My Interview With My 4 year Old...

I have seen others doing this on their blogs and thought it was a great idea. And since I am dealing with an extreme case of wedding brain, I needed something simple to write. So here it goes...

Me: "Hello there...what is your name?"
Sydney: "Sydney Grace (last name) mommy, duh!"
Me: "How are you today?"
Sydney: "Ummm..I ok!"
Me: "What are you gind to do all day?"
Sydney: "Ummmm...prolly just play and go swimming and stuff."
Me: "That sounds like fun."
Sydney: "Yea, you can just play with me in the pool if you want to"
Me: "That's very nice of you but I can't today."
Sydney: "Why?"
Me: "Because I have to bake the cakes for the wedding."
Sydney: "Why you have to bake cakes for your weddin?"
Me: "Because we have to eat it at the wedding."
Sydney: "Why?"
Me: "Because that is just what we do."
Sydney: "Well I can just eat cake at my wedding when I get big like you."
Me: "Yes, I guess you can. Who are you going to marry?"
Sydney: "Umm, prolly Zachy. He's my bestest friend."
Me: "That's very sweet Syd, but he is your brother and we can't marry our brothers."
Sydney: "Why?"
Me: "Because you just can't."
Sydney: "Yes you can you silly mommy."
Me: "Well I may be silly but I know what you can and can't do."
Sydney: "I'm hungry."
Me: "You can have lunch soon."
Sydney: "I can have lunch when you make the cake for your wedding? Then I can just help you eat it?"
Me: "No honey, we can't eat it today. We have to wait until the wedding."
Sydney: "Why?"
Me: "You ask alot of questions."
Sydney: "Because I need to know stuff."
Me: "Well I think we are done with this interview now."
Sydney: "Innerbiew?"
Me: "INTERVIEW. "
Sydney: "Is that what we are having for lunch? 'Cause I like innerbiews, they're yummy!"
Me: "You are a silly girl"
Sydney: "No I not, I a hungwy gawl I told you!"
Me: "OK, let's go get you something to eat."
Sydney: "Thanks mommy. Maybe I can just marry you instead!"

Something tells me she just doesn't get it! LOL Well I am in the middle of baking cakes and have to keep my blog a bit short today. But here is the question of the day...
"Q.O.D." What the heck is the purpose of the font called "wing dings"?
I have no clue but it is bugging me to find out!

BRAIN FREEZE...

3 Days to go now. Slowly but surely, we are getting around to the BIG day! Unfortunately for you, my loyal readers, I have nothing unique or funny to blog about. I have been sitting here all morning trying to think of something to blog about. But I have a terrible case of brain freeze! I am still wedding brained and I just can't find room to squeeze anything else in there. Let me see what I can come up with...

First of all, today's "Q.O.D"..."If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would you go?"

I would go to Australia or Greece. Both places have some very interesting points of interest but Greece seems like the more romantic of the 2. If money and time were no issue, I believe that Stevie and I would be going to Greece for our honeymoon. But since money and time are an issue, we will have to settle for 2 days in Virginia Beach. But as we lay on the bed in the hotel room, with the door open to allow the sea breeze and ocean sounds in, we can close our eyes and pretend we are in Greece.

So.....OH, I know....I am going to be a very brave bride to be and make my own wedding cake! Yes, maybe I am a little bit crazy, but that is irrelevant. I have made a few wedding cakes in the past. I made one for my daughters wedding, a friend of hers wedding and another one of her friends weddings. But they were basically just your everyday normal cakes, only stacked higher. One of them was covered in that fondant stuff, I don't recommend that, eeew! The difference in the cakes I made for them and the one I am making for us is that I am going to attempt to put filling in ours. Most professional bakeries make wedding cakes with different flavors and some sort of filling. I decided I had to have that. How hard can it be...right?! So I did the same thing I always do when I decide to try something new....search the Internet! I found the directions on how to construct a wedding cake using filling. Then Stevie and I had to decide which flavors we wanted, of course his input didn't help much because men are real indecisive when it comes to the "girly" decisions, but he did give me some input. We are having a 3 layer cake, each layer consisting of 2 cakes for added height. The bottom layer will be 10", middle layer 8" and top layer 6". We have decided the bottom layer will be dark chocolate cake with raspberry preserves and fresh sliced raspberries for the filling. The middle layer will be white cake with strawberry preserves and fresh sliced strawberries for the filling and the top layer will just be white cake, no filling. I was going to make the top layer lemon filled but decided against it since some people may not like filling. (I know what you are thinking..."you're supposed to keep the top layer for your first anniversary"...I know, but we don't care to do that. We are just going to keep a slice instead.) The entire cake will be iced in cream cheese icing. I found a great recipe for a white chocolate cream cheese icing but have decided not to make my own icing. I know from experience, it is difficult and messy! I am just going to buy pre-made icing instead. Our cake is, hopefully, look similar to this one when I am done...

Only ours will be round and I purchased some black ribbon to wrap around the bottom of each layer instead of the balls. I am also going to attempt to put our monogram on the side and then sprinkle some rose petals over the entire thing. The vision I have in my head is gorgeous, but whether it will look like that in reality is yet to be seen. Wish me luck! Of course I will post pictures for you all after we are done.

I promise my blogging will return to normal next week...well maybe not. Because then I will have to tell all about the wedding! But soon, wedding brain will disappear and back to school brain will kick in! Thanks for hanging in there through my wedding induced issues! That's why you all are my bff's!

It's All I Can Think About...

I am getting married in 5 days! I am getting married this Saturday! OMG! My tummy is twisting with excitement, my hands are shaking with anticipation and my brain is working overtime. I can't contain my excitement...I want to SCREAM! But the kids are still sleeping...so shhhhh! It's amazing how even though this isn't my first wedding day, I still feel like a little girl whose dream is about to come true. I am going to be a bride and marry the man of my dreams! And even better, those people I love the most (our kids) are going to be a huge part of it! I know I have spoken of my wonderful husband-to-be before but I can't say enough good about him. He is absolutely the most awesome, perfect, loving, giving, caring, responsible, considerate, hard working, romantic, thoughtful, self sacrificing, emotionally available, dedicated, handsome man I have ever had the absolute opportunity to meet and spend my life with! Sure, he has some minor flaws, he is human after all. But his flaws are so small and unimportant that they don't really come into play. I, on the other hand, have lots of flaws! We won't even go there...but he overlooks them all and even has a knack for making me believe they aren't so bad! He is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! So maybe now you can understand my extreme enthusiasm in my upcoming marriage. I look so forward to the whole walking down the aisle...look on his face...kiss your bride etc. But I look even more forward to being Mrs. Stevie and our future together. Nothing could make me prouder than being able to call him my husband! And even better, I know my kids can't wait to call him step-dad. We are all so excited, truly ecstatic! So it is all I can think about. Despite the fact that my bedroom looks more like a storage closet with all of the wedding stuff in there, my kitchen floor needs a serious cleaning, my living room smells like sweaty teenagers that forgot to wear deodorant, AGAIN! And I haven't completed any of my normal cleaning rituals in weeks! Shame on me, I know! I have done the basics (dishes, laundry, vacuuming) but I just don't have the time or space to do the big jobs. I am really funny about smells and clutter, I always think I am going to get a visitor and they are going to think I am a slob. So I am constantly cleaning even though I can't remember the last time I had a "visitor". But right now I just don't care. I am getting married Saturday! WooHoo! I figure I have time for cleaning and straightening after the wedding is behind us. When I am actually his wife and it is my duty (teeheehee..I said DUTY...yeah right!) to clean the house. Did I mention I am getting married on Saturday?! I am...yup...I know your jealous and so happy for me! My dress is hanging on my closet door, the bags and boxes of essentials and decorations are ready. I still need to pack for the "honeymoon"...oh snap...I still have to pack! I got to go! What IS that smell?!........................


Oh...see I told you my brain is on wedding...I almost forgot the question of the day...

Today's "Q.O.D" is...What is your favorite thing about your significant other?

For me...it's EVERYTHING! I love you my Stevie!
Now....I gotta go pack!

You Know Your Getting Older When...

Today's "Q.O.D" is...."How you doin'?"
I am doing alright for a stressed out, exhausted bride to be that just so happens to have a terrible backache for some reason! Don't worry, I am definitely not a "bridezilla", but you can only imagine what it is like to prepare 10 children for an upcoming wedding. And then do a rehearsal with those same 10 children before taking them to dinner at a restaurant! But all in all they did pretty good!

And now, on to today's post....You Know Your Getting Older When...

1. You're getting ready for a night out on the town wearing your best outfit and instead of looking to see how your butt looks in them jeans, your trying to figure out how to miraculously shrink those gaping holes on your forehead that use to be pores.



2. Instead of thinking how incredibly hot you look in that fabulous new bikini you are thinking "man, this one piece with the skirt is actually pretty cute and look how it holds in my tummy!".



3. You think that 8:00pm is too late to start watching a movie.



4. Your idea of a fun night without the kids has gone from going out to that new club that everyone is talking about to "aahh...let's vedge out on the sofa and watch a good movie!"



5. "What is she thinking wearing heels to the mall?"



6. Your decision on where to sleep while on vacation has more to do with the comfort of the bed than the privacy and romance for you and your spouse.



7. When getting out of a chair causes so many crazy sounds to emanate from your body that it makes your child ask, "are you OK?".



8. You are eating cereals such as...raisin bran, grape nuts, corn flakes etc, instead of marshmallow laden, sugar coated crunchy shapes because they "taste better!"



9. You actually LIKE brussel sprouts and lima beans!



10. Your pantie drawer starts consisting more of "granny panties" than "sexy little numbers".



11. You consider a good shoe to be something low heeled and comfortable.



12. When a sudden urge to relive your youth by jumping on your kids new trampoline becomes a sudden urge to run to the bathroom while holding yourself while trying to prevent an embarrassing accident.



13. You actually look forward to watching the daily news!



14. You look forward to Friday because you can sleep in on Saturday instead of because it is party time!



15. You spend all of your time on the Internet reading blogs in hopes of finding easier ways of doing things, great simple recipes and others who understand what you are "going through".

Hope everyone has had a great weekend and enjoys their Sunday!

Have you ever gotten so busy that...

Zachary came in the house yesterday afternoon and asked for his infamous peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I was in the middle of doing something and told him I would be right there. Approximately 15 minutes later, I remembered he was waiting. I guess he felt like he was going to be waiting for awhile because this is how I found him...

HAHA! He fell asleep at the kitchen table! Poor guy, BAD MOMMY! Too cute. He woke up a few minutes later and I made his sandwiches. All was good.

Today's "Q.O.D" is...Would you have your spouse's name tattooed on your body?

I ask this question because I have just had Stevie's name tattooed on my body (which I guess answers the question for me) and I was shocked at some of the comments I received. I guess I know how people think of "marriage" nowadays. And quite frankly, it's a bit sad. Most people ask me, "What if you separate?". Or someone will say, "I would never put my husbands/wife's name on my body." Here is my thoughts on the whole thing, if I am willing to go in front of God, church and state, speak the vows of "til death do us part" and allow him to place a ring on my finger, then why wouldn't I have a measly tattoo with his name on it? Unless of course, I am marrying him with the thought of, "hmm, I guess he is OK and we might make it", then I wouldn't do it. But I wouldn't marry him at that point either! What ever happened to marrying a person with the belief, desire and thought of it being permanent?! A tattoo can be covered, if absolutely necessary, and I guess a wedding ring can be taken off too. I have been married before and things didn't work out. So I know that not all things are guaranteed. But if you are willing to take the chance of marrying someone then you should be willing to go all out. No holds barred! If you aren't in to tattoo's, I understand, but if someone is and they want to put there spouse's name on their body, you shouldn't judge them. I believe it is a very sweet sentiment. I also believe it says, "I love you and I totally intend to spend the rest of my life with you". Just my opinion, I know some people won't agree, but don't look down your nose at me with that, "you a crazy bitch" look on your face. To each his own, I say. Now, here is a photo of my new tattoo...

The symbols stand for "eternity" and "destiny". Or at least I hope so, I don't know kangi (sp?) so for all I know it could say "I'm a dumb ass" and I wouldn't know the difference. Now that is risky! The tattoo isn't quite as large as it looks in the photo. (Objects in photo may appear larger than they are) I love it and I am proud of it! So is Stevie!

My Six Unkown Facts About Me...

OK, you caught me...I needed a quick bloggy subject today. But I really am busy and I did at least post comments on all of my commenter's blogs. As a matter of fact, I borrowed (stole) this idea from my bloggy friend over at http://stinkyjohnjones.typepad.com. But first, I will do my question of the day. Not that anyone has been answering them. I am nothing if not persistent (consistent).

Today's Q.O.D..."What do you really think of my blog?" Is it interesting, funny, boring as hell, just OK or maybe it is your favorite?! Let me know...I can take it!
My answer is that I think it is sometimes great, sometimes hilarious and sometimes it is just ok. I like the posts that come from the furthest recesses of my mind that are so full of cobwebs I can't even see back there. They usually have more feeling and humor!


Now, in case you were a little bit curious, here are 6 unknown (until now) things about me...

1. I have a strange addiction to rubbing cold ears. I rub my ears almost constantly and if mine aren't cold, I rub Stevie's! It is so weird, I know.

2. I am on an eternal diet and I am not very good at it. Probably why it is an eternal one!

3. I don't separate my clothes before I put them in the washer. I also don't check pockets or turn clothes right side out. BAD GIRL, I know!

4. I really don't like shoes and I never wear heels anymore. GASP! I am just too old, fat and lazy to make the effort to walk in an upright position. Well at least a proper upright position.

5. I wear men's boxer briefs to bed every night. No shirt, just boxer briefs. They are so comfortable and Stevie actually thinks I look kind of sexy in them.

6. I cuss way too much! I don't even think about it sometimes and cuss right in front of my children...I am truly trying to be more careful!

There you have it. Hopefully I didn't hurt any feelings, lose any friends or shock any family members into disowning me. I am a good person, really I am! I just have quirks like all humans. If you think you don't have any, take this questionnaire yourself. Post it on your blog! And hey, link it back to mine! Maybe I will rub your cold ears...umm...maybe not!

The Countdown Begins...And I'm Officially Divorced!

What a crazy title today, huh?! I will explain in a minute. First, let's do the question of the day.

Today's "Q.O.D" comes from the new issue of Cosmopolitan. ( I love this magazine!)
What 2 people would you like to sit between on an airplane and why?
I think I would like to sit between Superman and my Stevie! Not too "out there" I guess but the way I see it is if me and my Stevie are on a plane, it must mean we are going somewhere cool. And if we are sitting next to Superman then we are completely safe no matter what happens. I will just make sure to wear underclothes made from kryptonite!


Now to explain my title...I called the courthouse yesterday and they told me that my divorce was entered in on July 17th, meaning I am finally officially divorced! YAY!!! For those who haven't been reading my post for a long time, I filed my divorce back in May and was told that it would only take 30 days. So we planned our wedding 90 days in advance. You know, to give time for errors. Stevie and I have been separated from our ex-spouses for over 3 years each, we just never had the money to file for divorce. Besides, up until now, it wasn't a pressing issue. Good thing we gave ourselves extra time because it has taken every bit of it to get this stuff finalized. All of the papers are complete, the exes have signed etc. The judge has had them sitting on his desk since early June. So we knew that we would eventually be divorced, that is why we figured we could plan our wedding. Well, obviously, we are down to the last minute. Stevie's divorce should be final today or tomorrow. (he had to call the judge's law clerk to get it pushed through. Which is crazy considering we filed with the same lawyer on the same day) We were beginning to think we might have to have the ceremony and then go to a justice of the peace when the divorces were finally signed. That would have sucked! But now it all looks good and we should have our marriage license by this Friday. YAY!

So that leads me to the other part of my title...the countdown. Our wedding is in 11 days! It seems like it is taking forever to get here, but when you look at the days left, it isn't that far away. I have most everything done and ready to go. I have crossed all of my "t's" and dotted all of my "I's". All of the stuff is sitting in my bedroom floor waiting to be used. I look forward to having my bedroom back, it is getting very crowded! We had our engagement photo's done last Saturday and they were so nice! You can see them at http://sshinephoto.webs.com under photo gallery and then look for our names. We picked the 2nd photo of him dipping me to use in our autograph frame. The first few photo's were taken with us sitting on the ground and we didn't care for them. But we really loved the ones of us walking down the road. There are some of us in a hammock and you can see how much fun we were having doing this. Check it out if you can. We are doing our rehearsal this Saturday because we will not have all of the kids on the Friday night before the wedding. We are having our rehearsal dinner at Dave's Famous BBQ which is where Stevie and I had our first date. It should be a lot of fun. I had to take my dress back to the alter-er because she messed up something. It is supposed to be fixed and ready Thursday. We have everyone else's stuff ready to go and will be picking up the tuxes next week. We are very excited and the kids even keep saying they can't wait until next week. We have written our own vows and included a special something in there for the kids as well.

I will quit boring you with all of the details now. Thanks for your patience. I wanted to also mention that I was very shocked yesterday at the amount of people who thought the first set of photo's were the best. I guess if he had taken the photo from a different angle, you may have seen what my big issue was. But I do appreciate all of your opinions and will still be doing my own hair. I will be pulling it back out of my face since you all seem to like that. I have court with my ex tomorrow (he is $38000.00+ behind in child support) so I will be fixing my hair for that (you know we always have to knock their socks off even if we despise them). I will do a quick updo and put on the veil and tiara so I can take a photo for you all to see. Have a great day!

DARN ROTTEN LUCK!

So I didn't win the $50 Target (or should I say Tarjaaay) card over at Secret is in the Sauce. DARN IT! I really wanted a shopping spree. Oh well, some really worthy "Sitsa's" won it instead. I hope you all have a great time shopping. And do us "losers" a favor, spend it on something totally unnecessary and selfishly awesome for yourself. Then tell us what you bought!

Since I didn't win that prize I am definitely entering the next great contest! They are giving away this awesome RED digital camera! It is RED! And it takes pictures that you can see right away! Sounds like my kind of toy! WooHoo! Go check it out and maybe even enter to win it at http://thesecretisinthesauce.blogspot.com ! Tell them I sent you and maybe we will both get a little shout out! If you have never heard of this website, you have sooo got to check it out! It is designed to help us "normal" bloggers get our blogs noticed by people everywhere. They have awesome contests and they pick a "blogger of the day" that gets over a hundred comments just for being in the spotlight! WOW! Wouldn't that be so awesome?! After all, we may say that blogging is how we vent and we really don't care if anyone reads it, but we don't mean it! I, for one, love to get comments! It makes me feel liked! So come on, jump over there and sign up, it will be fun, I promise!

OK, not posting much today, I have a very busy day planned! I have to go "yard-saling" for a swing for my grand daughter. Then I have to go for a trial run on my wedding hair and makeup at the spa. (I know you are jealous, I am and it's me going!) Then Stevie and I are finally getting our engagement photo's doneat our wedding site! I can't wait! And tomorrow, I know I won't be here at all because we are going to Maryland to see my son in the Army. While we are there, we are going to the Baltimore Aquarium! I am so excited! So I hope everyone has a great weekend and I will be back on Monday!

I (Finally) Got Tagged!

Answer these questions with one word only. No word can be used twice.

1. Where is your cell phone? table
2. Your significant other? working
3. Your hair? long
4. Your mother? Arizona
5. Your father? home
6. Your favorite time of day? bedtime
7. Your dream last night? crazy
8. Your favorite drink? rum
9. Your dream goal? wealth
10. The room you’re in? livingroom
11. Your ex? whocares(I made it 1 word!)
12. Your fear? snakes
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? aboveground
14. What you are not? pregnant
15. Your favorite meal? breakfast
16. One of your wish list items? vacation
17. The last thing you did? blogged
18. Where you grew up? Colorado
19. What are you wearing? clothes
20. Your TV is? loud
21. Your pet(s)? dog
22. Your computer? lifeline
23. Your life? exciting
24. Your mood? irritable
25. Missing someone? yes
26. Your car? minivan
27. Something you’re not wearing? bra
28. Favorite store? mall
29. Your summer? long
30. Your favorite color? green
31. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
32. When is the last time you cried? dunno
33. Your health? breathing
34. Your child(ren)? busy
35. Your future? wonderful
36. Your beliefs? optimistic
37. Young or old? young
38. Your image? crazy
39. Your appearance? decent
40. Would you live your life over again knowing what you know? differently

What Is Up With Kid Shows?

Todays "Q.O.D" is..."What is your favorite kids show?"
Mine would have to be Wonder Pets! It is just so darn cute with all of the little inuendo's they use! The duck is my favorite, speech impetiments and all.

Now, on to today's post...
First of all, they are supposed to be educational. Second of all, they are supposed to be cute. And last of all, they are supposed to make sense. Or so I thought!



My first question is about the show about a "town full of lazy people". If the "bad guy" is supposed to be an example of the lazy person who never exercises or eats right, then why does he have absolutely no fat, beautiful teeth and plenty of energy to ruin peoples days? Shouldn't he be fat, sweaty, hairy and toothless? I'm just saying...

My second question is also about that show. What is the deal with the Mayor/uncle and his perverted crush on the old lady? In one episode he was actually peeping at her through the bushes while she was sunbathing! Not exactly a lesson I want my child to learn.

My third question is...what the hell is the point of "yo, crappa, crappa"?! This has to be the most ignorant, brain frying show I have ever seen. Maybe back in the 60's when people were high on somethign most of the time, this would have made some sense, but I just don't get it! It should definately not be on daytime kid channels!

My 4th question, and final question for now is..."Is it really that difficult to see a blue pawprint?" I mean, come on. Get that guy some glasses. Annoying! I like the show for the most part but that always bugs the heck out of me.


On a side note...Zachy had a meltdown again last night. He got mad at Sydney for not doing what he wanted her to and he decked her in the nose! Poor baby had a bloody nose like I have never seen. After I tended to her and got her all cleaned up (she was fine, just a bloody nose, no breaks or bruises, thank God!) I went to punish him. That is when he melted down. He knew what he had done was bad and because he felt so bad it added to his frustrations! He screamed and cried and attempted to curse but didn't know the words so he just wound up screaming, "blah, blah, blah". (literally) I made him go to bed early and he was livid! After he calmed down I went back in to explain why he was in trouble. I think he already knew. He promised he would not hit her again and next time he would just walk away from her. I told him that would be a good idea!

An Open Letter to Bad Drivers Everywhere...

Welcome back Sitsa's! I hope you enjoy my little rant! Have a great day! :)

Having driven many miles during all times of the day and in many different states, I have noticed that many drivers have forgotten some of the simple basics. I decided to take it upon myself to offer a refresher course. I can not tell you how many times I have noticed these notoriously bad drivers and they have managed to ruin a perfectly good day. Not to mention, the times I have been forced to miss a turn or been late for an appointment because there are drivers out there that think it is all about them. This letter is for you...

Dear Bad Drivers,

In hopes of making the road a better place for everyone, I decided to be the one to step up and inform you that it is NOT, in fact, all about you! Let's go over a few basic rules...

1. Yield signs - you know the ones that look like a red, upside-down triangle with the word "YIELD" on them. They can be found at all freeway entrance ramps and a few other intersections. YIELD is not some foreign word for - speed up and jump in front of oncoming traffic at any cost! YIELD signs are meant to inform you, ever so politely, that you have NOT got the right of way and that you MUST wait your turn and merge into traffic when it is safe. (Don't worry, I will explain MERGE in a minute.) Keep in mind that when you are entering a freeway/interstate/highway, the traffic is flowing at a high rate of speed and there may be a car trying to exit on the same ramp you are using for an entrance. Therefore, if you just mash the gas, throwing caution to the wind, and jump in front of said car, you cause that car to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting your dumba**! Then there is a whole new problem of the possibility of another car behind that one, not being able to stop and crashing. So before you venture back out into traffic so half-hazardly, make sure you pull out the dictionary, study the meaning of YEILD until you fully understand it's meaning!

2. MERGE SIGN - When you are driving along and you come up on a work zone, you will most likely see a "Lane Closed - Merge Left/Right". This is not a national symbol for "drive until you feel traffic cones hitting up under your car and then jump in front of the guy who has been sitting patiently in line for 15 minutes thanks to morons like yourself! And even if you choose to do this could you at least have the courtesy to offer a friendly wave of thanks?! When you see these signs you are supposed to begin to merge NOW! Not when you have no other choice! You are the reason the traffic is backing up so bad. If everyone would just follow the rules and merge on over when you see the sign, the traffic would flow much more smoothly! Again, IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT YOU!

3. Driving through neighborhoods - Alright, I thought common sense would come into play here, but apparently you have none! When you enter a neighborhood (you know, that place with little houses in it) there most likely will be children playing, pets running or people walking. SLOW THE HECK DOWN! How fast do you think you are going to get there if you run over some poor, innocent child who is just trying to catch their ball. If you are in that much of a darn hurry then you should have left home a lot earlier! The normal speed limit through a residential area (aka neighborhood) is 25 MPH. Not "however fast I feel like driving because I think the house won't still be there if I don't hurry!". Even if you hate pets, dogs and people, you have no right to endanger lives because you think you need to drive like you are in a race!

Last, but not least, DO NOT park in handicap spots if you are not, yourself, handicap or transporting a handicapped person. Just because you happen to have your handicapped mother's tag in your car, doesn't give you the right to take a spot from someone who really needs it! Walking will not hurt you, you lazy inconsiderate jerk! Even if you are in a hurry, it is wrong, don't do it!


I am stepping down off of my soap box now. Just had to vent!

HUH???!!!

Yesterday, Zachy and I are in the van riding down the road when we passed a fire truck complete with roaring lights and sirens.

Zachy - "Look Mommy! Where is that fire truck going?"
Me - "I don't know honey."
Zachy - "I do, I know where he is going!"
Me - "Where?"
Zachy - "He is going to New York city!"
Me - "New York City?! Why is he going there?"
Zachy - "maybe there is a fire there. Maybe someone just crashed into a building and now it is
just on fire!"

At this point I am thinking...Wait a minute....he is only 6, there is no way he can be referring to 9/11! Zachy has a knack for remembering things with much detail and he does watch the news alot, but there is no way....

Me - "What crashed into a building Zachy?"
Zachy -"an airplane mommy!"

I think I need to stop letting Zachy watch so much news! Wow! Wow! That is all I can really say.


Today's Q.O.D is..."Are you an optimist, a pessimist or a realist?"
I like to think I am a real, pessimistic optimist myself! LOL. No, really I am an optimist. I truly believe in karma and reaping what you sow. So if you are positive and always look at the glass as half full, it always will be!

What Not To Do When You Have A Job Interview...

Yes, I had my first job interview today. I have been home with the kids for a year and a half so it was hard to get past the "mommy brain syndrome" and be able to hold an adult conversation without using the words: potty, pee pee, night-night etc. I was pretty excited about this particular interview because it is for a part-time position as an assistant accountant. The hours are Monday through Friday from 10am to 3pm. Which means I would still be able to put the kids on the school bus and get them off in the evening too. Not to mention, I would be able to even run an errand or 2 if necessary. Sydney is the only one that will not be in school this year and the plan is to have Ashlei babysit. Anyway, the pay is above average, it is a small local company and it is only a 15 minute drive. The lady called me yesterday to inquire when I would be able to come in for an interview. Not wanting to put it off and allow someone else to get it before me, I chose today at 9:30. I had already planned to have Ashlei come babysit because I needed to run an errand, so I figured it would all work out well. But I didn't completely think it through either, see my "errand" was taking my 8 month old golden retriever to the SPCA to be neutered. Yep...you guessed it...this is where I began the list of what not to do when you have a job interview...

1. DO NOT plan to have a job interview immediately following a trip with your pet to the SPCA to be neutered. Or the vet, for that matter.

2. If you do decide to ignore #1 and your pet has long "blonde" hair...DO NOT wear black pants! (yes, I actually did that! In my defense, I have a severe case of "mommy brain")

3. DO NOT forget how to get to the interview and then drive like a maniac trying to find it and still be on time!

4. DO NOT ever be late to an interview because you failed to follow rule #3!

5. DO NOT show up late and then explain to the interviewer that you are late because you had to take your dog to the SPCA and then you had trouble finding the place.

6. DO NOT get carried away when the interviewer asks, "So how many children do you have?"!
Yes, I did get a bit carried away! To the tune of about 10 minutes worth of "would you like to see a photo of my grand daughter?".


Needless to say, I don't think I will be getting that one. Although, I truly hope I still have a chance. I really think this is the perfect opportunity for me and my family! She didn't tell me she had no use for me and she didn't call security on me or anything. She did escort me to the front door at the end of the interview and stated she would make a decision by the end of the week. Whether that is good or bad is the question. So please, all my bloggy friends, cross your fingers that I didn't screw it up too bad.


Today's Q.O.D. is..."What was the dumbest thing you ever did/said on a job interview?
My answer is, of course, the previous post. What was I thinking?! Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!

I have another job interview on Friday. It is a full time position, but still a decent job. I decided to go back to work after school starts to help with the finances a bit. I am actually looking forward to re-entering the work force. I love my kids but I need the break. I know that it makes me a better person when I have something for my own. And we can definitely use the extra money. Ashlei will be babysitting so i don't have to hand my children over to strangers, which is always a bonus! I realize I am very fortunate in that way. I apologize for the kind of boring blog today, I just felt s frustrated over my morning, I needed to vent about it somewhere. I know my bloggy sitsa's got my back though! Hope everyone has a great day!

I had to share this one...

AAAHHHH....What a life! My sweet, sleepy headed little guy actually fell asleep in the pool! He is so silly!

I Winned...I Winned!

Look ya'll....I winned an award! Well butter my bum and call me a biskit! I wanna thank my ma and my pa...my kids....my little pet chicken...





Just teasing! But I really did win an award and I feel so incredibly honored! Val over at http://www.stinkyjohnjones.typepad.com/ gave me this cool little award!

She says I am supposed to post it and award it to my 7 favorite bloggers. Then they are supposed to award it to 7 of their favorites etc. What a cool idea! So here are the instructions:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. You must nominate 7 fellow bloggers for this award.

I nominate:

http://ihatewhine.blogspot.com/

http://heymudder.blogspot.com/

http://butwhymommy.blogspot.com/

http://matteroffactmommy.blogspot.com/

http://beanpaste.blogspot.com/

http://happymealsandhappyhour.blogspot.com

http://cheaperthantherapyjen.blogspot.com

Come on ya'll, show some bloggy love!

(bet you can figure out which words highlighted when I did the spellcheck! LOL)

The New "Sitsa" Theme Song...

(to the tune of Dr. Pepper)

I'm a Sitsa, She's a Sitsa, wouldn't you like to be a Sitsa too?

Be a Sitsa, Join Secret Sauce...

Be a Sitsa, get some comment lovin'

Be a Sitsa....YEAHHHHHH!

Corny?! I know, but hey, I am trying to get some of that comment lovin"! In case you are wondering, Sitsa is that cool little pink/leopard print box to the right...

It is a gathering of bloggers everywhere and each day 1 lucky blogger gets to be in the spotlight! The best part of being in the spotlight is you get way more comment love than ever before. It also helps get your blog noticed by other bloggers that may not otherwise find it! Go ahead...click on it...you know you want to! Whether you have a blog or not, there is something there for everyone! Aren't you just a little bit curious?!

And now, back to your normal bloggy post.

Today's "Q.O.D." is....

What is your opinion of the names Brangelina picked for the twins?!

I like the girls name, Vivienne, but the boys name, Knox, is a bit strange. I am glad that they weren't named after fruits, vegetables or inanimate objects however! I don't get why the stars feel the need to curse their children with such crazy names just so they can be the first to start the trend. But to each his own, who am I to judge?!

And today, I would like you to show you a picture of why you should always wear bug spray. A.K.A. What would happen if you went outside without a shirt as the sun is going down.

This is what happens! It is a bit hard to really see the amount of mosquito bites but I counted them. There were 28 on his back and 15 on his stomach! He was only out there for about 15 minutes. All of the red spots are groups of bites! I told him 3 times to put bug spray and a shirt on but, of course, he didn't listen. Well now he puts on bug spray and a shirt. I considered sending this photo to a bug spray company for their advertising purpose. They could use the captions, "WITH" and "WITHOUT". Alex could be their "without".

What happens when...

Today's "QOD" is actually going to pretty much cover the entire blog.









Q.O.D.....What happens when you put a 4 year old to bed after her big sister leaves out a box of markers and a pair of scissors(unbeknownst to you, of course)?









This.........

Notice the extremely short and uneven bangs along with the orange nose. This was after we washed most of the marker off. But that isn't all that happens....

They also decide to draw themselves a snazzy new pair of red shoes. She also drew some knee socks to go with the shoes but fortunately most of that washed off!

Now for the story...
Numerous times (just like the whole high heel incident) we have told the older girls that they are not allowed to have markers, crayons, pencils, pens, fingernail polish or scissors in their rooms. Every time they do, one of the little ones wind up with them and bad things happen. Usually to Emma because Sydney is "the instigator". We have punished the older girls each time in different ways. But, as usual, they just don't listen. So the last time Sydney got scissors and cut Emma's hair, we told the older girls that we would cut their hair if it happened again. Now most parents would just threaten this but never follow through. Not this mommy! I figure if all else fails you have to pull out the big guns to make them listen. So, yes, I did it. I cut Cheyenne's bangs off! It may seem cruel and I admit feeling really bad afterwards. But I can guarantee you that this will not happen again in my house. Sierra saw the whole thing and was actually shaking at the thought of me cutting her hair off too. I think sometimes you just have to stand by your threats and teach them a lesson they will never forget. Cheyenne's hair actually doesn't look too bad and her hair grows at the speed of light anyway. So in a week you won't even be able to tell what happened. But she will think again before taking these things into her room. And so will Sierra. Do you think I was too harsh or do you feel like the punishment fit the crime? Let me know! Keep in mind that these items can also hurt the little ones. Thank goodness she didn't stab herself in the eye or something. And for those who will ask, because I know you will, I didn't see that she had left these items out because they were up on her bunk bed, apparently under her covers. (Why the hell were they there?!)

Movie Review TIme...

Q.O.D. Why are you up so early on a Saturday morning?!


Zachary woke me up about an hour ago. I guess he is excited about his birthday party today. Weren't for him, I would definitely still be sleeping!




What does your kitchen look like?




This is mine! After we spent an entire weekend and about
$1000 remodeling it! You should have seen it before....Well here, let me show you

Say it with me..."WOW"! Yes this was a very proud accomplishment for us. Show me your kitchen, or your best home improvement (before and after).

I didn't have a lot to blog about today, so I thought I would give you a personal review about the 2 movies we watched this week.

First was "Fool's Gold"

Awesome movie! We watched this along with our 11 year old daughter and our 17 year old son and we all loved it! It is bordering "a little too racy" for the 11 year old, but not too bad. This is a movie starring the very yummy "Mathew McConaughey", "Kate Hudson" and "Donald Sutherland". (http://foolsgoldmovie.warnerbros.com/)

Basically, Ben Finnegan (Mathew McConaughey) discovers a piece of a lost treasure that he and his soon-to-be ex-wife had been searching for for many years. He manages to sink his boat and anger the owner of the island where the treasure is possibly located off the coast of. He attempts to convince his estranged ex (Kate Hudson) that he has finally discovered the location of the treasure. She doesn't believe him at first but then changes her mind (or else there wouldn't have been a movie, right?!) and the two of them head out to find the treasure. Along the way they have many exciting moments that are sure to get your adrenaline rushing. There are lots of pictures of Mathew McYummy without his shirt and he has that whole "surfer dude beach hair" thing going too! It is worth seeing just for that! But if you aren't into him then you should still see this movie. It is truly one of the better movies I have see this year!

The next movie is "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins".

This movie was also pretty good. It stars Martin Lawrence, James Earl Jones, Margaret Avery, and many more familiar faces. We like slapstick comedy a lot so this movie was right up our alley. Although, there were many times that they seemed to try to hard to stretch out the funny. A few scenes were a tad bit overdone too. (www.welcomehomeroscoejenkins.com)Martins character is a talk show host that has to go home for his parents 50Th wedding anniversary. He is newly engaged and has a son from a previous relationship. (The son must have been an after thought because I kept getting the feeling he was just thrown in for sympathy purposes. He just never really fit in) The fiance is a total biotch that thinks she is all that and everything else. Predictably, she doesn't fit in with the family and the 2 of them almost leave. There is a huge 20 year competition between Martin's character and his cousin played by Cedric the Entertainer. This is where they really drew it out too far. We enjoyed this movie but we wouldn't pay to see again. Maybe when it comes out on cable TV.

Now I am going to try something else new to make my blog more well-read. I noticed a lot of the popular blogs have recipes on them. So let me put a recipe on mine...

Breakfast made for Princesses...

1 plastic pink princess cereal bowl

1 small fancy teaspoon

1 box or bag of either "marshmallow cereal" or "chocolate balls cereal".

1 1/2 gallon milk

5 thick extra-absorbent paper towels

1 bottle of stain remover

1 warm washrag

1 clean princess dress

1 big hug from mommy or daddy

Directions: Pour enough cereal into princess bowl to leave room for milk. Pour milk over cereal just until cereal begins to float. Place teaspoon into bowl and serve to your little princess. Stay close by until princess accidentally spills half of the bowl onto her princess nightgown. Grab paper towels and promptly clean up mess. Remove princess clothing, wipe princess with washrag and apply clean princess dress. Apply stain remover to dirty princess dress and place into laundry. Give your princess a hug to assure her everything is OK and it was just an accident. Enjoy!

Happy 6th Birthday Zachy!!!

Q.O.D: How do you take your coffee?

I like mine with sweet-n-low (4 packs) and lots of Kroger brand cinnamon creamer! Yummy!

What does your lunch look like?

Here is mine...mmmm...smamich! At least it isn't veggies today! It is light on the mayo and only one slice of swiss cheese!

In celebration of my Zachy's 6th birthday, I thought I would list some unknown facts about him. He is one of the most interesting people I know.

To my Zachary,

You are just now turning 6 years old and I can not believe how much greatness and worth you have already added to my life. You have opened my eyes to so many things that I never would have noticed without your help. You taught me that mashed potatoes look like clouds and that "those bugs" flying so close to the grass are taking care of the flowers and making them grow. I never would have looked so closely at bridges and buildings and would have never known how many different ways you can cut a Pb&j sandwich. I could go on and on, but I won't. I will just say that someday, when you can read this blog and hopefully understand it, you will see how very special you are. And even though we have had some difficult times and I am sure we will have many more, I still kiss you every night and tell you how very much I love you. I have a lot of hope for your future and I know that right now you are incredibly intelligent and can do more than most 10 year olds. But I also watch you struggle on a daily basis to just grasp the simplest things, like how to play with kids and not beside them. I watch you try to learn that mistakes are OK and change can be good sometimes. But you always have a smile for your mommy. And it is the most precious reward I could ever ask for. I love you so much my very special little boy! Happy Birthday!

Love,

Mommy

Now...some little known facts about Zach:

He was born at 32 weeks gestation weighing only 4lbs 5 oz.

He was the only preemie to ever totally breast feed in the NICU.

He broke his front tooth 3 times and it is broken til this day.

He had his first stitches before he was 3 and never even cried.

He loves trains, bridges and tunnels.

He is fascinated by traffic lights and traffic signs.

He can read all traffic signs even though he is unable to read yet.

He can tell you the weather for the next 3 days because he watches the weather channel for hours.

He can tell you things that he remembers from when he was a baby. And he is always accurate.

He can tell you how to get to anywhere he has ever been, by memory.

He loves to be told what everything says and remembers about half of all he learns.

He thinks a broken water fountain should have a sign that says "out of water" instead of "out of order"

He thinks that the metal drains in the middle of store floors are speed bumps.

He thinks that when the water goes down the shower drain, it goes under the house and makes a shower for the dog. And wouldn't be cool if the dog had a toilet there too?!

He believes everything should come in 2's.

He thinks that everyone should have an "Merican Flag" on their houses.

And he thinks his mommy is the absolute best in the entire world!

His mommy thinks he is perfect too!

helloooo...is anybody out there?!

First of all, as promised, I have the QOD and the "what does yours look like?" photo of the day.



And the "Q.O.D" is..."What came first, the chicken or the egg?"



This is a crazy question, but it can also be fun to see if we can come up with an answer based on popularity. My answer is the egg, because we eat eggs for breakfast and chicken for lunch or dinner. So I imagine the conversation went something like this...



God: I'm hungry.



Adam and Eve: So are we.



God: What would you like to eat?



Adam: I don't know, what would you like?



Eve: Whatever you want.



God: You two are alot of help!



Adam: Hey, that chicken-thingy looks kind of cool.



Eve: Or, you could let us eat those apples!



God: Nice try Eve! Those chickens were designed to have legs which means they can run.



Adam: Oh, that sounds like too much work first thing in the morning.



God: Yes indeed!



Eve: I guess you two would be happier if it was wrapped in an easy to open container and came in a crate!



God and Adam: GREAT IDEA!



And the egg was created.





And today...show me what your grass looks like.



I know that us home owners like to have our yard looking tip top whenever we can. The yard looks only as good as the grass does. Now when it comes to mine, I admit it is pitiful. It was looking great back in the spring but then the weather got extremely hot and dry. So now my grass looks like this...

AAAAAAAA! It makes me want to cry. Next year I will have one of those lawn companies come in and prevent this from ever happening again. To our credit, we have been focusing on the backyard for the kids and the inside for us first. So let's see yours. Bad or good.

The name of today's post was prompted because I didn't get any comments yesterday. I try real hard to go out and leave comments on other blogs or blog about something interesting enough to grab your attention. I see people are reading, and I want to say thank you so much for that, but nobody is commenting. So tell me, what can I do different? I am relatively new to blogging and I found that I truly enjoy it. I look forward to getting comments to the point that I race to my computer first thing in the morning to check my email. I used to race to get coffee before the chickens (my pet name for my kids) wake up. Now it is all about my computer. (note to self: you need to get a life!) I am going to continue trying some new ideas I have had in order to prompt the desire to leave a comment. So come on, don't be afraid to say hi, I don't bite! If you have any suggestions or ideas, pass them along too. Leave me a comment and I will be sure to leave you one as well. Hope to talk to you soon.

One word....BLACKMAIL

(insert evil laugh here!) Let me explain everything before we get to the meaning of this blogs title. I was doing my daily blog surfing trying to find out what everyone else is blogging about and why their blogs are better than mine, when it hit me. The creative juice that I have been searching for in the back of my refrigerator finally popped up. (turns out it isn't in the fridge after all) While reading blogs I was also thinking about all of the chores that needed done and feeling incredibly guilty for sitting on my lazy bum "playing" on the computer. So I thought, "Hey! Why not combine the 2?" People seem to enjoy blogs that are real and offer something that others can relate to. Well I am pretty sure that all of us moms (and some dads too) have plenty of "real things" going on in our lives. For me right now, it is chores. You know, laundry, dishes, un-vacuumed floors, closets that need cleaned etc. So I thought, "I will take pictures of all of my messes that need to be cleaned up and post a photo to do list on my blog with a challenge for others to do the same. Sort of a place to "air out your dirty laundry" if you will, or let those of us seemingly neat freaks come out of the virtual closets! So as I am going around taking photos of my messy house that eagerly awaits the neat freak in me to emerge, I notice that most of the mess is from the kids. You know, those 4 children that are perfectly capable of cleaning up after themselves?! The same ones that will be coming to me Friday with open hands looking for their allowances?! The same kids who I also managed to get photos of playing and disobeying rules while their messes are still there. This is where the "blackmail" came into fruition. So I started going from room to room taking pictures of everything I could find to use as discriminating evidence when I had to explain, to 4 completely shocked children, why they weren't getting paid. As I am taking the photos, my 16 yr old son Alex asked, "Mom, what are you doing?". I said, "I am just trying to do something for my blog", he asked "why?" and that is when it hit me... BLACKMAIL! So sit back, duct tape your OCD tendencies and enjoy. By the way, this is the start of a brand new blog experience. Every day I will have a QOD (question of the day) followed by a "What does yours look like?" photo section. Everyday will be a different item, random things throughout the home(get your minds out of the gutter) that you probably never even thought of. Stay tuned for lots of blog fun guaranteed to please. Now for the main attraction...THE PHOTO'S...

Let's start with the kitchen. Obviously there is a sink full of dishes (and chicken...dinner thawing temporarily). But...

Notice the left over orange peels, the spray butter (love that stuff), the empty fruit snack bag and a few crumbs. Not convinced yet... How about the trash can...and that case of water bottles that still needs put in the fridge?

And I wonder why I go through so many kitchen towels everyday...

Don't forget the laundry...

OK, I admit, my room isn't clean either, but I always do that after my shower and I haven't had one yet. I need some lunch...

MMMMMMMMMMM...aren't you jealous? (I want a cheeseburger...WHAAAH)

OK...all done. Amazingly I am still hungry....go figure!

Now that I have a little something in my tummy, lets look at some more. Here we have my living room. It should only consist of living room objects, not all of this...

Oh, and look who is on the TV. Surprise, surprise! Next we have the proof of how many people live in my home. The infamous pile of shoes by the front door. Can't complain too much, at least they aren't messing up my carpet. Man! Do that many people really live here?! WOW!


So far, it hasn't been REALLY bad. But now we are going to go upstairs. I refer to it as "kidland"! First stop...bathroom...(dumdumdum)...AAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKK!

When was the last time this was cleaned?! On my way up the steps I noticed this...

That is so not where that goes! Now I must warn you! What your are about to see is one of the greatest fears known to mankind! It is something all parents of teenagers have nightmares about. No I am not talking about teen sex, drugs or alcohol. I am talking about this...

THE TEENAGERS ROOM! Only to be outdone by this...



The teenagers closet! Oh and here we find Sydney, the youngest of the brood, doing just what she was told, napping. (but notice the mess)

As I head back downstairs, I find this...

Alex, eating in the living room. A BIG NO-NO! We just recently purchased new carpet. The kids know they can't eat anywhere but in the kitchen. His response to my reminding him, "my feet aren't on the carpet!"

Wiseguy! "Get your bum back in the kitchen!" I need a snack. I think I will have a cookie! I know, shaaame on me. But look how yummy

I'm eating my cookie and steaming about the mess when I look out the window and I see this
Oh now wait a darn minute! Why am I walking around my house seeing all of this mess caused by the children when they are off having fun? There is something wrong with this picture. Time to put a stop to this...

Are those MORE shoes?! What are they doing...multiplying?! Back to the kids...

Man, there is even more mess out here! Didn't I tell them to pick this stuff up yesterday?! After I tell them to get out of the trampoline and get in the house to do their chores (I should say threaten within an inch of their beings to get their chores done)I feel stressed and want more of my cookie...

Mmmm...so yum...Wait a minute! Is that another pair of shoes?!

Now I know I don't have that many pair of feet in my house. Time to start picking up some shoes I guess. Maybe we need to get rid of some since they don't seem to mean much to their owners! Where's that cookie?

Let's go check on Zachy. And what is taking those kids so long...

Aw! Being a good boy playing his games. His room is a bit of a mess but he always helps to clean it up. The kids come in and start on their chores finally. Little do they know that I have captured everything on photo. They were told that they had to do chores without being told or reminded to get their allowance. I believe that I now have proof that they did not follow through. Don't get me wrong...I hate to see them not get their allowance but I have to remember why we do the allowance thing in the first place. it is to reward a job well done. By the way, I cleaned my room...

so I don't seem like a hypocrite. (yes, we have stuffed animals on the bed, it is our little love nest, take your fingers out of your throats and finish reading). Now, I think I deserve another cookie. What do you think...should I?

Funny how in the photos, my house doesn't look so bad. What does yours look like? Send me some photos at steveandjyllATaolDOTcom.

Feeling a bit better...

I don't feel as tired but, for some strange reason, my forearms hurt terribly! Weird, huh?! Who knows...we already know I am falling apart piece by piece. LOL Anywho, I decided to try something new in order to get more comments on my blog. I will have a "question of the day". I figure if I make the questions interesting enough, people will comment by answering them. I will refer to them as the "QOD". Here is today's QOD...

What phrase is most often heard around your house?

For me it's "What's for dinner?". Boring, huh, but they start asking this question as soon as breakfast is over. BREAKFAST! Either I cook so well that they want to allow their mouths to water all day or they want an opportunity to attempt to find somewhere else to eat dinner. Either way, it gets annoying real quick!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled blog. Zach and Syd spent the weekend with their Dad and, as usual, he began calling for me to pick them up by Sunday. Normally he has them until Monday morning, but here lately he can't handle them that long. Well apparently he and his mom (their dad lives with his mother) got into a huge argument. Not shocking to anyone, really, the two of them butt heads almost as much as he and I did. But Zachy and Sydney aren't used to loud confrontations and weren't handling it too well, so Joey started calling me to take them. He and his mother were arguing about the fact that Joey finally purchased the trampoline that he had promised Zachy for months and his plan was to put it up at my house. If you are a regular reader of my blogs, you know that he and I already had this same argument. But if you are new to my blogs then I have to say that he and I had the same argument previously because he thought that I should have to pay for half of it since the other children in my home would be using it too. Well I said BS! Heaven forbid anyone else happen to bounce on it, with Zachy, making it much more fun. He was considering putting it up at his mom's house which would be ignorant considering Zachy is only there every other weekend! It took me awhile to convince him and now he is arguing with his mom because she, surprise surprise, thinks the same way he did. She thinks I should have to help pay for it. Well hello people, I am raising these kids on a daily basis and they are here most of the time. it only makes sense to have their favorite belongings at my house. Long story short, they disagreed, he brought the kids home early, the trampoline is in my backyard, Zachy is happy! However, I have to tell you this one, when Zachy came home he needed a shower. So as I am washing him up, he says to me, "Nanny just got mad at daddy, she was even madder than me!", "but Nanny was right and daddy was wrong. I just don't think she should get mad at daddy." When I told Joey what Zach had said, he started arguing with Zachy because he was right, not Nanny! Lordy. Lordy, can I get a break here?! Absolutely ridiculous!

It has been an easier week for me because I do not have Emma or Sierra all week. Stevie's ex decided to put Emma back in day care for the week they are with her and Sierra is at church camp. So it has been surprisingly quiet. I even had an opportunity to go out yesterday and run some errands. Sydney seems to be better behaved when Emma isn't here and Cheyenne is happier when Sierra isn't here. And we were worried they would never act like a real family! They will all be back next week, so I am enjoying the break while I have it.

The wedding is just over 3 weeks away! I can't believe how close it is getting. We are so excited! I went and picked up my dress yesterday and it looks great! The arms are just a bit too tight but I think I will just deal with it. I don't want to take it back now. I also had the programs printed and picked up Ashlei's dress. All that is left to do now is food, drink, a few more decorations and shoes for the kids. So we are almost d...WAIT A MINUTE....I still haven't received the divorce papers yet! OH SHIT! I guess I need to call the lawyer and see what the hold up is! We have to have time to get the marriage license or all of the other stuff will not matter! Pray for us!

I don't know what's wrong with me...

but I have not been feeling well for the past couple of days. Not sick, per say, just really tired! I think it may be caused by stress and kids. So I really can't focus by brainwaves enough to blog, at least not with any enthusiasm, so I am just going to post another one of those question thingys. I hope to get myself together by tomorrow so that I can tell you all everything crazy I have been doing lately. Please bear with me. Thanks. Oh, feel free to copy and paste any of these questionnaires into your comments and change the answers to your own. It is kind of fun.

1. What is your favorite restaurant? Famous Dave's
2. What are your favorite hobbies? shopping, blogging, travelling
3. What famous person would you like to meet and why? Julia Roberts, because I think she seems like a fun, down to earth person.
4. What do you do/what is your job? SAHM
5. What is your favorite food? Your least favorite? Favorite: BBQ Least Favorite: Mexican
6. What is your favorite movie? Coyote Ugly
7. Who do you respect most and why? My Stevie, because he is just simply awesome!
8. What do you think you'll be doing in 5 years? Probably still blogging and raising kids. I actually hope to be back at work building my career.
9. What is your favorite concert you've ever been to? ZZTop when I was a teenager.
10. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Probably Australia, as long as my family could be there too.
11. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Flying or invisibility for me!
12. If you had $5 million to spend in 5 days, but couldn't spend any of it on yourself or your family, what would you do with it? Donate it to charity
13. What cartoon character most describes you and why? Eeyore, he is just so honestly pessimistic, and perfectly fine with it too.
14. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be? Wal-Mart, they have everything!
15. Who would you want to play you in the movie about your life? Rosanne Arnold (on my bad days) and Julia Roberts (on my good days!)
16. How do you take your coffee? 4 packs of sweet-n-low and 2 big spoons of Kroger brand cinnamon creamer. (Yes, I like coffee with my cream and sugar!)
17. How do you like your steak cooked? Medium rare for me!
18. What do you put on your burger? cheese, ketchup, mustard, onion and pickles!
19. How often do you cook a "homemade" meal? once a week, maybe
20. If you had one more baby, what would you name it? boy: Stephen Jr girl: Gabriella
21. Do you have a special talent? getting pregnant...hence "6" kids
22. What is your least favorite chore? scrubbing bathtub
23. If you had 5 extra minutes in your day, what would you do with it? sleep
24. If you are married, what was your theme/colors? If you aren't yet married, what will they be when you do get married? My theme is Victorian romance and my colors are chocolate brown, gold, ivory and taupe.
25. What is the first thing you do when you go online each day? check email

We watched some movies...

without interruption! Crazy...I know! So instead of giving a run down of my weekend at the Rivah, which I figured would prove to be pretty boring, I thought I would give our opinions on a few movies that we managed to watch. But before I do, I would like to just say that Stevie and I did go fishing on Saturday and we caught a few nice size fish. And we also managed to "steal a few moments" on the boat after it got dark! So, yeah, great weekend!

Be Kind, Rewind
This is supposed to be a comedy starring Mos Def, Jack Black, Danny Glover and a special appearance by Sigourney Weaver. But it was oddly lacking in the "funny" department, especially considering the stars in it! It basically is a movie about a movie rental store that is not doing so well and is in danger of being shut down. Danny Glover plays the owner who goes out of town leaving the store in the hands of Mos Def's character ( I can't remember his name on movie). He makes him swear to keep Jack Black's character out of the store because basically, he is bad news. He gets zapped by electricity, rendering him magnetic, he goes into the store and manages to erase every tape in there. So when one of the owners best customers comes in to rent "Ghostbusters" they don't want her to know the tapes were erased. So they come up with a plan to film the movie themselves. Some parts are mildly funny while others aren't. I could not get in to this movie and neither could Stevie or Alex. Just not a very good story line and it was set in the 70's which made it all seem a bit drab. I would recommend waiting for this to be shown on network TV.

The Other Boleyn Girl
A movie that was supposed to be a "sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal" starring Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana. Now I will admit, Stevie and I didn't actually "see" this movie, we listened to it from the other room while trying to go to sleep. My Dad and my Step mom watched it though. From listening to it and then the final analysis of theirs, led us to believe this movie was not great either. It sounded more like a drama based on some jealous sisters out for their own benefit. And the King was getting action from just about everyone in an attempt to have a son. It sounded to us like a good story gone awry. It just needed some more action or something. You know, one of those movies that just doesn't go anywhere. Again, wait until it hits network TV.
One Missed Call
This one has some unknown stars in it, at least unknown to us, but was actually a pretty good movie. It is a thriller, not too scary, but pretty creepy. Basically, someone gets a "missed call" on their cell phone from a future day and time and it is their own voice on the message. The message turns out to be the last thing they say before they die. The calls come from a person who died at the time the call was made. It all turns out to be a curse and the things the star has to go through in order to figure it all out, are some things I would definitely not do! The ending twist a bit and leaves you wanting more. We think this is a great movie to rent.
The Eye
Starring Jessica Alba (Alex's favorite woman), this is about a blind woman that gets a cornea transplant. After the transplant, she begins seeing some crazy and creepy things happening around her. I was thinking it was a bit like (I see dead people!) because that is pretty much what she sees. The story is a bit slow moving and has moments of, "OK, ALREADY, WE GET IT, SHE SEES DEAD PEOPLE AND NOBODY BELIEVES HER". But overall, this is s great suspense movie that is practically guaranteed to make you jump! I know I did! But I wouldn't consider it to be "scary". A good rental movie for a night when you want an excuse to cuddle. But who needs an excuse?!
Meet The Spartans
I am not even going to take up space on my blog for this one. Can you say..."B-O-R-I-N-G" or even "S-T-U-P-I-D"?! This is definitely a "don't bother"!
And last, but not least....
P.S. I Love You
This one stars Hillary Swank, Lisa Kudrow ( love her!) and Gerard Butler (never heard of him), Kathy Bates and Harry Connick Jr. It is a love story, "girlie flick" as my Dad and Stevie called it. But Stevie actually really enjoyed this movie too. Basically, Hillary's character is married to her "one true love" that is diagnosed with a brain tumor. He knows he is going to die so he leaves notes for her to find after he is gone. On her 30Th birthday she gets the first note that explains why he left them. She gets a total of 10 letters that all include instructions on different things to do in hopes that she will move on with her life, explore new things and find herself. She becomes very wrapped up in the letters and lives her life waiting for the next one. All of the letters are signed "P.S. I Love You". Hence the name. Although the description makes it sound mushy and cliche', it is truly a great movie! Definitely rent this one. And since it is actually almost a year old now, you shouldn't have any issues finding it.

Autism has taken over my life...AGAIN!

I was sitting back and enjoying my newly behaved son after all of the medication trials and failures were behind us. We finally found the right mix to keep him calm, yet still alert and having fun. Rarely were there any outbursts, tantrums or complete meltdowns. I let my guard down and began to enjoy life with all of my kids. It was wonderful to see the bond between Zachy and Sydney grow into that of a very close brother and sister. Ahhh....life was good. Until his daddy, Joey, decided he wanted to try to wean Zachy off of some of his medicine. He has it in his thick ass head that we can get him off of medicines because eventually he will outgrow the extreme compulsiveness and aggression that accompany his Autism. WRONG JOEY!!!!! You stupid mother fu$#@$!!!! That would be the equivalent of assuming a diabetic can someday get off the insulin shots. Everything was going great and my Zachy was happy....actually happy for once! He was making friends and bonding with his siblings. But then you had this great idea to decrease his meds to see if he could maintain himself. Now he is a raving lunatic that is out to destroy anything and everything in his path! Thanks a f#@king lot you moron!!

I apologize for the rant there but let me explain the cause of all of that frustration! Yesterday I had to go to the craft store and the grocery store. Zachary had been on the verge of a complete meltdown all week and it was only a short time before he completely lost it. I knew it, I could see it coming! So I decided to take him with me so he wouldn't be home with his other siblings when I wasn't around. He did wonderful while we were at the craft store. He was interested in all of the Halloween (yes I said HALLOWEEN! In freaking July! What the heck are these stores thinking?!) stuff and even at one point told me he needed to go "poo". He is not potty trained and never...I mean NEVER...goes potty out in public. So of course I am thinking, "wow, maybe he is doing better than I thought". WRONG!! We get to Kroger for grocery shopping, he wants a little cart, you know the kid size ones, they don't have one....let the madness begin! I walked all over the place trying to find one for him but they were all out. He lost it! I tried to convince him to push a regular one or one of those baskets on wheels things. NOPE! HE WANTED A LITTLE CART! This is a phrase the entire store would hear for the next 15 minutes. He was screaming and pushing me and throwing himself in the floor. I tried every trick I knew. Nothing worked. I could have just left the store but I refused to let him run my world. I had to get some stuff, just a few things, I wasn't leaving without my stuff. I figured eventually he would calm down. I figured wrong. He continued to scream and go into a complete and total meltdown, the likes of which this world has never seen! As we finally started out the door, he truly lost it! He was screaming like someone had hurt him all the way through the parking lot. One lady tried to get his attention by telling him that she could hear a fire truck and if he listened he could too. Didn't work! Another lady looked at me like I was beating him right there in the middle of the parking lot. You can only imagine the looks I got in the store. Most people think this is just a very spoiled child throwing a fit. Little do they know what the true problem is. I tried for 15 minutes to get him in his car seat to no avail. He was refusing to do anything but scream, "I said, I want a little cart!". Then he began to scream at me for not driving faster to the store where we could have gotten one, apparently, if I had been quicker. Finally, he plain wore himself out and agreed we would try again next time to get a little cart. He fell asleep when we got back home and slept for 2 hours! (On a side note, parents please, when you take more than one child to the grocery store, don't let all of them have a little cart. It is supposed to be one per family! I saw 2 different ladies with 2 children each and they both had those carts. Zachy lost it even more when he saw that because he knows the rules. Please, try to leave one for someone else. My shopping experience would have been more bearable for everyone. )
Thanks a lot Joey! This is what happens when you lower his meds. He has to have the original dose. He is Autistic not misbehaved! The meds help to regulate his little body so that he can feel more normal in order to enjoy his life. Why would you want to make him more miserable?!

Well he is with his daddy this weekend and I hope like hell that he releases his wrath on his dad like he did me. Maybe then he will wake the hell up!

What a day...

After not getting much sleep yesterday, my day started off wrong and just got worse as it went. Zachary got into trouble at school and I received the dreaded call from the principal. Did he hit someone? No. Did he say a bad word? No. Was he disrupting the class? No. My 6 year old Kindergarten son said those dreaded words, "I am going to bring my gun to school and shoot everyone!". Now before I get any further please remember that Zachary has Autism. And never fear, I do not own a gun nor would I even consider owning one. That being said, I will explain what the principal said happened. Apparently Zachary wanted to get on the monkey bars and a little boy would not let him. So Zachy got mad and said those awful words. His teacher immediately took him into the office and he was told why he could not say that and what could happen. Zachy told the principal that he was just kiddin' and his gun was just fake. He also said, "I'm not going to shoot anyone!" I explained to the principal that Zachy has echolalia and will repeat things he hears at moments he believes they might fit. He also doesn't know how to properly let out his anger due to the Autism and has recently begun saying anything he thinks might hurt you. He has, thankfully, learned that he can not just hit people or throw random objects. Now he has learned the hard way that you also can't make threats at people either. I consider myself lucky really, because in this day and age I guess he could have been suspended for his outburst. But since he is just a little boy with Autism trying to figure out his way in this world, they just tried to explain to him the consequences to saying such terrible things. When Zachary returned home, I also had a discussion with him. He definitely seemed to understand that what he did was wrong and seemed to feel bad for saying it. I also made him tell Stevie what he did and he was "scared" to tell him. Not that he was afraid of Stevie, but that he was afraid of saying it again. Seems like he has learned his lesson and hopefully it will never happen again. After all was said and done, I explained to the other children in the house that we will no longer play with toy guns of any sort around him. We will also refrain from making threats of bodily harm even during play because he just doesn't get it. Thankfully, understanding kids that they are, they agreed.

A little while later, I decided to let him and Sydney get in the pool. They started out playing well together and then things changed. Sydney mentioned that she wanted some goggles to wear and by the time we found some, she didn't want them anymore. Well Zachary wanted to help and began chasing her around the pool trying to put them on her head. When he caught up to her, he started trying to force them on her head even though she was crying and telling him to stop. I jumped up and tried to get him to stop but he kept insisting that he was putting them on her head "just in case she needs them". He was trying to help, but he was scaring the living shit out of her. It took about 10 minutes of arguing and convincing for him to finally leave her alone. She was upset, I was upset and Zach was mad. It is times like this that I get scared for his future. Sometimes he gets something set in his head and there is no changing his mind! He just doesn't get it either. He is such a sweet boy that didn't ask for his disability, but he can be so dangerous too. I have to watch him 24/7, especially when he is around other small children. He doesn't mean to hurt anyone and he does much better now than he used to, but the fact is that he is capable of harming someone. I ofter think ahead to the future and wonder what will happen to him. The thought of placing him in a home just breaks my heart. I hope and pray everyday that he will come out of this and he will be able to one day lead a normal life. But then after a day like yesterday, I start thinking he has no chance. Why?! Why does it have to be like this?! If he were "normal", he would be such a handsome, sweet and helpful little boy. You can see it in him. But he struggles everyday to remember the rules and figure out this great big world. It sucks something awful! I realize that I am fortunate in some ways because he is verbal and he is able to walk etc. But I just hate seeing him struggle so much. He is my little boy and I love him dearly!

What would you do at 3 am on a weeknight?

Me...I am up trying to help Zachy figure out which snack he wants while trying to convince him not to be so loud. After going through the 5 different normal snacks, he picks animal cookies. I go in the kitchen to get them and along the way I decide to go ahead and get his medicine in hopes that he might go back to sleep for a bit. I know it is early but after he has woken me up 3 times between midnight and now, I hope it will help calm him back down allowing the both of us to get some rest. I give him his medicine and as I am handing him his cup of water, he knocks it out of my hand, spilling water all over himself and his bed. Completely soaking his clothes, sheets, blankets and mattress. Now he is wet, crying and upset that he has medicine in his mouth and the cup of water is now empty. I run into the kitchen to get him more water to chase his medicine down. When I return, he is sobbing in such a sad way that I can feel my heart breaking. He thinks I am mad at him. I give him the water and explain that it is ok because it was just an accident. I proceed to clean him up, change his bed, dry his mattress as best as I can, and lay him back down still hoping he will go back to sleep. Before I leave the room he asks, "mommy, where is my snack?".

Now that I am obviously wide awake after a 25 minute ordeal, I hear Stevie in the bathroom shaving for work. I realize real fast that I am not going to be able to go back to sleep so I decide to stay up until Stevie leaves for work. (why didn't he help Zachy when he woke up?) I grab a cup of coffee because I am awake, after all, and I can't get out of bed without it. Then I start thinking about my blog. Yes, my blog, at 3:30 a-freaking-m! I have been doing everything and anything to get more comments on my blog, or more readers for that matter, and all I can think about in my sleepy state is, "I wonder if I have a new comment?". So I open my computer and check my email. To my disappointment, no new comments! Damn! I begin to read some of my favorite blogs and a few new ones before falling asleep, hand still on my keyboard.

I woke up just in time to quickly get Cheyenne and Zachy off to summer school. Speaking of summer school, when I went to pick Cheyenne up yesterday, it was yet another cluster fuck! I took pictures to prove my point!

This is the line of cars behind me as seen through my rear view mirror. The line continues further back and is comprised of about 100 cars waiting to pick up their child.

This is the line in front of me and you can also see the line of students waiting to be picked up.

Once again, the idea they went with was to have all of the children wait in the front of the traffic line until their family got to the front to pick them up. Problem is, not all of the children come out at the same time. Also, once again, when any child decided to walk back in the line to get in their family's vehicle, they were reprimanded by the teachers. I spent another 30 minutes in line because these people are not bright enough to figure out that if they allow the kids to proceed to their awaiting vehicles, the traffic would move a whole lot quicker. But as I slowly proceeded to the front of the line and my daughter comes into view I am met by the principal waving her arms for me to proceed and telling me to pull to the front of the line. Well DUH!! These people absolutely amaze me with their brilliance!

So if you are reading my blog, please leave me a comment. Then maybe if Zachy actually sleeps tonight, I will too!

For those who would like to see...

some boring wedding stuff! Maybe it was a bad thing for me to finally learn how to add photo's to my blog!

This is my $200 wedding dress from China! I had it altered a bit by having some of the excess material removed from the sleeves. I also had it made into an off the shoulder style. It is made entirely of Chiffon lace and absolutely elegant!

This is the dress that Cheyenne, Sierra and Ashlei will be wearing as my bridesmaids.

This is the flower girl dress that Sydney and Emma will be wearing. I added some mini red roses to the belt of it to match their hairpieces I made.

This is kind of what I want my cake to look like. My cake will only be 2 layers and the layers will be heart shaped to match our romantic theme. Then I will put wide black ribbon around the bottom of each layer instead of the little icing balls. And last but not least, I will sprinkle red rose petals over the cake.

This is someone else's candy buffet, but I am doing mine very similar. My buffet will be created on a red satin cloth and our wedding colors of gold, brown and ivory.

And this is how I am going to have my hair done. The veil will go in under the poof in the back! I just hope I look half as pretty as Carrie!

First Day of Summer School!

Zachary wanted me to show everyone his picture he drew on his first day of summer school! He says it is our house (although I am not sure what the building in the back is). Good Job Zachary!

Speaking of the first day of summer school, is it just me or does dropping and picking your child up at school require a Master's degree in rocket science?! I mean how hard is it to drive up, let your child get in and drive away?! Do these people even recognize their own child in a crowd? I kid you not, it took 30 minutes to get through the line so that I could pick up my child. I do blame the school for some of the confusion because these geniuses, that we are allowing to teach our children, explained where to drop off your child but left out where to pick them up. So when I first arrived at the school, all of the cars were lined up in the circle by the front doors. (Where we dropped our children off that morning, coincidentally) After 2 classes were brought out through those same doors and herded around to the back of the school, we all began to realize that maybe we are supposed to be back there. Now first of all, why would they bring the children out on the side where the parents are waiting, and then walk them around to the other side?! Maybe they were using our kids as bait to get us ,evidently ignorant parents, to follow. Well if that is the case, it worked. Because all of a sudden, you had about 50 cars that were sitting in the circle, proud of their accomplishment at being in the front of the line, fighting to be the first to get out of the circle and back in line behind the building. This went on for about 15 minutes until finally we had all claimed our spot at the back of the building in the bus loop. Now some of the kids were outside but not all of them. My daughter, for instance, had not yet emerged. But you would think that as the kids emerged from the building, they would look for their parents in this massive line, and go get in the car allowing that parent to exit the line and move on. Thereby allowing the others in line to move forward in hopes of collecting their child. But noooo, instead they led all of the children to the front of the line, fussing at the kids who were attempting to go to their parents cars. So now you have about 200 kids in one spot at the front of the line, but somehow the kids belonging to those vehicles in front, weren't in the crowd. So as those of us that were waiting in the middle or back of the line, and could clearly see our child waiting, had to wait behind those parents whose children have not yet emerged. What a cluster-fuck! The sad part is that you have about 6 teachers, a principal and an assistant principal standing there with their thumbs up their ass trying to figure out why their plan didn't work! DUH!!! I, quite frankly, am now in fear of my child's education! Hopefully these people have more book sense than common sense, because if not, it is going to be an interesting year!