I like gummy bear | i love gummy bear | gummy bear song english

My mother has offered to stay overnight with the kids this weekend so that J and I can go out, hang out, relax, get a hotel room, eat, shop, drink, whatever. I'm madly doing laundry, cleaning, trying to finish up work, etc. so that I can actually do the relaxing part. Hafta stock the fridge so that Mom doesn't have to trudge out with four kids or order out. So, after I pick the kids up from school, we're headed to SuperTarget. Why not the grocery store? Well, largely because I also have to get a birthday present for G to take to a party on Sunday (my sister, god bless her, is taking him to the party). And the babies could each use a cheap pair of shoes to get them through to summer. But also on my list? Something cute to wear this weekend. And maybe some fun underwear. Not Victoria's Secret and Banana Republic. Freakin' Target. So. This is what it has come to. 37 years old. Married almost 10 years. Four kids. And I'm buying milk, frozen waffles, diapers, Bakugan...

I was sitting at my kitchen table working on a writing project while dinner was in the oven earlier. And I kept feeling a very cold draft at my legs. I looked around. All doors and windows within eyesight were closed. All of my children were in the hearth room, watching TV. And whining about dinner. I got up and walked into the living room and foyer to see if the doors and the chimney flue were closed. They were. A blast of freezing air hit me at the top of the stairs to the basement. I ran down the stairs to find the back door wide open. It's 32 degrees out. And my evil 2 year old monkeys had turned the heat off. (New obsession. They drag the piano stool to the thermostat and mess with it. I'm looking into those clear plastic covers with locks they have at schools.) I'm fairly confident they unlocked the door and it blew open in the weather today. No idea how long it was open. I was immediately searching the basement - tv room, toy room, bar, bedroom, bathroom, unfi...

On Thursday afternoon, I had to ask my 7 year old to not sing quite so loud in the waiting area at piano lessons. Song choice? "Bad Medicine" by Bon Jovi. Also, my 2 year olds can sing "Shattered" by O.A.R. and "Fall for You" by Secondhand Serenity. Waaaaay too much Top 20 on 20 on the XM while dropping and picking up big kids at school. I guess that's what happens to the youngest kids - they learn pop songs instead of Disney songs. Fine by me, believe me...I'm getting a little tired of The Little Mermaid . Don't despair for their childhoods though - had to ask the littlest peanut to stop singing "Rain, Rain, Go Away" at the top of his lungs during dinner. He also belted out "Baa, Baa Black Sheep" last night, out of nowhere. "Yesh shir, yesh shir, fee bags fuh."

Forced to sit in the "audience" for a show being performed by his sister. At least G is in good company. Donald, Daisy, Pluto, Goofy, Minnie and Mickey are probably equally as miserable. But they're all keeping quiet about it.

So, you know how my kids are obsessed with infomercials? The Space Bag , the Buxton Organizer, the Craft-Lite Cutter , Mighty Putty? (Current favorite is, of course, the Snuggie.) Today, C dumped someone's leftover milk off the kitchen counter. All over the floor, cabinets, counter stool. J started wiping it up. I grabbed a rag and was running it under the faucet to follow behind, when M came into the kitchen. "Wait! I'll get the Shamwow!" she said as she ran to the laundry room. Yes, Internets. We are proud owners of the Shamwow . (And also, Debbie Meyer's Green Bags, which Santa brought for G's stocking. Heh.) In my defense (a weak one, I'll admit), I didn't order the Shamwow from Tony on TV. I bought them at Target from an As Seen on TV endcap. Because I'm a sucker.

My husband bought me two new lenses for Christmas. One is a long lens for kids' sports and backyard wildlife. The other is a 1.8 for good close-ups. The kind that I so expertly describe to my sister (a professional photographer) as "the ones that get blurry in the background". So, here is a glimpse of my idyllic mornings. Post-school drop off for the big kids. I get to relax and sit at the table with the newspaper and coffee and enjoy the solitude and the silence. Except I don't drink coffee and I've never, ever experienced solitude or silence during the waking hours of these two.

My two year old sons are wrestling each other on my bed as I read through my Google Reader feeds from today. They were getting a bit rowdy and loud so I said, "HEY! Guys! Come on. Would you give me a break?!" C's response: "No way!" (And now they are sitting on the bed, having picked up the remote and turned the TV on, watching some heinous watches on QVC.)