Bug sex....EWWWWWWWWWW

Jessi left the porch light on tonight...so when I went to let the doggies out for their last trip...I noticed that my porch is THE hot spot of the night!! These 2 didn't even bother to get a room! The whole time I was standing there waiting for them to do their duty...errr....doody (ROFL....I crack myself up)...I was crawling out of my skin. I HATE HATE HATE moths...they creep me RIGHT OUT!!

So...I decided if I had to endure it....you all get to also ;) It took all I had not to just smack those 2 and end all future generations of...whatever the hell they are...but I just couldn't do it. And I am NOT going to admit that it was partially because I was afraid that if I smacked those 2....the 5,000 other bugs around me and my porch light would retaliate and eat me alive...or worse...fly around me and crawl on me...lol. 

A buncha doggy pics :)

We are having so much fun with our doggies!

I thought the puppy would bother and tire out Nicky ...it's the other way around!! Nicky is LOVING having a playmate. I took this after the tenth game of 'let's run all the way around the house as fast as we possibly can'...Cooper had enough and on his way around the last time went to run into the house. Nicky was like, "HEY!? I thought we were playin' here!!"


Awwwwww........

Cooper doesn't just take a drink from a puddle...he praticically takes a SWIM in it!! I may have my very first water dog!



And one more..."awwwwwww" Guess that's enough for today...lol!!

Already one of the guys!

Things are going well so far! Cooper slept in his crate last night and seemed to be fine with that...he walked right in and laid down when I told him to. This morning I was awakened by a explosion of barking! I went down to investigate thinking the cat was outside crying to come in and Cooper and Sophie had not yet been introduced as when he arrived she was already out for her nightly hunting expedition ;) But...that was not the case. Jessi had woken up and come down to watch TV and Cooper was VERY EXCITED to get out of his crate to see her!! Today Cooper is settling down and settling in...he is SUCH a snuggler and the kids are LOVING that!! 

Cooper is FINALLY home!!

It was a long day waiting for our new family member to arrive! When he finally got here at 9pm, the kids were exhausted but perked right up as soon as thier new puppy came in the door. Cooper is still pretty nervous and feeling very, "WTH is going ON!?" But he is WONDERFUL with the kids and the kids are on cloud 9. Nicky and Cooper hit it off right away too and played for a little while, then both laid down at our feet while we had a VERY late supper. The kids are sulking off to bed now and Cooper is finally getting a chance to explore. More pics tomorrow!! :) 

Tomorrow is the day!!

Word on the street is tomorrow is PUPPY DAY! Of course....the word 'puppy' is being used VERY loosely since said puppy is about 7 months old now...BUT...I am not going to loose any sleep over that. His breeder tells me she has crate trained and taught him the basic commands ...so hey...I miss the cute fuzzy puppy weeks...but I ALSO loose the poop and pee everywhere...cry all night...outside trips every hour... weeks!! We are completely ready for Cooper's arrival! We've got the food...the toys....the collars and leashes. Poor old Nicky has no clue how his life is about to change ;)

I rearranged my scraproom yesterday and it feels like it has DOUBLED in size!! LOVES IT!! I can't believe I didn't think of putting it this way before. The way I had it made it feel SO small when we are all in there...which is a LOT more than I thought it would be when we built the house. Several evenings a week and almost every Sunday morning the whole family congregates in the scraproom. Jessi and I scrapbook...Rick does his online thang (hunting, fishing and football message boards...fantasy football...and other really stupid man stuff)... Nicky lays on the floor under the table...and Sean harrasses everyone ;) I looked around for a turnabout thingy to put on my table for pens and stuff but had no luck locally...so I was just about to order the one from Oriental Trading when I big ole lightbulb went on over my head! I had a big natural wood lazy susan that my father's ex-wife gave me in storage in the basement!!! EVEN BETTER!! So paired pottery barns idea using glasses for pens and stuff...with my lazy susan and VIOLA...instant CUTE...HANDY...table storage---that holds ALL my most used tools...not just pens and scissors!! YAY!

OK...it's NOT the blair witch...

So I guess I can go back to bed...I was just falling asleep when I suddenly heard THIS (be sure to turn up your computer to get the full effect). Holy crap ...and I mean that literally as the sound just about made me crap my pants...lol. It really sounds like something getting killed....and the fact that it even freaked out Grizzly Adams (AKA) Rick freaked ME out even more. He is supposed to KNOW what all the freakish sounds of the woods come from!!! So....downstairs I went...and back to sleep goes Grizzly. So I google "screaming noise at night" and find a blog where someone describes my exact sound...and then one of their commenters has a LINK to said sound!!! EUREKA THAT'S IT!!! It's just a fox...it's not the blair witch...it's not the last dying scream of a fair maiden....it's not my mother having one of her tourette's singing outbursts (sorry Mom...ROFL)...its JUST A FOX...

and I am off to bed :)

Boy for sale....all reasonable offers considered

Sean is DRIVING ME UP A WALL!!! Seriously. I think when he went to Swan Lake with his grandmother...she swung by the hospital for a drive by labotomy. Here is a SMALL....TEENEY...MINISCULE excerpt....

Me: Sean, that shovel is broken. You need to take it out back and throw it in the wood pile.

Sean: What shovel?

Me: The one IN YOUR HANDS!

Sean: This one? (holds up shovel)

Me: YES...THAT ONE!

(Sean begins to dig the ground with said shovel.)

Me: SEAN! Take THE SHOVEL to the wood pile. IT IS BROKEN!

Sean: The woodpile?

Me: YES...the WOODPILE!

Sean: Where is the woodpile?

Now...keep in mind this child spends at LEAST 5 hours a day playing in the yard and knows exactly where the woodpile is. I am ready to put HIM in the woodpile.

Me: Sean...you know where the woodpile is...in the back of the house. Take the shovel there now.

Sean: Ok...I would (his signature phase...not "I will"..it's ALWAYS "I would")

(he takes about five steps toward the backyard and begins AGAIN to dig...completely oblivious that I am still standing there on the porch watching him and waiting for him to do what he was told)

Me: SEAN!!!! TAKE THE SHOVEL TO THE WOODPILE

Sean: OK!! YOU DON'T HAVE TO TALK MAD TO ME! (this time he gets about 20 steps before a dragonfly flies past---which FYI---is NOT a rare occurance in our yard) MOMMY!! Did you see that dragonfly!? (he puts the shovel down and begins to to head in the direction of the dragonfly)

Me: (beyond my breaking point and moved on to the slow...methodic...'I will remain calm and I will not kill this child' voice) Yes I saw the dragonfly...now PLEASE take the shovel out back to the woodpile.

Sean: OH YEAH! (chuckles) I forgot about doin' that. I would!

This time Jessi walks with him to the pile as I'm sure she can see I am about to lose it and no good can come of that ;)

This kind of crap has gone on ALL DAY!! I even asked Rick, "OMG...do you think he might have ADHD? FOR REAL Rick, he can't even do one thing without losing track of what he doing!?" Rick says "NO! He can to0! He does all kinds of stuff without losing focus! Sean...get me my hat over there by the couch" Sean says ok...walks towards the hat but since the coffee table is in his way he instead sits on the coffee table and spins around on his butt...and while spinning the TV catches his eye and he stops to watch. Rick tells him again and he yells, "I AM GETTING IT!!" This time he runs and gets it and brings it to Rick....but I think I had already proved my point. ;) No....I don't really think he has ADHD....but many more days like today and I may have to change my anti-ritalin stance.

Just can't get enough of the magic....

My in-laws are in the midst of finally building the house they have always wanted to build. Things are not going smoothly...as is expected with house-building. So to aleve and avoid her frustration, my mother-in-law has gone into full-throttle Disneyworld planning mode....and she's draggin' me down with her ;) We have been planning all along to take a Disney trip at the beginning of next year when we get the tax bonus from paying off our construction loan, but I haven't really thought about it all that much with so much else always going on. That is, until this past week when MIL caught the Disney Bug.... 7 e-mails today alone titled 're: Disney!!' I don't know what it is about that place that makes me want to keep going back even though there are so many other places I have never been. It truly is magical. It is always perfectly clean, everyone is happy, it smells good, it tastes good....it even FEELS good with the warm Florida sunshine. So...as of right now---and already completely different than last night...lol--- (and this will be a riot to come back and read later when everything is COMPLETELY different....lol) here are the stats....

-Trip will take place at the beginning of February.
-We will spent the beginning of the week at the Disney All-Star Movies (cheap)...then move to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to spend the end of the week in a little luxury.
-We will rent a minivan 'just in case' we need it
-We WILL see the 'Hoop Dee Doo Revue' ....whether we like it or not :p I REALLY hope it is not as dumb as it looks...lol. MIL PROMISES me it's THE BEST SHOW EVER! I checked though and they do serve alcohol.....PHEW...no matter what....._I_ will enjoy myself ;)

That's about the gist of today's e-mails. But with her having just retired... and me just home bein' a mom... there is PLENTY of time for many more e-mails...intineraries...plan tweaks....and looooong chats reminiscing about past trips and speculating about our future trips. The planning really is half the fun!!

Scrap stuff...wrong blog...but I like this one better!!!

I scrapped til I crapped. Today's crop was a blast!! We made these SUPER CUTE Christmas albums out of chipboard and the Basic Grey Blitzen Papers....

Just making these took the whole day (ok...so it wasnt really the making of these as much as the chatting, laughing and goofing around that made the album take all day....lol), so I didn't work on any pages or anything. We learned/used different techiniques on most of the pages, plus made all kinds of little chipboardy doo-dads, shaker boxes, drop down pages, and stuff to embellish it. I can't wait to add my pictures...and think of what else I am going to do on the cover. Nicole decided to come along once she got out of going to a b'day party that she thought she may have to go to....so that made it even MORE FUN :) I think I finally learned my lesson and gave myself an attitude adjustment today. I always go into crops thinking I know all the 'cutting edge' stuff because I am on the boards and online galleries. Yet...I ALWAYS learn something new (today LOTS of things!)...and I ALWAYS have a blast!!

It's hot.

We are currently having a couple of the 5 or so days a year I wish I had AC. Even our swim yesterday (...as an aside...it was not Black Stream as Rick informed me later...it was/is known as "the rec" and is actually Soudabstacook (sp?????) stream...my bad...lol...sue me!) wasn't as refreshing as it could have been. Today Sean and I beat the heat after dropping Jessi off at a sleepover by wandering the aisles of Toys r' us and then playing with the hose outside. When Rick came home he and Sean played with water balloons while Nicole and I went to Dysarts Truck Stop for ice cream and hookers.

Tomorrow I will beat the heat in Air Conditioned comfort, scrappin' the day away! I can't wait! I am super excited about the adorable mini album we are making!

Well it has finally cooledd off enough to get my patootie into my scraproom to clean up a bit and pack for the crop ....so off I go!

ETA....I almost forgot! We got the best thing today at Toys r us! I got Sean a set of Uno cards (In a 'Cars' theme)...thinking it would help him in learning him numbers and critical thinking skills...he already knows his colors. I took out all the reverses and wilds and stuff before we played. We played 3 times already today and he LOVES it!! Turns out now only does he get to have fun and learn at the same time...but I get to practice my patience skills...lol. Turns out knowing his colors is one thing, but combining that knowledge along with having to choose whether to use the number OR the color is a tough concept for a 4 year old to grasp ;) We had fun tho! He is all over the house today pointing out numbers 'like in his new card game.' I wish I thought of it ages ago!

Simple Pleasures

Today has been a great day so far! No...we didn't go to Six Flags or Swan Lake or the beach. We did errands. Jessi needed a couple pairs of shorts so we stopped in old Navy and ended up getting her 2 pairs of shorts and 2 school outfits because we couldnt pass up the deals! (BTW...That store is a disaster...I mean...I expect Old Navy to be a mess, but today it looked like a major wind storm had swept through and completely trashed the store. And they had great kids clothes...but the adult clothing selection right now...WOW...Can you say "HOLY TACK-O-RAMA!?" Who wears that crap!?) Then we popped over to ACMoore as I was hoping they would have Elsie Flannigan's new book and I could get it with my coupon...so such luck...no luck at Joanns either (which BTW was also a disaster...WTH!?). Still ended up being a great stop tho as I discovered they are now carrying all the Rhonda Farrer stamps that I LOVE!! So I got me a set of those with my coupon! YAY! Then it was on to Shaw's where we got lots of yummy healthy stuff. We are eating healthier these days and shockingly...we are actually ENJOYING it!! I'm trying all kinds of new healthy flavorful recipes...we are all off soda (Well...Rick isn't quite there yet...but he will be since he is not enoying using his own $ to buy it since I won't anymore ;) )...and we are sticking to proper portion sizes. As a result we are all feeling better...sleeping better...and have tons more energy! We came home and I had the BEST sandwich that may become my new fav lunch... A whole wheat pita with bean sprouts, avocado slices and hummus. It was freakin' DELICOUS! And I must say I am pretty damn impressed with myself that my new fav sammich is vegetarian!

Thanks to the big oil companies I've had to get a little more clever with our Friday Field Trips. It just feels wasteful and frivolous to be trapezing all over the state every friday. So today I took the kids swimming at 'the old swimmin hole'. It's a long forgotten swimming area in Black Stream right right in town. Rick and I used to go there 'back in the day' to cool off (and stuff...rofl rofl) on hot days. The kids had a BLAST!! They are already begging to know when we can go back there.

OK....I gotta go play with my new stamps!!

Buwahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The CM lady I blogged about on June 30th just called me to let me know that next week she is going to start having workshops every Wednesday IN HER HOME, and would I like to come? My brain said, "ARE YOU FREAKING JOKING RIGHT NOW!! YOU COULDN'T PAY ME TO SET FOOT IN YOUR HOUSE AGAIN....NEVERMIND PLAN ON SPENDING 2 HOURS A WEEK THERE!!??" But...my mouth said, "Thank you for thinking of me, but I really don't scrap Creative Memories style, so I wouldn't be interested in that." Sometimes I think it might be neat to have Tourette's or some other disorder....just for a week or so ;)... that just allows me to say exactly what I want to say without worrying about that nasty conscience thing ;) ....like Karen Walker from Will and Grace....she cracks me right up!!

It's 7:43...now what?

Since I quit soda and caffeine I have more energy and am sleeping like a bazillion times better than I was. I wake up early and rearin' to go! It's great...BUT...It's 7:44 now and I have cleaned the house...done the dishes...fed the pets...had breakfast...checked my e-mail and messages....picked up and hosed down my porch (kids live out there and it gets just as messy as their rooms if I dont stay on top of it!) ...and did a load of laundry....so now what!? lol

Guess I have no excuse NOT to scrap today! I really should catch up my LO a week album, as I am like 10 weeks behind :0 Fortunately...thanks to this blog...it's easy to go back and see what we were up to those weeks ;)

Sean is in the kitchen making himself toast and getting a glass of milk to go with it....as he has been doing for the past month or so. Another of increasing examples of my not having any babies anymore :( I make that sad face....but the other day I ran into some Hampden friends that I lost touch with when we moved to Bangor at the grocery store on Sunday. They were shopping as a couple...alone...with no kids. My initial thought was...'where are the kids?'...then I remembered that their kids are now 16, 13 and 6...they can be home alone for awhile and Mom and Dad can go grocery shopping...or to dinner...or WHEREVER!!! I am definately down wit dat action!!

BIG BROTHER TONIGHT!!!

LOVES IT!!! I just love the backbiting, catfighting, sneakiness and snarkyness! It is TRULY bad TV... It is truly TRASH TV...and that's what makes it great!!

Jessi has a friend over tonight that stayed last night too. I am wondering if she has moved in and they are just not telling me?? ;) They are going to the lake tomorrow with B...and Sean too of course!

We only had 1 little t-storm today...a major improvment from yesterday's wacky weather!

I think I am going to a crop on Sunday. After 3 e-mails of enticement and peer pressure-'you KNOW you wanna...', I think the owner finally suceeded in getting me to go ;) I have been in a rut anyway not feeling like scrapping and maybe a crop is just what I need. Not sure yet if 'it's on'...gotta wait til Rick gets home from fixing his brothers girlfriends brakes (which is very nice of him to do considering that 'brother' still hasn't hooked up one of our bathrooms and has no immediate plans to do so...lucky for him Rick is the car fixer in the family...grrrrrrr...Rick is just too nice. I guess thats why we balance so well rofl) so I can ask him if he is working a 6 day week next week cuz if he is, then I won't go and waste the one day we have together. WOW HOLY RUN ON SENTENCE BATMAN!!! Added bonus and incentive to go...my stuff is still all packed from taking it to the lake with me.

OK....SHOW'S ON!!! GOTTA GO!

ETA: Well Rick is working 6 days...but is INSISTING I go anyway and have fun. So I'm goin!! YAY!!! Uh-oh...It just occured to me we might have the puppy then...so Rick will be dealing with that all day... oh well ...too late to cancel now ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICK!!

Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!! Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!! Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!! Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!! Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!! Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!!Happy Birthday Rick!!!!

Going to see Pirates of the Carribean today! WOO HOO! It's Rick's 37th (YIKES) birthday today, so we are celebrating with a movie and a trip to Walmart to get him the fancy schmany coffee maker he has been wanting. Jessi and Sean got him a $25 McDonalds card ....not my idea of a great gift, but Rick LOVES to stop there on the way to work for Egg McMuffins and coffee when he has extra cash. (Which isn't often...since he gets $50 every Friday to use as he wishes and it's usually gone by Sunday...lol ...thus illustrating the reason he needs to be ON an allowance ;) )


And a little present for the rest of us....

100 free prints!!!

I just ordered. Hopefully this place has decent quality photos, but if not...I only wasted 5.29 for the shipping. (Plus if they suck I can give them to Jessi to scrap... so it's not really a waste at all ;) )

My Summer Vacation by Nokia Jordan

Ahhhh vacation. I was so looking forward to a week of freedom. A week of being unable to communicate with home -base...rendering me to little more than a big time keeping device. Things didn’t quite go as planned.

Saturday- YAHOO!! I am tossed into Colleen’s pink and orange LLbean tote bag and we are OFF! I don’t get to relax quite yet as even tho the rest of the family is in a car right in front of us...they all feel the need to call each other every 14 minutes. As we near Moosehead Lake I feel my reception dwindle down to nothing and am HOME FREE!! I am casually tossed onto the counter to hopefully be forgotten about until next Saturday. (Although she could have at least plugged me in so I could enjoy my week of R&R with full juice...but no such luck.)

Sunday- Ahhh....this is the life. I lounge on the counter all day and look forward to a week of the leisure.

Monday- HEY LADY! What the heck!? I am ripped from a delightful nap, stuffed into a hot pocket and spend half the day at some stupid fair thing roasting in the pocket as she strolls around. Then...just as a start to get used to the heat and relax–hoping they don’t notice that I have all my bars, I am ripped out of her pocket and passed around like a bong at a grateful dead concert for all to use. While I am glad to be helpful, I could have done without Colleen angrily yelling into me for over an hour until my battery died. This is supposed to be vacation for cryin’ out loud!

Tuesday- This was my D-Day. Once again I am ripped from my perch on the windowsill overlooking the lake (plugged in at least this time). Into town we go where I get to call Colleen’s brother Tim. Tim reports all is well at home...and that he has only burned down the upstairs. (Ha Ha ...apparently Tim only packed half of his sense of humor when he went to house-sit ;) ) On the way back to the camp I am resting happily in Colleen’s lap when suddenly she begins to scream at Rick to pull over...something about a huge spider. He does ...and Colleen jumps out of the car, and as she does so, I go flying onto the side of the road. Apparently she doesn’t notice as after things settle down, I watch the car drive away :( I spend the rest of the day baking in the sun by the side of the road watching he cars go by. It just gets worse as night falls and the rain begins to pour. I narrowly miss being stepped on by a moose and 3 deer.

Wednesday- Another day spent by the side of the road alternating baking in the sun and getting drenched in the rain and mud splattered on me by cars passing by. None of these cars are Colleen coming to rescue me....as I’m sure she thinks she has just misplaced my somewhere in her car or at the lake house. Again, I spend the night in the wilderness with the creatures and the rain. In the evening I see Colleen pass by twice...she thinks maybe she left me at the store...she thinks wrong. Despite her careless disloyalty to me, I still manage to field 5 calls and 2 text messages for her.

Thursday- I have resigned myself to my fate as roadkill. Just as my battery begins to die. I see our van slow down and Rick comes and rescues me!!! MY HERO!! I am wet, I am muddy and my screen is all messed up, but I have been SAVED! Rick brings me home to Colleen and she is ECSTATIC to see me! She takes me all apart dries me off and gets all the mud out from my insides. She plugs me in to charge and I show her my lights to let her know I it’s not time to order that new RAZOR phone just yet ;) As she notices my screen start to work, she gets out the blow dryer to try to dry out my insides. I am left on my ledge to recooperate and recharge. A couple hours later I am good as new!! I even show everyone my stuff in town later and make some calls :) :) :)

Friday- Things are back to normal. I am back on the counter. I get a little trip out onto the deck where the weirdo that bought me takes my picture with the beautiful scenery of Mt Kineo behind me. What a Freak.

Saturday- Time to head home! Vacation is officially over. And that’s not a bad thing...as my week of leisure was not all I had thought it would be ;) 

It's 5am. I am up. That can only mean one thing...

It's CAMP DAY!!! Have a great week everyone :)

The Omen...and I'm not talkin' bout the movie

The Creative Memories lady I had been using is not the best 'call returner' in the world, so I found another lady in my town. I needed a new set of blades for my cutting system because I lost mine in the move. (let's just ignore the fact that I am 99.9% guaranteed to find them within the week now). I ordered the mini-power sorter box as I have heard great things about them on the boards, and Nicole ordered the large box so I was picking that up for her too. So I went to pick up my stuff at my new CM lady's house. (Wow...you are thinking...this is really boring and why is Colleen blogging about doing errands? Just wait.... ) I arrive at the house after having to call her again for the address that she had just given me 15 minutes prior...that I had already forgotten. I step into the house and am immediately accosted by a large yellow lab jumping all over me and the large, pungent odor of said dog ;) Fortunately, I watch the dog whisperer and with a stern stare and a "pshhhht"...said dog goes away. (damn I love that show, but I digress) After the dog comes the 3 (maybe 4) year old and the still in his jammies (it's 11am) eating a big bag of cheetos and pratically glowing orange cheese powder. He is yelling at me to come into the livingroom with him and "come see the mess I made!!" As he yells he is grabbing my hand and about yanking my arm out of it's socket. His mother says (in a tone without even a HINT that she really means it), "Jake (name changed to protect the naughty), she doesn't want to see the mess you made, go play." He doesn't. He doesn't let go of my hand either. So I yank it away and say (in a tone-of-voice that I'm thinking he has never heard before), "I am not going with you. I am talking to Mommy right now." He lets go....and KICKS ME in the shin! His mother says nothing. MORTIFIED, I say, "PLEASE do NOT kick me! That is NOT nice" He gives me the VERY WET raspberries... repeatedly. His mother says (in same voice as her first 'redirection') "Jake, you shouldn't kick people. That's not nice. If you want to go to Grammy's house you need to be good. Now please go in the livingroom" He bounds into the livingroom and she starts to show me my stuff I write out the check and back comes Damien. He begins to once again dance around me with an endless chorus of raspberries, and when he goes behind me he PUNCHES me in the BUTT...while blowing raspberries so forcefully I can feel the air vibrations hitting my ass. At this point, I am ignoring this demon as I just want to get out of this place and never look back. Jakey-poo wasnt having that though...as after the butt-punch/raspberry combo, he dances around to the front of me in a sing songey brag which I don't pay attention to the first couple times...then I realize what he is singing... "na na na na na...I spit chips all over your butt...ha ha ha ha ha" Jaw on the floor. I turn butt to mother and say "Did he just SPIT on me, FOR REAL!?" She says, "yeah he did...I'm sorry. Jake it's not nice to spit on people. Do you want to go to grammy's house? Go back in the livingroom." (ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME...I WOULD HAVE MY KID HANGING FROM THE RAFTERS BY THIER TOENAILS BY NOW!!!) I say, "Well....can I get a paper towel please!?" She goes and gets me one as I wipe all the digusting chewed up cheetos off my ass into her trashcan, she walks Jake into the livingroom again. I am livid at this point and the dog smell is making me want to puke. I grab by bags and say "Thank you...I have to run...lots to do today" And pratically run out the door. She calls me on my cell to let me know I forgot my receipt. No way I am going back to get it, I tell her I'm all set. She offers to drop it off at my house later and I say that's fine. She better leave Chucky in the car.

Apparently this is all the rage right now...

Rick was telling me about it the other day. They did it at work...apparently they use the term 'work' very loosely there ;) Then today I read about it on Rosie O'donells blog (don't even ASK how I ended up there....lol)...so I do a little search on youtube...and there are a million videos of people trying this in various forms. I guess none of us every really grow up ;)

We will be trying this one next week at camp with the kids :)

I do not appreciate getting taken advantage of!!

I am a stay-at-home-mom. My husband and I chose this life because we think it's important that we raise our children. Not a daycare center or a babysitter. I also chose this life because I enjoy my freedom. I enjoy playing with my kids at the drop of a hat. I enjoy scrapbooking when I want and cleaning when I feel like it. I fully realize that I have it made in the shade ;)

What I DON'T LIKE is the fact that people seem to think that because I don't work, I am free to do thier errands, complete thier projects, look up prices, recipes, and other various tidbits on the internet, and watch thier children. I also hate the often heard, "Well I stopped by but you weren't home," in that accusatory 'how dare you' voice.


Of course I don't really usually mind doing most of those things..sometimes it's fun. But sometimes I feel like when you ask me to do those things you are saying, "I am much too busy and important to bother with such menial tasks...but you aren't." I realize that's my own issue/delusion, but I am willing to bet I am not alone in that particular crazy train of thought. Now don't you all fly off the handle when you read this thinking I am talking about you. I am venting and I have the right to do so....after all...I am now in the 5th hour of watching someone else's kids that were supposed to be here for 1. But please do think twice next time you think to yourself about ANY stay-at-home-mom, "well I'll ask _____ to do it...she doesnt have anything else to do." I'm willing to bet she does.

Wet n' Wild weekend

Sean is SWIMMING!!!

So, obviously I cavesd an went to the lake yesterday, and I am glad I did because Sean decided it was the day he was going to learn to swim!! I started out holding on to him and telling him to "swim like a dog," but he was having none of that yelling at me that "I can teach MY SELF to swim BY MY SELF!" Ok then. So I laid off ...and he wasn't kidding...he CAN teach himself to swim. He would walk out at deep as his neck and doggie padddle to where he could stand...over and over again. He is no pro yet...and if it's anything like the McD's playplace, I will have to remind him next time we go swimming that LAST time he swam and of course he still can...but it's a start!! I have a feeling by the end of our week at Mooshead next week, I will have a whole family that can hold their own if the whole Noah's Ark thing ever goes down ;)


We also got the kids a Slip n' Slide...which Rick and I are calling the 'Slip n' Fall'...what a fiasco. For real. I thought they would have a blast with that. All I had as a kid was the white trash version of trash bags duct taped together with a garden hose laying on the top. We get it all set up and Sean goes first. He runs all the way down the thing as we are screaming "SLIDE ON YOUR BELLY!!!" and then slips and falls backwards and starts crying. Now its Jessi's turn. She gets a good running start, chickens out at the beginning, and instead of diving on her belly, she goes down on her knees and SHE starts crying. Rick yells from the porch where he is watching, "WOW HONEY!! This may be the best thing you ever bought them!! It had 'em both crying in less than 5 minutes! Way to go!" So both kids run into the house crying and yelling, "I HATE THAT THING!" "TAKE IT BACK!" "I AM NEVER TRYING IT AGAIN!" Good times. About an hour later they went back out and still won't slide on it, but had fun getting wet and playing in the sprinklers that are all over it...so I guess it was worth the $6.97 ;)

BUI

Wow. Rick officially has orders that if he is going to start mixin' and a pourin'....he needs to take the computer away first...rofl.

I would delete....but that would make me a hypocrite....

Speaking of hypocrites... Rick and I were talking about being hypocritical last night. He thinks he can't tell the kids not to get tatoos, or smoke, or get piercings because he did all those things. I COMPLETELY disagree. Yes I smoked cigarettes...and other stuff, yes I drank, yes I did...other stuff.... but that doesn't mean I am a hypocrite if when I tell them they can't. I am a parent. My house, my rules. When they are teens, I am going to be on those kids like white on rice. I think it's very important to be home with my kids while they are little, but I think it's maybe even MORE important to be here for them after school when they are teens. BAD stuff happens between the hours of 3pm and 6pm...any parent that thinks, "Well Johnny is a really good kid....he would NEVER...." Is just asking to someday pick Johnny up at the local police station, or to be a grandparent sooner than they thought they would.

Dude y'all are boring...

No blogs... no posts... no blogging at the same time about the same thing then gettin' all wound up because you think the other one was makin' a dig when tehy really weren't so then making a real dig yourself then delelting it...then delteing even that one too. SIROUSLY!!!!! Where is my entertainment!!? Isn't it ALL ABOUT ME!!!??? Have I had ONE too many!? And why is Rick making me watch all these queer ass country videos...ok....I like some of them...I admit...but ...Rick is still queer....ok...not queer....obviously. This new Toby Keith video is really funny. Can I barracade Rick behind a brick wall? Since as we speak...he is lamenting why he can't wear a big hat and look hot but Toby Keith can. Wait. Did he just say Toby Keith was hot?

This post is boring.

A nice break after a long day of schmoozing.

Today was the day of the annual American Home Partners BBQ Which is basically a day of people talking about building houses. Not very exciting to others, which makes it more exciting to be able to talk to others who have also used the program and ARE excited to talk about it ;) (i.e. bitch about stuff, compare houses, and do the 'my house is better than your house' and 'I did way more myself that you did' kind of thing ;) ) It was just Me and Sean, just like last year. Jessi is always quick to find other things to do that day, and Rick works on Saturdays and an AHP BBQ is not 'take the day off' worthy in his book. So while I schmoozed, Sean did his own schmoozing with his 'harem'...lol. He was the only little boy among all the kids and completely played the part. They were getting him sodas, pushing him on the swing, and generally 'all up in his grill' all day long....and he was LOVIN' IT! Daddy would be SO proud ;)

After a long hot, and EXTREMELY humid day...Sean crashed while watching some TV and I did some peaceful, shadow-free cleaning. Rick came home and grilled some hotdogs for supper and he and Sean lit off some of the contraband South Carolina fireworks that Rick brought home. Those truckers really know how to grease the guy in charge of scheduling maintenence ;) Hmm.....that didn't sound very good...lol...leavin that one alone....

Tomorrow if it's nice, Swan Lake ...if it's nasty, SCRAPPIN'... Is wrong to hope for nasty? 

Fireflies

OK...so this is a bad picture. If someone can show me a way to take pictures of darkness speckled with thousands of fireflies...please let me know :)

I have never seen as many fireflies as I have in my own backyard. I guess that is the positive way of looking at the fact that we have a meadow instead of a lawn ;) It is SO COOL to look out there at night and see THOUSANDS of tiny little lights twinkling. Tonight the kids and I did some firefly catch and release. Jessi was the jar holder and her method of catching was using the jar and the lid. Guess what Sean's method was? NO...not with his teeth...lol! Relaying the story to Rick I said, "Sean uses his bare hands to catch the fireflies." Sean looks at me with disdain, then looks at his hands and says, "NO!!! They are not BEAR hands!! They are DRAGON hands" ROFL!!!

So we had our fun catching some fireflies...or 'lighter bugs' as Sean calls them. We then brought them in and turned off the lights and watched them for a little while. Jessi then declared that it would be best to let them go tonight so that they don't die. So we did :)

OK...here is my rendition of the evening...lol....

Never could turn down a dare

Yes...that is my underwear on my head.


No...you don't want to know :p 

Co-ed sleepover ;)

Awwwwww......... How freakin cute are they? I think there are few things cuter than a bunch of kids asleep like a big ole pile of puppies :)
Sean and Jessi get along SO WELL with thier potential cousins. I really am pulling for Scott and Sara to stay together for each other AND for the kids! Sean finally has a boy buddy to come over and play with him. Jessi has someone to play with at all the family functions now...rather than feeling like a babysitter to a million little rugrats ;) Sara was in a childcare bind the past 2 days, so I offered to watch the kids. They were here all day yesterday, went home for the afternoon and came back after dinner for a sleepover. They are all so amazingly well behaved when they are all together. They spent 90% of the time outdoors playing...which was nice :) At 8pm last night they set up thier blankets in the livingroom and snuggled in. I set up 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and headed up to my room with Rick to watch TV. I came down at 830 to check on them and they were all already conked out! They looked so cute...of course, I HAD to take some pictures. And of course, since the lights were dim, I had to take about 20 to make sure I got at least 1 good to scrap. Scrappin' is all about the pictures after all ;)

ETA: GOOD DEED REWARDED!!! In-laws just stopped by with their leftover Smokey Bones for the human garbage disposal...I mean Rick... AND they told me that they are taking the kids to Swan Lake for the day tomorrow! So I will be celebrtating KID FREE THURSDAY!! WOOOO HOOO!!

I DON'T LIKE BUGS! In fact...I LOVE the outdoors...but hate bugs so much that I am a self-proclaimed 'indoor girl.'

So...of course...the funny lady Fate is...she gives me a little bug loving boy. A boy who is happiest spending his time outdoors hunting for bugs. He even has 'equipment.' He has a bug vacuum that not only sucks up the bugs...but it sucks them into a chamber that has a magnifying glass attached....and a back up chamber in case ...well... I don't know what the 'in case' would be. Of course, as fun as his bug vacuum is...he is a naturalist and prefers to catch critters with his bare hands. He also has his trusty bug cage. A cage that at this very moment houses 2 ladybugs, 1 large unknown beetle, 2 grasshoppers, a crane fly (thank you google), a butterfly wing (found that way...no harm has come to any butterflies during this post), and a spoon sans handle with water in it "because 'the bugs are thirsty'. He also has a fish tank out on the porch that did house a salamander that he found, but 'Sammy' didn't make it. He is very enthusiastic about his bug catching and keeping skills...so much so that he tends to forget that...

1. Mommy doesn't like bugs
2. Bugs belong OUTDOORS

So...my days lately are spent reminding him of those 2 facts....over and over again. I am such a lucky mom ;)

 

Fame and Fortune!!

OK...maybe just a little fame ;) Jessi is now getting her 1 minute of fame EVERY DAY at 7:42am. She is now part of The Human Clock !! So next time you're at the computer in the morning, head to the human clock! You can even have it in a cute little window while you do your other stuff. For even MORE fun....take a fun pic and become part of the clock yourself! Jessi had a blast thinking of ideas and is already brainstorming for her next clock submission.

It must be Jessi's week because not only is she getting her minute of fame every day, she is the star of one of my scrapbook pages that is going to be published in an e-zine's August/September issue!

Guess I'd better go and ground her or make her clean her room or something....don't want all that fame to go to her head ;)

Hopefully NOT a summer preview!

We have had one of those crying days. I don't think I have heard a normal voice tone yet today. Just whining, fussing and crying. It was too hot to play outside...inside every game ended in someone crying about....who the hell knows!? Once I started cooking dinner it just got worse. Since I was using cornstarch to make my Moo Goo Gai Pan...a lightbulb went off that I had never made 'goo' with Sean before. So 2 bowls of cornstarch a little bit of water and both kids were happy as clams...and are now playing with it AGAIN now that dinner is over. I :heart: cornstarch. ROFL

How is is possible that _I_ have a daughter that is reading "Are You there God? It's Me Margaret?" When I see her I still see my precious little curly haired blonde 3 year old. I see her sitting on the couch reading books and studying her 'hooked on phonics' cards....determined to learn to read. Which she did...and was reading before she started kindergarten. I see my little girl always willing and ready to be dragged along on any road trip her fairy godmother Nicole and I had the whim to take. That same determined little girl, while always up for adventure....was a bit of a chicken ;) There were many more than 1 time that I found myself climbing up into the McDonald's Playplace to retrieve a screaming, terrified Jessi.

I can't believe how time has flown. She is now a full blown TWEEN!! Mood swings included. She is on the phone constantly. The phone starts ringing at 700am with friends calling her to plan their outfits for the day. She spends her allowance on teen magazines, make-up and clothes. She doesn't even ask anymore to look at the toys when we go to walmart. My jaw dropped to the floor last week when she asked if she could start SHAVING! (She's jumping the gun on that one a bit...lol...and was quickly denied). It all kind of hit me when we went to the library for storytime yesterday. She wanted to check out 'Are you there god....' and while my initial reaction was NO WAY...I read the description and the book is about a girl her age....going thru all the same things...and COMPLETELY AGE APPROPRIATE! So I guess it's time to face reality. My little girl is growing up. Damn I really need that puppy. 

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am sooooooooooooo peeved right now...'peeved' really doesnt cut it, but the other word with get me censored. We were SUPPOSED to go get the puppy Friday...this is the third week in a row we have been "supposed" to get him. The first week it was that they wanted to nueter him before we got him, the next week they decided NOT to get him nuetered, that we could go ahead and do it ourself...but we couldn't get him because of a logistics/work schedule thing, and NOW we are back to the freaking nuetering before we can have him thing. They are afraid we will breed him and sully his impeccable pedigree. I am SO insulted...I would NEVER breed a dog...that is SO irresponsible!! Not to mention I would never want an un-nuetered dog in my house....yuck. The worst part of it all is...I have never even spoken to...or even MET... the dog people...FIL (father-in-law) has been the go-between. So I can't be peeved at him...so I am just all pissed off now and have nowhere to direct it, so I am just acting bitchy to everyone. If it was anyone else I'd say fuck it and find a puppy somewhere else....in fact, on the aussie board there is someone looking for a home for thier 5 month old puppy in Maine right now....but no...can't do that because it would jeopordize FIL's relationship with his friend...and that wouldn't be good.

Oy! So now I am thinking that it would be better maybe to just wait til we get back from our week at Moosehead the week of the 4th. But...I want my puppy!!! Of course....by the time we get him he won't even BE a freaking puppy anymore!

School's OUT FOR SUMMER!!!

Yesterday was Jessi's last day of school. YAY!! We have a great summer in store for us! I told the kids the other day that just because they are not going to any summer camps (as they both would rather I poke hot needles in their eyes than send them to camp), doesnt mean we are going to be lazy summer couch potatoes!!! Sunday and Monday are Rick's days off and we are always busy doing family stuff on those days, Wednesdays are 'B and Grampa' days (super fun for the kids in the summer because they usually go to fun places and do fun things....super fun for me because I get to do WHATEVER I WANT!!!!!), Saturday is always our big cleaning day, and I told them that Friday is going to be Field Trip day!! Every Friday we are going to take off in the morning to somewhere fun like the beach, fort knox, and maybe we can find some new 'fun spots.' Jessi will be busy several Thursdays also going on the field trips that the town sponsors for the kids. We are also planning a day trip, or overnight trip (depending on fundage) to Old Orchard Beach. Can you believe I have NEVER been there!? Sad, I know. We were going to do Storyland this summer, but I think we will hold off on that one til next year when Sean is 5...then we can combine it with school shopping in North Conway! (<---ok...reality hit right there and I wanted to cry a little...SCHOOL!? NO more babies at home...WTH am _I _ going to do!!??.....lol)

So the kids are off already on thier trip with B and Grampa today. They are being super secretive about the destination...just specified that the kids need a jacket and shoes to wear that can get wet. They are too funny...like it's some super secret spy mission. Tomorrow Jessi has no field trip so we are doing storytime at the library and the playground. Friday is Field trip day...BUT...THIS Friday is a little different. B is coming over to stay with the kids while Grampa and _I_ go on a field trip to southern Maine to pick up our new PUPPY!!!! We are all busting with excitement in anticipation for our new Aussie puppy to come home! We already have all kinds of toys, bones, GATES (lol), now all we need is the puppy!

Never a dull moment...

Sean Dynamite...



And that's all I've got to say about that.

I like nice :)

What a nice weekend....mother nature even graciously shared a bit of sun with us today:) Rick was happy as a clam to be able to tackle some of the outdoor projects he has been wanting to do....including putting up our porch swing that we got as a housewarming gift. Sean was just as happy to be 'working' by his dad's side.

While the boys played outside, the girls...and Uncle Tim (lol) played inside. Tim came over to do his laudry and his girlfriend Christy came along to SCRAP! YESSSSSSSSS!! SHE SCRAPS!!!!!!! WOOO HOOO!!! She is not 'quite' as into it as I ....but she will be. ::::insert evil laugh here:::: I sent her home with LOTS of tools an goodies that I don't use anymore. I even gave her my old scrapbooking tote to rescue ;) her from the plastic sterilite tote she had her stuff in. We had a great time scrapping, and Jessi was delighted that she was able to join us too.

Yesterday Nicole and Sophie came over to play! Nicole brought her scrap stuff and a YUMMY lunch of KFC bowls. DAMN those things are delish! Nicole and I never quite made it to the scraproom...lol... We spent most of the day catching up on our celeb gossip, taking online quizzes, and just chatting. Sean and Sophie played so nicely together. Gone are the days that Sean spent being Mr. Bully. He is such a gullible little boy...lol... and Sophie is a clever little girl...she SO has him wrapped around her little finger. Just the way it should be ;)

Rick is going fishing with one of his buddies tomorrow. So it will be a nice quiet bacon-free (the man is OBSESSED with huge breakfasts on his day off!) morning. I can spend it cleaning up from our weekend of fun.

I am savoring the feeling of this nice calm weekend....next weekend will have a VERY different tone ;)

After reading a certain blog...the topic of personality disorders has been on my mind today. It wasn't very clear in said blog if the person was talking about thier own struggles in that department, or if they were trying to send some cryptic message to one of their readers? Later that day I was talking to my mom (the ex-psych nurse and current nurse educator) on the phone about personality disorders and the fact that EVERYONE has one to some degree. How everyone is different and individual...but that there are only so many 'types' of personalities. I think the whole 'disorder' part is a convenient way to sell medication and psychiatric treatment. All of such "treatments" are a moot point anyway because you can't change someone's personality. I know that many out there don't agree with my views on the psych world at ALL and my best friend and I have had MANY a heated argument when this topic comes up. (it gets realllllly heated when we get talking about alcohol and drug abuse and my belief that it's a choice and not a disease...but that's a whole other blog ;) )BUT....being the antisocial personality that I am...there is no changin' my mind ;) SO....While Rick watched the NHL Finals (GAG!) I found a bunch of online 'personality disorder' tests. According to THIS one I am 84% Antisocial...40 something% avoidant. All my others were below the average.
http://similarminds.com/personality_disorder.HTML

According to THIS test http://www.4degreez.com/misc/personality_disorder_test.mv ...I am rated high in the narcissistic category (oh my!) I also rated moderate in paranoid, antisocial and histrionic categories.

In another one which I can't find the link to I was diagnosed with ADD (ROFL...I SOOO am not ADD...had to laugh at that one!)

So what have we learned today kiddies? Well...for one thing you shouldn't rely on the Internet for your psychiatric needs. For another thing....I have heard time and time again throughout my life that you should NEVER attempt to diagnose ANYONE unless you are a doctor...and since I don't know any of those personally...I shouldn't be hearing anyone throwing around diagnosises around like cream pies.

And last of all a challenge to you all to find me someone who is 'normal'. I dare you.

Out of sorts

I don't know what is going on with me the past couple days. Maybe this stay-at-home mom gig is driving me insane. Yesterday morning there was a huge GROSS tick on the floor in my hallway. The cat had just come in from being out all night, and since she's on that medication that kills them right away....I guess it just dropped off when she came in. That is just freaking disgusting. I COMPLETELY freaked out! Managed to pick it up with a sock and flush it down the toilet. Then threw the sock away 'just in case' (just in case what?... you say? I don't KNOW!) It is about 36 hours later and I STILL have the heebeejeebees. Rick went to bed before me last night and when I went up to bed I turned on the light and made him get up so I could inspect the bed. He LOVED that ;) I went to the grocery store and the friendly cashier pointed at the sidewalk chalk I had in front of me and said, 'gonna do some drawing?' I couldn't hear her ...only saw her pointing at what I thought was ME...and had a mini freak-out...brushing my clothes off trying to find the bug on me that didnt exist. So, of course I had to explain the whole thing.....highlight of HER day I'm sure.

Which leads us to tonight. I am sitting here in the dark watching "Mythbusters." Rick is upstairs playing xbox. I had just poured myself a glass of my beloved diet lemon pepsi and took a sip and set it behind me on the table. As I watch the show I can hear the soda fizzing and bubbling (I thought that's what I was hearing anyway), so I turn around to grab the glass and take another sip and am instantly 2 inches away from the piercing eyes of the FREAKING CAT...who must have been behind me cleaning herself making the sound I thought was the fizzing. I SCREAMED bloody murder, the cat jumps about 12ft in the air and flys out of the room at light speed. Rick comes flying down the stairs to see if I am ok...and of course by the the time he sees me I am a raving lunatic laughing in hysterics at myself...while my heart is still pounding about 1000 mph. Speechless and shaking his head...he heads back upstairs. So here I am. Heart back to regular speed. Cat still AWOL. Me with a full-on case of the heebeejeebees again because for all I know this whole thing is part of some 'master cat plan' so not only was she trying to scare the shit out of me...she also left some ticks behind here on the couch to eat me as revenge for the numerous thorough full body inspections that she has had to endure today.

Scrapbooking TOOT!!!

Sooo...I finally got back in my scrapbooking groove over the past couple days. So in between working on cleaning my basement...re-organizing my laundry room, and of course playing with Sean...I managed to squeak out a few pages's for my "Page a week in 2006" album (You can see all my pages here if you like... http://www.scrapbook.com/scrapbook_layouts/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=26121 )

I also got a few pages done in my circle journal that I am doing with my PM chat group on scrapbook.com. It was due on the 10th...so I was hustling...but we pushed the date back a bit so I can breathe easy now :) So this evening I sequestered myself into my scraproom...which was fortunate for everyone else in my family because we had WW Chili for dinner and then I had my new FAVORITE snack-- baked tostitos and smashed up avocado with salt, pepper, onion powder, and lime. Between the avocados and the chili...there was some SERIOUS scrapbook tootin' goin' on....it wasnt pretty!! ROFL

Tribute to Trent

I freaking LOVE reading 'Pink is the New Blog' ( http://www.trent.blogspot.com/ )! That guy is SUCH a riot!! And I love gettin' all the dirt on the celebs even for I see it on the magazines. As I was reading about his FABULOUS day yesterday on the 'red' (actually blue) carpet at the MTV awards, I was struck by how different my life is from his. He and I may as well live on different PLANETS...lol. Part of me feels boring and mundane when I read of all his fabulous adventures....the other part of me knows damn well that I am right where belong and am happy as a clam in all my mundane blase glory. All night parties...dressing up all the time...plus all the work it must take to maintain that blog, I wouldn't trade places with him for all the money in the world (and I'm sure he'd feel the same about trading with my housecleaning, jeans/t-shirt/no make-up, in bed by 10, highlight of the week is storytime at the library... life of a stay-at-home-mommy...lol)

So THANK YOU TRENT!! I appreciate all you do for us housewives...there is nothin' like living a FABULOUS life vicariously :)

Rain Rain it's ok...you can stay another day :)

I am looking forward to a nice quiet weekend at HOME!!! YES ...HOME...I think my house had forgotten we actually lived here on the weekends. We were supposed to go to my brothers camp tomorrow til Monday...but I gracefully bowed out. I feel bad and I hope he isn't feeling like, "god...they go to everyone else's camp all the time, but now I have one and they won't come." If it had been closer than 3 hours away, I would have at least gone down for the day on Monday, but 3 hours is too far to go for a day visit (I learned THAT lesson the hard way when Nicole and I went to Boston for a concert and drove back right after...NEVER AGAIN!) So home is where my heart is for a LEAST a month when we are going to Moosehead for a week.

So bring on the rain!! My plans for the weekend involve warm cozy socks and comfy pants......scrapbooking (GOTTA get back on THAT horse before I forget how..rofl... plus I have a circle journal due on the 15th that I have barely started). I will also do some cleaning, and maybe I will begin to tackle the basement/dungeon. Oh yeah...and a trip to DQ is imminent as I promised the kids I'd take them for the MONSTER COOKIE BLIZZARDS they have been begging for the last 2 weeks IF they do a GREAT job cleaning their rooms. Sean is already done...funny thing about that is he doesn't even really like ice cream!

From my lips to blogs ears

My little guy will be starting preschool in the fall. This will be our second attempt at the whole 'preschool' thing. The first attempt was last summer when I enrolled him in 'Kiddie Kamp' Tues and Thurs every other week for the entire summer. It was a freaking disaster. As a former preschool teacher with a degree in Early Childhood Education, I have seen my fair share of seperation anxiety flip-outs when the parents leave. Usually by the time Mommy gets to her car, Jr is happily playing and has forgotten all about her. Oh...not the case with my boy...because god FORBID he do something NORMAL...lol! He threw the fit of all fits. He SCREAMED like someone was trying to kill him. He chased me out the door twice. The teacher then had to hold him while I walked out...but he was able to break away from her and again ran out the door. ( I know this because I snuck around to the back of the building where he couldn't see me to listen to make sure he calmed down.) They finally had to lock the door to keep him in...causing all the rest of the arriving children and parents to have to knock on the door to get in. He settled down in about 20 minutes...but remained quiet and stoic all day. When I would come to get him, his eyes would immediately fill with tears of relief that I was there to rescue him. It was awful. I sent him for two weeks, hoping he would settle in, and thinking that he 'needed' it. Every day he would ask if he had to go back to Kiddie Kamp...and would cry if I said yes. My in-laws wanted me to pull him out...especially after the day they picked him up and saw for themselves the way he teared up with relief....but they are softies. It wasn't til my mom came to visit and saw his obsession and fear about going there and agreed with everyone that he shouldn't go anymore...she is SOOO NOT a softie. So...he never went back. It has been a YEAR now and he STILL talks about Kiddie Kamp every week or so and how he didn't like that place and asks for reassurance that he doesn't have to ever go back.

So...I finally get to my point...he is going to preschool in the fall for a couple days a week. This time I KNOW he needs it. I cannot send him to kindergarten and make his teacher deal with his issues when she should be teaching. He seems excited this time. We are sending him to the same preschool his sister went to when she was little. I just hope he is able to settle in and be himself. And I hope that himself ends up coming off to the other kids and teachers as the class clown and NOT the class freak (since I know the boy...I know it will be one or the other...lol). There is a fine line between the kid who everyone likes and makes everyone laugh and the kid sitting in the back of the room eating paste while trying to communicate with Planet Zolton through the ball of tinfoil in his pocket. Please...Please...let him be the former.

Baby it's HOT outside

It's been a nice quiet week so far. Just the way I like it. We hung out around the house on Monday and did a few house projects. Rick's big project was making a fire pit so that we can start burning all of our construction debris and save ourselves the $500 fee of disposing it. Personally...I would not have chosen the hottest day of the year so far to sit in front of a fire...nor would I have chosen to keep on the 2 layers of clothing that I had on from my early morning turkey hunting excursion while I sat in front of said fire...but that's just me I guess ;) MY big project this week is getting the house ready for the much anticipated arrival of our newest family member!!

The blackflies are less ravenous and numerous finally. So we are all spending lots of time playing outside...even ME!! I have never been an outdoor girl before. But yesterday Sean, Nicky and I had a great game of kickball, then I did some outdoor projects while Sean played on the swing set. In the evening the past few days spending the whole evening watching TV, I like to just sit out on the porch in my adirondack chair and enjoy the peace and quiet of the days end....that is...until the mosquitos find me. I can't wait til we get that porch screened in!!!

What a great weekend!! The camp was GORGEOUS and HUGE! It had a great waterfront with a sandy beach for the kids and a dock for the fisherman. There was ever a paddleboat that got LOTS of use!! The weather was FANTASTIC all weekend long and I actually got some sun and am a little less pasty ;) The blackflies were only slighty relentless, and we are all covered in bites, but it was just too nice out to let them drive us in. The kids had a blast together! It's great to have some more kids in the family. Future SIL ( I guess I shouldn't call her future SIL... she and I were talking about the future and she said, 'oh...I wouldn't assume anything about the future when it comes to me...you just never know with me' (she talks all the time about 'having' to move around a lot and that she has never lived in one place for more than 2 years...blah blah blah) I can't even imagine what will happen to BIL if she dumps him. She is his first real love...EVER...and I am not exaggerating...I hope they are able to stick it out for his sake. )was ok. The first night during dinner she stayed down in the basement rec room and BIL brought her dinner down to her...so that was like a pink elephant in the room because nobody wanted to ask why she was down there and everyone else (including her own 2 kids) were upstairs having a great meal of ribs. She explained to MIL (which MIL came right down and told me) that she "just can't be in the room when people are eating meat off bones...it just makes her sick" Umm...ok...high maitenence much? The next day we had BBQ chicken and she seemed fine with that... Isn't that also eating meat off bones? I really think she is one of those people just just needs constant attention.

Rick and I came back from camp last night and the kids stayed there til day with all the inlaws. This is Ricks last day off for this turkey season, and he didn't want to miss it. So since he was leaving last night, I figured I would go home with him and take advantage of a little kidless time ;)

Invasion of the body snatchers

My 10 year old daughter has been possessed....and I like it! It started last night when she decided that SHE would be cooking dinner. She made a DELICIOUS batch of American Chop Suey and all I did to help her was sit at the island and read a magazine and give her the occasional direction...and I dumped the boiling water off the pasta as I prefer my children raw and not boiled ;) This morning when I got up she had already gotten herself and her brother breakfast and had done a load of laundry!!! Hello!? Have we MET!? As I pour myself my morning glass of Diet Lemon Pepsi she proclaims to me that her goal for the day is to wash and fold all the laundry in the house. As I am speechless and as I search her face for signs of her eyes blinking vertically or tentacles coming out of her ears she explains that she needed some clothes washed before we go away to Beech Hill for the weekend and figured she may as well get all the laundry in the house done so we can leave a clean house. (As an aside...when she was younger I told her that it was illegal to leave a messy house when you go on vacation because if anything went wrong in the house the police or landlords would need to be able to deal with any issues or find anything they needed to find...ROFL...I think she knows it's not true now...I think...lol) She then preceded to pick up around the house and as I type she has chocolate peanut butter chip cookies in the oven to bring to camp. Again...my role in cookie making purely supervisory and hot pan management. A mom could get used to this :)

Sean OTOH his his normal weirdo self today. He wouldn't make cookies with us because he was "busy outside right now tryin' to catch this moth" While wearing a dish towel on his head because "that's what pirates do." but also made sure to tell me to bring him a cookie as soon as they are ready...and some milk too. He is not as excited about camp as Jessi is...he is not a boy who likes change or trying new things. Once we get there we won't want to leave, but until then there will be numerous discussions painting the picture of EXACTLY what it will be like...what we will do there....who will be there...and how much fun he will have. How can 2 kids from the same parents that live in the same house be SO DIFFERENT!!!?

Charmed no more

I really hate it when one of my favorite shows comes to an end. It's like losing a friend. A friend that was there for you every week without fail...except when they went away for their summer vacation ;) My latest television casualty is 'Charmed.' Damn I love that show! It made me wish I had sisters...and on more than one occasion I have found myself trying to 'orb' the remote to myself from across the room, or 'freeze' Rick at JUST the right time ....rofl! But all good things must come to an end right. At least being the victim of a station merge, this one is going out while it was still great. The only thing I hate worse than losing a show is a show that keeps on going and going...even though it should be over. Roseanne is the first to come to mind on that topic. ER is pushing it a bit too...although they freakin' KILLED me with the cliffhanger ending this season! WTF!? You can't just LEAVE ME with the image of my PRECIOUS LUCA stricken with the grief and panic of knowing that he may be about to lose his love and his baby and not be able to do a THING about it!! GEESH!

Anyway...goodbye Piper, Pheobe and Page. You will always live on in my heart as one of my favorite shows ever...and in the reruns on TNT ;)

Swing sets...SOOO not just for the kids!

Rick was deemed super hero of the universe on Monday when he got the kids swing set and set it up all in the SAME DAY!! (Usually stuff is gotten one week and set up MAYBE a week later, if we're lucky ;) I helped him set it up...a little. The blackflies were like a cloud around his sweaty self...ewww...so I kept my distance so they would keep bothering him and stay away from me...lol!

Yesterday, I took over the hero title when I added a tent to the swing set! All this for the kids right? WRONG!!! The kids live, eat and breathe outside now. They run out to play before Jessi goes to school...Sean plays much of the day while Jessi is at school....after school and again for awhile after dinner! I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon, but for now the peace and quiet is MUCH appreaciated after my whirlwind weekend o' fun.

Looks like rain today. Maybe I should build a gymnasium and put another swing set in there? (She says...err...types as a nerf dart shoots past her ear at about 60mph and sticks to the wall about an inch from her head) 

I am allergic to New Hampshire

Last month I visited my Nana in New Hampshire. I had a nasty headache the whole time and my mother thought it could be allergies (which I don't have)...so I took some allergy stuff and was fine. Got home and thought nothing of it. Fast forward a month later to CKC Machester, New Hampshire...me feeling like shit the entire time. I had a splitting headache, but attributed that to one too many Appletinis and my lack of caffeine on the day of the drive down. Since it never went away all weekend, I knew it wasnt the Appletinis or the caffeine...but it wasn't til a couple hours before we left that I remembered feeling the EXACT same way LAST time I was in New Hampshire! I have never heard of being allergic to a state before. On the drive home I was already starting to feel better by the time we hit Portland. Weird.

I gave my headache the big ole middle finger though and had a great time anyway! The classes we took were fun. The vendor fair was visited SEVERAL times....each time hoping someone would magically have orbed in some KI Memories stuff...and each time being let down. The lack of KI didn't prevent my wallet from opening up about as wide as it could go. I only spent about $200 on scrap stuff though. Not bad compared to some of the people I saw there. It wasnt hard to reign myself in after the first excited visit to the fair. The prices were really no better than the stuff online....and online it's just ONE fat lady shopping for stuff ;) Not 1000 fat ladies pushing past each other with 20 shopping bags in one hand and their 6th 'skinny cow' in the other. Gotta say though...it was a great weekend NOT feeling like the fattest person in the room all the time ROFL.

Anyway...I am VERY glad to be home. It is amazing to me that I slept better last night in my cheap old queen sized bed covered a zillion pillows, stuffed animals and my 2 kids tossing and turning and kicking me all night than I did in the luxury pillow top in our peaceful hotel room. Jessi and I went through all my loot from the trip this morning and she was one HAPPY girl to receive all my 'freebies' from the crop and classes. Although I had to laugh because even she can recognize the cheesy crap when she sees it...yet 80% of the woman at the crop clearly missed the memo that we are not supposed to be doing the 'paperkins' thing anymore ...lol!

Water Water Everywhere

This is my aunts backyard in Massachusets. She is FREAKIN' OUT. I guess it's even closer now and there is already 3-4 inches of water in her basement. And it seems, there is no end in sight to the rain and flooding. Sucks for my Aunt and could potentially suck for me too! The big Scrapbooking convention is in Manchester, NH...which is partially evacuated and in a 'state of emergency' due to all the flooding. Just freaking great. I called the hotel and the perky hotel boy said everything is still on. It had better be. I swear to god if I don't get this vacation people are going to DIE!!! Drama? HELL YES I HAVE DRAMA! My Son just turned 4 and I have never left him overnight to go on a trip. What does THAT tell you!? I am LONG FREAKING OVERDUE!! There...that's out of my system...lol. Along this same line of thinking I had a great time packing up my scrappin' stuff today. Even eeked out a layout before I packed it all up ;) I thought I would have a really hard time deciding what to bring and what to leave, but it wasn't so bad...just took little planning ahead! I know I brought a ton of crap I probably won't even touch, particularly once we break out the bottle of O3 ;) ...but better to have it and not use it than not have it and wish I did have it, right?

Ahhhhh.....Peace

It's NOT RAINING! It's not exactly sunny either, but I'll take it. The day has started out GRRRRRRRRRREAT! Jessi is at a sleepover, Rick was up at his regular 330 and then headed off to work. Sean and I slept in til 8ish, then got up and cleaned our rooms as we do every Saturday morning. It's such a routine now, that there is little resistance to the job....plus he had incentive of FINALLY being able to PLAY OUTSIDE! And that's where he is now...a happy, happy boy outside playing in the dirt with his dog. And it's blissfully peaceful inside...just the way I like it :)

Geesh...I re-read my blog yesterday and it sounded like I was about a half hour from getting out the razors...lol! The day turned around after I blogged, I got all the stuff done that I had planned on getting done. My MIL took me to the Enchanted Garden and got me 2 GORGEOUS hanging flower baskets for mother's day. Jessi went for a sleepover after cleaning her room without drama...since she wanted to leave ;) (Man do I LOVE those naturally occuring incentives!!) My Nana is home. Although she shouldn't be. The hospital wanted her to go to a rehab place for a few days just to make sure she's ready to be home. Yeah...right. This is the same woman that says the only way she's leaving her home is in a pine box. So, she pretty much told the hospital staff that they could take thier rehab and stick it where thee sun don't shine. She is so unbelievably stubborn. (hmmm...maybe I inherited more of her genes than just body type ;) ) BUT...while I gotta admire her for her strength, I hope that when I am that age, I take others feelings into consideration more than she. Yes, she is not in a rehab, but she is not well, so my aunt has to stay with her, and neglect her family and life for who knows how long.

The boy is back inside....guess it's a little too chilly out to play for too long. I think we'll go play trains :)

Rain Rain GO AWAY!

UGH! What a crappy week. I feel like I have relocated to Seattle...no...not Seattle...more like the Rainforest, complete with stir crazy monkeys. The kids sure got used to having a yard to play in FAST (as did the Mommy)...this week of indoor play is grating on everyones last nerve. The kids are bored and grumpy and WILD, I have felt lazy and tired all week...and grumpy, and it's turkey season so Rick gets up at 330 every morning to hunt before work (freakin idiot, but thats a whole other blog...lol) so he's tired and grumpy too. Also, my Nana is in the hospital with heart failure on top of the COPD she has been battling for a few years now. I talked to her yesterday and she sounded terrbile :( It's just buckets of fun around here this week.

OK...so today, rain or not...I am kicking it up a notch. I have already done 2 loads of laundry. As soon as I get done typing I will go take a shower and Sean and I will go grocery shopping. I will come home, put the groceries AWAY right AWAY ....not even JUST the refrigerator stuff either...ALL OF THEM...lol. Then I will CLEAN this sty of a house and cook a chinese feast!! OK...so now it's in print for all the bored ...really bored if you are still reading this... masses to read...so I HAVE to do it all. Sorry couch...you'll have to hang out without me today ;)

$1000 scrapbook contest LOSER ;)

I didn't win $1,000 worth of scrapbooking stuff at scrapbook.com. Not that I expected to. Last year I was so hopeful to win. I was obsessed with that silly contest. I did LO's, re-did LOs, took those down and put up new ones....... This year I didn't even agonize over my entries. I didn't even realize that today was the notification day for the winners until I saw the big thread yesterday for the excited and hopefull masses. The other entries this year are AMAZING! I can't wait to see who won. I am actually coming to accept that my style is not 'magazine/contest style.' I am a pretty simple scrapper. I have fun with the occasional collagey 'load everything you can' on the scrapbook page, but overall I like the 'less is more' look for my own stuff. And since my scrapping is for ME...not magazines...I can scrap however I want! Contests are SUPER FUN to enter! They get me to try out new stuff and techniques that I otherwise wouldn't, but these days rather than making special stuff 'just for the contest'...I am trying to make the contests fit into whatever I am working on anyway.

It's a dirty job...

I HATE giving the dog a bath. The dog hates GETTING a bath. All of which makes for MUCH procrastination when it comes to Nicky getting a bath. All week long Nicky has been reekin' to high heaven...all week long I have been finding better things to do than give him a bath. But today I broke down and wrestled all 75lbs of angry, sulky collie into the tub.
But just look how pretty he is now :) I EVEN clipped his nails...which is an even bigger feat than the bath that often is accompanied by much snarling, teeth nashing and a full-out WWF match between us. It's not pretty.

The rest of the day was spent doing yard work...which I HATE...but at least it's a little too chilly and windy for the blackflies. I shoveled and wheelbarreled dirt for what seemed like enternity...and it doesnt even look like I did anything. How's THAT for gratification :-[ We also took a little jaunt to Dick's Sporting Goods...woo hoo(<---insert sarcasm here). Rick had a coupon and gave me the puppy dog eyes begging for a little shopping spree. As if I even had a choice there when he and I both know that in a couple weeks I'll be spending a few hundred on scrapbooking ;)

It's NATIONAL SCRAPBOOK DAY!!

It started out a great day! I had BIG plans for today!! Got up at 8am, planned to clean the house in time for all the festivities to begin on scrapbook.com and 2peasinabucket.com...since they are both 3 time zones away, I was golden. All up until I sat down to watch one of the episodes of the Dog Whisperer I had DVRd. All of a sudden it's 3pm and I have scrapped NOTHING and watched ALL of the Dog Whispererers on the DVR. You got a dog in need of training, I'm your girl. You got a picture in need of scrappin'.....maybe tomorrow ;) I DID manage to get the house all cleaned up in between eps. I did finally make it into the scraproom at around 7 after talking to mom on the phone for 2 hours and going grocery shopping with the whole fam. And I did create ONE Layout...kind of a half-assed one...but it's cute! AND I DID win stuff on scrapbook.com! So NSD was not a complete wash!

Say Cheese!....ummm....nope

We had a great time playing at the park today. All up until we thought we'd try to get the kids to allow us to take some artsy farsty photos. It went something like this.....

Me: OK KIDS...come here for a picture! Jessi lay in the grass and I'll stand above you.
(Jessi was already beside me...Sean and Sophie hear me yell and both run away in opposite directions screaming like raving lunatics)
Jessi: Ewww...there's bugs in the grass
Me: There are no bugs in the grass...dont be silly
Jessi: Well it's itchy, and I get all itchy when I lay in the grass
Me: OK Then...I'll ask Sean...HE'LL lay in the grass for me.
Jessi: OK!! FINE! I'll lay in the stupid grass!

The next 5 minutes are spent with Nicole, Jessi and I trying to catch Sean and Sophie, who think this chasing game is like THE BEST GAME EVER! We get them to the grass and they all lay down and begin rolling all over the place screaming and shielding thier eyes "IT'S TOO SUNNY!!!!!! I CAN'T SMILE WHEN IT'S TOO SUNNY!!" SOOOO....I say "ok lets go to a shady spot and again...Sean and Sophie take off like we are the hunters and they are the jackrabbits. This time I am quick and clever enough to trick them into trying to race Jessi to the shady spot. Once AT said shady spot, Sean and Jessi lay down, Sophie lays down like 9 feet away...Nicole helps Sophie get closer as she is in a fit of squirming and giggles. She gets close enough and I snap a picture as quick as I possibly can, ...DAMN IT...Sean is covering his eyes....by the time I notice this and go to snap one more...the only one left in the viewfinder is Sean. So...I snap one of him and call it good.

It was a good idea...would have been a really cute photo. Maybe next time...on a MUCH less sunny day.....and maybe without the kids...lol!

HEY....You're a crazy bitch.....

I LOVE MUSIC :) It's a big music month this month too!! The highlight being the new Dixie Chicks CD being release on the 23rd. I LOVE the single thats been released...so I think this CD is gonna be a good one! Pearl Jam also comes out with a new CD that Rolling Stone is touting as maybe their best ever. My brother is going to pick that one up today and I'm sure he'll make me a copy...so I won't have to buy that one. He'll also buy the new Chili Peppers that's coming out next week and copy that one for me too :) He won't, however, be buying the Chicks CD...so I will have to fork out a little dough this month. I also still need to pick up the new Cowboy Mouth CD...I bought it for my best friends birthday...but she hasnt made me a copy yet :)...so I think I'll have to buy my own. I LOVE Cowboy Mouth!! They are so great and even better LIVE!! (They would have to be for Nicole and I to be willing to drive all the way to Boston and back in a day just to go see them!)

All this great music...and I got nuthin' good to listen to right now on my way to the Dentist. ::::a few minutes later::::: Now I do ;) I am kidless today so I made a great 'parental advisory' CD full of the new Buckcherry-Crazy Bitch (LOVE that song!!), Godsmack, Lyrics Born, Shakira, and a little country just to mix it up a little ;) I love my kids....but I love my kidless Wednesdays!

Kmart is HOT!

Mondays are DH's day off, so we usually spend the day shopping and hanging out. Yesterday we stopped at my favorite LSS (local scrapbook store for you 'non-scrappers') DH came in and shopped with me ...which NEVER happens!! SO....I had to reward him with a trip to Kmart to look at :::insert deep redneck voice here::: "huntin' stuff." Which we did. Then we headed over to the toiletries because we needed toothpaste and shampoo and stuff. All pretty mundane, huh? Yeah. All up until we got to the K-mart Sex Section. Yup. That's what I said. Apparently part of Kmarts new marketing plan involves spicing up the sex lives of the Kmart shopping masses. They had multiple types of flavored massage oils, even more bottles of lube...hot...tingle...just plain ole regular, powders, a bigger condom selection than condom world on Newbury Street, and the piece de resistance..........the vibrating cock ring (batteries included). I am not even kidding....and there was only ONE LEFT! There are some VERY happy blue-haired ladies and thrifty redneck women out there right now. So I guess Kmart is doing it's part to make the world a better place...one orgasm at a time :)

Naughty or nice?

No...this is not a Christmas blog ;) I was just thinking about blogging, and blogs, and it seems that everyone's blogs are either SUPER nice or SUPER nasty. Is there no middle ground here. If a blog is truly about being a journal then there should be. I mean...noone is nasty all the time....and even FEWER are nice all the time. The blogs that make me gag the most are the ones that go on and on and on about how WONDERFUL and EXCITING and FABULOUS the persons life is. I just wanna reach through the screen and shake them and say, "DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT WHEN YOU GO ON AND ON LIKE THAT....IT MAKES IT _GLARINGLY_ OBVIOUS THAT THINGS ARE REALLY NOT-SO-GOOD IN YOUR LIFE AND YOU LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT! HAVEN'T YOU EVER HEARD THE PHRASE, 'I THINK THO DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH'---yeah, they are talkin' about you sweetie." It's sad really. To lie in your blog. I think that's even worse than cheating at solitaire. Unfortunately...the person I most would like to say this to wouldn't exactly be receptive to my feedback...and there is no nice way really to say it. She lies in her blog not just to make herself feel better....but to hurt the feelings of other people (which....I also wish I could tell her---it doesn't work---people are just laughing at her and she just looks silly). She thinks by going on and on about her idyllic life...those she has left behind are going read her blog and think, "Wow...what a great life SHE has....too bad mine sucks....oh how I wish I were her" Instead her blogs evoke giggle fits and entertainment value. But hey...at least she's getting hits right ;)

On a more personal blogging note. I am loving that nobody I 'know' knows about this blog (yet) I even went in and changed some settings to make myself a little more anonymous, but I am still ME...don't believe in the 'assumed name' crap. I realize it is inevitable that I am 'found out'...but for now...I like this. It was so freeing to get the above off my chest without feeling like it's going to turn into a cat-fight. Where 'she' reads what I said...then goes right over to HER blog to post nasty stuff about ME...when I am not trying to be nasty...just honest. Which is...in my view anyway....the point of blogging in the first place.