calming down

Today I hit that point...the point where I felt like I had NOTHING to do... really!  It was good and bad...because I just walked around looking for things to do...which means I become nit-picky. I finally feel like I can just SIT and enjoy my kids and not constantly clean! Part of this is because Tally lost $20  at the mall last week while (we think) swinging her purse around... and so to "earn" it back, she's been doing some good work around the house...like folding and putting away 8 loads of laundry in the last two days! SWEET!  When she asked me if she could earn back the money I didn't know how, since I can barely afford to pay her allowance...let alone a double allowance.  Then, I remembered our discover card cash back bonus is now linked to amazon.com ...so I asked her what she was planning on purchasing with her $20.  A rainbow loom. Have you seen these things? they are ALL THE CRAZE here... anyway, so the kit is on it's way and in the mean time, I have a good worker at home :)  Today she did some chores and then babysat Brooklyn (aka THE TERROR). 

Anyway, moving along.... in the pictures below, Tabitha really wanted a treat to make everyone...so she is frosting peanut butter sandwhiches and adding sprinkles...yum... Tally got off the bus and was so excited to try one. I didn't tell her what it was...she took a huge bite, smiled, thanked Tabitha, then ran to the garbage can. HAHA!!!  

I love this... frost...

 check the knife...

 taste... and back to frosting! haha

 Brooklyn tried it too...and like most 2 year olds, just ate the frosting!

 Tabitha LOVES Anders. I mean LOVES him. The other kids enjoy him and love him, but she is really just plain obsessed with him. She is constantly begging to hold him, kiss him, play with him, and take pictures with him.

 On Friday we went back up to Gurnee. Svend had to go to the school to get some transcripts so we all went. We went to the mall (where the $ was lost), pumpkin patch, and DIANE's HOUSE! oh we LOVE Diane!!!!! And of course... JACK!

 Here's a good shot of Bergen. We find out on Friday if he is moving up to level 3 or staying at 2.  He is REALLY good at skating but has a hard time stopping.  He also does NOT do what the coaches ask him...he thinks it's all a race. I asked him on Saturday why he was going so fast and not just doing the drills. He said "because I'm working on my speed right now." I told him he was supposed to be working on whatever the coach wants him to or he'll never move up. He finally gets it...I think!

 here's what the girls do while he skates...

 Here's Talia, mid-spin. I got some video of her for us though :)  She's onto level 4. It's 8 levels before they can do "Freestyle" which is team stuff.  So if you think about it, they want $800 of  your money before you get to do the cool stuff... LAME! I'm a little annoyed (sVend tells me to stop) b/c she gets everything they are doing by the 2nd lesson and they don't teach her the next steps... so basically it's 6 more lessons of repeat rather than progressing... they suggested we just get her a private instructor to teach her a few things so she can skip through some lessons, but that's umm... $40 a half hour! holy crap..no. And, honestly, she LOVES it. I mean LOVES her time on the ice. I love watching her. She has so much fun and just loses her self out there :) Tabitha will be starting next week...  :)

 okay, so Sunday morning, Tally was trying on some tights that ended up being way to little... so we cut them up into the "awesome" 80's style gloves... and then I had some fun with the rest of it.  I actually snuck around the corner to scare the kids... and did so successfully. Then Svend shut the front door...uh, yeah, the Teachers were there collecting fast offerings while I was in my awesomeness! atleast I was fully dressed!!! Speaking of scaring the kids, last night Bergen scared Tally, and she got hurt...so I hid in his room...he came up and ripped his shirt off and threw it like a dance. Then began rapping and dancing around his room. I was laughing sooo hard. I finally couldn't take it anymore and jumped out at him. He hit the ground he was so scared! HAHAHAHA! Love being a mom!

 oh my smiley little boy!!! He is so sweet! we love him so much. He is such a JOY to have in our family.  He just started getting good at the smiles. Melt. My. Heart.  He is nearly 9 weeks old. He sleeps about 6 hours a night straight and then eats twice before I am ready to really wake up. He is such a good baby too. He is only fussy if he is poopy or if I ate something that made him gassy-oops!

 I know this is blurry, but it's such a great expression I had to include it!

Things are going good.  Svend's paycheck is screwy. we are really REALLY hoping they can get it fixed by next week... it'd be nice to see what we are really supposed to be living on. So far, it's a 1st year resident's salary...which is WAY low and WRONG... that's stressful...especially with the new car. We are really trying to budget better. Well, Svend is finally getting it :)  We had to buy winter gloves for the kids last week... man big families... 5 kids plus 2 parents all needing snow gloves times $10. yeah, fun.   We are blessed to be the "goodwill" of the complex. Meaning, we have 2 families who constantly donate their kid's old clothes to my kids :) That's been nice to not have buy ANYTHING for a while (except for Talia).
We are excited for what the future holds for us... we have a good idea of where we'll be next year and a good idea of where we could be if that one falls through... both are great options so we're optimistic.  Things are good. I'm trying not to stress. I have a lot of things I could complain about when it comes to Svend's work, the kid's schools, and student loans...but I try not to stress over them. However, I have to share this... if a school classroom requires every student to give $5 for the class parties, then call it a fee. DOn't call it a "Donation" and then bring up the child's name in class over and over for not paying the "donation." seriously. I paid the "donation"...finally. But call it a fee if you're going to require the dang thing! Had to say that ... because it's been bugging me! And as for student loans, we may sue Sallie Mae someday...some day. They must hire government workers...because no one communicates, makes notes of conversations, or files paperwork properly.  Bluh. But that's Svend's area...so I'm off the hook!
I love my husband. He gets paid, I pay the bills and then inform him of what's left....and he frowns...but never makes me feel like I'm over-spending (which is good, b/c I squeak when I walk!). He's great. I love him so much!