Take That History Class!!!

I got a 91% on my history test! You know, that one where I didn't study, sat with the text on my lap for the multiple choice & true/false portion of the test, and then made up responses for the short-answer part. I couldn't be more excited. Bottle up some more elation over here!

Why so very, very excited? Well, first let me start off by saying that of the 49 people that took this test, only 2 got over 90%. Two. I was one of those 2. So that is a huge part of it. And only five people were in the 80% range. People just didn't do well on this test.

I should also add that this teacher is either very excited about the subject matter (US History from the start of colonization to the Civil War) or seems to think that an online class requires mountains of work to make up for the lack of classroom time. My reasoning:

• We have 3 assigned texts/books. We get to choose the 4th, an autobiography, ourselves. According to this man, 4 credits means 4 books.
• In the first five weeks of class, we have already had 18 quizzes. Yes, you read that right, 18 quizzes. His estimate is that when the semester ends, we'll have had roughly around 50 quizzes.
• The teacher loves nothing more than piling on an assortment of assignments. Example: last week we had 3 quizzes, a paper, and a discussion topic that needed 4 posts with 2 before Sunday. Add this to the fact that we had a test on Monday. Nevermind that I also have 3 other classes and a life to live.

Anyway, I am super pumped to have done so well. In fact, I might even start trying harder to bump my now high-B to an A. Who'd have thought a class I was practically getting a C in just a week or so ago would now actually have me excited? Take that history man!

Manic Monday & Tranquil Tuesday

Monday used to be my favorite day of the week. After generally fun and somewhat relaxing weekends, Jake would return to work and Ellie to school and I would have a day to get order restored to the house. Laundry would get finished and put away, floors would get picked up and cleaned, a sense of rejuvenation would fill our house.

Now Monday has become our craziest day of the week. Ava and Carter have preschool, which starts at 9:30. We have to leave within 15 mintues of getting Ellie out the door to the bus. While generally manageable, I am currently spending the entire time the twins are at school in a school myself. My education class requires 25 hours of field experience and the only day I don't have kids is Monday. So I've now added that to the mix and will continue juggling it until early November. This requires me being showered and presentable, so add that in there as well. Then of course there is my night class on Monday nights. We get home from preschool around 2, I put the kids down for a nap and then I have to leave again around 5:30 for class. Monday is no longer the day to restore my house. It is the day my house looks like this:

Yesterday (a Monday) I was practically in tears with the stress levels I was feeling. On top of preschool, field experience, and class, I also had a test to take for my online history class. We had any time from 6 am - midnight to take the two parts of the test. I should also add that this is not a class I am doing as great as I'd like (ok, I'm getting a B but for those that know me well, that is just not acceptable), so the pressure was on to do well on the test. My mother's of muliples group had its semi-annual sale this past weekend and I was not home from noon-11 Friday and 6 am-6 pm Saturday. So my other homework, including the math due last night, was building up as well. To say I was in panic mode would be an understatement.

However, I perservered. As things kept getting ticked off the to-do list, I felt better about the day. The twins went right down for nap and I was able to focus on my test. I even managed to pull off an 88% on the first part, with no studying whatsoever!! (for the record, consulting the textbook on my lap for almost every question does not count) I also managed to get the math assignment completed before class. As soon as I got home at 9:30 last night, I sat down to do the second part of the exam. I don't have a grade yet, but as it was short answer and I am the master of b.s.-ing my way through tests like that, I'm confident I at least pulled off another B.

The feelings of euphoria that I felt last night when I realized I survived this day from hell can not be put into words. So now we are on to Tranquil Tuesday. The kids even caught the mood of the day.

Carter spent the morning chilling on the couch watching Dora. I finished up the homework that had a deadline of today. I've mapped out the homework plan for the rest of the week and have a very manageable timeline laid out. I've semi-picked up the house and will attack the floors tonight. I've got a book that is not school related to chill with just as soon as I finish this post. Unfortunately, Ava seems to still have some homework as she keeps saying, so hopefully she will get it done soon so she can join Carter and me in our tranquility.

Laundry is not only washed, but folded and put away. I couldn't feel more euphoric with everything at this point. Since Thursday, I have been stressed with everything I've had going on. I finally feel caught up. I have also come to the conclusion that euphoria is probably the most potent drug out there. If I could bottle it up and sell it, I would make a fortune. I have been on cloud 9 all day.

And now I am off to enjoy my new favorite day of the week: Tranquil Tuesday.

Party Hats and Bathtub Parties

Do you like my party hat? I loved it. I didn't want to take it off and I ran around making sure everyone else had their party hats on too.


What was the reason for the party hat? A belated birthday celebration for Olivia, who is now 1! Papa surprised us and flew Olivia and Holly up for the weekend. We were further surprised when Joel flew himself up for the weekend to join the festivities as well. Here we all are modeling the awesome party hats before the party started. It was also Tony's birthday the next day, so we got to do twice the celebrating!

As you can see, Ava would not wear a party hat. She didn't seem to grasp the importance of wearing the party hat for the party. She did like the balloons though so I guess she isn't a total party pooper.
After some yummy cake, we got to take a bath with Olivia! It was so much fun! I got to show her all the fun things I do in the tub. She was impressed. I couldn't sit close enough to her while she played. She did do a lot of splashing, so I did keep some space.

Since I wanted to show her all the fun things you can do in the tub, I had to show her my new favorite thing. I like to stick my face in the water and pretend I'm a baby hippo. She was impressed.

We had a great time seeing Olivia. She is all I've been talking about all week. She can walk now and even gave us all hugs. I might have gotten a little too intense for her a few times and accidentally pushed her down, but I can't help that when I'm a head and a half taller. She's just so cute and I have to get in her face to tell her that!

I can't wait to see them again at Christmas!

Love, Carter

Finito's Latest Photo Shoot

Finito had his/her latest photo shoot this morning. I held strong and did not find out the gender. The surprise when the baby is born will be well worth it. When the tech told me to look away because she had to do measurements in the lower region and I might see something I didn't want to see, I not only turned my head but squeezed my eyes shut tight too so I wouldn't be tempted to look! Jake was unable to join me as no one could watch the kids for us and it just felt like it would be wrong to find out if he couldn't be there with me. But as I already said, the surprise will be well worth it in the end! I need something to look forward to after the ordeal of giving birth to this baby!

Anyway, here's little Finito:

Note: the ball shaped thing right above its nose is its fist. He/she spent much of the ultrasound with this arm draped over its head. I imagine it felt inconvenienced by the prodding from the ultrasound as it was not a cooperative baby! It already appears that Finito will fit in perfectly with our crew of dramatic children!

A little wave for the adoring fans

The feet. Please note the width. Kid's gonna have feet as wide as Carter's.

Darn Jake and his extra wide feet!

I'm Generally Right

I'm not someone who likes to bask in my glory and revel when I am right or do something perfectly awesome. I prefer a more modest and humble approach to life. I don't want people to feel bad when I am better than them at anything.

Ah, who am I kidding?! I imagine my parents had a good laugh reading that though! I love when I am right about something and I have a hard time NOT rubbing your nose in it. I have always viewed myself as someone superior and all-knowing. Humble? What's that? The closest I've come to that word is in a book I read as a child about a pig and a spider.

I married a man who also has a hard time admitting when he is wrong, but when he is right, damn straight you are going to hear all about it! In fact, I remember that being one of the central topics in our premartial counseling with Pastor Meg. She had to keep reminding us that marriage is not a competition. We don't have to constantly one-up each other. And we've gotten much better at it. Although both competitive people by nature, we have learned to work together. Most importantly, we've learned not to rub it in the other's face when one of us is right.

Most of the time that is. Every now and then, I have to remind Jake that I really am the superior being in our relationship. Today was the perfect example. Ever since it was determined that Ellie would need glasses, I have argued with Jake that we should add vision insurance to our health plan. In order to get my point across last year, I decided to also schedule my eye exam that I do about every two years. I topped this off by buying a year's supply of contacts. Added to Ellie's new glasses last year and several visits for a slight issue, I was finally able to get my point across. I never did say I play fair!

So we added the vision insurance. And about every other month or so when Jake actually looks at his pay stubs, I hear all about the unnecessary evil of vision insurance. I knew my day to prove my superior knowledge would come, so I've just nodded and walked away. I know how to play my cards.

Today I was able to prove the value of the vision insurance. One child eye exam and a purple pair of glasses that come with a lifetime warranty later, the value has been realized. What would have ended up costing me $290 for all of the aforementioned items is a paltry $65. Granted we pay every two weeks for the vision insurance but the cost of that is definitely less than the difference between the two costs.

I do so love when I am right. I did keep the gloating to a minimum and only mentioned my great foresight and planning twice. I'll bring it up again in a week when we get the new glasses and then I will let it go. But let my little mental scoreboard show another point for me! Just call me Alissa the Great!

Red Rabbits

Today was Ava and Carter's first day of Kids Peace Time, the Mom's Day Out/preschool program I found for them. Normally they will be there from 9:30-2, but since today was the first day, class only lasted until 12:30. They are in the Red Rabbits classroom, which I am guessing is for kids around 2 years old. Although they try to tell me that they didn't have fun, I don't believe them. They were very excited to tell me all they did on the way home.

Ava refused to stand so I could get a nice picture of both of them with their lunch bags.

This is why I don't believe their claims that they didn't have fun. I caught them playing!

It was interesting to be away from them. I don't get many moments of freedom or when I do, the moments tend to be at night, when I am either at my wit's end and take off for an errand or when I have class or meetings for my multiples group. I spent the three hours wondering what to do with myself. There were a couple instances were I even contemplated crying because it was so weird to be away from them and not have to chase them around everywhere I went. (For the record, I chalk this up to hormones more than actual despair!)

It won't be like this every week since I have some things to do for school that will require me using that time to its full potential, but it was definitely an out-of-water experience! I did find a used maternity shop and bought some more clothes for me (no kangaroo pants though), a used bookstore where I just about rounded out my hardcover Harry Potter collection, ran into JoAnn Fabrics looking for cow-print fabric (no luck), and had lunch at Panera Bread where I finished the novel for my Children's Lit class. So all in all, a successful morning for us all!

My Little Prepsters

Yesterday when attempting to get Ava and Carter into actual clothing, they both decided that they wanted to wear khaki pants instead of sweats or jeans. I found each a cute shirt to go with and thought that the two could have come straight out of a Gap ad. I felt some remorse that they were wearing these cute, adorable outfits on Thursday when the only thing on the agenda was a trip to the gym instead of on Friday, when there was to be an open house at the preschool/Mom's Day Out program they start next week.

Turns out the kids are smarter or at least have better intuition than me. When checking the website for the times of the open house this morning to make sure we would be on time, I realized that the open house was actually yesterday. So the kids could have been dressed cute for meeting their teacher and seeing their "school" if only their mother would have written down the right date. Thank goodness that the first day is only a half day since there will be no familiarity with the place.

Just when I thought I was finally starting to get life back in order...........

1st Day of School!

Hooray! The first day of school is here! Ellie was very excited to get back to school and to wear all her new school clothes. She has already decided what she will wear each day this week.

Waiting for the bus with her neighborhood friends

I can't wait to hear about her day when she gets home this afternoon. She has several friends from last year in her class so she should have a fun year.

Hair Cuts

For what I think is the first time ever, all 5 of us needed haircuts at the same time. Luckily I'm a coupon collector and I had 4 coupons for Great Clips and one coupon for Fantastic Sam's. Jake went to get his hair cut last weekend. Today I decided to schlep all three munchkins to get their haircuts done. This was in fact an ingenious idea because we had the place to ourselves. Weekends are usually nuts and I think whenever a child needs a trim again, we will be going during the week.

All three look nice and refreshed with a new trim. And of course, all three got suckers at the end of their haircuts. In fact, that was all Ava and Carter talked about during their cuts. They all look so cute and ready for fall!

Tomorrow I am off to get my haircut. I decided I'd much rather fly solo and enjoy some time by myself. But by the end of tomorrow, we will all be sporting fresh looks. Hopefully it will be another year or more before we all end up at this point at the same time again!

Domestic Diva

August was a weird month for me. I got bitten by this bug called productivity. I started making things from scratch. I don't know if this is very early nesting or I was just really bored, but here are some of the fruits of my labor:

Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup

Still working out the spices, was lacking something

Ava wanted cookies but as I didn't have chocolate chips, oatmeal, or enough peanut butter to make any type I'd prefer, we cracked out a cookbook and whipped up some homemade brownies. Delicious. The following week, I made a crazy cake. Thankfully I only put on three pounds the month of August!

I found a pattern for an adorable pillowcase dress for the girls on Etsy. Here is my efforts at making the first model. I will post photos of the second round of dresses. The first dresses are a little rough :)


I made a roast with potatoes and carrots.
Then I decided to one-up myself and make a gravy.
It was THE BEST GRAVY I have ever tasted!
It even beat out Grandma Jackie's and if you know Grandma Jackie, you know she makes a mean gravy. I might just be able to give her a run for her money!


I capped off the month by making some homemade french fries. We were grilling burgers and didn't have any fries in the freezer. Knowing how awesome I've been at whipping stuff up lately, I decided to try making homemade fries. Wow! I will never buy frozen fries again! It was so simple and they tasted delicious. I'm really on to something here....

August really helped me channel my inner creativity. I'm thinking September is going to involve making my own applesauce. It may never be as delicious as Grandma Mary's (need to have those special apples from her tree that make the applesauce pink!) but I'm going to give it a whirl. We'll see what else I can come up with. At least one Halloween costume is on the docket as well. Ava will be able to wear an old one of Ellie's but I will have to make Carter's half of the costume. I'm not spilling the beans on what they will be but be prepared for major cuteness!

Well off to see what else I can come up with for creative projects. I'm finally finding my groove and leaving the fog of being consumed by these children!