TurnBack Tuesday

All of my pictures have been lost due to some really stupid things I have done.. yes that's right unless someone saved it to FB or has it on file elsewhere.. all I have are current pictures of my kids... A recent call to the family for some baby pictures of Blond Girl got me these... 

Isn't she just too cute? 

  yeah.. she certainly has something on her mind.. or in her diaper.. *grins* I am liking my arms in the background though.. I want those arms again..

I love Hospital baby pics.. you can't fancy em up..

 Blond Girl's first Easter.. I have had problems getting her into a hat since..

 What a ragamuffin...

 Not that you can tell but she really was a happy baby

This is my fav.. too bad it is out of focus

What passes for Scintilizing Conversation

So it's the day after Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring (unless it's that louse)

Seriously, after a reasonably good Christmas was I a fool to think that they could get along? Today the conversation went something like this

hand me the paper?

the what?

the paper....

oh..... (nothing gets handed)

(in a louder voice) HAND ME THE PAPER (remember we are living in a one room hotel right now so how far away could it be?)

the what?

THE PAPER.....

(in a near scream) HAND ME THE PAPER... oh NEVER MIND You are so fricken lazy... (gets up moves three inches gets the paper)

oh you wanted the paper?

yeah, I asked for the paper...

did not

did so

did not

did soo............ etc....

oh yeah.. have I mentioned they are 17 and 18???

sheesh...

Hope your holidays are as happy as mine...

Standing Together

What I consider my greatest accomplishment is the fact that my children stand together. Oh, they bicker and badger and oft times dream of how to destroy the other but in general when life gets hard, they stand as a unit.

When they were children, I used to jokingly say my children run as a pack. It was a joke but in many ways, true. Oh, they have their own friends and their own interests but when push comes to shove..

I do laugh at times when they find themselves in this situation, they sorta look at me like, how did this happen? It pretty much tickles me.

Being close in age (way to close I sometimes think) their friends overlap and many of their interests do as well. Because they are such unique individuals they stand alone very often, they will be off doing something interesting, then have to stop and rush to the defense of a sibling. Often confusing the individual they are defending them from.. Almost always they wonder why? They actually have to be told that my children are siblings.. Which is an entire other post...

One Banana, Two Banana, Three Banana, Four

When I was a kid there was a saturday morning cartoon show called the Banana Split Show, not to even remotely be confused with Bananas in Pajamas.. This show was a mass of insanity, skits and cartoons. Really there was absolutely no educational value to it at all. It was just plain fun.. But these Bananas were insane..

Today I feel like a Banana..

Hey, Four teenagers.. (So he's 20 teenagers works better), one room, winter break... oh man.. forget locking them in the closet... I am going in.. please push water and food under the door.. and come and check on me after the 7th.

No Really Mom, I don't use the Tweezers

Over the years I must have spent thousands of dollars on tweezers. Now if I keep those tweezers hidden in a purse or some such place I have a chance of finding them the next time I may need a pair. If I leave them in the bathroom, in the drawer, medicine chest whatever or if I leave them on my dresser they disappear.

Of course then the ones hiding in my purse manage to disappear also. I have tried to fix this by purchasing cheap ones and keeping them in the bathroom and purchasing a good pair to keep in my purse.. but still they go a wandering. Now if my children had ever claimed to use the tweezers this would make sense. But according to them I am the only one who uses them. Hmmmmmm now how does that work?

This also applies to clippers, manicure items or any other small small grooming item. I suppose the elves not only come and clean at night (yeah right) but now they take small shiny bathroom grooming tools as payment.

Seasons Greetings

One has to wonder sometimes at the realities of High School. How is it one expects a child to prepare for finals when she is missing 4 days out of 5 in choir obligations. Yes they are fun but there should be some discretion they must take the time to really understand what they are asking of these students. Yes when a student signs up he/she accepts that this will happen so of course as the time nears he/she must fulfill his/her obligations but it also means that the school needs to be reasonable.

Christmas Holidays are coming.. that means they will all be home more often not less.. I may be have to reconsider the entire four kids thing. Shudders.. ok so I am joking about the kid thing, not the shudder part. Honestly I have to get out of this place soon...

The really funny part is I actually like my kids.. omg, can any of you even tell?

I am Proud to Say I Still Have Four Kids

As I mentioned in my title, I am proud to say I still have four kids.. I have somehow managed not to clobber any of them. Although it was close for a while there.. Today I asked Cori to go to the Post Office and call me when he got there.. of course he didnt.. he came home instead. So once he came home it was then too late for me to do what I needed to do and now it will cost me over 35.00. I know a paltry sum but had he listened really listened it wouldnt have happened. Then when he got home Frankie decided it would be great fun to egg him on. So she just encouraged him until she got bored.. then they started to bicker..

Now these two are gifted bickerers.. I swear they can spend hours arguing about something they actually agree upon. Cori is my child the most like me and Frankie is the one most like my mom.. so of course they are the two most likely to drive me insane. I found out tonight that as children they actually had planned to spend their entire lives together. They had planned their homes to connect via the basement and will happily spend the rest of their lives driving the world insane.. and yes this is a very real possibility. Of all my children they have always been the closest.. in some ways one person.

Cori is a bit immature and flighty, artistic and goofy.. Frankie is too mature, logical and grounded. they are a mere 20 months apart so the maturity level evens things out quite well. When they were little Cori had no problem spending time playing dolls and Frankie would drag out the tonka trucks.. they could play for hours until the fighting started. Then they could fight for hours. As you can see nothing has changed. Except the irksomeness of their fighting has gotten worse...

Enough to drive a mother insane... but for today I abstained.. they live

Holiday Traditions

Each family has traditions unique to themselves and their heritage. In our house we have managed to combine traditions, create our own and just have some great memories. As I have stated before one of our family traditions is going to the movies on Christmas day, I hope we can manage that this year it is a fun time.

Another thing my kids have always done is slept in the same room Christmas Eve, now of course this year that is not going to be an issue but... over the years it has become a fun tradition.. because yes teenagers that they are they will trudge into a room to be together and watch movies.. knowing that they can not come out until 7am.. If they come out before that Santa may not have been there and they will miss their chance because Santa only comes when children are asleep.. Hey it worked.

Of course this started when they were little and I was trying to put presents together or figure things out late at night.. invariably I would fall asleep and around 6am get myself up and get everything finished in time. And really does it matter? somehow I have managed to make sure my kids do not wake up until 7am on Christmas morning.. what a gift

A Mother's Heart

What can I say, I have been graced with the brightest stars to ever dance in the skies.. and they come to my house to roust at night.

They are wild and wonderful, cranky and creative, funloving and horrid. They are unique individuals that I take great pride in...

If my four children were told to go in a cave and learn algebra...
JR would go in the cave, drag a few of his friends in and figure out how algebra equated to everyday life and how they could use it to have a good time.

Cori would look at the math.. and paint the walls

Frankie would look up and say.. you want me to learn algebra? I need a teacher, a book, a desk, a lamp, a window and Cori dammit go paint outside.

and Remi darling Remi would look up and say.. What no closet space?

Aren't you glad you didn't have to teach them?

I Have No More Blondes

my baby my beautiful blue eyed blonde, my daughter that makes malibu barbie look ugly, my gorgeous Rem, today decided to die her hair a deep true mahogany. Don't get me wrong it looks great, she has lovely hair, thick and long.. You know the kind of hair the rest of the world pays hundreds of dollars to fabricate?

So we went looking for jeans, I took Frankie shopping for jeans.. did you know WalMart doesn't sell skinny jeans? We left with, under garments, a winter jacket, a funky towel thing for her to prance around it.. but no jeans.. oh the angst...

A bribe is still a good thing. My Cori, constantly talks.. i swear he is the only person on the face of the earth who talks more than i do.. wait twice, no three times as much as i do.. today i just couldn't take it.. so i bribed him.. go out.. leave.. have lunch on me.. just go.... it worked.. for an hour.. then he came home.. darnit

JR is speaking to me again. Not sure why, and am equally sure it wont last but I do so enjoy the conversations..

Season's Over

Finally officially girls swim season is over. This year has been one of the hardest seasons ever, I was basically banned from the meets by the blond one. For those that know me, they know I religiously support my kids I attend functions enjoy their activities and basically embarrass the crap out of them. Then on the other hand ignore me (unless the need money) are rude to me (unless they need money) and tell their friends that they are adopted (unless they need money). But this year I honored the child's request and did not go to many meets she swore she swam better when I was not there.

So the banquet comes along and I have no clue who half of these girls are, have no clue what they have accomplished and for the most part feel out of sync.. you know like a normal parent. Next year I am going to the meets, times be damned..

For the first year Frankie did not win a team award, which was ok as she was injured initially and never quite mentally made it back to the team. But next year is her senior year and she may give up swimming after that. As much as it upsets me she may actually not swim in college. What a waste she has such potential let a serious coach get his/her hands on Frankie for a couple of years and this girl will fly.. she already is power in the water..

And Rem, well she finally took swimming seriously, no longer is she just the one who looks cute in a suit..

years ago.. I commented if I could combine my kids I would have an Olympic Swimmer.. JR is a thinking swimmer, Cori has heart and Frankie has tons of natural talent.. and there is my Olympic Swimmer.. throw in Rem and you have an Olympic Swimmer on the cover of Sports Illustrated..

Contrary Creatures

Before I started writing my blogs, my kids had interesting creative fun lives.. since I have started they all turned into poo heads..

Oh well going back into the annuls of my mind then

Back when I was pregnant with Remi, my oldest three being the uniquely clever beasties that they were set out once again to drive me insane. Let me get this clear for years they had one name.. JRCORIFRANKIE.... yelled over and over again. this time here they were, supposedly playing safely in the backyard. I look out the window and there they were perched high atop the landlords RV.. 5, 4 and 2. I must tell you it totally scared the beejeebers out of me. I rushed from the house (an attractive site as I was 3 years preggers and Remi ended up arriving at 10lb 3 oz) bellowing for them to get down now. Of course they froze and were suddenly stuck up there and I had to climb up and help them down. Still not sure if they were safer on top of the thing or having me "help" them down.

I am eternally grateful that A) none of them seem to remember this and B) there were no cameras around.

Saturday Morning Wake Up

Remember those lovely days.. when we could sleep in, enjoy the moment? Oh Saturday the day when life just took a morning off.. and then we had kids..

Now I always figured that with the onset of the teenage years they would have that deepest desire to sleep in, to lounge the day away.. yeah hasn't happened yet.

Let's see there is JR off to work, alarm blaring, phone ringing (and yes the residents of the next town can hear this ring)

then there is Cori, oh come on just because you are awake does not mean that I need to be...

Frankie.. well this girl gets up at 4:30 in the morning because she likes it.. so when she and Cori are both up.. it is what is the word I am looking for.. oh yeah explosive.

And finally Remi, now that girl can sleep.. of course she is the one who always seems to HAVE to be somewhere on Saturday mornings.. and I spend an hour or two just waking her up..

I know they will be gone soon enough.. I am thinking of getting an RV and traveling about the country.. yes to see it but also well to escape the mommy ritual.

Make a Joyful Noise

My children, all four of them, inherited a great gift from their father.. They have a love and talent for music. Now don't get me wrong, I was a member of some pretty great choirs back in the day.. First Family Living Branches under Richard Crain, Granada Junior High Choir under James Armstrong.. Whittier Christian High School under Mrs. Smith.. all three of these choirs were fabulous with amazing directors who had a real skill and talent..but me, I sang in the choir. Now the Lill family is an astounding group of individuals that have talent.. they can sing, they can play instruments, they can dance... and I am thrilled that each of my children have inherited at least some small part BUT......

Do we have to have the BIGGEST instruments? lets see we have a Tuba, Bari-Sax, Bass Trombone, Trombone, Alto Sax, Bass Guitar, and Acoustic Guitar.. and that is just what is being played currently. Did I mention we live in a hotel right now?

Lets see JR the true musician plays.. The Tuba, The bass Trombone, Trombone, Alto-Sax, Bari-Sax, Bass Guitar, Electric Guitar and Acoustic Guitar.

Cori plays the Trombone.. and sings in a beautiful tenor.. CONSTANTLY

Frankie plays the Alto-Sax and the Bari-Sax.. she also has a stellar Mae West/Kathleen Turner Voice with perfect pitch but wont sing..

and Rem.. she plays, the Tuba, The Trumpet and the Bass Trombone.. she also has a gorgeous contralto that can belt out a torch song like there is no tomorrow.

and me I play the radio...

Worth FIghting For

So it is veterans day.. and there are so many who are serving now, who have come before them. Who have laid down their lives, given their souls.. some for glory and some returning to scorn. Some get a better life out of it and some are destroyed by it. and yet there are those who continue to serve.

I wanted to say thank you.. but I wanted to say it in the only way i could.. because for me.. this is what is worth fighting for.

Mondays

Oh how I live for that moment when they are off..

that moment of silence when there is no one home and I can dance around the room..

Pure bliss never had such meaning..

And then what do I do? I start thinking of ways I can make their lives better.. How sweet they are what good kids they are.. hello did anyone read my last blog?

what is it exactly about mothers? are we masochists? well yeah I suppose we are.. because we get years of abuse for mere moments of love and we treasure those moments we bring them out and display them for all to see..

shaking my head and wondering..

Another Weekend In Captivity

Want to know the worst part about living in a hotel room with 4 teenagers? Living in a hotel room with 4 teenagers.

Seriously, there is no place to send them.. no place to hide. You can't go into the bathroom, they may need it. One can only wander the halls for so long before you start getting funny looks. And private phone calls? Yeah like that is going to happen. For some reason they revert to toddlers, I am on the phone and they want my attention. I thought they had outgrown that.

Or my favorite is when they are not fighting.. when they are just having fun.. there is no room for fun here!! sheesh.. the oldest plays the guitar.. so he has to practice.. the youngest plays the tuba.. thank goodness she has decided to practice as she can at school. Homework? where is there room for that? Time schedules? no one is on the same one so I find I am now up all night just to have private time.

Don't get me wrong, I am the reason we got stuck here.. but even when things are good in here. they are insane..

Thank God I almost like them all