Happy Valentines day! a week late, lol

My New Years resolution to be more dedicated to posting on my blog has been somewhat ....well... A BUST! I look at it. I even take the time to change up the banner and colors but never seem to take the time to sit down and type an actual post. I could say that I have been busy and that would be true, BUT that is not really a good excuse because I still could find the time if I really tried. I think the main reason is that I have a boring life (which believe me, is no complaint! I'd take boring over too much drama any day!) and can't think of anything to "BLOG" about. The kids are a constant source of amusement in MY daily life but to fully explain their antics, to tell you just how funny, would just take forever. Right now, they are sleeping, and I have a cup of coffee and I am enjoying the quiet. I am sure that in less than 30 mins. the madness will begin and the day will officially START.
My girl is doing so well in 1st grade this year. I purchased her a 2nd grade workbook at Sam's club to start working on over the summer. It is not an actual workbook that we will use for school but part of this series called Brain Quest. It has a lot of stuff in it to make her think without realizing that she is actually learning. She is reading so well that we have moved to 2nd grade readers about a month ago. It still amazes me that, by the grace of God, I have taught her to read! It does give me a sense of accomplishment to realize that each of these skills that she has learned in school, she has learned from my teaching (again, by the grace of GOD!!).
I am interested to see how she does on her year end placement testing that we have do as part the requirements of the state to home school. Last year she did really well but that was kindergarten.
My little baby boy, who will soon be FOUR!!! I can not believe it!, is also doing his
"Stool Work". He still has a hard time with some sounds and that is how school work comes out.
He has his own workbook that we do so that he can learn the letters and their sounds, shapes, colors, numbers and some other things. His favorite thing to do in the workbook is the worksheets on circling what doesn't belong in a group. Even though he doesn't talk as well as my daughter did at this age, he is as smart as a whip. He takes everything in and he is getting so much better at communicating it back to us. It amazes me how he and other kids (like my daughter and niece and nephews) can remember a movie verbatim and act it out. I remember little snippets but they seem to remember it all.
Well, look at that, I actually typed a post........well gotta go, need a little more coffee before the storm comes....that's the kids in case you didn't get it.....LOL

Mini-vacations are in the plans....

Deal of the month for us! We are going to spend the night at a cool resort called The Great Wolf Lodge. It is a huge place with an indoor waterpark. We have a reservation in their family loft suite pictured above. It is has a living room with a sleeper sofa and a corner fireplace, a downstairs bedroom with 2 queen beds and a loft bedroom with a queen bed. It normally rents for $379 per night but thanks to my friend Wendy, we have booked it for just $139. That includes 6 free passes to the water park starting a 1pm the day we check in and until closing on the day we check out. Our family of 5 can't even go to our local waterpark for one day for $139 (except for the fact that we normally buy season passes). The very next weekend, I will be going away (not too far, unfortunately NOT the Bahamas this time) for a scrapbooking crop in a really nice hotel. How cool is that!!

Sleepless in Cyberworld.....

I should not do this. I should learn from the mistakes of others and not make a post at 3:30 in the morning with very little sleep....The things I may say, if I offend, forgive me now before reading on.....Ok, nuff said?
Its 3:30 in the stinkin morning and I am up, totally wiped out from a long night of tossing and turning. I don't know why. I am not particularly stressed or upset. I did not drink too much caffeine, maybe too much lemonade for this 40 year old bladder...yes, I did have to go tinkle about 47 times in the 4 hours I attempted to sleep. I just can't sleep......I tried, gave it my best effort. I know my DH and Lulu were sick of me popping up and down all night. Especially, little Lulu. She would just get cuddled up next to me or between my legs (little dogs like to sleep in the STRANGEST places) and I would get up or roll over.....Even now, she has followed me downstairs and is in my lap sleeping....sweet little thing! Dogs are such wonderful company. I missed having this for the last 7 years.
Back to why I am not sleeping.....I think it is because of a pill I took for some chest congestion I have been getting for the last day or so. It has this med called Quiafenesin in it and it wires me up. The weird thing is that it normally takes about 6 hours to "kick in" with the wired feeling though and I did not take it until 11:30 PM....but nothing ELSE has been the same since I turned 40, so why should this be any different.
Well, that is about all the rambling I have about this particular subject. I guess I will have to catch a Z or two sometime during the day....NOT! Have a blessed day!

"The Fashionista"

What happens at home, should stay at home......

Well, you expect it to happen when you are a parent and on Sunday it happened for me. My DD went to church and told her Sunday school teacher that her mommy calls our new puppy "The Devil". .....Well, let me explain....I love our little Lulubelle dearly but she is a definite, little Devil. All during the month of December, she used the far corner in the back, way under our Christmas tree to go hide and leave "little packages", she goes into the kids toy box to get toys to chew up and I had to go and buy lids for the little plastic bins to keep her out, she will go outside for 20 mins to play and then come in and "tinkle" on the carpet, she is constantly chewing on our fingers, toes, whatever she can find....but I would not trade her for anything. She is one of my babies now and I love her but like my kids, I teasingly call her names. I call her her a Stinker and Lulu Ka Choo and Houdini (for her uncanny ability to escape from her crate unless it is padlocked) and yes...I call her the Devil when she goes out of her way to do something totally BAD. Actually, my DH started calling her that first and not quite as lovingly as I do, but instead of telling her teacher that DADDY calls the puppy "The Devil", she said that Mommy does! I wasn't even there to defend myself!
Did that man of mine defend me?!!! Oh No! He laughed! I guess I should be glad that she didn't go and tell the teacher that her mommy calls her daddy Spankybuns....which I DON'T by the way but still.................................

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow................

It is so cold! I went to the post office yesterday afternoon around 4 pm and the water puddles on the street were still frozen over. That has not happened here in a long time. The weather reporters have used the "S" word several times and but as of yet, not even a flurry. It has been so long since we have had any significant snow here that my 3 year old, has no idea what it is like to build a snow man. The last big snow we had was 4 years ago on December 26, 2004. Isn't that sad? I remember the exact date.
We also had a bit of snow, enough to make a pitiful snowman, on Good Friday, just 2 days before Easter in 2007. I had forgotten this one but my SIL reminded me of having to dodge the melting snowman in the background of our Easter pictures that year. Can you tell that I would love to see some snow? I know it makes life difficult for those of you who leave home to work. I know that at least one of my readers, my Fashionista cousin in Indianapolis, probably has more than enough snow each year and probably thinks I am crazy to wish for it. But I do! I love to see it fall! I love the feel of the cold while playing in it with the kids. I love the feel of warmth when you come back in afterwards. I DON'T love the mess in my house with 50 lbs of wet, coats, gloves, socks, hats and stuff once everyone comes in or all the laundry to clean that up, but overall, I LOVE SNOW!
I have already discussed strategies with my SIL to get the kiddos together to play, if it does snow. Like meeting somewhere 1/2 way so that neither of us have to drive too far in the mess.
My husband loves the snow too. He depends on his work shutting down at least one day so that he can play too. So my prayer for today....Let it snow!
Have a blessed day!

Have you ever been called this....(cover your eyes, this is not for the squeamish)

Yesterday's swim meet was filled with all the thrills and chills I promised in my last post. My niece and daughter both swam well and even placed in several events. All the kids joined in the madhouse that occurs when you have 40 kids and there parents and paraphernalia packed into a small gymnasium. Kids will be kids and these were no exception. They were running, jumping, and just playing in general. It was loud and this was exaggerated by the normal echoing that happens in a large open room. My nephew, a typical 3 year old boy, was playing right in the midst of the craziness with some of the "older" kids....the 6 year olds. He was getting very frustrated by the antics of two little girls and in his frustration he called one of them a name.....OH MY GRACIOUS!! Both girls came running to me, desperate to let me know of the verbal infraction. I happened to be watching him at the time because his mommy was in the pool area watching my niece compete. They were devastated by the terrible thing he said...they both demanded immediate action on my part for his deed! Oh no, what is an AUNT to do when her nephew verbally attacks another child with such terrible name calling?.....Well, are you ready? Here it comes......he called her a "Squirt Bottle"........a squirt bottle....what are his parents teaching him!.....
I choked by the shock and laughter and told my nephew in my most serious voice, "Buddy, we DO NOT call people names. That is not nice." and made him sit in time out. So please, be careful! Do not use such language in front of your kids, it may come back to haunt you. You may be just thinking you are asking your spouse to pass you a drink, you know..."Honey, please hand me that squirt bottle....." and next thing you know, you child is verbally offending a room full of innocent children by repeating it.....
Have a blessed day!

Its Saturday again and the dreaded SWIM MEET day too!

Has your child ever been involved in a sport or activity that you just dreaded attending? I know I have whined over and over again about how much I hate swim meets but it bears repeating. I can think of no other sport that have to arrive at 12:45 and may not actually get to leave until after 6 pm. It is an all day event that is so unorganized that it actually give me a headache and almost sends my slightly anal, type A personality into seizures. My husband, who is definitely a type B personality, just goes with the flow and enjoys them. I am not alone in my frustration though. My SIL did not heed my warnings last year and signed my niece up for the swim team at the YMCA in her area this year. She now shares in my torture. Today, my daughter's team will swim against my niece's team at our Y. It will be a long day, but slightly more bearable in the fact that it will be spent with family.
I was bummed, however, to learn that my husband's office had there annual NOT Christmas party tonight. We normally attend this "Winter Gala" or so they call it (my husband's company is owned by Hindu's from India and therefore do not celebrate any of the holiday's that we do) and it is always a nice semi-formal event with great food and nice door prizes. We will not be able to make it this year because it starts at 5:00 and we will not be done with the swim meet until almost 6 IF it starts on time (which they never do).
Well, that is my Saturday plans. Hope yours are better!

So tired....

It was a long night. That is the bad part about kids being potty trained, on the rare occasion that one of them wets the bed, it wakes the entire house up to clean up and remake the bed and bathe the wet child. And if it was a real flooder, and if the culprit had climbed in bed with his sister, then you have TWO wet children that need to be bathed and redressed as they both cry because they are cold and wet AND sleepy. Then you have two kids who have been kind of perked up by their impromptu baths that are now ready to stay up for a while. You convince them it is time to go back to bed but can not quite convince them that it is time to go to THEIR beds! So then you have 4 people in a bed that was just yours not ten short years ago. I mean, get real guys! If I had known this TO DEATH DO WE PART deal meant giving up bed space, I may have been a runaway bride. I NEED MY SLEEPING SPACE!! There is nothing more uncomfortable when you are getting your sleep grove on than to have someone all up on your grill! Now keep your minds out of the gutter people, I just meant those needy, clingy CUDDLING sleepers. GET A TEDDY BEAR, I WANT MY SPACE!

I am sorry, this post is a little angry and I keep "yelling" at you but I'm a little cranky this morning. Have a blessed day!

Thinking....thinking.......

This morning I find myself in a place that I rarely ever visit, just ask my family or peeps, I am without words to blog. My SIL calls me "Word Girl". Now that is not for the sheer amount of talking that I do but for the varied vocabulary that I use to do it (or so she says, lol).
I can't think of one interesting or funny life experience to blog about. I have racked my brain or what is left of it, and I have nothing! Maybe that is the problem with talking so much, maybe you use up all of your words by 40 and then you run out for the next 40 years....that would be so sad!
Could you even imagine? Nothing smart, snappy, snarky or downright offensive to say for 40 years! Life would be so much more boring and I think I might lose weight without my daily consumption of foot and crow. Never to be able to come up with anything to say during the occasional visits with my peeps! Never again to have to leave a visit wondering if I said something that offended someone....wait, that COULD be a good thing...hmmmmm, something to ponder......

Have a blessed day!

Oh what a dreary day.....

It is a dreary day here on the East coast. It is rainy and gray and a perfect day to SLEEP! That particular activity is not part of the daytime plan for next six months. SCHOOL is a huge part of the plan. Yesterday was our first day back after a 2 week plus break. I say two week plus because the week before the actual Christmas/New Year's break that I planned to take, we were dealing with sickness and doctor's visits so we missed a few days. Now it is particularly difficult getting my students back into the swing. My boy, the 3 year old, is more agreeable to the plan than the one who legally MUST be in school. She makes every excuse under the moon not to do what needs to be done. But I forge onward towards the goal of finishing first grade by June 1st.

After finishing our school day yesterday, we finished the De-Christmasing that did not get done over the weekend due to our unexpected trip. The kids and I finished taking everything down with the exception of our two 7 1/2 foot trees. The boxes of which are in the attic of our shed out in the marshland that is our backyard right now after all this rain. My DH will be responsible for taking these down and putting them away (since he hasn't lifted a pinky to help with any of the rest of it!). It seems strange having two trees in the house with no lights (well one is pre-lit but I have removed the extension cord so it can not be turned on) or decorations. My son is having a hard time saying goodbye to Christmas this year. I think he thought we were taking everything down just to redecorate. He keeps asking where our lights are and when are we putting the decorations back on. I have explained but he keeps saying, but it's Chrissssmas!

My daughter has moved on though. She is already talking about what she wants for Valentine's day. Apparently she thinks this too is a gift giving, no that is not right...a gift receiving holiday.
Although since she doesn't really eat candy, I guess she has gotten a small toy each Valentine's day every year in her short life. Her poor husband will be in for a treat when she grows up!

I am so bummed that today my peeps are getting together to celebrate the birthday of Lil'K and I will not be there. My DH's work is so backed up from the holidays that he could not watch the kids for the hour and a half or so to enable me to attend but HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIL'K! and thanks for having us over last week, we had a blast.

Have a blessed day!

Happy New Years - Day 5

I am not one for making New Year's resolutions but I am making on today (5 days Late). I resolve to be not as negligent in my blogging duties. For the entire months of November and December, I have seriously neglected my blog. I doubt very seriously that I have any readers left out there but just in case, I am going to be more dilegent from now on. I am late with the Happy New Year wishes because we went out of town suddenly on Jan. 1st for a funeral in my father-in-law's hometown. His 94 year old aunt passed away the day after Christmas and we went with him to the funeral. It is a sad fact that both my husband and my family members of the generation before our parents are now gone. It is hard to believe that we are both old enough now to technically be grandparents ourselves even though we have a 6 and 3 year old. I am glad that we DO NOT but the thought that we even could makes me feel so old.

I so dread the days when we will be dealing with the loss of the generation of our parents and aunts and uncles. Time has a way of creeping up on you. I know that sounds depressing but I am not looking at it that way. I am trying to learn to make the most of the time we have with our parents and also with our kids. We are not guaranteed even one more second on this Earth and I want my family and friends to know how much they all mean to me now.

Happy New Years!!!