You know, I feel bad that the other day I mentioned the one semi-negative comment on my blog, but I never mention all of the awesome comments on my blog. Thank you to everybody who write the most amazing comments. I really love and look forward to everyone’s feedback. It means so much. One of my favorite comments was by my friend Penny, she was commenting on a blog entry that talked about a difficult day with the kids, this is what she wrote: “Loved what you said.. close your eyes and imagine your house with two teenagers. now open them and enjoy your preschooler and toddler “
It’s brilliant. I honestly think of this quote multiple times a day. It puts everything into perspective. Thank you, Penny, and thank you everybody.

We have been moving since the moment we woke up today. We took the kids to the doctor and they were both put on antibiotics.Racecar has red ears andAriel has a red throat and they both have chest congestion, so hopefully we have relief in sight! I love the idea of returning to normal again, whatever normal is. They were also put on a cough medicine with codiene for nighttime. I can’t imagine sleeping without getting out of bed for the whole night! Will it be tonight?! Tune in tomorrow to find out.

I’ve been wanting to join a gym. I needed two things in a gym: 1. cheap. 2. Good childcare area. There is a particular fitness center that Brian and I used to be members of that I love. It’s new, incredibly clean and they have a very nice, clean and safe child care area; you have to be buzzed in in order to enter the childcare area. (not to mention free health assessments, a pool, towels, toiletries, private showers, a sauna, a hot tub and free classes.) But, it’s expensive. I checked out another gym in the area and it was nice. The childcare area was bland with no safety. When I say safety, I mean, nobody can enter except parents. This particular one only had a half door, any stranger could reach over and unlock the door, if it was even locked in the first place. But, it’s cheap. I decided to stop at the gym I’d love to join and check out their prices. I called almost 5 weeks ago to discuss pricing, but no one returned my call. So, I stopped in. I sat down with a women and she showed me their prices. For a one year membership it ran almost $20 more per month then the cheaper gym and the initiation fee was almost $140 more. wow. The woman said they sometimes run specials for the initiation fees, but during this time there was no special. Maybe in March. They just ran one about 1 month ago, $60 off. I mentioned to her that I called about 1 month prior and left a message for a Marie and she never returned my call and that perhaps had she called me back, I would have taken her up on the special offer. So, she offered me $60 off my initiation fee. Yes! But, it was still too difficult to justify the extra $240 for the year for membership fees. She then pointed out the Matinee membership, which means I can only come between the hours of 10-3. Which is when I wanted to come, that’s why I want good childcare. The matinee membership is only $2 more per month than the other gym with the crappy childcare area! So………..I joined. I have to get physician approval to join because I have high blood pressure, but I know he’ll approve me, so hopefully by Thursday, we will be able to go! I’m very excited. I’m excited to get in shape and I’m excited for the kids to be in a different place for an hour a day!

I had my Mommy’s Group meeting tonight and I really loved it! It was very hard because there was such amazing food there and my weigh in is tomorrow! By the way, my first weigh in was last week and I lost seven pounds! HOORAY! I obviously won’t have that same success tomorrow, but I’m hoping for 2-3 pounds. Weight Watchers is going really well.

There is my update. I’m on my laptop, typing and listening to music. Guess where the speakers are on my laptop? Underneath my forearms, muffling the sound. Somebody wasn’t thinking when they designed this computer.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS POST…IT’S REALLY OLD AND WE HAVE NO IDEA WHY IT SHOWS UP FOR PEOPLE WHEN THEY COME TO MY BLOG, SO, CLICK HERE AND IT SHOULD TAKE YOU TO THE MOST RECENT POST.  SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION.

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LOVE,
BETH

and no, I don’t always write in all caps.

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So, we finished our weekend of projects. Unfortunately, the rest of the house is in desperate need of attention, especially the laundry. While I have been washing the clothes, I have not been folding them, so I have lots to do.

I am taking the kids to the doctor tomorrow, they have an appointment at 11:30am. Ariel’s fever lingered around 102 when not on medication today. Hopefully we’ll get an antibiotic for both of them. We’ll see.

I’m not feeling well right now and I’m tired, so I I’m going to head to bed!
Enjoy the before and after pictures ofRacecar’s closet!

BEFORE
done

I would like to respond to some of the “feedback” I have received about my spanking entry. All I want to say is that I do not walk around with my hand flying around just trying to spank my children. It is a last resort. I take calm approaches (or try to), I always explain what they are doing wrong and why it’s wrong and I even have them sit in a “naughty corner”, but sometimes, I spank. I do not think for a second that I am teaching my child violence. What is interesting about anonymous comments, and I should say that I really do not mind them, but in this circumstance my mind wonders who this person really is. Is it someone who knows me, that reads my blogs and it was this particular entry that they particularly disagreed with and signing “anonymous” was their way of giving me their opinion? A family member? A friend? Someone who has seen me interact with my children? It’s just interesting.

For the past too many nightsRacecar has not slept well at all. Which means, we do not sleep well at all. He will wake up and cry and cry and cry. He is still not feeling well, so I’m sure this is occuring because of the illness, but I can tell you that I am tired. And so is he. We definitely feel like we have a newborn again, which is so bothersome because we have worked so hard to have children that sleep well, in their beds, all through the night and here we are with a child who is waking up 10 times per night. Only one night this week has he not had a horrible night’s sleep. So, perhaps it’s time for a trip to the doctor.Ariel is also still sick and she is running a fever, so hopefully we’ll get in sometime soon! I just have to wonder before I head to bed tonight; will there be peace tonight?

We completed part 1 of our projects today, even with our eyes half closed and our bodies half energized. I had an opportunity to see a childhood friend that I haven’t seen in over 2 years, so we went to see her tonight rather than doing part 2 of the project. We will do it tomorrow. The project was reorganizing the kids’ closets. They are terrible!!! We finishedAriel’s this afternoon and we are very pleased with the outcome. Here are some before and after pictures. (don’t judge me because of my closets before, I mean, they’re closets, everyone throws crap into closets, right?!?! Doesn’t everyone throw items on the top shelf praying that it won’t come tumbling back to hit you on the head?)

BEFORE.

And after.

Ariel hanging out in the closet

On this frigid (5 degree) Saturday I completed a project that I have been wanting to do since August. You see, last August I painted my bathroom and I never really liked it. It just didn’t turn out to be what I thought it would, it turned out ugly. So, I corrected the problem today. First I taped everything, then I primed the walls, took down the tape, let it dry, re-taped and then painted. I’ve attached before, during and after pictures. We also bought a new mirror. Brian helped with all of the hardware! The new color is called “pebble” and it’s perfect. The pictures do not really do it justice. This weekend is going to be a big weekend for home improvements. Tomorrow we have another project up our sleeves! Enjoy these pictures! I’m sore!

BEFORE PICTURE. This took place just after someone ate too much mustard and threw up on my walls.

More vomit.

And more vomit.

Primed walls. Better already!
Primed.

Worker bee.

AFTER.
AFTER, with new mirror. (apparently the kids “fingered” the mirror before hanging, I couldn’t tell until after downloading the pictures!)

Likey? I do!