Meltdown Mayhem

There's really nothing like being at the library with the kids and one of them deciding to throw a screaming, raging fit! Yesterday it was my son, today it was my youngest. Can you say "headache"? I've got a massive one, the kind you can feel every time you change expression. The kind that wraps around the top of your head and down the neck into the shoulders.

Lol, if I could afford it I'd go spend a day at the spa and let someone else do all the work for the day. Sadly, it's not going to happen anytime soon.


*sighs* 

Clarity

Every once in a while in the midst of my hectic life there comes a moment of such clarity that it makes me pause. Today I had one of those moments. While I was holding the baby, and my son was sitting on the floor playing, and my 2 oldest were tearing up the kitchen in their quest to make breakfast it slapped me in the face how truly blessed I am. I have 4 beautiful, healthy, intelligent children. No...they don't always behave. No...they don't always clean up after themselves. Yes...they drive me absolutely bonkers. But all in all they are truly wonderful and in my day to day life with all the work and frustrations of trying to raise 4 kids on just one income, I tend to forget. Thank you God for blessing me so.

And as the oldest 2 start fighting and the youngest starts crying, the moment is gone as I hunt down the toddler to make sure he's not dumping shampoo or taking the ornaments off the Christmas tree...haha

Reunions

It's always fun having reunions with long lost siblings! The girls' oldest sister came for a visit this weekend and they had a great time with her. The last time they saw her was almost a year ago. She recently moved closer to us to go to college, so hopefully we'll get to see her more often.

Poor thing, I thought they were going to run her over when she got here. (We didn't tell them she was coming so it would be a surprise, kind of an early Christmas present!) I think they stayed up most of the night playing games and watching movies. Here they are hamming for the camera.

While she was here we braved the seasonal madness of the mall to get her a dress to wear to a semi-formal party. It was crazy there and I swear I'll never go back during a holiday season.

Camera frenzy

All you parents and grandparents out there know how it is when you have a new baby in the house. The camera comes out and every little moment has to be captured! Seems like the first few months in a baby's life they get photographed more than the rest (at least in my house).

So anyway, my camera has been getting a pretty good workout but it's been difficult to get all 4 kids in one place while they're all awake and somewhat alert. A couple of days ago I finally managed to do just that and got the resulting pic.

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted here. A lot has happened since my last post. We've moved back on post, the girls started the 5th grade, JW has grown like a weed, I've completed an afghan, another poncho for Amber, a couple baby blankets, and 3 weeks ago gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!!

Goodbye Sweet Gram

Bettie Doris (Currie) LeClere

Bettie Doris (Currie) LeClere, 86, died Monday, March 6, 2006 at Rosewood Court Adult Foster Care Home in Brookings of natural causes.

She was born April 29, 1919 to Joseph Alexander and Mary Ethel (Vincent) Currie in Eugene, Oregon.

Mrs. LeClere was raised and schooled in Eugene and Springfield where she spent most of her life working and raising her family.

She married Joe Prociw in Springfield in 1937 and they raised three children together. She later married Leonard LeClere about 1953 and they also raised three children together.

Mrs. LeClere was employed as a waitress at Seymour’s Restaurant in Eugene for a number of years before beginning at the University of Oregon. She retired from U of O in 1975 after being employed as the Housekeeper for the University President for about a decade.

After retirement she worked closely with the Springfield Police Department to develop a Neighborhood Watch Program. She attended a number of specialized classes and received various commendations from the police department for her involvement.

Mrs. LeClere was an accomplished seamstress and very good at needlework. She enjoyed crocheting, knitting, and cross-stitch and won first prize for her work at the Curry County Fair some years ago. She also liked hand-decorating ceramics and was very skilled at doing custom hand-drawn designs. She loved to read and was a fan of Louis L’Amour. She also enjoyed vegetable and flower gardening and specialized in growing irises.

She is survived by son, Larrie and wife Beverly Prociw of Roseburg; daughter Bettie Gaye Ridl of Anchorage, Alaska; daughter Donna and husband Jim Blunt of Brookings; daughter Cecelia and husband Layne Worlton, also of Brookings; son Dwayne LeClere of Kodiak, Alaska; and son Tim and wife Pamela LeClere of Winston, Oregon; fifteen grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren; and also twin brother Bert Currie of Anaconda, Montana.

She was preceded in death by her two older sisters and three older brothers, Wilma Roberts, Letta Bloom, and Arthur, Keith, and Ralph Currie.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 11, 2006 at Redwood Memorial Chapel, Brookings. Private entombment will be held later at Springfield Memorial Gardens in Springfield, Oregon.

Famly time

We had a surprise visit last weekend. My daughters have an older sister from their bio-father who is 18. Although we talk frequently on the phone, we haven't seen her since early May, 2001. Last weekend we were pleasantly surprised to find out she was in Raleigh for the day. So we all piled in the car and went up to spend the day with her. I took more video than pics, but here are a couple of stills.

In other news, I spent a week doing a workshop to relearn how to write my resume and brush up on my interview skills. Turns out I know a lot more than I thought I did, unfortunately the job market here is slow and the pay is a lot lower than what I'm used to. Maybe I'll go back to school and THEN look for a job. We'll see.

I'm still working on my crochet and PSP. It's hard to decide which one to do when I do get time to do them. I haven't completed any crocheted items since the last blanket, but I am working on squares for an exchange I'm in. Once I get them caught back up I plan on starting Amber's blanket, but I'm still looking for the right pattern. I might just have to come up with my own for hers. Any suggestions? I'm open to ideas!

Separation Anxiety

I'm suffering from it. I never thought I would at my age but I am. My husband and son are staying at my inlaws this week and I've been miserable since I left them there yesterday. Ok, it's not really THEM I'm referring to. It's my son. This is my first time away from him and I'm not handling it well. I woke up 6 times last night because I thought I heard him crying (it was probably me...lol).

The girls were 4 and had been in daycare since they were babies the first time I spent the night away from them so it was very different. By then I was ready for a break, but I could talk to them on the phone and they'd talk back. JW won't talk on the phone, he just listens...sorta. He thinks it's a game. Funny thing is, the girls are missing him terribly as well. Like I told my dh on the phone last night, even though there are three of us here, the condo seems so empty without JW running around.

Only 4 more days to go. I'm sure we'll be ok, and I've got plenty to do to keep me busy. I just pray it will go by quickly!

Embarrassing moments...

We all have them. Those moments that everyone else finds exceedingly funny, but we just wish we could roll time back and undo them. I know, this may not seem so embarrassing to most, but in MY family...ugh.

This weekend we went to my inlaws for the day. While there, my MIL pulled out a stack of photos for us to go through. (In my defense; I'll just say that I was tired and I really wasn't paying attention, but I do remember wondering who the cute little girl next to my neice was.) So anyway, my husband hands me a picture and says "they look like they could be brother and sister". It's the same photo, I look again and ask how they could be brother and sister when it's 2 girls. OMG, it was a picture of my son from 5 months ago before he got his first haircut!!! (My dh will never let me live this one down!)

This first picture is from the same day as the one mentioned.

The second is from a couple days ago. There's a big difference!! lol