Well…today was a day.  I kept Max home (he’s been fighting a cold the last couple of days…and just needed a day of rest) and I took the day off.  I got up at the regular time and got the rest of the kids off to school, then I worked like crazy getting the porch cleaned up and then totally emptied out 3 rooms – except for the large furniture.  We had a guy coming to clean our carpets today.  I am glad I worked so hard, because he showed up earlier than I expected.  Our carpets look much better…though not perfect.  Cream is a crazy color for dining room carpet…seriously…who ever thought of that… (actually I know who thought of it – and they never ate in the dining room).  It’s just not a good idea when you have 4 little kids.  Some day we will get it replaced or refinish the nice hard wood floor underneath…someday.  Anyway…after the carpet guy left, Sam came and got our Kirby and took it to get fixed.  There is definitely something seriously wrong with it.  I am hoping it will be an easy fix and we can get it back quick…because not having a vacuum…well let’s just say, the Durocher household requires a good vacuum.  I was worn out…Max played the Wii for a bit and I think I dozed off.  I made him go take a nap and then we went and picked up Karson and Savannah.  Jasmin got dropped off, and we hung out for a while and then went to church.  Max and I also tore down all the wallpaper in our entry way…we call it the “red room” (because it has red/burgandy carpet) Sam and I have been talking about redoing it, because all the wallpaper is peeling…or being peeled…off.  There isn’t a lot of wall space in this room, because it is full of doors…it opens to the living room, there’s a door to the mud room, french doors to the dining room, has a closet and french doors to the stairs.  I feel like it’s something I can tackle and finish in a week.  I had an idea for painting it with flat paint and then using a satin paint to freehand paint a swirl pattern all over it.  I think it will look awesome if it turns out anything like I imagine.  Anyway, tonight after church, the kids and I went to Walmart to get the paint.  On our way out we saw this display that stopped the kids in their tracks.  They thought it was awesome.  So I had them pose for a picture…taken with my iphone so it’s a little blurry…but so cute…thinking I could use this in my Christmas letter.

A note from Karson…

“Der Grandma   I love you.  I mis you so muTh.  I wl se you In HFin.”

There was a night recently that we had been talking about Grandma Penny.  The kids were kind of sad when they went to bed. We gave them their journals and told them to draw a picture of something they remembered about grandma Penny.  Karson wrote that on a 3 x 5 card.  Along with a picture of her and 3 crosses.  So sweet.

I have been thinking about Penny (my mother-in-law) a lot lately.  I really miss her.  A lot.

Hey old friends…I am sorry.  My life is spinning out of control lately.

Today is my birthday.  I don’t really want to say how old I am…I’m just not that happy about that.  But I had a great day with my family.  We didn’t go to church today, but instead, spent the day together…and for the most part it was a very enjoyable day.

This whole weekend was like a rollercoaster…full of “ups” and “downs.”  I will recap them for you.

UP: Coming home from work on Friday.  Had a very positive meeting with our Literacy adviser, Asa, at the end of the day.  It had been a long week with conferences and I was glad to get out early, go shopping for my cousin-in-law’s baby shower gift with Jazzy and then get home.

DOWN: We had been planning to work in the yard and garage on Friday afternoon.  When I got home, Sam was standing in the driveway looking around at all there was to do, and then he handed me the rake and said he was too overwhelmed and he was going to cook dinner.

UP: Max and Savannah were a HUGE help.  We got all the toys cleaned up, yard raked and all the leaves out to the road in two hours!

DOWN: Discovered under the leaves the moles have torn up almost the whole section of grass behind the garage digging for grubs I assume.  It will have to be reseeded for sure.

UP: A great sense of accomplishment, and coming inside to some hot, delicious chili made by Sam.

UP: After the kids were in bed I decided to go see my friend, Stacey, at a crop she was at.  I brought her and a couple of other people some snacks.

DOWN: On the way out there, I grabbed a lg. coke from mcdonald’s.  Before I could even take a drink, I went around a corner and the drink flipped out of my cupholder and landed upside down on the passenger side on the floor…no more coke.  🙁  And then I couldn’t see anything to clean it up because my dome light is not working right now.

UP: Got to go with my girls to Betsy’s baby shower in Breckenridge.  We had a really good time and the food was amazing.

DOWN: When I went to leave, my car wouldn’t start.  It was the starter.  I didn’t have any way to get home.  We had a party to go to at 6:00.  It was 3:30.  I was supposed to pick up the babysitter at 5:00.

UP: Sam’s uncle Kris offered to drive me and the girls to St. Johns where Sam met us. Thank you Uncle Kris!

UP: We got to the party and had a lot of fun with our friends celebrating Adam’s birthday.  We were only about 40 minutes late.

DOWN: Didn’t get to sleep in on my birthday.

UP: Got up early with the kids, we watched BOLT together.  Very cute movie.  It was fun.

UP: Went to breakfast.  Tried to go to OCB but we were too late, Roxy’s was our second choice, but the line was out the door…so we went to Big Boy.  We saw some old friends.  It was good to see them.

UP: We drove to Bloomfield Hills & made a stop at Marvelous Marvins.  If you ever go there…it a stop you have to make.  It’s an arcade…but really much more than what you can imagine the coolest arcade ever would be.

UP: Drove over to Farmington to see a magic show with some friends.

DOWN: Waiting for the magic show to start.  Trying to keep a 2 year old who is also tired and hungry quiet and still as we were waiting for the show to start…and then during the show…not fun.

UP:  Great magic show.  The magician even had a human xylophone play “Happy Birthday” for me and another member of the audience.

DOWN: Got to Benihana’s and I think Jasmin decided today would be the day she officially enters “the terrible two’s” stage.  We were excited about taking the kids to Benihana’s.  We have never been to a restaurant like that with them before…we were looking forward to seeing them enjoy the experience.  I think we could have enjoyed it much better if Jasmin was not with us…sad to say, I know.

DOWN: Jasmin spilled a glass of Pepsi on to the grill, while the food was on it.  She wouldn’t sit in her seat.  She climbed in and out of a highchair…so we got her a booster seat.  That worked for a few minutes until she figured out it was more fun to sit in it on the floor.  She cried about everything.  She wanted everything she couldn’t have.  We tried to keep her quiet by letting her drink my Pepsi (horrible of me, I know, but we were desperate!)  She pooped…and of course we had just used the last diaper when I changed her right before dinner!

UP: The other three kids were AWESOME!  Well mannered.  Didn’t fight or complain.  Loved the experience.  Ate their dinners till they were full…EVEN Karson! (That’s a big deal – let me tell you!)  The food was very delicious.  We have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. 🙂

DOWN:  It was not an easy task to get a fussy, poopy 2 yr. old who had been pushed way beyond her limits strapped into a car seat.  I had left her pacifier in the restaurant…so I quickly strapped her in, which was like trying to hold onto a fish or something, so I could run back inside and get it before they threw it out…I was so distracted by her behavior…I left my dinner on the back of the truck where I sat it while I was trying to get her buckled in.

UP: Discovered it when I got out at Meijer.  Still in tact! Yeah!  Made a quick trip into Meijer to buy diapers.  Kind of wish they sold a 3 pack of diapers for situations like this.  Didn’t really like having to spend $11.00 for diapers when I really only needed ONE.

The ride home was pretty uneventful. All the kids were wiped out.  Slept all the way.  I drove.  We got home at 8:30 and they all went straight to bed.  I think a couple of them even just slept in their clothes.  We had a good day.  If it hadn’t been for Jasmin, it might have been fabulous.  But even though there were stressful moments with her today…I really am SO glad we have that kid.  She brings so much joy to everyone’s lives.  I’m hoping to be able to successfully block the “downs” out of my memory of my **th birthday! 🙂

Hope you all had a great weekend, too.

Now…off to work on my lesson plans.