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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