However… the Webmaster and Tad are now down with this bug.  And honestly, I’m not sure if I’m coming down with it or just suffering from exhaustion.

Ane is fine… for now.  We will have to see how she feels before I put her on a school bus.

Check back in 24 hours to see if we’re still all in one piece.

So I’m able to post pictures again, and blog normally, which is great.  But I have lots to do right now, so one picture will have to suffice for today.  Saturday’s decent weather held out just until the Webmaster finished mowing the lawn, and it was just long enough for us to get this shot:

Don’t get in the way of the imagination driving the Batmobile.

Lots of pictures to come this week!

Ane was so excited, and got to wear her special dress that she had picked out.  The Webmaster wore a suit and tie (but later said he was rather overdressed for a 50′s themed night.  There were plenty of little girls in party dresses, though).

Little Mo and her dad went as well, and her mom made the little bouquet that Ane is carrying (thank you again, J!).

They had a great time, and then went off to get ice cream afterwards.  According to Ane, it was a perfect date.  She had a wonderful night out.

The kids are still recovering from staying up late and sleeping in late during spring break… Rerun is still trying to break through with those bottom molars and has a bad cold to boot, so he’s taking long naps and going to bed early, but is sleeping kind of restlessly… and the Webmaster and I are trying to stay on top of everything.

We need more sleep.  Or a coffee IV drip.  Either would work.

I was just experimenting with my own little blog in a small corner of the Webmaster’s personal website, that’s all… which is where the name “Deanna’s Corner” came from.

Six years, two sons, and many many posts later, the Webmaster no longer has time for his website, but I’m still writing away.

Yes, this blog is older than Tad… and not much younger than Ane, given the short space between them.

Thanks to all who read, comment, and keep up with us!  A special recognition should be given to my sister, Ressis, for easily being my most frequent commenter.

Here’s to six years!  And maybe by next year, Rerun’s molars will finally be in!  The poor baby is really having a hard time with these, and the only thing that makes him feel better is Mommy.  Which is sweet, but not so great when Mommy is the only one at home and the other children like to eat.

Ane asked me, “Why don’t you just carry him all the time?”

I replied, “Because my arms would fall off.”  Seriously.  He’s 22 pounds of clinging monkey baby weight.

Webmaster, come home, SOON.

Then, to fortify myself for the week to come, I left the kids at my parents – who were also kind enough to take in Rupert – and Friend and I went out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, The Purple Cafe.  Ringo came along for the ride with us, since he’s only 5 months old and doesn’t move.  Doc is at a conference down in Anaheim, and he took the Brain and Head with him so they could also go to Disneyland for Head’s 7th birthday.  So, since we were both now husbandless, it seemed like an ideal time to have a girls’ dinner!  And many thanks to Grandma, Gichan, and Auntie for keeping an eye on my kids and Rupert… and for wiping Rerun’s nose.  His nose started leaking on Saturday and I stayed home from church with him Sunday morning.  I think it might be teething related, but I’m not sure.

So, I am a single mom for the week.  Fortunately, it’s this week and not next week, because the kids are on spring break next week.  And they even have this Friday off, so Ane will be hanging out with Rerun at Grandma’s for the afternoon that day, while Tad has his regular therapy sessions.  So at the very least, we have a mostly normal schedule this week.

I salute all the single parents out there.  You do the work of two people.

And I salute my parents and sister – thanks for having my back.

And I’m offering a bribe to my children – behave this week, and Mommy and Daddy will buy more apps for the iPad!  I promise!!

It was actually kind of a quiet day… until I packed up Rerun, dropped him off at Grandma’s, and went to Tad’s school for his class party.  They joined the class next door for a large party full of crafts and fun, and it was nice to see Tad interacting with the peer model class.

Since the party was right at the end of the day, I signed Tad out and drove him to Grandma’s house, picked up Rerun and Auntie, and headed for home, where Ane had gone home with Little Mo after school.  We stopped at the entrance to our cul-de-sac to pick her up, and then once the Webmaster was home, we headed out early for our weekly small group meeting.  All the wives knew is that the husbands were plotting something.

However, a great big wrench got thrown in that something when the Webmaster got a phone call from the hosting house, saying that the power had just gone out.  Emergency plans began to be created, and the wives were sent off to get a pedicure at a nearby nail salon.

Small problem – the nail salon had also lost power.  Uh-oh.

We found another nail place that was open and had power much closer to my home (we were at the nail place in Canyon Park next to the QFC, for those of you in the know), and very close to the new location for dinner.  While we were getting pedicures, the husbands packed up the food and the kids (Auntie was with them), and drove to another family’s house to create dinner.  A house with power on.

When we arrived, Auntie had the kids finishing up a Valentine’s Day craft and the husbands were hard at work cranking out dinner.  By 8:30 pm, dinner was ready.  And it was yummy.  We gave them an “A” for effort, especially since they’d had to pack up and move the whole thing to a new house, so we excused the late dinner.  It was a fun time with friends, and we all ignored each other’s yelling kids.  It was late when we headed for home, but fortunately for us, home was less than 5 minutes away.  The Webmaster drove Auntie home (who had been paid well for her services) and I hustled the kids off to bed.  It had been a long day.

But it was one of the most creative and fun Valentine’s Day celebrations that I’ve ever had.

As it is, Ane and Tad are ready to kill one another, but that’s just their normal state of being (and it probably will be for the next several years).

So, I get home last night from Awanas, order Ane into her room to get ready for bed – she still had her reading homework to do, and we didn’t get to it before we left – and wait for me, change Rerun out of a poopy diaper and get him ready for bed, chase Tad down, strip him and get him in his pajamas and make him brush his teeth, stage an emergency search for Tad’s library book – which was eventually located behind his bed (of course!) – and stuff it in his backpack for school today, have Ane read to me and sign off the chapter in her reading log, order Tad to stay in bed and read while I nurse Rerun, then pop Rerun into his crib, read to both boys, turn off all the lights, and command the children to go to sleep.  Which, a half hour later, they did.

I still have to tidy up the kitchen, finish some more card prep for Saturday, turn the dryer back on, and the list goes on and on and on…

Then I check Facebook and see that the Webmaster has ordered room service for dinner, complete with cheesecake for dessert.

I’m thinking that I need to take a “business trip” myself.

Clearly, I need it.

Where should I go?  I’m headed for the deep end, but I’ve been there before.  Too crowded.  Any ideas?

Anyway, it is sort of working out okay.  Ane spent the night at Grandma and Gichan’s house, Rerun is teething and got put to bed early last night, and Tad got some special Mom & Dad time watching Despicable Me mini-movies in our room, all cuddled up in our bed.  He had a great time, but it wasn’t so great when he had to go to his own bed.  Mom and Dad’s bed is much better, don’t you know.

And I am busy packing the Webmaster up for his first business trip since… 2006.  When I only had two kids.  And we got snowed in.

This time, though, he’s driving to Portland (Oregon, not Maine), so he will be in the same time zone.  And even though I now have three kids, two are in school – one full-time, one part-time.  And there is no snow in the forecast (thank You, God).  So, even though I will be doing the single parenting thing for a few days, the kids still have their normal school schedule and normal activities – Awanas, swimming, therapy sessions, trying to maim each other, etc.

So, while I anticipate that there will be plenty of crazy to go around, I think we’ll be busy enough not to let things get too out of hand.

But when the Webmaster gets back, I am so scheduling myself a pedicure.  Seriously.  And then Friend and I are making plans to see a movie.

In the meantime, though, I have some folding, ironing, and packing to do – and I have to keep Rerun out of the suitcase.  Good thing he doesn’t know how to work a zipper yet.

Christmas has come early!

Now, the hard part… which one should he pick?  The jobs are equal in pay, but veryveryvery different in every other way (small business v. large, well-known company), and will mean probably regretting whichever job he doesn’t take…

Still, these are the problems you WANT to have!  More to come once there is a decision!

In the meantime… oh look!  A cute baby!

He cut another tooth over the weekend… that makes 5!