What's in Your Wash?

Well, it is the last day of the year and Seth is off DJing a dance in SLC tonight. SO......it looks like I am going to be dipping into a delightful pint of Ben and Jerry's which I bought today with my coupon (see right), watching Mamma Mia, and folding laundry. Which brings me to my next thought.....where does all of this crap come from that comes out in the wash? I have an entire jar that is just for nonsense that comes out of the wash with the clothes. Here is what I have collected so far (minus paper money, store discount cards, potato bugs, and razor blades that have since been removed).

What's in your wash????

Ok, I am finally posting a few pics from Christmas. I know, I am really on top of things. I literally only took a few because there was so much going on that I didn't have a chance. I am the worst mom ever.

The kids had a blast on Christmas and are already counting down for the next one.

Tonight when I put Lyvi to bed, she was saying prayers and all I got out of it was Hello Kitty........., Luc and Mom telling him to do something......., Jami's baby in her tummy.........., Tiger's sister........, getting dressed.........., thank you for mom, thank you for dad, thank you for Luc, thank you for Coltyn, thank you for Lyvi, amen. It was so cute that I wanted to laugh, but I held back.

Merry Christmas to Me!

Check out what Seth got me for Christmas! This picture does not do this old school bike justice. The handle bars are HUGE! I love it! Now I can cruise with the kids in style!!!

I will post Christmas pictures tomorrow. The kids got up EARLY and I am off to bed now.

Daddy's Girl

Last night, Lyvi snuggled herself up to Seth and went to sleep. Seth eats that right up!!!

Have I mentioned my new found love of coupons? Yes, I have broken the code and have become that crazy coupon lady that whips out a stash of coupons at the end of my transaction while the people behind me roll their eyes. However, it is SO fun!!! It has turned into a game to see what kinds of things I can get free (or close). Today I bought 8 Maybelline lipsticks ($8 each) and a bag of Halls cough drops and paid .45 cents. It is freakin amazing and fun! I have been raking in these kinds of deals on everything. I get so excited about my neatness and Seth just doesn't appreciate it like I do. Anyhow, I think I may start posting a little "Tip" bar on the side of my blog to help everyone have as much fun as I am with these amazing finds.

My Thoughts on Snow Days

Today was a super snowy day. I don't think it even began to snow lightly until 5:00pm this evening. We had this mountain of snow blocking our driveway from the snowplow pileups and we had to be somewhere tonight. It must have been quite the eye full to watch us get out of the driveway. Seth told everyone to hang on tight and he basically pushed the gas all the way to the floor while we were still in the garage. I have no idea how fast one can actually go in reverse, but the look on the kids faces said it all. We made it out though, so I guess that is what really counts.

I have a deep thought that has been troubling my mind all day. We have at least 12-15" of snow outside, yet the air is so dry that I am getting nonstop nosebleeds. If there is THAT much moisture in the air, why is the air so dry? I can't figure it out.

Also, is it just me, or is totally embarrassing to be a woman outside shoveling as ALL of the neighborhood men are out using their "fancy toys" to clear the walks. It honestly makes me want to go back inside JUST to avoid having all of the guys rushing over to help the "poor lady" using a shovel.

Apparently, my mom does not appreciate my blog slack so I better get working on that.

This weekend Luc had his final 2 soccer games of the season. The last game, he scored 6 goals. I have to admit, it is pretty fun to see people get excited when your kid step out on the field. All the other parents were yelling to give the ball to Luc more than they were yelling for their own kids. Yep, I am a proud mom.

Seth has been very sick this weekend. He went to the doctor last week with a sinus infection and he could only get into a new doctor chick that just started. He asked for a shot for the antibiotic and told her that in addition to the shot, he usually gets a prescription as well because he has such horrible sinus infections that this has seemed to be the best way. She laughed and told him that the shot was going to work fine by itself.

So a few days later, the infection became worse and he went back in to see her again to get the prescription that he should have had the first visit. She gave him one and sent him on his way. When I picked up the prescription, the Pharmacist questioned the prescription because Seth is allergic to a certain antibiotic. He said that the medicine that was prescribed was in the same family and is probably not a good idea to take. I picked it up anyway and Seth called the same doctor back and asked the next day if it was right. She laughed and said it would be fine.

To make a long story longer, he had a major reaction to the medicine and had to go to the Instacare yesterday. The doctor there was stunned that anyone would prescribe that drug to someone for a sinus infection (it is a mild drug used for travelers with diarrhea), and even more stunned that she would give it to someone with an allergy to something in the same family of antibiotics. He fixed it all and got Seth on the mend but told him to expect to feel crappy for a few days while it is getting out of his system. Blaaaaaah to stupid Doctors.

The snow has been coming down in huge amounts these past few days. The kids were so excited to go out and play in it. I made them promise that they would not come back inside until they were done playing in the snow. Luc and Lyvi don't grasp the concept yet of snow on their feet=wet mess wherever they walk. Well, 30 seconds into the fun, Lyvi comes barging inside to tell me that Luc was throwing snow on her. I laughed and told her that is what you do in the snow and she looked at me a little funny, shrugged and went back outside to throw snow on Luc.

Today I made the mistake of trying to drag all 3 of the kids to Wal-Mart after school. Between trying to keep Lyvi from knocking everything off of whatever she was walking by and keeping Luc from standing on the side of the cart and tipping it over, and all 3 of them from taking up the entire aisle while every person in the city shopped there today it was quite a pleasant experience (ha ha ha). I don't know what it is about that place but EVERY time I am there, complete strangers want to know my life story and how we got the kids. I am aware that my kids are the cutest kids ever, but sometimes (especially when I have them all with me and I just want to get in and out), I would like to forget that my kids are adopted and just be normal. I had a woman show up on every aisle we were on (maybe trying to get the nerve up to ask). Finally, she asked if they were my kids and then asked me if I wanted to see hers and she whipped out a Holiday Card to show me her adopted children. Meanwhile, my kids are throwing every junk cereal into our cart, fighting, whining, and causing a traffic jam while I check out her kids. Ahhhhhhh!

Tis the season to be jolly!

Lyvi's Dance Recital

We had a very busy morning today. Luc had a soccer game (he scored 6/10 goals). I have to brag whenever I can. Then we had to go straight to Lyvi's first dance recital. She was excited for it, but mostly because she knew Santa was coming and she forgot last time we saw him to tell him she wants a baby doll AND a bike. She was really stressed out that she forgot to mention the doll last time. I could see the relief melt away after she waited in the hour long line and was able to clear that up. She did a great job despite being a little nervous dancing in front of a full house.

Lyvi's New Hair

We had Lyvi's hair re-done today. When it was first put in, it was almost to her waist. She pouted for a good 10 minutes because I had the lady make it "small" and she doesn't like small hair.

Today all 3 of the kids were telling me that they want a puppy for Christmas. I laughed and told them that THAT would NEVER happen. With a dad that is afraid of germs and a mom that doesn't want to clean up dog poop, I assured them that they could have as many dogs as they wanted when they are big and have a house of their own.

Tonight as I was getting Lyvi out of the tub after a few hours of upbraiding and combing, she looked in the mirror with her hair all BIG and told me she was bigger now and could she have a puppy?

Today it was confirmed that Lyvi does have giardia. The first stupid Doctor that we went to would not order the tests because he wanted to "watch it". How exactly does one do that?

Coltyn was awarded the Student of the Week this week. He was more excited about getting a new Grovecrest Grizzlies water bottle. He was the Student of the Week last year too. Luc was really excited about the new water bottle as well. I thought I could use that moment as a learning tool to motivate him to be a little better behaved at school so I said "If you are good at school, maybe you too can be the Student of the Week and get a water bottle" and he just shrugged and said he would rather just have Coltyn's old one.

Alyvia is the sweetest little girl. We were at the store and there was a plastic nativity scene. She was so excited she ran over to it and started petting the baby Jesus and whispered "I love you, Jesus" to it and gave him a kiss. Then, she turned around and walked into a pole. It kind of spoiled the moment. Ha ha. She is EXTREMELY accident prone. That same day she got her fingers caught in the door, had Luc fall on her and knock heads, and she fell into a shelf and hurt her arm. I can't make this stuff up!

On a lighter note, Lucio scored 8 goals last night at his soccer game. With each one he grinned from ear to ear and waved up at us in the stands to make sure we saw it. It was pretty awesome. The other parents in the stand were talking about how he has so much "talent" and it made me laugh. I wish we had something to do with that but unfortunately, we don't.

A friend of mine is adopting children from another orphanage in Haiti. The situation is so bad there right now that for months, they have only been able to feed the children one meal a day.

In an effort to raise funds to be able to feed the kids 3 meals a day, she has set up a store to sell handmade items. If you would like to check it out or you make something that you would like to donate to help save these kids from starving, click on the right hand side of my blog and go to the store. It is just getting started but if we all help, it can be a success! All of the money is going to feed these kids. Please check it out and tell your friends!

Checking In

OK so I have been a HUGE slacker on the blog lately. I have taken up coupons and all of my focus has been on that. It is so much fun! It has been my life long dream (next to crayon making)to learn how to get stuff for free and still be honest. It is so fascinating. I can't believe that you can truly get stuff for almost nothing.

Aside from the coupon hobby, things here are the same. We are trying to get the kids tested for parasites and we have poop in our fridge waiting to be taken to the lab in the morning. That is going over really well with my husband, the OCD germ man. Ahhh life. Good times.

Good News, after months and months of craziness, I found my camera. I know, it is a Christmas miracle. I lost so many nights of sleep trying to figure out where it had gone. I looked in the same places over and over. I know....the suspense of where it was is killing you! It had fallen behind a bench and was lodged in between the wall and the bench. I have no idea how it got there but I am happy to have it back. Hooray!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! This is a picture of Luc having his Thanksgiving Feast at school on Tuesday.

Luc and the Christmas Tree

Last night the kids finally talked me into putting up our Christmas tree. I had put them off for weeks because I was in no hurry to begin the Christmas season yet. But, I decided for the sake of my sanity to put up the tree. They spent the happiest hour decorating the tree and talking and singing. It was so cute and they were very proud of it.

This morning, the alarm went off at 6ish because Seth had to be to work early. Coltyn had had a bad dream and so I had to go and find Seth in Coltyn's room to tell him it was time to get up. Well, out of the corner of my eye I saw someone down the hall and it startled me a little as I was half a sleep and all. Well, it was Luc. He was standing by the Christmas tree just staring at it with excitement. He told me today that he was so excited that he couldn't sleep. If he is this excited now, what is going to happen on Christmas Eve?

The Gingerbread Man

I have a favor to ask anyone that lives outside of the state of Utah. Luc's kindergarten class is doing the Gingerbread Man story the first week of December. He is going to "disappear" while the class is out at recess and we need postcards from all over the place saying that you have spotted the class Gingerbread Man so that they can track his location on a map with postcards during the month of December.

Here is an example of what it could say;

Dear Mrs. Austin's class,

My name is Jan and I am Luc's mom's friend. I just wanted to let you know that I spotted your gingerbread man her in California. He was riding on "It's a Small World" at Disneyland. He got away before I could catch him.

Sincerely,

Jan

Please email me at sethnmelis@msn.com if you would like to help out and I will give you the address.

Thank you in advance! It will be fun for Luc to know that he has friends all over the place.

Attention Dr. Pepper Lovers!

Sunday, November 23 ONLY!!!! Dr Pepper is giving out free Dr Pepper! Here is the link if you want in on a delightful freebie! http://www.drpepper.com/

Christmas Songs

I love Christmas songs as much as the next person, but why is it that nobody is thinking up new songs? I often think that there is NO WAY that anyone can possibly drag the song out any longer and then I will be shopping and a new, more drug out version is playing. The best is when the song is sped up or really slow. Ahhhhh!

Jingle (ling a ling a lingle) bells, jingle (linga linga lee loo) bells, jingle all the way (every day, all the way E EEEEEE ooooooo eeeeee yaaaaaahhhhhh). Oh what fu---------------------------------------------------------nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn It i-----------s to ride (take a ride, take a ride) i-------------------n a one horse o------------------pen---------------------sleigh (Every Day in a sleigh, yeah, ye----------ah, oh yeah).

No wonder the suicide rates are up during the holidays. I think it should be a law to stick to the classic singers or else you have to write a new song. No ooh, yeahs, or dragging out words so long that your head automatically starts to bang on a wall while you wait for the word to be finished.

Today

Today Coltyn told me that they learned about stuff from the 80's like what the pilgrims ate and stuff. I remember a lot about the 80's but I don't recall any pilgrims.

Tonight I took Lyvi with me to run some errands. She was pretty excited to come with me all by herself. Afterward I thanked her for being such a great helper to me and she said;

"Lyvi like to help mom because Lyvi love you."

Even with broken English, it was the cutest thing ever!

Coltyn Wins 1st Place

Tonight we went to the school Reflections awards. Coltyn took first place for his Lego movie he made. He is pretty excited because now he gets to go on to compete and "win more trophies" because he does enjoy a good trophy. Notice in the picture with all 3 of the kids, Seth thinks he is leaning out of the picture, ha ha ha.

This is a picture of Lyvi and Lexi just before dance yesterday. They like to wear twin outfits when they can. Their recital is in a few weeks and I am SO excited. I have waited a long time to have a girl that I can watch at a dance recital.

3 pretty princesses!

We finally finished up with the dentist today. Coltyn had some sealants put on his back permanent teeth. On the way home, the kids were singing some song in Creole and I asked them what the words mean in English and Luc gives me this weird look and says, "I don't know, I'm not white" and then he laughed like I should know this. I later found out that it was a song about a plant.

I also finally broke down and bought a new camera. I have given up on the one that mysteriously disappeared months ago. I loved that camera, may it rest in peace wherever it may be. Here are some of the practice pictures I took with the new camera. I think I will really love the new one.

An Interesting Tidbit

I read the most interesting article recently that made me feel a lot better about myself as a mother. Hopefully these statistics will make you feel better too.

According to a University of New Hampshire study, 89% of parents admit to hollering at their kids. If there is a 5-8 year old in the house, that number goes up to 98%!

A University of Texas study found that 93% of mothers with 4 year olds admit to yelling in anger a few times a week.

I figure with a 5, 6, and 7 year old in our house, our numbers are really high. Although, if I am truly honest, I am just too tired to yell. Often it turns to angry laughing which is NOT effective at all. Go figure.

Lyvi is a very busy little girl to say the least. Yesterday we went to the dentist to have her two cavities filled. She was drugged up on Valium and the laughing gas and it did not even phase her. She was just as wiggly as ever.

Today she had the stomach flu and I had to literally force her to take a nap. That was the most relaxing 45 minutes we have had in a really long time. She is feeling much better tonight, as long as you don't ask her if she is feeling better. Every time she would start screaming and bouncing off the walls, we would comment on how she seems to be feeling better and her words were;

"Lyvi no better." Sigh

"Oh.....Oh my goodness."

She loved the attention that she was getting all day being sick.

Here are a few photos from Luc's birthday party. His pants were a little big in the waist and his belt was not holding up under the extreme jumping conditions. We had a few close calls of pants around the ankles before I sent Seth home to pick up another belt.

and more...

A few more...

Dentist

Look who has a shiny set of pearly whites! The dentist could not have gone better.

He also got a haircut tonight. I thought that I would trim it up and then after the bald spots.....

Luc Turns 6

Today Luc had his first birthday home. He had so much fun. He told us repeatedly that he got a lot of presents. He was pretty excited. The only thing he has asked for since he came home was a red bike. Unfortunately, today was not bike weather (lots of rain). By the time we were able to give him his bike, it was dark in addition to the freezing temps. He can ride it tomorrow I guess.

He had a birthday party with cousins and lots of friends. He was able to see his friend, Shayson from his orphanage in Haiti. Shayson's parents have not been able to get them to speak Creole since he came home. Well, that changed today. The kids were all chasing each other around and Shayson and Luc were plotting their attack in Creole. They thought they were quite brilliant. I give them props, the other kids had no idea what they were saying.

Here are a few photos that I was able to take. We had a party helper that took over a hundred good photos but I don't have them yet so I will post more when I get them. These are some of the few that I was able to take with my own camera.

Today was a fun day with the kids. We had an early morning birthday party, Luc's soccer game in which he scored 2 goals (one of them for the other team), our first movie with Luc and Lyvi (Madagascar 2 and they loved it), and Chuck-E-Cheese. We were having a party day because the kids were sad that Seth is gone this weekend with his friends. They were so good all day, if I had the energy, time, and money to do this everyday, we would. To top the day off, Lyvi got her glasses. I am still trying to decide if I should have opted for the "anti-glare" coating for twice as much money. I hate when the flash makes people with glasses look like they have no eyes. Oh well, now at least I know where to get cheap glasses WHEN (not if) she breaks these. I think she looks adorable in them.

Oh yeah, and Lyvi lost another tooth. Pretty soon she isn't going to have any left.

Yesterday while Coltyn was at Karate, the rest of us went to the grocery store to kill 2 birds with one stone. While we were there, a cute little girl came up to me and said, "Hello Mrs. Holdaway, I am one of Coltyn's friends, tee hee hee."

I had no idea who she was, but I forgot all about it until tonight when Coltyn was telling me about this girl in his class that told his friend to tell him that she has a crush on him and he doesn't know why. She is always trying to kiss him and he has to hide under the bridge at recess so she can't find him.

I have to give her props though, sucking up to his mom to get to him. Smooth.

Ah, to be 7 again.

Yesterday I took Luc and Lyvi for more shots. Luc once again was a trooper and didn't even flinch, afterwards busting out in laughter. He likes to prove his toughness. Lyvi had to get 5 shots and she was brave to fight back tears. The poor little thing has been walking around like a robot for the past two days. She has even started walking bull legged (like she peed her pants) to be absolutely certain that her arms won't hurt. I will have to give that a try next time.

Today we have had a lot of slushy rain and it is COLD! I took Lyvi to find Luc a birthday present from her and she was freezing to death. At one point, she looked at me with a serious look on her face and asked me if Jesus was coming. I had to laugh and tell her no, this is what we call Winter. I can't wait to hear what she says when the snow is so deep we can't leave our house.

Kris Kross Will Make You Jump, Jump

Today was "Backwards Day" at Lyvi's preschool. She refuses to participate in these kind of activities because she can't stand not to look pretty for even a minute. When I picked her up, she was walking backwards to be festive, but that was pretty much the extent of it.

Coltyn also took part in Backwards Day, though he didn't realize he was a participant until we were getting out of the car AFTER school. How does one wear jeans backwards all day and not notice?

Tonight after we put the kids to bed and I began cleaning up the cyclone that hits my house on a daily basis, I began to crave something sweet. Naturally, I pulled down the kids Halloween pumpkins and began pulling out some things that I like and hoping they don't notice. Then I wondered to myself if anyone else does this or if I am the only mom that thieves candy from my kids. Take the poll and let's just see.

More Firsts Today

Today Coltyn was able to get his white belt in Karate by breaking the board. He's officially enrolled and thinks he is a Karate master now. He tries to teach Luc and Lyvi all of his moves. I had no idea that a first time white belt was so knowledgeable.

Luc had his first day at soccer today. Though it was not an actual game, it was still a lot of fun to watch. They divided up into two teams and he scored 2/3 goals for his team :-) I was so proud! He was by far the fastest and one of the most skilled kids there. Not to mention he has the biggest feet I have ever seen for a kid so small. He and Coltyn wear the same size shoe. Scroll down to see the height comp.! Pretty soon he will be palming the ball with his ginormous feet! This is not the best picture ever, but I snapped it on the way out the door. He didn't have his jersey yet.

I will post video of these 2 events later. It shows them both in action.

Halloween

It was Halloween all day today. We had Luc's party in the morning (Lyvi had one too but I was not invited), Coltyn's party in the afternoon, and then trick-or-treating tonight.

Tick-or-Treating was fun, but it started to rain. Coltyn (aka Mario Hitler) bailed out after about an hour, Luc after 1 1/2 hours, and Lyvi came home against her will. "Lyvi no have enough candy" she said over and over. But Lyvi did have PLENTY of candy. She would stay out day and night if it meant candy for her.

Seth took the kids over to his parents for a bit and gave me a little needed down time :-).

To sum it up, Halloween was an awesome first for the kids!!!

A Major Award

Today was an especially fantastic day. I took the kids to the eye doctor and we found out Lyvi does indeed need glasses. We went to pick out a few pairs at the store and she was pretty excited because she had seen one of her friends, Marie Dakar from the orphanage wearing them since she came home. Everyone wants to be like Marie Dakar.

When we arrived home, there was a box on our step. I figured it was Coltyn's spare Lego pieces or something. When we opened it up, there was a Flip Video camcorder inside. I wondered if I had just spoiled a Christmas gift from Seth, but it said my name on it. I looked for the slip inside and read CONGRATULATIONS, THANKS FOR PLAYING PEPSI SWEEPSTAKES.

Who knew that being a Diet Pepsi addict would be so rewarding!

More Skymall

Here we have footed pajamas that are for summer and footed pajamas for winter. I bet the guy in the middle gets beat up a lot.