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.

Last night

Was weird. And sad. And scary. And makes me a little angry too.
Let me get to it...
So, it's about 8:30/quarter to 9, my kids are in bed and I'm sitting at my dining room table scrapping. It's a nice night so I have my front windows open. All of a sudden I hear a little voice saying "Daddy! Daddy!" It was playful sounding at first. I thought maybe someone was playing hide and seek. But then again the voice was really little. I hear it again. " Daaaaaadddy! Daddy!" I had the thought run through my mind to get up and investigate. But I didn't. I sat in my chair and continued what I was doing. (feeling really guilty about this now) Certainly a little person would not be outside at 9 o'clock at night alone....would they? I can kind of see the street from where I'm sitting and all seems quiet. I didn't hear the little voice anymore and I figured all was well.
About 20 or 30 minutes later there is a knock on my back door...my garage door. I had left the garage door open so the turkeys could have some fresh air. It's not too unusual to have someone knock on my back door around here. We're all pretty friendly neighbors and I thought it was just my neighbor, Mike coming to tell me the garage door was still open. Well, I open the door and to my surprise there is a police officer standing there. My first thought was oh snap. we're gettin busted for having 18 farm animals inside our garage. Yeah the turkeys are still here. But that's another story, for another day. "uh..hi.", I said. "Hi. Do you have kids?" the officer says. "ummm yeah", I say. I'm thinking did Jake leave all his toys in the middle of the street or something? What's going on?? "Are you missing one?", the officer says, "a little girl?" My heart skipped a beat. "no, my kids are both in bed", I say. He asked me if I knew my neighbors very well and asked if I knew anyone with a little girl. It was all starting to click in my head now. That little voice I'd heard earlier wasn't someone playing hide and seek. That little girl was lost. My heart sank. Everyone I know on our street has boys. Lots and lots of boys. And the girls I did know were old enough to find their way home. The officer asked me to walk down to the corner to see if I recognized the girl. There were 2 police cars, a security vehicle and about 20 of my neighbors all standing around gocking at her. I'd never seen anything so sad in my life. This little girl was maybe 2 or 3 at the most. And she was scared out of her mind. I think she'd actually gone into shock. She sat there on the lap of a neighbor and was just sobbing. She wouldn't speak. Wouldn't tell anyone her name. Wouldn't even look at anyone. Everyone was just standing around not knowing what to do.
Something in my brain clicked again and I asked the officer if he had checked every house on my street. There are two houses at the other end of the street that have lots of kids, I hadn't remembered seeing any little girls, but it wouldn't hurt to try. I walked the officer around the corner and showed him the two houses I was thinking of. It turns out I was right. Or well that my gut feeling was right. The officer walked down to the corner with the mom and dad and they were reunited with their little girl. I was a sobbing mess. I felt so horrible for that little girl. She was still so scared but happy to see her mom and dad. I was so glad we were able to find her parents.
Now here's were I get a little mad...The parents had NO IDEA their kid was missing. None. She'd been out alone for at least 30 minutes before anyone found her. And it was probably another 30 minutes before we found them. How do you not know your kid is missing? What were you doing? I thought of the scenario that maybe she was sleep walking or something and woke up and found herself outside. I suppose that could have happened. But she wasn't wearing a nightgown or pj's. She was fully dressed...in a party dress with her hair done and everything. Maybe she fell asleep in the car on the way home and mom and dad forgot and left her in the car? When she woke up she got out of her car seat and out of the car? I guess that could have happened. But I don't know what happened. I don't know the situation. But I know that she was gone for a good hour and instead of the parents looking for her, we had to find the parents. Something about that just doesn't seem right. I know things happen, but good grief.
I'm glad all things worked out. I still feel really bad for not going with my gut and investigating that little voice when I heard it. I keep thinking I should have gone out there. I could have helped her long before she was really lost. Why didn't I go out there? Could you imagine being that little and calling for your daddy and no one coming to your rescue? And being outside all alone in the middle of the night? My heart aches for that girl. I just can't stop thinking about it.
*sigh*
So. That is that.
I went upstairs and checked in on my two munchkins and gave them an extra little kiss. So thankful they were safe and sound in their beds.

Sweet Summer.

I hate watermelon. But my kids love it. I do love to see the juice running down their chins though.



Summer seems to be in full swing around here. We've been going and going for just about 2 weeks straight. Of course we went to Hartland 2 weekends ago and just had a blast. Jake LOVED it. It was kind of weird letting him go and do his own thing. I'm used to having a tight rope on my kids...knowing exactly where they are at all times. But there were tons of older kids and adults all around fully willing to look after him. So I felt ok about letting him do what he wanted. It was also neat to see him be such a good helper and be so responsible for the younger pre-school age kids and at the same time very eager to be with the big kids. He's a pretty good kid, I must say. Pete and I also enjoyed just being together as a family and bonding with friends we don't get to see all that often.
As soon as we got back home and had just finished up all the laundry, we headed out for a field trip with our young children's church/Sunday School group to the Jelly Belly Factory. It was pretty neat for a free tour and I didn't realize just how crowded it would be. I was teensy bit disappointed that we weren't able to take pictures in the factory--I mean, that was the most interesting part! But it was fun anyway. The kids really enjoyed it. Oh and of course they give you a bag of Jelly Bellies at the end of the tour. They LOVED that part! What kid wouldn't?
So Jelly Belly was on Thursday and then Saturday, the kids and I packed up the car and drove to Groveland. Which is about 25 minutes from Yosemite National Park. My mom and Mike were camping there for the weekend so we decided since it's just about an hour and a half from here, why not drive up and stay a night with them? My mom also have friends that live in Groveland so we got to visit with them too. Saturday when we got up there, it was super duper hot. Like upper 90's. So we packed up and headed over to the swimming pool in the community that the friends live in. It was great. Beautiful view of the mountains and golf course...the water was heated to the perfect temp. Jake got right in and didn't even whine one bit. My mom actually got him to swim to the deep end of the pool with a floaty! Amazing. The kid has literally done a 180 when it comes to the pool. So anyway...we'd been at the pool for an hour or so when all of a sudden all these clouds move in. It looked like it was going to rain. I even saw a few lightning bolts over the mountains. A few minutes later, the pool lady comes over the loud speaker and tells us all the pool is now closed for 'chemical treatment'. Huh? yeah right. We'd just packed up our stuff and got in the car when KA-BOOM!!! The loudest slap of thunder/lightning bolt crashed ohhh....about 2 hundred yards from us. Yeah. Scared the crap out of all of us! But somehow funny and exciting all at the same time! There's just something about a thunder storm.
Unfortunately, that crazy weather we had over the weekend sparked up over 800 grass fires in California. You read that right. 800. It's incredibly smokey here. We literally have not seen blue sky, or any sky for that matter, in about 5 days. You can smell and taste the smoke as soon as you walk outside. So we're just praying for the fire fighters to be safe and praying for the peoples homes that are in danger. We're expecting the air to clear out by the weekend...but we're also expecting more thunderstorms in the mountains.
So anyway, this week we're just trying to catch up with laundry and groceries and all that other fun home stuff. I'm hoping to do nothing this weekend but I'm sure that won't happen! As soon as Megan wakes up from her nap, we're headed to the pool!

The Durl.

That's what she calls herself. Or maybe even more acurately....Ba-Durl. Translation: Bad Girl. That would be my fault. Isn't it nice to know how good I am at istilling self confidence at such an early age? It happened by accident. She was getting into my scrapbook stuff...and marking things up with my cool new Sharpie pens. I turned around to see her standing on my chair, pen in one hand and (it still hurts just to type this...) a piece of my brand new Making Memories Pasport collection paper! GAH! So I screamed..."NOoooooo! Baaad Giiirrrl!!" and leaped across the room to save the ever lovin paper. Priorities, people. Priorities.
So now, every time I dicipline her she says "noooo. Baaa duuurl."



She doesn't look so bad here, does she? I'd say she looks rather cherub-ish, don't you think? Despite the funky crop of the photo anyway. The original shot was a self portrait with me holding the camera. I cropped me out of it cuz dang, I just looked too freckley and frazzled and there just ain't enough photoshop in me to begin to fix it!
I just love this girl. Man I love her. She has just been the perfect addition to our family. I can't imagine life without her. She is cherub-ish and sassy, and loving, and sweet, and fresh, and she's got a little fire in her that I just can't describe. Oh, and she's got her daddy wrappped around her finger.

Other Megan-isms:

Dat= Cat or That
Diddy=Kitty
Ah-doe-bop= Otter pop-you know those juicy popsicles? The girl knows what she wants.
Dup= Cup
Stick= lipstick/chapstick or sticker. She simply says "stick"
Haaa Doeee= Heeeellloooo
Waddy= Water
Were Dada? = where's daddy?
Were Jay?= where's Jake?
Mo Meok= More milk
other words she says perfectly:
StoP
FooT
NoPE
SoaP
SiP
She says all kinds of other stuff too. But this is what I can think of off the top of my head.
It's hard to believe she's almost two. It seems in the past month or two she really seems to be growing up. She has so many words now. She can just about put her own shoes on. She buckels her own carseat...well, mostly. And she kisses her own owies. And she tells Jake she's "sar" if she hurts him. And then gives him a hug and kisses his owie.
Here's what she thought of me today, when I tried to take a picture of her in her cute yellow dress.


Already averting the camera and showing off her booty. Nice.

8 years ago today

Eight years ago today, I put on the most beautiful dress I have ever seen.

Eight years ago today, I saw my dad in a suit for the very first time. And I'd never seen him so handsom.



Eight years ago today...I'd never smiled so much in my life. Or cried so much either.



Eight years ago today, I said 'I do' to my best friend. And I meant it.

Eight years later, I love him more. More than anyone will ever know or understand.

Oh yeah...and Eight years ago...He had more hair. And I had less fat. ha ha! ( I just had to throw that in there!)

Why all the pictures?
Because I just found them. Yeah. I seriously thought I'd lost them. All of them. All 400 bagillion of our wedding pictures. I couldn't find them for months. All 400 bagillion of them that I never put in an album. I know. I'm a scrapbooker. What the heck?! Believe me. They're in an album now!

*I've been a bad blogger. I've just been really busy the last couple of weeks and I've let the blogging go. Updates and book give aways to come*

Hartland.

We're home. Here's a little video. Certainly not as classy as Nicoles. I don't know how she does it :)

I know...I'm not in one picture.

I didn't forget.

I didn't forget that I was supposed to post new books up for grabs yesterday. I didn't. It's just that I am a really really bad procrastinator and um....AVOIDER. Yesterday was a classic avoider day. I did absolutely everything I could do to NOT do what I was supposed to do. I really have mastered the technique of avoiding. Even now...I'm totally avoiding packing the car, filling the cat food bowl, and getting the stupid lizard heat lamp at PetSmart cuz the dang kids broke it yesterday. grrr. Anyway.
Yeah we're supposed to be leaving. Like for you know....4 days and all. Yet here I am avoiding the tasks I need to do. Because i LOVE running around like a chicken with my head cut off an hour AFTER we were supposed to be on the road. Because, Dude..... It's WAY more fun to be panicked than prepared....totally.
Talk about being prepared...jeez. Pete came home from work last night around 5:30, took a clue that I was literally going to bite one of my children's head off if they didn't stop freakin GETTING INTO EVERYTHING oh and PULLING EVERYTHING I JUST PACKED OUT OF THE SUITCASE...Megan. Ahem...sorry. And he decided that he better take Jake with him and go to the ranch. Which is ya know....an hour away. But he HAD to get something. So they went. And they didn't get back until 11 o'clock.
SO. This morning Pete rolls over in bed and says:
What time did you want to get on the road today?
Me: Well...there's really no rush. We can't even check in until 3 anyway.
Him: Ok cuz.....(long pause).......I gotta go the ranch.
Me: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???!!!!!
Him: yeah, well...I forgot that one thing I went up there for yesterday.

Good Lord.

So yeah. That's why I'm taking the moment to blog. We can't go anywhere without him anyway.

Have a good weekend Blogland!
I'll post the books NEXT Wednesday. Promise :)

Book Winner. And updates.

First and foremost we have a winner for last weeks book giveaway!! I won't go through all the picture hoopla this time. Mostly cuz I just don't have time. But know that all the names were put into a lovely bowl, they were stirred around by some grubby little boy hands and one winner was chosen. Congratulations Chrissy!!! The grubby little boy hands picked you!! Hooray!! Send me your address girl! I probably have it, but send it to me anyways :)
Ok on to updates...
First: The garage sale completely sucked. Completely. Worse garage sale...EVER. I am not exaggerating. I made $15 dollars. $15 DOLLARS! In two days! And that was mostly because my MIL felt bad for me and gave me a few extra. It didn't just suck for me, it sucked for all of us. The grand total was maybe $200 dollars. And that was mostly because the MIL sold a giant air compressor to some farmer dude for $70 bucks. It just really surprised me. Cuz we had GREAT stuff. No, I'm serious. The MIL is retiring from doing daycare in her home for the last 35 years. There was TONS of really great kids stuff. We had 5 or 6 Pack-n-Play cribs. Most of them looked hardly used at all. NONE of them sold. Not one. I also had a really nice baby swing--no one grabbed it. I had a BRAND NEW, NEVER BEEN OUT OF THE BOX highchair that I was asking $10 dollars for and some lady talked me down to SIX. SIX DOLLARS FOR A BRAND NEW, NEVER BEEN OUT OF THE BOX, HIGHCHAIR THAT STILL RETAILS FOR 49.99 AT TARGET. Yes, I am bitter. No, I will not get over it. Ahem...excuse me. I know...I'm not garage sale material. Is the economy really that bad that people aren't even going to garage sales anymore? I would kind of think more people would be looking for deals than paying retail. But that didn't seem to be the case for us this weekend.
Second: Pete cut his leg with a chain saw at the ranch Friday night. Yep. He's ok. Could have been A LOT worse. I mean, he could have cut is whole freakin leg off I suppose. Then we could of gotten him one of those cool wooden legs and pretended he was a Pirate and called him Peg Leg Pete. Kidding. Of course, I'm kidding. He ended up with A LOT of stitches and is probably going to have a gnarly scar. But he's ok, and that's what's important. The man who doesn't know the meaning of "relax" actually had to chill for a couple days and he hung out with us at the garage sale.
Third: We're leaving on Thursday afternoon headed for the mountains! Yee haw! We're going to our church family retreat for 4 days. I'm excited just to go somewhere, hang out with friends and just relax a bit. Here's where we're going. Check it out, it's a neat place :)
Who knew that going out of town for a few days would be such a hassle? I've been running around for the past 2 days doing laundry, making lists, running all over town making sure we have enough diapers, snacks, clothes, dog food, cat food, lizard food, and TURKEY food to last us while we're gone. It's exhausting! LOL!
Anyways, I have more little updates--funny things that Jake and Megan say/do. But frankly, I just don't have time right now. The drier is buzzing and I've got about 5 more things to cross off the to-do's today.
Check back tomorrow for another book RAK and get yer tissues ready...romance and sappiness at it's best.

Do you ever make a decision to do something and then think what the EFF was I thinking like 10 seconds into it?
Kinda where I am right now.
We're having a garage sale tomorrow. Well not here (thank the Lord) but at my mother in law's house. It was Pete's sister, Sarah's idea. She's moving back up to Sacramento in a month and wanted to get rid of some of her stuff. Pete's mom and dad have their house up for sale too so they've got the same agenda. Me? I just had a few things that I was going to donate or just junk and thought what the heck, why not join the garage sale.
I went over there today to drop off some of my things and all of a sudden it hit me. I remembered what a P.I.T.A. garage sales are.
1st-you have to go through all your crap. For me, this time wasn't a big deal. I knew what I was going to get rid of and most of it was already in "donate" pile anyway. But watching the MIL and FIL go through their stuff just stressed me out. Too much junk!
2nd-There's the whole putting stuff out, cleaning it up, and then putting it back out the next day.
3rd-haggling with people. You guys know me and confrontation. I sure as heck don't want to haggle. I'm willing to go down on price a little to get stuff sold. But I'm not going to give stuff away. If that were the case I would have driven it all strait to Good Will.
4th-Getting up early. Gah! It's just a necessity of a successful garage sale. Everyone knows the serious junkers come out early. I really don't mind getting up early. I really like it actually. But I haven't had to actually get up early and get out of the house early in like 5 months. And I don't wanna!
5th-What to do with all the stuff that doesn't sell? leave it in a pile and hope some fairy comes and whisks it all away in the night? That would be nice. Luckily I don't have too many things to sell anyway. So that's good for me. Hopefully it will all go.
6th- and this one really just pertains to me and because I'm in a mood...dealing with 3 kids all day on top of it all. Normally, not a big deal. But these boys (Jake and my nephew Blake) in particular have been driving me up the wall the past 3 days. I'm sure I sound like a horrible mother/aunt/human being right now, but I'm just not looking forward to all day with them. Again.

Boy! I'm just full of positive thinking tonight, no?! Sorry, I'm just in a punk mood. It'll be good. Besides, there's 3 little kittens over there I get to snuggle with all day! oh my. they are SO cute. Pete won't let me have one. He won't let Megan or Jake have one either. I tried all the angles, but he wasn't goin' for it. Boo! At least I get to play with them all day :)
Ok off to wash dishes. FUN!
Don't forget: check out the post below and leave me a comment if you want to be in the drawing for the books :)
happy weekend!
P.S. I'd also like to say Hi and welcome any new readers here. I've had quite a bit more traffic due to the book RAKs and randomness. Thanks for stopping by and don't be shy! Join in, leave commnents and all that! :D

2 For one deal!

For the next RAK I will be giving away not one, but two books! Yee Haw!
This weeks offering is Devine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Little Altars Everywhere; both by Rebecca Wells.



Some of you might recognize the first book as a popular movie staring Sandra Bullock. It was a cute movie, but this is one of those times where the movie just barely skims the surface of a really, really good story. This is probably one of my most favorite books I've ever read. If you've never read it, put your name in for the drawing because if you win, you won't regret it! It's really that good.
Little Altars Everywhere is the prequel to Ya-Ya Sisterhood. This one is good too but on a much different level. Read the Ya-Yas first and then this one. Little Altars goes back in time with Vivianne-the mother in the first story and is basically deep, deep character development. It's a little raw compared to the first story, but it really helps to understand why she is the way she is.
So, if you're interested leave me a comment and you'll be in the drawing. I'll pull a winner next Tuesday. These books are being offered as a pair, but if you are more interested in one than the other let me know and I can split it up :)
Good luck!!

WINNER! WINNER! WINNER!

It's just like your at the carnival...or VEGAS! Or not.
My assistants are both sleeping right now so I thought I better not keep you all in suspense. Cuz I know your just dieing to know who the winner is. So let's just get started shall we?
Here's all the entries:

And here's me spinning them around. We want to be fair, right? Oh! and I got one late entry...Detta, I added you in too!! spin spin spin...

Ok looks like I've got a winner....i had my eyes closed--promise!!

And the winner is........*cue Jeopardy music*......

CHERYL!!! Yeah Cheryl!! Congratulations!

That was fun! I'll post a new book up for grabs tomorrow!

I love animals.

I really do. I'm the girl who would have taken home every kitten in front of the grocery store if my mom would let me. I would have found a home for every stray dog. Right now we have 2 dogs, one cat, 3 fish, a large lizard and um.....18 TURKEYS.
I love animals. I really do.(did I say that already?) But I am SO OVER the flippin turkeys. The thing is...they're huge now. Like 10 times the size they were when I picked them up at the post office a few weeks ago. And hello, they're birds. Birds are...um, messy. Especially 18 of them cramped in the same cage. They stink. They eat like it's goin out of style. They poop in their water, on the water jug and in their food. They are no longer cute to me. Especially because I am the one cleaning that nasty poop water every day.
If I never see another turkey as long as I live, I'll be happy. Unless it's roasted nicely and sitting on my Thanksgiving Table.
The end.

*What a great response to the Book RAK!! The winner will be announced tomorrow!!*

Book RAK

So a few months ago Nicole RAKed me a book on her blog. I promised I would pay it forward and RAK it to some one else on my blog. The thing is...I have TONS of books. Lots and lots of fun paperbacks. Summer is the perfect time for reading, right? So I figured, why not share them with my friends? It's either that or my husband is going to go crazy. He says we're swimming in books and I need to do something with them. So here's the deal-y-O: If you all are interested I'll RAK a new book, or SET of books every week this summer. yeah, I have that many books and more.
This weeks offering is Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. (raked to me by Nicole)

The story flips back from 1930's to present day. It is sad, scary, emotional and even at times funny. Very fun quick read. If you're interested, leave a comment and one of my lovely assistants will draw a name by Tuesday. If they pick you, I'll send it off, along with some other goodies!
p.s.
if you think this is a total stupid idea and you are not interested in any of my books, OH WELL. ha ha! J/K :D

Hello Wednesday.

Ah, Wednesday again. Wednesday is one of those words I really have to stop and think about when I type. That and February. You know...your fingers stop and go WED NES DAY. Don't they? Mine do.
Anyway, not much going on around here. We're back to spring out here in CA. Last week it was super duper hot, and this week it's maybe 70 degrees. I'd so much rather be hot than cold. And yes, in my opinion, 70 is sweatshirt weather.
So, since nothing exciting is going on I thought I'd do a little product plugging or maybe unplugging in one instance....Things that I've come across lately that I really like, really want or really make me angry.
Lip Gloss-I'm not a real girly-girl. I don't wear a ton of make up and I certainly don't spend a lot of money on it. You won't see me at the MAC counter at Nordstrom. Not me. Well, unless they're giving something away free! But what girl doesn't appreciate a good lip gloss? I was browsing the isles of my most Favorite Store the other day and came up on this lip gloss on an end cap. This link isn't to the exact product...I couldn't find it on their website. It's WetSlicks AmazeMINT from Cover Girl. It's both amazing and minty. :) For a $5 lip gloss, you can't really go wrong. The color looks bold in the tube, but is very stuble when you put in on. It's not sticky AT ALL. The mintyness is tingly and possibly freshens your breath a bit and lasts for a good hour. It's my new favorite thing.
Another product from Cover Girl is this mascara. Again, for about $7 you can't go wrong. It's not perfect, but I don't think a perfect mascara exists. Take a look at that brush it's crazy! Plus, how could I not like it? The tube is orange. I love orange.
Ok, on to clothes...
I may be the last person on Earth to find this website, but maybe not. Have you seen the cute stuff at Boden? They are a little clothing company from the UK. I requested a catalog from them last week. They seriously have the CUTEST stuff...in just my style. Look at this cute skirt! I love it. Very classy/casual, made for women, not girls. A teensy bit out of my price range, but I think I'm ready to start investing a little more in my wardrobe so that things will last a little longer...oh and fit right.
I bought some tank tops at Old Navy the other day and I'm not kidding, within one washing, one of them had a hole in it. I know it was only like $7. But still. It should not get a hole that quickly.
A few weeks ago I was shopping for a new bathing suit. I needed one for our trip next month. For a few days in June we will be attending our church retreat as a family and I needed a hmmm...more conservative suit that covered my booty well. I had this $25 gift card from Spiegel that I've had in my purse for over a year now. I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally use it to pay for most of the new suit. So I go to the website, find one I like, add to my cart and proceed to check out. Hmmmmm....I say.... I've entered my credit card info but there's no place to enter my gift card number. So I pick up the phone and call customer service. After several touch tone options I'm directed to a live person who tells me "don't worry, it's on the next screen" and then she hangs up. Why didn't they just offer to take my order over the phone??? Frustrated, I put down the phone and push "next" on my screen. And what do you know? It simply says "Thank you for your order!" Ahhh!!! SO, I pick up the phone again. Dial customer service. Get some other idiot on the phone who tells me my online order won't be in their system for another hour or two and to call back later. Huh?? Grrrrrr!! So, I hang up again. I go and run some errands. Come back home and call AGAIN. Go through all the touch tone HOOPLA and get this message: "Thank you for calling Spiegel. Unfortunately, we are experiencing technical difficulties. Please call back another time." Click.
ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??
This goes on for A WEEK. A week went by before I could reach anyone at Spiegel by phone or email. I was finally able to send them a nasty email and cancel my order. Horrible, horrible customer service.
And then they go and send me a catalog in the mail. With all kinds of cute stuff in it. Of course.
I will not be tempted by you Evil Spiegel!
And I will not link you to them on my blog. I just can't do it.
And finally, one more product I like....for my scrapbook friends...Zach's Life papers from Little Yellow Bicycle. I ordered some from Memorable Seasons last week and it is just beautiful paper! It looks way better in person than on the computer or in a magazine. If you have boys, check it out.
Happy WED NES DAY.

Random bits

Have you noticed how often I post pictures of food? I think I have a problem. I really like food. My cousin Jami has complemented me several times on my food photography, and I think it's gone to my head. This picture is not the best example though.
These are some veggie kabobs that I made the other night on the Q. I'm really gettin good at the BBQ. I hardly ever burn anything anymore.
We're still trying to get some brochures made up for the ranch. Its just such PITA. That would be the new acronym for Pain In The A$$. First-I'm not a graphic artist. I can only work with what little knowledge and experience/technology I have. Which is like next to zero. I've come up with a good first prototype. It's O.K. but not the best. But the thing is...it's ridiculously expensive to get these suckers printed. We don't want to have a bizzilion of these first ones printed because we know that its going to take a while before we have good content to put in them. (better pictures, mostly) Does that even make sense? But basically we just want to have something for the guys to look at when they ask. Pete goes to two archery club "meets" every week and the guys are chomping at the bit for more info. So we needed to have something, ya know? Anyway so it's like 500 bucks at the local print shop for 1000 brochures. I don't need a thousand. I need maybe 1-200 right now. I don't see spending the mula for something that is ultimately not the finished product. So I took my design down to good ol Kinkos. That place is a crock-let me tell ya! I do not even want to tell you how much 50 colored copies on glossy paper was. And I won't tell you how effin cheap and ridiculous they look. AND I won't tell you how um...not happy my husband was at my investment decision. But I think you get the point, right?
So that's that.
I think Megan is just going to up and potty train herself. She's been bringing me her own diapers for months now...letting me know she's ready to be changed. Now, she's started whining a bit and pointing at herself "down there" and proceeds to pull down her diaper. Like "I want this thing off!". I ask her if she wants to go pee-pee on the potty. "shhhya!" she says. So I put her on the pot and nothing happens. I feel like it's just a matter of time though. I'm not ready. She's not even 2 for Pete's sake!
She's such a funny little girl though. She makes me laugh every day. Her favorite word is still NO and she'll answer NO to everything except when I ask: "do you want more milk?" and the aforementioned pee-pee question. Those two questions she always answers "shhhya!" She talks a lot but kind of has her own little "Megan language" that really, only I understand. She's never really been attached to anything except for her sippy cup, but lately she's all about her blanket and teddy bear. It's so flippin cute! It's not any one particular blanket or bear...just whatever one she sees in the moment. She tucks the blanket under one arm and the bear under the other. Did I mention how cute it is?
Jake is still working on his pool/swimming skills. After an entire afternoon at the pool whining and crying and asking to go home on Friday....Saturday came and he was a completely different kid. He jumped in without one bit of hesitation on Saturday. And don't let the kid fool you. The boy knows how to swim. At least a little. I watched him hold his breath, go all the way under the water and swim from one side of the baby pool to the other. He also got in the big pool without hesitation too. He did lose his footing a bit and got nervous. So he got right back out. But I was proud of him for trying just the same.
We are really enjoying the baby turkeys. They are just so funny. We've had them a week now, and I'm positive they have doubled in size. Today I noticed them starting to actually catch some air when they run across the cage and flap their wings. They're also starting to strut. It's the funniest thing! They puff out their chest, flair out their little tail feathers and drag their wings, just like full grown Toms do in the wild. It's crazy how fast instinct kicks in.
Well, that's about all that's going on here for now. The little munchkins have gathered around and are about to start nipping at my heels, so I better go cook some dinner!
Can you believe it's Wednesday already?

Dude...

it's hot.
it's 7:30 and it's 97* degrees.
i'm not complaining.
but it is kind of hot.
i ate carrots for dinner cuz it's too hot to cook.
i should probably turn the air on.

We went to the pool again today. Jake is still having a tough time. I don't blame the kid for being cold, but it's just so frustrating to see him sulk and whine. He would hardly get in the baby pool which is only a foot deep and was warm today. It's like each time we go we have to start all over again. See, he's really been getting more confident. He'll jump in the hot tub--no problem. Doggie paddle-he's got it. He knows when to hold his breath, he knows when to blow out. But he can't stand to be cold. Of all people I should understand. I hate to be cold. I should probably just lay off him. Finally after an hour of sulking in a lawn chair he says "mommy! I wanna go home...IT'S HOT!!" Well duh! it's only 90* degrees at 11:30am. And DUH!!! Get in the pool! That's what you do when it's hot. So he got in. And had fun. And didn't want to go home. Go figure.
I got him a little kick board at Target. It's perfect. He thinks he's surfing. :D Tomorrow, my Dad and Debbie are coming and they want to take the kids to the pool. I'm hoping Jake will just get right in and show them his tricks.
Megan, on the other hand, absolutely loves the water. Could care less if it's cold. She knows the routine now and brings me the beach bag when she wants to go to the pool. When we get there she practically jumps in without fear. She even learned how to use Jake's kick board. I guess I've got to get her one now too.
Any way...I've got a huge mess to clean up before tomorrow so I better be off.
Oh! Go check this out...we have baby turkeys!

Things that make me go hmmm...

*Why won't Megan stop crying? She's been fed, changed, watered...nothing seems to be making her happy today.
*Why does Jake continue to think he can do whatever he wants and go where ever he feels like?---despite several diciplinary actions?
*Why does my floor always have food on it?
*Is that a new stain on the carpet?
*And seriously....What in the world am I supposed to think when my very conservitive, 40 something white guy neighbor starts blasting "Pop Lock and Drop It" from his garage?

Hi, it's me again...

The blog slacker.
I feel like I've been running around like crazy lately.....And not accomplishing much in all that running around. I often wonder how in the world I got things done when I was working. Pete and I were talking about it the other day. I basically had a day and a half (Saturday and Sunday after church) to get my "chores" done...The Grocery store, Target, Costco and the laundry. And we both agreed that not much cleaning was happening. Picking up, wiping down yes..but the cleaning...yeah that wasn't happening. Anyway, now that I'm home...I'm finding myself at Target at least twice a week. Costco at least once a week and there seems to be a never ending supply of something that needs cleaning. Not only that, we now have "play dates" and I'm doing a lot of business stuff for Pete too. I've been trying to get some brochures made and finally, finally if you can believe it...actually scheduling hunts. People are coming, and they're going to pay money! Hallelujah!!
I've also discovered now that I'm a full time mom, our house is now actually being lived in...and it's beginning to show. In the 4 months I've been home we have successfully: put a hole in the wall, broke the toilet paper holder in the downstairs bathroom, put a streak of dirt hand prints all the way up and down the stairs, broke the patio table into a million pieces, broke a piece of tile off the kitchen counter and broke the shower door. But you know what? It sure beats the heck out of a pile of files and three walls of a gray cubicle. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I really do love my new job. :D
Oh! good news...In my last post I had talked about a good friend that might be really sick...remember? Well, he's a really good friend of Pete's and he's helped A LOT at the ranch. In fact, Pete is going to make him a partner. Anyway he had been complaining of a stomach ache and had gone to the doctor. They did an ultrasound and found a "dark spot" in his esophagus. Not good. He was pretty freaked out by it and so were we. Sunday, Pete put a prayer request up for him at church and of course the congregation prayed for him. Yesterday, (Monday) he had a doctor appointment where I think they did a CAT scan. There was nothing there. NOTHING. Whatever they thought they saw was gone. How cool is that? Power of prayer, people. :)
hmm..so what else? Well, today I think I'm going to fold some laundry. It's been seriously neglected. I think I'll put a photo order in at Costco (can't miss my weekly Costco trip!) and if the weather permits, we just might sneak off to the pool for a while.
Happy Tuesday!

Today I...

*Got up at 6:00
*Made coffee
*Read my favorite blogs
*Checked email
*Got dressed
*Got kids up and dressed
*Made toast
*Filled a sippy cup (about a thousand times)
*Took kids to Grandma's
*Went to the bank
*Got the oil changed in my car
*Picked up a prescription at the pharmacy
*Went to Kinkos
*Went to Best Buy...Bought a new printer because the one we've only had for a year and a half decided to crap out and it's just cheaper to buy one than to fix it.
*Went to Target
*Picked up Megan from Grandma's--left Jake there to play with his cousins
*Put Megan down for a nap
*Hooked up the new printer
*Made a brochure in Photoshop for Pete
*Printed it out 4 times before I got it right ;)
*Found out our truck is breaking down and is going to be about 2 thousand dollars to fix. *lovely*
*Found out a good friend could be really sick.
*Praying that he's not.
*Realized that some things don't turn out the way you think they will
*Made dinner while IMing with Melissa :)
*Made brownies. We needed brownies.
*Ate dinner
*Had a bite of warm aforementioned brownies. We needed warm brownies.

And right now....I'm just trying to stay positive. Trying to be the one that says "it's all gonna be alright" even though it's hard for me too. It's so hard to see someone you love and care about so much just completely stressed....almost too his breaking point. And he says "just how much more of this can I take?"....holding it in as best he can when I can see he's just ready to burst. And I have no control over it. And all I can say is...
It's all gonna be alright.
And I'll love you no matter what.
Somehow it just doesn't seem like enough.

Right now...

(Today's blog inspired by Nicole)
I love the smell of: cookies baking in the oven
I love the feel of: little tiny baby kisses on my cheek
I love the taste of: a cold mocha frapichino
I love the sound of: Pandora.com online radio right now playing Fleetwood Mac
I love the sight of: fresh hay bails lined up in perfect rows in the fields around here.

Today: meeting some friends for a walk. Just enjoying the day.
Oh! Tomorrow is National Scrapbook Day! Memorable Seasons is having an online crop. So if you've got nothin else to do...go check it out!

ahh..where to begin?

So, obviously I just haven't been blogging. Why? I don't know. It's kind of one of those things that once you stop...it's like really hard to get back into. That and the fact that I just really have nothing interesting to talk about. And I feel like it would be pointless and boring for me to post about the weather, the never ending incessant crazy ass wind we have here. I mean, come on...you don't want to know about the gale force winds...do you? I didn't think so.
Truth is...I've been a teensy bit stressed the past few days.Things have been building and building and just coming to a head. The last 2 years have been nothing but ups and downs..and unfortunately a lot more downs. Let me brake it down: Starting a business, having a baby (a wonderful, beautiful baby I absolutely would never ever regret...but having a baby and starting a business at the same time is stressful!), financial distress, going back to work, changing jobs, the loss of my grandma, lots of time alone, more financial distress, still trying to start a business and losing a job. It all really comes down to one thing: Financial distress. And really, me losing my job has nothing to do with it. It's there and has been there for a long time. Me working or not working really makes no difference. When i was working all my money was going right back out anyway. So you know... All these things have just been building and building inside of me. I'm the ultimate procrastinator, or avoider more like it. I'm so Scarlet O'Hara: "I'll think about that tomorrow". Isn't that what she says...in the wake of a burning Tara? Well I just can't do that anymore. I can't keep pushing things out of my mind. I really just want to curl up in a ball and make it all go away and let everything crumble around me. But that's not going to happen. I honestly wish I was 7 years old again. Is there nothing better than being 7? Anyway..I just am tired of feeling this way. I'm tired of the up and down yo-yo tug of war.
I know...this is just life. I'm not the only one with problems. Most are way bigger than mine. I have a neighbor--30 year old single mother of 2---dieing of cancer. Yeah. What the heck am I whining about?
Can you tell this is all just random stuff coming out of my brain?
SO. What am I going to to about it? #1 Take control. #2 one step at a time, dig my/our way out. #3 pray for guidance. That's all I can do.
Tomorrow: Post again. And no whining this time.
Sorry for the pitty party. But this is me. This is what's going on in my head right now.

a real pain in the neck.

Literally.
I've been dealing with a stiff neck for the past...almost 2 weeks now. I defied it and ignored it all last week. Stocking up on Motrin and Tylenol, trying to just ignore the thing. I mean seriously, a stiff neck for more than a day or two?? Come on! Then on Saturday the pain and stiffness progressed and actually brought me to tears. I just wanted my mommy! Sunday I patched it again with some high doses of Tylenol. But by Sunday night I couldn't even sleep. I couldn't sit, stand or lie down without being in excruciating pain. So Monday morning I set off to the Doc. He gave me some muscle relaxers. I do feel better. But dang, I still don't feel good. It still hurts. I'm still taking the pain meds. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever be back to normal.
Ok, I will not whine about it any longer. Just wanted blogland to know what was up.
For your viewing pleasure,here is a slide show of a few pics of the ranch that I took on Sunday. Lots of wild flower naturey stuff :)

I did it.

Dudes. Seriously. Like no joke.
I MOWED THE LAWN.
I.
MOWED.
THE.
LAWN.
All by myself. I started the dang thing and everything. Too bad Megan is taking a nap or I surely would have had her strapped to me with a bungie.
What else do I need to say here?
I rock.

Kiss my long grass you snooty neighbors!!

I'm not dead.

Not that anyone but my mother would notice. ha ha!
I'm a joker, I'm a smoker, I'm a miiidnight toker.I'm not actually ANY of those things. Well, maybe a joker. But I am a blog slacker....and now I've got Steve Miller stuck in my head. I promise..I'll get an invigorating post up sometime this week.
But while you wait...feel free to check out le foto blog or le blog de foto. (you didn't know I was bilingual, did you? heck, even trilingual.)I somehow have kept that up to date. sorta.

He can go anywhere.

Step one: get on



Step two: concentrate



Step three: pedal! pedal! balance!



Step four: he's got it! keep going buddy!



Step five: he goes down. oops



*sigh*
The boy can ride a bike now. *sniff, sniff*
Within 5 minutes of having the training wheels off, he had it down. He can go anywhere now.

*please no hate mail regarding my son's lack of head protection. I am aware of the bicycle safety laws. Thank you*

Wednesday ramblings

First, I still want to talk about the lawn...I have to thank you guys for letting me know I'm not crazy for thinking the letter I received was a little rude. I think Jude's rebuttal letter in the comments of my last post was awesome. It was perfectly pointed and exactly what I'd like to say the person! And, I really think I'm going to find some tacky yard ornaments and load my front lawn up with them. Anyone know where I can find some pink flamingos? Hook me up! Also, as I discussed with Chrissy via email...next time I mow, I will strap Megan to my hip with a bungee cord and get to mowing...all the while I'll be smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. (Not really) But wouldn't that be funny? In a sick and twisted sort of redneck way?
In all seriousness though, I think that what bothers me most is that it was from a neighbor. Not the home owners association. If it was from the HOA, that is one thing. That is their job....to maintain the quality of the association. I would expect a letter from them. What my neighbor did is try and handle the situation his/herself and in turn has created a very complicated environment. Because now, instead of cussing the HOA, I'm now wondering which neighbor I should cuss. Now, each time I exit my house and speak to a neighbor, behind my cheeky smile I'm thinking, "was it you? was it you? It WAS you. Well, you can just kiss my long grass!" Which is not the sort of attitude I'd like to have. I'm about 90% sure I know who wrote the letter, but I'll still always wonder. Really, I'm over it. But I thought it necessary for us bloggers to kind of finish our cyber conversation :)
On to other news....
* Jake had his Kindergarten physical yesterday. All was well until it came time to get the booster shots. Oh my. To say that it was dramatic or even traumatic would be an understatement. The kid went absolutely nuts. He was sitting on my lap with my legs wrapped around him and my arms around him in a tight bear hug and I could not keep the kid from flailing around and screaming like a banshee. You would have thought someone was murdering him. "NOOOOOO! DON'T DO IT! DON'T DO IT! AHHHHHHHH!" I'm sure if he knew any choice cuss words, he would have used them and called that lady every name in the book. He was totally out of control, complete with hyperventilating and everything. The good news is, if someone really was trying to do him harm, the boy would not go down without a fight. The kid has pure determination.
* Megan has been using the word No for quite some time now. But until recently it's just been a word she used to answer any question.
Me: Are you a good girl, Megan?
Her: No.
Me: Are you a bad girl?
Her: No.
Me: Do you love mommy?
Her: No.
But in the past week or so, the word has evolved and she's finally begun to understand it's true meaning. Enter: Toddler defiance. It's a lovely thing, isn't it?
She's also quite the tattle tail-er. Every opportunity she gets, she tells on Jake, the dogs, the cat. The tattle goes a little like this:
Her: Mama! (then she points her finger)
Her: da ba dee do da! Bad! (and yes, she really says "bad")
It's quite funny.
Other words added to her vocabulary lately: More, please, bite, shoe, ow!, what's that?, out side, and Shhh! which also includes the finger up to her mouth and everything.
I also caught her pretending yesterday. I was absolutely floored. She was sitting quietly by herself playing with a few of the dishes from the tea set I got her at Christmas. She scooped some pretend food out of the bowl and said "mo? (more) Bite?" and she scooped some imaginary food into an imaginary persons mouth. She's only 19 months old. Isn't that kind of young to be pretending that way? I was just shocked. But it sure was cute :)
* We had a lovely Easter on Sunday. Spent the day at the ranch and had a big family BBQ and Easter Egg hunt. It was a blast..I took a lot of pics, but none really that great.
* We're going on a church field trip tomorrow to Mrs. Grossman's Sticker Factory.
* I'm sick again. I hope I can make it through the day tomorrow. I feel fine if I just sit here. But the moment I get up and do something, I get the chills and my body aches all over. It's not good.
That's about it for now. Hope the week is treating you all well. :D

Finally, somthin' to blog about...

So, remember in my last post...the first random fact I mentioned was that I didn't know how to mow the lawn. I've never ever mowed one before. That particular fact was first on my list for a reason. See, the lawn (my lawn) has been on my mind for a while. It's that time of year where everything perks up and starts growing again. Our lawn is no exception. It was growing, wildly and no one was doing anything about it. No one being me, or Pete. Me because, well I already told you...I don't know how to mow! And Pete because, well he's been pretty busy trying to start his own business and work 40 hours a week.
Anyway, I was starting to get worried that someone was going to complain. So, I asked Pete if he could mow it...I'd asked him like 2 or 3 times. I even asked him to show ME how to do it so that he wouldn't have to worry about it. In fact, I was THIS close to dragging that mower out and make a fool out of myself trying to start it. The lawn was bad. I'm talking 10 inch long blades of grass...at least.
Have I mentioned that I live in a real snooty neighborhood? I'm talking Desperate Housewives, Wisteria Lane, snooty. Every one's yards are perfectly manicured and gorgeous. So you know...10 inch long grass sticks out like a sore thumb around here. That is why I was worried.
So yesterday Pete came home and mowed the lawn. Hallelujah!
But today, we got this in the mail:

Now, I realize that this neighbor was probably trying to be considerate by not identifying his/herself. And I KNOW my yard was pretty despicable. BUT I still can't help but be a teensy bit offended by this letter. I mean, do you think I would have received this letter 20 years ago? It seems that people don't really seem neighborly anymore. It seems to me that 20, 30 years ago someone might have said "I wonder if Mrs. Wilcox is ok?....I know Mr. Wilcox has been real busy...and didn't Mrs. Wilcox lose her job recently? Maybe I should stop by and see if there's anything she needs?"
But alas, it seems times have changed and instead I get an anonymous letter in the mail.
So, here is my response that I plan on posting on a stick in my front yard:

What? Too harsh?

EDITED: What I find humorous about this whole thing is...if you notice the envelope was post marked March 20th...which was yesterday....The day the lawn finally got mowed. If they just would of waited one more day. And I bet they felt kinda bad after they saw Mr. Wilcox mowing...knowing full well they couldn't take back the letter they just sent. I'm just saying.

Monday Randomness

Wow, so a whole week has gone by again? I've been such a blog slacker. You'd think I'd find more time for it now...but somehow there always seems to be something else to do. I think that's my excuse for everything.
We're still trying to get things ready for Kindergarten...this week starts a week of doctor and dentist appointments. Jake and I go to the dentist tomorrow. I'm a little scared...cuz I haven't been to the dentist in a while. And this is one I've never been to before. I don't think I have any cavities though. I hope not. I'll be glad to have some super clean teeth! I love that feeling when they're all slick and shinny!
Megan has an appointment with a dermitologist on Friday. Since she was about 8 months old she's had these mole like things on her neck. They're really gross and keep getting bigger...they're actually skin tags. I hate that word/words...sounds so yucky! Anyways so I'm glad she'll finally be getting those taken care of. I'm also going to ask about her exema. She has it SO bad. The poor little girl feels like sand paper and she's got it so bad behind her knees that her skin looks all shinny and really red. I know it hurts her.
Gosh, I really have nothing interesting to talk about! I was tagged 2ce last week by Jude and Ronda for 7 random things...you know, I'm all about randomness!
1. I've never ever mowed a lawn. ever. Don't even know how to start the lawnmower.
2. I don't like mushrooms. Or seafood. I can pick around mushrooms....but I can NOT pick around seafood. YUCK. I think mushrooms completely ruin pizza.
3. I love pizza (whithout mushrooms). My first job was at a pizza place that my best friends dad owned. He was a real jerk. But I worked there for a year cuz my mom told me I had to. I probably ate pizza every day for a year....and I was still a size 6. I totally wish I still had that body and metabolisim!
4. My first kiss wasn't until I was 17! Well...there was one time when I was 15, but it was so bad I don't want to remember it. The time at 17 wasn't great either.
5. When I get really mad, I throw stuff. What ever is in my hand at the time. And if I don't have anything in my hand, I find something. Don't make me mad. :)
6. When I was 18, my best friend and I went to Mexico for a week by ourselves for Spring break. All I can say about that is...ahem.... whatever happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico. That was probably one of the wildest weeks EVER! LOL! Not quite "Girls gone Wild"......but almost. :)
7. After I finish a scrapbook page...I have to stare at it for a good hour or more to make sure I really like it.
That's it. Why does it always seem so hard to think of 7 things?
I'm still trying to finish up my Pig Farmer Wife story...I've started it like 3 times now. It's just not coming together well.
Here's a couple layouts I did this weekend...I haven't posted any here in a LONG time so here ya go:


Good grief, could this post be any more random??

Hello Blogland...

Sorry I've been away so long. I'm a procrastinator and I'm lazy. That's the only excuse I have.
Thanks for all the well wishes from my last post. I'm feeling much better about the situation now. Seriously, I think most of you would probably laugh at the whole thing. It was basically someone making one little mole hill into a giant mountain..of Mt. Everest proportions! Ok, what the heck...here's what happened (the very, very short version) Basically, this crazy lady called the cops on me because she found out we have guns in our house. uh huh. That's the gist of it. Hey lady? Last time I checked...this was still America, and we still have the right to bear arms. Just so you know.
And just so you guys in blogland know...our guns are all unloaded, and locked in a secure cabinet, away from children. I double checked.
Anywho....I'm so glad it's daylight savings time, and I'd like to shake the man's hand whoever came up with the idea of making it come sooner and stay longer. They say it's supposed to save energy...I think that's probably a bunch of bologna (yes, i just sang the Oscar Myer song to myself to type b-o-l-o-g-n-a), but I don't care. I know a bunch of people are all like "duuude...I lost an hour of sleep!" And yeah, you are correct. BUT dude, you gained an hour of DAY. To me, that is awesome. Daylight savings means we are just that much closer to summer! Which means swimming pools and suntans. And BBQ's and camp outs. And maybe, just maybe even playing outside AFTER dinner, and maybe an evening walk. Which I seriously need to start doing. Really.
Since obtaining my new position at the Wilcox house, I think a tiny bit of that 27lbs I lost last year....is starting to creep back...like right onto my @ss. Not good. I can NOT go back to the way things were. Must stop the madness NOW!
See, part of my problem is...I have this new obsession. Food blogs. When I was working I started using Google Reader as my RSS feeder (I don't even know what that means) so that I could read all your blogs. The work firewall wouldn't let me use Bloglines. Anyway, the cool thing about Google Reader is that it is smart. It like KNOWS I like Scrapbooking blogs, and parenting blogs and because of my subscription to thepioneerwomancooks.com, It knows I'm interested in food blogs...SO it periodically recommends all these lovely blogs for me to check out. How cool is that?! Pretty cool, I say. (does Bloglines recommend? just wondering)Except for now I'm subscribed to like 7 or 8 different food blogs, that mostly cook yummy fattening foods. And they make me want to eat. And cook. And eat some more. Maybe I should unsubscribe? Regardless, I can't let the blubber take over again. Period.
Oh, and guess what? (I'm changing subjects now) I had a nice sort of surprise visit from Chrissy yesterday! She and her family, and their friends were on their way back to Phoenix from Seattle. It just happened that they were driving right past here about dinner time. So me and the kids packed up and met them over at the Golden Corral for dinner. It was so great! I finally got to meet Sean and Simon and Felix....although, I really felt like I knew them already anyway. They are a great family and I'm so glad to have spent time with them. But the visit was WAY too short. :( If you check out my photo blog, you'll find a picture of us there. For some reason blogger is having issues and I can't upload it here. :P
That's about all that's going on around here. I've got to get stuff ready for Jake's Kindergarten registration. I still can not believe I'm going to have a kid in school. Holy crap. So I've got to get is shot record, order his birth certificate, and now they need to have a dental exam too! So, lots of stuff to do...