My kids love Zydeco music!

The other day as I was driving near New Orleans I was flipping through the radio stations looking for something to listen to while driving. I passed some Zydeco and Andrew yells out "Go back! I want to listen to that!" So we did.
Last night Josh's family (his parents, all siblings and all the grandchildren) gathered for dinner at a local Cajun restaurant. Josh had some Alligator, but Andrew would NOT even consider trying some. I don't blame him!!! They had a live band and a dance floor and the kids enjoyed the music. Leah loves to dance and really enjoyed the Zydeco music. Here is a video of Leah dancing to the Zydeco music. The little boy in the background does not belong to our family (Andrew is the only grandSON in the family) but he reminds me of Andrew at that age.:)
Enjoy!


I just realized that I uploaded the wrong one but the previous one got her little butt bounce. :) Here is the correct one!!!

Playing catch-up: Leila's doctor visit, Josh is home and I graduated!

First, sorry for taking so long to post about these things. I feel like I've been in a haze the past week. It's been quite busy!!!
Leila saw the doctor on Friday and basically he said the hole in the heart is "insignificant" but the bicuspid valve was his concern. He said it could be an issue in 5, 15 or 50 years but eventually it WILL be an issue. He feels that since it is not affecting her now that she should not be subjected to a surgery to repair it and I agree. The older she gets, the more she'll be able to handle the surgery and the longer we wait, the more likely a new way to repair her valve will be invented which may mean no surgery. Who knows? Think how much medicine has changed in just the past 20 years! So for now we will go once a year for an EKG and ultrasound to see how small the opening is (it's supposed to open to a full circle but hers opens like a fish mouth) and how much leakage is occuring (right now, it's minor). For now, she's the same Leila who keeps up with Leah just fine and you wouldn't know there was anything wrong just watching how active and lively she is!!!

Saturday Josh came home and he gets to be with us for a whole 7 weeks! Hooray!!! Four months of separation down, 16 more months to go after this visit. We will get through it! :) I am just amazed at how much easier it is to load the girls in the car, run errands, give baths, make meals, etc with the extra adult around. :) I really feel pampered! Tomorrow he will take the girls with him to visit his family. Meanwhile Andrew and I will stay here while he finishes school and then go see my best friend and meet up with Josh and the girls on Saturday. I can't imagine what I will do with the free time for the rest of the week while Andrew is at school!!! I'm thinking about treating myself to a pedicure so my feet will be pretty later on this month for our cruise. I may also take a nap! :)

Sunday I finished my last course for my Master's degree. I graduated with a 3.75 GPA. I gave myself permission to get the B's since I was playing single mom for the last two classes. The perfectionist in me REALLY had to force myself to accept those B's!!! Yes, I'm nuts. :) How did I do it with Josh gone? I hired a sitter 1-2 times a week and ate at the deli with free Wifi and had dessert at Books A Million with free WiFi (if you have the discount card) while typing away. It feels good to be finished. I don't plan to go to work right away but I am eyeing an online high school as a POSSIBILITY for next school year, but very likely in the future. I really want the freedom of when Josh comes home for his two week mid-tour leave (likely to happen in December 2009) to be able to drop everything to spend time doing something as a family. I don't want to be tied down to a job to stop that from happening. I do plan to pick up my blog designing again after the new year and I have a lot of things to put on ebay. Anyone who knows me knows I can't have NOTHING to do!!! :)

I am spending this week playing catch up and getting ready for traveling. I FINALLY got pictures hung up on the wall and the Master bedroom and Andrew's bedroom organized exactly how I want them. Since Josh is taking the van with him I've spent the day getting Christmas presents in boxes and all the supplies for the girls packed so when I take our little Nissan to meet him I'll be able to fit everything else inside. We still have a ton of boxes to unpack but we have January.

I finally finished the claim for the damage to the boxes covered in hydraulic fluid. The grand total? $5,700 and change!!! I'm not holding my breath for the full amount. We'll see.

I'm also trying to get last minute details for our cruise arranged. One night is a pirate night and I'm making cute shirts for the family. Josh, Andrew and I have our hats and eye patches as well. Josh wanted me to point out that we will NOT be sailing around the Horn of Africa so the only pirate we are likely to see is Jack Sparrow! :) We leave on my birthday so I am quite excited about enjoying a birthday that is way too close to Christmas for enjoyment. :)

Speaking of birthdays, today I went to the eye doctor and kept giving my age on different forms, etc. Finally while I was alone in the exam room waiting for my eyes to dialate I was pondering about my upcoming birthday. I started doing the math and realized that I had been giving the wrong age!!! I am a year older than I thought! How sad is that? :)

I can't forget a video of K! :)

Here is a video of K from her handbell concert last night.
She is to the left of the tallest girl:

My neices

Saturday night I had the opportunity to attend the school choir concert for my neices, A and K. A is a senior and has wanted the solo to O Holy Night since she was a 7th grader. Well, she got it and call me biased, but I think she did the best job! :) K is in the 7th grade but I don't know if she has dreams of a solo her senior year. We shall see. Enjoy the video of A's solo:

The video isn't clear with the faces so here are a few pictures of my neices. K is on the left, and A is on the right:

WOW! Snow!

Sorry! No pictures! On Tuesday it was 70 degrees but we woke up to snow. I figured there would be no school and told Andrew this was likely. Then I looked forward to sleeping in like Andrew usually lets me do on Saturdays. At 6:45am he turns on my bedroom light and shouts "It's snowing! It's snowing! It's snowing!" He was so loud he woke the girls up too! *SIGH*
So we got up and the girls and I stayed inside while Andrew ran in and out all day playing. We got 2-4 inches. It was gone by the afternoon.

Meanwhile I put the girls down for morning nap and caught a few zzz's as well. I found the following pictures on my camera that Andrew snapped of himself while he played in the living room. :)

Silly boy!!!

Josh comes home Saturday and I graduate Sunday! :)

I never thought I'd say THAT!

Here is what I heard myself say today that I never thought I would say:

"Stop fighting over the baby Jesus!"

I have a Little People Nativity set and Andrew and Leila were fighting over the pieces. :)
Never a dull moment around here!

My first episode of Jon and Kate plus 8

I've heard about this show but I've never seen it. I'm in the process of reading their book and frankly, it exhausts me. :) For those who aren't familiar with the show, basically Jon and Kate had twins and 3 years later instead of having 1 more, they had 6!!!. They have a tv show on TLC that's been on for a few seasons.
So tonight Andrew is with his aunt and cousins, the girls are in bed and my head hurts way too much to do much. I realized that a Jon and Kate marathon was starting so I decided to see how it is for these people.
Here are some thoughts:
1) I do NOT like the way Jon and Kate talk to each other. I wanted to yell at the tv "This is your spouse, people! Not your dog!" I will admit that I can snap at Josh; especially about once a month, but 1) he doesn't snap back and 2) I quickly apologize. Also, I don't think I've ever said anything as harsh as what these two say in day to day conversation.
2) I like clean. Before the girls, I was a HUGE germ-a-phobe!!! Here is a tip for those who don't have multiples: If you have multiples, LET IT GO!!! Kate was freaking out about the kids walking barefoot on the hotel room floor. She got mad b/c the kids kept trying to get off the bed without their shoes. Hey, I agree the hotel floor is gross, but we are talking about just surviving with multiples. LET IT GO!!!
3) Messes happen; calm down!!! So they are at Disneyworld and one of the sextupelets spilled some ice cream on her top. Kate starts freaking out and yelling at Jon about how the child is now "ruined" because they don't have extra clothes! Uh, I don't recall ever going through an entire day with Andrew without something on his shirt. Get a napkin, wipe her off and calm down. You're at Disneyworld for goodness sake! So Kate decides to take the ice cream away from all of the kids and feed them herself. Well, that doesn't work out too well when you have 8 mouths and one spoon. Needless to say, the kids had a meltdown (no pun intended).
4) I am having a hard time feeling too sorry for hwo overworked Kate is. They are at Disneyworld and you can see Disney cast members in the background helping pass out food to the children, etc. They had a roped off area to sit for the parade. I wonder if they actually stood in a line. Call me when you have just 3 of them alone while your husband is gone, while finishing grad school and while unpacking. Then you may get some sympathy from me. :) Earlier in the episode she spent the morning at the salon and was complaining to Jon how exhausted she was. He pointed out that she was alone at the salon and she got mad. :) Give me a morning alone and I promise I won't complain! :)
5) They addressed how they bicker with each other and fight but that it's because of all they have been through. OK, I'm going to pull MY "all that we've been through" card. Sorry, but that's NOT an excuse for how you treat each other. Josh and I have been through a LOT. These past few months have been gravy compared to some of what we have endured. I'm not looking for sympathy by saying this. What I am trying to say is that Josh and I have grown closer to each other through those trials. We have come out of those trials appreciating each other more and being grateful for the time we get with each other and for the simple day to day stuff. The washer breaks - not a crisis. Our first 1,000 pounds from Morocco is destroyed - oh well. We have each other and 3 amazing blessings. We have food, clothing, shelter and love. Sometimes the food ends up in or on the clothing - oh well. :) Our basic needs are taken care of. That is truly all that matters.
And for the record, I HIGHLY doubt I'd ever agree to have cameras in my home filming me 24/7. . I get that the producers will show the most dramatic stuff, etc.

Maybe I was harsh here. I guess I shouldn't write at the end of a long day when I have a headache. :)

Enjoy! :)

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