The Answer

I swore I was going to devote any blogging time I had this weekend to my new site and would not be posting anything today BUT I have received emails, facebook messages and several face-to-face "you must tell me" 's over the question I posed yesterday so I decided to give everyone the answer today.

So these two lovely children...

Put all of these items that were unscrewed, unlatched or just generally stolen from various places of our home...

DOWN THE TOILET. 

(Note: many of these objects are replacements for the actual object as they flushed before I could get to it and then proudly told me afterwards, or fessed up when I found an empty candleholder.)

If you got this answer correct you either:

a) have read my blog long enough to know what my children are capable of 

or

b) have children similar to mine

If your answer is "b" I am happy for both of us that it is currently the weekend and drinking at any time of the day is perfectly acceptable.

I love that so many of you commented to let me know you are out there reading. If you left your blog address I am looking forward to stopping by to say hi.  If you didn't, comment again soon and leave it so I can visit.  If you don't have a blog, I'm honored that you take the time to stop here and read my words.

Off to finish my bottle of wine!!

Changes and a Reader Poll

Unfortunately you will have to wait until next Friday to find out who my next featured blogger is.  My site is under major construction and should be up and running on Monday with a whole new look (if you can't find us, know that I did something very wrong and please send a techie to save me and my blog).

Here is a quick poll to take up some Friday space while I try not to demolish the contents of this blog...

What do the following items have in common?
(excluding the children, they are there to un-boring the picture and because, well, they are always "there" so might as well put them in a photo or two)

Edited to add:  Just realized I forgot a sock and a plastic stethoscope in this shot AND the crust to a pb&j has just been added to the group.

Take a second to comment with your answer (if you know me in real life and have already heard the story of one of these items you are not allowed to vote!).

Oh and I REALLY want you to vote if you are a reader but never a commenter, I would love to know who is out there taking the time to read my words.  Even if you just want to say "this is the worst use of space for a Friday post ever" or "I think I read about item #x somewhere else so I want to guess and ruin the suspense for everyone else."

Click that "comment" spot below and type.

So I know you are out there.

Happy Friday!

A Hugging Confession

I am not a hugger.

I believe this is one reason why I am somewhat addicted to blogging and can easily pour my heart out with every tippity-tap of a key.

I can handle a virtual hug.

I can vent about the ugliness of grief or the insanity of day-to-day life and take in each and every comment I receive of support, or of I've been there, or geez am I glad I'm not there, and feel completely comfortable accepting as many comment hugs as are dished out from the caring people who read my words.

But a real hug?  I believe, to quote my mother, I am like "hugging a piece of plywood."  Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy doesn't it??

Let me digress here to stop you from feeling sorry for my touch-deprived children and husband.  I hug them, I hug them all constantly and accept their hugs with open arms.  I can do this with ease.  Go ahead and psychoanalyze.  If you figure out why please let me know (private email is preferred to a public comment explaining my warped psychological state to the blogosphere).

I believe I cannot hug because I have wound myself a bit too tight.  I am clutching pieces finely crafted into staying together.  One of those pieces fears that if I fall into a hug, the rest of them may come tumbling down and we just can't have that happen.  There is too much to do, plus I have a tendency towards the "ugly cry."

So yesterday we went to our first day of three year-old storytime and I believe the mix of a class brimming with little girls, explaining they are not twins too many times and a touch of pms, caused me to be acutely aware of that ever-present hole.  Sitting there, singing the pizza song, I pictured being the triplet mom I should be and my world stopped.   My boys, being the Mommy-loving little people that every mom with a son told me they would be, instinctively came to my rescue.  Sawyer into my lap, chubby baby arms circling my neck, and Parker balancing on my knee, skinny elbows folding over my shoulder, and those little boy hugs?

They sent my pieces crumbling.

Without a single word, swimming in a sea of three year-olds shouting out their favorite pizza topping, my boys told me what all those well-meaning huggers have been trying to say for years.

You are safe.  You are surrounded by love.  Let the pieces fall.

And I did.

When It Rains It Pours...

in a good way.

Craziness is happening here for a few reasons...

1.  I have been on the computer, undisturbed, for so many hours that my eyes are crossing.

2.  I'm guest posting over at Multiples and More.

2.  I just received a great award from a very talented Donna over at Write Now Write Later

which I am passing on to Sarah of NaptimeMomTog for being the amazing friend, photographer and blogger that she is.

AND

3.  In my blog hopping daze I visited one of my favorites For the Love of Blogs and found that I AM THE FAB FRIEND which means I may have a few million new visitors today and am feeling major pressure to produce a post to impress everyone.  Seeing that I'm about 5 hours from when my children will awake and my eyes are continuing to cross I think I need to cut my blogging self off and try to post something ingenious tomorrow.

Hi to anyone new stopping by and, of course, in true "me" fashion I just changed my domain name and the layout of my blog and created a facebook page all in way too short of a span of time so if you are having trouble accessing anything on my site just go to www.fourplusanangel.com and it should refresh the page and fix all.

Okay, going to bed now, feeling warm, fuzzy and my head getting bigger by the second from all of this recognition.

WAIT, one more...

4.  I am #30 over at Topmommyblogs.com.  This is crazy, I'm only five spots away from making it to the top 25 and being on the main page of Top Mommy Blogs.  If you like what you read here please click the banner below and vote for me or the button in the upper left hand corner every time you visit.


So when it rains it pours, and then there are rainbows.

There will always be rainbows.

My Favorites of 2010, I Think

So the year is a few days from coming to a close and I'm full of I can't believe it went by so fast's, the kids are getting so old's and I wish time would slow down's so it is a perfect time for me to sift through my year of blogging and laugh and cry with myself and reflect on the crazy journey life has taken us on once again this year.

I found a great idea over at Scary Mommy that gave me an excuse to pour myself a glass of wine, listen to the song that sings "Hadley" to me playing in my blog background and scroll through my collection of posts, trying not to be to critical while finding my favorites of the year.

Thank you for reading and for being the great commenters, followers, family and friends that you are.  This blog has truly become my outlet and an amazing source of support.  I look forward to seeing where it takes me in 2011.

My favorites of 2010 (I think... it is hard to pick from your own work and I'm terrible at making decisions.  This list may change if I continue to overanalyze myself.  Oh and I did better as the year went on so maybe just skip the first couple months, k?)

January:  Memoir of a Teenager

February:  Sparkly Shoes

March:  The Youngest

April:  Belonging

May:  One Last Visit

June:  For Sale

July:  Stick

August:  Once Upon a Time

September:  Denial

October:  Today- A Letter to My Daughter

November:  The Up Side of Autism

December:  Dear Daddy- Tales from a Public Restroom