What happened? ? ?

So I haven't been posting too much.  So what happened? 
I went out of town for the weekend.  I have yet to figure out how to go out of town and be able to handle the return and get back into a routine.  Maybe it is because I have to stay in my house on Monday.  I dunno.  But the laundry and weekend jobs that went undone become my undoing.  A week later, I am finally feeling like I can resume life. 
Hello ? ! ? I was only gone 48 hours!
That pretty much sums it up. 
My routine went out the window and therefore I have been floundering for a week as a result.  Pretty pathetic in my book. 

Girl's Weekend

The last several years we have done a lot of traveling for hockey. 

It has been fun.  Then Fun Girl decided she wanted to try swim team again.

This time, we found a team that was a really good fit for our Fun Girl and her family.

She has been having soo much fun, she wanted to travel for meets.

With sick brothers at home, we hit the road. 

Just the three of us girls.

We learned some navigation lessons.

Listened to music, chatted and just enjoyed the estrogen levels. :)

The biggest difference with swim team is trying to find your person!

Under water.

 

Don't blink or you could lose your swimmer.

 

 

I was amazed during warm ups!

I texted this video to a friend.

She responded back with:

"It's Where's Waldo ~ Fun Girl style!"

She is right.

 

 

 

Bringing in personal bests while trying to overcome Bronchitis

left her Momma in awe.

 

Then a Momma showed up at the pool with cupcakes.

No ordinary cupcakes.

Next thing you know, I was headed the 5 blocks over.

 With Little Princess by my side

we oohhed and ahhhed.

 

 

Decisions, decisions ???

 

 

 

Choices made!

 

 

We were well behaved all through the remainder of the meet.

We waited till we were in the car.  With forks in hand we each started sampling.

Nope, no pictures.

No one wanted to stop eating long enough to take pictures.

Pure selfishness.

The other two would not have stopped sampling! 

YUMMY!

 

24 Hours with Fun Girl

Recently, I snuck away with Fun Girl for 24-36 hours.  Who is counting?

It was just her and me time.

To save money we took advantage of Grandpa's empty house a few blocks away.

He is out of town, and Daddy O sleeps there during the day when he has to work the night shift.

Just the same as staying in a hotel, but no room keys to keep up with and a kitchen to

stock up with yummy treats.  It just felt more homey than a hotel.

I picked her up from work and swim practice,

ordered pizza.

Then we did a Bible Study,

laughed and giggled and talked. 

That was sooo good for this momma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day there were donuts and fruit that the guys had cut up the day before

for us and tucked in the fridge.

Luxury of using Grandpa's showers and pitter pattering through the house.

Another Bible Study time and off to the mall.

First store we came across was this one. 

Doesn't it sparkle and have lots of fun things to try on!

 

 

The above was Fun Girl's favorite.

Much to her suprise, Mommy announced we were getting the ring.

Her class/purity ring.

She was SPEECHLESS.

Anyone who knows Fun Girl knows she never lacks words to say.

She even talks in her sleep.

The rest of the day, I caught her looking at her hand, shaking her head and smiling.

Still in disbelief.

She had a hard time concentrating on shopping. 

Which my wallet appreciated. 

Silly girl, one of her favorite parts in the uniqueness of the ring and detail work around the emerald, but she will quickly tell you, we found it in the clearance case!

Silly girl, she thinks that is one of the coolest parts.

I am afraid to say, but I think she is becoming her Mother's Daughter. :)

 

 

She did manage to try on clothes and this was one

of the beautiful dresses she tried on and we didn't buy.

She did find a LBD that was super versatile and makes

her Daddy shake his head.

Looks to pretty and grown up for his taste.

Bothers him, that his little girl is growing up.

 

 

We shopped till I could shop no more. 

We laughed and giggled and then dashed off to dinner.

Acknowledging that as much as fun as we had, the rest of the family

would probably want us to return soon.

So off to Grandpa's to pick up our stuff.

So much nicer than having it in the car all day.

Back home, to show and tell and relive our memories

with the crew and Daddy O

 

Shortly after our time together, I posted on her facebook. 

"Your heart is more beautiful than your ring. When you look at your ring remember that and remember you are more valuable.
Love yoU!"

 

I hope she will always remember that!

My Name Is..........

He may be a shorty but he makes up for it in personality.

He is so stinking adorable and hilarious.  He has us in stitches all the time.

When Fun Girl entered high school, she was known as "The Man's Big Sister" in youth group.

Just a little backwards, normally kids are known by their older siblings.

When he turned 5 he asked to go to Olive Garden.

He proceeded to flirt with the waitress like no other.  He was nose to nose chatting with her about who knows what and she was captivated by his charm.  He ended up asking her to write her name on his to go box.

She did.  He then asked for her phone number and extracted a promise that she would wait for him to get a little bit older!   Really?

That is just one of many stories we could tell.

He loves the girls.  He loves that he has a teenager sister and all her friends think he is adorable.  He has a hockey team of big brothers who think he is hysterical and they include him in everything.

So when we were in Wisconsin he found this T-Shirt.

It was a must buy.

Now he says,

 "That's me, Ladies Man, all the ladies love me."  

&  

"Cause, I always get the ladies!"

And he is correct.

 Cause when all the youth group girls stop to give you their undivided attention cause you are so stinking adorable, you rule the roost. 

 

He will even tell you,

"They all go "The Mannnnnn"  in their high sweet girly voices."

I just wanted one good photo. 

He required a photo shoot and a promise I would share all the photos,

so that I could even get the one I wanted. 

Oh brother !

Are you a Knucklehead? or A Yellow Belly Chicken Liver?

We promised the kids some fun if they let Fun Girl and the Moms have some fun shopping.
Shopping wasn't all bad.  We did take the boys to the Nike store.  That is always a big hit for my boys.

After the Moms had their fun we headed on over to Knuckleheads!
Fortunately for us, we shopped so long we arrived at Knuckleheads for the discounted evening rate.  We had the place almost to ourselves.  Lots of fun to be had.
It all started well.

They were jumping for joy!

Then we saw this ride. All but one was excited.  Miss Brylee was unconvinced in the fun to be had.
She skipped all the rides...

That is until I asked her if she was a Yellow Belly Chicken Liver?  The gantlet was thrown down and she was out to prove me wrong. Not once, not twice...but somewhere in the double digits I heard again and again for this ride.  Since I had the chaperone bracelet, I was her chaperone.  And ride I did.  I am all for getting my money's worth and by the end of the evening I did.

I really did have fun on the above ride.  Giggled and giggled all the way through it.  Again and again.

When we were done here, she was out to prove she was not a Yellow Belly Chicken Liver and she rode this one.

It was great and fun, until I closed my eyes as the ride was slowing down.  The Pepsi I just finished was not settling too well.
No time to stop cause she was ready to ride the roller coaster.  Did I mention I was the chaperone?

So I rode this one as well.  Again and Again until I cried Bumper Cars and 4D Ride.  No Chaperones allowed.  Beautiful... Time to let my stomache rest.

But my break didn't last long.  Cause she was fired up and making up for lost time.

Off to ride this one again.

This time Fun Girl wasn't there.  It was just Brylee, Me and Little Princess.  

The bigger kids were all off riding the Go-Karts.  The Man was riding the 4D theatre through the Haunted Mine.  Dara was standing nearby for him.  Afterall,

I had the Chaperone bracelet.  So nice of her to share in my fun.

Unfortunately, my stomach hadn't settled much.  2 times around and I couldn't spin the girls anymore.

Barely made it off the ride.  The Operator asked if I was okay as I quickly walked across the building to the bathroom.  Little Princess was asking if I was okay.
She followed me all the way in the bathroom and I sent her back to Brylee.

Fortunately, there were only dry heaves.

But I was done.

Little Princess asked me what was wrong later.

She hadn't even put it together when Brylee went running across to the room yelling to her mom, Dara,
Ms. Heather is throwing up, Ms. Heather is throwing up.
I sense some triumph in her declaration.
Since, I cried, "UNCLE! and NO more rides"
I became a Yellow Belly Chicken Liver by the newest Knucklehead.

Road Trip to Dells

The next day we decide a trip to the Dells was in order.
The fun started in the drive way.
Well for everyone but The Man.
He ended up being the odd man out. He was stuck riding with the little sisters while the older boys were in the middle. See his angry face there in the back row?

The biggest brothers sat together and were as cool as big brothers can possibly be for Nerds!
Nerds that we love!
Both of the packed homework to do during the 1.5 hour drive.  Really????

It didn't last long.  By the time we were out of town, Brett had pulled out a Halo magazine and the school books were forgotten.

The Middle Brothers rode in style.  They enjoyed their time by eating cheddar popcorn.

With this many kids it was no surprise that 1/2 hour out of town a potty break was called.  Really the moms thought?  Funny part it was one needing to go and four of them got out to go.  We almost forgot the little sisters.  Dara was quick to notice them walking out the door as I started to drive.
So glad we didn't lose them, cause they were sooo much fun later in the day.

Pizza Doctor

Our first night in Wisconsin we went to Pizza Doctor.  Not your typical pizza place.  It has been featured on the food network.  Nothing could of prepared me for this place.   Dara tried.  She told me they had Skittle Pizza.  They had Peanut Butter and Jelly Pizza.  Still did not prepare me for our trip.   

I did call ahead and check on the food allergy issue.  They told me there was no way we should let The Man eat there.  I asked and got permission to bring in a small pizza from elsewhere for him.  They provided him a clean plate to eat off and even warmed his pizza up for him in a clean microwave.  All of that was enough to get them a thumbs ups.  I love places that will work around food allergies and make dining a fun family affair.  We did get some looks, but hey that is okay.  We had fun and my boy didn't feel left out. 

Here's his dinner. Well at least half of what is left when I thought to take a picture. 

While he was munching happily on his cheese pizza., the rest of us were being fed more than we could imagine.  This isn't your normal buffet.  As pizza comes out of the oven, the wait staff plays host/hostess like you have never seen.  Each person in the restaurant is invited to sample the new pizza as it comes out of the oven.  Which means before you can finish one slice, they are back with more.  There is a system to survive their hospitality.  I definitely did not catch on to this too quick.  You take a bite or two, if it isn't a favorite, eat no more.  I got the giggles and was sooo full by the time the "dessert" pizzas came around.  I could fathom eating any more and they just kept coming around.  We were trying to pack up and leave and they kept offering us more.  The kids caught on real quick.  One or two bites of the "good for you" pizza.  They had lots of room for finishing off the dessert pizza slices.....

Some kind of chocolaty pizza with sprinkles

 Skittles + marshmallows

1/2 skittle ~ 1/2 Oreo

Reese's Peanut Butter pieces + Peanut Butter + Choc Chips
M and M's + Peanut Butter

This is what was left when we finally were able to slip out.

 The Man ate almost his whole pizza! 

 I don't think he has ever eaten that much pizza before in one sitting.

 Check out the salad in the upper right had corner.
Fun Girl discovered the dessert pizzas and forgot all about her salad.

Once home, I showed Big O Daddy O our trip pictures.  I had only showed him 2 from Pizza Doctor and he started to go into shock.  Carbs, Sugar, Blood Sugar Nightmares were all he could think of while looking at the pictures.  I was laughing over all the choices.  

Spaghetti, Macaroni and Cheese
Cheeseburger
Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo
Seafood
When we got to the dessert pizzas he thought I had really lost my mind.  Couldn't believe I actually let the children eat all of it.  

Guess I am cooler than him as a parent.  

Ha Ha 

When I got to this picture of The Man later in the night,

he wasn't surprised. 

"Drop in blood sugar," he said.

I think it was just a really fun day!