Petz R Fun

Jessi has been lobbying heavily for a new hamster (Hers died a few months before we moved here.). It's not happenin' ;) Rick has been lobbying just as heavily for a kitten and/or a parakeet. Also not happenin' ;) I LOVE it when he tries to put his foot down and says things like, "Well I guess since I am making all the money I can get whatever I want to get!" He can't even do it with a straight face.... ROFL!! I am very happy with the size of our current menagerie thank you very much :)

Dr. Laura

I listen to Dr Laura pretty much every day. I like to listen while I cook and clean. I like to listen and roll my eyes at the people who call and say they have been listening for a million years and then ask a REALLY STUPID question like, "I am living with my boyfriend and I just found out I was pregnant and I can't decide if I should get an abortion or not" and then listen to the fireworks that ensue. It's like guilt-free gossip for me ;) I agree with much of what she says about keeping families together.... taking care of our husbands... staying home with the kids... I don't agree with just as much of what she believes about... the war... abortion... 'shacking up'.... So anyway.... Yesterday I was listening and I have to say I was really disturbed by her handling of a couple calls and it has been weighing on my mind. A man called saying that he and his identical twin brother were soldiers, his brother was killed and he has taken on the the responsibilities of his brothers wife and children in addition to his own. The mans unit has been called back to Iraq and he was given the option to not go because he is the only support for both families and because his brother had already been killed in the war and he is the only son left in his family. She basically sent him back to Iraq saying that he is a natural born warrior and that warriors must do what they are born to do...which he agreed with. Within the hour a 19yr old girl called and she too was struggling with the decision of whether or not to join the Navy.... Dr Laura sent her off to war too! WTF!!???? I just don't understand it how anyone at this point can be all "HOO-RAH!" about the war at this point! She pretty much sent those 2 people... (one of which is the only support for TWO families) away to die for WHAT?? What are they accomplishing at this point? Even if we "win"...what have we "won?"

So anyway... I am annoyed but I will still listen. A 'better' person would 'put their money were their mouth is' ...but I enjoy listening and I am not willing to do that... if that makes me 'not a better person'.... oh well.. I've been called worse ;)

Now THAT'S HOT!! ;)

Yes we had a huge blizzard last night... but spring is still in the air and that means lots more grillin'!!! YUM!!!!

At least Mom tells her that it's not ok to say it in then end ....UNLIKE that HORRIBLE 'Sparkling Wiggles' video!

We have DEFEATED THE RABBIDS!!!

The kids and I had some Wii fun this afternoon and finished the last couple levels of Rayman Raving Rabbids. It was pretty cool to beat the whole game and the kids were VERY excited!! I don't think they have ever done that before!

On a more educational note... Sean and I have been working on reading. It is EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING!! Jessi was very self driven to learn to read and would spend hours going through phonics cards and practicing sounding out letters and reading her 'Bob's Books.' Sean OTOH is not the LEAST bit interested in learning to read. He HATES it when I sit down with him and a 'Bob's Book' (or any other book) to work on reading. Well he is still not feeling well, so he and I were sitting on the couch together playing some games on the laptop and I found the BEST SITE for working on the reading thing!! He and I read a couple stories there, and he did get sick of it after awhile, but he enjoyed it MUCH more than he does when I am working with him. I think maybe it's less pressure and less confrontation having the computer tell him what to say and do... also it's more like him and I reading and playing together, rather than a me vs. him thing. Anyway.... Here is the site.

Hopefully tonight will bring the full night of sleep that Sir Sickey Sick from Sickville robbed us of last night cuz I am TIRED!!!

Maybe instead of buying more stuff...

I should try using some of the stuff that I ALREADY HAVE that I have never tried using before ;)

I did a little "Hybrid Scrappin!" I made the flowers with photoshop brushes from Brusheezy.com. Then I remembered the watercolor colored pencils that Nicole and I HAD TO HAVE several months ago that I have never even opened the box of :) THOSE suckers are FUN!! You just scribble a little wherever you want color, then use a paint brush and water to smooth it all out. Kinda like those cool 'Paint with Water' books I had when I was a kid!

Torture thy name is Weatherbee Variety Show

Oh what a night!!! Last night was Jessi's school's variety show (i.e. talent show minus any competition because GOD FORBID any child ever get their wittle feewings hurt). It was somethin.' I will admit that it was kinda cute at time ....but 2 hours of preteen girls singing along to a Hannah Montana CD kinda wears on ya ;)

One thing I DID notice... was that there are WAY more chubby kids than 'regular sized' kids. When I was in elementary school chubby kids were VERY rare... and the 1 or 2 that there were got teased. You hear all the time in the media that our kids are getting too fat from sedentary lifestyles and I would definitely have to agree after seeing it with my own eyes. I guess the schools see it too since Jarod from Subway is visiting Jessi's school today :) I have to say that I really don't 'get' parents that let their kids get fat. Parents control their kids activities, and parents buy all the food. There was a time that I saw that Jessi had started to gain weight and I (without her even knowing) made some adjustments to her lifestyle and that took care of the problem that I saw may be developing. (So easy to do with someone else... now if I could just do that with myself!!) I know that the cards are stacked agaisnt her genetics-wise ...so I am trying my best to teach her how to fight her family's fat genes!

OK...off my hypocritical soapbox ;)

My baby is 5

It's official. No more babies here :( Today Sean turned 5 years old and says he is now a "kid." ;) He did throw me a bone though and said, "You can still call me your baby if you NEED too ....but I am really a kid now!"

~~~Happy Easter Everyone~~~

I must say that the Easter Bunny should be VERY impressed with itself for not going overboard this year. The kids got the perfect balance of stuff :)

I am proud of MYSELF because this pic of Sean and his game was TOTALLY overexposed from the flash (since it was 530am and still quite dark ;) ). I photoshopped it and now Sean looks like a human and not a white zombie-ghost creature!! Slowly but surely I am learning!! I am finding that it is easier for me to learn one thing at a time as I need it, instead of trying to "learn photoshop."

LOL!! She could NOT find that egg!! I had to do the 'hot and cold' game with her for about 5 minutes and at one point she was even LEANING on the shoe and the egg jiggled and she STILL didn't find it! She felt PRETTY silly when she finally did ;)

I figured out how to use the brushes too!! :)

Even though the low light pics without the flash are grainy ...I still like them better. I really hate the flash indoors. I think the grainy, soft look helps to tell the story of it being so early in the morning and everyone still feeling sleepy and quiet.

Hampden Easter Egg Hunt

Wow!!!

Sean's party was CRAAAAAAZY!!! SO many people came... even people I never thought would come!! We had a VERY full house!! Jessi and her friends decorated before the party... and made homemade Ninja Turtle costumes out of crepe paper!

Sean went for a nap from around 4-530. He is still not feeling well. I think he has allergies on top of a cold because his eyes are so itchy and runny and he just makes it worse because he keeps rubbing them.


Silly Grampa!


Poor Sick Birthday boy :(


The MOUNTAIN of presents definitely cheered him up. ALL he wanted in the world was this web shooter. Everything else was just icing on the cake ;)


Those eyes are driving him crazy :( (Someday they'll be driving the ladies crazy ;) ;) )


My baby is FIVE YEARS OLD!! (OK... not REALLY til the 10th... but as far as he knows... he's 5 ..lol)


Giving children big sticks and blindfolds is SCAAAAARY!! ROFL


Sean INSISTED on this puppy pinata. I thought beating a puppy with a stick was a tad morbid... but it wasn't my party ;)


It takes twoo ooo ooo baba a a y.......


VENOM!!!!! (the 'bad' Spiderman from Spiderman 3 for those of you not 'in the know' ;) )


Sophie likes cake. Her shirt did too :)



I finally gave Nicole her b'day present, the cropadile... There are holes in everything I own now...lol... even the BREAD ROFL


"PLEASE.... PLEASE... Just give me ONE reason that I need to own one of these things cuz this thing is AWESOME!"


Caption unnecessary :)


The coveted WEB SHOOTER in action!!!


It was a great party and I AM TIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a Sun Shiney Day!

The sun is shining.

The snow is melting.

Sean is OUT of bed and EATING and back to his wild self!

Things are lookin' good today!!

A little later we will head to town to get his Piñata, stuff to fill it with, a TMNT DQ cake (YUM), and some other party stuff. I love party stuff!!

I have heard about some of the presents he is getting. Sounds like this weekend will need to be a "go through the toys and pack up some bags for the kids that don't have any toys" weekend ;)

Snow Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????

We have about a FOOT of snow on the ground and it's still going strong! WTH!!!???? Isn't this supposed to be SPRING!! Jessi is home today because her school got canceled... a SNOW DAY.... on April 5th!! It's a good thing she is home though because Sean is sick with a yucky cold, cough, fever and she is taking great care of him. I am totally done with the "Mommy Crap"... they are old enough to be taking care of themselves and each other. Got ya, didn't I? I couldn't do it on April 1st... that would have been too obvious! There really is a snow day today though... and Sean really is sick. Poor Baby. He is miserable. I hope he is feeling better by tomorrow evening for his birthday party. He has been looking forward to it for months! He would be devastated if we had to reschedule it.

Better get back to the Mommy Crap...

Last day of scrappy class

Today is the girls last class. I spent the morning getting some shopping done as I had to pick up their albums and also get my Easter shopping done since today was my only kid-free time between now and then. I love Easter shopping. You don't (well I don't) have to break the bank and you get to buy lots of fun, cute and sweet schtuff ;)

I also took a little side trip with Nicole to Judy's Scrappin' and Stampin.' She was going to buy a cropadile and I had to stop her because I got her one for her birthday...which is today!! I also recently discovered Stickles and I am in LOVE.... so I wanted to pick up a couple more bottles of those (another cheap fun purchase!) While we were there Nicole twisted my arm ;) and we signed up for an 'altered cookie sheet class' at the end of the month that looks really neat. (kinda sorta like this...but not christmasy)

I gotta say I am glad the girls had fun and learned some stuff... but I am even MORE glad that it is over! Teaching that class really sucked out my scrap mojo ;) And 4 squealy preteen girls and their ipod nanos hooked up to my computer speakers.... well... let's just say it's a good thing I buy my advil in the BIG bottle ;)

Alanis Morissette... My Humps????

Ummm.... ok.... lol

Mother Nature thinks she is funny.

I don't.

What a piece of crap day!

I woke up WAY early because I had to be at the Town Office at 8am to get Nicky's dog license that I had put off until today and had to do it today since I got the nice letter from the town in the mail that says I better do it my April 1st or they *may* put out a warrant (on me or the dog..... that wasn't clear...lol). So I had to run and do that and take Jessi to school in time to be back here for the plumber who was arriving between 8 and 830. I didn't mind any of it though because I was on a total "I'm finally getting my bathroom done" high. A high that came CRASHING down when the plumber got here and got started only to discover that the plumbing has never been run down to the basement and tied all in as we thought it was. So my $100-150 job turned into a 'maybe $500-1000 depending on materials' job. I told him that just wasn't happening right now, gave him $50 for his trouble and sent him on his way. :(

So... I decided a nap would be a better idea than eating everything in the house. Sean and I are napping and Jessi walks into the bedroom! I jump up and look at the clock wondering why she is here and how she got here! She tells me that she puked at school and I didn't answer any phones so Grampa picked her up and brought her home. Great. Supermom triumphs again.

So it's 4 o'clock. Jessi and Sean are BOTH STILL napping despite several attempts to get them up. It's going to be a LONG night.

Beautiful Productive Sunday

Today was a beautiful day! The weather was perfect! Don't be fooled by that bit of snow you see... we were in the woods in a spot that doesn't see much full sun. There really isn't much snow left anywhere and the temp made it all the way to 53 degrees today!

We started the day with a trip to The Home Depot and Rick and I didn't even get in a fight there!!! THAT is SOMETHING! as that place (like Disneyworld ;) ) really seems to bring out the worst in us...lol! We were there to buy walls for our master bathroom's bathtub./shower!!! IT IS REALLY HAPPENING!!!! Rick and his dad are upstairs right now installing them and something within the next week or so the retired plumber guy I hired is coming to hook it all up! I CAN'T WAIT!! I am so glad I got that estimate! It's not even going to be very
expensive...which totally makes me kick myself for waiting for Rick's brother so long!

After the Home Depot trip, Jessi and I went on Poop Patrol! YUCK :-P Since the snow melted the yard is like a poop minefield.... ewww! We got most of it done... I still have a bit more to do, but we were ready to PLAY!! The kids have a 'special secret club' in the woods that consists of one large spread out climbing tree and not much else.....lol.... whatever floats their boat, I guess ;)

Ooooh.... they are done! Off to check it out!