Ace recovered in time to trick or treat and now will probably spend the weekend with a serious sugar hangover. Andy's co worker promised us some cute costumes for the babies but then forgot to leave them on Andy's desk. Julia is planning on punching him in the face next time she sees him because, thanks to him, she ended up dressed as a devil instead of a lion. She was the cutest little devil I've ever seen. Lucy got to be Superman (passed out in the strolller I put a glow stick next to her so she looked like Superman on kryptonite).
We went to Main Street for "safe trick or treating" and now Ace and Lucy and I are home eating these:http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/cheesy-mummy-wrapped-dogs-57858.aspx

While Julia, Hayley, and Andy troll the neighborhood in search of more sugar.
Happy, happy halloween everyone!

Rocking the vote

I think Ace is starting to believe me that he really and truly is sick. He's decided the most comfortable thing to do right now is get naked and wrap up in a coccoon of a blanket and zone out with juice, tv, and oyster crackers (the only thing I've been able to get him to eat). Poor fella. I've been trying to pinpoint exactly what is causing him to feel lousy because he's not coughing or sneezing or stuffy. I'm guessing he's just having that general whole body achiness.
I remember being sick on Halloween as a kid, it always seemed like a dirty trick to miss out on a fun day and I felt like the universe was against me. I hid Ace's costume and candy bucket so there weren't any reminders of what he's missing.
Hayley voted today. She says she voted for him because he is going to change the flag. I think politcal ads confuse her a bit. I told her I was voting for him too and Ace piped up that he wanted to vote too but he wants to vote for his teachers. All of them. He's a maverick.
I'm so bored. Sick days suck even when you're not sick.

I'm sad. I'm sad because after all the talk about the great, fun day Ace was going to have today at school with the parade and the treats and the party, now he's sick. The worst part, is that he doesn't believe me when I tell him that he is sick. He thinks I'm making it all up. Forget the fact that he woke up last night burning up and stumbling around the hallway in a feverish daze. Forget the fact that he is coughing and doesn't have the energy to eat his eggs and cinnamon toast. He just thinks Mommy is mean and telling him a big, fat lie and keeping him from a fun day at school. Mean, mean Mommy.
So we are home, in our jammies, watching Sid the Science kid. We should be at school, going trunk to trunk and getting sweet, yummy treats. But again, Mommy is mean and lying to everyone about this "sickness" (imagine John McCain doing his sarcastic air quotes around that word).
Oh well, hopefully he'll be better tomorrow and we can still trick or treat. I'm debating whether this is worth a doctor's visit. He is crying about his neck hurting (his throat I guess?) I'll wait a few hours and see how he's doing.
Hope everyone else is having a happier day.

Do you have any sick day traditions? We usually make cinnamon toast and the kids sometimes gets Sprite. We make a big bed of blankets and pillows on the floor and watch movies all day (even the non-sick kids get to participate)

Tomorrow I say goodbye to the Ace that I know for 3 days. As of 9:30 tomorrow, Ace will become Ace the Firefighter. He has been waiting patiently for almost a month to put on his costume (actually, we had to hide it in the garage so he would stop waking us up at 6 am, dressed head to toe in fake firefighting gear) and now the wait is over. He gets to go to Story hour at the library in costume, preschool on Thursday they are doing Trunk or treat, and Friday we are going to a parade, trick or treating in town with free carosel rides and moonbouncing, and then neighborhood trick or treating. Hayley only gets to dress up for the parade and trick or treating so we're not talking much about how often Ace gets to be the firefighter to avoid any jealousy issues. Julia will be a lion and Lucy is going as a pumpkin. I have no costume but may be mistaken for the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I was helping Andy move the old kitchen hutch to the basement to use for art supplies and my back has not forgiven me. My back has pretty much hated me for the whole "4 pregnancies in 6 years" thing and it doesn't take much for it to fail on me.
So, do you celebrate Halloween? If so, do you dress up or just the kids?

Morning rush hour

We (meaning, I) overslept this morning so I was running like mad to drop the big kids off . It was a preschool day for Ace so I would have to actually walk into the school rather than just slow down a little in the carpool lane and tell Hayley to tuck and roll as I push her out of the car. I toss on Andy's sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, dress the babies, bundle everyone up and load up the car. Once I had a moment to take a breath I realized something was amiss. Someone smelled really, really bad. I did shower last night so I immediately assumed it was one of the kids. I don't want my kids to be the smelly kids so I stopped the van and went seat to seat, sniffing each of them. Ace and Julia had baths and smelled extra nice. Hayley had spilled syrup on herself and smelled sticky and sweet. Lucy is a baby and even when babies smell bad it is good so it wasn't her. I decided it was just the van, cracked a window and drove on, now 15 minutes late. I think you all know where this is going. If a smell follows you wherever you go, it is likely that smell is you. Sure enough, as I stood by the cubbies chatting with Ace's teacher who I bet always has time to shower in the morning and smells like roses, I realized the sweatshirt I grabbed from the chair was not clean. Not even close. I was the smelly mom. And I was 25 minutes late.
But it is Tuesday and a Lunchbuddy day which means I have an extra hour with just the babies while Ace is at preschool so I will certainly be showered and properly dressed and on time when I go to pick him up. But only if I get of the internet and into the shower before my 15 minute window of opportunity (also called Elmo's World) closes.

Sibling Love

"Ha-yeee, where are you, did you dipapeeer?"

"No, Ace, I didn't disappear, I'm downstairs"

"Oh, if you dipapeer, I want to dipapeer too so I wif you"

"I didn't disappear, Ace"

"Good, I want to stay wif mommy too"

The importance of being Mommy

Hey, you like my profile picture? Wanna know why I chose that fetching photo of the top of my head and my bloated 2 days post partum figure? Of course you do. Well, it's because out of the 500+ pictures currently on my camera that was the ONLY one of me. Interestingly enough, there were at least a dozen pictures of my husband's Blazer including at least 3 of the rust that has collected under the rear bumper. So, for anyone keeping score I rank at least 2 points behind bumper rust in my family. Sigh.
Welcome to my blog, leave a comment if you stop by because I really need to feel important to someone.