First, I'm so sorry I haven't updated my blog for a few days. That's really not like me. I have to turn in my manuscript tomorrow and if you know me at all, you know that I give procrastination a new name. I'm working at finishing it up right now.
I'm back from my trip to Campbell's World Headquarters in Camden, NJ. Whenever I come home from a trip, the little kids all jump on me and smile and tell me they love me and they stay attached to my side for hours. I don't know how people work full time away from their kids. I'm not saying it's wrong or anything. We all have to do what we have to do, but I feel so guilty when I get home. I mean, I really, really enjoy my time away. I like connecting to other women bloggers and I love when companies fly us out to learn from us and share information about their brand with us. I find it really interesting and I like passing the information on to you. And, of course, I just like getting a break from the routine of caring for 6 children day in and day out. But, ugh, the guilt I feel at leaving them!
Of course, the guilt usually disappears within a couple hours when the fighting starts.
"He hit me."
"Did not!"
"Did too! You're a goat!"
Groan
Or the "Can Danny sleep over?"
"No, we have too much stuff going on all day tomorrow starting at 8:00AM"
"You NEVER let me have anyone sleep over!"
"Uh huh. Never."
"Why can't I? whine whine whine"
Or Joe ranting and having a fit.
This is the time I feel like hopping right back on that plane and taking off again. Sigh.
I'll be talking all about my trip over HERE ON MY REVIEW BLOG. I can't write about paid trips on this blog because of my BlogHerAd contract, so click the link and hop on over to read about the fun times in Philadelphia! :)
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
My Night at the Library (otherwise entitled - I'm a Big Fat Dork)
I went to the library this evening to get some writing done. I am SO close to finishing my second manuscript! Sooo close, but not quite done. This second book is about pregnancy and childbirth and I'm stuck on the part about delivery. I just keep thinking about things Joe did (or didn't do) that made me want to throw a bedpan at him while I was in labor. I don't think that'll make for a great chapter.
So, anyway, I was sitting at the library because I can usually write in peace there. Suddenly this guy walked over and sat down right next to me. What the heck? There were like 40 empty chairs and he sat down right there! So, he looks at me, smiles, and starts reading his book. He read like maybe 5 sentences, then jumped up and walked over to the paperback racks. He put his book back and grabbed a different one, then came back and sat down again. He kept staring at me as he managed to read another 5 sentences or so. Then he did it again! He got up, put that book back and grabbed yet another one!
He did this 4 times! And in between book-switching times, ADD boy just stared at me. It was SO weird. So, I wrote about this on my Facebook page and someone wrote back, "Maybe he reads your blog."
OK, that's great! He reads my blog, he's going to see where I Twittered about the "weirdo who sat down next to me at the library", he's going to stalk me and kill me. At least that line of thinking spurred me on to write another 1000 words so I could at least finish my book before meeting my demise.
I went to the front of the library to get a cup of coffee because I was sitting next to the window and I was freezing my butt off. Of course when I stood up, I accidentally ripped my ear buds out of my computer and Major Tom by Peter Schilling blasted throughout the silence of the library. "4, 3, 2, 1..." Yep, I'm just classy that way.
When I came back, the guy had left. OK, that was odd, I thought. But I quickly got back to writing.
A little while later, I looked out the window to the apartment complex a few yards away from the library and oh my gosh, who do I see through the window! It was that guy! Now I'm officially freaked out. Is he watching me? Maybe he's looking the other way. Maybe he's just watching TV. I was too scared to look back out the window and check because I thought I'd see him looking back.
Again, I updated my Facebook page with what was going on. I believe after writing this tidbit on Facebook, my friends told me to step away from the coffee machine and to stop hallucinating.
After a couple minutes, I pretended to look through my purse for my flash drive and as I scrounged around for it, I nonchalantly glanced back through the window toward the apartments. Know what I saw? I saw that "the guy who was stalking me" was actually just a reflection of the librarian!
Yes, I am just THAT MUCH OF A DORK.
After I got back home, I emailed the whole saga to my friends. My friend Denise wrote back... "And maybe you're the ADD one who can't concentrate on her book and is easily distracted by clicking and some poor guy trying to find an interesting book to read who's wondering why you keep staring at him."
Yes, folks. I'm pretty sure this poor guy is on the phone with his friends right now telling them about the creepy girl at the library who couldn't stop staring at him.
So, anyway, I was sitting at the library because I can usually write in peace there. Suddenly this guy walked over and sat down right next to me. What the heck? There were like 40 empty chairs and he sat down right there! So, he looks at me, smiles, and starts reading his book. He read like maybe 5 sentences, then jumped up and walked over to the paperback racks. He put his book back and grabbed a different one, then came back and sat down again. He kept staring at me as he managed to read another 5 sentences or so. Then he did it again! He got up, put that book back and grabbed yet another one!
He did this 4 times! And in between book-switching times, ADD boy just stared at me. It was SO weird. So, I wrote about this on my Facebook page and someone wrote back, "Maybe he reads your blog."
OK, that's great! He reads my blog, he's going to see where I Twittered about the "weirdo who sat down next to me at the library", he's going to stalk me and kill me. At least that line of thinking spurred me on to write another 1000 words so I could at least finish my book before meeting my demise.
I went to the front of the library to get a cup of coffee because I was sitting next to the window and I was freezing my butt off. Of course when I stood up, I accidentally ripped my ear buds out of my computer and Major Tom by Peter Schilling blasted throughout the silence of the library. "4, 3, 2, 1..." Yep, I'm just classy that way.
When I came back, the guy had left. OK, that was odd, I thought. But I quickly got back to writing.
A little while later, I looked out the window to the apartment complex a few yards away from the library and oh my gosh, who do I see through the window! It was that guy! Now I'm officially freaked out. Is he watching me? Maybe he's looking the other way. Maybe he's just watching TV. I was too scared to look back out the window and check because I thought I'd see him looking back.
Again, I updated my Facebook page with what was going on. I believe after writing this tidbit on Facebook, my friends told me to step away from the coffee machine and to stop hallucinating.
After a couple minutes, I pretended to look through my purse for my flash drive and as I scrounged around for it, I nonchalantly glanced back through the window toward the apartments. Know what I saw? I saw that "the guy who was stalking me" was actually just a reflection of the librarian!
Yes, I am just THAT MUCH OF A DORK.
After I got back home, I emailed the whole saga to my friends. My friend Denise wrote back... "And maybe you're the ADD one who can't concentrate on her book and is easily distracted by clicking and some poor guy trying to find an interesting book to read who's wondering why you keep staring at him."
Yes, folks. I'm pretty sure this poor guy is on the phone with his friends right now telling them about the creepy girl at the library who couldn't stop staring at him.
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Trust Me Winners
Here are the winners of the TNT tote bag & shirt!
Here are your random numbers:
87
108
158
Timestamp: 2009-01-27 06:12:59 UTC
The winning comments came from...
Kristien said...
I actually have "Trust Me" already programmed into my TIVO. My husband and I watch "Leverage" (love it!) on TNT as well and we saw the previews for this show. It looks like it's going to be great!!
Jenny said...
I'm always looking for grown-up shows to watch, so I'll have to check this one out...esp since it has Tom Cavanaugh in it! My husband and I both really enjoy his work. Thanks for telling about it! :)
momof3crazykids said...
That looks like you had a great time! I love Monica Potter.
Congratulations! Email me at mom2my6pack(at)aol(dot)com with your shipping address and I'll get these out to you right away!
Here are your random numbers:
87
108
158
Timestamp: 2009-01-27 06:12:59 UTC
The winning comments came from...
Kristien said...
I actually have "Trust Me" already programmed into my TIVO. My husband and I watch "Leverage" (love it!) on TNT as well and we saw the previews for this show. It looks like it's going to be great!!
Jenny said...
I'm always looking for grown-up shows to watch, so I'll have to check this one out...esp since it has Tom Cavanaugh in it! My husband and I both really enjoy his work. Thanks for telling about it! :)
momof3crazykids said...
That looks like you had a great time! I love Monica Potter.
Congratulations! Email me at mom2my6pack(at)aol(dot)com with your shipping address and I'll get these out to you right away!
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Monday, January 26, 2009
Take Some Notes (Heck, take ALL of them!)
This is a little notebook I carry in my purse. If I get a story idea, I jot it down because I can't remember anything these days. I make notes about chapters and such when I'm working on a book. I keep track of how many words I've written and how many more I need to write. I actually have several notebooks like this scattered around the house.
Anyway, tonight I pulled this particular little notebook out of my purse and I flipped through the first few pages...
Some notes and word counts...
more notes and numbers... looking for a blank page...
more scribbles and chapter notes...
Ahhhh, here we go. Apparently Clay got ahold of my notebook...
and Brooklyn did too...
"and this is you, Mama. And this is Daddy and he's getting stung by a jellyfish..."
still looking for a blank page to take notes...
...still searching. Looks like more jellyfish perhaps?
Oh look! Potato people! Still searching for blank page...
"Mom, this is you!" Brooklyn squealed. Beautiful. Are there ANY blank pages left?
"This is you too!" Yep, short and fat. That looks about right.
Oh yeah, still searching...
Nice. Think I can use any of these scribbles to help me write my next book?
Nice...
almost looks like a tracing of her hand...
Beautiful...
Seriously guys! Didn't you leave me ONE page???
Ugh!
That's great. Looks like I could use a new notebook.
...the last page. Looks like my calendar's full this year. Thank you Clayton and Brooklyn!
Anyway, tonight I pulled this particular little notebook out of my purse and I flipped through the first few pages...
Some notes and word counts...
more notes and numbers... looking for a blank page...
more scribbles and chapter notes...
Ahhhh, here we go. Apparently Clay got ahold of my notebook...
and Brooklyn did too...
"and this is you, Mama. And this is Daddy and he's getting stung by a jellyfish..."
still looking for a blank page to take notes...
...still searching. Looks like more jellyfish perhaps?
Oh look! Potato people! Still searching for blank page...
"Mom, this is you!" Brooklyn squealed. Beautiful. Are there ANY blank pages left?
"This is you too!" Yep, short and fat. That looks about right.
Oh yeah, still searching...
Nice. Think I can use any of these scribbles to help me write my next book?
Nice...
almost looks like a tracing of her hand...
Beautiful...
Seriously guys! Didn't you leave me ONE page???
Ugh!
That's great. Looks like I could use a new notebook.
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Sunday, January 25, 2009
Fireproof Winners
If you entered the drawing for a copy of Fireproof on DVD, please check back to see if your name was drawn. I'm still missing addresses for 12 winners!
Check HERE to see!
Check HERE to see!
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Sunday Sound Out
Another week gone by. It's time to answer viewer mail!
Hey there, I'm flipping through my Good Housekeeping that came a week or so ago, and you know that part where they feature a mom blog (towards the BACK of the mag), well imagine my suprise to find my favorite mom blogger there! I read you faithfully, you didn't mention you'd be featured in GH did you?
My bad. I think I only mentioned it on Facebook. Oops! Yep, a story from my blog is featured in February's Good Housekeeping! Page 199! Wheee!!!
My son says to tell you that he plays expert on drums and guitar. Show-off. He wants you to say "Oh he's so handsome and good at rock band!"
Oh, he is SO handsome and good at Rock Band!!! LOL! Actually, I am impressed. I only play it on the easy setting. I tried medium and got all confused and started flailing around like a total spaz.
Can you video yourself playing?!
Actually, Jackson did videotape me and Savannah playing, but I couldn't bring myself to post it. I lookway just a bit too dorkish.
Did I read that right? Your washing machine is broken???? EEK... run away, run away... the laundry monster is going to gobble you up! How--in--the--world-- are-- you--surviving? I know... just make your kids wear their clothes inside out on every other day? oh yeah, right. They already do that. (joking....) When are you going to get a new one? Now, I'm really worried about you!
Joe fixed it! That's why I keep him around. He fixes stuff and cleans up puke. ;)
It's Jackson with Vitiligo, right? My Caleb's is spreading and I was wondering, are you doing any kind of treatment for it? If so, what? My son's is moving to his face and neck now.
Yep, it's Jackson. (for those who don't know - Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease where the person loses the pigment in their skin resulting in white-white patches.) When he was first diagnosed, we tried doing a combination of creams and sunlight exposure (it was summer at the time). It didn't work at all though. The dermatologist tried to talk us into doing these UV treatments along with another expensive cream. The thing is - at the time, Joe was never around and the doctor's office was far from my house. I didn't want to have to schlepp all the kids to the office several times a week after school. And none of this was covered by my insurance either. And, so far, it hasn't affected his face or very visible parts of his body.
I know a lot of people seek treatment and there's nothing wrong with that. If it's affecting a person's self esteem, treatment should be considered. I think this is probably especially true with people who have darker complexions where the loss of pigment is more obvious. But it doesn't really bother Jackson at this point. In fact, he thinks it pretty cool that he "glows in the dark"! (The white patches fluoresce under black light.) Right now, the only thing I'm doing is talking to him about the fact that it doesn't matter what a person looks like on the outside. I tell him he's a funny, quick-witted, compassionate, smart kid and that's what counts.
If it starts to bother him in the future, we'll look into treatments.
Wow, I can't believe you haven't commented on the fact that our country has a new president. Are you ignoring this little tidbit?
Yup. There are thousands of political blogs out there. Mine's not one of them.
since im not a math person i have to ask how old where you when Austin was born?
24
Oh boy, totally scaring me now. Is it true though -- did they really say the transition from 8th to 9th grade is the third most traumatic experience for them?
They actually said that. I think it's ridiculous. High school (and everything else) is what you make of it. I'm just encouraging him to do his best and have fun.
And more importantly, how many drinks and what kind did you have at Cheesecake factory?
Who me? I don't drink, Steph. ;)
What's that really cool new ad on the right side of your blog. It's so EYE-CATCHING! WOW! Kind of makes me want to roll up my sleeve and let someone jab my arm with a needle all for the sake of saving someone's life!
Very subtle, Manic. OK, everyone click on that ad over there ----> It'll take you to Manic's blog where she has a contest going. Donate blood, save a life, and be entered for a trip to Florida!
Get ready though - with high school came my son's first girlfriend.
EEEEEEEEEK!!! I had my first boyfriend the summer between 8th and 9th grades! Oh no! I hadn't really thought about that. Nooooo, make it stop!!!
So many comments!! Do you have time to read them all?
Yep. I read every single one. I've really sucked at answering comments and email this past month though. I just can't keep up. I wish I had time to answer every one. Please know that I read them all and appreciate your comments and emails more than you can possibly know!
Oooo, and Beth at I Should be Folding Laundry took some great pictures from the TNT luncheon on Friday. Here are a couple of them...
me and Monica Potter
all us blogger girls with Monica
Monica Potter from Trust Me
And here are a couple pics from the Clay's and Brooklyn's birthday party...
me & my nephew Dominick
me & my Yia Yia
me & the birthday kiddos. Nice fake smiles! It looks like they're terrified!
me & my baby
Miss Lex with her new glasses
my monkey with his monkey cake
Brooklyn
It's supposed to be Curious George. It doesn't really look like him though. I guess it's not too bad considering I used a bear-shaped pan.
Brooklyn's Sleeping Beauty cake
All, but her head was edible
Hey there, I'm flipping through my Good Housekeeping that came a week or so ago, and you know that part where they feature a mom blog (towards the BACK of the mag), well imagine my suprise to find my favorite mom blogger there! I read you faithfully, you didn't mention you'd be featured in GH did you?
My bad. I think I only mentioned it on Facebook. Oops! Yep, a story from my blog is featured in February's Good Housekeeping! Page 199! Wheee!!!
My son says to tell you that he plays expert on drums and guitar. Show-off. He wants you to say "Oh he's so handsome and good at rock band!"
Oh, he is SO handsome and good at Rock Band!!! LOL! Actually, I am impressed. I only play it on the easy setting. I tried medium and got all confused and started flailing around like a total spaz.
Can you video yourself playing?!
Actually, Jackson did videotape me and Savannah playing, but I couldn't bring myself to post it. I look
Did I read that right? Your washing machine is broken???? EEK... run away, run away... the laundry monster is going to gobble you up! How--in--the--world-- are-- you--surviving? I know... just make your kids wear their clothes inside out on every other day? oh yeah, right. They already do that. (joking....) When are you going to get a new one? Now, I'm really worried about you!
Joe fixed it! That's why I keep him around. He fixes stuff and cleans up puke. ;)
It's Jackson with Vitiligo, right? My Caleb's is spreading and I was wondering, are you doing any kind of treatment for it? If so, what? My son's is moving to his face and neck now.
Yep, it's Jackson. (for those who don't know - Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease where the person loses the pigment in their skin resulting in white-white patches.) When he was first diagnosed, we tried doing a combination of creams and sunlight exposure (it was summer at the time). It didn't work at all though. The dermatologist tried to talk us into doing these UV treatments along with another expensive cream. The thing is - at the time, Joe was never around and the doctor's office was far from my house. I didn't want to have to schlepp all the kids to the office several times a week after school. And none of this was covered by my insurance either. And, so far, it hasn't affected his face or very visible parts of his body.
I know a lot of people seek treatment and there's nothing wrong with that. If it's affecting a person's self esteem, treatment should be considered. I think this is probably especially true with people who have darker complexions where the loss of pigment is more obvious. But it doesn't really bother Jackson at this point. In fact, he thinks it pretty cool that he "glows in the dark"! (The white patches fluoresce under black light.) Right now, the only thing I'm doing is talking to him about the fact that it doesn't matter what a person looks like on the outside. I tell him he's a funny, quick-witted, compassionate, smart kid and that's what counts.
If it starts to bother him in the future, we'll look into treatments.
Wow, I can't believe you haven't commented on the fact that our country has a new president. Are you ignoring this little tidbit?
Yup. There are thousands of political blogs out there. Mine's not one of them.
since im not a math person i have to ask how old where you when Austin was born?
24
Oh boy, totally scaring me now. Is it true though -- did they really say the transition from 8th to 9th grade is the third most traumatic experience for them?
They actually said that. I think it's ridiculous. High school (and everything else) is what you make of it. I'm just encouraging him to do his best and have fun.
And more importantly, how many drinks and what kind did you have at Cheesecake factory?
Who me? I don't drink, Steph. ;)
What's that really cool new ad on the right side of your blog. It's so EYE-CATCHING! WOW! Kind of makes me want to roll up my sleeve and let someone jab my arm with a needle all for the sake of saving someone's life!
Very subtle, Manic. OK, everyone click on that ad over there ----> It'll take you to Manic's blog where she has a contest going. Donate blood, save a life, and be entered for a trip to Florida!
Get ready though - with high school came my son's first girlfriend.
EEEEEEEEEK!!! I had my first boyfriend the summer between 8th and 9th grades! Oh no! I hadn't really thought about that. Nooooo, make it stop!!!
So many comments!! Do you have time to read them all?
Yep. I read every single one. I've really sucked at answering comments and email this past month though. I just can't keep up. I wish I had time to answer every one. Please know that I read them all and appreciate your comments and emails more than you can possibly know!
Oooo, and Beth at I Should be Folding Laundry took some great pictures from the TNT luncheon on Friday. Here are a couple of them...
me and Monica Potter
all us blogger girls with Monica
Monica Potter from Trust Me
And here are a couple pics from the Clay's and Brooklyn's birthday party...
me & my nephew Dominick
me & my Yia Yia
me & the birthday kiddos. Nice fake smiles! It looks like they're terrified!
me & my baby
Miss Lex with her new glasses
my monkey with his monkey cake
Brooklyn
It's supposed to be Curious George. It doesn't really look like him though. I guess it's not too bad considering I used a bear-shaped pan.
Brooklyn's Sleeping Beauty cake
All, but her head was edible
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Friday, January 23, 2009
Trust Me
I got to have lunch today with Monica Potter, star of TNT's new show, Trust Me which premieres Monday, January 26. Before having lunch today, I was able to check out the first 2 episodes of the show. Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know that I don't watch much television. When asked what my favorite show is, I say Seinfeld. That's usually met with, "You do realize that's been off the air for 10 yeas, right?" But I watched Trust Me and I liked it! I don't know if I liked it because I'm so used to watching Nickelodeon all day that I was just desperate to see some adult TV or what. I did like the first episode enough that I immediately watched the second episode. After that one, I was hooked.
The show's set in Chicago which is cool, of course. Although there's a part in the second episode where they go to Woodfield Mall, but the mall that's shown on Trust Me is definitely not Woodfield. That bugged me. I don't know why. It's kinda ridiculous, isn't it. Like I've said before - I need therapy. Anyway, it stars Eric McCormack, Tom Cavanagh, and Monica Potter who work at an ad agency in Chicago.
You have to watch the show so you know what I'm talking about when I say, "Do Thumbthing" (which I intend to say a lot from now on.) LOL! Do Thumbthing. Hee hee. Yeah, it doesn't take much to amuse me.
Anyway, here's a little video from my lunch with Monica Potter today. She's very pretty and thin and I just love how real she was at lunch. She's a working mom just trying to keep it all together like most of us. (I don't know what happened to the video. It looked great when I edited it, but once I loaded it to YouTube, it started looking all funky and dark. I'm sorry about the poor quality.)
MJ Tam and Jen Khatchatrian from Chicagonista, a website devoted to bringing you Chicago's hidden treasures from eats, plays, shopping, and events to family friendly activities both in the city and suburbs.
Me & Monica Potter. Yes, I know it's blurry. My flash didn't go off, but she was trying to get out the door, so I didn't want to hold her up by asking her to take another picture. Just squint your eyes and/or have a drink and it'll look clear.
The show's set in Chicago which is cool, of course. Although there's a part in the second episode where they go to Woodfield Mall, but the mall that's shown on Trust Me is definitely not Woodfield. That bugged me. I don't know why. It's kinda ridiculous, isn't it. Like I've said before - I need therapy. Anyway, it stars Eric McCormack, Tom Cavanagh, and Monica Potter who work at an ad agency in Chicago.
You have to watch the show so you know what I'm talking about when I say, "Do Thumbthing" (which I intend to say a lot from now on.) LOL! Do Thumbthing. Hee hee. Yeah, it doesn't take much to amuse me.
Anyway, here's a little video from my lunch with Monica Potter today. She's very pretty and thin and I just love how real she was at lunch. She's a working mom just trying to keep it all together like most of us. (I don't know what happened to the video. It looked great when I edited it, but once I loaded it to YouTube, it started looking all funky and dark. I'm sorry about the poor quality.)
Me & Stephanie from Adventures in Babywearing. Stephanie is a total sweetheart and (small world) her cousin goes to my church!
Me & Beth Feldman from Role Mommy. Beth is the author of Peeing in Peace (is that a great title or what?!) and she's one of the amazing women I got to hang out with in L. A. this past October. Thanks for inviting me, Beth! It was so great to see you again!
MJ Tam and Jen Khatchatrian from Chicagonista, a website devoted to bringing you Chicago's hidden treasures from eats, plays, shopping, and events to family friendly activities both in the city and suburbs.
Me & Monica Potter. Yes, I know it's blurry. My flash didn't go off, but she was trying to get out the door, so I didn't want to hold her up by asking her to take another picture. Just squint your eyes and/or have a drink and it'll look clear.
And, just because I'm a dork who finds things like "contact lens solution in the bathroom" kinda funny, here's another picture. If you're ever at the Capital Grille in Chicago and you just need to clean your contact lenses immediately, never fear, the bathroom there is stocked with cleaning solution. In fact, while you're at it, grab a Q-Tip and clean out your ears, brush the lint off your shirt, and apply a fresh layer of hairspray. Oh, and just in case, there's a container of tampons too.
Now, what other blogger would be doofy enough to take a picture of this? That's me - always finding stupid things that amuse me and then sharing them with you. Aren't you glad you read this blog? :D
Oh, and I've got 3 TNT goody bags to give away too! Included is a TNT Trust Me tote bag (this is a nice sturdy one with a zipper!), a Trust Me T-shirt, a Trust Me notepad and a cast picture autographed by Monica Potter! Score! Leave me a comment here and I'll pick 3 winners on Monday night.
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Thursday, January 22, 2009
Welcome to High School!
I took Austin to an informational meeting at the high school. The HIGH SCHOOL! As in NINTH GRADE! My baby is going to be going to high school! commence hyperventilating
So, I'm sitting there listening to the teachers talk about course selection and test scores and blah blah blah and the whole time I was trying to do math in my head. I KNOW! What was I thinking??? But I was trying to figure out just how old I'll be when Brooklyn starts high school. It's never a good idea to do math. Especially when the answer you come up with is "50 years old"! It could make you gasp out loud in the middle of the presentation when you realize just how old you are. It could make other people turn and stare at you. It could make you laugh nervously because of the awkwardness of everyone staring at you. This is entirely hypothetical, of course.
So I sat there nicely, listening intently to the fine educators speak. "...from here on out, everything counts. Everything you do in high school will go on your permanent record."
I think I let out a very small, almost dainty snort at this point. Did she really just say "permanent record"?
A group of annoyed parents turned around and gave me the evil eye.
"Sorry. Stuffy nose," I said in explanation of my tiny little snort.
They went on to talk about what a great opportunity summer school is. "...studies have indicated that the transition between 8th and 9th grade is the 3rd most traumatic thing you'll go through behind losing your parents or losing a spouse. If you want your child to be prepared for 9th grade, you really need to consider sending them to summer school..."
"Give me a break!" I said in my head. At least I'm pretty sure I just said it in my head. Although, come to think of it, some people may have turned around and scowled at me again...
Yeah, that's what you want to do - use lots of words like "traumatic" when talking to the kids about starting high school. And summer school? Now, I have nothing against summer school and for students who are lagging behind, I think summer school could help them get caught up. However, it's summer! Who wants to go to school in the summer? You know, a lot of real life skills can be learned during the summer while on vacation, camping with family, helping around your home, caring for siblings, etc.
Anyway, I got the results of the 4 hour placement test he took in November. According to his scores, it looks like he'll be in ALL honors/AP classes. I'm really proud of him. Actually, proud isn't quite the right word. I'm happy and thankful that he's gifted academically. I'll be proud if he does his work next year, gets decent grades, and doesn't blow off his homework and do projects the night before they're due. I think he's going to be in for a shock with the volume of homework that will come with several honors classes.
He now has a couple weeks to decide what electives he'd like to take. And, not too much pressure or anything, but these classes will affect your FOUR YEAR PLAN, your plans for beyond high school, your future career, the car you purchase, the home you buy, spouse, and family. One wrong choice and you'll be destined to spend your life living in a cardboard box, and saying things like, "You want fries with that?"
Welcome to high school!
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Some People Actually Like Reruns
I was busy working on my book last night so I didn't post. And I just can't find the funny tonight. Bad day. Don't ask.
I didn't want to leave you guys hanging for 2 nights in a row though, so here's a rerun from 7-8-07.
My sil and I took the kiddos to the zoo this week. The battery on my camera died soon after we got there, so I only got a couple pictures, but I'll share them with you. The zoo has a stingray exhibit right now where people can touch live stingrays swimming around. Ummm, isn't that what killed Steve Irwin ? Yes, please let me touch a stingray!
We all went in the Australian exhibit where bats fly around freely. Yes, that's right, BATS FLY AROUND FREELY in this exhibit. OK, I figure the bats can't dive bomb people too often or they'd be behind glass, right? So, I'm ok with walking (very quickly) through the Australia House. I guess the docent sensed my uneasiness and in an effort to put my fears to rest, said, "Oh don't worry, the bats won't poop on your head." POOP ON MY HEAD?!!! Well, I hadn't even considered that possibility until now! Gee, thanks.
Anyway, we had beautiful weather, it wasn't too horribly crowded, we didn't lose anyone, and we only had to pull Clay out of one exhibit (he just had to chase a chipmunk into the Tapir's habitat), so all in all it was a good day.
And I thought I had it bad trying to squish all these guys in my little van! Poor kangaroo has to carry them around in her pouch!
This zebra looks a little like Jackson....
His Vitiligo is spreading. :(
But the good news is - I finally figured out how to put a link in here! Yay me! I'm catching up to my six year old in computer skills.
Preparation H - it isn't just for humans.
The Einstein of the monkey world (or what I look like first thing in the morning when I haven't dyed my hair in a while.)
I didn't want to leave you guys hanging for 2 nights in a row though, so here's a rerun from 7-8-07.
My sil and I took the kiddos to the zoo this week. The battery on my camera died soon after we got there, so I only got a couple pictures, but I'll share them with you. The zoo has a stingray exhibit right now where people can touch live stingrays swimming around. Ummm, isn't that what killed Steve Irwin ? Yes, please let me touch a stingray!
We all went in the Australian exhibit where bats fly around freely. Yes, that's right, BATS FLY AROUND FREELY in this exhibit. OK, I figure the bats can't dive bomb people too often or they'd be behind glass, right? So, I'm ok with walking (very quickly) through the Australia House. I guess the docent sensed my uneasiness and in an effort to put my fears to rest, said, "Oh don't worry, the bats won't poop on your head." POOP ON MY HEAD?!!! Well, I hadn't even considered that possibility until now! Gee, thanks.
Anyway, we had beautiful weather, it wasn't too horribly crowded, we didn't lose anyone, and we only had to pull Clay out of one exhibit (he just had to chase a chipmunk into the Tapir's habitat), so all in all it was a good day.
And I thought I had it bad trying to squish all these guys in my little van! Poor kangaroo has to carry them around in her pouch!
This zebra looks a little like Jackson....
His Vitiligo is spreading. :(
But the good news is - I finally figured out how to put a link in here! Yay me! I'm catching up to my six year old in computer skills.
Preparation H - it isn't just for humans.
The Einstein of the monkey world (or what I look like first thing in the morning when I haven't dyed my hair in a while.)
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Monday, January 19, 2009
Rock On!
"Come on Mom! Come play Rock Band with us! Come on!!! It's fun!"I tried to come up with a plausible excuse as to why I couldn't play. I couldn't say that I had laundry to do because my washing machine is broken. We just had dinner so I couldn't use the excuse that I had to cook. I could have told them that I had to work on my book. Hmm, honestly, I think I'd rather play Rock Band with the kids than to work on my book right now. I sighed, "OK, I'll play, but you have to promise NOT to make fun of me when I suck."
"We won't Mom! Come on! It's fun! Try the drums."
I sat down at the drum set. "How do I know which one to hit?" I asked as I looked at the four different colored drums.
"You just look at the TV." duh "Oh and if you see a yellow bar, you have to step on the pedal."
"I have to use my feet too? I don't think I'm that coordinated. If I have to use my feet, can I count this as exercise?"
My kids rolled their eyes at me and starting doubting their decision to let me join their band.
They pushed "play" or whatever it is you're supposed to push to make the song start. Colors went flashing across the TV screen at the speed of light.
"Which side am I on? Which one is me?!" I shrieked, afraid that I'd be kicked out of the band if I missed any beats.
"You're on the right, Mom! Follow the ones on the right! You're missing all of them! Hit the green one, blue, yellow, Mom, hit the blue and red now!"
I flung the drumsticks around wildly hitting anything and everything within 10 feet of me. I looked like a total spaz. I think Austin fell off my bed laughing at me. Thankfully, Jackson and Savannah were too busy playing guitar and singing to notice my total idiotness (yes, it's a word).
When we finished the song, my kids were only too happy to "let me go back to what I was doing".
"No way! I know what I'm doing now! Let me do another one! I understand how to do it. I'll do better! I promise!"
The kids relented and didn't kick me out of their rock band. And you know what? I did great! I'm the drumming queen, I tell ya!
Then the kids decided I should expand my horizons and play the guitar. That wasn't one of their better ideas. How is a person supposed to bend and contort their wrist to play that thing??? It isn't human, I tell ya! I never did well when I took guitar back in junior high for the same reason. Who can make their fingers move on the right buttons when their wrist is all twisted? It's not normal. And while you're bending your wrist in unnatural ways and trying to remember which finger presses which colored button, the colors are flashing by on the TV faster than your brain can send the signals to your mangled hand!
After that little exhibition, the kids put me back on drums where I rocked out.
"WOOOOOOOOOO! That was wicked awesome! Come on kids! Don't you want to drop out of school and take our show on the road? Come on! It'll be awesome!"
I think this is the point, they decided that Rock Band is not for parents.
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Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sunday Sound Out
For those of you who are new to my blog, I always go through the comments for the week and pick out the questions to answer on Sunday. Here are your questions...
I can't wait to hear the responses to your "never" disciplining your kids ;) You realize you'll spend most of the week clearing up that statement, right?
LOL! That's what I thought too, but no one said a thing. I guess everyone knows I'm sometimes a tiny bit sarcastic.
I really appreciate how consistent you are about being non-judgmental; thank you for being sounding board for me on this. Here's the follow-up question to the prayer post: If someone were to spend all that time on the phone, or watching TV, or whatever else their interest may be, would that change your response? Not that I would ever expect you to condemn anyone, that's not like you. Mary Wesley spent 17 hours a day in prayer--different strokes for different folks. But, if a stay-at-home mom said she spent 17 hours a day watching TV leaving the kids with the instructions they weren't to bother her, would your reaction be different?
You mean, you're not supposed to spend 17 hours a day on the computer???
Are any of your kids left handed?
Nope. (Despite Joe's grand plan to teach them to pitch both righty and lefty)
I can really see the weight loss in your face! You look great! What are you doing? (Exercise or starving?)
More starving than exercising, I'm afraid. And why is it that you always lose weight in your face first? Why can't it come off our butts first? So not fair.
For SSO: Ok, Thanks a BUNCH for listing that shirt that Austin got for Christmas("It's all fun & games...")-now MY son wants one so....where'd you get it?
I think they got it for him at Hot Topic. http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/index.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302028376&bmUID=1230355327649
Also, my 2 y.o. came running in to see what all the laughing was about and now SHE wants a Pokey Pokey skirt. So...where'd Grandma Rose pick up that little number?
I'm not sure where she got them. A quick search showed this place...http://www.actingoutdressup.com/products/hokey_pokey_skirts.htm but I'm not very good at finding reliable places from which to order so check it out yourself.
Or you could just ask all the Australians to chip in and buy you a vacation...[in regards to our -20 temps here]
Oh, now that sounds like a good idea! I'd really love to visit Australia sometime!
Have you ever heard of a song sung by the Beastie boys called, "No sleep til Brooklyn"? (I only know this song through the Guitar Hero which is played daily by my 14 yr old). Everytime I hear the chorus (screaming) "No...sleep...til Brooklyn...(and I always add...gets out of my bed!)", I think of you and your Brooklyn... How in the world do you have your little one sleeping in your bed night after night???? Is Joe really, really cranky that y'all don't have your nights alone without kids? How do you do that???
LOL, yep I know the song. (My kids are impressed with how many songs I know on Guitar Hero!) And it's really not an issue.
Can you believe he'll [Clay] be in kindergarten next year?
That one doesn't floor me as much as the fact that Austin will be in HIGH SCHOOL next year!
I have been a long-time fan of yours and have a question for your Sunday Sound Out. Rumor has it you bought something REALLY, REALLY, REALLY cool this weekend and I wanted to ask you if you would share it with your readers for Sunday Sound Out so you can inform them. I'm sure all your readers would be dying to know what this great new product is, just like I am dying to know what it could possibly be! Thanks, and I love you. I love your blog! I love your kids! I love how you named them all after really cool countries from amazing places all over the world! I love that you're so funny! I love that scarf you wear. Oh wait, that's another blogger. I just love you and can't wait for you to become a New York Times Bestseller. Signed Your #1 Fan!
Gee, I wonder Manic who could have Manic written this Manic anonymous comment. OK, OK, I broke down and got a stupid neti pot. Happy now, Manic? And no I didn't drown despite my fear of purposely pouring salt water up my nose. And yes, I can breathe. I can totally breathe. I have nothing dripping down the back of my throat. My sinuses are so clear. I never even realized I couldn't breathe before. I admit - it's pretty amazing. I'm hooked. OK Stephanie? Now the world knows I pour salt water up my nose in a very disgusting manner. And no, there is no flipping way I'm making a video out of it!
Did they manage to take any pictures of Brooklyn? She looked SO cute, I'd hate to think that she was left out!
They got a few of Savannah and Joe holding her, I think. I imagine their art department can do amazing things with the pictures and probably make her look like she was right there with the rest of them.
With each of the photo shoots you've had done, I've noticed that it is always just you and the kids. Does Joe ever feel offended that he is not included in any of the photo shoot pictures? I understand that they do that because you write about being a mother, so it makes sense that it is just you and the kids, but I was just wondering if your husband cares?
Joe was there and had his picture taken just like everyone else. I think he was only left out once, but I don't think he really cared.
How did you achieve that transformation in 30 minutes? [cleaning the boys' room]
I'm a trained professional.
Where did you get those nifty shelves with the storage bins in them?
Ikea! They're great! http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea/12020
You have to put a post about your technique!! Tell us, please tell us, how you do it in 1/2 hr!!![cleaning the boys' room]
I start at one end of the room and toss everything that isn't where it's supposed to be into a huge pile on the floor. Then I sort through the stuff, throw out all the crap, and put everything else where it belongs. Ta da.
On another note, please take the 5 minutes to check out that fairy site that someone mentioned. I need to know if it is the major sinus infection that is clouding my judgement - but that site was BEYOND WEIRD and really funny! I thought it was a SNL spoof! No kid I know would listen to that crazy, scary lady for more than 1 minute! She has a secret list she gives Santa? She leaves things in your room? Bizarre!Lucille http://www.housefairy.org/kids.php
OH. MY. GOSH. It's not just the sinus infection! I think that may have just replaced Yo Gabba Gabba as the creepiest thing I've ever seen. (If that's what you use and it works for you, then great. But when I showed my kids the video, they laughed so hard, I thought they might need medical attention!)
Are those plastic test tubes and bible buddies from the PowerLab VBS program?
Yup!
I sitll have some giveaways on my other blog.
PTA Movie Store $20 gift card
Basket of Johnson's "No More Tear" baby products
20 copies of the movie Fireproof on DVD
I can't wait to hear the responses to your "never" disciplining your kids ;) You realize you'll spend most of the week clearing up that statement, right?
LOL! That's what I thought too, but no one said a thing. I guess everyone knows I'm sometimes a tiny bit sarcastic.
I really appreciate how consistent you are about being non-judgmental; thank you for being sounding board for me on this. Here's the follow-up question to the prayer post: If someone were to spend all that time on the phone, or watching TV, or whatever else their interest may be, would that change your response? Not that I would ever expect you to condemn anyone, that's not like you. Mary Wesley spent 17 hours a day in prayer--different strokes for different folks. But, if a stay-at-home mom said she spent 17 hours a day watching TV leaving the kids with the instructions they weren't to bother her, would your reaction be different?
You mean, you're not supposed to spend 17 hours a day on the computer???
Are any of your kids left handed?
Nope. (Despite Joe's grand plan to teach them to pitch both righty and lefty)
I can really see the weight loss in your face! You look great! What are you doing? (Exercise or starving?)
More starving than exercising, I'm afraid. And why is it that you always lose weight in your face first? Why can't it come off our butts first? So not fair.
For SSO: Ok, Thanks a BUNCH for listing that shirt that Austin got for Christmas("It's all fun & games...")-now MY son wants one so....where'd you get it?
I think they got it for him at Hot Topic. http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/index.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302028376&bmUID=1230355327649
Also, my 2 y.o. came running in to see what all the laughing was about and now SHE wants a Pokey Pokey skirt. So...where'd Grandma Rose pick up that little number?
I'm not sure where she got them. A quick search showed this place...http://www.actingoutdressup.com/products/hokey_pokey_skirts.htm but I'm not very good at finding reliable places from which to order so check it out yourself.
Or you could just ask all the Australians to chip in and buy you a vacation...[in regards to our -20 temps here]
Oh, now that sounds like a good idea! I'd really love to visit Australia sometime!
Have you ever heard of a song sung by the Beastie boys called, "No sleep til Brooklyn"? (I only know this song through the Guitar Hero which is played daily by my 14 yr old). Everytime I hear the chorus (screaming) "No...sleep...til Brooklyn...(and I always add...gets out of my bed!)", I think of you and your Brooklyn... How in the world do you have your little one sleeping in your bed night after night???? Is Joe really, really cranky that y'all don't have your nights alone without kids? How do you do that???
LOL, yep I know the song. (My kids are impressed with how many songs I know on Guitar Hero!) And it's really not an issue.
Can you believe he'll [Clay] be in kindergarten next year?
That one doesn't floor me as much as the fact that Austin will be in HIGH SCHOOL next year!
I have been a long-time fan of yours and have a question for your Sunday Sound Out. Rumor has it you bought something REALLY, REALLY, REALLY cool this weekend and I wanted to ask you if you would share it with your readers for Sunday Sound Out so you can inform them. I'm sure all your readers would be dying to know what this great new product is, just like I am dying to know what it could possibly be! Thanks, and I love you. I love your blog! I love your kids! I love how you named them all after really cool countries from amazing places all over the world! I love that you're so funny! I love that scarf you wear. Oh wait, that's another blogger. I just love you and can't wait for you to become a New York Times Bestseller. Signed Your #1 Fan!
Gee, I wonder Manic who could have Manic written this Manic anonymous comment. OK, OK, I broke down and got a stupid neti pot. Happy now, Manic? And no I didn't drown despite my fear of purposely pouring salt water up my nose. And yes, I can breathe. I can totally breathe. I have nothing dripping down the back of my throat. My sinuses are so clear. I never even realized I couldn't breathe before. I admit - it's pretty amazing. I'm hooked. OK Stephanie? Now the world knows I pour salt water up my nose in a very disgusting manner. And no, there is no flipping way I'm making a video out of it!
Did they manage to take any pictures of Brooklyn? She looked SO cute, I'd hate to think that she was left out!
They got a few of Savannah and Joe holding her, I think. I imagine their art department can do amazing things with the pictures and probably make her look like she was right there with the rest of them.
With each of the photo shoots you've had done, I've noticed that it is always just you and the kids. Does Joe ever feel offended that he is not included in any of the photo shoot pictures? I understand that they do that because you write about being a mother, so it makes sense that it is just you and the kids, but I was just wondering if your husband cares?
Joe was there and had his picture taken just like everyone else. I think he was only left out once, but I don't think he really cared.
How did you achieve that transformation in 30 minutes? [cleaning the boys' room]
I'm a trained professional.
Where did you get those nifty shelves with the storage bins in them?
Ikea! They're great! http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea/12020
You have to put a post about your technique!! Tell us, please tell us, how you do it in 1/2 hr!!![cleaning the boys' room]
I start at one end of the room and toss everything that isn't where it's supposed to be into a huge pile on the floor. Then I sort through the stuff, throw out all the crap, and put everything else where it belongs. Ta da.
On another note, please take the 5 minutes to check out that fairy site that someone mentioned. I need to know if it is the major sinus infection that is clouding my judgement - but that site was BEYOND WEIRD and really funny! I thought it was a SNL spoof! No kid I know would listen to that crazy, scary lady for more than 1 minute! She has a secret list she gives Santa? She leaves things in your room? Bizarre!Lucille http://www.housefairy.org/kids.php
OH. MY. GOSH. It's not just the sinus infection! I think that may have just replaced Yo Gabba Gabba as the creepiest thing I've ever seen. (If that's what you use and it works for you, then great. But when I showed my kids the video, they laughed so hard, I thought they might need medical attention!)
Are those plastic test tubes and bible buddies from the PowerLab VBS program?
Yup!
I sitll have some giveaways on my other blog.
PTA Movie Store $20 gift card
Basket of Johnson's "No More Tear" baby products
20 copies of the movie Fireproof on DVD
Share this post:
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Say Cheese!
We went downtown today to have some pictures taken to accompany an article I wrote for Hallmark Magazine. I believe it will appear in the April/May issue. If you haven't seen the magazine, check it out. It's really good! You can subscribe HERE or you can pick up a copy at your local gold crown store.
So, we pulled up to a building that looked vacant and rang the bell.
Sure enough, it was a nice studio! Ugh, I can't remember the guy's name who owned the place... Craig maybe? Anyway, he was nice. He had a nice, calm, friendly dog who, despite Brooklyn's dire predictions, did not eat her shoe off. There we met up with Eileen who made us beautiful (or well, did the best she could). I wanted to take her home with me so she could do my hair and make-up every morning.
And we met Andy who was the stylist for the shoot and Jake, the photographer. These guys were awesome with the kids. They were really patient and had a lot of terrific ideas. I really can't wait to see what pictures end up in the magazine! They'd brought along a whole collection of props too. I even got to swing a baseball bat (I hope they don't use that one. Then the whole world will know I beat my kids. Kidding! Just kidding. Only mostly kidding.)
At one point, they said, "Your kids are really good. We're having to tell them stuff to do. Usually we have to tell kids to stop doing stuff." Shortly after this, the kids loosened up and starting acting like themselves. Ha! You NEVER say the kids are acting good! That's the same as saying, "OK, now I want you to act like insane monkeys!"
I know this picture is dark. I turned off my flash so I didn't interfere with their picture taking. But if you look closely, Austin's got Jax in a head-lock. LOL!
You might notice someone is missing from the line-up. Brooklyn would have nothing to do with pictures today. I'm not above bribing my kids with candy and that didn't even work today. Niether the tiara nor the tutu worked either. She did briefly smile at the decapitated doll's head, but that was about it. Hmmm, I should probably find that disturbing, huh?
Anyway, we had a ton of fun! Thanks so much guys!!!
So, we pulled up to a building that looked vacant and rang the bell.
Sure enough, it was a nice studio! Ugh, I can't remember the guy's name who owned the place... Craig maybe? Anyway, he was nice. He had a nice, calm, friendly dog who, despite Brooklyn's dire predictions, did not eat her shoe off. There we met up with Eileen who made us beautiful (or well, did the best she could). I wanted to take her home with me so she could do my hair and make-up every morning.
And we met Andy who was the stylist for the shoot and Jake, the photographer. These guys were awesome with the kids. They were really patient and had a lot of terrific ideas. I really can't wait to see what pictures end up in the magazine! They'd brought along a whole collection of props too. I even got to swing a baseball bat (I hope they don't use that one. Then the whole world will know I beat my kids. Kidding! Just kidding. Only mostly kidding.)
At one point, they said, "Your kids are really good. We're having to tell them stuff to do. Usually we have to tell kids to stop doing stuff." Shortly after this, the kids loosened up and starting acting like themselves. Ha! You NEVER say the kids are acting good! That's the same as saying, "OK, now I want you to act like insane monkeys!"
I know this picture is dark. I turned off my flash so I didn't interfere with their picture taking. But if you look closely, Austin's got Jax in a head-lock. LOL!
You might notice someone is missing from the line-up. Brooklyn would have nothing to do with pictures today. I'm not above bribing my kids with candy and that didn't even work today. Niether the tiara nor the tutu worked either. She did briefly smile at the decapitated doll's head, but that was about it. Hmmm, I should probably find that disturbing, huh?
Anyway, we had a ton of fun! Thanks so much guys!!!
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Friday, January 16, 2009
Mom Guilt
It's my little punk's Clay's birthday today. He's 5. How can this be? I remember when I was pregnant with him! It seems like it was just yesterday.
I ran out this afternoon to get his birthday present. Yep, that's me - always doing stuff at the last minute. I ran in the door, set his present (unwrapped) down on the floor and sat down just in the nick of time to join my family for dinner. I scarfed down a piece of pizza, stuck a candle in a store-bought cupcake, tossed it to Clay, sang Happy Birthday, and ran back out to go to my rehearsal tonight. I was going to make a slide show with pictures of him. I didn't get to it. I feel like a total failure tonight.
I'm having a combination party for Clay and Brooklyn next week. He didn't really care that I had to run out tonight. But still... sigh It's just another thing on my ever-growing list of things I feel guilty about. I think it's in a mom's job description - must carry around enormous burden of guilt for not living up to the "perfect mom" image.
Does this describe you too? Then head over to my friend Michelle's blog. She's got a fun webisode about mom guilt on her blog! You have to check it out! Well, I guess you technically don't have to, but it's funny and it also stars Mel from Tiny Goals, and really, do you want to go break up the fight between the kids right now anyway? Nah, ignore them, feel guilty about ignoring them, and go on over to Michelle's blog HERE.
And I've got a few giveaways on my other blog right now too.
$20 gift card for the PTA Movie Store
$70 gift basket of Johnson's baby products
20 copies of Fireproof on DVD
I ran out this afternoon to get his birthday present. Yep, that's me - always doing stuff at the last minute. I ran in the door, set his present (unwrapped) down on the floor and sat down just in the nick of time to join my family for dinner. I scarfed down a piece of pizza, stuck a candle in a store-bought cupcake, tossed it to Clay, sang Happy Birthday, and ran back out to go to my rehearsal tonight. I was going to make a slide show with pictures of him. I didn't get to it. I feel like a total failure tonight.
I'm having a combination party for Clay and Brooklyn next week. He didn't really care that I had to run out tonight. But still... sigh It's just another thing on my ever-growing list of things I feel guilty about. I think it's in a mom's job description - must carry around enormous burden of guilt for not living up to the "perfect mom" image.
Does this describe you too? Then head over to my friend Michelle's blog. She's got a fun webisode about mom guilt on her blog! You have to check it out! Well, I guess you technically don't have to, but it's funny and it also stars Mel from Tiny Goals, and really, do you want to go break up the fight between the kids right now anyway? Nah, ignore them, feel guilty about ignoring them, and go on over to Michelle's blog HERE.
And I've got a few giveaways on my other blog right now too.
$20 gift card for the PTA Movie Store
$70 gift basket of Johnson's baby products
20 copies of Fireproof on DVD
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We Interrupt This Weather to Bring You...
Here's just a little something for my friends in Chicago and for those of you living in this frozen tundra. I took this video when I was in Los Angeles in October. It's Santa Monica.
That is the most peaceful sound on earth. I can just smell the salt and feel the warmth on my skin when I watch this. I feel energized. I feel at peace. Ahhhhh I love it. And I can pretend I'm there (at least until I look out the window here.)
That is the most peaceful sound on earth. I can just smell the salt and feel the warmth on my skin when I watch this. I feel energized. I feel at peace. Ahhhhh I love it. And I can pretend I'm there (at least until I look out the window here.)
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Thursday, January 15, 2009
Christmas in January
I was going through some pictures and realized that I never put any up from Christmas with my inlaws.
Here's my cute little niece, Ryan. I just like to hold her and cuddle her and sniff her sweet little baby head. What is it about baby's heads that just smell so... babyish? Ahhh.
She hates me though. She screams every time I try to hold her. :(
Here's my little punk, Clay with his favoritist, Lightning McQueen!
And Miss Lexi, happy with her Hannah Montana design toy.
Jax looking too cool for pictures.
Aj with his shirt that reads, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye, then it's Hey! Free eyeball!"
My Savannah jammin to her tunes.
And here's Miss Brooklyn in all her dress-up clothes. She's such a girly-girl. See the skirt she's wearing? It's her "pokey pokey skirt". Joe's grandma, Rose gave Lex and Brooklyn these skirts that come with little music boxes in a hidden pocket. These music boxes play the Hokey Pokey. Again and again and again and again and again.... Gee, thanks Rose!
Speaking of Rose, this is Joe's grandma. Ever since I've known her, she's been one feisty lady; always saying what's on her mind; sharp as a tack. She's the one I twittered about last week. She fell and broke her leg. She was hospitalized because of the break and the fact that she had bleeding in her brain and couldn't remember the event.
Here's my cute little niece, Ryan. I just like to hold her and cuddle her and sniff her sweet little baby head. What is it about baby's heads that just smell so... babyish? Ahhh.
She hates me though. She screams every time I try to hold her. :(
Here's my little punk, Clay with his favoritist, Lightning McQueen!
And Miss Lexi, happy with her Hannah Montana design toy.
Jax looking too cool for pictures.
Aj with his shirt that reads, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye, then it's Hey! Free eyeball!"
My Savannah jammin to her tunes.
And here's Miss Brooklyn in all her dress-up clothes. She's such a girly-girl. See the skirt she's wearing? It's her "pokey pokey skirt". Joe's grandma, Rose gave Lex and Brooklyn these skirts that come with little music boxes in a hidden pocket. These music boxes play the Hokey Pokey. Again and again and again and again and again.... Gee, thanks Rose!
Speaking of Rose, this is Joe's grandma. Ever since I've known her, she's been one feisty lady; always saying what's on her mind; sharp as a tack. She's the one I twittered about last week. She fell and broke her leg. She was hospitalized because of the break and the fact that she had bleeding in her brain and couldn't remember the event.
I'm happy to say the bleeding in her brain is much better. She needed surgery on her femur to repair it, but doctors couldn't operate until her blood was thicker (she'd been taking too much Coumadin and her blood was too thin to do surgery for a couple days.) Her surgery went well, but then she had problems with fluid in her lungs. With diuretics, doctors were able to fix that. Then, because all that other stuff wasn't enough, off the Coumadin, she developed blood clots in her legs! They were able to put a filter in her veins to keep the clots from traveling. Whew! So that's where she stands right now. It looks like she just fell and didn't suffer a stroke like was originally thought. She's recovering well and should be moved to a rehab facility soon. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers!
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Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Free Shampoo!
Click HERE to get a free bottle of Suave! Can't beat that with a stick.
Look beautiful for less (in this case - FREE!)
Look beautiful for less (in this case - FREE!)
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Call the Hazmat Team
I would like to formally apologize to my sons' future wives (assuming someone actually marries them at some point in the future). I have tried (honestly, I really, really have) to teach them how to pick up after themselves. I have tried to teach them to make their beds. I remind them on a daily basis that food does not belong in their rooms. I let them know I'm not particularly fond of picking up their dirty underwear from all over their floor. I stress the importance of taking care of their things and they know I nearly burst a vein every time I see them put freshly laundered clothes back into the hamper without ever wearing them, simply because they're too lazy to put them away.
They just don't care and would be perfectly content to live in their own filth. I, on the other hand, can only take it messy for about a week before I start to twitch when I walk by their room. I'm not unreasonable. I mean, I know I've got 6 kids and a small house. It looks cluttered a lot of the time. I'm ok with that. I can deal with a little clutter. I don't mind a stack of bills and papers on the counter. It doesn't bother me that we have a bin with hats, gloves, and other outerwear sitting by the door. But I start to hyperventilate when I can't see the floor. I hate seeing toys all over the place and I nearly have a breakdown when the bathrooms are dirty.
I really try to teach them though. So, tell me, why does their room look like this on a far too regular basis?
Enter at own risk. A tetanus shot and steel-toed boots are recommended. Hazmat gear is probably a wise investment.
They used to have a floor. I haven't seen it in awhile, but I'm pretty sure it was there at one time. I vaguely remember a carpet printed with roads on which they drove their Matchbox cars.
It's like living in the city dump.
Nice
Oh yeah, what else would you store in your drawers, but half-eaten granola bars, and old banana and clementine peels. I know that's what I keep in MY drawers.
They just don't care and would be perfectly content to live in their own filth. I, on the other hand, can only take it messy for about a week before I start to twitch when I walk by their room. I'm not unreasonable. I mean, I know I've got 6 kids and a small house. It looks cluttered a lot of the time. I'm ok with that. I can deal with a little clutter. I don't mind a stack of bills and papers on the counter. It doesn't bother me that we have a bin with hats, gloves, and other outerwear sitting by the door. But I start to hyperventilate when I can't see the floor. I hate seeing toys all over the place and I nearly have a breakdown when the bathrooms are dirty.
I really try to teach them though. So, tell me, why does their room look like this on a far too regular basis?
Enter at own risk. A tetanus shot and steel-toed boots are recommended. Hazmat gear is probably a wise investment.
They used to have a floor. I haven't seen it in awhile, but I'm pretty sure it was there at one time. I vaguely remember a carpet printed with roads on which they drove their Matchbox cars.
It's like living in the city dump.
Nice
Oh yeah, what else would you store in your drawers, but half-eaten granola bars, and old banana and clementine peels. I know that's what I keep in MY drawers.
and Pop-Tarts and hard-as-a-rock bread fragments
and just in case you get hungry later, it's important to stash food among the collection of weird stuff boys keep
So that's where my last Diet Coke went!
and just in case you get hungry later, it's important to stash food among the collection of weird stuff boys keep
So that's where my last Diet Coke went!
(As I was typing out this post, Jackson walked into the kitchen, half-asleep, grabbed a granola bar, and started back to his room. He is always hungry at night. He gets up and eats in the middle of the night often. If I did that, I'd weigh a million pounds. He's skinny as a rail.)
It looks like a pack of wild dogs slept in their beds
Although I try to teach them and I punish them and I take away privileges and I try and try, sometimes it's just easier to kick them out and go in with a garbage bag, a can of Lysol, and one of those garbage picker-upper stick things. I've become quite the expert at cleaning up after them.
A half hour after I took my life in my own hands and set foot amid the toxic waste....
I KNEW there was a carpet for their cars to drive on! (I left the beds alone because I was afraid of what might be living in there. I think I'll strip them down and throw everything in the laundry tomorrow. It's probably been 3 weeks since I did that!)
the tool bench Clay got for Christmas. He still could not care less about it. Brooklyn, on the other hand, likes to carry the tools around in her purse along with an assortment of lip gloss and misc. crap she finds around the house. She's going to be a bag lady when she grows up.
Other than the broken shade, much better
Although I try to teach them and I punish them and I take away privileges and I try and try, sometimes it's just easier to kick them out and go in with a garbage bag, a can of Lysol, and one of those garbage picker-upper stick things. I've become quite the expert at cleaning up after them.
A half hour after I took my life in my own hands and set foot amid the toxic waste....
I KNEW there was a carpet for their cars to drive on! (I left the beds alone because I was afraid of what might be living in there. I think I'll strip them down and throw everything in the laundry tomorrow. It's probably been 3 weeks since I did that!)
the tool bench Clay got for Christmas. He still could not care less about it. Brooklyn, on the other hand, likes to carry the tools around in her purse along with an assortment of lip gloss and misc. crap she finds around the house. She's going to be a bag lady when she grows up.
Other than the broken shade, much better
Ahhhh, I feel so much better when every surface isn't covered in stuff.
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Monday, January 12, 2009
Wake Up!
I awoke this morning to Brooklyn breathing in my face. I cracked one eye open and lo and behold, there she was, a half inch from my face! Nothing like waking up to a giant pair of eyeballs to scare the crap outta you.
Brooklyn said, "Mama, do you have your ears peered?"
In my, "I haven't had coffee yet!" state, I had no clue what she was saying.
"Huh?" I croaked.
"Do you have your ears peered?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to shake the cobwebs from my head.
She sighed, exasperated at my obvious stupidity and spelled it out for me. "E G S T K!"
I was suddenly awake, cracking up at her spelling. "Ohhhh", I said. "Are my ears pierced?"
"Yes!" she squealed, happy that I finally understood her.
"You're silly, Brooklyn."
"No, you silly, Mama!"
That's better than an alarm clock any day. :)
Brooklyn said, "Mama, do you have your ears peered?"
In my, "I haven't had coffee yet!" state, I had no clue what she was saying.
"Huh?" I croaked.
"Do you have your ears peered?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to shake the cobwebs from my head.
She sighed, exasperated at my obvious stupidity and spelled it out for me. "E G S T K!"
I was suddenly awake, cracking up at her spelling. "Ohhhh", I said. "Are my ears pierced?"
"Yes!" she squealed, happy that I finally understood her.
"You're silly, Brooklyn."
"No, you silly, Mama!"
That's better than an alarm clock any day. :)
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Sunday, January 11, 2009
Sunday Sound Out
Have you ever written something about someone that you didn't even think twice about and then find out later that they were really upset about what you said?
No. Well, not that I know of. I don't think so. Oh great, now you have me worrying that I've offended someone! Honestly, I don't write anything that I wouldn't say to someone's face. I poke fun at people sometimes (me included!), but it's just in fun and not meant to offend.
I do have one question though. Did Clay get disciplined for doing what you told him not to in the first place? Such as no time playing for a while or another discipline? [in regards to Clay picking a banana at the Dells]
Nope. I never discipline any of my kids. It takes too much effort.
i was wondering if your book is available here in Singapore? [it's a country in south east asia btw]
LOL! Thanks for the geography lesson. I know you can preorder it on Amazon right now, and it looks like it can be shipped anywhere. If you go towards the top of my blog, on the left side, there's a link that will take you directly there.
I agree, it is a law on the books somewhere about giving flatlanders a hard time at every opportunity... "at least we don't have to pay to drive on crummy roads!" [making fun of people from WI]
You got me there. I completely agree. The minute I cross over into Wisconsin, the potholes and the tolls disappear.
Would it bother you too much if I told you that I had Lou's for dinner tonight?
YES! Especially since you're all skinny! I used to like you Michelle!
I have used Denise Austin tapes and the whole time I am exercising I think to myself, "Oh yeah? You may be skinny but you have no boobs!!"
LOL! Good one! I'll have to remember that!
Dawn - What about your computer or laptop? Can you play your dvd's on them?
Duh! That never even crossed my mind! Thanks a lot! Wait a minute....gee, thanks a lot! There goes my excuse not to work out for a couple weeks.
I just looked up that lamp company...as others have said its not looking good. I have a suggestion! YOU ARE A BLOGGER WITH LOVING READERS...we start a campaign on your behalf, you tell us, do you want us to live chat them for you or do you want us to overwhelm them with mail to their address demanding your part or your money! You are also friendly with many other bloggers who can enlist their readers to do the same. What do you say? You want us to go to war for you?
LOL, you guys are really awesome! Thank you so much to all of you for taking time to research that crummy company and give me advice on getting my money back. I called my bank to dispute the charges and I filed a complaint with the BBB. Now, hopefully I'll get a refund soon so I can buy the part from someone else. Thanks again for all your help!!!
At what age do you push the issue[potty training]
I personally don't. I pushed it with my first one and it took him for-ev-er to train. It was not pleasant. After him, I learned not to push it. They'll train when they're ready. It may be at 2, maybe not til 3, maybe not til 4, but eventually it'll happen. I wrote a potty training post HERE and there are a lot comments with advice if you want to read. (Oh my gosh, I just reread that old post and what the heck was I talking about??? Skinning cats??? I must have been sleep deprived when I wrote that!)
I LOVE IT!!!!!!! But I bet if you try that first next time, it wont work!! [kissing Brooklyn to get her to settle down]
I'm positive you're right. It'll never work again - not in a million years.
Why is the baby always the worst?
So we don't feel sad about not having any more.
Hey, where's your picture? :)
Hey, Dawn, I had a question. I just recently saw your "purse dump" post and I saw that you have a bunch of lip glosses. I can't find a good one that I actually like; what's your favorite type?
Would you like to share with the rest of us your secret to losing weight?
Why are you and your kids continually wearing short-sleeved shirts in pictures from the dead of winter? I thought it was strange that Lexi had on a summer nightgown in the picture you posted from Christmas morning , but now you have on a t-shirt in January.
What does Joe say?[about my hair]
I don't think he's noticed.
I do have a SSO question, if it's not too late.I was at a mom's group where someone shared a story about a mother who spent an hour a day praying for her children. Her children knew to not interrupt her during her prayer time. The group's reaction to the story was mixed. Some felt, this showed her devotion to God and her children: what a wonderful expression of love, and what a great example she was setting by showing her children the importance of prayer. Others felt that she should get off her knees and tend to her children. God hears prayers while we change diapers and hold screaming babies just as well as when we sit in silence.I'm curious to know your take on it?
My take is - live and let live. I'd personally be on my knees because I was washing my floors while asking God to keep me from strangling my kids for tracking mud all over the house. But that's me. I don't think it's anyone's job to assume her children are neglected or that her way of doing things is wrong just because it's not their way. My 2 cents.
No. Well, not that I know of. I don't think so. Oh great, now you have me worrying that I've offended someone! Honestly, I don't write anything that I wouldn't say to someone's face. I poke fun at people sometimes (me included!), but it's just in fun and not meant to offend.
I do have one question though. Did Clay get disciplined for doing what you told him not to in the first place? Such as no time playing for a while or another discipline? [in regards to Clay picking a banana at the Dells]
Nope. I never discipline any of my kids. It takes too much effort.
i was wondering if your book is available here in Singapore? [it's a country in south east asia btw]
LOL! Thanks for the geography lesson. I know you can preorder it on Amazon right now, and it looks like it can be shipped anywhere. If you go towards the top of my blog, on the left side, there's a link that will take you directly there.
I agree, it is a law on the books somewhere about giving flatlanders a hard time at every opportunity... "at least we don't have to pay to drive on crummy roads!" [making fun of people from WI]
You got me there. I completely agree. The minute I cross over into Wisconsin, the potholes and the tolls disappear.
Would it bother you too much if I told you that I had Lou's for dinner tonight?
YES! Especially since you're all skinny! I used to like you Michelle!
I have used Denise Austin tapes and the whole time I am exercising I think to myself, "Oh yeah? You may be skinny but you have no boobs!!"
LOL! Good one! I'll have to remember that!
Dawn - What about your computer or laptop? Can you play your dvd's on them?
Duh! That never even crossed my mind! Thanks a lot! Wait a minute....gee, thanks a lot! There goes my excuse not to work out for a couple weeks.
I just looked up that lamp company...as others have said its not looking good. I have a suggestion! YOU ARE A BLOGGER WITH LOVING READERS...we start a campaign on your behalf, you tell us, do you want us to live chat them for you or do you want us to overwhelm them with mail to their address demanding your part or your money! You are also friendly with many other bloggers who can enlist their readers to do the same. What do you say? You want us to go to war for you?
LOL, you guys are really awesome! Thank you so much to all of you for taking time to research that crummy company and give me advice on getting my money back. I called my bank to dispute the charges and I filed a complaint with the BBB. Now, hopefully I'll get a refund soon so I can buy the part from someone else. Thanks again for all your help!!!
At what age do you push the issue[potty training]
I personally don't. I pushed it with my first one and it took him for-ev-er to train. It was not pleasant. After him, I learned not to push it. They'll train when they're ready. It may be at 2, maybe not til 3, maybe not til 4, but eventually it'll happen. I wrote a potty training post HERE and there are a lot comments with advice if you want to read. (Oh my gosh, I just reread that old post and what the heck was I talking about??? Skinning cats??? I must have been sleep deprived when I wrote that!)
I LOVE IT!!!!!!! But I bet if you try that first next time, it wont work!! [kissing Brooklyn to get her to settle down]
I'm positive you're right. It'll never work again - not in a million years.
Why is the baby always the worst?
So we don't feel sad about not having any more.
Hey, where's your picture? :)
Yeah, and thanks to all of you for asking me for a picture. I have such a complex about my forehead now. I really never noticed how huge it was. Maybe my hairline is receding?! Oh sheesh!
But I genuinely thank all of you guys who said you liked my hair. It makes me feel a little better about the flaming orangeness of it all.
Oh, and I'm sorry you have orange roots. Hey, I had a WHOLE head of orange in 7th grade when I just *knew* that spraying Sun-In would make me beautiful!
I did too! What were we thinking??? Sun-In is NOT for people with brown hair.
Hey, Dawn, I had a question. I just recently saw your "purse dump" post and I saw that you have a bunch of lip glosses. I can't find a good one that I actually like; what's your favorite type?
My favorite lip balm type product is Alba Coconut Cream Lip Balm because it's all natural and it tastes like coconut. My favorite gloss right now is Buxom Big & Healthy Full-Color Lip Polish by Bare Escentuals which is ridiculously expensive, but it has that menthol, tingly feel to it. I don't wear lip gloss all that often because I hate when my hair blows across my face and sticks to my lips. Ewww.
What do your kids say about it? [my hair]
What do your kids say about it? [my hair]
They told me it looked stupid and orange. They're gems, no?
Would you like to share with the rest of us your secret to losing weight?
Sure. Eat fewer calories than you burn.
Why are you and your kids continually wearing short-sleeved shirts in pictures from the dead of winter? I thought it was strange that Lexi had on a summer nightgown in the picture you posted from Christmas morning , but now you have on a t-shirt in January.
My kids are impervious to cold because they're well, kids. And I hate things on my arms and neck. I only own a couple long sleeved shirts and none with collars. You could seriously torture me by making me wear a turtleneck. Oh, just the thought of it makes me cringe and claw at my throat. And then there's the fact that I'm always hot. My internal thermostat is broken.
What does Joe say?[about my hair]
I don't think he's noticed.
I do have a SSO question, if it's not too late.I was at a mom's group where someone shared a story about a mother who spent an hour a day praying for her children. Her children knew to not interrupt her during her prayer time. The group's reaction to the story was mixed. Some felt, this showed her devotion to God and her children: what a wonderful expression of love, and what a great example she was setting by showing her children the importance of prayer. Others felt that she should get off her knees and tend to her children. God hears prayers while we change diapers and hold screaming babies just as well as when we sit in silence.I'm curious to know your take on it?
My take is - live and let live. I'd personally be on my knees because I was washing my floors while asking God to keep me from strangling my kids for tracking mud all over the house. But that's me. I don't think it's anyone's job to assume her children are neglected or that her way of doing things is wrong just because it's not their way. My 2 cents.
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Saturday, January 10, 2009
Because Coloring My Hair Wasn't Bad Enough...
A lot of you guys asked me for a picture so I tried to take one last night. When I saw the pictures I'd taken, I realized I look like a Neanderthal. Why hasn't anyone ever told me I have a caveman forehead??? I look like a Geico representative! Ugh. So, naturally I decided to fix it. You know, by cutting my bangs. Now I can disguise my abnormally huge forehead by bangs I cut myself. Bangs that are crooked and stupid looking. ORANGE bangs that are crooked and stupid looking.
This is the reason I stay behind the camera.
Here it is in more light. ORANGE!
This is the reason I stay behind the camera.
Anyway, here are the pictures I took, but they just don't do it justice. I couldn't capture the whole "carrotness" of my hair. Just take my word on it. It isn't pretty.
"Huh? Oh, you're taking the picture now?" Here we have the "Duh Look" perfected.
"Huh? Oh, you're taking the picture now?" Here we have the "Duh Look" perfected.
This is my hair in low light. Looks brown. Brown is fine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you haven't yet, head on over to Manic's blog to see the details on her second annual virtual blood drive. You could win a vacation to Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Florida!!! How cool is that? In fact, I think Manic could use a little getaway herself right about now. She should probably bring one of her favorite blogging friends along too! You know, ME!
And check out Michelle's blog HERE! She's starting up a new chat show! Yes, a chat show! Check out her YouTube Channel!!!
Oh, and I've still got a giveaway for Clementines from Spain over HERE.
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Friday, January 9, 2009
Why Hairdressers Need a License
Because money's a little tight this month, I opted to color my hair myself. This was probably not the best plan considering I'm having pictures taken for an article in Hallmark Magazine next week. OK, so I bought some hair color and opened the box, took out the directions, and began to read.
USAGE ADVISORY - SAFETY WARNINGS (READ BEFORE COLORING)
Skin allergy test: to be performed 48 hours before each use of this product,
Nah, does anyone actually ever do this? Who wants to wait 48 hours? I continued reading.
Even if you have already used this or another haircolor product.
Eh, I'm sure it's no big deal if you've had your hair colored in the past. I can just skip this part. I continued.
IMPORTANT: THIS PRODUCT CAN CAUSE AN ALLERGIC REACTION WHICH, IN CERTAIN RARE CASES, CAN BE SEVERE. TO HELP MINIMIZE THE RISK OF AN ALLERGIC REACTION, YOU MUST FOLLOW THESE PRECAUTIONS...
"Severe reactions"? Oooo that doesn't sound good. Maybe I really should do an allergy test. Then again, I DO have my Epi-pen.... Let's throw caution to the wind and slap the stuff on my head.
So, I followed the rest of the directions, mixed the dye, slathered my hair, piled it on top of my head and waited 25 minutes.
I rinsed and conditioned and towel dried. Then I looked in a mirror. OK, it looks plain brown. Plain is fine. It looks pretty close to my natural color. Well, as far as I remember. It's been a while since I've seen my natural color. I parted my hair to see if it covered the gray.
OH. MY. GOSH. Well, the gray was covered all right. It was covered with a funky orange color! Why are my roots orange?! This box does NOT show a model with orange roots! I looked at the directions again. 25 minutes. It said 25 minutes. I waited 25 minutes. WHY IS MY HAIR ORANGE?! Excellent. Hallmark can change the title of the article to CarrotTop: The Mom, The Myth, The Legend.
Maybe if I just change my make-up, no one will notice the orange in my hair. Yeah, like maybe if I do my make-up like this...
Or perhaps like this...
Maybe, just maybe, that'll distract people from the wreck that is my hair. Ugh, I give up. Baseball caps are making a comeback, right?
And check out my review blog HERE for a chance to win a crate of Clementines from Spain!
USAGE ADVISORY - SAFETY WARNINGS (READ BEFORE COLORING)
Skin allergy test: to be performed 48 hours before each use of this product,
Nah, does anyone actually ever do this? Who wants to wait 48 hours? I continued reading.
Even if you have already used this or another haircolor product.
Eh, I'm sure it's no big deal if you've had your hair colored in the past. I can just skip this part. I continued.
IMPORTANT: THIS PRODUCT CAN CAUSE AN ALLERGIC REACTION WHICH, IN CERTAIN RARE CASES, CAN BE SEVERE. TO HELP MINIMIZE THE RISK OF AN ALLERGIC REACTION, YOU MUST FOLLOW THESE PRECAUTIONS...
"Severe reactions"? Oooo that doesn't sound good. Maybe I really should do an allergy test. Then again, I DO have my Epi-pen.... Let's throw caution to the wind and slap the stuff on my head.
So, I followed the rest of the directions, mixed the dye, slathered my hair, piled it on top of my head and waited 25 minutes.
I rinsed and conditioned and towel dried. Then I looked in a mirror. OK, it looks plain brown. Plain is fine. It looks pretty close to my natural color. Well, as far as I remember. It's been a while since I've seen my natural color. I parted my hair to see if it covered the gray.
OH. MY. GOSH. Well, the gray was covered all right. It was covered with a funky orange color! Why are my roots orange?! This box does NOT show a model with orange roots! I looked at the directions again. 25 minutes. It said 25 minutes. I waited 25 minutes. WHY IS MY HAIR ORANGE?! Excellent. Hallmark can change the title of the article to CarrotTop: The Mom, The Myth, The Legend.
Maybe if I just change my make-up, no one will notice the orange in my hair. Yeah, like maybe if I do my make-up like this...
Or perhaps like this...
Maybe, just maybe, that'll distract people from the wreck that is my hair. Ugh, I give up. Baseball caps are making a comeback, right?
And check out my review blog HERE for a chance to win a crate of Clementines from Spain!
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Wednesday, January 7, 2009
I Don't Wanna!
Getting ready to take the kids to school yesterday, I tried to put Brooklyn's coat on her.
"I don't wanna coat!" she screamed.
"You have to wear a coat. It's cold outside. It's snowing," I stupidly tried to reason with her.
"I don't want it!"
"Tough. Come here." I held up her coat and motioned for her to come put her arms in.
"NO!"
"Brooklyn..." I said in my warning tone.
"No! I don't wanna coat!"
I grabbed her and started stuffing her arms into the sleeves. As soon as I got her right arm in and moved onto the left, she pulled the right arm out. I jammed her right arm in and she pulled out the left arm.
"Brooklyn, knock it off!" I yelled. The kids were going to be late for school and here she was screaming and squirming around like I was torturing her.
This continued for a couple minutes until I lost it and swatted her butt. Of course, she didn't feel a thing because the stubborn girl still wears a diaper and probably will until she goes to high school. All it did was make her more mad and cause her scream even louder.
I ended up picking her up, her coat hanging from one arm, and carrying her kicking, flailing, wailing body out to the car. After a 5 minute wrestling match, I got her strapped into her car seat. She screamed her head off the whole way to school. On the bright side, her screaming distracted the other kids from fighting and calling each other names for once.
Then she screamed the whole way home. I unbuckled her and carrying her kicking, flailing, wailing body back inside. The minute I set her down, she kicked off her shoes, tore off her coat and ran back outside. It was 20 degrees and snowing. I let her sit there in the front porch for a minute thinking she'd snap out of it and come back inside immediately. I was wrong. Don't underestimate that girl's stubbornness.
Although I briefly considered letting someone call DCFS on me so they'd come take her away for a little while, I opted to drag her screaming butt back inside. Know what finally calmed her down? Bribing her with gum? Nope. Putting a movie on my little TV for her? Nope. Locking her in the girls' room? Nope. I didn't do any of those things. I picked her up, kissed her forehead and said. "I love you." She instantly stopped crying, looked at me, sniffed a couple times and said, "I love you more, more, more."
"Sheesh! That's all it took to calm you down??? Do you know this is why you're my last baby?"
"I not a baby!" came her indignant reply.
Oh great. Here we go again...
"I don't wanna coat!" she screamed.
"You have to wear a coat. It's cold outside. It's snowing," I stupidly tried to reason with her.
"I don't want it!"
"Tough. Come here." I held up her coat and motioned for her to come put her arms in.
"NO!"
"Brooklyn..." I said in my warning tone.
"No! I don't wanna coat!"
I grabbed her and started stuffing her arms into the sleeves. As soon as I got her right arm in and moved onto the left, she pulled the right arm out. I jammed her right arm in and she pulled out the left arm.
"Brooklyn, knock it off!" I yelled. The kids were going to be late for school and here she was screaming and squirming around like I was torturing her.
This continued for a couple minutes until I lost it and swatted her butt. Of course, she didn't feel a thing because the stubborn girl still wears a diaper and probably will until she goes to high school. All it did was make her more mad and cause her scream even louder.
I ended up picking her up, her coat hanging from one arm, and carrying her kicking, flailing, wailing body out to the car. After a 5 minute wrestling match, I got her strapped into her car seat. She screamed her head off the whole way to school. On the bright side, her screaming distracted the other kids from fighting and calling each other names for once.
Then she screamed the whole way home. I unbuckled her and carrying her kicking, flailing, wailing body back inside. The minute I set her down, she kicked off her shoes, tore off her coat and ran back outside. It was 20 degrees and snowing. I let her sit there in the front porch for a minute thinking she'd snap out of it and come back inside immediately. I was wrong. Don't underestimate that girl's stubbornness.
Although I briefly considered letting someone call DCFS on me so they'd come take her away for a little while, I opted to drag her screaming butt back inside. Know what finally calmed her down? Bribing her with gum? Nope. Putting a movie on my little TV for her? Nope. Locking her in the girls' room? Nope. I didn't do any of those things. I picked her up, kissed her forehead and said. "I love you." She instantly stopped crying, looked at me, sniffed a couple times and said, "I love you more, more, more."
"Sheesh! That's all it took to calm you down??? Do you know this is why you're my last baby?"
"I not a baby!" came her indignant reply.
Oh great. Here we go again...
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Tuesday, January 6, 2009
An Angel Earns His Wings
I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to copy and paste Peggy's words here.
Today the world may have cried a river of tears for a little boy’s life that ended way too soon, but we believe Heaven is REJOYCING over Coleman’s job well done.
Coleman was an amazing child of God and we were so honored to be chosen as his parents.
He left this world at 10:45 last night- he fought HARD until the very end, not wanting to give up, but finally letting go. He was a warrior and a hero our hearts will forever miss. We had the most glorious five years together- a gift we will never forget.
A quick story. :)
One day Coleman heard someone say they were mad at God. He didn’t say a word, but later came to me with this complete look of disbelief on his face and asked, “mommy? did you hear them say they were mad at DOD? WHY would they say that?” He couldn’t even fathom the thought. Then he raised his little eyebrows and said, “well, I hope they don’t say that in PUB-WIC (public)!” and walked away. He knew there were some things he could not change, but HIS faith never wavered.
Lots of people have mentioned their anger toward God …how can He let this happen when so many people have been praying for Coleman? Why didn’t he answer our prayers?
I just can’t be angry at Our God who sent Coleman to us in the first place. Coleman was a child of God, WE were chosen to be his parents- and how blessed we were. Maybe my feelings will change, but like Coleman, I can’t imagine being angry at God. Would we have loved to have had more time with Coleman? YES! I want him back right now, but I know that’s the selfish part of me talking. I know I will hurt more than I can ever imagine in missing him…and I know I will have MANY days of heartache and anger, but my anger is over the fact we live in a world where we can do so much, but still do not have a cure for this horrific disease. Children are paying the price for that. More on that will come-
I guess what I’m saying is I know for a fact, Coleman would NOT want us to be mad at God. He taught us so much in his time here. His lessons will go on for a very long time. He knew where he came from and he knew where he was going. My heart aches for more time, but I’m SO thankful for the time we got with him, and we know we WILL be with him again. God doesn’t always answer our prayers in the way we want him to…HIS ways are not ours, and that’s hard to accept, but true. It doesn’t mean I don’t question it- it’s hard to understand, but one day we WILL know.
Many people have asked how Caden is doing. Now that’s a long story, but we have assured him that we love him. He is dealing the best way he can- just like us.
I turned my desk Praying Parent calendar today, and thought I’d share what it said…
“We are dependent on God to enable us to raise our child properly, and He will see to it that our child’s life is blessed. One thing I have learned is that I should not try to force my own will on my child in prayer. I have found it is better to pray more along the lines of “Lord show me how to pray for this child. Help me to raise him Your way, and may Your will be done in his life.”
I believe God’s will was done through Coleman. I know it.
For those inquiring:
We will celebrate Coleman’s life on Saturday, Jan. 10th at 10:30 a.m. at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Callender. Visitation will also be at the church on Friday the 9th after 4:00p.m.
Instead of flowers, we’d love donations made to
The Hospice House of Fort Dodge, Iowa
The Ronald McDonald House of Iowa City
or curesearch.org
We’d like to thank EVERYONE who has helped our family along this journey the past two and a half years. We will never be able to explain how much we appreciate the support for our Team. Our carepage family is the BEST!
To the hospice house- you will always have a special place in our hearts. You made the most difficult time of our lives one filled with love. Nadine and your staff, God bless you. I know Coleman would like us to thank you as well for making his last days as comfortable as possible for him- and for us all.
Here is one of my favorite pictures of Coleman…
God bless you baby. Coleman said long ago, "some day I won't need NO more meds or pokes, wight mommy?” No more sweetie. You are free.
One more story to share…thanks again Nadine.
The Parable of the Twins-
Once upon a time, twin boys were conceived in the same womb. Weeks passed and the twins developed. As their awareness grew, they laughed for joy, “isn’t it great that we were conceived? Isn’t it great to be alive?”
Together the twins explored their world. When they found their mother’s cord that gave them life, they sang for joy, “how great is our Mother’s love, that she shares her own life with us!”
As weeks stretched into months, the twins noticed how much each was changing. “what does it mean?” asked the one. “It means that our stay in this world is drawing to an end, said the other. “But I don’t want to go”, said the other, “but maybe there is life after birth.” But how can there be?” responded the other one. “We will shed our life cord, and how is life possible without it? Besides, we have seen evidence that others were here before us and none of them have returned to tell us that there is life after birth. No, this is the end.”
And so the one fell into deep despair, saying, “If conception ends in birth, what is the purpose of life in the womb? It is meaningless! Maybe there is no mother after all?” “But there has to be,” protested the other. “How else did we get here? How do we remain alive?”
How you ever seen our mother?” said one. “Maybe she lives only in our minds. Maybe we made her up because the idea made us feel good?”
And so the last days in the womb were filled with deep questioning and fear. Finally, the moment of birth arrived. When the twins had passed from their world, they opened their eyes and cried for joy. For what they saw exceeded their fondest dreams.
Author Unknown
OH OH OH I have to say too-
Dr. Woods from Des Moines and Dr. Gilheeney from NY who called us personally- GOD BLESS YOU! Our world needs more doctors like you. It means so much to us. We will never forget your compassion. Thank you.
Blessings to you all,
Nev-va Div up-
Team Larson
UTUBE is going to pull this video because of the song used, so I thought I'd try to post it and see if it's still viewable...Cman and his bunny foo-foo. That bunny helped him through many hard times, and he still twirled the ribbon even on the high doses of morphine. This is Cman's second bunny after he lost his beloved first. A story of LOVE...
And while I'm at it, Dante earned his wings this morning too.
And Joe's grandmother fell yesterday and broke her femur pretty badly. She needs surgery on her leg, but they haven't been able to do anything because apparently she'd been taking too much Coumadin and her blood is too thin. She also hit her head when she fell and has bleeding in her brain. They're trying to determine if she had a stroke which caused the fall.
Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts.
Today the world may have cried a river of tears for a little boy’s life that ended way too soon, but we believe Heaven is REJOYCING over Coleman’s job well done.
Coleman was an amazing child of God and we were so honored to be chosen as his parents.
He left this world at 10:45 last night- he fought HARD until the very end, not wanting to give up, but finally letting go. He was a warrior and a hero our hearts will forever miss. We had the most glorious five years together- a gift we will never forget.
A quick story. :)
One day Coleman heard someone say they were mad at God. He didn’t say a word, but later came to me with this complete look of disbelief on his face and asked, “mommy? did you hear them say they were mad at DOD? WHY would they say that?” He couldn’t even fathom the thought. Then he raised his little eyebrows and said, “well, I hope they don’t say that in PUB-WIC (public)!” and walked away. He knew there were some things he could not change, but HIS faith never wavered.
Lots of people have mentioned their anger toward God …how can He let this happen when so many people have been praying for Coleman? Why didn’t he answer our prayers?
I just can’t be angry at Our God who sent Coleman to us in the first place. Coleman was a child of God, WE were chosen to be his parents- and how blessed we were. Maybe my feelings will change, but like Coleman, I can’t imagine being angry at God. Would we have loved to have had more time with Coleman? YES! I want him back right now, but I know that’s the selfish part of me talking. I know I will hurt more than I can ever imagine in missing him…and I know I will have MANY days of heartache and anger, but my anger is over the fact we live in a world where we can do so much, but still do not have a cure for this horrific disease. Children are paying the price for that. More on that will come-
I guess what I’m saying is I know for a fact, Coleman would NOT want us to be mad at God. He taught us so much in his time here. His lessons will go on for a very long time. He knew where he came from and he knew where he was going. My heart aches for more time, but I’m SO thankful for the time we got with him, and we know we WILL be with him again. God doesn’t always answer our prayers in the way we want him to…HIS ways are not ours, and that’s hard to accept, but true. It doesn’t mean I don’t question it- it’s hard to understand, but one day we WILL know.
Many people have asked how Caden is doing. Now that’s a long story, but we have assured him that we love him. He is dealing the best way he can- just like us.
I turned my desk Praying Parent calendar today, and thought I’d share what it said…
“We are dependent on God to enable us to raise our child properly, and He will see to it that our child’s life is blessed. One thing I have learned is that I should not try to force my own will on my child in prayer. I have found it is better to pray more along the lines of “Lord show me how to pray for this child. Help me to raise him Your way, and may Your will be done in his life.”
I believe God’s will was done through Coleman. I know it.
For those inquiring:
We will celebrate Coleman’s life on Saturday, Jan. 10th at 10:30 a.m. at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Callender. Visitation will also be at the church on Friday the 9th after 4:00p.m.
Instead of flowers, we’d love donations made to
The Hospice House of Fort Dodge, Iowa
The Ronald McDonald House of Iowa City
or curesearch.org
We’d like to thank EVERYONE who has helped our family along this journey the past two and a half years. We will never be able to explain how much we appreciate the support for our Team. Our carepage family is the BEST!
To the hospice house- you will always have a special place in our hearts. You made the most difficult time of our lives one filled with love. Nadine and your staff, God bless you. I know Coleman would like us to thank you as well for making his last days as comfortable as possible for him- and for us all.
Here is one of my favorite pictures of Coleman…
God bless you baby. Coleman said long ago, "some day I won't need NO more meds or pokes, wight mommy?” No more sweetie. You are free.
One more story to share…thanks again Nadine.
The Parable of the Twins-
Once upon a time, twin boys were conceived in the same womb. Weeks passed and the twins developed. As their awareness grew, they laughed for joy, “isn’t it great that we were conceived? Isn’t it great to be alive?”
Together the twins explored their world. When they found their mother’s cord that gave them life, they sang for joy, “how great is our Mother’s love, that she shares her own life with us!”
As weeks stretched into months, the twins noticed how much each was changing. “what does it mean?” asked the one. “It means that our stay in this world is drawing to an end, said the other. “But I don’t want to go”, said the other, “but maybe there is life after birth.” But how can there be?” responded the other one. “We will shed our life cord, and how is life possible without it? Besides, we have seen evidence that others were here before us and none of them have returned to tell us that there is life after birth. No, this is the end.”
And so the one fell into deep despair, saying, “If conception ends in birth, what is the purpose of life in the womb? It is meaningless! Maybe there is no mother after all?” “But there has to be,” protested the other. “How else did we get here? How do we remain alive?”
How you ever seen our mother?” said one. “Maybe she lives only in our minds. Maybe we made her up because the idea made us feel good?”
And so the last days in the womb were filled with deep questioning and fear. Finally, the moment of birth arrived. When the twins had passed from their world, they opened their eyes and cried for joy. For what they saw exceeded their fondest dreams.
Author Unknown
OH OH OH I have to say too-
Dr. Woods from Des Moines and Dr. Gilheeney from NY who called us personally- GOD BLESS YOU! Our world needs more doctors like you. It means so much to us. We will never forget your compassion. Thank you.
Blessings to you all,
Nev-va Div up-
Team Larson
UTUBE is going to pull this video because of the song used, so I thought I'd try to post it and see if it's still viewable...Cman and his bunny foo-foo. That bunny helped him through many hard times, and he still twirled the ribbon even on the high doses of morphine. This is Cman's second bunny after he lost his beloved first. A story of LOVE...
And while I'm at it, Dante earned his wings this morning too.
And Joe's grandmother fell yesterday and broke her femur pretty badly. She needs surgery on her leg, but they haven't been able to do anything because apparently she'd been taking too much Coumadin and her blood is too thin. She also hit her head when she fell and has bleeding in her brain. They're trying to determine if she had a stroke which caused the fall.
Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts.
Share this post:
Look What I Did at School Today!
"Hi honey! How was schoo....what the...??? Oh, what did you do now? Clayton, seriously, why do you do these things? Did you start your unit on cosmetology this week in preschool? Let me guess, you learned about eyebrow pencils today. What's on the agenda for tomorrow - tweezing and waxing? What did your teacher say? Do your friends think you're weird? Do you have friends? Oh child of mine...." sigh
His reply, "I dunno."
I suppose I should be thankful. At least he's getting better at this...
His reply, "I dunno."
I suppose I should be thankful. At least he's getting better at this...
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Monday, January 5, 2009
Exercise is EVIL Good For You
Today was the first official day of my new year. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th didn't count because I was on vacation and you can't be expected to change old habits and form new ones when you're stuck in a small hotel room with your husband and kids on vacation. You're supposed to eat, drink, and be merry on vacation. Or something like that.
Truth be told, I really did kinda start exercising on vacation because let me tell ya, you have to climb like 58 flights of stairs to go down one waterslide! By the time I'd gone down my second waterslide, I needed a full knee replacement. And you'd be surprised at the amount of strength it takes to hold onto an inner tube when waves are crashing into you. I'd show you the video of Jen and me riding the waves, but seeing me in a bathing suit is downright scary and I'm pretty sure I'd lose 98% of my readers if I did that. And holding a sleeping Brooklyn while we went around the lazy river 4000 times isn't as easy as it sounds. Especially when I also had to cross my legs because I had to pee so badly. I mean, I have given birth to 6 kids - bladder control is a thing of the past.
Since my TV is still broken ( I KNOW! Can you believe it? Never, ever, ever order replacement parts from http://www.projectorlampcenter.com/. I placed my order back on December 15. It didn't state that the part I needed was out of stock anywhere on the site. I never got an email stating it was out of stock. They went ahead and charged my debit card immediately. And yet, here it is, January 5 and I still don't have the part. Three weeks have gone by! And I even paid for 2nd day shipping to speed up the process, thinking that I'd receive it in time for the kids' Christmas break. HA! OK, so I searched their website and there's no contact information - no phone number, no email. The only contact information they offer is a live chat. I participated in this live chat over a week ago. Therobot person on the other end, just gave me stupid automated responses and platitudes. And apparently the thing is backordered. Did they bother to inform me of this when I placed my order? No. Did they offer to let me cancel my order so I could search for the part elsewhere? No. They went ahead and charged me, saying, "Oh well, too bad. It'll ship soon." Ugh. Now, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm ever going to get the stupid part.
Sorry for the digression, but I wanted to pass this on to you. I wouldn't order from this place again. In fact, I've just learned a valuable lesson from this also. Make sure there's valid contact information and good feedback before ordering from anyplace online!)
OK, back to my enthralling story. Since my TV is still broken, I couldn't do any work-out DVDs. I can't afford to join a gym and really, with the kids, I wouldn't have the chance to go regularly anyway, so those rare times I decide to bestupid healthy, I usually do a step aerobic DVD or something like that. I couldn't do any DVDs today, so I dragged out an old tape, as in audiotape, that comes with a book full of lovely illustrations of how to do these exercises. The woman in this book is probably 50 years old and she looks 50 times better than I do. She has a huge smile plastered to her face while she bends and contorts in ways no human with a spine should move.
I have to admit that listening to this old tape and following along with the book is better than most of my DVDs, however. I have Tae Bo tapes. I used to be able to do them. I did! After I had my third baby, I busted my butt to get back into shape. I could give ole Billy a run for his money with my kickboxing skills. If I tried to do that now, I'd break my spleen.
I have a Kathy Ireland tape too. In this tape, she never breaks a sweat. She smiles, mocking me, throughout the whole stinkin' routine. Her make-up is perfect and she doesn't have a hair out of place. I hate her. She also says stuff like, "Doesn't that feel good?" Feel good? FEEL GOOD??? No, it does not feel good! My butt muscles are on fire; I think I'm having a heart attack; this most certainly does not feel good! Sitting down, having a beer and ordering a big fat Lou Malnati's pizza would feel good. Heck, shoving shards of glass into my eyeballs would feel better than doing this stupid workout tape!
After doing my tape today, I was reasonably certain I was having a heart attack. I even stumbled around the room, grabbing my chest, bellowing, "This is the big one!" in true Sanford style. I would've dialed 9-1-1, but I couldn't lift my arms to hold the phone. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow. I'm positive being healthy and thin isn't worth this. Thankfully, I can stop this nonsense with the rest of America when the calendar turns to February.
Truth be told, I really did kinda start exercising on vacation because let me tell ya, you have to climb like 58 flights of stairs to go down one waterslide! By the time I'd gone down my second waterslide, I needed a full knee replacement. And you'd be surprised at the amount of strength it takes to hold onto an inner tube when waves are crashing into you. I'd show you the video of Jen and me riding the waves, but seeing me in a bathing suit is downright scary and I'm pretty sure I'd lose 98% of my readers if I did that. And holding a sleeping Brooklyn while we went around the lazy river 4000 times isn't as easy as it sounds. Especially when I also had to cross my legs because I had to pee so badly. I mean, I have given birth to 6 kids - bladder control is a thing of the past.
Since my TV is still broken ( I KNOW! Can you believe it? Never, ever, ever order replacement parts from http://www.projectorlampcenter.com/. I placed my order back on December 15. It didn't state that the part I needed was out of stock anywhere on the site. I never got an email stating it was out of stock. They went ahead and charged my debit card immediately. And yet, here it is, January 5 and I still don't have the part. Three weeks have gone by! And I even paid for 2nd day shipping to speed up the process, thinking that I'd receive it in time for the kids' Christmas break. HA! OK, so I searched their website and there's no contact information - no phone number, no email. The only contact information they offer is a live chat. I participated in this live chat over a week ago. The
Sorry for the digression, but I wanted to pass this on to you. I wouldn't order from this place again. In fact, I've just learned a valuable lesson from this also. Make sure there's valid contact information and good feedback before ordering from anyplace online!)
OK, back to my enthralling story. Since my TV is still broken, I couldn't do any work-out DVDs. I can't afford to join a gym and really, with the kids, I wouldn't have the chance to go regularly anyway, so those rare times I decide to be
I have to admit that listening to this old tape and following along with the book is better than most of my DVDs, however. I have Tae Bo tapes. I used to be able to do them. I did! After I had my third baby, I busted my butt to get back into shape. I could give ole Billy a run for his money with my kickboxing skills. If I tried to do that now, I'd break my spleen.
I have a Kathy Ireland tape too. In this tape, she never breaks a sweat. She smiles, mocking me, throughout the whole stinkin' routine. Her make-up is perfect and she doesn't have a hair out of place. I hate her. She also says stuff like, "Doesn't that feel good?" Feel good? FEEL GOOD??? No, it does not feel good! My butt muscles are on fire; I think I'm having a heart attack; this most certainly does not feel good! Sitting down, having a beer and ordering a big fat Lou Malnati's pizza would feel good. Heck, shoving shards of glass into my eyeballs would feel better than doing this stupid workout tape!
After doing my tape today, I was reasonably certain I was having a heart attack. I even stumbled around the room, grabbing my chest, bellowing, "This is the big one!" in true Sanford style. I would've dialed 9-1-1, but I couldn't lift my arms to hold the phone. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow. I'm positive being healthy and thin isn't worth this. Thankfully, I can stop this nonsense with the rest of America when the calendar turns to February.
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Sunday, January 4, 2009
Sunday Sound Out
I can't believe it's that time already - the time of the week where I answer your most pressing questions.
Dawn, I'm having my second annual giveaway for a free caricature on my blog. Would you mind giving me a mention on one of your blogs?
Oh crud! I'm sorry I forgot about this, Rick! Everyone, head over to Rick's blog, Organized Doodles, and enter to win a drawing done by him! For those who don't know, Rick did my "old woman in a shoe" drawing that used to be the header on my blog. It's now one of the featured pictures on my virtual refrigerator. He included each kid and and personalized it. Awesome, huh? Now, go check out his blog right now (contest ends this evening!) and enter to win your very own!
Do boys ever really learn to use their brain? I mean really?
Nope. They don't.
I'm going to give you the psychological reason for this kind of behavior that I learned in my psychopathology class last term. Boys do dumb stuff.
There ya go! That about sums it up! :)
"At the age of 10, my entire fifth grade class went to a soup kitchen, a non-profit organization helping feel homeless people five days a week." So helping "feel" homeless people is good?? lol..
Oh my gosh, how on earth did I miss this??? Oh, I'm slipping. I'm so disappointed in myself. :::shaking head:::
And just so ya know. I'm not from Wisconsin and I say "soda." Actually most of the country does say, "soda." There is something wrong with people who say, "pop." :P
Just the really cool people say, "Pop". ;)
I live in WI (2 hours from the Dells), I do say "soda", but not once in my life have I said "yah, hey der"
Whatever happened to the banana that Clay made a souvenier out of?
the inside of the park with the giant wave pool
the inside of one of the other parks
Jax
I know it looks like she has to pee, but actually she was standing there saying, "I cold! I cold! I cold!"
See the water coming out of Clay's mouth? This is how you get diarrhea - drink disgusting pool water. It's just a matter of time now...
peek-a-boo
the gang
the ice rink (parking lot) of the hotel we stayed at last night
We had a ton of fun at Wilderness with our friends. We love camping/vacationing with them! Jen, Chris, Maxito, Brandon, Sean, and Em, you guys are the BEST!!! But I wasn't all that impressed with the Wilderness. Housekeeping stunk. They didn't clean our rooms, empty the coffee pot, bring more towels or anything. I think they just made the beds. They seemed understaffed for the number of guests and parking was a nightmare. Overall, although the water parks were cool and the kids loved them, the hotel was "eh". I'll admit that there were plenty of lifeguards and they did seem pretty attentive. The food there was pretty gross (I had a chicken salad sandwich with hair the first day. BARF!) and overpriced. Thankfully, we brought food, ordered pizza one night and went out for a couple other meals.
With 6 wonderful, loving, concerned children how do you go to the bathroom alone...IF EVER!
It's not so much the going to the bathroom alone that's a problem. It's the constant knocking on the door and, "Moooom, so & so is bugging me!" that I can't seem to get rid of. I use ear plugs now.
what video camera do you use to film those precious moments of the kids? Is it the flip you had in your purse?
I usually use my regular camera to video tape small segments. I use the Flip now and then too. It's very compact and easy to take along, but it doesn't zoom very much so I can't get close shots with that.
And ummm where did those close up pictures [before and afters of Savannah's teeth] come from? Were those from the ortho
Yep!
what video camera do you use to film those precious moments of the kids? Is it the flip you had in your purse?
I usually use my regular camera to video tape small segments. I use the Flip now and then too. It's very compact and easy to take along, but it doesn't zoom very much so I can't get close shots with that.
And ummm where did those close up pictures [before and afters of Savannah's teeth] come from? Were those from the ortho
Yep!
Dawn, I'm having my second annual giveaway for a free caricature on my blog. Would you mind giving me a mention on one of your blogs?
Oh crud! I'm sorry I forgot about this, Rick! Everyone, head over to Rick's blog, Organized Doodles, and enter to win a drawing done by him! For those who don't know, Rick did my "old woman in a shoe" drawing that used to be the header on my blog. It's now one of the featured pictures on my virtual refrigerator. He included each kid and and personalized it. Awesome, huh? Now, go check out his blog right now (contest ends this evening!) and enter to win your very own!
Do boys ever really learn to use their brain? I mean really?
Nope. They don't.
I'm going to give you the psychological reason for this kind of behavior that I learned in my psychopathology class last term. Boys do dumb stuff.
There ya go! That about sums it up! :)
"At the age of 10, my entire fifth grade class went to a soup kitchen, a non-profit organization helping feel homeless people five days a week." So helping "feel" homeless people is good?? lol..
Oh my gosh, how on earth did I miss this??? Oh, I'm slipping. I'm so disappointed in myself. :::shaking head:::
And just so ya know. I'm not from Wisconsin and I say "soda." Actually most of the country does say, "soda." There is something wrong with people who say, "pop." :P
Just the really cool people say, "Pop". ;)
I live in WI (2 hours from the Dells), I do say "soda", but not once in my life have I said "yah, hey der"
And there you have it, folks. One of the 12 people in Wisconsin who do not say, "Yah hey der".
Just kidding. We're from IL, so we're required by law to tease people from WI just as they're required to tease us. But it's also a law that people from IL have to vacation/camp/swim/ski in Wisconsin. We head there several times a year. :)
That skin on fire thing doesn't sound right to me! Was there too much chlorine in the pool? Do the suits look bleached out?
Just kidding. We're from IL, so we're required by law to tease people from WI just as they're required to tease us. But it's also a law that people from IL have to vacation/camp/swim/ski in Wisconsin. We head there several times a year. :)
That skin on fire thing doesn't sound right to me! Was there too much chlorine in the pool? Do the suits look bleached out?
I think the chlorine levels were probably fine. I'm sure a big place like that is good at properly maintaining the pools. I think some people are more sensitive than others to the reaction of the chlorine on the bacteria in pools. As I get older, I'm more and more grossed out by public pools. It's like bathing with a few hundred strangers. Ewww. I have to shove that little tidbit to the back of my head in order to jump in.
Whatever happened to the banana that Clay made a souvenier out of?
This banana?
I'm glad to hear it was an inside park. Reading your Twitters I kept getting images of a water park in Wisconsin winter and shivering. :)
Uhhhh yeah. This is how you swim outside in Wisconsin in January...
Actually, the hot tubs led to outdoor pools that were open so the kids did swim outside in Wisconsin in January.
Billy Ray Cyrus? You mention his name in passing with no details? What's up with that???!!!
LOL! I'm sorry. I forget that not everyone follows my Twitter stream. I Twittered that we'd seen Billy Ray Cyrus's look-alike at the waterpark. I was just joking on my blog. It was only a guy who thought he was Hannah Montana's dad. I SO wish I'd gotten a picture of him (mullet, cheesy goatee and all!)
Billy Ray Cyrus? You mention his name in passing with no details? What's up with that???!!!
LOL! I'm sorry. I forget that not everyone follows my Twitter stream. I Twittered that we'd seen Billy Ray Cyrus's look-alike at the waterpark. I was just joking on my blog. It was only a guy who thought he was Hannah Montana's dad. I SO wish I'd gotten a picture of him (mullet, cheesy goatee and all!)
the inside of the park with the giant wave pool
the inside of one of the other parks
Jax
I know it looks like she has to pee, but actually she was standing there saying, "I cold! I cold! I cold!"
See the water coming out of Clay's mouth? This is how you get diarrhea - drink disgusting pool water. It's just a matter of time now...
peek-a-boo
the gang
the ice rink (parking lot) of the hotel we stayed at last night
We had a ton of fun at Wilderness with our friends. We love camping/vacationing with them! Jen, Chris, Maxito, Brandon, Sean, and Em, you guys are the BEST!!! But I wasn't all that impressed with the Wilderness. Housekeeping stunk. They didn't clean our rooms, empty the coffee pot, bring more towels or anything. I think they just made the beds. They seemed understaffed for the number of guests and parking was a nightmare. Overall, although the water parks were cool and the kids loved them, the hotel was "eh". I'll admit that there were plenty of lifeguards and they did seem pretty attentive. The food there was pretty gross (I had a chicken salad sandwich with hair the first day. BARF!) and overpriced. Thankfully, we brought food, ordered pizza one night and went out for a couple other meals.
The Holiday Inn Express we stayed at last night to avoid driving home in an awful ice storm, was wonderful, on the other hand. It was just a Holiday Inn, but they checked us in quickly, especially considering we didn't have reservations and there were several people who pulled off the highway and were looking for a room. We changed rooms a couple times because of Joe misunderstandings and they were great about that. The beds were comfortable, they brought up our requested cot right away, and the pillows were bigger than maxi-pads (unlike the Wilderness). We called housekeeping to ask for more towels and the guy apparently teleported to our room because he was there in less than 5 minutes! The rooms were nice and clean and they offered a big complimentary breakfast complete with beverages, omelettes, sausage, biscuits & gravy, cinnamon rolls, waffles, cereal, etc.
And (here's the kicker) our room at the Holiday Inn Express was less than half of our room at The Wilderness!
And (here's the kicker) our room at the Holiday Inn Express was less than half of our room at The Wilderness!
I've decided I'm going to install a lazy river that runs around my house this summer. That's my plan.
*****EDITED TO ADD THE FOLLOWING*****
I forgot to mention! Manic Mommy is holding her second annual blood drive now through February 28! Go HERE to check out the details! By donating blood, not only will you be helping others, but you'll have the chance to win several prizes. The grand prize winner will receive luxury accommodations for six days, five nights at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Florida! How cool is that?!
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Saturday, January 3, 2009
Wisconsin Dells or Bust
I've been busy having fun with the family and our friends in the Dells, so I haven't blogged the past couple days. Let's see if I can remember what's gone on so I can recap...
THURSDAY: We were going to leave bright and early so we could get up to the Dells by 10:00AM when the waterpark opened. I suppose I should explain what "the Dells" are for those of you who don't live in the midwest. My friend Dee from Long Island asked me, "So what are the Dells? Anything like the Hamptons?" Umm, not exactly. "So you won't be running into any Baldwins there?" I don't think so. Unless they suddenly take up hunting, camping, and snowmobiling...
The Wisconsin Dells is a resort area with a ton of indoor/outdoor waterparks and other attractions. This is the first time I've ever been here, but it looks like there's a ton of stuff to do in the summer (a lot of things are closed now because it's off-season). People up here wear cheese hats and say stuff like "soda" and "yah hey der". Seriously.
Anyway, we got up here at about 11:30. I stood in a mile-long line to check in. Our room wasn't ready, but I was given wrist bands for all of us so we could swim while we waited for our room. We parked 400 miles away and dug through the suitcases to find everyone's bathing suits. Did I mention it was freezing cold, snowy and icy? I couldn't find Savannah's bathing suit anywhere. Know why? SHE FORGOT TO PACK IT! Thankfully there was a gift shop in the hotel. Fortunately, there was a bathing suit for sale that fit Savannah. Unfortunately, it was cheapish suit that cost $60!
Frozen, we all trudged through the snow to the hotel. I slipped and fell because I'm just classy that way. I bruised my knee and my ego, but thankfully wasn't really hurt. We went to one of the three indoor waterparks at this hotel, The Wilderness Territory. We swam for a while and then the kids started getting hungry. I don't know why. I mean, I fed them Twizzlers for breakfast on the way here. Chris dressed, got his room keys, and moved all his family's luggage into their room. Joe disappeared in the water park and since the kids were starting to chew their arms off, I got dressed and drove up to the main building to get my room keys. I joined the 4000 mile long line and waited for my room keys.
Ok, got the keys. Went out to car. Tried to get around circle drive so I could park, but a dozen idiots had decided to PARK in the turn-around. A line of cars behind me began to honk until some of the idiots moved.
Twenty minutes later, I got out of the circle drive from hell (Look kids! Big Ben, Parliament!) and started looking for a parking space near my room. Nothing. I began driving up and down aisles looking for a space farther away. Nothing. I began looking for any spot anywhere in the state of Wisconsin. Nothing. Grrr.
Like 4 and a half hours have passed since I left the waterpark. I'm totally stressed out. I know the kids are still back at the pool probably eating their towels at this point. Chris called me to see if I needed help. YES! I can't find a parking spot! So, Chris came out and helped me look for a spot. I found a guy who was leaving but he needed a jump. Chris pushed his car out, I gave him a jump and took his spot. Yay!
So Chris grabbed a luggage cart and helped me load up everything and get it into the hotel. It's a good thing too because I don't think I could've pushed that cart through the snow by myself. As Chris and I carried my luggage up to my room, he asked, "What room do you have?"
"I have 680."
"No you don't. That's my room."
"WHAT? Seriously? No way!"
Sure enough, the front desk gave me the same room as my friends. They gave me keys that opened THEIR door. Great. Just fabulous. The thought of walking back to the main desk gave me heart palpitations. Seriously, if you've never been to this place, it spans miles (and that's not an exaggeration.) Chris called and complained until they agreed to send someone over with keys to the right room.
This is the point we started drinking. The rest of the night was much more pleasant after this. Finally, we loaded up some food and wine and headed to the waterpark. We had fun going on the waterslides, hanging out in the lazy river and playing with the little kids in the splash areas.
FRIDAY: We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Although I LOVE Cracker Barrel, we seem to have bad luck there. We waited an hour for our food after ordering. Ugh. The kids were awesome for the first 45 minutes, but started to lose it before our food came. I don't blame them one bit.
Back from breakfast, we went to another waterpark in the hotel. This one has a glass ceiling and tropical plants inside. It has a huge wave pool with some pretty big waves. We hung out in here for most of the day. Sometime in the afternoon, Clay told me, "I'm hungry."
"OK, well have a snack." I pointed to the bags of food we'd brought with us.
"I want a banana," he said. I knew immediately what he was thinking. He'd seen the palm trees with actual green bananas growing from it. I knew that's what he wanted.
"No, Clay, you can't pick a banana!"
"Why not?" he asked innocently.
"Because they're not your bananas. And they're still really green anyway. You wouldn't even like them now."
A short time later, I saw Clay walking back to our table with (yep, you guessed it) a banana! He climbed the tree and picked a banana! Grrrr.
SATURDAY: We hung out at the park with the huge wavepool for most of the day. We saw Billy Ray Cyrus there. One time, while Jen and I were in a double tube in the wave pool, a huge wave crashed over us and a strange girl popped up in our tube. Umm hello? One minute it was just Jen and me and the next second, some stranger was sticking her head through Jen's side of the innertube! The next wave washed her right back out. Jen and I started laughing so hard, I swear we almost drown. Ahhh, good times, good times...
We hit another park in the afternoon and they talked me into going on this waterslide called the hurricane. It's called the hurricane because it's a horrible torturous horrible horribleness. (Yes, that's a word.) You sit in this 4 person tube and drop down 15 stories and then flip around inside this big cone until you nearly fall out of the innertube. You scream your head off while you're in there. It echos off the walls. People get mad at you when you scream too much. Or so I've heard...
Truth be told, I would've gone again if the line hadn't been so long. Shhh, don't tell anyone I said that.
We finally wrapped things up and decided to grab some dinner and head home at about 6:30. As we walked out to the car, Clay slipped, Charlie Brown style, and went flying. It was really icy out. We drove across the street to Culvers for dinner. A nice couple came in and sat down by us. They overheard us talking about driving home to Chicago and felt compelled to tell us how bad the roads were. I had skidded into the parking lot at the restaurant and I was driving really slowly, so it didn't surprise me. They told us it had taken them several hours to get there from Milwaukee and they finally pulled off the highway and got a hotel room. The gentleman said he was a truck driver and was scared to be out there. They claimed they'd never seen 90 so bad.
That's all I needed to hear. I didn't get the names of those folks, but am so thankful for their warning! By the time we left the restaurant, our cars were iced over and the parking lot was a solid sheet of ice.
We decided to go across the street and find a cheap hotel room for the night. That's where we're at now. The kids are trying to get to sleep, but everyone has really red, rashy skin. The kids are all complaining that their skin is on fire. I think too many days of too much chlorine and rubbing against plastic inner tubes has really hurt our skin. Even after a shower, my legs are still on fire now too.
I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of stuff, but this is already super-long and whatever I've forgotten is probably not important anyway. I'll share some pictures tomorrow when I get them off my camera.
THURSDAY: We were going to leave bright and early so we could get up to the Dells by 10:00AM when the waterpark opened. I suppose I should explain what "the Dells" are for those of you who don't live in the midwest. My friend Dee from Long Island asked me, "So what are the Dells? Anything like the Hamptons?" Umm, not exactly. "So you won't be running into any Baldwins there?" I don't think so. Unless they suddenly take up hunting, camping, and snowmobiling...
The Wisconsin Dells is a resort area with a ton of indoor/outdoor waterparks and other attractions. This is the first time I've ever been here, but it looks like there's a ton of stuff to do in the summer (a lot of things are closed now because it's off-season). People up here wear cheese hats and say stuff like "soda" and "yah hey der". Seriously.
Anyway, we got up here at about 11:30. I stood in a mile-long line to check in. Our room wasn't ready, but I was given wrist bands for all of us so we could swim while we waited for our room. We parked 400 miles away and dug through the suitcases to find everyone's bathing suits. Did I mention it was freezing cold, snowy and icy? I couldn't find Savannah's bathing suit anywhere. Know why? SHE FORGOT TO PACK IT! Thankfully there was a gift shop in the hotel. Fortunately, there was a bathing suit for sale that fit Savannah. Unfortunately, it was cheapish suit that cost $60!
Frozen, we all trudged through the snow to the hotel. I slipped and fell because I'm just classy that way. I bruised my knee and my ego, but thankfully wasn't really hurt. We went to one of the three indoor waterparks at this hotel, The Wilderness Territory. We swam for a while and then the kids started getting hungry. I don't know why. I mean, I fed them Twizzlers for breakfast on the way here. Chris dressed, got his room keys, and moved all his family's luggage into their room. Joe disappeared in the water park and since the kids were starting to chew their arms off, I got dressed and drove up to the main building to get my room keys. I joined the 4000 mile long line and waited for my room keys.
Ok, got the keys. Went out to car. Tried to get around circle drive so I could park, but a dozen idiots had decided to PARK in the turn-around. A line of cars behind me began to honk until some of the idiots moved.
Twenty minutes later, I got out of the circle drive from hell (Look kids! Big Ben, Parliament!) and started looking for a parking space near my room. Nothing. I began driving up and down aisles looking for a space farther away. Nothing. I began looking for any spot anywhere in the state of Wisconsin. Nothing. Grrr.
Like 4 and a half hours have passed since I left the waterpark. I'm totally stressed out. I know the kids are still back at the pool probably eating their towels at this point. Chris called me to see if I needed help. YES! I can't find a parking spot! So, Chris came out and helped me look for a spot. I found a guy who was leaving but he needed a jump. Chris pushed his car out, I gave him a jump and took his spot. Yay!
So Chris grabbed a luggage cart and helped me load up everything and get it into the hotel. It's a good thing too because I don't think I could've pushed that cart through the snow by myself. As Chris and I carried my luggage up to my room, he asked, "What room do you have?"
"I have 680."
"No you don't. That's my room."
"WHAT? Seriously? No way!"
Sure enough, the front desk gave me the same room as my friends. They gave me keys that opened THEIR door. Great. Just fabulous. The thought of walking back to the main desk gave me heart palpitations. Seriously, if you've never been to this place, it spans miles (and that's not an exaggeration.) Chris called and complained until they agreed to send someone over with keys to the right room.
This is the point we started drinking. The rest of the night was much more pleasant after this. Finally, we loaded up some food and wine and headed to the waterpark. We had fun going on the waterslides, hanging out in the lazy river and playing with the little kids in the splash areas.
FRIDAY: We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Although I LOVE Cracker Barrel, we seem to have bad luck there. We waited an hour for our food after ordering. Ugh. The kids were awesome for the first 45 minutes, but started to lose it before our food came. I don't blame them one bit.
Back from breakfast, we went to another waterpark in the hotel. This one has a glass ceiling and tropical plants inside. It has a huge wave pool with some pretty big waves. We hung out in here for most of the day. Sometime in the afternoon, Clay told me, "I'm hungry."
"OK, well have a snack." I pointed to the bags of food we'd brought with us.
"I want a banana," he said. I knew immediately what he was thinking. He'd seen the palm trees with actual green bananas growing from it. I knew that's what he wanted.
"No, Clay, you can't pick a banana!"
"Why not?" he asked innocently.
"Because they're not your bananas. And they're still really green anyway. You wouldn't even like them now."
A short time later, I saw Clay walking back to our table with (yep, you guessed it) a banana! He climbed the tree and picked a banana! Grrrr.
SATURDAY: We hung out at the park with the huge wavepool for most of the day. We saw Billy Ray Cyrus there. One time, while Jen and I were in a double tube in the wave pool, a huge wave crashed over us and a strange girl popped up in our tube. Umm hello? One minute it was just Jen and me and the next second, some stranger was sticking her head through Jen's side of the innertube! The next wave washed her right back out. Jen and I started laughing so hard, I swear we almost drown. Ahhh, good times, good times...
We hit another park in the afternoon and they talked me into going on this waterslide called the hurricane. It's called the hurricane because it's a horrible torturous horrible horribleness. (Yes, that's a word.) You sit in this 4 person tube and drop down 15 stories and then flip around inside this big cone until you nearly fall out of the innertube. You scream your head off while you're in there. It echos off the walls. People get mad at you when you scream too much. Or so I've heard...
Truth be told, I would've gone again if the line hadn't been so long. Shhh, don't tell anyone I said that.
We finally wrapped things up and decided to grab some dinner and head home at about 6:30. As we walked out to the car, Clay slipped, Charlie Brown style, and went flying. It was really icy out. We drove across the street to Culvers for dinner. A nice couple came in and sat down by us. They overheard us talking about driving home to Chicago and felt compelled to tell us how bad the roads were. I had skidded into the parking lot at the restaurant and I was driving really slowly, so it didn't surprise me. They told us it had taken them several hours to get there from Milwaukee and they finally pulled off the highway and got a hotel room. The gentleman said he was a truck driver and was scared to be out there. They claimed they'd never seen 90 so bad.
That's all I needed to hear. I didn't get the names of those folks, but am so thankful for their warning! By the time we left the restaurant, our cars were iced over and the parking lot was a solid sheet of ice.
We decided to go across the street and find a cheap hotel room for the night. That's where we're at now. The kids are trying to get to sleep, but everyone has really red, rashy skin. The kids are all complaining that their skin is on fire. I think too many days of too much chlorine and rubbing against plastic inner tubes has really hurt our skin. Even after a shower, my legs are still on fire now too.
I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of stuff, but this is already super-long and whatever I've forgotten is probably not important anyway. I'll share some pictures tomorrow when I get them off my camera.
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