Let's Go to the Movies!

Well, I mean, we WENT to the movies. :) Just me...and kid 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5! We almost took up a whole row of seats. Ha!

We decided to start summer vacation off with a BANG! After I picked the kids up from school, we went and got lunch from White Castles. Drove to the park and ate there. We ate in the car, but we were in the park. In the shade! It was just too hot to get out of the car. Then we went to Julianne's speech therapy, came home for a bit, and then we went! TO THE MOVIES! The kids were all excited, because this is something we don't ever do...well, except for the Hannah Montana movies....(which were more for me anyway!). We had to go to the bank first, to sign over our house to get the money to go to the movies....... ok kidding...but, let's just say....this was a big big splurge. But worth it.

We pulled into the movie theater parking lot, and the kids see this HUGE thing of balloons on top of the movie theater. Promotions for this movie, I suppose, but they got a kick out of that. We get our tickets, our popcorn, soda and candy...and head no in. The kids all loved it. I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't trying to keep Audrey quiet (which she did really good, for the most part), or trying to get Juli and Mason to stay seated...as opposed to standing up and walking to the popcorn bowl. It did not have the "wow" factor, and the 3D effects were not very good or often...so I tell all of you.......you will NOT be missing out if you decide to see the "regular" version.

So....let summer begin. BRING It!

School is out!

Here are a couple pictures from last Friday, when Julianne and Mason had their last days.

I did have a moment where I thought to myself, "I wonder if this is the only diploma Julianne will ever see", and then I bit my tongue on purpose to punish myself for even thinking that.

Yay for summer.

Look at me Mom!

Want a taste of the "loudness" and "hyperness" of my home? Watch this, ha ha!

For my Family...

My Aunt Francie and my Aunt Mary brought to my attention that I had not put any First Communion pictures up for them to see here. So...here you go. So sorry.

And for the fun of it, here are some from when Allison made hers as well.

Fun times in the backyard...

Day 2 of summer vacation for Mason and Julianne. Fun times.

Oh, and that building in the background is my garage...and it is lined up for a paint job coming up soon. . . a la Jeff. ;)

Enjoy: :)

Bubble Bath in the Back Yard:

A Sensory Fiesta!


This is what happens when Mason gets to "Sit Out"...

This WORM was the highlight of the day...





A busted lip...

Too attached...

I've decided that I am going to try very hard to not become personally attached to any more teachers that come into my children's life anymore. There really must be something wrong with me to have it be so upsetting to have a teacher not return. If this is how it is going to be every time a teacher leaves, I refuse to become attached to them. It's too painful to do otherwise.

Girl Scout Celebrations...

Last night was the end of the year "Girl Scout Banquet" at IHM. I was very, very fortunate to have my awesome brother and almost sister in law graciously babysit Audrey and Mason so I could go with just my big girls. :) ((Thank you guys!!!))

So it started with 4:30pm mass, which was nice. Lots of girls in their girl scout uniforms. Cute to see. Then over to the gym after mass. We had a nice dinner, a nice awards ceremony and then we also got some entertainment. The Bishop Dubourg Swing Dancers came by for a little show.

A great time was had by all. I am so glad to have this group of girls and parents in my life. Here are some pics. :)

JULIANNE:

ALLISON'S TROOP:

ALENA'S TROOP:

JULIANNE WANTED TO MAKE SURE I GOT THIS PICTURE...



ALENA and HER BFF...(that's slang for best friend forever, people, lol!)

THE ENTERTAINMENT:

SNL funny!

Not appropriate for young viewers...but OH SO FUNNY to us oldies.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Chores revisited...

Week 2 of the "Chore Chart" was met with less enthusiasm than last week. But, we continue in a forward momentum. :)

This week Allison picked (from the jar) the *Kitchen*, and Alena gets the *Bathroom*. In true Allison form, she was very upset that Alena got the bathroom, because SHE wanted the bathroom. Yeah right...she has NO CLUE what that entails....ugh. So, I helped Allison get the kitchen done, teaching her ALL things that I would be expecting her to do....(and trust me, it "ain't" that much). She whined and moaned the entire time. (Insert momma eye roll here.) But she got it done.

Alena did the bathroom pretty enthusiastically, surprisingly.

So, yay for this chore thing to seemingly be taking us in the right direction.

And just for kicks, here is a pic of my nice, clean, uncluttered dining room. :) I just LOVE it when my shelves there in the background, aren't full of crap. :)

13 Things Your Pizza Delivery Man Won't Tell You...

From the Readers Digest. And because Jeff is a "Pizza Delivery Man", I found this hysterical, and RIGHT on Target! Enjoy:

1. My other line is ringing, so choose the toppings before you call. Remember: It's a pizza, not a lifetime commitment.

2. We know when kids are prank-calling us. They can't mask their voices very well. The smart ones block the phone number. The dumb ones don't.

3. If I drop your pizza on the way, sometimes I'll shake the box to get the cheese to slide back on right.

4. Patience, please. It takes about 20 minutes to go from raw dough to fully baked pizza. And then I have to drive to your house.

5. In some neighborhoods, a kid getting out of a car with a pizza in his hands is like screaming, "Rob me! I have cash!" That's why we won't deliver to some neighborhoods.

6. When you see me drenched and shivering in the rain, it's not nice to close the door in my face while you search for some quarters in the sofa cushions.

7. When you open the door, please hang up your cell phone or put it down. It's basic etiquette.

8. I'd prefer that you have a shirt on (and definitely some pants).

9. Tips should be 10 to 15 percent of your order. If you order a lot of pizza—say, hundreds of dollars' worth, for a party or something—but give me a $1 tip, well, I'm going to have a problem with that.

10. The more gated the community, the more guarded the wallet. The best tips actually come from middle- and lower-class people who know what we go through.

11. I remember every customer who doesn't tip. I won't do anything to jeopardize my job, but shaking the soda on the next delivery would not be out of the question.

12. I'll knock on your door three times and call you on the phone twice. If you don't answer, don't call later to complain that you didn't get your food. I can't wait forever.

13. A guy once ordered pizza from me just so he'd have some help moving his sofa up a flight of stairs. I agreed to help him. He gave me a few extra bucks. I took it.

Girl Scout SleepOver...

Oh what fun it is to play, when you are young and don't require sleep. :) The annual Girl Scout Sleepover was last Friday. Allison and Alena stayed all night, but Julianne, and the rest of the Daisies had to leave at 9pm. Here are the pics. :)

OK Mom...can you leave now?????

OK Mom, will you PLEASE stay with us?

Gym Fun!

I'm a mermaid...now can you leave mom?

An Oreo Smile!!!

Time for the Daisies to go home...na na na na, na na na na,

hey hey hey....goodbye!

Yay! Initiation is complete!

Sleeping Quarters for the 2nd graders.

Saturday morning....for hours, at home...ha ha ha ha!

Seriously!

Ya know, I think I am a fairly nice person. I am always polite to the patients and Parents at work. I know that I am not rude, or mean or anything that is not nice. Or at least I think I am not. In fact, I am ALWAYS nice and kind and sweet and funny and all good things rolled up into a sweet roll. I am. Seriously!

I don't know what was up today, but me and "other people" were not getting along today. It all started with my first stupid phone call today at work, at the ripe ol' time of 7:00 am. Yeah, welcome to today, I thought to myself. Some mother wanted to bring her two sick kids in to see the doctor. I told her that they could have the 11:20 time slot, as that was the first available time, with the doctor she wanted to see. ugh. She went flipping stupid ballistic. "Oh my God. Oh my God...Oh my God".... (Seriously???) This dumb first phone call went on for about, oh, 10 minutes of the same stupid nonsense. She kept asking me if anybody would cancel so she could come in earlier...would anybody cancel? Would somebody not show? .... over and over and over. After so long, my sweet kind self can only take so much. So, maybe I shouldn't have, but I said...."ma'am, I can't predict the future. I do not know if somebody will cancel or not show."

Well, there it was. The ding dong start to my "Seriously?" day. The mom, true to her crazy form, told me that she had been up "way too long to take my kind of sarcasm....and is your name spelled with a K or a C"? Ha!

Later, a mom carrying her sleeping toddler comes in and says, "I can't sign in, she's sleeping." Really? Seriously? Uh, yeah...you have to sign. When her appointment was over and I gave her a card with her next appointment date and time...(the time on the card was 9:50 am) the *am* part was circled below the time, which I guess sort of made the "0" in the 9:50, look semi sort of like an 8. She says to me..."Um, is the appointment time for 9:50, or 9:58....do you often make that kind of mistake"? Oh no you didn't lady...Seriously?????

Later, a mom of a toddler was going to get a urine sample of the kiddo, while in the bathroom. I gave her all the needed supplies to get a "clean" sample. Do you know what she game me? A cup of pee with a turd floating in it. Seriously??? are you freaking Serious??? Well, we can't use that specimen. Please try again. ugh.

So, my day was spent wondering if I was just PMS'ing, or if the patients today were really that rude and stupid, or if possibly, it was ME that was rude and stupid.

But Seriously....thank God I am off work tomorrow.

too bad its staff meeting day, and I have to go with kids in tow. Seriously????

Way to Go Mom...(sarcasm)...

Try as I might, I can't seem to always "have my act together".

I was feeling so "ahead" of myself this morning. I had the lunches premade. I had the backpacks all prepared to just slide right on and go. I had signed all the things that needed to be signed. I had the "spring picture" money in the envelope. I had the girl scout banquet money and reservation tucked inside Alena's girl scout book. I had signed and filled out all the papers requesting us to volunteer at the school picnic. Mason has his homework and his three signed things all ready to go. The school clothes were all laid out. Shoes/socks/glasses/hair brush and headbands all ready. As I left my house at sunrise, I felt confident that Jeff would have an easy-peasy morning, all due to me being so prepared and ahead of myself. Afterall, I do have a clean house now, thanks to my new chore designations!

Allison and Julianne got to dress down (not wear their uniforms) today because they were both going on field trips. Jeff was able to go with Allison on her field trip....fishing at Forest Park. They both had a great time.

All day long I wondered how Julianne was doing on her field trip. Was she too hot? I mean, I did send her with a hoody, because it was rather chilly this morning. Was she having fun? Was she having a melt down, and nobody could help her "recover" from it? Did she eat her lunch? Did she do OK on the bus ride? Hopefully her "bus sickness" has disappeared since last year. ALL DAY LONG I wondered how she was doing.

So, around 6 pm, I call home to see how the kiddos are doing. (Mondays I work looooong hours.) It is THEN...that I find out...that Julianne in fact, did NOT go on a field trip. The field trip is actually scheduled for May 14.

Oh.my.Lord. I am sooooooooo embarassed that my poor girl was told ALL WeEKEND that she would be going on a field trip today, and she packed a "brown bag" lunch....and...she didn't wear her uniform.... while all the rest of the class did. Because all the OTHER moms have their act together.

ugh.

Chore Challenge...

It's a new day at the Walewski homestead. I have finally had enough. Housework that is. Today, we have implemented "Chores". Yes, not a unique concept, yet strangely unfamiliar here. But, today, we enter with enthusiasm. Or, shall I say, *I* enter with enthusiasm!!!

Last night, Allison and Alena picked out of a container, the room they would be assigned to. Allison got the dining room, and Alena got the living room. (Poor Alena...the living room will be hard I think.) Today, they cleaned their room, top to bottom, and they have a list of what they will need to do every night before bed to their "assigned" room.

They will also now be getting an allowance. Not very much, but something.

However, and this is my favorite part, they will be charged for every single item of theirs that I have to pick up or clean up. 10 cents for each item. :) I may not end up owing them anything for week, lol!

So, it only took me nearly 10 years to get this whole "chore" thing going. But I think I am going to like it. :)