Just Another Manic Monday

What a long and crrrrrazy day....
Jake and his cousins didn't have school today, and of course Eric and Holly being in a different school district, they still had class so they were not too happy. This has happened a lot this year, it will be the worst in a few weeks when Jake has spring break for an entire week and Eric & Holly still have to go. I will be glad next fall when they are all in the same school, at least for that one year, and only a few blocks away not all the way acrossed town. 
 We went to look at a more fuel-efficient car for Adam and it was a ridiculous waste of time. I wasn't too happy with the salesman who was very insistent we fork over a giant down payment, sign the papers, and drive the car off the lot before we even discussed it privately or thought about it. And I was sooooo hungry, we had talked about fitting in time to go to Red Lobster for lunch before we had to pick up Jake, and all I could think about the entire time this guy was giving his car-selling schpeil was lobster nachos. (I guess Mabel could read my thoughts, because we're sitting there and my belly was jumping all over the place...)            The kids had a lot of fun learning how to shoot a pellet gun in the garage with adam while I was off bargain hunting at the grocery store, and by the time we got down putting some brats and chicken on the charcoal grill for supper, it was suddenly  8:00. Usually I like to have the kids settled in and relaxing for the night by 7:30, but things tend to get a little crazy when dad is home...  
         Thank god it's "Castle" night at least. We're not much for tv in the house, but it's my one can't-miss show every week! I hope Beckett and Castle make it out of that freezer...

Every day holds the possibility of a miracle...if my house stays clean for more than 24 hrs, I will definitely consider that miraculous

Holly just left for her big Daisy Scout Father/Daughter luau, she was so cute! Grandpa Timmer took her since dad is at work, I dont know which of them was more excited. She spent the morning going through all the bathroom drawers looking for lipgloss and necklaces, decided what "hair thing" she wanted...it made me think about her going to the Prom some day (I will MAKE her go, because I never went to mine), time goes by too fast~ soon we will be starting all over with Mabel :) So funny that she let me do her hair, because usually she is the kid with hair in her eyes and the dirtiest face you can ever imagine.
Adam is coming home this afternoon, should be interesting  because we have been engaging in a text-msg battle of What to Name the Baby for the last 3 days (actually for the last 7 months, but we're running out of time now so its getting heated.) We are not really going to name her Mabel, but I love how so many people said "awwww, that's such a cute name". Right lol. But you'd never give it to your own kid, I bet! I have suggested at least a hundred different names to him, and tried to compromise to find something we both like, but the other night I found a name that I am completely in love with, and Im not budging! Its been such a pain trying to pick a name that no one else in our giant families already has named their kid, isn't "too close", or someone's dog, etc, or is not number one on the list for the year. (sorry Jake :p) I don't know why it's so difficult, we never had a doubt what to name any of the other kids. Maybe because it will for sure be the last one. (FOR SURE-ahem. Someone in this house is getting something snipped. If I could get my tubes tied while I was still pregnant I would have already done it lol)
          At least if Alliannah Kate Geurden decides she doesnt like her name some day I can say "I wouldn't complain, we WERE going to name you Mabel...."

These are the days we will remember...

Really bummed to get some sad news yesterday. My great grandma passed away. She was 100 years old, I swear the woman was made of steel. She survived a broken hip in her late 90s, and had a heart attack last year but still made it to her 100th birthday. The kids unfortunately only met her one time, I am so glad to have those pictures. Holly put one of those pics on a family tree at school and told her teacher it was "the oldest lady in the world". At least she is with her husband and son now, and her little dog, Cheeko. I remember clear as day Cheeko being tied to her porch on a yellow rope when I was a kid, and every christmas gramma would bring the rolls and give you an envelope for christmas and your birthday with 5.00 in it. One year my brother got two envelopes and my grandpa got an empty one haha. 

The kids did a good job of keeping my mind off it though. Conversation at dinner last night was all about what certain foods do for you. I love this. Like for example, one time Jake asked me where ham comes from, and I told him it’s from a pig’s leg. Every single time the kid eats ham, without fail, he says “Mom, I know what part of the pig ham is”, and he points to his thigh. We had an interesting conversation about protein (If I eat my pork chop, will my muscles be bigger than Logans?), what peas are good for, (that one ended as “P” for poop. Nice lol), how milk goes into your bones, and they couldn’t decide if celery was good for anything or not. 

     Eric had decided this weekend he is going to start from the beginning and watch the entire seasons 1 and 2 of our Castle dvds, I guess we have made him a fan lol.  Ha this could keep him chained to the couch most of the wkend, and I really don’t even mind because the kid can never seem to stay in one place very long, just like his dad. He has to go to the shop, has to call grandma to pick him up, has to go search out his friend Bradley, wants to ride his bike to the grocery store in the middle of winter to get himself an iced tea. And this is all in one Saturday afternoon. He exhausts me, trying to keep him busy. And yet I try to get him into all kinds of after school activities and he’s not interested in anything yet. “Mom, I just want to ride my bike”.

Holly, on the other hand, she wants to play tee-ball,  soccer, and basketball lol. And Jake, well, that kid just wants to play golf HAHA!  He seriously likes to sit and watch golf on tv on Sundays,  and watching him mini-golf is the funniest thing ever.  He swings his club like he’s taking a long shot on the freeway. 

We might take in a movie at the cheap seats this afternoon. They’ve really wanted to see “Little Fockers” for awhile, but I tried to explain to them that it would probably be better if we waited for it to come out on dvd first so I could watch it. (I know, I know, I don’t know why they can’t just watch Disney movies. They used to be obsessed with Tommy Boy, because they loved the part where the deer comes back to life. Then I heard Holly and Jake having a tea party and Holly said “Now I’ll be Tommy and Jake you can be Richard”, so I had to put a stop to that. Then they were watching "Meet the Fockers" all the time, walking around saying "Snack pack for Little Jack" and "Focker, ouuuuuttt." I think today we will just stick to Yogi Bear! 

Adam called and woke me up bright and early this morning at 6:30 (I think he forgets there's an hour time difference, it was 7:30 there). He is taking the train from Michigan to Green Bay today, sometimes when he's laid over in GB I like to go up there and meet him for dinner, but we'll see how the weather holds out. (And the price of gas, ugh! It's 3.44/gallon in the UP already) Hopefully he will be home tomorrow night and be here for a few days again.

          A lady at the bank yesterday told me I reminded her of a mililtary wife, but those "military wives" deserve way more credit than me. At least if I really REALLY miss my husband (or go into labor early, hello Mabel you better stay in there!) he is only 2 1/2 hours away and not getting shot at by terrorists on the other side of the world. 
          Its been a supercrazy winter with Adam going back and forth between home and Michigan. I want to say you get used to it, but we don't, really, because there's no routine. This week he was home only on monday and had to leave to go back right away on Tuesday afternoon, the week before he was home 5 days.  For awhile I was going up by myself to see him on the wkends, but its really hard for me to drive that far now, and probably not that safe since I am hitting the 30 wks pregnant mark.           I cant imagine what the inside of the "Man Shack looks like right now, Adam is not exactly the kind of husband who tidies up after himself, and after 10 years I have given up that battle. He told me there were at least 3 Taco Bell bags rustling around in his bed somewhere, and he hasnt brought home any dirty laundry the last 2 trips. I know he misses us as much as we miss him, but  Im sure he has those moments as well where he enjoys the cable tv and peace and quiet of the shack lol. And no one to yell  at him to take his boots off at the door. The best part is that there is these great eccentric neighbors who bring him soup, pizza, sausage sticks, etc so I know between them and the Escanaba TB he isn't starving.
          Which brings me to his favorite question "Dont you do anything while I'm gone?" Oh gosh, REALLY? Lol. No the clothes just "jump" in and out of the washing machine and walk themselves to their drawers, the kids feed themselves (well sometimes haha, Eric really likes to cook, under supervision) and drive themselves around town. The groceries magically appear.  The kids have to get hauled back and forth to three different schools in 2 different districts, we have girl scouts, dance classes, Eric's days that he "works" at grandpa's shop, and all my doctors appts. Not to mention that my between my kids and the neighbor kids and cousins that all live nearby, someone is always running in and out. I find myself "head-counting" a lot.
           Sometimes I think Adam resents that I get to "stay home" with the kids while he is at work, even though I would hardly call it staying home. Just look at the mileage on my truck, I put 101,000 miles on that thing in 6 years...(I guess there was a disastrous trip him and I took to Nashville in there, and the Griswolds-like trip to Chattanooga with the kids, but that is still a LOT of miles!) I like to think I put in my share of outside of the home "work time", I worked full time from when Eric was 8 months old until Jake was 14 months old, and last year I killed myself working that overnight temp job at Nestle. Im looking forward to being home with the baby next year (and having only ONE baby at a time, good lord how did I ever manage all three of them?! Holly couldn't even walk yet when Jake was born and Eric was 4), poor lil girl she will probably be the most traveled baby around.
         I like to think we have come a really long way in 11 years, I like to imagine where I'd like to be when we hit 20, but they always say "if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans". (ps dont tell Adam I mentioned god, he once told someone he was "anti-christ", until I explained to him what it meant, and that he should say Athiest instead lol that is an entire different can of worms...)

I feel like Laura Ingalls in "The Long Winter"

Yay I have always wanted to start a blog and I am finally getting around to it. I thought this would be a great way for all of our family and friends to keep up with our daily coming and goings since we dont see all of you as much as we'd like. Also, sometimes the writer in me just liked to ramble and this gives me much more room than a little text box on facebook :) Stay tuned~