Festival and Falls

Thursday evening, my girls and I joined 2 of my friends and their daughters to go to the Violet festival, a local annual event that has carnival rides, games, food and live music. Thursday was The River night (a local christian radio station) at the festival and they were featuring Mark Schults. Best of all, the concert was FREE!! I just love Mark Schults...and free stuff!

We got there around 7:00 and set up our lawn chairs to save our place for the concert then wondered around a while. We saw practically everyone from our church there. We bought some tickets and rode some rides. Here is a pic of the girls on the swings (mine are the one in the middle of the pic and the one 2 to the right of her):



Here is the big slide they went on:



And here is a not so great pic of Mark Schultz on the stage (keep in mind these were all taken with my camera phone, so you don't get the best quality!):



(And of course you all know to click the picture to see it bigger!)

While Mark was singing, my younger daughter said to me "he sounds just like the guy on the radio." To which of course I replied, "he is the guy on the radio." She then gave me a shocked expression, wide eyes, mouth open, the whole nine yards and said "Serious?" Too cute!!

As for tomorrow, my hubby and I decided to go ahead and take our trip to Niagara Falls since my granddad is doing so much better. We will be leaving tomorrow morning. We are all really excited. This is the first real family vacation we have taken since my now 5 year old was 7 months old. We are only staying 2 nights at the falls and heading back on Tuesday sometime. We will probably spend most of Tuesday touring and then spend the night somewhere on the way back and come the rest of the way home on Wednesday.

On A Lighter Note

Here's a joke for ya! (Rated PG-13)

The Wedding:

A lawyer married a woman who had previously divorced ten husbands. On their wedding night, she told her new husband, "Please be gentle; I'm still a virgin."

"What?" said the puzzled groom. "How can that be if you've been married ten times?"

"Well, husband #1 was a Sales Representative; he kept telling me how great it was going to be.

Husband #2 was in Software Services; he was never really sure how it was supposed to function, but he said he'd look into it and get back to me.

Husband #3 was from Field Services; he said everything checked out diagnostically but he just couldn't get the system up.

Husband #4 was in Telemarketing; even though he knew he had the order, he didn't know when he would be able to deliver.

Husband #5 was an Engineer; he understood the basic process but wanted three years to research, implement, and design a new state-of-the-art method.

Husband #6 was from Finance and Administration; he thought he knew how, but he wasn't sure whether it was his job or not.

Husband #7 was in Marketing; although he had a nice product, he was never sure how to position it.

Husband #8 was a psychiatrist; all he ever did was talk about it.

Husband #9 was a gynecologist; all he did was look at it.

Husband #10 was a stamp collector; all he ever did was...God, I miss him!

But now that I've married you, I'm really excited!"

"Good," said the lawyer, "but, why?"

"Duh; you're a lawyer. This time I know I'm gonna get screwed!"

An Update

As of this morning, my granddad was doing much better. He had the balloon pump removed yesterday and the ventilator and stomach tubes removed this morning. He was sitting up and saying he was hungry. That was a very good sign.

At 11:30, I picked my grandma up from the hospital and took her to lunch and home to get showered and changed and grab a few things. Then we were back to the hospital. When we got there we found out that while we were gone, he apparently felt the need to use the restroom and tried to get up out of his bed to go. Alone. Without calling for any help. He was cath'd. Not good. He fell.

AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! Where the heck were the nurses? It wasn't as though he was moving at lightning speed and got up and fell out of bed before anyone could get to him. He was obviously moving rather slowly yet no one seemed to notice him getting himself out of bed!! He was checked out and the last I heard, he was ok, but had blood in his urine (my guess is that maybe he pulled the cath out when he fell and damaged something. OUCH!) When I was there, I scolded him and begged him to please not attempt to get up by himself again. I also told him he needs to quit scaring us like this!

His voice was very shaky and I could tell he was in extreme pain. He said that he hurt so bad from the hips down that he couldn't stand it. I told him I would make sure gma checked with the nurse to see if it was time for more pain meds. (gma was in the waiting room with the kids while I went back to see him). Please continue to pray for his recovery!

They are also going to be giving him a defibrillator as soon as possible. So, it looks as though he will most likely be in the hospital for a few more days.

Ok, so here is a dilemma that is burdening me right now. My family and I (as in my hubby, me and our kids) are scheduled to take our vacation to Niagara Falls this Sunday. The trip has been planned for a while now and guru has been granted permission to take next week off even though he hasn't technically earned it yet, since he's only been with the company since March. Since he is a consultant, he had to clear it with the company he is employed by as well as with the company that he is contracting with. Unfortunately, both of those bosses are on vacation this week so he can't just tell them that he can't take next week after all and we just reschedule our trip for later.

I am so torn about this. Do we go on our trip as planned? Or do we just stay in town and waste a week of my hubby's vacation time? (We would not be gone the whole week, we'd be back Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest). If we go, I'll feel guilty and be worried the whole time, but if we stay, I don't know when we'll get the opportunity again. I don't want to be selfish. If we need to cancel our trip and stay, I will. But we have all been looking forward to this trip for a long time. What would you all do if in this situation? I don't want people to think I'm a prick for leaving while my gpa is in the hospital. What do I do? I will have to let the hotel know by Saturday afternoon if I need to cancel our reservations.

Man, I'm depressed!

Please Send Up Prayers!

My grandfather went in for a heart catheterization today. His doctors have been trying to figure out what caused his problems last month where we almost lost him. Trinity wrote about it here.

It was scheduled for 2:15 this afternoon and he had to be at the hospital at 12:15. I met them there so I could be there with my grandma while he had this procedure done. I had all 3 of my kiddos with me and we decided after they took him back for the cath. that we would go down to the cafeteria and get some lunch. As we are finishing lunch we hear over the loud speaker "Code blue, cath lab, Code blue cath lab, Code blue cath lab". My grandma and I just looked at each other. She said "that scares me" I said "yeah. pray pray pray". I didn't want to say anything to her, but my heart started racing and I felt as though I was going to lose the lunch I just ate. I was very scared, to say the least. I immediately started praying "God please don't let it be him."

We decided to go back up to the waiting room and my grandma tried to find out from the lady at the reception desk (who I will refer to as R from now on) if it was him. She said she didn't know. We didn't know if she was just saying that or not. But we sat anyway. The kids were wanting us to play their games with them, but we were not in the mood for games. I told them sternly "not right now" and things like that, but I didn't want to say anything to scare them. Gma went back up to R to try to get more info from her. She kept saying she had a really bad feeling that it was him. She told R "if you know it's him, please just tell me." R said she thought it might just be him. But they were sending a chaplain down to talk to the family.

We sat nervously waiting. After a while, R came over and said that he was still in procedure and that it didn't sound like bad news. We felt a bit of relief but still a little nervous. A few minutes later, R came back and said she wanted to take 2 adults back to talk to the Dr. in a conference room. Fortunately a couple of my grandparents' friends came to sit with us and were there to keep an eye on my kids. I had a bad feeling because usually the Dr. will come out to the waiting room to talk to the family. As we walk back with R toward the conf. room I saw a man in a suit that looked like a chaplain standing right outside the door. My heart sank. We went in the room and sat down and the man in the suit introduced himself as, none other than, the chaplain.

The head surgeon came in to talk to us. He told us that it was indeed my gpa who they called code blue on, however they were able to resuscitate him and he was doing better. They found quite a large blockage and put in 2 stints as well as some balloon thing that will make it so his heart doesn't have to work so hard. They said he would be in critical condition for at least 48 hours. Around 6:15, my hubby came straight from work and took the kids home and I stuck around with gma to make sure he was going to be alright (and her). Trinity and G and my dad and my other grandma and her sister also came to visit. When we all (except gma) left around 9:15, he was stable. His blood pressure and heart rate were much better.

What a long, stressful day! I'm sure there is more that I'm forgetting, but this is long enough already. Please just pray that he will make a full recovery and not have this problem anymore. Now that they know what caused it, pray they will be able to fix it.

Thanks Trin and G for the subs and diet Pepsi!

How well do you know me?

Take my quiz and find out. (I stole this from Trinity and Guru, BTW)

Take my Quiz! and then Check out the Scoreboard!

Help Me!

Ok, so who out there has a bed with a headboard and a footboard? (I know trinity and ghraper do, so please help me out here.) I cannot figure out how to get my bedskirt to look right. I've been getting by with it on there crooked but it really, REALLY annoys me! I had it on upside down so it wasn't quite as noticeable, but I bought a new bedskirt and tried putting it on correctly, but it looks like crap! Somebody help me! How do you get it to look right?

Here's a pic of how it looks at the foot of the bed right now:



On top of that, it doesn't come up all the way at the head of the bed:


So how do I fix this? Anyone have any ideas?

(BTW, I can't tuck it on the inside of the sideboards because of the support beams.)

Fun Day!

Well, my day at King's Island was, indeed, fun! We got a bit of a late start this morning because my friend's daughter woke up and cried at the sitter's last night where she was supposed to be staying the night, so she had to go and pick her up and then drop her off again this morning. Then, she couldn't find her sunglasses, so we had to stop at Target to get some new ones. Then we were off. We got on the road around 9 am (about an hour later that originally planned) and listened to Brian Regan's comedy CD on the way there.

We made really good time though, thanks to my friend's crazy driving. Seriously, she's a crackheaded driver! She changed lanes so many times zooming in and out of traffic. We got there, parked and were walking through the gate at 10:10 am, just 10 minutes after the park opened for the day!

There were really not that many people there! The longest we had to wait in line for any ride was about an hour. We rode, in no particular order, the Vortex, Face Off, the Racer (forward and backward), Drop Zone, Top Gun, Flight of Fear, Tomb Raider, and The Italian Job. Not to mention, the Zephyr, which is the big swings, Viking Fury, the big pirate ship looking thing that swings you back and forth, and the Scooby Doo Haunted Castle (I told you I was going to act like a kid). Oh, and of course, we went up on the Eiffel Tower to look around.

We even had time to eat a leisurely lunch and shop around at some of the shops. By 7 pm, we were both ready to head out. There were still a couple of rides we kind of wanted to ride, but one of them was not running and the other was at the opposite end of the park and we were both pretty beat, so we just decided to call it a day.

All in all I think it was a very successful day at the park. I've had times where I spent the entire day there, from open to close and only get to ride a few coasters. So this was good! And though it was extremely hot today, at least it didn't rain as the forecast had predicted for us!

Then I had to endure her crazy driving again on the way back home. Let me give you an example. There was this big 12 passenger van that was in front of us in the fast lane that kept slowing down next to all the semi's and doing the universal arm thing people do to try to get the truck drivers to pull on their horns. Well none of them wanted to play along and my friend is getting really ticked off because the guy is not going fast enough for her and she can't get around him. So she honks her own horn at them and a few miles later, they finally get over and let her pass. Then, inevitably, they got back over behind us and tailgated. So what does my friend do? She pulls up beside the next semi and slows down and does the arm thing and much to her satisfaction, the trucker plays along and pulls his horn. This makes her really happy and the Van then backed way off and we lost them in our dust. I must admit, it was pretty funny!

Well, I hope everyone else had a wonderful and hot day as I did! Tata for now.

Kid Free Tomorrow

Yea for me! Tomorrow, a friend and I are going to go to King's Island! I am really excited! I usually get to visit either K.I. or Cedar Point every summer (or both if it's a good summer!) I didn't go last year, though because of the baby. I just love roller coasters! The higher the better! I'm looking forward to some time without the kids where I get to go have fun and act like a kid myself! It's only about an hour and a half drive. Maybe less they way this particular friend drives. The best part is that we are getting the tickets at almost half off the regular price!

My friend has a 6 year old daughter that is tall for her age, just slightly shorter than my 8 year old daughter. We were momentarily considering taking her daughter and my oldest (who are both taller than 48 inches and could ride most of the rides there.) The problems I have with that are this: first, my daughter has never been to an amusement park and has obviously never ridden a roller coaster. Well, besides smaller carnival rides, but not nearly the same! So what if we get there, and she doesn't like them, or she's too scared to get on a ride, or goes on one and refuses to ride anymore? Then my whole day (and $) is shot! Second, she is a whiner! Really. I can't even walk around WalMart for 20 minutes without her complaining that she's tired and her feet hurt and blah blah blah! And third, after just coming off of VBS week at church and having my middle daughter practically refuse to let me out of her sight, and taking care of a clingy, and sick baby all weekend (he had a fever and was throwing up, no fun!) I just really REALLY need some time away from kids. I need some time for me! Is that so wrong?

I love my kids, don't get me wrong, but I've about had it this summer! With the girls out of school and having all 3 kids all day long all week long, my patience are wearing thin! The girls fight constantly, the younger one always cries...I mean about EVERYTHING! I've thought about tallying up every time she cries for one week or even one day, but I don't know if I have enough paper! On top of that, the baby needs constant supervision and attention!

So, all I'm saying is that it will be nice to get away from the chaos for a day. That's all. Then I will be ready to get back to my usual hectic life as normal. Well, as ready as one can be to do so.

BTW, thanks Trinity for keeping the girlies for me!

Chalk One Up For The Man

Husband and wife are getting all snugly in bed. The passion is heating up. But then the wife stops and says: "I don't feel like it, I just want you to hold me." The husband says, "WHAT??" The wife explains that he must not be in tune with her emotional needs as a Woman. The husband realizes that nothing is going to happen tonight and he might as well deal with it.

So the next day the husband takes her shopping at a big department store. He walks around and has her try on three very expensive outfits. She can't decide. He tells his wife to take all three of them. Then they go over and get matching shoes worth $200 each. And then they go to the Jewelry Department where she gets a set of diamond earrings. The wife is so excited. She thinks her husband has flipped out, but she does not care. She goes for the tennis bracelet. The husband says, "But you don't even play tennis, but OK if you like it then let's get it." The wife is jumping up and down so excited she cannot even believe what is going on. She says "I am ready to go, lets go to the cash register."

The husband says: "No - no - no, honey we're not going to buy all this stuff." The wife's face goes blank. "No honey - I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while." Her face gets really mad and she is about to explode and the Husband says, "You must not be in tune with my financial needs as a Man."


I just thought this was too funny not to share. And it kind of goes hand in hand with what I added to my sidebar (which BTW, I stole from Melissa) .

Would you feel comfortable....

Using this bathroom?


Outside


Inside

Amusing Things Grade School Students Have Written In Papers:

~The parts of speech are lungs and air.

~A census taker is man who goes from house to house increasing the population.

~(Define H2O and CO2.) H2O is hot water and CO2 is water.

~A city purifies its water supply by filtering the water then forcing it through an aviator.

~Most of the houses in France are made of plaster of Paris.

~The people who followed the Lord were called the 12 opossums.

~We do not raise silk worms in the United States, because we get our silk from rayon. He is a larger worm and gives more silk.

~One of the main causes of dust is janitors.

~A scout obeys all to whom obedience is due and respects all duly constipated authorities.

~The four seasons are salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

~Oliver Cromwell had a large red nose, but under it were deeply religious feelings.

~Syntax is all the money collected at the church from sinners.

~In spring, the salmon swim upstream to spoon.

~Iron was discovered because someone smelt it.

~In the middle of the 18th century, all the morons moved to Utah.

Just a quick "hi"

I don't have a lot of time, but thought I should post something. I have been working with VBS this week at our church in the evenings and keeping busy during the days. I have housework to keep up on along with keeping the girls entertained and out from in front of the tv all day. We had some friends over this week for lunch and swimming.

Today, I had another doctor appointment (still have this horrific sore throat that just won't go away!) He's trying me on an anti-biotic to see if it helps.

Then I had to take my grandparents to their eye doctor appointments because they didn't want to drive after having their eyes dilated.

I dropped them off a little while ago and came home to do some laundry and dishes and feed the baby (and he's actually taking a nap! Of course he woke up when I tried to lay him down and wanted me to hold him, then went back to sleep, but he's asleep nontheless!).

Now I am waiting for them to call me and let me know they're done with their appointments and ready for me to come back and pick them up. Well, that's about all I have time to post for now, I'm going to go try to lay the baby back down and do another load of laundry and take a shower! Fun fun!

What a week this has been! And there are still 2 more weekdays to go!

Let me just say...YUM!

I mean, seriously! Have you tried any of these? WOW!! I have a new favorite blizzard! The banana cream pie blizzard is sooooo GOOD! I am addicted! If you haven't tried one, stop what you're doing right now and go out and get one! You shan't be disappointed! (yes, I said "shan't")

A Test For Memory Loss

The doctor was administering a test for memory loss to three old gentlemen. He asked, "What is 3 times 3?".

The first old man replied, "One Hundred and Fifty Six."

The doctor turned to the second old man. "What's three times three?"

The second old man said, "Tuesday."

The doctor then asked the same of the third man who answered, "Nine."

"And how did you arrive at that answer?", asked the doctor.

The third old man answered, "Easy...I just subtracted Tuesday from 156 and I got nine."


Is it bad that this joke kind of reminds me of my grandfather?

Still Sick!

This stinks! I hate it. When I woke up this morning my throat was still killing me. My eyes have been watery and itchy and my nose keeps running. Other than that, I had a pretty good day.

I got all caught up on the housework I missed doing yesterday...ok, so I didn't really miss it;). My hubby invited me and the kids up to eat lunch with him today, so we did that and then I went and visited my grandparents for a little while. My grandma called this morning to see how I was feeling and to ask us to stop by because it had been a few days since we've seen them (last Friday, I think). She said she needed her "fix" of the kiddos.

Then it was home to make dinner, do some laundry and dishes and other assorted chores. I actually got a lot more done today than I originally expected when I first got up. My sore throat eased up a bit throughout the day and I felt pretty decent. Of course it is starting to feel a bit more sore again tonight. Probaby from all the talking and, yes, some yelling at the kids today.

Sorry I don't have anything really interesting to blog about. I read all these really interesting and/or funny blogs and I just cannot compete! What can I say? I'm boring!

I hate being sick!!

I think it was Sunday evening that my throat started to hurt. By the time I woke up Monday, it was hurting pretty bad and I felt like crap. I am all congested and my whole body is sore.

So a good friend of mine calls me Monday morning and asks if I would watch her daughter for her at 10:30 am and then take her with us to the party that evening (at 7:30) where she will meet up with us. She decided at the last minute that she should go into work and make double time since she just got back from vacation and is now broke. I, of course being the good friend that I am, said yes.

It wasn't that bad, her daughter and my girls play well together (for the most part). I took the 3 girls down to the pool while my hubby stayed home with the baby. They had a blast swimming and didn't want to leave, but since they had no choice (I was ready to go!) they did anyway.

Then I had to go to the grocery store and pick up a side dish and a dessert to take to the party (and another side and dessert for my friend since she was coming to the party straight from work. <--see, I told you I'm a good friend!)

I was going to cheat and just buy some pasta salad from the deli, but I decided it looked really gross and I could buy some pasta, frozen veggies and dressing for about the same price and it would be better. So that's what I did. If you know me, you know that this isn't something I would usually do, since I HATE cooking and especially being sick and not feeling like doing anything. The pasta salad actually turned out really good I think. It tasted just like how my mom used to make it and I always loved her pasta salad!

Then after the fireworks party, my family and I headed home and went to bed. By this time, I was running a fever. I had chills and was shivering uncontrollably. I was under my heavy comforter and still could not get warm. I finally drifted off to sleep only to awake in the middle of the night covered in sweat! So I threw off the covers and felt instanly frozen again. I just could not find a happy medium!

So this morning, I wake up and my throat is absolutely killing me! It hurt to swallow, hurt to talk, and again with the body aches. I decided to call the doctor and see if he could check me for strep. (I have a tendency to get strep throat once or twice a year). I definately don't want to let that go since it can lead to scarlet fever if left untreated.

So off to the doctor's I went. Strep test done, strep test negative. That is great, but what about this horrific sore throat? He thinks it is viral and will have to "run it's course". ARGH!!! I hate it when they say that. It makes me feel like an idiot for even making a trip to the doctor's in the first place. I should have just saved my $20 copay and not gone! O well, at least I know it's not strep.

So, here I am, still sick. I didn't get any house work done today besides making dinner and cleaning up after that. Well at least now I'll have something to keep me busy when I'm feeling better. (Like I wouldn't already be busy even without extra housework with little mister clingy boy and 2 whiney little girls!)

Red, White And Boom!

Last night, the family and I ventured out to Columbus' annual Red White and Boom celebration. Usually we pass on this endeavor due to the popularity of it (read huge crowds, loads of traffic, etc.). However, I really wanted to go to it this year since I hadn't been since I was a kid.

It wasn't all that bad. Whether or not we go again next year is still up in the air, but overall, I'm glad we went. First we ate dinner at The Spaghetti Warehouse, then we headed out to find a place to watch the fireworks.

We ended up being a little bit farther away from them than we would have liked, we didn't see some of the lower ones, but not a terrible spot. And bonus: parking was free! There were plenty of other people there as well. Not so many that we were crowded, but enough that we figured it should be a decent spot to watch from. We unfolded our lawn chairs and spread out a blanket, then the girls and my hubby started playing catch with a baseball.

So as they start passing the ball back and forth, this weird long haired, drunk guy and his family show up and the guy just stands there, like 4 feet from my hubby watching them. Meanwhile, his own family is several feet away playing their own game of badmitten or something. So why is this guy just standing there, holding his beer "disguised" in a plastic Coke cup from the likes of Arby's, watching my family instead of playing with or watching his own family? Weird!

So then the guy sees the girls start getting disinterested in playing and asks to borrow one of their mitts to catch with my hubby. Of course, guru thought it would be rude to say no and let him borrow one of our (my) mitts. I was not really happy about that and the girls were kind of upset that they couldn't play catch anymore and that this guy was using one of the mitts that they use.

When they were done playing, we get the mitt back and of course it is all sweaty! I'm pretty p.o.'d that guru let Mr. W.T. McDrunkandirty use my mitt and get it all yucky! O well, that is terrible that I was thinking bad things about this guy judging him by the way he looked (and the fact that he was drunk!).

Well, I guess I now have a reason to use my Lysol (Disinfects!) Sanitizing Wipes, unlike Lizlee. Hehe!

My Personality

Stolen from Trinity....The world's shortest personality test. Here are my results:

You are pure, moral, and adaptable. You tend to blend into your surroundings. Shy on the outside, you're outspoken to your friends. You believe that you live a virtuous life... And you tend to judge others with a harsh eye. As a result, people tend to crave your approval.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Such A Boy!

"Oh, mom, I'm so sleepy!"


"Ooh, check out that chick in the bikini!"


He's start'n early!

There He Goes!

We just took these pics of our little guy this evening. What do ya think?






(Excuse my enormous rear here!)

Just About Got It

My little man has finally started taking some steps!! He has taken like 1 to 1 1/2 steps before, but today he has started taking about 5 steps in a row on his own! Yea! I am so excited! He will be 14 months old on the 26th, so I think it's about time he finally started gettin' his walk on!

Questionaire

1. What is the geekiest part of your music collection? I don't own anything geeky.
2. What do you eat when you raid the fridge late at night? Chocolate
3. What is your secret guaranteed weeping movie? Any one where someone is sick and then dies.
4. If you could have plastic surgery, what would you have done? laser stretch mark removal (3 kids'll do that to ya...is there such a thing anyway?)
5. Do you have a completely irrational fear? I don't believe any of my fears are irrational
6. What is the little physical habit that gives away your insecure moments? When I can't maintain eye contact.
7. Are you a pyromaniac? A little bit, yeah
8. Do you have too many interests? I don't think so
9. Do you know anyone famous? I recently got my picture taken with John Heffron :)
10. Describe your bed. "Love nest"...no really, king-sized and comfy!
11. Spontaneous or planned? I like to plan, but I am impatient, so I'll plan something and then want to do it immediately.
12. Who should play you in a movie about your life? Gwyneth in a fat suit similar to that in Shallow Hal.

13. Do you know how to play poker? Not really
14. What do you carry with you at all times? My 1 year old (seems like it anyway).
15. What do you miss most about being a kid? Not having responsibilities.
16. Are you happy with your given name? Yes, I used to hate it, but now I like it.
17. How much money would it take to get you to give up the Internet for one year? $10 million: I could spend all my time shopping instead of surfing the web.
18. What color is your bedroom? Beige, burgundy and tan.
19. What was the last song you were listening to? All I need is the air that I breath and to love you (in my head because I was just reading Oz's blog.)
20. Have you ever been in a play? Yes, several.
21. Have you ever been in love? Yes
22. Do you talk a lot? Sometimes
23. Do you like yourself and believe in yourself? It depends
24. Do transient, homeless, or starving people sometimes annoy you? Yes, the bums that stand at off ramps with a cardboard sign bug me. They probably make more in a day than a lot of the people that give them $.
25. Do you consider yourself to be a nice person? For the most part, I try to be, but I admit I can be a real witch sometimes.
26. Do you spend more time with your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband or your friends? Hubby and kids.
27. What is your ideal marriage location? In the church that I belong to...and that happens to be where I got married.
28. Which musical instrument do you wish you could play? Piano
29. Favorite fabric? I don't know what it's called, but that soft, plush velvety stuff they make baby blankets out of.
30. Something you love and hate? My life
31. What kind of bedding do you use? soft, cool, cottony sheets and a comforter.
32. Do you tell your friends about your sex life? Occasionally if the topic comes up.
33. What's the one language you want to learn? Sign language
34. How do you eat an apple? Sliced and dipped in peanut butter caramel dip.
35. What do you order at a bar? Diet Pepsi/Coke or some sort of non-alcoholic frozen margarita.
36. Have you ever pierced your body parts? Just my ears
37. Do you have tattoos? No, but I've considered getting an ichthus (christian fish) on my ankle, but I hate needles and pain so, probably won't happen.
38. Do you drive stick? I know how and used to drive one.
39. What's one trait you hate in a person? know-it-allness
40. What kind of watch do you wear? A gold and silver timex indiglo
41. Most frivolous purchase? A mixer I saw on an infomercial and had to have, but never use.
42. Do you consider yourself materialistic? Yes, and I hate that about myself.
43. What do you cook the best? Does spaghetti count? No? Ok, how about baked garlic-pepper chicken on my baking stone. Yummy
44. Favorite writing tool? A keyboard
45. Do you prefer to stand out or blend in? Blend in. I don't like drawing attention to myself.
46. Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex? Sure, if it's Halloween, or someone pays me.
47. What's one car you will never buy? this one:

48. What kind of books do you like to read? Romance novels
49. If you won the lottery, what would you do? Wonder how I won without even buying a ticket!
50. Burial or cremation? Hopefully Jesus will return first.
51. How many online journals do you read regularly? 10-ish
52. What's one thing you're a sore loser at? Losing falsely
53. If you don't like a person, how do you show it? I try not to show it. I do my best to avoid confrontation.
54. Do you cry in front of your friends? I have, but I don't like to. Unfortunately, when I get angry or upset, I cry uncontrollably. I can be pretty emotional at times.
55. What kind of first impression do you think you give to people? I think people see me as a decent, nice person.
56. What's one thing you like to do alone? Read. I can't read when there are a lot of distractions around me.
57. Are you a giver or a taker? I do my fair share of both.
58. When's the last time you cried? I can't remember. It hasn't been too terribly long ago though.
59. Favorite communication method? Depends on what I am communicating about.
60. How many drinks before you're tipsy? No idea
61. Do you think you're cute? Sometimes (mostly regarding my personality, rarely my looks).
62. Do you have problems changing clothes in front of friends? Kind of, I am really self-conscious.

So Disappointed!

I am so disappointed in Luvs new diapers! They were my favorite brand of diapers of all time! After 3 kids, I have tried practically every diaper out there and Luvs were, in my opinion, the best.

With absolutely NO warning on their package, Luvs has changed their diapers from being outlined in light blue and smelling wonderfully of baby powder (LOVED that smell!) to being outlined in a girly purple color and smelling like some sort of lavender perfume or something!

On top of that, they are thinner and don't prevent leaks as well. I never had any problems with leaks using Luvs until now. My little man woke up this morning with his clothes soaked!

I am so mad. Luvs were the absolute best for the money! Better at preventing leaks than Huggies and much better than the generic brands and didn't cost that much more (and WAY less than other name brand diapers!)

I did email Luvs with my disappointment and according to the Luvs website, I'm not the only one who feels this way.

If anyone else uses Luvs and is disappointed with the new product, please contact them and let them know! Maybe if enough people voice their disappointment, they will change back to the original Luvs that we all knew and loved!

Snackwell's Yogurt

Did you know that Snackwell's used to make yogurt? Did you also know that it was my cashier at Walmart last night's favorite yogurt? And that they stopped making it? Her mom got hooked on it, who got her sister hooked on it, who got her hooked on it. And then they stopped making it and she was so upset, because it was her favorite yogurt. They had chocolate banana, and all kinds of other chocolate flavors that were very good. It looked like pudding, and tasted like pudding, but it was yogurt. Blah blah bliggity blah blah!!!!!!

Well I know it! Want to know how I know? Because she saw this Yoplait Whips chocolate cherry yogurt I was buying and asked me if it was good. I told her I didn't know because I hadn't tried it yet. Well, this brought on this entire 7 minute, one sided conversation that you see above! (if you notice, it probably took you about 10-15 seconds to read it. She kept repeating the same 3 or 4 things over and over and, oh yeah, over again!!!)

And oh yeah, her mom told her that Snackwell's has a website and that she should see if she can buy some online or at least send them a suggestion to bring it back.

WOW! Now you are enlightened just as I was!

8 Years!

My big girl turned 8 years old today!! I can't believe it. She is going into third grade this fall! What happened to my chubby cheeked little baby?!!!


hospital pic......................................................today

My hubby took the day off work today and finished his final paper for this semester of classes. While he was typing that up this morning, the kids and I spent a couple of hours at the pool. (Note to all: the coppertone continuous spray sunscreen is awesome, but doesn't last very long. I used almost the whole can just today on the 4 of us.)

Then, after swimming, we came home and all got showers and went to drop off hubby's paper then to lunch. We had to go to Burger King per the birthday girl's request because they have Star Wars toys! Yea.

Then we stopped at WalMart because the girls were begging for light sabers (and we needed more sunscreen) but they didn't have them! (light sabers, not sunscreen) Bummer!

One of the girls' friends is on her way over right now to go back to the pool with us this evening. This is good because I decided not to give Emmy a kid party this year. We will probably go to Libby Lu's on Saturday and let the girls get makeovers. That should be fun! Then on Sunday, we will have lunch with the whole family at The Olive Garden (also, EE's choice).

Time is FLYING!

I'm Back!

Well, this past weekend was my trip to Indianapolis to see Beth Moore. I had such a blast! The first night there, I was in a room with just one other lady and got my own bed!! That was nice. The second night there were 5 of us in that room so I had to share, but it wasn't so bad.

I rode with 3 other ladies from my small group and we headed out of town around 1 pm and arrived at our hotel, (The Indianapolis Hilton) which was very nice, around 4:30. <--we ran in to some traffic on the way there. We got checked into our rooms and got ready for the first part of the conference. After that we headed back to our rooms and ordered dinner (at about 11 pm) and had it delivered to our room.

Not too long after that, we were all asleep (well, the 4 of us that rode together at least. The other 2 were in the room next to us). We were so beat!

Saturday morning it was up and at it early. We had room service delivered to us at 6 am and were at the RCA Dome for the second part of the conference when the doors opened at 7:30. (oh, BTW, we were apparently the designated seat holders. That was nice, having to reserve 3-4 rows of seats while 17,000 other women strolled by wondering if "all those seats" were taken!) So we got our butts up early to get there when they opened they doors just so everyone else could lolligag (yes, I said lolligag) around and get there an hour and a half later when the conference started. O well!

After the conference was all over at noon, the entire group from our church (27, I believe) went and ate lunch at Champps.



After lunch, everyone but the 5 of us went home. The 5 of us that stayed hit the mall! Then the games began. We spent a couple of hours just browsing the stores and picking up a few things, mostly for our kids of course, and a few things for ourselves. Then we decided to catch a movie....Monster In Law. Cute movie, we all enjoyed it. (The best part was getting to leave the movie and not have to go directly to pick up children!!) Then, we hit one more store on the way back to the hotel, Old Navy, and then Buca di Beppo for dinner.

Then, finally back to the hotel. We all changed into our suits and headed down to the pool. We got in the hot tub first, then cooled off in the pool.

After About an hour or so of that, we headed back up to the room and chatted and started watching a DVD (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days...such a good movie!) but we were all too tired and ended up turning it off and going to bed. I have no idea what time it was at that point, but it was definitely Sunday.

Then we got up (later) Sunday morning and again had room service deliver our breakfast, only this time at 9:30, not 6:00! As we ate our breakfast, we watched the movie we had started before bed.

After the movie, 3 of us decided to go back down to the hot tub and pool and relax a bit more before heading home. A couple of people came and stayed a few minutes and left and we had the entire pool to ourselves. That was nice.

Then it was back to the room to get showered, packed, and back on the road home. The weekend totally flew by.

We stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at Cracker Barrel on the way home and were back in Columbus by 6:30 (and I was home by 8 after picking up my kids).

Wow! I SOOOO needed this weekend!!! It was so fun and relaxing, and nice to be able to get up and not have to worry about getting anyone besides myself ready. Now I am back to reality this week. And the family survived wonderfully while I was away, but I'm sure were all happy to see me back (especially the baby!)

Sorry I don't have any more pictures to post. I was too busy having fun to think of taking pictures!

A Blast!

What a great time we turned out to have last night!!! We had a very yummy dinner at CPK. We all shared a large barbeque chicken salad and pizza. Then we walked around for a little while and all bought our girls something from Club Libby Lu. (<--Very cute store BTW!)

Then off to the Funny Bone. The show was SO incredibly funny. The only thing we didn't really care for was the host (you know, the one who starts out telling a few jokes then introduces the opening act and the headliner.) He really liked the "f" word and said "g.d." a lot. The other two comics were very funny. I can't remember the guy's name that opened for Heffron, his last name I think is Cummings, but he was hilarious. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. My head was beginning to hurt and so were my jaws from all the laughing.

Then on the way out, my friend Mindy said that she wished she had brought her camera because she wanted to get a picture with J.H. I said that I had a camera phone and so we went back over to where the comics were selling and signing their CD's and asked for a picture. I felt a little silly, like we were back in high school or something, but it was fun anyway. She asked and of course he agreed and we got some guy to take our picture. I'm the one on the right in the pink. (I know, the camera adds 10 lbs. and unfortunately, there is only one camera on me!) Mindy is the short blonde in the middle and Angela (who I got to know through our small group) is the dark haired one in the front. The long haired guy is the Cummings guy and of course, all know, John Heffron...



After the picture was taken he commented on how one of us uses pert. Which, if you had seen the show, was funny in and of itself because he said he gets "excited just smelling shampoo". I won't get into the details but it has to do with "happy time" in the shower if you know what I mean.

After that we headed to Cup O Joe and got some coffee and sat there and talked and laughed for quite a while.

I really needed that! Good food, good laughs, good coversation, no crying baby, no fighting kids. Just plain fun!

(And thanks to my hubby for staying home and watching the kiddies so I could go out!)

Funny Bone

Anybody watch the show Last Comic Standing? While I wasn't a loyal viewer, I did see the show a few times. The season 2 (I think) winner of the show, John Heffron, is going to be at the Funny Bone comedy club near my part of town tomorrow night and a couple of my friends and I are going to go see him. We're going to eat dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and then catching the 8:00 show. It should be a fun evening. We have been talking for months now about doing this and a few weeks ago decided that we should go see Heffron. I have heard his CD and he is a pretty funny guy, and not too bad to look at either. (The friends I'm going with are both Single moms. ) I'm looking forward to a night out! My only problem now is finding something to wear. I may just need to go shopping tomorrow. Finding clothes sucks when you're fat. O well.

Burned!

I went on an outdoor field trip with my oldest daughter yesterday. We went to the Festival of Cultures at the Ohio Expo Center. We were outside from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. It was nice and the weather was good. Not too cold, not too hot, not rainy. But of course, I didn't even think about putting on sunscreen, and boy does my face show it! My forehead is bright red! I also have a circle-o-sunburn on my chest. Nice! Oh, and I don't want to forget the white rings around my eyes from where my sunglasses were! Oh, yeah, I'm a pretty picture today!

Yeah, Carrie Won!

I have liked Carrie from the beginning. I think she has an awesome voice! However, I honestly thought that Bo was going to win. I think the judges were really trying to steer America to vote for him. But, alas, Carrie pulled through!

To tell you the truth, I wouldn't have really been upset if Bo had won, I think he is good too, and he'll have no problems getting a recording contract.

What did everyone think of miss Mikalah? Like her new hair-do? I think her hair looked good, but the voice, still not that great.

I enjoyed seeing some clips from the beginning of the season that I had forgotten about. Like the "can ya dig it" guy for one. Good ole' Leroy.

Sorry to keep you waiting

I had a very busy weekend and didn't really have time to get online. My friend did, of course, have her baby. Her 4th child, 3rd girl. She was born just after 9 pm on 5/19 (after only 10 hrs of labor, her shortest so far). She weighed 8lbs 8oz and was 20.5 inches long.

I got to see her on Saturday and hold her for about a half an hour (I was the only visitor at the time). She is so sweet. She has a little bit of black hair. It brought back memories, being there on the maternity floor, of last year for me. I passed the room I stayed in on the way to hers and felt a bit sad. Time is just flying by too fast!

I talked to my friend again today and she says that she has been having spinal headaches from the epidural. She's hoping that they will go away soon and that the doctor won't put her on bedrest or anything since she is supposed to be moving in less than a week and still has lots of packing to do. Not to mention 4 kids to take care of.

Other than that everything is going well. The baby is doing great and the older siblings are adjusting.

Well, I will have to fill in more about my weekend tomorrow, I've still got lots to do before bed.

Anxious

A friend of mine went in to the hospital this morning at 10:00 to have her labor induced. She is 9 days overdue with her 4th baby. With the last three, she had over 20 hour labors each, so we kind of figured this one would be no different. However, she was already 3cm dialated and 70% efaced before her due date, so I thought there may be hope for a faster labor this time. I don't know as of now if she has had the baby yet or not. I am supposed to be at the top of her list of people to call once the baby comes. I am anxiously awaiting the call so I can go visit her and see the new little sweetie.

I'm Torn!

Ok, here's the thing. My friend Mindy has been telling me for a while now that I need to go on this women's conference to see Beth Moore that the ladies from our church are going to.



Last night at our small group, they all told me that they would make sure I got a ticket if I still want to go. I really do want to go. The thing is, I haven't left my baby overnight yet. I know, I know, this is my 3rd baby and this isn't anything new to me (leaving a baby overnight for the first time) and I left both of my girls overnight before they were even a year old, but it still isn't an easy thing to do. I know that he (and the girls) will be in good hands while I'm gone, but I kind of feel guilty. He is very clingy to me and I know he will miss me (will he think I abandoned him? I don't know.)

I realize this sounds irrational and that I should just go. I need time away from my job and all the chaos that is my life too. But....argh....I don't know what to do here.

The other thing is that a few of the ladies from my group are staying a second night for a little R&R and I've been invited to join them. This sounds like a lot of fun. I hardly ever get to do this kind of thing and it will probably be a long time before another opportunity to do this comes up again. So I guess I'm asking you blog world, should I stay or should I go? (<---remember that song?) I know I should probably take the opportunity and go, but how do I get over feeling guilty about leaving my baby for the first time?

Questionaire

Stolen from Trinity.

1. Your name spelled backwards: hsleol
2. Where were your parents born? Ohio (I'm pretty sure my dad was, my mom definately was).
3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? My hubby does all the downloading, I don't know how.
4. What's your favorite restaurant? I don't think I have just one favorite, I just like to eat!
5. Last time you swam in a pool? One time last summer. I'm too fat to wear a bathing suit in public, but one time when I took the kids, there was no one else there so I got in too.
6. Have you ever been in a school play? Yes...Cinderella, Fiddler on the Roof, Jack and the Beanstalk and The Wizard of Oz
7. How many kids do you want? 3 or 4
8. Type of music you dislike most? I don't really care much for crap, uh, I mean rap
9. Are you registered to vote? Yes.
10. Do you have cable? Yes.
11. Have you ever ridden on a moped? No, but I've ridden on a motorcycle
12. Ever prank call anybody? Yes, my friend and I used to prank call people all the time in Jr. high.
13. Ever get a parking ticket? No
14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? I don't know, There was a time when I would have said yes, but I'm much less of a daredevil these days.
15. Farthest place you ever traveled? Phoenix AZ (Actually 600 miles farther away from the next farthest place, the Bahamas. I thought the Bahamas would be farther, but I looked it up.)
16. Do you have a garden? No.
17. What's your favorite comic strip? I'm not a big fan of the comic strips. There are some funny ones out there, but I don't have a fav.
18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem? I think I actually do.
19. Bath or Shower, morning or night? I almost always shower at night. I cannot get my butt up early enough to shower in the morning. I haven't taken a bath in years!
20. Best movie(s) you've seen in the past month? None of the movies I've seen in the last month were really good. I just saw Raise Your Voice with Hillary Duff this evening and it was o.k.
21. Favorite pizza toppings? Mushrooms and lots of cheese.
22. Chips or popcorn? Chips with french onion dip.
23. What color lipstick do you usually wear? I don't usually wear lipstick, but when I do, I like "flirty" colors.
24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells? No.
25. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? Pah-leeze!
26. Orange Juice or apple? Orange juice with lots of pulp!
27. Favorite type of chocolate bar? Probably Snickers.
28 When was the last time you voted at the polls? Last November.
29. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato? It has been a long time. But I do enjoy a nice, juicy slice of tomato on a burger.
30. Have you ever won a trophy? Yes
31. Are you a good cook? Not at all.
32. Do you know how to pump your own gas? But, of course.
33. Ever order something from an infomercial? Yes, some mixer thing that I never use.
34. Sprite or 7-up? Diet 7-up.
35. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work/school? When I was a server at Spageddies, I had to wear black dress pants, a white dress shirt with a tie and a black apron.
36. Last thing you bought at a pharmacy? An antibiotic for my hubby's ear infection...just yesterday.
37. Ever throw up in public? Yes, at church when I was little.
38. Would you prefer being a millionaire or to find true love? True love.
39. Do you believe in love at first sight? No, I believe in lust at first sight.
40. Ever call a 1-900 number? No.
41. Can exes be friends? I suppose so.
42. Who was the last person you visited in a hospital? My hubby when he got admitted for a large kidney stone a few months ago.
43. Did you have a lot of hair when you were a baby? No, I was pretty much bald until I was 2.
44. What message is on your answering machine? A generic message that came with the machine.
45. What is in your backpack? I don't carry a backpack, just a purse and a diaper bag.
46. Favorite thing to do before bedtime? Take a shower.
47. What is one thing you are grateful for today? My entire family.
48. What is the first concert you ever went to? Probably DC Talk at King's Island.

My Little Artist

Here is a cute pic of my oldest daughter yesterday at the doctor's office. She has been having some issues with her ear feeling clogged and hearing as though through a tunnel. The good news is that it isn't an ear infection (at least not yet). But she loves to draw and that's what she was doing to pass the time while waiting for the doc to come in. I saw it as a great photo opportunity.

Bounce With Me

Bounce fabric sheets:



The US Postal service sent out a message to all letter carriers to put a sheet of Bounce in their uniform pockets to keep yellow jackets away. The yellow jackets just veer around you. And all this time you've just been putting Bounce in the dryer!

It will chase ants away when you lay a sheet near them.

It also repels mice. Spread them around foundation areas, or in trailers, cars that are sitting and it keeps mice from entering your vehicle.

It takes the odor out of books and photo albums that don't get opened too often.

Repels mosquitoes. Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season.

Eliminates static electricity from your television (or computer) screen.

Since Bounce is designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television screen
with a used sheet of Bounce to keep dust from resettling.

Dissolve soap scum from shower doors. Clean with a sheet of Bounce.

Freshen the air in your home. Place an individual sheet of Bounce in a drawer or hang in the closet.

Put Bounce sheet in vacuum cleaner.

Prevent thread from tangling. Run a threaded needle through sheet of
Bounce before beginning to sew.

Prevent musty suitcases. Place an individual sheet of Bounce inside empty luggage before storing.

Freshen the air in your car. Place a sheet of Bounce under the front seat.

Clean baked-on foods from a cooking pan. Put a sheet in a pan, fill with water, let sit overnight, and sponge clean. The antistatic agent apparently weakens the bond between the food.

Eliminate odors in wastebaskets.. Place a sheet of Bounce at the bottom of the wastebasket.

Collect cat hair. Rubbing the area with a sheet of Bounce will magnetically attract all the loose hairs.

Eliminate static electricity from Venetian blinds. Wipe the blinds with a sheet of Bounce to prevent dust from resettling.

Wipe up sawdust from drilling or sand papering. A used sheet of Bounce will collect sawdust like a tack cloth.

Eliminate odors in dirty laundry. Place an individual sheet of Bounce at the bottom of a laundry bag or hamper.

Deodorize shoes or sneakers. Place a sheet of Bounce in your shoes or sneakers overnight.

Golfers put a Bounce sheet in their back pocket to keep the bees away.
Put a Bounce sheet in your sleeping bag and tent before folding and storing them. Keeps them smelling fresh.

My Mother's Day

We started on Saturday by buying some flowers and taking them to my mother's grave. It was the first time I've visited it since her funeral in January '04. I just kept putting it off not knowing how I would handle it. Well, Saturday was a beautiful day and I decided during lunch that we should go. I didn't want to wait til actual mother's day, I wanted to go right then. We spent a little while "visiting" her and walking around the cemetery a bit reading tombstones. (There are so many people buried around her that were really young when they died! It was really sad.) I did get a bit teary eyed, but didn't cry (there).

Then Sunday, we went to the 8:30 service at church and then out to lunch with my mom's parents and my dad. Then we went to visit guru's crazy mom for a few minutes at the run down, hole in the wall bar she works in. We gave her a card and a teddy bear (she really doesn't deserve more than that, she's not been the best of mothers or grandmothers, but that's a whole other subject!)

For some reason the rest of Sunday is a blur to me. I honestly can't remember what else we did. I think we just came home after that, but seriously, I can't remember what we did.

I did get some nice stuff though. My grandmother gave me the same thing she gave trinity...the coffee cup with coffee mixes inside. My MIL gave me some glass thing that you're supposed to hang on a window. Apparently she has a friend that makes them. It has some etching and writing on it. Then from my kids I got the latest Avalon CD...


And this three diamond necklace....

Happy Mother's Day, Moms!

And as a present, something cute to read...

Why God made moms: answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions.

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He Just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in
the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other Mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your Mom?
1. My Mom has always been my Mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did Mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk
on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your Mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home, & dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power cause
that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.
Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your Mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your Mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your Mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of
that.
2. I'd make my Mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did
it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on her back of
her head.

My Life in Song Titles

ok, I'm still working on the "If I could be a ______" list. I just don't have any answers for that one. I've tried to think of answers, but I've just not been feeling very creative lately. So here's this one...



Name of the Band: Avalon

Are you male or female?: The Best Thing

Describe yourself?: A World Away

How do some people feel about you?: You Were There

How do you feel about yourself?: Never Givin' Up

Describe an ex boy friend: Wonder Why

Describe your husband: Let It Be Forever

Describe where you want to be: Far Away From Here

Describe how you live: Good Way

Describe how you love: Love Remains

Share a few words of wisdom: Forgive and Forget


That was funner than I thought it would be. Anyone else?

Getting There...

Wow, I am so proud of my little man (and myself). I decided at the beginning of this week that I was going to get the baby on a more predictable bed time schedule. (better late than never!!) Every night this week he has been fed and in his crib by 9 pm. I have just put him in there and turned on his little fisher price aquarium thing and off to sleep he went.

Monday night he whimpered off and on for about 30 minutes or so, but then slept through the night (for the first time in FOREVER!) and didn't wake up until 7 am!! How wonderful it was to be able to get a complete full night's sleep. That hasn't happened in over a year.

Sure, he has slept through the night before. He was for a while, then started waking up around 3 am again for no good reason. I, being too tired to deal with him, just kept him in bed with me for the rest of the night. In turn, I didn't not get restful sleep from that point on. It also didn't help that I wasn't able to get to bed til about midnight or later.

I truly believe I have some sort of sleep disorder. I can be dead tired and still lay in bed tossing and turning for hours. So this on top of having my sleep disrupted, makes for a very exhausted mommy.

It felt good to be able to sleep through the night again. This also gives me more time to do other things around the house that I didn't have time to do before. My home is much cleaner as a result and I am a much more relaxed person. I just can't relax when there is a mess around me. My laundry is caught up for the first time in weeks. The dishes are all done. It is just superb! Now, I just need to find time to work out and I'll be all set.

I did a walk away the pounds video tonight, but I had to hold the baby the whole time. He was super cranky. He woke up too early from his nap this afternoon and was very tired this evening. He fell asleep about 6 pm but I only let him sleep for about 30 minutes because I didn't want him to not go to sleep tonight. So he was a cranky crankenheimer and was coughing and gagging from crying so hard (I was trying to make him sit there and watch me, but he wanted no part of it!) So I just picked the little booger up and walked while holding him. Guess it only served to help my calorie burning because of the extra weight.

I don't know if I really like those walking videos or not. First of all, I don't like working out to videos much as it is. And I don't really feel like I'm really working out when I do them. Maybe that's the beauty of them, but I don't feel like I've done enough when I'm done.

Well, I better stop for tonight. I better get to bed now, if I want to be asleep before 2 am.

Gonna be an aunt...again.

My hubby's brother's (girlfriend?, fiance'? live in? whatever she is...) called this evening to let us know that they are expecting again. I am very happy for them. Here's the thing...not too long after we heard they were expecting 4 years ago, we found out that my bro and his wife were expecting their first as well. Here's to hoping that will happen again!

Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!

Finally!! Scott is gone! For crying out loud, he should have left weeks ago and now he's finally gone!!! I am just giddy with excitement!!

100 Things

1. I am a natural blonde
2. I don't get my hair cut as often as I'd like (twice a year, if I'm lucky)
3. I have been married for 7 years (on 9/12)
4. I never went to college
5. But I would like to get a degree someday
6. I was always VERY shy growing up
7. I still am, but not to such an extreme
8. I don't like telling people no
9. Which means I often get stuck doing things I don't really want to do
10. I get bored easily
11. I think I have a bit of A.D.D or something
12. I will turn 26 this year
13. I have 3 kids
14. I had no difficulty conceiving any of them
15. I am truly grateful for that
16. I had 2 of them without an epidural
17. One with
18. I loved the epidural
19. Would definately get one again
20. I don't know if I want any more children
21. I love babies
22. But they are really expensive
23. I got pregnant my first "time" ever
24. I was 16
25. I was 17 when I had her
26. I still lived at home with my parents
27. My mom helped me out a LOT
28. My mom died while I was 6 months pregnant with my son
29. I miss her terribly
30. I love to shop
31. But I generally don't go into stores unless I need something
32. I can rationalize why I should get something I don't need
33. Then feel bad later when there's something I need, but can't afford it
34. I am a minivan mom
35. And I'm proud of it!
36. I love my van!
37. I can separate my kids
38. And still have room for the stroller and groceries, etc.
39. I love going on dates with my hubby
40. But don't get enough opportunities to do so
41. There is NO person from my husbands family that I would ever leave my kids with
42. I love to sing
43. I think I am ok at it
44. But I could always be better
45. I don't like to sing in front of people
46. Because of my shyness
47. I recently rejoined my church's praise team
48. I love to sleep
49. I usually take a shower at night
50. I don't like getting up early
51. I love not having to work
52. I am able to stay home with my kiddos
53. I am enjoying it...most days :)
54. I never want to work full time again
55. I want to work part time while my kids are all in school
56. I have a hard time concentrating
57. Something has to catch my interest immediately
58. If it doesn't, I get disinterested in it
59. I am extremely impatient
60. I don't like that about myself
61. I am very critical of myself
62. I don't like that either
63. I can't stand arrogant people
64. I don't like confrontation
65. I cry uncontrollably when I'm angry or upset
66. That bugs me too
67. I make my bed everyday
68. Even if it is right before I get in it
69. I can't stand for my covers to be crooked!
70. I like sleeping under a sheet and blanket year round
71. I sleep with a fan on all year too
72. I don't like cooking
73. I love to eat out at restaurants
74. I only own one pair of jeans for myself
75. I buy clothes for myself last after my kids and hubby
76. Since I stay home, I don't need as many clothes as they do
77. Plus, I hate clothes shopping for myself
78. It depresses me
79. I always say I'll wait to buy new clothes til I lose some weight
80. Then I don't lose weight
81. And I'm stuck washing and wearing the same pair of jeans everyday!
82. My legs are kind of long
83. But I wish they were longer
84. My legs are longer than my hubby's
85. And I am at least 5 inches shorter than him
86. My parents never got me involved in sports or other activities when I was a kid
87. I wish they had
88. Maybe I wouldn't have gotten fat
89. I used to just come home after school and watch t.v. and eat
90. I don't want that for my kids
91. I want to keep them active
92. I am almost always hungry
93. When I'm not eating, I'm thinking about food
94. I live to eat instead of eat to live
95. I wish I had a good workout partner
96. I can drive a stick shift
97. Learned when I was 15 on my bro's truck
98. I think it's kinda fun
99. I love the fall time
100. And going for walks in the park while the leaves are changing colors.

My 10 Things That I Hate About Me List

I'm FAT!

I am quick to anger.

I have a very difficult time getting up in the morning. I have a hard time getting to sleep at night and am, in turn, very sleepy in the mornings.

I can't cook. I don't like cooking and have NO desire to learn how.

I'm shy. I have a hard time making friends because of this. People think I'm stuck up because I don't talk much. (Why is that by the way? Why do people assume that quiet people are stuck up and not just shy?)

I am forgetful.

Did I mention that I'm fat? Oh yeah, I forgot :)

I care about what other people think about me. I really hate that. Why should I care what you think about me?

I am lazy. (Partially, I believe, because I am ALWAYS tired...read line 3)

I don't like to read. I miss out on so much and feel uninformed because of this.

I can not think of 10 things that I actually like about myself.

One Whole Year!

Well, today my baby is officially one year old! As promised yesterday, here are some random pictures of him from his hospital picture to today!

His hospital pic:

(sorry this is so big!)

With biggest sister a few hours after birth:


In swing watching mommy on the computer at a few weeks old:


In his bouncy seat around 3 months old:


In Pack-N-Play at great-grandma's at 10 months:


With mommy (me) and papaw at his party last Saturday:


And finally, today, the birthday boy with great-grandma:


Well, I hope you enjoyed my little slide show presentation of my boy!

Too much Cake! (And a birth story)

O.k, so we had my son's first birthday party on Saturday. It went pretty well, I think. There was so much left over cake. Of course, I cannot have cake within my reach and stay out of it. It's simply impossible. I have zero willpower. I love cake and creamy icing! So I ate sooooo much cake this weekend. Not only cake though, but lots of other stuff too. The word "diet" just did not exist for me this weekend. As a result, I felt like total and utter crap last night. I was up and down all night with acid reflux and woke several times in the middle of the night to the taste of vomit in my mouth. EW! Ok, so I am officially back to watching what I eat. I love to eat, but I haven't felt so full and sick in a long time. There is even still some cake downstairs, but I haven't taken one bite of it today!

Well last year at this time I was having contractions about 6 minutes apart. They started around 7:30 pm at 10 minutes apart. Then soon got to 4 minutes apart and I was at the hospital between 10 and 10:30 pm. When I got there, they were about 3 minutes apart and getting closer and much, much stronger. I walked the halls for a while stopping every 2 minutes on the dot for the contractions. I finally got to a room and asked for an epidural. (I did not get one when having either of the girls, but at this point, they were right on top of each other...no breaks in between. One would start practically before the last one ended!) By about 12:30 am I had the epi and was feeling NO pain. God bless the anesthesiologist!!

So by that point, this was by far the longest labor I have had seeing as how I wasn't even near delivering yet. (1st baby 5.5 hours, 2nd baby 4.5 hours). The epidural slowed down my contractions considerably, but it wasn't so bad, since I wasn't feeling anything.

Somewhere around 5 am I was fully dilated and started pushing. I was really scared that it would take a long time to push him out since I couldn't really feel how hard I was pushing. However, at 5:20 am he was out. All 9 lbs 4 oz and 20 inches of him. I simply cannot believe it has been a year! It just does not seem possible!

Well, hopefully I will have some pictures to post tomorrow.

Not too much going on tonight...

I've been dealing with a sick baby this week (yes again, the kid just can't seem to get completely rid of this stomach bug). Since Monday morning, he hasn't been able to keep much of anything down. Nothing gets you up and going in the morning better than being puked on! Today he has been better.

I hope he is all better by this Saturday. His first birthday is Tuesday, but we are having his party on Saturday. I'm really excited that I may be seeing an old friend from high school there that I haven't seen in years. We were practically inseperable in junior high, but then started hanging out with different crowds in high school. Never had a falling out or anything, we just didn't have any classes together and pretty much just lost contact. I ran in to her dad the other day and asked him to have her give me a call. Come to find out she has a little girl that's 4 (I did know about her) and a little boy that just turned 1 on the 2nd. So I invited her to the party. I really hope she can make it.

I also have 2 other high school buddies hopefully coming (one if she doesn't have to work and the other if she doesn't have her baby before then). It'll be like a mini reunion.

I still can't put on my sneakers. I can walk a lot better on my broken toe, but it still hurts to put on any shoe that covers my toe.

I'm not going to mention how disappointed I am once again this week. Maybe if I don't mention it, a certain "idol" will finally go home next week.

Well, better go take a shower and try to get some sleep.

A Word Of Thanks

I just want to say thank you to Trinity, who spent ALL DAY yesterday watching my 2 girls! We decided at the last minute to accompany my father in law to Pennsylvania to visit my hubby's grandfather (his last living grandparent) who has been having some health problems and was recently hospitalized for a week. My grandmother watched the boy, and Trin and G took the girls. She even had to take my oldest to a birthday party. I just want to let you guys know how much we appreciate your help...and not just this time, but all the other times you've watched them for us. I don't know how we'd survive without our family!

Butterflies

Well, today I took my 5 year old on a field trip with her preschool class to the Franklin Park Conservatory's butterfly exhibit. It was really fun. I also took my older daughter on this same field trip 3 years ago. She had a fun time and brought home a caterpillar (which she appropriately named "caterpillar"). We will put it into a shoe box once it forms its chrysalis and watch it transform into a butterfly. Then we will let it go. She learned some very interesting facts about butterflies today. For example, did you know that if a human baby were to eat comparably as much as a baby caterpillar, that by the time it was one month old, it would be the size of a bus? Wow! That's a lot of eatin'! Maybe I should have been born a caterpillar???!

NNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

AGAIN?!!! I am so devastated!! Please, please, please, America, I am begging you, SEND SCOTT HOME!!!!

Great Weather...

Ok, so it isn't very often we get to say this here in Ohio, but what great weather we're having! Today was awesome! Not too cold, not too hot. Just right.

Today was a nice family day for us as well. The girls played outside for a while this morning, then we went to lunch and then to the park. All the kids had a fun time swinging, even the baby. He did very well for quite a while before getting bored and trying to chew on the swing. The girls, of course, did not want to leave (they could swing for hours!!). I was really itching to go on a nice nature walk, but with my gimp toe, I couldn't. We didn't stay as long as we could have either, because we forgot to pack the stroller up in the new van. The little man got really squirmy and wanted badly to get down and eat the mulch.

So, we came home and the girls went back outside. (I'm glad to say that they are making all kinds of new friends here now that the weather has been so nice and everyone is sending their kids outside.)

Overall, it was a very nice weekend. I started off the weekend, Friday night, by going to a surprise birthday party at a friend's house. I stayed later than everyone else and watched a movie with the hostess. We watched Closer. I'll tell you what, my friend is not the best movie selector. This movie was, as my hubby would say "a$$". We thought it would be decent since it had Julia Roberts and Natalie Portman in it, but alas, we were wrong. The last move we watched together (also her pick) was The Forgotten. That movie also wanked. Next time, I'm picking the movie, my friend.

Saturday, I went and visited my dad's parents for a little while. They don't really live all that far away, maybe 15 minutes, but we don't get to see them very often. We had borrowed one of their vehicles last week, before purchasing our new ones, and accidentally left a couple of the kids' jackets in it. So that gave us a nice excuse to go visit them.

Then we stopped on the way home so I could buy my son some spring/summer type clothes, since he had absolutely none. Then we were back home for a relaxing evening with the kids playing outside and us lounging on the couches with the windows open enjoying the breeze.

That about sums up my weekend. It is over all too quickly. Hopefully this nice weather will stick around and we will be able to enjoy many of these incredible weekends before summer kicks in!

I Wish You Enough

Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments
together at the airport. They had announced the departure.
Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said "I love you
and I wish you enough."

The daughter replied, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom".

They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?".

"Yes, I have," I replied. "Forgive me for asking but why is this a forever goodbye?". "I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral" she said.
When you were saying goodbye, I heard you say 'I wish you enough'. May I ask what that means?".

She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone".

She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more. "When we said 'I wish you enough' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them".
Then turning toward me she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory ---

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

She then began to cry and walked away.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.

I received this in an email and I know some of you who read my blog received it as well, but I thought I would post it anyway.

So Close!!!

It was so close, I could taste it. Scott was going to leave and then, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! What? Are you kidding me? Why Oh why? Why did he stay? He SOOOOO should have been the one to leave tonight. Once again America disappoints me:( !!!!!!!!!!!!
Send Scott home! Send Scott home!!
And what was with that little speech he gave at the end when Seacrest asked him if he thought he was leaving? Was he reading that? Seriously! That was terrible. Could he have talked ANY slower? I submit that he could not have.

As a side note, I would also like to add that it bugs the snot out of me when Fantasia pronounces her "s"'s like "sh"'s!!! Jusht shtop it already. It'sh really annoying!

Sick Boy

Well, as I mentioned before, my little boy is sick. He's been running a fever and tylenol hasn't seemed to help much. He has also not been eating very well and I'm afraid he's going to get dehydrated. I will probably end up taking him to the doctor tomorrow, well today technically. If you are familiar at all with our situation, you know that it has always been a task to get this little guy to eat, especially when he's sick. Everything makes him gag. I have noticed recently, before he got sick this time, that he has been eating well as far as solid foods go. It's just the whole drinking thing, he doesn't do well. He still won't nurse or take a bottle unless he is sleepy and still refuses the sippy cup or straw. I don't know what I'm going to do with him. He is also being extra clingy right now. He doesn't want me to even put him down and heaven forbid if I have to leave his sight.

My daughters have found a couple of new friends here in our new community. They have been complaining about having to leave their friends at our old house and not having any other kids around here to play with. Well, the past 2 evenings, they have played with the 2 kids from 2 doors down. They have been having fun kicking a ball around, jumping rope and doing flips in the grass. However, they tell me that the kids are moving soon. Hopefully this summer they will meet more kids at the swimming pool or outside playing. I just feel so sad for them when they say they miss our old house and their old friends. I miss our house too, but we are moving on, starting new with a lot of things. Our new home, my hubby's new job, our new cars we got this past weekend, new schools for the girls next year. Let's just hope and pray there are no new little people in our lives anytime too soon!;) I would definitely go over the edge of craziness that I am teetering on right now.

Well, that's it for now. Time to try to go get some sleep before the baby wakes up crying.

Broken Toe

Ok, I have never had a broken bone in my life. I've sprained my ankle before, but never broken anything. Well tonight while walking through my home, I stubbed my toe really hard. I have obviously stubbed my toes before, but this time, my toe swelled up and I can not put any pressure on my foot at all. I thought, well, I should at least be able to walk on my heel and still get around, but even that sends a sharp pain through my toe. Man, this sucks! How am I supposed to lug a clingy sick baby around when I can barely get myself from one place to the next? Don't think there's much sense going to the doctor either, since they can't really do anything for a broken toe. (Alright, so I don't know for sure that it's broken, but it may as well be if I can't walk on it.) I know what you're thinking...if I didn't weigh so much, it wouldn't hurt as bad to support my weight on it. But, I don't think I could weigh 10 pounds and support my weight on it. How am I supposed to work out when I can't use one foot? Of course, I haven't lost any more weight this week, in fact I think I've gained one or two back. I could be retaining water as I am cutting way back on, and coming close to an end of breastfeeding my almost one year old and could be getting my "visitor" back at any time. But now, I won't even be able to work out if I wanted to on my gimp toe. I give up, I am just meant to be fat!

Time for a new post

Wow! How boring am I that I can go for so many days without anything to blog about? I did attempt a post on Wednesday or Thursday but then I lost it when I tried to post it and I didn't feel like typing it out again. So here are some more "why"'s that are on my mind tonight:

*Why are there so many stupid people? I'm not talking book smarts here either. Just plain ole common sense stupidity.
*Why is my mother-in-law such a nut job?
*Why is it that people (humans) hold grudges? (I'm not excluding myself, so don't give me any lip! :) )

Well that's it for now. I better try to get some sleep. I have a feeling I won't be getting much tonight since the baby is sick. He'll probably have me up all night. On top of that, Spring break is officially over now so I'll need to be up bright and early to get the girls ready and off to school in the morning.