Eggcellent!!!

Today I had planned on decorating eggs with the kids after being inspired by Rosie's Egg making on the view yesterday ;) I had never tried blowing eggs out before because I thought it was complicated.... it's not....lol! Around 930 the phone rang and it was Nicole... she was calling to see if she and Sophie could come over and decorate eggs!!! It was too funny because neither of us had even talked about it to each other before! I thought it was a GREAT idea and the kids did too!

Sophie was QUITE the fancy little egg maker... she was right into it and made some REALLY cute eggs.



Jessi took the egg decoratin' bizznass VERY seriously and also made some beauties.



Sean... not-so-much...lol! He did paint a couple, but I think given the choice of egg decorating or running around in the mud outside... the mud would win any day ;)

I made some super cute decoupage eggs and Nicole made a really neat egg using crayon on a hard boiled egg while it was still hot so that the crayon got all melty! COOL!!

















I think everyone had a blast and egg decorating with a whole bunch of people is WAY more fun than it would have been if it was just me and the kids! And decorating eggs with paint and glitter and Prima Flowers and ribbon and crayons and rhinestones is WAY more fun than just dipping them in some dye!! AND way messier...lol...my scraproom looks like a bomb went off... but that mess is going to have to wait for tomorrow cuz Jerry and Julie are coming over to hang out in a little while!

Frustration

When I switched over from the "Creative Memories" style of scrapping, I was quite impressed with my new style and more excited about scrapping than I ever was before! Then I found Scrapbook.com, 2peas and the rest of the world of scrapping. While it fueled my excitement even more... It also frustrated the HELL out of me. I would look through those galleries and see gorgeous layout upon gorgeous layout... And then I would look as mine and feel WAY inferior. (Which was a HUGE blow to me, because I always thought I was a pretty good scrapper!) I felt that way for awhile and then at some point (not sure exactly when), that feeling went away and now when I look at galleries I am still blown away by some people's work... But I don't feel bad about my own at all. I am happy with my style. (Even if none of my layouts ever sell on Ebay for $760...lol)

So now in my excitement over my new camera I decide I want to start taking some cool pictures like I see constantly on 2peas. (link to 2peas photography gallery) There are some SERIOUSLY talented photographers over there!! I even went out and bought a sheet to use as a backdrop and some other stuff to do a photo shoot with the kids. Yesterday I decided to give it a shot when the girls were here for the scrapbooking class since I thought it would be neat to give them a couple pics to add to their books. It was damn near a disaster. I had NO CLUE what I was doing! The girls were wild... The light was wrong... The sheet was wrinkly (since it was such a spur of the moment thing I had no time to even throw it in the dryer)...the hooks kept ripping out of the ceiling making the sheet fall down... UGH!!! Then I tried to fool around with Photoshop a little later in the afternoon and remembered hardly anything from the 3 chapters I had just studied the day before. So here I am again. Feeling inferior and frustrated. Why do I do this to myself?? I have always been delighted with my photos! I have even had one win an award and be published! Yet I still I seek out those great photos "for ideas and inspiration" and then sit here having a pity party for myself. What the heck is that about?

...counting the days til I have that moment when I realize that I am perfectly happy with my photos and couldn't care less about the photos OTHER PEOPLE are taking!!

A Lesson in Patience...

UGH...What a day!!

It must be since I have blogged so much.... but this one wasnt waitin' til tomorrow!

Jessi came home from school ALL FREAKED OUT because one of her friends got an anonymous e-mail stating the following.....

Torn from your body, removed while you scream
Dissect to collect, my blade now reams
Pieces of flesh lie side by side
Worn on my body or put on display
I will kill you

Of course the girl forwarded it to Jessi's whole circle and they are all upset and the phone was just ringing all afternoon. I quickly doused that fire by googling those words and informed Jessi that it was lyrics to a song. The phone lines heated right up again with the new info... ahhh tweens... gotta love em ;) I still don't like the whole thing and told Jessi if someone tells her they got a 'bad email' and they will send to her to show her that she needs to say "No thanks....all set."

THEN.....

I am listening to the radio while I am cooking dinner and the news comes on. Apparently there is a bomb threat for tomorrow at the high school across the street from her school. (Jessi knew all this ...but in all the other drama had forgotten) The HS closed for tomorrow, but Jessi's school is remaining open. Phone lines heat up again... this time with me calling Julie to see if she is sending Zack to school...my mom to see what she thought we should do... Julie said she called her police officer brother-in-law and he said they were not too concerned and thought it was bogus, but were being cautious all the same and that she was going to talk to Jerry about it when he got home. Rick comes home and we talk and he says, "No way she is going to school. Sure nothing is probably going to happen, but do you even want to take a 1% chance that something did happen and you had chosen to send her to school?" Um... No... I don't. I could never live with myself if I knew I had the warning and sent her anyway. Julie called a few minutes later and Jerry said pretty much the same thing. So... no school for our kids tomorrow and they are delighted.

Weekly Photo Challenge

Green Challenge, originally uploaded by lapeen74.

Over at my other favorite scrappy site, Scrap-tastic.com, they have started a weekly photo challenge. This weeks challenge was to take a photo, or series of photos with a 'green theme.' I'm sure most will have some great spring shots.... but unfortunately we are still stuck in winter mode here :( I looked around outside today and noticed there are not even buds on the trees yet.

So instead of a happy spring photo... I took another photo of something ELSE that makes me happy! My SCRAPSTUFF!! :D

P.S. If you would like to join in... all are welcome!! The more the merrier :)

My latest victim...

...does not appear to be pleased ;)


Looks like today will not be the day to go outside and take some pics. I can't wait to get outside. Because of our wrap around porch my house is always pretty dark downstairs. (Front of the house gets the AM sun... porch blocks it.... back of the house gets PM sun... goes right into my scraproom, laundryroom, bathrooms and tiny over the sink kitchen window) Great for keeping the house cool in the summertime... not great for taking photos without a flash. That's the biggest difference I have notice with this camera's photos so far. In low light, the pics are very grainy... whereas with my old camera they weren't grainy... but they were so dark that you couldn't really see anything, and they were often blurry or had a weird yellowish cast to them. So I guess a little grainy is better than all that...lol!


Just checked the weather.com.... tomorrow is the day!!!

So of COURSE the UPS man doesn't pull in til 630PM....

...but I am LOVING it so far!! These were taken about 5 seconds after I got it out of the box. The kitchen was pretty dark since the sun was already almost set. I hate flash indoors. So these are no flash... active kids... dim room...me still not knowing what any of the buttons mean...lol I think I like this!! It is much bigger than my old camera, but it feels REALLY good in your hand, like it was meant to be there. I was also very pleasantly suprised about the manual zoom!! I was a little bit worried about that, but it is SO much quicker and smoother than the electonic zoom that my old camera had! I think it is supposed to rain tomorrow which is a total bummer... I wanted to go outside and play!!!

Great weekend!

We had such a nice weekend! Rick was off yesterday and it was just a nice day! Tim and Kristie stopped over to bring me the BESTEST birthday present (and play a little Wii...lol)! They got me an under counter CD clock radio for my kitchen!! LOVES IT!!! The kids and I spent all evening in the kitchen cleaning and stuff just so to could listen to tunes...lol! (Which is super silly since it's not like that is the only stereo in the house ;) ) I can't WAIT to listen to Dr Laura while I cook dinner!! I couldn't really before because the station doesn't come in very good on any of our other radios.... but this thing has radio super powers or something and all the stations are crystal clear!!

We also went for a couple little drives and Rick took Sean to the movies while Jessi went to the garden show with her aunt and grandmother...leaving me FREE :) :)

To top it all off there was a 'House' marathon on last night so my DVR is LOADED with episodes that I haven't seen yet. I love that I was late to the whole 'House' game because there are YEARS of epdisodes I have never seen and I never have to wait and wait for the new ones!!

My camera is supposed to be here today and I can't wait!!!!! Come on over, creepy UPS guy.... I'm waitin' for ya!!!!!!!

Jessi has no school today (yet ANOTHER in-service day) so the in-laws took the kids to the beach to collect seashells and play (yes... it's 37 degrees out... and yes... they are all crazy..lol)... so I think it's time for me to watch a little "House." :)

Boxed in no more!

I keep all my pictures sorted in a box. I noticed on Ali Edward's Blog (actually it may have been her "Life Artist Newsletter")a couple months ago that she used to do that too, but then switched over to pocket albums so that her family could still look at them ...and because it was easier to flip through the album than dig through a box to find the pictures that she wanted to scrap. That has been on my mind ever since I read it! If the whole 'point' of all this scrapping stuff is so that my family can enjoy my pictures... then WHY am I hiding them in a box!?

So.... the other day I picked up an album at Walmart and put all my 2007 pics in it that are waiting to be scrapped. The kids IMMEDIATELY grabbed the album and sat together on the couch looking at the pictures and talking about all their memories (the album is mostly Disney pics). They got JUST AS MUCH enjoyment from that album as they do from my albums with pages that took me an hour or 2 or 3 to create! It was kind of a moment of 'disillusionment' a moment of 'WHY am I wasting my time and money (LOTS of money) scrapbooking when all people really care about is the pictures and journaling?? Nobody other than another scrapbooker looks at a page and realizes how long it took to faux stitch all around that photo, or to cover, paint, sand and ink that chipboard heart. Of course most people think it's great and I always get lots of 'ooohs and aahhhs' for my stuff, but I pretty much got those same reactions when I scrapped Creative Memories style and just had matted pics and stickers on a white page.

So where am I going with all this? I have no idea. I do know that I haven't felt like scrapping as much (although I have still been buying scrap stuff like I scrap all day ...every day ;) ) and that putting all my 2007 pics in that album gave me a great feeling of being 'caught up.' Like even if I don't ever scrap those pics, they are in an album for everyone to look at. Of course I still love scrapbooking and don't see myself ever stopping. But now that my pics are in an album for people to enjoy... I can just scrapbook whatever I feel like scrapbooking and it can be more about having fun with creativity, not... "I HAVE to get those Easter pics scrapped"....or "UGH...I still haven't scrapped those Disney Pics and there are so many of them!! I dont' feel like I can scrap anything else til I get those done!!"

Spring is in the air!!!

It is 51 degrees and I LOVE IT!!! I am SO eager for my camera to arrive and get outside to take some pics!!!! I wish it was coming today but UPS tracking tells me that it won't be here til Monday. I am hoping EARLY Monday because Jessi has the day off from school and I want to do a photo shoot with the kids! I even bought a sheet for a backdrop and some white foam core board for a reflector. I think my bedroom in the afternoon will be the best time/place for a photo shoot. I have a huge window in there and it gets GREAT light in the afternoon! So my fingers are crossed for #1. the camera to arrive before noon AND #2 The kids to cooperate!! Jessi has a very hard time with getting her photo taken because she knows that she has a fake looking smile and stresses out about it and it often gets a bit nasty. I will have to work extra hard to keep the mood "breezy" ;)

I tried to learn a bit about shooting in RAW today but had to quit because my head is spinning!!! I think I will wait awhile before trying that out. The benefits seem pretty obvious, but I have always been pretty happy with my photos, so I don't see the 'need' for it yet. Besides.... I should be studying Photoshop before trying to learn yet another thing!! I got 2 Photoshop books at the library that I haven't even taken out of the bag yet!!

Rut Schmut!!!

So yeah... I was in a rut this morning but NOT anymore!!! Something about a house full of screamy, happy girls has that effect on ya. But even MORE de-rutting is the fact that I just ordered my new camera!!!! I am SO FREAKIN' EXCITED!! The camera is SOOOOOOO awesome!! It has GREAT reviews and I LOVE the 'face detection' feature that Fuji has created!!

HUGE THANK YOU to my Mom for finding this camera after I had already settled on it's younger, less-bells-and-whistles-but-not-really-that-much-cheaper brother ;) AND for my paypal birthday present which made me be able to order it THAT MUCH SOONER ;) ;) Love ya Mom!!

BLAAAaaahhhh...........................

REALLY having trouble gettin' my ass in gear today!! Sean is at the in-laws... Jessi is at school.... I should be doing SOMETHING productive, right? I should at LEAST be cleaning my scraproom so that it's ready for my 'kids class' this afternoon. I think I am getting sick or something. I am so tired! I am freezing!! I have a faint stomache-ache and I am all stuffed up. BLAH BLAH BLAH ....I know.

We watched 'Borat' the other night. It was.... umm.... well..... it was something....lol! It was one of those movies that Rick and I didn't even DISCUSS when it was over... just kind of looked at each other quizzically and he headed upstairs to shower before bed...lol. There are definitely MANY 'laugh-out-loud' moments... but there are just as many "OMG what the hell is WRONG with the people who created this movie!!??" moments!

I am thinking about canceling the Blockbuster Online service. We just don't watch enough movies. I have had Babel here for at least 2 weeks. I think we would save money by just renting a movie at the video store when we want to. We used to watch tons of movies and it was totally worth it!!

Well I think I have bored you all enough... I told you I was feeling "BLAH" today!

Just stuff

Taking the kids to the dentist is like taking my car in for service. I DREAD the moment when the girl comes out to tell me the outcome of the check-up. Today was a VERY refreshing suprise when she came out and said that both kids teeth look GREAT and that they are obvisouly doing a great job with their brushing and flossing! HOORAY!!! I called Rick right after the appointment and he answered the phone saying, "It's NEVER good when you call me from the dentist...what's up?" LOL He was also delighted with the news! We celebrated by taking the kids out for candy and cookies... LOL.... Just kidding ;) We actually celebrated with 'Wii Play" to get that bonus controller. We REALLY wanted 'Cooking Mama' for the Wii as that game is both kids FAVORITE DS game EVER.... but it was just released today and we are in Maine... so we had no luck finding it.

Sean also had his swimming lesson this morning and he is doing SO well!! He is the best one in the class (ok... that's not really saying much as the other 3 boys freak out at even putting their faces in the water...lol)! I have my fingers crossed that by the end of this session he will be swimming at least the doggie paddle on his own. It would be great if he could swim by summer as we have LOTS of fun fun stuff planned!!!! Including a 2 week journey to Nashville, TN to visit Nana and Uncle Chris!! The kids don't know about that one yet! I may keep that one for a surprise til the day we leave ;)

TO ALL IT CONCERNS.....

WHO THE HELL CARES ABOUT THE BEST GUITAR SOLO EVER!!!???

IT IS A COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE THING!!!

YOU WILL NEVER AGREE!!

LET IT GO!!!!!!!!!!

FOR REAL!!!

LET

IT

GO!!!

....and now back to your regularly scheduled blog....

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

I am a little bummed that my Wii does not give a rat's ass that today is my birthday! Why the heck do you have to put your birthday in when you create your Mii!? I was hoping at least for a little party hat or something. Geesh.

I guess this is a good time to set some personal goals for my time as a 33 year old. (I am 33, right?....lol.... how sad is it that I really did have to do the math). So here are my goals and how I plan to attain them...

-My #1 goal is to lose at LEAST 20 pounds!! I have been working on that one for a few weeks by eating less and less CRAP and exercising, so I know I will reach that one!!

-I will finish up my Bachelor's Degree and make a decision about what I want to be when I grow up ;) Took the first step here too by filling out my FAFSA! Can't register for classes yet though... Going to school and doing my internship will be no problem this time around since both kids will be in school all day.

-I continue to find ways to bring extra money in to the house, but still be here for my kids. Working on this one too with my scrapbooking class, thinking about doing childcare here in my home, or when I am done with my degree working outside the home part-time while the kids are in school.

I think that's enough for personal goals. I can't wait to look back next year and say, "I did ALL stuff I said I would!!!"

Happy St Pattys Weekend!

YIKES!! I have been a bit of a blog slacker (well... for me anyway)!!

Last night was my birthday party and it was SO much fun!! I have great friends and family and I am very grateful for that!! Julie came over early and got the place all decked out while Rick and Jerry watched stupid videos on youtube in the continuation of the endless search for the 'best guitar solo ever.' Yeah.... that's what I said ;) Nicole came over and made her famous Spinach dip which we all descended on like a pack of wild hyenas the second it came out of the oven and was gone in about 5 minutes ...lol... Tim and Kristy brought crackers and pub cheese which also disappeared very quickly... all but 2 crackers.... why 2 crackers got left is beyond me, but it was kinda funny when Kristy was packing up to leave and was like, "TWO CRACKERS!?? You all left 2 CRACKERS!? You are supposed to eat them all or at least leave enough for us to have some later!?" (or something like that)

I got some great presents! I got a Magritte book and the Dixie Chicks DVD from Nicole. I love both but I am SUPER excited about my Magritte book! I have wanted one forEVER, but it's one of those things you just never buy for yourself. Liz got me a really cool scrapbooking book that I can't wait to look through. And Tim got me an IDEA!! (ROFL) and it's a GREAT one!! He comes in and says, "I had the BEST idea of what I WAS going to get you...." LOL But it is a great idea and I can't wait for it to be a reality!! I told Rick that my new cell phone and the plants I am going to get for my aquarium are my presents from him :)

Kristie has some pics over on her blog... and Nicole probably will too!! I didn't take any pics since they both were.... and since using Jessi's camera feels like slumming...lol.

Thank you everyone!!! You all rock!!!

Started out nice.....

The scrapping class is going well! I think my favorite part is that it's only an hour and a half...lol! It's funny that an average people think of little girls as quiet and sweet. I don't know where that stereotype came from, but it is SO way off! They are LOUD, squealy, messy, bouncy, and they eat like pigs...lol!! They are all doing very well with their scrapbooks. I am glad I decided to have them do 8x8 pages, makes it SO much less overwhelming for them and ME! I also get a kick out of the fact that they LOVE all the stuff that I think is tacky or garish... so they are using all the stuff I would never use! My CM heart punch has been collecting dust for YEARS! It got more use yesterday than it has in the whole time I have owned it! They are having a blast, and I am too. It helps that all the girls are girls that are here all the time anyway, so it just feels like any other day... plus I can yell at them and tease them...lol!

On a not-quite-so-happy note... My brother-in-law is back together with his girlfriend and she moved herself and her kids into his place. The whole thing irks me on many...many...many levels... but the biggest 'irk' is that Sean has FINALLY stopped asking about her son (Sean and him were buddies when they were together before). He had a hard time grasping why he couldn't see his friend anymore... and now he will start seeing him again and I have to figure out how to explain that. Do I explain (because he WILL ask or say, "You told me we weren't going to see them anymore!!) that we might see them now and then, but soon maybe we won't see them again anymore... or just act like they are all back together again and deal with the inevitable break-up when it happens? UGH... I hate that their drama has spilled over into my life! ANd I just have to say... if SEAN was so affected by just not seeing his friend anymore... imagine how HER kids feel getting jerked around like they have been all their life. If they find this blog someday... so be it... I can take it... and frankly... none of this is anything I wouldn't say to their faces... and someday probably will.. I hate seeing kids get hurt by adults who only care about THEIR feelings and THEIR lives. BLECH!!!

Damn that's good!

Rick got stuck going to Auburn today and wouldn't be home for dinner, so I decided to make Nicole's famous Mac and Cheese. Jessi has been BEGGING for it for AGES and I finally got the recipe from her a couple weeks ago. I just hadn't made it yet because Rick hates macaroni and cheese. So tonight I gave it a shot and had to call Nicole about 10 times because the 'instructions' she gave me were somewhat lacking...lol ;) The kids LOVED it and I loved it too. Even MORE shocking... Rick got home a little early and served himself up some and also LOVED IT!! SO I guess that recipe is a keeper!

I scrapbooked today. It had been awhile since I had some good scrap mojo. I think I use up all my mojo helping the girls (and Sean) in my scrap class. I was inspired by the big box of goodies that arrived on my doorstep yesterday!! LOTS of yummy new stuff!!! I think my favorite stuff is the Urban Lily rub-ons... or the chipboard.... or maybe the Sassafrass Lass papers and die cuts... or all the new Basic Grey... LOL!!!

My new toy :)

No... it's not a camera... but the research is underway for that one and I am pretty sure of the one I want (unless Mom convinces me to go the SLR route... which she hasn't quite done yet ;) )... it's just not being released until April 4th... but that's ok. I can use Jessi's (my old one) in the meantime.

My new toy TODAY is my new cell phone! Rick's has been in dire need of a new phone for ages as his holds a charge (even with a new battery) for about 5 seconds, 2 if he gets a text message (which he does about 50 times a day) ;) So since he doesn't care what he has for a phone as long as it works... I got to get the new phone and he gets my old phone :D I went in with Razr phones on the brain, but once I got there the girl showed me THIS PHONE. I had seen it on the website in the past, but it was way too expensive to even consider... BUT the price just came down on it and it's just a teeny but more than the razr would have been! So for a little more I got a phone with a built in Mp3 player and radio! I am having fun uploading all my tunes and picking silly tunes for all my peeps incoming ringtones ...lol! Here's a couple....

When Mom calls

When Ricky Poo calls

When Nicoolio calls

When Jerry and Julie call (because they have SEEN Godsmack LIVE, you know!? They even MET THEM! FOR REAL!! REally! Just ask them... they'll tell ya....lol)




Hee Hee :) I slay myself.

:(

Without placing any blame... this is what went down.

I was sitting at the island last night waiting for the fries to finish cooking so that I could then turn them into Rachael Ray's 'Funky Fries.' Rick went into the scraproom to go on the computer and then came out and brought me my camera because he 'accidentally pushed a button' and didn't want to mess anything up by trying to turn the camera off. I turned the camera off, set it down and continued what I was doing. About a half hour later as I am chopping parsley, Sean comes in to sit at the island and talk to me. He accidentally knocks the camera off the table and onto a chair...then onto the floor. I gasp. I check the camera and it turns on ::phew:: ...then I notice that the screen is all purple... and that it only takes blank purple pictures. :( Sean runs upstairs crying. I let him because I am really upset myself and don't want to go ballistic on him because I know that it was just an accident. Rick comes down after working out, I say, "My camera is broken. SEAN knocked it off the island after YOU had to bring it out there." (which obviously I realized that it wasn't Rick's fault, or even Sean's, it was an accident... it's not like it was the 1st time the camera has ever been on the island... and it's not like the camera just as easily could have fallen off the desk in the scraproom... but I am upset and pissed off...) Humongous fight ensues. We must fight quickly and wrap it up because Jerry and Julie are on the way. So it was a fast ...but fierce one ;)

I will call Olympus on Monday and see if it's fixable, but from what I have read on the net, 'impact injuries' are usually more costly to fix than to just get a new camera. Let the research begin. ::::sigh:::: It's fun to buy new stuff.... but I hate spending money to replace stuff I already had.

After that the night got MUCH better! Jerry and Julie came bearing gifts for me (for my birthday and a housewarming gift) and nothing cheers me up like PRESENTS....lol! Sean went off to bed, so we were kid-free, which is a rarity! We had a BLAST all playing Wii. 'A couple drinks in ya Wii' is even more fun than regular Wii! LOL

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

We had no big plans for today. Jessi had a friend over and they wanted to go to the pool, but upon looking at the pool schedule decided that wouldn't work. So Jessi asked if I would take them roller skating instead. I must have still been on a 'work-out high' from the Gazelle workout I had just done because I said, "Yeah... why don't we all go skating! That would be fun!" They started getting ready and I started to realistically think about what I was getting myself into. I realize this is horrible to say, but Sean is kind of a woosey. He hates heights...won't sled by himself...won't go over the nets at the playplace...you get the idea ;) So I strapping wheels to his feet probably wasn't going to end well. But hey... you never know, right? So we get there (after a stop at ACMoore to get some new goodies since they FINALLY got lots of fun new stuff!! AND a stop at Kohl's for new sneakers since on the way to Bangor Sean was crying that his feet were hurting and I felt them to discover that his toes were about to come right through the front of his shoes---that JUST fit fine a couple weeks ago!!) I get rollerbladesand the kids chose regular skates. . Sean fell about 437 times before we even got to the floor and was NOT having fun, but was being a good sport about it. The girls are having a hard time too and decide to switch to blades. The blades didn't help... apparently for Jessi skating is NOT like riding a bike. She used to rollerblade ALL THE TIME when we lived in Bangor. She had a terrible time of it and had to stay holding on to the wall most of the time. (It didn't help that is was REALLY busy.) We ended up skating for only about an hour until Jessi burst into tears of frustration (he friend is a great skater), and Sean was pretty much done himself. I left a bit upset also. I can still skate just fine, but I was SO SORE skating! My lower back hurt, my calves burned and I am totally going to be feelin' it tomorrow. When I lived in Boston, I pretty much LIVED in my rollerblades. I think I wore blades more than shoes! I could do tricks, jumps, stairs...and the only aches and pains I had were bruises from practicing new tricks! So that kinda sucked. On the way home Sean said, "I was really excited about that skating... but I do not wanna do that again! I tried and tried but it's just too HARD!!!"

We'll try again someday... some far far away day ;)

A season for change

Just spent the morning gathering up all my crap and filling out my FAFSA. I have been putting it off for about a month and it was time to get my butt in gear. I think what got me going was seeing a commercial that Bangor's kindergarten registration is coming right up. YIKES!! Soon I have to register my BABY for kindergarten!!!

Fall is going to be a big time of change for this family! Sean and Jessi will both be in school all day. I will be in school AND doing my internship, AND probably working part-time! I think I am going to do my internship working with the elderly. (ok.... you can all (except Nicole because she already knew this) pick yourselves up off the floor) The reason I would like to do this is that I really enjoyed visiting my grandfather in the nursing home. If it wasn't so far away I think I would have visited often. I loved how much joy they all got in just watching my kids play, and how much they loved to just TALK! To have someone just LISTEN to their story! I think that the way so many elderly (especially the poor) are treated in our country is very sad. I would hate to think that someday when I am old someone is going to lock me in a chair in a hallway and I will sit there all day without talking to anyone... and then at the end of the day get stuck in bed. Old people are still PEOPLE! They had and still HAVE lives. They have stories to tell. They need companionship. There are some great people working in nursing homes. But there are far too many people who work in these places are are there only for a paycheck and treat those old folks like a piece of meat. I know that there are some really gross and sad aspects to working with the elderly. But after 80 or 90 years of being on this earth, haven't most of them earned a happy ending?

Anyhoo... I want to do this internship to see if it is something that I would like to do with my life. What better way to try it out, right? My internship for my A.S. degree showed me that I really DON'T want to work with little kids as a preschool teacher. Maybe this one will show me that I don't want to work with the elderly.... maybe it will end up being my life's calling... who knows??

Spring Fever

I've got it. I've got it bad.

I want to go OUTSIDE!!

I want to take pictures of flowers and birds!

I want to teach Sean to ride a bike!

I want to go watch Jessi play softball!

I want to go for a walk while Sean follows along on his bike!

I want to go for walks in the woods with the dogs!

I want the kids to spend more time outside than IN (lol)!!

I want to OPEN THE WINDOWS!!!

I really can't wait. I love the burst of energy that accompanies spring. I am hoping that burst will get our basement cleaned out so we can get started with finishing it! I am also eager for the ground to thaw so that we can rent a Bobcat and FINALLY get our yard all leveled off and grass planted!! I also can't wait to clean up the porch and get it all set up for use again.

COME ON SPRING!!! WE ARE SO READY FOR YA!!!!

Bee rapture!!!!

Did you know that millions of bees have mysteriously disappeared? As in, gone without a trace... not dead... just gone. I think that is very weird. Well yeah... it's weird... but who the eff cares you say, right? They're freakin' bees for cryin' out loud... so I'll have to put sugar in my tea instead of honey... whoopeedoo. Well apparently it IS a big deal... and not just for the honey reason! Bees are a HUGE part of our entire ecosystem and agricultural economy. Without bees to pollenate... we are screwed!

So... yeah. There's somethin' for ya to ponder tonight ...lol.

Monday and a Root Canal,,,,

Does it get any better than this?? Surely it must...lol. It actually wasn't nearly as bad as I had convinced myself it would be... nonetheless... I can think of about 999,999,999,999,999 things that I would rather do on a Monday, or any other day for that matter!

I heard the weather on the radio while driving home. This week is supposed to be the COLDEST WEEK OF THE YEAR WITH WIND CHILLS FAR BELOW ZERO!! Yikes. Sean has swim lessons tomorrow, going to have to bundle him up REAL GOOD!! Glad he is older now and I don't have to go in with him...brrrrr!!

OK that's enough for today... my mouth is still numb and I hate that feeling ...makes me groggy and grumpy!

Can it REALLY be THAT fun!?

Umm... yeah. It can. LOL!!!!



We waffled all week about which system to get, and I researched all week on how to get my hands on a Wii if that was the way we decided go. I love a good hunt!!! I found a website that somehow monitors all target shipments of Wii's and knew that they got some in this week... and through some neat message boards I found... also learned that if Wii's are going to be in the sales ad in the weekend paper that stores hold all the Wii's out back until Sunday. (If they are not going to be in the Sunday ads, they just put them right out on the floor and it's just grab em if you see em) So I knew (well... I hoped... not really KNEW) they would have some at Target. And they did!! AND they were on SALE!! So not only did we get our Wii... we got it for less!! Loves it!!

HA!!!

My aunt just sent this to me... too funny!

A perfect snowday

We pretty much knew yesterday that we were going to have a snow day today, so it was no surprise when that text message came along at the crack of dawn. The kids were out playing in it before the clock even struck 7am...lol! They have been in and out all day. We also spend a couple hours all scrapbooking together. Both kids are QUITE the little scrappers ;) Sean is too funny! He doesn't consider a page 'done' until the edges are FULLY inked..lol!!



And a day off from school wouldn't be complete without some 'Jessi friends' here... so they are on the way right now from Bangor (yes...their mother is apparently either crazy or desperate to drive them all the way out here in a blizzard...lol). That will give me a chance to get some housework done without kiddos all up in my grill!

Rick came through again!! This time it was Jerry's turn to get 'hooked up' with a shiny new job. They are SO excited that they will be working for the same company (different buildings). I can't even imagine how excited Jerry must be to not have to drive 2 hours to work and 2 hours back!! And word on the street is that he won't be driving to work at ALL ...lol... as he and Rick are going to carpool. Awwwwww ...so cute ...lol ;) When Jessi found out she said to Rick... "Awwww... Daddy gets to go to worky with his wittle buddy." Hee Hee ;)

My girl

On the way home from the Pampered Chef party my mother-in-law told me that she ran into a family friend of ours, Jen, who runs an after-school daycare. Jen told Liz a story about a few weeks ago when one of the boys came from school just crushed because he had asked Jessi to 'go with him' (i.e. never actually GO anywhere or do anything.... just be boyfriend and girlfriend) and she said, "I'm sorry, no. My mom doesn't want me doing any of that kind of stuff for a few more years."

NIIIIIICE!!!!

THAT'S MY GIRL!!!!!

She told me that a boy 'asked her out' a few weeks ago and that she said 'no'.... but it was kinda funny to hear it from the other side! And VERY cool to hear that we are definitely doing something right!! That all the sacrifices we have made to always be there for our kids are really starting to pay off.