Erin's knee looks 100% better today believe it or not. Thanks to Aquafor the wonder drug. If only Aquafor could do something about her crabbiness. She called me and asked me to pick her up something to eat because she was STARVING. We picked up some taco bell. She thought the taco's looked too greasy and she snubbed her nose at them. She ever so pleasantly informed me that they were gross and she wasn't going to eat them. Then in her true to form Sybil fashion she almost assaulted poor Kelsey for grabbing one of the GROSS taco's for herself. She told her to eat the one's with lettuce, she was going to bring the ones without lettuce to school tomorrow for lunch. Oh I get it, once the taco's spend a morning in your backpack at school they will become delicious. I never thought of that!!!

I usually check my email and look at the kids online grading system while I am at lunch at work. Imagine my surprise when I got to Shannon's religion grade. They have each assignment listed by name. Right there in bold print was CHASTITY ESSAY and what did my wondering eyes see??? D Umm excuse me, how did my daughter get a D on a chastity essay. Doesn't her teacher know that she is the Sr. Liz Healy scholarship recipient. I am assuming the D was based more on lack of effort than on content of the actual paper. I called Dave at work laughing and said "guess what your daughter got on her chastity essay?" He didn't think it was as funny as I did. I think he may be checking out convents as we speak.

We started our dance lessons tonight. There were a few moments at the very beginning that I had a case of the giggles. When they first went over the basic steps, Dave had the same look on his face that I had when I was trying to solve a quadratic equation. I will give him credit, he stuck with it and was a real trooper.

This picture is exactly why I never played sports. This is a picture of what is left of my daughter's knee after soccer tryouts. (the picture is sideways) She has two more days of try outs left. We went to Walgreen's tonight, I looked up and down every aisle and couldn't for the life of me find a product to put sybil back together again. We are going to bandage her up and pump her full of Advil for the remainder of tryouts. Unfortunately a knee is pretty important in soccer.

Kelsey came out of school today and told me that she had a student council meeting that lasted until 4:15. This posed a bit of a problem. Erin had grandma's car at soccer, Dave was at work and had school immediately after and I had to be at school for my class at 4:00. Problem number 2, Ryan had basketball at 5:30 and my class doesn't let out until 6:00. I called Dave, that was about as much help as trying to contact Elvis from the other side and asking his opinion as to what I should do. I got a hold of my dear friend Kelly who always seems to be there when I need her, either with a brand new can of my favorite hairspray or a kitchen to cook in, at midnight when I am hiding 10 pounds of pasta for my mom's surprise party. She picked Kelsey up for me after school and I made arrangements to car pool with two other boys for basketball. I just had to pick them up at 6:30. I had just enough time to whip up dinner for my injured soccer player before I left to pick up the boys. Shannon has been asleep on the living room floor since she got home from school.(the Jonas Brothers concert wore her out) She is using the dog bed as a pillow. (gross) If she didn't weigh 90 lbs I might carry her up to bed. The dog's birthday is tomorrow, Maggie is frantic that I haven't taken her shopping to buy him a gift yet. I told her this year we were going to give Seamus extra love on his special day instead of a gift. He normally just chews up his toys and throws them up on my bedroom carpet anyway.

My day started with a splitting headache. Erin had soccer tryouts after school so I had her take Dave's car to school and he took the van and dropped me off at work. Erin was supposed to take Shannon and her friend to the Jonas brothers concert tonight. Shannon's friend's dad was supposed to take them but he had to go out of town. Her mom offered to take the girls and pick them up if Erin would take her ticket and go with the girls so she wouldn't have to sit through the concert. Erin sent me a text message that try outs got moved to 7:oo pm due to the weather and she wouldn't be able to go to the concert. By the time I got her text message my head was beginning to feel like it was ready to explode. She called me after school and I told her she could drop Shannon off at her friends house (in our old neighborhood 30 minutes away) on her way to try outs. Of course that caused Sybil to turn into a green eyed monster, "what me, be put out, I wasn't planning on coming home, I was just going to hang out at Allie's house until try outs." I was stranded at work all day with a migraine and no car and the little princess was giving me attitude. I called Dave and asked him to try and get home early because I needed help with the kids. I had 30 minutes to lay down before I had to pick Ryan up from magic class. (an after school program) I asked Shannon to wake me up at 4:00, I explained that my bedroom door would be locked because the dog can nudge his way in if it is not locked and then I have to listen to him gnaw on his leg while I am trying to sleep. In order for me to even lock the door, I have to squeeze the door knob while lifting up and applying just the right amount of pressure while pushing the latch until you hear a click. Maybe I should just bungee cord myself in like I do with the dog to keep him in his crate. Dave got home early and took Kelsey to practice, I asked him to make dinner, they got pizza rolls for dinner, they would have gotten cereal but we are out of milk.I tried to pull myself together and be a good mom and spend some time with Ryan and Maggie. We watched Deal Or No Deal. They fought over a hula hoop for the entire hour. I threatened to throw the hula hoop in the woods, the fireplace, the trash can and even to put it someplace that might make walking quite difficult. I am now headed upstairs for my 10th dose of Advil. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Poor Dave, he still has to go out and pick up Shannon after the concert at her friends house.

I survived being snowed in with my my children for two days. Erin has high school soccer tryouts starting tomorrow (Monday). Saturday afternoon while we were in the car driving she mentioned that she needed a sports physical by Monday to bring to try outs. I immediately had flashbacks of my darling offspring telling me that she needed two dozen cupcakes by morning or a light blue binder with green stripes for her science project that is due in 12 hours. I calmly asked Erin/Sybil how she thought she would be able to get a sports physical on a weekend, considering it was around 5:00 on a Saturday that she mentioned this little problem. I called the pediatricians number , the doctor works two Sunday's a month and luckily she was working this Sunday, according to the recording. I told Erin we would call in the morning and try to get in. Unfortunately for Erin, there is a big flu outbreak and the doctor was jam packed full of sick kids, they didn't feel that the sports physical was as urgent as Erin/Sybil did. Erin/Sybil quickly turned to panic mode, Ryan was her easiest target, she had to take out her frustration on someone. Since she doesn't have a husband yet, her brother seemed to be the logical answer. I urged Ryan to leave the room and to quit trying to crack jokes at the kid with multiple personalities sitting across from him. I got out the yellow pages and started thumbing through the book. I called two urgent care centers and got lucky on my second try. Yes, they were open and they could do a sports physical. Dave took the joyful teenager to get her physical. When they arrived home I asked her if they asked any questions about her mental state? Lucky for her, they didn't ask, she got a clean bill of health to try out for soccer.

The kids had a snow day today. I only had to work until 1:30, we closed the office early and even cancelled all of our appointments for tomorrow. Shannon asked me tonight if I thought school would be cancelled again tomorrow. She was trying to decide whether or not she should take a shower. I told her to go ahead and take a shower that hygiene doesn't officially take snow days!!! Dave wanted me to go to the grocery store with him, I didn't feel like going out in the cold. Erin decided to go with him instead, I should have known better then to let those two go alone. We are all stocked up on junk food, like my diet isn't tough enough already. Throw in a pantry full of pop tarts and cookies. I have only lost six and a half pounds in almost eight weeks. I guess it's better than gaining six and a half pounds. Lauren called me to tell me she saw previews for an upcoming Oprah show that features my one and only Rick Springfield. I told her someones children who really loved their mother probably wrote to the Oprah show so THEIR mother could meet him. I guess it's nice to be loved, I'll just watch him meet some other crazy fan in the comfort of my own home.

Right after I put the little ones to bed Shannon announced that school was closed tomorrow, she had been watching all night for her school's name on TV. It finally showed up a little after 9:00. My house became an instant party complete with dancing and woo hoo's. It is now after 10:30 and they are all still up. Lucky me, maybe we can spend the day writing to Dr. Phil asking if mommy can meet Rick Springfield like the mommy on Oprah who's family loved her.

If anyone is looking for a worthy cause to unload some of your extra money, I have posted the link to donate. Taylor is a classmate of my daughter Erin's.

http://www.ksdk.com/video/default.aspx?aid=69009&bw=

Would YOU Help??
An IWA sophomore was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor; surgery was done immediately to remove part of the tumor. Radiation & chemotherapy are now in progress to try to shrink the remaining tumor.
The students of Incarnate Word are enthusiastically raising money to help the family with expensive medical bills.
If you would like to donate, please click on the link below or send a check made payable to: Taylor Rozier Trust Fund
Incarnate Word AcademyTaylor Rozier Trust Fund2788 Normandy DriveSaint Louis, MO 63121
For online giving, click on the following link: www.iwaalumnae.org/roziertrust

Last night Erin came in our room and said "I need a ride to school tomorrow. " The girl who usually brings her couldn't take her. Her school had a late start today so she didn't have to be there until 9:00. Dave said he could bring her but she would get there at 7:30. She had asked grandma but Erin said, "grandma has a dentist appointment and she can't take me because she won't have time because she has to pluck all of her chin hairs before she goes." I suggested she help pluck grandma's chin hairs this evening and everyone wins. She said "I tried that, she said that they grow overnight." Oh crap is this what I have to look forward to. I thought shaving my legs before I go to the OB was bad enough. Someday I will be plucking facial hair before I go to the dentist.
This morning Dave said his usual "does this match?" I kind of chuckled and he said "yes , I read your blog, but I still need to know if this matches." Lauren called me this morning at work crying because she had cramps so bad. I told her to take some advil and come home so she could soak in my big bathtub and lay in my big comfy bed. She said "I can't, I have a test tomorrow." I told her she could study at home. I pulled in the driveway after I picked the kids up this afternoon and saw Lauren's car parked in the middle of the driveway. {When will she learn to pull all the way up?} I was really tired and decided to lay down for a few minutes before I started dinner. First I had to kick Lauren out of my side of the bed, this went over like a lead balloon. Too bad, I like my side of the bed. I tried to take a nap while listenening to her shuffle pages(she was studying) and listening to her phone beep at the twenty text messages that she had received. The last straw was when Shannon started singing high school musical songs in the next room with a microphone. I gave up and decided to start dinner. Lauren changed clothes and got ready to head back to school. Before she left she said "mom, you are running low on big underwear." I said "are you wearing my underwear." Her response was "your big underwear are so much more comfortable when I have cramps." Just because I don't wear dental floss as underwear doesn't give her the right to steal all of my SMALL comfortable underwear!!!

I really enjoyed my morning today. I overslept and woke up to five hungry kids and no milk. Luckily I had waffles in the house, it could have been worse. Kelsey told me this morning that it was fun going to the movies with dad. They all got their own popcorn, soda and candy. They didn't even have to share. I don't even want to think about what he spent. I can't remember the name of the movie, it was pg 13 Dave said it probably wasn't very appropriate for the little ones. I guess someone needs to be the fun parent. I'm the old battle axe that makes them share sodas and actually watch age appropriate movies.

As I was scrambling around the kitchen getting lunches packed and Maggie's hair fixed, Dave decided to start a debate as to whether today was trash day or not. He thought that because yesterday was a holiday that trash day would be pushed back a day. I told him to look outside and see what the neighbors did. He came back in the kitchen where I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off and said, "all the neighbors have theirs out, do you want me to put ours out?" I said "No honey, I'll get it, you go gel your hair." The only thing he has to do every morning is get himself ready, he can't even do that without help. Every morning he has to ask me if his clothes match. I can't wait until April fools, I am going to go ahead and let him pick out his own clothes and tell him that they match!!!

I got to work a half hour early this morning. It is amazing how much time I can shave off in the morning when I only have myself to get ready. Dave was off work today so he took all the kids to the movies. When I got off work the house was fairly quiet. Life was good for about fifteen minutes. Around dinner time Dave went to meet his study group because he has a test tomorrow. He is geting his MBA, he will be done in November. I have a test tomorrow for my computer class. I guess it is ok for me to study in the complete chaos of our house but he should probably leave to study in a quiet place for his test!! My sister and her family are leaving tomorrow. I am going to really miss her kids. It is nice having little ones around again. I offered to keep them for her this summer while her and her husband go on a trip. I hope they take me up on it. Last summer they stayed with us for a few weeks. I feel really blessed for my kids to be able to have the chance to be close to their cousins.

I haven't posted in a while; I have been busy planning a surprise 70th birthday party for my mom. The picture on the left is of all the grandkids minus Kelsey and my nephew Conor because they were with grandma when the photo was taken. The two girls in the middle are my nieces. Yet another example of Ryan acting silly and ruining a perfectly good picture. This party was not an easy feat considering my mom lives with me. The party was at my house so we were forced to be creative to cover up all of our suspicious behavior. Namely the clean house, that should have been her first clue that something was not right. I told her Sam was having her soccer team over so she would think nothing of the clean house. My sister rolled into town with her family on Friday night. Everyone was gathered in the living room talking. I needed an excuse to get out of the house to get to my friends house to do some cooking at 10:00 pm. I went in my room and called my friend and asked her to call me on my house phone so I could say Dave called and wants me to come up to his soccer game to meet some of our friends. I was standing in the kitchen with an ice cold jar of miracle whip under my sweatshirt waiting for my phone to ring. She couldn't find my house number so it took her a while to call. I snuck out with the Miracle Whip and all was well. I was so tired on Saturday from staying up so late on Friday cooking. I didn't think 6:30 pm would ever get here. I asked my mom to take Kelsey to her 6:00 soccer game. I told her Ryan had a game and had Ryan get dressed in his soccer uniform and he and Dave left to go buy the soda and beer. This was actually the first week that Ryan had all the pieces to his uniform and he didn't even have a game. I told her Shannon had a cheerleading thing to go to and that is why she needed to take Kelsey for me. I haven't lied to her this much since high school. My sister said "how are we going to get her to change clothes, she will be really embarrassed if she is in sweat pants." She decided to tell her that they were going to dinner after the soccer game. Before she left we were all trying to get her to change clothes without being obvious, or at the very least to put a bra on. I told her she may want to put a bra on because it is always really cold at the soccer place. Erin works there and said "it's really not cold in there anymore, it's actually fine." Thanks Erin, that was helpful. Somehow we were successful in getting her to put a bra on despite Erin's help. Ryan asked "are we going to yell SURPRISE!!" I said probably, he said "umm have you thought about heart attacks?" You can tell from the picture that she was very surprised, we all had a good time.

I stayed up until 2:30 AM. I am way too old to have two late nights in a row. Shannon had a basketball game this afternoon, the sound of the basketball hitting the floor and the loud buzzer is just what I needed for my slight hangover!!!

My husband did good this Valentines Day. He got us West Coast Swing dance lessons for six weeks. If anyone reading this knows my husband, you understand how huge this is. We start in two weeks, if you live in the area there is still room in the class. Contact me and I will hook you up with the details. I am considering stopping at Walgreens to buy Poise pads before our first lesson. I am sure we will be doing more laughing then dancing. I adore my husband and he has many excellent qualities but dancing is just not one of them. That is all the more reason for me to appreciate this Valentines gift.

My sister and her family are coming to visit this weekend from Atlanta. Her husband is in the army and he just arrived home from Iraq. She told me she was so excited to see him at the airport that she thinks she actually jumped up and wrapped her legs around him. I am sure that is really neat to witness if you are people watching at the airport. Before he came home she had asked a neighbor if she had any yellow ribbon that she could put on her front door. (her husband had come home earlier in the year) She didn't have any left but she called her later that evening and told her she asked at the grocery store if they had any. They said no but they would see what they could do because they wanted to show support for the troops. They re-opened the floral department and made her a big yellow bow. Stories like that bring tears to my eyes that complete strangers can be so thoughtful and kind. By the second day he was home she was already yelling at him for walking past the overflowing trash and not taking it out. Her chief complaint is that she has done everything by herself for five months, she is ready for a break. I'm thinking if she can get her husband to notice overflowing trash and immediately take it out, she ought to open up a school and share her secret.

Shannon was cleared to start playing basketball again. She has a tournament this weekend, Sam is having her soccer team over on Saturday and my sister's family is coming in town. It sounds like a typical relaxing weekend.

My youngest four kids were home from school today for a snow day. I called to check on them in the morning. Grandma told me she canceled Shannon and Kelsey's orthodontic appointment because if she had to deal with Ryan in the waiting room she would be tempted to drive into the river on the way home. Obviously I inherited my patience from my father.

Sam called Dave in a huff today after she read my blog. Dave wasn't too sympathetic to her since he has primarily been the butt of most of my jokes on the blog from day one. She said "mom told the whole world I throw temper tantrums." First of all my blog isn't all that popular, second of all she isn't exactly a closet temper tantrum thrower. Last I checked it wasn't exactly a secret!!!!

I called home several times to check on the kids, Maggie answered each time. Each time she asked "when are you coming home? I need someone to wrap my valentine box in white paper." I told her to ask grandma and I would be home at 6:00, I have class after work on Tuesday's and Thursday's. I called home after my class to see what they wanted for dinner; I was going to run by the grocery store. Maggie answered and said "when will you be home, I need someone to wrap my box?" I asked "didn't you ask grandma?" She said, yes, she said no, I asked Erin, Shannon and Kelsey and they said no too." Poor Maggie, it reminded me of a time when she was about three. She kept asking me to put her shoes on so she could go out and play in the backyard, I kept telling her I would in a minute. I make personalized rosaries for First Communions and I was backed up on orders. Our doorbell rang, it was a lady coming to pick up a rosary, Maggie had never seen this woman before in her life. She opened the door, handed the woman her shoes and said "will you please put my shoes on?" Sometimes I need a reminder that I should drop everything when a little one needs me. The task may not be important to me at the time but to them it means the world. On a side note, I still haven't wrapped the box but I promised it would be done by morning. I could almost guarantee that she will be at the foot of my bed at 6:00 AM looking for it.

Sam if you are still reading my blog, I love you, look at the bright side, I told the "world" a while back that grandma puts her teeth in a jar at night and dad almost pooped in his pants in the car. Temper tantrums don't look so bad huh!!!

The weather was bad here today. It started sleeting this afternoon, I made it to school just in time before they blocked off the parking lot to pick up the kids. Ryan's magic class got canceled due to the weather. I got home and started on homework with the kids. Ryan had to read a chapter out of his religion book and Maggie had to work on a book report. I whipped up chicken nuggets and spaghetti for dinner, we are out of everything and I didn't feel like going out in an ice storm to go to the grocery store. After I cleaned up the dinner mess I pulled myself together to exercise. I wanted to do tae bo but the kids were watching American Gladiaters and I knew I would have a huge fight if I turned it off to exercise. I decided to skip the argument and run on the treadmill. About a mile in to my workout, Lauren called to complain about Sam. Sam called her and asked her for a ride home from work. Lauren told her she would have to wait until she finished working out, she was about 10 minutes in to her tae bo DVD. (she didn't have American Gladiators to deal with) Lauren was a little aggravated that Sam didn't call her earlier or better yet, make arrangements to get the car and drive herself to work. Sam was aggravated that Lauren didn't drop everything and rush right over. Sam called her dad and had him come get her, I'm sure it took him at least a half hour to get her, the same time it would have taken had she waited for Lauren. Sam has always been the queen of temper tantrums. When she was younger I often waited for her head to spin around and green vomit to go flying. Now that she is twenty one she makes Bobby Knight (the famous basketball coach) look like Mother Theresa. She is normally a pleasant person just a little short on patience. Lauren, well that is another story, she is the queen of planning ahead and having all of her ducks in a row. She feels that if you don't have a master plan like she does that you are somehow a disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I love my girls and think that they are wonderful kids but would prefer that they didn't involve me in every little squabble that they have. To top it off I am aggravated with Dave for staying too late at the office. Granted the dinner I had waiting for him was only chicken nuggets and spaghetti but it would have been nice to eat my nuggets with a little adult conversation.

Erin had her sophomore dance on Saturday. She looked very pretty and she had two bright and shiny new silver shoes and they were "strappy" just like the other ones that she already had. I won't even begin to try and understand her. She went with out a date because of course, she doesn't like the kid from her work anymore. Now that he likes her back, she is no longer interested.

Acceptance letters came in the mail on Saturday for all Catholic high schools in the St. Louis archdiocese. Shannon applied to Incarnate Word, the same school that Erin goes to and Sam and Lauren graduated from. She was at a basketball game when someone called to tell her that they got their acceptance letter and Shannon's name was on the list as a scholarship recipient. She called me to tell me and my first thought was "could there be another Shannon Murphy?" Don't get me wrong, she is a great kid but academically she is a bit on the lazy side. (just like her mother was) I opened Shannon's letter when she got it and learned that her scholarship was a faculty scholarship that was based on what she had written on her questionnaire about why she chose Incarnate. I was actually ready to kill her because she forgot about the questionnaiere and turned it in a week late. I am thinking that maybe they were tired of reading them and hers was at the top of the pile so they said "let's pick this application; I'm tired of reading them." The scholarship is named after a nun that used to be the assistant principal, they chose an applicant, based on what was written that exemplified Sr. Liz's loving spirit and ability to reach out to everyone." Now I'm not sure if Sr. Liz is still alive or not so I don't want to speak ill of her if she is no longer living, but Shannon is a bit on the crabby side, I asked Shannon if she would consider giving up being crabby for lent. She said no because that would be too hard. I am thinking Sr. Liz may have been the type of nun that beat kids with rulers if Shannon exemplifies her spirit. All kidding aside, the scholarship is for $1000.00. Not too shabby. We are really proud of our crabby, stubborn little red head.

We only had one game today, I went to church and came home and stayed in my warm house all day. It was freezing out today. I even got to take a two hour nap this afternoon. That never happens!! I cleaned up the kitchen today and found at least 6 drink box straw wrappers on the floor under the kitchen table. I guess the kids think that since they are clear that no one will notice them on the floor. Ryan told Dave that for lent he was going to try to be neater and pick up after himself better. Dave said "that's great, why don't you start by getting the crackers out of my bathroom sink."

I stayed late at work tonight. One of the girls in the office is out with the flu. I called grandma and asked her to pick the kids up for me and I headed to school for my class straight from work. I got employee of the month this month so I get $100 bonus. Yeah!!! That will make a little dent in all the stuff that I bought yesterday. We started employee of the month about six months ago in my office. I guess they were scraping the bottom of the barrel, it finally came around to me.

Erin called me at work frantic, she had a half day today and she couldn't get a hold of grandma. She figured she could con her grandma into going shopping for non "strappy" silver shoes. Maybe that is why it took me 6 months to get employee of the month, my husband and kids call ten times a day with emergency after emergency. Did they forget the rule, "don't call me unless you are on fire or bleeding?" She finally caught up with grandma and they went to the mall. She got a pair of cute shoes and they were even on sale. She got home and went to put them on so she could walk around in her new shoes, the sales girl only put one shoe in the box. I am sensing a tad of de ja vu!!! Didn't her father drive around St. Louis County last Friday trying to track down the missing black shoe. Maybe this is a sign that she only really needs one shoe. She could hop all night Saturday instead of dance. This is the same kid whose date to her very first formal last year showed up with one shoe. He had a high school soccer game after school and packed his dress clothes so he could get ready at a friends house and he only packed one shoe!! She had to work tonight, she ran by the mall on her way to pick up the other shoe. At least she realized it before the dance. If I had to send Dave out for the shoe, I don't think we would ever get his blood pressure back in check.

All is right with the world for now. Maggie can tell the difference between a nickel and a quarter!!! There is a God. We were watching TV tonight and Ryan saw a commercial for Ashley furniture where a lady want's to buy a table, Ryan looked at me and said "why don't we buy a new table, ours is always so sticky." No Ryan, a new table won't do the trick, some new kids, maybe. He has a new bad habit that drives me completely insane. Like not ever bothering to tie his shoes wasn't bad enough his new thing is to zip his new coat without making sure the zipper is locked in at the bottom. He has to climb out of his coat every day after school because his zipper is always stuck together at the neck and wide open at the bottom. I would like to apologize to his future wife right now for the damage that I have done in raising another helpless male.

Erin has a new dilema, she doesn't like the pair of silver shoes that we have at home for her to wear with her dress . She thinks that because she saved me so much money by borrowing a dress that she is entitled to a new pair of shoes. I told her the shoes that she has were fine and that they looked great with the dress. She responded with "I don't want to wear "strappy" shoes." What the hell are "strappy" shoes? What do I know, I still wear tennis shoes with jeans. Maybe I should wear the "strappy" silver shoes next time I go out.

I went shopping tonight after work and bought a few more things for my walls. Hobby Lobby was having a big sale. Oh how I love that store!! I have several more things for Dave to hang; of course I will be removing all price tags first. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Luckily he is pretty easy going when it comes to money, it helps that we never have any. I spend more then we make no matter how much we make, it is a special gift that I have!!!

I want to know who the idiot was that had the idea to change the nickel and quarter to the different state designs? I can pretty much guarantee whomever's idea it was did not keep in mind all the little first graders trying to pass a math test on counting coins. I have spent two days working with Maggie on coins. I think if they gave her a test on credit cards she would fare much better. I am the queen of multi tasking, tonight we studied reading words and coins while I was doing tae bo. She is lucky I didn't karate chop her when she kept showing we a quarter when I asked her to show me a nickel. That may actually be an effective teaching method. I may just try that tomorrow if she still can't tell them apart. Kelsey had a melt down while I was doing coins with Maggie. She didn't understand her math homework, she is working on percentages. Dave is at school tonight and the rest of her family can't figure out 6th grade homework. I handled it quite well I think. I screamed at her and told her to lose her attitude. Sometimes my parenting skills amaze me. On the bright side, Ryan cleaned up the great room for me quite quickly. I think he knew he would probably be my next victim. Yesterday I checked their grades online. I noticed that Shannon flunked her last religion test. I asked her "how do you flunk a religion test?" Without skipping a beat Ryan's hand immediatelly went up as he said "Oh I know, I know." Like pick me, pick me!!! I explained that I wasn't actually asking "how to", I know all to well that he is capable of flunking a religion test.

My boss got fired today so I was in a rotten mood. She has been great to me since I have worked there and I will really miss her. Our whole office was in a state of depression all day. I guess I came home and took it out on my kids a little. Had Dave been home, he would have gotten the brunt of my bad mood so technically it is his fault for not being home tonight!!

Maggie got her hair cut tonight. Her father said she was starting to look like Cousin IT. See the resemblance? I cut about four inches off; she doesn't look quite so straggly anymore.

Erin has her sophomore dance on Saturday, Dave and I have a black tie thing to go to for his work. Erin is a little worried that I may devote a little too much time to myself getting ready and not enough time and attention to her hair and make up. Wait a minute, isn't this the kid that said that I do nothing for her, NOTHING!!! We will see which Murphy will be the bell of the ball on Saturday. I am guessing it won't be me.

On Saturday Dave felt the need to nap most of his day away. I took that as permission to hit the mall and buy whatever my little heart desires. Sunday I went back for a little more. I bought an outfit to wear to our event this weekend on Saturday and on Sunday I bought some things for my walls in my great room. Hanging wall art is turning out to be stressful on our relatively happy marriage. He finally got all of my new stuff hung to my specifications after a few loving pleasantries were exchanged. After all it IS my fault that the manufactures put the hooks on crooked!!!

Last night was the father daughter banquet for Erin's school. Erin came home a little aggravated because I quote "everyone had my dress, everyone." I couldn't help but picture 30 Deal or no Deal girls walking around in the same dress with a suitcase full of money. Later she admitted that there were maybe 2 or three other girls with the same dress. That is so heartbreaking, children are starving in ethopia and my kid is worried about someone looking better than her. On the bright side she was pleased that her shoes were the cutest of all the girls who wore her dress. I would hope so after all the trouble her father had in retrieving those shoes. They were Lauren's ridiculously expensive shoes from White House Black Market that she was borrowing. Lauren told her she could borrow them if Dad came and got them. The shoes were in the back of Lauren's car that Sam had since they are now sharing one car. Dave finally caught up with Sam Friday afternoon only to find one shoe in the back of her messy car. He then had to track Lauren down on her college campus for the other shoe. My less then patient husband was really enjoying this little wild goose chase. Had he known we have roughly three other pair of black spiked heels at home in the closet he would have been even more pleased with his little shoe retrieving outing. One of the many perks of having so many daughters I guess.

I worked concession stand last night. Shannon was excited, now that she got her cast off she is able to stunt again in cheerleading. I was able to watch my tiny little eighth grader get thrown through the air while I worked concession stand. I am always so afraid she will get dropped. I guess if she survived growing up in this house she can survive anything. Once when she was about a year old I walked in Erin's bedroom and found Shannon's leg tied to Erin's bunk bed post with a jump rope. I asked her what she was doing and she responded with "she keeps getting down, I want her to play with me." I'ts a miracle they are all still here!!!

Yesterday we were hit with a big snow storm. The doctor I work for decided to close the office at noon and stay closed Friday as well. We had to call all of the patients and ask them to reschedule. By the time I was ready to leave it was close to 2:00. There was an elderly lady in the lobby waiting for her ride. Her appointment was at 10:30 and she was still waiting for her ride service to show up. She had called them several times but they were backed up due to the weather. I told her that I would be happy to drop her off. I went to bring my van to the door and called my mom to ask her to pick up the kids from school early to save me some time. Shannon had a doctor appointment for her thumb. My mom told the school secretary "my daughter felt sorry for an old lady stranded in the snow without a ride, so she had this old lady go out in the snow to get her kids."

Dave went home from work sick yesterday. He had been out of his blood pressure medicine for four days and as a result he got pretty sick. I called in his refill and he went by Walgreens and headed off to bed. Erin got home early from school because of the snow and noticed her dad's car sitting in the driveway. She called me at work to see if she could take the car. She felt that going tanning was an emergency and she needed to venture out in a blizzard to make sure she had a little color. She thinks because it is a SUV that she will be just fine driving in the snow. That child has absolutely no fear. She is my kid that walked at 8 months and used to climb up on top of my kitchen cabinets shortly thereafter. I think I liked it better when I used to hold her shoulders down with my heels when I changed her diaper. I never thought I would think she was easier to control back then. She really is a good kid but she sure does like to push my buttons. And NO she didn't take the car to go tanning.