A new phase of siblinghood

Sibling hood? Is that even a word? I think I may have made that one up.

Anyways, here is Exhibit A:



Don't they look sweet? Lately, this has become a very rare sight around our house. I think we've ventured in to the new phase of brotherly/sisterly love. The fighting over everything phase. Seems like all I hear lately is:

"Get out of my room!"

" Stop touching me! Megan!"

"Get off!"

"Go away!"

Followed by:

"No! Dat mine, Day-dee!" (that's how Meg says Jakey)

or just a blood curdling scream: "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!Eeeeeeeeeek!"

And then me:

"Ok! that's enough!"

And then of course Miss Bossy Pants:

"Yeah! Dat nuff Day-dee."

It's just a never ending circle of this stuff. It's uncharted territory for me, an only child. I don't know anything about fighting with a brother or sister. Does it ever stop? (don't answer that.)

Mix in with all that mess, Exhibit B:



Do you see the evil eye? Yeah. This the defiant I'm not loooooking look which I get quite frequently. Especially if I want to take a picture. She just will not look at me. Not only is she bossy and defiant, she's also a complete drama queen. She cries over just about everything. Everything. If she asks me for something and I say, Ok, just a minute....she falls out crying. If she asks to go to Grandma's house and I say Grandma's not home today....she falls out crying. She cries whenever someone leaves our house, or we'll be driving and she'll see a cat out the window and she'll ask if she can pet it and I say No, she cries. It's enough to make a mom crazy. I know I'm making it sound pretty bad I guess. And it's not like she's never sweet or never not crying. But there are a lot of these little crazy moments mixed in with tons of super sweet fun ones every day...you know what I mean? I find myself constantly saying "Megan...look at mommy. Stop crying. This is not something to cry about". I suppose it's all typical two year old stuff. You know, she's just working that little personality of hers. It think it just seems way more dramatized because 1) I'm with her 24/7 and 2) she's a girl.

Other things going on this week were my mom coming down on Tuesday for a visit.



That was nice. We took the kids to the park, which is were we got all these pictures. Jake is just looking like such a big kid these days. I was just looking at a pic of him from his birthday in August, and he already looks so much bigger and more mature to me. Maybe it's kindergarten.



We also went on another field trip with his class on Friday. This time was to the grocery store. I didn't take any pictures this time. I've been to the store a million and one times and that surely won't be my last trip! It was fun for the kids though. They got to go in the back and see them decorate cakes and cut meat and all that stuff. Our tour guide was kind of nutty though. She was just I dunno...a little too enthusiastic?? She showed the kids the box bailer in the back room...it's the big machine they use to smash all the boxes down to send to they recycle center. Anyway she proceeds to tell all the 5 year olds how "there was this one time.... a kid fell into the machine and got crushed". yeah. She actually said that. You should have seen us parents...we were all like are you kidding me? You're really telling this to a bunch of kindergartners?
Tuesday is our first Parent/Teacher conference. Even though I work in the class at least once a week and talk with his teacher frequently, I'm really looking forward to getting down to the goods and seeing how well he is learning. About a month ago Mrs. C pulled me aside and let me know that he had tested very low on the alphabet/letter sounds. This didn't surprise me at all. Remember back before school started how I was nervous about him not knowing the alphabet all the way etc...?? So yeah, her telling me he tested low was not a surprise at all. I asked her what I could do at home and she offered to send Jake to the reading specialist twice a week to kind of get him caught up. Well I've seen a VAST improvement since then. I think the reading specialist, plus the teachers more close attention, and my help at home has helped him a lot. I borrowed these books from a friend and I'm just amazed at how quickly Jake has picked it up and is able to read the books all the way through with little help.
Anyway, I guess that's about it for now. This is getting rather long (and boring), isn't it? I guess that's what happens when I don't blog for over a week. I'll update again soon....I've actually been scrapbooking lately and making miniBooks! Hello. That is like so rare for me! ha ha! I've made 2 completed ones and my December daily album.
Wow, just over a week till Thanksgiving! Are you ready?

So, my first thought was...

"So Pete, we're moving to Canada, right?"
If not Canada, how about Alaska? :)

I am filled with mixed emotions today. Who knew I could care so much about an election? I never thought I would. Obviously not every one will share my feelings on the outcome of this election. But lets just agree to disagree, ok?
I'm still cringing when I listen to the radio and hear the replaying of "The 44th President of the United States of America.....Barack Obama!" and then the crowd cheers. It brings tears to my eyes and fills me with anxiety. And honestly, I'm not exactly sure where that anxiety is coming from. But for some reason it's there. I think it amazes me that so many people can overlook inexperience, the fact that's he's BFF's with known terrorists, that's he's totally ok with late term abortion, that he won't put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem, that his wife has never been proud of her country (until now of course)....I suppose I could go on and on. But it's over, and there's no sense in harping on it now.
Barack Obamas' campaign was one of "Hope" and "Change" for many Americans. I think change is inevitable. And whether it's for the better or for the worse, only time will tell. All we can do now is pray for him. Pray that he can lead this country to better times. And hope, well there is always hope.
One thing I can say for President Obama: Through this campaign he brought passion back into Americans. Whether you were for or against him, he caused people to look around and stand up for what they wanted and believed in. I'd never seen so many people really excited to vote. This was the first time Pete has ever voted. He also has a friend he works with who is 50 years old and voted for the very first time yesterday. Not only did this election cause me to be eager to elect a president, but it lead me to look more intently on many State and local elections and propositions. I never cared about any of it before. Mostly because I just didn't understand, or take the time to understand. This year I took the time to understand and when I cast my vote, I was proud of the decisions I made.

Happy Halloween!!

It's impossible

to stay mad at this girl. *sigh* She just squished cooked carrots into my carpet. Not that my carpet isn't filthy already....that's beside the point. Orange mush?? Come on, man! *don't ask what I was doing at the time. Obviously, I was not paying attention ok?* Back to not getting mad...How can I? Look at this face!


And then, no matter how loud I shout, "Mommy is NOT happy about this! Mommy does not like orange carpet!" She just looks at me and says this:



And I say "No, it's not alright! The carpet is orange!" So she promptly follows up with this:



gah! Seriously, she is irrisistable. It's sickening. *********************************************
Megan's thoughts on potty training: This girl is just too much!

Dear Lord, please help me.

Help me to be a good mom. Help me to teach my children that being stupid is not cool. Please help me to not allow my teenage son to buy/drive a sports car....and then peel out and drive obnoxiously fast in neighborhood streets where there are 7 or 8 5-8 year old kids are playing. And then help me to teach them not to flip the mom's off who are yelling at the teenage boys to "SLOW DOWN!". And please forgive me now for flipping them off back in front of aforementioned 5-8 year olds.
*sigh*
Sometimes I have no self control. I'm a red head. It's like in my genes or something.
Yep, I totally flipped off the idiot 17 year old boys driving like maniacs through my neighborhood. But holy heck! They scared the crap out of me. I'm sitting here in my living room and all of a sudden I hear screeching tires. And then followed by blood curdling screams from a bunch of boys (mine included) playing outside. What would your first reaction be? And it wasn't just once. No. It was like 3 or 4 times. They sped up the street and then slammed on their breaks. And then peeled out and sped down the street again and did it again. All while these little kids are playing outside. Um yeah. Scared me. So I yelled. And a little birdie flew off my middle finger. I'm a mom, it's what I'm supposed to do right?
I sound so old right now...but really, I've never understood why that is so cool, or whatever.
Yep, my house is totally getting egged Friday night.

Week in the life 100% complete

Here's a preview of my album. Each day has three pages and all are formatted like these here. It was easy, fast, and I actually like the way it turned out. I'm usually more inclined to make things more difficult. But this time I found it so much more satisfying to know that I got it done and it didn't need all the bells and whistles to look good too. I didn't use all the pictures I took each day, but I think that's ok. I also didn't use a lot of words either. Just mostly bullet points of what went on during the day. I think the pictures are kind of stories in and of themselves and don't necessarily need the words. Anyway, this sure was a fun experiment/project and I definitely plan on doing this again.

The one about the food.

Because I've had several people ask what I've been cooking....here's some of my favorite stuff lately. I get a lot of the new stuff I try from blogs. (I'm totally adicted to blogs and I keep adding more and more to my bloglines list!) If you click on the links it will take you directly to the recipe, but if you're in the mood most of these gals/guys have lots of really good food and pretty pictures, so take a look.

I'll start with dessert. :D

sweets:


Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Oh my gosh, these are good. Like seriously. I took these to a friends house last week and they were a hit. They were gone in 10 minutes. I made them again this week. :D They're not too sweet, not overly pumpkiny. Just perfect. Because they're super duper moist, they don't last long. So ya gotta eat em quick. But really, once you taste them, I'm sure you won't have a problem.

Oreo brownies I made those a few weeks ago. Super sweet. But good.

My favorite chocolate chip cookies If you like soft gooey cookies, try this recipe.

Sour cream apple pie Because my cousin asked me too, and because Pete loves apple pie. I'm not a huge apple pie fan so I can't really say if this SO good or not. But I did eat a small piece and it tasted pretty good to me.





Dinner:

If I'm lost for what to make, and if I'm looking for something really, really good, I can usually find something I want on The Pionner Woman's blog. The lady just cooks what I like to eat.

PW's enchilada's. I have made these every week since she posted this recipe. My family has made enchiladas exactly like this all my life. Except for the sauce. Make the sauce just as PW suggests. It is key. I'll never go back to the old way. The recipe looks like a lot of work, but it's really not. It takes a total of maybe 30 minutes to get it all together and then you just throw it in the oven. Easy.

Pastor Ryan's Mexican lasagna. This one also looks complicated, but it's not. I've made it several times. Everybody, even the kids love it.

This Chicken Chili is really, really yummy.

Can you tell we like mexican/spicy food? :)

Tonight I'm making this. It's not spicy or Mexican. I've got mine in the slow cooker. And it already smells really, really good. Mmmmmm....comfort food. I can't wait.

All kinds of random

*It's been dang near 2 years since I started this here blogity blog. I have over 200 posts. And I've met some of the coolest people ever. Seriously. People who I wouldn't hesitate to call my closest friends. Aw. *sniff, sniff* Thanks guys. Thanks for stickin' with me.
*Pete is gone on a little mini hunting trip with his boss. He left yesterday and should be back tomorrow. Now usually, when Pete is gone, I take every chance to be a lazy/cool mom. Lazy meaning I don't cook, and cool because hello-what kid doesn't like to go to McDonald's? Oh and to Hollywood Video to pick up a bunch of mind numbing crap to watch?! But this time has been slightly different. Slightly. We did still go pick up a bunch of mindless crap to watch. But here's the real surprise...I've actually cooked. Like real food. Like not mac-n-cheese either.
Before I go on, let me tell you that it's been quite a while since Pete has been gone for more than just a weekend at the ranch. I might be wrong, but I think the last time he was actually on a real hunting trip was when I was still working. So the laziness then was mostly because I was so incredibly worn out. I almost looked forward to him being gone (I know, that sounds bad) because I wouldn't have to rush home and cook dinner. That whole sentence sounds so @$$ backwards. I should want to cook healthy meals for my kids, right? Right? Well I didn't. McDonald's, microwaved pizza's and PB&J were usual menu items when daddy was out of town and I couldn't have been happier. (or so I thought) So anyway, I'm kind of blathering on here, but my point is I've come to the realization that by me actually doing some real cooking these last few days, I'm either #1: getting used to this whole stay at home mom thing, #2: really starting to enjoy actually cooking things that didn't start from a box, or #3 a combination of both. I'm going with #3.
*Funniest song lyrics I've heard in a long time:
Cheater, cheater where'd you meet her? That no good white trash ho...
Of course I hear it when both my 2 and 5 year old children are in the back seat and I have the radio blaring. I'd never heard this song before and at first I didn't even realize what it said. I thought it was just one of your typical Country songs about liein' and cheatin'. It seriously has a real catchy tune. I look back and Megan is car dancing and by the 2nd chorus (right as I go 'oh crap, i better turn this off!) Jake is belting out "NO GOOD WHITE TRASH HO!" Nice.
Here's the video if you want to hear the whole song.
*My 5 year old kid told me that all old people have to stand on corners with signs and ask for money. That's their job, he says. How sad is that? It's unfortunate, we live in a pretty small town and on any given day, there is at least one person standing with a sign "need work" "need food for family" and "Please help, God Bless" on every corner to every major shopping center in our town. We see them so much that Jake will even notice if one of them has moved to a "new corner". He'll say "look mommy, that guy is over here today!" I don't even know what else to say about this. I'm not sure he really understands the concept of "homeless", and I'm not sure I want to break down his glittery world anymore than every day life already does.
Does that even make sense?
*I looked up my street today and realized that I'm the only "homeowner" left on our side of the street. We and our neighbors bought these houses 4 years ago and watched them be built from the ground up. We all shared a common bond. Not only being neighbors, but because these houses where brand new....it was like we were all starting this new adventure together. We all became friends and our children grew together and we trusted each other as good neighbors do. And now it seems as if it is crumbling all around us. When I looked up the street, I realized we are the only original people left. Even my neighbors next door. They both have jobs in the city and decided that they were going to rent an apartment in the city M-F and then come back "home" here on the weekends. Well, I don't blame them....but that didn't last long. There is a giant storage bin in their driveway. They're packing up. They're leaving. Out of 19 houses on my street and the street we share an ally with, there are 10 that are completely empty. On my street, we are the only homeowners, the rest are renters. It's not that I care that they rent (I'm not like that), but it's scary to know that every single one of them is a product of the foreclosure crisis. Yep. They all are renting because they all lost their homes due to bad loans or job losses. And we're trying to sell our house before we're in the same boat. Crazy, crazy times.
* on a lighter note....I found some pretty funny quotes today from a friend:
You're a great friend....but if zombies chase us, I'm totally tripping you.
I didn't slap you!....................I just high fived your face.
Call me ASAP! I was watching the news just now and I heard the short bus flipped over and I know you don't like to wear your helmet and all, so are you ok?
Come on it's all in good fun. I won't tell anyone you laughed.

I guess that's all I got for now. I think that was more than I originally intended. But it was random none the less. You can always count on me for randomness. :D
Oh wait! I forgot.....I'm 98% DONE with my week in the life album. Yeah, you read that right. All I got left is my title page and journaling. yee-haw!

You know what they need at the laundromat?

And seriously....why has no one thought of this before?
Treadmills. Or elliptical machines. Or stationary bikes. It would be perfect!
I had to go to the laundromat today. This is probably going to sound a little funny....but I have never been to a laundromat in my adult life. Not even at my first apartment. I was lucky enough to have an in-unit machine and dryer. I know!
So we went to the ranch on Sunday and Pete brought home 3 ginormous sleeping bags that needed to be washed. Enter: laundromat.
I really take my own washer and dryer for granted. What a complete waist of time the laundromat is. You stick your load in, pay almost 10 dollars to wash just 2 of the 3 sleeping bags you need to wash, and you sit, and you wait.
And you wait some more.
And you can't leave. I mean...what if that shifty looking guy over there steals your panties out of the dryer while you're gone? (not that I had any panties in the dryer, but you know what I mean)
Then you desperately shove your sopping wet sleeping bags into a dryer. Put another dollar in. And wait some more. Why is it so cheap to dry, and so expensive to wash? It only cost me about 75 cents to dry 2 ginormous sleeping bags.
They need treadmills at the laundromat. Seriously. I would totally hop on one of those if I had to use the laundromat on a regular basis. Might as well do something rather than just sit there and watch Montell. (which we couldn't even hear over the noise of the washers and dryers)
Laundromat owners: dudes, you could totally cash in on my idea. Send me an email and we'll work out the details :D
Enough about that.
Well, one more thing.... A laundromat would make an awesome place for a photo shoot. Seriously. Picture girls in fluffy petticoated dresses sitting barefoot on top of a row of washers? Or sitting inside of one with their feet hanging out! No?
Who knew one could write so much about a laundromat?

Just a quick note

I did order my pictures for the week in the life project. But I didn't fuss over them too much. During the week I uploaded the days pictures every night. Then in the morning I would sift through them and just do minor editing on the ones that looked really bad. (too dark usually)
So I had the hard part already done.
I also came up with a bit of a plan for my layouts last week too. I sketched four 8.5 x 11 landscape layouts just to look at as a guide. I planned on 4 layouts for each day.
Yesterday I just uploaded the entire weeks worth of pictures and ordered 1 copy of each. I didn't spend any time thinking about it. That was sort of a good thing, sort of a bad thing. The thing I hate is that so many times, even though I choose "auto edit OFF", my pictures come back from the printer just a little lack-luster from what I see on my computer screen. It's a little disappointing. But I went with it anyway.
Last night I sifted through them all, putting them in groups by day. Then I sifted through those and picked out the ones I liked best. I ended up with about 15-20 per day. Then today, I sifted through those and chose 4 I liked from each day and could easily be cropped into 2x2 squares.
And tonight....I have 6 layouts completed (one for each day) with pictures and patterned paper. Still need title/words and then they'll be done. So I'm like 1/8th completed with my album! LOL.
So anyway, I'm hopping sticking with this plan I can get it done. I'm taking advice from my friends and going with super simple.
I'm not intending to turn this into a scrapbooking blog....back to our regular scheduled programing shortly.

Sunday Favorites

Week in the life project:
So here marks the last day of the Week in the life project. I have to say that though I'm kind of glad it's over, I really enjoyed the process. I learned that ordinary life, isn't necessarily so ordinary. I think I've learned to see things just a little differently. And, I've learned that there are many beautiful things all around us, and in our every day lives if we just take a second to stop and look.
Sounds so cliche, I know. But I think it's true. Otherwise I wouldn't have written it. :)
I just placed my order for 235 prints at Costco to be picked up this afternoon. I'm looking forward to getting this album put together, but admittedly I'm a little intimidated. It seems like such a daunting task with an average of 35-50 pictures a day.

Sunday Favorites:









*edited to add: Pete is NOT in his undies in this last picture (as my mother thought!) But he IS in some funky old plaid shorts. He's had those since as long as I've known him (probably longer) and thank goodness he only wears them around the house!

Saturday Favorites

Week in the life project

Rain this morning

Enjoying the quiet

Much cleaning :(

Pumpkin patch!

Above the corn maze

Thursday and Friday Favorites

Week in the Life

Thursday Favorites:





Friday Favorites: (I had my ISO set WAY high today so these ones are kinda grainy)

Day in the life

First-Thanks for all your words of support regarding Jake and the situation at school. Still not sure exactly what was going on there. Today was a good day at and that's all we can do..take it one day at at time. I do think I may have slightly overreacted. I mean really aside from really hurting someones feelings, it seems basically just like normal 5 year old boy stuff. He's not cussing anyone out, he's not really fighting per say....he's just fluffing out his wings....Like a turkey. ( I know all about turkeys :) So we'll see how it goes and I'm going to keep in good contact with the teacher to make sure I know what's going on.
Get ready for picture palooza!

Favorites from the weekend:







Favorites from Tuesday:

Favorites from Wednesday:

I bought a new album for this Week In The Life project. It's a Martha Stewart 8.5x11 landscape album. It was on sale at Michael's. I hoping it will work out the way I want it too. I think this will be such a neat album to look back at through the years. For everyone else doing this project what kind of "stuff" are you keeping for the album? I collected all my receipts today and the grocery list. I wish I got the newspaper, but I don't so I don't have anything like that. What else? Just looking for suggestions because I do want to have some "stuff" in there. I think that's part of the neatness in looking back. Kind of like a time capsule. Let me know your suggestions if you have any. THX!

Happy Thursday :)

I knew this would eventually happen...

I'm not a naive parent. I know my kid is not an angel all of the time. *gasp* But I'd like to think he is most of the time. :)
*sigh*
Jake got in trouble at school. Last week (Wednesday, I think) his teacher pulled me aside when the kids got out of class to let me know that Jake had been teasing another little boy in class. So much that the other little boy was crying.
ugh! What?!
First, I was surprised. Teasing? Really? Something about the other little boy having a girlfriend or something like that. (Ok, typical kindergarten stuff, right?) But obviously teasing is not ok...especially when you make the other person cry.
Second, I was a little embarrassed. Like I said..I know my kid is not always an angel...but I've been in the classroom...he seems like one of the good ones. (I know, insert gag here)
So anyway, I was flaming mad. We went home, had a "talking to" and then had another "talking to" when Pete got home.
Thursday I checked in with the teacher and she said all was well.
Friday no school.
Monday she pulls me aside again. ugh! More teasing. Same kid. Are you kidding me?
So we had another "talking to", no playing outside with the neighborhood kids. And we let him know this was "his last warning".
So today I go to pick him up and I'm waiting at the gate for the kids to come out and I see the look on this face. I knew something was up. This time the teacher did not come to talk to me, but one of the other kids in the class told me Jake had been punching the same boy he had been teasing the days before. The look on Jake's face confirmed it.
I just could not believe it.
I'm not sure why the teacher didn't come talk to me. But being that I've been the teacher before, I know it's hard to be the bearer of bad news to the same parent every day. I know that sometimes teachers will say they were "ok" even though they really weren't. I'm not sure if that was the case today or not. I really don't even know why Jake was hitting the little boy. He clams up and won't talk to me. (because he thinks he's getting in trouble) It may have been nothing, and that's why the teacher didn't tell me. I mean, if it was a big deal, I'm sure she would have said something. Right?
So obviously I need to have a talk with the teacher. There's always two sides to every story. Right now I'm just going off of what she's told me and Jake's not saying much. But I just feel like....what else am I supposed to do?
So that's that.
On to Megan...
That girl is 2 going on 12! Miss Drama Queen. Girls are so different than boys. Jake definitely had the whole terrible two's thing (maybe earlier than 2) but it was nothing like this! I wouldn't call her terrible at all...just DRAMATIC. That girl cries over everything. Everything. If I tell her no: cry. If she doesn't get what she wants: cry. Someone looks at her the wrong way: cry. It's enough to make a mom nuts! Thank goodness she's so flippin cute.
She's been talking like crazy too. All kinds of new words and long sentences every day.
Some of her favorites:
Why, Momma?
But why not?
Oh! Jakey look! (I have no idea why she calls him Jakey-but she does!)
What is it?
O'r dere! (over there)
O'r her (over here)
Righ dere (right there)
g'night!
My mom and I were totally impressed by this one: Watch, Nama! Look, See?! (she calls all of her grandmas Na-ma.)
Oh and I finally figured out one of her words today. She's been saying "Bad-ash" for weeks now and I could not figure out what she was saying. Bad guys? Bad Ass? who know's why'd she be saying bad ass, but ya never know! I can't remember what we were talking about today, but I asked her "why?" and she replied "Badash!" I finally got it. Badash=Because! Duh!
Two more notes for today and then I'll be done:
1. I'm doing the week in the life project with Ali Edwards and every other scrapbooker in computer land. (LOL!) Started today. Really hoping I can actually finish this project!
2. I got a ticket this morning for rolling a stop sign. In my own neighborhood. Very irritating A)because I would argue that I stopped, but you can't argue with a cop. Crying doesn't work, I've tried it. I took my ticket as humble-y as I could. B) all my neighbors were giving me the looky-loos as I was getting my lovely ticket written up. embarrassing. C) I have to do traffic school again. I just did it about 2 years ago. I did it online, but it totally sucked. Just thinking about it makes me cringe. Not looking forward to that at all.
So that's it for now.
I've got a bunch of pictures from last weekend. We went to the zoo on Friday and then to my moms for the weekend. I had a whole bunch all edited and prettied up and then didn't save them. Then Pete came along and closed my program and didn't save them either. :( Oh well.

Random Vblog #2

*forgive the hair. It's Saturday, what can I say?

Random Kid video:

Duuuuude!

I freaking HATE computers. Ahrghuaslkghoasud!! #%$^^&^@!*)&*^^)!!!
*whew*
I fell a little bit better.
Not really.
%^^#)(#!!!
Dang.
I totally thought my computer completely crashed.
In fact I have no idea why it is working right now.
Here I was just browsing the good ol internet and everything froze up. It happens, nothing too unusual. I try the whole control/alt/delete tactic. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. You know...never ending hour glass. So I figure, well I better just shut down and restart. All of a sudden, all my windows close, but no shutting down occurs. (I realize I'm VERY impatient but it shouldn't take more than a minute, right?) Nothing happening. So of course I go to the next route...hold in power button. System shuts off. Wait about 30-40 seconds, press power button again.
Now usually the little Dell symbol shows up and prompts me to push F1 to continue on to Windows. This time it gives me some error message I've never seen before. Something like cannot find drive or something like that. I don't even remember now.
wha?
huh?
sh*t.
sh*t.
sh*t.
(Sorry, but I cuss in my head constantly. Just keepin it real.)
*heavy sigh*......Push in power button again. System shuts off. Wait 30-40 seconds, push power button again.
Same error message.
W.T.F!!??
*heavy sigh* (yell at kids to be quiet)
Turn system off again.
Turn back on--this time I push F12 immediately to get to the set up menu. It doesn't go there automatically, first it goes back to that nasty error message and then like 2 minutes later the set up screen appears. SO WEIRD. Not sure what this is going to do, but what the heck? Right? So I scroll down, I don't see anything unusual, but what the heck do I know? Finally, I give up because again, what the heck do I know about computers anyway? and then boom...the Windows boot screen shows up.
Ta-da! It's working!
Black screen.
sh*t.
sh*t.
Black screen lasts for like 2 minutes!
What the H?!
Just when I'm about ready to give up, there's the blue log-on screen with a pink flower for Corey and a dirt bike for Pete.
Hallelujah!
*Whew*
Seriously, I was about to freak. Ok, obviously I was freaking out. I don't have the money to go fixin' no computer. Or buying one either.
I'm still not convinced it's working properly though.
It took a LONG time to go through the whole boot up process. That can't be good. Thankfully, all my pictures are still here. I'm about to go burn a disk of all the ones I haven't burned yet. Just in case.
If you don't see me around the net...You know what happened.

So we did ice cream instead of cake...

Ok so I realize I called my neighbors kids annoying in my last post. That probably wasn't the best way to put it. The tattle telling is annoying. And well, all kids do that. It's annoying when my kids do it. See, when I wrote my last post, I was having a little bit of a panic attack. I tend to over dramatize things in my head when I'm a little unsure of a situation. I tend to make things out to be WAY worse in my head that it ever seems to be in reality. Yesterday was perfect case in point. In my head these two little twins would be here and they would be bored and whinny, and I wouldn't have anything to make them happy, and they wouldn't like any of the food I had, and then when Jake got home from school they would all fight over toys and I'd be just about ready to pull my hair out by about 3 o'clock...Not to mention the worry over how I was going to pick Jake and Caitlin up from school in the Honda. See? My brain went into panic mode.
Anyway, so nothing that actually happened yesterday was anywhere near to what my brain preconceived the night before. The day actually went really, really well. The twins were great. No fighting, no whinning, not even any tattle tale-ing...there were a few tears though. The bigger one was a little sad for his mom for a while. And they actually ate the food I had. So it was good. Oh! and Jake and Cait got picked up by my MIL and he decided he wanted to play over there instead of coming home. So there was no fighting over toys, which I'm still certain would have happened if Jake was here. The twins were a little disapointed they didn't get to play with him though. They were supposed to come back today, but dad was able to work from home. But I honestly would not have minded watching them anyway.
I'm 99.99% sure my neighbor doesn't know I have a blog. But you know, this is a free internet and I post for all the world to see so you never know. If so: Neighbor, I'm really sorry about the whole annoying comment. I didn't mean it like it was written. You're boys are great. Honestly.
In other news...Megan is two today! I feel so unprepared for her birthday. It just kind of snuck up on me. For two months I've been saying "she's almost two" and now all of a sudden the day is here. I have no cake, no nothing. I feel like such a bad mom. But I'm planning on running out later to grab a cake at least. Tomorrow we'll celebrate more because Pete will be home all day. I can hardly believe it! He has spent so much time (just about every weekend) at the ranch for as long as I can remember, so it feels like such a treat when he's here.
Alright, better go get that cake!

Aw, isn't she cute?

I know, I know...Mom don't yell at me. I know she's not wearing "the dress" in the picture. I'm working on it. I know I said that before, but really I am.

So---sorry, this post is all kinds of rambling. I feel like I'm completely unable to keep a rational thought these days. I have so many things swimming around in my brain it's hard to keep it all straight. I think I'm going to go with bullet points....

*Jake's birthday-totally forgot to mention it in the midst of all the first week of school hoopla. It was good. He's 5. Five seems to have come with an immediate extra ounce of maturity. I don't know, maybe it's turning 5 combined with starting kindergarten. He was just so ready for school and I think as much as it's hard to watch my baby grow up....I'm so proud of him. So proud to be his mom. He's a really good kid.

*I also forgot to talk about his weekend with Grandpa. My dad came and picked him up a few weeks ago and kept Jake for the whole weekend. He did so good. Not even one tear--except when I came to get him. He didn't want to go home. They had a great time going to the movies, and the park and riding in Grandpa's hot rod and on the motorcycle. Can you believe he cried when it was time to go home? I don't get it either.

*More strange neighborhood happenings....It's just weird. In one weekend we had two neighbors move out and one move in. Oh and then my other neighbors have semi-moved out. By that, I mean they are renting a place in the city M-F so they don't have to commute and then coming home here for the weekends. It's quiet around here. So many changes. Even though I've talked about my weird neighbors before....all the weird ones live across the street. Everyone on this side is awesome and now it seems everyone is leaving. It kind of makes me sad.

*Megan's birthday is Thursday. I can hardly believe she's 2. I'm sitting here looking at a picture of her from when she was about 4 months old. In my head I know it's her, but at the same time it's like who is that baby? because seriously, that baby time seemed to flash by in a millisecond. And then all of a sudden I seem to have taken away more "baby" stuff recently. I threw the highchair away. It was old and dirty and I was sick of cleaning it and she enjoys sitting at the counter more anyway so I kicked Jake out of his booster and put her there. And then not a week after that, she's now sleeping in her "Big Girl Bed". *sigh* I wish I could somehow take it all back. In her room she had her crib, plus my old day bed from when I was a kid. The only reason I let her sleep in the big girl bed is because she threw up in the crib at nap time. She wasn't really sick or anything but Note to Parents: eating chap stick will make you sick. Yeah. Anyway, I had all the crib bedding washed and dried by bed time but I was too lazy to make it up so I let her sleep in the bed. End of story. She wants nothing to do with the crib anymore. There is only one thing left to her babyhood-Diapers. And I just know that's gonna be gone soon too.

*Wednesday and Thursday I'm watching my neighbors twin boys. I really don't know how I get myself into these situations. Wait. Yes I do.....I'm nice. It's not that I don't like these boys. I do. But they're just kind of......... annoying. The bigger one is constantly fighting with Jake. Those two just never seem to get along. And they tattle-tale a lot. It just bugs me. He's not shaaaarrring! Anyway I'm just doing this as a favor to my neighbor whom I like very much and I'm glad I could help her out. She started a new job this week and I'm sure she's stressed enough as it is. Oh and here's the crazy part of all this. I still have to pick Jake and my niece up from school both days. I drive a Honda Accord. Seriously, how the heck am I going to cart 5 kids around; 4 of which still need to be in car seats; in a Honda Accord?? It's physically impossible.

Anyway, so I think I've used up all the brain cells I can muster up for one night. If I have any energy left after the twins and my 2 kids I'll post again!

pointless video blog #1

Random thoughts about the video:

1. I'm horrible about trying to find something to say. It's like leaving the worst voicemail ever. Which I completely suck at too. I hate voicemail.
2. That mess behind me is scrap mess. I haven't really been scrapping, but yeah, there's still a mess.
3. Yes, that is a deer on the wall behind me. One of many.
4. Why did I have to tell you Megan needed a diaper change? That was unnecessary and...gross. Sorry.
5. I don't think I really say Anyways and So that much in real life. I don't know, maybe I do. I guess I'll have to work on that. Anyway....
6. kid video to come soon :) And yes, mom Megan will be in "the" dress. (my mom made megan a really cute dress for her birthday)
7. yes, i will be mildly obbsessed with the video for a week or two. Don't worry, it will pass.
**does anyone know how to embed the Youtube videos on blogger? I can't seem to get it to work**

A close up of Jake's self portrait and the lips:

First day of school! First day of School!

Oh my gosh. Is he not the cutest little boy you've ever seen?! Oh I just want to squeeze him! I can do that. I'm his mom. :)

Today was the first day of Kindergarten. It went great. For him, and for me! Going to orientation last night was a BIG help for me. First, I got to realize that I'm not the only crazy mother out there that doesn't have a clue what to do on the first day of school. It was good. I let all those other crazy mothers ask all the questions I had. ha ha! I also got to let some of my tears out last night. I couldn't help it. The principal got up and spoke and he said "you're going to blink and the next thing you know it will be graduation day". I got that giant lump in my throat and a teensy little tear may have snuck out. I wasn't the only one! It was great to meet the teacher and learn what to expect today and for the rest of the year. Mrs. Cooper is just what you think of when you think Kindergarten teacher. She's tiny, and soft spoken--she has a really soothing voice, but she seems energetic and excited for the new school year too.

On to today...

Jake was MORE than excited. He got dressed and ran downstairs for his backpack. "Can we go? Is it time to go? I'm ready to go!" I made him pose for a few pictures and I drilled him a little:

"Make sure you listen to your teacher. Follow directions. Do what the teacher tells you to do. Be good."

When we got to school, he could not get out of the car fast enough. He had his seat belt off and backpack in hand before I even turned the car off. We walked down to the classroom and this is where I snapped this picture up top. He was just so ecstatic, he could hardly contain himself. We walked out to the playground and found his cousins Caitlin and Hannah.

Caitlin is actually in his class this year. He ran off to play and then the bell rang. It was SO funny because he knew he had to do something and go somewhere, but you could see on his face he was like what do I do? where do I go? But he made it and got in line for his class. And then they were swept in and sat in circle time. It was kind of a whirlwind for me. I wasn't quite sure what to do. Do I stay? Do I just go? Well, Jake was absolutely fine...MORE than fine so I snuck in, gave him a quick peck on the cheek and another "follow directions" cue, and I left. :( Another tiny little tear welled up but I held it back. Oh believe me...I could have let loose with sobs and everything. But I didn't. I was surprised there were only 2 little girls (twins) crying when they had to start class. Everyone else was like this was old hat to them. It definitely made it easier on me. If Jake would have shown any apprehension at all, I totally would have lost it!

My SIL is part of the PTA group and they had coffee and doughnuts for the parents in the cafeteria. I went with her, met some of her friends, met the principal and then she said lets go check on Jake! I really wanted to, but then I really didn't. I didn't want to be that mom who was still there after an hour pacing the hallway! LOL! I did get a little peek...he looked just a tiny bit nervous but I could tell he was just taking it all in.

When I came back to pick him up he said, "Mommy, I was really good. I listened to my teacher and I followed directions. I didn't get in trouble. Maybe tomorrow I'll get in trouble." Ha ha! I had to laugh at that. :D

So, it's kind of bitter sweet. My baby is growing up. But at the same time I'm excited for him. There's so many new advetures to come. :)

It's called 'Anger Management', you fat cow!

A true story filled with irony
So, last night my dad came and got Jake to take back to his house for the weekend...well until Saturday anyway. I practically cried as they drove away. My dad lives about 2 hours away so it's not like I can just run and get him if he needs me. This is the first time he's been so far away from home without me or Pete. Pete and I both had a little moment as we walked passed his bedroom last night only to find Jake's bed empty. Pete even said "it's kind of sad he's not here". But don't tell him I told you that.
I get up this morning less one child and I just can't think of one place to go or one thing to do, so Megan and I just kind of veg out all morning. We play dolls and watch a little Nemo and eat a little breakfast. Next thing I know it's like 11:30. So we hop in the car to drive into town to get some food for the turkeys and I needed some milk and coffee creamer. Off we go.
Our neighborhood is kind of situated off the beaten path in that it's not really in town and it's surrounded by farm land. It's not unusual to be stuck behind a tractor or a hay truck. Today was no exception. I pull out from our neighborhood only to be stuck behind a very big, very slow tractor. No big deal. I'm not in any hurry. When the opportunity arises, I go ahead and pass the tractor. I look in my rear view mirror, as any good driver should, to make sure I have safely passed the tractor and I have plenty of room to move back into the correct lane. I look back and see this white car flying up on my tail and sneaks in between me and the tractor. She's so close I can barely see her bumper, but I really don't give any other thought to it, other than "jeez, you really seem to be in a hurry lady." Anyway I pull up to an intersection where I plan on making a right hand turn. This is one of those intersections that cars turning right have a yield sign. Let me make this perfectly clear : Yield does not give you the right to go. Yield means 'proceed with caution'. Am I right? I thought so. I pull up into the right hand turn lane and slow way down, almost to a stop because there is someone making a left hand turn into the lane I was going into. That guy had a green light. That guy had the right of way. Correct? Correct.
So, just as I'm about to pull forward, there is a blaring HONK from behind me. I look in the rear view and see the white car. I'm kind irritated now, so of course I flip my arm up in the mirror at her in like a "whatever!" kind of way and proceed on my way. White Car Lady proceeds to fly around me and slow down just enough to give me the evil eye as she passes by. Again--what ever. The moment is over, I'm going on with my life now. We drive a few blocks up to another intersection. I'm right behind White Car Lady in the left hand turn lane. She has a vanity plate that says " High Prize". Of course it's not spelled that way, but I can't remember how it was spelled. Anyway as we sat there waiting at the red light, I of course, started talking to myself wondering what exactly was the high prize. Was it the driver? No, couldn't be. Was it the car? Possibly, but again, I'm going to have to go with no. The light turns green and wouldn't you know it...White Car Lady and I are both turning into the same shopping center/gas station. I see she's going one way and I turned the other and well that was that. Wrong. I'm in line waiting for a gas pump and I'd just about forgotten all about White Car Lady, when all of a sudden White Car Lady comes racing around from the left, her window rolled down (mine was too by the way) and yells out to me:
"It's called Anger Management you FAT COW!!!"
And then she peeled out and went on her merry way.
This, of course, sent me on fits of hysterical laughter. I mean seriously??!!....Are you sure I'm the one who needs Anger Management? And Fat Cow?? I'm not exactly skinny or even thin, but I'm pretty sure I don't quite fall into the fat cow category yet. I could hardly contain myself at the hilarity of it all as I watched my life savings drip away into my gas tank.
Oh and here's the best part....
As if the whole "Anger Management" statement wasn't ironic enough....
After I filled my tank, I drove through the shopping center down to the market so I could run in and get the milk and coffee creamer and lo and behold...there's the "high prize" car parked and here comes the crazy lady out of the store carrying the largest Jamba Juice you can order and what appeared to be a box of doughnuts.
Oh the irony of it all.
Obviously this person was probably just having a bad day. And yes, I'm mocking her a little here. But Lord knows I've had my bad days and drowned my sorrows in a bowl full of frosting a time or two.
******************************************************
I can not wait for tomorrow. Saturday can not come quick enough. I miss my little man. :(

It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to.

I'm not really crying. Just sounded like a good title! But it is really by birthday. And yes, I am telling you that just so you'll send gifts. :D ha ha j/k! The day was lovely. Started with a trip to Les Schwab to drop the truck off and ended with a movie...Space Chimps! Oh yes. Fun, fun birthday! I'm not complaining. It was actually very fun. Space Chimps is silly.
So anyway.....The day is approaching--the first day of school. As Melissa put it....10 more sleeps. Well, 9 I guess. 9 days until Jake's world changes forever. Is that a little dramatic? Probably. I'm having way more anxiety over it than he is. I don't think he has a clue that Kindergarten is more than one day, you know what I mean? Does he really understand that this is like, forever? I don't think I quite grasp that concept either. ha ha! I'm sure he'll do fine. The 2nd week will probably be more of an adjustment period than the first. I'm guessing. I really have been on vacation for the past 7 months. Sure, I get up at 6 every morning, but I let Jake and Megan sleep until after 8 o'clock. And he goes to bed somewhere between 8:30 and 9 now. Remember my old work schedule? It was so regimented. We were all up by 5:15, out the door by quarter to six, I was on the road by 6am, and they were both in bed at the stroke of 8 every night. Well, we won't be getting up at 5, but it is going be a little bit of a change to all get up and out the door by 7:45. I'm happy for the change. It will be nice to have some sort of normalcy back. Right now I really don't have to be anywhere or go anywhere or do anything at any certain time. I just better make it look like I didn't sit on my butt all day by about 4 o'clock so I don't get the stink eye from the husband when he gets home! Come on--you all know what I'm talking about!

Anyway, back to the school thing. I definitely have more anxiety than Jake does. See I have social anxieties. I'm already planning everything out in my mind as to where I need to park, how long should I stay the first day, what should I wear (I know, this is so stupid, right?) should I bring Megan with me, or drop her off at Grandma's on the way? I don't even know where the classroom is. What are the other mothers going to be like? I'm going to cry like a baby in front of a school full of strangers! I hope HE doesn't cry. Crap. What time does school get out? Do I bring my big camera or my little point and shoot....probably the p&s so I don't look so overbearing. I need to leave at at least 7:45 to get there by 8 and still have a few minutes to spare. All these things and more just keep spinning in my head. Yes, I'm having a case of the first day of school jitters. Only, 9 days prior to the first day. And my kid is as happy as a clam.
Anyway, yeah...i bet you didn't know I was so nutz did ya? Don't worry, it's only in my head. I know how to be a socially acceptable person in person. Most of the time.
Do you remember the night before the first day of school? Gah. It was awful. At least up until 10th grade when I just didn't care anymore. But before that, it was horrible. Can't sleep, can't eat, changing my clothes 10 times before deciding that yes, jeans and a t-shirt are just fine. I don't know...do boys have these same issues? I don't think they do.
I was surfing the net today and came upon this school related article. It's about a school in TX that will be enforcing a pretty strict dress code this year. In fact, if the children come to school in inappropriate attire, they will be put into a prison like jumpsuit for the rest of the day. Anyway, while I find the whole jumpsuit thing a little over the top, and the proposed dress code a teensy bit strict, I was just floored by the amount of people that commented on this article who were completely against a dress code at school. HUH?! Wha? There were so many people with the whole "freedom of expression" argument. I'm sorry, maybe I'm from the dark ages, but seriously, I find it completely inappropriate for girls to where booty shorts to school, or mini skirts that barley cover their behind, or boys who can't even walk properly because there freaking pants are practically around their ankles with their asses hanging out of their "underwear". There were people arguing that it's discrimination. Are you kidding me? And some saying that there is no dress code in real life. Ummm....yeah, there kind of is. Ever heard of "no shirt, no shoes, no service"? I'm not saying to be as strict as some of these dress codes they are proposing at this TX school. But seriously...pants where they should be, no boobs or butts hanging out. That simple. Is that really too much to ask? Is that really infringing on self expression. Give me a freaking break dude.
*sigh*
Anyway. THAT was a tangent.
Well, I really have nothing else.
Peace out.