Harley's Helping ....

Harley's been "in training" to do laundry. I go down and guide him verbally and he does the laundry. Yesterday he started it all on his own!! I just have to make sure he doesn't overload it and that he remembers to set the temperature. He's enjoying helping out so much!! The other day he asks me "mom is the dishwaher clean or dirty". I tell him it's clean...thinking he was looking for cup?...it brought me to tears to realize that he was actually unloading the dishwasher without even being asked or prompted. No, he didn't get the right lids on the right sippy cups, no he didn't get the plates in the right place BUT that doesn't matter...I waited til he was in his room watching a movie and put them where they belong...I was SOOOO proud that he did that!! I still cry just thinking about it!

Neat Freak

Being a neat freak makes it really hard to also have a large family. I am still working on the house trying to get things in order so everything has a particular place and is not a struggle to find. Today I went through the boys' toyboxes....all three of them...and donated the toys to another friend who picked through and donated them through freecycle. This is yet another thing that was on my list that I wanted/needed to get done before surgery. We usually do it around Thanksgiving but since I am expecting to be "incapacitated" during that time, well...it's gotta happen now.

Yesterday we spent the whole day cleaning the garage and moving in the new chest freezer. All of my bakeware and pyrex are now organized on the shelves in the garage (I have a special set of shelves just for my cookware(s)). -- Pyrex is kept in the garage to keep the littles (and Harley) from breaking it! It's such a sense of accomplishment to get these things organized.

I gotta get off my butt and make some more laundry soap, but that's not gonna happen tonight.

Oh I had a flash of when Zac & Tyler are teens (er, that's sarcasm, I hope I don't hear this when they are that age)! They were being far too quiet so I peeked around the corner..Zac was "writing" on the hallway wall with a pencil (ends up it was not a sharpened pencil so he wasn't actually writing)...well I didn't know that and my first reaction was to yell "Zachary Allen Davis ____"...Tyler had been sitting right next to him...They both turned and looked at me...Zac was like, "what? am I doin' something wrong" kind of look on his face...Tyler froze and then stood up and said to Zac "come on Zac, let's get out of here...this way....hurry!!!" *sigh* I love that they are watching out for each other now...Amazing Zac doesn't talk much yet..but he sure knows how to tattle!

Ah, so many things to blog about, so little time. I am so tired and so are my eyes. I really want to be able to spend some quality time here so I'm not so rushed...we'll see how it goes after surgery...I wonder if they will let me have my laptop once I'm out of ICU?

Yeah, I made my own laundry soap

And I must have an awfully dull life because it was pretty exciting!!

It's nice because I can use the soaps I know Harley doesn't have reactions to.

I got the recipe from my friend Crystal who had sent me a link to The Simple Dollar: Making your Own Laundry Soap. It's great because she has step by step instructions as well as pictures.

Mine turned out well...My clothes are cleaner, fresher and softer!!

So there ya go Stephanie!! Hope you have fun trying it out!!

If only I had more time...

I would update my blog more often! LOL...Things have been crazy with having to take Harley to and from camp each day plus trying to get quality time with Andrew, Kelly, Robert, Tyler and Zachary...oh and add to that the laundry, dishes, family meetings (to talk about how people need to start picking up on their chores because mom is not spelled S-L-A-V-E)...

So after my last entry...we never did go to the fish stores for the koi and instead Andrew wanted to go Yard Saling...We were leaving like the 2nd one we stopped at and BOOM...mom hits (just a tap) a Lexus...only the best ya know? Safari van vs. Lexus is no competition...Not a scratch on the Safari, but a little maybe 1/2" long crack on the Lexus bumper. Terrific!! Thank goodness I was only going like 3 miles an hour (I was backing up and he was pulling in behind me at the same time). So Monday I called the insurance, made the claim and found that between my policy and his (since we both use the same company) will cover it with no deductible!! WHOOT WHOOT!! Oh and I got some awesome deals - I'll show you the best one....

Can you guess how much I paid for this set? $$$$20.

Monday also marked the day I finally got to meet with Harley's therapist with summer camp. She's ok...not cream of the crop but ya know what do you expect for only $40 an hour?! No one is ever good enough for him in my eyes...I'm probably being too harsh on her...Either way she communicates well and makes time to speak with me each day so we can brainstorm on how to best deal with Harley's issues. He's finally got his neurology appointment (did I already mention this?)

Oh yeah, back to Sunday...I had two puking kids (from drainage making them cough so hard they would vomit)...Zachary & Tyler...Zachary had the worst of it. I had to clean the carpet in their room a couple of times, but that's ok, it needed it anyways, just not at 8pm at night! In a way I'm thankful the children were sick because we had been planning to go to the fish store then instead....and of course we would've been there about the same time the tornado hit that shopping center (Southlands)

So I had a couple of sleepless nights as Monday Tyler had it BAD! He came out of his room after sleeping fairly peacefully vomiting down the hallway and all through the living room before I could stop him! I cleaned up the....major pieces....and pulled out the carpet cleaner again (should've never put it away). I started it up and got sprayed in the face (through the attachment), down my arm, all over my clothes and the bookcase in the living room. Sure I needed a shower but that was not the shower I had in mind (and good thing I got a late shower that day!!)...Ends up although it appeared to be set on floor cleaning, the knob had been turned the opposite direction from where I should've been so it was actually still set on attachment...:))

Tuesday was a pretty mild day -- other than in the late morning I was talking to my friend Crystal...who lives in tornado alley Oklahoma (at least it seems she does -- love ya honey!)...Anyways I told her in the history of Colorado weather we had never had a tornado hit this close to the mountains and she say "now you know there's a first time for everything"...(not a question, but a statement of fact)...LOL...So when we took off at 3:30 a storm was chasing us from home to where we had to go to pick up Harley. A bolt of lighting crashed LOUDLY while we were in the van...I nearly had a panic attack thinking I was hearing warning sirens and that Crystal jinxed us (still lovin' ya honey!)...ends up it was a weed eater!! Haha, I needed a good laugh, at myself no less....Kelly went to the dentist and found that in about 5 weeks she will have her braces taken off --actually have a DATE!! It's been a long six years she's been wearing braces!! (since she was about nine years old - to fix her major overbite that was causing speech pediments)...I can't wait to see how beautiful she looks without them considering how beautiful she is with them! LOL

Oh yeah, Tuesday we also took our van for it's followup smog test..and ... it... PASSED!! Whoowhoo!! A $30 oxygen sensor was all it needed...and the mechanic didn't charge us a dime - although Andrew gave him $20 for running the diagnostics on the computer system, it sure saved a lot of time and probably money because we were going to replace a piece (the EGR valve) ... and that part alone would've cost $175.00!!

That brings us to today...Just getting our errands done today that have been suffering with having only one vehicle at a time the past 2 weeks...We left the house at 8:30 this morning and returned at 2:00...what a long day it's been!! In the next 45 minutes, we get to leave again to go and pick up Harley from camp...then it's leftovers tonight....Oh speaking of leftovers?! We found a recipe for Guacamole Salsa in a Cooking Light Magazine...we 'adjusted' it...it got RAVE reviews from everyone in the house...I can't tell ya what the exact measurements are because I didn't bother to measure anything --

2 tomatoes cut into small cubes

1 avocado cut into small cubes

some onion (probably about 2 tbsp)

Cilantro (about 5 tbsps...but that's A LOT! but I recently discovered how much I love this stuff!)

2 tbsp lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

Mix it together and you have the most delicious pico de gallo (sp?)!! Be sure to add the avocado last because it will be mushy if you don't. It's delicious on chicken, tacos, burritos, taquitos....The first night we tried it on chicken (the recipe we got from the magazine) and with the chicken it was a 260 calorie main dish (not bad for being so super delicious!).

If you want the recipe for Chicken with Lime-avocado salsa, drop me a note and I'll post it!

Housework game

(to help me be accountable and make sure I get it all done and prevent me from smoking)--
Done marked in BLUE
Laundry (2 loads washed, 3 loads folded....) 3 more loads to wash...fold...put away!
Paint dining room
Call for Zac's pre op registration
Call for Zac's new speech therapist
go to bread store
early release for Harley
take Harley to CP at 3:30
Take Andrew to work at 5
pick up Harley at CP at 5:30
Pick up Andrew at work at 6
Make dinner
pick up Harley's meds
sweep/mop kitchen/dining room floor
vacuuming
dishes
upstairs bathroom
Shopping list (grocery shopping tomorrow) BONUS Grocery shopping got accomplished today instead :)

That's really a lot...I'd love to add Harley's room, but I don't want to set myself up to fail ... so many things to do today

OK, so I didn't get it all done...we had a little hiccup in our day when the school called because Harley refused to get on the bus...he didn't want to go to music therapy today...so I had to go to the school and calm him and then get him to the van and home for an hour before I had to leave to take him to *music therapy* :) He was being so aggressive I gave in and gave him a lorezapam to calm him. It took us twice as long as usual to load him, walk him to the center and transition him from our care to the therapist.

We had enough time after all that to go ahead and do the grocery shopping done today instead of tomorrow so I guess I can give myself a little leeway in that I got a few other things accomplished that weren't on my list...So no hard feelings today...

Did you find the Frog?

here ya go!

I didn't see it at first either...Today it's melted and the roads are DRY!

Harley's heading out to see Monsters vs. Aliens with respite today...he's been planning it for WEEKS!

I'm hoping to get started on painting the kitchen some time this week (I mentioned this about SIX months ago!). The older kids won't be going ANYWHERE today so they can help...they've been slacking off and having so much fun they've not been doing their chores...but

They got to go sledding yesterday and I had to let that happen since the snow won't be around long! (sorry, no pics, I stayed home with Zachary and took a nap!!)

Of course I still have a chunk of housework to catch up on today, but they're gonna help so it should go well....

Scheduling conflicts

No school for Harley today...He has an appointment with his psychiatrist...The only time we could schedule it for is 10:30...well school starts at 9:05 and in order for me to load/unload/reload the two little ones, sign him out of school, and get to the appointment, I'd have to get there about 9:30...just not worth sending him for the morning. I have the same problem with taking him back to school...not only that but he tends to have major meltdowns when he's driven to school (you know, it messes up his routine to not ride the bus to school and to arrive in the middle of the day). So for everyone involved it's best just to keep him home for the day...

Now AFM: I woke up with a major case of sciatica...it's been switching sides the last couple of days but today it is SEVERE to where it is painful just to walk...picking up Zachary is extremely painful! Hell, even sitting is painful! So trying to load both boys in/out/in/out/in/out/in/out of the car seat (at home to get to the school, at the school, at the appointment and upon arrival at home)...oh man I can't imagine how much pain I would be in after all that?!

Well here's where the scheduling conflict comes in...Harley has to be dropped off at behavior therapy at 3:30 since he can't be picked up at school (and they won't pick him up from home if he's not in school). That means we'd have to leave at 3...Andrew has to be to his job by 3 at the latest...Zachary's speech therapist is here from 2:45 to 3:45 so I won't be able to drive Harley (and I really don't want to reschedule Zac's speech therapy--especially at the last minute!) Then Harley has to be picked up at 5:30...but Andrew now has a client from 5-6pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday...

Typically on Mondays we leave here at 4 and go to Andrew's job and drop off his time sheets, then pick up Harley on our way home from that, but now that Andrew has that dinner time client he has to do his paperwork earlier so he can be back here by 4:45 to go to his client.

So the one way we can do it...Let Andrew go to his job for paperwork and take Harley (Andrew has to take an inservice test at work today though and don't know what we'd do with Harley). I wish behavior therapy would just let us drop him off early! Then he could drop off Harley on his way home. When he leaves for his lunch time client I could drive to pick up Harley and return home about the same time he does from his client so I'd have help unloading the van if my sciatica is still acting up.

Our biggest problem is getting him there at 3:30....I wasn't thinking he'd be home today when I scheduled Zac's appointment for speech therapy...*sigh*

And totally off topic: Could sciatica be a pregnancy symptom? LOL

Oh yeah and with this pain, I probably won't get much done in the way of my housework. At least I got a lot of it accomplished yesterday...Just minor things like loading the dishes and sweeping the floor and vacuuming before the speech therapist arrives. I definitely won't be braving the stairs to do laundry today!

What a Day!

Yesterday was quite a "fun" day...Just add another "Worst mom of the year" award to my wall!

I wanted to get a shower in first thing in the morning, but I can't run water in the bathtub when the boys are asleep...they get so excited thinking they're getting a bath that they wake up screaming (and would've woke up the whole house!)...it was only 5:30 in the morning and I was just not ready for them to be up...

Robert comes upstairs and has an attitude...Tyler threw something and it hit him so he spanked him (a BIG no-no!!) so he was pissed off and ran downstairs -- So I tried to call Kelly up so I could take a shower -- and she finally gets up after 30 minutes and then hops in the shower for another hour!! When she finally comes upstairs she's mad at the world and being mean to the younger ones, so again - no shower for me! She starts crying and yelling at me about how she doesn't have any friends anymore because she can't text to them and they quit texting her because she can't text back - so now no one talks to her -- and of course it's my fault! (I explained that maybe she will learn to stop ditching classes...she would've gotten her texting back this week, but now she's got another two weeks added onto it!--her own fault!)

We had to run to the bread store and it's best to hit them first thing in the morning because that's when you get the best markdown stuff! (mmm, coffee cakes, lunch snacks for Harley, danish!). We left the two older kids home to have some "cool down time" and then came home and invited them to go to lunch with us. Still, mom hasn't gotten a shower yet!

Out to lunch we go...Usually we can keep Harley to two plates of food and two desserts when we go to Country Buffett...Just as we were packing up to leave, they put a "blizzard making bar" up...Harley had one ... and somehow sneaked another one...and promptly puked all over the mens' room - flooding the toilets in the process (yes, EVERY toilet in the men's room, even the urinals!). I don't know where I *was*...I don't think I was mentally there to watch Harley and keep track of what he was doing...Maybe I was busy with the two little ones while Andrew was in charge of Harley this time?

Afterwards we went to the library and got some books and movies for the kids in hopes that I can get the older kids to watch the kids for an hour or two so that Andrew and I can have some time as a couple (not dtd :) ) -- just time to reconnect. He and I have been arguing over stupid crap quite often the last couple of days (the story's on my other blog).

Since we were driving right past Dollar Tree we stopped there too...bet you can't guess what I bought! LOL -- We bought some other things too (no food items) and Harley proceeded to try to sneak a candy bar up on the belt...we told him no, that he doesn't need anymore to eat...he needs to learn not to purge so that he can eat more!! (the older kids had stayed in the van and Andrew, I, Harley, Tyler and Zachary went into the store, so we didn't have any extra hands to help out)...Harley proceeded to start beating on me and body slamming me while screaming that I am a big ass and he NEEDS his chocolate bar!! We get Kelly to come and take Tyler to the van...Wouldn't you know, we had decided to park in the far corner of the parking lot rather than the handicapped spot right in front of the store...Andrew passes Zachary off to me (because Robert refused to come and help with anything) -- and we had to do a take down with Harley in the middle of the Dollar Tree store...Then "escort" him out of the store using a two person hold (while holding Zachary on one hip and Andrew carrying the bags with our purchases).

Finally we get to the van...I decided I would drive up the mountain a little ways because I just need a little break and this is the closest thing I get to a break - when I'm driving. The whole time Harley is going off screaming but I am able to block it out to a point. After about 20 minutes of driving he is calm and we start heading back down to go home!! Maybe I'll get my shower in?

Fat chance - again, no shower for mom! Zachary's bed time hits and I am sooo ready to put him to bed....Tyler is being his usual Tornado Self and Zachary can't calm enough to sleep, so Zachary ends up staying up till 9pm...Kelly, Andrew and I get a deck of cards and start to play while Tyler is winding down some. He just gets more and more wild as the night goes on. Finally at 10:00 I try to take him to bed (and Andrew is leaving for work). We play the "I need a drink" game...I get him a drink of milk and "its in the wrong cup--wants the blue and green cup!" and proceeds to have a MAJOR temper tantrum...I am just trying to calm him so that he doesn't wake up Zachary...FAT CHANCE!!....By 10:30 he's screaming at the top of his lungs while Zachary is screaming in his bed...So I try to get Tyler to go into his room -- after all he's already woke up Zachary so at this point it doesn't matter if he's screaming in their room....

Well, that just keeps them both going until 11:45PM!! And then finally they both pass out from exhaustion -- I'm so wound up I can't sleep now...and back to I can't take shower because the sound of the water will wake them up and get them all excited thinking they are going to take a bath...10 minutes later, Tyler is screaming again so I let him come to the living room with me and he falls asleep on the floor. I cover him up and figure I'm just gonna let him sleep there and 20 minutes later Andrew gets home from work....He heads directly to bed while I decide it may be best for me to wait up...and finish watching the last 20 minutes of Without a Trace.

Finally, 1:00AM I am in bed...I must've passed out right away....fast foward to 5:30 this morning...Tyler wakes up SCREAMING! I try to coax him back to bed, but no luck...by 6:30 Zachary's up and ready to start his day.

I have a load of dishes (in the sink--I HATE a dirty kitchen!) and a dishwasher full of clean dishes...I start on that and at 7:00 Andrew gets up (has to be out the door by 7:20). I'm about in tears...Exhaustion is setting in and I have so much to do. I've not done laundry for two days so I've got 4 loads to catch up on now plus bed linens. I have to get my house vacuumed since that never happened yesterday. I already got the dishes done (well the dishwasher is running now), got the upstairs bathroom cleaned, the trash out, the fridge cleaned out. Still have to mop the kitchen and bathroom floors...Sadly, I still have not gotten that shower in :( - Kelly is sleeping in but I'm really not ready to deal with the tears and bad attitude again today...Harley is raiding the fridge (well, I put the lock on it already - which means I have to watch him closely because he gets violent when I lock the food up)--and that is why I am sitting here writing this entry rather than getting my work done!

I am so hoping today ends up being a better day than yesterday. No respite today or yesterday (Scott is out of town til next Sunday)...The older kids have to be dropped off at their dad's at 6:00 tonight...and then back to the grindstone...Andrew's paperwork, errands to both of our jobs, Harley to/from therapy, dealing with the schools and not getting my return calls about Harley's placement...Crap, Harley has an appointment with his psychiatrist tomorrow! Oh and he gets a cleaning, two fillings, a tooth pulled and a full set of mouth x rays on Friday (thankfully I'll be sedating him for that!)

And the worst part? I'm still hoping that this week ends in a bfp for me!

Seeing Spots?

This is some grape juice that got spilled on the carpet on Friday night...

It's been walked on, set in and never even blotted up....

This is the first chance I've had to clean it up -- Here's what it looks like now:


See how clean it looks now? Wanna know how I got it cleaned up?? Huh? Do ya? Shaving cream!! We stock up on the cheap stuff from Dollar Tree...Squirt some on the stain and rub it in vigorously with your knuckles (or fingers) in a circular motion, then wipe clean with a wet, clean cloth....

Pretty cool huh? Got lots of spots to clean up today...just thought I would share that secret!! :)
(oh after it dries all the way and I vacuum I will take another pic, I just noticed the pic looks funny)...BTW: shaving cream is safe for children and pets....

FINALLY!! Here's the "spot" after it's dried and been vacuummed:

Housework game

Since I've been lazy for the last two days, I've got tons of housework to catch up on...so here goes

*load / run dishwasher DONE
*fold 4 loads of laundry / wash-dry 3 loads DONE
*sweep/mop kitchen floor DONE
*give boys a bath
*vacuum
*disinfect boys' room
*clean up Harley's room (it's actually not too bad)
*get to post office to pick up supplies for archiving my 2008 paperwork
*refill Harley's meds
*clean / disinfect kitchen counters DONE
*find a different place for my currently pending paperwork now that Zachary's into EVERYTHING! DONE
*Pick up twin bed for Tyler...Freecycle Toddler bed
*play with Zachary & Tyler
*set up daybed in basement for sleepovers
*call the guy to install the gas burning "wood" stove
*put Tyler's clothes back into his dresser (can you imagine what he did?)
*put Zachary's clothes back into his dresser too (yes, Tyler the Tornado strikes again!)
*Pick up Harley from therapy
*Make dinner
*shower
*collapse into bed when it's all over

Hehe, I must think I'm superwoman huh? Let's see how much of this actually gets done and how much of it gets "moved" to tomorrow?

Oh BTW: 10dpo bfn

Housework game

After severely slacking off on my housework for the past two days, I've GOT to get some of it done...Figured this always keeps me motivated and accountable so here goes:

*unload/reload dishwashwer unload done, ongoing....running to be unloaded/reloaded again today
*fold (3) loads of laundry done
*wash/dry/fold 2 loads of laundry done
*clean living room carpet done
*clean/organize Harley's room
*sort through Tyler/Zachary's shoes, store those that are too small now done
*clean kitchen (sweep floor, wipe counters) done
*unpack / repack diaper bag
*motivate Andrew to get the screws to hang the garage cabinets and then pack up the cake pans in the cake pan cabinet! LOL done
*clean out refrigerator done
*empty cat box tray, put clean litter in the catbox I'm delegating this one to Andrew :)
*sort through toy box in living room and rotate toys done
Not gonna clean the bathroom, housecleaners come tomorrow and they can do the deep clean to it....
Wow, I really thought I had more than that!? Oh well just means I better get it all accomplished today!
ADD: Clean oven (self-cleaning oven so it really doesn't take any work from me!) done

Housework game

And so that I don't obsess over my chart all day long, I'm gonna play and try to catch up. The wind is whipping outside with no signs of letting up...it's gusting about 65mph here so we won't be going out and about....

So my list for today as of 7:55am:
Updates in red as of 7:01 pm:
updates in blue as of 8:30pm

*start archiving 2008 paperwork Started anyways :)
*sweep & mop kitchen floor DONE, buy why? LOL reswept for a fourth time today!
*strip / remake beds DONE!!
*wash linens Not gonna get done today--well maybe later after Zac's down but won't get folded today
*wash 2 more loads of laundry DONE!
*fold 5 loads of laundry (I have 3 left over that need to be folded :) ) DONE and Put away too!
*vacuum all rooms Tyler will do this when Zac goes to bed Tyler's working on it now! :)
*clean Harley's room (again???!! LOL) Harley did most of it...although there's still stuff under the bed, but what 11 yr old doesn't have stuff under his bed?
*in home nurse visit for Harley at 10:30 DONE!
*clean upstairs bathroom Maybe later, Zac didn't take a very good nap today...maybe while I'm giving the boys a bath I can multitask? So it got wiped down, but not disinfected...maybe tomorrow?
*give Ty and Zac a bath After dinner...which is ready NOW! Bath is done, Zac's asleep

Feels like I've been slacking all day? Got what 1/2 of my list done in 12 hours? Geeze!! How lame!
Of course, I have all my other things...cleaning the kitchen and doing the dishes...Let's see how far I get today?