZING and HE fixed the A/C on his own. A new converter and SHA-ZAM! Cool air once again flowed from the vents. I was laying on the couch with 3 fans pointed at me and would have gotten up and done the happy dance if I wasn't still recovering from being hot.

Saturday was also Lucy's first birthday!!! We spent the day at Waikiki Beach. It was really nice. The kids played in the water and Lucy played in the sand and Chris and I took turns taking her into the water. She LOVES the water. She was the star of the beach. People would walk by and be super impressed by our set up. (Playpen! Umbrella!! Beach Chairs!! Sand Toys!!) 




After spending the day at the Beach (and having two Mai-Tai's...)  I came home and passed out on the couch in my NICE, COOL, AIR CONDITIONED HOME. It was heavenly. AND Chris was here to feed the kids dinner and put them to bed. Thank God he was home or else the kids would have had to put themselves to bed because I too tired to function. (13 mile run + day of sun at the beach + two Mia tai's = a coma)

Today (Sunday) I made Chris go for a 8.5 mile run with me that nearly killed him... (his words, not mine!)  Then I spent the day cleaning. Oh, how I LOATHE cleaning. I used to enjoy it. Then I had the 4th baby and it just seems like a pointless activity now... I clean. It gets messy. I clean again, messy again. Nothing ever STAYS clean. And it is hard to clean with a one year old "helping" me. She gets into everything! BUT... Chris was whining about how I never clean anymore so I did it for him. (Now THAT Is true love.) I cleaned the bathrooms.... windows, blinds, the SHOWER.... and you all KNOW how much I hate cleaning the shower! Now everything is sparkling.... any bets on how long it will STAY clean? One hour? One day???

Thank you everyone for all the birthday cards and gifts for the girls!!! Please know that they really loved everything. We have been working on thank you cards. I have just not had time to get to the post office. I will try to get there this week, I promise!        

So yesterday I get Vangie up and off to school... the whole time thinking that TOMORROW is her birthday. When really, it was yesterday!! I remembered mid morning and of course I felt horrible because I did not get her up out of bed by singing happy birthday and I did not send her to school with treat bags for her class.   I decided to break her out of school early! A little around 12:30 I picked her up and took her to Cold Stone for a birthday ice cream cone. Then we went to the store so she could pick out a little toy. She had fun and I had fun.... a great afternoon spent with my birthday girl.

SO Today is LUCY's Birthday.... but since I am a day late on Vangies, I will be a day late on Lucy's and update that tomorrow!

Yesterday in the van on the way home from School, Vangie (age 5) shows Big Sister Sophia a piece of artwork she had done.  The conversation when like this:
"Wow Vangie, I really like your picture!"
"Thanks, Sophia" relied Vangie
and then the ever-truthful Sophia says "It's the only peice of artwork you have done in your entire life that I like. "   

How's that for sister love???

The girls got some Birthday presents in the mail!!! First they got very cute gifts from Diane, Merle, Emily and Amanda.... Here they are in anticipation...


The change purses were sooooo cute, thank you very much. Also, the hand sanitizer was  a HUGE hit. Lucy also LOVED her little book... and the puppy in the book looks JUST like Stella, by the way!!)


They kids also got a box from Grandma Tuy and Grandpa Bob. They LOVED The swimsuits (and joye loves the pajamas!) Here they are modeling them... (Charlies Angels, watch out!)










They are so funny. Vangie and her poses crack me up. And Somehow Joey ended up in every picture.  We went to the beach this past weekend and Lucy really loved it, here is what she most loved doing...

7 years ago today my beautiful Sophia was born, Newport, Rhode Island.  I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was LABOR DAY! And Chris was home. I got up early and was unloading the dishwasher when I noticed my water was leaking... I was 39 wks pregnant, sp still had a week to go and was fully expecting to go over my due date like I had with Joey.

I called the hospital and they said to come in and get checked. We had JUST moved into our house like a month prior. We had NO family in the area. Thankfully my wonderful neighbors, Krystal and Ron Herrera watched Joey for us that day and over the night... they will always have a special place in my heart!

I got to the hospital around 8am. Yes, my water was leaking... and no contractions were to be found. After a few hours of waiting around to see if labor would start on its own they decided to induce me. All my plans and preparation and all my practice with "hypno-babies" for my natural delivery went OUT The window as my body was given pitocin and I was told to stay in bed and not get up. An Epidural soon followed (my only epidural of the 4 deliveries) and after a veerrryyy long day... Sophia Kimberlie Schmitt came into the world at 11:58pm on September 6th, 2004. She was beautiful and perfect. She had a head-full of dark hair. She weighed 7lbs, 14 oz a week early!

Chris brought Joey to see her the next afternoon and I remember little Joey (at 17.5 months) giving Sophia a big kiss. I took my new baby home to our little duplex in Newport- it was so cozy and homey.  Those day were  honestly some of the happiest memories that I have. I loved our little house. I loved Rhode Island. We had moved from Jacksonville, FL and so we got to experience the Autumn and Winter.... I was so happy and in love with my little family. ( I still am!)  Things were so much less "busy" back then. Things were easier.... it was definitely a special time in my life that I will cherish in my heart forever. 

So Happy Birthday to my BEAUTIFUL 7 year old! Mommy and Daddy LOVE you!
 




Sophia and her Daddy.



Sophia and Joey getting into trouble together!!

Yesterday Joey's friend Alex was over. He had spent the night the previous night and they had been having fun playing the wii and doing all sorts of things that boys do. Alex is a very sweet kid and I like having him around. Sometimes I worry about Joey doing silly things when he is with Alex only because Alex is in 6th grade and Joey is in 3rd... that is a big age gap for a little kid. There was really only one time that Joey got in trouble and that was when I said he could go to the park with Alex and somehow they ended up at the mini-mart. But other than that there have been no issues.

I guess I realized yesterday what a big gap that 3 years is. Joey asked if he could go over to Alex's house to play around 2pm. I knew that no parents were home, but Alex's big brother (who is 16) was there so I said he could go over, but to come home in 2 hours and check in.

Suddenly about 30 min later there was a woman at my door who I had never seen telling me Joey was hurt!! I was trying not to freak out and I was trying not to imagine the WORST (like broken bones... or getting hit by a car....)

Joey was there and he was crying. The lady told me she heard and felt a big explosion from Alex's back yard and when she ran over there to see what had happened Joey was crying and saying he was hurt so she brought him home. He was burned, but not very bad. His hand , side and foot had spots that were burnt where the skin had peeled off. Joey was more shocked and scared than anything. After making sure none of the burns needed any immediate attention I sent him upstairs to shower off... he was already wet and covered in grime, I think because Alex hosed him off after the explosion? I asked Alex what happened... and of course Alex was VERY shaken up and upset and was having a hard time telling me what exactly happened.

I sent Alex home and went upstairs to check on Joey who was screaming in the shower. His hand hurt..., but wasn't badly burnt. He kept asking me if he was going to die. I assured him that he would survive. When he got out of the shower I put some burn ointment on his hand, side and foot.  Then I walked over to Alex's house to check out the back yard. There was some empty bottle of cooking oil... a charred piece of wood. (obviously someone had been playing with fire...) The neighbor lady came over and told me that the explosion was pretty loud, it had scared the crap out of her.  I am still not sure EXACTLY what happened... but I know it involved an aerosol can of something and a lighter. Joey and Alex are lucky that no one got seriously hurt. And obviously Joey is not allowed to play with Alex unless they are HERE, being supervised by ME.

Joey is so laid back and sweet. It shocked me that he gets into there predicaments. I have told him time and time again that  he can say he doesn't want to do something and to leave the situation. But maybe he IS a closet pyro? Or maybe peer pressure is huge and he wants to look cool in front of his older friends.  

The girls were really scared when Joey was crying and in pain from his burns. Sophia took the time to write him this letter...



 In case you cannot read it, it says " To Joey. I know you feel bad. You're the best brother in the world, I hope you feel better. From Sophia."



How cute is THAT?

Check out the VIDEOS page... I have added a video pf Joey at Gymnastics practicing with his coach and also a video of Lucy twirling. (she likes to twirl for some reason!)

Today is a nice relaxing day at home. I have been getting caught up with balancing the checkbook and fun stuff like that. Chris is working all weekend. One day we will be able to spend a whole weekend together! And when we do it will be so nice!

I took the kids to the pool last night. People laugh because I go to the pool prepared.

Towel, check. Book, check. Drink (spark, of course!) check. Play pen to keep my baby from falling into the pool and keeping her caged up so I can sun bathe and relax??? CHECK!!!

Here is a picture of my twins, Joey and Lucy.....

Last night I was laying in bed at 9:30pm... ahhhhh.... finally able to RELAX! I LOVE that time of day.... kids fast asleep, house put back together... the worries of the day behind me and not yet worrying about the next day.  I told Chris..  "I wish that I could just FREEZE time!" It seems like the hours and days fly by. I am in a constant "need to get things done" mode... my Do-To list is every growing, rarely shrinking!  Don't get me wrong... I LOVE my life and i LOVE staying busy. But I don't have those days when everything is "done" anymore and I have time to bake a batch of cookies. I don't  even have time to go to the grocery store to get the ingredients for the cookies!

I told my friend Alison yesterday that I just needed to clone myself... I am sure EVERY busy mom feels this way. I would assign ONE of me to household chores... ONE of me to working AdvoCare.... ONE of me to running and triaining for the upcoming Honolulu Marathon and ONE of me to having fun with the kids!  Oh, and I guess I should throw in ONE of me to be a super sexy wife to my husband... Lord knows THAT isn't going to happen with the schedule that I keep!

For a peek into my day I will tell you about Yesterday. I was up before 6... making lunches and prepping for the day. I walked the kids to school. The WHOLE while Vangie was crying because she doesn't want the flu shot. (the kids' school gives free flu shots and I had to fill out a permission slip, which I caught Vangie REMOVING from her backpack and trying to throw away!!)  Once I got her to her class she told he she forgot her Lunch.

I left the school and immediately started my 8 mile training run with Lucy in the Jog stroller. (Chris told me that my running is a "luxury"... but trust me, to keep my SANITY all running and working out is filed under "sanity". )   After my run I threw the baby in the Van and drove Vangies Lunch to her. Then I showered and did laundry and some housework...(the never ending Laundry pile needed some attention!)  fed Lucy lunch and loaded my Van with the afternoon errands that needed to get done. (grocery shopping, a couple different returns at different stores and some copies I needed to make at Office Max were at the top of  my list.) The kids got out of school at 12:25 (they do every Wednesday) so I  didn't have time to get the errands done while they were in school.

I picked the kids up and my friend Alison said she would take my kids to the pool. How sweet! But Hey! I wanted to go to the pool too!!!  Spending time having fun with the kids is SUPER important to me. I want them to remember having a fun time with me when they get older. I decided that MOST of the errands could wait until the next day.  We walked home and I got everyone ready for the pool... (towels, mini playpen, snacks, water.) we walked to the pool and swam for a couple hours. Then we had to get ready for Sophia's gymnastics class at 4pm. I dropped Sophia off at gymnastics, then I went and made copies of some paperwork that I needed for a meeting I was hosting the next day. (more on that later.) Then I went home, did some paperwork and realized I was late picking Sophia up! I raced back to gymnastics where I found her patiently waiting for me. (I was only 15 min late) Then we came home. Dinner was PB&J... baths were had and VIOLA! It's time for bed already. 

I desperatly need groceries, but today is Payday, and you cannot pay me enough to venture into the commisary today!   I am going to see how long we can live on the contents of our freezer. That is actually a pretty fun game. :D

It's 6:30am... by typing out this web post I am already behind schedule....