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.

Picture-palooza

I still don't have much to talk about. Maybe I'll think of something really provocative and interesting today. I doubt it! LOL! In the mean time, please enjoy these pictures. It's been a while since I've taken any. In fact I think my camera may have sat on the counter for an entire week without me even touching it. Which I don't think has happened since I got it. Anyway, I got it out, took some shots, and even handed it over to the boy so I could be in a few. Some of these are pretty humorous as he's cut Megan's head out of most of them. He knows he has to put the camera to his face, but doesn't have a clue that he can actually see through the view finder! And then he presses the shutter button as if he's rapidly firing an automatic weapon. I have to say...his technique isn't too bad!



My niece, Caitlin. I think she's so photogenic...so is her momma :)

Miss Kitty...the raggedy old cat.

I had a hard time getting this one to smile for me this weekend. What do you think of her hair bows? I made them and the orange ones up top. I'm thinking of making some more for my friends with girls in their lives.

So.....That's it I guess.
Happy Monday!
I'm off to think of something provocative to post tomorrow :D

Is it just me?

Or do I appear to have freakishly long fingers? Just look at them...they go on and on. If I wasn't 4 years old when the movie E.T. was filmed, I would swear Steven Spielberg modeled E.T.'s hands out of mine. E.T. phone home. Not only are my fingers freakishly long...just look how blotchy and clammy they look. Eww.
I have absolutely nothing to talk about. But I saw this picture as I was uploading and it just scared me a bit. I figured it might be worth blogging about. I'll have to see if I can dig out this picture of me when I was like 12 I think. I was in a dance class and the particular picture I'm thinking of is me, dressed in my dance costume. I'm down on bended knee with my arms spread like I'm going to take flight and "jazz hands". Talk about long. My arms are so long, they almost don't fit in the picture. I'm sure the photographer had to back up an extra 5 feet as to not cut them off in the frame. Mom? Do you have that picture? I'm willing to sacrafice my coolness to show you my freakishly long monkey arms. If I can find it, I'll post it. For the sake of the blog. Spandex, glitter eyeshadow and all. Oh and really puffy hair.
Oh. I started an account at Twitter. Geesh. Yes, I DO have to be involved in every new internet trend. Gah. You can see on the sidebar over there --------------> little updates. The only reason why I did it is because I get these amazingly awesome (!) ideas that come swarming into my head. And then I come here to blog and they're mysteriously gone. Poof. Brain fart. And sometimes I just have little random bits that come and go that I think maybe are funny or memorable, but not necessarily blog worthy. Such as freakishly long fingers. So.....if you want to follow that, cool! If you don't, that's cool too. I think you can leave comments there too. Not sure how that works.
Speaking of internet trends.....What the heck is Skype? I don't get it. Someone explain, please. I need to know. I'm feeling left out in the dark on this one. And hello, I'm all about following trends.

Have you ever had a meal, either good or bad or whatever, that you know you'll remember for the rest of your life? I know this is completely random, but Pete and I were talking about it the other night and I wondered if anyone else felt the same way.
So far in my short time on Earth, I have two meals that stand out far beyond the rest as "The Best Meals of My Life". The first one was in the summer of 2000. It was the 2nd day of our honeymoon. We'd driven all day from Lake Tahoe, Ca. to Park City Utah. We were on our way to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We'd driven all day across the dessert of Nevada and through the Salt Flats of Utah and finally made it to our hotel in Park City around 8 o'clock that night. We were tired and hungry. Park City is such a cute little town. This was before the winter Olympics were held there in 2002 (?) We decided to take a walk and see if we could find something to eat. Mind you, this is Utah (home of the Mormons) and Sunday (in my experience most Mormon's don't work on Sunday) AND it's the middle of summer in a WINTER resort town. Yeah. Not much going on in Park City that night. We walked down a couple blocks and decided to turn down a side street and head back for our hotel, figuring we could just get room service or something. And then, there it was....a little steak house type restaurant right there on the corner. I have not idea what the name of it was. But we walked in and almost thought they were closed. There was no one in there. In fact, the hostess said they were just about to close. But they sat us anyway. I remember thinking that it was going to suck because you know they just wanted to go home. They were going to feed us leftovers off the floor or something. I ordered teriyaki chicken, thinking that would be safe. They also had tons of wild game like elk and buffalo on the menu. I don't remember what Pete ordered, but I think he actually passed on the wild game that time.
I remember waiting for quite a while. I think they actually had to turn the ovens back on. It was that late. The food finally came and we were pretty hungry, but I tell ya.....That chicken was and probably still is the best chicken I've ever eaten. It was so tender and juicy and the sauce...oh the sauce was wonderful. Its just one of those meals I'll never forget. I think it's probably the entire situation that led to the memorableness of it. I mean we were on our honeymoon, and we were hungry as heck and the people in the restaurant were extremely hospitable despite the late hour. But the food really was good. I wish I could remember the name of that place.
The second Best Meal of My Life was in August of 2002. It was my birthday and we had been camping with some friends up on the Mendocino coast in Northern California. We'd been at the beach all day. Pete and the guys had been diving for abalone and me and the girls were searching for treasures on Glass Beach. We were dirty and cold and wet. Summer at the beach in Nor Cal is COLD. It's almost always foggy and there's a stiff wind that comes off the Pacific. But it's the most beautiful place in the world. (in my opinion) Anyway, we were driving back down to our campground when Pete pulled of the road into the parking lot of a little bed and breakfast. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Well, it's your birthday and I thought we'd have a nice dinner tonight", he said. (Awwwww!) So, he went in and made reservations just for the two of us. We went back to camp and cleaned up as best we could. We were camping, you know that's kind of hard to do! We drove back up to the B&B and were seated for our meal. This place was SO nice. The nicest restaurant I'd ever been in. One of those restaurants with a French gourmet chef and a different menu every night. It was just about sunset and we were seated right next to the window which overlooked a beautiful garden and then cliffs down to the ocean. The restaurant sits right were the Albion River meets the Pacific Ocean. It was incredibly romantic. I'm usually not all mushy like that, but this place is just...wow-amazing. We both ordered the fillet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. I remember the first bite. Pete and I both put our forks down and looked at each other. It was like nothing we'd ever eaten in our lives. Like we were offered a tiny peace of heaven right there on our plates. It was just so amazingly good. I can't even describe it. Worth every bit of the $120 dollars! *yikes* Again, the experience made it just that much more enjoyable, but it was still the best meal we've ever had. Hands down.
We were lucky enough to go back there for our anniversary in June of 2006. We actually stayed the night at the B&B this time. It was another great meal and the breakfast the next morning was phenomenal. But nothing can top that first time. Plus I was like 8 months pregnant the 2nd time...nothing's that enjoyable when your 8 months pregnant!
So how about you guys? Ever had a meal you'll never forget? If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you request for your last meal?

****Side note****
Thank you to everyone for your words about my last post! And hello??? Where have I been? Super Why! is like AWESOME! Is there any better pre-reading program out there? I went directly to the PBS website after Jude and Kim recommended it and watched an episode right here on the computer. I then went to iTunes and downloaded a couple of episodes. They are great. And I also bought a Leap Frog DVD at Costco so we're on a roll!
Thanks for all your input!

I don't think I could ever home school. In fact, I don't think I could ever be a teacher at all. It's funny because for many, many years that's all I ever thought about doing. In fact I was a teacher for 5 years. I taught preschool, pre-K class for 5 years. Mostly preschool was about social skills, but there were plenty of early fundamentals in there such as the ABC's and 123's. Even in the pre-K with early math skills. I have 2 red blocks and 1 yellow block, I have 3 blocks....that sort of thing.

So........why can't I teach these things to my own kid? Why doesn't he get it?

I already know the answers. Because he IS my own kid. Because I have NO patience what so ever. Because school is starting very soon and I'm starting to feel the pressure of him at least knowing the effing alphabet....and to at least count to 20 without assistance. Gah! is that asking too much? Oh, he can say the alphabet--no problem. AND he can even write it pretty well too. But out of 26 letters, he maybe recognizes 12 of them--on a good day.

We have flash cards and I've been going heavy on the flashing lately. A-B-C no problem, he's got those both upper and lower case. We get to D and he starts staring off into space. This is were the train starts de-railing right here. "uhhhhhh.....(gulp).....O?" he says. I give him a little bit of a break because it does sort of look like an O. Sorta. I show him the Duck "Deeee....duh, duh, Deeeee. D is for duck." I say. "Deeee, ok mommy D." I show him the E card with the elephant. *silence* "uhhhhhhhh......."

And here's where my train completely de-rails.

"E!! Eeeeeee!! El-e-phant! Eeee!"

I mean, it's in his name for pete's sake! He knows how to spell his name, so why can't he recognize E? or e?

Deep breath.

Count to 10.

Another deep breath. *whew*

Lets start again..

A----"A"

B----"B"

C----"C"

D-------------"uhhhhhhh O? nO! not O uh...."

Duh, duh...dd........................."duh"?

no! Deeeeee! Deeee

"Oh yeah D!"

Next letter.

E----------*crickets*

And so the cycle continues.

*Let me just add in here that I don't JUST do flash cards with him. I still have lots of stuff from my teaching days. I've give him pre-K type worksheets and as long has he's paying attention and I give him clear directions as to what to do, he never has a problem. He loves to play matching games and counting games and LOVES the pre-K worksheets. He'd do a whole book of them in an afternoon if I let him. Flash cards are like an oral exam. He gets all freaky and feels the pressure. I can't blame him. It's just that I, personally, think he should be able to recognize most of the letters by now*

I realize how horrible this post makes me sound. I realize it's completely obvious I have no patience. I realize that I'm probably approaching this all wrong. I realize I'm not cut out for teaching.

I'm just nervous. I'm feelin the pressure, man. School starts in a month and kindergarten is much different than it was 25 years ago (holy crap!) You're expected to like, know stuff now ya know? I also have a niece and nephew that have been held back at this school. Two kids who seem perfectly normal and smart and capable to me and yet, they've repeated grades. I think that is what is actually fueling my paranoia. I know he hasn't even started yet, but I don't want him held back! I also have a kid who will actually still be 4 when he starts kindergarten. And I know that boys tend to just be a little on the slower side anyway.

He's such a great kid. And smart as a whip. The dude remembers everything. (except the alphabet ha ha)

I just want him to succeed.

I really think he will.

I want to at least give him some weapons before I send him off to war. If that makes sense.

I'm sure I'll get the don't worry, he'll do fine comments. And, you're probably right. I just can't help the way I feel. Can't help my lack of patience (I'm a redhead-it's inbred in me) or my frustrations.

Tomorrow I'm going to:

lay off the flash cards

Run errands early and maybe stop at the park

Go to the pool

Not think about the alphabet! HA!

hey guys

no blogging = not much going on around here. It's been super hot (with the exception of the last two days) like I'm not kidding 110* degrees. So the majority of our waking hours have been spent at the pool.

Which is fine by me. :) Jake is getting more and more brave every day. I caved and got him some arm floaties. I've not been a huge fan of these thingies because I think they give a false sense of security and make kids a little over confident. I'm still finding this to be quite true...BUT they are allowing him to actually get in and enjoy the water and feel confident enough to practice real swimming. So, it's been good. HUGE difference from a month ago.
Last weekend was spent up at the ranch. I must say, despite the heat, it was pretty fun this time. (not that it's not fun every other time we go...this time was just a little different) We (me and the kids) actually spent the night up there so we had 2 full days to play and mess around. PLUS, Pete's partner Curt had his wife up there and it was just so nice to have a woman to talk to! AND she brought her horse, Tulip. :)

I hadn't ridden a horse in about 10+ years and I took a little 15 minute jaunt on Miss Tulip. It was so fun and it felt great to sit in the saddle again. If I didn't have kids, I'd SO want a horse! Too much work though. And money. Oh! and guess what??!!! The turkeys made their way home! My garage is now turkey free! And a little less stinky, however, there is a lingering scent still there. I can't help to still look to my left as I go out and expect to see little beady eyes staring at me. But I don't miss them! Not one bit. Oh and to answer a few questions...No, I did not release one like I had thought. I was close, but couldn't bring myself to do it. But if they were still on Sunday, you bet your life I would have!
My mom came down yesterday and we took the kids to the pool...of course! Had a great time and basically had the entire Olympic size pool to ourselves. Nice! MOM: could you please email me those pics we took yesterday, ok? Don't forget! I need them :) Thx.
********
Jake funny:
So we as a family read the Bible together about twice a week. 5 year old boys (or almost 5) are like little sponges and he is retaining EVERYTHING we have read about. Can't complain about that, right? But it's funny because some things he just takes so literally.
When we were up at the ranch last weekend, we took a ride down to the pond. There were thousands and thousands of little baby frogs/toads everywhere. An almost 5 year old boys dream come true! He was catching them right and left. At one point he had about 7 or 8 baby frogs in his pocket ready to take home. ummmm....no. No frogs. We just got rid of the turkeys, please, no frogs. Well, Pete caved and let him take one tiny little froggy home in an empty Gatorade bottle.

The little boy was just smitten with this silly frog. He even had to tell it goodnight when it was time to go to bed. But alas, when he got up the next morning, the frog had died. He was so, so sad and he cried and cried. I told him to go bury the frog in our flowerbed in the patio. So he did. A few hours later he went out to, i guess, say a few last words to the frog. But he couldn't find him. So, he came in the house and said this:
"Well, I can't find my frog. I guess God must have been out there when I wasn't looking and took him up to be with him in heaven, because he's not out there. God touched him and healed him and took him to heaven. God is very powerful, don't ya know."
Hee hee! he's so cute :)
Dang! Today marks exactly one month until school starts. Gah! I'm SO not ready for this. I can hardly believe it.

Happy Birthday America! I made you a cake!

I love 4th of July. It's my favorite holiday. Always has been. There's just something about hot weather, BBQ's and lightin' stuff on fire that just makes me happy. I'm a closet pyromaniac. Not really. Well maybe. I get it from my mom. We LOVE fireworks. Unfortunately, they are not allowed in our city. Boo! But they do have a city fireworks show in the park after dark. And that's where we're headed tonight. Let's just hope it's worth the wait. Last time we went it was pretty horrible. We waited until almost 10 before they started and then they couldn't get em up high enough (sounds like a personal problem..ahem. please pardon my immaturity.) past the trees so we could see them. And it just totally sucked. The whole thing was like a big hoser waist of time. And yet we're venturing out again this year! Yippee! What else are you to do when you live in a small town that doesn't let you light stuff on fire?
In all seriousness, I hope you all have a fun and safe holiday.
God Bless America. And Canada. They're nice too :D Happy belated Canada day!
oooh! I forgot--me and the kids are gonna make home made ice cream today! Yeah! What is cake without ice cream? And home made ice cream just screams summer to me. It's gonna be good!
Have fun today Americans!

The Turkeys of Redbridge

If you build it they will come.
First, let me start off by apologizing for yesterdays post. Freaking lame. Lamer than lame, man. Forget it ever existed. Amen.
We now return you to the regularly scheduled blog post.

So, many of you know that my husband is a pig farmer. You may also remember that for some crazy reason he's decided to become a turkey farmer too. And about a month and a half ago (MAY 15TH TO BE EXACT)I was sent to the post office to pick up 20 baby turkey chicks in box no bigger than a shoe box. Oh! how the children squealed with glee when we spilled them out into the small cage Pete had built in our garage!

And I will admit, though not thrilled with the idea from the beginning, they were pretty darn cute.

Two or three weeks at the most, I was told. Then they will go to the ranch. Um. That was May 15th and it's what? Almost July flippin' 3rd. HELLO!?
Yeah. Let's just say the turkeys are not so cute anymore. Not at all. I've told you all my disgust for them here before. And, the disgust grows more and more each and every day. Lets take a look at what the turkeys look like now:

Good. Lord. Do you see those freakishly beady eyes? Gah. They're just waiting to peck me to death, I'm sure of it. Here's a side by side so you can see just how big these mofo's have really gotten:

Good. Lord. They're the fastest growing being I've ever lay eyes on.
You know, if it wasn't for the fact that they freaking stink like nothing I've ever smelt before (I'd take a poopy diaper any day), or the fact that I have to feed and water them 3 or 4 times a day, it might not be so bad. I might not hate them that much. Take a look at this:

These are two of the water thingyies before I put fresh water in them. Do you see all that nasty stuff in there? That would be a mixture of water, turkey food, shavings and POOP. Dude, seriously. This picture is tame. Usually there is a large blob (or two, or three) of POOP right on the top of these things and is slimes down the side of it. I'm really not that much of a girly-girl, but seriously! Ewww! Three or four times a day.
Oh! and do you see that fly on the edge of the big water thingamajig? Now, close your eyes and imagine that one fly multiplied by six hundred fifty three thousand and one, and you will see the amount of flies there are in my garage and...in. my. house. If you build it they will come. The flies have come. Oh my, have they ever. I think that might just be the worst part of this whole thing.
Anyway. So, The Turkeys of Redbridge....Let me explain the title.
Redbridge is the name of our neighborhood/community. I've put up an ultimatum. The turkeys have over stayed their welcome. Pete has assured me that they will be out of here THIS weekend. And I told him, if they're not I will let them go. And they will become the Turkeys of Redbridge. He doesn't believe me. He doesn't think I'll really do it. He obviously has no idea what I'm capable of. I'm joking. Sort of. Not really. I don't know. But lets see if those stinky turkeys are still here on Monday.
The end.

A couple things I really love lately...
First: Dawn Simple Pleasures liquid dish soap. Specifically the Lemon and Tangerine scent. Oh my. It smells so good. The soap itself is scented, but the bottle also has a built in air freshener thingy on the bottom. It's like these little scented balls, and every time you tip the bottle, this lovely whiff of lemon-y orange tickles your nose. I love it. And the soap (while not anti bacterial) still works just as well as you would expect from Dawn. It is a little bit more money of course, but that yummy smell is worth it!

Second: Kraft Tuscan House Italian dressing and marinade. (this link is not direct to the exact product. I couldn't find it on the Kraft website but this is similar.) Yum. This is the best marinade for grilled chicken breasts. Not to mention quick and super easy. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place in zip-lock bag, squirt in some dressing. Seal bag. Let sit for 10 minutes or so while your heating the grill. Then throw it on the grill! Really, really moist, flavorful chicken. So good. I also use this as a dressing for pasta salad.

Third: Target brand disinfecting wipes. Sorry, no linkage for this one...couldn't find it on their website. But as far as I can tell, they work just as well as the Clorox brand and are still easy to dispense. Lysol wipes totally suck. They never come out of the thingy correctly. Bunch of crap. Target wipes+ easy out=good.

Fourth: Bushes Grillin' Beans Do you like baked beans? Pete is weird. He LOVES them. I mean, I like them and all, but Pete uses baked beans in burritos instead of re fried or pinto or black beans. So strange. Anyways, so I found these Grillin' Beans at the store a few weeks ago and since we've (ahem..I've) been doing a lot of grillin' lately and because well Pete really likes baked beans, I thought what the hey! let's try grillin' beans. We're totally obsessed now. Lovin' the Grillin' Beans. We've been having them with almost every meal. Way better than plain ol' baked beans.

So I guess that's it for now. Do you guys even care about this stuff? Is it all interesting? I realize it's probably not. This kind of post means there's really NOTHING exciting or blog worthy going on around here.

*Books!* I have not forgotten about giving away books. I'm just trying to come up with a better way of doing it, and letting more than one or two books go at a time. That way it's worth the shipping cost. So if you're still interested in that...there will be more books coming.