Faux Pod

Jessi is having a good day :) After a week of checking the mailbox everyday, her fake ipod finally arrived. She has been BEGGING for a year for an ipod...and it only got worse when "ALL" her friends got them for Christmas. I had to dig my heels in with this one though. She needs to realize that just because we live in Hampden with the 'Joneses' doesn't mean that we can... or should... keep up with them ;) There were many... MANY discussions about this and about how we sacrifice stuff like that so that I can be home for her everyday when she gets home from school. It is a sacrifice that she definitely appreciates as many of her friends with ipods go home to an empty house every day. She mentions often that she is 'lucky' that her mom is home and she isn't left alone all the time. That didn't stop me from feeling badly about it (since her mp3 player only holds 8-10 songs). So one night while fooling around on Ebay I found fake ipods that go for around $50....and the feedback was actually GOOD! So I talked to her about it and she agreed to give up her allowance until the end of June and to pay for it herself. I was going to wait until then to order it, but since I made so much $ selling my unused scrapstuff on Ebay, I decided to go ahead and order it.

I was sort of expecting it to be pretty cheesy ...but it isn't at all. The menu isn't as user-friendly as an ipod, but she already has it all figured out, so it can't be too bad. And it's actually BETTER than an ipod in some ways as it's just 'drag and drop' to get the songs on there (no having to deal with itunes), and it has a radio! so no... we can't keep up with the Joneses... but with a little creativity, we can make it work!!

I *TOTALLY* thought I was pregnant today

I am not a squeamish 'gaggy' person like SOME people I know (coughcoughnicolecoughcough) ....BUT.... today I was driving to my first Weight Watchers meeting (ok... first THIS time around...definitely not my first ;) ) and I came to a red light that is beside a cheap hotel near downtown Bangor. As I sat there groovin' to my RHCP I glanced over and noticed a sign in front of the hotel that said.... USED BEDS FOR SALE ....GROOOOOOSSSSSS!!! I LITERALLY felt nauseous and even gagged a little at the THOUGHT of buying a USED bed from an old nasty hotel. When the light turns green I start driving AND start having a mini panic attack that I MUST be pregnant to have such a reaction. I spend the whole morning thinking about it... first freaking out... then accepting it... then getting kind of happy at the thought of snuggling a cute little baby again.

So I go to my Weight Watchers meeting. Get all fired up about losing weight (and also deciding that even if I AM pregnant... I will continue to eat healthy and lose weight under doctor supervision, of course). As I drive home all high on life I notice that I still don't feel all that great... and now I feel crampy too.... so no baby for me. PHEW!! That TOTALLY would have thrown a wrench into life. I really don't want another child. I am totally ready to enter the 'all kids in school' phase of life!!

I am still LOLing at myself for going zero to baby and back in less than 60 seconds ;)

Redneck in training

LOL!



Sean and I just got back from a little fishing trip. We walked down the road to a brook. As we walked down the road it occurs to me that maybe Rick does all the 'yucky stuff' for Sean. So I ask him if he puts his own worms on the hook.... "No... it's too hard. Daddy does that for me." Then I ask him if he takes fish off the hook.... "No... Daddy does that for me too." LOVELY. No turning back now... that would be mean. So I sucked it up and put worms on hooks and took fish off hooks... squealing "EEEEEWWW" in girly disgust the whole time....lol! After I had enough of the blackflies, I bribed Sean with a popsicle to be all done and head home. When we got back Sean said, "I had fun and you can take me fishing again someday... but I like it better when Daddy takes me."

Can't really blame him ;)

Yesterday was MAN DAY!!

First we hunt.

Then we burn stuff. (after changing our clothes to match Daddy ;) )

Then we tell our Mom, "You just go ahead and take your pictures. Me and Daddy have WORK TO DO!"

After a hard day of work. We fish. Guess how many we caught ;)
If anyone out there is thinking... "I thought she had 2 kids??" No kidding!!! I feel like I haven't seen Jessi in ages! She was busy all weekend and this week she is taking a babysitting course after-school Monday and Tuesday til 5, then on Thursday after school she has Chinese lessons! Busy girl!! I think this weekend she and I will have to ditch the boys for awhile and have some girl time!

WOOO HOOO!!!

Nicole and I just booked our hotel for the last weekend in August in North Conway for some SERIOUS school shopping!! As you all know...both Sean and Sophie will be starting kindergarten so it will be extra fun this year to shop for them! Our last trip to North Conway was when Jessi was about to start Kindergarten! I had JUST found out I was pregnant with Sean! Jessi came along with us and we surprised her with a visit to Storyland. I had to skip out on a few of the rides thanks to my morning sickness! She was the BEST little shopping companion when she was little. She was always up for anything Nicole and I put in front of her. Sean and Sophie ....not-so-much... so this trip is for 'Non-pregnant Mommies Only' ...lol!!

I can't wait! North Conway has THE BEST TAX FREE OUTLET SHOPPING EVERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! It took 5 tries for me to find a hotel with rooms available, which means it's going to be SUPER BUSY and SUPER CRAZY with lots of SUPER DEALS!!! JUST THE WAY WE LIKE IT!!! :D

When it starts to get late....

...the punchiness starts to set in ;) How sad is it that "late" these days is 1030? We wrapped things up around 113o last night and Rick barely made it up to the bedroom before he fell asleep. Which nixed any celebrations of "National Makeout Day."

We had a great time playing cards. Even better once I made up a cheat sheet for the "I DON'T GET IT!! THIS GAME IS STUPID!" crowd ...lol!

Today was a lazy day. Spend the morning picking up a from last night and hanging out with my brother. Jessi left at the crack of dawn for some walk-a-thon or something and then spent the day at her friend's house. Rick and Sean went fishing in the morning and to see Spiderman 3 in the afternoon. And I took a nap :) This evening the kids and I went for a walk/bike while Rick went to "put the Turkeys to bed" (don't even ASK....:::big eyeroll:::) And now the the kids are off to bed and Rick and I are settled in for the season finale of the Amazing Race and I am getting a foot massage :)

Good day.

Happy......

National Scrapbooking Day!

National MAKEOUT day!

AND

CINCO DE MAYO!!!

I plan to fully celebrate all three.... just not at the same time LOL!! For tonight's Cinco de Mayo Poker Game I am making Supreme Nachos and possibly Quesadillas! I also got Tostitos and Salsa and Corona and Limes for Rick...and anyone else who wants some :) I hate beer. I don't have to cook until later though, and my scrap table is all clean, so I plan to scrapbook today ....at least a little! I just got a bunch of pics in the mail and I am all fired up for scrapbook.coms HUGE CONTEST! I never win any contests... ever! But it's still fun to try!! As for National Makeout Day... well I'll spare you the deets on that one ;) ;)

Have a great day everyone!!

Adios!!!

Messin' with Macro

I joined a weekly photo challenge group on Scrapbook.com and it's been pretty fun! This weeks assignment is "Macro." I thought macro was those really close up shots that you see in books and try to guess what they are. EEEEEHHHHHTTTT!!! (<--- that was the sound of the buzzer in the Taboo game...lol) Those are SUPER-Macro shots. A regular macro shot is any photo where the subject appears to be it's actual size or larger. Pretty cool!

The birds and the bees

Ugh. Yesterday day Jessi brought home a letter from her school letting me know that next week they will be separating the boys and girls to watch an informational video about sex and puberty. The letter also encouraged parents to encourage their children to write out a question they would like answered during the Q and A/discussion after the movie. That makes no sense whatsoever. You have 2 kinds of parents when it comes to this topic. The kind that pretend sex doesn't exist... who certainly are not going to encourage their kids to write a question. And the kind that are open and honest about sex and also are not going to encourage their kids to write down any questions because if their kids HAVE questions about sex... the parents will answer them.

Jessi didn't feel well all yesterday evening. Finally right before bed she told me that she thought her bellyache was because she doesn't want to watch that movie. Typical Jessi. I swear that kid is going to have an ulcer before she can vote. We talked about it and I told her that is was pretty silly to be worried about that movie since she already knows about everything in it. That it would just be like any other 'documentary' that she has seen about the body on the discovery channel. Then she says "Actually... it's a cartoon." We both got laughing about that and how silly it will probably be. She said she felt better about the whole thing and wasn't worried anymore.

We'll see if the bellyache comes back next week.....

So how did I do with day 1 of the challenge?

Well.... pretty good. Better than nuthin' ;) Sean, Cooper and I went for a looooong walk today (he biked, I walked-which works out great because I have to walk faster). On one of the side streets I practiced letting Cooper off leash, but still having him stay beside me and not run off ahead. He did great! Even when there were kids or dogs in yards, he only needed a reminder to stay beside me. The only time he faltered was when we were walking past large stretch of woods and suddenly a CHICKEN stepped out of the woods a few feet in front of us just a cluckin' away. I kid you not. I have NO CLUE why there was a chicken in the woods or where it came from... as far as I know there aren't even any farms nearby. So Cooper sees the chicken and at first jumps back a bit (as did I!) and then goes over to investigate. The chicken FREAKS OUT and starts clucking REALLY LOUDLY as it runs away with Cooper hot on it's trail. I let Cooper have his fun for a minute and then called him back and he came back right away. And the pissed off chicken went back to whatever it is woodland chickens do :)

Hopefully Day #2's exercise will be JUST as fun! :)

The Gossip thing.

I have been thinking about the whole gossip thing ever since I read Stacy's blog and I have to disagree. I think that the reason people think gossip is "evil" is because the bible says so. I think the bible is a collaboration of fictional stories written by many different men. Who are they to tell me that I can't talk to my best friend about the wacky-ass things her ex and his girlfriend do, or to tell my husband that he can't come home and tell me who was snorting pills in the bathroom at work!? Gossip is and has been a fact of life since the beginning of time! I READ Clan of the Cave Bear so I KNOW!! (ROFL)

So forget the 'no gossiping' rule! No ancient camel ridin,' sandal wearin dude is going to be the boss of ME!

Spring into Action Challenge

I was just doing my evening blog stroll and came across a "Spring into Action" Challenge on Stacy Julians Blog. I love a good challenge... but this one is tough! I think I *need* to give it a shot... but I will need to make some modifications if I am going to last even 2 days ;) My comments are in parenthesis in black ;) )

There are twenty components to her challenge and the the first five are mandatory!

1. Throw away or hide your scale. (Yikes... I feel like watching the scale is what finally stopped my steady stay-at-home-mom gaining)

2.Purchase, check out or borrow a good book to read from everyday. This
could be a book either about realistic exercise or healthy
eating/recipes. This could also be a book some other kind of
“self-help” book (on creativity, relationships, goals, etc.) (no problem! )

3. Get at least seven hours of sleep six nights a week! (no problem!)

4. Replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations (Can do!)

5. Refuse to gossip or add negativity to any conversation (walk away if it is spoken to you) (Ummm.... not sure about this one... I loves my gossip and there is no way in hell I will make it through our Cinco de Mayo Party without a little gossipping! But I will TRY!)

6. 30 minutes of sustained aerobic exercise 3-4 times per week. (Will do!)

7. 20 to 30 minutes of strength training exercise 2-3 times per week. (Will do!)

8. 15 minute walk (outside) every single day, opposite your exercise. (Will do!)

9. Drink 12 to 16 oz of water upon rising. (Will do!)

10. Eat breakfast by 8:00 every day.(Will be my iced coffee... not quittin' that!)

11. Correct issues with portion control. In other words, don’t eat too much! (My biggest downfall!!)

12. Eat 3 fresh, unadulterated servings of fruit/vegetables daily. (Will do!)

13. Do not eat refined sugar (dessert/candy) six days a week. (Yeah... probably not...lol)

14. One or less caffeinated/diet drink per day. (Will do! ... ALREADY do!)

15. No fast food (Subway is OK)(Already do!)

16. Eat at least two healthy snacks each day. (Will do!)

17.No eating after 7:00 Monday through Thursday (NEED to do!!!)

18. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store for at least 80% of your budget/food (Pretty much already do!)

19.
Participate in a FREE day, once a week. Eat whatever you want, however
you want, in any portion you want and as often as you want!! (DEFINITELY CAN DO...LOL!!)

20. Drink a total of at least 3 glasses of water between meals each day. (This one is a maybe...but probably not)

So there it is and I am in!!!

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POKER!!?? I just met 'er!!!

Today I just watched one of my all-time favorite movies, Maverick.... and it made me wanna play poker!! So Rick and I were talking about getting a game going and I looked at the Calendar, turns out next Saturday is CINCO DE MAYO!!! My ALL TIME FAVORITE HOLIDAY... well next to Samhain, of course....LOL!

SO....

Next Saturday night....

CINCO DE MAYO POKER TOURNAMENT!!!
$10 per person
Bring your sombrero ;) ;)

Kids are weird

My kids... and all their friends... think this is the funniest thing they have ever seen in all the universe. I am thinking it's a 'kid thing.' ;)

Borrrrrrrring

This day has been so boring that I probably shouldn't even blog. But since Rick and I are banished to the bedroom due to a little slumber party, and Rick is watching hockey AND the NFL draft at the same time...what the hell ELSE do I have to do???

So.... today I cleaned a bit... scrapbooked a bit... watched TV a bit... internetted more than a bit (lol)... played outside with the dogs a bit.... played with the kids a bit... Made a lasagna and tried the Barilla 'no boil' noodles and was asked not to use them again ;) It was still good... just not AS good!

While I was on the internet...more than a bit... I learned that many people think that we have never really gone to the moon! That is was all a big scam.... and supposedly there is lots of proof to back it up! I had NO idea that people thought this. Apparently I was in the dark on that one because Rick had heard about it. And if RICK has heard of it... then I MUST be the last to know ;) ;)

That's about all I've got folks...

FAKERS!!

There is no actual napping going on here ;) It never ceases to amaze me how willing Cooper is to participate in the kid's wacky games!!

He said.... she said!

Well if you have read my DH's (on message board's it usually stands for 'dear husband'....for the sake of this blog insert another "d" word there) blog today you know his side of things... so I guess I need to share mine!!

I have been coming down with a cold the past couple days. Last night it really showed it's teeth at about 3am, so I went downstairs to take some Nyquil and fool around on the computer until it kicked in. The morning started out as it normally does... Jessi up at the crack of dawn down here snuggled up watching TV...Rick gets up and leaves for work at 7, Sean wakes up around then and comes in with me to watch TV while I catch a few more winks, or he goes downstairs with Jessi and they eat breakfast. This morning was was exhausted from being up in the night and the kids were downstairs... Rick was gone.... and I was snoozin' (sorta since the kids were in and out). All of a sudden both kids come FLYING into the bedroom in complete TERROR screaming that they heard something or someone down in the basement. I assure them that something must have fallen down or the cat knocked something down and sent them back downstairs. Then I think I hear Rick's voice... which was very strange since he is supposed to be at work. I get up and holler down..."Rick?" He says, "Yeah... it's me. I hit a deer and wrecked the Jimmy (his car)" and then walks out slamming the door behind him. No explanation... no nothing. So I run back in my room to throw some jeans on and run downstairs. He is outside with his father and the kids and he has his work's truck. Jessi comes back in and says, "Daddy has a dead deer outside and it's GROSS!!!" I tell her, "Go back out and tell your father to GET IN HERE NOW!!!!" She does and he comes in laughing and smiling and I am like..."What the heck happened!!?? Are you ok? That is NOT A JUST COME IN AND SAY THAT AND WALK BACK OUT THING!!?" He laughs and says, "I was just kidding, the Jimmy is fine, some lady hit it." He thinks he is a freaking riot right now. I don't. And I make it clear that not only do I not find him amusing... the kids didn't either when they were terrified that there was a tiger or Osama Bin Laden in the basement. Not only that... but HELLO!? It's ROADKILL... that is FREAKING DISGUSTING!!!!!!! He disagrees since he saw the whole incident and knows it's fresh because he was there. He heads off back to work. During the work day he manages to annoy me several more times over the phone (and in absentia since he left a big puddle of blood in the driveway that he covered up with a little dirt that Cooper then dug all up and ROLLED IN), but this blog is long enough as it is and I am not even DONE!

He comes home from work and heads down to the basement where he put the deer (on the BARE FLOOR leaking blood all over the place... but I digress....grrrrrr) until he could get home to carve it up (or whatever they call what they do it). The kids are gone to DQ with their Aunt Nancy and I am doing my best to ignore what I know Rick is doing. He is up and down the stairs, then he comes up and I hear him pull out a chair in the diningroom. I stroll in there thinking he must be done with the deer. Oh no... no such luck. I walk in to him sitting at my dingingroom table with 2 huge skinless deer legs... HOOVES AND ALL... hanging off the table. He didn't even bother to TAKE OFF THE TABLECLOTH!!!!! He did put down a small white kitchen trashbag under the main part... but didn't' even bother to move Sean's toys OR MY PURSE ...just put the trashbag right on top of it all!!!!! I was briefly speechless.... then the only speech I could muster would probably get me thrown off blogger forever (kids were gone so I was free to say ANYTHING!). I then decided that it would be best for all involved if I left. So I grabbed my keys and headed out for a little retail therapy at Joann's.

By the time I got home Rick had everything cleaned up... fortunately for him! As I tucked Jessi in to bed I told her to marry a metro-sexual!

I have a feeling it was just a preview

After supper the kids, the dogs, and I went for a bike ride. (Well... I walk... they bike) There is a quiet side street right across the street from us that is about a half mile long that is paved... unlike our driveway that is not good for bike riding. So off we went. Sean had been riding all weekend at his grandparents house, so I was confident in his skills. I should not have been....lol. The street is VERY hilly ...so much so that both kids had to get off and walk their bikes up the first hill. Jessi hopped on her bike at the top and headed on down the loooooong hill. Sean was just going to walk his, but I said, "Get on your bike, Bud! You know how to use your brakes.... just don't let yourself go to fast, use your brakes and you will be fine." So he did. And he went FLYING DOWN THE HILL AT ROCKET SPEED!!! I am SCREAMING..."USE YOUR BRAKES!!! PUSH ON YOUR BRAKES!!" He is still flying down the hill at brake-neck speed... his bike is wobbling back and forth... my heart is pounding a million miles an hour and I have one hand over my mouth and one on my head as I watch him just KNOWING that he is going to tip over and brake every bone in his body!!!!!! As he gets near the bottom, Jessi (who was already at the bottom also watching in horror) also starts to scream at him to put on the brakes and as he flies past her and she yells at him he yells back at her, "NO WAY!! THIS IS AWESOME WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!!!" At the bottom he slowed down...and then rememembered how to brake and hopped off his bike, hands in the air yelling, "WOO HOO! THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!!" I honestly have NO idea how he did not tip over! When I said, "OH MY GOODNESS ARE YOU OK!?? You gave me a heart attack!! Did you forget how to use your brakes!?" He says, "Yeah, I forgot, but that was AWESOME! I wanna do it again and give you another heart attack!"

Fortunately for my heart... when we reached the top of the next hill he was too scared to even get on his bike again ;) So THIS time we did a lesson with me holding on to him at first coaching him how to brake every few feet to keep himself from going to fast.

Boys are fun.

It's 82 degrees outside!!!!!

After my teeth cleaning I went out and picked up and swept the porch and it is ready for spring and lots of playtime! Sean even decided to have lunch out there for the first time this year.

I had forgotten how nice it was to just sit outside in our rocking chairs!

Hot Dog!

Naughty old doggies who wander off and don't listen to their Mommy when she calls them back don't get to play outside!

Yes.... I am the ULTIMATE HYPOCRITE! I will accept being a hypocrite in return for having cute and comfy feet ;) ;)

Off to register Sean for Kindergarten since I ran out of excuses NOT to....lol!!

HA!

I CAN finish stuff!!!!!!

And here is a pic of the backside of the calendar where you store the extra months, numbers and holidays for those of you out there that may or may not be of limited intelligence and unable to grasp the concept of this HIGHLY COMPLEX craft coughcoughrickandjerrycoughcough ;) ;)