Wheelchair Incident

Yesterday morning, Emma had a cough and didn't want to go to school. Mean ol' Mom sent her anyway (we can't afford to lose any excused absences without a fever or vomit because she is sick so much). Anyway, I sent her and told her that if she was really sick, the school would call me and I would pick her up.

Fast forward to 9:15 am...

The phone rang. I look at the caller ID (because I always look) and see the school's phone number...Great...Guess I'd better get ready to go and get Emma...

"Mrs. Turner? This is the school nurse." I replied, "You must be calling about Emma."

"Well, no - actually, I am calling about Reagan. You see, he was run over by a wheelchair in his classroom this morning."

"What? Is he okay?"

She said, "Yes, he is walking on it and not complaining - I don't think it is broken, just red. The teacher just wanted you to know."

By far, probably one of the weirdest phone calls from the school (and there have been a few weird ones, believe me)...

Last night, I made up a song to send back to Reagan's teacher. For your viewing pleasure...

"Reagan's Song"
To the tune of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"

Reagan got run over by a wheelchair.
It was just too fast for him, you see.
You may think it was no Manic Monday.
As for me and Mrs. Chesnutt, we believe.

It was just another morning.
Class was quiet, the pledge was done.
Then there was a flash of lightning,
And our poor little Reagan couldn't run.

Reagan got run over by a wheelchair.
It was just too fast for him, you see.
You may think it was no Manic Monday.
As for me and Mrs. Chesnutt, we believe.

He went down to see the school nurse.
Shoe was off and ice applied.
He got on the school computer.
Pain was all forgotten, tears were dried.

Reagan got run over by a wheelchair.
It was just too fast for him, you see.
You may think it was no Manic Monday.
As for me and Mrs. Chesnutt, we believe.

Now, if you have this tune stuck in your head all day - you have me to thank for your early Christmas spirit!

1st Day of School...AKA Independence Day!

The kiddos started school yesterday. The summer has actually gone by pretty quickly, but they (and we) were ready for them to return. Is it just me, or don't they look cute all ready to go on the first day? There is an extra bit of excitement in the air that disappears after the first week or so.

I had my day all planned out - 4 days in advance.

I worked out at the YMCA first thing in the morning. Then, I took Ashleigh to her follow up ear appt. The annual "celebratory lunch" (this year at Chuy's) followed. After that, I ran a few errands, leisurely (yeah, right - still had 2 little ones with me - but still better than five!).

All in all, it was a good day - they raced in the door and clamored to tell us all about their days.

It feels like it is going to be a good year!

Sir, Yes Sir!

Soooo....what happens when your mom (now known as the drill sergeant) is cutting your hair the night before school starts and you cover your eyes with your hands and shake your head back and forth while the clippers are very close to your scalp???

Do you know???

You end up with a number 2 on the top, a number 1 on the sides and instead of 1st grade, you will now be starting boot camp in the morning....Yup. That is what happens.

Anyone want to venture a guess as to how I know this information???

Oh well...it's only hair - it'll grow back, right?

Sergeant Mom, Over and Out.

Little Miss Ashleigh Turns One...

July 15th was our sweet Ashleigh's first birthday...we went light on it this year - in anticipation of a big family party (to be shared with a few cousins in a few weeks)...

We went blueberry picking on the morning of her birthday - it was very hot and humid...but we managed to have a great time and pick 5 lbs in less than an hour. Pizza and brownies made the night festive, even if it was a Thursday!

Ashleigh has absolutely no teeth - and not one in sight either, but she downed that pizza! And was totally in heaven with her brownie...

A fisher price farm finished her birthday off with a bang!

Today (July 21st) Ashleigh had her biggest birthday present from the ENT...a brand new set of tubes. This is a good thing for many reasons -- no more co-pays and prescriptions for neverending ear infections...she will not shake her head all the time because of the fluid in her ears...she will hear better and hopefully be talking like crazy soon!

Ashleigh is the sweetest baby ever - and I am so excited to hear what she has to say in a few months! We love her very much and cannot believe that a whole year has passed since she was born.

She is a little short (who in our family isn't?) and weighs about 18 1/2 pounds right now...not big enough yet for a forward facing carseat - but that will happen soon, I'm sure! I am also pretty sure that she wishes she was forward facing - it gets boring looking at the back of the seat when your siblings are all watching a movie!

Happy Birthday Ashleigh Kate! You bring so much sunshine into our lives!!!

Sometimes Life is Like a Peanut Butter Sandwich...

Have you ever been really, really, hungry and made yourself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Then, you pour yourself a big glass of ice cold milk. You take the first bite, and you wonder why you don't have peanut butter sandwiches for lunch every day, it just tastes so good? Next, you might think about the simplicity of a peanut butter sandwich as opposed to say, a club sandwich or leftover lasagna...

Sometimes, my life is like a peanut butter sandwich.

There are days that (too many, I'm afraid) where I try to cram every possible thing into the day...Like a few weeks ago, when Reagan had a doctor's appointment at Vanderbilt. I didn't want to drive up there again, so I crammed another appointment in within an hour of the other one. While it did pay off, I was completely stressed out trying to get from home to Nashville by 8:30 and to the two different appointments...Was it worth it? Probably, in terms of gas mileage and time - but it was a crazy, busy day.

There are other days (like today) when I am forced to slow down my pace of life. It is my birthday today - as I told Emma (every time she asks how old I am) I am old. I had planned on cramming so many little tidbits into today, so that I didn't think about how old I am getting - how my pants will never fit the way I want them to, and how much it is going to cost to maintain my current hair color.

I hope I am not alone.

Anyway, I was planning on getting up - kids off to school by 7:30, leave straight for the YMCA to workout (still trying to get into the smaller pants), exercise for an hour, shower, get the two little girls from daycare, go to Hobby Lobby, go to JCPenney, go to Ross, go to lunch....

You get the picture.

This morning - Emma woke up and didn't look so good. She announced - "I feel like I have to throw up".

Then she did.

I was completely undone. What in the world was I going to do to salvage my birthday? Clay hasn't been around much lately, because he is working 13 hour days due to the flood in Nashville. I have been virtually a single parent this week. Was it too much to ask to be able to spend MY BIRTHDAY the way I had planned?

Then, I started thinking again. I put on my workout clothes and the baby in the playpen. Used my elliptical machine that has been gathering dust upstairs (for those who are wondering, it is very difficult for me to workout at home due to Alyssa's crazy escape artist antics, hence the YMCA membership - which also gives me a few hours to myself each day). The baby gurgled and waved at me happily from the playpen. She thought it was great watching me sweat!

Next, I did the dishes, cleaned the bathroom, and sent a few Mother's Day cards...all of this with no stress involved...no running around, no moving kids in and out of the car...they played happily (well, I will be honest, Alyssa did scream all morning - in between playing)...

The dog was happy that I stayed home and he was allowed to run around instead of stay in his laundry room den.

I took a shower in my own bathroom - well, Ashleigh did play on the floor outside the shower - but she was happy anyway, and I am used to peeping toms by this point of my parental career.

I painted my toenails - when was the last time I had the time to actually do that?

Then, I went to a nice birthday lunch with my mom and Kristen....and 5 kids. Yes, we were totally outnumbered, but the kids did quite well - and Emma even ate a little bit.

After this, my mom took Alyssa for a few hours and Clay took Emma home - and Ashleigh and I shopped alone leisurely. I actually enjoyed myself.

The day that I had today - even though there was no birthday dinner (they had corn dogs) and no cake (cause Clay was too tired to think about it) was simple....and it worked.

Tonight, I bit into my peanut butter and jelly sandwich that I ate at 8 o'clock (because of a feverish Emma, screaming Alyssa, work issues, etc.) and I thought to myself what a great thing that a simple peanut butter sandwich is...

I think I am ready for another bite tomorrow....Oh, who am I kidding? I will probably also have a piece of cake on the side...

One little, two little, three little weirdos...

We are the type of people, unfortunately, who are like magnets for weirdos. When we are in public, it is no exception. People just seem to gravitate to us and make strange remarks that make us feel like our clothes are on inside out, or that we are just standing there in our underwear.

I am dedicating this post to all of the above mentioned oddballs who made it possible...

Incident #1: Last week, Clay and I were uber sick. Rather than lay down and die, we got ourselves and all five of our spawn to the walk-in clinic on Saturday morning. We split the kids up semi-fairly (he got the boys, I got the girls)...Anyway, Clay was waiting for the check-in girl to finish and Super Nosy Nana walked in. Typical older woman...tennis shoes with her stretched out slacks...gray/black hair all around her face...glasses. You get the picture. Emma was standing next to Clay at the window.

Super Nosy Nana says, "Well, ain't you a scraaawwwny thang?" I forgot to mention that her voice was like nails on a chalkboard.

Emma, extremely confused, because most of the time people are telling her how adorable she is (even when she isn't) looked up at Clay. "Dad, what does scrawny mean?" "Well, it means you aren't very big..." She was not impressed at all with this.

Incident #2: Same day. Five minutes later. Super Nosy Nana again. Yes, a real piece of work, that one. Alyssa was in the front of the twin stroller and kept throwing a magazine down onto the floor. First of all, I felt like (this is a family blog, so insert your own expletive here). Anyway, after the 3rd time, I stopped picking it up. My kid, my prerogative. Enter Super Nosy Nana, to the rescue.

"Oh, I'll help you - poor little thang...nobody picking that up for you? Here you go."

Honestly, if I wasn't 3/4 of the way dead, I would have strangled the woman. I gritted my teeth..."It is just a game...she has thrown it 3 times already."

SNN says, in an extremely annoying voice..."Well, sometimes she has to win, doesn't she? And that's what Grandma's are for."

I refrained from getting in her face - since her Grandma wouldn't have picked it up either. But I swear, if I had been feeling better...

Incident #3: I like to call this...Way to make us feel like a freak show. Yes, we have 5 kids. I know people with more. I see people on T.V. with almost 4 times as many...Our kids are relatively well-behaved (some of the time)...the real freak show is the family that have 2 kids (you know, one for each parent) and the kids are completely out of control. We have it pretty well covered, I think.

Anyway, on the same day as the other 2 incidents - in the same doctor's office, mind you...yup, you guessed it - the nurse and doctor were shocked at the number of kids we brought with us. Well, what were we supposed to do? Neither of us was about to let the other one leave them at home with all of them, and come home with the coveted antibiotic.

It wasn't too horrible - but we did get the obligatory "Wow, you got your hands full." "Bless your hearts." And the young doctor exclaimed when he walked into my room..."How many all together? You've got three in here and he has three in there?" I corrected, "No, he has only two." His answer? "Are they all yours?" Here's your sign buddy...who in their right mind would bring 5 children to a doctor's appointment if they didn't have to?

Incident #4: Marathon Man. One Saturday, we were in Sam's Club after working out at the Y. We were standing in line, minding our own business, when the man in front of us started talking to me. "So, I saw you at the Y. I was the one running." Oh, okay...not sure how to answer that, but...okaaaaayyyy. "You were just walking." I finally answered, "Yes, I was Cooling Down."

He tried again..."Well, I took a shower before I came here - you guys are still all sweaty. I don't like to do my errands all sweaty."

Zing. Ouch. Where do we find these people?

Incident #5: I am going to close with this incident for tonight, because I think that it deserves mention. Most of you know that Zach is adopted. He is half hispanic and half caucasian, so well....he doesn't really look much like us. In California, nobody really seemed to notice. Here in the South, everyone notices.

We were in Wendy's, eating lunch a few years ago...minding our own business. A woman came up to us and said. "You have the cutest kids, but that one - he doesn't look like you."

Wow.

Way to make a kid feel like he doesn't belong. Let's just play the Sesame Street game "One of these things is not like the other" while we are at it, shall we?

We replied (as politely as possible). Yes, he is our son. We adopted him.

"Really? I was just thinking how he looks so much like my ex-boyfriend...I mean, just like him."

Ummmm...do you think he is the father or something? Why say that, honestly? And more importantly, how do we answer that?

I swear, if some people had brains, they would just take them out and play with them.

Zach's 1st Badge...

Okay, so I stink at blogging. My life is super busy, filled with all sorts of things that keep me from updating on a regular basis...

A recent example of this is Zach's first badge in Cub Scouts. He got it over a month ago...

Just so you don't think I am that terrible of a mother - I did take pictures...

Isn't he cute? Don't you just want to pinch his little warrior cheeks?

We are now the proud owners of a Bobcat badge...with many more to come, I'm sure! ;)