Time for another change....

Hi guys, just an extra post today to say that I decided to do a Valentine's themed banner for my blog. Let me know what you think....?
Oh...and by the way, I have tried to change the red fonts on some of my posts but for some reason it would not let me, so seems I'm stuck with it. Since I change the banner pretty often, though, if it bothers you, just wait til late Feb and there will be another. Have a great night!

My deepest apologies to .....

Wow! I am so sorry! I have hurt the feelings of all my other readers! I did not mean it. Please do not take it to heart. I greatly appreciate each and everyone of you who take the time to check to see what foolishness I have decided to ramble or whine about each and everyday. Now I know that I have at least 6 regular, faithful readers! If you really want to let me know you are out there, post a comment every once in a while!!

Now today, I again am feeling the lack of interesting "bloggin" material. Already, I have washed a load and folded a load of clothes. I have cleaned Brownie's cage. It is amazing the amount of you know what one guinea pig can produce in 2 days. That is about as long as I can stand it before cleaning. It amazes me the number of people I hear that just clean the cage once a week. I can smell it very clearly in two days and it has to be cleaned. Here is something that I did not know about guinea pigs... Did you know that they tend to "go" in the same spot all the time (that is unless they are being held when nature calls, which is why we always hold him with a towel under him). Since Brownie came, I have had to vacuum our family room at least twice per day. I use to have to vacuum daily anyway since the kids are messy with whatever snack they have and rarely follow the rule about food staying in the kitchen. But since Brownie feels the "need" to scurry madly about his cage several times per day and thus throws bedding and "other stuff" about in the process, I must vacuum his area often. Right now he is "popcorning". This is when they run about "popping" up and down. It is funny when he runs into his house and pops, the entire house jumps up.
We have also done our first session of school for the morning. If I don't have errands or appointments, we break school up into two sessions. We do math and social studies first normally and also science and art (as you can imagine this is not much for kindergarten) and then in then next session do phonics, reading and writing. My dd finished reading "Green Eggs and Ham" to me yesterday. She read it in three days which is pretty good for her since she doesn't like to read much. She really got into the rhythm of the story. She started "The Cat in the Hat" yesterday too. She also got tricked into reading most of "Hop on Pop" to me last night. I was going to read to her but she saw the words and like the story so she read 80% of it. Gotta love it. I think I am going to start following the advice of my dear friend Legs. This wasn't given as advice but as a comment on what she does with her two kids. She says that her kids have to read one hour for every hour they get to play on their WII or (I think) watch TV. Now, for now I think an hour of reading will be too much for her (and ME!) but we will start smaller and work up. Lets say several pages for each hour of TV. I won't use this for her game playing since she is playing educational games. Thanks for the idea girl!
Well, I guess I did come up with something to talk about today! Have a great day.

Hello from Snoozerville.....

Since Darleen is my only faithful reader anymore. I thought I would just say a big ole' HOWDY from Snoozerville! I am such a big old slacker that I haven't even done a Brownzilla episode to entertain my fan! But she loves me any ole' way. I am however working on a business opportunity of a lifetime. I came up with this idea while reading the lovely Ms. D's blog about her new past time of stalking potential cropping mates. She can no longer drive just round the bend to crop with her favorite peeps and is lost out in the boonies of Florgia (her term for the border of Florida and Georgia). She has had to resort to hunting down vehicles with scrap booking bumper stickers on them and stalking the ladies hoping to make a new circle of cropping friends. Well, this worried me because I just don't know what she would do if they turned out to be CM sticker queens or even worse...a DIGI scrapper! That sleepy little town in southern GA may make the news.

Anyway, this was my idea! We should start a new service. You have heard of E Harmony.com? It matches singles based on 6,000 different points (slight exaggeration) of compatibility. Well, I was thinking of starting E Scrappy.com and using it to match up croppers based on compatibility. Like E Harmony, we would only accept the best of the best and no sticker queens (sorry Lil'K) and no Digi-destroyers (guess that would leave me out too). Only bonafide Pea'ers and regular shoppers of the Local Scrap booking Stores need apply.
This could be the wave of the future ladies!!!

Darleen, you know I am just kiddin'. I have never been in the position of having moved to a new state and having to make new friends with similar interests and beliefs. I am sure it is very difficult. I bet it is even harder for mothers than their kids. Your kids and husband are out there everyday being exposed to new people and you aren't (well not as much). I hope you make tons of good cropping buddies soon, but I agree with The OCD, never will they be your PEEPS!
Oh! and I am sorry if some of you feel out of the loop on this one. Pea'ers are members of a scrap booking website called TwoPeasinabucket.com. This is a really cool website. As far as Stampers being included, I think that would be fine since you are not using stickers but you may have to be grouped with other Stampers too just to be sure.....LOL.

A Man Fell in A Hole

Nothin' to blog about.....

I can't think of a thing to talk about this morning....I know those of you who know me are saying, well its about time, that girl never shuts up! I have racked my brain and there isn't one interesting tidbit of information in there waiting to be disclosed to my adoring fans (all 2 of you).
My kids are not being funny or devilish. My husband has not ticked me off...well anymore than usual, but let me just say that he is in the proverbial doghouse for telling me that I managed his time. This coming from the guy that bought tickets to a work party that I had said I did not want to go to and expecting me to go. Well, I guess I do harbor some degree of ticked for that but not much. I may have to actually resort to a "Brownzilla"story today to have something to post of substance....Ok, don't get too excited people, I said MAYBE!

Good morning,..Good Morning......Good Morning to you!

Sounds like I am in a chipper mood huh? Nah...I still getting my morning coffee transfusion and apparently it has just hit my typing fingers. The rest of me is still asleep. Big tiring weekend for this chick a dee. We had a "Winter Gala" to attend for my DH's work. Apparently because the owners of his company are Hindu (I am assuming since they are from India), and do not celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, they wait well past any holiday and have a holiday party. I did not want to go but, oh well, it was free food. We got dressed up and my SIL and the mean BIL (inside joke) took the kids home with them (we were watching theirs for a short time just before that) and I even put on two of the most torturous pieces of clothing ever designed....hose and heels.
I have to say, I hate them! So off to the shindig we went. It was a nice enough time if you like that sort of thing but I have become more of a homebody lately. I was ready to go home before long. My DH did win a door prize and the food was good and my other BIL and SIL2B were there too so at least I had someone to talk to. The scientists and programmers and engineers that my dh work with are a little hard to talk to.
Yesterday, I went to my god-daughter's baby shower. I was a little torn about attending since she is 18 (just recently turned too) and is pregnant by a 43 year old pervert (IMO) who picked her up on the internet last year. It makes me sick to my stomach that she still is "with" him, but I love her and did not want her to think that I didn't still love her because of this.
Well that was my weekend. I hope yours was nice.
Have a blessed day.
Oh, sorry! I forgot to say what the door prize was. He won a piece of luggage. It was a nice carry-on bag. Nothing to write home about, LOL.

I've been MIA...

Yesterday, I just didn't blog. I have been having to share my laptop with my DH lately. His is terminal and going to the Doctor, hoping for a miracle. It amazes me how much these stinkin' things cost and how short they actually "live" His is just over 3 years old and he thinks the hard drive is fried. He can buy another one and put it in himself but doesnt want to spend the money on it unless he is sure that is it. So it is off to the repair shop for a diagnosis. Meanwhile, he has attached himself to mine, "Researching" the problem and looking for solutions. That has to take priority since he is "trying to save us money by fixing it himself. Can you sense some frustration in my "voice" (or keystrokes, LOL)? Meanwhile we have been really digging our new subscription to NetFlix. My SIL suggested we try it out. We had three movies yesterday and two of them went back this morning which means we should get two more on Tues. Last night, I watched "Amazing Grace". It was a little slow but a great movie about the fight of William Wilberforce to abolish slavery in England in the late 1700's. He was a member of the British parliament and a Christian who was influenced by the minister who wrote the hymn of the same name. The minister was a slave ship captain that had accepted Jesus Christ and was racked by the guilt of his past. It was a historical account but was well-written and well-acted. This morning the kids and I watched "Evan Almighty". This is a movie that my DD had seen previews for and requested. I was hesitant because of the subject matter and PG rating but my BIL said it was okay. We really enjoyed it. It was very comical but also had a great lesson. I had a lot of 'splaining to do (doing my best Ricky Ricardo imitation) about the fact that it was a made up story and that the actor was suppose to represent God and was not "really him". It was meant to show that God is still active in today's world and that regardless of the criticism we get from the world, if God gives you a task, He equips you to do it. My favorite part was when God (acted by Morgan Freeman) told Evan's wife that when you pray for Patience, God doesn't give you patience, he gives you opportunities to become patient. When you pray to change the world, God gives you opportunities to make changes. The world isn't changed overnight but with Acts of Random Kindness...ARK...get it? Anyway, it was a clean movie and had a good message but was not a "Christian" movie by any means. I totally "Got It" and my kids loved the animals and the pratfalls and sillyness. Anyhow, that is what I've been up to. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Has this ever happened to you?

Okay, Moms I need to know, Has this ever happened to you? Last night, my neighbor came over and proceeded to tell me that her almost 4 year old has been asking for a play date with my almost 6 year old. Now my daughter loves to play with just about anyone and has always enjoyed playing with this little girl. We have had several "play dates" that this mom has always initiated. I have no problem with these but I don't care for this mom too much so I really do too much to further this relationship on my side. The little girl is nice enough but is very bossy and with my daughter being equally as bossy, there are often arguments. All that withstanding, like I said, I have no problem with the occasional play date but I think it is a little pushy to always expect it to be at my house. Is it me? Should you always go to a neighbor that you don't know that well and ask for a play date and then once it is agreed on say " OK, I'll bring her over at ...."I personally feel if you are going to initiate the date, you should host it. Now, even though I don't care for this lady too much, I don't fear for my child in her home. She appears to be a good mother and it is never for more than an hour or so. I would reciprocate the invite if it were ever an actual invite instead of a invite yourself.

Ok, I have discovered that TODAY is my Monday.

I thought I had actually had a great start to a week since yesterday was so productive and stress free but little did I realize that Monday had just taken a holiday too. It reared its ugly head this morning. I can't seem to wake up even with my gallon of coffee in my favorite cup (thanks to my SIL). I have a headache, my back hurts, my feet hurt (really dry, cracked skin because I am too lazy to put lotion on them 28 times a day), I have a sore throat and waaahhhhhh....I want my Grandmaaaaaaa......Ok, I think I have regained control of the Whine train, it was out of control there for a second.
I don't like when I feel this negative. Can't find a positive thing to say to save my life. My grandma use to always say (in my best Forrest Gump imitation...) "If you cain't (that's North Carolinean for the contraction can - not, for those of you above the Virginia/NC state line, the word is "Can't") say somethin' nice, then don't say nothin' attall (again, North Carolinean for "at all") Even my kids are on board the Whine train this morning which makes mine even worse. We are a big bunch of whiny babies this morning.
My girl and I have attempted school and have had a rough time. Neither of us seem to be willing to tolerate the other long enough to get more than a little bit done. We are now taking a break.
She needed it almost as much as I did. My sweet boy isn't too bad but he does have a cold and keeps sneezing out, that most wonderful of substance...SNOT. I think we all need a good nap.
The only problem is, I am the only one willing to cooperate with this plan. Well, I hope all of you are in a better mood than me and have a great day!

Is it Monday? Again.

I feel like Garfield sometimes. Wake me when its over. Monday is not the best day of the week for this SAHM. and educator. This one, however, was pretty good. My DH was off from work due to the holiday and instead of taking a day off school like most kids, we jumped right in there and got it done quickly since daddy was here to occupy the little man. We got everything done and had time to spend with daddy. We went shopping and out to dinner to Red Robin. I don't know about you but we like Red Robin. My husband is a big fan of their Teriyaki Chicken sandwich, my son loves their grilled cheese and I have several things that I like there. The thing I like the most is not having to cook. It was a nice day. The kids are now in bed playing their video games that they don't realize are teaching them all kinds of stuff. My DS is playing a Finding Nemo game that teaches letters and my DD is playing a game called Pet Pals and it teaches her to follow directions and also reading skills. They just love these Leapster games and I like them too because I know that they are learning skills they need for school. They also turn off automatically if not used for more than 3 minutes which is really nice. Leap Pad has a real winner with these in my book. It also keeps them quiet at bedtime instead of riled up and jumping on the beds and fighting. My DH is watching the Democratic debate as if it was the most important thing in the world. I suppose it is pretty important but I just can't stand hearing people bicker for hours. I spend too much of my day listening to fighting children and don't want to spend "MY" time doing the same thing because just like with the kids, you are not going to get a straight answer anyway. Well, that was my day. I hope yours was great too.

Its Snowing....still.....

Good Morning Readers!!! Its snowing here in the boonies this morning. We didn't get anywhere near as much snow yesterday as they said we were getting 3 to 5 inches and we barely got an inch.
The kids loved it. For those of you who know my photo site, you can see pictures of them there along with pics of the big 80's party. They were out there just to be in it and wipe the snow off the cars as it came down. My DS has not seen much snow in his 2 1/2 years. We had a dusting of it twice last year but nothing significant. The YMCA cancelled my dd's swim meet yesterday due to the expected weather. I was devastated, as you can imagine...NOT! We spent most of the day just hanging out and playing with the kids. They love it when both Momma and Daddy get down and play with them at the same time and that doesn't happen much. Most of the time one of us is busy with other chores. I hit a big milestone with my blog yesterday. I had 84 hits on my blog on Friday. That is my highest one day hit tally in the 2 months that I have had this blog. I have really come to enjoy doing this and seeing where my readers are located. I appreciate each and everyone of you that take the time to check in with my blog just to see what foolishness I have decided to ramble on about each day.
Well, looks like the snow has stopped again and we need to get ready for church so I will be wrapping this up. Thanks again for stopping by for coffee, well I had coffee anyway, you will have to make your own, sorry. Love ya, buh-by....

We partied hardy last night....

Last night's 80's party was lots of fun but even more so, I think, for the kiddos. They had a blast.
We played a game the Q's came up with similar to "Name that Tune" (now that's a blast from the past, I bet if you are under 30, you have never even heard of that one). If you named the song first, you got a point and if you named the performer, you got two additional points. Let's just say that one of our peep's (the forgotten one, and I don't know how she could forget your name when you have been so famous on that OTHER blog) husband takes his 80's music seriously. He was ready to kick out his biggest challenger just to win. But I have to say I was impressed. Not only did he know the song and performer but he could tell you the name of the album and the year it was released in a lot of cases. Way to go Mr. Flava K!!! We could not decide on a winner of best 80's outfit because they were all pretty good. We had Madonna, that girl from "Flashdance", a Ghostbuster, That girl from the song "Mickey" (see how bad I did at the name that tune game), a couple of Valley Girls, Tom Cruise from "Top Gun" and a few more. The highlight of the evening for me was when Jule Dawg did her best impression of the "Maniac" dance from "Flashdance" even to the extent of throwing herself back and pulling the ceiling fan cord to simulate the finale. Too Stinkin FUN!!!
We didn't get these munchkins to bed til after 11:30 and they are some grumpy little devils today. We are hoping for 2-4 inches of snow today but we'll see. We haven't had any significant snow in our area in a while.
To those of you who are only reading today to see if "Brownzilla" struck again or sent more pictures from his trip to Disney....BUILD A BRIDGE! My LIFE is the star of this blog! Brownzilla may make an apparence next week. I hear he is shopping for a house.......Oh and for those of you who suggested "pet abuse" please do not report us to PETA, there are no animals harmed in the making of our stories....Brownie is well loved and well fed and has no problems with his newfound STARDOM.

Got a mop chop and a few minutes of quiet...

Yesterday was a busy day of schooling, playing and cleaning as usual. The kiddos just did the schooling and playing and I did the cleaning. I am finding that the job at hand of educating my daughter, and to some extent my son, along with the high price of gasoline has made me really think twice about going anywhere during the week. I have to weigh the necessity of the trip with the amount of gas it will burn up (since we live about 30 mins. from anywhere out here in the boonies) and the amount of school I will have to make up afterwards. So most of the time we just stay here. Also. into the equation, goes the fact that my kids really stress me out when they have to go places that are not kid friendly. I have really become the STAY AT HOME part of the Stay at home mom.
But last night, I decide that enough was enough with this mop of hair and got my first haircut in almost a year. It is such a pleasure to sit quietly and listen to other grown up conversations while having your hair cut and styled. While getting it cut, I could care less about what it looks like when its done. This wasn't the case when I was single and had no children, a hair cut was all about how it looked and the fact that it was taking time from my busy social life. Now a haircut is like a treat.
As you can imagine, when you only get a haircut about once a year, it is hard to build a "relationship" with a stylist or even remember which one cut it the last time. I think I got the same one from last year and she did a lousy job again. I just don't know how you can miss a whole section of long hair in the front. But its okay, because after 20 some years of cutting my own hair in moments of desperation, I was able to trim it up and make it presentable.
Tonight is the big 80's party at the Q's and we are all looking forward to seeing our peeps.
To my peep "L", I hope you change your mind, it won't be the same without you (And my DD really wants to see DNK). Besides, an 80's party needs Paparazzi and you know the M's have been working on their outfits for a while. Shugga (was that his alter ego?) has been saving his parachute pants and Members Only jacket for just such an occasion. If everyone else's husband is like mine (someone who never gets rid of clothes unless they are just a string and a button) there are plenty of clothes from the 80's still in the closet. Well, I hope you all have a great weekend and if you have a moment, take time to vote in my poll. There has been some discussion of starting a Brownzilla blog and I just want some feedback on whether it would be read.
Have a blessed day!

More pics of Brownzilla on Vacation!

Bet you didn't know they sold hats this size!!

Postcard from Brownzilla!

Mickey Mouse, Eat your heart out man!!!

And now for the 2nd Installment of our Brownzilla series...

After his recent rampage on Lincolntown and subsequent escape in his spherical spaceship, Brownzilla was tracked down by the citizens of the destroyed town and captured.

After serving his time and making restitution to the good citizens of Lincolntown, the rehabilitated Brownzilla left his log prison promising to no longer live a life of wanton wood destruction. He traded his spherical space ship for a late model convertible sports car and decided to hit the town "Thelma and Louise" style.

He hit the road and when asked where he was headed he chirped, I'm going to Disney World!
I hear girls dig rodents there! Oh...and I may make a stop in Florgia to clean up a scrap booking corner.....
He then looked right at the Petparazzi and winked and squeaked "I'LL BE BACK..."

Question? Did you get to pick from the "Treasure Box" when you were a kid?

My SIL and I were talking yesterday and we were discussing the fact that we had changed doctors for the kids. My DD and DS have gone to Dr. H for 3 years now (Well since he is 2 1/2 that is how long he has gone there but you get the point) and love him. We had to change the first of the year and went back to a local pediatric practice. We left there when DD was 2 years and they refused to give her the flu shot that we had made an appointment to get. We were typical first child parents and felt that with her tendency to get bronchitis and the fact that she had flu shots since she was 6 mos old, she HAD to have one. The pediatrician's office said that they were only going to give it to "High Risk" patients and donated the rest of their supply to other offices that were short. To me that was crazy, we had an appointment and the CDC said that any child under age 5 was high risk. Our family practice doctor, Dr. H, was giving them to everyone in his practice and so we switched her over. From that day on the entire family went to him. Now I have gotten off the subject but I know some of you wonder why they weren't seeing a pediatrician before.
Anyway back to the subject at hand, DD saw the new doctor, Dr. G, on the 2nd of January and I was telling my SIL how much she liked him and that there was only one problem...Dr. G did not have a "Treasure Box" and this was close to being a deal breaker for her (and I am sure my son too if he could tell me). She said that she could not go to a doctor that didn't let her pick a prize every time she entered the door (regardless of whether she was actually being seen). My SIL and I were discussing the fact that neither of us had EVER gotten to pick a "PRIZE" after seeing a doctor. It was like "Here's your shot in the butt, that's your prize" "Here's the nastiest medicine combination we can possible come up with, take it and be happy about it!". We never had pharmacies that offered to custom flavor your medication to make it more palatable. When we went to the dentist they didn't put cool sunglasses on us, clean our teeth with "The Tooth Tickler" and let us pick out a sticker and cool prize. Now the dentist did let us chew up those cool purple pills that turned our teeth reddish purple to show the plaque and tell us to brush til we got all of it off. The also put that great tasting (to me at the time) grape fluoride tray in our mouth that you could let drain down your throat and then the minute you set foot out their door, you threw up immediately. If they didn't want you to swallow it, why make it taste like grape candy! Are doctors and dentists making our kids soft? Should we go to the doctors and dentists and tell them our kids need to toughen up so stop being so nice? Nah...but I will tell my DD and DS that they're going to have to build a bridge (and get over it!) about the missing "Treasure Box" at their new doctors office. Guess the only thing they can look forward to now is cavities and cleanings!
Have a blessed day!

Who could imagine that a trip to the Library could cause such JOY!

My children have been begging to go to the library for several weeks now but with the holidays we haven't made our bi-monthly visit since October. They were so excited yesterday when I told them that once we finished school (if my DD was co-operative and finished reasonably early), we would go to the library. My kids were so excited. We got there and they couldn't get inside fast enough. One of the librarians said she had missed them and my DD proceeded to "catch her up" on all the family news (YEAH!!). Once I got her away from the librarian and into the kids library, they went to the puppet theater and made sure all their "buddies" were still there and ok. After a wonderful performance of...let me remember what she called it...."Duckie goes to the Zoo" they started the business of picking out books, they picked out some for me to read to them and I picked out some for her to read to me. They also picked out several videos. My DD and DS have seen commercials for the last several weeks for "The Ultimate Shirley Temple DVD Collection" and she saw a VHS tape of the movie where Shirley Temple sings "Animal Crackers" and was so excited to borrow it. (They both loved the movie). She now wants to buy it. Who would have thought that a kid growing up in the digital age would be a Shirley Temple fan? I don't think I will be buying the collection (apparently the send you one movie a month til you buy them all) but I like that my kids can be entertained by something other than flashy, modern stuff and gadgets.

Can we get a drum roll please?.......

Who needs the Golden Globes when you have the best actors on the planet right here under your own roof. And for the best actress in my household....Well actually is a tie, LOL but my ds gets best actor hands down and my grandson of course gets best actor in an action thriller for his role in Attack of Brownzilla. I am amazed at the acting abilities of children. They need no training, it just comes natural. I never realized until I spent day in and day out with children full time how much drama they incorporate into their daily lives. My niece and nephews are quite good too. Now I don't live with them of course but I have seen some of their acting abilities too. My SIL said at one time that her son was the star pupil of her daughter's school of drama. I'm sure that any of you that have children have experience some of this "drama" first hand.
Anyway, I guess you are wondering where this came from? This morning my leading lady in the sitcom of our life had a dramatic meltdown over the fact that we were out of poptarts (which she rarely eats) and my leading man decided (not even knowing what she was upset about) that she needed some support in really driving home the point. It was amusing though that even my daughter couldn't completely follow through on her act without laughing at him and when I told her afterwards that I would buy poptarts when I got groceries tonight (we did not follow through with getting them Saturday after all), she said "What, poptarts? I don't like poptarts" but just moments before her entire life was hinged on those most favorite of morning treats and her supporting actor stops as soon as she does and says "I want crunch" (Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal) which I discovered we are also out of, drama issues, apparently it is the food that is absolutely necessary to his existence today. Just wait til they discover that we are out of almost all of their favorites today. Guess they are going to be stuck with yucky old healthy foods today. Maybe I need to pop a bag of popcorn and just sit back and enjoy the show......

Late bloggin today....

I have been lazy today and very slack in posting until now. Yesterday was all the fun that I expected and so much more. My aunt and uncle came to the swim meet yesterday too. My kids don't have grandparents on my side of the family so my aunt (my mother's sister) and uncle have become a kind of surrogate grandparents to our kids. This is the second swim meet that they have attended and they sit through the entire event. I have to admit, if I were going to one for someone else's child, I would watch one or two events (maybe stay about an hour) and then go. It is hot for the spectators in the pool area, very crowded, very hard to follow what is happening and quite honestly, you get splashed a lot. Since the meet was over around 5:30ish, we decided to go out to dinner with them and went to Golden Corral or the feeding trough as I call it. Not my favorite place to eat but I know that it is one of theirs so we went and joined them. I got a little more than I bargained for with dinner though. I was sick all night and pretty much all day today.
I helped my DH to get the kids ready for church this morning and hit the bed again and pretty much stayed there or the bathroom ( I know TMI) all day. Later, when the family came home, pretty much everyone took a nap. It was a relatively quiet day in our house. I say relatively because with two young children, it is never a completely quiet day. I hope your weekends were great ones. Regardless of whether I was at a swim meet and sick, it was still a great weekend because my family was together. The kids are such a blessing because even when you feel your worst, they will do something to make you laugh or feel loved and needed.

Oh Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy....another four hour swim meet.....

Ok, first things first! Let me just answer the comment on yesterday's blog from my peep. What brought on that particular post? I don't know. What brings on half of what I rant and rave about? It was just what came to mind when I sat before this keyboard and wondered what to blog about.
Just like this morning when the first thing that came to mind to complain about is the minimum 4 hour swim meet that we have to go to this afternoon. Have I mentioned that I wish my DD would have never signed up for the swim team? .....Wait a minute, she is 5, she can't sign up for anything. Correction, I wish my DH had never signed her up for swim team. She doesn't even like it. She just wants to go to the pool and swim for fun and play with the other girls her age. She doesn't "get" the point that she needs to swim as fast as she can without stopping to see where everyone else is in the pool. I wanted to let her quit 2 months ago when she had bronchitis the week of her second meet that was 45 mins away and started at 8 am on a day where the temp was 35 degrees. My DH on the other hand is really "into" it. It is hard to get excited about going when you know that your baby will be swimming in the first or second event and getting wet and then not swimming again til the 30th event, 2hours later and the 50th event another hour later. Meanwhile she is sitting around in a drafty gym with other kids bored out of their minds and freezing. Not to mention the fact that my baby boy has to be drug along for the ride so that both parents can "support" her and he does even get to go "Splish Splash" as he calls it. Anyway, enough complaining about that.
Today is Saturday and that normally means family time so we will be having family time at the YMCA. We will be getting groceries after the meet as a family and I won't even begin to expound on the joys of going to Wallyworld with my angels. I love my kids and husband but grocery shopping with them is not high on my list of "Fun Things to do with Family". Going to Wallyworld and Sam's Club are not high on my list of fun things to do on a Saturday either but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. We are out of MooJuice and that can cause a revolt with the natives in my house. Well, I have bored my readers (all 5 of you) enough today. If you check in with me everyday for funny little anecdotes on life, then you were probably disappointed but if you just wanted to hear me complain nonstop, even you got more than you bargained for this morning.
Have a blessed day!!

Job qualifications for my office...Hillary Clinton...you already had the hardest job in the world, why would you want to be president?

As mother, wife and now educator, I have had to handle the following "offices":
1. Secretary of Domestic Affairs --I can handle any disagreement between warring "parties" just ask my kids
2. Secretary of Finance--I have successfully lived on my tightwad (I love him dearly) husband's strict budget requirements for almost ten years.
3. Secretary of Home Security--I have made it my personal responsibility to make sure all of the windows and doors are securely locked every evening before hauling myself to bed.
4. Director of Toxic Waste Disposal-Have you ever seen the diapers produced by a two year old who has eaten too many Oreo cookies--nuff said?...
5. Director of Nutrition --Any of you who know my picky eaters can only imagine the difficulty of this position in my household
6. Director of Media monitoring and censorship--Any parent in today's world certainly has to become well versed in what is being shown on television, movie theaters and on the Internet since the rating system that is out there is questionable.
7. Speaker of the House--OK, this one is definitely not a difficult job for me since I obviously like the sound of my own voice and my husband is not much of a talker.
8. Surgeon General--It has been my job to thoroughly know every medication that any member of my family is taking and their possible drug interactions and side effects and to know which over the counter medication treats what symptom so that my "kids" (all 4 of them, LOL) can feel better as soon as possible.
9. Director of Physical fitness--Making sure the kids get plenty of exercise and make it to their (well just one of them for another year or so) practices and events whatever they may be.
10. Director of Transportation--Every parent knows what this means
11. Director of Education -- Every parent takes part of their children's education whether they intend to or not. Most parents intend to teach their children many things (walking, talking, manners, morals...just a few that come to mind) and they learn much more from just the way we deal with things ourselves.
12. Director of Social Planning and Scheduling -- 500 kids birthday parties per year, nuff said?
13. Director of Diplomatic affairs -- Have you ever had a room full of kids fighting over one toy? Much more difficult that negotiating a peace treaty between warring countries.

I could go on for hours and this doesn't even mention cooking, cleaning and other daily chores in the life of a wife and mother. So I really think that being president may be a step back for Mrs. Clinton. I am no fan of the lady but she put up with his antics for years and seems to have a daughter who is a charming young lady from all that I have seen and read.

A now for a short story "Attack of Brownzilla!!!"

It was a beautiful, warm January day in Lincolnville, a sleepy little log cabin town!
The town was quiet and all was well until out of nowhere a circular spaceship landed
in the center of town. And from that spaceship emerged the most horrendous, alien beast.....BROWNZILLA!!!
In just minutes the entire town was demolished (and possibly chewed on) by the fiendish beast.
Brownzilla then made his hasty escape in the round, practically invisible spaceship that he arrived on, leaving the citizens of Lincolnville to wonder "Will there be a sequel?"
The END!!!

Yesterday was a good day!!!

Hi there!!! Let me tell you about my good day yesterday. Keep in mine that I am a stay at home mom so my thrills may not meet with your standards. We got up about 7:30 which is sleeping in for my munchkins. We watched some morning cartoons and my DH and I played VSmile for a while. He is suddenly really interested in video games (now keep in mind that he is 2 1/2 years old so the lousy graphics and games that are available for VSmile, thrill him to no end). He just loves the music and the fact that he is making things happen on tv. My DH pulled out her new favorite toy (Just want to pat myself on the back for this choice, I made it on my own and she had no idea it even existed until she got it Christmas morning) Lincoln logs. She and I built an entire log town again and then it was destroyed by Hurricane Little Brother at her encouragement. We cleaned up and started school. We discovered that our classroom was really warm so we opened the doors to discover a really warm nice day. I told my little student that if she was good and did all of her work so that we could finish early enough, we would all get dressed and go outside for a few hours. She was wonderful, we got everything done in a minimum of time and struggle and were ready to go out by lunchtime. We went inside and had lunch, I got everyone dressed, got a shower and out the door we went. The kids were like wild animals being released from a cage. The were so happy to be out in the fresh air. I noticed while watching them play that we had a lot of leaves and uneven grass and dead flowers in our yard so I decided that while they play, I would cut the grass and mulch the leaves and then trim back all the rose bushes and flower beds. I know that sounds kind of nutty, most people rake their leaves but that is such a ridiculous thing to do when you have a windy day and two kids. Our lawn mower mulches the leaves up to miniscule pieces that sink back into the yard and it looks so much better than raking. I haven't raked leaves in years because of this. I spent 3 hours working in the yard and the kids played the whole time. They had a blast and now I have a nice, neat yard that looks suprisingly nice for January. We came in with Daddy when he got home and they played with him for an hour until they went to swim practice. Even my DS went with them to play in the YMCA Kid Watch. He enjoys it and Daddy is sitting right outside the glass door watching Sissy swim so everyone is happy. Meanwhile, I got 2 hours of Me time and just had to order pizza about 45mins before they got home. This was a great day!!!
Hope you had one too!

I'm no political pundit, but......

I know that it is my responsibility as a loyal American, and I am, to educate myself on the stands, beliefs and voting record of each candidate for president and make an informed vote (actually 2 in the next 11 mos). I do take this responsibility seriously so please do not mistake the comments to follow as disregard for that duty. Here is my morning whine....do I really need to see each and every debate, all of the commentaries on the debates, each of the news shows about the upcoming votes and the news shows about the status of the primaries. My DH has taken it on as his personal mission to become THE most informed American in the country and therefore, I am being dragged along for "the ride". I am not a shallow person (I don't think) but I can only watch these things so much before I just lose it. If I have to see another commentary on whether Hillary's tears were real or just a political ploy, on whether John Edwards is being too mean to her, on whether Barak (forgive me, I don't know how he spells his first name) has enough experience to accomplish what he wants to do, and whether Mike Huckabee (who has not been a Baptist pastor for over 12 years) is "too religious" to be a good president, I may just scream. Can a person become so informed that they become too turned off by all of them and just not vote at all? I dont think I can do this for the next 11 months until the election. I love my dh dearly but his need to be informed is killing me. I know we will take a break for "March Madness" which is another source of frustration, but enough is enough....Ok guys, that is all the whine I have this morning, better go get the cheese out of the fridge.
Have a blessed day!

Its a jungle in here.....

Its Monday morning and the kids have been busy. My dd has dumped the Lincoln log set and is in the process of building a log cabin town which my ds has populated with every sort of wild animal imaginable. They are playing so well together I almost hate to break it up to start school this morning. I don't want to give the wrong impression, school for one child in kindergarten only takes as long as she makes it. If she is co-operative, we are done in about 1 1/2 hours. Only most of the time she is not and it takes about 3 hours. She normally has a page of writing sentences (each of these are front and back), a page of math (which she zooms through unless there was a new concept that we went over first that snags her up), a page of phonics and letter skills, we do social studies on MWF and art on Tues and Thurs. We also try to make a trip to the library once a week and she does a science oriented project about once a week too (which sometimes is part of her arts and crafts) She also has been spending a lot of time on her l-max games (which teach a lot of skills) and they both seem to enjoy the leap pad books. We don't normally go anywhere during the weekdays unless its school related or an appointment or special occasion. Thankfully my migraine has eased up to a dull throb. I just hope its on its way out. I could seriously use some more sleep but motherhood seems to have an early wakeup call in this house. Not that I am complaining, I love my munchkins and I am glad that they are healthy active children. Well that is all that I have to say today, nothing really exciting or funny going on today but its good that we don't have drama everyday. Slow, normal days are neccessary to give us strength for the others. Well, better get to school, the natives are getting restless. Have a blessed day!

Migraines and kids just don't mix!!!

This morning I woke up with a stinkin migraine. I just want to bury myself in a cool, dark, quiet place and close my eyes and lay as still as possible. First of all my DH is home so there is NO cool place in my home (except maybe our garage classroom but there is no where to lay down there so....). I swear he is the only man I know who wants it to be 78 degrees inside a house at all times. Most women complain that their guy freezes them out of the house but mine keeps it warm enough to go naked if I wanted to (believe me I DON'T). Second of all we have white mini blinds and valances throughout our house so on a beautiful sunny day, the only dark place is a closet or again our garage but sadly, again NO BED!! Finally, the quiet place? Well you can imagine that with a five year old and a two year old, QUIET is not an option in our house. I went up to my room and they keep coming and knocking on the door. Momma can you do this? Momma can you do that? Momma can you get me _______ (you fill in the blank)? Never mind that their daddy is right downstairs with them. They haul their cute little hienies up those stairs to ask me for it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming my husband for this because its not like they ask him and then go to me. They just head up those stairs, even though he's told them to let me rest, and bang on the locked door (the door was originally unlocked but then they just came in and stared at me until I noticed the breathing and opened my eyes). They also feel the need to tell me every time that the door is locked as if I don't know. When I finally gave up at
11 am. They yell "MOMMA"S BETTER!!!" I yell "NO SHE'S NOT!!!", just kidding, I didn't do that. Anyway, NO, migraines and kids just don't mix.....

I almost forgot to blog today.....Did yiou miss me?

If I forgot to make a post one day, would you miss me? I went to lunch today with my "peeps" and then got groceries. What a mistake! The Walmart that I went to was INSANE! I was so glad to get out of there. I also went to one of my favorite stores since I was nearby. I like Trader Joe's. They have such neat things and the shoppers are such a different sort than your normal Wallyworld nuts (don't flame up on me people, I myself am a wallyworld NUT!) Your normal Trader Joe's shopper is young, hip and very "Green". They buy cute little canvas bags to carry their groceries home in and bring them back every week for their purchases. They buy all organic fruits and veggies and spend hours picking out just the right wine to go with their cous cous and farm raised mahi mahi. Their kids are all begging for fresh artichokes for dinner instead of Skittles. They are so stinkin CUTE!!!! I just love people watching. Anywho, I just bought some milk and some Chai Latte (I so love that stuff) and finished up with the rest of the nuts across the street. One day I'm going to be too cool for Wally world!!! I am going to be a full time TJ shopper who picks up that little bouquet of wildflowers at the register to take home with my artichoke, farm raised mahi mahi, cous cous and ......well...PEPSI ( I will never be cool enough to give up my Pepsi.)!
Have a blessed day!

Thank God its Friday.......

I am so ready for the weekend. Not that I have done so much this week but I am looking forward to having my sweetie home and getting all this Christmas stuff put away. My good friend Lil K' is turning the big Four-O and the Gangsta Scrappas are getting together to celebrate minus one (we'll miss you Jewel Dawg) I am excited because they are doing it on a Saturday and that means I can go with no munchkins. I know it sounds like I am always so excited to get away from my kids. You may even think, I don't like being with them but that is not the case. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with two wonderful children and a husband that is a wonderful father and provider and that I can be a stay at home mom. I can only imagine how difficult it is to be a single mother who has to send her kids off to school (where one never knows if they are safe anymore) and then has to struggle with finding childcare and having to handle all the discipline and homework and everything alone. I am so blessed to be able to spend this time with my kids. But I also look forward to the occasional time just to be with my girls and be just T and not momma.
To give you an update on my girl. She is doing much better with her cold and asthma. She actually went to swim team practice last night and was no worse for the experience. Her behavior has improved 100% since she stopped taking the Zyrtec and Singulair and the Albuterol syrup. She hasn't needed her rescue inhaler in a day or two either. She is so much calmer and easier to reason with. It is amazing how much different she is now.
My boy is his normal sweet self. We are so blessed that he is healthy and doesn't seem to get anything more than an occasional cold. He has only had 2 ear infections in the last 2 1/2 years. He is such a good boy. He occasionally will try to show a bit of temper but is over it so quickly and rarely needs more than the threat of a "pop pop" to bring him back to his normal self. He is really trying to talk more now than ever. We were so worried that he was delayed in his speech and even though he is not where my DH was at this age, he is making strides in his speech everyday. You may not realize it so much because he's not as talkative but when he copies something she says, it is very clear and understandable. The other night they were in bed and she yelled "Daddy, I need to go to the bathroom!" and you heard the echo that was him just as clearly and you could definitely tell the difference in the voices, that and the fact that he kept repeating it as he followed her down the stairs. He is just a quieter, more introverted personality and after my DH, we just forgot there are kids like that out there, LOL. Anyway, I guess I have rambled on more this morning than usual. And for you peeps out there who have decided to take part in the "challenge", I would just like to say that I have changed 2 diapers so far this morning, just so you know.......

Baby its cold outside.....

Any of you who know me, know that I am not a cold natured person. I like cold weather but when you add on the wind, leave off the coat (I hate wearing a coat!) and add in the need to get gas for the academy school bus (aka our minivan), and that equals one cold momma. I took my girl to her new pediatrician yesterday and she really liked him. I did too. He listened and seems to have the same belief that I do, you treat a kid with the least amount of medication necessary to get the job done. He didn't think she had bronchitis again. He said she had a particularly nasty respiratory virus made worse by her asthma. He gave me a RX for another inhaler called Flovent which is suppose to help keep her asthma under better control without needing her rescue inhaler.
Anyway, lets hope this helps. We did not get around to school yesterday but we did get a full day in today. She tried to act like she had forgotten everything she had learned up to this point but I told her that we would just start from the beginning again and all of a sudden she "remembered".
I also got in some after-Christmas shopping at Target and the drugstore while we were there. I got a 7 1/2 foot pre-lit Christmas tree for $24.99 (it was 75% off) so next year we will have a tree in our playroom (that's what the kids call the "dining room" because we don't have dining room furniture so it is where most of their toys are) I also got several boxes of cards and some ribbon and paper. I was really surprised by how much stuff was still there for the 75% off sale. You could go crazy with M & M's and other candy that was packaged for Christmas. Big bags of candy for .59 and .69 cents. but I just got one.
We had some awesome news from our friends about their daughter. The biopsy revealed that there was no sign of the Post Transplant Lymphno Proliferative Disorder and that she had just had an infection that her body was taking care of on its on since they had taken her of f the immune suppressant for those days. She was actually able to come home from the hospital yesterday and other than needing a few more tests on her heart to make sure it is still ok, she has a clean bill of health. God is awesome and thank you for your prayers on her behalf.
In case you didn't notice, I changed my banner again today to remove the Happy New Year part of it. It is mostly the same as before with just a little "tweaking" I love my photoshop elements 5.0 software. It is so easy to make these banners than whenever I get bored with the look of my blog, you may see a new one. Its kind of like getting a haircut or color and buying new makeup when you feel like a makeover.
Have a blessed day!!!

Its back to reality for this Home Schooler....

Today is our first day back to school after Christmas break. We need to get started but my girl is still coughing pretty bad and sounds congested so we are going to the doctor today too. We are actually changing doctors due to new health insurance, sore subject for me but I digress, and now we will be going to the Children's clinic again. My girl use to go there a few years ago but we switched her over to our family doctor and he is all she remembers. She loves him and he does a great job in making sure she feels loved in return. I don't know if he truly does because I am sure he sees tons of patients but he has a great bedside manner and really makes every patient feel special. The pediatrician at the children's clinic had no bedside manner. He was so dry and uninvolved and didn't even bother to look at the chart to call the child by name. We do not plan on seeing him again and hope that the new one is more like Dr. H. She also needs to get allergy testing done and I need to talk to him about that. She is terrified of needles so I wonder if they can give her something to sedate her before doing tests. I also need to discuss other options for controlling her asthma. So much to discuss in one visit. I hope I remember it all. We are thinking that Brownie is the cause of her having bronchitis since October. He has only been here since November but she had just gotten over it and it started again as soon as he came and even though she took the medicine she has never gotten better. If we give Brownie away, I want to be able to get a puppy but my DH has made the stipulation that we must make sure she is not allergic to them first. He is right because I think we all would get attached to a puppy really quickly and they also cost a lot of money (since I want a yorkie). Anyway, that is my day today.
Here is an update on my friend's daughter. I spoke to her yesterday and she had wonderful news. The pathologist that was biopsying the lymphnode said that after 24 hours, there was no sign of the PTLP disorder and that it looked to be a fungal infection instead. That was an awesome answer to prayer. The infection would be easily treatable. They would find out for sure yesterday and I have not been able to talk to her since but I am pretty sure if anything had changed for the worse, she would have called. So it looks like she may be able to come home soon. Thank you for your prayers!
Have a blessed day!!

Happy New Year!!!!

Can you believe its 2008? Was it just 8 years ago that the whole world was worried about Y2K?
I've heard it said that whatever you are doing at the moment it becomes the New Year, It is what you will be doing the most the entire next year. So if this is true then we will be spending a lot of time with family because that is where we were at midnight and I was (close your ears kiddies!) kissing my sweet hubby. The kids were running around like they had lost their minds ( I am praying that isn't what they are doing all year!) My DH and I learned a new card game last night called Hand and Foot. It is a lot like canasta so for those of you who know my card sharkin abilities with Canasta, you can guess that I caught on really quick. My dh on the other hand being the analytic mind that he is, kept trying to strategize and made his partner, his brother, crazy so we had to stop after just 2 hands instead of the normal 5. The kids and some of the other adults were playing Wii in the other room. I just have to say that the Wii game system is SO family friendly. I think almost all of our family enjoy it. I am so hoping to rally the troops today and get everything Christmas put away for the year. But we all seem to be draggin this morning. Please keep praying for my friend's daughter. She has had some bad news and some good. They discovered what was causing the problem but it is pretty serious. She had surgery to remove the swollen lymphnode and it is being biopsied. She has a fairly rare complication from taking immune suppressant medications called Post Transplant Lympho Proliferative Disorder. It can be very serious but since they caught it and diagnosed it early they are hoping to lower her immune suppressant meds and change them to control it. From what I have read, catching it early normal means good results from the treatment so that is a real blessing. I need to check with her parents today for an update but keep their family in your prayers. I hope you all have a really wonderful and blessed New Year.