Whew, its hot!

Man oh Man, did Summer hit with a bang this weekend. The temps were over 100 degrees. We were very busy with the Richmond Children's Museum and the home school convention. It was very productive though. I purchased almost all of my girls curriculum for first grade and got to look at even more. It is amazing the number of options there are to educate you child at home. My husband and kids were really into this one stall that featured Science related stuff. It had a ton of fun science projects to teach things like electricity and...well all kinds of stuff. We went to dinner afterwards with a good friend but my kids were disappointed that she left her munchkins at home.
We got home about 10 pm and got the kids to bed, yes they were still awake even after their busy day.
Sunday was church and a picnic afterwards. But it was way too hot. The church's playground set is in the sand out in the sun. The slide and swings were too hot and all of the kids take off their shoes to play usually (because nothing is more uncomfortable than a shoe full of sand), but the sand was so hot that it would blister your feet. We stayed for a while but the adults were pretty uncomfortable in church clothes in 100 plus degree temperatures. Then it was home into the A/C for the rest of the day. Yesterday was definitely one of those days that I wish we would join a pool for the summer. But they are so expensive. The one in our neighbor is $400 for the summer and that is just us and the kids. Since my brother is an adult and not our child, he would have to have a separate membership. That just stinks! Its the same way at the YMCA. You pay $65 per month and then we would have to pay another $40 for him. It seems no one wants to give a break the mentally handicapped. Like he has an extra $40 per month out of his $400 per month government check? How many people do you know that can live on $400 per month? If he did not live with us, he could not make it. Now if you go into an institutional home, they get thousands of dollars a month to take care of you but if you live with your family, you get a tenth of that. Makes tons of sense right? Sorry, I got off on a rant about the way our state treats the mentally handicapped.....

Anyway, now its Monday. We have one more session of school testing to do and then the day is wide open.....can't wait til the peepettes get out of school!!! Then we can get together with them and go to the local water park. Hope your day is a good one and keep cool!!!

Day 3 of potty training.....

Still a no go with the boy. He just does want to get with the program. But we are still trying....

The weekend is upon us. We have plans for a change. Tomorrow is the Home school conference and resource fair. We are going to look at the different curriculum that are available. We also plan to take the kids to the Children's Museum while we are there. Sunday is church and a picnic afterwards. Busy weekend but hopefully lots of fun for the kiddos.

Better get going. We are doing our testing yesterday and today and I need to get my girl started.
Have a great day and weekend!

The Timer, The Spiderman and The Bathroom.....Day 2 of the Chronicles of Pottyville

Well, today is day 2 of potty training.....Day one? a big fat bust! We went through 8 pair of undies and I have more wet spots on my carpet than if we had a whole litter of puppies in residence. I set the timer but we NEVER made it to the alarm before he was either wet or worse....I have never seen any child "go" as often as my boy! We NEVER once got a drop in the actual potty! Of course he drinks like a fish but still..... He did come to me every single time to let me know. He would say, I got to go potty! but he had already gone. The timer was set for 30 mins yesterday....maybe 10 or 15 would be better and we can move up as we go.....I don't know but in case you wondered what I am doing today? Laundry, Laundry and more Laundry.....I am spot cleaning the carpet until the weekend and then will haul out the shampooer. If this timer thing doesn't start showing some results, I will have to sit him on the potty and make him sit all day.....Yeah! THAT will happen. Anyway, that is the update on the potty front....

Time to put away the oars and put up the sails.....

And coast a little.....It has been a busy couple of days. The kids and I need a day at home with no commitments, no appointments and time to relax. I have ordered my girls official end of the year grade level testing and it should come in the next day or so. We will be doing that for either one or two days depending on how long it is. In our state, you do not have to submit test results to the school superintendent until the grade they start once they are six years old (meaning they have to be six by Sept of that school year). We just want to make sure that I didn't mess her up too bad this year, lol. She did another mini skills test on her Jump Start First Grade program and tested on a third grade level on much of it but we want to make sure this was accurate. The California Achievement test is very specific on administrating the test so it takes away that natural parental compulsion to "help" them. You are instructed verbatim what to say. Now of course, if you were being dishonest and wanting to boost their scores you could but what would the point be? I know that as a home schooling parent, I want to make sure she is learning, not that I know enough to score on at least a fifth grade level. (I HOPE!, LOL)

My joints are aching today! I had my volleyball league tournament last night. My team had already won first place for the Spring season and last night we also won the tournament. So our big reward will be TWO t-shirts. That worked out though because my DH's team (they play on Thursdays) finished in 3rd place and unless they win the tournament, starting tonight, he would not get a t-shirt this season. Now, you might say, what's the big deal? Its just a stinkin' tshirt, but now that we are getting older and these joints and knees just aren't what they use to be, we may not be playing many more seasons, especially this girl. I ache all week long after playing one night. As my great granny use to say, "My Rheumatism is flairing up". That was just an oldtimers way of saying their joints were hurting. Now that more and more people are being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is much worse than the general, run of the mill arthritis, I don't think you hear it much anymore. I am thankful that I do not have that. I have a peep and an uncle that have RA and with all the meds they have to take, and the pain they have, it makes mine look like a walk in the park.

My kiddos got great checkups at the dentist yesterday. He said that my girl's teeth were well spaced and straight and she would most likely not need braces. My son's are too early to tell but they were very clean and no signs of decay. He did a great job getting them cleaned considering he just turned three. I am trying to convince him that he is a big boy now and need to use the potty. He keeps saying "No Fankyou!" I am pushing the issue since we are planning on being home for the next few days. He has on big boy undies and I am setting an alarm to take him to the potty every 30 mins. Wish me luck!
I will keep you up to date on the progress....We'll call it the Chronicles of Pottyville. Tomorrow will be the first installment.....I think I'll call it "The Timer, the Spiderman (his undies) and the Bathroom" and then next could be "Prince CasPEEan"....Or we could call it "Harry Pooper and the Porcelian Throne".......

Brownzilla update since he is the STAR!

Brownie has guinea pig fleas, or the equivalent. They say that he probably had them from the time we bought him, as most pet store piggies are infested with them and that they just became a problem recently. They looked him over, sold me a supply of Revolution (a flea controller for dogs/cats in the puppy/kitten strength) and said to completely clean his cage and sanitize it (even though I just did on Saturday) and retreat in 2 weeks. They also clipped his nails. So $110 dollars later...yeah you read it right....we walked out of the vets. Brownie's nail clipping was $19.96. He got a 20 dollar pedicure! I have never even had a pedicure and my guinea pig got a $20 one!!!! His visit was $50, his meds were $40. I would have thought they would include the nail clipping in the office visit since she spent less than 2 mins in the room. Ok, nuff whining, my grandson is worth it. Hopefully he will be itch free soon.

Well, I gotta go get ready to take the kiddos to the dentist. Cleanings all around. We'll see how well mom and dad have been brushing and if those skittles that my girl loves so much is doing any damage. Then its off to Wally world. I hate going with the munchkins but since we will be less than a mile from one and gas is so high, I will have to suck it up, put on my big girl britches and take care of the job at hand. Have a great day!!

Why shouldn't you tell jokes while ice skating?....It might CRACK UP!

This is silly but it thrilled me to hear it. My 6 year old has FINALLY learned the art of joke telling. She has been telling jokes for years now every since she hear a knock knock joke on a kids television show. She has made up thousands of jokes that make absolutely NO SENSE and she just didn't get it. We, of course, had to laugh, it IS in the Parents Handbook (page 42, number 7432--You must laugh hysterically at every joke your child tells regardless of rather it is funny or not.). Today she actually told jokes that made sense and I could actually LAUGH! Here is a sample and she nailed them....What kind of dog tells time? A WATCHdog!....What kind of animal lives on your head? A HARE!! What kind of dog loves to take a bath?....A ShamPOODLE!!!...Now, you may say these are corny but when your six year old tells them out of the blue after years of nonsense jokes, you would be impressed too!

Today we are taking Brownie to the vet. His very first visit but he has be nipping us lately when we hold him and he has a patch of hair missing and the wonderful internet tells us that he may have mites on his skin and that is making him uncomfortable. So its off to the vet for a visit.
My daughter who has been watching BINDI, the Jungle girl (a show featuring Steve Irwin's daughter), said CRIKEY! We need to get him treated immediately. She is quite impressed and a big fan of Bindi Irwin. She wants to move to Australia and help her on her show. My girl has always been a big animal lover and the fact that another little girl gets to actually live with them and help take care of them is amazing to her.

So, that's our main priority for the day. We also need to run a few other errands. Hope your day is a great one!

Saturday......YEAH!!!!

Hey there! Today is Saturday. I slept in til 8 am!!! I remember a time where sleeping in on Saturday meant I rolled out of bed at noon but now sleeping in is til 8. SAD!!! That's what motherhood does for you girls. Its not for the faint of heart, let me tell you.
In case you are wondering, my dental appointment went just dandy yesterday. I got a clean check-up. I also found out that my kiddos have an appointment for cleanings on Tuesday and I had completely forgotten about it. So next week is filling up too.
We got our new tires yesterday. It wasn't quite as bad as originally thought. ONLY $570! Apparently Michelin was offering a $60 instant rebate and the tires weren't quite as expensive as we originally thought.
The weather is looking like a great day is shaping up. Yardwork to do, errands to run, kids to entertain (grumpy, tired kids because we didn't get home from our one hour babysitting visit at the cousins until 11:30 last night, TOLD YOU SO!) Looks like summer is arriving this week. My brother said the forecast is for really warm weather all week. Our peepettes (those are the peeps kids) will be getting out of school soon so we are really looking forward to summer fun in the sun.
Ok, like my peep D says, this is a SNOOZERVILLE post. My life is not all fun and games you know. Well, better let you get back to your exciting lives! Have a great weekend.

Time to make my semi-annual pilgrimage to the dental hygenist....

I am a weirdo, I know it. I actually love getting my teeth cleaned. Don't get me wrong, I hate setting aside an hour of time to do it, I hate having to sit still in a chair for it and it can be uncomfortable, but I love the feel of clean teeth. I have also come to look forward to a hour of peace and quiet while I get to sit still not have kids asking for something.
My kiddos will be at their favorite place to visit (besides Disney or something), with their cousins.
They are banking on the fact that a one hour babysitting visit will turn into an all day event. I am sure all 5 of them are plotting and planning now on how to extend the time together.
This weekend is going to be an expensive one. We are having to buy new tires for our van. It is a real shame that after 25,000 miles, the tires are shot. That is the one downside we have found so far to our Sienna. It has been a wonderful vehicle and has not caused us a moment of grief in the two years we have owned it. My dh has already priced the tires and the new ones will be almost $700. YOUCH!!!
I remember a time when I was younger and single that $700 was a new car for me. (Not a new car but a new to me car). If I had had to buy $700 in new tires back then, I would have junked it and found another car. So, I guess you know where our tax incentive check is going. Well that and the fact that my sweet family bought me a new camcorder for Mother's day.
If you are wondering why I am not putting any videos on, well that would entail having my kids faces on the internet and that is a big NO NO for my DH. I guess I could video their feet but that would not be entertaining. My daughter is asking for a new Brownzilla episode to be filmed on it, so maybe......
Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend!

Just a quick post....

Today's post is not going to be long cause I gots to get me a shower before my SIL gets here. We are heading out for our oh so FABU time of dress shopping, JOY!!! Actually, I enjoy anytime I spend with my SIL and my extended kiddos, my niece and nephews, but this is pushing it.
Just in case you wondered, my Wii fit age yesterday was 36, GO GIRL!!!! but todays was 51, stinkin' game! Yes I have actually used it 6 days in a row! I am really liking this yoga thing too. I feel more limber than before. One of the aerobic exercises on it is hula hooping. What a trip. I haven't moved my substantial hips that much since I was ten. But let me tell you, I can get 5 hoops going and keep them going for 3 straight minutes. Now, let me just clarify that with the fact that I seriously doubt I could actually even get one real hula hoop going but.....well, its the small victories in life at this age that bring me joy. I also have been doing a step routine with it and boxing and it has been fun. The kids like it too. Well, that is all I have for you today but I hope I have left you with the mental image of this oh so hot, 39 year old mother of two twirling 5 virtual hula hoops while standing on a small rectangular board in front of the tv.....HMMM on second thought...DELETE< DELETE< DELETE.....

Good Tuesday morning!

Hi there! I had to remind myself that this is Tuesday since it feels like Monday instead. We have a busy week planned. Today is fairly quiet except that my furry nephew may be bringing his parents over for a visit later. Tomorrow, my SIL and I are taking the girls to the local bridal shop to try on/purchase dresses for the upcoming nuptials in Oct. Oh Joy! There is nothing better than being told you need a formal dress that is 2-3 sizes larger than your normal dress size and then have to pay 4 times as much as you would normally pay for a dress and in most cases, you don't even like it. Now, don't get me wrong. My future SIL has given us some lovely choices but apparently bridesmaids/mistress of ceremonies are ONLY allowed sleeveless dresses and me? NOT such a fan of putting my turkey flap out there for public viewing. The qtpa2ts will be lovely though in their dresses, I am sure. Thursday, my ds is having his 3 year old check up and Friday, I am having a dental cleaning. Along with this, we have my dd's swim practice on today and Thursday and my DH and I have volleyball games.

Oh and BTW, my computer must have found a way to tell my Wii that I was making threats to throw it out the window because my Wii fit age yesterday was 32! Go, girl!!! I am sure it was just feeling bad for badmouthing me the day before but still....I haven't had a chance to visit the virtual exercising world yet today but hopefully it won't jump back up to the 50's. I mean there is nothing wrong with being in your 50's but let me make it there slowly like God planned.

Well, better get going before the natives get too restless. Its going to be in the 80's today and they are dying to get outside. Have a blessed day!

Ever been told you were 56?

Ok, I told you about getting the Wii fit right? Well every time you log on, it puts you through this body evaluation and determines your Wii fit age. My Wii Fit age is 56 and apparently I have no balance and it kindly tells me I am obese. Now this would truly offend me if it did not do the same thing to another member of my family that I definitely do not consider to be obese. I mean, I am a realistic person, I know that I am not by any means at my perfect BMI but it still stings when this little video game just blurts it out like that! I started yoga with this lovely little game and have been attempting to workout with it. It actually makes it pretty fun but it really needs to work on its diplomacy skills. You can't just go around telling people they are obese and 17 years older than they really are willy nilly like that. That is a good way to get one's self thrown through a plate glass window.

So, my post will be short this morning so that I can go visit this little minion of Satan and find out what it thinks of me today. I'll keep you updated!
Have a great day!

Happy Birthday to my baby boy!!!!

Today is my son's 3rd birthday. He is growing up so fast and becoming quite the typical little rough and tumble boy. Yesterday he was outside with his cousins and sister trying to keep up with the older ones and having a blast and now today he is staying at home with momma and being his normal sweet little baby boy self, cuddling and totally happy just hangin with me and chillin'. He is such a blessing to his momma (and his daddy too but he is definitely a momma's boy right now.). We celebrated his birthday last weekend in a joint family party for both of them but it was nice having the cousins over again this Saturday to play again. A little like another party for him.

Today has been one of those off days for me. I was all thumbs this morning. I kept dropping stuff and somehow bumped my coffee pot while it was brewing and knocked the pot off the coffee maker and counter and splattered it all over me and the floor. Fortunately, it is a metal pot so it survived but the clean up was a mess. I had to change pj bottoms, clean my slightly burnt feet, wipe the cabinets, clean the floor and it seemed to spray everywhere and then clean the coffee maker and remake the coffee. Once I remade the coffee, I got out the flavored creamer and ....you guessed it, dropped it too. It splattered everywhere too. I had a serious case of the dropsies. I was almost afraid to drink my coffee in case it happened again.

Fortunately, I seem to have kicked that this afternoon and haven't dropped anything.
Anyway, that has been my day. My baby girl went home with the cousins last night for another sleepover so she should be home soon. I miss her when she is gone but it sure is a lot quieter here without her. My boy even took a nap so it was really quiet for about 1 1/2 hours. He never does that anymore but without Sissy, he is so laid back that he got quiet enough to doze off.
Hope you are having a great Memorial day weekend too!

Happy Memorial Day weekend!!!

I sit here this morning with my cup or gallon of coffee as the case may be and I find myself thinking about how grateful I am to wake up to such a beautiful day. My kids are busily doing their best work, you know how all kids are pros at making a mess of a house that you spent hours cleaning. My dh is reading the paper, apparently oblivious to the ruckus they are making and life is good.
I am not complaining mind you, because this is family life at its best. We are in serious negotiations with my SIL to convince her that the cousins need more time together this afternoon. Which means that I get more girl time with one of my best friends. I am so thankful that I can say this. So many people have terrible relations with their siblings and in-laws and I can truly say that I love mine. My SIL and I and become very close over the last few years and the kids are inseparable.

This Memorial Day weekend, we have no major plans. We are not traveling anywhere. We will probably, not go anywhere other than to church tomorrow and that is fine with me. My munchkins are hoping for a truly warm day this weekend so that we can inflate their pool and play in it. I am looking forward to summer plans to go to the local water park with the kids as long as gas doesn't go too far over $4 per gallon. One of my peeps has suggested that we start a book club and meet once a week at the water park with the kids to discuss the book while they play. Sounds like a great idea. I will actually be reading more challenging material than "Green Eggs and Ham" and "Amelia Bedelia makes a mess". Not a lot to discuss there. My daughter really doesn't have a whole lot of insight into why Sam I am was so persistent or why Amelia Bedelia chose to be a maid when she apparently doesn't know which end of a broom to use.
My husband has recovered from his recent battle with poison ivy. I finally went to the doctor for my icky cold which was lasting way too long. Apparently I had a nasty sinus infection.

So, as I finish my coffee (and realize that it has made its way through to my bladder already), I am going to wrap up this post. I will be straightening up and hauling these energetic little buggers outside to burn off some energy. My husband will be doing some mowing and tilling today and I will be convincing my kids that it is still not quite warm enough to get into the pool.
Have a happy Memorial Day weekend!

Time to get Wii Fit....

Ok, I have succomb to the advertising and purchased the newest greatest thing in virtual exercizing, a Wii and a Wii Fit. I am going to plug it in and watch it do its work. I have the assurance of Nintendo that I can become a fabulously fit 40 year old....(well, maybe by the time I hit 40, since I still have a few months to go). Now, lets see if it can do its magic as I sit back....oh you mean I have to get up and actually WORKOUT!!!! Oh, you have got to be kidding me! This is the same ole stuff as always, you buy these things, like treadmills, stationery bikes, ab rollers, and they promise to help you lose weight, and then you find out you have to actually get up and use them, THE AUDACITY!!! Its just like those crazy plans like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, they promise to help you lose weight too, but then you find out you have to actually stop eating so much AND get some exercise, ITS A CONSPIRACY I TELL YOU!

Ok, enough of that silly stuff. We did get a Wii for our family (my brother already has one in his room but since we NEVER got to play it, I got us one) Their newest game is called Wii Fit. It is a little attachment that looks like a step and they have workout stuff for it. I haven't checked it out yet but plan to give it a go soon.

I just got a bit of sad news...My DH is driving to work this morning, listening to K-Love and said that he heard the Steven Curtis Chapman (one of our favorite Christian singers) has had a tragedy in his family. Apparently his son was driving a car on the family property and hit his 5 year old daughter, Maria and she was killed. That is so horrible. I just want to lift their family up in prayer right now.

Dear Heavenly Father, I just want to lift the Chapman family up to you in prayer. Please be with them during this terrible tragedy and be with their son as I am sure he is devastated. Please give them strength and guidance during this terrible time. AMEN.

I have been called on the carpet....

My friend has threatened to actually PICK UP THE PHONE and call me if I don't blog so here goes...Life in Snoozerville has been amusing to some lately so I have been told to share. I hope I don't tick off my DH, if he ever reads this but here goes.....
Last weekend, my husband started itching on his legs and arms. He was very concerned about it and started trying to figure out what it was. I looked, and not too sympathetically told him it looked like bug bites that had gotten irritated but that it did not look too bad. I basically implied that he needed to suck it up, build a bridge and to coin a phrase from my SIL "beat feet". See, as a mom, you realize that unless it is one of your kids who is sick, all other sicknesses are insignificant, barring hospitalization that is. He was not so convinced, he was on a mission to control the itching and discover the cause. He called his mom, his sister, went to the clinic at work, attempted twice to go to the doctor and then finally went to the emergency room (seems a bit extreme to me but apparently it was important) His mom told him maybe it was a reaction to a bug bite that caused a condition called Impetigo (spelling?). To which I told him that he needed to put hydro cortisone to control the itch and wait it out. His sister agreed that this may it. The emergency room doctor told him that it was poison ivy and that he need to use hydro cortisone cream and he had to wait it out. He had also been read to put baking soda and vinegar on it and to bath in baking soda.....Now, here is the part that I am not proud of but I think a lot of you girls can understand. I have mentioned in the past that I am a bit of a neat freak, kind of obsessive or compulsive over it....well, let's just say that I was reduced to making the comment that if my husband did not "recover" soon, I would be forced to kill him to put us out of his misery. It would be humane after all. Kind of like when a horse breaks its leg...get my drift? This man of mine in three days time went through 7 pairs of pants and 5 sweat shirts and also completely coated our bathroom in baking soda along with our sheets and got in on the couch.....along with that, he was in too much discomfort to help with practically anything and did little more than "treat" his injuries with every home remedy and medical remedy he could find on the internet for over a week now.
We had a birthday celebration with our family on Saturday for both the kids and apparently his parents and siblings had heard about enough of it too. My BIL, the one I call "The Mean One" (not because he is actually mean just because he likes to pick and joke around so that is his nickname, btw, he calls me "Trouble" so don't feel bad for him that I call him this) was fully armed with jabs when he arrived. He teased my husband and even joked that he wanted to go on a field trip of the backyard to see the horrible vine that attacked him and caused such grievous injuries...
So, for those of you wondering where I have been, I have been at my husband's bedside 24-7 taking care of him.....

I feel....ICKY!

I think my friend Lorrie gave me her cold....Now I haven't seen her in weeks so you might say this in impossible but she does read my blog and my thought is, maybe since we do so much in the cyberworld nowadays, maybe we can catch colds there too.....LOL, Just kidding girl! I have a nasally type cold thingy going on with a sore throat and just feel....well...ICKY.
Ok, enough whining bout that!

Boy, oh boy, did I do some cleaning yesterday. It started off innocent enough, I was doing some more taping for our non-existant painting that will be done, I PROMISE by Christmas! That required pulling all the furnishings away from the wall to get to the floor trim and to get a step ladder up to put tape on the ceiling. I did that but in the process, saw all the dust and crap that the furniture was hiding....which led to some rearranging and more cleaning....well, you get the idea. My enter downstairs, with the exception of parts of the kitchen now has blue tape all over it. The kids think that it is going to stay forever, and I am beginning to think so too. Our downstairs is all pretty much open so if you paint one room, it looks better to paint the entire thing the same color so my DH wants to complete fix all the wall flaws (nail holes, gauges, scrapes and all) and tape all the trim first so that when we do paint, we do the entire thing at one time. One of the worse jobs in painting is cleaning up the brushes, rollers and trays, so if we get all the preliminary stuff done, we can just roll right through the painting part. I know I have been talking about painting for months now so I may have already said all this before and if so, I am sorry. I bet any of you readers still out there are sick of hearing about this.

Oh and by the way, we have watched several movies lately. Here are some of them and my thoughts and opinion.....
1. I Am Legend -- Great acting on the part of Will Smith and Sam (the dog) but the storyline of the movie was very disjointed and left a lot more questions than answers. Both of us were left with the overall opinion that it wasn't that great. It could have been great if the story was better done but it just disappointed for the most part. From what I understand, this is a movie based on a book and the book was much better written than the movie. I did enjoy watching Mr. Smith doing stomach crunches before going dear hunting in downtown Manhattan....

2. Charlie Wilson's War -- Great acting but much too much gratuitous "T and A" if you get my drift. It seemed that in order to get the point across about this congressman's personal campaign to send aid to the Afghanistan resistance in the 80's when they were being massacred by the Russian army, required a lot of naked women. The story was good otherwise and I suspect that it was a meant to be a political commentary on the USA getting involved in providing arms to people and then just when they come to rely on our assistance, leaving them high and dry, thus creating future terrorists that hate us. Maybe they thought the bare breasts and butts helped soften the blow.....but Tom Hanks bare 50plus year old butt did nothing for me, but that's just me....

3. The Prestige -- Great movie but really requires your total focus on the movie or you just will not "Get" it. You definitely can't just tune in and out of this one.

4. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey -- This was a great family movie! Loved it!

5. The Painted Veil --Great romance story, great acting but very sad ending.

6. The Transformers --It was what it was, a kids action cartoon brought to life and made so that it really wasn't something a kid under the age of 14 or so should watch. There was way to much violence and death for kids. As an adult though, it was a ok movie.

Well, thats all the updating I have for today! Have a great one!

Howdy!

Just thought I would stop in this morning and give a quick blog post. I have been so slack lately. We had a wonderful mother's day. We went to church and then to lunch for my fave, MEXICAN!!
I just love Mexican food. Then we went to see our sweet mom (actually my dh's mom but since I do not have one of my own, we share her, and I could not love her more if she was my own.). She got an extra large scoop of hyper grand kids and we left her with a headache before we headed home under a tornado watch. We stopped for some ice cream to top off a great Mother's Day.

My DH and kiddos got me a fancy new HD camcorder (well, its ordered and should be here in a day or two) to play with. Our old one is about 10 years old and huge, well comparatively speaking...the new one is about the size of one of my kids shoes and the old one was about the size of an adults shoe box. The new one is almost pocket sized.

My dd had her 6 year old checkup yesterday. She had been promised by the doctor last year that she should not need anymore vaccines until she was 11 years old but apparently the American Board of Pediatrics changed their guidelines and now they are giving a chicken pox booster at age 6. We had a lot a drama since she had to get her iron levels checked and a vaccine. She was told, no shots and she got two. She was NOT a happy camper. She decided that she would never go to that doctor again. I didn't argue with her but she will find out soon enough that she's stuck with him. He's a really good doctor and a really nice guy.

We have a lot of work to do this week to get somewhat prepared for the kiddos birthday get together with family this weekend. My downstairs has blue tape all over it and still no painting has been done. Deciding to paint this time of the year has proven to be a mistake. We have so much work that we do outside and commitments on the weekends, it just keeps getting put off. My SIL is coming over later in the week and is going to help me get some painting done before the rest of the family comes on Saturday. Isn't that sweet? I really have been blessed with a wonderful family.

Well, that is all the updating I have for now. Hope you are having a great week!

Thoughts on being a Mother.....

I will never forget Mother's day of 2001. My grandmother, who raised me and my brother and sister, had died just a couple of months before, suddenly, from a massive heart attack. We were still trying to have a baby with no success and I was becoming more and more disheartened with each and every month of trying. I clearly remember sitting in church on that Sunday feeling particularly down in the dumps. The pastor of the church we were attending was doing the typical Mother's day type stuff, asking the oldest mother to stand, the youngest mother to stand....the newest mother to stand....anyone expecting to stand...all the mothers to stand....then he got "creative" and said for anyone that was going to spend time with their mother that day to stand....and before you knew it, it seemed I was the only person in the church still sitting. I remember fighting back tears, unsuccessfully and feeling like I just wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere....I felt like God had abandoned me and that my desire to have children was one prayer He was saying NO to. I remember that day as being one of the lowest in my life.

God was there, he made that day stand out in my memory so that I would also never forget the next Mother's day that was coming.

Very soon after that day while on an evening walk around our neighborhood, we happened to speak to a neighbor that we did not know down the street from our house. He was outside with his young daughter. We commented on how cute she was and a conversation began. He happened to ask if we had children and we told him no but we had been trying for a while. He shared that he and his wife had tried for over 15 years and had given up and decided they weren't meant to have kids. Then they had met a friend of a friend who was expecting and had asked them if they would consider adopting her baby. They were thrilled. She was at that time 4 years old and the light of their lives. He asked if we had considered adoption and we said we had but we were thinking to have one or two biological children and then maybe adopting our third child. He said that it was funny that we should run into him then because he had a co-worker who's sister was expecting a baby that she could not afford to parent. She already had two children and was a single mother and she just could not take care of another child. We agreed to meet with her and things did not work out but the door was then open to pursue adoption.

In September of that year, our actual first meeting was scheduled for 9/11, we started the process to adopt through an adoption agency. In March of 2002, we were chosen by a birth mother in Indiana to adopt the baby she was expecting. We were thrilled. It seemed as though God had worked this out from the beginning. The birth mother had found our adoption profile (a short letter to potential birth parents telling them about us) online and had contacted our agency and asked about us. Our caseworker told her that she did not think we would want to travel to Indiana to meet her but she mentioned it to me while making a routine phone call to check in with us. She explained that if we adopted out of state, we would have to travel there and possibly stay there for up to a month afterwards until we got permission to travel with the baby. She also explained that we would be bound by that state's adoption laws. She completely expected me to say NO THANKS. It caught my attention that she was in Indiana because we had an already planned trip to Indiana to stay with some family and for my husband to go to a conference. I asked in what part of IN did this girl live? She lived in the city that we were traveling to in April. She actually lived about 10 miles from my husband's aunt that we were visiting. We asked to schedule a conference call "meeting" with her. When this happened, it was obvious to all of us, there was a real connection between us. God had opened this door. We arranged to meet with her while we were visiting and connected even more. The caseworker in Indiana told us that their adoption laws were different but from the adoptive parents standpoint, they were better. The father's rights were terminated prior to the child being born if he did not step up and agreed to raise the child, which he did not. The birth mother's rights were terminated at the hospital from the moment she signed the release form (In our state, they still have almost a month to change their mind). We were excited. We came home and just 3 days later got the call that she was in labor. We left immediately for IN. and 11 hours later, we were holding our baby girl. God worked out all the details and just one week later, on Mother's day,
we were home and in church with our baby. That was also one of the most memorable days of my life.

God showed me that our ways are not His ways and our plans are not His plans. One year from one of the lowest days in my life, God provided one of the happiest days of my life. I have been blessed with two beautiful children now and some days have more MOTHERHOOD than I can handle. So now with tomorrow being another Mother's day, my mind goes back to this time with a deeper understanding of how God's plan is sometimes hard to see and understand but still wonderful.
Happy Mother's Day!

Contentment....

It has occurred to me lately that I have achieved a certain amount of contentment in my ....shall we say middle age? I love my family....we have a comfortable living....my home is smaller than we need but I am thankful to have one in this economy...I have a wonderful husband that I love with all my heart and my kids, well they are the lights of my life. We have a sweet little piggy baby that is very easy to take care of and that we have all grown very fond of (yes, even my not wanting anymore pets husband has been won over by Brownzilla's charm). Is this "Snoozerville"? I am afraid so but it sure beats "Stresstown" all to heck. I had permanent residence in "Stresstown" for far longer than I ever want to again! I've got the scars to prove it.
Why am I rambling on about this? I don't know other than the fact that I realize I complain about too many little inconveniences too much. My blessings far exceed my trials right now. There are many people who have so little in this world and yet don't complain as much as those of us who have more than we really need. My kids are healthy, fed and safe and there are mothers out there that are now worrying that their kids will starve to death with the food shortages in some countries. We complain because we can only by two 25lb bags at a time at Sam's club (who of us needs even a 25 lb bag of rice?) when in Honduras and some Asian countries, they can not even afford enough food to just keep their families alive?
Dear God, please forgive me for my selfishness and pride and please help me to remember how much I have to be thankful for!
Sorry if this sounds too preachy but it was more for me than anyone else. Sometimes God teaches us when we least expect it. I just sat down with nothing "Exciting" to blog about and He showed me how thankful I should be for that.
I pray that you have a content, boring day too!

Foggy weather = foggy brain?

It is so foggy here this morning! I looked outside and could not even see our shed in the backyard.
My brain is also feeling sort of foggy this morning too. I can't even talk in complete sentences. Is this just a temporary thing or am I showing early signs of Oldtimers or Hoffeimers or whatever that thing is called? Maybe its all the blonde hair coloring I have done over the years...maybe it has finally penetrated my thick skull..? I don't know but it sure is foggy in there.

My DD and I started school back in the beginning of August and we finished her "official" kindergarten curriculum back in Feb/Mar. So we have just been doing some reviewing and a little bit of first grade stuff for a while now. Today is going to be one of those days that she learns through playing. She got a marble race kit for her birthday and has really gotten good at building different setups for it and letting the marbles run through it. I figure this is a really good way for her to build her thinking skills. She is also going to have to read to me, so all in all, that is her school day for today.

Hope you have a great day!

Thank God its Monday and we can rest...well, a little

What a busy weekend! Saturday we went out to BF Egypt (I can not explain what the BF means, if you don't know, then I am sorry but it is a term left over from my teen years and I don't use that language anymore) to look at some land. We almost got more than we bargained for when my dh, my sil and my son almost stepped on a snake. I never got to see it and not being the most snake savvy of families, we have no idea of it's breed or toxicity. I did however get to hear how close my baby came to actually stepping on it. We took the ferry back to the colonial area and when we found out how expensive some of the, lets say colonial attractions were, we decided to skip that bit of cultural enlightenment. It is amazing to me how much they charge admission just to see some recreated ships and shacks from colonial times. There is also a park nearby that has huge statues of the presidents and that is very expensive also. $13.75 just to see them. Maybe I am just cheap...So we skipped that and took the birthday girl to shop for her presents from momma and daddy. She enjoyed getting to pick her own gifts. She also got to pick her favorite restaurant for lunch after church yesterday. Her absolute favorite place to eat is Texas Roadhouse. She is a big fan of their yeast rolls. We had a wonderful waitress who surprised her with getting in the saddle and being sung to by the other workers. She loved it.
We will have a cake and stuff later this month for both of the kiddos and invite the family to celebrate for a combined party so this was the celebrating for now.
We also had to squeeze the weekly yard work into all of that so it made for a busy weekend.
Hope yours was great too!

Two Milestones in two days....

Yesterday was a long day. My SIL and I took the kids to the zoo and stayed til closing at 5pm.
BIG MISTAKE! HUGE! The traffic? UNBELIEVABLE. We sat in it for HOURS! We left the zoo and it took 4 hours to get home and it normally takes 30 mins. Now we did stop to eat after about 2 1/2 hours in traffic but still!

Okay now to my two milestones....Well the first one is obvious, my baby girl turns 6 years old today. Just six years ago, she was placed into our arms for the first time and now she is practically grown! Well, slight exaggeration but you know what I mean. The second milestone is that my daughter went for her first sleepover last night. Last night was the very first night that she has ever been away from at least one of us (My DH or I) overnight. We did not get a call in the middle of the night that she wanted to come home... I am waiting to hear from my SIL but since no news is good news, I am assuming that all went well.

My son had a sleepover too, in momma and daddy's bed....It was only fair since we allowed his roommate go elsewhere. He was missing her too. The first thing he did this morning, after finding momma and daddy and getting some milk, was go looking for his "Sissy". He has asked where she is several times already. He has never had to deal with being the only child so he just doesn't know how to deal with the quiet.

We are heading out to look at the property that is for sale today and then letting the birthday girl decide what she may like to do. Hope you have a great weekend!

Feeling a sense of accomplishment...

I have finally gotten all my flowerbeds under control and weeded, I put mulch down in most of them, I have planted new flowers in the ground and all my pots on my porch and except for the need to mow the lawn, the yard looks nice. It is such a nice feeling to look out there and see everything all neat and orderly and pretty. I try with the house but with toys and my dh's need to collect pieces of paper (he says its important information but since it is just a pack rat looking mess, I don't see the benefit of the "information" when he will never be able to locate it when he needs it...), I don't get to see the benefits of my cleaning for long. Outside on the other hand, it stays that way a little easier.

The weekend is upon us again! We are hoping to go see the Aminals today at the Zoo with the cousins, so FUN!!! Tomorrow is my girls birthday so we are going to figure out something fun to do with her but not a party since we are hoping to do a combined one with our boy in about 2 weeks. We also have plans with my dh's siblings to go look at 30 acres of land out near the ferry. We are considering buying it together and splitting it three or four ways (if we can talk the parents to move there too) and all building houses there. Just in the talking stage now but my DH is really excited about it so who knows? If so, we would be just minutes from the colonial area but farther from our friends so I have mixed emotions about the whole thing. We could be at the local amusement park in just 15 mins if we time the ferry right which makes that seem like a plan for the birthday tomorrow since we will be nearby and all.

Well, now that you know our weekend plans....Hope yours is a great one!

Hmmmmm........

I have sat here this morning with my coffee in hand (my much needed coffee this morning) and can't think of a stinkin' thing to blog about. We got groceries last night.....it seems like we spend more money each week. It will soon cost more to eat (even at home) and drive than most people make in a month and that doesn't even count the fact that housing is so outrageously expensive that people are losing their homes in record numbers. My dd reminded me several times that her 6th birthday was this Saturday while at the store last night. It is so hard to believe that my baby girl that was so sweet and tiny just moments ago will be 6 in just two days.

We ate at my DH's favorite place last night....Chic-Fil-A and the kids got to play outside in their play area. There were some "older" girls playing (maybe 9 or 10 years old) and she tried so hard to talk to them but they were so unfriendly and basically snubbed her. She is just so friendly that she kept trying and did not even realize that they were being mean to her. Is that what happens now when kids get older? They can't even be bothered to acknowlege the overtures of friendship from a younger child? Mama Bear was a little perturbed but I reigned it in. Some younger kids showed up and they were just as sweet and friendly as my kids and she had a blast.

Well, that is all that I have come up with this morning. Have a blessed day!

Many have wondered how close the tornadoes were to us...

We have had several calls about how we fared with yesterday's tornadoes. We were not even aware of the fact that we were under a watch. We were so wrapped up in taking care of my DS and cleaning up all the dirty laundry from his virus that we did not even know it was going on until my sister called to ask how we were. She said that tornadoes had touched down near us. The city that was hit is right next to ours but the actual areas that were hit are about 15-20 mins. from our house. We did not even have strong winds in our area or severe rain. My BIL on the other hand and his future BIL have condos near some of the areas that were hardest hit. His future FIL and MIL have a brand new house (they have not even fully moved in yet) in another area that had damage. Fortunately it appears their homes were spared too but homes a not even 1/2 mile away were hit. Tornadoes are really crazy things. They can devastate an entire town but leave one house totally undamaged.

So far there seems to be no signs of the virus in the rest of our family and my son is totally back to his 2 year old self. My dh took my DD and niece and oldest nephew to a special service at church on Sunday evening with an evangelist group called "Team Impact". They are a group of former athletes and bodybuilders that perform acts of strength and use it to reach the unsaved with their testimonies and preaching a message of salvation. She was very "impacted" by the acts of force. She is now wanting to try to break blocks of wood and ice (where on earth would you buy a block of ice nowdays?) with her head. Lovely quality in a little lady....On the other hand, maybe that will keep the guys at bay.....

Update on my boy

Whew! What a day for my little man. He was so sick from about 6:30 to about 3:30 pm today.
Then he got up, asked for some potato chips (he got saltine crackers) and some juice (he got ginger ale) and has not stopped eating since. He has been playing and jumping and laughing like he was never even sick. Whatever it was, it passed quick, PRAISE THE LORD! Now I am just keep my fingers crossed and praying that the rest of us don't get it. Right now, he is sitting with me and getting his evening milk before bed. I know we shouldn't give it to him but his sister got hers and he just cried and begged for it so hopefully his is truly over it.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate vomit?

Isn't THAT a lovely title? My baby boy woke up this morning and promptly did exactly that. Then daddy cleaned him up and put him in bed with me (which is when I found out about it). He lay in bed with me for a minute and then proceeded to throw up all over me, him and the bed. I had to clean him, clean me and strip the bed. Then we went downstairs armed with towels and covers for the couch and got a bucket...and he proceed to wet everything down again. I now have 6-7 extra loads of laundry, a sick baby boy who doesn't understand and I am feeling kind of queasy myself (this I am not sure if is real or just mental from the smell and sight of things.). What a fun way to start off a rainy dreary Monday morning. I feel so bad for my baby. He is so empty but still feels the need to heave. I just want him to have an hour or two of heave free rest and pray that this is a one day thing.
Seems like the only time I get on here to blog lately, its to complain. Actually I am very thankful that my girl doesn't have (and I pray she doesnt get it!) and that my kids have not gone through this very often in their lives. It just hurts a mom so bad to see her babies sick like that.
Well, I better get going I need to go do some more laundry and change clothes yet again.
Have a blessed day!

Me Time.....

Its 11:30 pm on Saturday night. Everyone is gone to bed. The dishwasher is running and its just ME! I have a glass of tea (decaf), my laptop and I am having Me time. Today has been a crazy one. We got up early, and I did some quick cleaning and made the beds and did some laundry. Then we went to Lowes for some household stuff and yard stuff. Afterwards my dh went one way and the kids and I went back home for some lunch and to begin working on the flower beds. We were expecting my sweet niece and nephews and their mommy later so the kids were just dying for 4:00 to get here. Meanwhile the little girl across the street came over (again after inviting herself) and played with my kids, constantly asking to go inside to play instead. I finally had a good excuse to take her back home when my SIL got here. Then we had a completely wonderful madhouse until just about 10:30 when they left and we got the kids to bed. Now everything is picked up and the house is QUIET and I am just loving the ME time.
I just love my niece and nephews. They are such great kids and my kids adore them. It is such a joy whenever they get together and just play and laugh. They very rarely fight or argue until it just gets so late that everyone is getting a little grumpy. But even then, no one is ready to say goodbye. As a matter of fact, they draw it out as long as possible.
Well that was our day, Hope yours was a great one too!

FYI Alert! Are you having a problem posting comments on my blog?

Hi guys! It has been brought to my attention by my SIL and one of my peeps that some people can not post comments on my blog or even click on the comments to read what other people have said. I have not done anything new to my blog to cause this and after some research (thanks to my SIL) it has something to do with which internet browser you are using. Apparently there has been a security feature added by Internet Explorer that is blocking it. If you have another browser like Mozilla Firefox or Netscape, it seems to be working fine. If I find out a way to fix this I will let you know. Please feel free to email any comments you may want to make to my home email and if you don't know it then you can use 4my2qtpa2ts@gmail.com.

New banner.....What do you think?

Hi there everyone...anyone....I have been so slack in the posting department lately that any readers that I had are probably gone but here goes...I had a crazy, mad, boomer of a headache yesterday and as you know 2 kids plus one headache equals one miserable momma! Kids just don't care that you are sick, they want what they want and they want it now! I did get some relief once daddy came home and took them outside and I put a dark cloth over my eyes with a ice pack on it just to make my face cool and lay quietly on the couch for about an hour. Man, that helped a bit. My sweetie also brought home a refill of a prescription decongestant to help get the pressure off my sinuses. That was good too. I am almost back to feeling human again today. We watched a movie last night that had great reviews...but not by us! It was "Atonement" and I expected it to be good but was very disappointed. I do not recommend this one. The kids have a movie coming today and I expect it to be here a while as it is a very good one, "The Bee Movie". We saw it a few weeks ago when the cousins brought it over. Speaking of the cousins....my kiddos are missing their cousins, we haven't seen them in a couple of weeks and that is just too long. Hopefully we will see them soon....HINT! HINT! We need to go to BG with them before all the kids get out of school and it gets packed. We are really hoping that they move closer to us soon. We also are hoping that my other BIL and future SIL move closer to us too. That would be great to have family so close by.
My DH's work has calmed down a little this week so he isn't working at home as much which is great. He says that it still is pretty stressful in the office though. Well, that is all the updating I have for now. Hope your week is going great!!!