what a beautiful mess

I'm tired of it. Emily's been throwing up all day today. It's only a matter of time till the rest of the house gets the same thing. And we've had someone in our house sick, it seems like constantly, for the last month. I keep a clean house but now I'm going a tad bit overboard. Lysol on every surface, I use bleach to wipe down everything. Trevor got home tonight and was getting ready to pour his NyQuil but I thought I'd shake it up for him a bit. I shook it up all right...all over me. It got in my hair all over my clothes, the counter the floor... It just seems to be that kind of day. But on the bright side, I love The Killers. And Trevor and I are going to eat some chips and salsa and chill out for a bit. Good night.

But we call it our Christmas tree.  And we love it!  Merry Christmas!

and will be so mad when he finds out I added this to my blog.  One of the many reasons why I love him so much.

1. We had a great Thanksgiving. We ate lots of good food with family. My favorites dishes were...well just about everything. Trevor's homegrown turkey exceeded our expectations. 2. Candice and Quinn went home today. We will really miss those guys. Asa, Kyran, and Silas are so cute and have the funnest personalities. Asa and Kyran are complete opposites but they compliment each other perfectly. They are going to be great brothers for each other as they grow up.  Silas  Emily and Asa (he is so mischievous!)  Kyran (he loves food!) 3. We are sick again here. Oh well. It happens. Trevor just left to buy me cough medicine. He claims that he's doing it so that I don't hurt but maybe it's because coughing can be annoying to bystanders. (I know the former is true, by the way.) 4. We just ate Chilis chips and guac and salsa together. It is so so good and cleared my sinuses up for a time. (trevor looking goofy; me looking sick, and unkempt.) 5. Taylor S...

I've forgotten that I'm supposed to come here to my blog and write reviews for the books I read. I'm not sure how I forgot I just did.  Sometimes I'm flaky like that.   So...I am recommitting myself.  Starting now. The last book I read that sticks out in my mind is Fahrenheit 451. It was a good book. Although I do tend to like those dystopian style books.  It really made me appreciate the books I read, even if I don't always agree  with the content.  At least we have books available anytime to read.  It something I take for granted way too often.  Tonight I had the kids all pick out books for me to read to them.  How awful and sad would it be if the act of reading to ourselves and  to our children was taken away from us?  It's a life unimaginable to me.  So in light of my renewed commitment I'm reading this:  I'm only on page 34 but so far, so great . I really love...

Josh had a fever for four days. He slept a lot, cried some, let me hold him, and drank a lot of 7-up. The fever just broke last night but I kept him home from school again today just to be sure. I know how weak and tired you feel after having been sick for so long.  He fell asleep everywhere and followed me around a lot. But I am so glad he's feeling all better. After I took him to the doctor on Monday, I came home and cleaned everything. Hopefully that helps to keep everyone else healthy. And I'm going to buy a lot of orange juice and oranges...just as soon as it's no longer snowing buckets outside.

This past Saturday, we went shopping. And Trevor got some new pants! And this week Trevor is going to return those new pants. All he could say as we laughed and laughed is "why would anyone make skinny jeans for a size 38 waist?!?" But I'd say if anyone could pull them off though, it's him. Next time, he'll make sure to use the fitting room.

Sometimes as I go throughout my day; laundry, dishes, homework help, making beds...I wonder what will I do when I have a full eight hour day when no one needs me. Right now with Josh in Kindergarten I have about 3 hours and I fill that time up with plenty of things that have to be done. There is nothing in the whole world that I would rather be doing that what I have been doing for the last eleven years. I love being a mother and a wife more than anything. It fulfills me in ways that nothing else ever could. There are things that I want to do that are "just for me" things but they don't hold a candle to what actually occupies my mind, my thoughts and my whole self. Being here, at home with my family is where I'm supposed to be. This morning as I got mad at Emily for taking way too long of a shower, not properly combing her hair before school, and for a couple other things, I was silently getting mad at myself, knowing that it was my own inadequacies th...

It's been a sad, sad day in the Haslem household. All the pep and enthusiasm is gone. I think Carl's face says it all. He looks so sad and lost and bewildered. We still aren't sure how Romney lost the election. Yes, Obama had more votes but it just didn't seem as if it was going to end up that way. There were so many signs that pointed in Romneys favor. What is wrong with people?!? We now have plans to stockpile short term food, put a hand pump on our well, and whatever else we can do to prepare ourselves that we haven't done already. And try do a better job at doing what we've been doing to prepare our family for whatever lies ahead. For now, I'm going to go indulge in a slice of our celebratory cake (from last night which we ended up weeping into), drink a diet dr. pepper, and watch some Upstairs, Downstairs, and maybe Call the Midwife. Good night.