Summers Rock!

Sorry, but I did say that it might be a while between posts... Sorry about that. I will give you lots of pictures as compensation for the delay.

Life has been hectic and crazy lately- especially over the 4th of July weekend. I took Thursday off all to myself (OMG- you can do that?!?!)- I had a rough morning (WHINY King, Queen B split her head open and POURED her blood all over my concrete... you know- the usual trying to get out the door in the morning...), spent some time paying bills and balancing my checkbook (I love it- sick, I know...), and went to see Transformers 2 all by myself with my own popcorn laced with Milk Duds during the afternoon- it was GREAT, BTW...

Anyway- Friday, the whole fam damily (my Prince was given the day off by the hounds of hell his bosses- yay!) went swimming at City Park with some of my favoritest friends. No pictures though because my camera isn't waterproof. Maybe I'll post some pics if someone shares theirs... We got rained out, which turned out to be great, because we took the opportunity to go across the street to the park to play and have lunch, rode the train when it got sunny- which the King LOVED so very much, AND we got free passes for going back to the pool later this summer!! Win/Win!

Saturday- went to Civic Center Park for 4th of July stuff around lunch time (BORING and overpriced). No pictures because... well, I forgot my camera. What did I say? NO promises!! Barbeque that evening with some friends- fabulous time!


Some friends and my Prince gathered around the grill... It took all 4 of them... For Brats and hot dogs... LOL Just kidding, my Prince!


Queen A doing what a good 12 yr old does- playing her DS instead of being social...


My BFF, who chose to be rather piratey that day for some reason...


BFF's daughter with a big purple dragon facepainting... I had to use LOTS of makeup remover to get this off- AFTER her shower...


The King found Queen A's DS- look how excited he is about it! He knows it will be fun until she finds him- and OH the reaction he'll get when she does!!


Queen B worked on this masterpiece for quite a while- it was very colorful! And then, I turned around. And all of a sudden, the crayons were all over the floor...


We got rained out- i.e. we were not willing able to attempt attendance at the fireworks- but Queen B and the King were thrilled to put their sparkley 4th of July hats on and play in the water that pooled in the chairs. (Sorry for the dark picture- it was too cute, but I didn't want to leave the covered porch to take the picture- again, camera not waterproof...)


After the rain, we got a nice double rainbow display- I love rainbows. The first one was really bright, with a double to join it, which is just cool...

So THEN, after an awesome 3 days, and an awesome service by Jeff Lucas that morning, I went to an INDIGO GIRLS concert Sunday night at MISHAWAKA (SO AWESOME!!!):



with my BFF:

(This is the ONLY picture she will let me post! Lame...)


(Shhh- don't tell her- I liked this one too...)


(and this one, cuz we're silly like that- I love her so much!!)

While I was gone, the Queen B had an epic meltdown because her fingernail (smashed in a doorjam a month ago) finally fell off:

That was within days of The Smash. Thanks, Prince- for the picture! And for being such a wonderful daddy to all our little royalty...

AND THEN (YES- there's MORE!!), the kiddos and I went to Windsor Lake on Monday, which was SUPER fun- even the King's Froggy (His Highness' prized stuffed animal that goes positively EVERYWHERE with the King- a MUST for daycare and naptimes, and... well... most other places) took a dip. (Don't worry- He got kidnapped in the middle of the night for a washing...) No pictures because not only is my camera not waterproof, it is also not sandproof. Again, may add someone else's pics once I can steal them through the internets... We'll see- I may have forgotten moved on by then...



That was one more photo for good measure (too many?)- I just couldn't not add it. My little King is so good with his breathing treatments nowadays- he will finally hold the mask for himself and is even really stingy about it! They get to watch TV, and sometimes, the Queen B will 'help' her brother keep the mask on his face... It's bittersweet- I hate that he has to do this at all...

Anyway- that was just over the last 5 days- this whole summer has been NUTS like that!! Hope your summer has been just as awesome.

A wise woman once said that "since she isn't a 'spring chicken' anymore she must be in the summer of her life. And summers rock. :)" I couldn't agree more...

Princess P

Seize the moments...

I had a great day today!

It was full and tiring, but I had a great day- and the kiddos were great- which makes ALL the difference in the world!

Today was the first time in a long time- ever? maybe?- that I spent a weekday at home without Ashlyn from start to finish. I work from home on Mondays, and in the past, when she's with her dad for the weekend, I've either picked her up from her dad's on Sunday night or on the rare occassion, just picked her up Monday morning or Monday after school or whatever... So to be without her for the full day on a Monday without school is weird... I'm really stoked about her splitting the summer evenly between the houses- I can actually say that now- which is weird. And the week with her is really cool! But the week without her is kinda rough. I haven't seen or talked to her since dropping her off at Band Camp at 9 on Friday, and that is a big bummer......

SO. I decided to seize the day. The twins have started to take only one nap a day (...........................................*moment of silence*....................................................), but to push naptime off until it's closer to the middle of the day than to the earlier nap of 2 naps, they have to be pretty entertained. Which is fairly easy to do, and when done right, they are great. It's not a 'delaying the inevitable meltdown' type of situation. There's pretty much one rule- take them out of the house. Which is kind of nice, but kind of a pain at the same time. If I just want to hang out in my pajamas and chill in the living room with the toys and the kiddos all morning, it ends up being a LOT more difficult to entertain them, and the meltdowns are many...

SO- when we got all cleaned up after breakfast and dressed in street clothes, we went for a LONG walk filled with lots of fun. I walked from my house down to Sunflower Market, because I LOVE their produce and needed some fruit. For those of you that may not know- that's FAR pushing a stroller full of kids! Then I took the kids to the park, which was FAR in another direction completely, kiddos munching on grapes the whole way. Simon made sure to hand one back for me every so often- he's so darn cute... We had a blast at the park- Ellie enjoying the ample opportunity to people watch and Simon jumping and running everywhere- and about an hour and a half later, I completed the triangle and walked home. It was a long morning, but the kiddos were great, and we were all pooped after that! How I wish I could take one nap a day- or a week, actually! I'll settle for one a week!!!

After lunch, they napped and I got some work done- all through through a thunder and hail storm. My Prince got home shortly after I got Queen B and the King up and we all hung out in the living room- well, I was in the kitchen making food- and ate dinner before heading up to bath time. I decided to seize the day for what it was and make it something enjoyable. And it was a really fun day! Busy AND productive- I LOVE it when that happens. We even got 3 loads of laundry washed and dried! I'll fold it tomorrow...

I busied myself so that I wouldn't feel what's missing... And ended up having a great day with Simon and Ellie! So it worked! Mostly...

Princess P

707

That's how many pictures I'm downloading from my camera right now. SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVEN. I wanted to show a few cute pics of the kids lately. So in the middle of the night, I decided to go dig out the cord and get myself all hooked up. At which point, I realized: I haven't emptied my camera in over a year- WELL over a year. Much closer to a year and a half, actually. And with some of the most adorable and obnoxious kids in the entire world, we take lots of pictures. 707 over the course of about 18 months, to be precise. We're good about taking pictures, I promise! It's the getting them off the camera and into an e-mail or onto a website of some kind- that's the problem. I didn't realize it at the time, obviously, but while we thought we were doing ourselves a favor by having such a nice, big flash card, we were actually robbing you of actually seeing any of those pictures. "Now, I could have sworn I'd seen some pictures recently", you might say to yourself (or maybe you're pissed right now because you haven't- I'M SORRY!- keep reading...)- well- you can thank my MIL (mother-in-law) for that!! She is always SO awesome about downloading after every get-together and even uploading to WalGreens and sending out an e-mail. I, on the other hand, obviously suck at it.

So. For a while now, you may have been seeing mostly special event photos, since that's mostly when we see my MIL. At some point in the near future (hopefully- remember- no promises), you will see some every day life. Seriously- apparently, I don't even have time to get the pictures from my camera to my computer- which takes little effort on my part, obviously- a few clicks and some patience, really. But do you think I'm going to have time to organize them? LMAO... Maybe some othere night at 4 am... LOL But my kids are such goofballs, and we've got some really fun pics to share, so I'll just pick a few recent ones...

Okay- another disclaimer or two. I ramble a lot and in reference to my grammar post the other day, I am fully aware that I write in ridiculously long runon sentences. Because that's how I talk. I write like I talk, and I really have the 'gift of gab', one might say (my dad certainly never saw it as a 'gift'! LOL). Bue yes- I'm aware- I talk a LOT. Another disclaimer- I never said this would be interesting either- read at your own risk! If you're amused, GREAT- I aim to please! But really, this is just for me to share... Which makes a great transition:

Maybe this isn't really for me to share (contradictary, I know- I drive me nuts, too) as much as it is to purge... A diary of sorts. You may or may not have noticed the time. I've been up for quite a while tonight. Damn insomnia!!!! Seriously- I'm so over it. I don't have time for insomnia!! Each moment of sleep is so precious to me because there are cherished few of them, and I need every one and then some!!! But I have SO much going on up there *jabs at head maniacally with pointer finger*, and I just feel so overwhelmed with my life that I wake up at random times in the middle of the night and I just can't get back to sleep sometimes because it starts swirling around and keeps picking up momentum, no matter how much I try to shut it off... So maybe that's the real reason for starting a blog... Because I am overflowing up there and just need to let some out somehow. Tonight, my mind is swirling with thoughts of the club that I am the treasurer for and how behind I am (cuz I have time for that too! yeah!), which led to how I don't even have space in this house to keep the paperwork and equipment for the club stuff, which led to "How the HELL can we have FILLED this house as close to maximum capacity as we POSSIBLY could- with both things and people!- and have only lived here for 3 years??!?!" Seriously- how does that happen?? Anyway- my mind just starts to make lists and try to figure out how to make things actually happen. I mean- seriously- my twins are at the age where they have to be watched most moments of every day. Even an unwatched moment is watched from around the corner or down the hall, you know? So there's no "Well, we'll just borrow someone's truck and go out to the garage one day and just gut it out. Truck load after truck load, we'll just spend one whole day and just get stuff to the dump..." Honestly, the thought of doing that while chasing twins around just makes me start to look around for a paper bag to breath into... That's when I try to take a step back and look around and remind myself that someday, I'll be sad that there are no little people around to make my life this insane. That does sound insane, doesn't it? As really, really hard as this phase of our lives is, my Prince and I are having the time of our lives- parts are just insanely difficult, but parts are indescribably awesome and we know that we'll never get this back, so we're going to love it for every moment that it is- good and bad. Truly, I know in my heart that in my later years, I will appreciate OH SO MUCH MORE the feeling of walking into a room where I can see most of the floor and everything is not cluttered, but happily organized and RIGHT where it was when I saw the room last... It will be a bliss that I have not yet truly had the joy of experiencing in my life, but am patiently looking forward to. Patiently, because as I said, it will come soon enough, and I will forever cherish these moments, so I better live it up.

So- deep breaths, buckle down, battle helmets on (maybe I can ignore the clutter a little better if I get a helmet that kind of acts as blinders too...), and here we go. Maybe I should go make some coffee- tomorrow is going to be a doozy, and I've got a hot date with my Prince! Thanks for listening. Or maybe you gave up a long time ago, and you've already skipped past this to the cuteness. That's fine too! I feel like I might be able to go to sleep now, and that was my ultimate goal tonight anyway... :)

And now, here are some random rewards for your patience:

This is how cute my kids are- honestly! They love to sit and read! Hearing the word 'book' as a an early regular makes me feel like I must be doing some things right!

This was an attempt at a posed picture at the Butterfly Pavilion... So close... We're just not there yet...

How can you not LOVE this boy?? He's SO adorable! This was him making the best of his stay at the hospital- he was just kicking it with his toys and his record breaking cartoon marathon while chained to the wall with an oxygen tube.

Seriously- she's creepy sometimes- I worry about her plans to dominate the world. She and Simon are definitely a Pinky & the Brain of sorts...

And now a nap before the kids get up... Deep breaths...

Princess P

Already?!?!

I started this blog less than an hour ago, and you're already going to get a glimpse into the conundrum that is me... I just wanted to say right up front that I HATE poor grammar, spelling, etc. BUT, I'm 32, do not have a college degree, and have lost half of my brain cells between my crazy kids and hectic job... The other half were questionable to begin with, but I'm doing the best I can (tee hee- 4 glasses of wine in to the evening...). I use a lot of ellipses and run on sentences and onomatopoeias, and I'm okay with that. As long as its fairly proper and is still able to convey what's really in my head, you know??

I guess I just wanted to let you know that I will always do my best to use proper spelling and grammar... Mostly... I will never say things like "U R a Q-T!"- I HATE that shit. I even use proper full words and sentences when texting- if that ends up using 2 instead of 1 text, I'm sorry! Even my mom uses Text Talk though- crazy, right?? It is EVERYWHERE these days... (If you read this- Sorry Mom- I do understand the time saving value...)

I hate the words 'ain't' and 'supposably' just because they became acceptable just because people didn't know better than to use them... I hate that 'its' and it's' follow opposite rules than any other possessive nouns/pronouns... I can't stand when people don't use proper spelling or grammar or sentence structure when writing a business e-mail. That one really gets me. Don't you dare type the words "nip it in the butt" or something equivilent. I WILL make fun of you... And depending on how bad it is, I may not even read your e-mail! That's right- I will just straight delete it! And yes, I'm aware that NO sentence should ever start with 'and'...

Having said all of that, I have to give a reason for the title of my blog... I do use the word 'cuz'. I never said there was any consistency to my fondness for the rules. Just that I am fond of them... I guess the reason that I am okay with the word 'cuz' is because I actually use it in real life... And you might say that 'ain't' and 'supposably' fall under the same rules, but they do NOT! They were only used originally out of ignorance. 'Cuz' is a word that's acceptable in society in normal conversation... That's my story, and I'm sticking to it...

BTW- (oh yeah, I also use those sometimes- but mostly because I'm lazy- FYI, IMO, all of them...) Has anyone tried Pandora? I know I'm a little slow, but I used it for the first time today and it is SO awesome!

Princess P

Well, here I am...

I have no idea why I think this is a good idea... I don't have time to call my friends, let alone write a blog. But I've had it in the back of my mind for a while now, and for some reason, I've decided to take the time to start one tonight. Maybe it's the consistent stress level with no real outlet, maybe it's the 2 or 3 glasses of wine I've had tonight, maybe it's the fact that I'm dinking around bored on the internet while Prince P plays video games... Who knows? But- Here I am...

So- I'm going to lay out a few disclaimers:

1- Be patient with me. I might not update this very frequently. I have twin toddlers, a FULL time job, a husband, and a daughter starting middle school this year. I might update 3 times in one day and then not at all for a couple of months. It could really happen...

2- I like God and He likes me. I might talk about Him a lot or I might not. I might praise Him sometimes, and it might seem like we have issuess sometimes, but I've asked Him to join me in this crazy thing called life, and He's graciously agreed. I might talk about my relationship with Him sometimes. If you can't handle that, don't read...

3- On the flip side, I might cuss sometimes. I don't know why, but I'm a cusser, and I'm okay with that. Do you know of ANY other word that has as many uses and meaning as the F word?? I think not. Anyway- again, if you can't handle that, don't read...

Those are my only disclaimers... I have a lot going on in my life, and I'd love the chance to share. If anyone cares to hear, that's great! I'm hoping that this place can be one spot for me to connect with those that might want to catch up on what's going on for the Parmenter 5 in this crazy world. It's a bumpy ride, and I'm never quite sure where we're going, but we're in it together, we have a Cruise Director, and we have had some great fun along the way, so I'm stoked to be starting this blog to share with those that we love and anyone else that cares to read... I am hoping this goes somewhere- more than just a diary for me, maybe? Who knows- it's bound to be theraputic any way... LOL

Princess P