Sometimes those holiday Mondays really mess me up....

I almost forgot the shorties had physical therapy today because all day I have thought it was Monday. We had a long three day weekend, Billy lost a cousin to cancer, I was sick for a good chunk and I am realizing that the end of year is descending upon me and I'm not sure I'm in the mood. :) I need to figure out Simon and Emi's birthday gifts and party date, since it's right before Thanksgiving. I also need to get my law office manager hat on, with the holidays approaching, it's my job to get Christmas cards and gifts ordered and sent off before I really get trucking on family Christmas stuff.

This week Billy is supposed to hear from a guy that (I'll keep this completely basic, I'll pretend I'm talking to myself) does prototypes. One of the next steps in Billy's venture is to be able to show a prototype of his widget to prospective investors. My fingers are crossed for him, the last offer was $100,000 because he doesn't just make one. Great, so if we crater, we get to keep 10,000 useless widgets in our garage with the Christmas tree. Fantastic.

I should be hearing footsteps at the door soon, my 5th graders should be home any second. Then homework wrangling begins... "What do you have to get done", "What do you mean you didn't bring it home", etc.... Definitely one of the more trying times of the day.

I swear one of the most embarrassing things to happen for me is when one of my FIFTH graders comes to me stuck on a math question and I have to say, "hang on, what are they asking for?" or "I don't remember that from school". I mean I expected that to happen, but not in fifth grade! I was never a great math student, but to get stumped by a 10 year old's assignment is mortifying. I guess it could be worse, it could've happened when they were 3rd graders. :) I look at those two boys and I remember flying to meet them and take them home. It feels like yesterday when Billy and I were alone with them in the hotel room, waiting for the ok to leave the state with our babies and staring at each other like, now what?! They were so tiny, 5 lbs each. And here I am now watching them in their last year of elementary school. They are turning into such sweet young men, but Kevin is already "not noticing" me in the hallway at school, or giving me a head tilt instead of a hug. Ugh, it's the worst. But this is what is supposed to happen, right? But boy, does it hurt. :(


.... Best thing of the weekend? My sweet Emi has moved from "momma" to "mommy". I just don't know why that sounds so much sweeter.....

Ugh, now it's my turn to feel awful...

Well, who didn't see this coming? You can always count on your family to share their germs. It could be worse, it's a long weekend, Billy is home to help and I have felt worse. It's like a raging sore throat, stuffy head combination, completely survivable.

Am I the only one planning Thanksgiving? Around here I tend to jump from one event to another from June (Father's Day and Billy's bday) and then I rest after New Years. Those 6 months cover all 7 birthdays, Halloween, our wedding anniversary, and the holidays through New Years. I rest January through May. :) So now that everyone has a Halloween costume and the decorations are out, I move on to the Thanksgiving/babies' birthday. Since Emi and Simon turn 2 in mid November, we are just planning a dinner at home with close friends and cupcakes. I figure when they start a preschool program and friends come into play, we'll start the big class parties. Thanksgiving will be tricky this year. 2 months ago my mom had to enter a nursing home for her Parkinson's. It had really become too much for my 75 year old father to continue home care. So now what do we do? Have him over for lunch, then we all go visit my mom in the late afternoon? Or is it just the 7 of us for the big meal? My brother and I are not close, so it will probably be a small affair, which is ok, we're going to have friends over a few days later to celebrate the babies' birthday and should be a lot of fun.

I have no idea why I just turned this blog into a Thanksgiving planner. On a related note, I just got a new gluten free ebook for Thanksgiving and I can't wait to flip through it to plan the menu. I should go, little ones need tending to....

.....Who is going to buy perfume from Lady Gaga? I just don't conjure up beautiful smells when I think of her.....

Now I need a nap....

My youngest are down for an afternoon nap and from what I can tell from the racket, I'm not sure they will actually sleep. Thursdays are hectic here, as soon as the big kids leave for school, Simon, Emi, and I hurry to get dressed and eat breakfast before the speech therapist arrives. The short stacks are 22 months and say very little, my sweet Emi Marie is now trying to mimick as much as she can. Simon is my strong and silent one, he knows a handful of words, but I have a feeling he will speak with actions more than words as he grows up. A few hours after speech and the physical therapist for their torticollis arrives and we work on that until 1. Honestly, I intensely dislike Thursdays, it's hard to believe that they lead to wonderful Fridays.

I have laundry mocking me from every bathroom, even some that made it to the laundry room floor. I always intend to do it on Thursdays and Fridays so weekends can be more time for the 7 of us and less time in the mudroom. I'd say I only truly accomplish this 60% of the time. There is so much to be done with 5 kids, but as I complain or moan about the work, please understand that I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't like laundry, or mopping, or begging someone to take out the trash and clean their room. But I love this life, and couldn't imagine any one of us not being here to annoy and love each other. It really is a wonderful life....

Billy has nicknamed Emi's blanket "Jackson". Am I the only one that finds that hilarious? I may be, we are meant to be....

As my oldest daughter falls asleep after upchucking....

I am sitting here wondering what my sleep pattern will be tonight. My poor Olivia didn't make it through the school day, and Emi started to get feverish by bedtime. I see a long week ahead for me. I mean, Billy and I instilled a great sense of sharing.... illness. Markers or art supplies, FORGET IT. But germs and barf, they are beyond giving...

I would have already typed at least 1 other paragraph, if not 2 by now if hubby would stop talking to me about various ESPN commentators. I try to care, I mean it's probably akin to discussing shows on Bravo (I admit, I just can't walk away from that channel). In fairness, I know he's glazed over when I want to talk about The NJ Housewives... We took vows, this is what you do for each other.

So I sit here, not watching the New England/ Miami game with Billy and Kevin with poor Aaron still doing homework. 5th grade has truly been a struggle for them both. We are trying to make them own it, not hold their hands and make them responsible for homework and studying. It's only October and it's killing me. I want them to be ready for middle school (God knows I won't be) but it's going to be painful, grades are lower and there's a little less peace around here at night.

I will end it with the good and the bad. Good news, the HEB brand gluten free pasta was fab, yay for $2.99 pasta! Bad news, moment of silence for Michael Vick's injury yesterday, he is now listed as day-to-day. He is Billy's quaterback in Fantasy Football.

Jumping in...

So here I am sitting with my laptop and wondering do I start with some type of mini biography for the first post or do I just start "talking". Everyone's first blog entry is going to be choppy, right? I am married to a great guy, we have 5 kids that span from 22 months to 10 yrs and life is busy. I love it, even when I'm exhausted, or can't figure out 5th grade math, or when Billy (previously mentioned great guy) leaves that greasy, disgusting pan in the sink that I know he left for me on purpose. This is exactly where I am supposed to be. I figure I will regularly mention my best friend, Cathy. We met in 4th grade, 31 years ago. We live maybe 5 miles away from each other and probably talk at least 5 times a day. She may also be my only blog reader, which would be kinda sad, since she'll be reading what we already talked about. I have Celiac's Disease, which means I cannot digest gluten, and desperately miss it. I should exercise more, I should iron, I should learn to garden. This is almost confession....

The newest endeavor for the Ryanns is Billy's soon-to-be company. He is a patent attorney and a few years ago he came up with a few ideas that he decided to patent himself. Now we're living in that what now, seed money, marketing, we have no idea what we're doing place. I'll admit to my eyes glazing over late at night when he is giddy with his science nerd-dome enthusiam, but that's just because it's his baby. He's worked really hard on this and it really has taken years to get to this step off point. Oh, and I would really like a new kitchen. So I guess I must be invested too.