Yeah, I really should be doing other things right now...

But a girl's gotta eat breakfast, right? I'm still half asleep, my eyes aren't quite focusing yet, and I'm working on my 2nd bowl of "cookie cereal". Hey, it's not 8 yet and I'm awake, which is a huge deal these days! My parents and 2 baby brothers are coming up to visit today, and my house is such a mess! I honestly think it takes something like this to spur me into action. We really should have people over more often - not just people who know me and understand my limitations, but people who will judge me for the way I do things. Thankfully, the big girls helped last night before they went to bed, so I've got a running start :o) I have to finish straightening up the living room and vacuum, then I need to sweep the entryway and kitchen. After that, I'm vacuuming the stairs and cleaning my bathroom. I HATE living in a messy house, but once it builds up, it's so hard to get everything back to where it should be. Anyway...

Yesterday was a rough one. It started off just fine, but as the day went on, it got insane. I started by making a massive batch of granola. The kids go through about $10 in cereal ever week or so, and it's making me crazy! On top of that, they won't eat the "good for you" stuff, so it just sits here and eventually finds its way into the garbage after Noah dumps it all over the kitchen, or the bag gets thrown on the floor, and dirty laundry gets put on top of it. I know, this is me not being on top of things, but I can only do so much. I made the granola in the hopes that the girls might eat it, keeping them from whining about having to make cream of wheat, grits, or oatmeal every morning. So far, it seems to be a hit! Noah is calling it "cookie cereal", and is eating his 3rd serving (about 1/4 - 1/3 cup each)! Ellie ate it and says she likes it, Audrey wanted it for a snack when she got home yesterday, and Madeline is okay with eating it, despite the nuts. Sounds like we have a winner!

Sometime during the granola making process, Audrey called wanting me to bring her dress and tights for Latin dance club, as they were supposed to be taking pictures yesterday. Around 2:15, she called again, totally freaked that I hadn't made it up there yet. It's hard enough to get the kids out of the house in the 1st place, but anything before 1 is really pushing it for us! On top of that, Ellie, for whatever reason, decided to take a nap yesterday! She takes about 2 naps a month, so I try really, really hard not to wake her up when she does. I did finally have to wake her around 3 so we could pick Audrey up from dance. I'm pretty sure that Audrey has been mad at me for a couple of weeks now, but whatever. It's my job to parent, not to please. And right now, my parenting skills are being stretched very thin as all the kids seem to be in a very needy state.

After we got home from picking Audrey up, I had her start thawing some chicken breasts for dinner, and I took about a 30 minute nap. I made homemade chicken pot pie, but I was out of all-purpose flour, and the crust turned out to be more biscuit like. That was fine, it tasted great, but while I was making it, the big girls started fighting. Being stressed beyond belief, I told them to go fight somewhere else where I didn't have to hear it. Audrey started arguing with me, and I totally flipped out. Lovely. We wound up eating dinner about an hour later than I planned b/c it took so long to deal with the girls. Grrrrrrrr! So much for getting Christmas shopping done last night. I tried telling Adron that I'm losing my mind, that I just need to get out of the house and relax, and I need some adult conversation. So, being the helpful husband he can be, he picked up his guitar hero game and went back to playing it for the next hour, without a word to me. Sighhhhhh.... What do I have to do to get a break!!! Tonight is a PTA meeting - not a break, Saturday we went shopping - not a break, last Tuesday was my smocking guild meeting - still not really a break. I want some down time. AWAY from the kiddos. I really do enjoy them, and love being a full-time mom, but everyone has to have some time away from their job, right? I don't know what to do. I think I'm a better mom when I get some real "me" time, and get to go out with friends. I honestly don't know when I last went out with a friend and no kids. Adron throws a fit when I want to leave in the evening, but I really can only handle so much guitar hero, and listening to the kids fight.

Ellie is another story alltogether. Honestly, there is some type of noise (talking, humming, screaming, etc) coming out of her mouth approximately 50 minutes out of every hour during the day. I don't think Adron believes me. She has an attention span that is about 3 minutes long, she's constantly moving, messing with Noah, yelling about things not going her way, or just talking my head off. It's stressful. I enjoy her, but there's a limit to what I can take. Is it wrong to be looking forward to putting her in kindergarten next fall??? She is moodier than Audrey, and it's making me crazy! We really have to walk on eggshells around her so we don't set her off. When she has a meltdown, about 3-5 of them on normal days, it lasts a very long time, and there is no reasoning with her. She will sit upstairs and howl for an hour straight.

Noah is a snuggle bug. He's not challenging, just needy. Not a bad thing, really - at least someone around here likes me LOL! But it is still very physically and emotionally demanding. Good stress is still stress. I do love that when I tell him I need to go to the bathroom, he immediately gets off of me so I can go, and doesn't pitch a fit about it like he does when I leave the room for any other reason ;o)

It's been a quiet morning so far. The tv isn't on yet, and I'm liking that! Ellie is upstairs in her room talking to goodness only knows who/what, Noah is now on his 5th bowl of granola, and I haven't accomplished a thing. Unless, of course, you count this as "doing something" lol!

Back to work - I started a little bit of digital scrapbooking last night, but I don't know if I like it. My mojo is sooooo gone. Ah well, I'll post it later and let you be the judge :)