What Happens When Electronics Collide

My son.

Isn't he cute?

Good thing he has his looks.

Every other Sunday, Paige and I have our Girl Scout meetings. The past few meeting nights as we're walking out the door, that boy up there hits me with, "Can you turn on the WiiU for me?" Now, he knows how to change the input on the tv and he knows how to turn the WiiU on. I reminded him that he knew what to do and he could play as I pulled the door closed behind us.

We get to my friend's house for our meeting, get the girls settled and started on their work and 20 minutes in, Peter Griffin starts singing "Bird is the Word". That's my husband's ringtone. He knows where I am and what I'm doing so I can only assume something bad has happened. So I answer.

"The tv is dead. He broke it."

Excuse me? What is dead and who did what?

Mike was playing a Zelda game we recently discovered and he apparently got a little too into pretending to be Link. Well, more like a lot too into it.

While he was swinging the Wii-mote around like a sword he got a tad too close to the tv. He usually wears the wrist strap, but since I wasn't there, I can't be sure. There's always the chance he swung his sword and that sword came flying out of his hand. Either way, the Wii-mote met the tv screen.

Needless to say I was fuming and had a hard time staying focused on Girl Scouts over the next 90 minutes. You might think that would be enough time for one to calm down and return home not as mad as when they first found out what happened.

You would be wrong.

I honestly expected to come home and see a Wii-mote sticking out of the tv screen. Or at the very least see a shattered screen. I saw neither when Paige and I walked in the door. Confused, I calmly walked upstairs to talk to Mike. I say calmly (or at least as calm as I could be) because the husband had already told him the yelling was done. It's never pretty when the husband really gets mad so I can only imagine how it went over when he discovered what happened. You can also congratulate me here for abiding to the no yelling. My temper? It's an ugly one, too.

I told Mike I understood it was an accident, and even though he owned up to what he did to both me and the husband, he was still in trouble. We discussed how long he's grounded for and what he needs to do around the house to pay us back for the damage he caused. I calmly walked back downstairs to find out just how bad the damage was. From what I was told, I didn't think the tv would even turn on.

Don't tell my son this, but it's really not as bad as I expected. For his safety, that's probably a good thing.

It looks like a bullet went through the bottom right corner of the screen. And those two shapes sticking up? They look like silhouettes of buildings with psychedelic rainbow stripes. Annoying, but still a bit neat. The black lines going across the bottom and up the right side I could do without, but the odd thing is, the longer I had the tv on last night, the better they got. Things at the top of the screen were no longer showing up at the bottom. Which is a really good thing since Conan O'Brian's head during his commercials was not only where it should be, but it was also showing up on his crotch.

In the meantime, we do have a back-up tv in case this one really does give out because of this incident (thank you, friend! You know who you are!), but I'm glad it wasn't as bad as I expected. And I'm still glad I wasn't home when it happened.

The lessons to take from this, for you and for me - always wear the wrist straps, stand far back from the tv, and maybe avoid sword fighting games.

I'm not the only parent this has happened to, right?


Until next time...

Success

It's something we all want, but if we really look, it's something all of us already have.

I won't lie when I say I suck at New Year's resolutions. The proof? Our house is nowhere near as organized as I would like even though that has been my resolution for the past too many years to count. Approaching this past New's Years Eve, I noticed a few friends talking about a theme instead of a resolution. Maybe on some level it means the same thing, but I'm choosing to ignore that.

My theme for 2014 is success. Not that last year wasn't a success. In fact, that's far from the truth. We all succeeded at little things throughout the year but there some biggies that none us will forget any time soon.

The husband completed his first full marathon, which we also tied into a beach vacation for the family. It may have been in March and too chilly to fully enjoy the beach, but both a marathon and beach vacation were on our lists of things to do.

By the end of summer, we had two successful bike riders. Not only that, but both kids were able to get mountain bikes that they desperately wanted.

My big accomplishment last year was finally opening my Etsy shop, Cuppa Stitches. Learning to crochet a few years was one of the best things I ever learned to do. I love creating, but I also find it very relaxing. Once I opened my shop, I worked on it for months. I edited pictures, changed descriptions, added more inventory and did everything else I could think of. I was starting to give up hope. Then out of the blue a few weeks before Thanksgiving (almost 7 months after opening!) I got my first sale. To be perfectly honest, I would have been happy closing up shop after that one sale. It was proof that I set my mind to something and accomplished it. But to this day, my store is happily moving along.

Success in my shop for the coming year is just one piece of the pie. I want success to be a part of every aspect of my life and my family this coming year

For the rest of the year, I want to focus on little things in every aspect of my life. Whether it's teaching one of the kids something new, learning something new myself, organizing a room and keeping it organized, watching my husband accomplish something he sets his mind to. Everything.

January isn't even half way over and we've already experienced a bit of success. Dude recently had his Pinewood Derby race for Cub Scouts. He came in 3rd place and gets to move on to the next set of races.

GG learned a new skill a few night ago. She received a polymer clay kit for Christmas and she's already made a few animals and winged hearts that she wants to bake. If she sticks with it, maybe I'll give her her own little section of my shop.

Success doesn't just have to be monetary. Oh, believe you me, that is on our lists as well, but saving money is a resolution. It is a promise to yourself that focuses on one aspect of your life. Succeeding at what you put your mind to is much more. It applies to every aspect, not just one. Hopefully that mindset will lead to great things in this new year. Not only for me, but for my family. I hope it gives us the strength and motivation to continue down that path of success.

Do you have goals for the coming year? I'd love to hear them!

Until next time...

Poison Ivy and Snakes

What a busy weekend we had. I feel like I say that every weekend anymore, but it's the truth.

As much as I love my sleep, I actually don't mind getting up early.  I am not a morning person, but I do enjoy savoring a cup of coffee (or three) and having everything I need to do done by early afternoon so I can enjoy the rest of the day with my husband and kids.

As satisfying as that feeling is to get things done early, I hate having to wake early and rush out the door.  Not being able to savor those cups of coffee tends to make me grumpy.  A grumpy me is never a fun me.

The chaos of last weekend began Friday afternoon with school pick-up.

Little Dude was complaining of being itchy the night before.  He has dry skin and has had issue with eczema in the past so I thought nothing of it.  I would just lotion him up and he's be good to go.

Not the case.

Little Dude bounced out of school Friday afternoon, happy it was finally the weekend, and that's when I saw it.  Scratches, blisters, and a flaming red neck.  Right then I knew it was more than eczema.  It was poison ivy.  Perhaps letting them run around on the hillside by the husband's work was not a good idea.  Thank goodness I had some anti-itch cream in the medicine cabinet because I didn't have time to run to the store.  I had to get the husband from work and take my boys to the zoo for a Scout sleepover

After we returned home from our drive to the zoo, GG and I prepared for our girl's night in.  I was setting up the DVD player for a few games of Harry Potter Scene-It when I realized Little Dude wasn't the only one who was running around on that hillside.  The proof was beginning to show on GG's legs, hands, and arms.  Thankfully she could make do without the anti-itch cream (I sent it off with my boys).  She was either not effected as bad as Little Dude or she had more control when it came to not scratching.

Until Sunday.

Sunday was our end of the year Girl Scout picnic.  It was hot as hell and she was running around almost the entire 8 hours we were there.  A hot and sweaty girl made for an itchy girl.  I again left the cream with the boys because Little Dude didn't seem to understand he shouldn't scratch if he wanted to get better.  A hot, sweaty, tired and itchy child is NOT a fun child!

But just because we were all hot, sweaty, tired, and some were itchy, didn't mean there was no fun to be had.  GG had a blast at the picnic - good food, crafts, and friends.  And Little Dude had a blast on his zoo trip.  He was able to go behind the scenes with a few exhibits and touch animals ordinary patrons might not have a chance to touch.

Holding an armadillo

You'll just have to trust me that GG had a great time at our picnic.  I wasn't able to capture any pictures during the event because I was too busy trying to control the chaos.  All the girls in attendance seemed to have a good time, but events like this make me realize that we do, in fact, have well behaved children.


Until next time...

There's Always a Price to Pay

Over the weekend, Little Dude and the husband went away to Boy Scout Camp.  After watching him pack before they left, I think the husband was more excited than the boy!

I always worry when they're gone.  It's what I do best.  And some of the texts from the husband certainly didn't help.  For example, the one complaining no one else there would know how to survive in the wilderness or no one knew how to build a fire.  And those were from their first night there!  Ya, comforting.

After that first night, I assume all had a good time.  One of the activities my boys were really looking forward to was fishing.  The husband was so excited to go out last week and buy his boy his very first fishing rod.  I was worried when Little Dude was waving his rod around  like a sword, but considering he caught not one, but THREE fish, I think it's safe to say he learned the proper way to handle a fishing rod!

Once the boys were home, Little Dude told me all about fishing, running around with his friends, and how to make S'mores.  What he failed to mention to me were his battle wounds.

He fell into a wall!

I think it's about time I really started pressing the husband to let me buy this boy a helmet!



Until next time...

Sickeningly sweet

I have a 6 year old who thinks he's the king of the world that listens to no one and a 10 year old who is embracing every bit of pre-tweendom there is. I know. You're jealous.

But just because my kids have bratty tendencies doesn't mean they're like that all the time. In fact, they can be sickeningly sweet. Take this past weekend for example.

Friday night GG was invited to sleepover a friend's house. With one child out of the house I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to work on the 100th day of school project with the other. Little Dude, with the help of GG, decided to make a football field for this project. Football fields have 100 yards so this was a perfect idea.

I squirted some green paint on a plate so Little Dude could start to paint his field. When he was done he asked if he cold paint the rest of the plate. Instead of wasting the paint, I told him to have at it. Before it had time to dry, he asked if I could add some glitter to the paint. When all was said and done, he had a green glittered plate with a picture of a girl taped to the side. On the back of the picture was a note to his sister - I love you.

How sweet, right?! But he was not the only one who was sweet over the weekend.

GG had some gift card to a book store burning a hole in her pocket. I told her we could go to the book store and have a mother-daughter afternoon. While we were at the store, GG got lost in the maze of shelves. Being an avid reader, she just couldn't make up her mind. And then she saw it. An illuminating Harry Potter wand! Sadly, the only actual Harry Potter wand we could find was broken. She was about to settle on a Hermione wand when the look in her eyes changed. I tried to explain she could get whatever she wanted with her gift cards. GG told me if she bought the wand and one of the nooks she wanted, she wouldn't have enough money left over to buy me a treat and coffee.

Naturally that explanation broke my heart. I told her to put the wand back and grab her original choice of books. If treating me was that important to her, the husband and I would go online and buy her an actual Harry Potter wand. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. She proudly paid for her books and we walked towards the coffee shop. I must say, that was the best tasting Oreo cheesecake I have ever had.

Have your kids done anything sweet lately?

Until next time...

What the boy really wants

Alternately titled "The year we became some of those parents" - the crazy, must have this toy and now Christmas shopper kind of parents.


Every Christmas, we buy each kid one big gift and a few smaller, filler gifts. The idea for GG was conceived a few months ago and it is now safely hiding somewhere in the house. Little Dude's big gift? Well, that another story. And an ugly one.


A few months ago LeapFrog announced a new toy, the LeapPad. As cool as it looked, I didn't really think Little Dude needed it. I knew he would love it, but I really didn't want to buy all new games. It would be like switching all of our VHS tapes over to DVDs - a royal pain in the ass! And besides, stores around here weren't carrying them. I wasn't going to turn into one of those moms who goes nuts over a toy for her young child. I did that once with Elmo and it wasn't fun.

As time passed I periodically checked out this LeapPad. Our Target finally got a few in stock and I admit, I did play around with the display model a bit. But I still wasn't sure if his Explorer games would work with it. After more research, I learned that his games would in fact work with this new system. Now I had to get the husband on board with me on this purchase.

The husband was on the fence for quite some time but I finally managed to pull him over to the other side, my side. This feat of mine was finally accomplished the day after Cyber Monday. That night we turned to the LeapFrog website, as well as websites for any and all stores that sold toys. The LeapPad could not be found anywhere. The husband and I decided we would keep looking, but would talk up the dinosaur I had purchased a few days prior in case we couldn't acquire a LeapPad. And then Monday happened.


I had gone shopping with a friend in the morning. Once home I decided to give finding an available LeapPad a shot. The LeapFrog website wouldn't load and I knew something was up. A quick check of their Facebook page told me they had a few in stock. Everybody and their mother must have seen this status update. Damn them!

The husband and I spent the better part of the next 3 hours trying to obtain this precious toy. Just as one of us managed to add it to our virtual cart, our session would time out and the site would crash. Finally at the end of that 3 hour time span, the husband managed to add one to his cart and enter our shipping information. Just as he was about to enter our billing information, the site crashed once again. Our purchase never went through. When the site was finally brought back up, all but the super expensive bundles were sold out. Not wanting to spend that kind of money, we felt sad, frustrated, and defeated.

Yesterday afternoon the husband and I finally agreed that we would purchase Little Dude a LeapPad after Christmas. Perhaps for Easter. I had lost hope of obtaining one and I think the frustrations from Monday were something the husband didn't want to go through again. Apparently a little birdie, or frog in this case thought otherwise.

As usual, while dinner is cooking, the kids are taking a tv break, the husband is upstairs doing work for the class he's taking, and I'm playing around on the computer . That's when I saw it - our window of opportunity. One little status update with a heads up and off I was racing up the steps to share what I just read with the husband. He quickly jumped on the website and just like that, he bought our boy a LeapPad. I cannot wait to see Little Dude's face come Christmas morning!

Now if only I could have this kind of luck with the lottery!


How is your Christmas shopping going? Hopefully not as stressful as mine!



Until next time...

Blue blur

I am so proud of my boy!

Last week the Boy Scouts held their annual Space Derby. Each boy was given a kit to build their space ship. The husband glued the two blocks of wood together. Once they dried, he began to sand out the square into the shape of a rocket. The husband did the bulk o the sanding, but Little Dude definitely had a hand in it.

Once the husband deemed the shape of the space ship acceptable, it was handed over to me. My job was to then apply a base coat of paint. Sky blue was the color Little Dude picked. Once that was dry, Little Dude took over with a handful of brushes and a full palette of paint.

Last Friday, the husband added the propeller and the fins. Saturday afternoon we were off to the race. We were all worried as this was Little Dude's first time with this race. It was the husband's first time since this was an event his Boy Scout troop opted out of.

My boy's ship would be
the blue blur in the lead :)

By the end of the race, Little Dude's space ship had won 6 races before it was eliminated. Had he won just one more race, my boy would have placed third and that would have given him a trophy. The husband and I were a little disappointed that, for the second Boy Scout race, Little Dude was just one race shy of a trophy. But I don't think Little Dude cared. The race by itself was enough for him.

But a blue ribbon didn't hurt either!

Until next time...

Paint and Blow

This past weekend Little Dude has his first big Boy Scout event. I said from the beginning that I wanted nothing to do with Boy Scouts because it seems a little more disorganized than Girl Scouts can be. But that didn't stop me from attending this event with my boy.

The big scouting event of the weekend was the Rain Gutter Regatta.



Like we tend to do with many things, we waited until the last minute to purchase the supplies. I'll spare you the hell I went through to get said supplies. But I will say that Pat Catan employees are idiots! I finally purchased the paints Wednesday evening and began painting Thursday afternoon. The plan was for my to paint the boy's boat with a base coat of brown. He would do the details. The paint I bought was definitely not easy to work with (or clean up), but by Friday evening, that part of the process was complete.

Saturday morning the husband gave the boat one final sanding job before he applied the acrylic sealer to waterproof the boat. I'm not sure if the paint or the sealer caused the problem. Perhaps both. The paint looked smudged after a coat of the sealer was applied. Luckily, Little Dude wasn't upset. He said the cannons he painted on the side could still shoot. I guess that was the important part of the boat!


After lunch, the four of us headed to the library where the race would take place. Two rain gutters were set up on poles. Two boys at a time would race and it a double elimination. Each boy had to use a straw to blow air on the boat's sail to move it from one end of the gutter to the other.




Just knowing that Little Dude's boat floated made us all very proud. Watching my boy come so close to winning made us even prouder. He ended up coming in a close second. If his boat had not tipped over at the end, he would have had it.

All week, Little Dude was telling us that racing is not about winning, it's about having fun. The smile on his face, and the blue ribbon in his hand, definitely shows how much fun he had.

Boys were allowed to wear Halloween costumes.
Which worked out since we have yet
to buy his actual uniform. Oops!

We now need to prepare for the Space ship race. I think we'll need some luck for that since neither the husband nor I have any experience with this race. He never did it in scouts and my brother never did either. I have a feeling a blog post or 2 may come out of this race!





Until next time...

I do, not boo

The husband and I are coming up on a pretty big anniversary this week. I'm not quite sure how it happened. So much has happened, and yet it feels like yesterday we were saying our I do's. I can't believe we're coming up on our 10 year anniversary!

We had talked about doing something big, like going out of town for a weekend. I am a little disappointed. I know someday we'll get there. But that certainly didn't stop us from having a great night celebrating this past weekend.

The husband and I went to one of my favorite Asian restaurants. We shared a plate of tune sashimi, and I followed that up with my favorite dish - Dragon and Phoenix. Chicken, shrimp, and veggies n a spicy sauce.

Sitting in our own corner of the room, the husband and I talked about new things as well as reminiscing about the past. At that moment I didn't care where we were. I was happy just being together in our own world.

After dinner, we decided to use the 2 tickets I had in my wallet for a local haunted house. Those RIP tickets allowed us to bypass the line and walk right up to the entrance. At that moment we really were in another world. We jumped. We laughed. I may or may not have screamed a few times. It also took everything I had to not torture the kids in front of us.

I sometimes feel old when I think about being with the same person for half of my life, married for 10 of those years, but that doesn't mean I can't act like act like a kid!



Until next time...

I should go back to school

My midgets returned to school Monday. Can I get an Amen?!

I wasn't expecting any homework for them the first few days. It was me that I was worried about. There's the emergency contact form, the allergy form, the can you sign this after you go through the handbook with your child form, the who is picking your child up after school form, the media release form... need I go on or do you get the picture? Now multiply that by 2.

And add a few more. Sigh...

Along with the standard papers that come home every first day of school for the past 4 years I've been doing this school gig, GG had some additional forms. I was spared going through the handbook with her, but had to go over the policies for not one, but 2 teachers she has this year.

Just when I thought I had every "t" crossed and every "i" dotted, I saw them. The questionnaires. *insert daunting music here*

There was the form from her actual teacher. What subjects does your child excel at? What subject does she struggle with? What are her hobbies? Name 5 things about your child's character. Easy questions and I think my child's teacher should know more about her early in the year so there aren't any surprises along the way.

Then I came to the questions from GG's math teacher. This teacher saw my girl compete in a math competition last year. She knows she excels at math. She even commented to me about GG doing problems above her grade level (actual proud mom moment here). Due to that experience, it probably wasn't necessary for me to fill out those questions, but I did so anyway. They were easy peasy. Until the last one.

That would be the question where I completely blanked out and forgot how to spell. And I wrote in pen. Now GG's math teacher probably wonders how a smart child came from such a dumb parent who can't even spell.



For more Proud Mommy Moments (or "proud)
go check out Emmy and Kmama






Unlike the husband, I actually do know how to spell and rather well, thankyouverymuch. There's just a handful of words that I constantly misspell and one of those ended up on that questionnaire.



Until next time...

The traveller

I still have a few weeks to go, but I think I need to start preparing now. The husband will be traveling.

*insert daunting music here*

Part of the reason for our vacation a few weeks ago was because of a conference the husband wanted to attend. We tacked a few extra days on so we could mix business with pleasure. While at that conference, he got wind of yet another conference he wants to go to. The subject material at this conference is right up his alley in regards to what he does for a living, but it's also in a city that he loves.

I won't lie, we did try to find a way to mix business with pleasure again, but it just wasn't going to work. We didn't have a lot of time to plan. The price of airfare and a hotel would be a lot higher, and we would probably have to take the kids out of school for a day or 2. That last part isn't something I was keen on doing so early in the school year. The husband asked if I would mind if he went alone.

Going to conferences like this are not only great for his career, but it's related to something he is passionate about doing. I support both of those things. What I don't like to support is the idea of me being along with the kids for a long weekend. I won't be able to up and go to my sister-from-another-mister's house at the end of the day because who will watch the kids? I also won't be able to sleep the days that he is gone. Even if the husband falls asleep on the couch and I am upstairs alone in our bed, I still know he is there. I feel safe. When he isn't there, every single noise will scare me.

You would think I'd be used to this by now. The husband doesn't travel often, but he does go out of town a few times a year. There has also been talk of him traveling more to conferences because he wants to be a speaker and not just an attendee. I know he will have fun and I know I will be fine, but I don't think I will ever get used to my husband going out of town.

I can just hope that he remembers he promised to bring me back a nice pair of boots. That will make everything better, right?


Until next time...

I should be fired

I want to start out by saying that, yes, we had a wonderful Easter. But not without some bumps in the road.

The morning started off entirely too early. My husband is one awesome man because he typically lets me sleep in on the weekends. Even though he so graciously does that, I still set my alarm. If left to my own devices, or lack of, I could sleep well past noon. Yesterday morning I woken up by little voices more than an hour before my alarm was set to go off. Combine that with staying up to midnight the night before waiting for said little voices to fall into dreamland. It wasn't pretty. I wasn't pretty!

Little Dude had already found his basket. I heard the husband telling him to stop looking for things until I woke up. That was my cue because I know my kids have less patience than I do. I rolled out of bed, curled up on the couch, and watched them through one open eye as they started looking for the hidden eggs.

In the process of looking for the eggs, GG found her basket cleverly hidden inside an old book bag. Right at this moment it occurred to me the hula hoop the bunny was supposed to hide was still hanging in the basement. Thank goodness she got wrapped up in helping Little Dude find the one last egg. I slipped downstairs to grab the hula hoop, tip toed back upstairs, and hid it behind the door she had looked behind no less than 10 times for her basket. Easter has made me realize that my kids are anything but observant when they are told to find things. She never once questioned why the hula hoop didn't' appear until the 11th time she looked behind that door.

By 10am, I should have been fired. I think someone gave me leeway because I had hard boiled eggs successfully. The first time! That's twice in 8 years now. Not bad!

Had I been fired then, the events towards the end of the afternoon would never have happened.

The rest of the morning at home went out without a hitch, as well as the few hours spent at my in-laws. An hour after we arrived at my mom's house, things took a turn. Thank goodness I was the only one who noticed.

You see, after leaving my in-laws house, we had to stop home for a few things. The husband wanted to lay down for a few minutes before we went to my mom's house. During that time, Little Dude thought it was a good idea see how loud he could fart, thus grossing his sister out. Quite frankly it grossed me out, too! I didn't think much of it until a few hours later at my mom's.

While chasing his sister around the house (damn the layout of my mom's house that leads to running in circles!), I caught sight of the back end of my dear, sweet boy. I'm not ruling out what I saw as evidence of his farting competition with himself, but I'd prefer to think of it as him sitting on something.

Never again will my boy wear khaki pants. I should be fired for this!


So, how was your Easter?



Until next time....

I need a fix

Wednesday nights can be miserable nights for me. Thankfully it's only once a month that I really have to put up with it.

I'm a Girl Scout Leader. Once a month on a Wednesday, the leaders have a meeting. We discuss what each troop is doing and any events that are coming up. All we do is talk and sometimes I take notes. You wouldn't think listening to someone talk for close to 2 hours would be tiring. But it is.

After every meeting I come home, plop my butt on the couch, and watch crappy TV. My brain just cannot function.

But that has since changed.

The other leader of our troop has been bringing her baby to the meetings. Leader meetings have turned into baby time for me. He's a big boy, but oh, so cute. When her arms just can't hold him anymore, I gladly take over. If she needs to do something, I will gladly take a hold of him while she works. Sometimes I wonder if I just have that look in my eye that screams "I need a baby fix!!!'


I absolutely love babies, but the husband and I have decided that 2 is enough. Hell, sometimes Little Dude by himself is more than enough! But anyway, the husband has very justified reasons for stopping at 2 and quite frankly, we couldn't swing it right now even if we wanted another baby. Financially and spatially. Although he probably wouldn't have to twist my arm too much if he did change his mind.

For now, it's probably best that I get my baby fix through other people's children. Plus, I can give those kids back when they start to cry. That's probably the best part!


Until next time....

Blue Blobs

Sunday started off just like any other weekend morning.

Wait, who am I kidding? No it didn't!

The husband is a saint and usually lets me sleep in on the weekend. For example, Saturday, I slept until close to noon. Go ahead. Be jealous!

The same thing would have happened yesterday, but I had to be up early.

Long story short, I participate in a children's resale event twice a year. In order to bring home 70% percent of my profits instead of 60%, I volunteer during the sale. Sunday morning was my volunteer time. Doing a 9am to 12 shift seemed like a good idea at the time. As if getting up at 8am wasn't hard enough, my body thought it was a good idea to also wake up at 5am. And 6am. And 7am. I should have known right there that the day wouldn't go as planned.

Other than being a lot of work, my shift went well. When I returned home, everything and everyone were as they should be. And then he said it.

"Mom, do you like my creation?"

Oh, crap!

Little Dude had built something out of Legos. He did a very good job. Except his creation was sticking out of a blob of silly putty. I'm not sure why it's called silly putty. It's not your average silly putty that you can squish on a newspaper.

Like this...

It's shiny and slimy and gross. It looks like a bog blob of blue snot. And to make matters worse? The boy stuck an eraser right in the middle of the blob and then lost the container.

I got all the pieces out of the blue blob and back into the container that he thankfully found. I thought this was the last speed bump that I would hit for the day. Oh how wrong I was!

A few hours later we are at my in-laws. The husband just had a birthday and we were getting ready to go out for dinner. That's when I looked down and saw it.

A blue blob of snotty looking putty in his hair.

There was more scattered through out his hair.
This is just where the bulk of it was.
Sigh...

There was no way I could comb it out of his hair. It took a bribe for me to remove a hangnail from the boy's finger the previous day. This would be a lot worse! I really didn't want to cut his hair because he's trying to grow his yearly mohawk. But if I had to, I would do it.


Thankfully with some shampoo and warm water, I got it out. There were some tears involved, but it's out.


However, my relief was short lived. While I was walking across the living room to hang some coats up, I noticed tiny gelatinous blobs of blue throughout our green carpet.


Why do boys do these things?! It's not just mine, right?


Until next time....

Green skies and ping pong balls

In Southwest PA we don't have to deal with extreme weather, save the occasional blizzard once every few years. As much as complain about the cold, I would much rather be here than somewhere else. We've all seen the wrath of Mother Nature recently in Japan. I know I definitely couldn't deal with that. At all!

However, after yesterday, I have started the rethink where we live.

The weathermen predicted warm, but rainy weather for yesterday. We all know that weather men (and women) are right maybe never 50% of the time. The abundance of sun yesterday was further proof of that. I expected an easy drive to get the husband from work. I wouldn't need my sunglasses, but I was happy to not have to drive in the rain.

Once we were on the highway, the kids and I noticed the dark clouds rolling in. We saw a little lightening and a few big, fat drops hit the windshield. With the position of the clouds it appeared that we were slightly ahead of the storm. I hoped that it would pass and we wouldn't get stuck in it on the way back home.

Oh how wrong I was!!!

Quicker than a snap of my fingers, those big fat drops turned into some of the biggest hail I have ever seen. I have never pulled off the highway due to weather. Until yesterday. I really started to freak out when everyone else on the road pulled over as well.

The kids were ooh-ing and aah-ing over the size of the hail. Me? I'm surprised I wasn't honking the horn from my heart pounding out of my chest so hard! All the while I prayed that the windshield wouldn't break.

After a few minutes that felt like forever, the hail stopped. The rest of our drive was easy and I assumed the return trip would be easy as well since the storm had passed. I really need to stop assuming.

During the last 10 minutes of our return trip we all noticed our surroundings getting darker and darker. Without completely driving like a bat out of hell, I tried to hurry and get us home. I think because of this, I ended up getting behind the slowest driver ever. Needless to say, a few blocks from our house the lightening once again started and the sky turned a scary shade of green.

As I'm turning a corner I hear it.


BOOM!!!!!!


I do believe the exact words out of my mouth were "What the fuck was that?!" (I'm such a good role model for kids, aren't I?)

The hail had once again started. It was beating the crap out of our car but being so close to home, I had no choice but to keep going. As I was sprinting into the house I noticed chunks of ice on our porch steps. Instead of standing in the now pouring rain, I walked through the house and out onto our covered back porch. That's when I noticed this...

It looks like a ping pong ball, but it is indeed a 1 inch ball of ice. I hope to never see that again!


By the way, that ball and his friends left a nice dent in the roof of our car! But I guess it's better than a broken windshield! Compared to the rest of the area, we actually got off easy with this storm.



Until next time....

Work habits

Most Some days I feel like I'm in this alone.

I cook, I clean, I volunteer at the school.

Just because I'm a SAHM doesn't mean I'm not busy. It would be a wonderful thing to have the husband cook dinner once in a while or take over homework duty. I'd ask him to take over bath duty, but the last time I asked for that, his eyes bugged out and his head started spinning. I'm not sure he ever wants that chore again!

I don't want anyone to think that the husband is ignoring us or taking advantage of me. He's not. If I ask, he will be there. But it would be nice to have the house cleaned or dinner cooked without asking. Especially this week when I am pulling my hair out trying to make a deadline.

The reason the husband doesn't jump in and help as often as I would like is because he works. He might not admit it if you asked, but he's a work-a-holic. Even when he's laying in our bed instead of sitting at his desk at the office, he's working. Sometimes it's actual work stuff he's doing. Other times it's one of many side projects. Some for pleasure, some with the intent to make some extra money.

I wish I would have known about his work habits going in to our marriage. It would not have stopped me from marrying him. We really are two peas in a pod. But fair warning would have been appreciated.


With the way our schedules are right now, it's not possible for me to work outside of the home. I love being a SAHM, but sometimes I wish I could contribute financially. I do have my days where I want to scream at the top of my lungs.

HELP ME OUT!!!!!

But I know the husband works damn hard to be able to provide for us. I am so thankful that he not only has a job, but has a good one.


I am also thankful that those around him also recognize his hard work.

Yesterday the husband had his yearly review. I can't believe he's been with this company for 4 years now! Not only did he get a great review, but he also got an awesome raise.

This week, we shall celebrate.

Next week it's back to screaming and pulling my hair out.





For more information
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Even though I don't think this post is debatable,
I love a good debate.
So please tell me what's on your mind.
Just remember...
R-E-S-P-E-C-T








Until next time....

My kid is better than yours

Yes, yes, I know. Every mother says this. We all think our kids can do no wrong.

Wait, that may be a lie. I'm on Twitter and Facebook. All I can say is kids do some crazy things!!

My son may have his own list of crazy things, but I've realized lately that he is a genius. Hence better than your kid.

Taken at Chick Fil-a
Mommy & Son date night
2-25-11

He learned how to whistle in a matter of minutes.

He also learned how to blow a bubble with gum in a matter of minutes.

Both feats he accomplished much earlier and much faster than his big sister.


The boy also has some mad skills when it comes to Star Wars Legos. I can't tell you how many times the husband has watched him play and made comments about how hard a particular level is. It took the husband a few tries to beat said level. Before I know it, the husband is walking away, shaking his head. The boy has beat said level. The first time. Oh, the shame of being beat in a video game by a 5 year old!


I'm sure I'm making you jealous by this point, so there's probably no need to tell you how wonderful of an artist he is, too. Really, you should see my walls!

And not only can he color on the windows, too but he excels at any arts and crafts project. Just pretend you don't notice the glue in my carpet that I can't figure out how to remove.


Not only is my prodigal child great at doing things, he is also a creative thinker.

His back has been incredibly itchy the past few days. Right in that one spot you can never reach. I'm blaming the tags on his shirts because lord knows, there's nothing there!. He was complaining once again in the car on the way to the store. I told him I would take a peek as soon as I parked. Instead of waiting the 2 minutes, he found an object in the car that he could use to scratch his itch. See? Creative thinking.


The only thing is, the object was a pen. Can you guess which end he used to scratch his itch?

Have you ever tried to wash black ink off a child in a public restroom. Fun times!



I really need to stop taking this kid to store!



Until next time....

What did she do now?

Toddlers are curious creatures. Thankfully I lucked out with one who was happy with just asking why and hearing the answer.

Or so I thought.

GG was a joy as a baby. She slept through the night early, excelled at eating, hit all her milestones on time, and never really caused any trouble. Until she was a toddler.

GG was the child that we didn't need to baby proof for. We bought a baby gate to keep her out of the kitchen and off the stairs leading to the second floor, but it wasn't necessary. She was free to roam the house. I guess we put too much trust in our little girl because one afternoon she presented us with some gadgets.

In one hand she had a screw and the other hand she had a long metal tube. For the life of us we couldn't' figure out where she got those things an why she was interested in them. That led us to walk around the house searching for the source of those metal objects.

After searching high and low we found our answer.

It was summer and we had the backdoor open to let in some fresh air. The screen door, which is ugly as sin, must have glowed in GG's eyes. She wanted to know how it worked. She took the screw out and pulled off the "arm" that connected the door to the wall, but she didn't know how to put it back together. In the mind of a toddler, when in doubt, ask mom and dad for help.

The husband and I had a good laugh at her expense. To this day we still talk about that story. Perhaps someday our little girl will be a great engineer!

Prompt #2: What did they get into now?
Describe a time your toddler got into something they shouldn’t have.


Until next time...

Love is in the air

We all know that today is Valentine's Day. For some it's a time to celebrate, while others could care less. As far as I know, there's nothing special happening in this house. Sure, the kids have their school parties, but as for the husband and I? We just celebrated one big event. Shopping for one occasion is torture enough for the man. Having to do 2 special days within days of each other? Oh the horror!

The husband and I may not need one day to show our love for each other. However, our midgets are really getting into it. I would like to share their special poems an stories they wrote for their teachers...

From Little Dude -

This story is about a horse meeting a bunny. The horse was walking along the trail and he saw a bunny. But the frog said that in this land bunnies aren't alive. There is another horse doing a puppet show with 2 bunnies for all the horses to come to his puppet show for Valentine's Day.

From GG -

Hey, hey, hey
It's Valentine's Day
Here is a special treat
that sure can't be beat
You might wonder "this is from who?'
It is from me just for you

Whether you deem this a special day or not, Happy Valentine's Day from my family to yours!



Until next time....

I just can't do it!

The past few days have been full of ups and downs. Mostly ups and downs for me. Just when I would get excited over something, it would be followed by a disappointment. Let me explain...

In preparation for the Super Bowl, our school declared last week black and gold week. J and I had decided to do something during our Brownie meeting that would coincide with all the black and gold stuff.

Her and I both crochet. I have tried to teach GG a few times, but with no luck. Honestly, it took me a while to figure it out. All I have to say is thank goodness for YouTube! What made it even harder to teacher her is the fact that she's a lefty. I'm not.

At our meeting last Thursday, we decided to teach the girls how to make the basic crochet chain. They would use yellow yarn and add some black beads. It took longer than anticipated, so we plan to do another tutorial at a later meeting. We were only able to show a few of the girls, but GG was one of them. It wasn't me who finally helped her to figure it out how to make a chain, but hopefully in the future I can help her learn more.

My excitement over her new skill continued into the next day. But Little Dude had crushed my excitement. It wasn't intentional, but that doesn't make me feel any better!

The 4 of us were in the car on the way home from picking the husband up from work when I hear a noise. I wasn't sure what it was so I let it go. The boy makes weird noises because he's a goofy kid. Sometimes it's better not to ask. He does it again. Sure enough it sounded like a whistle. When we were stopped I looked behind me and asked him to do it again. He did. And then GG joined in, followed by the husband. I'm surrounded by 3 whistling fools and I am not happy about it!


They tried giving me pointers and telling me to keep practicing. I'm sorry, but some people just can't whistle!




Until next time....