Merry Christmas!

Christmas was fun:) the Wii is a huge hit. along with a car for the little man. and my daughter is watching the new Barbie Christmas movie as I type. I've been beaten to a pulp in boxing by my oldest son, which he found very amusing. but, I kicked his butt in tennis.



















we had almost the whole family here for Christmas Day(4 people never showed....no calls....hope they are OK and had a good day...dh's family is known for their no shows). however, I would like to say that if you come to someone's home for dinner, the very least you could do is put your crap into the trash yourself. and if that person has a broken toe, stfu and get up and get your own damn drinks and food. I do have a 1 yr old. I do not leave half-filled cups and plates laying around my home, because, he will find them and dump them. that is what 1 yr olds do. and no, it's really not "cute".
I found a half eaten piece of carrot cake in the bathroom. a half filled glass of wine on the floor by the tree, which the little man was sampling(he apparently likes wine, he slept well last night).

yep, skipped a day again....but now it's Christmas Eve Day

the night before last, I woke up at about 2AM to the baby crying. I got up, half asleep, and quickly walked to him. as I got to the end of the bed, my little toe on my left foot met the oak chest. hard. crunch hard.
so, long story short= broken toe. purple, swollen, ugly toe. walking on my heel of that foot.
and most likely, no half-marathon.

does that explain my non blogginess feeling of yesterday?


but, today is Christmas Eve Day, and it'll be nice. it's sunny, and 80 degrees here. daughter is the angel in the Kid-Friendly 5PM church service. then we're off to my sister's house for dinner.

I have to cook 2 casseroles.
have the man clean the house.
have son clean hamster cages.
have the man clean up the backyard of leaves so it does not look like the brown tundra anymore.(OK< it ended up raining so we were not outside anyways)
take daughter to rehearsal at 11AM.(and found out that Joseph couldn't make it and volunteered my oldest son to play the part)
be back at church at 4:30ish for service.
double check that house is clean.
have fun.


Joseph and an angel



Christmas Eve Kid's Service

Manic Monday

so, it's Monday. kids are out of school. a cold front went through last night and it is 20 degrees colder today than it was yesterday. so, it's a little bit more "Christmasy" now. and yet, the news says it will be close to 80 for Christmas Day. ho ho ho, don't put the flipflops away just yet.

"Let It Snow!"....cuz, well, it's not gonna snow here and I know my friends are digging out of lots of the white stuff. it is pretty.

I forgot Sunday

church, cookie baking, baby took a nap(gasp!), and I had my song in mind all day for posting...and then I forgot.

"Hot Chocolate"

The Polar Express and ladders and Mommas oh my

so, I decided along with the Littles that we needed more lights outside. of course, the man is working today, so I took it upon myself to drag out the broken ladder and the strings of tangled lights. all but 1 bush is now lit in multi-colored lights. (and that damn bush.....let me tell you, if there had not been my 2 children and 2 neighbor children watching me so intently, I would have sworn like a mother effer at those lights) but, I held it in and behaved well. )oh, and no, I did not forget a child...the baby was napping)
then, they wanted the trees done.
well, the man will have to deal with the monster maple trees, but I did well with the oak in the back that is right next to their swingset. until I realized we did not have another extension cord to plug it in. oh well, another trip to Target will take care of that, right?

right now, they are watching The Polar Express and eating popcorn. (and the girl is singing a made-up song about popcorn)

"When Christmas Comes to Town"

Friday's Festivities

today was the last day of school for the Christmas...err Holiday...err Winter Break. daughter got to wear pajamas to school. she was thrilled with just that. she also had a party at 10AM. so, I dropped them off at school and told them I would be back...sort of "Terminator" style.
now, usually, the little man goes down for a nap at 10:30ish. now I knew today would be an off day, so I tried to feed him like crazy so that he would be stuffed and therefore somewhat sluggish and not run like a madman throughout the school. (this is only my third child...you'd think by now that I would know that a 1 yr old and a school full of kids does not mesh for a "restful" day)
we arrived. had the monkey backpack leash. was going to use it for the first time. this is a huge deal for me....I never thought I would be one of those Mommas who leash their children. and then I had baby #3. I will never, ever pass judgement on a fellow Momma again. the boy is wild and cannot be stopped.
but, I digress. we got there and got to daughter's classroom. and then learned that no, it's not just a class party...it's a Kindergarten music program as well. outside. and it's 80 degrees today. wonderful. nothing like sweating while in Christmas pajamas and singing Jingle Bells. wearing elf hats.



and then we had the class party and it went pretty well. little man ate more and then we said our goodbyes and headed across the campus to oldest son's class. that party was supposed to have already begun, but it had not even started yet. this was a problem, because I was hoping that we could make a quick appearance and head home for naptime.
we stayed for about 45 minutes before he was quickly headed to meltdown mode. I said our goodbyes to the teacher and we got the heck out of Dodge. he fell asleep in the car and we all got to relax a little bit.

he looks so peaceful and attentive here. and the Oscar goes to....





"HeatMiser" from The Year Without a Santa Claus

Santa visited the Daisy Troop

today was my daughter's Daisy troop meeting. Daisies are the Kindergarten version of Girl Scouts. she loves it. she gets to see all of her buddies from preschool who all go to different schools now.
today they decorated cookies, ate cookies, drank hot cocoa, ate crackers, and passed out cookies to everyone for a cookie exchange.
and then...Santa Claus showed up! it was very funny to hear the different reactions from the various girls.
"He's not the REAL Santa. I saw the real one at the mall."
"He looks very real."
"I think his beard is really attached to his skin. I don't see a string."
"I think he's beautiful." (my daughter....always impressed by the shabang of a good outfit, that one.)

and then they did an ornament exchange. guess what she got? a Hannah Montana ornament. sooo, in honor of Miss Miley Cyrus....daughter chose the song for the day.


"Rockin Around the Christmas Tree...Hannah Montana style"

Wednesday's notes

made awful cookies.....realized halfway through the mixing that I was reading 2 different recipes and then went ahead and finished up hoping that the chocolate would make it good. it didn't.


have a dinner at church tonight. whole family. bringing the strap-on chair for little man. he's been a tad "boisterous" lately. hoping if we supply him with enough spaghetti and bread, he'll behave. I have doubts.

got Christmas presents wrapped today.
the man got my oil changed.
the man is now trying to fix the garage door. again.

one of my very favorite songs....

"O Come, O Come Emmanuel" by Peter, Paul and Mary

Tuesday...oh yeah, I forgot Tuesday

well, for your listening pleasure....


"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"

Monday Craft Time

well, I made 10 "I Spy" bags today
2 bracelets
fixed a necklace
sewed a button
added velcro to a bag
and did 3 loads of laundry

(add pic here later)

"O Holy Night"

Sunday's goodiness

well, my "oh so happy, ready to decorate a gingerbread house, let's sing Christmas carols while we do it" children ditched me in the middle of making the icing for the house. the neighbor came over and invited them over to play Pokemon cards. he was more exciting than me and a gingerbread house, I guess.

oh well, I got to make a "pretty" house. and I sang. and drank wine. what is more cheery than a somewhat tipsy gingerbread house? lol





and check out this icicle action! pretty good for Florida girl, huh?






"Silver Bells"

Sleepy Saturdays and cookies

sleepy day....got home at 2AM and got back up at 6AM. not enough sleep. cookies are sugar cookies rolled in sprinkles.....no intensive decorating today. they are yummy, though!

daughter had her first sleepover birthday party last night! she told me she was going to be nocturnal for the night, but fell asleep at 10PM. she had a great time!

oldest son is off to a birthday party soon today. not a sleepover. the family already has 5 children, 2 of which are twins(birthday boys). maybe I could convince them to keep him overnight? what's one more kid after five, right?

Siberian Orchestra — Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Twilight Friday

OK, so it is not technically a Christmas song or movie, but today was to be the official opening date for Twilight...12/12/08 . But, because Hogwarts had some weather troubles, Harry and the gang had to postpone their latest installment and Twilight got moved up to November. anyways, I went to see the movie again last night. with a group of other obsessed Twilight Moms. great time!
but, man, I am too old for these midnight movies.

Twilight....Electric Light Orchestra

2 weeks from today.....

is Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh my...I need to get some stuff done today.
enjoy the tunes.


JIngle Bell Rock

haven't I lost Him before?

first of all, I have to say this... I love Fisher Price toys. Little People stuff is the best.

that said, we have lost baby Jesus. yes, there is currently an all points bulletin out for baby Jesus.

the Little People Nativity Set...great toy. L played with it for over an hour yesterday, according to the man. and now, no Jesus. we went through this a few yars ago. I can't remember if it was Little #1 or #2 who hid Jesus underneath their mattress, but now I can't find that one either.

I know He is here somewhere.

damnit, Jeus, come out and play!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Away in a Manger

the man strikes again

so it is no "new" concept that I work on Tuesdays. why? why? why?
does he wait until I get home at 6PM to begin the dinner process?
I've asked him nicely.
I've yelled. I've cried.
I've put major guilt on him.


none of it works.
I walk in the door to 3 children in Defcon 5 meltdown mode all because they are way over tired and starving. and then it's just so pleasant to make dinner and throw food onto the table while your children are so happy.

I was a bit passive aggressive and drank the last beer and "ahhhed" and "yummed" a bit in front of him.


Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

well, paint me pink and call me tickled

a child of mine has taken it upon himself to do a household chore all by himself! no threats, yelling voices, or a Momma counting outloud to make him do it. I just about fell over and couldn't decide whether I should just smile or cry with excitment.
the littlest Little, (who probably was trying to make it up to me for the whole glitter incident) picked up every article of jammie clothing and put them, one by one, into the hamper. Yeah L!!!!!!!! Momma is so happy! I've trained you in 20 months to do something that your Daddy has not mastered in 49 years! you rock!!!!


Laughing Christmas

things you do not want to be told while taking a shower

when you have been awake since 4AM because your youngest child does not believe in sleep, and you make it to 9AM and everyone has been fed and clothed and the kitchen has been cleaned up and you decide to go take a shower, this is what you do NOT want to hear.

"umm, Momma?" asks daughter
"yes?" you answer
"umm, I have something to tell you that probably won't make you smile"
RED LIGHTS AND WARNING SIRENS INSTANTLY GO OFF INSIDE MY HEAD
"what happened?" I asked, as I rinse the shampoo out of my hair
"well, Luke kind of got th glitter and glittered the carpet"
"what carpet?" I ask, now hurridly rinsing
"the carpet in the family room"
and then in walks the littlest Little and he has blue glitter all over his chin and in his mouth. I guess he decided to eat some glitter while he was decorating?
"I'll be there in a minute" I say, "take L outside for a few minutes"

so, after vacuuming glitter and wiping off chins and making a baby drink water to rinse out the glitter mouth....both older Littles are sentenced to doing hard labor today. they admitted they went to the kitchen for a snack while I showered(they ate waffles like 5 minutes prior to this, why they needed a snack I have no idea)and left the gate open. thus allowing L access to the kitchen with the glitter on the counter which he had to move a chair over to the counter to get to the glitter. all of this happened and neither of them noticed their brother was A)missing, B)making lots of noise in the kitchen by himself, or C)not in the family room playing blocks like he was 1 minute earlier. therefore, windows will be washed, leaves will be raked, floors will be swept, and poop will be scooped in the backyard.


Hark, The Herald Angels Sing

Take the "Life" Test

OK, so here's a list that I copied from a friendly tea drinking buddy's blog....copy and paste for your own test. oh, and Sonya....I like your way better,anyways!

Bold the Ones You've Done


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars - in a tent
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (world?)
8. Climbed a mountain9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo(like in front of people? no)
11. Bungee Jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill.
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon...a Half in a few weeks!
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Been transported in an ambulance
46. Walked on a beach by moonlight
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had Chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake trust me, you wouldn't WANT to.
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day...umm, Twilight,anyone?

Well, 42 of 100...umm, does that mean I just failed at life?


Peanuts Gang...O Christmas Tree

Christmas at Bass Pro Shop?

so I can understand how stores are hurting and wanting to do whatever it takes to get people to choose their store over so and so's store. and I'd just like to say that Bass Pro Shop, not one of my normal "favorite places to go" succeeded in doing just this. Santa's Wonderland with no wait, fake snow, stuffed reindeer a plenty, toy trains, remote control trucks to play with, and oh yes...the laser gun target practice. mustn't forget that. what's Christmas without a little shooting?

Santa was nice, did not get a pic with all 3 of them looking at me, though. going to try one more Santa to try to get a Christmas card pic.




all was fine until my daughter decided the snow needed a bit of fluffing. handfuls of fake snow went flying through the air. all over us. it was that sparkly, somewhat sticky, fake snow that adhers to your skin. yeah...my van is kinda sparkly now.

and for your listening pleasure today, in case you don't recognize the singer.....it's C3-PO ! A Star Wars Christmas...anyone else out there remember watching this atrocious show?

Christmas In the Stars

the climber has struck

he did it. he learned how to climb out of his crib. 3 times. no broken bones or injuries other than my family's eardrums from the screaming.

he did it for the first time at 12:03AM. wth was he doing awake at 12:03? I heard the thunk...and then the scream. I ran over there, opened the door to see him...not crying because he was hurt. no, crying because now he could not reach his blankie which had not made the trip with him.

I got him settled down, explained the dangers, got him all tucked in again.

2:42AM came the second thunk. same scenario as before.

now, you may ask yourself....why did she put him back in the crib? it was 2:42AM, that's why.

4:23AM and again with the thunk. I brought him to bed with us and he fell asleep immediately and then proceeded to kick the man in the ribs.

guess what I am buying today? no, no, not handcuffs or leashes. a toddler bed. my baby is getting a toddler bed. no more crib.

Sleigh Ride

I suck

I should never have publicly stated that I would add a song a day. I missed yesterday. I forgot. I have added 2 for today, though.

I am finally starting to kinda sorta get into the Christmas spirit this year. We have lights up outside, and half of them are not working because we need to get a new extension cord to plug them in. A few months back I was trimming the bushes(yeah, lol)out front around the palm tree and all of a sudden this huge M effer snake came right out straight at me. it shot out right between my feet and I did the only sane thing in the world. I was holding an electric hedge trimmer and I went at the thing with it. it was faster than me. I killed the extension cord and the snake got away. I never got around to buying a new one because, well, how often do you use an extension cord, anyways? Christmas time.
gotta get a new one so we can be all twinkly like the neighbors. although they have a few of those blow up figures in their yard as well. I'm not too keen on Santa and Mary sharing space in my yard.

Christmas in the Caribbean

December 2

well, technically it is December 3 already, but only by a few minutes. let's not get too picky.
and how is it that I have a king sized bed and have been pushed out? the man is comfy. the baby is comfy. and for some reason the oldest boy is quite comfy in there right now as well. he was muttering something about, "the water is too cold and she won't stop breathing on me" and climbed into my bed.when I asked him who was breathing on him, he said, "Garfield". (the dog....who is also asleep, btw)
hmmmmm, I am beginning to think I have the comfiest, coziest bed in the world. I hope I get to sleep in it soon.

My Grown Up Christmas List

It's December!

and I am going to try to add a Christmas song each day to the playlist. so just be warned that you may be reading about something very inappropriate and hearing jingly bells and Jesus music in the background.

Where Are You, Christmas?

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

so we were watching this off and on while I was making the stuffing. my oldest son loves Foster's Home for Imanginary Friends. it's a cartoon about a house where all of the imanginary friends in the world live in between having a home with a child. kinda cute, sort of a Nickolodeon Monsters, Inc.
so anyways, he yells out that the Foster's float is next. the man asks if it is a little odd to be advertising beer at a holiday parade for kids. I told him it was a different Foster's.
the kids are watching. and then....this happened

and I laughed and laughed and the kids laughed because, hey, they assumed soemthing was pretty funny. the man looks at me and asks me what is so funny? he has NEVER HEARD OF BEING RICKROLLED. gasp...must keep him more informed of all of my useless knowledge.

What's better than a little family food poisoning?

oh my God.

is the holiday over yet?

because we haven't had nearly enough puking or pooing or stink. it all started off well. Thanksgiving came, I made stuffing at home and had desserts bought and ready. (hey, I had to work the day before and seriously had no time to bake. and it has been like 80 degrees and my kitchen heats up like a Martha Stewart Hell Island when I bake anything for more than 30 minutes.)
we arrived at my sister's at 1:30. on time. awesomeness.
we ate, everything was really good and I was stuffed. I have not eaten to the omfg, I may just explode stage in a very long time and it was yummy.
kids were good. they ate. minimal food throwing from the Littlest Little. (they have a dog, so clean up was minimal)
got home, everyone got into bed and I did some laundry whilst writing the next New York Times best seller(hey, it's MY dream, OK).
and then, the next day happened.

son #1 woke up and ate a doughnut and then went to my bed and fell back to sleep. unusual, yes...but he was up late the night before so I thought he was just tired.

the man announced that he had a stomach problem and then went back into the bathroom that he had just come out of.

I was not feeling 100%, but thought I was just tired.

at approximately 10 AM, son #1 walks out of my bedroom and says those famous words that all Mommas in the world know and fear. "Momma, I don't feel so blaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh". all over himself and the floor. I got him to the kitchen sink where he proceeded to throw up for a few more minutes. he got into the shower while I cleaned it all up, and when he came out, he announced that he was now fine and then collapsed onto my bed again and slept for 10 hours.

the man made appearances off and on all day in and out of the bathroom.

at dinnertime, everyone seemed better. I made pizzas and we all ate.

baby bath time came and as I was drying off the little one, he puked. on me. on the bathroom floor. and on himself.

I restarted the bath and put him right back in. where he proceeded to throw up again. and have diarrhea. IN THE TUB.

I yelled for the man to get himself to me asap and take little man to the shower. I then cleaned the tub and bathroom.

got him clean and jammied and to bed. he woke up 2 hours later and puked again. this time, however, he only hit the towel that I had laid down onto the bed and his shirt. the man took care of that episode.

3AM it hit me. at least I was allowed some privacy (aka no one woke up and helped me at all) for my vomiting. I then went back to bed. and slept until 9AM. the man got up with the kids and let me sleep. bless him.

I have not made the phone call yet to see if anyone else is sick. were we poisoned? was it a bug that was already brewing in one of the Littles that decided the day after Thanksgiving was the day to make its' appearance? we shall see. I have doubts about my mil's sweet potatos. I'll just make that statement now.

I've been Twilighted twice so far

and I am happy:)

yes, budget limitations are very evident in the special effects scenes. sparkling Edward looked like a sort of glittery sweaty Edward who was having a panic attack. Edward sucking out the venom was more comical than I ever thought sucking out venom could be.

I loved seeing Stephenie Meyer in the diner scene! Jacob was so cute. makes me wonder how the hell New Moon Jacob will look. I'll worry about that then. perhaps he will have a major growth spurt and be just fine. teenaged boys have been known to do that. 'cuz Jacob is supposed to be like 6 foot 7 or so. huge platform shoes, maybe?

I saw it at midnight and loved that experience! so much fun:)

I saw it Saturday night with my 9 yr old son and 12 yr old niece. more fun:) and we got to see the new Harry Potter preview, too.

overall, I give it a solid B. room for improvement, but satisfying.

Hamster War

well, yesterday afternoon I was getting my grocery list ready and then heard this really odd, scary sound. it sounded like a child was screaming into a 2 liter bottle of soda and every so often I would hear a grunt.(no, don't ask me why I thought that is what it sounded like. my children have never screamed into a 2 liter bottle of soda, we're a can kind of family. that is just what I thought of when I heard the sound).so I hear this sound and can account for all three Littles because they are sitting right with me. all of them are fine. they are all looking at me, though, wondering what the sound is coming from.
oldest son jumps up and screams, "Cali!"
daughter screams, "Willow!"
and they both get up and run towards their bedroom. they open the door and the noise gets much louder. it is the hamsters, who apparently have declared war on one another and are attacking each other. they are chasing each other around the cage. bedding is flying up in tufts. screams can be heard. yes, hamsters scream. it's not pleasant to hear, not that anyone screaming in pain or terror is a nice sound, but still, this was one of those "ouch, that hurts my ears" kind of scream.
son opens top and starts to put his hand in there. "STOP!!!!!!!!!!!" I scream. man, we can all scream in this family....
all I could picture was his little hand getting mauled by 2 mutant, insane hamsters. not gonna happen, mister. not on my watch.
so then I had to figure out how to get them apart. I sure as hell was not putting my hand in there. no little hands were going in there.
and then, I thought of the tupperware.
I got a sandwich container lid from the kitchen. I separated the two mongrels and then scooted one over to one far side of the cage. alone. I picked up Willow, who was sporting a bloody nose and was panting. I got a baby wipe and wiped Willow's nose off, small cut on her little hammy nose, no other injuries.
I put convict #1 into the ball and put her in the kitchen, aka solitary confinement.
got out convict #2 and used about 4 wipes on her. "Skipper" was the main victim here. she has 2 bites on her back, a bite on her foot and a cut ear. Willow is a bad ass little fighter, it seems. who knew??????????
so, we got all kids and hamsters calmed down and I added a new hamster cage to my list.
bought one, got home and got Willow into her new pad. everyone is very happy and all bleeding has stopped. why, after nearly a year of living together happily as three female hamsters did these two suddenly decide that they hate one another? (the third hammy, Cali, was sitting off to one side during the whole fight scene, washing her face and ignoring the whole fiasco)

all is well today. they're happy and calm again. for now.

Election is over, maybe now we can have more Twilight?

OK, I may sound lame, but Yah! we have a new President and he is the first ever AA President for the USA. wanna know my concerns? I am so glad the political commercials can take a breather, which will free up a ton of time on TV and perhaps Twilight previews will become my crack(or heroin) that the increasingly slimey political ads were. I enjoy as the election gets nearer and the commercials that that...change to the dark side. they start out with trying to stick to the issues. taxes, education, medical....and then they become different. it's like at any minute someone is going to yell out, "omg! he killed 3 children and ate them at a BBQ and then he screwed his next door neighbor's dog and then he sucked up 15 lines of coke and now he's running for Congress! that's why you should vote for ME!"

so, 15 days until Twilight. got the soundtrack last night after I voted. I wasn't going to, but it was sort of a sign. I was at Target, and there was only 1 copy left. 1 copy of the Twilight soundtrack. for me. I got it, and then little man age 9 told on me. he totally gave up his Momma within like 5 minutes of me walking in the door. he saw it....yells out, "Momma bought something about the vampires!".
wanna know how I got back at him? I made him listen to it all the way to school today...mwahahahahahaa . oh yeah, just you wait and see who's 9 year old will be humming Linkin Park and Paramore....

review of the soundtrack= love Paramore, Linkin Park, Perry Ferrel. and I realy hate that I am saying this, but the Rob Pattinson song....ehhhh, umm perhaps is I could understand what he is saying I may like it more, but it honestly sounds liek his mouth is stuffed with cotton or he is on heavy sedatives and can't quite form the words completely. and really, it pains me to say that. I was all willing to say he was a wonderful singer. I will listen to it a few more million times and maybe he'll grow on me. or bite me.

and the candy, oh the candy!

Halloween 2008 was definitely a success here in Florida! perfect weather, slight chill to the air, clear night. no mosquitoes. that's a first, I believe.
we had a Dementor, a karate girl and a monkey. the monkey only trick or treated for about 15 minutes until Grandma arrived and then he was left with Grandma for a night of all consuming spoiling to occur. I think they both enjoyed it, however apparently there was an incident where my little precious love did not want his diaper changed and proceeded to have a screaming, rolling, hitting fit while Grandma tried to wipe poop and cover him with a fresh diaper. I fixed the diaper when I got home....it was only fastened on one side and somehow he had not peed all over the house and himself.
we trick or treated down the street, picked up a neighbor and added him to the mix, and then went around almost the whole neighborhood.
2 huge bags of candy came home with us. the Dementor has discovered the joys of Pixie Sticks(after I instructed him on the proper eating technique, poor kid was trying to suck the sugar out, thus turning it into a stuck together sugar plug). the karate girl likes Starburst. the monkey had a Dum Dum and then stuck it to his Daddy's head.
I also got a bit of running into to night. neighbor boy decided he was done and I took him home and then ran back to find my group. while I was gone, a convertible had driven by and gave out Jello shots to the adults, candy to the kids. I always miss out on the good stuff.
and here we are, I was a Twilight Mom :)

I'm sort of kind of published!

have you ever heard of this thing called fan fiction? I never had, not until I started my umm, extreme like of vampires and Twilight. so, there is a site called fanfiction.net . the whole idea is that anything you are a fan of, be it a book(Twilight), a movie, a TV show, a play...anything, you can write a story that either continues off where the story left off, or change the story around, or do just about whatever your little heart desires as long as you keep at least some of the original characters in it. if you have never looked, do it. there is some amazing writing out there! it can range anywhere form rated "Kiddie" to "Mature". and yes, you know I read the M stuff first;) lol
so, I started a story... ask for the link if you're interested, OK?

woohooooo, Twilight Momma moment!

I just bought my tickets for the midnight premiere of Twilight! yes, I am one of THOSE people and loving every moment of the madness! woohoooooo! oh, and I've sucked in my niece through bribery and love;) I made her read the book. made her let me download the audiobook onto her ipod. and now, she's coming with me to this premiere. yes, I'm an addict who has forced to her become a co-dependant vampire lover. and I'm not sorry at all...........does that make me a bad Aunt or a good Aunt that I know she will love this and I want to be with her to see it?
I'm going with the second option, it doesn't sound quite so scary.

well, it's been a while....

where has time gone that I have not posted since 10/13? (incidentally, that is the day that I met the man, in 1989) why do I remember this? becasue we were at a wedding and it was Friday the 13th. who in their right mind would PLAN a wedding for Friday the 13th? ehhh, they divirced, she is now on husband #3, not sure about the guy.
anyways, what has been happening to keep me so busy, you ask?
the man is better.
the 2 older kids got their first report cards and both are passing, although the boy needs to improve his math grade, soon.
the baby had his 18 month check up and is doing great, despite 3 shots:(
I have been warunning as much as I can, but not as much as I should be to get ready for the half marathon. must do this more so I do not embarrass my ass.
this week is red ribbon week at school. you know, the say no to drugs/ just say no/ don't smoke week. I am helping to decorate both kids' classroom doors. it's a contest of sorts, but the kids have to do all of the decorating. I am just putting up the white paper and telling them where to put thsi and that. hopefully it ends up looking presentable. daughter's classroom is right in the car pick-up line, so I'm hoping that one at least does not too horrible.
did I mention the man is better? yeah, I think I am wearing him out at night. he is not complaining, and hasn't asked why. let's just say in my already read Twilight 3 times and can't wait for the movie to come out, I've found some other reading material. fanfiction.net . yep, I'm 100% addicted. bringing my friends down into my addiction with me;) but hey, we've got husbands with big smiles:)

the invisible momma

I am having one of those, "I must be invisible and mute, because no one is freaking listening to me when I say anything" moments.
yes I must have accidentally ingested the magic potion that makes me invisible. perhaps the children slipped it into my coffee?
want examples? sure ya do!
"E***, please put these shoes away. They do not belong in the middle of the kitchen floor."
silence
"1"
nothing
"2" I even spoke a bit louder this time.
no movement.
"3. you have just lost your DS for a day."
screaming, crying, pouting, alligator tears....pleads of "please! please! I was gonna do it, Momma".
yeah, the whole theory of "I was gonna do it" just does not fly. that implies that you heard me, chose to ignore me, consciously decided in your mind that yes, you would move your shoes, but only when you were darn well ready to do it and not 1 second before that. that is completely 100% not acceptable!

so, she lost her DS and then continued into a downward spiral of whining that landed her in bed by 7PM. and asleep by 7:15PM. the man thought I was callous and mean. the house was a LOT quieter without her screaming, though. the boys are so much easier...
it's that estrogen vs. estrogen that gets us into trouble.

why, how much do you want to know?

so, a little background info is needed for this to make sense....

a week ago, the man was complaining of a headache. I asked him if he had taken any meds. his response was no. I gave him Motrin and he took it and said something to the effect of "hey, that helped. thanks." fast forward a few days, head still hurts behind his left eye. he goes to the eye Dr. and they say his eye is fine, but dry. he needs to use wetting drops. does he? not unless I physically tell him to open up his eye and I put the drops in. and his head still hurts. the Motrin helps, but he has some odd aversion to taking medication.
Monday he tells me he has a rash on his scalp.
yesterday(Tuesday) he wakes up and his left eye is almost swollen shut and the rash is now covering half of his forehead.
he calls our family Dr. and since the last time he went there it was 2000, he is considered a new patient again. they can't see him until Thursday. I tell him no way, you are going to CentraCare today. so, I came home form work early and took over baby care and he left.
he calls me about 30 minutes later and tells me he has shingles!

so, he has been back to the eye Dr. no damage has been done to the eye, but he has to go back again tomorrow for another exam. he waited too long before being seen and the 3 day window for antiviral drugs has past, so basically he has to wait it out. Motrin, Benadryl and anti itching cream is what he is using now.
he did call in sick to work today. and he is sleeping right now. but he looks like Hell. not exactly "Happiest Place on Earth" ready right now. I think he'll be behind the scenes for a while. aftre all, he does not work at a scary skin disease factory. perhaps he can transfer to Universal Studios for a bit?
we did have a good laugh last night. I explained to the kids what shingles is and they listened very well. well, I thought they did. daughter then proceeded to ask Daddy how his pringles were feeling? lol

oh, and as of right now...the baby has a fever of 101. very cranky.
not happy. at all.

is this the chicken pox or due to the fact that his lower canine teeth are almost broken through the skin? we shall see. if a rash breaks out, then I guess the vaccine did not work quite 100%. if he gets more teeth and goes back to being his normally pleasant baby self, then the good news is that he'll be done with teething for quite some time. I *think* these are the last ones. little man does not give me much access to his teeth.

multi-age fun

I have mentioned I stop in at the school now and then. I have a volunteer position/job that I do that usually takes about 45 minutes every other week to complete. I have learned that if I go into the office at about 1:30, I can do my job and then have the last few minutes to go over to my daughter's classroom to help out and make sure everyone has all of their belongings in the correct backpacks and such.
so yesterday, I did just this. and when I went into daughter's class, it was somewhat typical chaos. a group of kids(K) were at a table with the teacher's daughter(high school senior)learning about money. a group of 1st graders were doing something with glue, string and popsicle sticks. and the 2nd graders were reading with the teacher at a table. I walked in and said I just stopped by to help, and she sent me to the glue fiasco/project.
"so, what are we making?" we're making a rainbow. or so they said.
OK.
let me explain the scene..... brown yarn, school glue, and wooden sticks. a rainbow, you say? ahhh, yes, I see it! (no, not really, but they were very excited and proud of themselves, so I nodded and smiled a lot)
so then they tell me the rest of the plan. they were constructing a rainbow and were then going to paint it. umm, yeah, you have like 5 minutes of school left for the day. no painting happening right now. disappointment fell over each face.

quick! think!

I look in the art closet and find a bazillion coloring pages of rainbows. I hand 1 out to each child and tell them their homework is to make the most beautiful rainbow they have ever seen. I told them to use any art supply at their house to help make it. they were happy. can't wait to see what they come up with!
after the first bell rang, I de-glued and de-sticked and de-yarned the table.
so then the teacher tells me that she wanted to talk to me about daughter for just a minute. instant panic set in...was she in trouble?
my son got there and I told them to sit down for a minute with their little brother so I could talk and then we'd go home.
seems that my daughter is doing really well in K so far. so well that the teacher is assuming she'll be ready for 1st grade material after the Christmas holidays.

thunk.

that was me, falling over.

"uhhh, really?"
"yes!"

damn! he got my logic gene!!!!!

so, next week is school picture day. son #1 needs a haircut, desperately. his hair is not the kind of hair that looks good longish. it grows "out" and at all different angles because he has about 10 cowlicks scattered across his skull. however, he does not want to get his hair cut. is being rather opinionated about the whole subject.
I say, I am the Momma and if I say you are getting a haircut, you're getting a haircut. end of statement.
so what does he tell me this morning? he tells me if he gets his hair cut, he won't be able to have messy hair like the vampire on the computer.


I can't argue with that logic.

Robert Pattinson's Messy Hair

one of THOSE moments

I know you've had a moment like this. every woman has them at some point or another. OK, maybe Bella has never had a moment like this with Edward. but well, he's a vampire, so I'm not sure if I can include them in my discussion.
but he is very nice to look at.
and Emmett, I like Emmett.
OK, back to topic....

so last night after dinner, we(meaning I) decided we would go for a family walk. I needed to get in at least 30 minutes or so of good walking and I decided the whole family should come along. the weather was nice, it was still daylight...why not, right?
so, I walk/run with baby in stroller.
the man walks, in flip flops.(don't ask...he told me halfway through the walk that he thought we were just going for a leisurely stroll, not sweat walking)
son #1 is on roller blades.
daughter is on bike.
the walk went well. I ran a bit, got a honk and a "woohoo" from a truck(which I could not respond to...because I was running and slowly dying at this point, but it did give me a bit of a lift that apparently some man out there in this world enjoyed seeing me run. with a stroller. and 2 other kids about 20 feet in front of me. and my husband about 20 feet behind me. but, whatever. thank you truck man for giving me that split second thought of, "oh, really? you like?".
then we turned around and went back. we got to the point where the trail crosses the road near our subdivision. a really BUSY road. stupid planning. so, the kids got there and waited for us. we have a drink of water and wait for our chance to cross the road. a time comes, and the man yells "go across!" and son #1 roller blades across while the man jogs across. daughter is at a dead stop on her bike and cannot just start riding across the street with no help/push. I'm behind her with the stroller. man and son #1 are now across the street and daughter is starting to roll. except now a car is coming. I scream at her to stop and then proceed to call my husband a few choice names and scream at him across the street. a Mom stopped and blocked traffic with her car so we could cross.(thank you, fellow Momma)
he tells me he was trying to help. yes.....seeing my child mowed down by a car right in front of me and the rest of the family would be ever so helpful. I told him(and I said this in front of the kids, which I now feel badly about)that that was the effing most irresponsible father moment of his life thus far. and if another such moment should happen, he'd better pray that I was not there to see it.
yeah, so, one of those moments where you question your life choices. a normally intelligent, good man does a really stupid thing. and you get to watch it all happen in front of you.
as my daughter would say..."ahhh, good times. good times."

party fun and Halloween preperations

so yesterday was my son's birthday party. we had it at an indoor playground with those huge bounce houses and slides all over the place. you know, an air conditioned Florida type party where the parents can have free wifi access and coffee while their children run around like maniacs for 2 hours. it went well.
it was so great, in fact, that another of his friends was having his birthday party at almost the exact same time. the other little boy is not in my son's class this year, so I didn't feel too embarrassed that we were both there at the same time and a few of the boys were party hopping from room to room because they had been invited to both. we finally just opened up the connecting doors and the kids had fun having a bite of his cake and our cake, our pizza/their pizza, they had soda, we had juice boxes.all in all, it was a lot of fun for the kids and my 9 year old had a blast.

the birthday boy in blue with some buddies(and yeah...he's a head taller than everyone and these boys are all the same age)












today was spent with me putting together a Lego race car. (my sister bought this for my son, and yes, he attempted to put it together and then had a whole handful of extra parts left over and the wheels wouldn't move and the only thing that looked right was the driver. so, I snuck it away and re-assembled the thing.)hey, I only had 4 parts left over when I was done. and the wheels spin.
now my daughter has decided she wants to have her birthday party here, too. fine. easy. except she has 10 months until her next birthday. she's a planner, that one.
speaking of planning, the kids have their Halloween costumes decided upon already! oldest son is going to be a Dementor(a present) and is thrilled. he is not so thrilled that I refused to buy the Dementor dead hands that can be added to the costume. they're creepy looking dead hands with long nails. we'll pass.
daughter has gone from being a princess to a dead princess to a flying monkey to a karate girl. she can wear her brother's karate outfit and that's pretty easy. little man will be a monkey. the whole costume is very fitting as I extract him dailey from high places that I was sure he could never reach and he does so with apparent ease. he also happens to love bananas. and, hey, the costume is cute.

PTA fun

OK, let me preface this statement by saying that I am not THAT PTA MOM that we all know. and you know what I'm talking about.... the Mom who is at school every flipping day and knows every member of the front office staff and cafeteria by first name and looks like she works there, but no, she is just hanging out at school everyday. I'm there maybe once a week. well, every other week.
so anyways, I volunteered for a job for the PTA. officially, every parent has to volunteer 15 hours per child enrolled each year at our school. not a lot, when you consider how long the school year is. an hour here or there. you can take home stuff from the teacher's to do at home.(I just cut out 22 "forms of transportation" for my daughter's K class). OK, so I can write down that I spent 1 hour cutting out shapes. easy, right?
apparrantly not.
apparrantly it is really difficult to even fill out the freaking form. the form that consists of your name, your child's name, and the teacher's name. mind boggling.
and how do I know it's so hard? because it is my job to add up all of the volunteer hours for the K parents. so I have gone in 3 times to do this so far. after the first time, I saw that the majority of the K teachers did not even HAVE the forms in the folders. I sent out an email to them, asking if they had them in their rooms? drop them off to Mrs. so and so and I will get them and I will file them for you.
no response.
I went in the second time, no changes.
I went in today, yeah...no changes. so, I asked the receptionist to print me up all of the K students names by class. I sat my butt down and filled out forms for all of these lazy ass parents and the book is now complete.
now, wanna hear the funniest thing? another Mom was there doing the same thing for
3rd grade. (and yes, my form was in there! lol) this Mom was huffing and sighing and making all of these exasperated noises next to me. I asked her if she was OK.(really, I wanted to say, "can you shut up? I'm trying to get this done and get out of here!") so she said, "ugh! half of these classes don't even have all of their forms! there are 3 forms for this class, 5 forms for this one. is that all the students that the 3rd grade has?". umm, no. 3rd grade is one of the largest groups. there are I think 6 3rd grade classes. so I tell her what I did, and she says, "oh, I didn't realize this job was going to be so taxing."
this job is taxing?
really?
what are you used to doing? going for pedicures dailey?
if that job is taxing, I would LOVE to know what this woman does all day.
oh, and I finished and left. she was still there, breathing heavily.

I have a 9 year old today!

my oldest is 9 today!!!!!!!!!
he is getting so big(tall big, he is as skinny as can be) and is loosing that babyish quality. his face is changing. he has different sized teeth all over the place. his hair is forever a mess. and he cannot make his bed for anything.
but, he is so much fun. he has such a good sense of humor, and loves to joke around with me:) he will tell me these intricate, long details about a certain Pokemon and I will listen intently and nod and oooh and ahhhh.
and then, he will finish and say, "you don't know what I am talking about at all, right, Momma?"
"no, not a clue".
and he will shake his head and laugh and laugh......
we had chocolate cupcakes and milk for breakfast. his favorite dinner is spaghetti, salad and bread sticks. and more cupcakes. he is having a party on Saturday with kids and then family....I can't believe next year I'll have a double digit little!!!!


first day of Kindergarten






first day of 3rd grade

so, perhaps I am having a midlife crisis

it just occurred to me that maybe that is what is happening to me. I am 38, turn 39 in January. I assume that qualifies me as middle aged.
let's see. I decided to write a book. I have had this thought in my head for a long time, but this is the first time I have actually committed myself to sitting down at least 3 times a week to seriously write it all out. the story is all in my head. but, it's long and it takes a lot longer to write it all out than what I had thought. but, I am working on it and I am happy with it so far.
I also just recently signed up to participate in the 2009 Walt Disney World Half Marathon. yeah, me. in an organized sporting event. go figure. I am doing it with a group from church for a charity and will post more info on this soon. (I have not gotten all of the info yet) so, yeah...13 miles. I can do that, right?
let's see, what else? I went blond and traded in the family mobile for a shiny red sports car.





yeah, that last part was a lie. I can't fit 3 kids into a shiny red sports car. and the man wouldn't fit in a shiny any color sports car. his legs don't fit in sporty cars. and, I don't have the patience for the upkeep on roots.



so all in all, writing a book and walking/crawling 13 miles for charity isn't so bad for a midlife crisis. I've seen much worse on TV.

yet another Houdini hamster

before I started this blog, we had an incident with an escapee hamster who went missing in our house for 7 days. we(well, I)was sure it had become a cat snack and that the hamster was long gone. we were so sure, in fact, that we got a new hamster. and then, I found the hamster in the garage at the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket. very hungry. very thirsty. and very loving and happy to see her owners again.
so, fast forward a couple of years and we are now on hamsters #4, 5 and 6. the latest addition, #6, otherwise known as Willow, has decided she can do what Puddles could do and do it even better.
she has figured out how to open an opening that was secure, and then close it so that when I walk by the cage to check on her and see that there is no hamster in the hamster cage, and yet the cage is completely shut and secured. she has done this successfully 3 nights in a row.
the first morning, I did not notice her until I walked by the kids' bathroom and saw her sitting on the closed toilet, on her hind legs, looking at me as if she were casually saying, "oh, hi Momma". I had to do a double take to make sure it was Willow, and not some stray mouse that had somehow taken up residence on one of out toilets.
the second morning, she was simply gone. we found her a few hours later in the kids' closet.
the third morning(yesterday), she was again, gone. we found her behind the TV.
I made the decision to move Willow from the cute little pink Princess cage that apparrantly is crap for containment to the blue, sturdy, unescapable(in 3 years)other hamster cage. so, we now have 3 female hamsters living together. I am going to find the same brand cage (bigger) so that they have a bit more room. they all get along well, so I'm hoping there are no hamster wars that break out.
the daughter was not happy about getting rid of the pink cage. however, after being forced to crawl around the house on her belly with a flashlight 2 mornings in a row to find her little friend, she agreed that Willow needed a stronger cage. on a more positive note, we found countless bouncy balls, cars, Barbie clothing and 2 spoons during the hamster searches.

gray hair

makes me depressed. I must go get my coloring supplies and have a little "make Momma look 35 again" party. and why do the gray hairs have to pop up where they are most visible? like, right on my part and at the temples? they couldn't be, say, underneath the middle of the back of my head. (and yes, I've checked...those are all still very auburn/brownish.
that's all for today.

in case you have ever wondered how many Hot Wheels cars can fit inside of a toilet.....

I have that answer for! read on.....


"The number of Hot Wheels cars that can successfully inserted into a standard American toilet"

"oooh!!!! ooohhhhhh! Alex, I have that answer!!!!!!! pick me! pick me!"
that's me, waving my little clicker thingy wildly in the air, jumping up and down, smiling like a crazy woman at Alex Trebek

Alex smiles condescendingly towards the cray woman and says, "You'll need to phrase that in the form of a question".

I smile at my utter silliness of forgetting that most important part. "Of course, Alex", I say, in my most adoring voice. because he IS the God of trivia, you know.
"What is 23?" I ask, in a very securebeentheredonethatMomma voice. (yes, yes...I know that's not a "real" word)

"DING DING DING"
"that is correct!"

I smile in that all knowing smile that all of those freakishly smart people smile like. you know, the ones who know the first word of the Koran but probably could not change a diarrhea diaper without making the entire room a complete mess? those people.

and how do I knwo the answer to that question? (the one about the toilet) why, I have now added that experience to my Mommalife. today. this morning, in fact.
7:freakin 22 AM. I had 23 assorted Hot Wheels cars in my kid's bathroom toilet. courtesy of the smallest miracle. he was quite proud of himself. you see, I had made the ultimate Momma mistake #1 of taking a shower. whilst I soaped and exfoliated myself, the little love was gathering cars and shoving them down the toilet.
yes, they all came out. yes, the toilet was clean. yes, the water was all over the floor. yes, I gagged a bit and had to swallow that upcoming "I'm gonna hurl because my hand is all the way inside of the toilet and I KNOW what has been in this toilet" feeling.

thinking of installing those handy dandy high latches on all doors of the house. or perhaps I am raising a future Roto Rooter King. I haven't decided just yet.

September 11...again

I'm going to take a short break from my usual blogging for today.


7 years have passed. 7 years since our country stopped and took in a deep breath and then sobbed. so many lives were lost that day and in the days that followed. so many lives are still being lost and there seems to be no end in sight. my son was not quite 2 years old when 9/11/2001 happened. will we still be at war when he turns 18? when do we as a country say "enough" and use our resources to make OUR country strong and safe and successful and say so long to this war that seems to be doing nothing but taking more sons and daughters away from us? I don't want to be one of those Mommas who get a letter saying "we regret to inform you....". I don't want any of my friends to be that Momma either.
enough is enough.

my heart and prayers go out to everyone who lost a loved one 7 years ago today.

PSA

for the cleaning inept.

bleach and Tilex do not mix well. in an enclosed bathroom with the window and the outdoor door closed. yeah, my neighbor thought I was dying. not dying, just...cleaning the shower. just made it outside and was able to sit on the lounge and gasp in some oxygen. all is well now. shower is sparkling.

the BEST child birthday party ever!

yeah, so last night I took my son to a birthday party. I dropped him off, went and did the grocery shopping in peace, and then dropped off the food at home and returned to the party. I had my vampire shirt on. another Mom was in the party room and immediately smiles and says, "cool shirt". ahhhhhhh! I spent the next 2 hours talking Twilight with this woman.
best birthday party ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a little field trip with the kids

well, I looked over my previous posts and I cannot believe I have not once mentioned in here(other than my book list)that I, a Momma, am kinda sorta well really interested in the Twilight series of books and the upcoming movie that opens 11/21(which is a wonderful date...the Friday before Thanksgiving, so it's sort of like a mini vacation for all of us Americans). whew...can you say holy run on sentence?
so anyways, I have read all of the books. yes, even the leaked super secret 12 chapters of the unfinished novel and I loved that, too. (if you have no idea what I'm referring to, please, go here and see what I mean. it is a really fantastic series to read and it sort of just sucks you in. (hee hee, I said it sucks you in.you'll get it after you read the books. I promise, it's funny.)
OK, OK, where does a field trip come into all of this, you ask? why let me tell you. here in the USA, we have a store in most suburban malls called Hot Topic. it's a different kind of store. darkish. very loud music. lots of skull merchandise. t shirts galore of every rock band you have never heard of and also a ton of shirts from TV and movies.
I needed to go in. you see, they carry Twilight merchandise. I will say we balanced all of the skulls and horror themed merchandise with a quick trip to Toys R Us beforehand. so, I was glad/relieved out of my mind that the Twilight shirts were right up front. I was, by far, the oldest person in the store. by about 20 years. so there I was, pushing the Graco with the baby in it, the 5 and 8 year olds in tow behind us, inside Hot Topic. I chose my shirt quickly(I already knew which one I wanted)and then we browsed a bit. the baby was be-bopping away to the music, smiling, giggling at every person who looked at him. his new thing is to wave and say "Ha". they loved him! the 8 year old was enthralled with The Nightmare Before Christmas display. the 5 year old was amazed that apparently, adults wear Miffy and Hello Kitty t shirts(all of the shirts were in adult L and XL sizes???).
and then, I paid for my shirt and got involved into a lengthy discussion on why the salesgirl should absolutely read the 12 chapters of Midnight Sun and how wonderful it is.
my children have now seen my geeky, vampire loving side. they didn't run screaming. my son did ask me if I was going to wear the new shirt "outside of the house". ohhhhh, yes, dear son of mine, yesss, Momma is.

hoomicanes and other weather news

we had this discussion this morning...
E "there are 3 storms now, Momma"(watching the morning news)
me "yes, but hanna is headed north of us, up to where grandpa lives"
E "well, where should we move to? there must be somewhere that doesn't get these, these, hoomicanes"


omg, I had to literally swallow a gulp of coffee that burned my throat to keep myself from laughing. she was so serious. once the burning stopped, I showed her on the map where hurricanes hit. then we discussed tornado alley. then we discussed earthquakes, blizzards, heavy rain areas, desert conditions, volcanos, and eskimos came up as well. so, you see, hurricanes are OK. at least we can know ahead of time where it is and what to do to get ready. she was OK with this explanation and then asked me if we chose to live in Florida because of the hoomicanes.
I just smiled and said, "yes, yes we did"

Happy Labor Day 2008

well, the long weekend has finally decided to show some sunshine:) Saturday was gray and raining and windy(compliments of Hurricane Gustav off of the coast)and generally miserable. miserable because we were trapped in the house and I never thought I'd say thank goodness for a Pokemon marathon on a cartoon channel.
and here we are, labor day is here and at this very moment I am awaiting one of either 2 things to happen. a child will be screaming soon in pain or excitement. my dughter has decided she no longer needs training wheel son her bike. the man is right now taking them off of the barbiefied pink bicycle while she supervises.
my older son has absolutely no desire to learn to ride a bike. none at all. his last bicycle is now hanging on a hook awaiting for his baby brother to grow into it. he is happy to rollerblade like a crazed maniac on the loose and now he also is trying the skateboard. a bike? nope, not his speed.
thank goodness for all of that Nasa made technology for helmuts.

ahhh, the van is back at home

755

755

755

that's how many dollars I just had to pay to spring my piece of crap family mobile out of the shop.
but, it's Friday. I have a vehicle again. long weekend. the man has Monday off with us.

going to my happy place. it better have alcohol in it.
oh, look...it does have alcohol and the man and I are there together.....

shhhh.....I'm whispering

I am so so so so glad that Hurricane Gustav is not heading towards Florida.
sorry New Orleans people....


and...I spoke too soon. this cone looks very much like it is heading to Florida, right? its' name will be Hanna.

well fuck me(excuse the language)

the van is paid off. what happens? I now am without a vehicle because yesterday on my way to work, I noticed the brakes were making a hissing noise and were not braking as quickly as they were before. so, I get the receptionist to follow me at lunch to drop off the van at the place where I just got a complete brake job done a year ago and is still under warranty. she drove me back to work.

a few hours later, I get a chance to call and check on the van.....
diagnosis= the problem is not covered under the warranty because my brakes are absolutely fine. the power brake system in the van is about to completely fall apart and it is so bad that they cannot release the vehicle to me because they took it all apart to see what was happening, and a part that they took out is disenigrating and they do not have a new part to replace it with, so basically, I'm screwed.
and how much will this cost? about $600. lovely.

I'm so glad I don't have a car payment to make anymore. I'd much rather pay it to Goodyear. it's so much more...fun. fun to know that I own a piece of crap vehicle that could have killed me and my children at any given point.

so, car should be ready on Friday. now I just need to come up with $600 by Friday to be able to pick up the piece of crap car. I guess it's a good thing I went back to work. although, I had thoughts of buyign a new car with my extra income, one that gets better gas mileage and is a bit smaller. I had no idea I would be paying to keep the van all in 1 piece first before i could even save some money for a new car.

silly me. I thought this would be easy. hahahahahahaha. wth was I thinking?

well, today had to have some sort of entertainment

didn't I just write saying that I got so much accomplished today? did you hear the "dum da dum dum dummmmm" like I did after publishing that?

so it got really quiet. too quiet. and then I heard the laughter. I followed the little sweet sound to my bathroom.

my baby was standing in the toilet. marching. splashing water ALL OVER THE BATHROOM. watching himself in the mirror, very pleased with this new trick.

and yes, the toilet was clean. and now the whole bathroom gets to cleaned again, and he is getting a tubby.

who knew a toilet could be such a source of entertainment?

ahhh, school IS IN!

wow, I have gotten so much accomplished today. the older 2 are at school and are riding the bus home, so I have some free time. free time. what a concept.
yesterday was spent at a bridal boutique. a poshy, friffy froo froo bridal boutique. and no, I am not getting married. my sister is getting married(for the 3rd time)and is having an all out wedding bash. so, I was able to drop the boys off with an uncle and a nephew and I took my daughter to go shopping. I am a bridesmaid and she is the flowergirl. she wasn't really all that pleased with the idea of looking at dresses at first. then, when she saw the racks of frilly, swirly, fluffy dresses in her size, she quickly made the turn to frantic "oooh, I like this one!", ""ooohhh, look at this one!", "wow...this one is soooooo Cinderellery". yes, she made up that word. also, the promise of a new WebKinz worked wonders. so, we all chose dresses and they will all be in the same color. the bride chose a flowergirl dress, but I had them hold off on ordering it. $150 for a little girl dress was a bit much, I thought. (and, lucky I did...I found one today for $30 that comes with a matching headpiece/tiarra! woohooooo! this Momma loves a bargain!)
and now we're at today, Monday. my daughter was very easy to get up this morning. surprisingly so. you know those moments when your child is really easygoing and quick to do exactly what you ask of them and you end up looking at them with a farawy look in your eyes as if you're thinking, "is this really my child? did the bodysnatchers make an appearance last night while she slept???". anyways, she got right up and ate breakfast and was sitting on the couch, fully dressed by the time my older son got up. he is what we call, "morning challenged". he is so going to be a coffee drinker one day. he needs to roll around and stretch and grumble. a lot. once he is awake, he's generally a pretty pleasant kid. at what age would introducing coffee be acceptable to speed the pleasantness along?

well well well...I do live in the Sunshine State!

oh my...my eyes.....it burns, I'm squinting. oh my Lord! the sun is out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes, it appears TS Fay has moved westward and Central FL is now not getting dumped on by horrendous amounts of rain anymore. at least for now. it is still smack dab in the middle of hurricane season. and hey, the weathermen thought it would be hilarious to actually SHOW us that there are like, 2 more systems forming right now in the Atlantic Ocean.
those guys...they are really precious.

I got off pretty easy. we lost some limbs off of our maple trees. we have a ton of small branches and oak leaves all over the yard. also, some of my neighbor's have magnolia trees, and we appear to have part of their trees in our yard, too. I have already gone out and sprayed down the front and back porches and set up the patio table again.
we will be outside at some point today. it is a bit on the soggy side right now, but the sun is out and I have faith that the children will have outdoors time today. and Momma, too. I'm looking pale and frazzled. that is what a storm that keeps you cooped up in your house for days on end does to us Mommas.


and, just an update on the book....I am working on it. not a lot was done this week, as the kids were here and I cannot just sit and type a novel with 3 children asking me questions about barometric pressure and sinkholes and what was the first type of dinosaur that Jesus made.(yeah...try explaining that) and yet, kids are easy in that if you have a serious face and hold in the giggles and sighs, they will believe anything you tell them.
and the first dinosaur was the Adamasaurus, in case you were wondering;)

and it is still raining

hello from soggy Mommaland. yes, it is still raining. a lot. I went outside for a very quick tree limb pick-up and swept off the front porch. mustn't have the neighbors thinking I don't keep the house tidy during a tropical storm ;) and then, the rain started pelting me sideways and so I came back inside. to my hyper children who have been cooped up in the house with me for too many days. you know it's bad when they are fighting over a firetruck that sings. the 5 and the 8 year old were the ones fighting. the baby was sitting there, looking at his firetruck with an expression of "wtf? that is MINE" on his little face. Momma intervened and got the annoying thing away from the big kids and gave it back to the baby. however, this thing maybe just get "lost" when he takes his nap.

"Here I come, zooming down the street
with my lights a flashing and my tires squeak.
I'm cute but tough
I'm a rescue truck
I'm coming your way so don't give up."

do you feel my pain yet?

yes, the storm is STILL here

it's Thursday and it is still raining. actually, today we actually had tropical storm force winds and sideways rain...and school. so for two days the kids were home in cloudy, off and on rainy weather and today they got on the school bus in a monsoon. I kept watching for a news update, sure that they would be cancelling school. nope, the little ones are back in school.
I realize the school system cannot foresee the weather conditions. I realize they have to make a decision in enough time to post that decision and for the parents to get everything scheduled. however, having 3 children and a dog inside the house for 3+ days and no playing outside for longer than a 10-15 minute stretch is enough to drive a Momma insane. I seriously do not know how Moms who live in snow/blizzard country deal with this. perhaps that is what the basements are for..."Momma's quiet room", with padded walls and alcohol.

a huge public thank you to Holly!

she is the creator behind my new logo up there! I love her:)

Tropical Rainy Day called Fay

so, no school today. we all pretty much expected this. the weathermen were predicting winds of 40 mph or so and lots of rain. we had enough wind to fly a kite and enough rain to wet the garden well. and that was it.

school could have been open.

but, it is closed again for tomorrow.

this Fay chick is really messing with the parents of Florida. these kids NEED to be in school.
we have had such cranky attitudes and tantrums today that I think the barometric pressure must be effecting their brains. my oldest had such a fit over dinner that I did something I have never done before. I stood up and told the man that if he thought a good spanking would do any good that he had my blessing to go ahead and do it. and then I took the baby and we left to go to the bathroom for bath time.
no spanking occurred, but there was quite a bit of screaming. makes for such a pleasant, relaxing family meal to have it end with threats and screaming.

this never happened on The Brady Bunch.

1st day of school and oh yeah... Tropical Storm Fay

it is here! the 1st day of school for 2008/2009. I have a 3rd grader and a Kindergartener. (and the baby...he's still home with me for a bit)


sweet bliss.....they'll have a plan for Monday-Friday from 8:30AM - 3:00PM that I do not have to be in charge of. we purposely made this summer low key and not jam packed with "stuff". well, for the past few weeks all we have heard is how boring we are and how horrible we are as parents for not planning a super spectacular summer extravaganza for them.
hmmph.

and, on a related note...we have out 1st Tropical Storm/almost hurricane to threaten FL this year. her name is Fay and she looks to be trying to disturb the school schedule for Tuesday. we are supposed to have rain, tropical storm force winds and tornados on Tuesday/Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.
obviously, Fay is NOT a Momma. she would never have planned this appearance for the second freaking day of school is she were.

oh my....teeth are killing me

not my teeth. my baby's teeth. in the past 3 weeks he has gone from 3 teeth and me worrying and looking up every known syndrome as to why he would only have 3 teeth at 16 months old to now having at least 13 teeth in his mouth.
and yeah, laugh all you want at the dental hygienist who cannot get a good look at her own child's mouth long enough to get a current tooth count. the child has way more joints than normal and can wriggle out of any hold. and then he can scream pretty loud, too.
I've Motrined him. I've Teething Tableted him. I've frozen waffled and frozen washclothes the little man. Baby Orajel. teething toys. wooden spoons. a dog rawhide(new, unused..until the dog saw what was happening and promptly walked over and snatched it up and went to lay down on her bed and looked at me like I was the worst traitor known to mankind.
this may sound strange, but I'm so glad I get to go to work tomorrow and deal with other people's teeth. it's like a mini vacation. I deal with 1 single person per hour. and none of them say anything like "Momma, Momma, Momma......", and then forget midsentence what their point was.

OK, I am really going to do it this time

I am making it an announcement. I have always wanted to write a book. maybe more than one. maybe I'd really love to be Tom Clancey without the guns and spies. OK, I admit it, I want to write a book and I would love for at least one person out there to read it and say, "hmm, not bad". I'm not asking for New York Times Bestseller List here, although, hey, I wouldn't turn them away.
what has made me say this in public? well, I'm not really saying it in public, I haven't even told the man in so many words. it's easier to write it all out. I did tell my children. the 8 yr old was impressed that I would actually think sitting at a computer and doing something other than a game was in any way interesting. the 5 yr old sort of thought it would be cool to one day go to the library and see her last name on the cover of a book.(ahhh, I knew I loved her...she shares the vision) the baby, well, the baby I think in his own special way was excited for his Momma. in his own special way I mean that he threw a handful of rice onto the floor and said "uh oh". let's hope that's not some sort of premonition of how this all goes down. I do not want to end up splattered on the floor.
well, back to what made me finally really try this. I finished reading the 2nd book in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. (I know I said before, but please, if you have not read this series, go right now and get them. you will love them) I also was reading her website, and she answered some questions about how she wrote the story, how she got published, etc, etc. I just realized, you know, if I want to do this, then I need to do it. no publisher is going to "discover" me by shopping in Target. I have to actually send the stuff out there. and probably get rejected. and probably never get published. but hey, I can send it out and know that I tried.
Stephenie Meyer wrote something that really caught my attention in her autobiography. she wrote something about how she simply could NOT stop writing the story because it was as if the characters were talking in her mind, playing out the storyline. I am SO glad she wrote that. I'm not the only person out there that has imaginary characters playing out a whole storyline in their mind. minute details. colors. facial expressions. smells. whew, thank you so much, Stepenie Meyer. I thought I was going nuts.
OK, so....when this is nearing completion, I will share what the story is about. I started yesterday and have no idea how many words I typed out during naptime. it is fiction, with a little bit of my real life thrown in here and there. it's a love story, really...with a twist.
now off to make lunches for three hungry littles. a hotdog, a pb&j with no crust, and a fruit platter with cheese. hopefully, none of it will be thrown to the floor.

reading will be my demise

so, Holly tipped me off to a really good series to read. it's going to be a movie that comes out in December and looks really ,really good. it has that really hot guy who played Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter movies in it. (why did poor Cedric have to get offed by Voldemort? seriusly, if JK Rowling had known this yummy guy would be picked to play Cedric, she may have rewritten that little part. maybe? oh geeze, who am I kidding? that woman has that whole series mapped out in her mind in a concrete block vault. no changing the storyline.of course, she is kind of successful at it, perhaps her way is better in some way. but Cedric is nice to look at next to those Weasley brothers.umm, I digressed...sorry)
the books are called The Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer. who knew you could actually want to be the girlfriend of a vampire?
well, I finished the 1st book and went right into the 2nd. I stayed up until a little before midnight reading last night. and then, since my son has been sleeping so well lately, he decided this morning he needed to get up at 4AM and start his day. loudly.
I got him up, gave him breakfast #1. he ate, played, generally wayyy too happy for this time of day. we stayed up for about an hour or so, and then the man got up and asked me why I was up. yes, yes, he saw that the baby was awake and playing in the family room. he still asked. (in my mind, the response was, "oh, I don't know. I just thought it would be a great idea to start the day at 4AM and see what the house looks like at this time of day." ) instead, I just stared at him and sipped my coffee a bit. he ate, got dressed, and left in a while to go to work. he gets in at least 3 hours of work sometimes before anyone from the outside world arrives. he likes it this way. less smile time for him. Mr Grouchy Grouch McGruff Gruff.
so, I'm up. all kids are up and dressed. we're off to the grocery store. maybe I can sneak in some reading time this afternoon. oh, wait, we have a playdate scheduled. yeah, more midnight reading for this Momma.

you like me, you really like me!?!?

I think I just got an award nomination. I'm not entirely sure if this is a real award, but I am going with it full force ahead as if I just won the WWW.Emmy awards, say, my category was best use of the word eff in 2008, or something like that.
"I'd like to thank my fellow bloggers. Without all of you, I would be forever in the dark about things such as reusable sandwich bags and the joys of gardening, working in a law office, having anywhere from zero to way too many children, and the odd, quirky things that our families do on a daily basis. I'm so glad my own little zoo, err family, has given you so much enjoyment. I promise to continue in my quest for craziness and padded walls. Thank you. "


now, I would like to nominate some other bloggers....check them out!


Why Mom Drinks Rum
I would like to publicly thank Holly for teaching me to do these links properly. without her help, you all would be seeing a long line of computer jibber jabber and thinking I was the one who was drinking run whilst blogging. there is no one else I would rather color my hair and get drunk with.

Kemprowski Party of 5
I imangine Ellen's house smells really, really good. all the time:) go Partylite!


Because I Said So
this woman just cracks me up!


The Daily Mom
because you know you want to know how Tori Spelling manages to be a Mom to 2 and work as an actress and decorate her home and stay so damn skinny all of the time.

a special kind of stupid

it takes a really special kind of stupid to do the following scenario. warning- do not attempt this at home. paid professionals were not used and clearly no planning was done at all.

my neighbors have decided to change their garage into an extra "play room" for their house. they emptied out all of the crap that was in there. where they put it all, I have no idea. perhaps they have a shed in the backyard that I have not snooped and seen, errr, heard about. anyways, the garage was empty and the husband was mopping the floor on Saturday. yes, he was mopping the garage. this is why I even paid attention to what was happening, how often do you look out your kitchen window and see a man mopping? let alone a garage.
so, he mopped, and then painted. the wife came out every so often to inspect. she is currently 11 months pregnant and has that pained, "the baby is gonna drop out of me at any moment" look that we all get when we are at or past our due date. so, he finished all of this on Saturday, Sunday he was hanging up pictures and arranging some furniture. yes, in the garage, with the garage door open, in Florida, in July. so, it was about 100 degrees and he is arranging furniture and sweating buckets...in a garage. that afternoon, a big truck pulls up from a pool table store. they unload the pool table and set it up.
OK, fast forward to today, Wednesday. there is a big piece of rolled up carpet on their driveway. he has a friend over, and they are trying to install carpet, padding also, in the garage, with the pool table in it. really, I should be taping this. it's quite funny to watch.
and the wife has come out a few times and stood, looking at them, shaking her head, looking very saddened. I know exactly what she is thinking. "look at what I married."

rainy Sundays and forcing children to watch quality tv

so, yesterday was a very rainy, blah kind of Sunday. we ditched church. how bad am I that I am admitting to skipping out on God for a day? the thought of getting 3 children from the car to the church in rain and walking through a muddy field)they're doing construction at our church currently and the parking lot is in the filed)was too much for this Momma.
but, the day was not wasted! no, no, no. far from it, my friends. there was a marathon of Anne of Green Gables on! eeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have not watched Anne of Green Gables in such a long time. actually, I never saw the whole series. but I did not know that until yesterday. I watched the adult years from when she was in New York with Gil and then when they got married and he went off to war and she followed to look for him and ahhhhh, they found one another again. now I feel the need to get the whole dang series and start out from the first episode.
and yeah, I forced the kids to watch with me. supplying them with copious amounts of popcorn helped. but the questions.....why is he doing that? what happened to the baby? why doesn't he have an arm? are they kissing because they like each other? was that a real gun? what happened next? is that Anne? she grew up on the TV? is she named Anne in real life? did she get paid to be Anne on TV? is that war still going on in France? I don't think I ever want to go to France, do you, Momma?
where's that Calgon?

oh my

who knew the mess one 15 month old could make with 1 mini powdered sugar doughnut?
I got him in his little chair, assortment of foods and a sippy of soy milk.
the phone rang. I decided to answer it since it was Sunday morning at 8:02AM. who calls at that time except if it is an emergency? it was the man, calling to tell me that he thinks he forgot his wallet and it may be in the laundry basket, can I go check? ummm, I just emptied laundry basket into washing machine moments ago. I run out to garage and stick my hands into the now sudsy waters and pull out 2 pairs of work shorts. no wallet. I fell around the bottom, no wallet. I race back to the phone and say, "no wallet".
guess what he says? "oh, I know. I just found it on the bottom of my backpack".
virtual whack-a-man-head time

so I return to the family room. and find the chair now empty of a 15 month old, but he has left me a trail.....

and...I found him! he had not actually eaten the whole doughnut, but instead decided it was just as much fun to smear it onto his face. and the couch. and everything else he passed within touching distance.

good thing he's so cute.