The Madness Continues......

My Very Productive Week

2011-12-06T02:01:00.000-08:00

This has been one of the most productive weeks, craft-wise that I think I have ever had. It started out with me making 4 sets of 4 Scrabble tile coasters, for my brothers friend. I made her a set for herself before, and she enjoyed them so much she ordered some for a friend and family members for Christmas. A chance to make a little extra money? Yes, please!

Then, on Wednesday I was at scouts with Ben, and one of his lovely, crafty leaders told me that she had a booth at a craft fair, and if I made some stuff-I could bring it to sell. I could've died from happiness. A chance to sell something I made? For someone outside of my family and Facebook to see it? Fantastic! So I came home, got on Pinterest to look at the things that I had been wanting to make, and narrowed it down to things I can make with what I had-or very little money. Then I borrowed some Cricut cartridges from his scout leader, and set out to make some stuff.

From Wednesday night until Saturday morning (when the fair was), I got 5 hours of sleep. None of which was Friday night. And It was worth it. I love crafting, and would gladly forgo sleep any day of the week to have the chance to do it! Whether or not I sold anything was not important, since I had someone in mind for almost anything I made-just in case.....the chance that people would get to see it was what made me happy.

I didn't get everything done I had planned, and some of it didn't turn out like I wanted. That's alright. I had a blast, and I am SO grateful to Cheryl for the ~~excuse~~ opportunity to craft.

On that note, here are a few pictures of what I did........

My Camp Half-Blood Painting, with hand cut vinyl. I love this, and am planning to make a few for my family members that are as in love with the Percy Jackson series as I am. This one sold though.

This is also a painting + vinyl, that I gave to my sister for my niece, Mia.

These are natural stone tiles with vinyl coasters that are now my Mom's.

This was my attempt at melted crayon art, using a glue gun. NOT A FAN. Too hard to control where it goes, and it takes forever to do. Sold.

I love this saying. This tile is now hanging in my kitchen.

This is also a wonderful saying. I think I want to put this up on the wall in my family room so I can remember it. I need to learn to live by this. I'm not the best at apologizing when I don't feel like I did anything wrong. This makes an awesome point. Sold.

Vinyl and tile coasters, Asian Edition. Sold.

Animal print vinyl and tile coasters. Sold.

This is what I came up with to try, after I wasn't happy with the melted crayon. Paint drips! Much easier to control, and I love how some of the paints started to blend. Since this wasn't dry in time, it didn't make an appearance at the fair. This is now my sister and brother-in-laws.

These are some of the coasters that were ordered for Christmas by my brothers friend.

More of the coasters......

Almost done........

last of the 16 coasters that were special ordered.

Though it is by no means perfect (owl anyone?!?), can you guess which coaster is my favorite? Can you? Hmmm..... =)

I had one more 12 x 12 tile that said "Gratitude turns what we have into enough." I wasn't able to get a picture of it though, since it sold literally seconds after I put it out on the table at the fair. Awesome. =)

Going Green...Literally

2011-12-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

I found one of the most genius things while browsing through Pinterest today. Moss. Paint. Seriously? Moss Paint!!

See:

http://www.designmom.com/2011/08/moss-graffiti/

This is such a cool thing. I love moss. Just the green, spongy, beauty of it. I think it should be everywhere! And with the amount of moisture in the air outside right now, I won't have to remember to water it. This is definitely win-win. Here's what you do.....

"You’ll need several handfuls of moss, 12oz of buttermilk or a can of beer and a teaspoon of sugar. Mix in a blender until liquid and paint on the wall. Spray daily as it grows, as moss thrives when moist." Thank you ohmontreal.com for your description on how to make this. I couldn't have said it any better, so I didn't. =)

I am going to buy some moss tomorrow and make my yard GORGEOUS. Trees, brick walls-nothing is going to be safe. This is going to be so much fun!

$5 Snowman Craft

2011-11-10T15:01:00.000-08:00

My kids have been asking to decorate for Christmas since the day after Halloween. Then when I was going to my friend's house for a Girls Night Out, I saw one of her neighbors already had their Christmas tree up in front of the window, and lights around the house. I was a bit shocked at the timing (November 4th!!), and said something to Misty about it, and she said that she was thinking of putting hers up soon too. Not feeling validated in my shock, I said something to my hubby when I got home and he said it made sense as well!

"That way you get to enjoy it longer than a month."

?!?!?!?!? Am I the only one who thinks Thanksgiving is being forgotten? Mind you, Christmas is my favorite holiday, and I do listen to Christmas music all year; but I think the full on decorating should wait until the day after Thanksgiving. At least. What do you think?

It seems like I'm being out ruled in my house though with the constant asking, and the everyday pleads to decorate for Christmas. I have to admit, I am softening up to the idea-just a bit. We are still going to be making Thanksgiving decorations for the inside, but I compromised and did decide that if I put something up OUTSIDE it wouldn't take away from the spirit of Thanksgiving, and I would buy myself some time before I get barraged with pleading again.

So this is what I decided to do. My $5 craft from the dollar store. Thank you Pinterest for the idea.

These are what I had for inspiration.....

http://carolannbychance.blogspot.com/2011/11/is-it-too-early-to-dream-of-christmas.html

http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/2010/11/tool-time-tuesdaysnow-wreath.html

Of course, if you want the wreaths to be nice and full like these, it is going to cost more-but the dollar store does have both the green faux pine, and a light wicker-ish wood type wreaths for you to pick from. For my snowman I got an 18 inch, a 16 inch, and a 12 inch faux pine wreaths. Then I got a wool scarf, and a hat that I liked to go on it. At home I had pipe cleaners, a door hanger and bells to accessorize. It was very easy, and quick. The whole thing took maybe 5 minutes, and I love it. The boys were SO happy when they came home from school and saw it. how do you like it?

My doors are nowhere near as fancy as the ones online, but I like it. I did take a couple of twisty ties and secure the hat, branches and scarf to the wreath underneath, and the bells were above the snowman instead of on it

like I was planning, just so I could hold the door hanger down to a hook on the door. Now if it gets windy, or the door gets slammed-I'm not worried about it falling down. In the end I love it, and the price could NOT be beat!!

Blingity-bling bling!!

2011-11-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

I have 4 boys. 4. Boys. No cute clothes will ever adorn my children, since they don't make "cute" boy stuff. They make functional clothes, that have either skulls or dinosaurs on them. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I love functional clothes! I prefer them to ones that are just for show. Stains in clothes just means to me that those clothes were lived in. Like the random commercial that just happened to just play says, "The bigger the mess, the bigger the adventure." I agree. Plus I, myself am not a very "girly" girl. I wear clothes that fall into my 3 B's wardrobe rule-black, blue and baggy. I also grew up saying that all I ever wanted was boys. A fact that my fabulous friend Alicia reminds me of every time I call her with crazy stories of how my offspring are attempting to send me to the loony bin. I can't do girl hair, and I am terrified to think what my girls would look like if Alan tried to do their hair-and this is reason enough for me to never really have wanted any. That is until I saw those little tiny ruby slipper girl shoes in the store.....

I wanted them SO badly! I pretty much wanted a girl-just so that I could buy those! If they made them for adults, I might even be convinced to buy a shoe that is not a sandal, Converse, or snow boot for myself. Like I said, I am all about functionality and comfort!

Then I met a sultry little temptress by the name of Pinterest. She has the ability to convince you that ANYTHING is possible. You can be Martha Stewart if you are so inclined, all you need to do is purchase some glitter and craft glue, and Presto!! I'm positive that she is a "she" because she is so organized, and knows everything. Plus-you can spend hours with her, and even if you didn't accomplish anything-it feels like time well spent.

I was gawking at the little ruby slippers at Walmart the other day, grieving over the fact that I will never have an opportunity to have those in MY house, when I had a thought. It was kind of crazy, but I wondered if it was possible.....I would have to talk to Pinterest and see.....

Side story-I have always wanted to own red Converse. Like real red. When I couldn't find any my size, my mom was kind enough to buy me the maroon ones. Close, but I still wanted red. See where I am going? Oh yeah. This is what Pinterest had for me.....

http://cottonandcurls.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-make-sparklyglitter-shoes.html

GENIUS!!

I am convinced within myself that if Dorothy Gale had been given the choice between the Ruby Slippers or a sassy, sparkly pair of comfy Converse shoes to make her long journey along the yellow brick road, she would have picked the Converse. Hands down. Have you ever walked any kind of distance in heels? Please! I can't even wear flats for 3 hours of church.

So this is what I did......

I took a pair of my old Converse (and by "old" I mean "already owned or not bought for this project), and got all my supplies ready. Well, most of them. I did have to get up a few times and search for stuff when I realized that I needed it.

Modge Podge (MP)
few various sizes of paint brushes (just depends how big or small you are comfortable with. 1/2 in to 1 in woked best for me. Then I used a smaller one to get it around the lace holes.)
glitter of my choice
masking tape
Acrylic sealer spray
X-acto knife
Tacky Glue

Ok, ok-I should tell you that I read a few "glitter your shoes" websites, and I kind of took what I wanted from them all to get the general idea of how to do it, then I completely "Tammy-ized" it. Simply put, I pretty much ignored most of what they did, and did it my own way, with what I had. Pretty typical of me.

Step 1) Taped off the part of the shoe that I didn't want blinged out.

Step 2) I mixed some Modge Podge & glitter, and started working in sections to paint the glue on the fabric part of the shoe. I make my own MP by the way (hence the Macadamia Nut bottle). It saves you serious money!!

Step 3) I got completely impatient (again typical me) and where I had painted the MP-I dumped glitter all over it and gently pushed it down into the glue. When I finished both shoes, I put them in front of the fan to help along the drying time. (Drying between coats can take a while, so if you do this-you can follow my example and take in a movie or two. Forget doing anything productive-you are already making fabulous shoes, why push it? Also, a refreshing drink is an absolute must!!)

Step 4) I added a few layers of MP to completely seal the glitter and made sure there were no unsparkly holes. I found it very hard to let the shoes dry between each coat, but thankfully Captain America kept me company. =) The fan did a great job of cutting this time down also. Then I let them dry over night.

Step 5) When I got up, I took the tape off the dry shoes, and used my X-acto knife to define the edges, and scrape away stray glitter.

Step 6) I got a Sharpie and colored in all the lace holes, and colored in the toe of the shoe all black because that is what I had decided I wanted.

Step 7) I completely sprayed them down with the acrylic sealer I have, which seals the MP, and makes them glossy and waterproof. It says to do this in a well ventilated area. I didn't do this. It is too cold outside for the sealer to cure, so I just put them on our freezer to dry. We almost died. J/k. It smelled really bad, and eventually I had to turn on the fan to blow the smell away form us, and open a window. This is one area where following the directions pays.

Step 8) Not unlike most women, I have a way of changing my mind. Constantly. I decided that I didn't like the black tip, so I taped off the toe area, took Tacky Glue and smeared it all over the part I wanted red. Then I dumped glitter all over the toe area and pushed it into the glue.

Step 9) When it was dried, I MP'd it to seal the glitter. Then I sprayed the sealer on again!

Step 10) I laced up these bad boys, and enjoyed my new fancy shoes!!

What do you think??

I want to start this tradition.....

2011-10-31T00:16:00.000-07:00

I was pinning away on Pinterest tonight, after one of the worst days in my recent memory-feeling very down/agitated/exhausted-when I came across this simple looking post of a pretty, smiling lady and just decided to click on the link with her and read her story.

http://mixmingleglow.com/blog/?p=1358

It was an immediate pick-me-up. I read her blog post (her name is Robyn by the way) and the comments from her readers, and I feel inspired to follow her example and be selfless on my birthday as well. I think it would be a fun tradition for me and a great example to set for my children. Hopefully they will want to do it as well.

I was thinking of the random acts of kindness I have performed lately, and how it felt to do them. It is definitely a kind of high that is addicting.

One that pops out in my head is a few weeks ago, I was at the grocery store and after just finishing my late night shopping I got into the line to check out. The lady in front of me had 2 kids with her, and as I was putting my things on the belt, I heard her tell the cashier that "she was short on cash, so could she put some things back?" When I saw that she was putting back things like bread, milk, and cereal I told the cashier to just add the remaining balance to my order. The look of shock and confusion on both their faces were priceless. The cashier asked if I was serious, and I assured her I was. I had a little extra money, and this was worth using it on. The lady kept thanking me, and telling me she was sorry. I just smiled and said "I've been there. I'm glad I could help." Then she came up and gave me a huge hug! That was awesome. She left with her much needed groceries, and I think I restored the cashier's faith in people. She kept saying she had never seen someone do that. I just smiled, and told her I was happy to surprise her.

Random acts of kindness rock, so I hope this experiment can be a success! My birthday isn't for another month and a half, but I thought I'd share this lady's GENIUS idea. I truly love it. I hope I have given you guys something to think about. Check out her blog, it is fantastic! I dare you to try and be in a bad mood when you finish it.

I am now in a good mood, problems behind me, and my mind running with all the possibilities of R.A.O.K. I can plan for my birthday. Mine will be less financially involved than hers, but I think I can still brighten people's days by being creative.

Have a Glorious day!!

My Latest Project....

2011-10-30T01:55:00.000-07:00

Freshly painted clock for my notoriously delinquent brother and sister-in-law. See, I drew their names for Christmas in the family "grab a name out of a hat" tradition. While I did get them a normal gift-I had to do this. Jabbety-jab-jab. I'm always making fun of them for being so late. It's PERFECT for them, whether they want to admit it or not. I wonder if it will ever make it on their wall? =) Only time will tell.......

Drying now, waiting to be sealed. I'm hoping it looks better then.....Reads "Whatever, I'm late anway."

Speaking if which, My dad got me a Cricut Create. It is the smaller version of Cricut, but I love it!!! Give it up for early birthday presents!! I just need to make friends with a LOT of people that would be willing to share their fabulous Cricut cartridges with me. They are far too expensive! Meanwhile, my friend Misty has 2 of them, and we had fun doing some creative cutting last night. I see many awesome projects coming up!!!

Also.....

Tonight was the annual "Trunk-or-Treat" at church. Here are a few quick pictures of the boys. The older 3 anyway. Miles was WAY too fussy, and sleepy to come. It would have been miserable bringing a tired, crying 2 year old around a huge crowd of people. He will be doing Trick-or-treating on Halloween, after a nice, refreshing nap.

Ninja Assassin

Spiderman

Vampire Sheriff

Real non-vampire teeth

wanted a beard painted on when getting his face painted.

Cupcake treat!!!

Me and Miles hanging at home, after I got home.

My new love....

2011-10-25T03:05:00.000-07:00

I have discovered a new ~~obsession~~ inspiration, for the paintings I want to do. I am just in awe of this man, and literally just sit and stare at his talent. I am a HUGE fan of color. The more vibrant, bold, and in your face, the better for me. Rainbows everywhere would be my ideal. I discovered a painting on Pinterest, and then another-but two wasn't enough. I searched, and searched, and finally found out his name. Leonid Afremov. Oh, you better believe I Googled him! What I found just blew my mind. I honestly could spend hours just looking at his work. I would die to own one of his original pieces, but besides being WAAAAY out of my price range, dying for it would be rather counter-productive. I wouldn't be able to enjoy it! Ogling them all the day through has inspired me to attempt to paint something like it. I think I'd do one of his Park scenes, since the Italian cityscape that I LOVE, is just a little bit out of my league. Baby steps. I will try painting something like his, and see what comes of it. Art and crafts give me peace, and make me so unbelievably happy that there is no wrong in the world when my hands are busy creating things. But the perfectionist in me may keep anybody from seeing the painting if I don't like how it turns out. Sorry. It's something I'm working on. =)

Meanwhile, enjoy some of his GENIUS I borrowed from Google images.......

So cute.

This would be such a gorgeous place for a stroll.

I can just imagine walking through the rain at dusk here.

I want to sit there forever.....

I love this.

The orange, yellow and red captivate me.

This is what I imagine Heaven looks like.

This is one of my favorites. Ah, Itlay.......

Couldn't you just die?

WOW!

Still here....

2011-10-24T01:58:00.000-07:00

Taking pictures everyday is surprisingly harder than I thought. Well played, life. Many things have happened in the past few months, most of which I don't remember. But of the things I do: my Dad has moved in with us, my sister (Holly) and her hubby (Justin) have moved here, and Holly has had her baby, Mia. Plus school started, and with that; I now have a preschooler! First kid to go to Preschool-third kid. Is that weird? Am I the only one that usually doesn't send the kids to Preschool? It's a pretty big adjustment, schedule-wise, since he has a different time-frame than the older boys. They leave for school at 6:25 (gotta love bus times), Nathan starts at noon. They get home at 2:10, and Nathan ends at 4:00. My days are crazy with running around, doing dinner, Scouts, homework, errands, etc..... Thank goodness for Dad and his car! Nathan wouldn't be able to even go if it weren't for him, since the Preschool bus can't come here. Also, I'm volunteering in Nick's class this year. Which is actually, REALLY fun.

I'm randomly doing Pinterest projects, which I keep meaning to add pictures of here-but I am terrible at remembering to do so. Here are a few pictures of the things I have done, or am currently working on.

This is a journal that I am covering with fabric for myself.

The Zorro ornament I made for Nathan today. Pre-painting. Zorro ornaments? Impossible to find! Who knew? Nathan is kind of obsessed with Zorro right now.

Yoda shirt for my friend's son's birthday. I painted, "My Lego Yoda shirt, this is." underneath Yoda.

The Beatles painting I did for my brother, Jason.

The custom Scrabble coasters I made for my brother, Aaron's friend.

I made 2 sets of these Flight of the Conchords coasters for my brother, Jason, and sister, Wendy

I have to make a few more ornaments for Nick, Ben and Miles. And I'm going to be making some Camp Half-Blood shirts for my boys, as soon as I find either orange shirts or orange shirt dye. Percy Jackson books rock! =)

Catch Up Time!!

2011-08-09T00:36:00.000-07:00

Lots of days on here...

Here we go!!!

A Bad Habit = Procrastionation. I mean, my last post was on July 28.....need I say more?

Someone I Love = Miles. Dirt and all, and even though he steals our toothbrushes so I have to constantly buy new ones (proof right here). He's been my easiest kid so far, and he's so much fun to have around. That being said-I love all my boys, Alan included. I just had to split up them up with the pictures I was taking.

Childhood Memory = Our trip to Lake Tahoe When I was about 11 or 12. We went to Ponderosa Ranch, where Bonanza was filmed (outdoor scenes at least), and I had my first taste of Sarsaparilla. Lovely sarsaparilla! I've been a fan ever since.

Something Blue = Since I am the mother of all boys this was pretty easy. Plus, I love blue AND I love skulls, so.....

Sunset = This was harder since I rarely know when the sun is even setting. I'm usually running around, or doing something. Today, I made an effort to be outside to photograph it. Certainly wasn't spectacular by any means, but it was pretty with the contrast of the porch colors, and the trees. At least I thought so.

Yourself With 13 Things = These 13 magnets represent different things I love. A pumpkin for my enormous LOVE of the holiday season (Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas). Skulls for my love of science. (These came from National Geographic, so very sciencey. hee, hee.) An elephant for my love of animals-other people's animals. The goldfish, both because I like this kind of goldfish (again, other people's), and I love the color orange. The hard one to see in the center is the rainbow effect left on the water from an oil spill. It reminds me that beautiful things can come from disastrous events. The little girl is for my love of drawing. The 4 leaf clover is for my love of nature. The skull bottle cap, again represents my boys and how I love them, but they will probably be the death of me. =) The Leninade cap represents my trip to Russia with my brother, Jason and sister, Holly. Fun time. The lower right different language one is the bible in ancient Greek. Reminds me to keep God in my life. The top different language just represents my love of learning about anything foreign, and travelling!!!! The footprint shows the way I prefer to be-sans shoes. And last but not least, San Francisco. The Bay Area. My home. I miss it greatly.

Eyes = Nick's eyes. You can probably tell he is raising his eyebrows in question at the time I took this. This is soooo Nick. Always asking questions. Any answer I give is never good enough to stop the questions, so I chose this for the shot.

Sunflare = Ok, I substituted Silhouette because I couldn't get Ben to co-operate with taking a picture. Plus I got this pretty awesome shot while I was waiting for the sun to go down. This reminds me of the absolute power books can have in our lives; whether it be for good and they brighten our lives with their knowledge, or for worse and they blind us to the world around us.

Long Exposure = Nathan was pretending to fly. He is so giggly, this was a hard thing to do and get any kind of focus in the picture. It is what it is. He had fun though. =)

What makes me smile.....

2011-07-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

In a word......CRAFTS!!! It doesn't matter what kind of horrible day I've had, fights I've gotten into with the kids, or sleep I didn't get-If there is an opportunity to make something, especially something from scratch, then I am all in, baby! I have noticed too, when the boys are arguing amongst each other, the best way to end it is ask if they want to make something. Clearly the creativity genes have been passed on. =)

Below are a few pictures of things I have made. I know it's supposed to be one picture a day, but honestly-I can do what I want with this challenge. It's my blog. Here we go....

Sculptey Yo Gabba Gabba Ornaments

Painted Shirt For A Friend's Birthday Present

Map Coasters

Scrabble Tile Coasters For My Brother

Jet Packs For The Boys

Bubble Magnets!!!

These are the kind of things that really make me smile. Apart from my family, because that's an easy answer. Granted, they don't make me smile all the time. I think there is an equal amount of glaring, frowning, and looks of confusion that accompany those smiley, happy times. Crafts will always make me smile, without fail. LOVE THEM. In fact, I'm about to go in and paint some coasters with the kids right now. Well, as soon as Ben and Nick get off time out......

Something Green, From Low, From High......

2011-07-27T23:16:00.000-07:00

Three days of my photo challenge at once. Right on time.....

This is our "Green" Family. Faces courtesy of my 8 year old.

"Looking up" at one of the enormous trees on our property.

This slug was right at my feet while I was watching one of my kids in the little pool outside. Scared the life out of my youngest boy. Gross looking, but I thought I'd share. This is my "looking down" picture, by the way. =)

Clouds....

2011-07-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

There are really not much in the way of clouds today, since it is hot and very breezy. I DID however manage to document the very few there were before they got blown away. You're welcome. ;)

Horrible view, right? I should really complain to someone about this..... =)

What I Wore Today...

2011-07-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

I should have changed this one too, now that I think about it. How boring to take a picture of what I wore today....Unless I showed the more scandalous type of pictures. But believe me when I tell you, a picture of my shirt and pants is actually WAY more appealing to look at. I spared you the chocolate smears, nose wiped, dried tears and some white stuff that I have absolutely NO idea what it is, and just took a picture of the heap. Although, that again might have made this day a bit more interesting.....

No Star Wars underwear here.....Unfortunately. =(

Self Portrait.......

2011-07-22T23:32:00.000-07:00

Here I am in all my Glory. Fresh faced and watching you.......

30 Day Photography Challenge

2011-07-22T02:37:00.000-07:00

I have become slightly addicted to this site called pinterest.com. It's a mecca for crafty minded people to come together and waste many, many hours of their day pinning things to their "boards" to do someday, but will probably be closer to never. We all have grand ideas, don't we? Oh, yes. Yet, I have decided that won't be what happens to me. I will see these wonderful things to do, and I will actually try them out! I have been busy making so many things in the past few days that I got off Pinterest, that my house literally looks like the aftermath of Armageddon, but honestly-I have never been happier! My kids are loving it, because they get to help with some of them, and play with others and I love, love, LOVE creating things with my hands.

One of the boards I have on there is of things I have found that I think are "Great Ideas", and this post was one of them. It gives a list of different pictures to take for 30 days to basically improve your picture taking ability, and give you more interesting pictures. I adore taking pictures. My two year old says "Cheese" every time I pull out my phone cause he thinks he's going to get his picture taken. It's not that unusual for me to document random things they do throughout the day. Oh, I absolutely love taking picures........just not of myself. This is going to be kind of humbling for me. I loathe every picture of me since I've had kids and gained weight, but at least by me doing this, when I die-my kids will be able to remember what I looked like! I tend to always be the one BEHIND the camera. =)

I can't start the actual picture taking until tomorrow since I left my camera in my Mom's car. I don't know why either, but if you are a follower of this blog, you know I am as absentminded as that once famous Professor and these things tend to happen.

Here is the list.....

30 Day Photography Challenge

Day 1   Self Portrait
Day 2   What You Wore Today
Day 3   Clouds
Day 4   Something Green
Day 5   From A High Angle
Day 6   From A Low Angle
Day 7   Something That Makes You Smile (They had fruit, But I hate fruit pictures, so....)
Day 8   A Bad Habit (Even though I don't have any? =} )
Day 9   Someone You Love
Day 10 Childhood Memory
Day 11 Something Blue
Day 12 Sunset
Day 13 Yourself With 13 Things
Day 14 Eyes
Day 15 Silhouette
Day 16 Long Exposure
Day 17 Technology
Day 18 Your Shoes
Day 19 Something Orange
Day 20 Bokeh (I had to Google this. It means blurred background. I know, right?!? The Japanese make everything sound so exotic....)
Day 21 Faceless Self Portrait (Ummm, this should be interesting...)
Day 22 Hands
Day 23 Sunflare
Day 24 Animal
Day 25 Something Pink
Day 26 Close up
Day 27 From a distance
Day 28 Flowers
Day 29 Black and White
Day 30 Self Portrait

This is (mostly) what they had, I mean really....fruit? Ugh. Regardless, I am going to do this! Feel free to join me on your blogs, and lets get some fancy, fruitless photography flying! Everyone LOVES pictures, and when you break it down it is only one a day. So easy! You don't even have to keep the order if you don't want to....I won't tell.

Summer ideas to do with the kiddos!

2011-06-02T23:23:00.000-07:00

The boys brought a little booklet home from school that gives different websites that are educational, so over the summer they can "play" on them and retain what they have learned, and possibly learn something else. Fantastic idea! I decided to go on the computer and check some of them out. I only got to the first one, and I am in love. It has crafty ideas for all ages, and science projects! I'm sure there's more but that's as far as I've gotten so far, because there's too much fun stuff to do!!

http://www.sandford-artedventures.com/

My favorites bar is going to refuse to let me save anything else pretty soon. I tried one of them out with the kids yesterday, and it was a huge hit!

Here's how to do it:

1) Get a plain piece of white paper. I think I would use a thicker paper other than just printer paper next time. Freezer paper would be great, since the back is waxy and it would be stronger. But if you don't have it, plain ol' printer paper DID work.

2) Color the paper in completely with different colored crayons. Fill ALL the white in. Warning, it gets very tiring. Might have developed a bit of Carpal Tunnel just doing 3 papers. This would be a great step for the kids to do. =)

3) With black Tempura paint, paint the entire paper. It looks like it's not covered when it's wet, but let it dry and you can cover spots that are kind of thin. I thought I'd have to do 2 coats of paint, but I was very surprised that when it dried, most of it was actually black. I only had to do touch ups on a few spots. It took overnight, then half the next day to dry....Maybe if it was in the sunlight or if it had a fan on it, it would dry faster. You could always just do 2 coats, if you want. Make sure it is all covered that way. If 2 coats are your thing, definitely use thicker paper to prevent tearing when you get to the etching part.

4) When paint is completely dry, have them etch out a picture in the paint. They can use a popsicle stick, a toothpick, their fingernail....anything. Then you just hang up the picture after, and enjoy!

Here are my boy's pictures....

Ben's jet

Nick's picture of Chicago

Nathan's bee and flower

The other Art website they gave was:

www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm

Have fun!

P.s. I made these magnets too, but that's another post if you want it. =)

Ticks = GROSS!!

2011-05-26T00:58:00.000-07:00

Not all vampires look like Robert Pattison!

Ticks freak me the heck out! I never thought too much about them before this month, other than I knew they could give you Lyme disease. And really, all I knew about Lyme Disease is that it could make you go absolutely crazy like the girl from The Real World many years ago. In one of the only episodes I ever watched, a brunette girl flipped out on one of her roommates, started beating on him and dang near foaming at the mouth! Then when confronted about it, she blamed it on the fact that she had Lyme disease. Sob story ensued, etc. After seeing that, I made a mental note to steer clear of Ticks.

Tick bite = Lyme Disease = Certifiably Nuts

But it really wasn't until I recently watched a Animal Planet show on Moose from Alaska that cemented my fear. I don't know why we were watching it, except I remember wanting to show the kids how huge moose actually are, and then we all were totally sucked into the awesome moose information flying our way. We are weird like that I guess. So anyway, part way through the show they showed how these tiny little flea size ticks would crawl to the top of these tall weeds, and wait for an unsuspecting moose to pass by. When they did, the little vampires would attach themselves and then suck the 900 lb. moose dry. Thousands of these itsy bitsy bugs could literally drain it's blood until it died!!! And seeing them all engorged just made me want to puke. Completely lose my lunch all over the room, and vomit up everything I have ever eaten-or will ever eat! I had to look away. I couldn't stomach looking at the screen with all those bugs on the dead carcass. But that was it! I was creeped out by seeing the massive amount of ticks, now I have developed a very real fear of the little crawling leaches.

Then two weeks ago when I went to pick up Alan and the boys at a friend's house, after they had gotten back from camping, it only got worse. Living out in the country has certain perks, but a serious downside is these gross bugs. I don't know if their dog went camping with them, or it got them from the yard alone-all I know is I watched as our friend pulled one after another off the dog, and smashed them between two boards. Let me tell you, these boards looked like they belonged in a crime scene! They were so bloody, they honestly could have been murder weapons. He said he had pulled off some 30 or so ticks from this poor dog, and he was finding more every time he looked. I have no idea how this dog was even moving with all the blood he had lost. I was horrified, and totally checked the baggage and the kids all over for them when we got home.

I am terrified to let the kids wander outside, go in the woods, or even grass that is taller than 3-4 inches. It is a full blown phobia at this point. One that I don't see getting any better, anytime soon. Not until we move out of the country, at least . Until then, I will live in fear of finding bugs burrowed into my children that I can't just pull out because their heads will remain in them. Why is that necessary?!? I have to put a burning match up to my kids' skin to get it off? Seems a bit extreme. So instead, I just don't have the boys go where ticks might hide. Freaky little predators, hopefully will never meet me face to face. I honestly don't think I could handle it. Instead of helping my offspring, I might in all reality, run away from them instead. Not very maternal of me. I hope to never have to cross that bridge. I'd like to have the kids think they can count on me to be brave in every circumstance. Let them wait a few years to find out that I'm a total wuss when it comes to certain gross bugs. Ignorance is bliss.

Blind-Folded Portraits....

2011-05-05T22:46:00.000-07:00

So, I got bored today and was looking through a little book I got at the dollar store that talks about "52 Date ideas for Married Couples", and got to one of the ideas that read "Be Art Critics". For some reason just looking at that put this idea into my head, that I had to immediately try. I walked out to Alan and informed him that I was going to blind-fold him and he was going to draw me. He was a little skeptical....

Me "I'm gonna blind-fold you, and you are going to draw me."

Alan "Why?"

Me "Because it will be fun. Come on."

(I grabbed the brand new industrial roll of paper I bought to entertain the kids when they are home)

Alan "For who? This doesn't sound like fun." He grudgingly followed me to the bathroom door, where we would be doing it.

All the kids who were in our room watching Toy Story 3, came out to see what we were up to.

Me "Ok, you are going to draw me. No peeking."

Then I put my flashiest pink ribbon over his eyes and placed him in front of the paper, crayon in hand. The boys were so giddy with excitement they could hardly stand it. I guided his free hand over the paper so he would know where the edges were and not draw on the door.

He drew a tiny circle.

Me "Draw it bigger."

He drew it a tiny bit bigger, pretty much over where he drew the first circle.

Me "Bigger."

He drew it a tiny bit bigger, again over the same spot.

Nick "You keep drawing it in the same spot, Dad!"

I moved him over a few inches, and used his free hand to demonstrate how big I was thinking. He started drawing, and so did the fun. Ben and I were laughing silently, Nick just threw care to the wind and was openly giggling. Pretty soon, Ben and I gave up and joined Nick in laughing hysterically. When Alan finished, he pulled the blind-fold off, and chuckled along with us. Here is his masterpiece:

Nathan thought he drew a zombie, and was therefore scared of it. The older boys started saying they wanted to do it too. But first, my turn....

Ok. I must say, I WAS blind-folded, but we were using crayons so I had an idea of where I had drawn. Before drawing, I would swipe with my free hand to feel where the crayon was so I had some clue where things should go. Not technically cheating, really-but I'll use a marker next time to even the playing field. Here is Alan, through my prettily covered eyes:

He does not wear ties nor bring me flowers, but it was a lot of fun. The boys all did their own drawings of us too. I think we started a new tradition, because this was a very entertaining for all, even doubting Alan. I highly recommend it for family nights, date-nights, or just because. I think we're going to do self portraits next time. =)

Now the kids' pictures....

Ben drew Alan.

Nathan drew both Alan and I.

Nick drew me.

Oh, Etsy.......

2011-05-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

I love Etsy.com! It is wonderful that there is a place where crafty people can sell their goods, and you can find some truly unique gifts. BUT, that being said....I think some people over-estimate their skills. I find things on there, that look like a toddler drew them, and they are priced about $68.00! Come on.......Really? Did somebody tell you they thought you could seriously get that much for your glued together bedazzled Popsicle sticks around a 3 inch picture?

I am honestly amazed at the prices some of these people are charging! I found a T-shirt blanket on there, and I will admit-I fell in love. I have always wanted one and the effort on my part is too much for me to do one at this time. And this one had funny t-shirts, and old school ones that represented my youth. It was deep, fast love that radiated from my core, and left me in awe. BUT It was so fleeting it made my head spin. I nearly passed out when I saw the price. I was speechless-but not in a good way. $695.00 + s&h. Let me repeat.....$695.00 + S&H!!!!!!!!! Does it fly like Aladdin's carpet? Did it have magical unicorns sewn in that serenaded you to sleep the second you pulled it over you? Was 24 karat Gold thread used? I am hard pressed to come up with anything that would be worth paying that much for, especially something that is smaller than a couch.

Here, I thought the whole point of this site was to get your stuff out there to a broader audience, and make some extra money while doing it. I love, love. love when people make some cool little baubles AND make them completely affordable! I will support them. Not greedy, unrealistic jerks. I do understand the time and energy it takes to put some of these things together, as well as the cost of the materials. Being a crafty lady myself, I get it. But, I also think that some of the people out there highly mis-judge how valuable their time is.

Joke is on me I guess, because my beloved king size T-shirt blanket was no longer on there the next time I went to the site. Though I scoffed at the price, somebody else clearly had a little more to spend. Either that, or the seller realized it was a crazy price, put it on sale and someone snatched it up. This is one thing that I am really envious that somebody out there owns, because they are not me.

To all of you who are out there charging extravagant prices for your trinkets that I could make myself, just know this-I am. I am stealing your ideas, making it myself (probably better), for cheaper and I don't fell bad at all. I'm probably giving it away too-For free. Quit being so greedy.

Nathan-ism's

2011-04-27T02:33:00.000-07:00

Nathan drew big dinosaur footprints on the wall with sidewalk chalk. I said, "don't draw on the walls. If you want to draw, go get some paper." His response, "but Mom, dinosaur footprints won't fit on paper!"

Nathan: “Mom! Miles is on the table”

I get him off the table, and say, “No, Miles!”

Nathan “He doesn’t go on the table ‘cause he’s not food-right, Mom?”

Turns to Miles and scolds “Miles, stay off the table! You’re not food!”

Nathan: Mom I’m a good pooper!

Nathan: Mom, my teeth are mad at me.

Me: Why?

Nathan: Because I ate dirt all night long.

Me: Why would you eat dirt?

Nathan: Because you wouldn’t feed me.

Nathan looks at cousin Dave, confused, then asks....”Why are you so black?”

Dave “because I’m your Black cousin Dave.”

Nathan: “Ok. Are you going to let me fish with that?”(Dave was fixing a fishing pole)

Dave “Yeah, but not right now.”

Nathan runs excitedly over to the end of the dock where I was and yells with his hands in the air..

“Mom! I’m going to get to fish! Just not right now!”

Me: ”Ok. Yay!“

I am so mean.....

2011-04-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

Me, "Nathan, take these toys and put them in the toy box."

Nathan, "But I'm so thirsty mom. I need water..."

He proceeds to drape himself backwards over his dad's chair like he has no energy left in his whole body.

Me, "Do it now, I'm serious."

Nathan, "But I'll DIE if I don't get water. DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE?!?!"

Me, "Yes, I guess I do. If it means you don't get water, and you walk these toys over to the toy box. Right now!"

He sits up, looking shocked and horrified.

Nathan, "I can't believe you want me to DIE, Mom. Geez!"

Then he grudgingly takes the toys and puts them in the toy box, managing not to drop dead of dehydration while doing so.....

Hello Skype, my name is Tammy. Now What?????

2011-04-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

I have joined the world of Skype. Although, to tell you the truth-I have no idea what that means. Friends have been telling me to join for years, it seems, and I have been resisting. I am completely dense when it comes to how things function. I am always the one that has set up the TV's, DVD players, computers, and phones-but that is mostly because I like to play with things, and I have played with enough wiring to get an idea of how to make things turn on. That's it.

I finally broke down when Alan's sister and niece told us they were on it. They live in Chicago, and Indianapolis and we really never get to see them. His family has never even seen our last 2 kids, other than in pictures. Video chatting seemed the way to go. So I got on the computer, and signed up.

Skype though, has me stumped. When I signed up, it had me put my cell phone number in. This is completely useless, because my cell phone doesn't work here. We live in the country and if I want to send a text I have to wave my phone around like a lunatic until I get the tiniest hint of a bar, and then I hold the pose-no matter how uncomfortable, or psychotic looking-until I get the "Sent" message, and all is clear. The only 2 times anybody has tried to contact me via Skype, they have called me on my cell. And both my best man buddy, and my awesome oldest brother have been promptly cut off due to my horrible service.

I added my home number to my profile, but I don't even know if it gives the option of them calling that. Are any of you Skyper's able to help me? This is supposed to be a good way to chat with our long lost family and friends, but if I can't get a handle on this I don't know how it's going to be of any use.

A, B, C's of Me........

2011-04-04T00:15:00.000-07:00

I got this idea off of one of the blogs I read, and I figure it is a great way to get back into blogging, with very little effort to come up with a topic. Works, right?

A: Age. I am currently 33, though most of the time I don't know that. Mentally I am in my 80's I suppose, and not for the cool, intellectual reasons. For the pre-Alzheimer's-warning-sign kind of reasons.

B: Bed Size. We have a king, but it clearly isn't big enough. Once you add in the morning creepers (Nathan and Miles) I am always on the edge about to fall off.

C: Chore you dislike. All of them. Mostly the ones that involve putting things away, picking things up and the kitchen (if I had to narrow it down.)

D: Dogs. I like dogs. Labs are probably my favorite, but I just don't want any.

E: Essential start to my day. Waking up, is the most essential. After that, anything goes. =)

F: Favorite color. I love blues, browns, and greens. If it's in nature (color of sky, grass, water, dirt...) I love it.

G: Gag reflex triggers. Brushing my teeth triggers my gag reflex. Every. Morning. I was made fun of my whole life by my dear little sister, who then married a guy who does the same exact thing. Karma.

H: Height. 5 ft 7 1/2 in. of fun

I: Instrument I play/played. I played trumpet from 4th grade to 9th. Then I hurt my knee, and switched to percussion; the mallet ones. Marimba, xylophone type. I can dink around on the song flute, and right hand of a piano but not very well.

J: Jelly belly flavor. Root Beer and Watermelon are the ones I always try to steal before anybody sees them. I also like grapefruit.

K: Kids. Benjamin-8. Nicholas-6. Nathan-4. Miles-23 months.

L: Live for _____. Right now, I honestly live for the times when my kids get along. When there is peace in the house we have a lot of fun, and enjoy each other. I just wish I could have it a little bit more. I live for PEACE.

M: Most read book. Pride and Prejudice, and Catch 22. I've read those over and over through the years. They are my "go-to" books when I want to read something.

N: Nickname. Mom, Tams, Tamers

O: Overnight hospital stays. Only when I had the 4 boys. I loved those little vacations while I had them. Someone cooked, cleaned, and I got to sit and enjoy my baby all I wanted, watch TV, nap and take daily showers. They were fun while they lasted.

P: Pet Peeves. Oh, dear. I have a long list. The condensed version is as follows; people who chew with their mouths open, ignorant people, people who judge others based on their looks, people that don't listen, whining in all forms, idiotic drivers, people who use 'there' instead of 'they're' or 'their' (same goes for your & you're), stepping on melted ice cubes while wearing socks, wet towels on the bed.......that's enough for now. (Thank you Katie for 2 of those)

Q: Quote from a movie. "If what I think is happening, IS happening........it better not be." Mr. Fox's wife from Fantastic Mr. Fox. I can't remember her name, but I love that line. Also, Simon from Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel. "You might as well be rooting for truffles in the French country-side because you are, in fact, hogging!" Random funny quotes from the kids' movies, that make me laugh no matter how many times I hear them.

R: Recent time you cried. Talking with my sister on the phone today, because I missed her. I don't think she knew I was though.

S: Siblings. Aaron, Jason, Julie, Jeremy, Holly, Travis, Wendy and Adam.

T: Time you go to bed. Usually anywhere from 1-4 am.

U: Ultimate Date. I would Love, Love, Love to go on an overnight date where a beach, hotel, and a picnic were included. I'm a girl, what can I say? A romantic evening is my fantasy.

V: Vegetable. I LOVE canned asparagus. Is that weird? I HATE it any other way. I also love cucumbers, sprouts, olives, squash and zucchini.

W: What makes you late. My kids!! They can never find their shoes, jackets, backpacks when they need to. Someone usually has to go to the bathroom on the way out the door (#2), and HEAVEN FORBID they NOT walk out of the house with 25 toys in their little hands!

X- X-rays. I have had some on my ankle, finger, and arm when I broke them. I don't remember if I had them on my knee, but I did get them on my back when I was hurt at work.

Y: Yummiest food you make. Probably the cheese zombies. Those are a crowd pleaser every time. Also, my Death by Chocolate cookies get requested quite a bit.

Z: Zoo animal you must see. I love looking at all of them. I will stay as long as it takes to make it around the entire zoo if I can. I probably like going to the zoo more than the kids do.

Now that you know me a little bit more, do you still feel the same way about me?

Finally!

2011-01-27T00:29:00.000-08:00

This is the first night that I haven't had to put the kids to bed in.....um, huh-I actually can't remember. Putting them to bed takes forever. For. Ever! I lay there........and lay there...... and lay there-hoping that every time it's quiet for 3 minutes together, that my prayers have been answered and they are asleep. Then the giggling starts, or "can I watch Max and Ruby now?" It sucks having the 2 young ones in our room. I always have the false hope that they will go to bed easily, and I will actually be able to get up and blog. Nope. If I am mean, and turn off the TV, then I usually fall asleep before them. When I put on stuff they aren't interested in, AKA my TV shows, then I can't hear anything over their loud protests for cartoons, water, or me yelling at them to lay down for the millionth time. So I bite the bullet, lay with them while they are watching Max and Ruby, or Wizards of Waverly Place (the one where Max is a girl), and play Angry Birds on my phone for hours until they both finally pass out.

Why are they in our room, you ask? Because this house is so old, I don't think that insulation was invented when it was built. It is literally freezing, "see your breath" cold in their room at night. The older boys used to be separated to go to bed easier, now they have to sleep in the same room for the body heat. They both sleep on the same mattress of the bunk bed (twin size) and cuddle, When I check on them later, I put 6 blankets on them when they are sleeping, so they don't kick them off. Our room is the same. Freezing, but we also stockpile blankets in there. We may as well be sleeping outside. This way we have 2 heaters running at night to heat the rooms we are in, instead of one in each room. I would probably have a stroke if I saw the bill after that. I am a serious heat Nazi. If I see a heater plugged in, during the day I freak out. We learned the lesson last Winter when we were very care-free with our heaters. The nearly 2 month size electric bill, for one month of use almost did me in. The guy told me that even if the heaters aren't in use, they draw a lot of energy just from being plugged in. So started my daily (hourly) "unplugging quests" in the house. It has made a difference.

Anyway, I am going to end this, because I am in one of the un-heated rooms. I honestly can't feel my fingers or toes right now. I am typing like I have hooves. Shivering like I'm having an epileptic seizure. I miss blogging, but until it heats up-I'm not sure how much I can actually get done. It's bad for my health. =) Stay warm, everyone!!

Doesn't this make you feel warmer just looking at it?

Call from Santa

2010-12-30T03:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve my 2nd boy was being NAUGHTY. He was torturing my 3rd, just for fun. He was completely ignoring everything he was told to do, and doing everything he was told NOT to. He was hitting, yelling, whining, and talking back. I told him over, and over, and over that Santa was watching him and wouldn't bring him anything. He acted like he couldn't care less. As we were pulling up to our house (after a horrible trip to Albertsons) so that we could drop off the groceries before going to my Mom's house-I just lost it. I screamed like a banshee that I was absolutely sick of his behavior, and I was going to be calling Santa to tell him to not bring Nick anything. That seemed to hit home, because Nick immediately started crying, and begging me not to. I told him that since he didn't care about his brother crying-I wasn't going to listen to him either. I was definitely calling. I was super mature, I know.

So I went in the house and called my friend Malcolm, who lives in Australia, to see if he could play Santa for me. I couldn't reach him. I stayed in the house and put away the groceries while the kids were in the car because I needed to calm down. Nick came peeking around the corner, to see if I was calling, and was quickly told to get in the car "right now!" After a few minutes I went out to the car, and told them I had left a message with the elves, because Santa was flying and would have to call me back. The kids were all in disbelief.

"Did you really call him?"

"Yes, I did."

"Is he really going to call back?"

"Yes. He is."

"You didn't mention me, did you? Just Nick?"

That was Ben. Making sure he wasn't on Santa's 'S' list. Nice kid.

So we got to my Mom's house, and I sent Malcolm a message on Facebook, but who knows when he would get that. It was Christmas already there, and he had family visiting. So I went on to "Plan B". I told my sister and Mom what I was thinking, and they suggested my brother in law. So I called my sister in Louisiana, but Justin was sleeping (he works nights). Luckily my brother Travis was there and said he would do it.

I told him to tell Nick he was "Very disappointed in him for how he was acting, and how mean he was being to his brother." I said to say that he was "on the naughty list, but that he has one more chance to do better." Santa would be checking in with me sometime during the night, and it would be up to ME if Nick got presents or not. I told him the rest of the kids may want to talk to him, so be prepared. Also throw in some geographical location in, so they would know where Santa was. Then I hung up, and waited a few seconds for him to call back.

When the phone rang, I answered it, and said, "Oh, Hi Santa! Yes, Hold on a second..." turned to Nick, "Uh, oh Nicholas. It's Santa. He wants to talk to you....."

Nick's eyes got huge, and he slowly walked to the phone.

"Hello..." He quietly said into the receiver. He looked at me, to which I shrugged, raised my eyebrows in my best "I tried to tell you..." serious face, and turned and walked into the kitchen. I barely made it in there before I met my mom's gaze, and we both started cracking up.

Travis was very convincing, and firm but kind-just like real Santa would be. Nick won't tell me everything he said, but I pretty much had to pry the phone out of Nick's hands so that the others would have a chance to talk to him. Nathan got on, and was told he was on the "Good" list, and "Santa" sang 'Santa Claus is coming to town' for him.

When I went to hand Ben the phone, he panicked, and was like "Why do I have to talk to him?!? I wasn't bad!!" I almost lost it. I had to try very hard to not crack up as I told him to just talk to him for a second. He was also on the Good list, and was happy afterwards to get to talk to him. My niece Darby listened to him for a second, and then ducked away from the phone. My other niece Kyra, was very serious that she did NOT want to talk to him. I grabbed the phone and told him "Thank you for taking the time to call, because we knew how very busy he was." After saying goodbye, Nick was like "let me see the phone. I want to see the number he called from." Thankfully I know this phone well, and hit delete very quickly. I said he could look if he wanted, but it won't show up because he's magic. Nick was astonished to see that the only number showing up was my home number from when I called to say we were on our way. As he was looking at that, I quickly deleted the number from the other phones as well.

Afterwards, they were all so excited about talking to him. Ben and Nick, who had been questioning his very existence a few weeks earlier, were now 100% sure that they had just talked to the man himself. Nathan, Kyra, and Darby were jumping around, holding hands and singing "I'm on the GOOD list, I'm on the GOOD list." Nick was telling people he was on the Naughty list, and trying to have a brave face, but was really on the verge of tears. (Sometimes you just have to crush their little souls a tiny bit.) Is that completely awful of me to say? I was about to do something physical to him after the day he had put me through, so why not wage some mental warfare?

Ladies and Gentlemen-I am SOOO happy to report that it worked! When I asked them to do something, they jumped up and did it. I had them clean the front room, and they did it without complaint. A first!! There was little to no fighting for the rest of the day. They were cheerful, and helpful right up until bedtime. Nick started acting up a little then, but I think it was just the excitement of Christmas-so I let it go. Santa calling was a brilliant plan, born out of desperation. I am so thankful that my awesome brother was able to pull out his best "Ho, Ho, Ho" deep voice and scare the crap out of Nick so he'd behave.

This was after "the call". They were behaving so we made a cookie wreath. Thanks, Mom for the stuff!

Don't get caught being naughty at Christmas Time....

2010-12-21T01:12:00.000-08:00

We were on our way home from Alan's friends' house on Saturday night, and we saw some flashing lights at the end of their street.

"Uh, oh," I said. "Someone is in trouble..."

"But it's almost Christmas! Why would they do something when it's almost Christmas?!?" Ben asked.

"I don't know. Looks like they are getting a ticket. They were probably speeding." I said. (The road we were on is notorious for it.)

"But if they go to jail, they won't be home for Christmas. That would be bad. They wouldn't get presents!" Ben exclaimed.

"Does Santa bring presents to jail?" asked Nick, now joining in on the conversation.

"No, because the people in jail were naughty, and Santa doesn't give naughty people presents. Remember?"

"What the heck were they THINKING?!? Don't they know it's almost CHRISTMAS?!? Don't they want PRESENTS?!?" Ben questioned loudly.

"Yeah...." Nick said-clearly not as upset as his brother.

"Maybe they were in a hurry to get home," I offered. "But they just got caught."

"But, don't they know it's Christmas soon?" Ben wondered.

Life is so cut and dry for a 7 year old around Christmas. Good people=presents. Bad people=no presents. If only he'd remember this rule applied to him as well.....

New Hair!

2010-12-06T21:46:00.000-08:00

It goes down to the middle of my back, where you can't see... =)

I last cut my hair right before my sister Holly got married-almost 2 years ago. I have always wanted long hair, but would tire of it before it got very long. I don't know why, but I decided to just start growing it out then and there, and see just how long I could get it this time before throwing in the towel. It has NOT been easy. I'm not girly, in the least so I have no idea what exactly to do with the tangled mass on top of my head. Plus, after having my last kid it has stayed fairly thick, and gotten curly! Two things I have never had to deal with before! My hair was always super soft, and thin. So thin that the tiniest barrettes would simply slide right out of my hair. It was a joke, trying to get my hair to do anything. Then it got curly, and discovered frizz. Now barrettes would stay in, but it would look atrocious! It has seriously been in a ponytail for the last year and a half, and I was sick of it.

Once I get an idea in my mind about something, I seriously obsess over it, and can't think of anything else until it gets done. Probably undiagnosed OCD or something, but it is what it is. So I had reached my limit a few days ago when I went to run my hand through my hair and found a knot. I swear a sailor would have been proud of the mess my hair was in. It was seriously complicated to get out, and I was about to amputate that whole section of hair! (Teach me to sleep without a band in my hair. I must have had some serious restless sleep that night.) So I decided that the hair had to go, like yesterday!

I woke up today, and honestly couldn't deal anymore. I couldn't function. All I kept thinking about is how much it is bothering me, and how life would be so much easier without it. I noticed the hair of everyone on TV, judged it, and wondered if they just wore it in ponytails when they were away from the set. See? ALL CONSUMING! (I totally almost just pulled out my 'Yoda' talk....."All consuming, this hair is". I have no idea where that came from. I even had his voice inside my head.)

Anyway, I talked to my mom and she agreed to watch the 2 wee ones while I guillotined it. We went to the first place and there was a 45 minute wait. Nope! So off to the second shop we went, and there was no line there. Awesome possum, I was in! I went in totally gung ho, like "I want it all one length, to here." I sat down on the chair and told the girl that exact thing. She looked at me like I was nuts.

Her "I have an idea, how about it goes like this and frames your face? And I cut it to here?"

Me "Um, I'd rather have it all off. I have no idea how to do it, and it is frizzy. I hate it, and want it off..."

Her "That's why you want it off? That's fixable! How about to here, I can show you how to do it..."
She started cutting on one side, and looking at me for approval. "See? If you don't like it I will cut it the way you want it....I can't believe you want me to cut all this off!"

Me "Ok," still planning on having her cut it how I wanted it, "Go ahead..." After a minute or so, I saw what she was talking about, and had to swallow my pride. "Ok, I like it your way. Keep going."

I was so wrong about how I wanted my hair before! I love how she did it, and I'm very happy she wasn't too shy to basically tell me I would regret it, because now that I have this hair, I know I would have. I did tell her half way through the cut, that I really appreciated her speaking up because I could now see the possibilities. She was very sweet. She put product in, explained how to use it, and showed me a couple different ways to style my hair now. She was terrific!

I'm so thankful to my mom for watching the boys, and I'm thankful that they were good for her. I'm thankful that we went to the place we did, and the girl spoke up. But, I'm most thankful for my new SHORTER hair! I love it! Fast showers, and longer lasting shampoo-here I come!!

This is how she styled it.

This is out of the shower. See the curls? I can blow dry them out, but I didn't want to. I apologize for the red cheeks..This happens when I get headaches.

I need to be sleeping...

2010-11-30T00:28:00.000-08:00

The adorable cause of my sleep deprivation.

My wee one has been sick lately, and has been doing his best to keep me up at night. ALL NIGHT!! He likes to wake up every 10 minutes or so, just to cough, cry and go back to sleep. Sometimes he will throw in a cough that sounds like he's going to puke all over the bed, so I am scared awake-propelling myself towards him at the speed of light, only to discover that it was a false alarm. AND that he is back asleep already, whereas I am now wide awake thinking about how he better not puke on his bed because the blankets are in the washer waiting to be dried from the last time he actually did throw up, and how I had forgotten to dry them. And how I really should get up and put them into the drier while I am thinking of it, but I don't want to walk across the freezing house in the dark, because then I'd really be awake all night. Slowly I drift off to sleep, only to repeat the pattern as soon as his little body senses a dream starting up in my head. It has been about 4 straight nights of not getting any sleep before 6 am, just to be awake by 8 or 9, because he is wide awake thanks to the older, louder children. Thanks to the lack of sleep, I have been in a constant zombie-like state, and ravaged with massive headaches thanks to the complete exhaustion.

Then a miracle happened last night. He fell asleep around 8:00! I was sure he would wake up any time, so I started to make a stuffed animal for my friends daughter that I have been putting off. Only around midnight did I realize that he was still out, so I tried to hurry up and finish what I was doing and get in bed. Didn't happen. Things always take longer than I think they will. I was finished with as much as I could get done by 1:45, so I cleaned up and crawled into bed. I put on a show that I was interested in, since I fully expected to be up again in a few minutes-and pretty much passed out. Next thing I knew Alan was calling me at 6:35 to say the bus didn't show up. I told him to call the "bus people", and texted him the number. Then passed out again. It's a good thing the bus did show up, even though it was 25 minutes late and caused Alan to be late to work, because I was sleeping hard! I wouldn't have heard the phone if he did call back. I didn't wake up until Miles woke me up by throwing his bottle at my head. Good Morning, indeed!

It was wonderful to get some sleep....finally! But I'll be danged if I haven't been yawning all day long! If you talked to me on the phone, it wasn't you-I swear! I am still feeling seriously sleep deprived, and yet here I am 12:10 in the a.m. and I am blogging. Miles fell asleep about 9:30 and has been out since, and I am supposed to be up by 7:45 to get ready to go somewhere with my friend. I have no idea when I will have the chance to post another blog for a while, so here it is! Now that this is done, I bid you all adieu-and say goodnight!

I plan on sleeping tight, and hope he does too!

Cuss!

2010-11-21T16:08:00.000-08:00

A long time ago I told my kids that they were not allowed to swear until they were 30. This was because I had a little guy who overheard some naughty words somewhere, and LOVED to yell them at high volume, during some very inappropriate times. He thought it was hilarious. I didn't, so this rule came to be.

Me "You are not allowed to swear until you turn 30."

Nick "Can I be 30 on my next birthday?"

Recently while at my mom's house, my son Nick overheard my sister (who is 28) swear. He asked why she could swear, because she isn't 30 yet. I said that being a mom ages you, so while she is 28 in "real" life, she's really 35 in "Mom" years. Then he asked why I don't swear, because I'm older than 30. I told him that I just choose not to. He didn't like this answer, and quickly informed me that he was definitely going to swear when he is old enough. (Sigh) Little boys, and their goal for life.

I only bring this up, because as we speak, Nathan and Nick are in the kitchen arguing about why "Dad can swear vs. why Dad isn't allowed to". It's very entertaining. I agree with both of them because-even though Alan is allowed to swear-he's not allowed to swear at me. Not if he knows what is good for him.

Ok, When Did This Change???

2010-11-13T21:53:00.000-08:00

There are certain things in life that you are taught as a youngster, that you just take for granted are true then, and always will be. I never questioned things that were taught to me in science, because frankly-I thought that scientists knew their stuff. But as I learned with the whole "Pluto is not a planet now" fiasco, I should've picked up on the fact that things aren't always so concrete.

I was putting the boys to bed last night, and watching 'Sid the Science Kid' with them. It was all about rainbows, and what makes them, and prisms, and stuff. They teach, they sing.....the kids eat it up. But when the teacher started singing the song about the order of the rainbow colors, I was all like, "What the H?!?"

I was raised thinking that the rainbow looks like this......

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple. All colors accounted for. Good job, Me.

WRONG!!!!

Her version in the show was like, " Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, INDIGO, and Violet too...."

Surely this couldn't be true. This was the second kids show I had some across this on, though. I saw the rainbow on Max and Ruby, and just thought they were taking their artistic license a bit far, but who was I to complain? Then here comes, STSK and I was like "Hold on.....I need to check this out...."

So I googled it. This is what Wiki.answers.com has to say.......

ME: What are the colors of the rainbow?

In: Science, Meteorology and Weather [Edit categories]
The Colors Of The Rainbowwww.webcrawler.com

Always remember the name ROY G. BIV (a clever way to remember the order of the rainbow.....)

RED, ORANGE, YELLOW. GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO, and VIOLET.

Seriously?!? When exactly did this change? Why weren't those of us who were mis-informed, told? I remember the episode of 'The Smurfs' where the color yellow was stolen by Gargamel, and the smurfs were all in an uproar because they couldn't have their rainbow festival with out YELLOW!! They didn't mention the absence of Indigo, even once! Doesn't the scientific community owe an explanation to us, that they led astray all these years? I guess not. And isn't INDIGO really another name for 'dark blue'? Does it really deserve it's own spot in the rainbow? I don't hear any complaints from pink. Or puce, or even mauve for that matter. Pretty selfish, Indigo......

Well, I am here to tell you that there is apparently another rainbow now people. The good old simple 6 color rainbow from your childhood is no more....so please....no more drawing incorrect "*bows or arcs of prismatic colors appearing in the heavens opposite the sun and caused by the refraction and reflection of the sun's rays in drops of rain". You can't claim ignorance anymore when drawing a picture. Please, for the love of all that is Holy...Draw it right!! Kids are aware of this, and they can be pretty mean. Go ahead, ask your kids the order of the rainbow colors. I'd bet they are aware of this.

This just doesn't look right to me.

Like the website says......
"Just remember Roy G. Biv". Although, I'm not entirely sure why that is supposed to be a catchy phrase/name.

* Online dictionary definition for rainbow

The Great Toy Migration...

2010-11-07T21:06:00.000-08:00

I have let the toys in my house go so long without weeding through and giving any away, that when I actually think of going in and sorting them, I get so completely overwhelmed I can't even stomach the thought of going through with it. (It really is that bad.) But, I saw Toy Story 3 about four times this past week, and it lit a fire under my butt and made me want to do this. I definitely feel more in the mood to tackle this horror, and move this stuff onto new kids that will enjoy them, now that my kids have moved on. Now is the time!

Also, my friend Kirsten decided that since this is a tough year for everyone-money wise-that we should all sort our stuff, and have a "Girls Night Out-toy swap meet" where what's old is new again (to each others kids'). It's a completely fantastic idea!

My problem is, my boys have a way of mutilating almost everything they touch. They are toy serial killers! "Sid" from Toy Story could be based on my boys and what they do to their stuff, I'm not kidding. I have had 7 bags of garbage, and 1 bag of goodwill stuff. I only have a small pile of stuff that looks new-ish enough to give to another kid for Christmas morning. I'm not done though.....I still have a few more places to sort through. But, since I have been at this for 5 hours now, and I am ready to scream in horror at the sight of another toy, I am quitting for the night.

I am happy to know that this toy room will finally be unpacked, and sorted for the first time since we moved in (in MARCH!!). This is reason enough to keep on cleaning tomorrow. Plus, I have sorted through most of the toys, so there really isn't much left to throw on the ground and mess up. It's awesome!

My friend Erica has been getting her kids toys and things from garage sales since this summer and packing them away for Christmas. Another brilliant idea! I plan on making some of the presents I am giving, and I'm actually pretty excited about the one I'm making for my brother, Adam. I drew his name and have a genius idea (that I can't share on here in case he actually reads this), but trust me.....genius.

How are some of you coping with the holidays coming up? Any money-saving tricks you'd like to share?

Swap meets of your own? I'm interested to see how creative people are getting this year.

Is It Worth It?

2010-11-05T01:46:00.000-07:00

The photo element of this Blog, really is one of my favorite things to play around with. What do I do then, when it goes from happily uploading many, many wonderful pictures at a time-to uploading only one at a time, all the while taking 3-4 minutes per picture-which may or may not even upload correctly? Now, I must actually have something interesting to say, since I don't have cute pictures of my kids in their Halloween outfits, my visiting family having fun playing board games, or even random bizarre pictures I find on-line. A blog where the entertainment factor is based almost entirely on what I have to say is a scary thing. Brace yourself-entertaining or not-until this photo uploader stops being stupid, my words are pretty much what you are going to get......I apologize in advance.

Lately I have come to realize how easy it is to fall into that "comfortable" stage in the marriage. Where you get so used to having the other person there, and doing what you need to do for the kids & your day to day life, that you put your partner to the side. There is always tomorrow, right?

"Comfortable" is awesome in clothes-I would have mine no other way. "Comfort" food is delicious, and brings back warm, fuzzy memories while it adds the loving inches to your butt and thighs. "Comfy" blankets are great to snuggle up in when the weather turns colder, and the rain starts to fall outside....but in a marriage, "Comfortable" is a dangerous place to be. It's so easy to get too comfortable, and start taking the other person's contributions for granted, and wonder why they aren't helping out more? You feel like nothing you do is recognized, and then you begin to feel taken for granted as well. You feel like you could just disappear, and nobody would be upset until the food didn't get made or you weren't there to find the homework that someone was told repeatedly to put away, and of course didn't-so now it's up to you to find it-again! Yes, I found out that while comfortable is a good thing, for the most part.....it can lead to some pretty uncomfortable situations.

I love Alan. Really love him. Yet, while I love him-there are days where I don't like him so much. This is normal, I hear. But I had a really bad day, a few days ago. One where I really was wondering, if all of this is worth it. I was feeling particularly unloved, under-appreciated, and very lonely. When I tried to talk to him about my day, I was repeatedly told "I didn't ask you that", or just cut off in the middle of my sentence so he could tell me I was wrong. I snapped. (I have to say- I was unknowingly PMS'ing pretty bad that day, but I can sure pull out the drama from time to time. I am only female, and I just can't help it. It's in my DNA.) Anyway, after hanging up on him for the second time I just stopped answering the phone all together. I started thinking about how I wasn't happy. And it seemed that my not being happy stemmed from Alan's complete dis-respect of my feelings. I started weighing the Pro's and Con's of the "D" word, and really spent the day thinking hard about if I want that for me, Alan and the kids. By the time Alan got home, I did my best to avoid him, because I was still not sure I had the strength to talk to him without being totally irrational, and saying things just to hurt him. By midnight, I was calm enough to talk. I had decided that I did want this marriage. It is worth it-but things had to change. I refuse to be ignored. I refuse to have him cut me off, mid-sentence like he does all the time. I want him to show me he loves me, and appreciates me. I need attention. This is a hard thing for me to acknowledge. I always thought I didn't need much, but as I get older, I am now coming to find out I really do need to be shown affection and recognized from time to time.

All of that being said, I do realize that I am not the perfect wife. His most common complaint is that I don't clean enough. To this I just get defensive, and say that there "isn't much point, since the kids mess it up too quickly when I do clean, and how is he to know when I do it or not?" This was more of an issue than I knew. I do clean, but not as much as I should, because honestly-I hate it. I loathe it. It does feel pointless, and the kids give me grief when I try and get them to do anything. I figured, I did enough during the day raising the kids that the housework-while it (randomly) got done-could wait.

I would much rather do things with the kids & spend time with them, than spend my time cleaning. They would remember the time I spent with them more than if the house was clean or not. But I didn't take into account Alan's feelings on this. It's a lot easier to not clean when you hate it, than do it just because someone else wants it done. I mentally revert back to the bratty little kid inside, and automatically don't do it because it's expected. This is wrong. Also, very immature.

So there I was, at midnight, strong enough to finally talk calmly-and Alan was asleep on the chair in the front room. He was totally avoiding me too! We really haven't slept apart our whole marriage-even while fighting. We usually just do the "I won't face you, and don't you dare cross over onto my side of the bed" game. Then we wake up refreshed, and over it. So the fact that he was in the other room, was saying something! I walked out, woke him up and told him we needed to talk-"can he please come in to the room?"

He did, and we sat down and had the most open, honest, heartbreaking talk we have ever had in our marriage, and it was wonderful. There were plenty of tears (all from me, go figure), lots of telling what we wanted out of being married, and also telling what we felt we weren't getting....but most of all, no yelling. We pointed a few fingers, but we both sat and listened to what the other one had to say-no matter how bad it made us feel, and we came out of it knowing how much we loved each other, and how there is a reason that we are married to begin with. We vowed to do the things that the other wanted, whether we felt like it at the time or not. We were going to try.

Here I am, a few days later, and I am doing so much better! He is showing affection to me-in front of other people-which is a huge thing for him! He has been saying 'Thank You' for things that I do, and he is listening when I talk. I don't feel like he doesn't care, and that is huge for me. There is a much happier, content feeling around the house. We are putting each other first, and though I may not feel like cleaning, I am. The house has been much cleaner the past few days, and he is grateful for that. Plus it just makes me smile knowing that I can do this small thing for him. He isn't asking too much, I realize that, and I choose to do it now. I am trying to put these horrible rebellious feelings away, and concentrate on what I want in life, and what it will take to get me there. I am trying to stop thinking about what I feel I am missing, and try to make others happy, and in doing so-I don't feel like I am missing anything! It's such a simple concept, but a difficult one to live. Selfishness is way easier to practice than selflessness.

I know this is a pretty personal thing to be sharing on here but, this is what I have been going through. I appreciate my sister Holly for talking (texting) me off the ledge-so to speak. She told me to just get space, and calm down so I can think things through with a clear head, which I did. I realized that Alan wasn't the root of my unhappiness, I was. I just needed to admit it to myself, and move on. I do want to be married to Alan, not because we have a comfortable life.......who does in this economy? I want to be married to him, because I love him and he is most definitely worth the effort.

I've Been Busy.......

2010-11-03T17:33:00.000-07:00

With a month like this.......

My blog has sat, lonely and abandoned. I hope to be better in November.

Burying Grandma

2010-10-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

Grandma Teigen, my brother Jeremy, and me a few years ago.

This past Friday we buried my Grandma Teigen. She had been sick for a while, and was in an old folks home for the past 4 1/2 years. It's odd thinking about her being gone. It was always a joke that she was going to out live us all, but we were wrong.

I remember she loved singing. Loud. And it was exactly what you would expect from an older lady-closest word I can think of is "Operatic" if that is even a word. My sisters and I would spend 2 weeks every other summer with my grandparents, and when we would go to church, we would race to get the end of the pew so that we didn't have to sit next to her. Wendy-the youngest-tended to lose. I think we used to play dirty, shoving and all. We would sit and giggle through every song as she sang her heart out, thinking everyone around us was staring. I feel bad now, because she probably did have a really nice voice-I just never really gave her a chance.

She has always loved flowers. Real and Fake, and her house was always filled with both. Any bookshelf, coffee table, side table, counter, TV, or dresser with a 12 inch clearing would have some elaborate faux floral arrangement on it. Even though that was never my taste, I can honestly say-I can't look at fake flowers now and not think of her.

She taught us to play poker. She wanted to be remembered for something other than this, but really-there are worse things to be remembered for. It was a really fun way to pass the time during visits. She would get really into it, and even shattered a chip during an extra enthusiastic 'raise' one time. Grandma, Grandpa and I laughed for hours over that. Plus none of us grandkids turned into gambling degenerates, so she did a good job.

She loved to cook. Not always what I liked to eat. It was a crap shoot at her house if it would be something edible-to me-since I was a particularly picky kid. Still am. She cooked her eggs on one side only!!! Sunny side-up? More like Sunny side-yuck. I used to beg for scrambled eggs. When those were runny, I learned to ask for cereal. She would put butter and mayo on bread! Still not sure why. A non-sexual barrier method as far as I can tell, from how she explained it to my mom. And, the mayo wasn't smoothly spread over the whole slice of bread like I was used to. No. It was chunked on there, hiding like a ninja under the lettuce, waiting to attack. I looked a few times, and feeling safe that there wasn't any mayo in it, I bit in. SQUISH!!!! Mouthful of Mayonnaise. Gag. (Now that I think about it, this is probably the root of why I don't like mayo on my sandwiches. Makes sense.) Regardless, she was a good cook at times, and I had many entertaining dinners with her and my Grandpa where they would politely argue over who actually came up with the recipe for my favorite Italian Chicken. Compelling arguments for both, but I don't really care who came up with it. Someone did, and she cooked it fantastically. I try and make it, and it comes out nothing like hers. I will miss it. I will also miss having pork chops every week that I was with her. Hers were awfully tasty. Again, mine can't even compare.

She loved telling stories of her youth. She was a dancer, singer and all around fun person to hang out with-the way she tells it, and I loved hearing the magical tales of her WWII era single life. I also loved hearing about her talk about my Grandpa, Mom, and Uncles. I got to hear her side of stories, and she would giggle her way through telling them-which made me like hearing them even more.

She had awesome dress up clothes for me and my sisters to put on. Gold strappy high heels. Oh, how we used to fight to get these!!

MTV-a-la-Woodsworth. We used to get a little bored after 2 weeks of no TV, so my sisters and I would put on little plays, or "live videos" for our Grandparents. We would put on music, and dance to it while lip-syncing. She would sit and laugh at us make fools of ourselves, and my Grandpa would record it. When our other siblings would come up to get us, they would get in on the fun. We found the tape a few years ago. Nobody outside our family is allowed to see it. It's too embarrassing.

She loved dolls. Scary, expensive porcelain dolls. They were all over the house. I do not like dolls because of a rather creepy experience as a kid, so when I was moving up to go to college, and live with her and Grandpa, I asked her to remove all the dolls. She thought I was crazy, but took most of them away anyway. I thank her for that.

She coined the phrase "Eat a piece of cake for me." She wrote this on every one of our Birthday cards, for years. (There were 9 of us kids.) We would laugh every time we saw it, and actually missed seeing it when she stopped. Now, somebody has to say it every Birthday. It is a Classic line, that was started by her.

She loved Jewelry, crossword puzzles, nail polish, travelling, pottery, and getting her hair done. Her hair was always perfectly permed, and dyed. When she gave up on dying it and let it go naturally white, it was beautiful. Soft and pretty.

I may not have always enjoyed being around her, but I choose to let any differences go and remember the funny, caring Grandma that she was to me. We were very different, but I can look back at all the things she taught me and appreciate her for her. I love you Grandma. I really do.

A few pictures for those not able to make it.

Her funeral is next week, so I'll probably be putting more pictures up, for the family that isn't here to be a part of.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

I love the idea of a wordless Wednesday, because it is little to no effort on my part to get the blog done! I am stealing this idea from all of you I follow. =) Without further ado......

I Hate Corn Tortillas!

2010-10-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

I really do. Not the taste, so much.....but trying to cook with them! I fail every time, and have screaming fits at the top of my lungs at these flimsy, stupid, grain products that taunt me every time I attempt to make something even sort of ethnic. See here...this is what I'm talking about.........

Can they not crack, and break on me?!? No. They can not. Then I wouldn't be able to yell at them, and scare my children. I'm serious, I think it gives them a sense of vengeance for the fact that I will be eating them soon.

"You gonna eat me? Yeah, well how about this.....CRACK! SPLIT! Now you see the cheese inside me, don't you? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Evil little round discs.

Here I am, trying to go a little easy on my system and eat corn tortillas since I seem to be sensitive to everything under the freaking sun. Not allergic, but sensitive. Look up food sensitivity side affects, and you will see the insanely fun time I have every time I eat. Try and not be jealous. My mom tells me that the migraines I have been getting lately are linked to the fact that I am eating this stuff I shouldn't be. I think she might be onto something, but I can't afford to buy only meat, vegetables, and fruit-so it is what it is.

These are the results from the doctor, when I was taking a test to find out what was up with my body. Ever since I was pregnant with my last son, my body had been betraying me whenever I dared to put any food in my mouth. So I actually did a blood test to see if there was a medical reason for it. My worst fear was it coming back showing I'm not supposed to have bread. "That would be truly awful", I thought. Little did I know what was waiting for me.

When my brother had to go off dairy for a while, I made fun of him. And thought about how I could never do that. Apparently Jesus does have a sense of humor-one that I don't share.

"Shame on you Tammy for making fun of your brother. Now I will make your last pregnancy have lasting effects on you. How about no longer making the enzymes to digest gluten? Not enough? How about I throw in eggs, yogurt, cheese, wheat, and milk? See who is laughing now." Not me. Well played Jesus, well played.

Anyway. Corn tortillas are horrible to work with, and give me serious anxiety attacks while I cook with them, but they sure are tasty when combined with enchilada sauce and cheese. Whether I'm supposed to have cheese, or not. That's why I have lactose pills.

******UPDATE*******
I finally finished the Sears Tower ornaments. I made one day time Sears tower, and the rest night time. Mostly because I didn't really like how the daytime one turned out. Nathan did, though and picked it. Oh well. Here is a picture of both the day and night ones. How do you like them?

I'm back......

2010-10-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have been away from the computer for a while now. I have been on twice, in a little over a week, and only for a few minutes at that! Not away completely, I guess....I can check my e-mail and Facebook on my phone-but away from blogging. I've been dealing with headaches, and the computer is not a great place to hang out when suffering with a migraine....but while I was up watching some late night TV around 4 o'clock this morning (because of yet another headache) I saw something that I just had to talk about. I don't know if this impacts any of your lives, the way it apparently does mine, but here it is......

Who is the stylist for the Jonas Brothers?!?!? Hairstylist-in particular! I was up watching E! Channels biography on young Hollywood from A-Zac (hee, hee. Clever.). It was about Taylor Swift, Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers. I found it very interesting, really. I have never cared for Taylor Swift, or her music-but after I saw this I can now respect her for what she has gone through, and for writing her own music-while I continue to not like her. Zac is adorable, and I'm glad he either grew into his teeth, or had them capped. He is talented, and though there are haters out there, I think he will go far. Um, Hello......17 Again, anyone? One of the funnier movies I have seen in a long time! Miley, meh. Still couldn't care less. Then came the Jonas brothers. Genetically gifted family, talented in acting and music (singing, playing, writing songs......), and all while being religious, and pure.....Ok. But I couldn't pay attention to that-because of the completely AWFUL hair they sport so much of the time! Oh, you don't believe me? Be prepared.....this is going to get ugly.......

So not OK......

I don't care that this was the hair for the movie. They should have known better.

A Razor-cut mullet, is still a mullet.

This is a Rock Star don't.

Oh, Tiger Beat......Why?

This is like a nightmare. The stylist should be condemned to this style forever, for inflicting this hair on the world!

Again, Tiger Beat!?! Again!?! Shame on you.

No....Justin Bieber can't even pull off this look. Please, somebody stop the madness!!

See what I mean? Some of the ones in the show were actually worse than these-if you could believe it. I didn't want to put them on here, because I don't want to be the cause of anybody going into a bad-hair induced coma. If you feel up to it, just watch the Hannah Montana episode that they are on. I wanted to puke. Literally.

I just don't get it! For a family that looks like this-what would make you give them such appalling hair! It takes away from their natural looks. Very distracting. Joe has an idea of what he could do, on days where his hair just won't do what it's supposed to....

Thank you, iWin for the hat!! It is very much appreciated!

They seem to be doing way better lately. In Camp Rock 2, for example-their hair was actually pretty good. And I don't know if it was the movie stylist, or just God smiling down on all of us-but we finally got a break from the hair horrors that have been plaguing them. The more natural look is definitely the way to go guys!

We'll start with Kevin, since he is the oldest.

I find it kind of funny that all the pictures I find of Kevin, where he has good hair-his wife is also in them. I wonder if it is her doing?

"With this ring, I thee become your hair stylist......."

Whether it's all credited to her or not, I will say Thank you, Mrs. Jonas! Thank you, and congratulations on 1 year of marriage.

Next, Joe....the major offender......

See how gorgeous his brown eyes look when you aren't distracted by the train-wreck above? Who knew he was so pretty? Millions of tweens, I guess. But I don't understand them, most of the time. A picture like this, I get it.

and finally Nick..........

I must admit, he's my favorite. I was hard pressed to find any bad hair shots of him, since this is his usual style. I thank him for this. It's a good one to stick with. Natural curls = Good!! Plus, I think he is the best looking out of the genetically blessed gene pool. I can say that now that he is over 18, and it isn't so creepy. I do have to take some points away because he dated Miley Cyrus, but they didn't date long so he only loses a few.....

I don't know what made them start going "Au natural", and embrace their curls; but I do thank all that is Holy that they did. Now when my boys want to watch Jonas L.A., and Camp Rock 2 I can happily watch it along with them. The Hannah Montana episode came on a few days ago, and I totally changed the channel, and told the kids it stopped working. I can't go through that again! I'm not strong enough.

Why haven't I heard of these?!?

2010-09-26T17:57:00.000-07:00

The diaper cake made by Chelsea.

I went to a baby shower this past Friday. It was a lot of fun, but the big hit? The diaper cake and the cake pops (pictured above). They were absolutely adorable! Of course I just had to know how to make them so I can "borrow" this idea in the future. The cake pops were very easy! And sinfully delicious. They tell you how to make them on Bakerella.com, as well as a bunch of other ones that you couldn't make no matter how long you were in pastry school. My friend Erica was cool enough to share the site with me! So, of course-I had to try.

I didn't have any lollipop sticks, or colorful chocolate, but I did have Almond Bark, which is my favorite chocolate coating anyway, and popsicle sticks. They were, in fact, very easy to make. My only tips are make sure that you have room in your freezer for these so the chocolate can set, I didn't have room and it took quite a while. Also-get styrofoam to stick them in after they are dipped. I used a box, with holes cut into it, and wax paper put over it to catch the drips, but the weight made the pops want to topple into the one next to it. Styrofoam would fix this, plus it's what is suggested. Otherwise, this is awesome to do with kids. Probably 7-8 years, or older.

I am not putting pictures up because mine weren't Martha Stewart like. I can't face the shame of less than perfect cake pops.....no, just kidding. I forgot to take pictures. Plus, they didn't last long. I have tried chocolate, red velvet, and I made vanilla. Chocolate is hands down the best. I had to have a moment when I first bit into it. The taste overtook my whole body, and I didn't want to chew-I just wanted to live in that second forever. It really was that good.

I googled how to make the diaper cakes, but the results didn't turn out as fantastic as this one. I might just have to do a Girls Night Out, and pick Chelsea's brain for all her fabulous ideas.

I'm tempted to make Yo Gabba Gabba cake pops for Nathan's birthday in November. We'll have to see if the temptation turns into anything productive though. Some people on bakerella did these, and I want to try . Only, I'll make them better. =)

Say What?!?!?

2010-09-22T21:37:00.000-07:00

This is a letter I got in the mail a few days ago......

Since when do you find out your kid may, or may not have asthma by mail? And by your Health Insurance, not by your PCP? This is new to me. I opened this, and literally said "WHAT?!?!" really loudly, making my kids suddenly take notice of me. I had been trying to get them into the car so we could leave, and they were doing their best to ignore me completely-yell out "WHAT" and they are all ears.....I may be onto something. Anyway, I read that and immediately launched into 20 questions with Ben.

Me "Do you feel like you can't breathe sometimes? Like after you are running?"

Ben "I don't know what that feels like. What do you mean?"

Me "When you run, do you sound like (then did my best asthma/wheezing impression. I think I sounded pretty dead on. I should be in asthma commercials...)

Ben "Not really."

Me "Does running around make you cough a lot?"

Ben "Yes."

Nick "Me too. I sound like (winded kid impression) after I run."

Me "That's normal Nick. That means you ran fast."

Nick "I do run fast."

Ben "No you don't. I run faster than you do..."

And I lost them. This is typically how any conversation goes at my house. Someone feels left out, and Ben has to say he's better than them since he is the oldest.

I need to call and make appointments for Nick and Nathan at the pediatrician, They have been sending me reminder postcards for months, but I dread the paperwork. The 20 page packet that tells you if your kid is 'normal' or not compared to other kids their age. I usually have all the boys with me, so sitting down and paying any attention to the questions, and asking the boys "Nick can you hop on one foot and rub your belly at the same time?" & "Nathan, can you say the alphabet in Pig Latin? No?! I'll just put sometimes...." is really distracting. It doesn't get much better once I am in the room either. Making sure the boys don't climb up, and jump off the examining table, and watching them so they don't steal anything out of the drawers while holding a clinging baby who is terrified we are there to get him shots-doesn't allow me time to really listen to what is being said to me. Maybe, he said something about asthma, but I really don't think he did. That is a word that I would think would stick out in a conversation. Like, swearing. Tell me you don't zone out on things and then suddenly you hear it....

"Blah, blah, blah.....F******..."

Suddenly you are all ears. "Did I really just hear that?" You turn to the person next to you, "Did they just say what I think they said?" There are certain things that get your attention in life, and I would like to think that if I hear the name of a disease in the same breath as my child's name, I would pay attention. I guess I should get on the ball and make the appointments for the other boys so that I could bring it up with him.

I wonder if it is because we have a nebulizer? Ben gets croup every time he gets a cold. It sounds horrible and scary, and leads to bronchitis, so our wonderful Dr. P gave us a nebulizer, and a ton of alboterol that works like magic for him. The treatments with it help him breathe so much easier! It was a life saver during the cold/flu season last year. Maybe the fact that they paid for that gave them the impression he has asthma. I would think that since he hasn't been prescribed any inhalers, that means no. I don't know. They were very helpful though. They sent us a paper explaining Asthma, and gave me the kick in the butt I needed to get off my butt and get these kids seen.

I'm just old school, and have a hard time taking healthy kids to the doctor. Stuff had to practically be falling off for my dad to take us, and I only remember my mom taking me when she thought I might be faking a cold just to stay home. At least that's how I saw it.....and the A-hole doctor didn't help. He said he couldn't find anything wrong with me. Jerk! I was feeling bad that day, Mom. Just so you know. All these years later-I wasn't lying.

Meep!

2010-09-17T01:13:00.000-07:00

So, we are heading into the end of the second week of school tomorrow. Second week, and what did I get today?!? Any guesses? I got a 2nd sad faced note from Ben's teacher that I had to sign and return. Let me repeat-second note-second week. What the?!? Ben doesn't get into trouble (usually) at school! He loves it there! Home is a different story.

He got this one for the same reason as the last one, not listening/paying attention. Last time he lost 5 minutes of recess time, it will probably be the same tomorrow. I told him, again, I wasn't happy about this. We moved the bedtime for him and Nick up another half hour to 7:30. I also put on my 2nd signed note, that I thought it would be a good idea for him to be moved to the front of the class away from his friends. We did deal with this problem last year, but he had a more tolerant/understanding teacher then, I guess. It's still not something I want to dismiss-I definitely think he needs to work on his listening. Wait, scratch that-his hearing needs improvement. As we all know, there is a big difference in just listening to someone, and actually hearing the words they say. I fear I am at a disadvantage here, just because I am a woman, trying to understand and fix something that most adult men still have problems with. But I need to do something. His "Professor *Umbridge-esque" teacher seems to have a low tolerance for this kind of thing. I'm pretty much at a loss of what to do next. This kind of thing makes you question your parenting skills.

"My kid isn't one of those kids. He's well behaved, with impeccable manners. Every teacher dreams of having a child like him in their class!"

That's what I would love to think. That my parenting skills are above reproach, and my children are perfect in every way. But they aren't. They are kids. Kids will push boundaries, and try and get away with everything. Ben likes to think that whatever he is drawing at the moment, is more important than whatever he is being told to do. He, very much like his father, likes to do things in his own time. Neither of them like to feel "rushed", which I know from first hand experience, can be quite annoying. He's also a perfectionist. (Unfortunately, that is all me. *Sigh*) I told him that it isn't fair for his teacher to have to keep repeating things to him, and hold up the class because he isn't listening to her. To this, he breaks down in tears with, "but I was listening! I was trying to!"

No amount of explaining that if he was, in fact listening, I wouldn't keep getting these sad faced papers sent home to sign. I could try, but he wouldn't listen to me anyway. Like I said, we have the same issue at home. I have to repeat things about 6-9 times before I get any response from him. It's beyond irritating! If the TV is on, within a 1/2 mile radius of him-forget it! This doesn't help him out at all. It just makes me even more angry-I have a serious hate/hate relationship with repetition. His teacher last year told me he listens great once he makes eye-contact. So goes my reasoning for him getting moved to the front of the class!

All I know is this has to stop, but since I really haven't known how to deal with this at home, I really am at a loss for how to deal with it in public. How do you make a kid "hear" his teacher? I have explained that no matter what he is doing, he needs to do what the teacher says-when she says it. As in-right then. No excuses. He says he understands, but how long does that last? A week, apparently.

And his ears have been checked. They work perfectly! Just whisper something next to him you don't want him to hear, and you can guarantee he did!

*Also, I doubt his teacher is sadistically evil like Delores Umbridge from Harry Potter. I'm sure she is perfectly wonderful. I haven't met her yet, but I believe her to be all that is good and pure. I just am speaking of her "No crap, Black/White views on teaching." (I reserve the right to change my mind upon meeting her....)

51st Post!

2010-09-16T02:15:00.000-07:00

I am a sick person. I must be. I apparently like to torture myself. I can't help it. I don't see the point of owning something that just causes severe depression every single time it's used-yet, I do. It's right here on the floor next to me, in fact. It's a tool of the devil. A. Tool. Of. The. Devil. Sent here to destroy me, and any/all positive feelings I may have about myself. Why is it in my house? Why?!?

The following is a close version of what just happened a few minutes ago.

For some unknown reason, I thought it would be a good idea to weigh myself. This is what it said.....(give or take an ounce or 2.......)

After deciding that the scale had to be wrong, I got off and got back on.......

YAY!!!

Then, I realized what it actually said, and I had gone down mere ounces instead of a few hundred pounds.

Sad me.

(This format was somewhat borrowed by the fantastic blog Hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com. If you haven't heard of it, it's a must read. Sometimes pictures just tell do much more than words can....)

More Music Musings......

2010-09-14T00:08:00.000-07:00

Pandora.com

This is an online radio station that plays songs based on the artist you put in that you like. It is also perfectly named. I don't know that I really wanted to open up the Pandora's Box of "uncoolness" that I try so hard to deny sometimes, when it comes to music. You can put in any artist or song that you like and it will play selections similar to it. Um, I am a total nerd. My selections were as follows.......

James Taylor
Dan Fogelburg
Michael Buble
Michael Jackson
Jessica Simpson (Yes, I did.)
Spice Girls (Yes, I did this too...)
Rob Thomas
Chicago
Barbara Streisand
Jason Mraz
The Monkees
Sting & The Police
The Beatles
John Mayer
Elton John
Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton (Together! Islands in the stream, here I come....)
Jonas Brothers (This was on purpose. Camp Rock 2 kinda hooked me..)

I love the Monkees! I faked being sick a few Sundays while younger, to stay home from church and watch the Monkees Marathons that were on MTV. I'm not ashamed.

Rule The World by Take That (One of my favorites! Please take a few minutes to listen)

I realize that only a few of my choices are appropriate for someone my age, but seriously-even I am embarrassed by some of these! But clearly not enough to stop listening to them. Embarrassing-yes, but I ask you;

Who defines what is "cool" enough to listen to?

I know my sister (Holly) always makes fun of me for my choices. And last night, a friend was asking for the names of some of the songs that were on my mixed tapes growing up, because she liked them. When I started listing songs & groups, I was kind of shy about putting it out there, until I remembered that she said she liked my stuff too. I sit here now thinking about how I try not to care, but honestly, I am terrified of being judged by others! And over something so stupid as the music I like!

I have always been more of a laid back person, and upon reflection-my music choices kind of fit. Easy listening-Not too loud, soothing. Pop-bubbly, kind of songs you can sing along with easily. I can't handle "music" that is just loud and has no understandable lyrics. I don't think it's "singing" when you scream and growl into a microphone. If I'm gonna be real, I enjoy happy people singing about love. Period. And Sting, but that's a no brainer.

I could listen to him sing all day. It's truly a sickness.

I am probably losing the 3 or 4 readers I have, just by listing the music I actually listen to. It's really hard to admit my inner nerdiness, without wanting to revert back into the awkward Middle School 'tween' girl in me, dropping to my knees and screaming at the top of my lungs, "Please accept me!!" Putting my desperation out there like a flasing road sign. I can't dance, I can't sing-but that doesn't stop me from trying whenever a catchy little tune comes on. (If you have seen how some of my family members dance, you will understand this. I have genetics against me here.) I just try to not do it where anybody can see me-I have been caught rocking out in a car before, with my friend. It was a "deer caught in the headlights" kind of moment, that melted us into fits of laughter. It is a great memory, but I don't want to do that again. Sadly, I still care too much of what people think of me. But, my kids don't judge. They love me no matter what, so I inflict this painful sight on them. Hey, what is family for?

I Will Not Hide My Feelings Any Longer....

2010-09-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

I want it to be okay to listen to Christmas music all year, and not feel like a social outcast for feeling this way!

"Ugh, it's way too early for that!"
"I don't even want to think about Christmas already!" (cough, cough....Mom.....)
"What the heck is this on for?"

I happen to love Christmas music! I'm tired of being ashamed, and I'm especially tired of only being able to listen to it for 1 month out of the year! I feel like I have to go into "Joy to the World" overload, and not get to enjoy it for all it stand for. Christmas happens to be one of my top 2 favorite holidays, and if it weren't for the fact that there are so many dang cool Halloween decorations-it would be #1! I love the memories that come with hearing the songs. I love the messages of love, peace, and just general "warm fuzzies" that come with listening to it. I'm listening to it right now! Olivia Newton John is singing about her "Mothers Christmas Wish" for her children.

She wants them to learn to love. Learn to give. Learn to lose. Live the truth in all they do....These are fantastic lessons that all kids need to hear ALL YEAR LONG! Because at Christmas, let's be honest-they are not really listening to the beautiful messages about love, hope, and Jesus. They are thinking about what Santa is going to get them, and how they can convince him to bring a few more presents to them. Greed is what rules their minds from November 1st until December 26th. Even longer for some.....

I say, play the music DAILY! Maybe if people heard the "do good" message, they would be more willing to hold the door open for someone at the store. To let the person behind them with only a few items, skip ahead in line, and possibly make their day. Let the jerk who almost hit you, get in front of you on the road, and wave at them with a real smile instead of the one finger solute you really want to do. (Hey-it's easy to do good to the nice people, it counts double when the person doesn't even deserve it.)

So, I challenge you to go right now, and pull out some of the dusty Christmas CD's you have hanging around your house. I dare you NOT to be in a good mood listening to it!

And mom-you can listen to it, and not think about all the money that comes with Christmas in general. It is possible. Enjoy the music!

The Photos as Promised........

2010-09-08T23:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, if I can give my near skeleton kid a double chin, this shot absolutely proves to never shoot the camera "up". What the heck?!?

Ben's action shot.

Believe it or not, this was one of the best ones of them together. Weird faces, water bottle and all.

Nick showing his pearly whites.

Nick's action shot of getting home from school. Don't his legs look short in this? Weird angle or something. Hmm...totally rad purple shoe laces, though. (Yeah, I said Rad. Deal with it.)

Ok, I'm off to watch Date Night now. Yay!!

Back to school

2010-09-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

The boys went back to school today!!! I was so excited. Especially since Alan works really early in the morning, so he does the "getting them ready, and to the bus" stuff. Meanwhile-I hang out with Miles and Nathan, and pick the boys up from the bus after school. I only am involved with the early morning mess if the bus runs late, or on the days that school starts 2 hours later (once a month!!). This is a pretty sweet deal for me, I must say. I actually hung out watching cartoons in bed with M & N, then got them breakfast, and cleaned the front room. It was pretty bad. Then I went in and did Nathan's room because that had been turned into my "clean laundry that is still sitting and waiting patiently to be put away" room. But the boys went in and decided to throw the clothes all over the room so that they could play with the baskets. It too, was really bad, but while I was cleaning it, I did a little redecorating, so I didn't even mind re-folding everything. I'm setting a goal to try and do a major clean up of at least one area when the older 2 are gone. It's so much easier! If only I could have Miles not follow me, practically undoing everything I've just cleaned-it would be fantastic!

I will put pictures up tomorrow since I forgot to take some today. Oops! They will still have that "I love school" glow about them, and will be willing to pose for pictures then too.

I have to go Biofreeze my back now, because of the days activities. It was totally unprepared for the spur of the moment renovations. But really, my back needs to get on board with me about this cleaning stuff, and not make me pay for it later! This constant burning it's doing, just is not going to be okay with me!

Biofreeze-the stuff of Champions! (Sore champions, but champs none the less!)

A Hairy Situation

2010-09-07T23:34:00.000-07:00

If it's good enough for Julia...........

Ok, ladies. Please help me out if you know the answer to this one, because I am about to pull out my European heritage card, and just say forget it!

How do you make your legs and armpits NOT itch like crazy the day or 5 after you have shaved? I swear I have had my hand down my shirt, scratching the life out of my armpits, a few more times than I care to recall today, because the itch is unbearable. Thank goodness I am home with 2 little boys that have no idea that what I am doing is usually frowned upon in the company of others. Deodorant isn't helping........do you guys just shave every day to solve the "grow back" scratchiness? Again, if that 's the only way-that little bit of French in me is about to play a major role. I don't wear tank tops, or shorts....so outside the bedroom (ahem), I don't think anybody would even know.

Please share any hints, or tricks. I am down to my last layer of skin here.

RIP Tammy. Welcome to the Dark Side.

2010-09-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

I always made fun of my mom for watching kids movies, when all of us kids were grown up. I still kind of do-yet, I realized something pretty scary today. I am totally already MY MOM. I have always been like her, but I have really held onto the fact that I watch kids movies with my kids, and not just for the fun of it. Then as I was walking through the grocery store today, I caught myself singing "Introducing Me" from Camp Rock 2. I didn't even have kids with me! When I caught myself, I literally stopped where I was, hung my head, and had a moment of silence for "Tammy", because I now am my mom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UILg-PIt_l0

I should have caught on Friday, when Alan was gone for his Guys Night, and I had all the kids in bed and could have picked anything to do. What did I choose, you ask? The first paragraph should be a huge hint. I layed in bed with Miles and Nathan passed out, and I watched Camp Rock 2, by myself. I even rewound, and re-watched the song "Introducing Me" because I thought it was very cute. I seem to be doing this kind of stuff more and more, now that I'm thinking about it......There are times where there are no kids in sight, and I will just leave the channel fixed on whatever show they had on. I have definitely left Coolsville! Goodbye, Shaggy and Scooby! (If you thought "Hey, that sounds just like the name of the town Shaggy, Scooby-Doo and the gang live in!" before I mentioned it, you need to come with me to Mommytown. You have lost your "cool" ticket too.) I'm not too sad, because being a mom is actually pretty fun at times. I'm embracing it with open arms! Now I have a licence to get away with all sorts of previously scoffed at things. I admit it- I like the Disney Channel. I confess that I enjoy cartoons, as well as my girly tear-fest movies. There is room in my life for all of these, and my crime shows, ghost shows, and my not so kid-friendly movies. Ok, world! I admit it-I am my mother, and I am fine!

It's not a bad thing. I love my mom dearly, but if I start breaking out with the weird sayings:

"Two sides of one coin..."
"Rummy"
"Mad as a hornet..."
"6 or one half dozen of another..."

I will walk my butt down to the court, and legally change my name to "My Mother" Hendricks.

A Movie Review, Of Sorts.......

2010-09-03T03:29:00.000-07:00

I watched Why did I get Married Too last night with Alan. I liked it. Some say Tyler Perry comes off as kind "preachy" with his movies. I say- "hey, if it's a good lesson-preach on, Brother Perry!" His movies all have a good theme, and lots of humor.

This one is the sequel to Why did I get Married, named such for obvious reasons. It features four different couples-and deals with the struggles of being married, and living everyday life. Hilarity, and tears ensue. The four couples are so different from each other, that as I was watching it, I was totally thinking of people I know who fit into each of their roles. Then came this one scene, and it really caught me off guard for how close it hit home.....

One of the couples Sheila and Troy-had just had a baby, moved across the country, and now he was looking for work so they had no money.

(the following is a paraphrase of the scene)

*All four of the couples had just arrived at the rental house in the Bahamas, for their "Why did I get married" weekend retreat, when an unexpected & uninvited visitor showed up. They are all sitting around talking about what to do.....*

Sheila "Blah, Blah, Blah....We spent our last to get here, so we're staying. Blah, Blah."
Troy "Sheila can I talk to you inside for a second?"

*They walk indoors for privacy.....*

Troy "Why you gotta tell our business like that?"
Sheila "I have no idea what you are talking about..."
Troy " "We spent our last to get here......" (not quite imitating her, but all bent out of shape)"

*Then there is more Blah, blah, blah....*

Sheila ".......You need to let go of your pride.....blah, blah...."

*After a bit more conversation I can't remember, he goes upstairs, she goes outside to her girlfriends, and they talk it out.*

Sheila " .........Was I wrong to say that??"
Angela "Did you spend your last to get here?"
Sheila "Yes. "
Angela "Then, No."

(The guy Troy isn't a jerk by any means, though he kinda comes off that way here. Disregard that, I was just getting the main details out for the point of this...)

At this point in the movie, I looked at Alan and said,

Me "Can they not be us? I swear we have had this exact conversation. Close enough to it, anyway."
Alan "What are you talking about?"
Me "You know me-I have no boundaries when I talk to people. (As some of you know all too well) I say whatever I'm thinking, and you get mad at me for telling people "our business" ".
Alan *scoff loudly* "Whatever..."

I am so serious though. There are a few movies that have come close to some of the conversations/arguments we have had. This was pretty much dead on. It was crazy. A few more times, something would happen, and I would look over at him and cough in his direction, like "see? There they go again, being us...." (The Break Up was another movie. The fight that they actually break up over is seriously something that sounds too close to things we have said. It's like they bugged our house to write that scene.)

Me and Alan have some weird fights, and we clearly don't see eye to eye on how to deal with it. Alan would have us not talk about it to anyone, even each other. I can't do that. I have to talk things out otherwise I end up blowing up about something completely stupid, and unrelated later. And if Alan won't talk to me, I will find someone else to vent to. I see nothing wrong with this. He does. I will admit that I have recently figured out that I do indeed have "social diarrhea of the mouth", and I really don't know when I am doing it. I tend to over share things rather than under share, so if I say things that offend you, please let me know, because chances are-I have no idea I have made you uncomfortable in the least.

Oh! In the last minute or so of the movie, there was a serious "eyecandy" surprise......The Rock made an appearance-which made me like the movie even more. Alan's reaction was a little less enthused,

"What?!? Oh, come on! Why is he in this?!? That doesn't even make any sense!"

It did make sense, but even if it didn't-it was the freaking ROCK!! He can show up in Alan's movies any day. I did enjoy the movie though, and I came out fulfilled, and full of love and appreciation for Alan like Tyler Perry movies tend to make me do. I think Alan came out thinking about how he would screen the next movie for the Rock before I got to watch it with him, if he ever watched one with me again.

Yes, please.....

Why does this sound familiar?

2010-08-31T00:41:00.000-07:00

I've always loved Calvin and Hobbes, I've even included some of the comics in the Blog before, if you recall. But it wasn't until I was just looking through one of the books today, that I realized that I'm living it! My boys Ben and Nick are totally Calvin and Hobbes, and I'm terrified for Nathan & Miles to get a little older and pick up on the habits of their brothers! Just like in the book, I get no rest with these kids. She had it easier with only 1 boy, I must point out.......

This is the comic that started it all:

I swear, if B & N aren't drawing people being blown up by bombs, they are drawing them being murdered in various, creative ways. Is this normal for boys? This complete fascination with death all the time? The have had drawing books taken away for drawing these things, because Ben was drawing them in school, and I got the talk about "What is appropriate, and what isn't" from his teacher during one of his conferences. Yikes. Now mostly I don't want them to draw them, because I really don't want to sit through another of those talks. You feel like a bad parent, because your kids are drawing things that would tend to make some teachers believe they are going to be future serial killers. All it tells me is that Alan lets them watch his shows behind my back, more times than he gets caught.

What is weird, is-while I am concerned about them being so young and being preoccupied with death, I kind of find the different things they come up with humorous. I won't let them know it though. My boys are by no means lacking in creativity. Sometimes I have to turn away so I can laugh-undetected-because I don't want to encourage them. Totally hypocritical, right?

"Don't do that!" *turn away....giggle, giggle*

Mostly I'm astounded with the things they come up with. They are constantly building things with random stuff around the house, straws, sticks, tape, wood, nails....anything they can find. They make these contraptions, and tell me what these random things are used for. They have built a few time machines, wooden airplanes, and wooden kites-fully expecting them to fly. I tried to explain aerodynamics to them, but 5 & 7 year olds just don't get it. Strange, huh?

Today, they packed some backpacks, because Ben made a "bomb" that was set to go off in 10 minutes. Then they proceeded to run around the house, showing real concern that they would be blown up any time. They didn't understand why I wasn't concerned. As soon as I made sure they hadn't touched the propane lantern from camping, and saw the bomb was really just a foil covered thing, tied to a Kleenex box, I went back to what I was doing. They were counting down the time, and when it got to the end of the time, and the bomb went off-they flopped around on the floor like dying fish, screaming. I know some people are like "That is insensitive to people blown up by bombs." To them I say, these are kids and as long as they are getting along, they can play whatever they want. Plus, it was pretty funny. If I had been feeling better I would have had them re-enact it on video.

This is my life people. I am living in a Calvin and Hobbes comic book! I suppose there could be worse things to live, especially since this is a highly entertaining strip. I just would like a break every once in a while from the high energy, rambunctious boys I have. It takes an awful lot of mental awareness to answer all of the questions posed everyday by these kids, and a great deal of strength to not kill them for some of the stuff they do. It would be nice to be able to close the book sometimes, and go to sleep.

Oh well, at least life will never be boring.

I'm glad to be back.

2010-08-30T01:35:00.000-07:00

Camping. It seemed so easy when I was a kid. I thought it was easy to just pick up and go, spur of the moment-and have a ton of fun. Little did I know the preparation, planning and money that are actually involved! I have years, and years of camping under my belt-all kinds of situations and variables thought out, but I still wasn't as prepared as I could have been for this past weekend.

Nick with cousin "Speedy". Nathan in background.

We got there Friday, and I quickly set up the campsite, since my hubby had never been camping in his entire life. I know! I got everything set up pretty fast, then I had to cook dinner, since apparently cooking hot dogs on a fire grill is too complicated for my man. (The second night he tried to do it, put lighter fluid on the coals while he was cooking the hot dogs, and asked if you can still eat them with it on them. We threw all 6 of them away. Then I took over the cooking, and managed to drop 2 hot dogs into the dirt. I also washed them, and put them back on the plate. What? We were camping, and nobody knew-shhhh!) Then we visited family for a while. We were all pretty sleepy, so we thought we'd put the kids to bed early since it was dark, and they had been in the car for a while. We figured they would be out in no time. We were so wrong! We laid in with them for almost 2 hours, trying to get them to sleep. By the time they all did finally pass out, everyone else had gone to bed.

"Oh, well, " we thought. "we'll hang out, and play games tomorrow."

Wrong again. I woke up around 1 am to a tap, tap, tap on the tent. I was in a half sleep stupor, but awake enough to know I was hearing rain. "Oh, crap!" I thought, "All the chairs are out there!" But since I wasn't dressed, I did the next logical thing-apart from actually getting up and moving the chairs. I prayed.

"Please let this rain stop, so the chairs don't get wet. Please let it stop so we can have fun with everyone tomorrow, and have a dry place to sit."

And it did. I was so proud of myself, for my apparently strong connection with the Man Upstairs. So strong in fact that it stopped raining while I was saying it! I was so happy, and I dozed back off to sleep. But, because we all know that pride is one of the 7 deadly sins-I really should have known better.....I should have known that by stopping, it was really only building itself up for the downpour it was about to unleash on us!

Poor sister in law (in purple), and cousins sitting around the fire cooking in the rain, trying hard to warm up. (You can't see it, but there was a huge tarp hanging-that was purchased in the afternoon, so that cooking would be possible!)

I woke up around 2 to TAP, TAP, TAP!! This time, I hit Alan to wake him up, and inform him that it was raining. Then I jumped up, threw clothes on and ran out of the tent barefoot to throw the now soaking wet chairs in the car. Miles' baby seat was out there too, and seemed to take the brunt of the water. Grr! I wrapped that up in a towel, to hopefully soak up some of the water before putting that in too. I grabbed the charcoal that was hanging out in the open, and set that in a spot next to our tent that was miraculously still dry.

2 of My favorites! My niece, Lisa and her Hubby Calvin. (I am younger than them, it's a long story, but a wonderful, loving family!)

Then I got to go in and try to warm up. The cousins were all running around too, but unfortunately for some of them, it was because their tents had flooded, and the rain was getting their blankets wet. We, luckily enough, had chosen a perfect spot under 2 huge trees, so we were just getting the tree cast-off rain. Our tent was huge-nice! But the sides were mesh-not so nice. We had a rain cover for it, but that didn't keep the damp air out. We were dry-ish. Our blankets were damp from the humidity in the air, but we escaped pretty much unharmed. We were not prepared in clothes though. We were expecting warm to hot weather-not rain, so we had brought a few pairs of pants, but we only brought sweaters. Sweaters that soak up the rain like a sponge. I felt so bad, because the kids kept coming up and asking to change, but we had nothing dry for them to change into. I was ringing out their sweaters, and holding them over fires, even laying them directly onto the rock stoves at a few points to get them warmed up enough for them to continue wearing.

Nathan showing off his "Not-very-effective-but-highly-adorable" rain gear.

Oh, out of order, but I thought it was cute-Nick woke up wanting to go to the falls and the beach to go swimming. He had been looking forward to it the whole day before-but when he woke up, he seemed deep in thought for a second, then a look of utter disgust came over his face, and his first words were "PLEASE tell me it's not raining!" When informed that yes, it was really raining, he flopped back into his pillow dramatically, "DANG IT!"

They were already soaked, I don't know why I didn't just let them go in. You can't see the rain drops in the water, but they are there.

We hung out in the car, with the heater running and movies playing. A few times there was 9 or 10 people in, trying to warm up. About half way through the day, we packed the kids up and took them to the beach. It rained the whole time, but it was still fun.

Nick, Nathan, and Ben in front of the McArthur Burney Falls.

Then we went to the Falls, with some cousins. Later on, we went fishing when there was a small break in the rain. It lasted about 15 or so minutes, and started again. Poor Miles was stuck in the tent so much this trip because the ground was so muddy. It continued to rain pretty much until we went to bed. Then we had to get up early and pack up. Thank you cousin Dave, and sons for helping to take the tent down! Dave tried to get Alan to help take the tent down, but he kept messing up. After about a minute or so, Dave told his son to take over doing it, and told Alan to stick to turning wrenches. We all laughed pretty hard. Dave had asked me earlier why I was the one setting the tent up, and not Alan. I told him Alan had never camped, I had, so Alan was holding Miles. He scoffed and made fun of Alan a little bit, but I think he saw in the end that some things just aren't worth it!

Ben catches a fish with the help of Dave, and crew.

It was a lot of fun seeing the family that we haven't seen in 3 or so years, rain and all. I wish I got pictures of them, I only have pictures of a few, since I couldn't take many pictures in the rain. I would love to do this again, but if the Weather Channel gets it this wrong again, I swear, I might sue. 85 degrees on Saturday, indeed!! Jerks.

Nick and Nathan saying a sad goodbye to one of their favorite cousins for the weekend. Nathan was attached to him at the hip.

I love this picture of Lisa's daughter, and little Jada.

My sister in law, Dolores, and my cousin Steffan.

Lisa, her daughter, and son.

Regrettably yours....

2010-08-26T02:58:00.000-07:00

I have been slacking on here lately! I swear! I started this totally gung-ho, like "My goal is to post something worth reading everyday!" Then it moved on to, "Ok, this is harder than I thought, maybe something mildly entertaining every other day, will do..." Now, it's all like, "Crap! I forgot to write in the Blog last night.....again!" Usually thought the morning after I have passed out while putting the kids to bed. I plan to do better, just probably not his week, considering there will be camping involved the next few days, and I will be out of touch.

(I can pretty much guarantee that this is how it will be.....)

Anyway......

I have tried very hard to live my life without regrets. I don't believe in doing things to test the waters, and see how it turns out. I think things through, watch other people's trail and error, and either scrap the whole thing based on a "what if" possibility, or proceed with extreme caution. You may think I'm missing out on things in life....I don't see it that way. I have done plenty of things that I thought were rewarding, and I don't feel like I have missed out on anything noteworthy. None that I can think of, at least.

But I still did it. I still did that 1 thing that I do regret. It wasn't a really bad thing, particularly, but I regret it none the less. And being as I have put quite a few years in between me, and said regret-I guess life thought it was time to throw one at me again. Something I thought I would never do-I did. I am not proud, as this is worse than the previous one. I really get the idea of wishing I could rewind time, so I wouldn't have done it to begin with.

Like before, it's not like I killed anybody, or anything, but still.....it is one thing I always thought I was above doing. (Don't try and guess, it's not what you're thinking. =) Plus, I will never tell.) But, this made me think....

It is so easy to judge people! I have always looked at people for what they were, and regardless of their faults, I have tried to love them for them. I take a little bit of pride in the fact that I don't outright judge anybody-especially before I hear both sides. It's simply not my place.....I will not hate "Sally" because she said something that offended you. Until "Sally" does something to me, that is really bad, and without reason-"Sally" is still good in my book. But, I find that is somewhat dangerous territory.

I stole a soda once. I was walking home from school one day, and was soooooo thirsty! I was with a friend who had money and bought a fountain drink. I didn't have any money, so I asked for a water cup. I got water, but the soda was there taunting me-so when the cashier walked away, I got some soda and left. Let me tell you....I barely slept that night, or the few that followed it until I was able to gather up my change and go back to the store and pay for the large size drink. The water cup was really smaller than the "small" size, but I felt such guilt with what I had done. I was in high school, so I was definitely old enough to know better. I paid the cashier for my large soda, and when she handed me the cup and walked away, I put the cup back and left. I know I should have told her, but really in my mind, what I did made up for it. It taught me a very valuable lesson. One I carry with me today....Do not steal. I can't sleep if I do. I try and teach my kids this, probably to the extreme. I won't let them eat things in the store that are paid for based on weight, because they are stealing from the farmers who depend on the money for those fruits/vegetables. Now, I really don't know if this is how it works but, it makes sense to me-and seems to for them.

All my mistakes that I have made are great big lessons to me, and I remember them as that. So why would I think somebody that chooses to make a bad decision is therefore-a bad person? I make bad choices! It's when you start to get comfortable with things, and start to slide into that "I would never do that! That is so stupid!" attitude, that life is going to come up and go, "What?!? We'll just see about that!", and then get you...big time.

I am still trying everyday to take each person at face value, and not judge on appearance, wealth, race or religion (even lack thereof). These are some of the most interesting people I have met. Who wants to only be around people the same as you?!? Not me. That would be boring!! I am just going to continue to accept people, with a little more caution, realizing I could just as easily be the one that people are talking about. Shoot, my family was always being talked about behind our backs growing up because of the different colored hair, piercings, tattoos, or whatever else people saw going on-yet I have one of the most well balanced, loving, fun families that I have ever met! I know how it feels to be judged based on what others perceive as different or weird. It doesn't feel good. And the one you are talking about does, in fact, know that they are being talked about. No matter how smooth you think you are. It's a no-win situation, that I choose to take no part in.

This is a perfect picture, on so many levels. =)

And, no-I still do not regret getting a tattoo, Mom. That is not, and never will be on my list of things "I wish I didn't do". Strange as it seems-some people actually like tattoos. Weird, I know.

So, in conclusion, (since I feel like I'm giving a church talk or something) Even perfect people, like me, can slip up and do something stupid every few years. Life-alteringly stupid. Which mine wasn't, but really could have been. So, don't look down on people in situations you think you would never get yourself in. Because you really never know what is going to happen to you in life, or how you will react to it. But, believe me when I tell you-if this situation ever comes up again, I will honestly react differently! Hear that life? Leave me alone for a while, I'm good. Lesson learned. Maybe in another 10 or so years, I'll forget, but right now, it is crystal clear-okay?

Amen. =)

This weekend, in a flash.

2010-08-23T00:26:00.000-07:00

Wendy turned 28 on Friday. She is my youngest sister, (number 8 out of 9 kids.) and a ton of fun to hang out with. This is her all dressed up for the special day.

Wendy wearing her Birthday headband we got her from the dollar store, happy about getting this fantastic movie!

These are the steaks that were for dinner. *I AM the "Grill Master"!
*along with Wendy. =)

The craziest red sun I have ever seen coming through the smoke filled sky. It doesn't show the literally "blood" red color that the sun really was, but is gorgeous anyway.

My oldest, Ben trying-and failing-to be screaming in pain. No academy awards for this boy....he couldn't help smiling. This was the severed foot that Nathan got for Wendy as a present. I have no idea why. I kept trying to get him to pick something else, but he wasn't having it. He really wanted her to have this foot. The kids put Ben's sock and shoe on and were cracking up, doing things like this.

My youngest, Miles passed out from a sugar coma, while having his first powdered donut. I think he's wearing most of it! Adorable, dirty little boy.

Family Fun Night!

Ok, I'll do a quick rundown of my family in order for you to know where each kid falls, oldest to youngest.....this will help in future posts as well, I'm sure.

Aaron (lives in Indiana) + fiance, and daughter

Jason (lives in Washington) + wife, and 2 daughters

Julie (lives in Louisiana) + husband, 2 sons, and 1 daughter

Jeremy (lives in California) + wife, and son. Daughter in Idaho.

Tammy (yay, me!) + husband, and 4 boys

Holly (lives in Louisiana) + husband, and 1 step-daughter in Utah.

Travis (lives in Texas) + wife, 2 boys, and 1 daughter

Wendy (lives in Oregon) + 2 daughters

Adam (lives in Oregon) + wife

Ok, so we just had Wendy's Family birthday party on Friday-which we usually do on Sundays, but this time we went ahead and actually did it on her Birthday. I love family parties! Ken and Leanna (Adam's in laws, who just happen to be friends of the family now) came over and helped us celebrate Wendy, and her day. Lots of craziness, gifts, and fun ensued. Wendy's friends Joanna, Jesse and their 2 children came over in time for cake. Screaming sugar-high kids ran around for the next hour or so, until we left. Jason made his way down from Washington, but arrived too late for the festivities, since he couldn't leave until he got off of work. Sad.

But, then last night we made up for it! We had a "Family Fun Night" for the the Woodsworth offspring, and Mom. Alan watched the boys at home, while I got to escape over to my mom's house where she, Aaron, Jason and I played Apples to Apples while we waited for Wendy to come out from putting the girls to bed. Aaron, who had never played it before wiped the floor with us. When Wendy came out, we played again. Hilarity ensued. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I laughed so hard, a few times I pulled out my "Roy Biggins" laugh. For those of you who I just lost, Roy Biggins is a character from the TV show "Wings", who has a noiseless laugh. It's when you laugh so hard, your body is shaking wildly-yet there is no sound coming out. It is a laugh reserved for pure enjoyment, which happens often when I am around my siblings.

After we got killed by Wendy, the 4 "kids" went in and watched "Kick Ass", which is a comic book type movie, that has one of the better openings to a movie I have ever seen. We laughed out loud throughout the whole movie, which is pretty rare for me. I will definitely be watching this one again. I highly recommend it! Thanks Aaron and Jason for getting it. =) I stayed over until almost 2 am before finally getting my butt into the car to leave. It was like old times, growing up in my awesome family, and I didn't want the night to end.

Getting up this morning was painful. I skipped church, since Jason was leaving in the early afternoon, and we went over to spend time at Mom's instead.

I love when family comes to visit! It is never often enough, and always goes too fast, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!

All of us sitting around the playing table. Wendy is checking out her sweet cards. Fun fact....Mom is the only one at the table who doesn't have a tattoo! Represented here are 4 of the 5 Woodsworth kids that are inked. Interesting.....
(Also, I should have put the camera up some more as this is apparently, not a flattering angle. (Never shoot up......always down-it slims the face.......) Always good advice.)

Giggling like crazy over the many things said. My family knows how to have fun.

Action shot of Aaron and Jason!

Aaron having a hard time deciding which card to pick....us making fun of the choices.

Spicy Mama's hand. We were laughing pretty hard at the cards she kept getting, and the cards she was putting down were rather surprising of her too. She's usually so reserved, then the Apples to Apples cards come out.......not so much anymore!

Aaron=Fantastic, Crazy, Tame and Useless

Wendy's winning hand=European, Cold, Pure, Cheesy, Dreamy, Cowardly, and Realistic

Jason's cards were smart, and something else. This hand was his from the first game that were funny in the way he kept getting them. After getting Chunky, Puffy and Lazy he decided he needed Glitzy to spice up his image-and ended up getting it. Cool and Handsome soon followed. I guess the Glitz did attract good things!

Tammy=Shocking, Rough, Exciting, Delicious, and Ancient. I guess that depends who you ask.....

If this is what passes for home security....

2010-08-19T23:49:00.000-07:00

Beware...if your a stranger. This is the sign my 5 year old came up with to make sure nobody breaks into our house. He told me, "Don't worry Mom, we have an alarm now." I really wasn't sure what he was talking about, since I was sitting down making my Trans America building ornaments out of sculpty. (That's my ornament this year, since the guys are all getting a Chicago landmark, I thought it only fair my old stomping grounds are represented. Plus, my Grandpa Teigen was Vice President there in the 70's or 80's. I really wish I had done the research (phone call to mom) before putting this in here.) Anyway-I just kind of went, "That's nice.." and went back to what I was doing. A little while later, I remembered I told Tracey I would post pictures of the porch swing online, so I grabbed the camera and headed outside. This is what I found on the front step. Maybe he has been watching Home Alone too much........

I love that he made sure to add "if your a stranger" so as not to offend any friends that may stop by. If only this kind of thing actually worked! I admire the effort, and thought he put into it. Way to think of your family's safety, Nicholas!

My boy. I had to document what he walked into my room this morning wearing.
Yes, I did take him to the store in this later too.

Times I have wanted to scream as a mother, but picked up the camera instead...

2010-08-19T03:39:00.000-07:00

Not the best picture, but this was taken from my cell phone as I drove the car. I assumed my husband had strapped the car seat into the car instead of just "placing" it in. I assumed wrong, and Nick tipped over on the way to Grandma's. This was taken between fits of laughter. I couldn't help it.

This is what his brothers did to him, when left to play outside together while I went to the bathroom.

This is what happens when little boys get a hold of mascara, and think the "caveman" uni brow is flippin' awesome.

Ben let Nathan draw on his face right before bed.

Ben was helping Alan work on our car. This was nasty grease, hard to get off a squirmy little boy.

This doesn't show the whole thing. They all dumped and entire bag of Cheerios all over the floor. Child labor was alive and well in our house that day!

Note to self-NEVER EVER buy a cake with black frosting on it again. It won't come off for about 3 1/2 weeks.

Miles sucking on a nasty, soapy sponge like it was a lollipop. Gag!

Nathan got nailed with cement powder by his brothers, after his bath. I was not too happy, but I couldn't help laughing.

This is what happens when you leave your chip dip out where a very determined baby can reach it.

Birthday cake horror.

Birthday cake horror pt. 2

Decided to "get pretty" with permanent markers.

You should have seen the rest of the walls. I had to scrub so much crayon off those walls when we moved.

Shasta kept licking Nick's mouth. Excuse me while I puke......

This is when I found the bloody, hairy band-aid inside my can of mandarin oranges. Needless to say, I haven't eaten them since. I still gag just thinking of this.

Alan. The man. The myth.......

2010-08-19T01:44:00.000-07:00

I was thinking today about how I always harp on Alan for things he does "wrong", or "different", or "weird". When we were dating, I gave him a hard time because he said "Pacific, and Pacifically" instead of "Specific, and Specifically". He really did. He doesn't anymore.

Miles' mouth is kinda crazy here, but I love this one of Alan.

After we were married I saw how he folds clothes, or doesn't fold them. We had shelves on the wall instead of a dresser, and my side was always like, "Look at me and my awesome folding skills! All lined up, like a Champ! Could I be any cooler?!?" His side looked like a wombat had come in and angrily tore through his clothes, trying to find the keys to his little wombat car before realizing "Hey, I'm a little Australian woodland creature, and therefore I don't drive a car", so he just gives up and goes into the kitchen for a snack. Alan rolls his clothes, people! He's all like, "I don't feel like folding, and rolling is so much easier to do-and sort of enjoyable. I'll just do that. Plus I think these pants want to be friends with the shirts up here, and why don't I just set this sweatshirt across all of these clothes. I don't want them to be cold, or anything." (Actually, he's probably more like, "Meh." *toss*) Problem is, he greatly underestimated my need for control and order while being a bed-ridden pregnant person. I had to spend a lot of time in our room, and looking at his rolled-or simply tossed clothes, drove me crazy! When he did attempt to fold them, it was just wrong. It wasn't my way, so I couldn't handle it, and he was banned. From ever folding laundry again. I don't mind. I like doing laundry. (Don't judge me if you come over though-as much as I like doing it, the sheer amount of laundry I have now overwhelms me. It is pretty much an avalanche, waiting to devour me when I try to actually do some laundry before the kids run out of underwear.) But, Alan is in charge of putting his own clothes away, since I have nearly passed out a few times just by seeing the condition of his unorganized, clothes-just-shoved-in-all-willy-nilly dresser drawers. I honestly can't handle it.

Alan and the boys enjoying a water-gun fight in Utah.

I let him put together a book shelf once. Once. I thought he was doing fabulous; peeking over every once in a while from my own entertainment center project to check his progress. I was so proud when he exclaimed "I'm done!" from across the room. I went to check it out, and saw that all the boards had been put on upside-down, so all the little metal hardware was showing. I can't describe the panic I felt at seeing this-making this Walmart bookshelf that we had spent our wedding money on, less than perfect. I was totally about to grab the hammer and screwdrivers out of his hand, and become a beast of nightmarish proportions when I just stopped for a second, took a deep breath and thought to myself "Wait. This was an accident. He didn't mean to mess it up. Relax." Which I did. And after the initial shock, I did calm down and started laughing. I didn't change a thing either. I kept that bookshelf that way to remind me to never ask for his help building anything again. Now he is in charge of ALL car repair/maintenance and I take care of the inside of the house. Building stuff-wise.

Alan has a way of pushing me to that edge sometimes, where I literally want to rip his ears off and feed them to baby lions. He can push my buttons in a way that nobody can, on their worst day. BUT, that being said-I realize that he can only do this because I care what he thinks. When he calls me on something, I get embarrassed. When he puts down something I do/say I feel ashamed. When he's angry at me, I am worried that he just might think "Forget it! She's not worth it" and just walk away. He also can make my day by saying that he loves me. He can make me laugh by just hearing his giggle. He makes me feel like I'm his favorite thing in the world when he gives me his big hug. I completely love him, and am so glad I married him.

He is a great husband/father/friend. He does the dishes most days. He will pick up (every once in a while) without having to be asked. He knows practically everything about cars, and helps out my friends and family when they need "car" advice, and/or repair. He is just fun to be around. He likes to take the boys to the park, so I don't have to. He bakes me birthday cakes. Maybe he can't build shelves, fold clothes or follow simple "Tammy" directions, but he is easy to draw pictures of-and that gives me and the kids hours of fun. And he doesn't care about me changing the furniture around all the time, or having "less than manly" blankets on the bed. He is pretty much cooler than any perfect looking shelf I could ever have. And that is saying a lot.

Thanks for working so hard for our family, Babe. You are truly appreciated! (But, in case I ever do ask you to do something for me, and you are confused-PLEASE don't hesitate to pick up the phone and call me. It will be easier on us both!) Smooches!

Signs pt. deux

2010-08-18T00:20:00.000-07:00

Didn't quite make it.

This sign must be in San Francisco. This is why I was always lost there.....

Maybe someone should tell him....

This is either an unsanitary porn-laden restaurant, or owned by Chinese hating racists....Either way, probably has great Chow Mein.

Nice.

Typical bird. Taunting you with their apathy.

This makes me think of my brothers.....you know who you are.

Grrrr. Arf, Arf. *sniff crotch*

I just like this one.

Falls under, "Thank you, Captain Obvious. I would have been utterly stunned as to why the road was not repelling the water during a storm if I had not seen this sign. Thank you very much for warning me, so I may avoid those unpleasant few seconds of panic."

Go ahead........try it. You know you want to. We'll see how long it takes them to respond once you do fall in.

Apparantly nobody taught this person that the hand that makes the correct "L" is, in fact, the left. Perhaps this could have been avoided if someone had.

Pretty self-explanatory.

Hee, hee.

In Chinese this translates to "Wrong F**King Bookstore"

Pretty cruel sign placement.

Welcome to America, people.

If this is true, at least you know that their food is delicious.

Well, you could look at this like "STOP. It's the end of this blog. But since there are plenty of older entries, please read on..."

I'm so excited....

2010-08-17T01:16:00.000-07:00

My mind never rests. It's a fact. When I'm in bed, trying my hardest to sleep, my mind is thinking about all the things I could do the next day. Or how I can re-arrange the furniture in the front room, so that the A/C is felt better. Or, I am just in one of my "crafty moods" where I must be doing something with my hands. I have the need to create things, it doesn't matter if it's drawings, something out of sculpty, painting shirts, or restoring a porch swing (that I got off of FREECYCLE.ORG and am completely in love with!!), My body thinks that it would be a travesty to sleep, and waste all this time that I could be making something-so it refuses to calm down enough for me to catch some shut eye. I am full of nervous energy that doesn't go away until I grab some paper and make a list of things to accomplish tomorrow, or draw the pictures swirling around in my head.

I'm feeling very ambitious, of late. I have grand ideas for all sorts of decorations, and the ornaments I'm making for the boys and Alan. I'm making them a miniature version of the Sears Tower from Chicago. I have a prototype that I made from wood scraps and toothpicks that actually looks quite good. It was fairly easy to make I suppose, the hardest part was drawing the thing from Google pictures and not getting confused as to which side I was looking at. I think I got it though, and I'm very happy with it. What do you think?

They will look way cooler when they get painted, trust me....this is just the 1st draft, so to speak.

It was fun to make, which is good since I need to make 5 of them-and I am learning what I want to keep and what I want to change about it. Also, one of the projects I'm super excited about is an advent calendar I'm going to attempt to make. I am in love with this one I saw online, but since I don't have the $45 + shipping to fork over for it, I am inspired to try and make my own. Mine will be better though, since I can have the world, and put all the little Flag People around it. I can put the 24 days/people in a well balanced manner, which suits my OCD compulsion to have things even. I have it drawn out and most likely will be working on it for the next year or so, since it is highly detailed, but I am determined to do it.

I don't know why I love things that bring all different countries into one fabulous project, so much. Maybe it is my desire to travel the world, and meet as many people as I possibly can in my life, or the fact that it is just different cultures getting along together. World peace-on my living room wall!! I'm like the United Nations of Christmas Decor. Those who know me personally can just look at my little family and know I am all about mixing cultures, and just plain getting along. I'm glad I was born in a time/place that doesn't kill me for wanting this. My kids will learn about their ancestors, and I think they are handsome representations of the different ethnic backgrounds! Just check out their skin color. Gorgeous!!!

Every year I make ornaments for them, and buy one too. I loved getting a new ornament every year while I was growing up, whether I made it or my mom got it for us. She did it so when we were old enough to move out, our trees wouldn't be empty. Plus it is just a fun little tradition. So, naturally I take that tradition, and raise it one ornament. More is always better, right? Okay, I suppose not always, but when it comes to Christmas decorations, I'd have to say this statement is 100% true!! Also, it fills my "have to do something productive with these hands" need. I usually pick something that they are very into that year to represent where they were at that particular point in their lives, and make them something personalized for them. Then I buy them something they like too. That way they have a back up in case something happens to one of them, that the "Ornament E.R." can't fix. (We seriously do have a space in the house designated for this. All broken ornaments come here to be glued back together, and "healed". My Han Solo is a amputee survivor, and is doing very well these days. Thanks for asking.) Some things can't be fixed-like the Plex I made Nathan last year. He loved it so much he kept carrying it around with him. I told him that Plex needs to stay on the tree so he doesn't break. He figured if Plex did break, I would just make him another one. Well, guess what....he did break, and Nathan figured wrong. He carried the broken carcass around for a few weeks, until I just threw it away. He had lost everything but the torso by that point, and it was a little sad to see.

R.I.P Plex the robot ornament from Yo Gabba Gabba. You will be missed.

I am looking forward to getting started on really building the "towers" over the next few days. My list for tomorrow consists of trying to find long 1/4 in x 1/4 in wood pieces so I can cut them, & make Those tiny Chicago landmarks. Short lists are always wonderful. Wish me luck!

Star Light, Star Bright, Please Don't Let Me Get Eaten Tonight......

2010-08-14T00:37:00.000-07:00

There have been meteor showers for the past 2 days. I love meteor showers!! I remember going out to our neighbors sidewalk and laying down for hours watching them with my brothers and sisters while I was growing up. Now I am attempting to do this with my kids, as sort of an "August" tradition. I forgot to do it last night, and ended up going outside myself about 2:30 a.m. to watch them. It was really dark, and we live in the boondocks, so I got scared. I only lasted about 3 minutes on our gravel driveway before I worried about being attacked by something. So, I came in the house and went to the safety of the back porch, but there wasn't much of a view. I propped myself up in a chair and attempted to get comfy. Didn't happen. I was having to twist myself into contortionist-like poses to get a good view of the sky, and I was still nervous being outside by myself. I know I am a grown woman, but animals can feast on my "grown woman" body after catching me by surprise with a sneak attack. I saw a few great meteors, and made it about 30 minutes this time, before packing it in and almost running into the house.

So tonight I thought I'd take the kids out there with me-safety in numbers, right? We got a sleeping bag, and walked out to the best spot of the driveway so we would have a huge, uninterrupted view of the sky. We got situated, laid down, and started to watch the stars. At least I did. Nathan was buried into my side, wanting to go inside because he was scared. Ben and Nick were trying to out do each other with the sheer number of random questions they were throwing at me. Here is a small example of actual quetions:

"Will the meteors crash into the stars?"

"How big are stars in real life?"

"What if a meteor the size of the planet Mars hit a star?"

"I saw a satellite, with mirrors all over it because it was so close to earth. Was that a satellite I saw?"

"Why can't I see any of them? Where'd they go?"

"If I wish on a shooting star, will it come true?"

"Hey! They are moving too fast! How do you wish on them?"

"Are we sleeping out here?"

"If you were taking a shower with meteors, would you really die?"

"Where is the Milky Way? All I see is fog." (He was seeing the Milky way and didn't know it.)

I was trying to shush them, since we had neighbors and they were talking rather loudly. I should have let them talk because I soon started hearing animal movement to my left-about 15 feet from where we were laying. We have a fence that separates the highway from the property, and has a slope up. The landlord has built an irrigation thing into the side of the little hill to use it to water the plants here. Apparently, it's the place to give the nocturnal predators a drink too. I was getting nervous, because it was so close, and I was on the end....so I listened a bit more and decided it was on the other side of the fence, and we should be fine. We kept watching the stars, and I got feasted on by mosquitoes. A few minutes later we were visited by a bat that was swooping down and dive bombing us. I told the kids to lay still and it wouldn't get them. I was happy to have my little flying friend eat the stupid bloodsuckers that were making a meal of me, but a few times I did kind of have a second of panic when it came within a foot of my face.

My furry little, bug eating friend.

We had laid out there about 30 more minutes when I started to hear the movement again....this time on my side of the fence, about 10 feet from us. I didn't want to scare the kids so I grabbed my tiny key chain flashlight and aimed it at the bushes and tall grass. I didn't see any glowing eyes peering at us, but now the kids were hearing it. I said not to worry, but I really wanted to leave everything out there and run for my life! I told them it was time to go inside, and quickly grabbed the sleeping bag and started walking away. Before retreating, I shined the light again to check for eyes, but thankfully saw none. It did sound like it was coming closer, so I turned and we did run. Done star watching for the night!

I certainly didn't want to be surprised by this.....

or this.....

or this

definitely not this.......

All of which are native to this area. I didn't feel like having me and the boys be late night snacks for hungry night creatures, so I chickened out. Now I'm missing an awesome meteor shower, I'm sure. Tradition started-but I'll enjoy it more when we live closer to a city. What you lose in ability to see the stars as clearly, you gain in being able to live out your life uneaten. I know they say that all these animals are more scared of you, than you are of them & that they only eat small animals, not people. Well, the people who have been eaten aren't here to disagree, so does that automatically make it so? I'm inclined to think, NO. I will err on the side of caution, and stay safe inside. Plus, they obviously weren't too scared to try walking up to us!

It was fun while it lasted though.

I'm Thankful

2010-08-13T01:29:00.000-07:00

I don't know what has got me thinking today, but today I am feeling really grateful. For everything. Sure, things aren't perfect. Yes, we could use more money, a bigger car, and maybe no ants invading our house for one day (please Lord, just one day)!! But no matter what we need, I can think of so many things that I do have that other's out there wish everyday for, so I am putting it out to the Universe. I am thankful.

I am Thankful for my kids-even when they are bad, screaming, and driving me crazy because there are people out there who can't have any children, and my heart just breaks for them.

I am Thankful for the house we live in, because we have a very sweet landlord, who keeps the rent low enough for us to afford it! Many people, especially in this economy don't have anywhere to sleep. Thank you Norval, for our home.

I am thankful Alan has 2 jobs! There are plenty of people, myself included, who are looking for work and can't find any. I have many family and friends in this situation, and it really is a daily struggle. I am just very thankful Alan has a chance to have two secure jobs, so we can survive.

I am very Thankful for family! I was very blessed with the family I grew up in, and I seem to have also been lucky in the family I married into. Both are so full of love for each other, that we would do anything possible to help whenever anyone is in need. Family is everything.

I love song lyrics. I have pages & pages of different song lyrics written down in a journal because they say so much of the things I think, but they say it a lot better. Two songs that I absolutely Love are Because I have been given much & Josh Groban's Thankful. The hymn is actually something I have always tried to live my life by.....a "life motto" of sorts. Simple and to the point. It has been my favorite since I was a kid, and now that I have heard Josh's song (which I actually have typed and framed) They are both always very much on my mind. Here are the words so you can see why I love them......(and a video to hear "Thankful" in case you never have. Beautiful song!!)

Thankful

Somedays we forget

To look around us

Somedays we can't see

The joy that surrounds us

So caught up inside ourselves

We take when we should give.

So for tonight we pray for

What we know can be.

And on this day we hope for

What we still can't see.

It's up to us to be the change

And even though we all can still do more

There's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond ourselves

There's so much sorrow

It's way too late to say

I'll cry tomorrow

Each of us must find our truth

It's so long overdue

So for tonight we pray for

What we know can be

And every day we hope for

What we still can't see

It's up to us to be the change

And even though we all can still do more

There's so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences

There is a place we're all connected

Each of us can find each other's light

So for tonight we pray for

What we know can be

And on this day we hope for

What we still can't see

It's up to us to be the change

And even though this world needs so much more

There's so much to be thankful for

Because I have been given much

Because I have been given much, I too must give.

Because of thy great bounty, Lord each day I live.

I shall divide my gifts from thee with every brother that I see, who has the need of help from me.

Because I have been sheltered, fed by thy good care

I cannot see another’s lack and I not share

My glowing fire, my loaf of bread-my roof’s safe shelter over head, that he too may be comforted.

Because I have been blessed by thy great love dear Lord,

I’ll share thy love again according to thy word.

I shall give love to those in need. I’ll show that love by word and deed, thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.

Song lyrics are powerful when you pay attention to the message they have. Feel blessed with everything in your lives, and love what you already have. Tell all your loved ones how much you love them, and appreciate them everyday. They are what make life worth living.

Weight of the world...literally.

2010-08-12T01:58:00.000-07:00

I love shopping. Perhaps, it's the female DNA that is entangled throughout my body, I'm not entirely sure, but I love it! It doesn't even matter to me if I'm getting the most basic & boring necessity, birthday shopping for someone else, getting groceries or it's just window shopping; for me it's just getting out there and looking at the possibilities! But, truth be told-it really is much better when I have money to spend!

I have noticed though, that there are some very manic feelings when it comes to me and shopping. The "I love it, I love it, I love it..." feeling of walking through, and touching everything-all the while telling the kids to keep their hands to themselves. (I know-I am totally the mom used as examples of what NOT to do in every parenting book out there.) The almost "high" I get from walking through the isles can disappear in a second, and come crashing down, to an almost suicidal-complete disgust in myself-by adding one tiny little factor into the mix. Clothes shopping for ME! I adore walking through the store looking for clothes for the boys, even Alan-who I can just basically buy "off the rack" for. Whatever they need-the store will have it in their size. Guaranteed! This does not happen for me. Being "Plus size" is not like the little something extra that the name implies. It's not a bonus, it's a tragedy. I have to shop at expensive stores that make unflattering, tight fitting, low cut, short clothes that are clearly not meant to be worn by somebody over 120 lbs. The designer probably had a laugh when they were making the clothes, just imagining how the customers would look after buying their awful clothes. They are former bullies, who apparently still get their jollies from torturing less genetically fortunate people than them. Is it too much to ask for to have shirts with real sleeves? Sleeves that go all the way down to the elbow? Or to have a skirt that doesn't show off your "lady bits" when you sit down? I mean really! And, why are there only a few stores that carry plus size? Do the bigger clothes offend the smaller, cuter clothes that have to be forced to share floor space with? Mostly I have to order clothes online, and who knows if that will fit? Is it really that hard to make a little space in your stores to put some "larger" sizes in? Target? How about you Walmart? Oh, I know you guys say you have plus sized clothes, but those are a joke. I think they were meant for the kids section. Be generous when cutting your fabric, it's embarrassing enough having to shop in the double digits, why do you have to taunt us by making everything the smaller end of the size, so we have to actually buy the next size up?

Hey. Psst, Fashion Industry.....I have a secret to tell you, something that is a mere rumor, but I will confirm it right here, on my blog-today.....People who wear plus size clothes, especially the female "people"...........get this- have boobs. Big ones! Please make shirts that fit! I am tired of having to wear bed sheets because I can't find anything to cover these bad mamma-jammas.

Yes, large breasts are pretty shocking aren't they? Who knew some people had them naturally?!?

Ok, So I am frustrated with that. I went out to buy jeans yesterday at Store X, because it's our only "blessed with bulk" store in the vicinity, only to find that none of their stuff fits. It is not flattering at all to the curvy figure, and is mixed in with size zero stuff, because we all know how much gals like me love being reminded by the tiny denim underwear that they dare to call shorts, that we will never be that size. Don't get me wrong-they had my size, but it was all meant to be a fashion show for someone else-not a someone who values comfort more than what the celebrities are wearing in the magazines these days, and tries to look like them. I don't need to please anyone but Alan, who loves me regardless-which I love him dearly for! (I remind him whenever I get depressed that He did this to me. If I didn't have the kids, I would have been way smaller.) All I need to do is have clothes that will stand up to the variety of abuses that Miles inflicts on my clothes daily. The greasy fingers, the runny nose, the dropped food......that is what I need! You (stores) not carrying the clothes we "big girls" want is not helping anybody. Nobody is losing weight sitting at the computer ordering your clothes. We need to be walking our butts into the store, perusing the merchandise and burning the calories while buying your stuff!

I guess what I'm saying is stores need to do a better job of having "Plus Sized" clothes that are functional, comfortable, affordable, and ACCESSIBLE!!! Oh, and cute too-we don't want to walk around in Mu mu's.

End of rant. I will say I did some fancy bill finagling today and was able to shop for the boys' school supplies and shoes. I got some sweet deals on the shoes! Payless' BOGO is a budgeting mothers dream. The boys found some awesome shoes, and I didn't feel like I needed to prostitute myself out just to pay for them. And even though the school list was excessively long, I think, Walmart came through and I was able to get everything on both lists for $23. I was a shopping genius today. The only thing that's going to top this is when I can finally start decorating my house for Halloween. Because as much as I adore shopping, I love decorating the house for Halloween/Christmas even more!! I'm counting down the days until it looks like Halloween threw up in my house!

Who, What, When, Where and Why? I have no clue.

2010-08-09T01:22:00.000-07:00

It is amazing the amount of stuff that I don't know. The boys ask me questions all the time, and I hate not having answers. I have to admit, I do make things up sometimes when I can see that the answers will only lead to more things I don't know. One of their favorite things to ask is where a raccoon sleeps. I don't know this. They know that I don't know this, maybe they are seeing if I actually looked it up like I said I would. I still haven't. I don't know why some things go into my washer not too dirty but come out completely stained. I wish I knew this one-I would fix it if I did. I don't know how to change a car tire. Mr. Zino if by some freak accident you are reading this-look away. I did, in fact have my mom sign the paper without me actually "doing" that assignment. And the one time my tire went flat on the freeway, I called a tow truck, even though I had everything to do it in my trunk. That's what AAA is for, right? Now I'm married to a mechanic, so I doubt I will ever learn this. I know the theory behind it, but I don't really want to learn that. Maybe that's where some of my "knowledge deficiency" comes from, lack of interest. The rest of my missing smarts is just a mystery to me.

Sometimes I think my education was a waste of time. I watch the show Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader and I'm ashamed to realize that actually, I'm not. This is quite embarrassing considering I passed 5th grade like 20+ years ago. Where does all that knowledge go? Is it true that you can only learn so much in your life before your brain just starts dumping out the older "less important" stuff? Who decides what gets tossed, and what stays? I really don't need to remember the song lyrics to songs that I hate, but I know those. That takes a lot of space, I'm sure. Space that could be better put to use with remembering perhaps the hammer my mom wanted me to bring over, or the iron, the remote, the cutting board and freezer paper, or Darby's shirt, the TV cables, and the formula. This is a list of all the stuff I have forgotten-Just today, and had to drive home for. I actually stopped coming home after the fourth trip, and just had to leave the shirt, cables, and remote for tomorrow. This is a daily annoyance. It is somewhat depressing to me to know that in about 3 years, My oldest child will know more than me. When did I lose my short term memory? At what point did my long term memory abandon ship? I'd really like both of those back.

I do know some stuff. I know the order of the planets from the sun.......Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. I know Pluto has been downgraded to a "Dwarf Planet", but that only makes me like it more. It's special now. Plus, it was always a planet, so them saying it isn't "Technically" a planet anymore doesn't phase me, it's a trend. In a few years, Pluto will be back stronger than before. Just watch.

I apparently know how to fix my computer a little. I just tried turning it on, a few times, and each time got that "blue screen of death" (as my friend Tamara once called it. Very fitting, now that I know the sense of panic associated with seeing it on the monitor!) So I re-started it, hit F8, put it into "safe mode" and went in and restored the system to a week ago. Now here I am! Internet access. By the way-Safe Mode looks an awful lot like the old computers of yore.....way back in the 80's when they were all green screened, with giant letters. It was weird, and took me back a little.

I am content knowing that I don't know everything. I don't need to. There was this little thing called "Google" that some genius out there came up with (a very rich genius now), a thing that I couldn't live without! What did I do before this?!? Pick up a dictionary? What is that?!? A cookbook? Where are we, the dark ages?!? All I do is type in whatever tickles my fancy:

"Google, can I please have the recipe for Enchiladas?"
"Of course you can, but why stop there? Here are 80, 000 enchilada recipes to choose from."

"Goolge, what is the name of the actor that is married to Scarlett Johansson?"
"You are so silly, that's Ryan Reynolds. Here are 1, 253, 800 pictures of him to drool over."
"Oh, Google! You know me so well. How about a Ryan Reynolds, Johnny Depp Mash up?
"As you wish..."

Um, drool much? These two are disgustingly handsome.

I have never found something this site didn't know. I have it on my phone for the questions I have all day. All but the raccoon one, because that would take a functioning short term memory. You can believe I am going to look it up when I'm done with this though. I already have my beloved website up, with it typed in......I'm so good!

I get that I'm not going to know everything, but retaining what I already learned really isn't too greedy to ask for, right? I don't think so. But, until I can figure out how to do that, I will worship the Google Godmother that makes me appear smart to my children. It's one of the only illusions I have over them. This, and Santa Claus, but even his days are numbered in this house. *Sigh*