All I have time for tonight.....

After the visit with mawmaw this past weekend, the munchkin discovered curly hair. So for something to do with her, we put curlers in curler girl's hair. She luved it. Sat perfectly still most of the time.....not sure how it will look when she wakes up, but she's having fun and it's just school, so no biggie if it turns into some kind of 'fro!!! LOL.

Speaking of this past weekend, we went to KC's parents on Sunday afternoon and let the kids play for awhile....and we played with them of course. Thankfully, "I" was the one with the camera, otherwise these potentially embarrassing pictures could have been of me, too! Haha!

So....
Go here if you want to see more pictures of the kids playin in the creek. Oh and just b/c I can, here are some pics of mawmaw who might just be wrapped around somebody's pinky finger.....

Check out this great view as she rescues the vitally important blue floating disc (which also doubles as the lid for one of the containers the kids were playing with.....it escaped down the stream.....and mawmaw chased it down......I have more pictures of this, but I think one will be sufficient to get me killed. Hahaha!

Cuz see....I can feel this look coming at me already!!!! BWAHAHA! Love you, dearie!!!

****EDITED TO ADD****

"You have exactly 4 hours to remove that picture of me on the photography site (the one with my mouth open - I don't care who sees my rear-end)! :-)" -mawmaw

Do you think she'll mind if it goes away a little bit at a time.....like it's now half the size it was.....??????

Anyways....she sent that at 2:02 pm.....I guess that means it will have to be completely gone by 6:02.......ya'll better look fast!!!! Hahahahah.

Love you, mom!!!!! *huge mischievous grin*

***********************

ETA (again)

Okay....and now it's just a leetle beety picture.....do you think I should just humor her and delete it? LOL!!!!

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ETA (one more time.....)

Okay.....fine. It's gone now. LOL!!!! Happy, mom? *GRIN* Please don't drown me now, kay??? hahaha

**************************

Anyways, then.....
Playing with the speed of film to blur the water in the little one foot water falls.....





And another version:

Anyways, this should make up for the lack of pictures lately....maybe. And I'm sure there is plenty of other things I could talk about, but I'm super exhausted and going to bed.

Later!

Miscellaneous Monday Messages

Dear Stopped Up Toilet In My Bathroom,
You are really throwing a kink in our household life. Particularly mine. Do you have any clue how frustrating it is to have to go to my hubby's bathroom in the morning and then run into the bathroom where you are to use the shower? And thanks to you, I am much more aware of the fact that I will never make it in a one bathroom house again. Why do both kids always need to use the bathroom at exactly the same time? Like there's not 23 other hours in the day in which they could choose to need the bathroom? Anyways, you just need to swallow that draino, quit destroying plungers, and just gulp down that little wad of t.p. that is stuck somewhere in you, so that life can go back to normal. I don't get it anyways, you've taken much larger loads without so much as a twitch....get over it!

Love,
Tired of waiting in line


Dear Library Fine Fairy,
Thank you ever so much for making my day not such a "Monday" day. I am not sure how much I owed in fines that you magically whisked away, but I had four movies late and thanks to my rushed morning, I missed that skinny one on the shelf, so I still have one out in addition to all those other books that I'm sure are due..... And I know my fines had to be more than $5......so from ever so grateful me, thank you! It will make it much easier to swallow the next time I have to pay a fine and there is no fairy to wave her wand. *smiles*

Love,
Needs to be more organized


Dear Biological Child-Bearing Unit of My Beautiful Foster Daughter,
On days like today, I struggle to even honor you with the title of "mother." I dread going home today to see *my* daughter upset b/c you chose to be hateful enough not to show up or even have the courtesy to make a phone call to let DSS know so that the child who still loves you would not be left disappointed while waiting on you to show up for today's visit. I mean, it's one thing if you can't get there (although if it were my daughter I'd walk if I didn't have a ride) but there is absolutely NO excuse for not letting DSS know. It's a local call, and you can go to the neighbor's if you don't have a phone. And those drug classes? If you really want *my* munchkin back, you really should try practicing all those things you're supposedly learning in those drug classes. Maybe then you'd have enough money to get a taxi and make it to the once a week visits. And if you can't make it to see her once a week, what makes you think you're capable of taking care of her 24/7? I try to be understanding, I don't want to sound harsh, and as hard as it is, I try to *want* you to be reunited with the child to whom you gave life, but I'm sorry, I am watching your choices destroy her and that is simply inexcusable!

Sincerely,
Not biological, but *mom* in every way that counts


Dear Bouncer,
PLEASE STOP BOUNCING FOR FIVE SECONDS! PLEASE? You are bouncing all up and down on my last nerve. I love you, but you are wearing me out! How can we get through to you when you won't stop bouncing long enough to listen for five seconds?????

Love,
Mom Faith


Dear Sonic Checker-outer People,
Not that I'm complaining, but you need to be more consistent with your pricing. Some days I can get a Wacky Pack for 2.99 + 0.15 upcharge to regular drink size and other days the Wacky Pack drink size is not allowed to change from the teeny kid-size. Just like when I ordered the grilled cheese + fries + regular raspberry slushie b/c I knew from previous visits that there was not a *combo* available for that and then you asked me if I'd like that in a combo and was able to get the discount....and then the next day the grilled cheese does not come in a combo again. Why-ever not? Anyways, you need to get that straight. But I'm not complaining b/c except for the drink, the kids meal is just as big as the adult size plus I get a cool toy for my kids and *sometimes* even a regular drink and it's a whole 1.50 less than the adult size.

Love,
slurping my regular size slushie now


Dear Hectic Life,
Do you think that you will ever be able to give me a break before I am dead? B/c if you don't slow up a bit, you are going to kill me young. And by the way, you just caused me to use two words (kill and dead) that are making my blog rating PG instead of G. Thanks alot. Like you're not already causing me enough headache!

Love,
Trying to get out of the fast lane

Woooohooooo

Doing the victory dance.....yippety yi yayyyyy!

The munchkin is out of my hair, the bouncer fell asleep like an hour early, I got the pictures for my friend's little boys (who I've pretty much adopted as my nephews since the siblings on both sides of our family don't appear to ever have any intentions of procreating) taken AND edited today, in addition to the editing of the pictures I did a few weeks ago.....

yay. I 'm happy.

Anyways, I'm going to go take a shower now and get ready for bed!

The pictures are here if you're interested!

Oh and I also managed to squeeze in this picture of the bouncer but I can't post it on a public blog, so it's on the photo blog that is password protected. If you know us and want to see it, email me and I'll let you in.

Busy busybusyyyyyy!

Oh dear heavens I'm so stressed. I took a day off to try to get things caught up and I feel like Im falling further behind. So why am I here blogging when I should be keeping at it? Well, b/c I just had to come share this. Here is your friday funny courtesy of faith's photoshop addiction. I was editing these pics I did for a family on 7/7 (one of the many things I'm trying to catch up on) and had to play around with these photos just a bit.

ROFL!!!! Would you believe that she is a mother of five??? Hehehe. Looks like some kinda punk huh? Anyways. Just had to laugh at these pictures of her goofing around in her nephew's hat. LOL.

So I'm finished with that project now, all I lack is to burn the photos to disc and take them to them on Sunday. WOOOHOOO!!!

One down, five hundred million to go.

Cha-CHING.

Later!

Thursday Thirteen (Quotes)

Thirteen amusing or otherwise entertaining quotes:

1. If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague. -source unknown Hehehe....
2. If ignorance is bliss......why aren't more people happy?? -source unknown ain't THAT the truth!
3. Speaking of happy, a truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour. -source unknown Hmmm.....interesting thought!
4. Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense. -source unknown and this would be the motto of this here blog! hahaha
5. Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carry. -- Bill Cosby "y" works, too hehehehe
6. The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity. But not in that order. -- Brian Pickrell
7. The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit. -- Somerset Maugham ehehe.....and therein lies the reason for this post.....hehehehe
8. I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. -- Jerome K Jerome (Three Men in a Boat, 1889) ROFL!!!!
9. There are no such things as stupid questions....only inquisitive idiots. --source unknown ahhhh the story of my life!!!! hahaha
10. If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is ‘God is crying’. And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is ‘Probably because of something you did’.- Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts hehehehe
11. Bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part. - Proverb
12. You seem somewhat familiar. Have I threatened you before? -- Jack Sparrow
13. Will Turner: Where's Elizabeth? Jack Sparrow: She's safe, just like I promised. She's all set to marry Norrington, just like she promised. And you get to die for her, just like you promised. So we're all men of our word really... except for, of course, Elizabeth, who is in fact, a woman. ROFL....his logic just simply cracks me up

Ehehehe

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

dead (4x)
kill (2x)
sexy (1x)

LOLOLOL!!!!!!

In Which I Practice What I Preach

Well, after harrassing (or maybe nagging) my husband to get on his blog and DO something, I thought I should probably practice what I preach and get on mine and DO something. I don't know WHAT exactly, since my brain is feeling rather like mush about now, and I should really go to sleep, but honestly it's kinda funny to hear both of us typing on our blogs at the same time and I'm doing like the Bouncer and racing to be typing faster and hitting the backspace less times and I'm winning righ tnow owhah no i just had to it theaz asjkldfjl;aewj;lkrjk backspace.

And now he stopped typing so I can get back to my regularly scheduled uh........programming. Yeah. Programming. That was the word I was looking for.

Okay. That was fun. So what is my regularly scheduled uh.....programming......................

I could gripe more but I don't feel like doing that tonight.

I could tell about my day, but really don't feel like it.

So where are those journal jar things when I need them!!!! Uh.....what DID I do with those? I wonder if I could pull one out of my memory. Nahhh.

It's mush, just like my brain. Ya'll. I need a vacation. Like a permanent one. So does anyone have a gorgeous expensive oceanfront condo they'd like to give to someone in need (or me....)??? Well, how bout just for a week......like sometime in August. Anyone who lives on the beach read this blog? I'll trade a week stay in my house with our two wild animals (that would e the cats, not the kids....HAHAHA!) for a week stay in prime oceanfront property. I'd even clean it for you before I left......Any takers? Nobody? Really? Bummer.

Well, I know my honey is beating me for content tonight....I'm trying not to sneak peeks over at his screen until we've both posted, that way he won't accuse me of stealing his lines.

BWAHAHAHA!

I think the bouncer's competitiveness has just really rubbed off on me....everything is a race or a game that needs to be won. I feel like I'm playing Scattergories and I can't let my opponent see my paper until the timer goes off. Haha. I'm not worried about winning this one though, with the mush-ness of my brain tonight, I won't win any medals for this little piece of ramble. I don't even think this post could classify as "writing" other than the fact that it's made up of all the letters of the alphabet in somewhat grammatically correct order.....

*sigh* Sorry ya'll.

Oops. I just snuck a peek. I didn't see anything though. Haha! Okay.

Now that I have hit a mental block (don't like...cheer out loud or anything), I'm going to get off here and go to bed.

Aren't you proud of me? I only briefly mentioned the kids and I didn't gripe. Yay, me. And I didn't make anyone sleep in the garage tonight even though I'm smack dab in the middle of the horrific throes of Positively Murderous Shenanigans and I would have literally had more success getting the cat to dance through the house on tiptoes while juggling 5 mice than getting a child in our household to obey a simple command like, please don't throw that on the floor. Oops. I'm getting really close to griping. Must. Stop. Now.

Okay. I'm going now.

Later!

Just your average

Boy. The four HUNDREDTH post.....and nothing spectacular to blog about. Actually, just another wild night with walls who listen better than the kids. FA-RUS-TRATING!!!!!

I invited another 8 year old boy to spend the night with bouncer since we had a little birthday dinner here for bouncer tonight. Dinner went.....okay. We invited over our friends who are in the process of getting licensed so they can adopt him. Everyone was great except bouncer and munchkin. *shaking head*

The munchkin was super excited b/c somehow she figured out that we were having spiderman cake (actually it was cupcakes) and she kept saying PIDE-MAN CAKE NOW??? I was trying to keep bouncer from figuring it out and I kept telling her to hush. I can't even count how many times she ignored that request. And then the other irritating thing from her was "WHY?" Everything I answered her with tonight was "WHY?" UGH. But even that wasn't SO bad....

Bouncer? Well, excited doesn't even begin to describe HIM. Hyperventilating b/c a friend was over and his other mom and dad were here and it was his birthday and we had pasgetti (spaghetti)......well.....he had a REAL hard time listening and remembering any of the rules we've been over and over a zillion and one times. And we laid off since it was his birthday and all.....so when he was finished, there was pasgetti all over his shirt, all over his face (LITERALLY) and on the floor, on his hands, on the chair....you name it. Every one of our gentle reminders was pretty much ignored and he ate like a wild untamed thing. Thankfully our friends already understand and were aware of these tendencies when he gets excited (and love him anyways....although I'm sure they are going to be working hard, like we have, to break some of these bad habits)....so it wasn't as embarrassing as it could have been.

The guest? On his best behaviour! I know he's got some just as bad behaviours, but thankfully none of them were exhibited tonight. He's done extremely well. Thank heavens.

So KC put bouncer to bed after our friends left, guest is on the computer and I put the munchkin to bed after reading her book and cuddling. The usual routine. Tonight though, she's more than a little more excited than normal b/c of guest being here. So she cries for a minute after I leave the room and then silence. And then banging on the wall. UH UH! NO. WAY. JOSE. So she knows the drill.....first offence, the stuffed animals are moved to the rocking chair (so far she hasn't figured out that she can go get them after I leave....and one night in the middle of the night, I put her favorite back in the bed with her and I walk in the next morning right after she'd gotten up and she'd put him back in the chair before she left her room....hahahahaha.....good kid!) Anyways, so I leave the room.....routine is repeated. All the way down to banging on the walls. second offence, lose nightlight. Then it was ONNNN. And the bouncer is already asleep. We do NOT want to wake him up. So I cover her mouth and let her scream into my hand to muffle it a little. She'll calm down, I'll let go and wait....silence, so I get up and start to leave and then shrill screaming again and the routine is repeated. I tried to tell her that if she wanted to scream, she needed to roll over and do it in the pillow so we wouldn't wake up bouncer. Nope. Can't do that either. I explained to her that I loved her, but that she was making the choices here, and if she didn't stop screaming, the next choice she would be making, would be to lose her music. That didn't seem to make anything better, so finally I just got fed up. I said, okay, if you want to keep screaming, you can sleep in the garage. You can scream all you want out there, but if you're going to sleep in here, you have to be quiet so that everyone else can sleep. NOOO. More screaming. Okay then. I pick her up, pick up her pillow and carry screaming child out to the garage. I step outside with her and close the door behind me and then tell her that if she wants to keep screaming, she needs to do it out here but if she wants to go back to her bed, then she has to be quiet. Lots of nodding and sniffling but no screaming now! So I pick her up and walk back in the house and toward her room and then she starts having a problem again, so I ask her, which is it going to be, your room or garage, and you know the rules! She points to the garage. Okay. Suit yourself. I carry her out to the garage. Lay her pillow on the floor and gently lay her on the concrete with her head on the pillow. Kiss her goodnight and tell her I love her, like she's not anywhere out of the ordinary and walk inside and close the door. (and just so I don't look like a totally horrid person, there is a small little light on the side of the freezer out there, plus the light shining through the crack under the door, so it wasn't any darker out there than in her room) Silence for about 3 minutes. Then crying. Screaming. And then banging on the door. So I open the door and tell her that if she wants to come inside, that she needs to be quiet, is that what she wants to do? DRAMATIC nodding and she, in complete silence, walks past me dragging her pillow behind her, to her room, in total compliance, lays the pillow on her bed and crawls in, sniffling every couple of seconds. Then I tuck her in....AGAIN.....and kiss her and tell her that she made an excellent decision and I was proud of her for making a good choice. Not a SINGLE peep since. Not even anything louder than a sniffle when I left the room. Sheesh. I feel like SUCH a meanie. But I had to do SOMETHING.....I couldn't let her keep screaming and wake everyone up, neither could I give in to what she wanted, which was for me to stay in there with her (for however many hours it takes her to fall asleep). And if it hadn't been so pitiful, I would have had to laugh at the way she just meekly drug her pillow behind her back to her room.....

Some days it's great having these guys....and other days, it feels like a HUGE struggle.

For my 400th post? It was one of the "other" days. Bummer.

Anyways....I'm extremely tired and tomorrow morning I have three kids to get out of the house by 7:05 (yeah right....in my dreams.....it usually ends up being 7:25 and I end up late....*sigh*).

Sorry for the gripey post.....I think part of it is Pretty Mean Syndrome, Pathetic Monthly Stupidity......whatever ya want to call the PMS stuff.....so just please forgive me. I'm trying.

I'll try harder later. Maybe after a little sleep......

This is Post #399

Since I really don't have anything to say, and but I just felt like blogging.....

I found this meme on Snot&Kisses called the 5 Things Meme and thought it sounded good for a quick post. Since I haven't been officially "tagged" (but you don't have to be to do one), then I'm going to skip the last 5 (which is tagging other people).

However, I'm challenging myself to do it in 5. Minutes. Since I don't have very much time. Can I do it?

Okay. Starting......NOW. 4:36pm.

5 things I want to do before I die:
Go to Hawaii
Take our kids to disneyworld
Own a beach house
Help at least 50 foster kids in some way, although hopefully not all at one time
Be a stay at home mom

5 things I can do:
laugh at myself
scrapbook
tutor college math
read a 200 page book in less than 2 hours (that is, if I'm un-interupted)
embroidery

5 things I cannot do:
wait patiently
public speaking
long distance swimming
eating with the right forks
say no to a bowl of Edy's....well, you know the drill...

5 things that make a man attractive to me:
honesty
cute eyes
good sense of humor
salvation
loves kids

5 celebrities I crush on:
AWWWW MAN.....MY TIME IS UP. It's 4:42pm

Are you really disappointed? Well.....I might get back to it later.

Well, I'm back, but I've decided it may have been for the best that I ran out of time.....cuz frankly, I have to say that my hubby is cuter than any of them, and he's my first pick on any list of guys.....and well, I'd hate to make any of them feel bad b/c they didn't make it to the top of my list. *grin* Like they'd care, but you know.

What can I say? I've got the best hubby....he's perfect. Well. Perfect for me anyways. And for our family. Ooooh I love him. It's kinda overflowing right now b/c he's doing such a fine job with the (un)happy members of our little family....while he's so frustrated with them......and I'm sitting out here blogging and appreciating the fire out of him! But really, I love him even when he's doing a fine job with the HAPPY members of our little family and NOT frustrated and when I'm involved and he's sitting out here blogging.

Speaking of my honey....I'm not 'sposed to tell you that he's started blogging again and that he took it off private b/c he doesn't care about keeping secrets anymore. But you know, I can't help it. He brags on me all the time, so it's only fair that I should get to brag a little, too! So....anyways. I guess I'll be good and not tell you that he's started blogging again and that he took it off private b/c he doesn't care about keeping secrets anymore. ROFL!!!!

Anywhooo.....as far as any other news.....well, today was good. Tonight was rough, but I don't feel like complaining tonight (for a change....LOL) so I'll just leave it at that.

Nothing else to blabber on about tonight, so....
Till next time
.......Later!

Would You Like A Mental Slushie?

Compliments of a crazy brain? Uh. I didn't think so. If you don't, you should turn and leave now.
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You're still here? Okay then. Don't say I didn't warn you!!!!

I just got munchkin in bed and bouncer is at his old foster home for the weekend (they wanted to give him a birthday party and their weekend to do that was arranged back when we first got him. So I'm getting some much needed personal time now. It's just lovely.

Especially since munchkin has been a real drama queen for the last two nights. Tonight she cried when I told her she needed to either go find something in her room to play with or go somewhere else to pout b/c we loved her, but we didn't care to watch her pouting. Anyways, that threw her into a royal fit and I put her in her room where she did the whole screaming thing and wouldn't stay in her room. So I kept the door shut and let her scream and cry for about 4 minutes and then I opened the door and got her ready for her bath and stuck her in the bathtub. Did a quick bath and got her jammies on and called KC in for our family prayer and the fit finally wound up and quit about that time, when I finally told her she could hush or I wouldn't rock her to sleep....and she knew I meant business! LOL.

That whole fit thing is just ROTTEN. I H.A.T.E. it!!!!! And she was doing really good until she got sick and I let up on her b/c I knew she didn't feel good. I think maybe that was a bad idea. But I don't want to be mean either. It's such a fine line. And here I go griping again. Sorry. *grin*

Anyways. Personal time is great. Hahah! And we've now reached a NEW height....I type as my personal time is being currently interrupted. It's been an hour and a half since I put her in bed. And I heard a banging in her room. She was wide awake as anything and playing. She knows the rules....if mom has to come back in, the stuffed animals go away and then you have to go to sleep. Well, there's been no problem with that before. Tonight it's a little different story......we're going on thirty minutes now of crying, screaming, kicking fits that involve getting out of bed and going to the door and opening it and just standing there screaming out the open door. Woohoo! Joy! The third time I had to put her back in bed, I started gently covering her mouth so the screams were not quite so ear piercing. I made sure she could breathe out her nose, so I wasn't like hurting her....and then when she calmed down enough, I tucked her back in and left the room. To which she started screaming again but so far, the door hasn't opened again and it's finally silent from the tantrum regions of the house. I'm sure she's just moving to a new strategy of defiance. No way I'll get lucky enough for her to have actually fallen asleep. LOL. *sigh* I'm not mad about it. Slightly frustrated perhaps, but not mad.

Oh get this, just remembered this interesting detail.....remember those 3 kids I mentioned? Two year old twins and a five month old? Well....we dropped bouncer off at his old foster home and guess who we saw! YEP. You got it! Them. Apparently they were taken in to custody and needed quick temporary placement, so the previous foster mom said she would do it for the weekend. Brave soul! SO for this weekend....she's got the bouncer, her own son who is like 14, an almost adopted son who is around 11 or so, a daughter (not sure if she's foster or biological) that looked around 15 or 16, two year old twins, and a five month old for the weekend. WHOO. Glad I isn't her! YOW! So did you count? That was like 7. EHEHEHEHE. Hey. I can laugh. SHE said yes and SHE asked for the bouncer to get to come. Ya'll are welcome to laugh at me anytime I do anything so un-brilliant! LOL. Heaven knows I do it often enough that ya'll should never need medicine again!!!

Guess one (just UNO) shrieking, defiant three year old isn't too bad in comparison, huh?

And thanks for the comments and encouragement on fighting the devil. On that note, here's a good verse, one that is easy for me to remember.....(and pardon if I don't get it exactly right....you'll get the general idea) Resist the devil and he will flee from you; draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh unto you. That is one of my favorites! I'm always open to more ammunition though, so bring it on!!! *Grin*

*grin* Tomorrow is chore day.....I wish our kids were old enough to do chores. I can tell the munchkin to go clean the bathroom all day long and while she'd give it her best effort, I can just tell you, it would likely look much worse after her efforts than before! *GRIN* And same with the bouncer! He's just so distractable, that you literally have to stand over his every move if you want him to finish a task....it's just easier to do it myself! LOL. Not better for him, b/c he needs to learn, but it just takes sooo much effort! And after all day of talking to the wall and nobody listening to a word I say, it's effort that I don't have in me. Please tell me it gets better????? *GRIN*

Ehhhh....what's that you say, Mom? Yeah, I know, I know....I still remember being that obnoxious teenager.....thanks for the comfort there.....LOL.

Anywho.....there's silence for thirteen minutes now. Do you think I should go check on the munchkin? Ahhh....it's friday night. She can sleep in tomorrow. I've had enough fight for one night. Unless of course I hear banging again. Then it's gonna be on. I'm sure ya'll will be able to hear it from whereever your computers are located!

Otay. I'm going to go do something productive with my time.....by the way this is post number 398. AND the fourth day in a row if my deductions are correct (and I don't feel like going back and checking, so if it's not, then I'm sorry). I'm getting dangerously close to 400 posts on the old blog. Maybe I'll celebrate by doing another informal blog quiz....hehehe. And maybe not. *grin*

Like I said....I'm off to something more productive now. Like sleep maybe. HEH! And in MY bed. The floor pallet is GONE. I removed it just in case the munchkin got any ideas about me sleeping in there again. Cuz just so ya know, I ended up on it again last night b/c I didn't feel like waking the whole house up with that battle at 2:40 am.....when I crawled out of my cozy, comfy bed to go see why she was crying again and found her AWAKE and not in any pain, instead she was pointing at the pallet and crying, "mommy, mommy." So being half asleep and not wanting poor exhausted KC to have to try to get the bouncer back to sleep, I mumbled something about I'd do it tonight, but tomorrow night mommy was going to be sleeping in her own bed and then just laid down and went to sleep and the rest of the night was spent in peace. Tonight.....well, I'm sure the battle is already started.....unlike last night though, the bouncer is out of the picture. Perfect timing. I've got two nights to get her back under control. I'll keep you posted!

Happy Friday.....where was I? Oh yes. Productive. Right.

Well.

After whining and throwing fits all evening, I decided that the best thing for her would be some sleep, so I gave her a bath (which was drama in itself for whatever reason) and put her jammies on and started rocking her and the munchkin fell asleep within fifteen minutes......and I laid her in bed at 7:58. Knocking on wood here, hope that's not a bad sign. I was really hoping to sleep in my own bed tonight. The floor is getting old. Oh wait....maybe it's ME that's getting old. Ha!

Anywhooo....I took them both to daycare this morning and went to work. The munchkin didn't run a fever yesterday and didn't complain about her throat hurting after yesterday morning, and then by yesterday evening I started noticing that she was becoming something of a drama queen and I have come to the conclusion that she figured out that crying and moping got her lots of attention if she was sick so she was going to play it for all it was worth. This became more obvious every time she noticed that your attention was diverted.....to anyone or anything else. She was suddenly wailing then and when you stopped and went down the list, asking her if specific parts hurt and she said no to all of them and then you asked why she was crying, the tears and pouting just magically disappeared and she went about her normal business. Uh. Hel-lo....we're being played here! She was just like, "oh. uh....okay, you got me....I'll go back to normal now."

And the funniest thing, too......so she went back to daycare today? Had a good morning. Later this afternoon, they said she started moping around and saying her throat hurt and just drinking a LOT! Well, I got her home and started making some sandwiches for supper and the first thing she asked me: Ice cream? No, sweetie, I'm making supper. If you are hungry you can eat a banana for snack.

NOO! *screaming and grabbing throat like she's being tortured* ICE CREAM!

Uh. NO. Banana. Final answer.

So she goes off and plays and then comes back later and eats supper and then goes back to playing and I have not heard a single mention of her throat since (although I did give her a half a dose of children's tylenol just in case her drama was real -- which could play a small part of that.....however, as much screaming and throwing of fits as she did over various things tonight, I'm sure that if her throat was really hurting that bad, the screaming would have made the small bit of tylenol that I gave her wear off quickly, so I'm fairly sure that it was mostly just drama for the sake of ice cream). I guess I shouldn't complain since that is a fairly intelligent conclusion to come to for a three year old. Throat hurts + crying = mommy falling all over herself to baby me + yummy popsicles. Yeah. I'd say she's a pretty smart kid. I wish she would put it together in other ways....ya know, like: Throwing fit +/- whining +/- not listening = loss of various objects +/- time out. Do you think it's the +/- signs that are throwing her? Really, I make it simpler than that, I'm just generalizing for the sake of this blog.

Whatever.

I got a book in the mail from paperback swap today. I feel that it will be fairly appropriate for this stage of my life. It's called: (are you ready for this?) Mommy's Locked in the Bathroom: Surviving Your Child's Early Years With Your Sanity and Salvation Intact! And it's looking very much like I'm going to actually find some bathroom time if I want to read it. Haha. So when I come back and tell you all about the things I'm reading in this book.....well, that's as far as I'm going with that train of thought! ROFL!

Random question thrown in for the sake of throwing in a random question....is there ever a point when you'll get close enough to God that the devil will leave you alone? I was thinking about it today, and I can tell by the circumstances that go on in my daily life what my spiritual life is accomplishing. For example, there will be days when the mornings go terrible and the nights are worse, and I don't get to do any kind of Bible reading or focused praying and I don't take time during the day to think about the things of God....those days, it seems like the devil just leaves me alone....which is a BAD sign. But this week, I've tried to spend more time thinking about scriptures and talking to God, worked on some studies and church materials....and after a few days like that, it's like the devil gets mad and throws people up in my path to trip me up. Don't get me wrong, I'm not having a problem with....people that are in my path to trip me up.....and it's nothing that....people in my path are doing to cause problems either, it just seems like for some reason, paths will cross for no reason and then I'll spend way too much time worrying about paths crossing in the future or what if this or did I say the right thing or will this cause problems there.....ugh. I just hate the devil. Like I said, it's not that there are any actual problems, it's almost like a thought diversion....oh no, you're thinking too much about Godly things, let's throw this up in your face to distract you and make you worry.

And in a complete change of direction (cuz it's my blog and I can) that random question for the sake of random questions line reminded me of my doofus self at dinner tonight. When I told the bouncer, "Let's not worry about where we're at right now, let's just worry about where we're at right now." and as the words were leaving my mouth, I thought. Hum. That made no sense. What I meant to say was, Let's not worry about where we're NOT at right now, let's just worry about where we're at right now. And even after I corrected my thinking, I decided that to try to correct myself would simply be too complicated (remember this is the kid with 1001 questions over everything), I simply decided to just let it hang out there and hope no one caught it. (Other than KC of course, who gave me the "Uh.....that made no sense" look) About 1 minute later, bouncer looks at me and says, "Mom? That made no sense!"

LOL. I was like, "I know." Moving RIGHT ALOONNNNGG!!!!!

So our licensing worker told my hubby today that there is a possibility of a sibling group that may possibly need placement in the near future. 2 year old twins and a 5 month old. I was like....uh....the five month old sounds REALLY tempting, but 2 year old TWINS? PLUS our three year old drama queen (who rolled out of her bed mid-sleep tonight for the first time ever as I sat here blogging and she was furiously mad that her sleep was thus interrupted and refused to calm down even with me instantly at her side and holding her) and who knows when exactly that bouncer will be moving on into his adoptive placement. I'm nuts, but I'm not quite THAT certifiable yet!!! ROFL! Actually, I did think about it....for all of three seconds.....and then common sense kicked in. That would be four kids 3 or under and not only that, but they're all kids that come with all the issues that are involved that caused them to be put in foster care in the first place, bless their hearts. It's really sad, but I don't think placement in our home would be their best scenario....or mine....

Ya know, though....there is a piece of me that just longs to be able to do something to help them ALL. I don't know. Maybe I'm nuts, but I would absolutely LOVE to be rich and have a huge house and take in at least fifty of these kids who need a home. While I'm dreaming, I'd also like a housekeeper and nanny for those times when my sanity is needing a bit of time off. Also a gardener and repairman to show up a couple of times a week. Oh and let's not forget a cook. And since with all that money, I won't need to work, I'll be able to stay home and be like Julie Andrews and make them clothes out of curtains and then go out and play with them and teach them to sing do, a deer, a female deer, ra, a drop of golden........eh. Back to reality....actually I'd probably spend all my time taking them from one counseling appointment to the doctor appointment to football practice......hey....wait....I could just have a chauffer, too....that way the only thing I'd need to do is just have fun with them!!! ROFL. And sew their clothes out of curtains of course.....unless I also had a seamstress on staff....which wouldn't be a bad idea considering my lack of talent with a sewing machine and I'm not all about creating complete pieces of clothing with hand stitching..........................okay. End of this dream.

I'm sure you couldn't tell that I'm tired tonight. But hey...it's a blog entry. And if I'm not badly mistaken, I think this makes three nights in a row. Which is what I was going for anyways. Tonight is definitely a quantity not quality night. Hope you're not too badly disappointed. =)

Well, it's almost 10 and I haven't got much else besides this blog entry accomplished in this lovely evening where the kidlets have fallen asleep ahead of schedule for a change......now I'M the disappointed one.....

K. Later.

Sick + Kids = No fun

But hey look....this makes two posts in the same number of days.....this is progress!!! LOL

Unfortunately, I have no really funny incidents to post....I seem to have hit a block in my dumb stunts....knock on wood. That's mostly because I've done little except try to not pull my hair out while trying to get this kid to drink liquids and not throw fits b/c her throat is hurting her.

Ya'll. This is getting like....so old. And I can only imagine how she feels.

Last night I made myself a pallet out of a handful of blankets and slept on the floor in her room b/c I had to be up comforting her every time she woke up crying and unconsolable which was about once an hour.....and I didn't want to wake KC up that often every time I had to roll out of bed and rush in there to soothe her. *sigh* It was definitely much faster to roll....er....climb off the floor and be patting her within two seconds of her crying. She just has to be close to me....I have gotten nothing done all day....but she's been wonderful today....well....at least much better....in comparison.

All I've done today is lay on the floor next to her on last night's bed of blankets and read my book while she watches barney and elmo and various other irritating kid movies. I say irritating b/c if I have to hear "I am learning to spell my name, each and every letter, it's almost like a game, each day you get better" (imagine that in barney singsong) one more time, I might just scream!!!! After about 12 reruns through that episode of Barney's ABCs, she finally let me change it over to Elmo in Grouchland. But I can't leave the room. She's perfectly happy as long as I'm holding her or she's lying next to me. Or if she wakes up and I'm not in sight, it's the end of the world. I say that as I sit here blogging from the rocking chair footstool in her room while she lays on previously mentioned blankets and takes her nap. Needless to say, this is not the most comfortable blogging position in the world. Neither was that bed the most comfortable sleep I have gotten......matter of fact, I woke up rather stiff. All 12 times that I had to get up. LOL.

My wonderful hubby, who took off work this morning in order to attend a permanency planning meeting for the munchkin at social services since circumstances happened which tie me to the house until further notice, had much mercy on me this morning while he was here at the house before the meeting and took the bouncer to school and then came back and started a movie for the munchkin so that I could get a couple of uninterupted minutes of sleep. I feel almost normal now.

I'm contemplating what to fix for supper tonight. It's almost four and the munchkin will probably wake up any minute now (she's been asleep for about thirty minutes this last time) and I'll have to once again try to fix supper with a whiny kid attached to me.

Last night we had an episode with supper. Not from the munchkin, but from the potatoes!! I had the brilliant idea to fix baked potatoes for supper...so at FOUR oclock, I started baking them. According to the handy dandy betty crocker cookbook, potatoes should take 40-60 minutes baked in a 425 degree oven.....wrapped in foil. So I did. One hour later, I pull them out and start to prepare them. They are barely softened at ALL. So I put them in the microwave.

Naturally, I removed the foil first. HA....you were imagining the worst, weren't you? ROFL! Seriously, I have like nightmares about forgetting to take the metal spoon I'm stirring the food with out of the bowl before sticking it in the microwave. I'm paranoid like that.

SO anyways, these are already partially cooked potatoes. And there are only like four of them, so I cook them for the entire baked potato cycle in the microwave....remove them.....sheeeeesh....still not soft all the way. Only now I'm out of time....everything else is either done, or waiting on the potatoes. I'm thinking, how can I rescue this attempt?

In a last ditch effort, I peel the potatoes (which are piping hot, let me tell ya, you'da thunk they'd have been closer to done!) and throw them in a bowl with some butter and sour cream and I mash those babies with the largest fork I have. Then I dump them in a stoneware dish and mix cheese in and put cheese and butter on top and then stick it in the oven. Hopefully by the time the cheese is melted, the potatoes will have finished cooking.

I put supper on the table. Including the potato dish. Which, I must say, at least LOOKED delicious and edible. Anyways, there were no complaints from the picky ones, but those potatoes still didn't taste quite done. The cheese made it palatable though, so I guess it wasn't a complete failure. I was so aggravated though. What was supposed to be a simple dish turned into a 2.5 hour affair. ARGH!

Anywho, I couldn't quite make myself throw it out after supper....after all, there was more than half of it left. I'm wondering if I put it in the oven now, perhaps by suppertime tonight it will be more edible?????? Hmm.....I'm thinking I should have a backup plan if I decide to try that! Hahah!

I do think leftovers will be the fare tonight though. Since I managed to get the munchkin to eat a childsized bowl of chicken noodle soup and about 6 crackers, I feel like a mildly successful mom and I'm hoping that I can get lucky for two meals in a row. I just can't seem to get any liquids down her. I have even resorted to chocolate popsicles just to get something down her. I wonder if she's wised up to my strategy and is refusing drinks just to get the popsicles. LOL. Crazy kid. Well, I have limited the popsicles to only after she's finished her drink or only after she's finished a whole bowl of soup. I have a dreaded feeling that I'm going to run out of popsicles...guess she'll have to go to the fruit ones now. LOL. Note to self: must send KC to get more popsicles....sugar free ones. Teeehehe.

Amazingly enough, she's still asleep. I think this is a record....forty five minutes! I'm going to have to click post before I push my luck. LOL.

For all the time it has been since I posted regularly, maybe sometime I'll get time to catch up, but for now I'm just going to have to say that it was busy and leave it at that and then continue from this point forward. It will make it much simpler on myself and I'll be less likely to procrastinate blogging b/c I don't want to take the time to do catch up. It's my blog...I can make up the rules if I want. hahah.

Anywho....till next time....hopefully tomorrow at the latest!
Later!

EEEK! I'm getting dangerously close....

to being a STALE BLOGGER!!!! Somebody help me! What is wrong with me? LOL.

Well, as I sit here awkwardly typing over the three year old that is sleeping sprawled across my lap, I think I might know what the answer to that question might be.

It's not me. It's my crazy busy life. By the time I get time to blog, I'm too busy reading non-fiction books on topics such as: surviving kids, time management for hectic families, boredom busters, how to do it all and not kill yourself......

Now.....I need a "how to take care of a sick kid without going crazy in the process" book.

I took her in to the doctor today after a night of at least 5 night awakenings to go give her a sip of water b/c she woke up crying while trying to swallow and the doctor said the strep was negative. Said she's just got a viral infection and sore throat and we just have to wait it out. And she can't go back to daycare until she's been fever free for a night. I don't think that will be tomorrow. And today was miserable....for both of us! She spent all afternoon crying and throwing fits b/c her "neck hurt me" and she refused to listen to me when I tried to tell her that I couldn't do anything except give her liquids and cold stuff which she generally refused.....AND then she also refused to listen to me when I tried to tell her that screaming and throwing a fit was going to make her throat hurt worse. UGH.

All she wants is to be held. Which is okay, except it makes for a really long day when you're trying to hold her and you feel good enough to get things done and you see all this stuff around the house that could be done if you didn't have a 35 pound dead weight tying up your hands. And even things that can be done while holding her (like working on the computer) is made much more difficult when said weight is blocking clear access to keyboard. I'm getting a crick in one shoulder now....*sigh* And when I tried to lay her down after she went to sleep, that only lasted a few minutes and then she would cry until held again. I finally just let her cry.....and then put a movie in and that kept her occupied for awhile.....*sigh*

Now I feel like I'm getting a bit achy...not not not NOT good at ALL!!!! I'm just really hoping I don't end up coming down with it.

She's so pitiful though. It's really sad. Inconvenient for me, yes, but I do feel really bad for her and I hate to see her having such a hard time......

I'm going to have to go get her some children's tylenol i guess. I'm wondering if she might not be sick on her stomach the way she acts when she wakes up out of a dead sleep and just starts crying and gagging uncontrollably and no amount of coddling can calm her down. Then suddenly, she just falls back asleep......while sitting up.....this is so weird. And I can feel the heat radiating off of her.....I don't care what the thermometer says about her temperature being normal....I think it's broke. I'm going to go try it again.....

Lord, please make this young'un better....for all of our sakes!!!!

Whoa.

Dude. I'm like SO incredibly stuffed. I had so much junk food tonight it isn't even funny! OUCH!

We pawned off the kidlets to various DSS-approved locations and had the night to ourselves.....

Now instead of staying home and catchin up the laundry and chores which desperately (and I DO mean DESPERATELY) need to be attended to.....we decided to get a life. (haha)

SO we called up my cousin and his wife (who also happens to be one of my friends) and went out on a double date. It was so much fun....We had a blast. Now...I totally had the usual amount of dumb moments (thankfully none of them involved a hairdryer or fuses tonight...LOL....and by the way, I'm glad you guys were amused! Hahahaha.....don't worry....I know you're not laughing AT me.....you're laughing WITH me, right? LOL) but most of tonight's only involved my mouth getting ahead of my brain. I'm not sure which is worse. You can replace a fuse, but you can't put words back in your mouth. *sigh* Oh well. I choose to laugh about it. I don't think any of it was "bad" just somewhat embarrassing....LOL.

Ahhh....anyways. Hold on a minute. I have to go get this picture to put on here. It was the most funny thing! This was earlier tonight after I got the munchkin's stuff ready for "Mawmaw and Pawpaw" to pick her up to spend the night with them.....she could not wait for them to get here!!!! I had her stuff tossed into one of our old backpacks, and was working on getting the rest of her stuff together and she found it and "helped" me by getting her jammies in it and then zipping it up and putting it on. Forget that the jammies weren't the only thing I had left to put in, but she carried it around the rest of the evening until they got there. Regardless of the fact that it was bigger than she was and that I was following her around stuffing stuff in the back. Oh, can't forget your toothbrush. Wait...here's a pair of shoes! No, don't take that back out! LOL! She was SO funny though. She kept walking around telling us, "me ready! come ON!" and we had to keep telling her that we weren't going anywhere, that she had to wait on mawmaw and pawpaw cuz they were coming to get her. Then we told her she could go watch for them and that's when I saw this shot and grabbed the camera to catch it. It was just hilarious. She had all her stuff and was carrying "baby bear" and sitting on the arm of the chair so she could watch for them! I had to laugh! And then she got grumpy cuz me and KC were laughing at her. It really was cute though.

Anyhow, my stomach is killing me now. I don't think it particularly cared for all that junk food I stuffed in it tonight. The cheese fries were really yummy but I think they are having like serious battles with the ice cream brownie that I dumped in there on top of them. *sigh*

It was rather funny actually....we were out in the restaurant in our town and you know, it's like past our usual "out time" and KC looked around at all the people that were just hanging out and having a good time and was like....wow....I had no idea of the nightlife that happens around here. Ya'll. It was 9:30! ROFL!!!!! I was like...well, no, honey, we're never out at this time of night. Normally we're sitting in the recliner either breathing a sigh of relief that the kids are finally in bed or else we're in a power struggle over getting them there! ROFL! It's so sad. I mean, come on! We're out in our town at NINE-THIRTY and we're amazed at the nightlife! And people, we're not talking a big city here....this is slightly larger than PoDunk. Not exactly Las Vegas kind of nightlife! Ugh, I feel old!

Oh well. It was fun. And now it's 11:30 and tomorrow will be an early morning....unfortunately. I hate scheduled weekends! I really need to get caught up on the laundry. I walked into the bouncer's room this afternoon while I was attempting to do a 15 minute recovery of our house that looks like a tornado hit it, when I smelled something really raunchy! It was the pile of sheets that were....um....soiled the other night. They had laid in a pile in the floor and apparently the cats thought that was their new litter box since it already.....you know....um....smelled like the yellow stuff....so they added to it. PEE-EW!!!! No pun intended! LOL! I put those sheets in the washer with lots of detergent and warm water to soak while we went out. Nas-TY!

Like I said, it would be nice to be able to stay home so that some of this stuff wouldn't happen! Course, then I'd be busy with other stuff....like sleeping in....and being lazy.....but ya know....that's a whole nother story.

Speaking of the sleep stuff.....I'm going to go find some....

Later!

Quick Blurb

Just cuz I have the adorable picture.....and I wanna post it tonight even if it is late and I don't have time to write a real post after loading these up. *grin*

This is one of the cute little dudes who tagged along on ladies night out tonight. OOOh.....three adorable little boys....all under 3......the only kind of guys allowed on our sisters night out. *grin*

Later!

PSA (Public Service Announcement) #1

Attempting to save time on a hurried Sunday morning by using your curling iron/hairdryer in the car on the way to church and plugging it in to the ac/dc converter that is used for laptops and portable dvd players will not, in fact, save either time OR money.

Believe me. I know. And I know I don't have to tell you how I know.


However, I will tell you what I've learned from this experience.....



- Hairdryer/curling iron thing-a-majiggys take more power than a laptop. Who'da thunk it?


- The sound of dead silence approximately one second after turning the aforementioned appliance on ....was.....uh..... incredible. Even the kidlets were silent. For all of two seconds. And people. That three seconds of silence was not worth the experience. Let me tell ya. Part of that dead silence was from the entire center console going out. Including the radio of kids songs that was keeping the kids from arguing for the ride to church. And the radio has been silent for the last 3 days.....not even a clock. Or a cigarette lighter to plug in my phone charger.


- Do you know how often you look at the clock on the dash when you're constantly trying not to be late?


- Replacing blown fuses can get expensive. Particularly if you buy the wrong size the first time.


- Or if you didn't happen to check to see which number you blew 5, 10, 15, or 20 and the store is out of one or two of the numbers so you buy the entire multi pack to make sure you don't have to make a third trip.

- So now you have a pack of fuses that you are unable to use b/c they wouldn't even come close to fitting, but you were dumb enough to open them before you actually looked at the fuses that were in there.

- Not only that, but you have enough fuses now to replace any blown fuses in all of your cars (and possibly even a few friends and neighbor's cars) until doomsday....(providing they are the right size, but then again, you also have other sizes, too....so I'm sure one of them would fit).

- Then you look at your history of dumb moves and realize that the likelihood of you needing those fuses on hand for your own car is probably going to come in handy.

- But with my luck, I'll be out of town next time and need a radio or cigarette lighter for the personal dvd player LONG before I could lay my hands on them and end up just buying more.

- HOWEVER. Patting myself on the back here. I did it all myself. I did not depend on my strong manly dependable hubby to fix my dumb move. I bought the fuses (granted, it took me a few tries, but I eventually got there), found the fuse box, removed the fuses, and put in new ones. And like, didn't kill the power windows, or something equally disturbing, in the process. Aren't you proud of me?

ROFL. I would say that I was proud of me, but after the dumb move that started it all, I'd have to say it wasn't really that impressive and it's a good thing I found a way to (even slightly) redeem myself a little. Haha.



SO there you have it. The whole sordid tale. Don't blowdry/curl and ride......trust me....your fuses will thank you.

Blog Survey

Please take my Blog Reader Project survey.

PS I'd also like to know how many of my readers know me in real life and in particular, how you know me....so if you read here regularly, could you take a minute to help me out here and take the survey and then comment on this post and answer the following questions (you can even do it anonymously if it makes you feel better. And no one will ever know you were here! Haha!):

1. Have you met Faith in real life?
2. Do you like her? JUST KIDDING! I'm not sure I want to know. Hahaha!
2. (The REAL #2) How did you find my blog?
3. Have you ever been to the church I attend regularly and do you attend there currently?
4. If you have met me, where did we first meet?
5. Why do you read my blog?

Like I said. Feel free to answer anonymously and you don't even have to answer more than one word answers....doesn't bother me, as long as you just answer already...I'm dreadfully curious! Hehehe. Besides all that, nobody is commenting anymore and yet I am having more hits than ever, according to my statcounter and I'm feeling rather out in left field here, so do your part and tell me so I'll know it isn't just my statcounter recording random numbers instead of actual visitors. Haha.

Testimonies, Cravings, and other some such....

Hold on. I can't blog without going and getting a lovely massive bowl of Edy's Fully Loaded Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream.....and a Dr. Pepper. Terrible, these addictions of mine.

Be right back.

Kay. I'm back. I had to get a plate cuz all the bowls are dirty. That says a lot for how many bowls I have dirtied with ice cream since I emptied all 10 of them out of the dishwasher yesterday morning. LOL. In my defense, however, I do live in a house with 3 other people now. Although only one other one besides me is allowed to have ice cream. The kids have too much energy already without adding a sugar high to the mix. Haha!

I grabbed my camera and went and took a couple of pics of my finished decorated skirt. I need to go grab those off the camera really quick. I thought about taking a picture of my plate of ice cream, but it's rather embarrassing and I thought better of that. (PS For the record, my KC, who happens to enjoy large portions of ice cream himself, actually raised his eyebrows after looking at my plate.....if that tells you anything. Hehehe) Have I mentioned that I've finally been able to gain back almost all of the 10 pounds that I lost several months ago when I was sick? Yep. Fifty zillion bowls of ice cream later, I've finally gained 6 pounds. I'm now a whoppin' 129 (according to the scales in my darlin hubby's bathroom....which are not known for their accuracy, but at least it's in the ball park). Oh well. Anywho....now that I've made you hate me (please don't, cuz it's not my fault, it's just how God made me....*GRIN*) I'll stop talking about my weight. Hehe!

Just a minute while I go dig those pictures off my camera! (And have another couple....or five...of bites of YUMMY cookie dough.....*blissful sigh*)

Okay. So they're loading up. The pictures....not my spoon. (HEH!) I'm such a nut. Sorry.

(Click on them to see them bigger)
Left is the detail on one of the pockets and right is the skirt folded so you can see the hem and the pocket decor. It was my own pattern (just putting together some of the stitches from this little how to book from walmart), but I got the idea from this blog called My Pink Shoe (and one of the actual skirts that hooked me was in this post!). Anyways. My design isn't quite as bold, but I still like it and maybe I'll get bolder as I go. *GRIN* I'm on skirt number two now, with a few more alterations in the works. My fingers are getting sore though. The girl on that website charges $60 bucks for the embroidery decorated skirts. I can totally understand it! WHOO. It's tough sewing through the denim. Oh well. Anyways.

Tonight was a testimony night at church. It was SO cool. I was terribly impressed that I actually got to LISTEN to the five different testimonies b/c the kids (both of them) were amazingly well behaved the whole service. Only a couple of minor little things and nothing anywhere NEAR the drama of this morning's service. *shuddering* That was pretty rotten. She got herself so worked up b/c she didn't want to be in time-out over whatever thing that she had done (I don't even remember now...it wasn't that big of a deal....I think b/c she started kicking and throwing a fit in the service so I took her out....and then it was ON!) Heavens! Drama! That's all I'm going to say about that. She was for sure stepping all over my last nerve by the end of her fit! Naptime could not come soon enough for me. LOL. HER naptime I mean. hahaha.

Ahem. I almost choked on a chocolate chip. Hehe. Death by ice cream. *GRIN* But what a way to go! LOL. I'm better now though.

Anyways, the testimony service was great. It was a little different than the usual people just standing up as they feel led, instead it was a couple of people that were asked ahead of time to give their personal testimonies of their lives up to the time they became a Christian and how God worked in their lives. One of them especially was interesting. It was this older lady at church (88 to be exact) and she is just the sweetest thing ever, and I think most of what she said about her life and how she came to truth and got saved was news to me. It was really cool. They were all good though.

I hope I'm not asked though. If I am, all I'll have to do is tell everybody they can go read my blog. Haha. Everything you (N)ever wanted to know about my life and then some is all here. But then again, maybe I wouldn't want some people to know about it. *grin* It's already amazing me how many people are talking to me in real life about something they saw or read on my blog. *GRIN* Kinda cool and kinda skeery all at the same time. LOL. (Love you guys and hope I don't *bore/scare/offend.../insert appropriate verb here* ya'll too badly! *smiles*)

Back to the testimony service: Bouncer told KC after a couple of them had finished that he wanted to give HIS testimony. KC said okay and took him up to the front and told everyone that he tried to talk the bouncer into waiting until other people could be there but bouncer insisted that he had to do it tonight. KC also said a few nice things about the bouncer, including a disclaimer statement ("I have no idea what will come out") and then asked bouncer (who was alternating between shyness and wanting to talk in the mic) if he was ready to say what he wanted to say about his life (which is what he said he wanted to do back in the pew). He said he'd have to think about it and KC told him he had 30 seconds to think about it. LOL. One thing about it.....I think he's finally understanding that when KC says something, he means business b/c he started talking in about 15 seconds. *GRIN* It was enough to make you cry though. He said that his real dad whooped him a lot. He said he was taken away from his other family and he thought they probably missed him, and then he said, "that's all I have to say for right now. I have a lot more but it would probably take me sixteen days to say it all." Everyone kinda chuckled and he was like...."I'm not kidding. It would!" LOL. It was funny.

And the munchkin was real sweet tonight and wanted to pray in our family prayer before bed. Usually she says she wants to but then when we say to go ahead, she gets shy and says no. So tonight....(let me see if I can type out how she says it and then translate)

"Dea hea ey fawer Gaw ank you cuch ech ame AMEN.
(It was short tonight).

Translated: Dear heavenly father, God, thank you church.....um not sure, but maybe "in Jesus name"? AMEN.

She was just lovely for the rest of the afternoon after her nap. Well, lovely as it gets anyways. *grin* I'm sure getting tired of the sibling junk that I have to listen to all the time. And I would leave them to it, but then bouncer manipulates munchkin (kinda like takin candy from a baby) and if you don't watch her, she'll retaliate physically and we are trying to teach her not to do that. Ugh. It just gets really frustrating. Oh, but I figured out today how to make bouncer stop with the endless questions........

Typical conversation:
B: Can I play on the computer now?
Me: Not right now.
B: Why?
Me: It's almost time for supper.
B: But don't we have time to play for a minute first?
Me: No. It's almost time to eat.
B: How much time is left before we eat?
Me: Just a minute, bouncer.
B: How many minutes?
Me: BOUNCER! It's going to take a lot more minutes if you don't quit distracting me with all these questions!

NEW conversation:
B: Can I play on the computer now?
Me: Not right now.
B: Why?
M: It's almost time for supper.
B: But don't we have time to play for a minute first?
Me: Why do you want to play first?
B: Because!
Me: Because why?
B: B/c I haven't got to play any today.
Me: Why haven't you got to play any today?
B: I haven't had time.
Me: Why haven't you had time?
B: I just haven't. STOP ASKING ME SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!!!
Me: Why do you want me to stop asking questions? Where do you think I learned to ask questions? Who else asks a lot of questions around here? Huh? Do you think I need a talk time out?
B: YES!

ROFL! He finally got mad after one conversation like that, that he said he was going to his room. *grin* And we do it so calmly like we're having a regular conversation. He can't STAND it being turned around on him. Hehehe.

Ugh. So I totally don't understand why the spacing on these posts goes funky when you add pictures. It's driving me crazy. Speaking of crazy, it's 11:04 and tomorrow goes back to our usual routine of dropping the kids off at school and heading into work, and that happens really early, so I need to head out.

bjvb;la;fv4f` j j (that was KC tryin to erase this) and he made me take this paragraph out. LOL. Now that you're dying to know what that was about, I'm going to bed. ROFL!

Later.

Geeesh....I have been really bad at updating lately

I read through the last few entries to see how far I've gotten in updates and I was sorely disappointed in myself. ROFL. I am so behind. Haha.

*Huge sigh*

I guess I got through Sunday the last time I updated....LOL. That has only been like five days ago. *grin* Five very BUSY days ago. This could be a long entry. And I'm already ready to go ahead and close the computer and catnap until KC is ready for bed. Not good!

So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: Did miscellaneous things around the house. Bouncer spent his days with S&N. Juggled the munchkin here and there around my work schedule. Had a funky work schedule b/c I set up and closed up our booth at a local festival that was in my town since it was near me and b/c the kids were out of school, I couldn't go into the office anyways. So I worked from 3-10 those three nights. KC came over and helped me some on Monday and Tuesday nights, and Wednesday there were no other volunteers, so it was just me and him for the whole shift. I didn't care though. It was fun. Ya know how I was talking about that embroidery thing that I've gotten into since VBS at church? Well, I packed that up and took it with me and sat and worked on embroidering a skirt the whole time. It was lovely. I got to sit and listen to music and work on my embroidery and get paid. Sa-WEET! LOL. Course, there were all the weirdos that came by the booth....ya know....the usual freaks that inhabit festivals....which made me appreciate the fact that I was on work time, b/c I wouldn't have volunteered to talk to them kinds of people without being paid. LOL.

I was kinda bummed when I went back to work on Thursday b/c the house was a disaster. All week and a half of being out of work and trying to work on the house and I go back to work and it looks like I never even did anything to it. That was just because I was coming in late every night and just dumping my stuff and trying to get everyone and everything wrapped up for the evening before crashing myself.

Then today I had to end up taking off again b/c the kids don't have daycare this week and I ended up having both of them since S&N were going to have to leave this morning for her brother's wedding out of town. So I stayed home with the kidlets today. Didn't go too bad, but I was about to go nuts by the end of the afternoon. The bouncer is driving me crazy with the way that he likes to annoy his sister and get her all agitated. UGH! I was ready to shut them in separate rooms.

I was pretty happy with myself though, b/c I took time to study some on that marriage study we did a few weeks ago. Wrote out some more of my thoughts and a few things that I researched out and looked up this morning. I also did some laundry and tidied up the house a bit, too, so it isn't in as terrible of shape as it was yesterday. And I'm finally almost finished with one skirt that I've customized by cutting it off and hemming it to a midcalf length and embroidering all around the hem and up the pockets, etc. It looks cute, if I do say so myself. I also packed up the books that I needed to mail and ran them down to the post office. I'm so ready for all the ones I've mailed to arrive at their destinations....I have a bunch I want to order. I also have a bunch on my wish list. LOL. I am so impatient. *grin*

We took the kids to Chuck E Cheeses when KC got off work tonight. I think the kids had a good time, but they both had a major meltdown while we were there. Bouncer was trying to take Munchkin's tokens and kept telling us that he wasn't taking them. Then he asked some other kid for his token and the kid gave it to him but we saw it and made him go give it back. Then he tried to tell the attendant that the machine ate their token and it owed them tokens back. And the munchkin was whining and wanted to stick a token in machines that were way too big for her and then go on to the next game without actually using the token in that one. And when I made her stay with me to finish one she got super mad and started smacking at me. Ugh. Oh well. Kids! Ya do something nice for them and they meltdown anyways. LOL. Bummer. OH well. *grin*

The competition bouncer seems to feel toward munchkin is just frustrating, too. I'm not sure how to deal with it. He harrasses her until she explodes and retaliates and then he comes running to me yelling that she did this or she's doing that. UGH. It just gets old after awhile. Oh well. Lots of issues to deal with.....eventually we'll get through it. *sigh*

Anyways. Tomorrow morning the munchkin's friend is coming over here to play with her for a few hours and I still have unending laundry to work on. Then there is my skirt remaking stuff that I've been working on.....and of course, the scrapbooking that i never got done...and the photography editing......*sigh* Sooooo much to do....so little time.

I'm going to go check out the cracks in my eyelids now.
Later!

Pictures + Kids + Life + Work + Everything Else = BUSY!

That's where I've been lately. And here's what I've been working on today (at least what I've been working on that is possible for me to put on here. I can't exactly put the house or the kids or my brain on here...HAH!

Well....maybe not.....and then again......

Anyways. I'll try to come back someday when my life gets back to it's normal routine and update this poor neglected blog. *sigh*

In the meantime....you can see some of the things I've been up to HERE.

And here's a sneak peek:

It's All Copasetic!

My most sincere apologies to all you dear people who have been worried about me in my bloggy absence. Ya'll are too sweet. It's so nice to be missed. And no worries, I'm still here and things are just copasetic. (That's my word of the week....thanks, CV!)

What have I been up to that has kept me so busy that I haven't been able to get my fix of this blog addiction that I possess? Well....lots. I really don't know why I want to quit work b/c staying home is wearing me out and if it weren't for work, I'd never get a break! LOL. Pathetic, I know. Oh, and the couple of times I've actually had a moment to breathe, I have just sat down with a book for those few seconds and put off blogging. Bad me. Sorry. I'll try to do better.

VBS from last week is finally over. I'm still feeling a bit crazy from that. HOWEVER....one of the throwbacks from VBS for me is that I've gotten hooked into the embroidery thing again, thanks to one of the crafts we did for the kids that involved us creating a sample for them to look at.......

Now, I know the whole point of the thing is that it's BIBLE school and for me to come away from it with the itching desire to pick up a needle instead of a Bible.....well, that's probably a negative sign on my part....ROFL. Yes. I AM a nut. Thank you very much. And don't worry....all you church people that just read that and suddenly felt the urge to go pray for my poor troubled soul, that's not the only thing I got out of VBS. I also came away from it with the very strong feeling that I never want to be involved again. BWAHAHAHA. Just like last year!!! And next year, I'm sure I'll do it all over again and then say the same thing. LOL. Nahhh....in all seriousness, it wasn't that bad. Sure, some things irritated me, but that's just gonna happen.

I have to say though, VBS is all for the kids, it's hard for the adults to get anything out of it b/c we're so busy making things happen for the kids. At least on my part it is. Sunday night after VBS was all behind us, I felt like God had both barrels pointed at me and he wasn't shooting any blanks. YE-OUCH! The message was about Our Christian Performance Review.....basically, what would our job review look like from God's perspective. Kind of like how it is in our real jobs, what would God have to say about how we are doing our jobs and about our "job" as a Christian. Yikes. God help me, cuz I know I need some work on doing my best and fully applying myself.

Yeah....so anyways. While I'm being all spiritual for a minute, I'd like to note that I finally did copy my notes from that marriage study into blogger, but I haven't had a chance to completely write out my thoughts into that post, so for right now it's still in the draft folder. I'll get to that soon.....=) Heh.

Let's see.....let me try to assemble the rest of the stuff I've got going on here. Good gravy. I don't even remember what my last post was. Or when, for that matter. And ya'll, I'm so tired that I may totally be talking to much or saying the wrong things, but I'm so behind in blogging and it's getting late and tomorrow promises to be as busy or busier than today, so I'm just going to go ahead and ya'll will just have to overlook anything offensive or objectionable that I'm unintentionally saying. Ugh. Never mind. Just keep this post between us and love me anyways, okay? And if you can't do that, then go away. I'll love ya anyways. So could you just give me the same courtesy?

On the bouncer's thumbsucking thing....it's not like it bothers me....hey, I sucked mine until I was like 10, no matter what my parents used to try to make me quit...I didn't care. It still doesn't really bother me....except that it ruined my teeth and now I wish I'd quit earlier. But for the bouncer, the only thing that bothers me about it, is that he does it no matter where he's at and kids at school make fun of him. And if he just sucked it at night, it'd be one thing, but it's all the time...and I somehow feel that the only way he's going to stop sucking it in the day is to quit altogether. Anyways.....then again, it is very much looking positive that he is going to get along with S&N and they are doing awesome with him, too, so if all continues to go well and they get to adopt him, maybe we'll just let them worry about it. LOL. Love ya, Nik-ni!!! *GRIN* And I'm sooooo happy that they are enjoying having him. (I know there will be tough moments, but if you guys just hang in there, there will come a time when it will pay off.) I keep telling MYSELF that, too. *grin* Sometimes I have a hard time b/c I want to see the pay off NOW!!!!! hahah.

So....let's see. Saturday, the bouncer was with S&N, so we got a competent, trustworthy sitter for the munchkin and the hubby and I went to the town next door for dinner and did a little shopping. Pathetically, of all the shopping we did, 98% of it was for our kidlets. You know you're a mommy and daddy when suddenly you're wanting less things for yourself and more things to spoil your kidlets with. LOL. Among other signs of course.....like having kidlet accessories strewn over the house no matter how many times you ask them to please take it back to their room when they're finished playing with it. LOL. Dear me, I hear my mother's voice at least every other time I open my mouth. Haha. I'm not complaining though. It's great.

Oh yeah, before the babysitter came, KC and I worked on cleaning the garage and cleaning out some of the junk in the storage space over the garage. We're getting a pretty decent sized yard-sale pile....woohooo.....I'm in "get rid of it" mode and I love the clean feeling that is left behind when you have gone through those junk boxes and purged the unused and probably will never be used stuff. It's lovely. What was lovelier was the fun that munchkin had with some of the objects I found in the boxes.....ROFL! And the fact that I thought to grab my camera and capture a few funny moments. *grin*

Here are a couple of pictures that don't show anything.... and I'm posting a few over on the private pictures blog for those of you who are allowed to see her face. *grin* It was SOOOO funny. I had NO idea that she loved dressing up so much. And this stuff was just a few leftover remnants from my wedding decorations, bouquet and the cloth scraps that remained after we fixed my dress so it would not show too many body parts. LOL. Funny thing about wedding dresses....but that's a whole 'nother topic. She was totally hilarious though.

Well, then there was our lovely trip to Olive Garden. MMM. So good. Their rasberry lemonade is the bomb! Not to mention their oh so delicious food.....*sigh* It was just lovely. And of course, the previously mentioned shopping trip.

We saw these and knew the munchkin would LOVE them, but we decided the price tag was a little too high, so we took a picture of them instead. KC said he fetl goofy about me pulling out my camera and taking a picture in the middle of the toy aisle. ROFL. He was afraid security would like crack down on us or something. Bwahaha....I'm not shy about taking photos in strange places of random things anymore though. ROFL. Gotta have something to illustrate this little piece of blog madness that I've got going on here....and there is no way you could find stock photos of my crazy life. BWAHAAHA!

Anywhooooo....back to the toys....maybe we can find them on ebay or something. LOL. What did you think, we were going to print the picture and hang it in her toybox? hahahahaha. Yes. I'm nuts. And it's 12:16 so I need to hurry along here.

Sunday, she wore this dress that I found at the thrift store in OH. I LOVE it....and so does she. She called it her "beach dress" and so far, has wanted to wear it everywhere ever since I pulled it out and she saw it. LOL. It is definitely adorable. One thing to note really quick though, is that it's a bad idea to dress a kid this cute to go run errands and get groceries, etc. There are no strangers when you have a kid this cute. I'm not kidding. I had to stop and talk to EVERYBODY! "Yes, she's a sweetheart." "She's three." "Thank you very much." "Oh, thank you!" "Yes, she is cute, isn't she?" "Oh, thank you." "Munchkin, what do you say?" "good girl, thank you"......okay, so that wasn't quick, but neither was my trip to the crowded stores when at least every other person commented. LOL....and then there was the fact that she was waving and telling people hello and asking me if that was a pap-paw or if that was a dam-maw (that's grandma in munckin-ese). anyways. Moving right along....her daddy LUVED the dress, too.....and wanted me to take a picture of her in it for him to put with his family pictures at work. (yeah, go ahead....say it....AWWWW). So I snapped a few. She was strangely unlike her usually hammy self though, so I didn't get that many good ones....but these are rather candid instead. *grin* Oh well. She's still cute. And trust me....she is not shy like she's making out to be in this picture! No kidding! That's totally fake!

So anyways, on the sewing thing.....last night I decided to clean out my old sewing box from eons ago (it was actually my mom's little chest from when she was young and she gave it to me when I was maybe 10 or 11). I haven't gotten into it other than to pick up a needle from the pile of wadded up things inside it and keep moving. Last night I cleaned it out and threw all the wadded up junk away. Then I looked inside the side pocket and saw the little blue square scrap of sample applique. Man. Sock me in the gut. My mind immediately went back to the night when I did that. My grandma (on my mom's side, who is now in heaven) was watching us kids for an evening or something and I remember sitting on the floor looking at something she had made long ago and asked her how she did that and so she pulled out some old scraps and showed me and then I practiced under her supervision and careful correction whenever I'd goof it up. I can't believe I still have it. Man. I wish I could tell her now how much I appreciated that and all the other times she took for me. Okay. I'm getting off of this subject now before I make myself cry thinking about it.

This box is now housing sewing supplies that I WILL be using. And I carefully folded up that little scrap of love and tucked it in the gathered pocket in the back of the box, where it's gonna stay.

Oh yeah, and how in the world did I end up with THREE measuring tapes? Sheesh! LOL.

Well, I've only caught up through Sunday night but it's almost 1am now and I HAVE to get in bed. My eyes are not going to stay open much longer without some kind of foreign object propping them open, and since that is an alternative that I refuse to consider, I am going to run post those other pictures on the private blog and then head to bed.

Later, ya'll.