Rock n' Roll

My friend Tracie turned the big 3-0 today..... so last night she threw out her 20's with a bang.......
By partying 80's style! Cyndi Lauper and WHAM! had nothing on us!

 Okay Confession:  When Tracie sent out the invite to the big karaoke party I realized I had nothing to wear and got a little nervous. I took Maggie with me and we hit up all of the thrift stores in North East Columbus, hoping to find something totally radical- and got completely smacked in the forehead with the realization that... chubby girls missed the 80's. That's right. I said it. There was NOTHING 80's to wear! I got some funky jewelry, and decided to get creative with what I had. 

Fishnet stockings

Pink undershirt

Bright yellow undershirt

White long-sleeve t-shirt.... that I cut slits into

and Funky skirt

Top if off with big hair (thank you Aquanet), Maggie's make-up, and a piece of Alli's sparkly cape.. 

and ta-da you got a tubular outfit.

(I had an epic battle with fake eyelashes to get ready for this party. They almost won.... but I still wore them.)

I was so jealous of everyone's awesome outfits! They were so awesome! I am super sad that I was only born in the 80's and didn't get the chance to fully enjoy them. At least I did have a crimper and a short jean skirt.... and Punky Brewster high-top sneakers.

 Do you see Jane's keytar? It was so cool! She rocked that thing mega-style.

Tracie was cool enough to download the Billboard top 100 list of the 80's songs. We rocked them out like nobody's business.

Seriously, this was the best group of girls to karaoke and party with!  Tracie- Thanks for getting old and throwing a smashing shin-dig! Love you, girl!

 Me and the B-day girl!

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By the end of the night my hair got a little flat. I was super sad. 

I also had to stop at Target on the way home to get milk/eggs/bread.... and yes, I went in like this.
People were staring.
I smiled back.

A Decade

Wednesday, the 28th- Chip and I celebrated a big milestone...... we've been married for 10 long years! Woot!!

 (One of our engagement pictures) 

It's hard to believe how quickly time has flown! It seems like just yesterday I met him.... and was woo'ed by his awesome self.....

On our milestone day we also had  a FIRST happen for us....

For the first time in the history of our marriage we actually got to go out on a DATE on our anniversary! WOOT!! (That is what happens when your baby is born the day before your first anniversary....and you have no family around to babysit your kiddos. ) My friend (Who's also my visiting teacher and the Stake President's wife) called me up and asked if she could watch the kids while we went out! Exciting, huh?! Alli was spending the night with her BFF.... so my friend got just three of the kiddos. It was so wonderful to get out!

 We ate at City BBQ and went and played Mini-bowling! It was so much fun! Tiny lanes, tiny bowling balls, and tiny little pins. It was hilarious. Chip and I are thinking of doing a mini-bowling league. How awesome would that be?

In the total column - it has two numbers... our first games and our second games.  Notice how I won both? That's how I roll. (get the pun? Roll the bowling ball... ah ha ha ha... I crack myself up.)


Happy Anniversary Chip. It's been a super fun journey... and after 10 years, you still rock my argyle socks.
I love you, babe.

9 Is Fine

We made a last minute trip to Reading, Pa to spend Christmas with Chip's folks this year. We left all our presents at home (well, except stockings and Alli's b-day presents)- and at 5am loaded up the kiddos in the car- and we were gone. I'll blog about Christmas later..... but now I have a big announcement to make:

We have a birthday girl in the hiz-ouse! 

Alli girl turned the big NINE today!

(sheesh! I still can't believe how old she is!)

 We celebrated a few days early so Alli could party hard with her aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great grandma. Alli was pumped she got to open her presents early. :)
Nunnums and aunt Ruthie made a super fun game-  they wrapped tiny prizes into these balls of party streamers- and when you unwrapped them the prizes and confetti fell out at each layer. The kiddos loved it!

 Alli got lots of fun gifts that she was asking for..... like a Spanish dictionary (seriously, what kid asks for this stuff?), watercolor pencils, a thesaurus, books, fun games, math games... the list goes on..... but her favorite was money. I think this is the age when money is awesome... I wonder what silliness she is going to want to purchase. (I'm hoping not another Justin Bieber CD.)

I'm so lucky to have this girlie in my life. She's such an awesome kid.
Happy Birthday Alli.
I love you.



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Tonight she asked me if being nine qualifies her for being old enough to wear a bra. Ohhh boy.

Hair-tastic

On Monday night, Maggie asked me if I could do her hair just like the other girls at her school. Ya know.. .lots of braids. It's hard being one of the only kids that don't have multiple pony tails/braids in their hair.....

I decided to indulge her.

Obviously, I need to work on my skillz if I'm ever going to work at Fo' Shizzle hair salon. My braids aren't tight. It's almost pathetic. I only spent like 30 minutes total on Maggie's hair.... and I know my neighbors sit for 6+ hours to get their hair braided. 

Baby steps. I'll get there someday. I may need to watch some you-tube videos about braiding. Maybe Chip can let me practice my corn-row skillz on his head.... I'm crossing my fingers.

We were also missing pony beads to put in her braids. And yes, she asked if we had some.

Maggie paraded all day around school with this lovely do on Tuesday. She was very excited about them.


---------------------------------------------

In the spirit of new hair-do's.... I decided to get my hair cut for the first time in a year.

Normally- my hair goes up into a messy bun that takes all of 2 seconds to do.... and it's usually going up at the same time the twins get into something.... as these boys hit the floor running every morning. I don't get to have a luxury of actually thinking about my hair for more time than those two seconds. Before the boys came, I usually indulged myself by getting a box or two of Miss Clairol during the year and changing up my color..... now I don't even have time for that- so it's o'natural poo brown.

My last hair cut- a year ago- my hair was up to my ears short.....  Now... it was a shapeless mess of 'messy bun', and if by chance on Sunday when the boys would go down for a nap while I am getting ready for church, I'd try and blow dry it/ curl the ends..... it just became a sad sad reminder of how frizzy and wild cave woman-esque my hair had gotten.

So let me introduce you to the knew me. It's nothing dramatic. I told the lady that being able to put it in a pony tail is a must.....

... she cut an inch or two off and layered/shaped it. And then flat ironed these little strands like nobody's business. This is the 2nd time a flat iron has ever touched my head. I think when the boys go to kindergarten and I'll have a moment to breathe... I'm totally going to get a flat iron! Smooth hair kinda rocks my argyle socks right now......look ma! No frizz!-   Only 4 short years until that day comes.

I'm hoping my next 'flat iron' picture... 4 years from now... has me looking significantly less tired. :)
(I said "hoping"... I didn't say it was a realistic hope.)

Sucked up....

Dude! Where did my time go?? 

Ohh yeah, it got sucked up in the endless vortex called memory lane.

Tonight I was just on Picasa for a hot second to get a photo off, and I was like "Hum... I haven't seen these old pictures in a while".....

UGG. and just like that. BAM! 3 hours is gone. And I didn't even get through like a ounce of the pictures that I have stored!.... no wonder I'm a scrapbook-a-holic. There's just so many memories to record!....

 See how cute Alli was?!?! She was a few months shy of 3 here.  This was back when girlie stuff was cool and glitter ruled the world. She also let me do her hair everyday.... with bows.
If I tried to pull something like that off today (ya know, put a bow in her hair) she'd probably cut off my fingers in my sleep.

People used to tell me that Alli looked like one of the Olsen twins. Do you see it??

 This was taken the day after Maggie was born. Alli was visiting me in the hospital..... I had just been served my (gross) lunch, and she ate all of my salad. She thought it was funny.

 Cowgirls rule! We were visiting my parents in Idaho. You always need pink cowgirl boots when you go to Idaho. (rocking horses are a bonus.)

 Ohh... here's little Maggie Moo. Barely 2 months old- in her blessing dress. She was so dang chubby and edible!

 Do you see those cheekers? YUM!  (she still has the cheesy grin too...)

I think this was my all time favorite shirt that Maggie had.

See... she was crazy, even at a few days old. I should have known what the future had instore.......

 

Okay, everyone together: " aaaawwwweee! So cute!!"  Alli was 3 1/2, Maggie not quite 2 months....

 The girls in their little Easter dresses that their Oma sent them.  They were so little!

This is Maggie around the same age the boys are now.... I think that goofiness runs in the family. 

I can't wait to see how the boys are in a few years.... what kinds of people they will be. They have such big personalities right now... I'm sure, just like their big sisters, that it'll only get bigger.



Thanks for letting me take you down memory lane.
I have pretty darn cute offspring if I do say so myself.....

Neighbors Part 1 million

You guys. My heart is aching really badly right now.

Saturday night we came home from our church's Christmas party to see a moving van parked in front of neighbor's house.

Normally, I'd be all like "woo-hoo! We're gettin' rid of the riff-raff"..... but I find myself so scared for Neighbor girl and her baby sister!  In their new place, will there be anyone who has a kind heart- who won't molest or violate those girls- to take my place as the 'watch dog' for those kids? Who is going to be there when Neighbor girl gets locked out of the house for hours on end? Who is going to make sure Neighbor girl is safe? WHO??!!!?!

I couldn't fall asleep last night. I was so sick and worried- and just crying. I'm so afraid that something bad will happen to that girl. She's a genuinely a GOOD kid. She just kinda got the bum luck of having a stupid-head mom.

Neighbor girl told Alli today that she'll still be attending the same school... so luckily she can be friends with my kiddos still- and her teacher (who I let in on what's going on) can still look out for her.

But guys, I'm just sick in my stomach about this. I know there isn't anything I can do. I can't kidnap Neighbor girl so I can make sure she's always safe...... or can I?... naaaahhhh... I'd be horrible in prison. I think I'd always be "the girlfriend"... ugg. And prison orange isn't my color.


I've just been praying that Heavenly Father will watch over this sweet girl. That He will provide a 'safe' person that Neighbor girl can rely on.  Maybe you guys can slip a prayer or two in for her too.

Sigh.....


So, Sorry to break all your hearts... but I probably won't be writing about Chill or Stupid-head-neighbor-mom anymore..... cause they won't be here. I know you're asking yourself :"Now where  will I get my entertainment from?" or "Who will Breezi be able to call child protective services on?" or "Who's going to take advantage of Breezi's kindness now?"

No worries. More stupid-head-neighbors will move in, I guarantee it. 



------------------------------------------------------

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for more 'projects'.  Now taking applications.

Christmas Potatoes

Saturday night our church had our annual ward Christmas party.  The men of the ward were in charge of the activity- aside from not being set up when the activity was supposed to start- things went pretty smoothly. :)

We got a call Saturday afternoon from our friend who was in charge of assigning the food jobs (ya know.. like who's cookin' all the hams and who's making the mashed potatoes... etc...), he asked Chip if he'd be willing to make 10lbs of mashed potatoes. Chip of course said yes.

45 minutes later our friend brought to our door: 1- 10lb bag of potatoes, 1- cube butter, 1 -pint of 1/2 and 1/2, 1- foil pan, and 1- list of step by step directions on how to make mashed potatoes.

It totally cracked me up.

If a woman was in charge of the food assignments- she'd just bring ya over a bag of potatoes and expect it to turn out perfectly, on time, and probably sculpted perfectly into the nativity scene......

But men... they bring you the butter, milk, pan, potatoes, and directions! Not just any directions... but an 8 step page of directions... including "wash and peel potatoes"... but my favorite was #5- "Mash, mash, mash until think and creamy. You may use an electric mixer to whip them if you like. But don't over mash or whip them or they will become pasty instead of fluffy"

HAHAHAHA.....

Okay. It's still cracking me up.

Seriously those who don't know how to make mashed potatoes from scratch (I'm not talking potato flakes here people).... need help.  If you haven't done this task before- go and buy some potatoes. Then message me and I'll shoot you over this list of directions. :)


-------------------------------------
p.s. Chip's potatoes were fluffy. I high- fived him.

excitement... or not.

I've had a few people ask about my ouchie... and what it looks like... .
So here it is in all it's gimpy glory.

It looks more like bruised prego foot.

good times.

---------------------------------

After going mad being stuck inside for 4 days without leaving... I decided to make my debut into the world at my twins club's Christmas party last night. It was so much fun! I even won a poinsettia.

3 hours of joy/bliss hanging with my friends last night was too much for my lame foot. I've been out of the game all day today. It was totally worth it though, to get out of the house for some girl time!

---------------------------------

The boys have been going stir crazy these past 5 days. They have a mega case of cabin fever. Miles and Dexter have each taken their turn in pulling down our Christmas tree, beating each other up with wooden blocks, and jumping on my ankle.

I can't wait to be up and at um' again.....  maybe these boys will finally take a chill pill if I let them leave their prison (aka: home).

The boys have gone so far as to putting on my air cast (while I'm putting ice on my foot).... they think it's pretty funny. They also think it's awesome that now they can run and I can't catch them- such naughty little boys. It's a good thing they are cute. :)

--------------------------------------

My daily activities include watching tv, surfing the internet, and telling the boys "no! No! NOO!!!". So far I've watched the entire show of Frasier... like all 11 or so seasons. Chip said it's been interesting watching Kelsey Grammer age a decade in a week. He went from a mullet to basically nothin' up on top...... and I've gotten so bored looking at the internet. (gasp!) yes. I said it.  At least this week I've gotten a nap everyday. That is the most pleasurable thing I've gotten out of this whole experience.....

----------------------------------------


To all of those who are on my Christmas list:  I will try, super super hard to get to the post office by Monday and send off your presents. This foot has made it so I didn't do anything this week! Agkk! You may just have a Merry few days after Christmas.......  :)

Reconsidering

I currently find myself in a state of sadness. You see.... I thought I had it all lined up- perfectly arranged in a nice straight row...... and then.... tragedy struck and my plans are completely dashed!

What were my plans? Well... only my plans of my future life.

I had finally figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up....... a Pirate! Arrrrrgggggggg!!... and this whole sprained ankle is dashing my plans. You see.... I don't think I'd enjoy a peg leg anymore. And seriously, who could be a pirate without having a peg leg??

You see my problem?

Back to the drawing board.....




--------------------------------
What do you want to be when you grow up?

A Few Of My Favorite Things....

And so the time has once again come  where I share a few of my favorite things with you... yay! (right?)

My #1 favorite thing when it starts to get a little chilly outside is my slippers. They are soooo wonderful and warm! I pretty much wear them 24/7. I even like to think I can fool others that they are just 'knock off' Ugg's, so I wear them out to the store and to pick up the kids.  (click here for the website) Yes, I do realize they are expensive, but what other slipper can double as a shoe... right?  Totally worth it.

#2 favorite thing would have to be these awesome EOS lipbalms. I've only tried the mint flavor.... but it's divine!  It's sweet, minty.. and it leaves a little tingle on your lips. Not to mention how adorable they are. :)
(you can purchase them at practically any store.... Target, Walmart, Walgreens, etc....)

 

#3- What's a winter day without a good book?? Okay, so I read this book over the summer and I LOVED it. The second book is coming out next July and I'm on pins and needles. I think this is going to be an awesome trilogy.  Yes. I realize that the Discovery of Witches is about vampires and witches and stuff... but it's totally not a Twilight type of book. I repeat: It's not like Twilight.

#4-   Cute little rosette necklace. I totally want one. I think they are absolutely adorable. I want one of each, please.
( This cute little 15 year old I blog stalk makes them. If you want to visit her shop- GO HERE)

 #5- My Cricut. It's my one true love.... okay, so it's not really my TRUE LOVE.... but you get my drift. It's absolutely fabulous. It's done all of my Christmas tags for me. :)

#6- Candy Cane kisses. White chocolate mixed with peppermint little crunchies? Heaven in a little wrapper. Delicious.

#7- Air Cast! My friend Amy brought her old one over to me to borrow while I heal up . The cushy pressure it's providing to my ouchie feels awesome! So much better than wanting to die every time I stand up.

#8- Bath and Body Works Evergreen scent. It smells like Christmas.... Not too strong, just perfect.  You should try it. It's wonderful!



Alright, that wraps up the tour of a few of my favorite things....

So what are you loving right now?

Size of Texas.....

Did you like the concert tonight?

Yeah.... I didn't go either.

Around 1 o'clock this afternoon after making 3 dozen sugar cookies for the performance tonight, I went to get into my car to run quickly to the store to get milk and toothpaste for Maggie- the boys were sweetly dreaming during their naptime, so it was a perfect opportunity to go without babies..... (don't worry, Chip works from home... I don't leave the babies unattended....) I stepped on the bottom step outside, right into a 'pothole' in the steps and down I went. My ankle is the size of Texas now. Well.... maybe not the whole state of Texas, but most certainly the size of a Texas shaped belt buckle. Luckily there is no bruising and I can still wiggle my ankle, so we're fairy certain it's just a nasty sprain.

10 hours, 6 motrin, and one sore bottom (from sitting still on the couch all day), my ankle is down 60% of what it was. Thank goodness...... but it still hurts like one giant ouchie.

Chip's a good little nurse.....




I called my friend, Melissah and asked if she could come over and watch the babies while I pretended to be hurt (I really just wanted to slack off today) ..... lucky for me I have an awesome friend who came and kept me company :)

I tried sneaking into the kitchen tonight (hobbling/dragging my leg) to get a cookie..... to my surprise they had all been eaten. Apparently I had one happy crew of hooligans while their mom was out of it. :)

..... and on top of all of the cookie goodness: Chip cooked dinner tonight at Wendy's..... so they got double yum in their tums.


--------------------------

I called Investigator on Friday, after him not having returned my phone call 3 days previous.... and guess what? My phone call wasn't returned because Investigator is off of work until after the New Year. Yeah... he gets a month off of work. What a great job, huh? ..... so now we're just waitin' and waitin'.


Sigh..... I love this school system.  Big Fat Puffy Heart LOVE.<3


-----------------------------------
Tonight, Chip... the man who was previously banned from the kitchen for life.... brought me a plate of warm yummy sugar cookies- that were even cut out in gingerbread men and Christmas bell shapes. What a sweetie.

The ban is now lifted (provisionally... everything he makes has to taste as good as these cookies.... :D)

The Entertainers

Tis the Season for the annual Friends and Family Concert!!

Do you know what that means? You, yes you, are invited to come and see me prance, shimmy, and sing excitedly in my community choir that I belong to (We're called The Entertainers). I'll be the one with a sequined red tie.... (ohh wait, we'll all be wearing those....)

Here's the details:
When: Monday December, 12, 2011
Time: 7pm- sharp.
Where: Church of the Redeemer, United Methodist Church
            235 McNaughten Road
            Columbus, OH 43213
(It's over by Mount Caramel East Hospital-ish)
-the majority of the parking is behind the church-
What to bring: Yourselves and your enthusiasm for Christmas songs being sung by ladies ranging from 20-99. (okay, I don't know how old the oldest member is.... I don't want to ask...)

Each member of the choir will be providing a treat for the refreshments (and bribery) of all those who come :) ....... and a special guest wearing a big red suit that says "ho! ho! ho!" might just show up too....





It's a great way to come and get yourselves in the holiday spirit by enjoying the music of the season  (It's also a way to spend a fun evening with your family) . Can't wait to see you!!

Into the Spirit.....

I have to admit, this year getting into the 'holiday spirit' has been a little bit tough. I don't like cold weather (well, being cold... I hate being cold. Period.). Every single Christmas decoration that I want to put out I've had to think "Can this be used to induce blunt force trauma?" - because right now the boys are in a -ohh-this-is-a-pretty-object-I-must-bash-someone-in-the-head-with-it- phase (which basically means decorations are bare minimum this year... and our tiny 3 foot Christmas tree is sitting on our piano where the boys can't reach it to beat anyone with it....).  I've tried listening to Christmas music non-stop on the radio... it doesn't help. I'm finishing up sewing the last of the Christmas presents... it doesn't help. We've busted out all the Christmas movies ("Let's be independent together!" .... bonus points if you can name the movie that I've watched 300 times in the last 24 hours). We took the kids for a visit to see Santa.... and I've been singing Christmas songs since September in my community choir.

Yeah, I've tried and tried to get into this holiday spirit.......

It wasn't until Friday when I was picking the children up from school, when big fluffy snowflakes were gently falling from the sky for it's first of the year visit, and I saw Alli, Maggie, and Kozier (neighbor boy) dancing in it- twirling around with their heads tilted toward the sky, their mouths wide open trying to catch those flakes - when the magic of the holidays finally hit me. It instantly zoomed me right back to eating snowflakes in my backyard with my brother and best little neighbor friend Valerie, as kids. We would play in it for hours. Val and I would make snow cones under her porch (sadly, we didn't have any flavorings... just plain and yellow snow options). Making snow angels, building snowmen, having snowball fights.....  it was all so magical as a kid!

I'm so thankful for my children, and the little reminders that they bring me. The holiday spirit can be found in even the littlest of snowflakes being caught on the tongues of children.


Christmas......... bring it on.

L-to-R: Maggie, Alli, Miles, and Dexter

Spelling Bee and Colors.....

Remember how Alli got into the Spelling Bee?? Well.... today was the day!

I was so bummed that I had a choir performance and I couldn't make it to the spelling bee (Well.... I would have gone to the spelling bee, but since 1/2 of the people in our choir said they weren't going to make it to this performance, I felt bad about abandoning my choir in order to see Alli spell..... and as it turns out, this choir performance was such an epic fail anyway- horrible, horrible, horrible..... that I should have just missed the performance anyway and saved face. Hindsight is 20/20.).... but Lucky for Alli, Chip was able to get off of work for a bit to go and watch her- so he was able to join the other parent there in the audience.

Alli said she was so nervous going up that she had her butt cheeks clenched the whole time. HA! I love that description...... but Chip said she didn't look nervous at all.

Alli was child #2 to spell. Her word? Jumbo..... she spelled it J-O-M-B-O. 1st kid out of the race.... Ohh well. We're just proud of her getting into the spelling bee. We celebrated her awesomeness by getting milkshakes, and she also got a ribbon with a golden spelling bee pin. 


Way to go Alli! We're huge j-o-m-b-o fans of yours!

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Way back in November when I had parent teacher conferences, Maggie's teacher, Mrs. K- asked me to pick out Maggie's fishbowl picture from the wall of colored fishbowls. Every single one had blue water with purple and orange fish in it..... Ya know, a normal looking fishbowl....

I was able to pick Maggie's out of the crowd pretty quickly:

Yep. Red water.

When Mrs. K. asked Maggie why she colored her water red, Maggie just said "Because I like red today".

That pretty much sums up Maggie. She floats her own boat.

I was so excited when her red fishbowl picture came home from school today. This is totally going in her kindergarten binder- so I can show her kids. :) 

Having such a strong willed child who sings her own tune (usually off key), brings a lot of challenges and a lot of teeth grinding on my part..... but she's so delightful in so many ways, that I think it balances out (most days)- I hope this kid always is strong enough to just do her own thing and not care if it's not "normal"..... as kids now days are concerned, being 'the norm' isn't what I want for her anyway. :)



....
I'm surprised it wasn't rainbow water.

Pretty

Remember how I told you about the boys loving to dress up?
Well..... today was no different.

 It looks like Dexter took the time to check and see if his 'manhood' was still there.....
Apparently he liked what he found....

.... and to think: Chip says I'm torturing the poor boys by dressing them up. Does Dexter look tortured to you?

Friday's happenings.....

Okay, as I promised- here is the lowdown on Friday's two phone calls:

Not so super super:

He called me and went over his findings about the things I had beefs with, here are the results:
1) The principal didn't bully anyone. End of story.
2) They called the child in (yes, an 11 year old child) and questioned him interrogation style and asked him if he felt bullied. He said no. (obviously- as that situation wouldn't feel threatening to an 11 year old, and he felt totally free to be honest....)
3) The bullied child's teacher denied that anything happened either.
(Seriously, I need to go to an eye doctor- as I OBVIOUSLY didn't understand what I saw...)
4) Lunchroom is not over crowded. There are 376 students in the building and SURPRISE! the fire code is exactly 376.... interesting, huh? (Although, the fire code is for people standing in the room, not with all the lunch tables down and people sitting everywhere.... so he missed the point about my lunchroom concerns.)
5)There are no locked up leap pads/leapsters/etc.... they were all handed out. (A few days after I called the not so super, super- all of the technology that was locked in the closet mysteriously went missing..... and Maggie's teacher walked around the entire school- in every classroom and found ONE LeapPad. One.- when there was a whole closet of them.
6) The 3 Smartboards that are in the 3rd grade classrooms are not going to be moved so others can use them. If anyone else in the building wants to use a smart board there is ONE left that the whole rest of the school can share. The principal was notified to keep track of it's need- in detail.
7) It was wrong of me to go to Investigator. The principal could have handled it, as it was her job to do so. The Investigator is a very busy man, and I am not important enough for him to look at my issues of PTO guy stealing money.
8) The teachers are using me to fight their battles, and I am to butt out. It doesn't concern me. They have a building rep that they need to report to if they have issues. Unless the issue directly relates to my child, it's none of my business. (notice how NONE of those things directly relate to my children?)
9) not so super super is going to personally question/interrogate every single teacher in the building to see what their needs are and why they aren't happy. (and find out who's been talking to me)

I basically told not so super super that I would fight any battle that my children's teachers need me to fight. I am on the side of happy teachers=good educational experiences for my kids. If he doesn't like it... too bad.

I also found out by Maggie's teacher a week or so ago- that the Not so super super isn't really an assistant superintendent after all. He's only a regional director...  So there's a REAL assistant superintendent and the REAL superintendent that I can still go to :) Yay for more options and less dealing with total douche bags!

Did I tell you that I hate this school?

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After I talked to Not so super, super- I called Maggie's teacher back (she called 2 times while I was on the phone with the poo stain on the underpants of society, oops, I mean the Not so super, super....) Here was the conversation that I had with her....

Mrs. K.- I had a rough day, the principal is getting me with child abuse.
me- WHAT?!?!
Mrs. K- Yeah.
me- details!
Mrs. K.- So I have this kid in my classroom, he's Somali- so English isn't his first language, and he also has the mental capabilities of a two and a half year old- so it's hard to understand him a lot of the time. Anyway, Thursday I was doing reading time with the kids when Little Boy, who was sitting on a chair, accidentally tipped his chair over and his arm got pinched between the chair leg and the seat.
me- Ouch!
Mrs K- I stopped reading time, got up quickly as he was hurting- and had to pull the leg and the chair apart so his arm could come unstuck. When his arm came out, I noticed there was an ouchie right at the inner crook of his elbow, where the arm got stuck, so I just put a cool wet paper towel on it, and we went on with our day.
me- I would have done the same thing.
Mrs. K- Little boy went home and showed his mom the ouchie- to which she said "How did that happen?".... Little boy answered with "Mrs. K pinched me".
me- huh?
Mrs.K- So Friday morning, Little Boy's mom (who barely speaks English herself,)came to the school to see what really happened.. She went to the principal first to ask, and then the principal and Little Boy's mom came to my room to hear my answer. I got Little Boy's attention and said "Little Boy, show your mom what happened yesterday".... to which he went over to the chair, tipped it over, acted like his arm got stuck and started to explain what happened (keep in mind Little Boy's mental capacity of a two and a half year old...... and sparse English). Little Boy's mom saw that it was an accident and was totally okay with it- and realized that Little Boy misunderstood that when Mrs. K. helped get his arm out and the pinching sensation of the chair weren't one in the same.  Luckily the ESL teacher was in the room when all of this happened- so there was a witness. After Little Boy's mom got a satisfactory explanation she was heading out to leave, when the principal grabbed her arm and asked her to go to her office with her.
me- ut-oh
Mrs. K- about 30 minutes later the principal announced over the loudspeaker that I need to write up an incident report, as the mom was filing for child abuse.
me- How was that child abuse- ya know... helping her kid out of a chair?
Mrs. K- I don't know, but I've already been in contact with my union. Luckily ESL teacher said she'd be my witness at any hearing that I'll have to attend.
me- at least you had a witness!
Mrs. K- Seriously!

So that is how you get charged with child abuse as a school teacher. Any of you teachers? Just remember: If a kid needs your help, don't give it to them- your job is on the line. For-reals.


---------------------------------------------
Today I called and left a message for Investigator around noon. He hasn't called me back.

I didn't get to call Mrs. K tonight to see what else is going on, as we had family home evening.... tomorrow I'll call her.


Seriously. Can this school be anymore messed up? 

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My mom thinks I should be a lobbyist. They get paid for all this crap, right?

Lemme Fill ya In....

Okay- So I didn't want to leave you hanging all weekend- but I need this to be a short post, as I'm supa tired......

but I will give you a teaser of my next knock your socks off- I-can't-believe-that's-happening-in-a-real-freaking-school- story: 
*Friday I talked to the not so super, super and he in a very gentle way told me to butt out of everything that's going on in the school- it's none of my business- the teachers need to fight their own battles, and even though my children go to that school, I have no business in what's going on there.
*The principal is getting Maggie's teacher charged with child abuse.

- I know you're excited for my next blog post, huh?!?!


_____________________________________

In other light hearted news- Within the past 3 weeks, I have gone from ZERO callings in my church to having TWO.....
1) I am now on a committee for basically- strengthening community relations.... and we're going to hopefully do a community preparedness fair... Woot!
2) I got called as the primary chorister! Yep- that'll be me waving my arms back and forth at all the little happy children pretending that I know what's going on!  But on even more awesome news, I get to watch informational videos like this: (CLICK HERE)(Watch #10 if you want to laugh.... it gets me every time.)



- for those of you are not members of my church and don't know what a calling is- this dude explained it pretty well: (Click Here)

Fa la la......

Okay, so the NaBloPoMo is officially over. It was fun, huh? You got to hear my life day in by day out. So the question is: Anyone want to trade lives with me? I'm looking for more of a laid back, 'I'm in a comfort zone', don't have to worry about much- type of person to trade with.  :)

Nah... I've got a pretty good life... we all go through our ups and downs... right now is my 'learning' period, I think. I'm hoping to get all 'life's lessons' down pat during this time, so I don't ever have to do it again- but I can always be available in the 'been-there-done-that" category for others.

So I wrote for 30 days.... and wanna know the fruits of my efforts? You guys stalked me more this month than eva' before! Guess how many people came to my blog in the month of November? 10? 20? If you guessed that... the answer is no. I had just shy of 3500 visits! High fives and bum slaps to all of you! Woot!

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Yesterday was my choir's first performance of the season. You should have seen us in all of our beautiful red sequined tie glory. We missed a few intros and a few dance steps.....but two awesome things came out of the performance:

1) A Cranky Nun chewed us out! hahahahaha..
2) A friend from our old church group was there at the nursing home, so we got to visit him. He's such a nice guy, it was great.

Ohh... you want to hear about the Cranky Nun? (told ya I cause waves where ever I go....)  So my group gets to this nursing home, (The Nun was there because it's a Catholic Nursing home....) and our pianist moved the piano so she could see the director- and another person moved an undecorated Christmas tree about 2 feet back, so all of us could have room to stand and sing....  And all of a sudden this crotchety ol' gal in a habit comes hobbling over and starts yelling that we should never move their furniture without asking first and then she ends with this little quip "It's nice that you guys decide to come here, but you're just such an inconvenience to all of us" and then she stormed off. Before you ask, no, she didn't stay for the performance- but to be honest, we didn't want to stay for the performance either after that.  hahahaha.... I don't think I've ever been told off by a Nun before. It was pretty awesome.

The rest of the performance went right on schedule- we put a lot of our audience to sleep. :)

I can't wait what will unfold for the rest of the season.... 

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I just wanted to take a minute to sincerely thank you all for your words of encouragement, prayers, and comments to me during this past month concerning all I've been dealing with (School, neighbors, etc.... ).
I am not the type of person who goes seeking out this stuff- but I decided that if nobody was going to do anything about it to make situations right, then I had to step up.  It has all been so far out of my comfort zone. I hate confrontations. I just hope that some good will come out of it- who knows, maybe one of you has been inspired to fight the wrongs that you see.....   It takes a lot of good people in a community of some rotten apples to get things right side up again.

You guys have meant the world to me. I feel a little less 'alone' in my battles.  :)
HUGS!

The Investigator

Are you dying to know what happened today? (raise your hand if you are!) 

Okay, let's just get down to it. I won't tease you.

I get down to Investigator's office- he wasn't there yet. I had to wait for like 15 minutes- watching the elevator doors going up and down- and finally this tallish grumpy looking gentleman with a maroon/brown (blend the colors... you'll know what I mean) suit, wearing a fedora, and kinda older walks/saunters out of the elevator. I was doing that "please don't let this be the guy" fake prayer thing in my head. Guess what? He was the Investigator.

It's a good thing first impressions can be wrong.

He turned out to be a pretty nice guy. He's a pastor, in fact.

Anyway, We got settled down into his closet office and I just whipped out everything I had. All of my documents, all of my knowledge of fundraisers that I haven't received money to deposit, etc, etc.... Went over it all. Investigator said "Ya know what we should do? Let me call PTO guy and I'll have him on speaker phone, and we won't let PTO guy know you are here."... I was totally down with that plan! So we get PTO guy on the phone.... .and ya know what? PTO guy tries to throw me under the bus every chance he can get, and kept saying that it was because I have yet to turn in a background check they asked me for (4 weeks ago they asked me to do it, I have nothing to hide, but I really don't feel comfortable with giving the school more information on me than they need..... they aren't exactly honest people here. Plus I have a background check on file with my last job working for a bank...), so that's why there is missing stuff. Ohh, he nailed it on the head! I haven't turned in my background check because I'm hiding tons of stuff . Ding Ding, we have a winner!  PTO guy also said that we have had only one fundraiser this year, the PTO membership drive (to which out of almost 400 students in the school, I have only gotten my hands on $35 to deposit..... hum... 400 parents and only 7 of them turned anything in? Right.) He failed to mention that we just had a book fair that closed last Tuesday. (which I have also yet to see funds, either in my hand or straight up deposited... and when I tried to volunteer to run it, I pretty much got turned down.) Anyway, It was a 5 minute conversation in which he kept trying to blame me- and snake out of any responsibility. Investigator asked what activities the PTO has actually paid for- and PTO guy said the only thing that we've paid for is the rollerskating party that the Mrs. M took all the honor roll students to. (Alli got to go, as she was on the honor roll)... it was PTO guy, his wife and Mrs M. (the principal) that went. Investigator asked PTO guy how the trip was paid for and he said it was paid by cash on hand that PTO guy had. (Why does he have PTO cash on hand?)  I was rolling my eyes the whole time- and it took everything I had not to giggle and give my position away.  Investigator finally nailed PTO guy into a commitment to come in on Friday and bring in his paper trail..  PTO guy said he'd call back with a specific time, as he couldn't commit to one right then. Whatevs'.

After the phone call Investigator was like "wow, he sure has a slippery tongue." And I was all like "yep- all three of those people have the same slippery ways. It's hard to nail them down".....  Anyway, he said the way he'll play it on Friday is as follows: Investigator will tell PTO guy that he had me in earlier in the week, and I couldn't produce any documents, so I'm in trouble, and he needs PTO guy to back that up..... and hopefully PTO guy will feel comfortable thinking he wasn't in the spotlight, and would somehow incriminate himself. :) 

I can't wait to call Investigator guy Friday afternoon to hear what happened.



I just feel like a weight has been taken off of my shoulders- that I'm not the only one who's concerned about this school and what's going on in there. It won't be just me -vs- the baddens anymore.

After school, I called Maggie's teacher and we chatted about what happened. She said -It's funny that you called, because the not so super super and Mrs. M were standing in my door way for a bit today watching  me. She also said that PTO guy and his wife, the parent consultant, were going into different classrooms today looking for 'support'. I guess those who sank on the Titanic were busy lookin for life vests too.

Maggie's teacher also said that Mrs M's husband is a police officer, so she thinks she's untouchable.
I can't wait to touch her................... right out of the building.



Poo is hittin' the fan people, and it's splattering real good! Woot!!

And Now for the rest of the Story....

sigh... I really miss listening to Paul Harvey....

If you haven't read my first part off the day BAM! click here to read it.... and then come back to this one. 

Okay, so now that we're all caught up on the PTO guy drama-

About 30 minutes or so after I left the message with the principal, she called me back- The gist of the conversation is as follows: I told her that I didn't trust her at all with the financial documents, I have seen and heard way too many shady things that she has done to give her those- and the reason why I didn't go to the meeting was because I didn't want her to feel like she would be able to bully me, as she obviously feels capable of bullying anyone- even little children. (and yes, I said that.) She kept telling me that she was "an ADULT with 2 children" and doesn't play those games (whatevs') and that she heard a bunch of things about me before she moved to this school, but chose to be an "adult" and get an opinion of me on her own..... I asked what exactly she heard about me (I'm charming? Wonderful? Interested in how the children get treated at school and am a champion for children and teachers alike?) - and she said she was too "adult" to talk about that. (again, whatevs') I told her that I would not ever be bringing and handing those documents over to her personally, and if there is an investigation than I wanted the name of the investigator and I would personally deliver those documents to HIM. She was very hesitant, but after about 5 minutes of probing, she finally gave me his name.- she kept double crossing herself- saying that the investigator was actually going to be at the meeting this morning and I was supposed to hand them to him then, etc.... to which I said- well, if he's investigating- he should be there on campus and I can come drop them off. She told me that after I called PTO guy, he called her- and she canceled the investigator/auditor guy- so he didn't come (Okay, I called 5 minutes before the meeting was scheduled- if he was going to be there- he'd have been at the school already when I called)..... Then she kept bringing up how I have yet to turn in a background check (I was asked last month to have one done- at my own expense)
Anyway, I asked for Investigator's number to which she told me it was privileged information, and I was not allowed to have it. I said Okay and hung up.


The minute I hung up the phone with the evil principal from the depths below, I called the school district's main help line. "Hi! I was wondering if I could have Investigator's number".... to which the nice lady said "Sure! Here it is...... " and gave it to me.

That was hard. It's a good thing that was privileged information. phew!

I called up Investigator. He answered right away- we had a nice long conversation. It started out a little like this "Hi, I'm Breezi- the PTO treasurer at the school.....  I understand that you were supposed to be at a meeting today that I couldn't attend, so I was just wanting to talk to you personally on the phone and let you know of what's happening".... to which he said "What meeting? I have no idea what you're talking about. I have heard that the school may need an investigation, but I haven't been fully brought up to speed. Would you mind filling me in?" to which I said "HECK YES!".... and then we had a lovely chat. It ended up with him wanting to meet with me in person tomorrow downtown at the school's headquarters at 1pm. (Thanks Erika for babysitting the boys tomorrow so I can do this!) He and I will go over all the documents that I have and things will be kosher and happy.

After I talked to Investigator I called the bank and talked to the personal banker. Luckily for me, I trained with this lady 9 years ago when we both first started working for the bank. We go way back. :)  Anyway, I had her check all of the stuff- she said that PTO guy canceled his ATM card (yay!) and hasn't made any withdrawls (double yay!) she also said that she'd keep an eye on the accounts- after I explained what was going on. I told her I didn't know if Investigator guy needed to talk with her and check into things- but if he did, that was 100% fine with me. She asked me for Investigator's name- which I gave it to her... and her reply was "Wow! I know him! He's been my long time personal customer for years!".... I thought that was kind of funny.

Tonight Maggie's teacher called me back.... we had a long chat, and she said she found me another parent who is equally ticked off at the school and is willing to be on my side and join the fight! WOOT!  She is the mom of Gabe- who was Alli's kindergarten true love (if you want a reminder- go HERE or HERE or HERE...) ... so I feel we have a good shot at getting this school's panties in a bunch... yea know, since we're going to be future in laws at some point....





-----------------------------------------
So say some prayers that tomorrow my meeting with Investigator will go awesome-sauce. I'm excited that hopefully Investigator won't be corrupt. Crossing fingers.

BAM!

It's like a bomb went off.
I'm just writing this down for a record of sorts, (if I write it down on a piece of paper, I'm likely to lose it..... but here = foreva')

I called the PTO guy at 11:25 this morning and explained that the babies weren't going down very well, Chip is busy at work and couldn't deal with them (all true) so I wouldn't be able to make the meeting. He said he wasn't at the school yet. I told him that I could still be apart of the meeting over the phone, and to please call me as soon as he arrived in the meeting.  He called me back at 11:48- almost 20 minutes after the meeting was supposed to be starting. He said "We'll have to talk about things later"... I said "No, If you want to talk, let's do it now. Right now." to which he said "I need you to turn in all the financial statements, everything into the office ASAP-" I asked him why, nothing should be that big of rush to which he replied "Well, I guess you made a phone call and now we're being investigated, the pto as well as my wife as the parent consultant." (yay!) I said "well, let's talk about that Travis, right now, I'm available to do that." He said "No, not right now, we'll do it later, I'm with my wife and we're going to an appointment" So I said "What was the meeting supposed to be all about if you can't talk to me now" and he replied "It was an emergency meeting, everyone needed to be there".... "What was the emergency?" I asked , "Your phone call, just get all the financial records into the office asap". and then he said he had to go. The call lasted all of 2 minutes and 21 seconds.

He refused to talk to me at all!

Let's see... hum.... Dude couldn't talk to me why,...... Because they all had to gang up on me at once?  Uncool.
and um, I'm not going to turn in the financial documents into the office. If everyone in the office is a puppet on the corrupt principal's string.... like I'd be that stupid. My name is on all of the financial documents- and there are blank checks and everything.....

As soon as I hung up with PTO guy, I called the not so super super (not available) and left a message that he needed to call me as soon as possible, as the poo was hittin' the fan at the school. (I said it a little more gently to his secretary)...... I called the principal (not available) and left a message that if she wants to talk, let's talk. I also called Maggie's teacher to see if she has found anything out that I need to know about before I get blind sided by a hit and run, but she probably doesn't check her cell phone messages until after school.... and when I called the kids were just getting back in from lunch.




Ohh Heaven help me now......

Roller-coaster

Today was like a roller-coaster. It started out great. Awesome, in fact. Woke up after a good night sleep (aka: I didn't have to wake up ONCE to pee! Woot!), got Maggie dressed for school without a 15 minute fuss/drama fest (it was only 5 minutes.... Woot!), the boys actually ate their breakfasts (instead of throwing it/spitting it out), I got through 4 loads of laundry, I got the dishes done, I got Cheeseburger soup going in the crockpot  (yum!), bread dough rising, I put some extra baked potatoes in the oven to put in the cheeseburger soup to make a little more, I made some phone calls, and then I remembered about those potatoes in the oven. Naturally I just grabbed them- the peels of potatoes aren't what's hot after all, and I put the first one on the counter.... grabbed the second one and it exploded in my hand. (this is where the roller-coaster started going down hill.) My poor right hand has a few blisters on it now... and my oven got coated in what can only be described as a suicide potato bomber guts.

After a few minutes of saying "ouch, ouch"(and maybe a few more words)..... the babies woke up to eat their lunches- to which they smeared everywhere, and dumped their milk over the entire couch, and continued to bite each other for the remainder of the day until we went to pick up the girls.

When Alli got home Chip must have told her about my burned hand because Alli turned into the most helpful child in the world. She offered to clean up the potato explosion in the oven....... and ended up tripping over the bucket of water-  it spilled all over the floor and soaked all of the presents that were wrapped up so nicely.... .We got that mess cleaned up, got everyone set up for homework, and I gave the girls cookies and a glass of milk while they were working.  There was a knock at the door- and guess who it was? That's right... 2nd Grade Neighbor girl, she was crying. She got locked out again and had to go potty.  I let her in, and got her all set up with homework and a cookie too. Then Alli knocked over her whole glass of milk all over the table and the homework got drenched.

Then I got a call from the PTO guy... you know, the one who I just ratted out for stealing money from the school?.... Yeah, him.  There is a mandatory meeting for PTO officers tomorrow. Funny thing- it's just him and I that are officers.... I'm the treasurer, he's the president. I asked him who'd be attending this meeting- he said it will be the principal Mrs. M (the one I turned in for bullying the students), The Parent Consultant (who I turned in for disciplining the children at school, instead of letting the teachers do it.... .who just so happens to be the PTO guy's wife, and the principal's bff), and him. Yeah... its going to be a good ol' fashioned mafia style sit-down- and I'm going to be the one wearing cement boots. 

I called Maggie's teacher, who has been in cahoots with me from the start, and asked her for her opinion on this meeting. She said I shouldn't go- I'll pretty much get ripped to shreds-  Maggie's teacher, Mrs. K, shares a wall with the principal's office and said she heard yelling all afternoon through the wall. It makes me nervous. I think tomorrow the boys will be getting (wink wink) sick- so sick (wink wink) that I can't make the meeting and we'll have to discuss things over the phone while I tend to the (wink) sick babies (wink).

Why is it the whistle blower gets all the crap? I made a follow up call to the 'not so super, super' to see what disciplinary actions happened..... he hasn't called me back yet.

Can I just skip tomorrow and wake up on Wednesday?



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p.s. the one thing I learned today is : ALWAYS poke holes in your potatoes before putting them in the oven.

p.p.s. 2nd grade neighbor girl stayed until 5. When the mom came to get her I just kinda rolled my eyes at her lame-o-sauce excuses and made it clear her behavior isn't okay. she "promises" that she'll have someone to watch 2nd grader tomorrow after school.  I'll make sure I have an extra cookie just in case.

Almost Done

Yep- I am just a few presents away from being done wrapping Christmas presents..... Thanks to my Cricut for making all the labels :) I think the best part was that I finished up 3 rolls of wrapping paper that were taking up space in my closet! Woot!

I have been staying up late wrapping slowly.... so I can sit in the kitchen and listen to the last of the Hunger Games CD. I can't wait to get it finished, I need to know how it ends!

Next up: Memorizing the songs for my community choir... our first concert is Thursday and I'm painfully behind on the lyrics. Which means, I need to find my CD that our director made. Where could it be? hummm.......  Did you take it?

President Roosevelt

The other day as I did dishes, Chip came into the kitchen and said "I want to read something to you"...  It was President Theodore Roosevelt's 1899 speech called The Strenuous Life. At first I was not into it. I'm big into political speeches. I am one of those people who would really like to delve into politics, but get lost in the mumbo jumbo and false promises and fluff presented by politicians today- so I tend to be a 'surface dweller' in politics.... basically just know the basics.

As Chip read this speech, I was so taken back by the bluntness that President Roosevelt  used, nothing like today's politicians. There was no 'fluff'. It was just black and white, laid out in front. Granted, the speech is a little dated.... it was written over 100 years ago.... and it talks about some of the wars that were in the front of their minds back then- and the strategies and such.... but let me just give you a little clip from this speech... and you'll see what I mean:

"In the last analysis a healthy state can exist only when the men and women who make it up
lead clean, vigorous, healthy lives; when the children are so trained that they shall endeavor,
not to shirk difficulties, but to overcome them; not to seek ease, but to know how to wrest
triumph from toil and risk. The man must be glad to do a man's work, to dare and endure and
to labor; to keep himself, and to keep those dependent upon him. The woman must be the
housewife, the helpmeet of the homemaker, the wise and fearless mother of many healthy
children. In one of Daudet's powerful and melancholy books he speaks of "the fear of
maternity, the haunting terror of the young wife of the present day." When such words can be
truthfully written of a nation, that nation is rotten to the heart's core. When men fear work or
fear righteous war, when women fear motherhood, they tremble on the brink of doom; and
well it is that they should vanish from the earth, where they are fit subjects for the scorn of all
men and women who are themselves strong and brave and highminded."

Wow. Right?

What would the world be like if politicians spoke more like this? I personally think the world would be a much better place.


"If you are rich and are worth your salt, you will teach your sons that though they may have leisure, it
is not to be spent in idleness; for wisely used leisure merely means that those who possess it,
being free from the necessity of working for their livelihood, are all the more bound to carry
on some kind of non-remunerative work in science, in letters, in art, in exploration, in
historical research-work of the type we most need in this country, the successful carrying out
of which reflects most honor upon the nation. We do not admire the man of timid peace. We
admire the man who embodies victorious effort; the man who never wrongs his neighbor,
who is prompt to help a friend, but who has those virile qualities necessary to win in the stern
strife of actual life. It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life
we get nothing save by effort."

Needless to say, Chip and I had a really good conversation after reading it. It left me longing for good, honest, politicians- who aren't scared by corporations and who don't have secret agendas- who truly care about the health of our nation, and not the weight of gold in their pockets.


I have yet to read any more speeches that President Roosevelt gave, but I plan on reading them just to see what else this man had to say. I'm intrigued to say the least.

If you want to read the whole speech, here is a link to the Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt's speeches- scroll down to 'Strenuous Life' and click. The speech will pop up on PDF. (Click Here)

slippery slopes

After a happy Thanksgiving yesterday, a night full of fun and laughter with friends, freezing your bum off, and lines, and a pretty much sleepless day today..... I broke down.

Today- I had 2 diet cokes. This was my first 'slip' in my quest towards freeing myself from soda.

I have to say- I survived a sit down restaurant without soda. I survived many-a-iwanttostranglemychildren- moments. I survived a fast food run. I survived eating pizza without rootbeer. I did those things. I survived my cravings. For 12 solid days I didn't have a drop of that delicious brew.

Then I slipped. I needed something to stay awake to watch my children.

Guess what? Not having caffeine in my system for that long.... well, let's just say it WORKED, and I feel a little wired.


Well.... now is time to jump back on the no-caffeine free- soda-free wagon.

Let's see if I can go longer than 12 days this time.

Thankful (and Winner)

Today I am thankful for so many things......

but.... There is one thing most of all that I am thankful for:

THE BOYS ARE 18 MONTHS OLD TODAY!

For those of you that are members of my church, you know the happy "my kid is 18 months old" dance...  but if you are not a member of my church- let me explain- in our church when children reach the magical age of 18 months it means they get to go to nursery class, and the parents get to go to class and actually listen to the lesson! Woot!  (Imagine that! Going to church and actually getting to go to class, instead of walking the halls with your fussy little ones.... this is going to be weird.)

I'm pretty pumped.


And now for the winner of the fantastical Trader Joe's Mini-Gingerbread cookies. In a very scientific way (writing names on papers, folding them up, and drawing the name out of the bowl)... a name magically appeared in my hands- and the winner is:

MAURY!!!

(yay! I don't have to pay shipping....)

For those of you who didn't win, I'm sorry. You're missing out. :)


Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all stuffed yourself silly, made fun of the people at the Purina Dog Show, and had fun with family.


As for me: Michelle drove down and we are currently plotting our strategy for Black Friday Shopping. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.... mostly because Chip has to work, and I will have no sleep. But it's worth it.  We are lining up at Target at 10pm.... You are welcome to join us :)

Shoot

This is the sign that greeted me tonight as I walked in the front door, after going to Target for some last minute Thanksgiving stuff.........

Under the sign was a Nurf gun with a dozen darts.

As soon as I read the note- puzzled look on my face and all, Chip jumped out at me from under a blanket that he was using as camouflage, gun blazing.

All I can say, is GAME ON!

Needless to say, this will be a short blog post..... as I need to go shoot my husband. :)




P.s. Don't forget to enter the give-away- Tomorrow is your last day :) 

Alli's letter

There are two possible ways that I can take this note that Alli gave to me this evening.

#1- Alli declaring to me that yes indeed, I am her mother. After almost 9 years of her living with me, she's finally claiming me as her own........ with a picture of a turkey under the note- just letting me know that Thanksgiving is a few days away....

#2- She is letting a Turkey know that the turkey is her mother. I'm imaging it a bit like the scene in Star Wars when Darth says "Luke, I am your father".... only Alli would be saying "Turkey, you are my mother"....