V A C A T I O N

Well, as usual, I have been really busy. It has been almost a week since I've posted. I have been cleaning the house and getting things together for the trip. I have been getting our administrative things in order - living wills, wills, contact info, etc. You know, just in case - morbid I know, but I like to have my bases covered, well, just in case.

I ended up firing my house cleaners. It hasn't been properly cleaned in about three weeks and I can tell the difference. I ultimately ended it because I hated the fact that they were late every visit between 30 minutes and an hour. And because I was no longer happy with the job they did.

It has been hot. It reminds me of last summer when we first moved. It is hot outside and hot inside. We have the fans running and so the coolness helps, but it is still hot hot hot. There were record temps in Palm Springs. 120 degrees! I know we are not that close to Palm Springs, but it'll give you an idea of how hot it feels here!

We are leaving for our vacation on Friday night right after we drop off the kids. We plan on doing lots of night driving as we go up through the hellish bowels of California, also know as the 5. Ick. It is the most horrid, dry, exhausting heat ever.

We are still slightly up in the air about some of our plans. We are going to wing it. We got a tent last night and have decided to camp. We filled up the air bed in the back of the SUV, but with the height of the bed, it affords no privacy. We are going to bring some board games, so we need room to sit. We got a nice sized tent. Hopefully it'll end up being a nice tent.

Kevin. Well, nothing new here. Legos mainly. He is proud about helping around the house and tries to help out a lot. He is really good at helping out. Keith has been thinking about getting Kevin a really nice Lego set that Kevin has been eyeing online and in the Lego catalog - yes, he gets the catalog in the mail. We will probably get one after our vacation.

Kaela. Potty training is going fairly well. The pee thing is going good. We still have to prompt her to go. The Number 2 thing is still a bit of a problem. Maria pointed out that we may be having a problem because out of my frustration I am raising my voice to her. Okay, not just raising, yelling would be more exact. I am scaring her I think. I told her that I wouldn't yell at her anymore. I haven't in two days and I think it may help her to figure out the number two business.

Kyle. He still isn't talking, but communicates very well. You can tell when he is not happy. He let's everyone know. It can be frustrating to actually figure out what he wants, but the other two went through this same thing. He still makes everything all better again when he flashes one of those smiles.

Kenna. She is growing. She eats a lot and sleeps a lot. She is growing. Smiley as ever.

Well, that's it. We are on vacation soon, so I may not write more for a week or so. Bye!

We've Had a Nice Week So Far

Well, so far the week has been not too bad. It has been HOT. So, I have been grumpy. I don't do well in hot temps. But, today wasn't so bad. I've been working on the blue room and our huge wall of boxes is no longer there. Everything is out of the boxes and is slowly getting put away. I was going to sell a lot of my unused craft stuff (stuff I bought because I thought it would be cool to have, but never really used). But, when I looked on eBay to see how things were selling, they weren't really going for much. So, I have decided to save them for the girls (and the boys if they want) to use when they get older.

It has been hot, like I said, so we have noticed an increase in spiders. Did you know that the average person swallows 8 spiders while sleeping in their lifetime? Gross.

Keith's birthday was nice. I actually baked him a cake from scratch. Frosting and all. The two recipes called for almost 6 cups of sugar and 2 cups of cocoa! My goodness! But, Keith really enjoyed it and so did the kids and I. The kids decorated with colorful garland. They made the garland of strips of colored paper and made interlinking rings. We also printed out letters on the same paper that read "Happy Birthday", cut them out and hung them. It looks pretty neat. Keith got some really nice cards and some very nice gifts.

I am expecting some new charms in the mail. I am obsessed with Italian charms. They go from $15 - 30 in the mall, but I have been finding them on eBay for $0.99. I made Kaela a bracelet, and I got enough for two strands of bracelets for me. My cousin Noelle got me my first three charms along with a starter bracelet and I was hooked. I found a place that does custom laser charms and had the kids names done. I should be getting those soon.

Our vacation is coming up and we are getting really excited. We are definitely camping for a few nights, but other nights are up in the air. We are just gonna wing it. Which, without kids would be the fun thing to do. We are not camping, camping. We are car camping. Literally. We are going to sleep in the back of the SUV. We were going to buy a tent, but figured that after we did, we wouldn't be able to use it for some time. So, we opted to sleep in the car. Keith suggested that I sleep in the tent cot and he sleep in the car, or vice versa, but what's the point of being on vacation together without kids if we can't sleep in the same space?

Cleaners are coming tomorrow. I haven't been completely satisfied with their work lately. I have a few issues that I am going to point out to them tomorrow when they come. If they don't address those issues, I am going to get rid of their ass*s. I am no longer feeling that it is money well spent. *sigh*

Okay, that's it for now. Have to get some sleep. Bye!

Happy Birthday Keith!

Happy Birthday Keith!

Keith's birthday is today, well, the 12th really. I just assume you are reading this on the 12th. Mom, Dad and Ris came up on Sunday and we celebrated Keith's birthday. We had a couple of Indian dishes. But before dinner, we had a whole huge plate of Rumaki (chicken livers wrapped in bacon). It was SO yummy.

They bought Keith this cake from Red Ribbon. It is a chocolate mocha cake. I think this is the third time for them to bring this particular flavor. It is really rich. It is chocolate cake, three layers with mocha whipped cream in between the layers. There are bits of mocha crunch in the cream and on the top are rolled tubes of chocolate. Wow, is it yummy!

Keith has gotten some really nice cards and we have them displayed on the front room. The kids keep saying they want to go to Chuck E Cheese for Keith's birthday and he is actually entertaining the idea!

Personal note: Happy Birthday MDHK! ktu ilu ylwm

Kenna

She is getting really strong. She is | | this close to rolling over. She is so cute and smiley. She is still sleeping well through the day and at night. Couldn't ask for an easier baby.

Kyle

Kyle has been bottleless for more than a week now. He is falling asleep without them, but is not sleeping as much now. His naps are short - one hour at best, as opposed to the three to four hour naps he was doing. He also is waking in the morning and after naps as grumpy as can be. He definitely takes after me in the grumpiness arena.

Kaela

Potty training is well, going. She is doing pretty good at going number 1 and hasn't had a pee accident in almost a week. But, now number 2s are not going so well. I won't go into details. Eh taint pretty. She fell asleep sitting on the toilet on Saturday. Poor thing. She was so tired from swimming and she sat and sat waiting for number 2 to happen. Well, she got tired of waiting and napped right there. She was all curled up. Her feet were on the rim. It is a hilarious picture, but I didn't want to post it online. E-mail me if you wanna see it!

Kevin

Geez Kevin IS getting tall. I was looking back at posts from January. On the 18th, I commented on how Kevin's nose is right at counter level. Well, here we are six months later and Kevin's armpits reach th counter tops. I watched him just today reach for his cup. His arm was flat on the counter and he wasn't tip toeing. Maybe he will be 5' 11" like the height predictor predicted.

Photo Updates

Check out their photo albums! New photos added. Click on links at left. Good night!

So Close

So Close

The kids are such good sports. They actually let me take these pictures with them all smashed up against each other. When trying to get them to put their heads together, I clonked Kyle's and Kaela's heads against each other. Look at Kenna. What a good sport she is. She just sat there, but made sure to put a pout on to show her displeasure. She was all smiley and laughing until I whipped out the camera. As I recall, all the kids at that age stopped smiling when the camera came out. They relate the camera to the unpleasant flash. And you know with all the pictures I take, they catch on really quick!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!

The kids are all dressed up for the fourth. Maria bought them these cute outfits. The kids were all happy to show their American pride.

We are probably going to catch the fireworks on TV tonight, either Macy's or Boston Pops. Not sure which yet. Enjoy the fireworks!

Happy Independence Day

Well, not only is it our country's independence day, it seems to be independence day in the Fischer house. Potty training and bottle weaning is looking good today. We are on our way to little independent kids.

Okay. Spoke to soon. She had an accident as I was typing.

But, she is making fairly good progress. She pooped after I blogged yesterday. And today, before lunch she pooped again. Yes, in the toilet. Well, maybe she'll be one of those that poops in the toilet okay, but has trouble with the peeing. We shall see what happens.

We probably aren't going anywhere for fireworks. Kevin and Kaela would like them probably. Kyle would be scared (we think). He doesn't like loud noises. They make him nervous. Kenna would probably sleep through them. Kevin did at her age. I think that was the last time we ventured out for fireworks.

Well, whatever you decide to do tonight, have a fun time!

Good Ole Summertime

Good Ole Summertime

It was a big weekend for us here in the Fischer House. We started potty training Kaela yesterday. We also decided to wean Kyle off the bottle yesterday too. That was a spur of the moment thing. Lastly, the spa is ready for the summer.

Okay, first the potty training thing. Let me tell you. It sucks. I hate potty training. It was a pain to train Kevin. No wonder we waited so long to train her. She did semi okay yesterday, but didn't poop. She has only had accidents today and still hasn't pooped. It sucks.

Kyle is doing much better. He cried just a short while at his nap yesterday, but fell asleep. Last night at bedtime, he just went right to sleep. At nap time today, he just went down. Hopefully this will be easy.

Everyone right is quiet. They all went swimming and had lots of fun. They are all tired now, so they are quiet. It is peaceful right now.

With that thought, goodbye.