An evening at the Cole house

Some conversation from the Cole children when they think Mommy is distracted

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, LOGAN PUT IT DOWN!!!!!

C'mon Kaitlyn, you can get out of timeout now, Mommy said so.  - REALLY??? I don't recall speaking but maybe I was thinking it and he read my mind. ;)

GO! Get OUT of my room I'm trying TO DO MY HOMEWORK!!!

C'mon, COME ON KAITLYN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shut up Ryan!  Get out of my room!

Vroom! Vroom!  

NO! His name is Ferdinand! You said Ferdinana!

SHUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COME ON KAITLYN! 

I don't want to play anymore Ryan!

Get BACK here!

Yes you do!  PLEASE, come play with me!

COME ON!

STOP! 

KAITLAWWWWWNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is what Ryan resorts to when he's mad and he wants her to pay attention to him.

I really wanted to do some stitching tonight while watching the game but I don't think I should chance it while they are fighting so much.  Believe it or not, this has been about three minutes of VERY loud conversation.  Imagine what would happen if I sat here longer. lol

I'm off to supervise the homework Queen  and the fighting trio.  Hope to get some stitching done and if I do, I will post a progress picture but I have to warn you....... don't hold your breath. ;)

EDITED:  In case you were wondering, the children finally calmed down.  Marie did, in fact, finish her project but it was very late. lol  I never did get to sit and stitch as the final child went to bed at 10:20 (yes, that is when Marie a/k/a "THE PROCRASTINATOR" finished her school project.)  Maybe today/tonight but by the time I actually have time to sit I may not feel like doing it.  Anyone ever have that problem???? ;)

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Progress pic

Here it is and yes I started over way too close to the left side.  I'm hoping that I can figure out a cute way to finish it.  Maybe that's why I am having a hard time getting it stitched.; it was a nice thought! lol

Oops, I did it again!

Time has been getting away from me so much this past year.  I can't seem to get on here and post like I want once a week.  I'm lucky to do once a month.  SIGH* hanging my head in shame.

Nope, stiching mojo didn't last long at all.  It has been over a month and I'm still not done with my Christmas ornament.  I have no idea what my problem is anymore.  I just don't seem to want to pick up any stitching.  I pick it up and put a few stitches in and then realize that I'm just not into it and put it right back where I found it.  There are such lovely projects that I had wanted to start and finish but nothing is catching my fancy. 

I've started back on the flat belly diet again.  It was so great to lose the weight last year and not gain ALL of it back.  I did gain some but nowhere near as bad.  I'm about 7 pounds away from hitting my lowest weight from last year so I think I may be able to stick to it this time.  I believe that since we started after the school schedules are now pretty much a done deal that I will have a much better chance of keeping on it then I did last year.  I do know that I will not be denying myself the coffee this time around though.  I'm a coffee girl, there is no denying it so I just might as well face it.  I am only allowing myself a cup a day.  It's better to indulge a little then go hog wild and completely blow it, don't you think??  I'm over the initial four day hump where I did deny myself coffee and just knew that I have to figure out a way to add it in or this diet is done. lol 

I've also had some "woman" issues as of late which is probably not helping the diet or the stitching mojo. lol  I think I'm hitting the pre-menopause stage.  Is anyone else going through that in their early forties????  I'm crankier than cranky, tired all the time (that's normal anymore lol) having two visits from Aunt Flo this month which didn't help.  Emotions are on a roller coaster which is so much fun when you have little ones. lol  I did find some lovely stuff that will hopefully be helping me with most of this but I have to wait until 14 days after the "last" day to begin.  Fine, but, can I count from the first one or do I have to start 14 days form the second one???? ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!  How appropriate can it be that I feel this way and it's close to Halloween???!!! ROFLMBO

I will attempt to get a progress shot of my ornament.  It is almost done just going to take forever to finish it at the rate I'm going.  I usually love this time of year and stitching all of the lovely Halloween goodies that are available.  Nope, not this year!  GOD, please help me to get back to my stitching as it's what keeps me from going completely looney!! ;)

An update of sorts

I have finally (I think!) got my stitching mojo back.  At least a little bit anyway. lol   I received my Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments mag in the mail this past week and was drooling over all the lovelies.  I finally sat down last night and closed my eyes and picked one to start.  You know what I mean ladies, it's almost impossible to choose which one you like the best so you can stitch it first so I just opened the mag with my eyes closed and slapped my hand down.  There you go, purely scientific way of choosing. lol  Not much to show as the children weren't ready for bed but were wanting to cuddle so I spent maybe about 30 minutes on it.  When I have more progress to show I will take a pic and post it here.

It's been a crazy few weeks getting back into a routine with the kids and school but I have to say I'm loving it!  I do miss them but I cherish my time to get the house clean, the laundry done, work done and have a little bit of me time too.  lol  By the time the bus gets here with the first two, I realize just how much I've missed my little people and I enjoy the afternoon snuggling and getting everyone to get their homework done.  I wish I could say it was all enjoyable but for those of you with more than one child, you know what I mean.  They still fight but it seems easier to referee now that school takes them away from each other during the day.

Today the older two had to start with a new bus as the other route was too full.  Last week wasn't any fun as we had problems with our a/c on Labor Day.  We ended up taking the kids out for a ride once we finally got that stupid thing working again so we could all relax and get cool.  Logan loved it so much that when it came time to go to school the next day, he threw a major fit about getting on the bus.  Thankfully, by Friday, he was a little calmer and today was nothing.  Here I was dreading trying to get him on the bus, let alone a new driver and aide and he just walked right up, said Hi and climbed the stairs.  That boy amazes me just about everyday with something new or unexpected. lol

I've been reading and playing with the DS to take my mind off the stitching slump.  I have a confession to make though;I couldn't finish reading Jodi Picoult's book.  I tried and tried but I just couldn't make myself read more than a few chapters.  It has nothing to do with the story being boring or bad, I've heard other people say they love it.  I just couldnt' get past the first few chapters that go into detail about the daily trials of having a child with Aspergers or Autism.  I live it myself daily so to see it in print and to know what I have to look forward to was just too much for me.  Maybe someday I will pick it back up and be able to read it but for me, right now, I can't do it.  Pathetic I know but I know my limitations with certain things and I'm okay with it.  Now, if I could just figure out my limitations with say chocolate or coffee, life would truly be perfect. lol

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday.  I am off to sit and stitch for a little while before work gets delivered for the day.  That is another part of my routine that I've just added, I get to clean and take care of the house as soon as the kids leave and then I give myself an hour or so of stitching time so that if I don't get a chance to stitch at night, at least I've stitched some that day. 

Happy Monday!

First Day of School and Other Stuff

A BEAUTIFUL RAK from Lei. She sent this to me in July and I've finally gotten around to posting a picture of this beautiful handmade pin cushion she made for me. Thank you again Lei!!!!

I finished the first page of the bird but I still need to go back and fix the trees on the left. Since I messed that up, I haven't wanted to look at it because I know I have quite a bit of frogging to do.

Here is the older project that I found in a box in the garage. Yes, we've been here for five years but I still hadn't unpacked all the boxes. lol. I had finished the pink dinosaur and started on the purple. So, when I found these, I promptly finished the purple and started in on the green. I figured I'd go ahead and make one for each of the kids. Of course, I didn't have all the floss needed to finish the fourth so that one is on hold.

I had the pattern for LHN Little Neighborhood for some time. I had pulled all the floss and the fabric and had it sitting in my to do pile. I decided when I didn't have the floss to finish the dinosaurs and didn't have the gumption to frog the Rainforests that I would start this. I'm loving doing this one. Still, I haven't had time or energy to sit and stitch in a couple of weeks. Now that school has started I have a feeling it's going to take another couple of weeks for the routine to settle back down before I can find the energy to stitch still. lol

We had an exciting first day of school. The bus for Marie and Logan was late, about 30 minutes and considering it was the first day of school, that was nothing. They made it to school an hour late but so did quite a few other children. lol Ryan and Katie's bus never made it by our house in the morning. What made it worse was that Mommy called transportation and gave them the WRONG bus number when asking where it was and that bus had broken down. Later on when I called back, the woman had to correct me on the bus number which made us both cackle like a bunch of hyenas. I made her feel so much better since she had such a crazy morning. I'm glad I was able to help her with some comic relief. lol The little ones finally got to school by 11:15 lol. What a morning we had!! The afternoon went much smoother and once everyone was home safe and sound and talking non-stop all at the same time, I was finally able to relax. lol

Today was a much smoother transition. The buses were only 15 minutes late this morning. Ryan wasn't as excited about riding this morning as Katie won't be going back until Thursday. The school systems here do a staggered Kindergarten start. The first three days are done by last name and on the fourth day, they all get to come back to school. Katie had a wonderful day yesterday, even though she missed over two hours. She came home on the bus and didn't stop chattering about what a great day she had until after dinner.

I know she was excited because when she got home, I checked her lunch box and found that she took four bites out of her sandwich and drank her juice. She did find enough room in her excited tummy to eat some cheese its for snack time but that was it. Needless to say she never stopped eating once she got home last night. lol Ryan didn't drink his bottle at all until he got home yesterday afternoon! Woo Hoo!!!! I had sent two applejuice boxes in with his lunch and they were both gone so maybe (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!) he's over the bottle during the day.

Logan's teacher situation got taken care of and he was back in with his awesome teacher from last year. He had a GREAT day and came home in the best mood!!!! Marie also had a wonderful day. The big 6th grader switches classes for every subject this year and she loved it! It's getting her prepared for middle school next year so I can't wait to see how she much she likes it once they start giving out homework. lol I'm still on the hunt for some of the school supplies she needs. I will have to make a run to Staples later today or tomorrow morning for the last thing she needs and send in the last of it all tomorrow. Can you believe it has taken three trips in her backpack to get all her school supplies into her classes??? The girl carries an adult size backpack too. Her poor back!! lol

Another new week and not much to show

I did fix the boo boo I made on my Rainforest's design but then haven't had the energy or time to stitch since then. I've looked at it longingly a couple of times but the brain and eyes were too tired and I believe I may have finally learned my lesson about stitching while brain dead, errr I mean tired.

A quick non-stitching question for you folks that have the music player on your blog. Is it me, or do you lose songs off your player? I've just noticed that another two songs have totally disappeared off of it again. Where do they go?? Is there a song heaven for those tired and old (not so old in terms of when they were released) worn out songs??

The good reason (is there ever a good reason not to have stitching time??) is that DH and I have been doing some DIY home improvements to help the ol' pocketbook survive the Florida summer heat. Several windows and shades (and window film) later we now have an almost perfectly cool home without running the old A/C lower than 76. Trust me, this is quite an improvement! I believe that we may have finally gotten rid of the disgusting $280 monthly summer electric bill. (Please, oh please let that be true!!!)

Logan is going to be a nudist when he gets older. He strips everything off as soon as he hits the door after school. I even have to fight to keep his diaper on him. Speaking of which, it's been a fun week of taking him to the potty every 30 minutes but it seems to be working. He's not completely potty trained, he does go on the potty during those times but he still goes in the pull-ups even after being taken. It's a start! Ryan however, as of last night, is offically potty trained!! Woo Hoo!!! He's been insisting on wearing a diaper each night but for quite a while it's been dry. Last night, I had him wear his underwear with his plastic pants and nothing!!! I'm sure he'll want to continue doing that but I have no problem with the pastic pants. He can wear them for a little longer and then I think he'll be a big boy and give them up too.