12 days of Christmas......

Short post....please vote!

Ok, I am starting a poll. Please vote! It is a purely selfish issue. I have an agenda that requires some reinforcement.
Check out this post on my, maybe BFF peep's blog:
http://dnksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/12/couldnt-get-any-sweeter.html
I think, she should bring me a tray of these cookies to the PARTAY O' THE YEAR tonight.
CAST YOUR VOTE (if you love me, it will be a yes and if not, I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN!)

Did I run away and join the circus....

No but it has been a circus around here this month. On top of the normal December craziness, I have been busy buying and selling "stuff" online. It has been quite a lucrative endeavor but it has also left me stressed and tired. On top of the normal everyday chores, school, and errands, AND Christmas shopping, I have been trying to keep up with my inventory and packing and shipping purchases. But on the plus side, my kids Christmas gifts are now basically free. I have made enough to pay for everything. Our house has also been knocking around some nasty cold bugs for the last few weeks. Yesterday I took both kids to the pediatrician because they have been sick for over a week. My son had an ear infection and my daughter has pneumonia. Talk about guilt!
I feel like it is all my fault for hauling them out in the cold to the post office every day for 2 weeks.
Well, that is what I've been up to. If I don't blog again until then, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day is here again already. Another year has passed so fast it makes my head spin.
I am thankful for so many things. My family, my home, my friends and most of all my Savior. Today, all over our great country, people will come together with their families and celebrate the fact that even though we have our problems and disagreements, God has blessed this country greatly over the years. A country founded on religious freedom and the belief that all men are created equal. Even though these beliefs are threatened, by God's grace, we still have them. Now I know that I do not normally get too deep on my blog but I am truly thankful that I live in a country where are still free.

Today, my family is gathering at the home of the newlyweds, my BIL and new SIL. They have graciously offered to host our Thanksgiving dinner. So I am getting ready to get busy cooking.
We have been up since 6:30 and I didn't even need to cook that early this year. Apparently my kids decided it was time to get up, you would have thought it was Christmas morning instead. They are really excited about seeing their cousins and the family today and Aunt Dawn is coming over this weekend with Sammy and they are excited about that too. My brother says that his mouth feels fine today which is a blessing. So Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

The neighbors think I'm nuts (this time for a new reason)

Ok, this morning I was reading my peep Lorrie's blog (A really good read, you should check it out! Here's the link www.dnksmommy.blogspot.com) and it brought the following post to mind.
My neighbors think I have lost my mind, I am sure! For the last few weeks, at least once per day, you can find me in my back yard walking around a small tree, with my head down looking at the ground and pushing leaves aside with my shoe. I even occasionally shake the tree, which I am sure looks crazy! I have even seen my neighbor two doors over watching me with a perplexed look on her face. You see, I am not crazy (well I AM but not for that reason). The tree is a pecan tree and this is the very first year that it has produced nuts. It is still reasonably small for a pecan tree (only about 20 feet tall) and it is still small enough to shake. The leaves have all fallen off but for some reason the nuts are still hanging on. I am determined to use my very own pecans this year for baking but they are just not falling fast enough. I now have a pretty good sized bowl full of them and need to shell them for my sweet potato souffle that my family requests every year.
So if you come by my house and find me in the back yard shaking a tree, I have not finally gone off the deep end (hopefully), I just need more nuts for a pecan pie......

New banner....

Hi anyone left out there! I know I have been a sad excuse for a blogger lately. I have been pretty busy with sick kids and school and stuff. I did make a new Christmas banner today. Whatcha think? I made it on this cool website called Piknik. I have been diggin' them every since my friends Tara and Wendy told me about it. Today was another crazy day. My brother has had a toothache since Sunday afternoon and I finally got him into a dentist this afternoon. Hopefully he will be feeling much better soon. With Thanksgiving just a couple days away, it would be a shame to still have mouth pain. Well that is all the updating for now. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Real professionals, thats what they are!

How many times have I told my two kids, "I told you not to do that, if you get hurt, I'm not going to feel sorry for you!" or "Don't come running to me when you get hurt doing that!" But you know what, they still come running to you because they KNOW you ARE going to feel sorry for them.
And why? Because they are professional kids! They have trained 24 hours a day from the moment they born....or maybe even conceived. Kids know that no matter what YOU say, if they are hurt or need something, you will come running. They have trained you well. You are pawns in their little scheme of world domination.....Do I sound paranoid? Am I losing it? Probably! But don't discount the message.
Right this moment, as I type, my kids are doing something totally reckless and one or both of them will almost assuredly get hurt in some way. Now I don't mean the major kind of injury that sends you to the ER or doctor, just a "Boo-Boo" that has them crying like little Indian warriors about to attack. You know that cry, the one that is much louder than the actual injury requires. And I am sure, that regardless of my warnings to stop, I will indeed be sympathetic and get them a band aid to cover that slightly red but not even bleeding patch of skin that has said "Boo-Boo".
Professional children are amazing actors and negotiators and so much more. Somewhere in the 20 or so years that it takes us to become adults (I do NOT believe that it happens in 18 as the law says), we lose some of this skill or at least most of us do. So don't feel bad when you are manipulate by your child, after all they ARE professionals.

Time for a field trip....

Today is our first school field trip of the year. We are heading to a ceramics store with other home schoolers in our group (including my SIL) for a few hours of creativity. The kids will be painting a piece of pottery/ceramics and will get to see the process of firing it and will later get to see their artwork once it is dry and glazed. My SIL and I are hoping for the opportunity to paint our own piece but this trip is for the kids. It should be interesting to see what two three year olds, two six year olds and a nine year old decide to paint....and it should be even more interesting to see if their "anal" moms let them just have at it or if they try to take over......

Definition of Negligience......

Apparently it is when you suck people in by blogging about your life on a regular basis and then drop it cold to waste time on facebook. Or so I've been told. I am such a bad bad blogger! Apparently my multi-tasking abilities does not extend to being able to juggle computer websites.

So.....what to blog about.....Well, let me see! The kids, my brother and I have had nasty colds for the last week or so. It has been SO much fun! My DH has also had some sinus issues too but hasn't been too bad off. We had a nice family today since the guys were off. We got some work done around the house and my ds had someone to keep him occupied while his sister and I did first grade "STUFF". We are trying to get plenty of schoolwork done the first 3 days of the week so that we can take off Thursday all day. We have a field trip schedule with our local home school group to a ceramics/pottery place. The kids will get to paint a project and then it will be fired in the kiln and we will get to pick it up another day. My niece and nephews are going too so I am sure the kids will have a blast.

Anyone still there?

Now that I have alienated all my readers by my post yesterday, I thought I better check!
On a completely different note today though, I am now dealing with two munchkins with nasty little colds since our time out in the lousy weather the last two days. Is it ever going to stop raining? We have tons of sneezing and nose blowing going on in this house! On the other hand, they have been a little less active than usual since they are feeling a little under the weather but the whine has been flowing more than usual too.
I was reminded today on my facebook page, that we are only 49 days away from Christmas! This year has just zoomed by. I now must soon start the madness that is Christmas shopping. It should be a little easier this year. Both of the kids want a nintendo ds lite and since these are a little pricey, I have informed them that this and a game or two will be about it. This is my intention and I am planning on sticking to it.....praying for strength in resisting the temptation to buy more. My dh and I both need new cell phones pretty badly since neither of our hold a charge very long anymore so that will be our Christmas.
Well, better get going, gotta get this girl back to school work. Her 20 min break has lasted almost 45 instead. Have a great day!

Happy November 5th!

Since it is finally over and the people have spoken and the choice has been made, does this mean that I can finally watch something on TV that is not related to the election and this nastiness and bashing that has been going on for what seems like forever. I will go on record here and probably upset some of my readers in saying that I am glad that McCain did not win. I will also go on record in saying that I am concerned and a bit worried that Obama did. I actually considered not voting at all yesterday but then I realized that it was my honor and privilege to vote and it was a right that was fought for by many women (if you want to really see this in action, watch the movie "Iron Jawed Angels"). I am thrilled with the fact that man of color has won the election, I think it was about time that our country has been able to move past the color of a person's skin in chosing it's leader. I just wish it could have been someone that had the same beliefs and voted on the moral issues in a way that did not draw us further away from God. But unlike some people, I do not think that Mr. Obama is an evil person or "the Antichrist". That is just ridiculous. And if by some reason I am wrong, well, it is part of God's plan and that just means Christ is coming soon and we all need to be ready.
I spent a lot of time in school yesterday talking to my girl about what an election is and how important it is. I explained that it was our responsibility as adults to get out there and have our choice counted. I still had no clear word from God or idea which way I was going to vote when I was standing there marking my ballot. As a matter of fact, my daughter asked me several times who I was going to vote for as she waited to feed the paper into the machine. I knew that I should vote my moral values and not my finances but that was the where the dilema came in, I could not vote for EITHER if I voted based on my values. I was truly between a rock and a hard place. So I did vote my morals and chose neither. I know my write in vote was lost in the count and it was as good as voting for no one BUT I can honestly say that I did not compromise what I believed to vote for either candidate. It was kind of humorous when I walked out of the polling center though and the "supporters" standing there waiting to pass out stickers with your candidate on it to wear proudly throughout the day. An Obama person offered me a sticker and I declined, saying sorry, can't wear that one. A McCain person heard me and immediately handed me one of her's and I smiled at her and said "No thank you, can't wear that one either'"
They both gave me strange looks as if to say, "well what else is there?!"

Happy November!

Most of you know that my computer security conscious husband has requested that I do not put pictures of our kids on the blog. This band does not apply to our fur-child. So do not be surprised to see pics of Lulu on the blog often. Isn't she cute?

House cleaning gone awry......

Yesterday was one of those days when my urge to clean and organize outweighed my abilities and common sense. For those of you who read my crazy writings on a regular basis, you know that for months I whined and complained about the fact that my sweet husband was dragging his feet in the painting department. Well, he finally did get it done and we got all the tape down about a week or so before the wedding and our trip. I have not been feeling up to putting up the curtains and all the pictures and knick knacks since our return, but yesterday, since I was feeling better, I got that urge to restore my downstairs. The very first thing I decided to do was get a huge mirror that was going to go over my couch and put that up. My first mistake was in thinking that I could do this. Now, not being a stupid woman (oh shut up Lorrie!), I smartly determined that this was a very heavy mirror and it needed to be hung from a stud in order to stay on the wall.
I went into my husband's tools (big mistake! HUGE!) and got his measuring tape and stud finder (many jokes come to mind with this one, but I digress) and a couple of other things. I intelligently measured the distance between the hanging thingys on the back of the mirror and took the stud finder/laser level into the livingroom to tackle this project. I used the stud finder to find a stud in the first spot and put in a pretty large screw (I did say this mirror was huge and heavy). I used the laser lever to shoot a beam to the other side of the wall and used the measuring tape and placed a pencil mark exactly 49 inches away. All was going great! I got the stud finder to find another stud on or near the pencil mark and found one....or so I thought...turns out...NOT SO MUCH.....anyway, not being one to give up, I tried again two more times creating a total of 4 holes in the freshly spackled and painted wall.
Even my kids realized the folly of my actions! I got several comments such as "Oh, momma! Daddy's gonna be mad!" and my personal favorite "You're going to get a spanking!" (Like he'd even consider it!) I got the spackle out and did some repairing, turns out I'm not so good at that!
Anyway, when my DH came home that evening he came into the house and those little traitors were all too eager to find out if Momma was going to get a spanking. They ran up to daddy and each grabbed a hand and said "Look what momma did!"
That's when I got the ever favorite, "thoroughly discussed with YOU!" look and that condenscending "Why did you do that?" along with "Why didn't you just wait for me" and finished off with a healthy dose of "Let me just fix this immediately so that you can feel like a complete moron even though it took me 6 months to originally paint this room" cold shoulder.....I'd have preferred the spanking!
You better believe the next time those little angels do something wrong, I'm going to be waiting at the door to tell on them too! And just you wait til he tries to cook something!
Anyway, I did not get my cleaning done yesterday after all.

Another picture of Lady Lulu Belle....

Daddy's back! Yay!

My poor husband had to leave first thing Monday morning for a 7 hour drive to PA after just spending the previous two days driving home from Florida. He had a conference for work that just happened to coincide with our return from vacation. He was there for 4 days and had to drive back yesterday. He was one tired camper last night. I don't know how professional truck drivers do it. I would hate spending all that time behind the wheel. He met Lady Lulu Belle for the first time and won't admit to it but I think he likes her. He says he doesn't like the name but its here to stay so he will have to adjust.

I have titled this video that I took at Magic Kingdom, "Say No To Crack"

I was at Mickey's house in Toon Town at Magic Kingdom and was innocently video taping my kids when what do I spy in my camera screen. This fairly large young woman (and being a large woman myself I am not criticizing her weight just her choice of attire) sitting on Mickey's front porch with more exposed than anyone should have to see.
Please ladies, buy pants that fit!

Name change....

Okay, you know how some people are undecided on their kids names for a while? Well turns out that Princess Leia looks and acts more like a Lulu Belle or Lulu or Little Lulu than she does a princess.....Go figure. We had a good night or so it would seem. We put her in her crate and went to bed and if she had any issues (other than tinkling on a towel), we didn't hear about them. My girl gave up one of her stuffed puppies so that Lulu would have something to cuddle up to and she had a baby blanket that the breeder had rubbed on the mother before she gave it to us. She started whining the minute she heard us (at SIX STINKIN THIRTY! My kids get up WAY TOO EARLY!) Now I just need to get out there and cut the grass so that she can actually walk in it. We were gone for a week and then my DH went out of down the day after we got back so it is getting too high, especially for a little bit of nothing puppy like her. She has never been outside before so she is very confused about the whole grass thing anyway. She was paper trained by the breeder so going outside is a new experience.

"Princess Leia" (revised to Lulu Belle as of 10/22)

No, I did not choose this name! No, I do not particularly like the idea of this name. But my girl insists that this face screams "Princess Leia". My boy on the other hand has other ideas. He thinks she looks like a "Belle". So, stay tuned for future updates on baby girl....Oh, by the way, we got a puppy today.....isn't she just precious? She is a 9 week old, long haired Chi HooAh HooAh. And sweet? Oh yeah!

Home, Sweet Home!

As much as I look forward to a vacation, I equally look forward to coming back to my home. It is so nice to finally be off the highway and sitting back in my recliner with my laptop and all the comforts of home. We got in about 6:45 this evening after a long day of driving. I have already cleaned up a good deal of the stuff we unloaded from the van and now just need to put away the clothes and such. Fortunately, since we stayed in a 3 bedroom condo in Orlando, I had already done all the laundry from the week before we left for home. Now all I have to do is the stuff that we wore on the trip back. There is nothing worse than coming home with a bunch of stinky laundry for 5 people and having to do it all the first day back.
We did come home with a bit more than we left with BUT no puppy for those of you who were wondering. Well, that is all the updating I have time for tonight. More stuff to come on the cruise and all but that will have to wait until another day.

Is it Saturday yet?

If I have to hear this question one more time, I think I will scream (not that much sound would come out right now)! My daughter knows that we are leaving on Saturday for Orlando and man is she excited. My son talks about Disney constantly and keeps saying he wants to see Mickey Mouse and Sweeping Booty.....you know, Aurora, the sweeping booty.....Oh! Wait, you may have heard of her by her OTHER name, Sleeping Beauty, but in our house she is the sweeping booty. My son, being ever the victim of television marketing has been fixated on this young lady for a week now ever since the commercials started advertising the re-release of the film. My daughter is looking forward to spending some money that is burning a hole in her pocket. She, being the typical female, is looking forward to going in the shops and looking. (It's enough to make a mother proud, LOL). All this excitement and it doesn't even compare to the excitement that "The Peeps" are having over our cruise. You should have seen the flurry of emails being sent across the world wide web yesterday. I would guess there was a MINIMUM of 100! Everything from discussing packing strategies to discussions about branding....you know like you brand cattle during a roundup...
Why on earth were we discussing that, you may ask? Well, if you have ever been on a cruise, you know how they have a lifeboat drill early the first evening to make sure that everyone knows their lifeboat station and how to put on a life jacket? Well, during the discussion yesterday it was likened to being in a cattle roundup. You feel like a herd of cattle being roundup to be counted. You stand there for what seems like hours in the hot sun waiting for everyone to get their lifejacket on, apparently this is a difficult thing for some people, and then you have to counted. The crew has to account for every passenger and seem to take an extraordinary amount of time doing it. The only difference between this and an actual roundup is that you are not branded and the men or steers are not castrated.....FUN! FUN! One of my girls actually thought she might like being branded.....I did say we were a crazy bunch didn't I? Well, we have 2 more days before we leave, there is no telling how many emails may be sent today....I am sure it will number in the thousands!
Have a great day!

4 days and counting....

Can you tell that I am excited about my upcoming vacation? I just pre-registered on line and now can print my cruise pass. I have my "mad money" all saved up. I just need to pack now. I dread that aspect of vacation since I have to pack for 5 and then pack for DH's business trip that he leaves for the day after we get home from Florida. I dread the 12 hour plus drive there, but I can not wait to be there. I just want to lounge and chill for the entire week. I need to get a good book, Flava K please email me the name of that one you mentioned, and I suppose I should plan out some scrapbook layouts too. Just pray that I get over this "cold" or whatever it is soon. I have completely lost my voice and I have been coughing my head off for days now. I have been on anti-biotics since last Thursday and just don't seem to be getting better yet.

Wow, what a busy weekend....

It has been crazy around here. We have been running nonstop for DAYS! This past weekend was THE wedding event of the year. We had the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner and my dh had bachelor things to do on Friday night...In case you are wondering what good Christian guys do for a bachelor party, apparently its BOWLING. Just for future reference. Saturday, the we left home at 11:20 for a 3pm wedding with a nervous groom in tow and arrived home after the festivities about 10:30 pm that evening. A long day. It was a lovely wedding and I got many nice pictures. Now everyone knows that I have been prohibited by my DH from posting pics of our kids on my blog BUT this one, well you can't see anything but my DD's back and it is too cute, or I think so anyway. I love this picture.

Somebody stop the boat, I want to get off....

I guess I am getting a early taste of seasickness yesterday and today. I have had a headache and chest cough for a week now and yesterday I started getting so dizzy and nauseated that I could hardly stand to sit up. I went to the doctor today and got some antibiotics for the suspected culprit, a sinus infection. I say suspected culprit because she did not see the obvious signs of a sinus infection but I did have fluid in my ears and with the headache and nausea, she said it was most likely the problem. You've gotta love when a doctor "GUESSES" at your diagnosis. Anyway, I am still so nauseated that I could not even drive myself today. I got my seasick patch prescription filled today while I was getting my other meds. I am tempted to put one on now to see if it would help with this......
We also took my baby to the doctor today too to check out a patch of skin that was staying irritated. $100 in doctor and prescription co-pays later, we returned home. I am really thankful that we have insurance and that it is fairly good because it truly scares me to think what it would have cost otherwise. Well, that has been a day in the life of ME. I am praying to be all well by next week, you know, when I leave for the actual boat trip. Oh and the DH put a stop to the puppy madness that had taken over. He reminded me of how little actual money we had after all the stuff we have had to get this summer. He said he did not mind the idea of the actual puppy, it was just the expense right now. I guess my baby girl is going to have to wait a little longer.

Ok, here we go again....

First of all, I want to wish my baby sister HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I know she and her husband read faithfully, lol. They are busy planning to move in a couple of weeks.
Now to the "here we go again..." part of the story.
I jokingly told a very good friend of mine on her Facebook account that my little girl wanted one of her puppies. I say jokingly but everyone who reads this knows how very much my girl wants a dog. She saw a picture of one of the puppies on my computer and immediately named it Oreo and said that it was exactly the dog that she wanted (of course). My friend who lives in Florida asked if we were serious. She is breeding Havanese. Look it up but it is a small dog who looks like a Maltese or a Bichon Frise. They do not shed and what some people call a Hypo-Allerginic dog (my allergist and my daughter's both say there is no such thing). We kept my fur-nephew Sammy (pictured on the right, just scroll down) for a week and she had no reaction to him. Now I know that I said that keeping him convinced me that I did not want a puppy but the memory is fading.....Anyway, she has one little boy that is black and white and is adorable. We are seriously considering stopping by and seeing it on the way home from Florida in 2 weeks. It will be ready to leave its mommy by then.....so unless I come to my senses.....

Can you believe that it is almost October?

Tomorrow will be the first of October! I am in shock. My BIL and Future SIL have been planning a wedding for almost a year now and the day is almost here. It seemed like such a long time away last Thanksgiving when they got engaged and now it is just 4 days away. Less really when you count the rehearsal. My entire family minus one will be in the wedding so this week is a busy one for us. Tuxedoes (is that how you pluralize that word?) to pick up, dresses to get pressed, a suit to get dry cleaned, last minute stuff to get, like pantyhose for me and my girl.....Wow! and only really three days to do it....Ok, I am better now....
Tomorrow is my favorite neice in the whole wide world's 9th birthday AND my favorite sister's too. I will not give her age but let's just say, its a bit more....she is my baby sister so she is younger than me. (Now I say that they are my favorite neice and sister, but they are my only neice and sister so I am not stepping on any toes) I am taking my neice out to lunch for her birthday at a local Tea Room. She is a girly girl and its her kind of thing and then I am taking her to Barne's and Noble to pick out a book or something...Its a date and I am looking forward to it. My not so girly girl may not want to come with us but even so, it will be fun!
After Saturday is over and done, we will be a week away from our big trip to Florida!!! I AM SO EXCITED!! We are going to Magic Kingdom (THE Happiest place in the WORLD) on Sunday and then I am off on my cruise on Monday. DID I SAY, I CAN'T WAIT!!! What really stinks is that I have a cold right now that I am desperate to KICK before next Saturday. Well, that is all the news I have today. Have a great one!!

I got me a sunburn....

My SIL and I had a garage sale this weekend and it was so hot and sunny that got a sunburn on my arms and face. We have worked hard for the last weekends with this and after Saturday, we hauled all the leftover stuff to the thrift store. It was a lot of work but it was beneficial to both families in more than one way. We both cleared out a ton of toys and stuff AND made some money.
Would I do it again? Not anytime soon! But yes, I would do it again. I also got some really nice metal, locking storage cabinets to put in my classroom from a local private school that has closed.
I have two bookcases in there now but they are not very deep and the kids mess with the stuff on the shelves and junk it up. Now I have three deep, bigger cabinets to organize stuff in and I can close the doors and lock them. I am planning on using one for an overflow pantry. I love anything that gets my house/garage more organized and neat.

Can I just say that I'm bummed.....

My girls, my peeps, my friends are heading out of town in a few days to the Outer Banks of NC for a cropping weekend and recharging of the mommy batteries and ....WAHHHH!!!! I can't go. I have so much craziness going on with kids, upcoming nuptials, upcoming vacation, a bridal shower, a garage sale and upcoming business trip for the hubby going on that I just did not feel like I could go this weekend, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it. Now, don't get me wrong, I am excited about all the other stuff that is going on too but my semi annual crop with the girls is a highlight of the fall and I am going to miss it. It did make me check to find out how many days until my cruise and its only 19 days away!!!! YEAH!!! It will not be the same without Jewel Dawg and Flava K BUT it will be fun to spend time with the other peeps that I NEVER seem to get to see anymore. Now THAT is not their fault, it is completely mine.
The kiddos are excited about the trip too since they are going with daddy to see THE mouse. Everyone keeps asking, "Isn't that too much for daddy?" He says no way, its probably easier because he won't be dealing with bored kids on top of not having me around too.
Anyway, that's what is on my mind today!

All done.....

Yesterday was the last day of allergy testing and I was informed that they save the worst for last.
I got less injections but they were more painful because with the food testing they have to give you a bigger dose of the allergen.
Just so you know, I was not allergic to any foods but one. Which is a relief since I think I have probably consumed massive quantities of each of these foods over the last 39 years. I have also eaten quite a bit of the food that I am actually allergic to but have never noticed a reaction. I am apparently allergic to RICE. Isn't that a weird one?. I am not a huge fan of rice unless it is crispy and mixed up with melted marshmallows, LOL, so it should not be a problem to reduce my intake of said food.
Today is the hearing test and visit with the doctor. I have already decided that regardless of the shear number of things that I am allergic to, I will NOT be getting allergy shots. My BIL has had them and you go once or twice a week for a couple of years and if you stop, you have to start over from the beginning. The thing is that you have to pay your specialist co pay EACH visit. So I would be looking at $20 or $40 dollars per WEEK for up to five years. NOPE!!! Not going to do it. If I pay $20 to $40 a week its going to be on a pedicure or spa treatment,lol.

update....

Ok, for those of you who are sick of hearing about it, I will not go into the details but lets just say
17 injections...6 ROWS! Do the math...that's 102 injections and unlike some people, I didn't even have a pretty butterfly to show for it.......
Today is the last day of allergy testing and then tomorrow I get the hearing test that I originally went there for to begin with.
After the appointment, I got groceries at Wallyworld. BIG MISTAKE! I took leave of my senses. Two cardinal rules of shopping at Walmart: 1. Never go on the 1st 2. NEVER GO ON THE 15th. Yesterday was the 15th and that is military payday and we are a big military area....IT WAS PACKED and the shelves were empty. I would seriously boycott Walmart, IF I could afford to but with a family of five, it would cost us too much. I really dislike going there.

WOW! I just realized how negative all of this post sounds! Sorry. Let me change speeds here and give some great news that I got yesterday! I got an email from my travel agent that booked our cruise and she informed us that we were given a cabin upgrade AND a rate reduction of $35.
We are now being moved from a 2nd deck interior room to a deck 6, exterior cabin. This is really cool. These cabins were on average about $60 to $80 more per person originally. What a nice surprise!

Time for Day 2 of allergy testing......

Anyone have a pressing emergency to call me out of town? My kids are disgustingly healthy at this point and time so I can't play the sick kid card.....The van is fairly new so I can't play the broken down vehicle card......Oh well, guess I'm going to have to suck it up, build a bridge and head on over to the torture chamber they call a doctor's office.

My SIL and I made it out for some shopping therapy on Saturday to Kohls with only one child and it was the one that actually LOVES to clothes shop, my almost 9 year old niece. I got a cute pair of chocolate brown bermuda shorts and a green and brown shirt that I really like. I am really digging these new color combos. Well, not really new but still...I love the brown/pink and brown/baby blue from last year and now the brown/green has really caught my eye. I could do a lot of damage to our checking account balance at Kohls if I stayed there long. Fortunately, for my husband that is, we were shopping off the clearance rack and the shorts were 80% off so I got them for $7 and the shirt was $12. Since it was 90 plus degrees here yesterday, I wore them to church right away. Now I know we are suppose to retire our summer stuff after labor day but it was hot and they are fall colors so I figure it was a good compromise.

We also went to Target' (pronounced Tar Jay, for those of you who did not realize it was a French fashion boutique). This is the best time to get the kiddos some summer clothes for next year. We laughed a lot and took much longer than our husbands expected. My BIL had surgery last Monday on his throat and has been in a lot of pain but he came over with his family anyway since he was hoping that he was over the hump and on the way to recovery. He was not! The poor guy didn't even have the energy to pick on me like he normally does. I am expecting some serious slams later this week though when he is back to normal. So anyway, I made homemade chicken noodle soup just for him and we let the kids play until late. Overall, we had a really nice weekend except for the fact that it was so hot and not an open pool to be found (outside that is, since we could have gone to the Y). My kids just don't understand that the pools closed on Labor day since summer was over and yet it was so hot....Come to think of it, I don't understand either.....Where are our nice fall temps?

What is it like to be a human pin cushion, you ask?

OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I had no idea what I was in for!
I had my first day of allergy testing yesterday. I am not afraid of needles. I don't mind the occasional shot or blood test.....so I thought...NO PROBLEM....Right.....
My baby girl had allergy testing last year and they took this block with like 50 little needle things and scratch it on her back and test them all at once. I thought, Ok, that looked painful but manageable....
Is that what they did to me? NO!!!!
On day one, I went in and saw that she had 20 full sized hypodermic needles in different allergens. She says that she will be injecting them in my arm in a row and making a raised bubble of sorts like a TB test and then looking at them. I thought, OK. I can do this. About 1/2 through, I was thinking, IS IT OVER YET! Then she finishes and sets the timer. I thought. WHEW! Made it.
The timer goes off and she looks at them and I said, Ok, all done? She says, No that was just the FIRST set.....! We went through this process 3 MORE TIMES!!!! I had 80 plus needle holes in my left arm! OoooooooooUCH!!!!! It took all I had to sit there for the last set. I just wanted to run away. I asked her, since I have the next set on Monday morning, will they use the same arm again? She says it depends on how well it heals over the weekend. I ask her if each visit will be this many shots......Praying for a big NEGATORY on that one......and she says that they will be AT LEAST this many but it depends on my reaction to things. If they don't get a diffinite positive result, they redo it.......
I am now shaking in my boots!!!!!
Oh, and by the way, I am officially allergic to the planet Earth and need to relocate.........JUST SO YOU KNOW!!!!

Is Fall weather ever coming??

I love fall weather. My allergies are never as bad and it is nice and cool without being cold.....but so far, it has been so hot and muggy here. When are the fall temperatures going to get here? I have the kids closet and dressers all cleaned out and ready with fall clothing, I have my pumpkin spice tart in the tart warmer so the house smells like fall, I have the fall wreath on the door.....when is the weather going to get the hint!!!!
Ok, enough of that! Sorry for the rant!
This has been a busy week so far. We are back into the swing of school and both kids are swimming (my baby boy had his first swim lessons last Tuesday!) so that takes up two nights a week and my brother had a doctor appt. yesterday plus I had to get groceries. On Friday, I start the first of 4 straight days (work days that is) of allergy testing, so by next Weds I will be tired AND a human pin cushion. We are suppose to start back to church on Weds nights tonight and on Saturday, its my oldest nephew's very first soccer game and the kids and I would like to be there....
Busy, busy, busy....so if I go MIA for a few days or so, DON'T WORRY, I will be back!!!

Promotion Sunday at Church.....

You can always tell when it's promotion Sunday at our church. You see we go to a fairly large church, therefore each age group or grade has a class (or actually 2 but you get the point). Each September on the Sunday after labor day, we have promotion Sunday. The kids move to their new class. Fortunately they have been separated by their birthday since birth so they always move with the same kids more or less. The reason you can tell that it is promotion week is that the moment you walk into the door on the kids wing of the church, you see the crowd of parents and kids that are unsure what to do. You see, these are the parents that can't follow simple instructions. You see, the new room numbers are marked clearly on the adhesive tag that you get when you check the child in on the computer. Then you finally make in onto the hallway where the rooms are and you have another back up of parents that can not read the room numbers clearly marked above each door so they must ask everyone "Do you know where room number ---- is?".
Did I mention that the room numbers are over the doors and in numerical order? I mean, I could understand if the room numbers were just scattered willy-nilly but come on folks! Then you have those who have never entered a office building or anything in their lives and do not realize that if the number starts with a 2, it means the room is on the 2nd floor.... Ok, then lets cut the parents some slack and realize that maybe they are not dumb, they are just stressed. Then we get to the actual room and we have the kids who are really sensing their parent's confusion and uncertainty and are having a melt down over the fact that their room has moved one or two doors down the hall and the fact that they have a new teacher and helper. Oh, and did I tell you that we are Southern Baptist Conservatists, so each parent has on average about a dozen kids (you know, we are trying to rival the Catholics in the baby making business). So we go through this process at each and every drop off point. Then when you finally get the kids calmed down and actually in their new class, you make your way to the Sanctuary of the church and realize that the service is now over and they are singing "Just as I am" which means you have missed the entire message of the day which was probably on patience which you probably desperately needed to hear. Then you make you way back to the class room behind all those not so sharp parents who DONT remember which class they dropped which kid off in.....Oh but that is not what happened to me because I was scheduled to work this Sunday so I have the distinct pleasure in dealing with many overprotective parents who feel the need to give you in depth instructions on how to care for their 9 month old for the next 45 mins to an hour. Then you have the first time mom who wants to come in for a few moments because her baby had never been away from her for even a moment in her entire life (Get real woman! You better take a break when you can get one, trust me!) and once the baby is in the room and perfectly happy to be playing and not crying one little bit, she feels the need to make sure she picks the happy baby up to kiss her and hug her and say bye-bye, mommy is LEAVING now, or and did I say I'M LEAVING YOU WITH STRANGERS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND I WON'T BE BACK FOR AN WHOLE HOUR! Oh and when the baby didn't cry and went back to playing, she felt the need to say good bye several more times on her way out the door.......God Bless her little heart....It WAS her first time.........Oh and then she shows up about 15 mins. later, just to "CHECK" on her and feels the need to get the baby's attention and wave?....Oh and when the child finally did start crying, she grabbed her up and said "It's okay darling, you did try, your okay now, mommy's got you..."
WAS I EVER THAT BAD? I know I had a hard time the first weekend I left my little angels but now I let my girl go on sleepovers (only to the cousins but it is a first step) and and I go away at least 2 weekends a year with the girls......

Good Morning!!!

One of the perks of home schooling is that if you do a little extra in the first 4 days of the week, you can take off on Friday for fun stuff. Today we are going to a back to school bash at a local park for our church's home school group. My SIL and her kids are joining us and then we are off to the amusement park for the afternoon. The kids are actually electrically charged with excitement.
It may be a bad weather weekend here due to Little Miss Tropical Storm Hannah so its good that we get in our weekend fun a day early.
I am so excited about my upcoming cruise with some of my peeps so I hope the hurricane season finishes up with all this activity in the next 3 weeks, 4 weeks tops. Otherwise, we may not be able to drag "The OCD" (one of my girls) out of the state. She is not a big fan of the motion of the ocean.
To be honest, I can get nauseated watching my kids spin around so neither am I, but my first cruise showed me that you really don't feel it on a cruise ship. I have a prescription for the patch so I am not worried.
Now, I just need to find a place for the dh and the kiddos to stay on their visit to the Sunshine State during the week I am cruising. Well, better get a shower!
Have a great weekend!

A LITTLE HELP PLEASE!!!!

I have been told by several people that they could not post comments on my blog and now one person has said that they can't even view the existing comments any longer. I thought it was strictly due to a conflict between their web browser and blogspot but was told today that the same person can still see and even post comments on other blogs so I have tried to tweak my settings to fix this. I am not sure if it worked so if you read my blog, please just post a comment today to say you stopped by and was able to comment and if you still can't post comment or even see them, please email me and let me know this did not work. I am no computer genius so I am doing my best to figure this out.

Anyone got a big S that I can put on a necklace....

You know, S for SUCKER. I know I have blogged about my neighbor who calls periodically and suckers me into having a playdate at my house for her daughter and mine. Everytime, I whine about how rude it is to invite her kid over to my house but NEVER invite my kid to come to her house, but then I still say sure bring her over. I need to borrow a backbone and just say no. It is just so hard when she says that her little girl has been begging to come play with mine. The truth is that little Miss Sarah has no interest in playing with my girl, she wants to come eat snacks and play with her toys. She is 4 and my girl is almost 6 1/2 and they are nothing alike. (other than both being bossy and use to being in charge). She comes and is starving because she just got home from school and pulls out all kinds of toys and terrorizes poor Brownie and just basically ignores both of my children. Then she goes in my fridge and asks for chocolate milk. I tell her I don't have chocolate milk and she tells me, you have chocolate syrup....I tell her that I will make her some but she will have to wait til her mom comes to get it because I need to make sure she isn't allergic to milk or chocolate. Her mom was suppose to be back to get her in 10 mins. so I did not think it was that long to ask her to wait. So after her 1 1/2 hour visit, we had to clean up the mess and my daughter said, I don't like her. Of course, I tell her that we are not going to like everyone but we have to be kind and polite to them because that is what Jesus would want us to do. What I want to say is, I don't like her or her mom and she never has to come over again but....we have to be kind and polite to everyone because that is what Jesus would want us to do........

Fed up with election stuff!!!

Ok, I know that I don't normally get too serious here on my own personal forum but today, I just want to say that I am officially fed up! My husband has watched so much CNN coverage in the last 7 months since we got our new LCD screen tv that the CNN symbol is burnt into the screen even when the kids are watching ...well, I'd like to go high brow and say "The History Channel" or "Discovery Kids" but lets be honest and say SpongeBob Squarepants. They are starting to wonder why Patrick got a new tshirt that says CNN across the front....
My DH and I actually could not fall asleep the other night after an immensely busy day at the amusement park because we were too busy talking about the newest VP scandal. The news reporters were in a feeding frenzy and could not decide which story was meatier, the scandal or the hurricane. Sad!!!
I can honestly say that I have never lost sleep over an election before in my life. I was blissfully ignorant in the past but now I have the CNN news ticker running through my mind even as I sleep. I can not honestly say that I feel any better about making an informed choice in the upcoming election, as a matter of fact, I feel like the more I know, the more uneasy I am about either choice. So I think I am going to go with this choice (picture below). At least with this person, you have no expectations and will not be disappointed.......(Just as a side note, Photo shop is a scary thing in the hands of a stay at home mom with a warped sense of humor.)

RANT!!!!!

How come you go to a cosmetologist/hair stylist/beautician (whatever the pc term is nowadays!)
and you ask for a trim, just cut the dead ends, add in some layers and please do not take any length off the overall hair except was is absolutely neccessary to get rid of those before mentioned dead ends, and you come home with your bangs cut up to the back of your head. A woman should NOT be reduced to doing a "combover" to have hair in the front! Instead of the Hair Cuttery they should call it the Hair Butchery. Now I am exagerating some for those of you who don't know about my penchant for over dramatization with regards to a haircut but seriously, when you tell the stylist (and I use that term LIGHTLY) to just trim your bangs because they draw up a lot and you want them below your eyebrows, it should be a no brainer! Even I can trim my bangs (with more skill and talent, if I do say so myself). Now, I know you are going to say, that's what I get for going to somewhere as low brow as the Hair Cuttery but I just wanted a slight trim not a Oprah Winfrey total makeover. I know it will grow out but for pete's sake people!
End of Rant, we now return to our normally scheduled program.......

When it rains it pours.....

This has been a period of major purchases and spending for us. Last month we had to purchase a new washer and dryer and now the transmission in my DH's car needs to be replaced to the tune of $2300. I am so glad that my cruise is already paid for or else I would feel guilty about spending the money on myself when we as a family have not been able to really afford our normal vacation(s). Yes, we did get away for a weekend to go camping but that is not my idea of our normal vacation. Like I told my husband this past weekend when he was talking about how when you are backpacking, you don't carry anything more than you have too and that all the "stuff" we had to go camping was not really necessary. Now girls, let me explain backpacking in case you don't know. When you go backpacking, you take the lightest sleeping bag you can, you may take a small tent and as few other things as possible (even toilet paper is a luxury that few carry) and you hike into the woods with this on your back and sleep out in the wild. You do not shower and some people hike and stay for days at a time. This girl does NOT go backpacking!!!
So I told him that Backpacking is sleeping in the woods and going stinky, Camping is sleeping on the ground in a tent at a campground and using a public toilet and shower (the one at our campground was nice by the way), When you stay in a hotel, that's a vacation and when you go away with some of your best girls on a 4 day cruise, that's a Great Vacation!
Now going somewhere like Disney with your family is a great vacation too but since I can't do both, this year the cruise is what I am really looking forward to. Hopefully when all these extra expenses are over and paid for this year, my DH and the kids will still have their vacation too (they are hoping to go to Florida too while I am on my cruise).
I am so thankful to God though that giving up vacation is the biggest financial worry we have with all the people out there having to decide between putting gas in their cars or paying their mortgages or feeding their families. I complain about sleeping in a tent for 2 days and people are living in their cars wondering where their next meal will come from....Ok, complaint withdrawn, I am blessed......

Back from the great outdoors.....

(This is the memorial to the victims of the school shootings from last year. It was sad to see that each of the stones represented the lost of life.)

Well, I guess you were wondering if we survived our camping trip? We had a blast with in the mountains of VA. We visited my dh's alma mater and he showed us around. We went on a very tiring hike to a beautiful waterfall. My boy's little legs gave out and so did my knee so we didn't quite make it to the top but we still had fun playing in the mini-waterfall about 2/3 of the way to the top. The water was unbelievably icy even there and they say that it was even colder at the base of the fall. DH took the pictures of the actual waterfall and I took many others along the way.
We also went to the "beach" to swim and play in the lake. The campground had created a swimmer's beach at one area of the lake so the kids built sand castles and swam on Sunday before we drove home. My muscles have been aching every since but it was fun. We all can't wait to do it again.

Brownie's going for his first sleepover with the cousins

I have just been hit like a ton of bricks with all that I need to accomplish before the wilderness train rolls out on Friday morning. I have truly tried to totally avoid facing this upcoming weekend in my mind and have not prepared at all. My dh kind of organized it and he being of the male persuasion has left some real big gaps in the "Planning" process. I have to clean up Brownie's cage and get him ready for his first sleepover with the cousins and then deliver him to their house. The "Mean One" has promised to come to the door with a frying pan in hand.....EWWWWWWW!!! After I calm down my daughter and convincing her that Uncle K is NOT going to eat him, Brownie will be staying for the weekend. I have to pack for us including towels and bedding and all that good stuff and make sure we forget nothing that we can't live with out in the woods. (Like Clorox wipes and toilet paper....) I have to make sure that we have matches, charcoal and aluminum foil to cover the "grill" since I have a hard time putting food on a grill in the woods....EWWWWW!!! Can you tell that I am not the outdoorsy ruffin' it girl? I have located and purchased a battery operated FAN so that I can at least cool off when I am sleeping. I have no idea what we will be eating while we are there but can put that off until we hit the Walmart about 15 mins. from the campsite. I am feeling the pressure right about now....What if it rains all weekend? What if a snake comes into the tent? Anyone got a chill pill I can take? .......

Anyone got a RV I can borrow........

My wild, outdoorsman, Grizzly Adams (blast from the past!) type husband has decided that his kids need to ROUGH it out in the great outdoors. He wanted to take them into the mountains andpitch a tent and get in touch with his inner unbathed, squat in the woods and use a leaf to "clean up" if you get my drift...Well, this girl COULD not, WOULD not do that. I agreed to let them go and go with them if he went to an actual campground with showers and bathrooms. So compromise made and I am already wimping out. My MIL and SIL have already let us have it for taking these babies out and letting them sleep on the ground in a tent where anyone could come in or a bear could claw apart and eat us all. They are amazed that I would even consider going since I am definitely not a nature girl. Am I excited about the trip? Yes, because we will be spending the time with 3 wonderful families and I am sure we will have a great time with them. Am I excited about sleeping out in the woods in a tent on the hard ground and using a public bathroom and shower for the weekend? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!!

Anyway that is coming up for this weekend but on today's agenda was a doctor's appointment for me to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. I have been having a hard time hearing for a couple of years now and my DH was tired of it. (me too to be honest). I really have a hard time hearing men's voices if they talk at a normal level (Brian M. is the exception but let's face it, he never talks at a normal level). I also have a hard time hearing anyone if there is a lot of background noise. I can't destinguish the voice from the other sounds. Anyway, the doctor said that it may be less a matter of hearing loss and more a matter of allergies that causing my ears to be full of fluid all the time. So, today he schedule me for 5 appointments over the next month. One of them next week for a CT scan of my sinuses and 4 of them back to back in September. 3 days in a row I will go in for allergy testing and then on the last day I will actually have a hearing test.
This seems like a lot of effort to me but I guess it would be nice to know.

The dog days of summer.....

Seems that summer is nearing its end and we have really been busy. We skipped out on school yesterday and headed off to the local water park with one of our bestest peeps and peepette for a few hours. I had a lazy day just lounging around talking for a change. My ds actually went off to play with the girls and didn't drag his momma with him. He actually told me to let go several times when I was trying to hold onto his life jacket in Hubba Hubba highway. This is a big step since last year he clung to me like glue on this ride that has a strong current to float you around. He also really enjoyed the wave pool with his sister and friend DNK. I think he may be ready for swim lessons. My peep and I discussed all of our feminine woes from PMS to Hot flashes and she got the full rundown of my not for blog issues and she listened even though I am sure it was not that entertaining.
We barely made it into our van and got on the road home before a severe thunderstorm hit the area and were blessed enough to make the trip home in steady moving traffic in about 45 mins.
It was a nice day.
Tomorrow evening is my DH's company picnic at a minor league baseball game. We have invited our entire family so there will be 17 of us there. This is the kid's first time at a baseball game. One of my peeps has been trying to get us to go to one for months (another team) because she has become such a fan. Jewel Dawg, you may have some converts for next season.
I personally am not much of a sports fan but the kids and the guys might be.
Oh, and I forgot the big news! My big boy has decided to try out this potty training thing. He has been going potty all over town this week. We had to go to the Dr. on Thursday and he went there, then we went to Wal-mart and he went there and yesterday at the water park he went to the actual potty and not in the water (like I am sure he has always done in the past). It figures though that just as I buy a big box of diapers, he would stop using them. I guess once he is done, I will officially be done with babies and the mother of kids.

Feeling the need for change.......

Its getting to be that time again. I am feeling the need to change my banner. I'm tired of seeing the same old one.....so don't be surprised if a new banner appears soon.....

Laminin --This is a long video but well worth the time

Kids are living in Thrillville.....

Can a person get motion sickness in their recliner in their own family room? The answer is YES!
My son picked out a Wii game for his birthday a couple of months ago but has just recently decided its THE game to play. Its called Thrillville. In this amusement park simulation and management game you are the manager and head ride designer of a chain of amusement parks. You build and ride the roller coasters and other nauseating carnival rides and play all sorts of carnival games. You also amusingly enough hire mechanics, entertainers and cleaning people to work in the park. One of the mini games includes training the cleaning people to vacuum trash and GET THIS!, spray down and clean up VOMIT! This game is quite amusing even to me who sometimes gets drafted in accomplishing the missions it sets to go further in the game. However, my kids love just to go and ride the rides. On our large screen tv, a simulated roller coaster is quite intense. So, Yes you can get nauseated in your own family room.
We have also discovered that our son likes scantily clad girls with blonde pigtails....you wonder what this means? Well when you play the game you get to pick the character, chose their hair color and looks and then their clothing. He ALWAYS wants the character to be a blonde girl with pig tails in a very small cropped shirt, a very short Catholic school girl skirt and knee socks.
We tried to get him to change to a boy but he says no, she's a beautiful priss priss (his word for princess). His daddy tells him to at least put some clothes on her and he changes it only to come back in a few minutes to see that ds has changed it back........Can puberty start at 3?

Hi....remember me?

Well, its been a busy few weeks. We have be running nonstop. Let me give you a fast update on the washer situation....Wednesday came...No new washer. I called and was told that there was no request for a new washer....WHAT!!! She said that she saw where I had a repair order in but no request for a new washer. Fortunately I had the girls name that I had spoken to, dear ole' Euniece.
The other young lady said she didn't understand why Euniece had not put in the request because they would have rushed me a new washer the next day since they were in stock! She did just that and it came on Thursday. We went back to the store and got them to take another $150.00 off the cost of the washer with the understanding that if this one leaked we wanted the money back on the washer and dryer. The new washer works beautifully. So hopefully that situation is resolved.
My son and I caught a nasty stomach virus so after that and weren't feeling well and now my girl has a nasty cold. Meanwhile we had another big kid's day at church and plenty of drama with a busted tooth. My girl got busted in the mouth with my boy's head while playing at Chic-Fil-A and her front tooth was knocked pretty badly. Since it is a baby tooth we thought it was probably okay but then it started to look funny so we took her to dentist but he xrayed it and said it was fine and to let her get it out on her own.
We picked up wedding attire and got fitted for tuxes for the men and boys over the last week or so and the list goes on. I am really looking forward to the month of Oct. when we will be going on vacation. Me on my cruise and the hubby and kids are going to the Happiest place on Earth.
Meanwhile, we are starting school back early so that we can take Fridays off in the fall for fun stuff and take off for vacation....Did I say busy.......

What's been up, you ask? Let me tell ya....

Ok, you know the last post about the defective washer? Well, later that same day, we found out that the plastic pan that was under our washer (for those of you who don't have their washers in their house, the plastic pan is put there to protect your home against washer mishap, it is to hold the water and there is a drain at the bottom to pipe to let the water out...good idea right?) was not actually properly connected to the drain so when the water tried to drain, it went everywhere and drained into the exhaust fan of my downstairs powder room and posed an electricution hazard along with a mess all over. We had to turn off power to most of our downstairs for several hours while it dried out and had to take out the washer and my dh had to connect the pan to the drain properly and seal it to prevent leaking in the future. Apparently this is a disaster that has been waiting to happen for 14 years (when my house was originally built), In the process, my OCD tendencies kicked in and I had to thoroughly clean and convinced my dh to paint the laundry closet since everything was out of it. Man, it is amazing the dirt and crud that builds up in a laundry closet. I cleaned it somewhat before the new washer and dryer came but since he had the pan out and I had clear area to work, I really nailed it good. So, at the end of the day, we had it all reconnected and waiting for the second new washer of the week. Oh and I did threw a bit of a fit over the fact that I had to wait til Wednesday but since they said they had no more in stock and had to have it brought in, I couldn't do much about it.

Are you ready for this........

Okay, I know you have been wondering where I have been. I have been very lax in the posting department lately but let me tell you my story. On Wednesday while doing some laundry, my dryer just completely and suddenly died. It was still heating but not turning. This particular dryer is 20 plus years old (our old one died several years ago and we bought a new one that did not work well and my in-laws bought a new set but this one was still working well so we replaced our new one with this old one that worked much better). Our washer has been acting up for a couple of years now so we decided to buy a new set. I talked to my MIL and asked if they liked their new (4 years old now) set and what brand was it. They had a Kenmore Elite series and really liked it. She also said that my SIL and BIL both had the same brand and they were happy. So we went to Sears with the intention of buying a Kenmore super capacity washer and matching dryer. While there we decided on a top loading HE (High Efficiency) Kenmore Elite Oasis and the dryer to match...$1800 later we walked away with plans for it to arrive on Friday (yesterday). We were a bit in sticker shock as the last washer and dryer was about $800 for both. Anyway, the washer and dryer came yesterday and let me say, they are lovely. They have all the bells and whistles but unfortunately after one load of laundry, we notice that the washer is leaking out of the side and into the drain pan. My DH called the repair number and they say that they will come out next Thursday....I was through the roof! $1000 for a washing machine that leaks with the first load and I have to wait a week for a REPAIR! NO WAY!
I called the store and was told my appliance manager to call delivery back and tell them that they delivered a defective machine and I wanted a new one delivered. I did this and now we are getting a new machine next WEDNESDAY! What a mess!
Oh and btw, our trip to BG was an experience in itself that just can't even be described on this blog but if you are interested, I will be glad to share the experience on the phone.....

Thoughts on being a single mom....It STINKS!!!

Now don't go spreading any rumors that my DH and I have split....He did, I didn't. Just kidding. He left Monday for a week long conference in the New England area. The kiddos and I normally pack up and join him but I was not feeling a 13 hour (plus?) road trip to an area that didn't appear to have much to entertain two little balls of pure energy. So hence, this week I became a single mom (temporarily, THANK GOD!!!) and let me just say it stinks!
First of all, imagine this....Me, a not so petite flower, my 6 year old (tall for her age) daughter and my three year son all in a queen bed....my daughter was on my husbands side, my boy in the middle (so that he doesn't fall off) and me in my spot. My daughter, decides that she has to scooch over so that she won't be too close to the edge because something may reach out and grab her, which causes her brother to move closer to me which makes me have my ample heinie hanging of the bed. They both begin complaining that its too dark in my room so we turn the touch lamp on in my headboard on its lowest setting with the understanding that momma can't sleep with lights on so it will be going off when they fall asleep....a fall which apparently comes to a screeching halt when the light gets turned off. I finally get the light off when my almost 40 year old bladder starts calling (oh, and for those of you who don't already know this, bladders apparently only have a 40 year shelf life and don't bother checking that lifetime warranty you thought you had it does NOT cover a replacement). So I make a potty run and when I return, my little 12 inch niche that I had carved on MY bed....ITS GONE!! So I grab my pillow and find a way to wrap my almost 6 foot frame across the foot of the bed....which worked ok until my son wakes up and decides to join me....which only lasts a short time because even he realizes that the spot he left was MUCH better. My daughter somehow found a way to sleep spreadeagled and moved further down on the bed so I kept having to fight with her legs in my sleep....It has been a lovely three nights.....And for those of you wondering why I did not make them go back to their bed? Well, I'm a wuss! I don't sleep well without my hubby beside me and I keep thinking about hearing noises and worrying how I can get my kids and get out, so with them in the bed with and the door locked and my cell phone next to the bed and a huge walking stick by the bed and ....... well you get the idea....I feel a little safer. I tell myself that I would not sleep very well anyway so I might as well let them stay. So anyway, to say the least I am a little tired this week.

We have also been busy with Adventure Days at our church. What in the world is this? It is 3 days of craziness and mess with 80 plus 4-8 year olds. Tuesday was Wacky Water day. They had water balloon fights, played other silly water games and ate watermelon for a snack. I volunteered to help out so I did a water craft with them. FUN!! Weds. was Wacky Races day. They played a version of the Amazing Race. They were in 8 teams that ran through about 15 different areas and performed tasks/games to win a clue. I manned the Whipped Cream pie event. I filled little pie tins with whipped cream so that they could eat it out to find the tin with something written in it. Let me just say, it was a breezy day and pie pans with whipped cream don't have much weight.....you figure it out. Today is going to be Chocolate Wars....we are skipping to day...we made, I mean had other plans. But for those of you wondering what they were going to do? They were having a chocolate tug of war and doing human ice cream sundaes.....I just couldn't do it.....

So today we are off to the local amusement park with the cousins. So I need to go get a shower and wake the bed hogs.....Have a great day!!!

Back to Snoozerville for this girl....

After two and 1/2 weeks of full out running, we have returned to the comfort of home and Snoozerville. For the last 3 days, we have not left our own backyard. We have spent plenty of time watching movies, playing video games, playing board games and just plan veggin' out. It has been nice but I think we are done. I have cleaned, caught up on a lot of laundry and answered the 6 million questions per day that my daughter dishes out. My DH and I have seen a few good movies too. We have had "Vantage Point" and "The Bucket List" in the last week or so and they were both very good.
So, just in case you were wondering if I dropped off the face of the earth, the answer is no, I've just been to slack to blog.....

Jane, Stop this crazy thing!!!!

Is that a blast from the past for you? Do you remember the Jetson's? We still get to see them through the miracle of Boomerang network but for some of you this is just a memory. Anyway, that is how I feel after the last 15 days. We have run like crazy during that time. Yesterday was another day at the water park with some of the peeps. We had a blast. My boy has officially decided that he loves Hubba Hubba Highway. He floated with his life jacket on and did not want me to hold onto him at all. Last year this was his least favorite and I think this year it is his fave. We went around at least 5 times yesterday and he was still not ready to get off. I was not as vigilant with the sunblock as I should have been though so this week I had a bit of a burn and my kids had a bit of pink.
Today, we are going to hang at home and veg out. I don't want to go anywhere. My kids are already asking where we are going today and when I told them we are staying home, they starting trying to think of places to go. They just don't get it. Anyone want to take them somewhere fun? Anyone.........

Busy, busy, busy....

We have been running like crazy now for almost two weeks with no end in sight. The kids are loving it though. Yesterday we spent the day at the water park with our friends and they just had a blast. Today's big plan is to go for my annual ob/gyn visit. OH JOY!!! The fun I will have!....NOT! I have tried to find a reason to cancel but can not. I may not get around to posting again til the weekend so I just wanted to stop by and say HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!

VBS wrap-up, WALL-E, and my little gift from the babies....

Hi all!
Just stopping by to give you an update. VBS was great. I think the final count for the week was actually 1027 in attendance (which was probably about 800 kids and the rest workers). Overall, it was a great week with the babies. They were so sweet that they gave me a parting gift...a stinkin' Cold/Virus! I woke up with a scratchy throat yesterday and by the time I was done with VBS at 12:30, I had a full fledge cold kicking in. Its a doosy too! I have been miserable since yesterday afternoon. I think out of a class of 10-12 babies, at least 6 of them had runny noses all week so I have no idea which one's snot was the culprit, LOL.
We rushed right out of VBS and met some of our peeps and peepettes at the local AMC theater to be some of the first people to see the new Disney/Pixar movie, "Wall-E". It was a good movie. Not my favorite Pixar movie but good. It had some pretty heavy subject matter for the kiddos and definitely had a environmentalist/green feel to it and to be honest, I was a little creeped out by the pet cockroach....UGH!!
Afterwards the kids and I ran to the Optometrist office to pick up my new glasses and then home where I crashed hard with this cold. I am going to taking to my bed for the day since we have big plans for tomorrow. I am just hoping my babies don't get it too.
Have a great Saturday!!!

Farewell to Sammy....

Little Sammy got picked up this afternoon by his "parents". They were happy to be reunited and I was happy to send him home. My son on the other hand was very upset. Now this is the boy who wanted nothing to do with this little furball of energy. He ran from Sammy and climbed in my lap anytime he was near, but somehow he had gotten use to the idea of Sammy's presence in our home. He got mad at all of us whenever we locked Sammy in his crate for doing something wrong. My daughter was also upset but she understood from the beginning that Sammy was going home today and took it a lot better than my son.

Day 2 of VBS went well. We only had 9 babies today. Tomorrow we are supposed to have a full house which is 12. It is a very busy 4 hours. The kids had fun and came home with a pile of crafts and stuff that they had done. By the end of the week, we will have enough crafts and artwork to open a gallery. VBS at our church is a real event each year. We start off the week with about 400 kids and by the end of the week it has grown to about 600. Its a great ministry to the community. Tomorrow, the church will have a VBS Leadership Appreciation cookout for all the people that have volunteered and their children directly after at the church picnic area/playground and the kids are looking forward to playing some more with their friends. They have definitely not been bored this week.

Hope you are having a great week too.

I

Day 1 of VBS.....

Whew!!! What a day. We left home this morning at 8 am to be at church at 8:30 for VBS and got home at 2 pm (after a quick stop at McD's for some french fries to tide the kids over until we could eat something a little healthier for lunch). I was tired and the kids were full of more energy than you could imagine. Both the kids said that they had fun and that's what counts.
Sammy was excited to have us home. He and the kids had a great time playing while I just vegged on the couch since I could not convince them it was a good time for a nap. I have a feeling he is going to miss having the kids around all the time when he goes back to his home tomorrow and they will miss him. Me? NOT SO MUCH!!! I have officially gotten over the baby bug AND the puppy bug in one fell swoop. Between 4 hours a day for 5 days with 10 babies and 5 days with a puppy, I am completely content with my two children and one guinea pig.
Well, that is all the updating I have for today. I have an appointment with my pillow, blanket and fan (I know those two are contradictory but I like the cool air and noise from the fan but still need the blanket...) Have a great day tomorrow!

ALOHA!!!! We are off to Outrigger's Island.....

Tomorrow morning bright and early, the kids and I are off to the tropics for a week long adventure at Outrigger's Island. Every morning this week we will be rolling out of bed, rushing around like nuts, and hitting the road to our church at 8 am for Vacation Bible School. Today, my girl and I went back after church to decorate my room for the festivities. I will be taking care of the Crawlers (I think that is pretty self explanatory but just in case, those are the babies between the age of 6 mos to whenever they decide to start walking...) of the other VBS workers. VBS is technically only for children from age 4 to 10 (or the year they complete 5th grade) but we also have the nursery through age 3 for the children who's parents are volunteering to work for the week. My girl had a blast at VBS last year but my son, who is very attached to his momma, was not so happy to be away from me for 4 hours every day for a week. By Weds. last summer, I pretty much had to force him to get in the van in the mornings. I am hoping that he has more fun this year since he is older and can do more. My kids are disappointed that their cousins will not be able to attend this year because they have prior commitments.

Oh, and if you are wondering if we made it out of Snoozerville yesterday, (Saturday) we did! Or I think we did. We crashed my BIL's condo pool and also it was the day of their annual condo pool social so we crashed that too. Me, the kiddos, my partner in crime (my SIL) and her kids just up and crashed it! We had fun too. This kiddos played for about 2 hours in the pool, we got a free lunch and then crashed my BIL's home for showers before allowing him to buy us dinner at the local pizzeria and bring it to my house. We have this GREAT little family pizza shop in our little town that makes the MOST AWESOME Chicken Alfredo pizza with mushrooms. It is SO good! It has ruined us for any of that crappy Dominoes or Pizza Hut junk (well except my daughter, she is really disappointed that we don't get Dominoes cinnamon sticks anymore, they are her SECOND favor sweet snack. Her first one is a warm Churro (described in a previous post) from the local water park.) We were such Rebels yesterday! My DH and her DH (The MEAN one!) were busy helping my other BIL move some of his stuff out of his place to his future bride's place near our home and said pizzeria. The kids really enjoyed another prolonged visit with their cousins.
We had a big moment of drama later in the evening as we had just finished dinner. My youngest nephew started crying and it was obvious he had gotten hurt as he fell off or got hit by the recliner (not sure exactly what happened). The adults ran to check on him and the next thing I know, they are screaming for him to breath and his mom is getting really upset because it appeared he was turning blue and no sound was coming out. My DH and their brother were trying to calm her down and I grabbed my nephew and flipped him upside down over my arm and hit him in the back. He then started crying and it was obvious that he had regained his breath but it was VERY scary for a few moments there. We never did completely understand what happened. He was not choking but apparently somehow forgot to breath in his shock? That is the best we can figure. Anyway, God is good and he is fine and was soon running around like nothing had happened. His mom, aunt and uncles were very shaken by the experience. There is nothing worse than having a child that you love to be turning blue and going limp in your arms and feeling like there was nothing you could do. Thankfully, God gave us the wisdom to get through it!
Well, that was our weekend!!! Hope you had a great one!

Snoozerville Update....

Ok, I haven't been out stumbling upon rattlesnakes or traveling (reference Welcome to My World blog of my peep D) or getting "INKed" at the local Tattoo parlor (reference to my peep L's blog) so my blog has probably been a bit tame by comparison. Here in Snoozerville, we have been living boring, average lives. Its so tame here that we have been watching Care Bear marathons and watching the tomatoes and cucumbers grow in the back yard.....Our biggest concern of the day is whether to turn on the sprinkler or hope for rain.....
The kids are even getting bored with the humdrum life. Today, we have to go looking for adventure.....I don't know where that will take us, but I'll let you know if we make it out of Snoozerville.
Oh, and for the worrying parents who called 3 TIMES their first day away from their furrbaby!...He's FINE! He is getting more attention than he can stand. He DID get in trouble last night. He decided to harrass Brownzilla by barking at him and chasing him around his cage (Sammy was on the OUTSIDE, Brownie was on the INSIDE but he was chasing him nonetheless) He got warned several times that if he kept sticking his nose in the cage, it might get bit but being six months old and not too well versed on the subtleties of the English language, he refused to heed the warnings. We finally resorted to placing him in his cage for the evening.
It was funny, my husband placed him in the cage and said, now you are locked up too, that'll teach you.. I think I heard Brownzilla say "Nah, nah, nahnahnah.....

Furry babysitting....

Ok, you know how I wanted a dog? That desire has now left....My furry nephew came for a visit while his parents are on a trip. My girl has been counting the days for three months now for this visit. He always seemed so calm when he visited before but I have found out that this was because he was intimidated by the new place. Once he got comfortable with his surroundings last night and the kids were in bed....Sammy decided to show is true spazzed out, hyper puppy personality. He was all over my husband and I trying to entice us to play with him. He was yapping and doing everything in his power for some serious playtime. This morning he is back to his normal self, I think the kids overwhelm him so he stays pretty calm but when its just the adults, he decides that its his time to play. I have now lost the urge for a puppy. Its kind of like when you finally get your kids past the point of infancy and when you hold a baby, you want another one but then you actually babysit for a while and realize, its nice to send them home.....It the same way with puppysitting. Anyway, I think I will be ready for my sis and BIL to come and get him on Tuesday.

Did I mention that next week is a busy one for us? We have Vacation Bible School at church all week, we have swim practice at night on Tues and Thurs, we have Sammy until Tuesday, we are trying to squeeze in a Water park visit with the peeps and we have a birthday party for my nephew on Saturday and another commitment on Sunday....Busy Busy!!! It will be fun for the kiddos though, THEY like running all over the place all week long. I am sure I will be dragging by the weekend. I am planning on a slow, quiet weekend this week to build my strength for the upcoming week. Hope you have a great one!!!

Fun in the sun....

My kids have been wanting to go to the local water park for a while now so I shot out an email to the Peeps to see if anyone would join us. My so called "Peeps" all bailed on me, they had other plans or tattoos to keep covered up or some such nonsense....My SIL and the cousins don't have passes this year (and she has injured her back, keep her in your prayers please...) so we ventured forth alone.....We actually had a great time. The kids set the pace for the day and it was a beautiful day and the park was not very crowded. We discovered that one area of the park had been redone and at first the kids were disappointed but soon discovered that the changes were much more fun!
They took out some of the slides that I considered too dangerous and replaced them with some new ones that my daughter tried out and loved! They also revamped this obstacle course feature that was way too difficult for her and made it more kid friendly. We got our obligatory Churro (a long stick type thing of crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside fried dough dipped in cinnamon and sugar, just in case you did not know) on the way out and got home before the traffic got to bad. All in all, a fun time. We missed having the peeps or cousins but we still had a great time. And this pasty girl (LOL, inside joke, sorry) only got slightly scorched.

Today, is going to be catchup day on the laundry (a waterpark visit ALWAYS creates tons of it), cleaning and stuff. Tomorrow, my nephew (the furry one) Sammy is coming for a stay while his parents are on a trip. My daughter has been counting down the days for months now and is so excited that it is finally here tomorrow. She just can't wait to have a dog for four whole days!
Hopefully Sammy will survive, missing his mom and dad for the week. They have spoiled him shamelessly for months now.
Have a great day!!!

Notice to book club peeps....

Girls, I finished the book! I am going to the library today to see if they have some of her other books since I am too cheap to buy another right now. We have a library trip planned for today anyway. The kids are excited about going.

I have no amusing anecdotes or stories for today's post. We went to church yesterday and out to lunch at my daughter and husband's favorite restaurant...Texas Roadhouse. Not my favorite though. The food is good but I have real issues with the peanut shells on the floor. Anyone who knows me, knows that it is almost painful for me to see that mess and not clean it up. I found myself (as we waited for 45 mins!), using my feet to clean the spot around the area that we were sitting....I would have paid for a shop-vac to start cleaning the mess.....It is sad to be this sick....
Anyway, they enjoyed it and then we went to the pet store for a visit. I say a visit because we did not need to buy anything, my kids just wanted to look at the animals....I think my son thinks its a miniature zoo.....And then we went to see Papa and Nana for Father's day. We took Papa his favorite, peanuts from Texas Roadhouse and a card with the real gift inside. The kiddos had fun exploring the Nana and Papa Nature Preserve....Apparently all the grandkids think that is what their backyard is. My niece and nephews and kids explore it with the thoroughness of scientists. They have collected seeds, bugs and have observed nature at its best in Nana and Papa's backyard. Yesterday my two had a blast looking at spider webs, birds nests and checking out the garden. They also got into Papa's trailer and collected a variety of nuts, bolts and washers. You would have thought they were finding gold. Finally we went home for some icecream and then off to bed. It was a full day. I later discover the unexpected gift of nature all over my legs, arms and the knuckles of my toes.....What on Earth is she talking about, you say?
Mosquito bites. I spent the entire evening itching and there is no worse spot to get a mosquito bite than on the knuckle of your toes or finger.
So, that is our weekend in a nutshell...Hope you had a wonderful Father's Day!

Blind as a bat.....or maybe its a mole......

Hi there! Yesterday was the day of our big, exciting optometrist appointment. It was SO much fun! My girl did great. She was very co-operative and it did not hurt that the Dr was young, very cute and very nice AND had his doggy at work with him in his office (we found this out because we had to walk past it on the way to the restroom). It was a sweet old bassett hound (Scrappy D, i thought of you!) named Eiserman (get it EYE zer man....) he had droopy eyes and droopy ears and was just as cute as can be. I think my girl realized that any guy who was too kindhearted to leave his doggy at home alone on a Saturday morning, had to be a nice guy. He was probably about 30 years old and was wearing jeans and a tight polo which showed how built he was and was just gorgeous. You could almost imagine the six pack under there.....I am sure his life partner was just so proud....yes, my GAY-dar was set off....he was just too nice and too stylishly dressed and well.....'nuff said 'bout that! Anyway, my girl did great. She is slightly far sighted and may have to get glasses in the future but he said that he did not want to saddle her with them since she was so beautiful (YES. he said that!) and it was not affecting her reading but that we would keep an eye on it.

I actually went first but when I told him that I had been having pink eye symptoms off and on all Spring and that I thought maybe it was allergies, he said he would take a look. He put a variety of eye drops in my eyes ( I felt like he was making a witch's brew in my eye sockets, there were so many) and then I had to wait until they took effect/affect (not sure of the proper word there..). So after he was done with my girl, it was my turn again. I had an eye infection in both eyes AND the eye doctor I saw last year had totally messed up my prescription. He said that he normally would never say anything negative about another doctor but this guy had really messed up.....NICE HUH? Anywho, he gave me a prescription for some more drops and changed my glass prescription. I left the exam room...blind as a bat. I could not see very well at all and I was expected to pick out frames??? oh and drive home??? So I called my DH and told him my predicament and then went to pick out frames....I was truly at the mercy of this 20 something girl...I mean "Optician" who basically picked them for me and then I picked out frames for new sunglasses...now these I could see a little better since they had tinted lenses which blocked out the glaring light in my uber-dilated eyes...So $417 later (thats two pair of glasses and two eye exams AFTER insurance) which was pretty good since every set of frames in the office were marked Tommy Hilfiger, Dolce & Gabanna, Anne Klein, Prada.....I am not sure which one I got...I think the cheapest designer there was probably Guess and Fossil.....Anyway, when you see my in my new glasses (which will be here in about 2 weeks), you may say, WOW that is one cutting edge FASHIONISTA.....or you may say, WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT ALMOST 40 YEAR OLD THINKING? And I will only have to say....I was blind at the time.......

Another weekend is here....

Its Friday again and the weekend is here. We are expecting the cousins any minute for a playdate and dinner. The kids are looking out the window every couple of minutes to see if they are here yet. I am sure the kids will have a late night tonight with their buddies here. Both of them were up at 4 stinkin' 30 this morning. I put my foot down around 12:30 and said that in order to see their cousins, they HAD to take a nap or I was going to have some ornery kids. Piece of advice...Never take your kids to a playdate knowing that they are time bombs ready to go off....There will be lots of tears, yelling and temper tantrums and your kids will probably act up too.....
My girl and I have appointments tomorrow for eye exams. Her first one and my 20th or so. I am seriously looking forward to getting new glasses. This pair has not been my fave. I am also planning on getting prescription sunglasses and contacts.....not a cheap day, I am sure. We have spent a lot lately on stuff like tires, school supplies, stuff for the wedding and all. It is turning out to be an expensive year. Well, that is all the updating I have for now. Have a great weekend!

Air Quality advisories.....

Don't you remember back in the good old days when we stayed in all summer because there were Air Quality advisories or Ozone alerts.....NO? Me either! Will I have stay in with my asthmatic child also summer huddling in the corner hoping to protect her from breathing in the toxic air?
We went to my SIL's on Tuesday to spend the day in their pool (yes, I did venture in even with the memory of my waterfall experience from the day before!). We put on sunblock to protect us from sunburn and UV rays, the little guys put on life jackets so they would not drown, we watched them carefully afterwards to make sure they weren't going to "Dry Drown" (a real term, look it up! My SIL saw a lady on a news show whose son had died hours after swimming from dry drowning, scary stuff!) and then on the way home, my daughter starts experiencing a pretty bad asthma attack brought on by the bad air quality from the forest fires in the area (and yes that was fires plural). For the last few days, they have been issuing advisories for the elderly and those with breathing problems to stay inside due to the smoke in the air. We had to skip a planned trip to the water park the next day with our friends because she just wasn't back up to snuff yet. When does it stop? We want to wrap our kids in cotton to protect them and then find out that cotton is toxic or it was made in China and has been made with asbestos instead of cotton.....I know this is an exageration but it seems that raising kids in today's world is a mine field. You try to avoid one problem only to get blown up by another one.
The book my peeps and I are reading now has also brought this subject to the forefront of my mind. I will not go into it any more than that since many of my peeps read this and have not yet started the book, but if you get a chance and are looking for a good summer read, buy "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodie Picoult. It is the first book I have read by her but it is very good so far.

Oh, and for those of you wondering....we have not made any progress with our stubborn little man in the potty training department. He is still wetting and then saying he need to go potty.
I have not given up hope yet.....