I've been around, but not here

This week has gone fairly well as far as going to school goes. Luke and Liz each missed a day. Liz probably would've tried to skip it yesterday (really bad cramps) except then she'd miss going to my sister's for the weekend. I should have that incentive EVERYDAY...Eileen and Olivia got up half an hour early on their own! lol

The birthdays were a bit subdued. I was surprised when Val didn't ask for a party. She's had a decent one each year and she was hitting a big milestone...18! She opted to just stay home and have cake with us and her boyfriend. Tom and I took the two of them to Red Lobster for dinner on Monday. Michelle and Cory gave us $50 giftcertificates for Christmas and I borrowed the rest from Michelle. Things were a bit tight here this last payday.

Olivia's celebration a bit pathetic. I ended up running all day and didn't have time to bake a cake like I'd planned. So we stuck some candles into some ice cream sandwiches and sang Happy Birthday to her. I'd feel horrible about it but we're planning on having a Libby Lu type party for her next week. I was hoping to buy some Hannah Montana wigs for the girls but that looks to be more then I'm willing to spend. So looks like we'll be doing a princess theme. I saw a lot of awesome things for a princess party at the Dollartree. They also had a lot of options for accessory things. I should be able to go shopping for it on Wed or Thurs. I'm having fun thinking of everything we could do.

Luke still hasn't mentioned doing anything for his birthday. Maybe once the weather is nicer he can have a bunch of boys camp out back with a bonfire and everything. He's not so into group stuff and at times has to be pushed to participate. I really have to watch not allowing this tendency be an excuse to let things go for him. He's not on to readily show how he's feeling which scares me. I wish he'd be the squeaky wheel once in a while.

Normally I love to have parties and people over. On the way home from taking Michelle to school the other day I was thinking about it. How I wish we had the funds to have people over for dinner or a party on a regular basis. Then again I'd also have to start maintaining the house a LOT better. I'm guessing it's the time of year that it's hitting me. Being stuck in the house, having sick kids so much lately. I am SO missing seeing my friends. I haven't been to church since the beginning of the year. At least there aren't any sick kids or schedules to keep me from there tomorrow.

Sean and Danielle are a riot! Sean's getting more and more verbal everyday. Seems like his mouth is always going. It surprises me how I find his actions so amazing. You'd think having done this more then a few times it'd be old hat. Sometimes I feel like a first time mom who's never seen it before. I also feel blessed that I have the experience to pick up the tiny things that could be missed. Things like the little tiny finger movements of when someone's counting on their hands and he's trying to do the same or when someone starts to walk out the door and he's thinking/saying bye-bye. He's all about Daddy right now. Tom barely gets the front door closed before Sean's rocking and humming for him. He throws a fit if Tom doesn't pick him up whenever he gets near him. I'm happy to report that he also stopped chomping while nursing. I was on the brink of forcing him to wean it had gotten so bad. As I suspected his 2nd tooth on the bottom erupted. Hopefully this won't get to be a habit every time he's teething.

Danielle's new thing is to insist on doing everything by herself....except walking on the snow. She's afraid of falling on the snowy walkway so usually asks me to carry her. Once we're past that though it's all....me do! Me walk! me do! She wants to climb in the van, brush her teeth, get dressed. She was struggling with her skirt and I was asking....Can I help? No! Can I help now? No. Now? No. Finally she said...You help now please. LOL The other day she started asking...WHY? to everything. You can't say anything without that question being asked. I asked her to pull the plug on the tub....WHY? So the water can go down the drain....WHY? So the dirty water will go away...WHY? You get the picture. It's cute for the first few times...after that notsomuch.

This morning the phone rang bright and early (luckily we were already up). It was someone that Tom works with telling us he had 2 deer for us. He has special permits to hunt deer that are considered a menace. He'd asked Tom if we were interested and Tom said sure. So he called his brother and they butchered them. I felt sorry for Tom though since he also had to juggle running all over town with trying to get that done. He ran to the dump, took Val to play practice, then Michelle to work. Picked up the deer and started butchering it then it was time to pick up Val from school, went back to butchering then pick up Michelle from work. I couldn't help but realize if we had our car that this wouldn't have been a problem. I could've done the running while he was working with the deer. Sometimes I really wonder if selling our car to Pat is a good idea. I wish we could find a nice minivan for really cheap. The amount of money I'm putting in the van gas tank each month would practically pay for a brand new car. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so nice. I find myself wondering lately if I'm really doing my kids any favors by helping them out like I do. If they were to suffer a bit more they might be more motivated to do things on their own and for themselves. Oh well, I am what I am.