Kinda Bummed

We were supposed to be going to the Pumpkin Show tonight. Weather.com is showing a 100% chance of rain tonight starting at 7pm (which is about when we'd get there). That really puts a damper on our plans (no pun intended).

I guess we still have through Saturday to go if we really want to. The only thing is that if we don't go tonight, we will miss the parade of bands. The parade usually consists of a bunch of high school bands from across Ohio, but tonight they are welcoming The Best Damn Band In The Land! So we would have to miss that!

I guess that's not such a huge deal to guru though, since he gets to go see them at "the shoe" on Saturday!

Update

Well, I went back to the Dr. yesterday. He didn't end up doing another strep test. But, he did give me a stronger antibiotic. He said if I keep having problems with this, I may have to go see an ENT Dr. and talk about getting my tonsils out! I'm 26 years old! Isn't this something they usually do to kids? My oldest daughter had hers out when she was 6.

I have never been put under anesthesia for anything before. I really don't want to have to have them removed, but if it will keep me from getting strep throat so often, I may just have to do it!

Anyway, my friend A got sent home, no baby yet! Right now she is scheduled to be induced next Monday if she hasn't had the baby by then. That would actually make it convienient for me though if she waits until Monday, cause then I could make one trip to the hospital on Tuesday to see her and my new nephew!

I think it's back!

I think I have strep throat AGAIN! GRRR! My throat started feeling kind of icky on Friday. It didn't really hurt too bad, but it kinda felt like I may be starting to lose my voice or something.

Throughout the day, however, it really started to hurt. Yesterday and today were very bad. I was supposed to be on my church's praise team this morning, and ended up not even being able to go to church at all. (Same thing last time I had this a couple of weeks ago, I missed being on PT. Maybe God is trying to tell me something??)

Anyway, I will be calling the Dr. tomorrow to try to get in. I will have to endure another strep test, but if that's what I've got again, at least I'll know and can get on some meds to get rid of it. This time I want it to stay far, FAR away!

On another note, my friend A called a little while ago and said that she is in labor! This is baby #5 for her. Please pray for a quick and easy labor for her and a healthy baby!!

4 Day Weekends

My daughters have two 4 day weekends in a row. They have early dismissal today from school and are off tomorrow and Friday. Same thing next week.

Tomorrow is Fair day and I am not sure why they are off this Friday. Next Thursday is parent-teacher conferences and next Friday is Cota day. So, they are excited to have short weeks and long weekends two weeks in a row. I am going to have to come up with some fun activities for us to do while they're off to (hopfully) avoid them fighting the whole time.

Looks like I will have to take a trip to Michaels and pick up some crafts for them to make for Christmas presents!

Small Group

A couple of weeks ago, while on our retreat, my small group decided we needed to start meeting regularly again. Over the summer, our schedules were just too busy to coordinate get-togethers. So, now that school is back in and our lives are getting back into routines, we started scheduling time again.

Most of the small groups at our church meet once a week. We are not quite able to pull that off yet, so we are attempting every other Monday night. Last night was the kick off. We met at Panera and ate dinner together and just chatted away and laughed and had a good time. When Panera closed at 9:00, we weren't ready to call it a night just yet, so we walked next door to TGI Friday's and sat around giggling some more for another hour.

Next time we meet, we will be discussing what Bible study we want to start on next. We took this first week just to get together and have a good time before we started in on a study. I always have such a good time with these ladies. They are so laid back and fun to be around.

I really hope we are able to keep up with meeting like this. It is so refreshing to me to be able to be around other adults like that, since my days generally consist of hanging out with a 2 year old. (Not that I am complaining! He's the bestest 2 year old around and I love being home with him!)

The thing is, my group wants to start planning get aways more often too. More than the once a year we go to Beth Moore. They are talking about an actual get away next summer where we go somewhere for like 4-5 days! I would LOVE that, but I just don't think it is doable for me. I mean, we didn't even go on a family vacation this year (not even a weekend trip) because we couldn't afford to. So, I don't think I can swing a girls trip in there just for me before even doing a family vacation. That doesn't seem fair.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. I may just have to stick to our annual conference get away for now.

Two Lunches

Today, my daughters' school is having their annual fall cookout. This is a day where parents can come eat lunch with their kids (actually, we can do that anyday) and they are, well, cooking out. They are having hot dogs and such.

Well, neither of my girls wanted hot dogs, but rather wanted me to bring them food. My oldest eats from 11:00-11:45. She wants me to bring her Wendy's. So, I will be stopping off to pick her up some lunch and then heading to the school to try to find a parking spot in the tiny parking lot, then finding my daughter to eat lunch with her.

Then, I have to go back out and pick up Arby's for my younger daughter and go back, find another parking spot, and find my younger daughter for her lunch starting at 12:30. All the while, I will be lugging around my 2 year old as well.

The note that was sent home said that if it rains, they will have the cookout tomorrow instead. I hope it doesn't get rained out today because I did not send any lunch or lunch money with the girls today. If it is, they will be able to "charge" their lunch and I can pay it later, so no big deal.

**UPDATE**
I called the school and it has been postponed until tomorrow due to the weather. I guess they will get their fast food lunches tomorrow!

Better

While I am still not 100%, I am feeling much, much better today! I am still very tired, but that could just be cause I haven't really done much for the past week. I need to get out and move around a little, maybe that will wake me up some.

I was able to get some fall decorations up yesterday. I need to find my door hangy thing so I can hang my wreath on the front door. I always end up losing them and buying new ones. Fortunately they are really cheap! I will probably pick one up today because I don't feel like rummaging through the millions of boxes in the basement looking for the one from last year. It is probably in with the Christmas stuff, which happens to be burried right now.

So, to sum up, I'm feeling better and now I'm off to run some errands and do some shopping! Have a good day!

Yep, It's Strep!

I woke up feeling even worse yesterday morning. I decided I should probably go into the Doctor. I was running a fever of 102.4 at the Doc's office. He did a strep test (yuck, I hate those! Those long q-tip looking things they scrape your throat with...ew). He came back in the exam room and said that it was strep.

He prescribed me an antibiotic. I spent the entire afternoon sleeping. Last night was terrible. I woke up soaked in sweat, but couldn't take the covers off because I would freeze! I hate not being able to get comfortable.

Tylenol hasn't seemed to be cutting it for me either. I take it and I'm still in terrible pain and running a fever. Guru picked me up some Ibuprofin. I took some of that a little while ago, and for the first time in the past couple of days, I'm not in incredible pain. Thank God for that! Well, I'm off to rest some more. Hopefully I will be feeling much better tomorrow!

Ow!

I have come down with something overnight. Yesterday I was fine. Right before bed, I noticed my throat starting to hurt a little bit. I had a difficult time getting comfortable last night, and tossed and turned all night. All the while, my throat started hurting more and more.

This morning, it was terrible! I took a couple of Tylenol and it started feeling a bit better. Now that the meds have worn off, not only is my sore throat back worse than this morning, but it's accompanied by body aches. My neck, shoulders, and arms feel so sore! I think I have a fever, too!

I hate being sick. I take vitamins every day! I think I'm going to be upping my vitamin C for a little while. It seems I end up getting strep throat at least once a year! I really, really hope that this isn't strep!

Time for some more Tylenol! OW!

Analogies and Metaphors

Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year's winners.....

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.


2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.


3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.


4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.


5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.


6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.


7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.


8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.


9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.


10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.


11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.


12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.


13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.


14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.


15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.


16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.


17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.


18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.


19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.


20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.


21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.


22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.


23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.


24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.


25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

Fun Time Away

Well we were a bit later getting out of town than we expected to. But not too late. We got to our hotel and checked in around 4:45. We headed up to our room and decided that we really didn't have time to go eat at a restaurant before getting over to the Civic Center by 6:00, when the doors opened. So we ended up just ordering room service.

We were within walking distance from where we needed to go. Right across the street from our hotel was a mall. We actually ended up just walking through the mall to get to the conference (since it was raining). We ended up sitting in the upper level, but we had a great view and we weren't surrounded by too many people, so it was actually more comfortable than being down on the floor. We decided to come back and sit in the same seats on Saturday too.

Beth was great as usual. She is so animated when she speaks that she just draws you in to what she is saying and is quite funny as well. Travis Cottrell and his praise team were awesome too. No Mandisa this time though. :(

After the conference was over around noon on Saturday, we (the 5 of us from our small group plus one of the ladies' sister) headed out to get some lunch at an Italian place called Gratzi. It was very yummy. Then we dropped our things off in our hotel room and hit the mall. We spent several hours just walking around and shopping! It was so much fun, even though I only purchased a couple of things. After shopping, we headed back to our hotel to decide what we wanted to do for dinner. We heard as we were walking back in the hotel that there was a manager's reception for all guests every night from 5:30 to 7:30. It was already about 7:00 but we went down to check it out.

They have different hors d'oeuvres every night. That night they had a spinach dip (very good, and not e coli infested) with chips and these little slices of bread with cream cheese and salmon on them. Apparently they had little sandwiches before we got down there too, but they were gone. They also had free cocktails and soft drinks. All free for guests! After that, we headed back to the room and snacked on wheat thins, and dark chocolate kit kats and called it dinner. We also played a game called Dirty Minds that one of the ladies bought at the mall. Very funny game! We also did facials and scrubbed our feet and did our nails. One of the ladies in the group sells Arbonne, so we got to use the goods.

Sunday we slept in and went down to a free breakfast. They had a bar set up with scrambled eggs, hash browns, French toast, biscuits, sausage gravy, and grits. They also had an entire bar of different kinds of fruits. They had cereals, any kind of juice you could want, soft drinks, tea, and coffee. AND a cook to order omelet bar. They had all the fresh ingredients out and you could just tell the lady what you wanted in it and she made it right there in front of you. She also served freshly made pancakes, and bacon and sausage. We were all completely stuffed!!

We requested a late check out for 1:00. After our breakfast settled, 3 of us headed down to check out the hot tub for a while. We got down there and the hot tub was WAY too hot. We joked that the jets weren't' even on, it was just boiling. We couldn't even get in it. We were able to get in the heated pool though.

After hanging out, chatting in the pool for a while, we headed back up to the room to get showers and packed up. We headed out at 1:00. We ended up stopping for an early dinner/late lunch at Red Lobster. After that it was on home to our families! (Me to my poor sick baby!)

It was such a fun weekend hanging out with the girls. Lots of fun and laughter. It is so great to have such a wonderful group of friends. I feel so comfortable with all of them and feel like I can tell them anything, and truly be myself with them and they don't judge me. And, they all feel the same way. We are going to try to start meeting again regularly. It is difficult for us to try to meet every week, so we have it on the calendar to meet 2 Monday evenings in October.

Weekend Getaway

Well, in about 30 minutes, I should be on my way out of town. As I mentioned yesterday, I am headed to a Beth Moore Conference. It is always a spiritually uplifting time of praise and worship. I am looking forward to it.

I am also looking forward to the R & R I plan on getting. It will be a nice change of pace for me to be able to go and only be responsible for myself....That is always nice!

So, wish me safe travel and a good time! I should be back home sometime on Sunday. Let's just hope the place isn't in total disarray when I return.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I'm looking forward to... The new season of Grey's Anatomy. Starts tonight! Yea! Going to a Beth Moore conference this weekend. I love her. My small group is staying an extra night just to relax! Shopping! Swimming at the hotel. Relaxing in the hot tub. Slumber party with my girlfriends. (Will there be pillow fights in our underwear? I don't know!) More shopping!! Chatting and catching up with my small group ladies. Not being responsible for anyone but myself for 2 days! No poopie diapers! Did I mention shopping? Getting back home to hug my babies! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thanks, A.W.F.I.

I saw your post the other day about my hair. Thank you. I have been trying to comment on your blog as well, but it doesn't go through. Perhaps for the same reason you can't comment here??

I got an honest response from Oz on Sunday too (about my hair). He said he didn't like it in my pictures on here. But, he said in person, he liked it. I think maybe the pictures make it look more drastic than it really is. I don't know.

Finally Friday!

I went to Trin's mom and got my hair cut today. Not drastically. Just a little off the ends to help it lay flatter when I straighten it. It has been flipping up at the ends, even when I use the flat iron, from the way it was cut last time. It will probably still flip up some because I didn't want her to chop all my hair off, but it should help. I also asked for a few chunky blonde highlights on top. She came back out with two bowls of color. She said, "I mixed up some blonde and some red for ya."

I generally trust her with my hair and let her do what she thinks will look good. So, I said "go for it". Here is the finished product.





What do you think?

Sleepy Days!

It has been rainy here for the past couple of days. I get so sleepy when it rains! Why is that? Is it just me? I have such a hard time getting out of bed on mornings that it's raining. Ok, I have a hard time getting out of bed any morning, but rainy mornings are worse!

I never seem to be able to completely wake up on rainy days. I just feel so groggy and tired all day. Can't seem to get my butt movin'.

I know the rain is good, we need rain. But, I am SO looking forward to some dryer, cooler (yet sunny), Fall days!


Rain, rain go away!!

More Long Days

Yesterday morning, I got a call from my grandma. She said she was in the E.R. She woke up with chest pains, shortness of breath, and tightening in her throat. She has apparently been experiencing some chest pains lately and was already scheduled for a stress test next Monday. So, when whe woke up like that yesterday, she thought she should go get it checked out.

They ran some tests and told her that things looked pretty good, but they wanted to keep her overnight for observations. They said that if the bloodwork they did later in the day came back ok too, that she may be able to go home even that evening.

However, not too long later, the nurse came back in and said that the Cardiologist wanted to do a heart cath. to be safe since the tightness in her throat wasn't going away. I was in the room with her when they told her that, and I got an uneasy feeling because of what happened to my grandfather just last year.

It also worries me that if something were to happen to her before my grandfather...I don't know what we'd do. He is not capable of taking care of himself full time. He has the beginning stages of alzheimer's and has tons of meds he has to take everyday and he relies on her to give them to him. (I had to sort out all of them for him last night, fun!) If she were to go before him, I honestly wouldn't expect him to make it another year.

Anyway, my friend A watched my son for me this morning so I could go sit with my grandfather while my grandma was having the procedure. (Thanks, A!) Everything turned out good. There were no complications and they didn't find anything concerning. No blockages or anything. Praise God! They think it may be a problem with her stomach. She'll be having that checked into further.

So, she was able to come home this afternoon! She wanted to stop and eat lunch at their favorite place. So I picked up my son then we ate and I took them both home.

Man, I could definately live without this added stress! But, I'm just glad she's alright!

In case you were wondering: Besides the whole memory loss thing (which has been building for years) my grandfather is doing SO much better. He had a difficult year and we almost lost him more than once. He was using a walker and was on oxygen for a while as well. Now, by looking at him, you'd never be able to tell. He's just made a wonderful recovery! No more walker (just his old cane that he's used for years) and no more oxygen tank.

I LOVE The Fall!

This is my absolute favorite time of the year!! The weather is perfect. I just love being able to open up all the windows and let the fresh air flow through the house. It's just so relaxing! All Summer and all Winter are spent closed up inside because of the heat or the cold. You can't have the windows open when it's 100 degrees or 30 degrees outside. Spring is nice, but usually rainy and yucky outside. But Autumn is the best! It is usually the time of year when I am the least depressed.

There are just so many fun things to do in the Fall. Like going apple picking and going to the pumpkin patch. Dressing up for Halloween and getting all kinds of candy (thank goodness I have kids to do that for me). I love going to the pumpkin show every year. Harvest festivals at different churches, hay rides, bonfires. Not to mention the colorful trees. I love it!

Autumn, the best season of them all, seems to go by the quickest. Is it because it's such a great time and I'm having so much fun that it just seems to slip by? Or could it be that usually October is about all the Fall we get? Usually, here in good ole' Ohio, it stays pretty warm through to the end of September. This year, so far has been a nice change, we're acutally experiencing some not so hot weather here right now. Then by November, it starts getting really cold out.

And that is when my depression usually kicks in full force! I'm pretty sure I suffer from SAD. It's dark when I get up in the mornings and dark again by 6:00 p.m. It just feels like the days pass by so fast. I hate it when it's all snowy and slushy and slippery on the roads. Trying to lug kids and groceries and whatever else through snow and ice is never fun.

If it were up to me, we would have October weather from September 1st through December 23rd. Then we could have a nice white christmas and it could be cold through the rest of the year. Just no more snow!

Oh well, at least I just got my Effexor dosage upped! Maybe it'll be fully kicked in by the time stupid winter comes!

Inconsiderate Neighbors

As you know, we live in an apartment. That means that our "yard" is shared with lots of other people. Well, we recently got some new neighbors right next door. They have a dog. A big dog. There is a rule in our community that if you have a dog, you must pick up after it when it does it's business. Great rule! Excellent rule! I LOVE that rule! The new neighbors, however, don't seem to care about said rule.

I have seen the lady out walking around with her dog on several occasions. Did she have a plastic bag or a pooper-scooper with her? NOOOO! And, since they are right next door that means that a lot of this dog's "business" is pretty much right outside our back door. Right where our kids play! Can you guess what's next? Yep, my kids end up stepping in it!

The girls were out back on Saturday playing and some of their friends from down the street came down to play and between the 5 kids out there, there were at least 3 different times that one or another of them stepped in dog poo!!

I mean, SERIOUSLY PEOPLE, clean up after your freaking dogs!!!! It's one thing if you have your own yard and you don't clean up after your dog, but when you have to share a yard with other people and you know that lots of kids frequently play in the grass...that's a WHOLE other story! It's just plain rude and inconsiderate to not pick it up immediately!

On top of that, we had some more new neighbors move into the building behind us. They rent a garage that is in front of our building. They have Harley's. Loud Harley's. Sounds like huge trucks that have had their mufflers fall off Harley's! When do these neighbors like to ride their loud bikes? After 10:00 p.m. Every. Single. Night!!!

They don't just start 'em up and leave either. Oh, no! They turn them on, rev them up, and let them "warm up" for about 20 minutes before they leave. So we have to sit here and listen to them for that time every night. It's even worse now that we've turned off our air conditioner and opened the windows. Of course we close our son's windows at night, but even with them closed, the bikes are extremely loud (and practically right under his windows!)

Are you kidding me? Do you have absolutely NO consideration for other people? Are you so self obsorbed that you don't give a flying freak that people may be trying to sleep at that time. Have you not noticed all the children that live in this community that may, I don't know, have to get up for school in the morning and that you might just be interrupting their sleep?

COME ON PEOPLE! GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR REARS! OPEN YOUR EYES! YOU'RE DRIVING ME NUTS!!!!!

Movie anyone?

Apparently if you've seen more than 85 of these ... you have no life. I guess I have no life, cause I've seen exactly 85. How many have you seen?

*(UPDATED: I looked back and realized that I accidentally left 2 movies checked from the person who sent this to me that I hadn't actually seen. I fixed it. I guess I still have no life though at 85.)

There are 168 movies :)

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
( ) Airplane

Total: 3

( ) The Princess Bride
(x) AnchorMan: The Legend of Ron Burgandy(the freakin best!)
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
(x) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Total: 9

(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2
(x) Scary Movie 3
(x) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp

Total: 19

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
(x) Little Black Book
(x) The Village
( ) Lilo & Stitch

Total: 26

(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre (new one)
(x) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
(x) Robots

Total: 32

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG

Total: 38

(x) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
(x) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris (the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie?)
(x) Dumb & Dumber
(x) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber

Total:44

(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) The Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
(x) The Whole Ten Yards

Total: 48

( ) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
( ) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask

Total: 55

( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
( ) Identity
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
( ) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George

Total: 59

( ) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
(x) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
( ) Frailty
( ) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2

Total: 65

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
( ) The Terminator
( ) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3

Total: 70

( ) X-Men
( ) X2
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Others
(x) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
(x) Cruel Intentions 2
(x) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2

Total: 79

(x) Swimfan
( ) Miracle
(x) Old School
(x) The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old-virgin

Total: 85

Happy Belated!

My 2nd Blogiversary was August 14th! How could I have not remembered? I could have had a party, a cake, balloons, maybe even pony rides! But no, I didn't even think about it. Actually, I don't think I remembered my 1st one either. Oh well, not that big of a deal. But, man, it sure doesn't seem like it's been 2 years since I started this thing!!

Vanilla Frosty!

Has anyone else tried one of these?



What do you think? I think they are pretty good. I'll usually pick chocolate over vanilla on most things. While I wouldn't say I like the vanilla better than the chocolate frosty, I would say that I probably like them both about the same. So, I guess now it will just be a matter of my mood at the time to determine which I would choose. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, as I am really bad at making these kinds of life-altering decisions.

And they're off!

They got off to a good start to the year today. They both got up and ate breakfast, got dressed, brushed their hair and teeth and were ready to head out the door about 40 minutes early! They stood on the porch for most of that time, just waiting for when they could head down to their bus stop!

I hope this will last. I know last year, there were several days when they were racing against the clock to make it to the bus on time. I know it was probably just the excitement of the first day back, but a mom can hope, right?

Two More Days!

Today and tomorrow, then the girls will be back in school. My younger daughter is going into 1st grade, so she will be starting full days at school. I ask her if she is excited about going to school all day, and she says she isn't. She doesn't want to go all day. She's worried she will be bored.

I have assured her that she will not be bored, but will have a lot of things to do and learn and the day will fly by. I told her she may even have an extra recess too. That got her attention. Her Kindergarten teacher told us that she would often rush through her work so that she could play. I hope she will slow down a bit this year and work more carefully.

It was kind of funny getting that report from her teacher since all of our older daughter's teachers have always given a completely opposite report on her. She is more of a perfectionist. She takes her time on her work and would often end up spending time during her recesses catching up on her work that she did not complete in class. She gets upset if, when she is coloring, she gets out of the lines even a little. Her handwriting has always been, by far, the best of her classmates, but it's because she takes her time and has to have every letter perfect. If it doesn't look good to her, she will erase it and do it over.

It is interesting to see their individual personalities. It will be interesting to see how our son does when he gets to school. Maybe he'll be a good mixture of both!

Anyway, we went on one last adventure yesterday before school starts on Thursday. Thanks to a friend of mine who works for Children's Hospital and is able to get day passes, we spent the day at Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark. We had a blast! The only thing that bugged me was the inconsistancy of the workers. They rotated stations probably every half hour. To go down the tunnel slides, you had to be at least 48 inches tall. We went up the steps and even my younger daughter was able to go down each slide. The 4th time up, they had switched workers and the new guy measured my younger daughter against the stick and she was just under the height limit. He said he couldn't let her go down the slides because she was too short. GRRR! So it just depended on who was manning the slides as to whether she could go down them or not. That was kind of frustrating.

There were a different set of slides that you lay on this mat on your stomach and go through a tunnel and come out at the end and go down this steep hill. That one only required you to be 42 inches tall, so she was able to do those with no issues. She had a blast on those slides. So did I! It was a fun day and we all slept well last night too.

Who's Cool!?

Just chillin' like a villian!

Done!

Well, yesterday was a long day, but we got all of our school shopping done. We bought all the supplies from their lists even the bookbags with wheels that they wanted. They were a little more expensive than the other ones, but will be worth it for them. I know last year, my older daughter had so much stuff to carry to and from school. Her bookbag was always so heavy. I wish they had those when I was in school!

We also bought shoes and a ton of clothes for them. After all that shopping, I went grocery shopping and also filled up the gas tank in my van. After all was said and done, a lot of money was spent. But it was all stuff we needed and I got some really good deals. For all that was purchased, it really wasn't all that much!

It was the first time we were able to buy all their school supplies and clothes all in one day (and not have to spread it out over several paychecks) and know that it wasn't going to possibly set us behind on our other bills. What a great feeling! Who knows, it could be the last time, too. If we ever buy another house or have to pay more for our rent, then we may not have that freedom in the future. We shall see, I guess. (I hate being a pessimist!)

Nonetheless, it was a fun day of shopping. My oldest daughter said she hoped that she didn't have to go shopping again for the rest of the year. I guess I wore her out.

School Shopping

Well, it's that time again. Time to go back to school shopping. Guru gets paid tomorrow, so I will be hitting the stores. Between the two girls, I need to buy:

• 2 boxes of 24 ct. Crayola crayons


• 1 8X5 school box


• 1 pencil bag


• 1 pink eraser


• 1 pkg. cap erasers


• 1 pk. loose leaf, wide ruled paper


• 1 spiral notebook


• 3 large boxes of tissues


• 5 glue sticks


• 2 boxes of colored pencils


• 1 box broad tip markers


• 2 black dry erase markers


• 1 highlighter


• 1 set of water colors


• 1 box of #2 pencils


• 9 double pocket folders with clasps


• 2 pairs of scissors


• 1 roll of clear tape


• 1 box of gallon sized ziplock bags


• 1 roll of paper towels


• 1 container of disinfecting wipes


• 1 black, blue or red pen

On top of all that, they need new bookbags. They both want ones with wheels. Then of course new shoes and clothes.

So, I'm thinking of making a day of it and taking the kids to breakfast and then hitting the stores. Should be fun.

Life Lessons

So we got a new American Girl catalogue in the mail the other day. My oldest daughter will take that thing everywhere she goes. She spends every spare minute looking in that thing and writing down in her notebook all the items she wants. She will put down how much everything costs and add it all up. She is constantly changing her mind on what she actually wants to buy.

I heard her downstairs a little bit ago complaining that she wants all this stuff, but she can't afford it all. To which, of course, I say..."welcome to the real world, honey!"

The Weekend

Well, this weekend went pretty well. Friday evening, guru picked up his mom and brought her over for dinner. (She doesn't have a car.) I made lasagna and garlic crescent rolls and brownies iced with chocolate frosting for dessert, yum! It was a nice dinner then she gave the kids some gifts, since she hasn't seen them in a while. We sat and chatted for a little while then dropped her back off at her house.

After dropping his mom back off at her house, we headed to a movie. We saw John Tucker Must Die. It was pretty good. There were several humorous parts and it definately didn't hurt to have to look at this for an hour and a half:



Then Saturday we watched the first disc of the first season of Doogie Howser. Then guru finished up all of his schoolwork for this quarter and is done until January.

Sunday was pretty relaxing as well. I let guru take a nap and took all the kids to the pool. For some reason, we have several parents in our neighborhood that let their kids go to the pool without supervision. They are supposed to be at least 12 years old to go without a parent, but there was a group of about 5 boys there that were all under 12. They were goofing around and jumping into the shallow end and my oldest daughter got knocked in the head with the lifesaving device that they were playing with in the pool (which, btw, is supposed to be for emergencies only). I told them that they weren't supposed to be playing with that in the pool, but they didn't listen to me.

Then we came home and watched the 2nd disc to Doogie Howser and then The Family Stone. It was just o.k. Our oldest daughter fell off her bike and hit her face on the pavement. She scratched up her cheek and arm and bent her glasses pretty good. I think she needs a face mask for her helmet! :)

Free Cones

Yesterday afternoon, my daughters came inside from riding their bikes out front. They were each holding a blue sheet of paper. The excitedly showed them to me proudly proclaiming that they got a coupon for a free ice cream cone from Dairy Queen.

At our old house, the girls got several of these coupons from cops that would stop and hand them out to kids they saw wearing their helmets while riding their bikes. (We had a cop that lived behind us and would frequently drive past our house on the way out of the neighborhood).

Since we moved, over a year ago, the girls had not received any of these coupons even though they ALWAYS wear their helmets when they ride their bikes. I figured they must not do that sort of thing where we live now. We were pleasantly surprised when they got them yesterday.

So, last night, we decided to go out and drop some books back off at the library and mail a netflix movie back....and stop at DQ. The girls each enjoyed a free (not-so) small cone and guru and I got blizzards. I decided on the caramel chip cheesequake flavor. I'll tell ya what, I was not impressed. It sounded and looked so good. It was not so much.

It had lots of big flakes of chocolate but very few bites of caramel or cheesecake. It wasn't terrible, however definately not my favorite. I still like the banana cream pie flavor the best. I noticed that they also had yet another new flavor of moolatte. Mint mocha, YUM! I totally should have got that, except it was like 9:30 p.m. so I suppose it is best that I did not. I still haven't tried the hazelnut moolatte.

Ok, now I am craving DQ again, so I better just post this and move on to another subject.

Kids, Kids, Kids!

They're everywhere! The past couple of days, my house has been flooded with kids. There are, of course, my own three, then two little girls from our neighborhood that my girls play with every day, and I am watching a friend's daughter. On top of that, there is a little boy from down the street that hangs around my oldest daughter quite a bit. He was here yesterday and ended up staying for dinner.

He isn't here (yet) this morning, but all the others are. The neighborhood girls were here before 10:00 this morning to play and my friend dropped her daughter off just before 10:30. I fed them all cereal. I'll tell you what, I think they would all eat all day long if I'd let them! One or another of them is constantly asking for something to eat or drink.

Do you know how many juice pouches I've passed out over the past few days? I've also volunteered myself to keep the neighbor girls overnight tonight so that their parents can get some packing done. They are moving next weekend. Not far away, but the girls won't be able to play together very often anymore. I feel really bad for them because the girls literally play together every day, pretty much all day long. I don't know what my girls are going to do once they move.

Anyway, I better go make sure no one is sneeking any food out of the kitchen!

Oh, for cryin' out loud!

I think that crayola marker was some sort of possessed magic marker!! The spots that I thought I got out of the couch yesterday are reappearing! I am also finding new markings that I didn't notice yesterday. Maybe they are multiplying!

I don't know what I'm going to get it off the walls with, unless I repaint. But if I do that, I'll just end up repainting every week! ARGH!

Sick of it!!

No matter how hard I try to keep any sort of writing utensil out of my son's reach, he always seems to get his hands on one! The girls left out some crayola markers earlier and I didn't realize it (we've had the "discussion" on many occasions that they need to put their things away when they're finished using them, and keep their markers and crayons out of their brother's reach).

They did not follow directions and I went downstairs a few minutes ago there was brown marker on the couch in 3 different places, all over the wall in at least 4 different places! I am getting so sick of this! This kid is driving me nuts with his obsession with writing on things! At least it wasn't a permanent marker (this time!).

I used the magic eraser on the wall and when it dried, all the markings showed back up. I am hoping that I can get it all out of the couch with resolve spot magic.

This is really getting OLD! Here are some lovely pictures of my mess:






Oh, and the purple and orange you see in a couple of those pics are from previous "art work" that I hadn't yet cleaned up. Sheesh! I don't know why I even bother cleaning it off, he'll just do it again! Oh, and that picture by the door was taken AFTER my first attempt with the magic eraser! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

I gots nothin'!

I really don't mean for my posts to be so far between, but I've really got nothing worthy of blogging about. Things have been rather uneventful around here lately. I guess that's not such a bad thing.

Yesterday I took the kids to play at the park for a little while. We watched Hocus Pocus last night. We got it through Netflix. It was ok. I had never seen it before and the girls liked it.

Today I took the little man to get a much needed hair cut. His hair grows so stinking fast! He just got it cut less than 2 months ago, but it was already in his eyes again! (No, guru, you're not going to start buzzing his head like yours!)

See? Pretty boring, but that's all I've got right now. It wasn't really even worth typing out, but I did it anyway because it has been since Friday that I last posted anything. Well, there's 30 seconds of your day you can't get back!

Eyewitness

Well, I witnessed an accident this afternoon. I was right behind this minivan taxi going through a green light. The van was in the intersection, when this lady, also in a minivan, decided she had time to turn left in front of him. She SO did NOT! He slammed on the brakes and tried to swerve to avoid hitting her, but he ended up clipping the rear of her van and pulling her bumper partially off.

I saw the whole thing happen, so I stuck around to give a statement to the police. I know that if it had been me involved in the accident (which would have been very possible had I left a few seconds earlier), I would have wanted to have someone who saw it stick around to let the police know that it wasn't my fault. Since it was the back of that lady's vehicle and the front of the taxi guy's, they may have thought it was his fault.

What boggles my mind is that the lady had 4 small children in her van as well as another adult woman. One of the little girls was sitting in that right rear seat and if she had been just a second slower, or if he hadn't swerved, the taxi van would have hit right where that little girl was sitting!! As it was, that window right next to that girl shattered completely off the van! What would make her think she had time to make that turn? Why would she even take that chance with her kids in the back? It's crazy, I say, CRAZY!!!

While I was sitting there waiting for the police to arrive (which was like 20 flippin' minutes, btw!), I snapped some pictures with my phone. Here is the lady's van:

Did you poop, AGAIN?!

Not too much going on today. I got woken up this morning by the little man who was standing by my bed saying "ow, mommy, tummy hurt" along with a very strong smell of poo! MMMM, what a way to start the day!

I got up and ended up having to put him in the tub. It was all up his belly, on his t-shirt, on the carpet under where he was standing, even between his little toes! EW!

I have had several more of those messy diapers to deal with today as well. It has not been fun. Especially for him. I feel so bad when I have to change him because his little bum is so red and sore and he just cries and says "ow". So, I gave him another bath tonight and put some desitin on him (which I haven't had to use in quite some time now).

So, I didn't even leave the house today. The girls had some friends over playing for a while and they went outside to play. Then they ended up going to the pool with their friends. Their grandfather is staying with them this summer and watches them while their parents are at work. He will take my girls with him when he takes his granddaughters. I will often take them when I take my girls. So, it's nice to let them be able to go swimming sometimes without having to go myself, and chase the boy around the whole time.

Sad thing is, those little girls are moving at the end of this month. The girls just had another friend, that they often played with, move last month. Also, a little girl that my younger daughter played with a lot just moved this week. So there really aren't that many more kids around that they can play with. We have had several neighbors move in recently, but none of them have kids. Hopefully we will be able to get some new neighbors soon that have some little girls!

Restroom Signs

Friends don't let friends take home ugly men.
Women's restroom
Starboard, Dewey Beach, DE

Beauty is only a light switch away.
Perkins Library
Duke University, Durham, NC

If pro is opposite of con, then what is the opposite of progress? Congress!
Men's Restroom
The House of Representatives, Washington DC

You're too good for him.
Sign over mirror in Women's restroom
Ed Debevic's, Beverly Hills, CA.

No wonder you always go home alone.
Sign over mirror in Men's restroom
Ed Debevic's, Beverly Hills, CA

A Woman's Rule of Thumb: If it has tires or testicles, You're going to have trouble with it.
Women's restroom
Dick's Last Resort, Dallas, TX

A Man's Rule of Thumb: If it has tires or tits, It's gonna cost you.
Men's room
Dick's Last Resort, Dallas, TX

TGIF!

Well, our VBS is finally over. It was a fun, but tiring week. It was from 6-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday nights. I spent the evenings co-teaching music. The other lady did most of the talking, which was absolutely fine by me. I was just there to help show the movements (signs) to the songs. Except last night, the song we learned had a little rap in the middle of it, and she couldn't get the timing down with the first group, so I was put on the spot to do the rap for the rest of the groups. I felt like a major dork, but that's ok.

It is a fun job to do, but it does get a little repetitious. We teach the same songs to all the groups of kids, so we are doing the same songs over and over all evening. Tonight there is a pool party from 8-10 p.m. The girls really want to go, but it has been raining and I am worn out. So, I don't know if we will end up going or not.

It has been a yucky week here in central OH as far as the weather. It has rained a lot this week. Yesterday, we wanted to get out of the house, so I took the kids to play at McDonalds. The little man found a little girl to play with. He is in this hitting phase right now (which, btw, is getting really old!). He started out by hitting her and she cried. Then I made him appologise to her. Next think I knew, he was holding her hand and leading her around, trying to get her to go up in the tunnels with him. Oh, man, what am I in for with this kid?!!


(How you doin'?)

Then, today, we met up with trin and her little guy for a little while at the pool. After that, I had some grocery shopping to do. I've still got another store to go to after guru gets home, if he ever finishes up with the project he's working on today. He is usually home by 6:00, but here it is, well after that time, and he is still at work (about an hour away) with no end in sight to this project.

I wish I could just hop into bed and not get up until Monday!

Sunnin' and Singin'

I mentioned in my last post our church's VBS started this week. It kicked off Sunday evening. I watched the DVD and learned the music and movents on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. I pretty much got them down. I was very proud of myself. The kids are doing awesome with them as well.

We spent this afternoon at the pool with some friends. The girls all had a great time. And I ended up chasing the boy around the whole time, as usual. I've been reminded this summer how UN-fun it is to take a 2 year old to the pool. He is in a very independant stage and thinks he is invincible. AAAAAHHHHH!

But he did stop for a few seconds (and I mean, literally, a few seconds) to soak up some sun.


I barely had time to grab my phone to take this picture before he was done and ready to go run around the pool some more. (I know it's not safe to run around the pool, but try to tell that to a 2 year old!)



Then it was time to come home, get showers, and head back out to VBS. I'll tell you what, for not knowing these songs a couple of days ago, I have heard them enough the past 2 nights to make me sick of them. There are still 3 more nights to go!!! That's ok. It really is fun. And the kids all seem to be having such a good time learning them.

Well, that's about all I've got for ya today, except to ask you to say a prayer for our friend OZ who was in a motorcycle accident last night.

Yard Sale and VBS

Yesterday, I called a good friend of mine to see if she wanted me to come and help her paint her spare bedroom (since I have some recent experience in painting). She is also a single mom trying to get her house ready to sell. She was getting ready for a big yard sale that she is having today and tomorrow, so I offered to come and help her set up.

I stopped by and grabbed some lunch for all of us and took it over to her house. She had her daughter and 2 of her nieces with her, and I had all 3 of my kids with me as well. We all ate on the floor in her living room and then we got to work, while the kids played.

She has TONS of toys she was getting rid of. Lots of it was still in it's original packaging. Stuff that her daughter has received as gifts that she never played with. She also had some clothes that her daughter had outgrown. I picked out some nice ones for my girls. (Her daughter is younger than my oldest, but is just as tall and a bit bigger).

She also used to sell AVON and had a bunch of products that she had stocked up on and wanted to get rid of. She was going to have an entire table set up just for her AVON. I snagged a few things from there as well. I got some Anew Retroactive cream that is normally about $25 and some Anew Cinical that is normally $32 for just $5 a piece. (For preventative measures at this point.)

Then I came home to drop the kids off with guru and make a quick dinner before heading back out to church to help decorate for our VBS that starts this Sunday. I am co-teaching the music. The music always has movements to go along with the songs. I have only watched the dvd with the music and movement instructions one time. I have to watch that a few times between today and tomorrow and learn it all. EEK! Nothing procrastination, huh?

We did get a lot done though. As always, our church is decked out. I helped out my friend (the same one that's having the yard sale) decorate her room for the Kindergarten group. It will also be my youngest daughter's group. The theme is Arctic Edge. The rooms are supposed to be the Big Bear Lodge rooms. We were going for a log cabin feel. This is how it looked when I left at 11:30 last night:


(The door)


(The room)

Yes, that is a blow up moose head above the "fireplace".



I didn't get a picture of it, but someone brought in an actual deer head and hung it on the wall in the foyer. I'll take more pictures during the week and post them. It should be a blast!

So, I've been keeping busy. Next week is going to be LOOOONG. VBS goes all next week from 6-9 p.m. I should be sufficiently worn out!

(BTW, pray for my blog friend Suzy today, she will be having baby Eli today!!)

Happy Birthday!

Today my hubby turns 29! Have a wonderful day, guru! Enjoy your last year in your twenties!!

Happy Birthday, America!

Enjoy the day!!

Long Weekend

Saturday was a rather long day for me. I headed over to a friend's house a little after 9:00 a.m. to help her paint. She is trying to get her house ready to sell. She is a single mom with a 6 year old daughter.

I got home around 4:30 and got showered and ready to go back out with a few gals from my small group. We met up and rode together to Easton. We ate at CPK and then did a little shopping. I got some good deals at Bath and Body Works then we headed up to our 9:30 movie, Click. By the time we got into the theatre, there were no seats together left, so we decided to wait and go to the 10:15 showing instead. We hung around for a little while then headed in and got prime seating in then 10:15 show. It was a good movie. It got more serious than I thought it would, but it had a good message. I don't want to give anything away, but I was right on in how it would end. I called it way early in the movie. If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't, well, you'll just have to see it to find out.

So, I got home at around 1:30 in the morning and got another shower and headed to bed around 2:00 a.m. Then I had to get up and be at the church for praise team at 8:30. I couldn't stop yawning. I was able to get a short nap Sunday afternoon before taking the girls to the pool for a couple of hours.

After the pool, I came home and got a shower (I'm one clean momma!) and the girls went back to the pool with a friend and her parents. The little man and I headed to blockbuster to redeem a coupon guru got for 2 free movies, a tub of popcorn, and 2- 20 oz (diet) coke's while guru worked on homework. There really wasn't anything that I was really anxious to see, but since they were free, it didn't really matter. I picked out Rebound and The Prince and Me 2 (shut up, I liked the first one).

We ordered pizza and watched Rebound last night. Guru is working from home today, but we are going to head over to my grandma's so he can take a look at her computer. I guess she's having some issues with her anti-virus or something. Then she's taking us to lunch. Then if the sun ever comes out, I may take the kids to the pool while guru get's some work done. We'll probably watch the other movie tonight.

So, I've been keeping pretty busy. Aren't you proud of me for finding time to post about it all, too?

My Friday

Well, today started out with intentions of being pretty calm and uneventful. After getting up and having my cereal and coffee, I watched a little Regis and Kelly then headed upstairs to read blogs. I sat down at the computer and got a phone call from my dad wondering if the kids and I wanted to meet him for breakfast. He had just left the surgeon's office for his follow up appointment from his surgery last week. (BTW, everything is good. He is cleared to return to work on Monday with the limitation of not lifting anything over 15 lbs.)

Since the girls had just woke up and hadn't eaten yet, I decided to meet him and let them eat with him. So we all got ready and headed out. We got there around 10:00 and I drank some iced tea while they ate their breakfast.

Before we left, the girls decided they wanted to go with their papaw and ride bikes. So, we headed back here for them to grab their helmets and some sunblock.

While I was driving home, my cousin called me and said she was going to be heading to Easton and wanted to see if I could meet her for lunch. I agreed to go and see her and her son and new little girl, since I don't get to see them very often anymore.

The girls went on their way with my dad while the little man took a nap, and I got ready. When I left to go meet her, my son woke up while I was putting him in his car seat, and screamed the entire 20 minute drive to lunch. We ate at Red Robin. Then did a little shopping. On the way home, I called my dad to let him know I'd be there shortly to get the girls. He asked if I was coming right then, because they were just about to put in a movie. He said that he could just bring them home when they were done.

So, I made a quick stop at JC Penney's outlet where there was a huge tent set up in their parking lot, to see if I could find anything worth buying. It was mostly furniture and stuff, so, I browsed, but didn't buy anything. Then my son said he wanted a "tahtoe" (taco) so I swung by Taco Bell and got him one and got a huge Diet Pepsi for me.

Finally, we are back home. I got the little man in and out of the bath and he just fell asleep in my lap. I guess I wore him out today. Now I'm just waiting for dad to bring the girls home, and for guru to get here.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I've done today (or will do): 1. Tried to go to a morning movie at our local theater. (W and Th they have a kid movie at 10:00 a.m. for $2.50 a ticket that includes a small drink and popcorn). We tried to go yesterday morning and they were sold out before we even got to the front of the line. They were sold out again today! 2. Went to Wal-Mart for Diet Pepsi, apple juice, tums, and lotion. 3. Unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher (exciting, I know!) 4. Straightened up the living room. 5.Took kids to the pool. 6. Ended up watching my daughters' friend and her 4 year old little sister at the pool along with my own three. 7. After the pool, they all wanted to eat lunch. 8. So I took them all to a McDonalds play place. 9. There was a little boy there that was hitting them. 10. His grandpa climbed up in the play place and was yelling and threatening him. 11. I thought that was a little harsh, the boy was maybe 3 or 4 years old. 12. Have to decide what to make for dinner. 13. Guru and I both have praise team practice tonight. That should be fun if I can't make my son slow down long enough to take a nap before then!! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

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The Slumber Party

It went really well. I was suprised and very happy that it went so smoothly! I was a little concerned about none of the girls knowing each other. One girl was from her class this past school year, one was from our church, one from our neighborhood and one from her old school.

Well, the girl from our church and the girl from our neighborhood actually went to school together in kindergarten, so they kind of knew each other. Within a few minutes, they were all acting as if they had known each other their whole lives. We didn't have any major problems. No big fights. Just lots of giggling, squealing and laughing!

The first 3 girls arrived right around 7:00 p.m. Pizza got here aound 7:15. After eating, they played for a while and she opened her presents.



Around 8:00, they decided they wanted to go swimming. So they got ready and we headed to the pool. It had rained earlier in the day but it had stopped and it was warm, so I went ahead and took them.

We got back a little before nine, because we were waiting for the last girl to show up (she had said she wouldn't be there until 9:00). So the girls got changed and we had cupcakes and ice cream.



We were getting ready to start making a craft when the last girl got here. My hubby also got home with our younger daughter and she joined in the party at that time too. She fit right in with the other girls and ended up having just as good of a time as the others.

My daughter decided on keepsake boxes for the girls to paint and decorate. They turned out really cute and the girls loved making them!



Around midnight, all the girls were laying down in my daughters' room in the basement. I said goodnight, and headed up to bed. I woke up around 4:00 a.m. to giggling. I sent guru down to see what they were up to and send them back down to bed. He went down and apparently, they had moved the queen sized air mattress up the stairs to the living room. They had not yet been to sleep!! They were bored and thought it would be more fun to sleep in the living room.

So, when I came downstairs in the morning, one of the girls was on the air mattress, the one from our neighborhood had already left for a tennis lesson (thanks, guru, for getting her up and out the door), my youngest had climbed into our bed at some point during the night (probably because she wanted to sleep!) and my oldest and another girl were on the couch.



Crazy kids! They had a lot of fun though. I am so glad it went well and glad it is over...until next time!

The "C Word"

Ok, I don't know how many of you watch Dr. Phil. Not too long ago, on one of his shows, there was a couple in which the husband was not nice to his wife. He would bad-mouth her and call her names...like the "C word" (as Dr. Phil referred to it).

Well, my nearly 68 year old grandmother apparently had never heard of this so called "C word" and I recently had the privilege of explaining it to her. She caught me the other day as I was getting ready to leave her house and the girls were still inside. She said "I wanted to ask you something when the girls weren't around. Do you know what the "C word" is? Dr. Phil said it the other day. He said that a man called his wife that and I wasn't sure what he meant."

UMMMMMM....AWKWARD!!!(<--said with my best Kevin James impression). Let me just say that I was now put in a situation where I had to explain what this means to a woman who refers to a girl's privates as her "front bottom". My family was never open with discussing things like this or teaching proper names for body parts. I am trying to NOT be that way with my kids.

"Well grandma, it's a slang term for a woman's genetalia. C-U-N-T. It's not a nice thing to call someone."

"Oh," she said, "I guess I've never heard that term before."

Sheesh!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I need to do today (and tomorrow):(My oldest daughter is having her first slumber party tomorrow.) 1. Finish getting the house cleaned. 2. Including the bathrooms! 3. I hate scrubbing the tub (blah!). 4. Order a cake. 5. I need to figure out a craft for the girls to make at the party. 6. I have to go to the shopping for party supplies and food. 7. I have to go shopping for the craft supplies. 8. Drive my dad to the bank. 9. Eat lunch with and spend time with dad. 10. The girls are begging to go swimming. 11. Maybe we will if it doesn't rain. 12. Hope that all the girls will get along well tomorrow. 13. Wish me luck on my first slumber party as the MOM! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

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Be Warned: Long Post

I finally got my couches cleaned yesterday. After 6 and a half years, and 3 kids (and a clumsy me) they were definitely due for a good cleaning!

Master Clean was running a special and I got a good deal on the work. They did a nice job, too. They were not able to get all of the stains out, but I couldn't expect them too, when some of them are, well, 6 years old. They did get out 90% though.

My son likes to draw on things and has taken pens and pencils and marked on the pillows. That, along with many other spills and mishaps, the couches just looked yucky. I was very impressed that they came on time, too. They called first thing in the morning and gave me a time slot of 10:30-12:30. They were there and gone by 11:30. I was expecting to be waiting around for them at 12:30 tapping my foot and wondering where they were. I love it when I don't have to wait. I am very impatient. I hate waiting!

After they left, I gathered the kids and headed to my grandparents' house. We stopped for lunch and then to the hospital to wait while my dad was in surgery. We got stuck in a bit of traffic on the way to the hospital due to some construction (grr!) but we made it there just in time to see him for a couple of minutes before they wheeled him back to the O.R.

It was weird seeing him in a hospital bed, in the gown with a blue surgical hat covering his head. He looked a little nervous. My dad is a big guy. 6'3" and 300 lbs. He doesn't look like someone you want to cross, but he is really a big teddy bear. The original plan was for him to be put under for the operation, but apparently, he hadn't informed the surgeon of his sleep apnea. If they put him completely under, they would have to give him a breathing tube and he would have to stay overnight for observations. He didn't want to do that, so they said they would try it under a twilight sleep.

If they got in there and there were any problems, they would have to do the general anesthesia and the breathing tube and he'd have no choice but to stay the night at the hospital. As they wheeled him out of pre-op, I smiled and said "see you in a little bit, love ya". He looked at me and he looked like he was about to cry. I hate to see him cry. I only ever saw him cry a couple of times when I was growing up. The past 2 years, since my mother died, I have seen him cry more times than I'd like. I just about lost it. I have tears in my eyes now, just typing this.

Everything turned out just fine, though. They were able to do the procedure under the twilight sleep and he was able to go home very shortly after the surgery. His parents took him home and his aunt was going to spend the night with him to take care of him and just be there since he can't be left alone for 24 hours. I stopped off at the store and bought some low fat strawberry ice cream, malted milk balls, and milk and went to his house and made him a big strawberry malt. He was doing very well, walking around and seemed to be just fine. I think the pain hadn't really hit him yet. He will probably be feeling it today. Hopefully he won't over do it. He doesn't like that he has to take time off work, and wants to get back to work a.s.a.p. I'm hoping he will follow doctor's orders and not go back too soon, or lift anything over 10 lbs in the next 3 weeks.

We shall see. He is very stubborn. Good thing I didn't inherit that trait! ;)

Father's Day Weekend

Well, this weekend was pretty full. Friday night, my oldest daughter went to a sleepover birthday party of a friend of hers from school. The rest of us went out to dinner at Logan's. I LOVE their kickin' chicken salad! It's awesome!

Then Saturday I rode along with my church's praise band to Parma, Ohio. You can read more about that here, if you are curious. It was a fun day. My grandma offered to keep the boy for us. I was going to take the girls along with us. Then my dad said he wanted to keep them Saturday and take them to a movie and on a bike ride. He is having surgery on Tuesday for a hernia, and won't be able to do that for a little while. So, it worked out nicely. Guru and I were able to take the 2+ hour drive (each way) alone. We listened to comedy cd's on the way there, and Harry Potter book 2 on the way home.

Yesterday was Father's Day, of course. Guru and I were both on the praise band/team and had to be at church for both services. After church, we went to lunch with my dad, my mom's parents, and G and Trinity and their little.

After lunch, we came home and the boys took a nap while the girls played. I went to JCPenney's outlet and found 2 tables that I liked, so I bought them. One of them is an end table, so we could get rid of the big rubbermaid tub full of the girls' barbies we had been using. The other is just a decorative table that ended up not even fitting where I intended it to go. I ended up putting it at the bottom of the stairs and it looks good there, so I'm going to keep it and find something else for the other spot. Here they are:




Last night, while guru finished up his homework for this week, I watched In Her Shoes. It was just ok.

Anywho, that pretty much sums up my weekend. How about you? Do anything fun for Father's day?

She's Here!

Kit arrived today and my daughter is SO happy! I printed out a picture of Kit and taped it to the bottom of a shoe box, then filled the box with tissue paper and wrapped it for her to open on her birthday!

She didn't really understand at first when she opened it and saw the picture. She just smiled and looked at us. So we asked her if she understood what it meant. She said no. We said that she would be here next week. Her eyes got huge and she started bouncing up and down on the couch hugging the box with the picture in it and squealing. She kept stopping to look at the picture and then repeating the proccess. Here is a picture:



I looked online yesterday to see the status of the order and found that it was scheduled to be delivered today. So, when there was a knock on the door a few minutes ago, I said "that may be Kit", and she RAN to the door.

Here is a picture of her and her new doll. (She took her glasses off so that she looked more like her, freckle nose and all!) We can also purchase glasses for Kit.



Now my younger daughter is begging for one too. No suprise there! She's going to have to wait until either Christmas or her birthday in February though!

Niner

My oldest daughter is 9 today! For the past year or so, she has been begging us for an American Girl doll. Namely, this one, because she thinks she looks like her. These dolls are rather pricey. All of her friends from school have these dolls and they take them to school and play with them at recess. My daughter sometimes feels excluded because she is the only one of her friends that doesn't have one and so she can't play with them.

We bought her an imitation doll a few months ago, and for a while, it was ok. Then, I guess the other girls figured out it wasn't the real thing and started excluding her again.

My daughter has been asking every single day if she can get one. She wants one SO bad. Every time she receives money from anyone, she says she wants to save it to buy one of these dolls. She got $20 in a birthday card yesterday from my hubby's great-aunt. She was really excited and told us she was going to save it toward her doll.

Little does she know, however, that we ordered her a Kit doll yesterday. Unfortunately, it won't be here for her to open today. But, I am going to wrap up a picture of the doll for her to open today and her doll should be her next week.

All morning, so far, she has said "I really wish I was getting an American Girl doll, but I know I'm not" and "I really want to get Kit, soooo bad". I can't wait to see her face when she sees she's getting the present she wanted more than anything else!

That's all, folks!

School's out! School's out! Teachers let the monkey's out! Ha, remember that?

Well today is the last day of school for my daughters. The younger one is already home. She got home at 11:20 this morning. The oldest should be home around 3:00 and then summer break will officially begin!

I assume we will be spending a lot of time at the pool over the next few months. Probably some outings to the park, a trip to the Velvet's ice cream factory, the zoo (since I bought a season pass), among many other fun things.

I don't know if we will attempt an actual vacation this year or not. I would love to, but the little man has recently become a little Houdini when it comes to his car seat. All of a sudden, he hates riding in his seat. It isn't all the time, but several times lately, he has thrown a major fit while in his seat and manages to break free from the seat restraints no matter how tight we get those straps.

We looked back the other day and he was standing in his car seat. STANDING IN HIS CAR SEAT! While the freaking car was moving! We had to pull over and strap him back in. He screamed and screamed and I thought he was going to puke from crying so hard. So, we'll have to take that into consideration for any traveling we do this summer.

Anywho, we are going to have another nephew in October! Trin and G just found out they are having another boy! We are very happy for them. Just glad that everything is going good and healthy! That's all we can ask for. Congratulations guys!

Teeth

So, I had to get a filling a few months ago. Then a few weeks ago, the tooth I got the filling in started hurting like crazy, especially if I ate something sugary or cold. I didn't think it was a new cavity since I had recently been to the dentist and they would have noticed it. I figured my new filling must have fallen out.

Well, I went to the Dentist on Tuesday for my bi-yearly cleaning and found out that it, ideed, did fall out. So I have to go back next Tuesday to have another one put in. That means I have to get another shot of novocaine in my mouth. UGH! I SOOOO hate that feeling! I hate needles, period! In my mouth of all places, blah!

The hygienist that did my cleaning was poking around at my wisdom teeth. I have been told for years that I need to have them taken out. By my previous Dentists, by my Orthodontist, by my Oral Surgeon (that's a whole 'nother story), and not suprisingly, by my current Dentist. Every. Time. I. Go.!! I get the point! I need them out. They occasionally hurt and they are shifting my teeth a bit as well. But, I'm a big baby! I have never been under anesthesia before. It makes me kind of nervous. Not to mention, guru would have to take a day or two off work to help me with the kids. I don't know how quickly I will recover.

I've heard people's story's from being drugged up and puking for a week after having their wisdom teeth removed, to the hygienist, on Tuesday, say she went out to a movie and dinner after her surgery. I just don't know how it will go for me.

Anyway, since Tuesday, the gum around my bottom right wisdom tooth has been hurting. It feels swollen. It hurts to open my mouth, to talk, to brush my teeth, to chew. I have to wonder if she did this to me on purpose to get my butt in gear.

So, I am checking into it. I'm checking with the insurance to make sure my oral surgeon is in the Network. Then, I'll check to see how much out of pocket it will be (that's another big reason I've been putting it off).

I'm an idiot!

Ok, our rent check is due today. I wrote out the check last night and this morning, I drove the girls to school. I forgot to stop by the office and drop it off on my way home. I noticed the check when I got home. No problem. I'll just walk up and drop it off.

Well, since I was wearing my flip flops, I decided I would do it later on and I am pretty sure I laid the check face down in the van for when I went back out today. So I get in the van later and remember I need to drop off the check. I reach for the check and.....IT'S NOT THERE!!!! My middle daughter had just gone outside to get something from the van, and the doors were locked when she went out. (That's not to say that they were unlocked and someone reached in grabbed the check and then locked the doors). I thought I locked the doors when I went inside, but I can't be 100% sure. I tore the van apart looking for that flippin' check.

I looked under all the seats. In the glove box, in the pockets on the back of the seats, in books and magazines, everywhere. I even looked in the house in case I had actually taken the check in with me, but I don't think I did.

I don't know what to do. We just paid a ton of bills and have a bunch of pending transactions. I don't really want to have to close that account and open a new one. I don't want to pay $30 to stop payment on the check. I know if I do that, I'll probably end up finding the check. I don't think that if it was stolen, that they would be able to cash that particular check, but they would have our account number.

I did call the bank and they put an alert on the accout so that if anyone goes through a teller to try to take money out of our account, they will be warned to be extra cautious since there is a possible stolen check. Grr!! I'm just afraid that if it was stolen and someone is able to use our account number to pay for something, that we will be out the money!

What would you do? Regardless of putting a stop payment on the check, our account number could still be out there somewhere.

Good Grief!

I don't think I'm supposed to blog anymore or something. EVERY time I attempt it, something goes wrong and I end up losing the entire post!!! It's very frustrating and makes me want to just stop doing this completely.

I tried doing a TT post today, but I hit publish and it took me to the stinking sign in page and when I signed in, it wasn't there! Even after refreshing. Not even in my drafts. This is crap. I give up. Last week I had a hecka time trying to post a TT. And then that last one that I lost from the computer freezing up. Sheesh!

Maybe I should just take the hint and quit!