Games

So Rick wants a new gaming system. We have a Ps2, an xbox and a gamecube.... but apparently that is not cutting it....lol. Just kidding ;) I do get why... they are not making games for ANY of those systems anymore since all the companies have new ones out. Rick hasn't played video games for months and I thought he was just growing up...lol... turns out it was actually because all the games he plays are only available on systems he doesn't have. Poor Ricky :( Of course when he brought it up my first response in me head was 'no way! what a waste of money' but before that thought came out in words it occured to me that I have scrapbooking... aquarium keeping... and whatever else I decide to do. He has hunting and fishing... neither of which he is able to do for about half the year. So if he wants a new game system...who am I to judge... at least he doesn't watch WWF anymore...maybe he IS growing up!! ROFL!!

So he is researching systems... I am researching systems... There is a lot of research going on...and we are at a bit of a standstill.

ps3- WAY too expensive... no way!

xbox 360- BTDT... but also there are very few games that the whole family can play on it as it is geared towards adult 'men' ;) Which Rick is... It is also $150 more than the wii. He hasn't said so, but I think Rick wants a 360 the most because it's what he knows...and it has all the games he likes.

wii- Well... for one thing I don't want my tv smashed, but also they are still pretty hard to find and I am certainly not going to pay $410 for one on ebay. Rick was concerned about the controller as he didn't want to have to play Madden by jumping around and throwing stuff, but you can buy a regular controller for it.

So we are a bit stuck.

Classes start Wednesday

My aunt called me a few weeks ago with a big ole lightbulb above her head ;) She had been talking to my mother and mom had mentioned the wishblade that I had talked about. It is a scrapbooking tool that is like a printer, but instead of printing...it has a blade that cuts. You can cut any font or shape with it. It is $400!! So.... after their conversation Auntie started brainstorming ways that I could get myself one. She reads my blog and has seen that my house is always full of kids and crafty kids at that ;) So then it occured to her that I should teach an after-school scrapbooking class to some of Jessi's friends and charge for it...then use the money I make to get my wishblade. She must have caught me in the exact right mood because rather than think about it and doubt myself and then think some more and never DO... I decided 'why the hell not give it a shot'.... 'can't hurt, right?' I decided on Wednesdays after school...5 weeks for $60 per kid and I printed out flyers that very day for Jessi to give to her friends. I assumed that maybe 1...maybe even none... would sign up, but at least I went for it, right?

As I had expected... all of Jessi's friends wanted to... and all their parents said no. Mostly because most of these Hampden kids are in activities up to their ears...so the scrapbooking thing interfered with their 'Master Family Schedule' ;) ;) Then one of Jessi's Bangor friends signed up...then her sister signed up too, and yesterday one of Jessi's Hampden friends finally convinced her parents to let her come too. So as of right now I have 3 kids starting on Wednesday...that's 2 more than I thought I would have :D

What will I do with my $180?? Well... I don't want a Wishblade. Even when I talked to Mom about it I said that I thought $400 for a scrapbooking tool was completely crazy for a hobbyist...but that it was a pretty cool thing. I could see maybe having one if you had a big scrapbooking career and needed to cut things out for classes and stuff.... but for a regular scrapbooker like me I think it's extremely frivolous (even IF I earned the money myself on the side to pay for it). I DO want to put some shelves over my table...and I want some 'schtuff' ;) I must say that it feels REALLY GOOD to be able to buy all the stuff I have been eyeing without even feeling the slightest bit of guilt that I am taking from the family budget...and I did it without sacrificing any family time!!

So thanks Joyce!!! GREAT IDEA!!!!

Just got tagged

I just got tagged by my friend Tina C from scrapbook.com! I have to write 6 weird things about myself. Only 6!!?? LOL

1- I love iced tea mix mixed with just a teeny bit of water to make a paste. I probably haven't had it in 2 years though because the sugar and caffeine keep me up all night.... and because I know it's weird.

2- I hate eating at other people's houses because I am afraid they will make something that I don't like.

3- My pinky toenails are so tiny that you can barely see them.

4- When I have to let the dogs out at night I am fine for awhile and then I get completely freaked out by what could be in the woods or in the field that I can't see and I sprint back into the house....lol

5- I have a CD in my car stereo right now with a bunch of Meatloaf and Celie Dion that I downloaded the other night.

6- I always have to be planning SOME kind of trip.

I am not tagging anyone... but if you wanna do it, I'd love to see your answers! It's good to know here about the other weirdos out there :)

Cuz it's stuck in my head with super glue...

...now it's stuck in your head too ;)

A welcome guest!!

This morning Nicole popped over for a visit and to show us Sean's debut in print!! One of the layouts of Sean that Nicole made were published in a scrapbooking book! Sean thought it was pretty cool to see himself in a book!

Saturday is 'chore day' in our house and this weeks chore day was NOT going well....at all. Sean had been in his room for almost 3 hours refusing to clean with brief trips downstairs for temper tantrums and fights with his sister...who was
ALSO not doing what she was supposed to do in a timely manner. JUST when I was ready to murder them both.... Nicole ran upstairs and laid the smack down and had Sean done cleaning his room in minutes!! Gotta love that...lol!! It's a lot easier to make cleaning fun when it is not your own kid and you haven't already spent the entire morning fighting with them ;)
We had a very nice little visit! The kids got clean rooms out of it...I got her famous mac and cheese recipe that Jessi ADORES... and Nicole got a bag of weed! Pampered chef Dill weed ....that is ;) We also decided that tomorrow we are going to ACMoore and then come back here and SCRAP!! We haven't scrapped together in ages and I can't wait (to talk for hours and get maybe 1 page done...lol)!

Tonight is the big casino party

Jerry and Julie (ok...probably mostly Julie) have been bustin' their butts all week to get their house ready for the big party. She posted some pics of her house on her blog and I can't believe how much they have transformed it for this party! I don't really know what to expect...but I expect it will be fun no matter what because Liz and Jr are taking the kids for the night and Rick actually has the day off tomorrow!!! I am such a freak about stuff. I know it and those that really know me know it. I hate 'not knowing where I am going.' Obviously Rick and I have been over to Jerry and Julies house many, many times and have ALWAYS had lots of fun whether is has been an evening of dinner and dominoes or an evening of drinking and debauchery ;) But tonight is different...so of course I am little apprehensive because I am a FREAK!

Along those lines... I bought Silk creamer for my morning iced coffee as part of my 'baby steps to fitness' regime. I bought it almost a week ago. I took it out every morning this week. Looked at it for a minute...reminded myself how much healthier it is than that fake-but-oh-so-yummy vanilla stuff... and then put it back in the fridge and grabbed the stuff that I KNOW I like. Yeah... like I said.. FREAK! This morning I FINALLY took the plunge since I don't plan on exercising today and I need to do SOMETHING to stay on track. It really isn't that bad! Actually...it's not a whole lot different than my other stuff. The only difference is I think you have to use a little more to get the right color/creaminess of the fake stuff... but the fake stuff is well... frankenfood... and 40 calories a TB. This stuff is soy...which is supposed to be the cure for all of the world's evils... and has only 20 calories. So I think this is a change that I will be keeping!

LOL

I just read a read about this on scrapbook.com. Apparently there is a demand (since there are at least 2 manufacturers) out there for products like this.

http://bananabunker.com/

http://www.bananaguard.com/

Can you IMAGINE sending your kid to school with this in their lunchbox?

Stuff I HATE doing but have been making myself do anway

• Well #1 would have to be exercise! I freaking HATE IT! I use a Gazelle and I HATE the monotony of it. I have worked out 4x this week so far though and that is great because I HATE IT!!! Rick says once I get used to it, I will look forward to it. I think he has been hittin' the crack pipe a little hard.
• Moisturizing. LOVE the way my skin feels and looks since I started doing it daily a couple weeks ago. HATE doing it! I hate that cold, clammy feel until it dries. And I hate waiting to get dressed until it dries.
• My shiny sink. Yup... I am doing the flylady thing again. I have been for about 3 weeks now... with a little setback after the vacay... It is pretty much routine now. I get up, start the coffee, shine the sink and pick up the kitchen while I wait for the coffee to brew. So I guess I don't HATE it since I LOVE having a clean kitchen all the time...but since I already typed it all out.. I am leaving it here...lol
• Folding laundry. I effing hate folding laundry!! In fact... I hate it so much that I usually make Jessi or Rick do it unless I feel guilty because so much clean laundry has piled up that it would be cruel and unusual punishment to make them do it. So I am trying to force myself to fold the clothes right they are done. It is definitely a work in progress.

That's all I can think of offhand. Those are the few things that I daily grumble and bitch to myself and fight with myself about. I fully realize that I have things pretty good and I am grateful for that, but that doesn't mean that I am never allowed to have things that I don't like about my life.

Cozy

I think dogs make a house a home...and a cozy home at that! My favorite time of day is the evening when the kids have gone to bed, the house is quiet and I have a doggie laying on the end of the house keeping my feet warm and toasty! I know dogs are a long of work and of course there are times when I want to ring their necks (like the day before yesterday when I came down in the morning and Cooper had destroyed a beanie baby and there were little white plastic pellets EVERYWHERE...and I mean EVERYWHERE! I never would have believed all of those would fit in that one little rat!) But to me the unconditional love and fun and silliness they bring to a house far outweighs the naughtiness ;)

P.S. I also LOVE these frames that I downloaded!! You can get the kit of all different kinds of them here. They are super easy...just cut and past them on to your pic in any photo editing program.

The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio

Here is the description....

"Anything is possible with a little laughter and a lot of heart in this incredible true story of an extraordinary woman who raised 10 kids on 25 words or less. Academy Award® nominee Julianne Moore stars as Evelyn Ryan, a devoted housewife and mother, who uses her knack for words to win thousands of dollars in jingle contests to keep her family together. Also starring Academy Award® nominee Woody Harrelson, this witty and engaging comedy celebrates the power of a winning spirit."

Sounds like a cute little movie, huh? Instead it was a movie that I had to turn off within the first 10 minutes when a Woody Harrleson's character began on a drunk, abusive tirade and Sean came running in the room to see what the heck was happening. I did get to finish it later and it is a very good ...and very upsetting... movie. While it was upsetting... and I had that 'uncomfortable knot' in my chest through most of it... it was extremely refreshing to actually watch a movie that provoked any emotion other than boredom. Maybe it's just me but it seems the past few years those are in extremely short supply. Movies are either disgusting and gory just for the sake of being shockingly disgusting and gory (hills have eyes)... or they are so overly slapstick funny that they have past the neighborhood of funny about 10 blocks ago and are firmly entrenched in the neighborhood of stupid (date movie).

If any of you out there have some suggestions that don't fall in either of those categories for me to add to my Blockbuster queue... please...PLEASE feel free to pipe in :)

So far so good :)

Sean couldn't find his hat and put on Jordan's instead. A future man who is perfectly comfortable in his manly sexuality...or something else...only time will tell. :D LOL

It's February vacation week and so far I haven't felt the need to murder anyone ;) Jessi has had friends over pretty much every day, but that is a good thing because all the kids play together and pretty much entertain themselves. We like that. The plow guy made the COOLEST big snowhill right in front of the house and that is "THE place to be" this week. Too bad it's so snot-freezing cold that they can't play outside as long as they would like to. So today Liv and Jordan (sisters, our ex-neighbors and Jessi's best friends) will head home to Bangor after an extra long 'weekend' of fun. Tomorrow's plan is just me and the kids going to the library and maybe something else fun. On Thursday or Friday Jessi is going with Liv and Jordan and their family to Portland for a night to do the 'shopping, Chuck E Cheese, Build-a-bear' thing. Yeah... tough life she leads, huh? I have been trying to think of something fun to do with Sean...but I can't really think of anything. Oh well...it's not his vacation anyway. His whole life is vacation!

So Rick says I need to make a birthday wish list. I guess I can do that. I would rather make a list of stuff for people to choose from than say "I want ____." Where is the fun in that? I may as well just go buy it myself! So here is my list...

• Gift Certificate to Vance's Tropicical Fish (or since it's kind of out of the way an envelope with cash that say's "for vance's" on it....lol)
• One of those foot spa thingys
• Gift Certificate to scrap-tastic
  
• Gift Certificate to Rocky Mountain
  
• Dixie Chicks 'Shut up and Sing' DVD
• A Magritte coffee table book
• Kitchen-aid slicer/shredder attachment and/or pouring shield
• Total gym!
• A new car ;)
• There are a couple books I want so a GC to Borders would be good too :)
• I haven't gotten any new dragons in a long time (and I finally found them all the other day in a box in the basement...but I don't have a knic-knacky them to put them on...ANOTHER good idea ;) )... Ebay has lots as do other places on the web. Do a search for "pocket dragons."

I think that's enough ideas :) I can't even think of anything else really unless there is some random blog reader out there that wants to send me a million dollars...lol!

Vitamins are good for you?

So I started out the day SO good!! Got up and worked out. Felt great about that. made myself some iced coffee and MEASURED the creamer to make sure I am not overusing the stuff (turned out I never was as the amount I measured out was WAY too much ...so I don't even usually use as much as I thought I was using). Then I spot the multi-vitamins in the cabinet as I go to get a cup. (Here is where you would here the duh-dum....duh-dum...music in a movie...a really boring movie...but still..lol) It occurs to me that maybe I shouldn't take one because vitamins have made me ill in the past. In fact, I have a faint scar the runs across the entire bridge of my nose that I got after taking my first pre-natal vitamins when I was pregnant with Sean. How did vitamins cause a scar, you ask? Well I took the vitamins...went out to the livingroom... suddenly knew I was about to vomit...RAN to the bathroom...toilet lid was closed but the puke was comin'....whipped up the toilet lid RIGHT INTO MY FACE! So I am puking...bleeding and SOBBING all at once. Good times folks...good times ;) Anyhoo... All of this occurs to me, but I on occasion ...when I remember... have been taking Sean's Spiderman vitamins with no ill effects...so maybe I am ready to take the grown up ones. So I pop my vitamin, pour my coffee, clean up the kitchen, and head to the livingroom to do my e-mail and bloggy stuff. All is well..in fact I forgot I even took the vitamin.... until suddenly I start to sweat and feel REALLY nauseous (moron that I am having forgot I took the vitamin I even for a spilt second thought..."OMG it's morning and I am sick....AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH"). So off to the bathroom I go to start my day with a good old fashion puke session....with an empty stomach no less...even better. :-P

I guess it's back to the Spiderman vitamins for me :)

Open letter to the zit on my upper lip

Dear Zit,

I realize that with the stress from the trip, the crappy eating on said trip, and the copious amounts of sunscreen applied on my face ...also on 'the trip'.... I pretty much rolled out the red carpet in an invitation for you to join in all the fun. But we are home now. We have been home for a week. There is no more stress. There is no more crappy food (ok...well...a lot LESS crappy food). There is no more sunscreen (except what is in my Bare Minerals...but that doesn't count). It is time for you to go. For real. You are huge. You are gross. You are no longer welcome (not that you ever were).

I understand that many years ago we were constant companions for a long time until I met my good friend, Accutane. Then you tried to move in on me again when I was pregnant with Sean. This time my new friend, Proactiv, showed you and your friends the door. Don't make me have to ask one of them to come back open up a can of whoopass on your sorry ass self. Leave quietly. Leave quickly....and we can pretend that none of this ever happened.

Your unwilling host,
Colleen

It's a start...

OK...so obviously I have a looooong way to go...but that's the fun of it :D Yesterday I added water and today I got the gravel, a fake plant (just for decoration until I get the live plants going) and let Sean choose an ornament. I also ordered the special lighting (over 50% less online than around here!) I will need for the plants. Oh yeah....duh...and a few cheap little fish to get the 'cycle' going. The kids are so much more excited about this whole thing than I thought they would be! Sean has been watching the bubbles and fish all day with brief play breaks.

So it's a bit bare right now...but soon....ok...maybe not SOON...but EVENTUALLY.... it should look something like THIS!

A snow day adventure

Today at the crack of dawn I got a text message saying there was no school yet again! (The local news station offers that as a free service and I LOVE it!) Ugh. I must say I was kind of ready for a school day. Turned out to all work out just fine though. We all had friends over to play :) Jessi had one of her Bangor friends over, and Sean and I had Julie and Zach over. Julie was also going a but stir crazy from snow and kids ;)

Unfortunately...even with her 4wd... Julie got hung up on the snow bank created by the snow plow and was hella-mega stuck! We pushed...we dug...we shoveled and forwarded and reversed...then we gave up and scrapbooked :) After scrapping we went out to give it another try and did all of the above once again...again to no avail. Luckily for us a valiant hero in a plow truck took pity on our pathetic-ness and pulled her out. And then he plowed my driveway for me :) He is the MAN!! Even though he didn't ask...I paid him for doing the driveway. It's nice when you are reminded that there are still true gentlemen in the world... other than the ones in my family.

Here are today's creations...
It was hard to get my mojo going at first because I REALLY want to scrap my Disney pics...but they have not arrived yet :( Once I got going though ....I got in the groove! I also got to play with my new journaling stamps a little and I love them!! Those will definitely be getting a LOT of use!!

Off to get dinner going. Pasta salad tonight. Not very 'wintery,' I know, but after eating like crap all week at Disney...we all crave fresh veggies and healthier stuff like crazy!! Plus...it's just plain yummy!

Hee Hee :-D

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Nothin' says love like fish and firearms

Happy Valentines Day everyone!!

Before Sean was born I had a beautiful planted aquarium. I was QUITE the aquahorticulturist (<--totally made up word I think...lol) I had rigged up special lighting, made my own Co2 system and was the queen of all knowledge of aquariums ;) Then I got pregnant with Sean and lost interest a bit. A planted aquarium is a LOT of work and once I stopped doing all the work that needed to be done....it kind of all fell apart and I ended up getting rid of the plants first...then the fish started to die...and that was about it for that. For the past year I have wanted to get back into it again, and Sea World really got me all watered up (hee hee) for a new aquarium. Even as I was walking around Disney, I was thinking about gravel and fish and plants. So for Valentine's Day Rick got me (ok...not technically 'got me' but actually said 'go get yourself an aquarium' because with his schedule I would e waiting a looooong time for him to have time to get it...not to mention he wouldn't even know what to get ;) ) a brand new 55 gallon aquarium and stand and even put the stand together already for me last night. I am so excited!! But at the same time I am very overwhelmed. My old tank was a 20 gallon...so this is huge compared to my old one...plus I have about a billion decisions to make about lighting...plants...substrate...etc. So the tank may sit here empty for awhile until I re-learn everything I have forgotten (why is it that I remember my phone number when I was 8 and the lyrics to every song I have ever heard but all my aquarium knowledge has disappeared) and make some decisions.

Rick's v-day present from me is the new rifle that he has been wanting. Yippee for him..lol. He is waiting for his Dad to get back from Florida so that they can go and choose it together.

Is romance alive in this house OR WHAT!!?? ;-)

The Trip Report!!

Here it is.... I know you all have been waiting at the edge of your keyboards ALL day for this...lol!!!

Day 1 Sunday- Yippee!! Hooray....... UGH..... Grrrrr

We were up REALLLLY early and ready to go!! Rick's brother came over to take us to the airport. I excitedly headed to the check-in counter with my Expedia print-outs in hand and was immediately told by the checker-inner that no such flight existed. They were able to get us on an earlier flight though...so that was good...until said flight had 'maintenance issues' and took off an hour late. We had to RUN RUN RUN across the Detroit airport to catch our other plane...and then THAT plane had 'issues' and took off way later than it was supposed to. By the time we arrived in Atlanta, our Orlando flight was gone. They rebooked us on the next one and we only ended up getting in to Orlando about an hour later than we were supposed to, but it was NOT a good day of flying for us. I take all that stuff in stride and make the best of it. Rick....not-so-much... he was pretty much a jackass all day long. He hates the feeling of being 'lost'...things being confusing/busy/chaotic...etc. His frustration manifests as quiet and sullen ...with 'that look' on his face that frankly makes me just want to smack him and tell him to get the eff over it. But, being the trooper that I am, I stay positive and just act like he is having as great a time as I am ;)

Once we got our rental car (another fiasco of course), we were off to our Hotel. On the way there we decided to skip Chef Mickey's as we were all pretty much DONE with that day! We got ourselves all checked-in...got a good dose of Disney Magic from the check-in and food court staff and cheered right up. Liz and I took the kids to the heated pool and hot tub and we had a blast ...even though it was only 65 degrees out...lol!

Day 2 Monday -Animal Kingdom

We got up bright and early to go to the Animal Kingdom!! We had breakfast in the food court and Sean and Rick discovered the hotel arcade... which turned out so be a mixed blessing. We dragged Sean out of the arcade and hopped on the bus to AK. Sean was very excited to ride 'Dinosaur' (especially since he and Daddy had been playing a Jurassic Park game in the arcade)...but we held off on that one a bit because I was afraid it would be too scary for a first ride. So we first did the Safari Tour and saw LOTS of cool animals. Then Jessi and I rode 'Expedition Everest' and LOVED it!! It's SUPER fun! Sean was chomping at the bit to ride 'Dinosaur'...so we did. And he was very scared!! He goes back and forth now and claims he loved and that it was his favorite ride....but he is definitely scared! Turned out that was nothing. When we saw the 'Bugs Life' 3D movie...we also saw Sean in COMPLETE TERROR!!! He did NOT like that one at ALL!!! Thank goodness it has a happy, sweet ending that softened him a bit to it or I think he would have been damaged goods for life...lol! We then rode some happier, nicer rides, saw some more animals and played some games. Sean was enjoying himself but after EVERY THING we did he would ask, "Are we done now? Can we go back to the hotel to play that dinosaur game?" Which (bad mommy alert) REALLY pissed me off. All this AMAZING stuff all around him and ALL he cared about was some STUPID video game at the HOTEL!? Rick was also dissppointed that Sean was not enjoying things like we had hoped he would ...and Sean was COMPLETELY glued to Rick's side all day (all trip actually) and was kinda driving him nuts...so Rick was still in jackass mode with a few fun moments here and there.

We went back to the hotel for a swim and a nap and then went to Epcot for their evening fireworks/water/light show. We had a great viewing spot! That was very cool and the kids loved it!
It sounds like it was a terrible day, but it really wasn't. We saw lots of cool animals and had lots of fun together. Jessi is a thrill ride crazy fool and so am I ...so we had a blast riding all the stuff that none of the rest of the family would ride. I think the neatest part of the day was when Jr discovered an underground cave with an underwater viewing area of Otters and fish and stuff. It is totally off the beaten path and we stayed there watching and enjoying having it all to ourself for quite awhile. Otters are just too darn cute!!