*~Bonnie Lea~*

I got tons of laundry done today.

Probably 6-7 loads.

Including all the girls bedding and alllll of the kids pillows.

Yesterday I got the upstairs bathroom, hallway, and bedrooms cleaned up.

My room is still not *clean* but it's better, gonna finish it up tomorrow.

I didn't get around to more purging today.

But I did give Samson a bath and a haircut.

That takes a loooong time, especially when I've let his hair get as bad as it was.

It's just after 730, the kids are already in bed (although the girls are still awake and messing around) , I've showered, and I'm ready for bed too.

I'm excited to call it an early night, but I miss my sugar pie hunny bun, this is the first day in forever that I have gone a full 24 hours without seeing him.

get er done

I'm working on crazy amounts of laundry today.

I want to get every single thing clean at the same time.

And crazy purging today too.

It will make my life a lot simpler if we have less stuff to make messes.

I want to shampoo the carpets some time soon.

Maybe the weekend after next.

Spring/summer projects

A list of things I want to tackle this spring and summer...

• get the backyard in shape, growing grass, fix the sections of fence that need fixing, get the back deck child-safe (put up trellis work around railings and put new trellis underneath so the kids can't climb under it), get rid of the rest of the wood out behind the garage (rent a big wood chipper and mulch it alllll)
• paint the kitchen cabinets. probably a weekend project, to take down all the cupboard doors, sand and paint them, sand and paint the cabinet trim work, put it all back together
• paint the kitchen itself
• paint the dining room
• get my brother in law to finish putting the attic back together (or show me what to do, if he puts the wall board up, I'd be happy to mud and sand and paint), finish up the roof, finish the front porch, and finish the back room/mud room
• empty the basement
• clean out the garage
• add a screen door to the back door, so we can hear the kids when they're outside but not let a million bugs inside

*~Bonnie Lea~*

Boys room plans

x2

from

http://www.appliancesconnection.com/i172800-walker-edison-bwtodwb.html

x2

from

http://www.appliancesconnection.com/i172838-walker-edison-aw6dwb.html

Vera Crus bedding from 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Your-Zone-Bed-in-a-Bag-Vera-Cruz/11987703

2x twin, 2x full

Blah Blahbity

It's a blahhh kind of morning.

Trying to get laundry done.

Rooms cleaned.

Floors vacuumed.

Bathrooms wiped down.

Drew and Reni are coming over tonight for pizza and movies <3

I STILL haven't done Liliya's third birthday pictures.

Bad mommy.

Still purging lot of old junk.

Wanting to order just about everything from the Scholastic book club flyer.

Annnnnd that's about it.

Blah blahbity blah.

:-P

spring cleaning

I know we're far from spring.

But the urge to purge has struck.

Goodbye 

junk

dustbunnies

and

cobwebs hanging from the ceilings

!!!

I'm getting rid of the dress-up clothes that are falling apart.
Soaking the blocks and matchbox cars in bleach water in the tub.
Washing bedding.
Going through toyboxes with a fine toothed comb to find toys with missing or broken pieces, and organizing the rest.
Hopefully I'll get to give Samson a bath and a haircut this weekend.
And wash Brody's cage and give him a bath and a nail trimming.

Go me!


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
ETA

Got two trash bags full of stuff to get rid of so far.

Now me and my girlies are going to take a nap together :o)

girls room hopes

 (x2) Walker Edison twin over full solid wood bunk bed with storage drawers, white

from

http://www.appliancesconnection.com/i172799-walker-edison-bwtodwh.html?ref=azcpc

I've been looking at bunk beds, this is the cheapest place I've found this set, and it comes with the drawers, and this site has free shipping!

 (x4) South Shore Libra 3 drawer chest, white

from

http://www.amazon.com/South-Shore-Libra-Collection-3-Drawer/dp/B002V9HVE6/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1296224481&sr=1-2

Tthey look like I could stack 2 easily, screw them together and strap the back to the wall so they can't tip!

I think I'll paint the drawer pulls hot pink.

Daisy Dot bedding, twin x2, full x2

from

http://www.walmart.com/ip/InStyle-Daisy-Dot-Twin-Be-Set/14044853

from

http://www.amazon.com/Metal-Flower-Lamp-Gems-Silver/dp/B001UFTPKU/ref=sr_1_93?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1296224940&sr=1-93

from

http://www.amazon.com/Room-Essentials-Pink-Floor-Lamp/dp/B0038Z2HIM/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1296225149&sr=1-2

(Target)

white cubby stands, x2 (or even 4, if we have room)

from

http://www.target.com/ClosetMaid-9-Cube-Organizer-White/dp/B000ETOG6G/ref=sr_1_72?ie=UTF8&id=ClosetMaid%209%20Cube%20Organizer%20White&node=1038576|1287991011&searchView=grid5&searchSize=90&keywords=closetmaid&searchPage=1&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&sr=1-72&searchRank=target104545&frombrowse=0&qid=1296225439

Dante

Is behaving soooo well today!

It doesn't happen often.

He does have his lovely mischievious big brother Holden to look up to, after all.

But he is being soooo good today!

Using the potty.

Wearing undies.

He even put his handful of animal crackers back in the tub when I told him no more snacks cuz we'll be eating soon.

WHAT?

Yeah!

Go Dante, go!!!

Have you ever, held your

Have you ever, held your breath, and asked yourself, can it ever get better than tonighttt? ~pink, glitter
*~Bonnie Lea~*

today

I am feeling hot, dehydrated, and exhausted.

Kind of like yesterday.

What the heck is going on?

Grrrr.

Melissa is crawling all overrrr the place now.

Liliya is now napping with no pull-up, and staying dry :o)

Rayce starts wrestling tonight.

Drew's dad is a coach.

I'm kind of worried about how late practice goes.

6-9pm

several times a week.

Rayce is usually the first one asleep and the last one up.

So I guess if he can't handle that part, he'll have to wait till next year.

But he reallllly wants to try it out.

We have to leave at 530 for wrestling.

Which means I need to start dinner at like...

4

So we can eat much earlier than usual.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it'll just take some getting used to.

We napped early today.

From about 10:30 till 1.

I'm still tired, though.

The girls are snacking on carrots.

I feel strange.

I've got so much to do.

Got the living room, dining room, and kitchen cleaned up and swept.

Now just to get to the worst of the mess... the foyer.

And switch the laundry.

I've got laundry to catch up on again.

Bedding that needs to be washed.

Clothes that need to be gone through and donated.

Some days it just feels like I get no where, no matter how much I do.

I need like 2 weeks, kid free, to get caught up on everything.

And it doesn't help when I'm missing my sweetie so much all the time, because an hour or so a day is just never enough.

When I see him, when I talk to him, I feel like everything is going to work out, everything is going to be ok.

Hopefully someday soon I'll be able to feel like that a lot more often.

And that has been today, so far.

to-do's

I need to add to my 2011 to-do list...

~to organize all my digital pictures and get them all backed up, burned to DVD's and uploaded online

~to get the quilts made for the kids, from Anthony's clothes

I follow a blog (well, I follow lots of blogs) that has a post about rag quilts, and now I know that's what I'm going to do... check it out!

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2011/01/make-it-rag-quilt-for-baby.html

Looks pretty simple! I just need to get a sewing machine and learn how to thread it!

They look so much more cuddly than regular quilts. And I knowwww with all of Anthony's jeans and dress shirts... they'll be beautiful. I'm going to use my wedding dress and a paid of my jeans, and a few of each of their baby clothes in each of their quilts.

I can't wait, I'm excited, I need to get started!

Charlize: when jonny got here,

Charlize: when jonny got here, he wanted to play guns. But i didn't. i told him that's for guys.
*~Bonnie Lea~*

The

There is just absolutely no point in trying to get anything real done with 6 kids underfoot and active.

So I'm thinking.

About spring.

And summer.

And shopping.

I really need to go shopping for clothes for the kids.

Rayce and Charlize have outgrown so much, at the same time.

And not much of the girls summer clothes from last year will fit this year.

The boys should be ok.

I'm going to get the girls mostly just dresses and leggings for this summer.

Last summer, all they wore were their dresses.

It was a fight to get them into anything else.

There's no point fighting about stuff like that.

So, dresses it is.

With leggings underneath, for the purposes of modesty and to make it easier to play at the parks and go down the slides without chubby thighs painfully squeaking against the plastic.

I need to get them all new sandals, too.

I picked out a bathing suit for myself from Old Navy, a non-halter type, so it won't bother the back of my neck.

We're going with my dad and stepmom to Massanutten again this year.

It's the last year, they're selling their timeshare after this.

I'm excited to go to the water park, especially now that the kids are older and will enjoy it more.

I'm sure we'll go to the cottage on Schroon Lake, too, for a long weekend or something.

And we've been invited to go with Drew's family on vacation, they're planning a trip to a friend's beach condo and possibly a camping trip to Lake Ontario.

Rayce will play t-ball in the spring again.

I'd like to sign Charlize and Holden up for it as well, maybe Dante (I'm not sure he would play, though).

I'd like to get the girls into a dance class for the spring, also.

I can't wait to feel the warm sun on my skin again.

To lay on the trampoline while the kids bounce around me.

I can't wait for the kids to be able to spend all day (almost) every day in the backyard, just playing.

I can't for spring and summer pictures.

For green.

For flowers.

I'd like to try gardening this year, I think the kids would really enjoy it.

I *think* I'd like to get 3 or 4 hay bales to put on the side of the house, to garden in.

I know I want to grow tomatoes and cucumbers.

I'd love to grow broccoli.

And it's my ultimate goal to start the morning glories inside at the right time, so we can put them outside and have them grow all over the trellisses on the sides of the porch.

We always start them too early or too late or transplant them at the wrong time and they almost all die.

I'm taking the Phineas and Ferb approach to summer this year.

Seize the day.

bad blogger

I've been a bad blogger lately, I know.

I just can't seem to concentrate long enough to get much down on paper. Err. Kepboard.

So, for an update on us...

Liliya is now potty trained!

She's still wearing a pull-up to bed, which has yet to be dry in the morning.

But she's potty trained, otherwise!

Dante is now potty trained!!

He's still wearing a pull-up to bed also.

Holy crap!

No more diapers!!!

Besides on the kids I babysit, of course.

Speaking of babysitting, I've got all three of my sister's munchkins today.

It's going to be a long day.

I'm tiiiiired.

I haven't felt refreshed and rested for a while now.

Drew and I are doing wonderfully.

I am one million percent head over heels for him and Reni.

We see each other almost every single day.

Which is still *never* enough, if that's possible.

This is it for me :o)

I found the man I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with, I have no doubts!

Rayce has a slightly wiggly tooth!

I'm excited for him to lose his first tooth, and for the pictures I'll get to take!

Rayce starts wrestling tomorrow evening, he's thrilllllled.

I hope he can handle the rough-ness of it.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it on the blog before, but as long as I'm giving updates, Charlize is night-trained now too.

Yes yes!!!!!

I still have not done Liliya's third birthday photo shoot.

Anyway, that's all I can think of at the moment.

Short attention span, I know.

:o)

*~Bonnie Lea~*

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*~Bonnie Lea~*

Bernie
*~Bonnie Lea~*

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Holy moly, 1000 posts!

This is my 1001st post!!!

Holy MOLY!!

Annnnyway.

Is it flipping tax time yet?

Cuz my kids are all outgrowing everything at the same time.

And I am drooooooling over some photography supplies.

And I'm just readdddy to be able to buy some things without having to worry about it and feel guilty about it and wondering if I'm going to regret it.

!

I want it.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MHS-FS3-Bloggie-Touch-Camera/dp/B004H8FNCQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1295705577&sr=1-3

I really really want it!

It's 11:30

And there are at least half a dozen things I should be doing right now.

Ya know.

Laundry.

Bathing and lotion-ing children.

Braiding hair.

Putting laundry away.

Cleaning out the dog kennel.

Wrapping gifts for Miss Reni.

(Happy fifth birthday sweet girl!)

Liliya's third birthday photoshoot, a week and a half late.

Vacuuming bedrooms.

Cleaning bathrooms.

BUT, instead, I'm sitting here, procrastinating.

Thinking about everything I should be doing, instead of just doing it.

I need to stop. 

Just thinking about it is making me as tired as actually doing it would.

Soooo, yeah.

Guess I better get moving.

It's 11:46

:-P

A to Z, all about me

A - Age: 25

B - Bed size: Queen 

C - Chore you hate: washing dishes and putting laundry away

D - Dog's name: Samson and Brody

E - Essential start your day item: diet pepsi

F - Favorite color: Brown 

G - Gold or Silver: silver (or white gold!)

H - Height: 5'2 

I - Instruments you play: None 

J - Job title: Mama

K - Kids: 6 year old son, 4 1/2 year old daughter, 3 year old daughter, (almost) 4 year old stepson, (almost) 5 year old stepson 

L - Living arrangements: moved in with mom after hubby passed away, so in an old house with Mom and kiddos 

M - Mom's name: Sandy 

N - Nicknames: Mostly, I go by 'Mama' 

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: appendix out, broken leg

P - Pet Peeve: liars 

Q - Quotation from a movie: I'm really bad with remembering things like this. 

R - Right or left handed: Right 

S - Siblings: 1 sister, 1 stepsister

T - Time you wake up: about 7, 730 

U - Unique thing(s) about you:  Not sure there is much unique about me

V - Vegetable you dislike: lima beans, squash, peas

W - Ways you run late: I always underestimate the amount of time it takes to get us ALL ready 

X - X-rays you've had: right leg, both arms, several times, foot, hand, teeth

Y - Yummy food you make: pulled pork, beef stew, chili

Z - Zoo Favorite: monkeys, big birds, big cats

Rayce has a slightly wiggly

Rayce has a slightly wiggly tooth!!!
*~Bonnie Lea~*

Doing five minutes, three times

Doing five minutes, three times a day, on the recumbant bike, going to work my way up to more time slowly
*~Bonnie Lea~*

just stuff

My knee is really hurting tonight. Grr!!

I really need to do Liliya's third birthday photoshoot.

Sometime before she turns 4, preferably!

Seeing Drew for an hour or two a day is just not enough.

I miss him all the time.

Even when he's right next to me, I miss him like crazyyy, because I know it won't last long.

Reni called to talk to me tonight.

She told me she loved me before she hung up.

Sweet, sweet girl.

Her fifth birthday is on Friday!!

I'd really like to do a photoshoot with her sometime soon too.

I miss her like crazy too!!!!!!

We went out tonight to go shopping.

We're out of... like, practically everything.

But we stopped at the shoe store first, because the kids all needed new shoes.

And we were there for soooo long that we didn't even have time to go grocery shopping.

Blah.

Now we've gotta do it tomorrow :o(

BUT I got each of the kids TWO pairs of shoes (except Rayce, who only got one pair, because he just got some really snazzy Sketchers z-strap nonsense a couple months ago, which still fit perfectly and are still really nice), and I got a pair for Reni and a pair for Holden and Dante's little sister Marley.

That's eleven pairs of shoes.

For $80.

Yeah, everything was on sale. And they were having their buy one get one 50% off sale.

It was more than worth it.

I'm so tired, but I can't fall asleep yet.

I miss my sweet sugar pie <3

routines

I talk about routines and schedules a lot, but I never manage to put them into play.

But that's gotta change.

Life around here is like a free-for-all.

The kids make big messes, don't clean up, and do whatever they want.

It's making me nutsss.

What needs to happen at night?

~after dinner, the kids need to help clean up the downstairs. this includes picking up all the toys, dirty clothes, books, papers on the floor, etc.

~after the downstairs is picked up, I need to sweep.

~while I sweep, Rayce can set up a game for us all to play (if the kids picked up quickly enough that we have time to play a game)

~when the game is done, the kids need to finish their milk and brush their teeth while I get Rayce's backpack together

~the girls take a quick bath while Rayce and I pick out clothes for everyone for tomorrow

~Rayce can read a book out loud to the girls and I as I get the girls into the PJ's and get their hair brushed

~the kids should be in bed, quiet, lights out, by 730

(in order for that to happen, I need to be better about fixing dinner early enough for everything else that needs to happen in between dinner and bedtime)

What needs to happen in the mornings?

~I need to get up and shower before the kids get up.

~Rayce needs to get up and hop in the shower quickly, get dressed, socks and shoes and glasses on

~eat breakfast

~brush teeth
~I need to get Rayce's snack together

~Rayce needs to have his coat and backpack on by 8:11 and be waiting just inside the front door for his bus

~the girls get dressed and hair fixed after Rayce leaves for school

I need to clean up, sweep, mop, work on laundry, while the girls nap from 1-3pm if it isn't done before then.

What needs to happen in the afternoons?

~the kids need a light snack as soon as Rayce gets home, something like fruit and yogurt or pretzels

~Rayce needs to do his homework immediately and quickly and just get it done and over with

(I'm going to have to impose an 'absolutely no tv until homework is done' rule, maybe that will motivate him to get it done in a timely fashion)

~Rayce needs to put everything back in his backpack when he's done, zip it up, and hang it by the front door

~I need to start dinner by 5 so we can eat at or before 6.
(that gives the kids between about 430 and 6ish to watch tv or whatever)

*~Bonnie Lea~*

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*~Bonnie Lea~*

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*~Bonnie Lea~*

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How did i get this lucky?? It feels strange to feel lucky after everything i've been thru. But the past can't be changed, we can only look to the future, and this goofy adorable face is what i see in mine <3
*~Bonnie Lea~*

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my fav picture of us <3

My kind of sunday afternoon, relaxin w my babies, watchin princess and the frog, sorting laundry
*~Bonnie Lea~*

I met Drew's mom and one of his sisters today, I think it went well :o)

We went out for breakfast.

Drew's stepdad is a wrestling coach in JC, we talked about possibly getting Rayce into it.

They start at 3 years old!!

Rayce can be a little sensitive, so I wasn't too sure about it, but I asked him and he said he would love to try wrestling.

I think it would be great for him to get some of this energy out, especially during the winter when they're cooped up inside.

I am in love with Reni.

She is the cutest, sweetest little girl.

I'm pretty sure she loves me too! She follows me around, wants to sit with me anytime we're in the same place, wants me to play tic-tac-toe with her, color with her...

She plays really well with Rayce, Charlize and Liliya too.

We took the kids to McDonald's playplace last night, they all played for 2 hours.

Needless to say, they went to bed easily and slept like rocks!

I got almost completely caught up on laundry yesterday, too.

I've still got bedding to wash.

But the clothes are clean.

Now to get them put away!

I'm looking forward to Rayce having the day off of school tomorrow.

Another day to relax and get things done.

Brody is driving me nuts.

It's a vicious cycle.

He acts up, so I put him in the kennel because I can't keep up.

Then he's bored and has pent up energy, so when he comes back out, he acts up again.

I've gotta figure out how to break this cycle and get him on track.

He's just a puppy, I love him, and it's not fair for him to be in the kennel so much.

I'm thinking he may have to be on the leash constantly when he's out in the house.

Anyway, nuff for now.

I'm over the moon for a certain guy and my attention span doesn't last long.

And I've got stuffs to get done :o)

Marble track... Coolest toy EVER!!!
*~Bonnie Lea~*

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*~Bonnie Lea~*

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*~Bonnie Lea~*

*~Bonnie Lea~*

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Yep

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

~Dr Seuss

My face hurts from smiling soooooo much for the last several weeks.

*Happy, long, contented, deep sigh*

TGIFriday

I am soooo looking forward to a relatively relaxed weekend at home.

Quiet.

Time to just lay around.

Time to get caught up on laundry.

Time to play some games with the kids.

Hopefully some time with the love of my life :o)

Time to just BE.

Thank God it's Friday!

*~Bonnie Lea~*

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Everything happens for a reason... and I feel like this is it.

<3

Drew and Serenity <3

Happy Birthday Bee!!!

Happy third birthday to my sweet Bee, Liliya!!!

More later... trying to clean up and get around to some laundry!

I've been so distracted for the last few weeks that I've barely gotten anything done!

:-D

*~Bonnie Lea~*

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and when you Smile, the

and when you Smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while, cuz you're amazing, just the way you are
*~Bonnie Lea~*

When i see your face,

When i see your face, there's not a thing that i would change, cuz you're amazing, just the way you are
*~Bonnie Lea~*

Liliya's third year

2nd birthday party

30 months

December 2010, 35 months

*Hopefully I'll be posting pics from her third birthday photoshoot soon, within the next week for sure*

:o)

Happy Birthday my sweet Bee!!!