there's no such thing

Did you know....there really is no such thing as the stomach flu. Really. It's true. I just Googled it.
I stayed home the last to days with sick kids that did not have the stomach flu. They were throwing up and had diarrhea...but they did not have the stomach flu. All Google searches came up with a clear answer that there is no such thing. That the "flu" is a respiratory condition caused by a virus. Stomach "flu" is also caused by a virus....but not the same virus. Ok jeeze! But come on....don't we all still call it the flu? A bug is a bug, is a bug...know what I mean? So what if we call it the flu? Why do we have to be so technical all the time? I came back to work this morning and miss know it all had to clearly point out that there was no such thing as the stomach flu. So what. Whatever. Yeah, she's right and I'm ok with that. But seriously why do we have to be so technical? I worked with a guy once that was like that. I was talking about ice cream and how I've always loved rainbow sherbert. I wasn't even talking to him...but he had to turn around and butt in and let me know that sherbert is not ice cream, it's sherbert and that it's not sherBERT it's really sherBET. Then he turned around to his computer, brought up Microsoft Word and typed in both and did spell check. He was right it really is sherBET. He even went to Baskin and Robins website to prove it to me. But don't we all call it sherBERT? Everyone I know (except him) calls it sherbert. Who cares anyway?! If you're right, you're right...and I'm ok with that. But like I said...do you really care that much?
So yeah, both kids have been sick all weekend. It started with Megan on Friday. When I woke her up she had thrown up in her bed. I just thought it was random....it had been pretty hot so I thought maybe she'd gotten over heated or something. But later that night she had gotten diarrhea. And she's had it ever since. And Sunday Jake threw up. And then again last night. And I was sick Sunday too. I took them to the doctor yesterday and was told that Megan's issues were due to teething. Ummmm...I know that teething can cause the diarrhea, but like this?? (I won't go into details...i'm sure you can imagine....it's bad, really bad.) Come on people. I know there's nothing they could do anyways. A virus just has to run it's course. I know it.
So I'm back to work today...even though the I don't think they are all better. Is it horrible to admit that I needed a break from the poo and vomit and whining and crying? Does that make me a bad mother? If it's really bad my MIL will call me and I of course will come running.
Before the sickies started on Sunday, my MIL and I took the kids and 2 of my nieces up to the pool. Jake actually got in and had a good time! Before the afternoon was over, he actually was jumping off the side if one of us was there to catch him! Such an improvement from the day before. Well, a complete 180* to be honest! I knew it would just be a matter of time. It was so good to see him actually having fun. He even practiced his kicking and blowing bubbles. So we're getting there! Baby steps.
I have nothing else interesting to report! I hope everyone is better by this weekend so we can go to the pool again.

The boy and his red shoes...

Do you see these silly things? Yes, that would be my son, Jake and his new red Salt Water sandals. So, he and Megan and cousin Blake were hanging out with Grandma Ruth (Pete's mom) on Friday. I bought Jake 2 pairs of really cute flip-flops in the beginning of summer and he refuses to wear them. SO he's been wearing his old tennies with out socks. Yeah he's not into socks right now either. What is a mother to do?! Anyways, Friday he, Blake and Megan all go to the park with Grandma...he gets in the car and takes his shoes off. "eeeww" he says. "My feet TINK!" Well, duh...sweaty feet in tennies with no socks equal tinky feet! So Grandma takes them all to the shoe store and this is what they come home with. Red shoes. I guess it was Blake who picked them out...because of course, he had to have new shoes too. Oh, they had other colors...navy blue, brown, tan. But no, they had to have red. And they both think these are the best shoes any boy could ever have! Grandma took them to the pool and they wouldn't even take them off to get in the water. I'm not saying they're horrible or anything. But why red? Red just doesn't go with everything like blue or brown would! *sigh* Oh well. My cute boy and his red shoes! Whatcha gonna do?

And this little girl...She's on the move! She's been crawling around like crazy for the last 3 weeks or so. I swear, she's just turned into a big girl over night. She's into everything. Of course. I found her in the bathroom the other day chewing on a q-tip. Nice. How is it that I've forgotten about all the baby things, babies do? Not only is she crawling, but she's pulling up on everything. I found her standing in her crib the other day. How could this be? She is my sweet baby! She's still in the infant seat in the car (because I'm too cheap to by a new car seat) but she's been sitting up in the shopping cart now....and pulling everything she can reach off the shelf at Safeway. Seriously, when did she become a baby, baby? A grown up baby? THEN, I go in her room the other night...just to peek in on her before I go to bed. I peek over the crib and there she is sleeping on her tummy! I'm that parent who does just what the doctor tells you and puts her babies on their backs to sleep. I know we all slept on our tummies, but those Dr's and nurses can really scare the crap out of a first time mom. So Jake and Meg both were put to sleep on their backs. BUT they both really liked to sleep that way. Anyways, she's been able to roll over since she was 3 months old. But it just shocked me to see her sleeping on her tummy. She's never done that before. And she looked so wonderfully content. I just can not believe she's going to be one in two and a half months.

I'll leave you with this pic...this is Jake at the pool today. And consequently, this is what he looks like every time I've taken him to the pool. What a grouch. But the funniest thing is, every time we get home, he tells me how much fun the pool was. Tell me, how is moping around and not getting wet fun? Who knows. But I'm just going to keep taking him there. One day he will get in! LOL!!

P.S. I took Megan in the big pool with me today and she absolutely loved it!

I should know better than to eat.

Seriously. I need to remember that certain things like cream cheese and sweet coffee and ice cream tear up my tummy! I can't help it though. When someone brings fresh bagels into the office are you not supposed to partake in the eating of said bagel? How can you possibly pass by without snagging a bite?

Yes, this would be more ramblings of my bored brain. I'm warning you now! First, note to Jude: I laughed so hard when I read your comment yesterday! I so wish I could do that! She said to make my job more interesting, I should enter things wrong in the computer just so I could go back and fix them! Dude, if I had something to actually input into the computer, I would be all over that! I've had a tiny bit more to do today than yesterday. And it's almost 2:30 so that's a good thing.

2 oddly funny things...#1: I went to Baja Fresh for lunch today. I love mexican food. I could eat it every day. Anyway, so yeah, there was this pretty little Latina girl at the counter taking my order. I was looking at her make up. She had sparkly brown and white eye shadow in like perfect triangles and then painted on black eye liner that went way past her actual eye. But that wasn't what got me. I'm standing there looking at her going "what is so odd about this girl??" I couldn't quite figure it out. I gave her my money, stepped back and then all of a sudden it hit me. She was completely eyebrow-less! She had NO eye brows. Not even painted on ones. All I could think about was the last episode of Greys Anatomy...Where Christina turns around and says something like "Mother got me" to Meridith. I can't remember the exact quote, but if you watch the show, you know exactly what I'm talking about. She turns around and her eye brows are gone, just like Burkes mother. So funny. So that's all I could think of when I looked at this girl and I couldn't help but snicker just a bit.

Oddly funny thing #2: Well, maybe this isn't really funny. But it is odd. And forgive me for the crudeness of it. I'm talking about bathrooms....public bathrooms. Do you ever wonder what the heck people do in there? So we share a bathroom with about 5 other suites on this floor of our building. I go in there to do my business, and one stall is currently occupied. I give the girl in there the courtesy of the "one stall in-between rule". Does anyone else do that besides me? If there is clearly room for an open stall in between me and the other person i'll go to the next stall over just so we both have a little more privacy. Anyways I'm sitting there and I hear a muffled sound of the toilet flushing. She's still sitting. Ok. Whatever. Then I hear the unrolling of the toilet paper holder. some more muffled sounds....then here we go with the paper again. I'm done by this point, I flush and get ready to exit the stall. Then I hear more unrolling of toilet paper. What in the heck is she doing with all that TP? Do I really want to know? No, I decide. I do not. But I stood there, washed my hands, I even lingered there a bit messing with my hair to see if she'd come out, or at least flush. Nope, just more unrolling of the TP again. Ok, have I lost you all now? You all think I'm crazy don't you? I DID warn you, didn't I? I know there are certain circumstances where a little extra TP might be necessary, but I don't think there was any left on the roll when she was done. Am I the only one that thinks these things? I'm a total bathroom snob aren't I? I'm sorry if you're the girl with all the TP.

I've run out of things

to Google. Is that even possible?! LOL! Super boring week here at work. Michelle is even on vacation. She is my counterpart so I have to do her work too. And she obviously has none to do either. Could you imagine if she were here? I'm sure we'd be arguing about something! LOL!!

Yep, I have totally nothing new to report...so forgive me for the random ramblings of my brain. A few of you asked about the ranch stuff being stolen and insurance...Well, I'm not entirely sure, but I would assume it's all covered by insurance. But I know it takes a while to get the claim in and the money back. And who knows if we'll get all that it was worth, you know? I don't really know too much about it. But we're moving on...there's not much else to do. Pete as taken a real positive attitude about it and is just going to keep going. He really would like to know who did it though. He's one to easily trust people, but I think we've learned the hard way that you can't always be that way.

Today I'm inspired by this. Really good stuff here. I'm going to the dollar store at lunch to see if I can find me a notebook to start. I've been thinking about it for a while now, just never did it The first thing I want to put in it is a copy of that newsletter and who knows what kind of treasures I can find at the dollar store!

Jake and I are going to attempt the pool again tonight. I think he thought that is was HIS pool and maybe he didn't expect other people to be there? I don't know. He's also like me though, he does NOT like to be cold. The wind was blowing pretty good on Sunday so maybe he thought he'd be cold when he got out. And for sure he would have been! It's supposed to be warmer today and I think (hopefully) the wind will die down. We'll see what happens.

See, I told ya, nothing new here!

I'm starving...going to go see what I can dig up for lunch!

Monday, Monday...

Back to the grind. I'm ready for a vacation...or a weekend something. Like camping. I love camping. Didn't go last year because of the baby in the belly. Funny thing about starting a new job. You lose all seniority and you can't use any vacation till you've been there for 6 months. Poop. That means all summer I got nothin! 3 more months until Hawaii!!! But, I'm hoping to plan maybe a little weekend get away sometime soon.
I had high hopes for this weekend. You know, a little family time, good food, sunshine...that sort of thing. Well, it didn't turn out exactly like I planned. It wasn't really a bad weekend....But it could have been better. Our community pool opened on Saturday. They were having a big grand opening with a BBQ and prizes and all kinds of fun stuff. We were all anticipating it all week. So Saturday came and Pete and Jake got up to go to the ranch. The plan was, go up there, feed the animals, and come right back in time to go up to the pool by 1 o'clock. So Megan and I hung out all morning. I felt a slight head ache coming on, but decided to ignore it. I got her to take a nap so she'd be refreshed for the afternoon. Then right about 1...the phone rings. It's Pete. He says they're not going to be able to make it. "Why? What happened??" Well, someone broke into the ranch. Someone stole about 10-15 thousand dollars worth of tools, equipment, the ranch truck and a motorcycle. I could not freaking believe it. I felt so bad for him. The last 8 months of blood, sweat and tears....all for what? For some one to come and take it all away? Talk about being kicked in the gut. The worst thing is, it was probably someone we know. It had to have been. They new what they were coming for. They knew what was there. I mean this ranch is SO far out in the middle of no where. The house and barn sit at least a half mile off the road. This wasn't some random burglary. It's just such a sinking feeling. But we're not going to let it get us down. What can you do, right? So, we'll just keep moving on.
The slight head ache I mentioned earlier, quickly turned into a massive migraine. The kind where you feel kind of sick to your stomach. But Megan wouldn't allow mommy to be sick, so I took her for a walk up to the pool. I got our keys and talked to a few neighbors and then just headed back home. Jake and Pete didn't get home until after 9....exhausted and dirty from head to toe.
Sunday was church and that was about it. In the afternoon I took Jake up to the pool. We get up there, walk in the gate and the little bugger decides he doesn't want to go. Man, that ticked me off! I don't know why, but he'd been talking about it all day, then we get there and he wouldn't even put one toe in. I'm going to try again this weekend. I think he might have been overwhelmed with how big it is and all the people. So we'll see what happens with that. I want him to learn how to swim!
Anyway, so that's about all that's going on around here. Not too exciting, huh?
Wishing you all a happy day.

Layouts to share

Just a quick post to show these two new pages. I really love them both. The first is of mothers day in San Francisco. Check it out...14 pictures on one page. Cool. Took journaling strait from the blog here and it's on that little tag behind the main picture.

This one is just a fun one of Megan in January at about 5 months old. I love the way it turned out. Thanks Carla, for the inspiration for tearing! :D

That's about it for now. I seem to be in a better mood. Feeling really creative lately and I love that thanks to all my girls I get tons of inspiration every day. Feeling better about work too. I'm thinking maybe I caused enough scruff the other day that she's kind of backed off. It's a good thing. Going to lunch with some of the girls from my old office tomorrow. I haven't seen them since I left so I'm really looking forward to it. I miss them. Anyways, I better go help Pete fold laundry before he comes looking for me! Thanks for all the happy vibes about all my stress. It seriously made me feel loads better!

Note to self

Do not talk about kids, politics or religion or pets at work. She makes me want to quit. I about came undone today. Yes, I am sensitive but this time she hit me in the gut. You know, what has the world come to when you have to be so careful about what you say everywhere you go. I feel like I can't even say it here because you never know who is going to read it and take it the wrong way. But I think you all know I'd never do anything to hurt my kids. I'm just shocked right now. I guess I'm shocked at my own naivete. I should know better...especially by now and all the other issues I've had with her. Hmmm and now as I'm typing this, she's threatening someone else that she's going to call the SPCA on them. SHUT UP. Jeeze she thinks she holier than tho.

I just need to vent. I hate that you guys have all this negitive stuff to read from me. If you want to know exactly what I'm talking about let me know and I'll email you directly. If not, thanks for listening. I need to do Kal's 1+1+1 and write myself a better future than this.

It's just so hard to be a boy

That's what Jake said to me tonight when I was putting him to bed. He was standing up on the bed getting ready to hug me like usual...he asked if we were going to Grandma Ruth's tomorrow. I said no, tomorrow is another "stay at home day" and that we'll probably go to church. I can't remember now exactly what he said, but it was some sort of back talk. He's been doing that a lot lately...and a lot today. So I gave him a little slap on the back of his leg and told him he better straighten up...his daddy is going to be home in a couple of days and we don't want to give him a bad report. That's when he leaned over, put his head on my shoulder and his arms around me and said, "oh momma...It's just so hard to be a boy". He melts my heart! I wish he'd stay this way forever.

Explanation...

To yesterday's "bit-o-fit" I had.....Well, I realize now that I may have just been kind of ticked in the heat of the moment. I can't help it. I'm a red head. We're known for our hot tempers! So ....This guy in the office was talking about how his little 1 year old daughter loves the show "Boo-Ba". Ok, I have no idea what the heck Boo-Ba is, but apparently it's like some Teletubby type show. So Michelle (miss know it all) says, "your kids don't watch Boo ba?!" Ummm No. "oh yeah, you guys don't really watch TV". Nope. (I watch most of my TV online after kiddies have gone to bed) "Oh" and then as she give me that "you're such a fool" look....and in her best know it all, condescending voice,"You're not going to be able to get away with that for very much longer...Once Jake goes to school all the other kids are going to think he's weird"...... And, so you think that's going to make me go run out and get a TV in his room or something? Wrong. What about reading books? What about actually playing? You know what? Yeah, my kids are going to want to watch TV. So what. Hello, didn't your mom teach you...Just because you want something doesn't mean you get it. Michelle just thinks I'm Soooooo conservative and my kids are going to resent me when they're older. Well you know what? They probably will. Who doesn't blame their parents for something, you know? I have nothing against TV. I LOVE TV! My kids see plenty of TV. We watch movies all the time, we go to movies. Pete and I just didn't want TV to be what we did every night...and for a while it was. So we've cut way back and I don't allow Jake to sit in front of it all day. (cuz he totally would if I let him!) And why in the HECK would I need to justify this to anyone? You know what I mean?
Anyways, so that's what I was all irritated about yesterday. I just get frustrated with people. I get frustrated with myself because I don't like confrontation and I sometimes just back down or walk away. I'm very sensitive and I don't like when people, anybody, acts like they know everything. It totally bugs me. (cuz..uhhh I already know everything! duh!) I came to a conclusion today...Michelle is like Rosie O'Donnell. A very sweet person, who has a kind heart and does some very nice things for people. But if you don't believe her same ideas, then you're stupid. Come on...isn't that exactly how Rosie is?
I hope no one is offended by anything I've said here. This is a lesson for myself ...I need to remember to not get so bothered by other people so much. But I think that is exactly my point to this whole entry...It's ok to have a difference of opinion. That's what makes the world interesting. And if your going to be honestly passionate about your opinion...respect the others who are passionate about theirs. (rewind...note to self!) Passion about what you believe in is not cowardly.

Ok Question....

What do think of people that know EVERYTHING about kids....yet they have none of their own? Hmmm yeah. Uh huh....Miss "small doses" from a month or so back is rearing her ugly head around here again. And so is the PMS. They must come hand in hand. Freakin Frick-a-Frack! (That's me cussing in case you were wondering)
Ok details later. I just needed a little vent.
Thanks :D

Wanted to share this...

This is my latest creation. I'm super happy with it. I'm going to credit Chrissy for inspiration: 1). because she has enlightened me to the coolness of 8.5x11. I am in love with this format right now. And 2). I used patterned paper as my base. Chrissy does this a lot. I almost always use cardstock as the base of my page and then add bits of patterned paper from there. So thanks Chrissy! I have had this elephant paper from Basic Grey for like 5 months now. I love it, but I never could find a use for it. It worked out great here. This is my new thing...do you see, this is a journalling only page. No pics. I'm going to start doing this more often. 1). because sometimes I get kind of caught up in the ART of it all and then I run out of room or just feel like if I added anything else to a page it would be too much and I end up leaving out some good stories. And 2). because I don't really have a baby book for either one of my kids. So this is a way I can write down all their little milestones without having to necessarily create a layout based on it. You know what I'm saying? So I'm totally down with it. I really liked not having to worry about a photo. Refreshing. I have so much scrapbook stuff to do. I have to circle journals sitting here and I have not touched one of them. Well I look them both over tons, but I have not added my entry to either and uhhh I need to like send Carla's off to Jude like this weekend. *Crap* Oh yeah and I have another layout to do for Unpubbed. Well, I guess I'll have to get down to this weekend.

Did you all have a good Memorial Day? I hate the fact that most people kind of forget what the holiday is all about. (Totally ME included!) I'm not pointing fingers, just kind of stating a fact. I mean especially in that we are at war right now. We have young men and women fighting for our freedom right now. Today. Today they are dieing and crying, and fighting, and missing their families for the sake of you and me. Not trying to get all political. i definitely have a different opinion of this war now than I did when it all started. I really do wonder what it is we are fighting for over there. But most importantly, I want to remember and support our guys and gals. I want them to know that they are not forgotten. So if by any chance you are a passer by and you are a soldier...Thank you. For reals, Thanks.

Our Memorial Day did not have anything to do with America, or soldiers, or anything like that. We ended up going to the Oakland Zoo on Monday. We, meaning my MIL, all three SIL's and all 6 kids. It was super fun. And we had gorgeous weather. I'd never been to this zoo. It was actually really nice. Some of you might be familiar with Oakland and might be thinking the words "Oakland" and "nice" may not belong in the same sentence together! Well it is true, a lot of Oakland is totally ghetto, but the majority of it is very nice. The zoo being no exception. Jake had actually never been to a zoo before. He was so excited about everything. They had a reptile/amphibian house and that was by far his favorite. I thought I lost him at one point. Seriously, I started to kind of panic a bit. He was so excited that he wouldn't stand still. He would look at something and then just start running to the next thing 10 seconds later. It was crazy. So finally my MIL just went off with him by herself and let him lead the way. We couldn't find them for like 45 minutes. I thought for sure Jake had run off and she'd lost him! Good Lord. Thank the Lord he didn't and she kept up with him! So I got NO good pics of the zoo. Suck. I just uploaded them tonight and there's maybe one good one of a giraffe. hmm.

Outside the zoo they have a bunch of little kiddie carnival rides. So of course we had to let the kids ride. I took Jake on this little tiger roller coaster. He hated it! It was so funny sitting next to him. He didn't cry or anything, you could just tell he was not enjoying himself at all! Faith took him on another ride that was kind of a combination of the Tea Cups at Disneyland and a Tilt-a-whirl at your local carnival. Not only does it spin around, but it also has a wheel in the middle that you can turn and spin very fast. So before the ride even starts, Faith (she's 8) has the thing spinning like crazy. I didn't even know they made rides like that anymore. You should have seen Jake. His eyes looked like they were just going to pop out of his head. When he got off, he looked miserable and said he just wanted to go home. Long story-short--he lasted for another whole 2 hours maybe...we stopped to get something to eat and he didn't eat. But as soon as we walked in the door....BLAHHH. Yep. He puked. Poor kid. But he felt so much better after that! He went to bed at 6:30 and slept all night. It was a tough day for him!

Anyways, that's about it for now. Ended up being longer than I expected. Off to pay some bills (gross) and then go to bed.

night night. :)

What do you think?

I finally got me some pencil crayons! Just thought I'd mess around with them a little tonight. Can you belive this?.....JAKE was the one who colored this. Well I started off with just a bit of the red and yellow on the cherry, and I did color the leaves....but I walked away and came back to find this. Not bad for a three year old I must say! He finished my red and then decided to highlight it all in yellow. I think I might have an artist on my hands! Normally I would be totally ticked that he was messing with my stuff. But How could I get mad at this? Not much else going on here this weekend. Pete left Thursday morning to go to Alaska. He's guiding a bear hunt up there. So I guess it's work and play. He'll be gone 10 days. I miss him, of course, but you know it's pretty nice not to have to cook all the time. Well, you know cook, cook. I can make Jake a quesadilla or a PB&J and he's good to go. Same with Megan. Pop open a thing of baby food and she's good to go. I don't have to worry about a 3 course meal or anything! Does that make me a bad mother? I did, however, try the BBQ chicken wrap Chrissy was talking about the other day on her blog. I must say, it was so good I had 2! My tortillas were small so I justified having 2! LOL! Jake ended up just eating the chicken out of it. He gagged on the tomatoes. Kid is just like his dad. I don't understand how someone could hate tomatoes so much and love spaghetti. Anyway, I did technically cook since I actually put the chicken on the Q. I usually eat like crap when Pete is gone. Last night I had chips and salsa for dinner....at 9:30 or some crazy hour. Anyways, yep we're doing nothing exciting around here. Tomorrow we're haning out with the SIL's and MIL. Don't know what we're doing yet though. Hope your weekends are more exciting than this!

*oh-I have to write this down so I don't forget*- Last night I'm putting Jake to bed. He says "Momma, don't turn my fan off." "Ok, I won't". He says, "Yeah, cuz I need some air so I don't die". This is all totally in reffrence to bugs in a jar. He's 100% boy, in that he's obsessed with catching bugs and putting them in jars or bags or what ever he can find to store the stinkin things. *ughh* Do you know he can catch a fly like Mr. Miagi? You know from the Karate Kid? Only he uses his fingers instead of chopsticks. He sneaks up on them and then fast as lightning, he grabs with his fingers. I'm not kidding, I've seen him do it a dozen times now. Pete didn't believe me until he saw a jar sitting on our patio with a live fly in it.

One more funny thing...We're driving around today and Jake sees one of those things they have in front of car dealers...the blow up things that look like a crazy guy dancing? You know what I'm talking about? So he says "Look at that dancing guy! Why is him dancing?" I say "because he's having a good time". So he says "with the ladies?". How does he know, guys have 'good times' with the ladies?! I know, this is all like "you had to be there" type of stuff. But it's just all for my memory's sake.

Pidoman, muscles, and top 10 inventions

Ok so I'm sure you've noticed the banner. Can you do me a favor? Ignore it. It's buggin me because it's all stretchy and stuff. I need to fix it. But I'm lazy, and I'm not at home right now.
Back to business---Jake still thinks he's Spiderman. He just cracks me up. So Sunday he's walking around all day with these tiny little Mr. Potato Head glasses on. They're perched right on the tip of his nose and he's getting all squinty eyed trying to look through them. (I know, a picture would help, wouldn't it?--I'm not home so forgive me for the lack of visuals!) Ok, so he's wearing these glasses all day long. I say "Jake, why are you wearing those?" He says "deese are my Pidoman gasses Momma". I say "Spiderman doesn't wear glasses you ding-a-ling". "Uhhh Yes Momma, he do. Pete-o Parko (that would be Peter Parker)wears gasses and he's Pidoman". Uhhh DUH! The kid is smart, I tell ya! Memory of steel.
Muscles-Another funny Jake story. First I'll give you the background. This goes back to when we were up at my moms after my Grandma passed away. My cousin, Jeremy was up there. Jake thinks Jeremy is SO cool. So we're eating dinner one night and Jake is not eating his baked beans. So Jeremy tells him " you better eat your beans or you won't have big muscles like me" Then he flexes his bicep. So then the other day Jake points to his elbow and says, "see my big muscle Momma? It's weely big, huh?!" I say "dude, that is your elbow...this is your muscle". Of course Mr know it all says "nu uh Momma! Jermy told me. Dis is my muscle! See I eat de beans, dey go down my froat, and den I get big muscles right here!" And he shows me by pointing to his throat and then drawing a line with his finger down his arm to his elbow. Ok, so maybe I'm the only one who thinks this is funny. Me and my mom. We think it is.
Top 10 inventions: I was listening to the radio on my way to work today and the DJ had a list of the 10 top inventions that have changed our lives in the last 25 years (so since 1982) I just thought this was pretty interesting. Can you think of what some could be? I don't remember all of them, but some were the iPod, DVD's, the Blackberry, and stuff like that. But two of them really stuck out to me. One was the debit card. Can you believe we've only had the debit card for 12 years? It first came out in 1995. I could not live without a debit card! Could you? I mean can you imagine writing checks at the grocery store? Or actually carrying your checkbook with you? I never carry mine with me. Number 10 on the list was really great....Bagged salad. Think about it... this is a totally awesome invention. I mean who cares how much it costs? You're totally going to buy it. How often do you buy lettuce and all the other stuff that goes in a salad. I never do that anymore. I might buy a tomato, or you know something else to go in the salad. But I always, always buy the pre-made stuff. Don't you? What else can you think of that has changed our lives?
I know, this was kind of a boring post, but it was just stuff that was on my mind today. I could tell you again how boring my job is....but that wouldn't be any fun, now would it?

The best weekend...

I've had in a LONG time! Seriously, it was just that good! The kind that lingers with you on Monday. Like when someone asks you how your weekend was, you can say "Excellent" and it radiates from you. Yeah, it was that good.
Saturday: Started off quiet. Megan slept until about 7...which, since I went back to work is pretty late for her. It was nice. When she woke up I put her in bed with me and we snuggled for a while. This is like the only time she really snuggles...the rest of the time she just wants to play, play, play! So I really love the mornings with her. I let Jake sleep until about 8-8:30 because he and I stayed up late the night before. When he finally got up we all played together. I even got some scrapping in before and after nap time! Pete got home from the ranch around 4 and we quickly got ready to go to our dinner thing. It was a fund raising dinner for the California Mule Deer Association. Surprisingly, it was a lot of fun. (and remember we had no kids with us-so even more fun). We had excellent food from Kinders...a locally famous BBQ and meat deli. They served BBQ prime rib. YUM. They had raffles and even a live auction with a real auctioneer. I don't know why, but that dang auction was the best part of the night! I found it highly entertaining! LOL! I didn't even care about what they were auctioning off...it was stuff like riffles and guns and trips to go hunting. Nothing I cared about, but the auctioneer was so good. And they had these guys all around the banquet room as spotters and helping them make bids and stuff. It was crazy exciting! LOL!! One guy at our table obviously had lots of money to burn. He won a few of the auction items and if I calculated correctly he spent about 10 thousand dollars. Yeah. Crazy. They raffled off probably at least 20 to 30 guns and wildlife paintings and a gun safe and all kinds of other little stuff. We did not win anything. That was the only dissapointment of the night. Super fun to have a night out with the kids...which hasn't happened in almost a year. Very, very good.
Sunday: Meg slept late again. Good start! After we snuggeled for a while, I got up, took a shower and then went downstairs. I made homemade muffins for everyone (yeah, I know it was mother's day and it's supposed to be the other way around...but the rest of the day makes up for it!) I emptied the dishwasher as I talked to my mom on the phone wishing her a happy Mother's Day. At 10 I met my SIL's at my MIL's house. We drove over to Pleasanton to hop on BART to get over to the city. It was a beautiful day over there. If you ever go to to SF go in spring or fall. Otherwise it's freezing and foggy. Winter is usually not bad either. In summer it could be 100 degrees at my house and 58 in the city. Anyways, we got off BART at Powell Street. Which dumps you right downtown....basically right into the Nordstroms. :D First thing we did was go to Bloomingdales and Kim and Rachel tried on dresses that were like $1000, (yeah!) just for fun! The only reason I didn't try any on is because I didn't want to take off my tennis shoes and socks. I know, I'm lazy. I also didn't feel like looking like a fat cow. Kim and Rach are both skinny mini's! Anyways, Kim had got us reservations for brunch at a really nice hotel. (it was $65 a person!-a little rich for my blood, but it was good!) We walked up Geary Street to the hotel and had a very nice relaxing brunch. It was expensive, but it was SO good. I said that already, didn't I? Yeah. Anyways on our way to Brunch we passed by the Corran Theater. I think this theater was built way back in the early 1900's. Not sure, I'll have to look it up. I saw Phantom of the Opera here when I was in high school. It is beautiful inside. We saw they were showing Jersey Boys (a Broadway show about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons) My MIL really, really wanted to see it. So she bought tickets for all of us! It didn't start until 7, so we went shopping for the rest of the afternoon. I also had to call Pete and make sure it was ok that I stayed out that late...and make sure the kids were ok. I was surprised he didn't say anything, but he said "yes" without hesitation. YAY!! So anyways like I said we went shopping. Did you know? They have a 4 story Old Navy in SF. 4 stories! It was pretty awesome even though I don't like Old Navy all that much...but they have great stuff for kids. My MIL got a cute little skirt for Megan for $6.99. And I want to go back and get these. They're only 10 bucks. I think they'll be great for around the pool and for when we go to Hawaii. I did get some big framed sun glasses and a beach tote there. Then we went to Nordstroms and my SIL's helped me spend all $300 of my gift certificates! I got some tops and a pair of shorts. I think I'm going to take some of it back though. I don't think I'm down with this new style of shirts...they're like babydoll tops...you know kind of an empire waist with a flowing, peasant type below that. Kinda like this: I don't know, but I just feel pregnant when I wear them! I know it's the syle right now, but I just feel uncomfortable. Yeah, I think I'm gonna take 'em back. Ok so anyways back to the awesome weekend...After spending all my money, we hiked back up to the theater for Jersey Boys. It was so good. If it comes to your town, I highly recommend going to see it. It had all this music in it that I knew, I just didn't know that this paticular group sang them. All from the 60's- "Big girls don't cry", "Sherry", "Rag Doll", "Can't take my eyes off of you". Good, good stuff! The story was good too. All about how they got together, they had some money issues, they were slightly involved with the Mob. It was mostly about the music. Really fun and everyone was dancing in the isle at the end.
So that about sums up the totally mega cool awesome weekend. I want more like that! It was just so relaxing and so nice to just hang out with girls. I NEVER hang out. The SIL's hang out together all the time, but rarely do I get invited. I don't think it's because they don't like me, I think it's because they don't think about it, or that they think I will say no. I do say no sometimes. I can be somewhat anti-social. I wish I wasn't like that.
Kid update: Jake thinks he's Spiderman (or as he says "Pide-o-man") If I say something he doesn't like, he flings an imaginary web at me through his fingers--with sound effects and everything. ("ffffsseeewwwww") Boys are fun. He told me he went to the doctor and the doctor put a web in his hand. He's so funny.
Megan crawling update: We have major mobility. Of course it's not really forward mobility! She goes all over the house now but she doesn't really crawl and she definitely does not go forward. It's so funny to watch her. She goes around in circles, she goes backwards, she goes sideways but not forward. Anyways it's cute, and it's funny. When ever she figures out how to to get up on all fours and actually move forward, it will be a stellar day! LOL!
Hope you all had a great Mother's day! See more pictures of SF here

*Help!*

I need a title for this layout. What do you think? This is Megan and my niece, Faith on Easter Sunday. I'm just stumped, I have no idea what to call it. Leave me a comment and if I pick your title I'll send you something nice! :D

In other news...I was warned if I post this, I might be hated by all...but here goes anyways! I get a whole evening and a whole day tomorrow without children. I love em dearly, but you know, it's nice to get a break every now and then! Tonight Pete and I are going to a charity dinner thingy. I guess we bought tickets for it months ago and we totally forgot about it! We have not had a date out in almost a year. The last time we were without kids was last June on our anniversary. And I guess technichally we did have one kid with us, because I was 7 months pregnant at the time! So this is a much needed evening. And, his sister Sarah, graciously volunteered to watch the kids for us! Now to tomorrow...Mothers Day of course. Usually we don't do anything special for mothers day. Maybe lunch out and a card and that's it. Well yesterday I got a call from my other SIL, Kim, inviting me to go with her, Sarah and Rachael and their mom to San Francisco for the afternoon....without kids. And, Pete actually said ok to this! Woo Hoo!! San Francisco is only about 45 minutes away and I never go. The last time I was over there was 2 years ago. Jake was about 18 months old and I had him in this gigantic stroller. Let me tell you, I have no idea how anyone in SF has children because getting on and off BART and the Muni is like hell with a toddler! Thank goodness I will have none of that tomorrow! San Francisco is an absolutely beautiful city...that is if you can over look the homeless people crapping in front of you on the street. Yeah, I'm totally not kidding. It's disgusting. I guess I should be sensitive to their situation, but come on, it really is disgusting. But anyway, the city is gorgeous and I can't wait to get some good pics over there tomorrow. So I better get off here, I need to go find something to wear tonight. Don't forget...leave me a comment with a title for the layout you might get a RAK in the mail! :D Oh and here 's another one I did. Bad scan...sorry.

Just a bunch of random stuff...

Seems like I've had a lot of just random stuff lately! This year...or the last maybe 6 months or so, has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. Unfortunately, it sure seems like there has been a lot more downs, than ups. I'm just burnt out on emotions right now. I'm tired of struggling every month to pay bills, and feeling a rush of guilty anxiety every time I swipe my ATM card. And then there's the passing of my grandma....I really haven't even began to deal with those emotions yet. It still hasn't even sunk in. I went to Costco on Thursday....mostly because I didn't know what else to do with myself. So I bought 5lbs of strawberries and a thing of their rotisserie chicken salad. That's all I ate for 3 days. Strawberries and chicken salad.......And I thought I wasn't an emotional eater. Hum...thinkin maybe I was wrong! LOL! *sigh* Well I know I'm still going to have some bad days coming...thinking about my grandma, but other than that I really want to get back to feeling myself again. Have you been to Kal's blog? Love Life. It's amazing how she can see so many good things in every day. I want to start being more like that. I don't want this to be a place where I come to complain (though, I KNOW that is still going to happen...everyone needs to vent) But I also want this to be a place where I can share and relish in the joys of life.
Scrapbooking/photography note: I think it was Chrissy's blog...the other day I was reading how much her husband gets mad at all the crazy picture taking...Girls! Stand up for your hobby! Stand up for photos! Tell your husbands to eat $#*! (j/k don't do that!) Tell them they need to help and take pictures of you too! I was just reminded this weekend how incredibly important it is to document our lives with photos and stories. My cousin and I spent a couple of hours going through a box of photos my grandma had. It was so amazing to see the passage of time over the last 85 years...the vacations they took, the birthdays, the parties...the everyday life! It took us quite a while to go through them all...and a lot of them didn't have any info on them at all, and some of them had little stories on the back. But all I was thinking when I was done was "I want more". I just couldn't get enough. I saw pictures of my mother when she was my age. She was GORGEOUS. Seriously. Not that she isn't now, but wow, she was just so pretty. Anyways, all I'm trying to say is keep doing what your doing. It really will be appreciated someday.
Kid update: Megan...well she is SOooooooo close to crawling. Last night she fell over on her tummy several times while trying to get something out of her reach. This usually makes her scream, but last night you could see the happy determination on her face. She barly has a bit of forward motion. She can get up on one knee, then she kind of pushes off with the other foot, causing her to inch forward a bit! It's so cute. Oh, and I know you're all going to think I'm nuts, but seriously, she has said her first word. Not counting ma- ma and da- da. She says "kitty". It's not clear as day or anything, but it is clearly two syllables kind of like "ta-ty" or something like that. And I know it's kitty that she's saying because she only says it when she sees the cat. I had heard her say it a couple of times over the weekend, and I wasn't quite sure I was hearing what I thought I was hearing. But then this morning I was getting ready to put her in the car...I was holding her and not really paying attention. The cat ran into the garage, Megan looks down right at her and says "ta-ty". So there you have it. Proof. My child is a genius! Ha!

National Scrapbook Day

Happy NSD! Just popping in to say hello, and thank you all for your comforting words over the last couple of days. It really does mean a lot to me. So, thank you.

Can you believe this hobby has it's own day? No, this is not just a fad! Scrapbooking has turned the crafting world upside down and brought women together all across the world. Amazing. My friend Chrissy got a huge honor of recognition today over at 2peas. She was highlighted today as basically, 'someone to watch'. And she is for sure. Way to go girl, you totally deserve it! And another scrapping note...please don't forget to check back next week at unpubbed for our first featured guest! It's gonna be good. And join in the fun, post your work...we can't wait to see it!

Ok, I'm off. Hope you have a great rest of your weekend!

Kathleen W. Smith

Or Kay to some, or Kat to her family. To me, she was Grandma. She went home to meet her Heavenly Father this morning, 5/3/07. She was 84 years old. She was a wonderful mother, grandmother, and wife to my Papa. She worked until she was about 72, I think, as a nurse. She was very active and was loved and respected by many of her younger colleagues. I used to go to her house after school...she loved to play games. She taught me how to play domino's and "Farkel", a dice game we always played at family gatherings. We did paint by numbers together, and she did her best to help me with my math homework. Even though she reminded me she got a "D" in math growing up. We went on walks through the neighborhood. She made beans and cornbread. She always had cornbread muffins. She crumbled hers up in a glass of milk and ate it, or drank it like that. I always thought that was gross. We always made homemade ice cream for mine and my Papa's birthdays...and oven steak and fried okra. She let me use her nursing cap for Halloween....more than once. When I was 15 I decided NOT to go on vacation with her and Papa...because i was too cool to be seen alone with my grandparents. I regretted it the second I said it...but didn't go anyways. So, when I was 20 and she asked me again to go to Texas with her, I didn't hesitate, and I said yes. It was me, grandma, her sister Betsy and her Brother Buddy and his wife. Just me and 4 old people! And I had the best time! I'll never forget how we got "lost" in Mexico and all 5 of us crammed into one taxi to get back to the border! The last few years she had been suffering from dementia...or severe short term memory loss. She'd ask you the same question 10 times in a 1/2 hour. But other than that, her body was basically healthy. I saw her just this last Saturday when I went to my moms for a visit. She seemed happy and in a good mood. She remembered my kids names. And held Megan the entire time we were there. She stood at her window and waived to us as we drove out. I had no idea what was to come this morning. It's amazing how we can take every day the Lord gives us for granted. But we do, because what else are we to do? No one can tell what will come next. And you can't spend you're whole life worrying about it. I've been blessed to have shared almost 30 years with this wonderful woman, and I will miss her more than I can imagine. But, I am comforted in knowing she is with Jesus, and Papa and her sister and brother....and she'll be waiting for me when I get there.

I love you Grandma!

Hey there!

Thanks for all the advice about my kids! I know they're not really strange...but sometimes you just have to wonder, you know?! If you've emailed me lately and haven't gotten a response...it's not because I don't like you...It's because my husband doesn't! LOL!! (blame it on the men, right? J/K) It's not really Pete's fault...It's just that there is not enough time in the day. A few weeks ago...well maybe about a month now...we came up with a pact. Basically a list of chores that each one of us must complete before we do anything else....So that things don't pile up till the weekend. One of us takes the upstairs and the other takes care of downstairs. The upstairs person gives the kids baths, gets them in PJ's and washes/dries/folds laundry as necessary. The downstairs person cleans up dinner, emtys/fills dishwasher as necessary, wipes counters and sweeps the floor. And every night Jake is in charge of cleaning the toy area and feeding his lizard. So, by the time we get all this stuff done and the kiddies to bed, it's 9 o'clock. And the alarm starts going at 5 o'clock in the morning. So by 9, we're pretty wiped out and I usually end up going to bed. So, sorry for not getting back to you all. I try to keep up at work with my blog buddies and groups, but that can be difficult too. And I can't even see my at home email from here. PUNKS! Every night lately I've been going home to at LEAST 50 emails a day! I wish I had more time to be really involved, in all I want to be involved in...you know?
Another note about Greys....I can not confirm that George is leaving. I'm only assuming so because there has been rumors flying around about it for months...and then last week when he tells Izzy he's transferring, I just thought "ok, that's his out", right? I thought that just kind of sealed the deal. But maybe I'm wrong. I guess this week is supposed to be a 2 hour show. :D
Yesterday, I ended my post with "hope your day is full of creative sunshine". I have no idea where I got that...it just came to me. And I've decided I really like it. So, this weekend I'm gonna try and incorporate that somehow to my banner. (mostly as a reminder for myself, but maybe for all of you too) Chris{tina}sy *wink* let us know what the dimensions are for the blog banner so I'm gonna give it a go this weekend and see what I can come up with! :D

You know....

I really hate blogger sometimes. I've said it before. Yesterday, I had this big ole post all typed out...with a picture and everything....pushed Publish...and *POOF* gone. "page can not be displayed". Freakin' heck that ticks me off! It happens to emails too. And then of course you have no energy to go back and type it all again. Plus, you can never remember all you said anyways.
Maybe it's a good thing. I feel like maybe my mouth has been running a little too fast lately. Like maybe I've said too much...or not known when to shut up. Yesterday, I really felt like I made some people mad. Some people I really don't want to be mad, you know? I felt like maybe my words were like the last straw....the straw that broke the proverbial "camels back". And then I had a major panic attack. No one said anything for the longest time. I got so nervous because I HATE confrontation. I want to live in a world where people are happy, happy all the time! I'm dreaming, I know. But I get knots in my tummy when I think anyone is mad at me...or if there is some kind of tense conversation going on around me...it doesn't even have to involve me. What is that about?! Yes, I know, I'm overly sensitive. Anyways, I think all is good now.
Anyways, on to other stuff....If you haven't checked out unpubbed yet, please do! And submit your layouts too! We'll be looking at each and every one. Who knows, we might just pick you for our next guest designer! We want you to have your 15 minutes too!
Megan turned 8 months old on Saturday. I can not believe she's that old all ready. And I can't believe it's May 1st! The year is flying by. So, she's 8 months and not crawling yet. She sits up and slaps her hands on the floor and she rocks back and forth...like she's trying to crawl. But she does nothing with her butt. Well sometimes she scoots a bit. If I put her on her tummy, she just looks like she's going for a swim. It's so funny, she just kicks her legs like crazy. Then, if I put her up on her hands and knees, she gets really mad and screams cuz she has no idea what to do. I guess she'll figure it out. I'm not too worried about it except for the fact that Jake was already crawling at this age. But you're not supposed to compare kids, right? She absolutely loves to stand up and pull up though...maybe she'll skip crawling.
Jake's head is much better. He's gonna have a pretty good scar though. Are all kids weird...or just mine? Sometimes I think Jake has OCD. So the other day it got up to like 95 degrees. Pretty hot for April, even in California. Anyways so he's getting ready for bed and he's putting on PJ's with long sleeves and long pants. I tell him it's too hot to wear those and give him another pair that is shorts and a T-shirt. He flips out...not really throwing a fit or anything. He's smart enough not to do that. But you can see it on his face that he's just mad about it. He gets tears in his eyes and says "I don't wanna wear these ones". I calmly explain that it's too hot to wear the other ones and then give him the option to just wear his underwear to bed if he wants. Anyways this back and forth stuff goes on and on for what seems like forever. Finally he puts on the shorts, but he's still upset about it. He gets in his bed, tells me good night and then says "but momma, I don't wanna wear these ones." After like 15 minutes has gone by. He's still fixed on these stupid shorts. Please tell me that my kid is not the only one who acts like that. Should I have just let him wear the other ones? I think we're both just stubborn. I want him to do it my way, and he wants to do it his. We're both Leo's. Maybe that's why.
Well, this is getting kind of boring isn't it? I don't have a whole lot to report. Seriously, yesterday's post that got lost was way better than this one. But I can't remember it all! Oh one more thing for you Grey's fans....I hate George and I'm glad he's leaving. I really like Callie...I think I'm in the minority there, but I do really like her. And what she said to Izzy in the elevator was great. She is so the bigger person. And I think the whole Izzy and George sleeping together thing was crazy...why couldn't they just stay friends? McDreamy is Mc-tickin' me off! He's being really selfish right now. Carrie....I know a lot of people don't like her. But for some reason, I can't help but like her. She is soooo self centered and I think she's kind of mean to Burke, but I can't help but like her for some reason.
Ok, well I'll leave you with that. Hope your day is full of creative sunshine :D