Santa Has Left the Building

Well, Christmas has come and gone. My children were blessed with many awesome gifts and Acacia fell to the floor when she realized Santa brought her a Nintendo DS for Christmas. It sure makes a person happy to see their child that excited and appreciative about the gift they received. Lydia and Tyson were equally excited, Tyson was just really tired after a long night on Christmas Eve. We had to wake him up to see the gifts from Santa and he fell to the floor by the tree in exhaustion, poor kid. Lydia got a doll house that comes with the whole family and I think maybe even the neighbors, just kidding. She loved it. Of course the goofy gifts that I wrapped up were a big hit also, such as the nasty teeth, whoopie cushions and other fun things that kids just can't get enough of. Lydia was so excited when she opened her "fart toy", nothing brings joy to those around you like flatulence, those are the holiday sounds that we all look forward too.

I was just glad to spend 4 days off from work, the one down fall to being your own boss is there are no paid holidays. Oh well, I have a lot of freedom otherwise. I spent Friday and Saturday cleaning the house and making lots of treats for my family and friends that wanted to get together and get their drink on. I have got a wonderful group of girlfriends that love to have fun with me and one of them moved to Texas, got married and is getting ready to have a baby, so we celebrated her being home along with my little brother being back. I had a really good time and managed to only offend my dad, so what is new, I guess I have been doing that for ooohhhh about 34 years now. Mom says we act just alike and I do not disagree with her, and my mini-me will probably be in therapy 29 years from now trying to resolve her issues too. I don't go to a therapist, but my clients and I give each other therapy, its a lot cheaper and a whole lot more fun. Once again another reason to love my job.

Well, I wish you all a Happy New Year with lots of wonderful things to come!

Christmas Countdown

The countdown is on, five more days and my little bro will be home from Japan, yeeha! Ten more days and we will be celebrating Christmas. My how the time flies. I got crazy and attempted Christmas cookies with the kids, that went relatively well, as long as messiness is not an issue. We had food substance alllll over the dining room and each other. The important thing is they seemed to have FUN!!! After destroying, oops, I mean decorating the cookies and such they got to go outside and enjoy the beautiful day. They took the dog for a walk, rode bikes and played in the backyard, leaving the cleanup to Jeff. I say Jeff, because I was too exhausted to move. He was very sweet about helping out, thank goodness. By the end of the day all the kids were full of cookies and ready to go home, Trey, who was reluctant to come to Aunt Debbie's for the day asked very sweetly, "Do I get to go home?" I of course replied, "NO, you have to stay here forever!" Thankfully, he is getting better at recognizing my silliness, cause that used to send him into tears. Anytime I think I am a pretty fun aunt I just have to attempt to have one of Steph's kids over, they usually shoot down any offer of quality time with Aunt Debbie, they think I am mean or something. I suppose it doesn't help that Steph threatens them with me when they are naughty, oh well, I am okay being the wicked Aunt of the west I guess. Well, I hope everyone is excited about the holidays and ready to enjoy their time with family and friends. Have a very Merry Christmas, PEACE and LOVE to all!!

I Love Christmas

Well, life goes on as always, and here it is December already. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, spending lots of time with the family. I LOVE my mom's oyster dressing and honestly can't get enough of it. One time a year is not quite enough, and for some reason when I try to cook like Louise it just ain't right. Of course, as many of her brothers will testify I'm sure they would agree that there are some things that Louise cooks that no one can match (kolaches, her watergate salad). Thank God for Mom. Of course Jeff's family put on quite a spread too, but my favorite part was sitting around drinking a few cold ones and playing pitch. Now, for those of you who may not know this, my husband and I met over a few games of pitch. Jeff and his friend would come over and play pitch with my friend and I, oh, about every flippin' night. Guess what, my husband no longer knows how to play pitch and refuses to try to play, that is what I call FALSE ADVERTISEMENT! It is a good thing I love him. He also redeemed himself to me on Saturday, we had a wedding dance to attend and he actually danced with me, not one dance, but every dance. Of course this was after he had spent many moments at the keg, but that is okay, he friggin' danced, and that is something he never does.
The kids are great, as in right now they are asleep and not destroying my house. I love them so much, but they drive me crazy, I know it is a short trip, but OMG!! Lydia is so much like me it is truly scary, she is already trying to forge her parents signature on homework, she is 5, what the heck, I am sure I waited until junior high to try that. Then she got mad at me cause I wouldn't let her hand in all the forged signatures, shame on me! Acacia is just quiet and I think I'm gonna have to keep my eye on her. She is gonna be sneaky, unlike Lydia who is in-you-face, Acacia doesn't like being in trouble, Lydia looks for trouble and proudly announces when she has found it. Tyson is a mix of the two, but today he asked for Widia and I thought, "Oh crap, they have formed an alliance". I got to keep 'em apart or I will be in trouble;)
The kids are very excited that their Uncle Lee moved back home to GB from KC. He is Jeff's dad's bro. He is pretty much a giant kid himself and the kids love attacking him. Like they need any encouragement to act like wild animals. Speaking of wild animals, the kids got to go to Manananagascar 2, (that is how Lydia use to say Madagascar) they really enjoyed it, that is one of their favorite things to do with G-Ma Weezy, and it is a good thing she takes them cause I can't find the time or money for it.
We have our tree up and a few of my nativity scenes, but I didn't go as crazy as normal for Christmas because of all the little ones running around. So far, so good. The tree has not been pulled down by kids or cats. I am looking forward to this Christmas since my lil bro will be home to celebrate with us, it has been several years since he came home for Christmas and it is just not the same when he is not there to fight with (joking). It will be Amelia's first American Christmas that she will remember. She was back when she was really little, but I can't imagine that she remembers it, although we are usually unforgettable! I told the kids that the reason for Christmas was to celebrate the birth of Jesus and not about toys, and of course Lydia tells me, "No, it's about toys". I have a lot of work cut out for me.
I will be working hard getting all the ladies ready for holiday parties and my gift certificates fly out the door this time of year, so December is one of my busiest months. I am taking the 25th-29th off and am looking forward to my version of a vacation, I always pay when I take time off cause I gotta cram everyone in, so it should be interesting.
Well, have a wonderful December and know that I will be wishing everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Today is another Day

Life is good and the kids are great. After a while the crazy just becomes the norm so I would say that is where we are in life. I have to be reminded over and over to get things done, example, Tyson has been in preschool since the beginning of September and I forgot to have a physical done on him. How did I forget? Well, no one told me every day to go get it done. Thankfully, his teacher is very understanding and has only had to remind me twice now. On top of that, when I scheduled an appointment to have the physical done either I or the lady making the appointment got mixed up and I showed up a day early. Then they couldn't get me in til Friday, so even when I finally remember to do something I show up at the wrong time. So hopefully on Friday my son will get his physical a mere 2.5 months late. Oh, and in case you were wondering, this hasn't even hit my husbands radar.
Lydia is always Lydia. She is currently going through a hair stage. We have to have something fun or crazy every day. She is also very talented at putting together very interesting clothes combinations. She will be a leader in the fashion industry some day. But guess what, when they had wild hair day at school or mismatch day, she had to be normal. She can't be like anybody else and that is what makes her so extra-special.
Acacia is just so mild mannered it is scary. Of course that is only when her sister is not around. They still find plenty of time to fight with one another. She is doing well in school and just got a treat from religion class for perfect attendance. I won't be getting anything like that at church I am sure.
Anyways, I am looking forward to next week because I get Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving. People always say, "you are your own boss, you can take whatever time off you want". BUT-I have to make it up somewhere and that makes it hard. So I am excited to have those two days off to eat and sleep and eat some more. Then on Friday we can put out the Christmas decorations-Yeah!!
Have a wonderful week and a great Turkey Day!

Good Times-For Real

For all of you who are wondering what a day in the Mai house is like, it most resembles a circus filled with wild animals on crack. Why on earth does my 5 year old wake up at 5:15 every morning when she does not need to be up until 7? Mostly to make sure that everyone knows their ears work just fine and to be certain daddy is up to go to work. Who needs an alarm clock anyways? So, that is the way my day begins. Lydia's whisper is a roar and she roars until school begins. The girls prepare for school by yelling at each other, "Don't LOOK at me!", "Mom, Lydia is staring at me", "She is calling me names", "OOOOH, she said a bad thing". You know what, I don't care at 7am, I am not sure I start caring until about 10:30, maybe not even then. Then after the yell fest is over they yell some more, "Hurry up", "Let's go", "Did you sign my homework?" The last question usually sends me over the edge, because Jeff and I have an agreement that I do not deal with homework, because he is the one home at night while I am working, thus has plenty of time to help with homework. Well, chances are Jeff has done what he is suppose to do and Lydia forgets and then yells at me, all before 8am. Then the babies show up and start getting into everything, then Tyson wakes up and gets mad at the babies for getting into his things, then I have an appointment, then I feed the babies, then Tyson, then take Tyson to school, then work while the babies take their nap, then pick up the kids, then the screaming begins again. My relief comes in the form of lovely ladies who are willing to put their lives on the line to enter the crack circus, and pay me for it. Thank God. Trust me, the kids are suppose to stay out of the shop, however, they are sneaky and Jeff has difficulty keeping his eyes on the kids, of course that is because they are usually focused on the TV, but that is okay, I know where my kids got their powerful vocal cords. They have learned from the best , "JEEFFFFF!!!! Do YOU know where your kids are? Of course he does and I am sure that the kids are in more trouble for interrupting his tv show than for being in my shop, but that is okay. Then when I am finished working I come upstairs in hopes of getting a bite to eat before bed, that is when the children most resemble wild animals. "I'm hungry"- YOU'RE WHAT? "Daddy didn't feed us", which is not true, they chose not to eat, which is better than it used to be, because Daddy used to not make supper because "The kids didn't tell me what they wanted to eat" WHAT? They are kids, you choose what they eat-DUH! So at least he is providing food now, however, they refuse to eat it and then eat my supper, leaving me hungry once again, just not for long cause then I get to heat up more food in hopes of it actually making it to my mouth and later on to my a*&.
Anyways, I just thought you might be interested in a play by play of my typical day. And you know what? Every minute is worth it, Please remind me of this when I am institutionalized.

Good Times

Happy Halloween

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween. We had a very good time and so far no belly aches from all the candy. Acacia won first prize in the Halloween contest for her gogo girl costume and Lydia took second place for Frankenstein. Tyson just wanted to be on stage. Who knows maybe he will play the next spiderman when he grows up. He thinks he is Peter Parker anyways. Here is Lydia's morning after picture, I do believe she is scarier today than she was last night. She definitely has some crazy hair. Tonight they are having a haunted house down town so we have one more Halloween event and then we can move onto preparing for Turkey Day. My second favorite holiday, lots of good food. Have a wonderful day.

Pumpkins, Weddings, Dinosaurs and More

Since I last left off, October has been a busy month. The Mai's trekked to Dorrance, to Granny Mae's pumpkin patch. We went with Grandma Kathy, Papa Jay, Aunt Jackie and Izzy. As soon as we arrived we went to search for the Great Pumpkin, Lydia of course thinks they are all GREAT and tried to gather up about 50 pumpkins and gourds. We had to cut her off. Then we ventured into the maze where Lydia led Izzy and Grandma in circles and they eventually got lost. Tyson has an amazing sense of direction and we were out of the maze 30 minutes before the others. The kids also made smores and rode on the train to see all the fun things at the pumpkin patch.

We have also travelled to Kansas City for my cousin Rose's wedding. It was nice getting out of Ellsworth. The week before we left was a really intense and I needed a break. I have mentioned our special needs kitty, Socrates, well, now we know how really special he is. This week we found out he is having seizures and that for lack of a better term our cat is retarded. Of course the vet thinks he is happy and as long as we don't mind dealing with his seizures there is no need to put him to sleep. This made me happy, but Jeff isn't quite sure. I sometimes wonder why we aren't given the same option when it comes to our spouses or other irritating people in our lives. Such as a gentlemen who suggested this week that I am not as concerned about my animals as he is. I have been tempted to get him the receipts from the vet and show him my lack of concern, but I am above that at the moment. I may change my mind if the Zoloft runs out. The day Socrates got diagnosed with the seizures was the same day that Alfredo had his hernia repair surgery. For all of you who think having all these animals is insane, you may be right, but they are pretty special to me, in case you were wondering. Anyways, back to the wedding, we left on Friday with our kiddos and two of Stephs. We made it all the way to Salina from Ellsworth without and injury. As soon as we stopped to go pee and get something to eat Lydia managed to take the skin off the front of her toe with the door. She is a tough little girl though. She sucked it up and we went on our way. Only later did I take a good look at it and thought, Holy Crap! It was a big chunk, I would have cried longer than she did. Here is a picture of Tyson on the trip to KC, this was his way of entertaining himself and others. So after Salina the trip was uneventful, and as soon as we got to KC the kids swam and played games and had a good time.

Saturday was the wedding and my cousin was beautiful and her and her husband look so good together. They looked very happy and it reminded me of when Jeff and I got married, 10 flipping years ago. There were times this weekend when I could tell we had been together that long. We were playing rock, paper, scissors and neither of us could win because we kept giving the same thing. Why were we playing rock, paper, scissors you ask? To decide which kid sat where in the van and things like that. Trying to be fair all the time is hard. Khali and Mara let me do their hair for the wedding and we went shopping, that was fun. I hope it is that much fun when my girls get older. Right now shopping with them is more work than fun.

Sunday it was time to come home but not until we stopped at T-Rex Cafe for dinosaur fun. The kids each made a dinosaur and got to dig and play in the sand. They all seemed to have a good time. Of course I did not get to take advantage of the shopping at Legends, but I did get to look at all the fun dino things. I resisted the urge to purchase myself a dino sweatshirt, figuring I would save up for a childless trip someday. We also went to Cabela's which made Jeff very happy. That was fun, looking at the fish and all the stuffed animals.

I was glad to get home and then today I have been a complete bum. But in about 6 minutes my life will return to completely normal because I have to get to work.

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather, because I am flipping cold. Happy Halloween to everyone too.

Life

For all of you who don't know this, Christmas is my favorite holiday. Unfortunately, Halloween has to be my kids favorite. So at this point in time we are preparing for the tooth decaying, cellulite producing, excitement that is All Hallows Eve. Well, it is hard not to get a little excited when the kids are and so Jeff and I spent Saturday in Salina buying out most the stores with decorations. And it payed off, Lydia gave me her approval by saying, "Wow, now everyones going to say, "Lydia Mai's mom really knows how to decorate"". She is five and she is giving me her good housekeeping seal of approval. I love her. Acacia is going to be a hippie/austin power gogo girl. Lydia has a Frankenstein costume and Tyson is going to be Spiderman. It should be lots of fun.
I just got my Discovery Toys kit so I am ready to do shows. If anyones interested give me a holler. I needed one more thing to add to my list of things to do. I am looking forward to doing shows, it is one more way to get me out of my house. I feel like Monday through Friday I only leave to take the kids to school and home, so by the weekend I am completely stir crazy. Probably just the opposite of most people.
I have never suffered allergies in my life, but I think this year is an exception. I spent the day outside on Wednesday and have been dealing with a runny nose and itchy throat since then. I have found out that if I take Benadryl, one dose makes me sleepy for about 72 hours. I am still trying to recuperate.
Otherwise, life is good and the kids are staying pretty busy. This week they start a program at the library on Mondays and Tuesdays. I hope that keeps Lydia out of trouble. Last week she was disrespectful to one of my clients, and that was not pretty. Hopefully, she won't act like that again, but she is definitely a child who needs plenty of stimulation, attention and sometimes a good old spanking. Thank God for Nice and Easy hair color.
We still have a house full of cats so if anyone needs a couple let me know. I thought I had homes for the kittens, but some of them fell through.
Anyways, I hope all is well for everyone.

Let me just say that life is always busy and the kids are doing great. The girls were in little pepsters last Friday at the EHS home football game. They had a lot of fun being cheerleaders for a night. Tyson and Trey sat and watched the football game like big boys and I was very impressed. We left at half time and went to eat at the Pizza Hut with 5 kids in tow and had a really nice time, they all acted civilized and made mommy proud.
Saturday we spent the day watching Holden for Steph and Jerry, they had to go watch the Gladiators, the football team Takota plays on. Unfortunately the Gladiators lost, but only by 13 points this time. I guess that is an improvement. I painted the bathroom that Jeff has been remodeling and on Sunday he started the trim work and hung the new light fixture and medicine cabinet. We also went to Steph's for Trey's birthday, the kids always have fun playing together, it reminds me of when the Soukup family would get together at the farm and the kids would play and fight and break crayons.
Lydia's funny for the week would have to be that I had to call her teacher and we were discussing her behavior and I wanted to know how much trouble she has been in. The teacher told me her and another little girl were talking amongst themselves during her math lesson and when she asked them "Excuse me ladies, am I interrupting your conversation?" They both replied "YES!" and started up again until she gave them their clothespins, we both laughed, surprisingly that was the naughtiest thing she had done-Thank Goodness. They get a clothespin each time they get in trouble and if they get too many they get sent to the principal and so on. Acacia is working hard on getting all of her points for the Accelerated Reader program. She is doing great in school and is excited about next week being spirit week, she likes pajama day. Jeff is really enjoying his new job, it is definitely an adjustment for me since I was used to him getting home at 3:30 and that was when I started working and now he doesn't get home until 4:30 or 5:00 so I have to do more juggling and rearranging. It will all work out in the end I am sure.

Petting Zoo At Preschool

Today Tyson's preschool class had a petting zoo. The zoo consisted of the animals that the children brought from home. Trust me, I have a zoo, so I obliged by taking five kittens, I thought maybe there would be a sucker who would just HAVE to have a kitten. Of course one of the other kiddos brought her kitten and she had THREE more to find homes for. That dad and I were both trying to pawn off kittens. Watching the kids with the kittens I decided they would have better luck fighting off coyotes than living with the kids. Tyson has got to learn that cats do not fly and if you throw them at a glass window they will not stick just because they have claws. They have of course attached themselves to Tyson on several occasions and that makes him mad, but I do believe if I thought I was going to be tossed to kingdom come I wouldn't let go either. There were a couple of dogs there also, but Tyson got bored pretty quick, I think it would take a pet elephant to get him excited. (Don't get any ideas Leo).
Acacia is doing great in school, her grades are excellent and she has a lot of friends. We are having a sleep over on Friday. That is always a lot of fun. Lydia got dumped by a boy today. I think she will survive, even if Jeff won't. She thinks a fourth grader is hot and her friend wants to kiss a boy on the lips. How do they know this stuff? Acacia is still single for the moment, thank the heavens, I suppose next week Lydia will be planning her wedding. I am sure it will be a grand affair. She has a passion for fashion, I think her Bratz dolls have been corrupting her.
Our end of the night routine has been singing to SingStar on the playstation, the girls really enjoy competing against mom. They love the songs and for a five year old who can't read Lydia does really well. It is a lot of fun for our family.
Jeff has some news, his last day working for the prison is tomorrow the 12th. He starts working for Great Plains on Monday. He was ready for a change and it is better pay. He is very excited and I am thrilled to see him so happy. He will still be working at the prison supervising inmates who work for Great Plains, but under a different supervisor and company. The state has been good, but this will be bettter.
Life has been good and we are truly blessed so I hope the same for everyone else.

Sunday at Grandma Weezy's and Papa Leo's

Mom and Dad had us over for lunch today, Khali was in town visiting so we got together to spend some quality time with her. She is 15 and will be 16 in February. I can't believe she has grown up so much. She has a boyfriend and Aunt Debbie told her to warn him if he did anything stupid I would hunt him down. She just laughed. My kids are always excited to see her since she is only around once every couple of months. She is still very sweet. I got some pics of her with everyone, I teased her because ever since she was a baby if a camera was near her she was posing with her big beautiful smile.

After lunch it was time to say goodbye and head home to finish all our chores. Jeff is remodeling the bathroom. It needed work, and thankfully he is pretty handy. The kids and I are going to do laundry, pick up toys and all that fun stuff, just to do it again tomorrow.

I can't believe it, but I have all three kiddos in school now. Acacia is in third grade, Lydia is in kindergarten and Tyson just started pre-school this week. Acacia and Tyson are loving school, Lydia is having a little trouble adjusting. It's hard to be good all day. There have been quite a few tears shed from Lydia, but I have to say, I have enjoyed the break. Three months of the kids fighting was about to drive me crazy. Tyson is going to be the class clown I think, the first thing he did when he sat down was give the girl across from him a big thumbs up and his cheesiest smile, it was precious. Of course it is exhausting for all of them getting back into a new routine, summer was sleep late and play late. Acacia and her friends are at the age now where they are starting to call each other to find out what they are wearing to school and making sure they have got everything planned for recess and silly things like that. Thankfully, Acacia is not crazy about boys yet. In third grade I think that is a little much, but Lydia breaks up with a different boy each day, so who knows. Jeff is not looking forward to any of the stuff that comes with girls growing up, women confuse him and the hormones haven't even kicked in yet.
We have also been busy with animals. My children love animals and unfortunately for Jeff, so do I. We started out with two dogs and two cats. We had to find a new home for our big dog because he kept getting loose, and he ended up living in San Antonio, TX. So the kids have been wanting a new dog. Well instead, our cat went and got pregnant, we didn't even know she was until she had one kitten. That was it, just one. Well, of course we couldn't get rid of her only baby. So we had a new addition to the family, Socrates, cute kitty. Come to find out her one kitten is blind, has a broken tail, almost died of a bacterial infection, and has a crazy cowlick on his back. He fits right in! Well, before we could get hussy momma to the vet to get spayed the kids let her outside, after being told, DO NOT LET HER OUT! And now we have four more kittens. They think we should keep them all, but thankfully my clients have been nice enough to offer homes to the little sweethearts. The kittens, not the kids.
Business has been great, I put tanning beds in the shop back in May and between tanning and nails and helping people with their kids and dogs I stay plenty busy. I watch twin 10 month old boys 2-4 times a week, since they were 3 months old they have been coming here and of course I help my sis with her kids whenever she needs me. Daycare is so limited in Ellsworth and my friend has two sets of twins, so she was needing affordable help. Lydia loves helping with the twins, she is going to be a great mommy some day. She gives lots of love to the babies. We also dog sit for several families. The kids like helping with that also. I hope the kiddos are learning that helping others makes us feel good.

Summer Fun

The kiddos got a trampoline for Christmas and spent the summer using it as their own personal waterpark. It has been a hit with the cousins and their friends. I enjoy it because it helps burn off all that extra energy they seem to have drained from me.