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....





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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?



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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"....

Obsessed (and a give-away!)

Currently there are two things of which I am obsessed with.

#1- The Hunger Games series.
My sis-in-law Leah introduced my mom and I to them...... It's a good thing too, as found I was spending way too much time with my family, so I needed something to distract me. The Hunger Games trilogy is just that: an excellent distraction! Holy Moly! I'm on book #2- and I can't stop reading/listening to it! Ahhhh! (Seriously, this is painful turning off the Book on CD to write this blog post- so forgive me if it's brief...) If you haven't read them, GO AND READ THEM!!!!!!!  (and then thank me.)

#2- Trader Joe's Mini Gingerbread Men

I'm not even going to admit to you what number box this is for me. Seriously, you don't want to know. These things are FANTASTIC! Like Holy Cow- I want to did eat the whole box, fantastic!

And as an added bonus: These little men look quite dapper.

Pretty much irresistible. 

So here's the give-away.

I am going to give one lucky obsessed fan of mine (like how I tied that in?) a box of my #2 obsession - Mini-Gingerbread Men!

All you have to do is tell me what your current obsession is. Easy as that.
(brownie points for those who suck up the most...)

You have until Thanksgiving. The winner will be picked Thanksgiving night! :)

Good luck.

(US only.... sorry for all of you people who don't live in the USA- I love you, just not enough to pay an extreme amount of shipping on a $3 box of cookies.  ;D HA!)

Not Ready

I have been singing Christmas songs in my Community Choir since September.

I have almost every single present bought.

And yet......  I am not ready for the holidays.

I am one who fights that the end of summer actually happened. I am one the fights that autumn was once again, way too short. I hate when winter comes. (I am not a cold weather person.) I am the one who repeatedly asks "Is it seriously the end of November? Is Thanksgiving really in 5 days?" I have yet to buy a turkey or go grocery shopping.

I think the real reason why I dread the holidays so much is the fact that I often get lost through the thick of very thin things. I stress so much about the little stuff that I make it not a lot fun for anyone. There is so very little in my life that I actually can control (and right now it all feels like it's spinning wildly out of control) that I freak out and grab to the little things that I CAN control and hold on to those little things like it's a life saver and I'm in the middle of an ocean during a storm.

I'm hoping that this year I can let things go a little bit. I'm hoping that we can focus on the real meaning of the holidays-
Thanksgiving- being thankful for our many, many blessings. Even though my life is in chaos, and we have felt like we've been dealt the 'crap card' more times than naught- I know that we have been given so many blessings, most that I sadly, often overlook and take for granted.  I want to focus on all the things that we've been blessed with- even the little things.
Christmas- This year we are having a simpler Christmas. I really feel like we haven't taught our children the joys of GIVING- only the joys of receiving. (even though it's nice to receive too.) We need to remember that Christmas isn't a commercial holiday- it's a chance to celebrate Jesus' birth, and His ultimate gift that He gave us... His very life.. He suffered for each and every one of us, He lived his life in a way that we should emulate on a daily basis, He served, He gave, He loved. I'm thankful especially that Christmas is on Sunday this year. What better way to rejoice and praise our Savior than taking time out on a holiday that we claim is about him- and worship Him in church.

So ready or not- the holidays are coming- and I'm going to make the best of it... and hopefully, not get lost through the thick of thin things.

Spelling Bee

Unfortunately for Alli, she inherited my horrible spelling gene.

I feel bad for her. She'll probably spend the rest of her life depending on the wiggly red line telling her that she did it wrong, again. True story.

I never once made it into a spelling bee.... even on the spelling bee's where you find your class champion- I only made it past the first round where the word was "duck". D-U-C-K, duck.

(I once wrote my mom a note that said "Gril" for "girl"... and she has called me her 'little grill' ever since. Sweet, right?)

Alli's school had the classroom spelling bee this week to find three winners who would represent the 3rd grade in the great school spelling bee battle comprised of 3- Third Graders, 3- Fourth Graders, and 3- Fifth Graders. She came home with the following note:

Congratulations! Alli has been chosen as one of the three third graders to be in our school spelling bee! The winner will go on to represent the school in the district spelling bee.

Also attached were the list of rules. (which were, I'm not kidding you, 4 pages long)

While I'm proud that Alli was a winner in her class, I have to wonder- Was Alli like the last kid to recite her word... and everyone else missed theirs so the teacher gave her the word "the" just so there would be someone who could end the madness?

I'm including a picture of a story she wrote last week. It'll give you a general feel for Alli's spelling.... 

 

Just in case you were curious "Veset" translates to "Visited" 

I'm pretty excited to see how the school spelling bee goes down. It might just be epic.

(thanking my lucky stars that there are only 9 kids in it... I don't know how much 'epic' I can handle.)

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

P.s. On this post the only red squiggly lines that came up were "veset", "Alli", and "gril". I'm pretty proud of myself. I think I'll go eat a cookie.

School Beef (s)

In my last post, I mentioned that I was having issues with the school. By issues- I mean, there are is a laundry list of them.

Wednesday I called the assistant superintendent of the school- which would be our Principal's boss......

You see- Friday was Alli's award assembly at school (you may remember from my veteran's day post....)  Alli got on the Honor Roll (yay!) - Maggie got Citizen of the Month (yay!) -  and when they were done with the assembly the principal, Mrs. M, released the 3rd graders- then released the 4th graders..... and then announced to the parents that she needed to talk to these 5th graders... they need a stern talking to- so the parents needed to leave... (which we were all sitting right there, and the 5th graders weren't doing anything wrong! There was maybe one or two 5th graders- who- heaven forbid- acted like elementary school children)....   to which all of us parents were escorted out- the gym doors were shut and a teacher blocked the door from the inside. I thought it was a little fishy. The principal shouldn't say anything to the children she isn't afraid of saying in front of the parents. Then I remembered that I told Alli I would grab their lunch boxes from the gym and bring the with me... so don't worry about it.  I ran into the gym to grab the lunch boxes.... and my jaw hit the floor. Mrs. M had literally backed one of the 5th graders into a corner (a physical corner!)  and was an inch away from his face screaming at him and poking her finger at him repeatedly. Yeah. The principal, Mrs. M was bullying this 5th grader!  I didn't know what to say or do.... so that's why I called the assistant super. (who's really not super at all.)

The not so super, super - who is over 26 schools- and can't even visit one per day and hit all of them in a month- couldn't care less!  AHH!

I complained about the principal being a bully.
I complained that the principal is holding a bunch of leapsers, leap pads, etc... (technology) hostage. They are all locked in a closet because the principal is upset at the kindergarten teachers. So... my kid is not getting access to technology because of the principal.
I complained that the lunchroom is over fire code on both lunch periods (gym holds 166- there are over 200 kids per lunch)
I complained that the school has 4 smart boards.... THREE of them are in the 3rd grade, so nobody else gets access. Granted- my child IS in 3rd grade... so I should be happy- but everyone else is suffering.
I complained that the PTO president is stealing money from the PTO (I am the treasurer, so I know what's going on....) 
I complained that the school is more of a military prison than an elementary school. The children are to be silent at all times- including lunch period- and if they talk, they get yelled at, over a microphone- publicly humiliating them.
I complained a lot. There is way, way more.

It's just an awful school.

The not so super, super didn't have much to say- offered little to no solutions- mainly excuses. It was so frustrating. Does he not realize that I pay his salary?

The Not so super, super was more upset that the 5th grader's teacher- when I brought it up to him that the principal was bullying the student said "he deserves it", than he was that the principal was actually bullying a student!

All I can say, is heads are going to start rolling in Columbus Public Schools.
I. Am. Done.
I have way too much pent up anger right now....

Neighbors Part 5

Yep... they're at it again.

Are you surprised?

Wednesday 2nd grader's mom came over while I was at community choir practice. Chip answered the door. 2nd grader's mom asked if I could watch 2nd grader until her new boyfriend could get here- around 4. Chip told 2nd grader's mom that he couldn't answer for me, I might have plans, so she should come back and ask when I got home. Of course, she didn't.

I kept my eye out for the bus that afternoon- No 2nd grader came off of it. At first I thought- ohh maybe, just maybe the mom got someone to watch 2nd grader- but seriously, who am I kidding, like 2nd grader's mom is "responsible"..... so I was getting worried! Where is 2nd grader? I decided to call the school. It's now 4:15.
Me:"Hi, this is Breezi- I was calling to see if 2nd grader got on the bus after school"... 
School: "Nope, she's sitting here in the office. She missed the bus."
Me: "How did she miss the bus?
School: "Her teacher told her to get in line for the daycare bus, and by the time we realized that she wasn't supposed to be going to the day care today- her bus had left."
Me: "Wow. Did you call her mom?"
School: "tried to... .every number we called didn't work. "
Me: "Well, 2nd grader's mom is at work right now, so she couldn't come and get her anyway."
School: "Can you come get her?"
Me: " ummm.... I'll be right there"

And wouldn't you know it... without being on 2nd grader's emergency contact list of people who are allowed to pick her up from school- without 2nd grader's mom's permission at all- and without them even asking for ID (granted- they know me, as my kids  go there.... but they couldn't know for sure if we're even neighbors....) THEY RELEASED 2ND GRADER TO ME! HUH????  Just a random person who happened to have kids attend the same school as her... they released the child to me? WHATTTT!??!


A little nuts, right?

So here I have 2nd grader. 5 o' clock-ish rolls around.... when 2nd grader's baby sister's daycare bus comes by. I run outside, tell them the story- "2nd grader's mom is at work- boyfriend is supposed to be here to watch kids but still hasn't shown up- no phone numbers are working"... do you know what they did? Yeah... They released 2nd grader's baby sister to me! "You'll sign for her, right?" So... now I have two children that aren't mine.  I was getting frustrated- as I had no idea where this boyfriend is! Ohh... by the way- boyfriend's name is CHILL. I'm not making this stuff up.( I figure because he has such a dumb name, I'm just going to use it on my blog. It adds interest, right?) At 5:20 the daycare bus comes back to my door "Um... we weren't supposed to give you the baby- you're not on her list"... Me: "Um.. yeah, buddy, that's what I thought. Here ya go... and by the way, she just pooped. Have fun with that."

At 5:30, I'm getting nervous that Chill will never show up... so I make 2nd grader give me her grandma's phone number.... both phone numbers. Both go to voice mail. 5 minutes later grandma calls back. We make a plan- Grandma had to go get baby sister before daycare closed, then she'd run up here and get 2nd grader.

5:45 Chill shows up.  "Hey guys- I'm here, I just got here from school"..
Me: "What time do you get out of school?"
Chill; "2pm"
Me : (In my head: What? Do you go to school in Toledo?... how does it take you almost 4 hours to get here from school?!?! You must have army crawled the entire way!! That school is only 7 miles away. You could jump rope the entire way home and still get here before 4 hours was up...")


--------------------------------------------
This morning 2nd grader's mom wrote me a note. I didn't respond yet. I'm trying to think of a tactful- yet forceful way of saying "HECK NO!" ... basically, she wants me to watch 2nd grader until Chill gets here from school. Every day.  I am just like, what?! No. No way.

Apparently no reply at all means "YES, Yes, I will let you take advantage of me" because guess who didn't have any place to go after school today? Yep- 2nd grader. Chill didn't get here until a quarter to 5.

I am beyond livid.  I felt really bad, because I took some of my frustrations out on 2nd grader about her mom- I shouldn't have done that. She needs at least ONE safe place.  I apologized to 2nd grader- like sat her down, and had a good long apology. She was a little shocked. I don't think an adult has ever apologized to her before.

2nd grader told me she wished I was her mom. It tugged on every heart string I posses.


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Guess who'll be tallkin' to 2nd grader's mom tomorrow and informing her that the state's child care that she's getting for FREE will be a lot cheaper than me watching her kids. :)



(P.s. the reason why 2nd grader's mom isn't putting 2nd grader on the daycare bus anymore, is because they are always running late picking up 2nd grader after school- so the school was getting after 2nd grader's mom because of it.  I'm having so many issues with this school right now..... that post will be tomorrow..... uggg.....)

Overheard

I don't think Chip knew I was listening to his phone call that he was having with his dad..... well... I was sitting in the kitchen scrapbooking, and I don't think he realized I could hear what he was saying.... I wasn't hiding in a closet trying to over hear what he was saying..... ;D ANYWAY.....

It went a little like this:

Chip: Dad, did you hear that Breezi got an offer to write for a TV show?
-pause-
Chip: Yeah. She's a great writer... except when she forces herself to be funny.
-pause-
Chip: When I come down the stairs and I see her laughing at the laptop when she's writing a blog post, I just know it'll be a bad one.





hahahahah! That's awesome!
That conversation is still cracking me up!

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So what have you over heard your spouse saying about you?

Grandma Jennie

I was 13 when my great-grandma Jennie Hoogland died on April 12, 1995. I don't remember much about her, other than she had a head full of the whitest hair you've ever seen, deep big brown eyes that always smiled, and a lot of age spots all over her body.

She also had the coolest crochet duck sitting on her coffee table. It pooped out jelly beans.

(not the actual duck- but just in case you've never seen a crochet jelly bean pooping duck, I wouldn't want you to miss out.)

I do have one thing though, that reminds me of her daily. It is my most favorite blanket in the world.

 Grandma Jennie made a quilt for every single one of her great grand children. Most of them put them up for safe keeping.... but not me. That blanket has snuggled me almost every day since I was 5 or 6. It is part of my life.  It's all falling to shreds from all the wear and tear.....  (my mom put the patches on the holes.... but more holes have come.)  but it still as tons of warmth.

One of my favorite things about this blanket is it's awesome secret power. That's right. My blanket has a secret power. If you go completely under it, stick your legs and arms up in the air and let the blanket 'tent' over you, it reveals it's power. It's got this awesome stain-glass effect! COLOR POWER! I would quite literally spend hours under that blanket gazing at all the beautiful reds, greens, purples, whites, etc that shone brilliantly through the soft flannel backing.

That blanket has been snuggling with me through deaths of other grand parents, marriage, pregnancies, new babies, happy times and sad times.... it's been right by my side.

Last night as Maggie came running down stairs at 3am crying because of a scary dream she had, I tried soothing her (aka: rationalizing) - it didn't work. Finally I wrapped this blanket around her- and she instantly calmed down and fell asleep.  I wonder if my Grandma Jennie knew that a blanket that she made for every great-grandchild would be soothing great-great-grandchildren over two decades later. I felt her love last night.  I know Maggie did too.



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Do you have objects of a loved one who's passed that still are reminding you of their love?  If so- Who is it, and what did they give you?


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Today would have been my Grandpa John's 85th birthday. He was Grandma Jennie's son. :)

Cheer Up Charlie

Today as I was using the bathmat in our tub as a washboard for our laundry I kept thinking about Charlie Bucket's mom...... she must have been one buff chick!

The whole time I was scrubbing and scrubbing clothes, I kept thinking :There's no way in the world I would sit and let four old farts lay around in bed all day long while I did laundry for everyone else.. paid or not.....  Heck. With that woman's ripped arms, I'm shocked she didn't run over grab Grandpa Joe and quite literally throw him into the street to look for a job. If he could waltz around in a chocolate factory, he could earn his own tobacco money.

Seriously.... I cart around two 25lbs babies all day long, and my arms were aching after doing some tub laundry.  I've got nothing on Mrs. Bucket.



So why was I doing laundry in the tub?  Because today was a horrible, rotten, no good day.
- washing machine broke again, flooding the down stairs.
- toilet broke upstairs.
- zit blossomed in the middle of my forehead.
- laptop got a nasty wasty virus (thus no blog post last night....)
- I haven't relapsed and drunk a diet coke.... although heaven knows I've been NEEDING one twelve today.
- baby gate broke again.


Chip is upset because he has to fix all of the stuff... (well, except for the zit issue- there's nothing he can do about that...)... and he has his plate full of other things that need to be done. Sigh....

No rest for the weary.


I hope tomorrow doesn't have the case of the Monday's.

Death

Today a dear, beloved friend of mine is now considered dead to me. I've cried all day. I want you all to know how wonderful this friend was. She was my constant. She was my pick-me-up when I was blue. She was my celebration at the end of another successful day of keeping my children alive- when I wanted to maim them. She was the way I started out my day every morning. I loved her. Deeply.

Let me introduce my dearest friend:

Soda.

Ohh how I loved her.

Diet Coke. Diet Dr. Pepper. Diet Cherry Coke. Diet Pepsi...... she went by many names. 

But today, after I realized (around 10am) that I had just finished off the last of the diet caffeinated soda in the house and was desperately searching for my car keys like a mad woman so I could run and buy like 3 more cases to get me through the weekend...... I realized: I have a problem.

Hi. My name is Breezi, and I'm an addict.

I can't stop drinking soda! Seriously... 6-8 cans a day is was NOTHING. I had to start my day with a soda. I had a mid-morning soda. A few soda's with lunch.... (are you seeing a pattern?)...  I have a GALLON jar full of soda tabs to give to the Ronald McDonald house.... it took me only like 6 months or less to fill. It's pathetic, really.

If I could get a soda IV line... it might just be the happiest day of my life.

BUT.......

My stomach has been acting up lately- always upset and churning- I'm pretty sure my dearest friend is part of the cause. I think all the caffeine is eating me alive.I am also having a shorter temper- and I think it's the caffeine drop off point- ya know, when it's just not effective anymore- and my children are seeing "scary mom" a little more lately than normal.

I  want to be done craving soda.  It's just not a healthy relationship. I've always tried justify it by saying "It's just carbonated water with flavoring in it.... and I only drink diet soda, so what's the big deal? It's not like it's any more calories added to my diet...... Europeans drink carbonated beverages all the time, and they are pretty healthy... etc...etc..."  I could list all of my excuses- but it'd be a long post.  

The point is: I want to stop wasting  money. I want to my stomach to stop feeling sick. I want to stop feeling like a junky waiting for my next fix. 

So I would like you to meet someone new to me. She's my transition to hopefully liking water:

This whole death of my old BFF soda thing would be much easier to overcome if I actually LIKED water.....  So this is my next best thing.

Baby steps, people. Baby steps. 





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

In other news: I've peed today more than I have in my entire life. I'm now trying to decide if the cost of soda is equal to the cost of all the extra toilet paper I'll be buying.

Grand Plans

I often get super grand ideas.... last minute... .and then I stress out so much about getting it done and making it a grand event, that by the time we finally walk out the door to have "FUN" everyone is in tears.

That's pretty much how today went.

As I get older, I have become much more sappy when it comes to veterans. I really feel like they are such huge heroes. I have just appreciated my freedoms so much, that ya know... I get all sappy thinking about the sacrifices that were made in order to get those freedoms. I just truly am so grateful for all these soldiers and what they did for me and my family.

So today around 10am, during the middle of Maggie's award ceremony at school, I decided that I would make as many cookies as I can and we'd, as a big happy family, bring them to the VA hospital to give to the veterans- along with a thank you note.  After getting home from the school- I looked up where our VA hospital was, called their phone number on the website with great anticipation- and I hear "We are currently closed for the holiday!" ... WHAT?! A hospital for veterans was closed on veteran's day? I guess I don't understand the system.- but I remembered that there was a AMVET's place kinda by the girl's school- it has a huge tank in front of it... so I figured that there were some vets there that we could give some cookies to, and hopefully would sit and talk with the girls, etc..... I really want the girls to understand how important our veterans are- I want them to GET IT- I want them to never take their freedoms for granted.

So I started making cookies.

First a double batch of oatmeal cookies- than a double batch of chocolate chip cookies.....

........then I had to go back to the school for Alli's award ceremony. (seriously, why couldn't the ceremonies be back to back?  It was such an inconvenience.... whatever. ) ...  after the ceremony I had to dilly around for 40 minutes until school was out- so I could bring the kiddos home. 40 minutes. Isn't enough time to come home, let out the boys, let them unwind, load them back in the car...etc... It's just a lame time frame. It made me irritated. I kept thinking about the rest of the cookies that I needed to be making for our ...what I had now decided was our "FIRST ANNUAL KOHRMAN FAMILY THANKFUL FOR VETERAN'S SO WE'LL BRING THEM COOKIES DAY!!!!" Now this was a total tradition - so it needed to be EPIC.  I am just building this event up in my mind- and the stupid school is making me delay our grand tradition! Ugggg. I am so frustrated by this time because of all the delays.....

I rushed the kids in the car- shouted at them to buckle up- I seriously felt like the Army Guy in Toy Story yelling "GO!, Go!, GO!" to his troops... and we were off in a flash. I rushed the kids in the house, made Alli babysit the babies (aka: keep them out of the kitchen) so I could continue making cookies for our 'event'.  I got out a double batch of peanut butter cookies before everyone was done. The boys were screaming because they wanted their mommy (and they were probably poopy) - Alli was frustrated from trying to keep the boys out of the kitchen- Maggie was throwing a fit, as I wouldn't give her any of the cookies.- The little neighbor boy was upset that Alli wasn't playing with him.... I was frustrated as my children weren't being perfect little beings and letting me bake these cookies with love.

I got all of these 100+ cookies done, boxed up, made a cutsy little thank you note for the vets, got the kids in the car, waited for what felt like forever for Chip to get off of work (an hour late) so he could go with us....... we finally got up and running... got to the AMVET's building..... walk into the door- it was key card access only... so we waited around like 10 minutes for someone to come and escort us in... and realize.... IT WAS A BAR! Yep. A bar full of drunken vets. There was one guy who talked to us..... he was sloshed.- and all he said was "Thanks!"...  and we walked back out  very very quickly.

Not what I was hoping for. No warm fuzzies. No talking to Vets. Nothing!

I chalk it up to our good ol' fashioned luck.


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Can't wait for year #2 of our new annual event!

Boys playing Girls

I have a confession:

My Boys LOVE dressing up like girls.

Give them a necklace-they can't stop giggling.
Give them a skirt- They will twirl away for hours.
Give them a sparkly handbag- they can't smile enough.
Give them a flowery or sparkly headband- they won't take them off (well, except to chew on them a little... and then they put it right back on.)
Give them high heeled shoes- they are in heaven!

Chip doesn't necessarily approve that I let them indulge themselves in this manner.... but whatever. It's entertaining to me.... and it's not like it's going to ruin their manly-ness because they wore their sister's skirt when they were 17 months old. 
(Maybe if I drew a mustache on the boys while they dressed up, he'd approve? )

Cute right??!?!?! 

Dexter was a little more of a show-man today than Miles was... that's why there are more pictures of Dexter.


I'm thinking about signing them up for Toddler's in Tiara's. .... hahaha..
(Hope you read the sarcasm in that last sentence......)



...............................................................
I say I have this 'whatever' attitude about them dressing up.... but really, I let them do it for the blackmail pictures to show to their prom dates.

Me and Mr. Cheese

Did I ever tell you that I had my 18th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's?

It turned out to be A.W.E.S.O.M.E.- S.A.U.C.E.

Let me tell you a little story. Once upon a time.... I turned 18. (It's not a scary story, I promise.) My mom decided to surprise me by taking me on a trip- just her and I to......Billings, Montana. 

Birthplace of all things spectacular.

We flew from Spokane to Billings via Big Sky Airlines.... it was one of those 10 seater airplanes... that you had to walk outside the terminal, walk up the steps that were attached to the airplane (ya know, the ones that also are used as a door...), and pray that the hamsters were peddling fast enough to get you up into the air.  I kid you not, as soon as my mom and I sat down, got buckled up- the pilot, who was doubling as the flight attendant, turned around from his captain's chair and our hearts stopped. Right then and there- we got so scared-......  The pilot looked identical to Pee-Wee Herman! Mom and I just looked at each other and said "Ohh great, what's the word of the day.... crash? " ( remember when anyone said the word of the day everyone would raise their arms and scream "ahhhh!")

We did make it safely to Billings. A little shaken.... but alive.

We stayed with one of my mom's best friends from high school- Linda, her husband Jeff, and their son Ajae (who is a year or so older than me) It was a magical birthday! I can honestly say that too, because Ajae, who was a budding magician, and put on a magic show for me!

On Saturday morning, we all went to the Billings Montana Temple open house- gorgeous place.... and then Linda, Jeff, and Ajae surprised me by pulling into Chuck-E-Cheese to eat. Little did I know, they arranged a birthday party for me!  It was soooo cool!. I think my favorite part was when the Chuck-E-Cheese employees announced all the birthday people over the loud speaker "And we want to wish Sarah a happy 5th birthday, Aaron a happy 8th birthday, Sally a happy 2nd birthday... .and Breezi a happy EIGHTEENTH birthday...." there were some chuckles in the crowd.

Who else can say they had their 18th birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese?

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p.s. don't judge the scrapbook pages I scanned. Seriously, I was 18 when I did those. I'm much better now. :)

p.p.s. aren't my barrel bangs sweet? I know you're jealous.

New Opportunities

While I cannot give you all the details- (as I am still trying to work them out)- I got the most exciting phone call on Friday....

Sit down.....

Wait for it....

Okay, I'll tell you.

I got asked to write for a TV SHOW! 

Don't laugh! I'm serious!

This has brought out a lot of emotions in me......
Shock- How the heck could this happen!
Doubt- Do I have enough awesomeness to write for a TV show?
JOY- Something new and exciting!
Worry- Will I let them down?
Excitement!- This would be a paying gig! I'd be a "real" writer!
FEAR- I've never done this before.
etc, etc..etc.......

As you can see, ever since Friday, my days have been full of prayer and contemplation..... I'll let you know if I accept the offer soon- ya know, as soon as I find it out myself. :)



---------------------------------
If I do take the job, I'll be looking for a sitter for the boys like two days a week for a few hours......
Any takers?

F.H.E. Fun!

Just another Monday night for the Kohrman family...... read scriptures, eat cookies, sing songs, paint faces.......

Yep. Painting Faces. Alli was in charge of the family's activity tonight for family home evening  and that's what she chose. We all got to draw names in a bucket to see who was going to paint who....

I drew Chip- and made him into a beautiful butterfly....
Chip drew Me- and made me into a lovely ladybug.....
Alli drew Maggie- and made her into a rabid raccoon.....
and Maggie drew Alli- and turned her into a vicious vampire.....

Chip and I decided the boys didn't need a second bath for the day, so they got a free pass to getting decorated.

Maggie cried the whole time Alli was painting her face (if you look closely, you'll see crocodile tears...) Alli got mad that Maggie didn't make her beautiful. I thought it was funny painting on Chip's whisker hair. I've never had a canvas that rough before.....

While we made each other gorgeous we ate some of our favorite cookies:

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies!

They are so good, I'm going to share the recipe

(It's not a secret anyway, since it's written on the back of the Reese's Peanut Butter Chip bag.....)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/4 cups (2-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips 

Directions

1. 1 Heat oven to 350°F. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; set aside.
   
2. 2 Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
   
3. 3 Bake 8 to 9 minutes. (Do not overbake; cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.) Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4-1/2 dozen cookies.  

Santa Came!

 

Santa came early for the children in my neighborhood. He came last week.

What did he bring?
Only the most fun toy out there! It's the "IT" toy of the year, for sure!

.........a Walmart Shopping cart! Woot!

The neighborhood kids were instantly drawn to it. Jumping off of it, climbing in it, climbing around it... if you can do it to a shopping cart, it was done. 

Normally, I wouldn't let my kids play on it.... but I was in one of those "just get out of my hair" moods, so they were allowed to go at it. 

I'm tellin' ya.... It's the little things in life that bring the greatest amount of joy.

Kids + Shopping Cart = 2 hours of non-stop fun. 

Thanks, Santa!

Hallo-weenie Post

 

 (Miles in yellow tie/ Dexter in Red)

 Halloween costumes this year were cheap-o and required less than 10 minutes to make. Seriously. All four costumes... less than 10 minutes... combined.   Every year my mom-in-law has made Halloween costumes for the kids, but this year I didn't want to ask her, as she hasn't been feeling well- which basically means that I had to do Halloween myself. 

It. Was. Horrible!

How do people make their kids costumes every year? That's what awesome mom-in-laws are for!

I'm just glad that Alli wanted to be an Egyptian (I took 3 yards of muslin folded it in half, cut a little circle for her head and put a gold belt around the middle. Ta-da!), Maggie wanted to be a skeleton (Clearance costume I found for $7.... which was way cheaper than buying all the puffy paint that would be required for Chip to paint on a t-shirt/pants....)  and my dear friends from facebook lent me their collective brains and gave me the suggestion to make the boys into missionaries. I thought it was awesome/hilarious! (We already had everything needed to make their costumes..... Chip just printed name tags...) Easy Peasy! If someone wanted to be anything that was complicated to whip up... ohh, heaven help me.

 

 (Miles in red tie/ Dexter in yellow)

This year we went to a few different Halloween activities.

Church party, Treasure hunt at Giant Eagle (Yes, we trick-or-treated at a grocery store... we're lame like that), And finally trick-or-treating on actual Halloween night with our friends, the Pawlikowski's.  

All events were super fun!

 (I couldn't take a single 'normal' picture of Maggie.... she was on a roll!) 

As you can see- Chip and I got dressed up and joined in the festivities too. :) 

We scored some major candy this year- Two giant buckets full of the stuff. I hate to think how much candy we'll get once the boys start trick-or-treating too! It'll be insane.

Happy Halloween!

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(I'm praying next year my mom-in-law is in tip-top shape...... she really does do the most awesome job of costumes ever.)

P.S. Don't forget to enter the give-away! Ellen changed it up a bit! Just check in the comment section and you can see the changes :)

Give-Away Time!

Have you ever heard of Zija?

Yeah, I hadn't either....... until my sweet friend, Ellen  came up to me and asked me if I wanted to try it. She said she'd give me an 8 day supply of the Zija Weight Management System and she wanted to host a give-away here on my blog if I liked it....

Well, you see the blog post, so obviously... I liked it. A lot.

So let me tell you a little big about Zija.

Zija is a natural, enzymatically alive supplement that is derived from the Moringa Oleifera tree.  Known for generations by the peoples indigenous in the regions in which it grows, as a medical and nutritional wonder.  Overflowing with nutrients, antioxidants, and vital proteins, Moringa Oleifera is the most nutrient rich botanical known to man.

Just one serving of Zija per day provides you with vital antioxidants, minerals, omega oils, and essential amino acids. With these nutrients that we fail to obtain from the food chain, the human body can begin to function at an efficient level and even begin to reverse many of the side effects of our poor nutrition. (All of this stuff was straight off of the pamphlet)

I would write down all of the vitamins, minerals amino acids and other nutrients.... but honestly- it would bog down this blog because the list is so darn long. Basically........... you don't have to buy any other supplement or vitamin- because it's got ya covered.

Some of the natural benefits from Moringa:
- Nourishes body's immune system.
- Promotes healthy circulation.
- Supports normal blood glucose levels.
- Natural anti-aging benefits.
- Promotes healthy digestion.
- Anti-inflammatory support.
- Heightens mental clarity.
- Increases energy.

So what is Zija? It's awesome. It comes in this powder (I think you can get it pre-made too....) called SmartMix and you drink it first thing in the morning. Let it sit for 20 minutes to digest... and you're good to go for the entire day. The first day I started..... I was like..... "What- the-What?!?"  This is GREEN- like Oscar the Grouch green. There was no way in the world I was going to drink it. I just knew that I'd be gagging the stuff back up. It took me about 15 minutes to convince myself that I should drink it. But once I started- It was okay! It tasted like watered down fruity Kool-aid. Not so bad for looking so green!

When Ellen first came to me about it, I was really skeptical- I mean, seriously, drink a green powder and it's supposed to magically make you feel good? She said just try it, and see. So I did. I was amazed.  I have never felt better.

Every morning I have the typical 'morning hangover' when I wake up. I never want to leave bed, it almost physically hurts to get up. Head spinning, so groggy and tired, wishing for 20 more hours minutes of sleep before I had to get up. The second day that I was on Zija... I felt a difference. I was able to get up. No longing for more sleep- I actually had energy to get up. I didn't have the 'morning hangover'. It was a miracle!

I also have 'old lady' joints- you know... like the old people who can feel the weather's changing because their knees start aching? Yeah... I have that. Well... The weather is changing, and my old lady knees weren't aching! The anti-inflammatory properties worked too! 

As far as the weight loss portion of the product, You get the XMam, XMpm, and Premium Tea. So here's what they do:

XMam- helps all those mid-day cravings.
Seriously, when I took it, I didn't eat junk! It was a miracle! I was even on that PMS cycle of 'I eat everything in my way just because I want to keep eating and I'm never satisfied...even though I just emptied the entire fridge of it's contents... plus everything in the cupboard.'..... and I didn't feel that drive to eat! The contents of my fridge and cupboard were safe for my children's lunches! Hallelujah!

XMpm- helps reduce stress, stabilizes your mood, combats cravings and prepares your body for a restful sleep.
I was always able to get a restful sleep- I also noticed that I didn't jump down my children's throats on things that I normally would.... I could think logically and not freak out on them. So the stabilizing mood thing is totally true.

Premium Tea- herbal tea with Moringa (word of wisdom safe!) aids in digestive cleansing and acts as a natural laxative and diuretic and eliminates toxins.  
This stuff does what it says. It cleans out every inch of toxins in your body, for sure!  I'm not a tea drinker at all. Tea never calls out to me. I added a bit of sugar in it (figuring that if it was going to detox me... it might as well kick out a teaspoon of sugar, too) ... it wasn't horrible... a bit like 'sweet grass juice'. I think tea drinkers might enjoy it.... as I think all tea kinda tastes like 'sweet grass juice'.

Without changing any of my eating habits or exercising, just by taking the Zija... I actually lost 2 lbs in those 8 days. Not to shabby. :)

Basically- I loved how Zija made me feel. If you want to try it- they have a risk-free 30 day return policy... so that's a win/win! ................But if you want to try it for free..... enter into the give-away!

so..... what do you get if you win this give-away?!? 

The same 8 day supply that I got.... plus a cute little water bottle too! (BPA free) {Ahh! We could totally be water bottle twinzies!... how cool is that!?!...}


how do you enter into the give-away?!?!

There are actually a few ways (woot woot!):
1) Register on Ellen's Zija site: 
http://ellenhodgins.myzijastory.com/register
2) Post on FB about this give-away.
3) Watch the informational video on Ellen's Zija site and write a little ditty on what you learned.
4) Come to Ellen's Zija party that she's having on Friday, November 18th at 6:30 pm (She lives in Blacklick, Ohio.... on the east side of Columbus....... so that entry is for local peeps only. Sorry!) .you'll have to e-mail me at breezianne81 (at) hotmail (dot) com if you want her address. I'd post it but there are some weirdo-stalker people out there. (no, I wasn't talking about you.)


Each of these things count as an entry......(That's right! Up to FOUR entries!) but you need to list them separately in the comments section so we can get an accurate count. (That.... and I really like my comment section to be bursting at the seams. haha!)

when will Ellen be drawing the winner?!?
At her house party! November 18th.  The contest entry will end November 17th.... so we can be sure to get everyone's name in the bowl. 



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Good luck! I hope you guys try this stuff. You'll never feel better :)