Read my mind

January 28th

2010-01-28T14:24:00.002-05:00

This beautiful little girl is our Great Niece! Don't go jumping to conclusions 'cause I am 100% not OLD enough to be a GREAT AUNT haha!! I just love this little lady bug, she is adorable, happy and always smiling. I used to get to keep her quite a bit, but she is not living as close by anymore so I don't get to see her that much :( I can't believe that she will soon be 2 years old! Wow, seems like she was just born yesterday!

January 26th

2010-01-26T10:21:00.002-05:00

LOVE this picture! This was 1 of a collage of pictures I took of my Niece Alexis (AKA LuLu) when she was about a year old. It's hard to believe that Miss LuLu is now 5 years old and is on her way to Kindergarten this fall! I love the expression on her face in this shot!! It has been fun to watch this little girl grow up!! Alexis is such a smart and expressive little girl, it will be interesting to see who she becomes.

January 21st

2010-01-21T13:36:00.002-05:00

Me & My Super Daddy...total, 100% Daddy's girl...always have been, always will be.

January 20th

2010-01-20T16:53:00.002-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILLY PIE!!! Today my picture of my beautiful little Lilly, she is my BFF's little girl & today is her 5th Birthday. I love this little girl, she is so cute it hurts! To know Lilly is to know that she is a strong minded little lady, I can only imagine how she will be as she grows up. If she doesn't want to talk to you she won't no matter HOW much coaxing you do. She LOVES animals and I wouldn't be surprised to see her as a Vet one day. She also is a BOTOMLESS PIT when it comes to SNACKS! It's funny because she is a total peanut, you would never know that she can out eat anyone else in the house! She has the biggest, roundest Brown (almost black) eyes. David often jokes that she is like "Puss in Boots" on the "Shrek" movies. Even if she does something wrong she can always stare at you with those chocolate drop eyes and you feel yourself giving in! I have been in her life since before she was born and I love her like one of my own. She can ignore me like nobody's business in one breath and in the next breath she will climb in to my lap and fall asleep or give me a makeover. She is her own little person and while she can frustrate her Mom to no end you have to love her for it. She is such a cutie patootie and I can't imagine my life without this little girl. I can't believe she is 5 years old today!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILLY PIE I love you!!!

January 19th

2010-01-19T22:25:00.003-05:00

LOVE this picture! Looking at all these old pictures makes me feel very lucky! I am pretty sure not everyone has pictures like the ones I am lucky to have. This is a picture of my Great Grandfather "GaGa" with my Dad when he was a baby. I never met my Great Grandfather, he died before I was born. This picture was taken on the front porch of my Great Grandparents home, sadly, it burned down, another reason we are lucky to have these pictures. I love this picture because it is just too sweet the look on both of their faces.

January 18th

2010-01-18T10:55:00.003-05:00

This picture is of my Great Grandmother Leota Mays Cash & my Great Granfather Richard Smiley Cash. This picture was always in a frame at my Granny's house and I always thought it was so cool because it was so old! My Great Grandmother "Big Granny" and Great Grandfather lived with my Granny from the time my Mom was a kid. They moved in with my Granny and Babe because my Great Grandfather had been diagnosed with Cancer and was very ill. I never knew him as he died when my Mom was still young. I did, however, know my Big Granny, she lived to be 94 years old, I was in middle school when she died. This picture kind of sums up my Big Granny...she was a very serious person. I rarely ever saw her smile, she was also pretty particular about things and not one to offer any kind of affection. She had really bad asthma from the time she was a child and was always "Sickly" as they called it back when she was young. She was one of 14 living children (2 of her siblings died as infants/toddlers). I have heard stories that because of her health she was pretty pampered as a child. When she married my Great Grandfather he kept up the pampering. She always had "help", meaning a house keeper and a nanny for the kids. She had 3 daughters and 1 son. When her Son was born she had a very difficult delivery and ended up with what we know now was most probably Post Pardum Depression. My Great Uncle lived with another family until he was almost 2 years old! I never remember my Big Granny being sick, other than the normal cold etc. I never remember her seeming to be "sickly", but after all those years of growing up and being treated that way it must have just stuck. People waited on her hand and foot her entire life. She never went anywhere or did anything, she stayed at home and rocked in her rocking chair and watched TV (very loudly), she had "selective hearing" and would be deaf one minute and then next minute she would have heard everything you had been talking about. I loved my Big Granny, but I always wished she would have smiled more. She is so beautiful in this picture, but I imagine how much more beautiful she would have been with a smile!

January 15th

2010-01-15T13:10:00.004-05:00

I had forgotten about this picture until last night when I was searching through some old albums at my Parent's house. I LOVE this picture! This is me on the left with my Nana (Dad's Mom) in the middle and my cousin Sarah on the right. My Nana was reading to us. I LOVE to read, I have a passion for reading and I can 100% credit my Nana for helping instill that in me. Nana would read to me all the time. When I started to read she had an entire treasure trove of books and she gladly let me read anything I could get my hands on. A huge collection of Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys books and a huge collection of The Box Car Children books, I'm pretty sure I read every single one. She would also give me books for all special ocasions...A collection of "Classics" Black Beauty, Heidi, Hans Christian Anderson, Little Women etc. One of my most prize possesions is a leather bound first edition of "Jane Eyre" that she gave me on one of my Birthdays (we always celebrated our Birthdays together, because hers was on 6/20 and mine on 6/26). I have probably read that book 10 times in my life. I also have this copy of Pinochio that is really, really old that she gave me. It was pre-owned when she got it for me...the illustrations in it are really old and almost creepy, and the book, even after all these years, has this really distinct "wood" smell to it. Funny considering the story!

I loved my Nana and because she lived next door to me I spent a lot of time with her growing up. She was a beautiful person and one of the smartest people I have ever known. She was the Vice President of a bank and I remember vividly how she used to always dress "just so"with beautiful jewlery and matching shoes. She was always so "put together". When I was a young teenager we were given the devestating news that my beloved Nana was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease. A tragic diagnosis that had no cure, and still doesn't. My Nana progressed slowly in her disease for the first several years. She stayed at home and was cared for at home. We would still walk to the country store down the road from our house and buy "Nabs" and "Little Cokes" (the small ones in the glass bottles) together, even after she had to retire from her job. There finally came a time when it became very difficult for me to visit her anymore. It was so hard for me to see her in the state that she was in. She had regressed to the point of not caring about her appearance, not eating unless she was made to and she didn't recognize us most of the time. Then when she did recognize me she would say my name over and over again 100's of times, as if willing herself not to forget! I admit that the last couple of years of my Nana's life I was not around her as much as I should have been. My Nana started getting sick when I was about 13 years old, she did not die until January 1997 when I was 20 years old. She was in a nursing home at that point, but she had only been there for about 2 months when she passed away. I went to see her the night before she died and it is a decision I question myself for to this day. I can't even describe how sad it was without opening a huge wound in my heart.

I loved my Nana, she was larger than life to me. I was her first Grandchild and I have often been told I look like she did when she was younger. We have the exact same skin tone and eye color! I gave my first born child her name to honor her. She was a wonderful, loving, person and though I was an adult when she died I lost her many years before that when she and I were far too young. I have many special memories with my Nana, from her taking me shopping and buying me beautiful clothes, to all the wonderful books I still have, to her baking the best chocolate chip cookies and fudge at the Holidays, to her always making me drink and finish my milk at dinner time. She remains present in my heart.

Shirley Page Eubank Chenault

January 14th

2010-01-14T12:28:00.003-05:00

Going Retro! Facebook (did I mention I am pretty much addicted to FB??) is having retro week, and everyone is changing their profiles to pics from "back in the day". It gave me an excuse to pull out my scrapbook and post a couple pics from there. Also gave me the idea that I should do some more of this, going to get albums from my Mom's house tonight! Anyway these are 2 of the pics I found!

#1 was taken at my Granny and Babe's house. This chair I'm sitting in was my Babe's leather recliner chair. He passed away when I was only 6 years old, but I have very vivid memories of him sitting in this chair or me sitting with him. The robe I had on was my FAVORITE, it was a patchwork quilt robe. I can't remember who made it, but I know by the time I grew out of it the poor thing was a tatterted mess! I wore it ALL the time! How do you like my lovely hair cut? I sported this "do" for a long time. I didn't like my Mom to brush or fool with my hair...she was a hair stylist! To solve the problem she always kept my hair cut "boy short" Lovely!!!

#2 was taken in the "old" (since remodeled) dining room at my Parents house. I am on my "tryke" which I apparently also wore out! Notice the hair cut, a little longer with an attempt to make me look more like a girl by adding a bow LOL!

oops

2010-01-13T13:05:00.002-05:00

Already a missing day of pictures...I am having computer issues and all my pics are on puter not the one I am currently using. I am going to try to get back to it tonight, but thought I would at least come here and blog!

It has been a crazy couple of weeks and I am tired! There are so many people going through so many things around me I really can't complain. It makes my state seem trivial when I think about the really sad things people I care about are going through. Maybe that should be my unspoken New Year's resolution...cause I know if I said it out loud I would never actually DO it! I should try to complain less about stupid, piddly crap!

Ok, so hopefully I get back to the pictures later today or tonight...don't give up on my, just yet! Oh, and I really need to change my header...I will put that on my "To Do" list as well!

January 11th

2010-01-11T22:09:00.003-05:00

This is my beautiful bed!! Funny picture to share, but since I am currently laying in it, watching TV it's a good one HAHA!! This is actually the first "Brand New" bed I have ever owned (as in ever in my entire life)...it is a beautiful King Size bed and has a wonderful, soft, cloud like mattress on it. This has been one of the best purchases, I feel, we have ever made. I get the best sleep ever on this bed, much better than any bed I have ever slept in! I honestly could spend a few days just chilling in my bed, of course that really isn't happening!

January 9th

2010-01-09T19:02:00.003-05:00

No kids today, WOW, isn't that a rare thing? So, with that being said, I have a little extra time to post another picture!

This is a pic of our big boy kitty "Yoda" he is a BIG SPOILED BABY BOY! He is just over a year oldand already huge! Yoda or as I lovingly call him "YoYo" LOVES to lay in front of the fire place! He really loves ANY place warm behind the computer, the TV, a heat vent, but his most favorite place ever is right in front of a roaring fire in the fire place! He is one happy kitty lounged out in front of a warm fire...actually he is a lot like his Mama, cause I LOVE a nice fire!! I love how Yoda lays on his back, all stretched out! He is a sweet boy!! Love him! Oh, and isn't it sooo cool how his eyes glow BLUE in pictures? Almost every picture I have of him his eyes are glowing blue!

Friday, end of week 1 picture of the day blogging!

2010-01-08T10:22:00.003-05:00

Not too shabby, I managed to post a picture every day, I almost forgot on Wed, but go one in just in time :) I am not promising I will do the blogging on the weekends, we usually have too much going on around here. I am excited to start next week, going to break in to my E-Book and see what gems are hiding on there!

January 8th

2010-01-08T10:18:00.002-05:00

More snow last night GRRRR, so today I have a beach picture, to remind me there is warmth in the future HAHAHA!! This is a picture from this past summer, David, Dylan & Brody had a fun time digging a hole. Then they enjoyed sitting in the hole, doesn't take much for these boys to be entertained! I love this picture of all 3 of my "boys" at the beach! I am soooooo ready to go back there!! Can't wait for June 5th!!!

January 7th

2010-01-07T08:49:00.005-05:00

I have to admit I'm enjoying this picture of the day thing! It's fun to go back and look through my folders at pictures! This is another picture I love. This was taken in the Fall at a get together at my Cousin's house. This is her boyfriend tending the fire we had. I love this picture for a couple of reasons, but one of the main reasons is that he is an actual fireman. Cool guy, cool picture

January 6th

2010-01-06T22:38:00.003-05:00

I need a laugh today, so this is the perfect "picture of the day". This is a picture of me with my very own, personal, makeup artist! This is my BFF's daughter, Lilly. She got a make up kit before Christmas and one night when I was at her house her Mom had to take an important phone call. Lilly asked me if I would like her to do my makeup and of course being the sweet Aunite I told her "sure". I settled on the sofa where Lilly placed a crown on my head and began to very gently and sweetly and SERIOUSLY do my makeup. I got so relaxed I literally almost fell asleep. She was very serious that I was NOT allowed to look at my makeup until she was done. When she finished about 30 minutes later, she turned the mirror around. I was in TOTAL shock! I really thought the makeup she was putting on me was little kid play stuff and probably barely going on or at least really, really light! As you can see, I was totally wrong...of course I didn't want to hurt Lilly's feelings by being shocked about my new "makeover" so the only thing I could think to say was..."I think I need more blush" she obliged me by adding more blush and then we had to have our pictures taken! I also drove home like this to show David my new look. Lilly also told me I would be just fine to go to Walmart with my new makeup! I love this crazy little girl!

Undecorating

2010-01-05T11:24:00.002-05:00

Kids are back in school today, so I am taking the day to take down all the Christmas/Holiday decorations. It's kind of sad to take all the stuff down, but it will be nice to have the house back to "normal". It kind of sucks that it takes much longer to take down and pack up the stuff than it does to put it out! I do enjoy looking back at each of the ornaments and decorations though. We have a TON of decorations...the inside decorations take up 4 totes and a Tree box...the outside decorations are in 5 totes and about 5 boxes! Of course we are having to relocate and store all of our stuff at my Parent's house this year. The gigantic snow storm we got a few weeks ago caved in the roof of our shed, where we normally store all the stuff! It won't be fun dragging all this stuff down to my parent's and up all the steps to get to the attic. Fun Times...

Just another reason I continue to HATE SNOW!!!

January 5th

2010-01-05T11:20:00.003-05:00

It's still cold outside, so another picture from another cold day! This picture I took last year in March when we had the biggest snow of the Season. My Brother, Jon, came and took all the kids sledding. Of course he had to get in on the action with his snow board. Jon may be 31 years old, but he is 100% kid at heart. He always makes sure the kids get taken out sledding as soon as we get any snow. I love this picture of him, it is one of my favorites...

January 4th

2010-01-04T15:51:00.003-05:00

Since it's COLD AS ASS outside! First "Picture of the Day" post can reflect that. Well, 2 pictures actually. Last year we got hit with a pretty decent ice storm. These are pictures of the ice on the Maple Trees in my Mom's yard. As you can tell the trees had already started budding when we got the storm! I can't remember 100%, but I think this was mid March. The trees seemed to be unharmed by this, as they all had plenty of leaves etc. come Spring. I thought these were some really cool shots when I took them...they were the only 2 pictures in the folder. So here are my Pictures of the day. I don't know if this picture of the day thing is supposed to be an actual picture taken on the actual day you blog it, if that's the case, I am going my own route with it.

Picture a day?

2010-01-04T15:43:00.002-05:00

6 months, wow! That MIGHT be some kind of record for me not blogging.

I have been reading in various places about blogging a picture a day...hmmm, sounds fun and interesting. I know I have enough pictures on this pc alone to do that, and if I break in to my E-Book the possibilities are pretty much endless. I think I will try it. I sure as heck am not promising a picture every, single day, but I'm going to try. I will just have to add it in to my "routine" such as it is LOL!

So, there ya go...6 months of absentee blogging and now I am going to try something new. We will see how it goes!

Learning to say NO!

2009-07-29T12:20:00.003-04:00

I am a "yes girl" always have been, but I am trying to draw the line at "always will be". I find myself getting so frustrated with so many people lately. I am not one that "gives to get" by any means. I have always considered myself a pretty giving person. However, with that being said, being this way has sometimes caused me great emotional/mental and even physical pain. I have always just "chugged along" and not thought about myself.

Maybe it is because I am getting older, or because I have Children, I don't know, but here recently I have been trying to get better at saying NO. There are a few people in my life that, for whatever reason (probably because I have always been that Yes person), like to use, use, use me up, but when I need something in return? Well, it just never seems to be reciprocated. I am starting to become more and more annoyed with this. I am getting really tired of being taken advantage of. Of course it isn't easy to tell these people no. I have got to try though, I have got to start thinking about myself, my family, what is important. By doing this I won't get myself so stressed out...and I am sure I will be an even nicer person...well other than to the ones I say NO to because I am sure my name will be MUD with them.

Not cut out...

2009-07-21T13:15:00.002-04:00

...to be a single parent. I have become very, very painfully aware that it is sooo not in my DNA to be a single parent. David is on week 2 of working out of town, he had a WAY TO SHORT fulough over the weekend, but is back in MD 6 hours away working. In the mean time so much has gone on that my head is pretty much spinning! Last week was a very emotional week for me, the day before David left my Granny ended up in the hospital after falling and breaking her hip and thumb...she required surgery and a hospital stay. I stayed with her on the 2nd night and let's just say there is a reason that I am not in the nursing field. I would do it again in a heartbeat for a loved one, but it is not something that I ever want to do for sure. I never quite got my mind wrapped around my emotions last week and even after several of my AWESOME friends helped me out with the kids I still had a very tough week. I think if I were not such an emotional person the week would have gone a lot better. There was just tooooo much to deal with and I am ashamed to say that I did not "deal" the best.
This week the kids are in VBS for 2.5 hours every night, this is really good for them and for ME! It gives me a break to look forward to and it gives them something to do. Summer is rapidly flying out of the window and before I know it school will be back in. I readily admit that I was ready for summer vacation and a break from all the schedules and constant running around, but I am all admitting that I am ready to get back to "normal"...normal wake up and go to sleep times, normal dinner times and nap times, scheduled activities etc. I am sort of "done" with flying by the seat of my pants.
I think I am going to SERIOUSLY consider making a schedule for next summer...I think the kids and I will both really benefit from it.
I know I have been a bad blogger, but I haven't found many "free" moments to have time enought to actually "think" about what I was going to write. I like to come here and write things that will at the very least entertain ME when I go back and read them weeks/months etc. later. I hope to be better at it, now that I have been "called" on it ;)
Until next time (and please don't hold your breath)

Crazed

2009-06-25T10:32:00.000-04:00

I knew it would happen, I knew that before the kids had been home on Summer vacation for more than 3 weeks I would be wondering "Is it August 17 yet?" It has happened, I am officialy ready for my kids to go back to school. If you have kids, you know why, but if not I will enlighten you.Kids are NUTS...LOUD...DEMANDING...WHINEY...and there are more words to describe them, but I will try to keep this PG rated. We go to the beach the 1st full week of summer vacation, by doing this it seems we set ourselves up for the kids thinking they need to do something every freaking day of the week.

I have tried to give them fun things to do, they have spent time with their Maw-Maw, and their Aunt, gone swimming, gone to a baseball game, gone out to eat, but alas nothing is good enough (and GOD HELP YOU if one gets invited to do something the other one doesn't, but THAT is an entirely different post). They literally wake up and start planning out their day of what they HAVE to do, what they will totally BUST if they don't do etc. God forbid you mention to them that they will get to do something "one day" they automaticaly assume that means the minute they wake up the next day. This morning, for example, they were up and wearing skates and pulling out scooters because their Maw-Maw had told them she would take them to skate/scooter at the church ONE DAY...NOT today, or even tomorrow, but ONE day. Of course I already had plans for today...going to our best friends house to hang out in the pool all day. You would THINK this would have been a good enough alternative right? Nope, somehow they have to do both...swim all day and then go to skate in the evening when it cools down. Of course this was not really my plan, but does that matter??? NOPE & at this point I would rather just let them do what they want vs hearing about it the rest of the freaking day!

Every day that we don't have an actual planned activity, is instantly called "The most boringist day of my life", and I hear about it repeatedly throughout the rest of the day. Oh and I get to hear "We never do ANYTHING fun" I got this YESTERDAY after spending the entire day at the pool & going out to lunch THE DAY BEFORE. I get to hear how they never do anything fun, how they are so bored, how there is nothing to do etc. etc. I had to remind Mikayla yesterday that she should just be thankful I didn't make her go to summer school.

So, yeah, the countdown for the 1st day of school is ON...Until then I am thinking of investing in some really good ear plugs, if not I will most probably be deaf by the time school does start.

6

2009-06-19T13:20:00.006-04:00

My Sunshine Boy is 6!! Wow, how time has flown by! It is so hard to believe that it has been 6 years since Dylan John came flying (literally) in to this world! In the beginning he was such a quiet, sweet, calm little baby. Everyone talked about how good he was, you could forget there was a newborn in the house! He was perfect when we would go places and rarely ever cried. He was by far my easiest baby, sleeping through the night by 4 weeks old, loving his swing and napping. Things got a lot more interesting as toddlerhood hit...this little guy kept us all on our toes. He was climbing and jumping before he could walk, which he did earlier than his sister (or later his brother) at 10 months. We often joked that he would be a pilot or astronaut one day because he always seemed to be trying to climb higher and loved to sneak in to small, confined spaces. As sweet as he was as a newborn he could (and still can, at times) throw a tantrum to rival any tantrum ever thrown. He has tried my patience until I thought I would BUST and scared me so many times I have lost count. His dare devil ways have taught me to be a more calm person. I used to freak out at the thought of a bump, bruise or cut, now I just roll with the punches. No matter how crazy he can be or what kind of a fit he can throw he remains my sweet one. The one who is so quick to say he is sorry, so quick to jump in my arms and give me hugs and kisses. He has had a year of growing up...many firsts. Kindergarten has come and gone and OH, how he surprised us all. He managed to make me proud so many times this year I lost count. David often jokes with me about what a Mama's boy Dylan is...how much he loves me and is connected to me. I just smile and say, "YEP", I love that Dylan has such a connection to me. I pray it stays that way FOREVER.

I love you my handsome blue eyed boy!!

Dylan and I on the Ferris Wheel at the carnival by the pier in Va Beach

Dylan on his actual birthday (June 5) at Maw-Maw & Pa's having his most favorite thing

Strawberries and Ice Cream!

Dylan at his birthday party on June 15 with his new fishing hat

Birthday Parties, Ball Games, Hair Cut, Graduation...

2009-05-31T10:51:00.002-04:00

...all of the above are just a FEW of the things I have on my agenda for the week! Starting today the week is chocked full of all kinds of "Must Do" things! I don't know how I will get everything done, but I am in the running for "Super Mom of the Year" (CAN YOU FEEL THE SARCASM?) so it will happen. Here run down of my upcoming week:

Sunday May 31: Birthday Party at 2pm for one of Mikayla's friends

Monday June 1: Day: Prepare and start to pack for the beach & clean, HOPEFULLY a Hair cut before Mikayla's Ball Game @ 7:00pm

Tuesday June 2: Morning: Continue to clean house and pack for the beach, 12:30 Field Day @ Kid's school where I will be working the "Team Relay" station until 3pm, If I didn't make the Hair Cut on Mon. HOPEFULLY it will happen before Mikayla's Ball Game @ 6:00pm

Wednesday June 3: This is the only day I don't have any prior commitments so THIS will be the DAY I need to 100% finish packing for the beach and getting things in order. I have to go out shopping for last minute beach stuff and if I haven't managed to get my hair done by then it will HAVE to be done this day...hopefully it works out and will have already been cut earlier in the week! This is also the LAST FULL DAY of school

Thursday June 4: Day: CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN, because you know all the cleaning I did earlier in the week will be trashed by now. This is also 1/2 day of school, so the kids will be home by 12:45, 7:00pm Mikayla and I will go to our Niece's High School Graduation

Friday June 5: DYLAN'S 6th BIRTHDAY & THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL = 1/2 Day, I will be going to the school at Dylan's lunch time to take a cookie cake for his Birthday...Mikayla's last softball game of the regular season @ ? I don't have a time yet. All of the prep for the beach has to be DONE at some point (I already know I will probably be up til the wee hours of the morning, I always am) also the house HAS to be clean because all of us Mom's know that is the WORST thing to happen...a nice week of vacation only to come home to a crazy, messy house! Trust me...been there, done that, ain't repeating that!

Saturday June 6: LEAVE FOR THE BEACH!

Oh and at some point between Mon and Fri Mikayla will have her awards and promotion ceremony that I will also have to be at the school for. Don't ask me how it is that I don't know what day or what time that is yet?

So, as you can see it's gonna be a helluva busy week, at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel & the pay off is an ENTIRE WEEK OF VACATION!!! The only thing I am REALLY concerned about (as if you can't tell) is getting my hair cut! The rest will happen, the schedule is set, it's just going to be working out 30-45 min of "me time" to get that done. So, if I don't blog this week, you can see why!

Pomp & Circumstance

2009-05-30T11:48:00.003-04:00

We have our 2nd Kindergarten Graduate! Dylan had his Graduation Ceremony yesterday and it was such a sweet, cute program I can't even put it into words! All of the kids looked so cute in their graduation caps and big smiles. Dylan received several awards as well as his diploma...he was the recipient of the 3rd Place Award in the Young Author's Contest for Dictated Fiction, also an excellence in SOL concepts award, and an award for his dedication with his reading logs. He made us all very proud! It's hard to believe we are on to 1st & 5th grades now!

Graduation Eve

2009-05-28T14:47:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow my Sunshine Boy (Dylan) has his Kindergarten Graduation! WOW, how can it be that this school year has come and gone so fast??? It seems like just yesterday I was agonizing over the first day of school and posting pictures of him getting on the bus! Now, it is the day before Kindergarten Graduation! Dylan has had an AMAZING year and I could not be more proud of him! He has come a long way from that first day! He has been Student of the Month 3 times and he has learned how to READ! I would have never been able to guess 1 year ago that he would have not only done well in school, but totally excelled! He is reading at a beginning 1st grade level and to think, he wasn't even recognizing his alphabet on day one of school!! He has had such a wonderful year and has met almost every single day with a smile and an eagerness to go to school. He seems to be very well liked by the students and teachers alike. I hear so many nice things from various people around the school every time I go for a visit. I have enjoyed watching my baby grow up this last (almost) 10 months and have been so amazed at his progress.

Dylan is still a live wire, and he enjoys testing every physical limit known to Man, but somehow he has managed to end up being an excellent student. There were so many times in the last (almost) 6 years that I had SERIOUS concerns about Dylan being in school all day. Just the thought of what he might attempt to do at school worried me. I am so happy to be able to see all that worrying was for NOTHING. This boy has loved school and is already talking about how excited he is to go to 1st grade!

Time flies so quickly, enjoy the little moments! I have a feeling it will be way to quickly that I am back blogging about High School Graduation!

2 weeks, the countdown begins!

2009-05-24T12:28:00.002-04:00

In 2 weeks we will be sitting on the sand, watching the waves rolling in...basking in the sun light, listening to the waves, smelling the salt in the air. Chillin' on the BEACH!! Oh yeah, the next 2 weeks can't go by fast enough to make me happy! Our beach vacations are something we look forward to, and start planning the minute we get back home. Every year we learn new things to do and not do, to pack and not pack, and every year gets BETTER! This is the 3rd year in a row we will be sharing a house with our best friends, their 2 kids, my sister and our niece. 5 adults and 6 kids ages 9, 6, 6, 4, 4, and 2...sounds chaotic, but it really isn't. There are enough adults to manage the kids and the "chores". The house never gets messy and everyone pitches in with the meals and clean up! It is amazing how well we all get along!! This year we are going back to the house we stayed at 2 years ago. It is a great house about 2 blocks off the beach, it is on the canal and has it's own dock. The guys and the kids can go fishing and crabbing from the dock and they REALLY enjoyed that the last time we stayed there. Last year we "sprung" for a pool, and while it was nice, we found out it was not really worth the extra (a lot of extra) $ we spent on it. We didn't really use it as much as we thought we would, so this year we are going back to THE BACKFIN and I honestly think we will probably keep going back to this house.

We all love the beach, and I can't wait! Oh and now there is WIFI so I can blog from there too YIPPEEEE!

Time Out

2009-05-19T14:43:00.002-04:00

Brody is learning the value of a good time out...I figured after the escaping etc. we (meaning "I") needed to start buckling down on the boy. Starting yesterday I started with a new plan...well, not so much a "new" plan as an old plan that I have never been very good at.

I am good "threatener" (yes, I know that is not a word) you know like "If you do that again, you are going to get a time out" or "If you throw that, you are going to get a time out" etc., but follow through? not so much my strong suit.

So, now I have become hard core lock down Mommy. I actually think after 2 days of MULTIPLE time outs (yesterday the little booger spent more time in his room than out) it is starting to click. Today he has listened soooo much better. He started off the morning kind of rocky, but within about an hour and a couple of time outs he seemed to start "getting it".

I could actually see the little wheels turning in his head...cause one thing this kid is not...is stupid. In fact the kid is pretty darn smart, I have 3 kids, so I kind of consider myself able to recognize above average. The vocabulary alone totally stuns me, he can say anything he wants to and say it well. There is not a lot of scratching heads and cocking heads and asking him to repeat himself. Of course he does have some mispronunciations, but for the most part he get's it right or very, very, very close! It's kind of funny how he goes all mute around other people though. It's like he is trying to make a liar out of me, because I will tell people how well he talks and then NOTHING... So time outs have started in full force around here and I am sooooooo sticking to my guns. I just really, really don't want to be the next woman standing barefoot in front of her double wide crying "cause her baby done snuck off"

Campbell Kid's Picnic

2009-05-17T11:27:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was our yearly family reunion for my Mom's side of the family, the Campbell Family, thus the reunion is called the "Campbell Kid's Picnic". This was our 11th year for having the picnic, it is one of my favorite days of the year. Actually, it pretty much rates right up there with Christmas and my Birthday. We always have such a WONDERFUL time, and yesterday was no exception. There are tons of people and TONS of kids, we have a pretty big family and almost everyone turns out for this event every year. Not to mention over the years we have "adopted" other people in to our family and lot's of us invite good friend's or the kid's friends to come along! Lot's of yummy food, games for the kids, and of course chatting with our family that we don't get to see throughout the year. One of the highlights is the adults have an egg toss competition...it is always fun to see who will win, but more importantly who will get splattered with the most egg. This year, I think I won the prize for the egg splatter ;) It is so much fun and every year we start looking forward to next year before we even leave!

Of course with having a big family and a reunion once year there are times when we lose a family member and they are always missed. Every year I especially miss my Cousin Chris, he died after a car accident in August of 1999 right before I had Mikayla. Our first ever Campbell Kid's Picnic was held in May before Chris died. Chris and I were only 6 months apart in age, and I will never forget the time we spent sitting on a blanket in the yard talking that day. I remember talking about the fact that I was going to have a baby soon and the fact that he was newly married. We probably sat there for an hour talking and I will never forget. Yesterday on the way home from the Picnic I got a little teary thinking about what "could have been" if Chris were there with us, would he have little kids that would be playing with mine? I also miss my Great Uncle Cecil (Grandfather's Brother) he reminded me so much of my Grandfather (he died when I was 6 years old) he was funny and a big jokester. Also this was the first year that my Great Aunt Ottie (Grandfather's Sister) was not able to attend. She is now in her late 90's and has some dementia and other health problems. She has always been at the Picnic from the beginning, and I missed seeing her smiling face yesteray. Of course with that being said, we normally have a NEW baby every year too! This year it was my Cousin Michael's little 8 week old baby boy, Conner. It's always fun to see the new babies and watch them grow up, every year one of us Mom's will rejoice that we are finally at the stage where the kids can just "run" and we don't have to be on top of them! It truly is a lesson in the "circle of life" when you can look around and have ages spanning from 8 weeks old to the late 80's in years old!

This picnic is so important to me, and I know that as long as I am alive we will still have it every year. One day I am sure my kids will have to take over the "planning" of it, I took over from my Mom last year, but I know when that time comes they will do it with a smile on their face. It really is a GREAT day! I am already looking forward to the 3rd Saturday in May 2010!!

Swine Flu Update

2009-05-14T17:06:00.002-04:00

Patting myself on the back, as I reported earlier, David did not have the Swine Flu (GASP). In is defense, since I totally trash talked him yesterday...he did have ever single possible symptom of the flu (Coughing, Sore Throat, Headache, Body Aches, Chills etc.), but one and that was FEVER...this was the sign to me that he did not have the flu (Swine or other). The Dr. told him if he had a fever of even 1 degree above normal he would have had to go to our local hospital to be in quarentine to await his test results from the CDC. GOOD THING he didn't have a fever.

The Dr. prescribed him 3 different meds...1 was a Z-Pak (Antibiotic), 1 was a cough syrup with codeine and one was an enhaler. They actually gave him the inhaler at the office. He called me from the pharmacy to ask me what the other 2 meds were and he came home with only 1, the cough syrup. He didn't even get the damn antibiotic??? Again, he doesn't take meds...he is dumb. I love this man, I do love him, but he is pretty much stupid when it comes to taking meds or being sick.

So, today he goes back to work at normal time and I have called him several times through the day. He sounds better each time I call him, he actually feels a lot better.

He feels better because the Dr. soothed his Pig Virus Phobia. Now who is the hypochondriac??

Random

2009-05-13T10:18:00.002-04:00

Just a few random things to bore you with today

#1) David is at the Dr's because he thinks he has the Swine Flu...he does NOT have the swine flu, what he does have is a big case of paranoia and a chest cold. He is a weenie and I am seriously excited about pestering him with lot's of Pig/Swine/Pork jokes combined with a ton of oinking and/or snorting when he returns home. I know that sounds hateful, but THIS is the MAN that 99% of the time questions why I am taking one of our sick kids to the Dr. He rarely ever agrees with me that they need to go and has even accused me of being a hypochondriac which is completely unfair. I only take the kids to the Dr. when I pretty much am 100% sure they have a treatable illness OR it is an emergency (stitches, bones etc.) I by no means run to the Dr. every week with one of the 3 kids. It just usually happens that hey all 3 get sick and/or hurt themselves in the same week or 2 so it seems like I am taking them a lot. David is also the man that does not take medicine when he is sick...I have to shove a Tylenol or Ibuprofen down his throat...he has allergies that he does not take meds for as he should. When he gets sick he refuses to drink and has ended up in the hospital once for dehydration because of it. So, yeah, he has a cold, but he is out spending his hard earned money to make sure he does not have the Pig Virus! Stay Tuned

2) Dylan was named Student of the Month for the second consecutive month (that makes 3 times total)! We are totally proud of him, he continues to shock and amaze us!

3) Mikayla has Poison Oak all over her face for the second time in 2 months...it is driving me crazy, how she manages to get it just on her face? I dunno, but it's strange. She is on steroids and Zyrtec. She is drama, so we get to hear about it every 5 minutes, Dylan has had it all over his body and hardly complained.

4) Brody is a tick magnet...he can not go outside without getting a tick. I don't know what it is about him, but ticks seem to be Loving some Brody. Not only does he get them, but he has a little reaction to them and gets all welty and stuff and they bites take longer to heal than when the other 2 or one of us adults gets one.

5) Brody can not eat raisins...Recently I found that Brody really LOVES Raisins...he had been getting a few here and there from my Granny. She keeps a can of them in her room and she would give him 10 or so for snack when he was visiting. I decided to buy Raisins as a replacement for fruit snacks. He LOVES some fruit snacks, but he wants to eat like 50 packs a day. Of course it ends up taking me about a week to find out that for Brody, excessive raisins = diarrhea + HORRIBLE diaper rash, it also takes them abotu 3 days to get out of his system. Thankfully my Granny pointed out that the raisins could be the cause of the "out of the blue" diarrhea. I took the raisins away and wala no more 50 squirty poops a day!

6) I am going for a Mole Check... I have been putting this off for a very long time (2 years) and now everywhere I look I am confronted with stuff about skin cancer. From TV shows (Grey's & Keeping up with the Kardashians) to every freaking magazine I open, to radio I have been bombarded with info. about skin cancer and getting suspicious areas checked out. I have 1 very suspicious area (to me, but after talking to a friend that is a nurse in a derm office for 11+ years she is not as concerned at all) and several other places I want to just get checked. I am sort of a "moley" person (isn't that a nice description), but the ones I have had all my life do not bother me. It is the one or 2 little places that have cropped up over the last 2 years that have me buggin'. I HATE going to the Dr. and all things painful, so I have been putting this off. Of course it doesn't help that I have also been having reoccuring nightmares of dying a painful death, at a young age, with my kids standing around staring at me. Nice eh?

So, that is some boring randomness...aren't you sooo happy you stopped by?

Escape Artist

2009-05-09T10:58:00.006-04:00

After years of entertaining my readers with countless stories about Dylan and his crazy antics, I am here to report that Brody is now trying his damndest to catch up with his big brother. Brody has decided to become an escape artist, much to the dismay of us parents who are "supposed" to be able to keep up with him.

Did you all see the reports about Joshua Childers? The little boy from MO that just spent a couple of nights in a National Forest because, according to him, he was "On a hike to his Granny's House". Clothed in nothing, but a long sleeve shirt, pair of shoes and a pull up (he actually shed 1 shoe and the pull up about a mile from the house) he braved the wilds, alone for a couple of nights. Thank GOD this story ended up with a happy ending when search and rescue located him in a dry creek bed, virtually unharmed.

I am here to report that this story could have been told from our front yard more than once in the past couple of weeks. Brody has decided to add escape artist to his list of many " 2 year old talents that drive my parent's crazy". 2 weeks ago he managed to slip away from David and I (yep, we were BOTH here) on a Sunday morning. He was on his way to MawMaw & Pa's house (next door) when he was apprehended by Pa and a nice lady on her way to church. David and I were MORTIFIED...my Mom gave us the "speech" and we knew he would not possibly get away from us again. Because now we KNOW that he can do this, right? WRONG!! Yesterday all 3 kids were playing on the front porch, Mikayla was "in charge" I was inside getting dressed. Next thing I know Brody has made a "run for it" down the driveway. This time Dylan was on his heels and though he never caught up with him to stop him, he did run all the way with him. This is a little better than the previous "solo flight". Again I was in disbelief over how quickly this kid can get away. Flash fwd to today when again, kids are out front, I am inside sweeping the floor and peeking out every 2 minutes. 1 minute they are happily playing with 2 tree frogs on the front porch and the next minute? You guessed it, Brody is streaking down the driveway (in only a diaper). So, here I go again, but this time I am in a full out sprint, complete with PJ pants, t shirt and no bra (Floppity, Flop) I managed to catch up with him right as he hit the edge of my parents yard. I proceeded to spank his diapered butt every 10 steps the rest of the way up our driveway. I also deposited him in his room for a longer than normal time out.

It is easy to sit back and judge people, like the parents of Joshua Childers, but for me I TOTALLY "get" how it happened. How quickly these little ones can get out of our sight, get out of our reach. I guess I am lucky that Brody's "trek" to my Parent's home is only about 150-200 yards away, but still it's scary. I hope that today's punishment will be enough to deter him from future outings.

Until then, maybe I should end this post and go research underground fencing and/or shock collars?

Flu?

2009-04-29T13:35:00.003-04:00

So, of course anyone that is living on planet earth and as any sort of connection to media knows about the "Swine Flu". Last night David and I had a discussion over the relevance of all this media coverage. While everyone states over and over "We do not want to cause a panic", and then 5 minutes later there is a NEW, LIVE, BREAKING NEWS Report about the next case.

I swear, I am having sort of a "Boy who cried wolf" reaction to all this. Do I believe there is currently a bad strain of flu going around? Yep! Do I believe it has the possibility to kill people? Yep! Do I feel the overpowering media coverage is necessary? Nope! The "regular" flu kills 100's of people every year, that is a known fact. Even if you get a flu shot you run a high chance of still contacting a strain that is not covered by the available shot. It's ridiculous!! I think that this entire thing is getting blown WAY out of proportion! Now all the little kids are getting scared, because let's face it, unless they are blind and deaf they have bound to hear about it by now. Last night we had pork chops for dinner and the kids had questions if they could get the "Pig Flu" from eating it. UGH!!

In the past 10 years we have been bombarded with so many things like this...MRSA, SARS, Bird Flu, Lyme Disease, West Nile Virus, etc. Every time we are warned about the immanent Pandemic. Every year our kids start bathing themselves from fingernail to elbow with Hand Sanitizer every 5 minutes or get scared to go outside for the fear of getting something terrible. Every year the media blows the coverage all to hell and then in a month or so nothing. In my opinion of whatever is going on right now is REALLY THAT serious and that epic of pandemic proportions why aren't schools being shut down, why isn't everyone being hand delivered surgical masks by the CDC, why aren't the borders being totally closed, why isn't any and all air travel and all cruises etc. being shut down? Hmmm....like I said is this just another case of "the boy that cried wolf" what happens when it REALLY is something to be scared shitless over??

Just when I think no one is reading...

2009-04-28T11:00:00.002-04:00

I get a reminder that there are some people that enjoy reading about my randomness & actually miss it when I don't update for any length of time (Thanks Jenny)! Again, I could list off a series of really "good" excuses as to why my Blog falls to the side, but why waste my time.

We are busy here, Spring has FINALLY sprung in Central Va and the weather has been most awesome for the past week! It has actually been closer to summer temps (mid 80's low 90's) and we have put the kiddie pool to use in the front yard already. Funny, because I have a memory of doing tSchohe same thing (using the Kiddie Pool in April) only to wake up to snow while still feeling the effects of some sunburn! I don't really think that is going to happen as it is the very last few days of April, but I also knwo the temps are supposed to take a bit of a dive in the next few days.

Softball is in full swing, so we are on the road a lot these days. I can't complain, because I honestly really love that Mikayla plays ball & I enjoy the social aspect of it for myself. Ya know after being cooped up in the house with little kids all Winter I look forward to (live) adult conversation in the Spring! We will be looking forward to even more of that come this Fall when Dylan plays his first season of FOOTBALL!! Can you FEEL my excitement?? WOOHOO!!

School is winding down, just over a month left, and the kids are ready for it to be over. I have to admit I am pretty much ready for the break in routine myself. Of course you can plan to stay tuned and call me on it when I start whining "Is it time for school to start YET?" HAHA!!! Mikayla will be heading to 4-H camp for a week at the end of July, I just got her signed up for that yesterday. She is super stoked about it, I am excited for her, but can't help but be a little nervous. I know she will have a blast, because she is always looking for somewhere else to go...she is always up for an overnight somewhere, anywhere.

I am beyond excited that we have just over a month before we leave for our anual family beach vacation. WOOHOO!!! I am looking soooo forward to it, as I do every year. What more could you ask for other than a week of fun and sun spent with people you honestly LOVE?? Yeah, it's pretty great! I love that my kids get to spend a week with their friends & cousin and I we adults get to spend time with our best friends and my Sister!

Dylan's Birthday is also fast approaching, he actually has his last day of school on his birthday this year. How funny!!! Kindergarten Graduation & a 6th bday all wrapped in to one! I am still not sure what we are doing for his actual party as we leave the next day for the beach. Last year the lucky boy got 2 parties...one at home for family and friends that wouldn't be at the beach and then his big bday party at the beach!

So, in a nut shell, we are busy. HAHA, but we are always busy! Summer is coming, fun times!!

Student of the Month X 2

2009-04-05T22:08:00.005-04:00

Who woulda thunk it? Dylan get's student of the month for his Kindergarten class not once, but TWICE?? WOW!! Of course I wasn't quite as shocked this time as last time...because he has proven to be a rock star student, but I am still just as PROUD! I can't believe that Kindergarten year is almost over :( Wow, it seems like just yesterday I put him on the bus for the first day. I look back now on how much I stressed over my Boy going to school and laugh. He sure did manage to surprise us all!!

Scrimage

2009-04-05T21:55:00.002-04:00

Mikayla had her first Softball Scrimage of the year tonight. I think she was a little nervous, because A) She didn't realize it was a scrimage until we got to the field B) They have only managed to have 2 full practices due to rain outs and C) This is her first year in this age group and last, but not least, this is the 1st year her Uncle Jon (my bro) has not been part of her coaching staff.

Mikayla has been playing softball since she was 4 and she is a really talented player. She has played 3 seasons of Tee Ball and 2 seasons of "Coach Pitch" this is her first season in "kid pitch" she is one of 3 girls on the team that have moved up, the rest of the team has been together for at least 1 season, with over 1/2 the team having been together for 2 years. Mikayla has felt more insecure this year because she is "low man on the totem pole" being one of the youngest players on the team and she just had to get a new glove because she has grown out of the one she has used for like 3 years. I have tried to explain to her that she has no reason to feel insecure because she was almost "fought over" at the draft (LOL) and her coach knows how good she has played in the past 2 years. She has been nominated for the All Star team both years she was eligible etc. & last years was invited (by her current coach) to play on his team as a sub even though she was in a younger age division. She has no reason to feel strange or be nervous!

Tonight, she really showed everyone that she is a great player. She hit every time she got up to bat and she made a couple of really great plays on 2nd base. Her coach seemed really proud of her being one of the younger ones. She really rocked it out!! I was, once again, really impressed with her skills.

It still amazes me that she would be so athletic when I can't even walk around flat ground without tripping over "air". I am happy for her and looking forward to the rest of the season!

Updating tapping my microphone Updating

2009-04-03T15:32:00.002-04:00

I am suck blogger, bottom line...I get in the groove and blog every day for months at a time & then I get out of the groove and NOTHING...that is the mood I have been in lately. There is plenty going on around here, just nothing I consider totally blog worthy. Oh well, I have a few tid bits to share for anyone that may be reading so I will do that much at least.

1) David decided last Wed (pay day/grocery day) that we (meaning I) have been spending too much $ in groceries. He decide that "he" would make a grocery list and I would stick to it and save some $. HARDY HAR HAR, that, my friends, is some funny shiznit! #1 David might be the MANAGER of a Grocery store, but I am the manager of this family and I KNOW what we do and do not need on the grocery front. Not to mention "I" am the primary cook for the house, he basicaly comes in, sits down, eats wala. So, instead of having a "loud discussion" over being accused of spending willy nilly I decided to go buy HIS list and ONLY what was on his list. Now, I am telling you that before I left the house I knew 100% without a doubt that his list was not going to be adequate to feed this family (including pets etc.) for 2 weeks. Heck, I wasn't so sure we would make it through 1 week. Of course I was 100% correct and we have ended up spending MORE $ this week because he has had to pick up things left and right that we have run out of, not to mention we have had McDonalds one night, and last night he had to bring home chicken from work. I am waiting (not so patiently) for him to ADMIT that he was WRONG and that my grocery shopping skills reign supreme! I haven't gotten it out of him "yet", but there are still 5 days until grocery day rolls around again. We are pretty much out of EVERYTHING so hopefully he comes around by then. I don't know how much $ he thinks is supposed to feed a family of 5 and 3 pets (2 cats and a Dog) for 2 weeks, but I always thought $200 (give or take a few $ depending on certain HBA items that aren't needed "every" time) was pretty damn good. So right now it is "slim pickin's" around the Davila house. Just thought I would throw that out there in case you were planning on coming to dinner unannounced.

2) I got a call from a VERY GOOD, old friend...we were very close friends all through High School. She is a GEM of a person. We haven't seen eachother in almost 10 years, she lives in NC and has 3 ADORABLE little girls. The last time I saw her was when she came here to surprise me for Mikayla's baby shower in July of 1999! Well, she is coming here again either Monday or Tuesday and I get to meet up with her for lunch and a short visit. I am TRYING to convince her that she needs to stay the night with us Hee...Hee...I know a couple hours is just not going to be enough time! We have planned to get together several times, but things just never seem to pan out for us to be able to do it. I am soooooo EXCITED and hoping that this time everything works out and we actually get together.

So, that's about it for now, the rug rats are on their way through the door from school...I PROMISE I will try to do better!

Flying the Coop

2009-03-12T09:35:00.003-04:00

I am leaving tomorrow around Noon and won't be home until late Sunday evening! I am going to be "Scrappin' it up" with some friends at a hotel, going out to eat without kids, sleeping in a bed without kids, chatting, and doing some serious scrapping. I have been looking forward to this for months now...I have sooooo much to do to get ready I shouldn't even be on here talking about it. David took off the entire weekend to stay home with the kiddies...yep, once again he ROCKS.

Last year I got an entire years worth of scrapping done in one weekend and last year I didn't stay at the hotel all weekend, only on Saturday night. I can imagine I will get even more done this year.

It will be nice to spend some quality time with friends I don't get to see all the time, and nice to just relax. This weekend will help me "re-boot" from being cooped up all Winter! Then I will be ready for Summer Vacation and start counting the days to our yearly "Girls Only" weekend!

Baby Daze

2009-03-09T13:11:00.002-04:00

So, today I am getting my baby fix in a big way! Last night I picked up our Great Niece, Lacey, because her Mommy (David's Niece) is sick with the flu and her MeMaw (SIL) had to go to work. She spent the night with us last night and I will take her home later this evening. She is SUCH a cutie pie, and one of the best babies I have ever had the pleasure of being around. She is full of smiles and babbles and squeals! Not only that, but she sleeps and eats like a pro too! I just love this little girl soooo much! I think our time together is even sweeter because I know I can keep her whenever I like! I have always made it VERY clear my feelings on having more biological children, however with that being said, I'm not so sure I couldn't be handed one of these little packages (that came from someone else's body) and not be totally THRILLED! I mean honestly, who could possibly resist the awesome cuteness of something like this little girl? Oh, and after 2 stinky, rough and tumble boys (you all know I LOVE my boys) it's nice to have the super, girly, loveliness of a baby girl around this place!! Not to mention her uncle David and her cousins (especially Dylan) are pretty taken with her too!

Spring?

2009-03-07T21:53:00.002-05:00

So, the start of the week was spent with 2 days out of school for the most snow we have had all Winter. The end of the week and this weekend ends up being in the 70's, amazing Va weather we are having. Today was soooooo great, the kids and I spent most of the day outside enjoying the sun and warm temps.

The big accomplishment of the day was Dylan learning how to ride his bike without training wheels. He got his "big boy" bike for his Birthday last year (Thanks Uncle Jon) and he had only ridden with the training wheels. Today I decided he could do it without them. He amazed me by taking off like he had been doing it on 2 wheels all along. It took him a minute to figure out how to start on his own, but he was very serious about learning how to do that by himself.

It was a GREAT day, and we plan on more sun and fun tomorrow...we won't get too used to it, because after all this is VA. It has been 90 degrees in April and then snowed the next day.

The things they say...

2009-03-04T13:27:00.004-05:00

I have mentioned in the past that Brody has a pretty big vocabulary for his age. He can (and does) say pretty much anything. He is also a parrot, repeating any and everything he hears. This passed week David was on vacation and he spent quite a bit of time outside with Brody. One day they were outside washing the vehicles and Brody was about to fall in the bucket of water or something. So, David said "Be careful Baby". Shortly after David came in to the house with tears of laughter on his face. He told me what he had said to Brody "Be Careful Baby" and that is when Brody had looked at him, VERY seriously and replied...

"I'm NOT a baby, STUPID"

It's probably a good thing, with such a mouth, that he also does really cute stuff. Below are pictures of him "Rocking out" on the Wii Rock Band Drums...and him playing "Laser Tag" by himself.

Snow Days = Crazy Days

2009-03-03T16:49:00.002-05:00

We get a little bit of snow and the kids have been out of school for the past 2 days...it's totally up in the air about tomorrow. Let's just say they NEED to go back to school tomorrow...not only do I already have PMS, but they have house-a-tosis and that combined equals some pretty crazy times at the Davila house. Oh and David has been out of town since Sunday for a conference in North Carolina.

The snow here was minimal, but at just about 3 inches, was also the most we have seen this Winter & the only time the kids have made it outside to actually play in the snow. They did have an awesome, wonderful time sledding with their friends and my Brother yesterday. Of course all the snow has been melting today and it is just nasty and wet out there now. We have been cooped up inside all day today.

I know Snow days are the best days for kids, but geez I wonder if I made my Mom this nuts when I was a kid home from school? Actually, I sort of know the answer to that. This morning when she called, I was in the middle of threatening someones life over going in the freezer for a popcicle (it was probably around 9:30am) and she said....

"Pay back is a bitch isn't it?" Lovely Mother of mine

The new "do"

2009-02-20T15:08:00.002-05:00

So, I don't know if I have ever mentioned (and sorry I am not going back through 300+ posts to find out) that I have a "thing" for my hair. I guess one of the reasons is because I grew up with a Mom that was a hair stylist. She worked in a salon for 20+ years and I grew up in that salon. A lot of the times I was the "Guinea Pig" for her and her boss. I got my first spiral perm when they had first hit big around here, and thought I was the hottest thing since Madonna, I had my first dye job before I was even a teenager etc. I always took forgranted that whenever I needed a trim or a total makeover all that I had to do was call up my Mama. Well, about 4 years ago my Mom broke it to me that she didn't feel comfortable cutting my hair anymore. She had not worked in a shop for several years and just felt her technique, styles etc. were out of date. She encouraged me (made me) go find a stylist. I fully admit to almost having a full on panic attack the first time I got my hair cut by someone other than my Mom. It turned out ok and I actually went back and had the same girl color my hair. She did a GREAT job with it. However, since then she has moved on to bigger and better (I go to a cheap place to get my hair cut LOL no apt. necessary) and I have gone through at least a hand full of other girls. One girl does an "ok" job, but I am never THRILLED with what she does. One girl totally screwed it up, but she only worked there about 2 weeks before they realized she didn't know what the hell she was doing. One girl did a really good job, but this place is a chain and she moved to another location. So, anyway long story to get to the fact that...I went Wed. to get my hair cut...the "ok" girl was there, but she was busy doing a color. The only other girls in there were strangers to me...I could have walked out, but OMG, I NEEDED a cut and let's just say my eyebrows were about to the stage of weed whacking material. There was no other choice, but to allow one of the "strangers" to do my cut. Of course this is also the day I had decided to go different, shorter etc. trying out a new "cut" before summer. If I love it, I keep it for the summer (at least), if I hate it, my hair grows fast and it's grown out by summer. I explained to the girl in detail how I wanted it cut and she assured me she was understanding (something to be proud of because I didn't think I was doing a good job of telling her and I totally whimped out on bringing a picture to show her). Anyway, girl did and AWESOME job on my eye brows, made them look like MY eyebrows just neater...I like that...I don't like for my brows to be scalped...I have thick brows and when they scalp them it doesn't seem natural to me and I have even a harder time trying to keep them groomed between visits. So, moving on...this girl was super nice and a chatty girl...I like chatty girls, the ones that talk to you, but also watch what the heck they are doing. I don't like the ones that look in the mirror AT your face while they are talking and cutting your hair. NO, that scares the crap out of me and will shut me up really quick. So, we are chatting and I find out she just moved here, but has worked for this chain for a long time, she is actually the Ast. Mgr and she has NO plans of moving up and out at all. Hmmm, good to know if she manages to do a kick butt job on my head.
So, she cuts and I can hear a couple of people talking behind me about how it's going to be a big change bec. my hair was a bit longer etc. Then I start hearing the Mgr. say how good it looks from the back etc. I am feeling more confident. Finally she blows it out and turns me around and OMG, I am TOTALLY IN LOVE with my hair. For probably the first time in FOREVER, I LOVE my hair, it is EXACTLY what I wanted, even though I have NO FREAKING IDEA how the girl was able to figure that out because of my crappy explaning. It was awesome! I am sooo happy with it and feel soooo good, better etc. It is very stylish and nice...and EASY, OMG, totally EASY to fix 10 min. from start to finish and wala I am ready. I can't say enough good stuff about this cut!
So, I am happy about my new hair cut and even happier to have found someone that swears she is staying where she is. It is actually awesome enough that I would be willing to follow this girl to another salon and pay more money for her to keep doing it. YEAH!!!!
Here I am with my "new do"

Out of the groove

2009-02-17T14:07:00.002-05:00

I'm still here, I have just been out of the groove of blogging...sucks, because I would like to come on here daily or at least 3-4 times a week and having something cool and/or exciting to say, but here recently? Not so much... there are PLENTY of excuses I could make up for not blogging, but really it's just not "in me" right now.

I have been working out, daily, and that takes up some of my "free time", but if you add in the amount of time I have spent on facebook (AKA crackbook), well, that's not such a good excuse either!

I am 17.2 lbs. away from having lost 100 lbs. since my weight loss journey began (about 6 months before I found out I was pregnant with Brody in May 2006, so a little less than 2.5 years in which time I was pregnant for 9 months & gaining weight! So if you take that 9 monhts off it has been just under 2 years. I am proud of my accomplishment, but still kick myself for not "sticking with it", had I done that I could very well be at my goal weight now (about 65ish lbs. lower than now). I have been told how few people there are that could say they have not only lost (almost) 100 lbs., but ALSO been pregnant and had a baby in 2.5 years!

I have this GREAT pre-weight loss picture of me at my Brother's wedding in April 2005, it is tagged to my referigerator and it is a constant reminder of A) How far I have come & B) Why I started this journey in the first place! I really need to get to scanning that sucker to share. Of course I need a kick butt "After" picture and I don't have that just yet :)

So, I am here, I have not fallen off the face of the earth...I will continue to rack my brain for cool stuff to share, but don't hold your breath!

The Pit

2009-01-31T10:40:00.002-05:00

The Pit AKA My HOUSE...I swear my house is always TRASHED and I am just about DONE with it. I wish I could go back to the time we decided to buy a modular and smack myself and David on the head. We had the opportunity to build an actual home, but because of our living arrangements at the time (The place we were living prior to getting our house started was burned to the ground in a fire, so we were living in the "inlaw" apartment at his Dad and Step Mom's home) we decided to just go with the double wide. Of course when we made this decision we were just trying to get out of "their" house and in to a "home" of our own. At the time we had 1 child and the thought that "This house we are buying will be temporary and in the near future we will sell it and build on our property"...hmmm, well 9 years and 2 kids later, that "dream" has pretty much been squashed. We ended up building an additon on while I was pregnant with Brody. Because of the addition our current house can no longer be "sold seperately" and moved off our property.
Anyway, I sort of got off the original subject of my post...the fact is while our house in not "tiny" it is not as spacious as I would really like. There is a Living Room, Dining room, kitchen, laundry room, 4 bedrooms and 2 baths...the kids rooms are decent sizes, our bedroom is actually, quite large. I am sure as the kids get older and start spending more time in their rooms opposed to the actual "living areas" of the house it will get better, but for now. GRRRRRR, I am sooo sick of picking up Toys and kid stuff that filters out of their rooms and in to the rest of the house. I have always been a fan of the "great room" style of living area and that's what we have, but now there are days when I wish every room was seperate and if I just wanted to be ALONE in the kitchen or whatever I could be. As it is every time I walk into a room the kids either notice right away and follow me OR they arrive in the same area as I am in VERY SHORTLY.
I know this stuff probably happens no matter HOW BIG your house is when you have kids, but there are so many days I feel like everyone is just ON TOP of me.
The second issue is the construction of these homes is such CRAP...the walls are thin, the cabinets and countertops suck, stuff is just CHEAP...We have done A LOT of improvements to our house...like putting in wood floors througout the living areas, reflooring the kitchen, laundry room and main bathroom, we have replaced the crappy cheapo light fixtures in almost every room, painted every room, replaced the plumbing fixtures in the bathrooms etc. so a lot of stuff we have been able to "upgrade" over time, BUT there isn't really anything you can do about the thin, crappy walls that you can look at wrong and bust a hole in etc.
I get so frustrated sometimes that no matter what we do, no matter how much money we spend to make this place look good, it's always just "OK" it's NEVER going to be what I really "WANT". Yet, with that said, we will probably be stuck here for a very LONG time.
So this is just a post for me to whine...nice eh?

My Baby Boy

2009-01-30T14:04:00.003-05:00

Brody, the one that is the baby, the one that was a surpise, the one that was never planned, the one I cried myself to sleep when I found out I was pregnant, the one I NEVER want to know those things, the one I thought was a girl, the one that David picked the name for, the one I felt good, not great, just good with while pregnant, the one that I almost had a C-section with, the one that scared me so bad because his heart rate was unstable during labor, the one that my Brother saw be born, the one that looked so much like his sister when he was born it was crazy, the one that I felt the most confident with as an infant, the one I didn't attempt to breast feed, the one that scared the crap out of me when he started throwing up all his formula in the hospital, the one that ended up NOT having the same thing as his sister, the one that was lactose intolerant, the one that was my only healthy infant, the one that never cried, the one that slept in a basinet the shortest time, the one that didn't love the swing, the one that LOVED the jump-a-roo and would make everyone that saw him jumping in it laugh til they cried, the one that had their 1 month pictures ruined by the STUPID stuido, the one that sat up in a bumbo seat at 6 weeks old and was the funniest thing ever to see, the one that sucked a paci the longest, the one that has the darker skin tone, the one that looks exactly like his Daddy did as a child, the one that doesn't have a "boo", the one that walked on Thanksgiving, the one that went to the beach the youngest and loved every minute of it, the one that loves to snack, but doesn't eat meals, the one that has the sweet tooth, the one that had ear infections, the one that everyone thought he was "the cutest baby I have ever seen", the one I couldn't take places without having to stop and let people look at him, the one that the nurses at the Ped's office LOVE, the one that wears the most hand me downs, the one that has the coolest color eyes, not blue, not brown, not green, a mixture of all depending on what he wears, the one that has the least patience, the one that LOVES the movie Cars and watches it every chance he gets, the one that LOVES his sister and will run to her (sometimes first) when he gets hurt or gets punished, the one that THROWS things, the one that trys so hard to be just like his big brother, the one that talks very, very well for his age, the one that likes to mimic everything we say, the one that is stout, the one that I think will be an awesome lineman for a pee wee football team one day, the one that can get his Great Granny to move like she is a lot younger than 84, the one that can be such a bruiser, the one that likes to be rough when he plays, the one that not only looks like his Dad, but has a lot of his Dad's personality, the one that loves his Uncle Jeff, the one I try to do as much for as I did for his older siblings, the one I somtimes fail at that with, the one I know the least about, the one I can't wait to find out more about

My Baby

My Goobie

My little BIG surprise I wouldn't change for the world

One of my fav Brody pics

My "big" Boy

2009-01-26T09:22:00.002-05:00

Dylan, the one in the middle, the one I tried for so long to have, the one I never thought I would have, the one I almost gave up hope on, the one I was scared to death the entire time I was pregnant that something would go wrong, the one I felt like crap with the entire pregnancy, the one I got HUGE with during pregnancy, the one I KNEW 100% was a boy from day one of being pregnant, the one I "thought" I wanted to name Wyatt, then one I never seriously picked a girls name because I "knew" he was a boy, the one they induced me 2 weeks early to have because they thought he was so big, the one I had the easiest labor ever, the one that was born so quickly the nurses couldn't even get the bed broken down in time for delivery, the one that looked nothing like his sister or Dad when he was born, the one that was the biggest at birth, but is my smallest now, the one that wouldn't eat, the one I tried, tried and failed to breast feed, the one that wouldn't gain weight, the one that was diagnosed "failure to thrive" and scared the crap out of me, the one that was SUCH a good baby we could forget there was an infant in the house, the one that never cried, the one that slept through the night at 4 weeks old, the one that had all of his baby hair fall out, the one that had a flat spot on the back of his head that worried the crap out of me, the one that had SEVERE cradle cap, the one that got the flu at 6 months old that I held for a week straight even while he slept, the one that started pulling up, "cruising", and trying to climb things really early, the one that climbed out of his crib for the first time before he could walk, the one that walked at 10 months, the one that was in a toddler bed before he was a year old, the one that has my blue eyes, the one that I cried after his first hair cut, the one that didn't like to take portraits so there are none after his 1st birthday until he was 4, the one that has always loved to snuggle, the one that we joke has OCD, the one that broke my heart when he came to the hospital to see his new baby brother and would barely look at me, the one that has been sleeping in the bed with me since he was 2 years old, the one that finally decided to start using the potty after his baby brother was born, the one my MOM ended up being able to potty train, the one I have the most patience with, the one that goes 110% the entire time he is awake and then moves around almost as much in his sleep, the one that has night terrors that used to scare me to the point of tears, the one that loved Monsters INC. and watched it 2-3 times a day, every day for too long, the one that had stitches, the one that has had croup too many times to count, the one that hates doctors and hates shots, the one that has been injured the most, the one that can climb anything that could possibly be climbed, the one that is the most sensitive, the one that thinks "You are my Sunshine" is "his" song and can not be sung to any other kid, the one that gives the most hugs and kisses, the one that is most attatched to me, the one that has huge, explosive tantrums when he is over tired, the one that has bad allergies, the one that loves fllip flops, the one that looks like he isn't related to his brother, sister or dad, the one that I was scared to go to Kindergarten, the one that has surpised me in more ways than one, the one that is a perfectionist, the one that gets frustrated when he doesn't do something right the first time, the one that HATES to shop, the one that doesn't eat, the one that LOVES warm milk and would live off it if he were allowed to, the one that has his Maw-Maw's heart, the one that takes the most of my physical strength to Mother, the one that dwells on things, the one that asks a MILLION questions, the one that LOVES Star Wars and knows as much about it as any grown person, the one that can go to school all day or play outside all day and rarely get's dirty, the one that is cold natured, the one that melts my heart when he says "I need some Mommy Love", the one that breaks my heart when I have to dicipline him, the one that draws people to him, the one I know will exceed our expectations of him, the one that is a naturally good student, the one I can't imagine what he will actually do in the future, but I can't wait to find out, the one I worry about ever getting a broken heart, the one I hope will grow up to be a man as good, kind, loving and thoughtful as his Dad, the one I pray will always be as willing to give me "Dylan Love" as he is right now.

My Best Big Guy

My Sunshine Boy

Dylan

One of my favorite pictures of Dylan

My Girl

2009-01-23T10:01:00.002-05:00

Mikayla, my first child..

The one I planned on looooong before she was ever "seriously" thought of being concieved. The one I named looong before she was born. The one I braved an ice storm to buy a 2nd pregnancy test to convince me that we really had gotten pregnant the first month we "tried". The one that I LOVED being pregnant with. The one I felt GOOD for the entire 39 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy with. The one I thought I would DIE while in labor with. The one that looked so much like her Dad when she was born it was as if HE had been the one to actually have her. The one that took my breath away with her beauty. The one that made me doubt my decision to become a Mother when she cried 24/7 and wouldn't sleep for 2 weeks. The one that I rocked, held, sang to, patted, carried attatched to me ANYTHING to help her be comfortable and/or sleep. The one that puked on me at least 8-10 times a day, every day. The one that ended up being very, very sick. The one that made me age far beyond my 23 years when she ended up in the hospital for surgery at 32 days old. The one that I stayed up with all night long draped over a crib in the hospital holding a pacifier in her mouth because she couldn't eat for 12 hours before surgery. The one that I had a panic attack and thought I would die when she was taken away from me for surgery. The one that bounced back like nothing had happened after surgery. The one that I loved dressing up in frilly dresses and hair bands just to sit at home all day. The one I took a million pictures of (film and digital). The one that was so chubby we couldn't go anywhere without people trying to pinch her cheeks or comments about how cute and chubby she was. The one that watched every episode of Bear in the Big Blue House. The one that walked the day we moved in to our house. The one that could talk to you and be understood at 18 months old. The one that potty trained before she was 2. The one that loved her Pa so much. The one that I held on to when I didn't think I'd ever be able to have another baby. The one that took a nap with me every day when I DID finally get pregnant. The one I took to have her portrait done every 3 months. The one that looked cute in everything from the frilliest of dresses to camoflauge. The one that took the birth of her first brother so well, it was amazing. The one that I cried about all the way home from dropping off at school the first day. The one that started playing softball at 5 and was a natural right away. The one that stole the heart of her Uncle Jon. The one that loved the water as much as her Mama. The one that struggled to make friends in First Grade. The one I cried for when she had a hard time in school. The one that told me I love you first, and told me I hate you first. The one that I always hear compliments on how sweet she is. The one who is always so generous with money and gifts. The one that was a "little Mommy" to her 2nd baby brother. The one that has a loving spirit. The one that worries about others. The one that is so smart, but doesn't work up to her potential. The one that is an AMAZING athelete. The one that challenges me every single day. The one that can cut me to the quick with a look. The one that can fill my heart with joy to the point of bursting with pride. The one that can make me think I need to be on meds. The one that is loud. The one that is sympathetic. The one that is nosey. The one who loves her Daddy. The one that will let a 4 year old think she is her best friend. The one that loves to look nice, but doesn't love the time it takes. The one that is BEAUTIFUL, The one I believe will push me to my limits. The one I pray will want to be my best friend one day.

The first

The Only Girl

One of my most favorite recent pictures of Mikayla

My Kids

2009-01-23T10:00:00.001-05:00

I thought of something to write about, so starting today I am going to do an individual post on each of my kids. It should be interesting....

Third Kids Play Pen

2009-01-22T14:23:00.003-05:00

Go check out Cindy's Blog to see her 3rd child, Sweet Suzi's, play pen! Yesterday Cindy commented that I should post pictures during my bloggers block. I was thinking of posting this one anyway, but after seeing her blog today I just had to post this one

This is actually one of those bins that stores keep rubber balls in. David brought it home and we actually use it in our laundry room as a hamper. Last week Brody decided to use it as his own little cage. He climbed in there and was growling and acting like a Tiger. He didn't even want to get out!

Winter Duldrums

2009-01-21T08:53:00.002-05:00

I go and get an "I Love Your Blog" award and quit blogging for 5 days, how cool am I?

I guess I just haven't felt very blogworthy the past few weeks, honestly I haven't felt very worthy period. I think I have a case of the Winter Duldrums, mixed in with a pretty classic case of House-a-tosis add in a dose of "Mommy Burnout" and yeah I'm just sort of bummed out.

I am so over Winter, I am not a fan of it anyway, but this Winter we have had such cold temps, lot's of rain (that's right RAIN not SNOW). My lovely children, who would spend every waking hour outside, have been pinned up more days than not. I have finally taken to dressing them up in their ski bibs (you know the ones we have for snow that we aren't getting?) and letting them go out for short periods, just to run out some of their endless energy. This works ok, but not nearly as good as when they are able to stay outside for most of the afternoon.

I have read, watched back episodes of TV shows I like, caught up on series I have on DVR, spent 1/2 the day on Facebook, watched Movies etc. until I am done with all of that too. I can't even "get in to" the last book I bought to read.

I am ready for Spring, enough with the winter crap already. Maybe with warmer temps some of my Blogability will return? I dunno

My First Blog Award

2009-01-15T09:06:00.002-05:00

I got this nifty little Blog Award from my buddy Stacey & now I get to chose 5 of my Favorite Blogs to pass the award to! OH and if you are on my list, you have to do this on YOUR Blog too!!
Have Fun!

My Award goes to My 5 Favorites:

High on the Hog (Stacey)

The Tale of the Shrinking Boobies (Audra)

Tumbling After (Jill)

Mommy Daze (Cindy)

Shear Hell (Lia)

Enough with the throwing things already...

2009-01-13T16:24:00.002-05:00

Being a Mom of 3 kids, I can testify that each kid has "their thing", the thing that they do that drives you 100% crazy, over the edge BONKERS, nuts, Bring on the Calgon, CRAZY! That "thing" normally rears it's ugly head around the age of 2 or so, right when the kid is coming out with his or her true personality.

For Mikayla it was and continues to be that she is MESSY...just MESSY in all things. When she leaves for school in the morning she is 100% clean and shiny, by the time she gets home she looks like she has been in a food fight or if she has been outside she will have some kind of dirt or grass stain on her. If she has had art she is going to have marker or paint or whatever on her. She has been this way since she was around 2 and I had to change her clothes 4-5 times a day, until I got sick of it and just let her run around in undies all the time. I ALWAYS had to have at least 1 if not 2 changes of clothes when we went out. She is a messy eater, always with the wiping the mouth on the sleeves etc. and GOD knows her ROOM really shows off her mess making skills. It's not really "dirty" it's just messy, oh and this also crosses the line to school and her desk. I should give her a little pat on the back that this year she has done MUCH better keeping her desk clean, BUT she has to be reminded on a DAILY basis. IT DRIVES ME NUTS

For Dylan it is climbing...since way before 2 Dylan has climbed any and everything he could. He climbed out of his crib WAAY before he could even walk. By the time he was 9 months old he was scaling the back of our couch. He will climb any tree that gets in his path, and trust me it doesn't even have to have any low branches. He has climbed from our chest freezer to the TOP of our fridge multiple times. He has even climbed on to our friend's roof (ok with this we actually instructed him to do it, to help dislodge a branch from the gutter). He has NO fear in climbing, none...when Brody was about 2 months old Dylan climbed about 60 feet up in to the middle of a pine tree on our property. He did this in about 3-4 minutes and he was only 3.5 years old! We often joke that he will one day be an astronaut or some sort of pilot because he wants to go higher and higher up, up and away. IT DRIVES ME NUTS

Now we come to my sweet baby boy...of course he just turned 2 one 12/27 and his "thing" has manifested. It is THROWING THINGS...everything. Anything he gets his hand on for more than 2 minutes he is going to throw it. Toys, remotes, bowls, cups, shoes, etc. EVERYTHING ends up flying across the room. I find myself telling him "NO THROW" more times a day than I care to count. He has started getting 2 min. time outs for throwing stuff and still he THROWS...Not to mention he has pretty darn good aim, if he has an actual target he almost always hits it. Oh and these are not little sissy tosses, he full on rares back and let's it fly. I am hoping my dream to have a son in the NFL will finally be realized...he would make one hell of a a Quarterback!! IT DRIVES ME NUTS

Not allergies

2009-01-12T13:43:00.001-05:00

So my watery eyes didn't end up being allergies THANK GOD! I did NOT want to think about the options of getting rid of our cats or taking meds. Turns out there was an infection, a few days of eye drops and WALA no more water eyes! I am sooo happy about this!!

I am unblogworthy lately...

Be Thankful

2009-01-08T12:10:00.002-05:00

I know I do a lot of whining and bitching about stupid things on here...I know I fuss about my kids having the pukes or colds, or allergies or whatever random thing there is. Today I found out that a little boy I have been reading about, Coleman Larson, lost his battle with cancer. A few years ago I followed, religiously, the story of another child with cancer, a little girl, Allie Scott (her Mom, Jenny, was on the same baby website I frequented). I read her Mom's blog/journal daily and cried with the downs and rejoiced with the ups. When Allie died I felt like someone I knew had died. Though she lived in Texas and I never met her or her parents, or anyone she even was related to or knew. I grieved for that little girl...I also vowed that day that I would never let myself become so attatched to a similar story. I have visisted care pages at random, mostly following links on other blogs, but just to do that, visit, close the page and go on with "my" life. I still read Allie's Mom, Jenny's Blog every day, I still think of her on her birthday, the day of her death etc. I know it sounds strange, but it really did touch my heart. I read another blog daily, the blog of an author and Mom to 6 kids...she has blogged about several kids with Cancer and I have ocasionaly visited their sites, but again, only to visit, put a face with a name etc. not to get involved or overwhelmed with the saddness that is Childhood cancer. Today when I read Dawn's blog I realized that one of the little boys she had talked about a lot had passed away. There was a video from youtube on her blog and after I watched it I followed the link to other videos. That is where I found the one below...I watched this video and I literally sobbed, huge body wrenching, heart wrenching sobs...I felt the need to go pick up my son and hug him and kiss him...I almost felt like going to school and picking up my kids just to hold them.

So many of us are so lucky, and we don't even realize it. We don't even understand that monsters that are out there attacking children every second of the day. I complain, and whine and vent about my kids and their latest stunts, or bad grades or just the fact that "I need a break" and then I hear a story like this one about Coleman.

Please watch this video, be thankful for your children...hug them, kiss them and be thankful that they are healthy enough to drive you totally nuts on a daily basis.

BTW the 2nd little boy in a lot of these pictures is Coleman's twin brother Caden

Childhood allergies (mine) revisited

2009-01-08T09:50:00.002-05:00

As a kid I had TONS of allergies and skin issues (sure this is where Dylan gets it from), of course this was back before all the cool meds like Zyrtec, Allegra or Claritin and I lived most of the Spring in a miserable state each year. I suffered from bad excema, hay fever, cat allergies and more all sorts of fun things. As I got older (teens) some of the things backed off (cat allergy & hay fever), and as an adult I have only had mild flare ups of excema very, very rarely.

Until now...now all of a sudden all of my childhood allergies seemed to be rearing their ugly head. I have been suffering from the WORST break out of excema ever on my left arm and hand and now I have patches on my stomach and near my shoulder. It's sooo annoying and very ugly to look at. Now for the past week my eyes have started to water, first it was the left eye and now the right eye has joined in. I am almost 100% positive this is due to the fact that we now have 2 cats living in our house. I have always been just fine with 1 cat, but have noticed over the years if I visit houses with multiple cats or long haired cats I might have a slight reaction. I guess living with 1 cat was not enough to trigger my allergies, but now that we have 2 and Yoda is getting bigger it is too much for me. GRRR...this is frustrating because I can not get rid of my children's animals. So, I am left with the choice of dealing with the watering, tearing, runny eyes or taking meds every day to control it. I haven't really been out of my house for any significant amount of time since they both started watering, so if I go out and the watering stops I might just deal with it at home (as it is now, not if it gets worse or something). I guess I will just play it by ear.

This is just totally frustrating, my excema and the eye watering together makes for a very lovely appearance (NOT). Not great for a person that already has self esteem issues :(

Anyone that has ever changed diapers knows...

2009-01-06T11:01:00.002-05:00

...How it feels to post these pictures of your baby...your last baby...the last baby you will ever be "required" by law to change diapers on. Yep, after 8 years these pictures mean SOOO MUCH to me & they are totally the BEST black mail for the future. I know we aren't DONE, DONE, but the finish line is in sight and I am REJOICING!!!

Party Time

2009-01-03T12:13:00.002-05:00

Today is Brody's Birthday Party! I am excited for him, because he is 2 and at 2 kids start getting in to the fact that their Birthday Parties are ALL about THEM. He may not be big in to opening gifts (yet), but he will sure love playing with his new stuff, eating his chocolate cake and Pizza (his favorite). I am a big believer in Birthday's being made special, it's the only day of the year that is 100% YOUR DAY...and unless you are a twin or share your bday with a sibling or parent (rare, but heard of), it's the one day that is all about you. For Brody, I feel I have to make an extra special effort. A couple of reasons, #1 is obvious, his Bday is 2 days after Christmas, we all know Brody was my SURPRISE baby, and I don't think I would have ever "planned" to have a baby at this time of year, but I did and so we deal with it. #2 is because he is my 3rd and my other 2 have had blow out parties, especially for their first 3 or 4 years. I don't want to start doing cake and ice cream at the dinner table, just because he is #3 and at sort of an inconvenient time. Nope, I have to give him the party he deserves and make just as big of a deal out of it as I have the other 2. Sooo, David and I (mostly David, cause he's a ROCKSTAR) spent 4.5 hours making Brody a Lightning McQueen (Disney Cars, for you non kid people) 3D cake...all from scratch, no special cake pans and stuff like that. It was tedious and messy, but sooo worth it. Of course the cake is Chocolate Fudge, because Brody is my sweet eater and he LOVES his chocolate. His party decorations are all CARS themed and he will probably swoon when he sees all the Cars stuff he will be getting...the boy LOVES (not even strong enough of a word really) CARS!

The guest list includes immediate family, grandparents and his little "girl friend" from across the street, but even then it is almost 30 people!! We will have a FUN time hanging out with family, eating some Pizza (Brody's other favorite) and celebrating our little Goobie's Birthday...he has the cutest outfit and "Birthday Champ" badge to wear.

In closing I thought I would share some of the cake pictures...I may come back and BLOG about the entire process (believe me I took about 50 pictures) because...well, anyone that has a husband that can do this wants to brag about it LOL!

Side view of the cake after "fabrication" we used 1 sheet cake, 1 layer round cake, and cupcakes...the piece in the front eventually became the windshield

Here is a front view of the finished cake, notice in the back, David didn't stop with "just" the car, no he had to have a stack of tires and a member of the pit crew, one of Brody's favorite characters of the movie is "Guido" who he calls "Pit Stop" so he had to have a "Pit Stop" cake for his birthday...everything on the cake is 100% edible and it is NOT fondant...it's all decorated with whipped icicng that we colored at home

Top view of the cake, of course the Happy Birthday had to be written on the cake board...That is one of the few things "I" can take credit for...other than that the only thing I really did was icing the tires, and do the writing, headlights and brake lights...David did the rest so pretty much about 98% of the cake....like I said, he's a ROCKSTAR

2009

2009-01-02T09:34:00.002-05:00

Wow, another New Year! Looking back over 2008 we had a lot going on, I am sure this year will be no different. I'm not really making any "resolutions" because that is a good way to set myself up for failure. I do have wishes and hopes for the New Year though:

1) To be a better (more patient among other things) Mom to my kids
2) To spend more alone time with David
3) To continue to have "Dinner around the table" with my family
4) To continue on my weight loss journey
5) To spend more time with my Brother & Sister
6) To continue my quest of being more active

I am sure there are tons more, but these are the ones that are at the tip of my tounge this minute. What are your wishes and hopes?

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2008-12-31T16:27:00.002-05:00

New Year's Eve...spending time at home with the kiddos and my niece, my BF and her 2 kiddos...playing some wii, eating some snacks, watching the ball drop (IF we last that long). No "adult" partying for us this year. I think this is the first New Year's Eve in about 8 or 9 that we haven't had a sitter and gone some place. I never even tried for a sitter this year, just wasn't "feeling" being out and about. I don't even think the kids know what NYE even is because we have never celebrated it with them. I am looking forward to just relaxing...well, as much as you can relax with a house full of wired up kids!

Pictures to come
Stay Tuned...

Fa La La La La, La La La La

2008-12-29T17:44:00.004-05:00

Well, it's all over except the UNdecorating, which I will save for when the kids go back to school next week. David is off this week on vacation, so we are just enjoying our time together and chilling out. Everyone ended up sick at some point, but we managed to make it through Christmas Day without incident and then David started with it around 11pm, but by then we were just happy to be through the day. It was a wonderful day and everyone was very happy with all their gifts and being together. Here is a pic of the kids from Christmas Eve night...it's almost impossible to get all 3 in one decent shot. Brody looked just like a little elf in his Christmas PJ's and Mikayla and Dylan loved their footie PJ's...Mikayla, bless her heart, had been throwing up all night on the 23 and had just started feeling better around 4pm on Christmas Eve, you can tell she wasn't "quite" right in her picture! Next thing on the list, having Brody's 2 year old Birthday party on Saturday...

Thanks to my friend Jill...I have been elfed

2008-12-23T13:15:00.003-05:00

Even though I haven't been able to watch the actual dance yet (dumb site is bogged down) I do have this lovely little picture to share with all of you. THANKS Jill, you have MADE MY DAY!! According to Jill this had to be done for me because after all I AM the CHRISTMAS ELF (on crack, but she didn't say that) XOXO Jill!

Christmas Eve, Eve!

2008-12-23T12:35:00.002-05:00

It's Christmas Eve, Eve and my "shower power" from yesterday (see post) is holding strong. I have been playing the Holiday Music Station on the TV and wrapping presents and in general I am feeling GREAT!! I think I have finally come the full 360 out of the funk!

HO, HO, HO!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS

Now if I can just be lucky enough to find a showing of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation today things will be PERFECT!!!

It's amazing what a shower can do for you

2008-12-22T18:14:00.002-05:00

So all you Stay at Home Mom's or Mom's currently home with sick kids
CAN I GET AN AMEN???

I have been TRYING not to get down today, even though I was up all last night with puking Brody and managed maybe 2 hours of sleep (interupted by puke sessions of course). I have been trying to shrug it off and be all Fa La La La La, but around 4:00 PM I was almost on the final spiral in to the depths of dispair. Then I decided to take a shower...why would that be something to do at 4pm when I am not going anywhere or doing anything? Well, as I was doing something (don't remember what right now) I got a whiff of pit (funny I am admiting that here for whomever to read) and then I looked in the mirror and THEN I looked at the calendar & Holy crap it has been more than a few days. I guess between me being sick, then in the funk of "My Christmas is going to suck" and then Brody getting sick well Shower feel to the wayside of the "TO DO" list.

So, I quietly signaled to Mikayla that I was going to slip away to the shower...'cause God help me if the boys even caught the idea that I might be thinking of it I would not have been alone for more than a second before someone would have wanted to jump in fully clothed (Brody) or someone else would have had to ask me the secrets of the Universe that MUST be answered at that exact moment (Dylan). Anyway, so off to the shower I went...

I must admit I came out feeling, almost, like a new person...I even blow dried my hair, put on moisturizer and contemplated plucking my eyebrows (which I didn't, thought the pain might trigger the funk). It's amazing how that one little "just for me" (although from that whiff of pit it might have been for everyone in my immediate vicinity as well) made me feel sooooo much better. As I stood in there lathered up with my super rich, shea butter, creamy, (cheap) body wash I found myself SMILING and thinking NICE thoughts about Christmas being a couple of sleeps away. All of a sudden much of the crappiness I have been harboring (trust me I have been "putting on" a somewhat decent act) melted away with the grime and slime (my hair was GRROOOSSSS). I even took the time to rinse and repeat, ok I NEVER rinse and repeat (cause I'm frugal, BUT I like relatively expensive shampoo/conditioner). So there was another "just for me" thing and this one didn't even matter to anyone else (except the budget when I run out of product a day early LOL).

I honestly can say that this simple thing of a shower, alone, probably no more than 15 minutes (and that's with blow drying the hair) I made a turn around. I picked my (much cleaner) self up out of the spiral and boosted myself a little higher in the spirit. I mean HONESTLY I NEED to just STOP IT and think of all the wonderful, amazing things I have to be thankful for at this time of year. I am sure there are many, many families out there that freaking WISH a 12 hour stomach bug was all they had to worry about, instead of their child laying in a hospital or there house being forclosed on or their job being lost or someone in their family that just died. I have a wonderful husband, 3 healthy children (minus the ocasional bug or allergy), a warm house, a LOVING family, AWESOME friends and more. I have the "means" to provide my children with nearly every thing on their Christmas "Wish" list, when there are many people that will worry about one single meal every day not just Christmas day (and I will say we have done our part to lessen the strain on some of these people this year). I need to GROW UP

I am DONE, I am done falling in to my spiral of Bah Humbugism (like my made up words?) I'm BAAACK...Puke or no Puke, Exploding poo or no Exploding poo, LIFE GOES ON...My family NEEDS their "Christmas Elf on Crack" and by GOD I am going to deliver AND because I really FEEL that way now, not because I am faking it out!

MERRY CHRISTMAS PEOPLE, LOOK AROUND, BE THANKFUL!

I don't want to be a Bah Humbuger, but...

2008-12-21T12:43:00.002-05:00

Gimme a break! I don't know how much more I can take before my normal "Christmas Elf on Crack" self breaks for good. I have always been "THAT" person at Christmas...the one who starts doing the countdown on Dec. 1, the one who will call you up on the 20th and tell you it's Chrsitmas, EVE, EVE, EVE, EVE. The one who had to have all sorts of Christmasy, Holiday shirts (and makes her kids wear them too, but hey right now they enjoy it, so it's not really "Making" them...yet), and earrings and Santa Hats. It wouldn't be surprising to catch me in "The bad place" with a Santa Hat on. I am the one playing the ALL Holiday music channel in the car, the one leaving the Merry Christmas message on my voicemail Dec 1 etc. You can get the picture...as I said before Christmas Elf on Crack" no exaggeration.

Well, something is trying to pull me down, the "Bah Humbug" forces taht be are trying their damndest to squash my Christmas Spirit. I will be totally honest that they have managed to win a little bit of the battle too. I even blogged about it earlier this month, having a hard time getting "in the spirit" OMG, what??? Me??? NO WAY! How could that be?

2 years in a row Christmas has been difficult (to say the least) due to, for the most part, sickness. Yesterday we missed our first family Christmas party (the same one I cussed people out at last year) because I was in the bed all day with some sort of fluish 12 hour sickness. I totally quarentined my whole family and wouldn't let them go to the party either (even though they were all 100% healthy at the time). So, at least I know for now that if anyone else (outside my household) gets this it wasn't because of me. Unlike last year when we single handedly managed to infect 50% of the county with the puking/crapping death for Christmas/New Years.

As of today I feel 95%, I am a little "weak" feeling from the fever and stuff yesterday, but other than that I am on the road to recovery. For now all the kids and David are ok...will they get it? I really hope not, but who knows? I will just be thankful it seems to be a pretty quick (12 hour) thing and not many other symptoms other than the fever, chills and body aches.

I really don't want to become a Bah Humbuger, but I really need to catch a freakin' break already SERIOUSLY!

How could it be? 2?? NOOO WAY!

2008-12-19T10:14:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that in 8 short days my little baby boy will be TWO years old!! This past 2 years have flown by so fast I can't even begin to explain it! I look back to the time I found out we were going to be having a 3rd baby and though I can't say that all of my emotions were happy (or sane), I can say I wouldn't have it ANY other way. Brody is such a charmer and such a happy, great little guy. Even when he is throwing a tantrum or being a "buster" he still has the cutest little personality. He is EXTREMELY polite, saying Thank You, Your Welcome, Please and I'm Sorry without being prompted. I think he will be the "most likely to be the class clown" out of all 3 of my kids. Brody is also a very handsome little boy, we don't go anywhere that we aren't stopped (multiple times) by people exclaiming over how cute he is. He has a cute little goofy way he cocks his head and grins that will melt even the coldest of hearts. He is so smart and because he is also tall for his age he gets mistaken by most people to be older than he really is. This little guy might have been the biggest surprise of my life, but he has completed our family in ways we could have never imagined. There is no way I could sit here and even fathom what life would be like without my little Goobie. Here is a sample of his birthday invitation (Yes I added his clothes size because only family and close friends are invited and they would all call me and ask anyway, tacky? I don't care)

Jingle all the way!

2008-12-19T10:07:00.002-05:00

Mikayla at her school Christmas program last night. It seems like every year the "theme" of the program has been about Santa being "lost" in some way, shape, or form. It was interesting and not without it's quirks and funny (unscripted) moments. One of the "Reindeer" had a toddler sister that made her way on to the gym floor (stage) and made a show of getting picked up by her sister (in the program) and put down, then toddling around etc. I think most people thought it was cute, I think the Music director was a little annoyed. Oh well, she should get used to it, because something like that always seems to happen during kids programs. It's also the things that make them so memorable..."Remember that year "K" got down and ran on to the stage?"

Mikayla was "Elf 4" and had a few quick lines. She loved singing the songs. She also looked pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself. Don't know why some of the elves (including Mikayla) decided to flip their hat fringe up? I guess that's the new "hip" way to wear your elf hat! We had a nice time and Mikayla was thrilled that David and I were both able to attend as well as both Maw-Maw and Pa this year. (Thanks Liza)

Pictures from the cookie making

2008-12-19T09:50:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures from our cookie making, baking, decorating party at my Mom's house on Wed. The kids had a BLAST and did a great job. Everyone left happy with cookies for Santa and a huge sugar high! (Note: No pictures of me because I am the baker HAHA!)

Before they got their dough, we had about 30 cookie cutters to chose from
I think this is the only picture with all 7 kids in it.

Here they are working with their dough, getting it rolled out to cut

That's my Sister and my Mom helping the kiddos

Here they are doing the decorating, colored icing, sprinkles and

all kinds of goodies. I think some ate more than they got on the

cookies! Again, My Sister, Mom and Liza helping out (and eating too)

Some of the finished product, we had trains, trees, angels, bears, Stanta, Stars,

Reindeer etc. Pretty much every Christmas cookie you could think of!

Oh and of course the "after party" everyone dancing around

to Cyndi Lauper's "Feels like Chirstmas" song!

Christmas Cookie Extravaganza!!

2008-12-17T10:50:00.002-05:00

Today we will go to my Mom's when the kids get home from school to do our yearly Christmas Cookie make and decorate. It's always a lot of fun and the kids have a BLAST. There will be 7 kids there, the oldest being Mikayla(9), then Dylan(5) and Anthony(6), Lilly(4), Alexis(4), her buddy Nevaeh (4) and last, but not least Brody( almost 2). 7 kids ages 9 and under woohoo! It's funny to see because some of the kids are very intent on making cookies, while others mainly eat the goodies! I don't know how many of these cookies anyone is actually comfortable with eating afterwards (anyone other than the creators themselves).

I am so happy that my kids have such fun Holiday Traditions to take part in. Yes, it will be a mess and we will have to spend almost as much time cleaning up (kids and tables) as we do actually making the cookies...Yes, there will probably be at least 1 runny nose in the bunch...Yes, it will loud and chaotic, BUT that's not the important thing. The important thing is these kids get together with their family and friends to do a project and have a great time! I was thinking the other day how we have these special traditions and one day my kids will probably have some of the same ones.

Here are a few of ours (in no particular order):

Christmas Cookies at MawMaw's

David and Kids building a Gingerbread house (no help from me other than pics I take)

Christmas Parade (No matter how cold or if it's snowing)

Christmas Eve here with Family and Friends

Christmas PJ's given to the Kids on Christmas Eve

Christmas T-shirts kids get to wear throughout the month

Toys for Tots donation (Gift from each of our kids, something from their age group)

Salvation Army Donations (Every time we go to a store the kids get to put money in the collection cans they call the people there "Ringer Dingers" LOL)

Christmas Brunch at Maw-Maw and Pa's Oyster Stew and Breakfast Casserole

What are your Christmas Traditions??

Fustrating

2008-12-16T19:57:00.002-05:00

Dylan is having skin reactions again...you can go back to my posts around March, April, May if you need a recap. Bottom line, we took him for pretty extensive allergy testing and he only reacted to a couple of things (2 we knew 2 we didn't) all 4 of those things are outside and guess what? He hasn't been outside or exposed to any of these items. He started breaking out on Sunday, it was mainly above his waist. I had to run out and get Benadryl (I suck for not having it on hand, as it is a MUST have for Dylan....bad Mom moment), by the time I got the meds in him he was horribly uncomfortable and I felt sooo bad. I automaticaly assumed it had something to do with the sweatshirt he was wearing, I didn't recall him wearing it yet this season and thought maybe it had been washed at someone else's house or something. I figured the outbreak would be over with once the shirt was discarded...WRONG. He woke up Monday morning with some break out and I gave him more meds. I don't like having to give him meds before school because I never know how he will react to them. He went to school on Prednisone 3 weeks ago and had one very bad morning (had to put him on the bus kicking and crying). He came home with no breakout and then about 2 hours after getting home he started breaking out. This has pretty much been the pattern for the past few days. I thought today we had narrowed it down to a quilt that has been packed away all year. It is a Christmas quilt and only comes out for Christmas, but that quilt has been out since we decorated Monday after Thanksgiving...I have that in the wash now, but sure enough he started breaking out this evening again.

This is BEYOND frustrating...the breakouts that he is having right now are only about 1/2 as bad (maybe he 1/4 as bad) as the ones from the Spring when he was swollen up and his eyes were swollen shut and he looked like he weighed 80 lbs instead of barely 40lbs. etc, but he is uncomfortable and requiring meds every 8 hours. I haven't called the Dr. yet because I was trying to narrow it down before calling or God forbid have more testing done (he hated that), but I might have to give up and call tomorrow.

Grrr...my poor guy and his crazy skin, he is sooo much like me with his skin/immune system it isn't even funny...nice genes I passed on eh?

Winter Social Pictures

2008-12-15T20:39:00.003-05:00

Here are the promised pics from the Winter Social at the kids school. The kids had a blast and they were OH so cute!

Dylan, Mikayla and Anthony at the social...I think they all 3 got told at some point that they were the best dressed :)

Mikayla before at our house, notice the chin? It had been itching at school a few days before and she ended up rubbing it on her shirt until she rubbed the skin OFF! Isn't that nice?

Dylan, Anthony and one of their kindergarten buddies play "air guitar" to the new "Beat it" they were SOOO cute, and even slid across the gym floor on their knees while "playing" it was the most freaking cute thing EVER

Anthony, Dylan and their friends...NOTE: Dylan has a HUGE crush on the little girl sitting beside Anthony. He would never admit that to anyone other than Anthony or his Dad though

Dylan at home before...I didn't get a full body shot with the "Shiny Shoes"

Dylan with his crush and Anthony. HE made SURE I got this picture. Her Dad was funny and tried to pay me for a copy of this pic.

Winter Social

2008-12-12T14:15:00.002-05:00

Tonight is the Winter Social at school for the kids. They started having a Winter and Spring Social when Mikayla was in 2nd Grade and they are a big hit with the kids. The PTO puts them on, supplying food, a DJ, a few games and pictures for the kids. The DJ plays mostly dance numbers like The Electric Slide, Macarena, Hokey Pokey etc. and takes a few requests of apropriate tunes (I am sure we will hear some Hannah Montana and Taylor Swift this year) and the kids have fun dancing and spinning around.

Dylan was not so excited, at first, about going to a "dance"...Mikayla always calls it a "dance". Of course once I explained to him that he didn't have to dance and there were other things to do there he was happy to go. Actually he is excited to go now because I am letting him wear his Christmas "Dress Up" outfit complete with his "Shiny" dress shoes that he LOVES and would wear to school EVERY day should I let him. Most of the kids "Dress Up" for the winter social, so it will be cute to see what the other kids wear.

It should be a fun time tonight, I am going to take plenty of pictures, I mean come on, like I can miss taking pics of Dylan's first school dance, errr, I mean, "Social"

Gingerbread Houses and Christmas Trees Oh my...

2008-12-11T20:01:00.003-05:00

Today was "Holiday Project" for the Kindergarten class, so of course I was there in all my "Head Room Mom" glory HAHA!! I also had my partner in crime and BFF Liza, as well as our other go to project/party person. There are only 13 kids in the class and we had 2.5 hours them to do a Ginger Bread house and Christmas Tree. We had a ton of candies and a ton of royal icing...you would think this could have been a messy thing, but these kids ROCKED. They were all (well let's say 98% of them) totally perfect and did a great job with their project. We barely had to wipe the tables off after each group of 3 would leave. They did a great job and it was fun to watch each of their personalities come out in their "art". There are a couple of REALLY shy kids in the class, they were the kids that put like 3 or 4 pieces of candy on their house and tree and had to be urged and coaxed to use more of the probably 1/2 lb. of candy each of them had. Then there were the 2 really hyper kids that ended up with a collage of a TON of frosting and all the candy sort of dumped on in no particular design or order. Most of the kids used 3/4 of their candy and ate a few pieces (expected) and tried for some sort of over all design. They were CUTE...we teased them about Santa coming and tried to get them to come out of their shells by telling us what they had asked Santa for etc. we would tease the boys about Hannah Montana and ask the girls what color dirt bike they had asked for etc. they all thought that was funny.

It was a really fun afternoon and I enjoyed chatting with Liza and the other Mom about various things. I LOVE watching the kids and seeing how they interact with their peers (of course I really enjoy watching Dylan because he is so different *good* at school). We will be up there again next Thursday for the Holiday Party & the fun surprise of a nice gift card for Miss S from her class. Should be fun

Purge

2008-12-10T16:32:00.004-05:00

Today was the day of the big pre-Christmas kids room purge...I have to pick a day when David is off, the kids are in school etc. so I can get in their rooms and get rid of "stuff" in order to move in more "Stuff" after Christmas. Of course I really prefer to do this on a day when David is working and someone is keeping Brody because David gets stressed out over the amount of crap I throw away. Today I did all 3 kids rooms I had (3) 30 gallon trash bags of throw away and several bigger "donate" items from Brody's room. Part of me gets MAD that I have to go in and clean my kids rooms, but when I start throwing away stuff it somehow makes me feel BETTER haha!! Of course I have ALWAYS giving the older 2 the option...keep your room clean and I won't go in there and throw crap away. However, neither one of them get with that program so I go in for the purge a couple times a year...always before Christmas, usually before their birthdays and maybe one other time. It's crazy the amount of 100% crap that they accumulate...I mean, we don't go buying them toys all year long or anything, but they do get stuff from other people, from school and/or church etc. all this makes for a lot of crap.

Today my biggest throw away in Dylan's room was Transformers from last Christmas...I will tell you all that Transformers was the BIGGEST bunch of crap, bad toy making, bad toy buying we have ever made :( He got tons of them and they were all too hard for him to transform (and for us too honestly), pieces broke off so easily it wasn't even funny. I kick myself in the butt for spending money on those crappy toys!! It's ok though because the Transformer "phase" was pretty short lived and he won't miss any of the stuff I threw away today! I had not thrown it away before now because thinking about throwing $ out the window makes me want to puke HAHA!! Mikayla's room didn't have much to purge out of it, mostly papers and note books and some very LARGE stuffed animals I have been hanging on to for sentimental reasons...stupid me because they didn't mean anything special to "her" so what was the point? Brody's room was mostly packing up stuff he has outgrown or has no interest in. The Leap Frog learning table (circa 2002), Pop On's table and blocks (Circa 2003) all stuff that was "passed down" to him. I have several bigger items like that to donate. Baby toys tend to get a little more wear out of them to pass down or donate, they don't have a chance to get messed up or broken before the kids "grow out" of them.

So that was my big "thing" to do today...glad it's over with, now the kids will have room for their new stuff from Christmas to be moved in. Oh and Brody's birthday stuff too...I also thought of something else to get Brody for his birthday (that's hard ya know, buying bday gifts for a birthday 2 days after Christmas). I am going to get him a new bed set for his car bed...with the Cars theme, he LOVES Cars

OK, so I am getting random...

When the kids get home from school...

2008-12-08T16:57:00.002-05:00

...they act like they are on crack!! Or whatever it is that you can be "on" that makes you loud, makes you act like you have no sense, makes you act stupid etc. The noise level in this house right now is beyond too much. The kids act like they have been pinned up in cages all day and just got let out. I am about ready to go look for a job that has me out of the house until my kids have been home from school for a couple of hours. My brain feels frazzled...I go from things being pretty calm for most of the day to double crazy with extra loudness to top it off. This is yet ANOTHER reason I can't stand the winter...it's too darn cold for the kids to stay outside and run off this energy that they have (without risking more sickness). During the first 4 months of school we hang out outside for at least an hour and even though they are still loud and stuff it's not so bad because they have 3 acres of land to run around. Now they just come inside and do the same stuff in this cracker box of a house we live in. Note to self: Next house should be a 2 storey with a full basement YEAH RIGHT!!!

Do your kids act like this?

Yep, he still reads my blog

2008-12-07T22:28:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I had a post titled "The N key" fussing about the N key being broken off my lap top. I breifly mentioned something about a new, blue lap top and Christmas coming...

David reads my blog (I sort of forget that)...I got an early Christmas present! A brand new BLUE Laptop...YIPPEEE it's actually a MINI Laptop and it could very likely fit in one of my larger purses! It is awesome and even though I was caught up in the books and didn't play with it much the first week I had it, well I am having fun with it now. It's very cute and light and TINY! I really love it, even though David thinks I don't (again, with the books) The only thing that bugs me a little is the backspace is in a little bit of a weird spot and I am having to get used to that...oh and the actual mouse clickers are on the left and right of the touch pad instead of underneath. Other than those little things it rocks and I LOVE IT! Yes, honey I love it, I promise!!!

Thank you honey, I love you, you rock!

Calendar

2008-12-07T22:16:00.002-05:00

My calendar is rocked out for this whole month. In fact things don't really slow down until after Brody's bday party, which we have decided to have 1 week AFTER his ACTUAL bday which is 2 days after Christmas and happens to fall on a Sat. this year.

Most days I have something important, a "must do" to do and some days I have multiple "must dos" the kids are the main reason for that because of school and church and stuff that they are in. It is going to be a crazy ride, but at this point I really don't mind (that much) as long as everyone can stay well.

I must admit I am a little "gun shy" about Christmas this year. The last 2 have been BEYOND crazy (bad) for us. 2 years ago I was in labor (off and on) from the night before Christmas Eve until Brody's actual birth on the 27th. Christmas day 2006 was/is a HUGE wrapping paper filled BLUR for me. The only actual thing I remember was Mikayla getting a jewelry box from my Granny...I remember because it was my Granny's and she gave it to Mikayla and me being the big, pregnant, hormonaly blob went in to a crazy emotional spiral with lot's of snot and tears. Oh and I remember my Mom got me some PJ's with tinkerbell (?) on them. Last year was 10 MILLION times worse because we were all in various stages of the puking/crapping DEATH plague. David and Dylan were horribly sick on Christmas Day, Mikayla and Brody were getting over it, but they were still too sick to actually enjoy anything. All our Christmas pictures from last year are lovely with pale greenish/yellow faces and dark circles under the eyes. We actually ended up infecting pretty much everyone in our immediate family, close friends and extended family...IT SUCKED BAD!

So, I have been holding my breath and doing a lot of begging, praying that this year will be great and we will all be well or as close to it as humanly possible! I will fully admit I am anxious and feeling crazed at just the thought of having something go wrong this year.

Stay Tuned...

Cold...Brrrrrr

2008-12-06T15:09:00.002-05:00

It is so coold here and it is snowing...have I mentioned how opposed I am to cold weather/winter weather? Oh yeah, I am totally a person that is meant to live in a place like Florida or Arizona or something. It is soooo cold outside today and guess what? Christmas parade is tonight, Oh JOY and of course we are totally 100% obligated to go because Mikayla is in the parade for the first time and she is OVER THE MOON about it. I will admit that David DID give me the option to stay home in my nice, warm, toasty house and not go, but ya know I am a Mom and this is just one of those many Mom duties that we are obligated to do. So, I will bundle up as much as humanly possible and pray that I don't get frost bite. I am sure that everyone else will be just fine...Dylan, even though he is more cold natured than any of the others will be so excited that will be enough to keep him warm...David and Mikayla are just naturally hot blooded so they will be totally comfortable and little man Brody gets to stay home with MawMaw, Pa and Granny and not even know the difference! So, wish me luck that I come back not a block of ice!

Twilight...

2008-12-05T15:06:00.002-05:00

So my friends Jill, Laurie and Joan did soooo much talking about the Twilight Series I finally bit the bullet and started reading it...well I am a reading, good book addict so believe me when I say I fell...hook, line and sinker in to this 4 book series. Yeah, and it took me just over a week to read ALL 4 of the books (these are NOT short books at least 3 of them have around 750 pages)! OMG, I haven't read this much, in this little time and enjoyed ever single word of it since...well, since I didn't have kids! I have been reading a series of books for a few months by JD Robb (Actually Nora Roberts using a pen name), but I have read all the 20 something books and there are no new ones out right now. So, yes I have been reading all along, but those books are just "something to read" they are Good, but they are also light 350 page or so books that I read in the span of a week or so. Not the kind of read until you eyeballs feel like popping, read until you have a headache, read until it is 2 hours PAST your NORMAL bed time, read and ignore stuff like laundry, phone calls and even OMG ***INTERNET TIME*** books! The Twilight books have totally consumed every spare second of spare (and some not so spare, you saw laundry and to be honest dishes suffered too) time. CRAZY I tell ya!

I will just say this, if you like a good book, if you like a little fantasy, a LOT of wondeful, heart fluttering (not sex) romance, some action, AWESOME character development and a AWESOME story all around, you should try reading TWILIGHT...now if you don't like it? I won't hold it against you, it's probably not for every single person out there (although it's hard to imagine why not LOL). If you do like it, you can come back here and tell me how you couldn't put it (them) down and how your eyeballs are sore!

Is it really the last day of the month?

2008-11-30T21:28:00.002-05:00

Wow, this month did more than fly buy...I think at some point around week 2 it went in to Warp Speed because I blinked and what do you know? Month gone, 25 days till Christmas and only 27 days 'til my little baby boy turns 2 years old! To be honest this whole year pretty much flew by...tends to happen the more kids you have (or so I have heard). We are going to have a VERY busy month, just looking at my calendar has me feeling frenzied and tired! There is literally something just about every day! Between family obligations, Holiday obligations, School obligations, kid's church obligations etc. CRAZY! Not to mention we get to plan and pull off the Big #2 Birthday for Brody!

I LOVE the Holidays, it is a wonderful time of the year...nothing can beat the excited"ness" of the Kids, the smiling faces, the joy and wonder. This time of year ROCKS, and while it will be busy, we will get it all done and things will be just fine! Wonder how much blogging I will get done in the midst of all this?

Stay Tuned...

Once again, we did it!!

2008-11-29T20:05:00.003-05:00

Yesterday morning David and I headed out at 4:30am to join the masses for some hard core shopping and deal getting. We have done "Black Friday" every year since we had kids and I have to say we have saved a TON of $ doing this. Yes, it is unnatural for us to be up and out at 4:30am much less shopping, but it is always worth it! Funny thing we both love it and have all of our plans mapped out ahead of time, it's a very strategic thing LOL! It's something we both look sooo forward to, and hey, it's a full day of us getting to be kid free and doing something together!

This year we, again managed to pretty much start and finish our shopping in a 12 hour period, we have a few small things to pick up (Gift Cards and Stocking stuffer, but over all we are done. It's actually a big relief...when you have 3 kids it's not always easy to find alone time to get this kind of TOP SECRET stuff done, especially when it could mean multiple trips. To get it all done in on big bang just makes it easier and less stressful in the long run!

I do have to admit that yesterday was the worst I have seen in the 9 years we have been doing this. There were a LOT of grouchy, crabby people out there. A lot of those people were probably out shopping Black Friday for the first time due to the economy and money being so tight. There were a lot of people complaining about lines and crowds and getting bumped in to etc. IF you are a seasoned Black Friday shopper you are already fully aware of these things and tend to go with the flow. There were a lot more people this year that seemed clueless to that stuff so they were, needless to say more pissy.

All in all it was a good day, a very loooong day, a very tiring day, BUT it was totally worth it and I am happy with everything we got done, NOW, I will try to catch up on my sleep and work out the kinks in my legs from all the walking I did!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

2008-11-26T14:32:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I have always loved Thanksgiving with the family! Every year we always went to my Granny's early and stayed all day. My Mom's family is HUGE and there were always cousins to play with and the food YUMMMMY the best of the best! Thanksgiving was always laid back and fun...as I got older we girls would sit around chatting and comparing stories about kids, and somehow we always got around to dishing birth experiences LOL! All of our kids would play all day long and come home and pass the heck out. All the guys would go hunting and come in at lunch time to pile their plates high, eat and then pass out in various parts of the house and in front the TV for a nap before hitting the woods again. I have so many "warm and fuzzy" memories of Thanksgiving at Granny's.

Now my Granny lives with my parents and though we will still go there for most of the day, I have to admit I will miss going to my Granny's for Thanksgiving. I am sure we will all have the same sort of day more or less, but it will be different. For my kids, their "warm fuzzy" memories are starting to be created and one day maybe one of them will blog about them!

Nothing like...

2008-11-26T10:10:00.002-05:00

Signing up to blog every day...then having the worst blogging month in a looong time! Yep, that's me for ya!

Things have been crazy busy here, I am finally finishing up the LAST of my (payed) picture stuff. I think I am done...I thought I wanted to get back in to it, but the truth is I am not having fun with it anymore. In fact I think if I keep doing it as a "job" it would lose everything it is to me & I don't want that! I LOVE taking pictures and I have since I was a kid, there is NO way I want all that taken away from me. Ya know, PEOPLE are really make me sad...it seems that for every 2 WONDERFUL customers I get, I end up getting 4 bad ones! I mean there is only so much you can expect if your 3 year old REFUSES to smile PERIOD (Even when the photographer lady is doing EVERYTHING in her power to make, said kid, smile!) How can you blame the photographer when the pictures don't turn out with every pose having a big cheese grinning smile? CAMERA people does not = MAGIC WAND!

So, anyway...my original intention for getting paid to "do what I do" was to pay off my super, awesome, fancy camera & I have done that 5 times over so there is no reason for me to keep stressing myself out. I am done! Wow, this post did NOT start out being about that!

How much of it is just who she is??

2008-11-19T16:17:00.002-05:00

So, I think I have come to the conclusion that Mikayla has the type of personality that is going to incumber her as far as school/academics goes. It is BEYOND frustrating for me, but I don't know what else I can "blame" it on. I have tried every single possible idea I can think of or that other people have suggested and nothing works. Bottom line? Mikayla doesn't give a CRAP about school, she only cares about coming home with bad reports or grades and the fact that she will get in trouble. She cares about the fact she is going to get fussed at and/or punished, but she does NOT care enough to do better in school and ensure this does not happen. Nope, she just goes right back to school and does the same crap that she always does.

The really frustrating thing? She is soooo smart, she has the potential to be at the top of her class...this is not just me saying it, her teachers all say it too and she has proved it for BRIEF moments. So, how much of this "problem" is just her personality? How much of this is just "who she is?" Can this way of thinking even be changed? Am I hitting my head against the wall for no reason? What else can I do?? Is this a battle that I can not win? I am at a loss, a complete and utter loss

My immune system SUCKS!

2008-11-13T19:48:00.002-05:00

UGH, I am sooo sick of being SICK, enough already!! I swear, I have had like 4 colds since school started (mid August). It seems I barely get over one and another one hits full force. I am so OVER it! So, last night I was talking to my BFF's Mom who is big in to homeopathic remedies and she has suggested a few things that I am totally going to try. I am also going to start taking some Vitamin C...as a kid I was always the sickest one, always got sick when the other 2 didn't...always stayed sicker longer etc. Then I went for several (many) years and I was really healthy and now that I have 2 kids in school I guess I am getting all the school germs that they are bringing home. It's so crazy....I am TOTALLY OVER it!

So, stay tuned to see if any of this new stuff helps

PS Still no good blog worthy material

Thanks a lot all you facebook peoples

2008-11-12T22:23:00.002-05:00

As if I did not have ENOUGH to do already?? Damn, facebook is like crack...I had stayed away from it for a while after joining in, I think, August. Then I got sucked in and I can't stay away from it! I like it a lot better than myspace, cause it does not need so much maintenance, but geez I can't get enough of it! So, thanks again to all you other facebook crack heads (Stacey) because now I am hooked on something else I MUST do multiple times a day.

The N Key

2008-11-11T19:38:00.002-05:00

So, the N key is missing from my laptop...well, the N still works, but the actual key is gone. Lovely, I really hope this means someone (David) might feel just sorry enough for me to buy me a NEW, upgraded, BLUE laptop. Hmmm, Christmas IS coming right??

Can you tell I am running low on blogger worth material today? Yah

Another Family Sunday...

2008-11-09T21:28:00.002-05:00

David had the day off again today, and we took opportunity of the rare ocasion that A) David has the same day off as the kids and B) We don't have 10 million other planned things to do! We decided to head back up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Indian Gap and let the kids play longer, now that everyone is over their colds! We also decided to take my niece Alexis "LuLu" with us as well.

The kids had a GREAT time playing on the rocks at Indian Gap...Dylan did manage to lose his footing during a jump and bang his eye which was a little scary, but it ended up being ok. We played and explored the rocks for about an hour and then came back out the trail to a picnic table and have a little lunch. Aftewards we decided to head about 15 miles further down the road to the "James River Visitors Center" they have several walking/hiking trails to go on, as well as a reconstructed Canal and Locke system for the kids to learn about. We enjoyed exploring along the river and telling the kids about the Lockes/Canals. They were treated to a train going by which the kids especially enjoyed. We ended up going on a 1/2 mile hike to the "Otter Creek Dam". It's funny because, as a kid, we went to this place a lot and I have been on that trail many times, but I forgot how long the trail was! The kids did great and even Brody walked 99% of the way all on his own, pretty good for a not even 2 year old! It was a great day with perfect weather for hiking and being outside! After our long day of fresh air and walking we decided to take the kids out to dinner. All 4 of the kids slept the 45 minute ride to dinner and they were perfect at the resturaunt! All in all it was an amazing, fun and lovely day! Here are a couple of pictures I pretty much fell in love with!

I don't know what it is about this one, it's just very much Dylan...

My favorite of the day...all 4 of the kids down by the lockes when the train went by

even Brody figure out how to get up on the fence!

Oops

2008-11-09T21:12:00.002-05:00

Well, I missed a day :( Of course I set myself up for that by saying I would post every day...boo on me!

Yesterday was CRAZY busy, the family portraits went awesome, but the wedding...well let's just say it was interesting! I know the pics are good, but I am glad it's over and once again I have decided that I am not going to do any more weddings. Hmmm, maybe this time I will actually stick to it!

Busy Tomorrow

2008-11-07T10:51:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow I am doing my first "paying" wedding since October 2006, WOW it's hard to believe it's been 2 years since my photography biz was booming...I had decided a few months ago to start doing "some" stuff and I have been super busy with it, tomorrow will be the big test with the wedding. I also scheduled family portraits for another customer tomorrow morning...so I will do those at 11am followed by a quick lunch, followed by the wedding photography starting at 2pm, followed by the wedding at 4pm, followed by the reception. Thinking about all of that makes me want to schedule in a nap HAHA...After all of that I am going to swing by a party that one of my good friends is having. WOW...it's going to be a LOOONG day!

Luckily I have wrangled Liza into being my assistant, so at least I will have good help!

Just posting to post...

2008-11-06T20:29:00.001-05:00

It's been a crazy busy day, running around and it's gonna be busy this whole weekend! I'm supposed to be posting every day, so here is my post HAHA!

Crazy, Crazy...busy

Yes we can!!

2008-11-05T16:11:00.002-05:00

I couldn't be more thrilled with the outcome of the election. This is the first year I can honestly say I was proud to place my vote and I am proud to back it up. I have always voted since I turned 18, but I placed alot of votes according to how I had been raised to vote and this is the first year I have deviated from that. I am much happier for it!

I honestly believe our country is on the cusp of greatness and wondeful change. I look forward to watching things in the next 4 years (and more). This has been such a monumental experience for me and I am honestly emotional and overwhelmed. I have had constant chill bumps today just thinking of it all.

Grrr...

2008-11-04T08:35:00.003-05:00

Last night Liza and I decided, spur of the moment (Ok with 5 kids between the 2 of us that is kind of a unknown thing, doing anything spur of the moment), to go grab some dinner and maybe some shopping. We got a late start because David didn't get home until 7pm, and he was the one ROCKSTAR enough to watch the kids. We ended up asking my cousin Amie to join us after she finished up teaching a class & she in turn invited 2 of her friends. We had a nice dinner, laughing, joking etc. it was a nice change of pace, conisdering the last few weeks around here. When we went out to leave as I pulled away from the parking spot I realized I had a FLAT TIRE...GRRRRRR! Luckily Amie's friend Matt AKA "Shortcut" was nice enough to change the tire. Of course the spare was a stupid doughnut. The mood was still on the light side during the tire change, but that all went downhill when again as I pulled out of the spot the doughnut was FLAT. OMG, can I GET A FREAKING BREAK??? So, the doughnut sucked so bad it pretty much detatched from the rim and Matt, again, was nice enough to get the van back in the parking spot. We ended up catching a ride with Amie and her friend back home.

I guess I should look on the bright side...A) The tire can be patched for the time being & we were going to be getting new tires at the end of this month anyway...B) It happened in a parking lot, not on the side of the road on the way to or from town where the cell service is iffy at best...C) Had I not invited Amie last minute and had she not invited Kate and Matt last minute Liza and I would have been stuck calling people at 9:30pm to come get our stranded butts. etc.

Then again, last night as I lay in bed I thought "OH CRAP, the Durango has a dead battery and needs to be jumped" no big deal normally, but my Mom's van is out of commission and she was actually planning on using MY Van to go get groceries today! Not to mention today is Election day and my plans to be at the polls early...squashed. This is also David's only day off this week he had to actually go hunting, and I didn't feel like taking that one enjoyable thing from him, when he had been cool enough to watch the kids last night for us. UGH, it just sucks a pile all the way around!

I think we have the logistics of fixing the van etc. all figured out now, but it's just going to be a looong day and I had planned on having a nice relaxing day. Oh well, I really should have known better than THAT eh?

OK, I will end this with...

GO VOTE!!! It's your civil duty, your greatest freedom, stand up, be counted, be proud! GO VOTE!!!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow

2008-11-03T16:22:00.002-05:00

Election day eve! The kids are out of school tomorrow because most of the schools are polling centers. I think I will go early because, even though we live in a small town, I know the polls are going to be packed this year. I am more excited about this election than any other since I started voting. This is the first year truly feel that my vote will count and make a difference.

So, if you haven't voted early, GOOOO VOTE tomorrow...Go early, don't wait until it's too late or the lines are too long for you to wait in. Place you vote and be proud!

Student of the Month

2008-11-02T12:10:00.002-05:00

As posted in the monthly school newsletter:

"Students of the moth are selected by their classroom teachers and other faculty/staff members for their outstanding performance in the areas of academics, attendace and attitude."

With all the Dylan stories of the past I couldn't be more THRILLED to post this!! My Kindergarten boy is Student of the Month!!! I am so happy for Dylan and could not be more thrilled with how he is doing in school. His Teacher has nothing, but the most glowing reports about him. He is excelling in all areas and I am ONE PROUD MAMA!!!

I have been so surprised at how well Dylan has "taken" to school, believe me I had my doubts (MAJOR). This little guy never ceases to AMAZE me!!

Dylan proudly displays his SOTM certifcate. He also got a nifty lapel pin that is tucked safely away in my jewlery box!

National Blog Posting Month

2008-11-02T12:07:00.001-05:00

Yesterday started National Blog Posting Month...30 posts in 30 days!! With the Holiday's coming I am sure it won't be that hard to get it done! Join me!!!

Party Time

2008-11-01T12:27:00.002-04:00

Dylan had his first class party on Friday...I am so excited about this year because Ms. S has chosen me to be her head room Mom and I get to be in charge and a part of every little thing! Here are some pics of the party

Ms. S, bless her heart it had been 40 degrees here for the past 4-5 days, who would have thought it would have ended up being in the upper 60's mid 70's on Friday? She was a good sport in her full on Tigger costume. How cute is she?? Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Ms S?? How I wish my kids could just have her as their teacher every year?? It's true, I hope she will keep teaching at least until Brody gets out of Kindergarten!

Dylan with his "girlfriend" "R" dressed as Cinderella...aren't they so cute?

Here is a shot of the whole class...That's Anthony in the 49ers uniform standing beside Dylan :)

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T10:06:00.003-04:00

It's all over, but the candy eating...

The kids had a GREAT Halloween, it ended up being warm here, compared to the 45 temps from the last week. It was Brody's first experience Trick or Treating and he got the hang of it really quickly. He would just throw his basket up and say CANDY!! CANDY!! it was very cute. We were all done and back home by 8:15pm and each of the kids ended up with a Reusable grocery bag chocked FULL of candy. Funny thing is, they won't even eat it...especially Dylan, the candy he ate last night will probably be the only candy he eats from his bag. Mikayla might eat a little more and Brody, who it seems is my "sweet eater" of the 3. David will take care of the candy and what doesn't get eaten will be thrown out at Christmas.

The kids both had parties at school...Dylan was the only Indiana Jones in his class (Surprising), but Mikayla was one of 3 Dorothys (again, surprising).

Here are my 3 little spooks.

Brody the elephant

Dylan the very serious Indiana Jones

Mikayla as Dorothy

What ever happened to GOOD Karma??

2008-10-29T22:23:00.003-04:00

I have been good, I have been REALLLLY good & still I get this shitty luck...I am just TIRED...EXHAUSTED...WORN OUT and on top of all of that I am PMSing and BITCHY. I don't even have anything nice or remotely funny to type on this blog. I have reread this month's entries and I would not be shocked if noone is even reading this anymore...Crappy, Crappy, Crap is what I feel.

I am so done with being stressed the f out all the time, I am done with not being able to sleep because my brain won't stop working or thinking about stupid shit like "oh yeah, and I only have 1 pair of jeans that fit me and I hate the style, but we are so BROKE all the time I probably won't be getting any new pair(s) any damn time soon" or "I haven't done a inside photo shoot in 2 years and now I have a whole day of them lined up (Friend is hosting a sort of Mom's expo at her house Sunday) and I need stuff that I have NO $ to buy" etc. I am tired of thinking about what to buy the kids for Christmas, since they really haven't asked for anything and Brody doesn't even need anything. I am tired of getting attitude from the girl and worrying about her school stuff. Oh, and did I mention I am TIRED??? Yeah, last weeks little "sleepover" at the hospital has caught up with me and I can't seem to get the hours I lost back.

On top of all of this I have seriously pulled my left knee and it is HURTING like a S.O.B

I mean it COULD be worse...It could be me that is laid up at my Mother In Law's house not being able to get to the toilet on my own, I could have 8 screws and a metal plate in my foot and be out of work for an, as yet, undetermined amount of time, I could be losing my house or my husband or my kids could be sick, or someone close to me could have died...I could have just been in a head on collision 2 weeks ago in one vehicle and hit a deer in my other vehicle a few days ago....I SHOULD be looking at the silver lining here, but I swear I am so DOWN IN THE DUMPS right now it is hard to see past the crappy, crap. Maybe I just need to talk to the people in my life that these things are happening/have happened to & that will make me feel better? I dunno, it would probably just make me feel more tired....

Why you should listen more closely to your kids...sometimes

2008-10-28T14:43:00.005-04:00

Yesterday we were walking home from Mom's after school and Dylan breifly mentioned that he had "accidentaly" taken his shoe off in the library and hit himself in the nose with it. I was about 1/2 way listening to him, so I just casualy said "I'm sorry buddy, don't take your shoe off at school anymore". That was it, nothing else was said...

Last night after dinner Dylan came to us in a huge fit of crying...I was in the kitchen and again was only about 1/2 listening when he said "Mom, that thing is still IN my nose and it really hurts" Waaaaaaaaaaaaa...

About 2 min. later the words filtered through my head and I FINALLY realized he said that something was IN his nose!

I then had him show me what was in his nose...turns out there are these little rubber thingys on the bottom of his shoe and during Library time he had picked one off (the smallest one) and shoved it up his nose....NICE

So David and I proceed to look in his nose, nothing...I stick the blue bulb syringe (ya know the one you get in the hospital when you have a baby?) up there and suck, nothing. We have him blow, blow, blow at least 5 times. I had started to think he was full of crap or it had come out at some point. Well, about that time he sneezed and WALAH out flew the piece of rubber...I guess the darn thing was shoved up in his sinus cavity or something, because he was doing some helluva blowing and nothing was happening!

We, of course, had a conversation about why it is not cool to put ANYTHING in your nose...I think he got it. I hope!

It wasn't the first time I have tried to get something out of a kids nose...David's nephew shoved a micro machine up of his nose when he was about 2. That was a much more traumatic experience I think my crazy Brother In Law might have used some needle nose plyers to get it out. Glad we didn't have to pull out the power tools

Read my mind

January 28th

January 26th

January 21st

January 20th

January 19th

January 18th

January 15th

January 14th

oops

January 11th

January 9th

Friday, end of week 1 picture of the day blogging!

January 8th

January 7th

January 6th

Undecorating

January 5th

January 4th

Picture a day?

Learning to say NO!

Not cut out...

Crazed

6

Birthday Parties, Ball Games, Hair Cut, Graduation...

Pomp & Circumstance

Graduation Eve

2 weeks, the countdown begins!

Time Out

Campbell Kid's Picnic

Swine Flu Update

Random

Escape Artist

Flu?

Just when I think no one is reading...

Student of the Month X 2

Scrimage

Updating *tapping my microphone* Updating

Flying the Coop

Baby Daze

Spring?

The things they say...

Snow Days = Crazy Days

The new "do"

Out of the groove

The Pit

My Baby Boy

My "big" Boy

My Girl

My Kids

Third Kids Play Pen

Winter Duldrums

My First Blog Award

Enough with the throwing things already...

Not allergies

Be Thankful

Childhood allergies (mine) revisited

Anyone that has ever changed diapers knows...

Party Time

2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Fa La La La La, La La La La

Thanks to my friend Jill...I have been elfed

Christmas Eve, Eve!

It's amazing what a shower can do for you

I don't want to be a Bah Humbuger, but...

How could it be? 2?? NOOO WAY!

Jingle all the way!

Pictures from the cookie making

Christmas Cookie Extravaganza!!

Fustrating

Winter Social Pictures

Winter Social

Gingerbread Houses and Christmas Trees Oh my...

Purge

When the kids get home from school...

Yep, he still reads my blog

Calendar

Cold...Brrrrrr

Twilight...

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