Christmas?! What? Where?!

Whew! This has been a whirlwind of a week as I'm sure it has for everyone- Christmas isn't supposed to be over that fast; it just isn't fair!
So here are some tidbits:

Kids went to work with Mr. FixIt on Tuesday and I did some shopping for a few last-minute items and wrapped a bunch of stuff. Mission accomplished!! One item of the Race to Christmas arrived-Mr. FixIt's Sansa Fuze!

Christmas Eve day was a bit nutty with kids anxious for night to arrive. A beautiful arrangement of white and red Christmas tulips were delivered ~coincidentally, a hem~ as Mr. FixIt walked out the door with Monster Man for an "errand." I almost cried. Joking around that morning, I'd called him a shithead, and even though it was in joking and he knew it...and he DID deserve it, lol, I texted him to apologize. Items 2, 3 and 4 of aforementioned race arrived via USPS- WHEW!! We made some Christmas cookies that evening and checked the NORAD Santa Tracker online during commercials of the Christmas Story movie on TBS Christmas Eve...kids were running off to bed just before 10 pm as Santa was visiting Argentina and heading north! Man I love Santa Tracker! :-D

Kids did NOT sleep in Christmas morning. Yes, my kids are weird and most Christmas mornings they are not out of bed until Mr. FixIt has already made breakfast sausage croissants for he and I to enjoy with some java before the kids stumble upon Christmas morning excitement. This year, both kids were in our room at 6, cajoling us out of bed and down the stairs. I wish I'd had the camera or camcorder ready because Monster Man was hysterical, squealing with delight and announcing what he was finding around the tree. "I got a Hot Wheels Shark Park!! YEEESSSS! I got a Shark Park!!" Repeat that screaming phrase for every Santa item under the tree, lol. The rest of Christmas Day was very relaxing with movies, games, naps and yummy ham for dinner Mr. FixIt made. Mashed potatoes and noodles of course were present. Mr. FixIt was shocked and very excited about his mp3 player! Yes!

Friday started off with me outside doing the lovely chore of poop scoop duty when Monster Man comes running out to me in 20-degree weather in only his PJs and snow boots on saying, "That thing on the wall upstairs is going BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!" WHAT??!! Off I run back to the house, dogs chasing me trying to knock me down thinking I'm playing- nice. My kids are gonna die some horrible death because the 60-pound pup has me pinned in the yard and the grouchy old dog won't let her up off of me because he wants to protect me from her! Jeesh!!! I get the dogs to back off so I can get in the house while I'm grilling Monster Man about smoke, flames, etc, to which he thankfully denies. It wasn't the smoke alarm but the carbon monoxide detector screaming- SHIT! I drug the thankfully still breathing Miss B out of bed who did NOT hear the alarm, started to open up the house, then run to inspect the basement. Furnace was running (only 2 years old) and I just ran past the vents on the side of the house and noticed normal steam/air so it was venting properly, but I clicked it off just in case. Hot water tank not running- check. Dryer not on- check. Neither fireplace or wood burning stove had been used for almost a week. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is going on??? (Thanks, Mon, I stil love that!) The battery had just been changed in the detector but just in case, I swapped it with another one and it's still wailing...until I walk by the open front door where fresh air is moving in and it quits squalling. NOT cool! Call Mr. FixIt to explain the situation while kids are getting dressed "on the double." Send kids to the truck, close house back up, toss dogs outside, run to hardware store to buy two new CO detectors (for $60 bucks), get those bad boys home and working- both gave the "all clear." YAY!! Whew! Apparently 5-year warranty on a CO detector means nothing. Mr. FixIt and I considered the one screaming at me, though only two years old, toast.
The rest of Friday morning was spent scrambling like a mad person to somewhat straighten "Christmas" that was strung throughout the downstairs, vac the house, fold some laundry and B helped me clean bathrooms and mop. Mr. FixIt came home early from work and fixed the chain gang starving kids some lunch. His family arrived just after 2 as I had just finished a shower and was slapping some makeup on. By the skin of my teeth as usual, I know no other way!!

Mr. FixIt's family brought a family gift for us all- Wii!! Woohoo!! I'm still amazed at the stuff this little box can do. I'll post more on that later. So a hysterical afternoon was had by all as "Wii" (sorry couldn't resist) played and cracked up over sports games, only stopping to eat dinner. What fun!!

Saturday Mr. FixIt went hunting for the weekend. Neighbor kids came over and back and forth, playing most all day, mostly with the Wii, until we Moms declared something had to be done for dinner, and it was time for all to go home. Oh and the temp outside was 65....SIXTY-FIVE?? No complaints from me!!

Well, the temps are back to normal figid levels now. The kids are still happily playing with Christmas gifts while I have the wearable items working through the washer and dryer right now. Mr. FixIt came home last night with another nice big doe to process, so we'll be doing that tonight.

Wow--that recap ended up being pretty long in the tooth, hehehe. Hope your holiday was just a crazy and eventful..well without the carbon monoxide scare! :-D

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Frigid. Chill-to-the-bone cold. Freeze the snot while it's still IN your nose cold--MAN!! As I drove home last night from my grandparents' 60th anniversary open house, the outside temp on the truck display started at 13 and dropped steadily as I came closer to home reaching down to 1....ONE degree as we headed down our road. The wind was just wicked- blowing people all over the place along our way home. Thankfully it was late Sunday and not many trucks on the road- nothing like a 20-ton 18-wheeler leaning over and sliding your way! As I pulled into our driveway, our inflatable Santa in the front yard was dancing wildly, occasionally doing the limbo, like a holiday punching bag being repeatedly knocked down then bouncing back up for another chance. He was losing that battle. I told the kids to bundle back up well, gather their things and when I opened the truck door, WHAMMO! That icy blast was a bundle of sharp knives stabbing clear through me. I might as well not even had a coat on!
Fireplace! Hot chocolate- STAT!
I was fighting to keep feeling in my fingers and not lose my grip on purse/bags/hat, cussing NE Ohio weather and making mental note to kick Mr. FixIt in the shins and as if on cue, here he comes out to help me get the kids. In shorts. SHORTS!! Are you nuts??!! It's -15 below with the windchill out here and you're in comfy shorts?!? I had folded 4 loads of laundry before I left, it wasn't like he didn't have comfy pants or a pair of jeans to throw on. He did have a coat on at least, and I appreciate the help in getting the kids, but jeesh man!
Now my neighbors have proof- I'm not the only one who's missing a few marbles in this house. :-D

It's a race

To see what gets here first...the last few gifts I ordered or Christmas! Ha! I was pretty proud of myself Thanksgiving weekend as I did most of my shopping, got some awesome deals and was pretty much "done." The few things I didn't come home with were items I either couldn't find or I knew I'd seen better deals online. No big deal, I knew what I wanted and still have a couple weeks, right?? Well holy snot, those weeks shot by, and I realized last weekend those items in my shopping cart at Amazon weren't going to ship themselves- CRAP! So come on Amazon-don't fail me now!! None of the items being shipped are major gifts for the kids, and truthfully they are only for B, mostly accessories to go with what I already have. Can't help but kick myself for not getting them ordered earlier. One gift is for Mr. FixIt and I had a chance to order it before Thanksgiving at a great price, but I never did - the price went up, waited some more, price went back down, YES! Ordered at the last possible second! Story of my life! For B's few items being shipped as I type, I do have a back up plan: While shopping, I'd found some really good deals on things I didn't need for the holidays, but not wanting to pass up such savings, I bought them anyway to stash for B's birthday in February. So if I'm still eyeballing the driveway on Christmas Eve desperate for a UPS man I can attack before he even gets the big brown truck out of gear, I'll pull those birthday gifts out for Christmas and save the late arrivals for February. ....If I can find them. Hmmmmm.

A little birthday holiday contest

Ok, I know I'm lacking in posts still, but I'm trying to keep up with everyone and look what I found over here:
Lindsey my friend over on At Home on This Mountain is having a contest in honor of her birthday and the upcoming holiday! She's very crafty making quilts, clothes, ornaments, and I don't think there's anything she hasn't baked, cooked, canned or preserved from a garden! I wanna be her when I grow up! :-D She has made the cutest little holiday hair thingys and is giving them away! So go take a peek and leave a comment on her blog to enter! Drawing will be the 12th!

Now I don't feel like such a blog slug. :-D

Pssst!!

Have you ever read I Need a Martini Mom blog?? If not, you are missing some serious gut-wrenching belly laughs in your day! Vodka mom is teacher, mother and hands-down a riot. The post linked above about "boys" is no exception! Don't forget to bookmark her page, she's hysterical!

Go on, check it out!

Beaming!

Don't they look as proud as punch?? Mr. FixIt got this 9-point the first day of deer gun season in the evening. Yes, it was the first day, but he'd seen 16 deer so far that day and this buck was chasing a group of 6. Nice shot. Nice big deer. LOTS of meat!! He's already had a couple processed this year during bow season so we have a good bit of burger, but he does like to butcher some himself for roasts, steaks and stew meat. And of course the loin--oh man, first thing he pulled out, the backstraps- some season-all and cooked them in the cast iron skillet. OH MAN!! is that yuu-uummy!! Can't get a more juicy, flavorful steak than that! Ok, those who don't eat venison I'll quit making you sick. :-D B posed in this pic with him just because she was happy her daddy got a buck. She's been so worried, wanting him to get a nice buck, lol. She was with him in bow season and helped him get a very nice-sized doe a few weeks before. She jkept watch, picked out the doe, told her dad where to aim and when to release the bow. He nailed it so she helped drag it out of the woods. She can be a girly girl at times and knows how to turn on the drama, but she is definitely a hunter which makes Mr. Fix It, even more proud! She's talking about taking a gun safety course in the spring. I'm sure my mother will have fits, but she's about the age I was when I took a gun class and shot a 12-gauge for the first time. Adding fuel to this fire is the fact that our nieces, B's age and a year younger, both went gun hunting this year- one got a doe and her sister "gave one a haircut" lol. So B definitely wants to keep up with her cousins. I know in some families the guys are hunting crazy but I think our girls can give them a run for their deer. :-D Hey, I wonder if hunting with guns will scare off potential boyfriendsin the future or make them more attracted??? Maybe we can work on intimidating those boys and keeping them away....FAR away!!

Turkey Lurkey Day

First off, I'm poufed. We ate 5 hours ago and I still feel as if I could 'splode at any second. I was so full, I even took a nap after dinner, but that may have been in part due to my glass of wine with dinner. Hehehe. Thinking back to my not completely full plate, I really didn't overdo it toooo much...well except on the pre-dinner juicy turkey samples as Mr. Fixit was pulling it off the bones. No knives- it falls off and apart. He is the roaster master and makes a damn fine turkey! He preps it the night before, gets up at 5 am to start cooking- with no complaints. In fact I don't even ask, that's just his job. He takes care of anything turkey related. I just steal some of the awesome broth to fix my noodles and dressing. :-D I don't mind making the potatoes, noodles and green beans. Dressing is really easy as well. Yesterday I made 'doubled' eggs, as Monster Man calls them and he helped, and a peach pie as well as a homemade-from- scratch pumpkin pie. No canned stuff. Real pumpkin cleaned of strings and seeds, cooked, peeled, drained and squeezed of water then pureed. Voila- Canned pumpkin the hard way! Needless to say, now that I've tried it the Suzy Homemaker way, I have a new appreciation of canned pumpkin and will not ever feel guilty using a Libby's can again. The kids did help and they enjoyed getting their hands into pumpkins one more time. I turned out really well. I even tried a bite, and I don't like pumpkin pie. Not too shabby! It had my pie crust so I had to at least try it! I could just eat pie crust-ugh pastry weakness!! After I had done those Monica called me to tell about pumpkin cheesecake from the Hershey cookbook (she had bought me years ago) she was trying. I had some pumpkin left over so debated making her suggestiong but ended up going with the Creamy Peanut Butter Chip Cheesecake with chocolate graham crust due to overwhelming majority vote of Mr. FixIt and the young-uns. I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter baked things (thanks Mom- the thought/smell of her peanut butter pie still makes me gag 25 years later) so I tried a spoonful of unbaked cheesecake batter before I added the PB chips- YUMM!

So dinner is done, kitchen is now cleaned, kids are bathed and I'm scouring through blogs while sitting here by a roaring toasty fire. Aaaahhhh. I'm going to have to give up my warm spot before too long and head for bed. I'll be one of those crazy people at Kohl's at 4 am. Hehehe! I can't wait! Then over to Target at 6! I love crowds but I was never one to shop on Black Friday. Not until my sister and I went last year and we had a blast! We even called our mom at 4:30 to wake her up and ask questions-ha! We ended up not going to my sister's this year, but I'm still heading out the door at 3:45 tomorrow morning! I have my ads and coupons ready to go! Mr. FixIt heads out to deer hunt weekend after weekend, gone all day or all weekend for months so this is MY day. My turn to head out sans kids for the day, or at least the morning then I'm gonna come home and crash for a few hours before anyone has a chance to think I'm back on the job. Mom's day off aka Black Friday here I come!!

Hope you all had a wonderful turkey day!

Snow bunny...er, I mean puppy

Ok I had a whole post written up and it flew away like a fart in the wind. Synopsis- It snowed. It is really cold. I shovled the 10-car driveway. I promptly went inside and made hot chocolate on the stove. I built a fire in the den--no, not from my furniture---YET. It will take me a few weeks to thaw before I can return to the frigid cold outdoors. But isn't my puppy cute??

Isn't this nice? Ugh

Truthfully this was taken before Thanksgiving, but it looks the same out today. Snowing like crazy, cold as a pile of day-old dog crap and YUK! Gloomy. I hate gloomy. So I mixed up some of Grandma's molasses cookies today with the kids. We'll bake them after dinner. One of my fav cookies and it's not even chocolate. My uncle and I use to fight over them at Grandma's, since we LOVE them the most of everyone, lol...no really. They are just for US! :-D hehehe I'm desperately trying to shake some of the wintery cruds and frustration. I've did have some success in Black Friday Christmas shopping in hopes that help. Getting 500 bucks worth of stuff at Kohl's for $180 and then getting 40 bucks back DID make me feel a touch better about the season! :-D Made me a little more cheery! Ok, off to to some odds and ends around here, including work on a few more loads of Mt. Foldmore that has taken over my bed. If not I truly expect a "Maaaaaaaammaaaa!! I have ZERO underpants!!" from Monster Man at shower time this evening. Not underwear-- underpants. He loves that word. Go figure.

Old man winter

... is waking up and showing himself. Just a little roar today, only about 3 to 4 inches. The only thing good about this picture is the fireplace and hot chocolate on the stove!! Hehehe!

Shoveled the drive, swapped laundry a few times, played with the dogs and kids in the snow, built a fire and made real hot chocolate.

Grocery trip here in a bit and I'm calling it a day!! and I've had enough for one day!! :-D

Hump day

I feel like hump day...like I fell off the wall. Forget the king's horses and men, I don't think a miracle would put me back together at this point. **Spoiler** Bitch fest to follow so move on now if you like. **Disclaimer** I think Auntie Flo is knockin' which could explain bitch fest.
No wait...winter sucks no matter what stage of brain rot hormones have induced.

Snow, cold, winter- Ugh. I hate gloomy, cold days. I just want to stay in bed and do not a dang thing.
Work- Not happenin' - No time. No desire. Checkbook in about 12 stages of panic. Must remedy soon.
Kids- Driving me insane. Griping and fussing about everything. Wonder where they got that from?? Not helped by the fact that Mr. FixIt is out of town AGAIN. Thankfully he'll be home tonight.
Critters- New pup is growing like a weed, 43 pounds on Friday and now as tall as Benny Boy. She lost both her baby canine teeth this past week, and has outgrown her expandable collar. Ben must be feeling jealous of her new items because he destroyed her squeaky lamb toy.
Ripped limb from limb, like a fleece and squeak plastic slaughter all over my back yard.
Family- Canceled our Thanksgiving gathering at my sister's. We've been running like crazy, Mr. FixIt out of town a lot the last few months, and I don't really feel up to it. Mr. FixIt agreed we should stay home, relax and have a holiday to ourselves.
House- Somewhat scary at the moment. Have put off cleaning kitchen and vacuuming the house all morning/day, now T-minus 45 minutes to Monster Man's dance class. Crap.
Self- The elliptical laughed at me as I walked past it this morning. 'nuf said.

How many days until spring???

Lookie here!

Yes, I'm slack and I haven't posted at all. Nablopomo??? HA! yeah, RIGHT! That didn't happen, LMAO!

Though I have uploaded some new pics, so here...enjoy.

Remember and Give Thanks

Remember the fallen ones who gave their lives for our freedom and
take some time to thank those who are still with us for giving their time and service.

Veteran's Day folks, don't forget.

Beautiful chill

So much for getting back to blogging! I think that was two weeks ago!

Four field trips down, two more to go (all in three weeks!) and things may start to settle down here a little. School is going well. Mr. FixIt is at his second home this time of year, the woods, and got a doe yesterday so he's happy. Pup is getting HUGE! The kids are learning how to handle a "big dog" and what not to do so they can control her and she will listen. They have to learn now, so does she! She's not even four months old and she's passing 30 pounds quickly...she'll be a moose before long so training is in full swing with her. Kids too! Ha!

The leaves are beautiful right now, though it's daarned cold right now and supposed to dip to upper 30s for high tomorrow and Tuesday with SNOW flurries starting early morning. YUK! So fall is beautiful here as long as you are looking from inside! ha! Now having said that I need to go out in the cold day and blow leaves before the rain- which will turn to snow- hits tonight and makes our yard a sloppy mess. Blowing leaves is typically Mr. FixIt's job but since he's in the woods and helping my BIL with some remodeling, he won't be in time to do any before the wet stuff hits, and it will piss me off to be in the house looking out at a sloppy yard for the next week, not to mention taking pup out to potty and breaking my neck on a yard full of slippery leaves...so I guess I'll go do it myself. Housework be damned, I'm gonna play with the leaf blower! hehehe!

I downloaded a bunch of pics finally and am getting them uploaded to Flickr so I can stream them here. Or I hope. May take me a month to get that far, so don't hold your breath!

Yes, I'm watching.

Watching McCain make himself look like an ass right now on TV. I hope registered voters who are still on the fence are "seeing" it as well. Watching this debate is making my BP sky high.

Now McCain is touting on his health care plan with "we need to do it like the VA" OH NO he didn't! I hope disabled vets are paying attention to their "hero" because the VA system is as screwed up as a football bat and has caused too much pain and aggravation with many of my family members.

Anyone notice the pattern that when Obama is asked a question, he answers it, but when McCain is asked a question he starts off with "Senator Obama's plan is this.." or "Senator Obama thinks _______" ?? ugh. Also he picked apart Obama's answers, and he still wouldn't answer the question directly himself.

Education....OMG!! McCain just said something to the effect of "should let those coming out of the military go right into teaching positions without taking all these tests and exams... to get good people into schools." You have to be shitting me!! He did not just say that! So military experience equals hundreds of hours of instructional and classroom management training?? I'm not putting down anyone in the military. I have a family full of veterans including my husband, but this man has lost his mind!

I usually don't get into politics. You won't see me fuss and bitch about elected officials very much. I do vote, but I hate politics. Politicians make me want to vomit. Knowing a large chunk of my family are pro-McCain scares the crap out of me. I just have to keep my mouth shut and leave the room when they start talking about elections. I can see the mouths agape and breaths gasping just at the hint of a vote for Obama. I hope there are hundreds of thousands of registered voters in every state who secretly believes Obama is the better choice but are afraid to admit will ACT on that belief on the day it counts. I'll be one of those above voting in complete secrecy. Even if I didn't like Obama, at this point I'd rather take a risk on what some call inexperience than to risk continuing the downward spiral with the loose cannon McCain. Not to mention what if McCain kicks the bucket?? I really admire Palin, but I sure as hell don't think she can run the country!

It happens to everyone

Or well I suppose it could. Dang comment spam, comment jacked whatever you prefer to call the nonsense spewage in my comment section from a nimrod with too much time on his hands...er computer. Anyway, it's gone and I hate to turn off anonymous commenting and turn on the captcha but I'm tired of deleting that crap after just one event.

So if you are new or don't have some kind of blog account and want to comment, sorry. If you know me, you should have my Myspace or email info, so drop me a line that way. Or just grab a Blogger account. Pretty easy and free. You don't have to blog.

People that serve no other purpose but to be a PITA really piss me off. Off to change my settings....ggggrrrrrrr.

Look at little man go!

Yes, he is on TWO WHEELS! Not far into 5 years old and the boy is on the move! On his own! King of the world he is, oh yes! King with a few new bruises and hard knocks, but king all the same!

Where am I?

I have fought with the idea in my head that keeping up with my bloggin’ friends and getting my own vents out on a daily or near daily basis was causing me to lose time and be really behind on my “to do” list…apparently NOT! I have hardly blogged over the past two months, just skimmed over a few blogs to try and not completely lose touch, and I’m still in the same office/basement/laundry disaster that I was previously! AAARRGGHH!! So I’m back!

I realize now that even though things are crazy busy I need to have my bloggy
time…if nothing else just to have a few minutes…or three hours-who’s counting?... to
myself. Things I need to get out of my head because the record is skipping badly up
there and it’s making my stomach hurt. First record I’m gonna bump off the turntable will be the Justification posts. I need to finish that. I really should email it to a few family members, but one step at a time! :-D

Let me catch you up on my nutty life:

* I did clear an area for school shelves, assembled those and have the school

books and supplies organized...and 8 weeks later it is STILL organized!! YES! I have
about half of the sewing stuff out of the Pit and down to the basement, but still
doubting that decision. I reorganized my desk in the Pit for more usable space, but
there are still 6 piles, elbow deep, of stuff scattered across the sides of the desk and on my filing cabinets.

* I posted about the new addition, Lucy. She is doing wonderfully and is turning
out to be have a great temperament and a huge appetite. She is currently at 4 cups a
day. I need to buy stock in Nutro dog food.

* Kids are doing well with school work. Miss B is finally “getting it” with
multiplication and division facts, and Monster Man did well on his Kindergarten
readiness test. He does well with phonics sounds, but we are still working on some
letter recognition. He loves math--flying through it.

* Fall dance classes and dance Team practices are underway! The kids love it! If
I could afford it, we’d be doing dance for hours on end every day. Keep dreamin’
guys!

* Deer bow season has officially begun which means Mr. FixIt gone most every
weekend. He will also be traveling a good bit this month, so we may not see him
until Thanksgiving. Then gun season will start so we won’t see him until New Years.
but my freezer will be restocked with lean ground meat, steaks and roasts. I really
can’t complain.

* Cold weather is here to stay, and I hate it. Though I love the changing leaves
and the fall festivals, farm outings and pumpkin festivals. I have to start layering
clothes again, I’m already cold. I took a 20-minute nap on the floor with the puppy
Monday because she was really warm. I was that cold. I woke up numb on my left side, but I was toasty!

* Work. HA! Work, schmerk. Not happenin’! I need to get working on my ebay boxes of stuff to sell, which is part of my office/Pit problem. Too many things piled up that I need to get rid of. I think the whole pile overwhelms me, so maybe I should
do one or two items per day. If I can stick to it until I can see daylight or heaven
forbid FLOOR in the pit, I’ll be in good shape. :-D FlyLady is frowning at me
because I can hear her saying, “Fling, fling, FLING that clutter!” Until my bills
are not putting me in the negative, I don’t have much choice I need to sell, sell,
SELL!!

* Fall TV. I don’t watch much TV, but I love CSI and ER. Woohoo!! Very sad
dramatic first episodes for both- pass the tissues! I'm so excited nonetheless!

Ok, I think that does it. At least for now. Carry on people.

I wrote this on Wednesday...today is SATURDAY! So I've not kept my blogging promise, but I did get a few things listed on ebay--woohoo!!

Oh yeah, I've lost it...

The proof is in the 15+ (correction- 21) -pound bundle of
fawn and black coloring with big feet and floppy ears.

And big dark eyes...


And a little white ring on her chest...





Her name is Lucy.

Isn't she adorable?!?! Her mother is a mastiff/boxer mix and her daddy is a black lab. She's 12 weeks old.

Yeah, I know. I need another critter around here like a need another hole in my head, but she's just a sweetheart! Ben has been getting so upset when we leave the house lately, even for a few hours, when previously we could be gone all day or one night and the neighbors never heard a peep out of him. He's started barking and howling- we think he's lonely. He does that at the place we board him but only after about 6 days, though thankfully we don't go on many trips that require him being there more than 3 or 4 days normally. We've been looking for a friend for him since Kari died two years ago. I hope we've found the right friend! For an old dog, he still wears out the kids playing!

*Bonus* Grouchy old Ben might actually LIKE her! I set up a meeting in the front yard (he's contained to the back normally), brought him out and she gave a little yip to him but he never growled, no hair up, tail wagged the entire time-- I was floored. I'd prepared the kids for the worst. I was just waiting for snarling, teeth showing and pulling him off of her, but no. He acted like a little gentleman, like he understood she's only a baby.


We've had them meeting on leashes in the front about 6 times now and so far, he's given a little snip to her one time, but when he takes a stance at her (tail wagging though) she cowers her head like, "Ok, man, you're head honcho. I got it." She's totally submissive to him...which is good because she'll probably be at least twice his size when she's full grown. Then he relaxes and they both just sit together looking around, wagging tails. Color me 200% surprise and ecstatic! Much better than I could have hoped for. I figured it would take me a week just to get Ben to be near her without snarling, since he still snarls with fur raised at the neighbor dogs, one of which is still a pup and has been next door for about six months.

So now in addition to working on this disaster of a house and school work all day, I have a new distraction...puppy training! Woohoo!

Yes, my last marble just rolled down the road.

Thanks Ike!

Never figured I'd experience tropical storm conditions in Ohio! Jeesh! Hope those of you to the west of us, Michigan and Indiana are doing ok. Power was out for hundreds of thousands all across Ohio and power is still out in some places. We were lucky in our power only flashed off and on, but a tree took out our cable Sunday and it was restored yesterday afternoon- woohoo! We had the generator ready and firewood stacked for night time (temps dropped after the storm came through 25+ degrees) but were fortunate that we didn't need any of it this time. Our time will come I'm sure...next time we get 12 inches of snow in 5 hours, lol.

So those of you in the path of Ike at any point I hope your family is ok and you haven't had to deal with too much damage. Mainly hope everyone is safe!

Pickles!

Lookie there!! Pickles! I apologize for the grainy cell phone photo in my sunporch fridge. You're lucky you have that!

Thanks to Angie at Are We There Yet? and her grandmother's pickle recipe, we started pickling our cucumbers from the garden! According to Mr. FixIt, Monster Man and the neighbors, they are a hit! I don't like pickles myself, but they really smelled "pickly" when I opened the "test" jar. I had to cut Monster Man off before he finished the jar by himself!

So far we have one batch of Angie's recipe- 5 quarts done including one quart of small whole cukes/pickles, and I have at least enough medium sized to large cukes left to do another batch of those recipe and I think enough for a batch of one-day sliced refrigerator pickles. Not bad from a very small garden with only about ten cucumber plants.

I don't have beautiful pics as Angie does for my recipe, but here's my great aunt Anne's recipe for One-Day Sweet Pickles. Though IMO Angie's grandmother's recipe was MUCH simpler as I'd rather spear than slice the cucumbers, lol. Mr. FixIt usually makes these one-day pickles really well.

One-Day Sweet Pickles
11 cups cucumbers (not peeled), sliced thin
1 large sliced onion (or diced, my gang likes sliced)
Layer those in a glass or non-metal dish.
Sprinkle with 1 TBPS salt.

Let stand 2 hours. Drain.
Add 1 tsp celery seed to pickles and onions.

Mix to dissolve (do not cook):
1 cup vinegar
2 cups white sugar

Pour dissolved mix over combined pickles, onions and celery seed. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Ready to eat after 24 hours. Will keep in fridge for one year or put into containers and freeze.

Viola! Pickles! :-D

Excuse the gibberish below. It is there because I posted the pic from my phone. :-D

Justification-Part 1

As if I have to justify my decisions regarding my kids' lives and well being...but I'm going to do it anyway because I'm hurt and extremely pissed off. Grab a snack and a drink...this could be long and/or take several posts to get through.

I did not make the decision to school my children at home overnight, in fact it took months. As a former public and private school teacher, it was not my concern that I could teach or knowing how to teach various subjects, but more that I was doing the right thing by yanking my child (then both children) out of a school system with friends, rules and order, and all activities relating to "school." Also, as a teacher, I had seen way too many examples of "homeschooled" children being thrown into my classes mid-year, grossly unprepared and many levels behind their peers. Having taught K-5 through 5th grades, I knew that I would not do that to my children. I know what kids should be learning in math at each level and how to figure out my child's reading level or know what spelling rules and words are appropriate by that reading level. I know how to integrate history and science into reading as well as art and music back into those, but what about the other stuff?? Being in a classroom. Having that group of friends for recess and after-school functions. Playing in band or singing in chorus. Field day--I love field day! How could I deny my kids that??

My initial reason for even thinking about homeschooling was solely for academics. I had to make that priority over the other "stuff." It began with the horrible math program EveryDay Math. Groan with me. My last year teaching in SC we piloted that horrid waste of time and money. Ok-yes it does have some good points, EDM is an awesome tool for kids to learn problem-solving strategies and for those kids who don't 'get' math the traditional way, but it should be used as such...a TOOL. Not the main curriculum. Also Miss B started K-5 with EDM and completed 2nd grade with it. The local school here adopted it after we'd moved, coming from a district in SC that had BEEN using it (with much frustration). When B started 3rd grade locally, her math skills other than problem solving had not improved from K-5 level. Truly. Though by EDM standards, her scores were all As or checks (local school stopped using letter grades that same year) and the school, school board and curriculum director all assured me she was doing fine. Well yes, according to EDM she is-- though most of that is her ability to problem solve which integrates reading and comprehension which she does very well. My fuss was that third graders take achievement tests in MATH. Fourth graders take state proficiency tests in MATH which are not based on EDM style. Those tests check all aspects of math learning- knowing facts and working with large numbers included. EDM does not teach math facts. No practice of multiplication tables or division. Practice is sporadic through other problems, such as finding how many pints are in six quarts. You multiply right? Not if you don't know 6x2 off the top of your head you don't. You have to draw a diagram to figure it out. No such thing as , "Let's practice your 6 facts today." I know memorization is not everything or even learning truly, but there are some things you just have to know, to build other concepts from. Then one day when the whole multiplication "clicks" OMG- I know WHY 5x7=35! the child has the facts tucked in their brains already. But if that 4th grade child does not have that knowledge and takes four minutes of a timed test to draw pictures of seven groups and five sticks in each group then counts them all to add them up to figure out the above problem (which is a good early strategy to learn why/how for multiplication, don't get me wrong), that child's chance of finishing that 90-question timed test is slim to not happenin'. Especially if they have to do that for every single problem, not just the word problems because that child does not KNOW the facts because that child has not been allowed to practice those facts. Same goes for addition and subtraction. No facts practice- you end up with third graders counting 8+4 on their fingers or drawing sticks to add up. Not even touch counting is allowed. See my frustration??

As a teacher who made sure her third graders (and above of course) knew their facts so we could work with other math concepts, this system just frustrates me. My kids (class) could do conversions of weights and measures like nothing else. Fractions?? Oh yeah, my kids smoked fractions on state tests. Try to reduce fractions or make common denominators without knowing your multiplication facts?? Skills which are expected for fourth grade and definitely in fifth grade. Found out this local school touting EDM and arguing with me that it is "the best" does not use EDM for grades 5 and up. What?? So you take them from this lack of fact-learning system and toss them in the pre-algebra math REQUIRING facts mastery?? Oh, THAT makes sense. About as much sense as TP holder mounted in the hallway. Sorry, I'm done. My child had been a guinea pig for EDM across two states for three years and I'd had enough. No more. Good luck with these kids when they all bomb the proficiency test and require tutors for middle school math. Mine will not. I'll find somewhere with a better math program. That's exactly what I told the curriculum director for the local school. And that's exactly what I did.

September-already?

Wow! Time does fly when you're as busy as a one-legged man in the ass kicking contest known as my life! Sheesh! We are back home, again. School is underway, both kiddos doing very well. We are still missing some materials, but we have enough to make do. Monster Man is doing surprisingly well, with only a slight bit of fussing the first day. We had a little discussion about what is to be expected and how much WORSE things COULD be, and he's been cooperating just fine since. :-D Slight bit of grumbling from Miss B but that is from her newly found love and addiction to Webkinz. Holy crap that is all we need- another distraction from school work and room upkeep. Though I have to admit they are pretty cool. Monster man has the Ty Beanie 2.0 version and the activities do seem more appropriate for his age.

We had a great vacation with Dad over the weekend on the bikes in southern Ohio. Awesome weekend- gorgeous weather, couple hundred miles of riding country roads, yummy fair-like food (yeah like I needed that, but the gyros and fried mushrooms call my name every year). Did I mention sun? LOTS of sun!! Of course Dad's best friend and a couple other guys joined them, but that just makes it more entertaining. We did get to visit a good bit through the long weekend with him, which we don't get to do through the year since dad works every day, all year long. We don't even see him for holidays unless we drive to WV and still, he'll be gone 10-12 hours a day. The man doesn't even get the day before or after Christmas off unless one of those happen to fall on a Sunday. Ironically, mom doesn't go on these trips. I think she went once 15 or 16 years ago. Then when I started going to the rodeos, mom kind of felt off the hook to not have to go. She's never been crazy about motorcycles anyway, so after I started going with him, that holiday wekeend turned into kind of a dad-daughter vacation...with several thousand other people, lol. I use to ride with Dad all over the place, though OH and WV during high school and college, even in different state. I'd drive there or he'd pick me up. After Mr. FixIt got his motorcycle, we started meeting on our bike so we could all have a weekend away and still visit Dad, some much needed catch up time with him. Hate to sound morbid, but not sure how many of those we have left since Dad seems destined to smoke and glutton his existing stents right out of his chest and into another heart attack or a stroke. He did cough hard enough to pass out on me last week, and though I thought at first he was being dramatic, he scared the crap out of me when I realized he wasn't faking. Mom says he's doing it all the time again. Great. He's with us riding full dresser Harley, down the highway at 70 mph, and he has potential to pass out if he starts hacking and coughing- nice. Every year I have this fear that when I call him in the mornings to meet for breakfast one morning he won't answer. Go ahead and have another half pack of cigs, dad- GRRRRR!!!

Ok back to positive. The sun is shining and warm weather is still here thankfully. School has begun, dance is about to start back up, and deer season for Mr. FixIt lurking around the corner. I'm not looking forward to cold weather, but I am excited for the leaves to change. Fall season- so far, so good!

**If you haven't visited Mon and I over here or you have tried but can't get in, send me an email ang_mt2 at yahoo you know the rest, and let me know your email so I can invite you. If you've already requested to join in, but have yet to receive an invite, that's because I don't have an email addy for you to send the request to, so please do the above. :-D

Round up

Today I get to pack up all our assorted crap strewn from one end of my mom's house to the other and head out of Dodge. Yup, I'm going home. I don't mind the drive at all. I like driving long distance probably because it's the only time, other than cleaning the house, I get to listen to MY music! I do hate the packing up and all that jazz. Ugh. Really I only have to gather the clothes and most of those are washed. A majority of the bathroom items, we leave here. Toys, computers, barn stuff, etc will need gathered. I despise dragging all this crap to the truck then dragging it back out at home and putting it all away...or pulling it all at least inside the garage door to see if it will magically put away by itself! :-D I did better last trip, I unpacked my suitcase as SOON as I got it upstairs and wow did that make me feel better! I need to get out of here at decent time so I can get home before late and hopefully have an inkling of desire to attempt to put that stuff away. Miss B does really well getting her things away, though she does keep her room pretty clean. Tyler does ok, but I still help him. If I take the clothes from his bag and stack them folded he can put it away just like laundry nights, so he's good at that part. The toys and odds-n-ends junk in my truck is usually a problem. No one wants to drag it back out at home, no one HAS to because most of it is not necessity items. I just fuss until they finally get it all drug back to the house. I hate my vehicle being junked up with "stuff" but it has been that way more often than not lately. Oh- just thought mom's saddle and bridle are in the back of my truck too, guess I should get those out and leave here! Ha!

The kidlets are still sound asleep. Dad is still snoring in the other room. I assume that means we are not going to Mass, but I am up and dressed for it! Figures. I know Dad will at least want to go to breakfast somewhere; I'd like to at least take him to breakfast. I hate to leave on his only day off since we've been here and not spend the day with him, but we will be seeing him for his vacation trip...coming up soon!

Ok, make that one kidlet still asleep. Monster Man is on the prowl!
I'm outta here!

Gettin' old sucks

I feel like an old worn out mule with a bum knee and a bad hoof. My back aches (Auntie Flo is visiting and she loves to make me re-live back labor as much as she can), my knee that I stretched out a month ago is aching. One heel feels like I'm walking on spikes driving them into my bones. Yes, I have done this to myself. I've been at the barn a lot this week.


Those are mom's horses, Reefer aka Reefie and Goliath. Goliath is the little guy. Being at the barn isn't all play either.


You're right it does look like play. (Reefie doesn't look too thrilled in that pic.) Truth, I'd rather work hard and get filthy at the barn than fold one small load of laundry. :-D At present, grass needs cut or "ripped" and gathered for a few horses that aren't allowed to pasture right now. It's hot out so everyone needs water buckets topped off or cleaned out and refilled quite often, at least daily. The owner cleans stalls on Fridays with a Bobcat so we didn't have to muck any by hand, though I really don't mind that job. A clean, fresh stall always looks much better after you've sweat your ass off and thrown out your back removing a couple hundred pounds of poo. A few trips up the side of the very rocky steep hill/mountain to fetch horses and back the last couple days have taken their toll on my knee (slipped playing ball with kids). Riding a bit yesterday finished it off. Walking Miss B around and around through the thick sand/fine dirt of the arena...
and around some more while she rode just worked the back and knee pain into the numb stage. Numb at least until I got back to the house and had to deal with kids for showers, dinner, wrangle them to bed, and OMG am I sore this morning. If we lived closer and got to the barn every day, every week, I probably wouldn't hurt this bad, but it puts a bit of a crimp in the daily schedule getting to the barn regularly from four hours away. Unless I win the lottery...which would be difficult because I don't play...I won't have a horse of my own to keep nearby and worry about getting to a barn! So I guess I will just settle for pain on an every-few-month basis when I make the trek to mom's.

The part that stinks is pain doesn't disappear the next morning anymore or even the next DAY. It hangs around, sometimes for a week, just aching, reminding me "you're not getting any younger!" Mom said it just gets worse.

Oh joy.

Parents, food & barn dust.

I've been MIA so far this week as I've been visiting my parents. As always there is a good bit of chaos and craziness, dad grumbling that I used his wax on my truck (hehe), daily trips to the barn to turn out and clean up horses and even a little riding when we can squeeze it in. Miss B and Monster Man both rode Goliath Tuesday by themselves. He was a little stinker and for a while didn't want to listen to the kids in charge, he wanted to follow Mom and I around like a puppy, but he got over it and they all did pretty well. New people are also at the barn with three horses so we were able to watch them have their turn in the field also, running and playing. Just beautiful! If I wasn't busy pampering and grooming, I could have sat out there and watched the horses run all evening. Getting filthy and sweaty at the barn makes me wish I was closer to here, I do miss working with the horses. I may hate snow, but I love grimy hands, slobbered on shoulders with dust covered boots and a beautiful horse to show for the filth buildup.

There are new kittens right now at the barn too. So CUTE! I told Mr. FixIt about them and he said he'd make "room" if I brought a couple home....meaning he'd boot out Jake & Elwood! Bastard. I really don't need kittens anyway, but I'm still keeping my eye out for a Saint Bernard or a Doberman! :-D

Of course, we have to go eat at Back Bay at least once. If you live anywhere near or ever get to Morgantown, West-by-God-Virginia, you HAVE to visit this awesome seafood place. Right now they are having Crab Fest, oh man my mouth is just watering thinking about the delicious crab etouffee...YUMMY! Deviled crab, shrimp and prime rib salad (you cannot imagine), blackened catfish and some times of year alligator tail. OMG. Just awesome. Of course dad eats there often enough that he is probably single-handedly financing the owner's retirement fund. :-D

Ok, I need to get ChaCha-ing so I might have enough money to at least contribute the tip! Back Bay, here we come!

It's official!

I'm a ChaCha Guide!

I really think this will be fun, maybe a tad stressful, since you are under a time clock to answer each question, but fun nonetheless. I love looking up stuff, might as well get paid for it. Mon has already called me, "Are you near your computer?" just because of that post. Ha ha. Funny girl. Mr. FixIt keeps buzzing around the house saying, "cha cha-CHA!" Nerd.

Anywho, I need to get my arse in gear so I can get a few hours of work done answering questions of the masses while the kids are occupied with a movie. They are watching "The Mask" with Jim Carrey for the 387th time.

Pssst!

Hey! You!

Yeah, you!

My dear readers....all three of you!

Peek over here. Then feel free to come back and visit if you like!

Just watch out for the lady at the ticket booth...

Yes, I'm slack

And my reason for being so is a house that's a wreck, I finally, FINALLY am making progress on the Pit, Aunt Flo is on her way, I've been studying ChaCha procedures information, and the last but not least excuse is...

s
c
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o
l
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the wonderful people over there ---->>

They are keeping me too entertained!!
I haven't had time to blog trying to keep up! Hehehe!!

:-D

Are you near your computer?

This is a regular phone greeting I receive all, I mean ALL, the time. My middle sister calls no less than five times per day and at least one of those times I don't even get a "hello" I hear, "Are you near your computer?" or "Is your computer on?" Yes and yes, of course! Not only my sister but my mom, dad, grandma, other sister (when she actually calls me once in a blue moon), friends, even my brother-in-law and Mr. FixIt call me regularly when in need of a phone numbers, addresses, weather, "Does Lowe's carry _______?" or "What time does Kohl's open in Parkersburg?" My sister calls me with, "I'm in _______ (pick a city) and need a Starbucks-STAT!" :-D This spring she was in Arizona and wanted to try a hot air balloon ride- but she was in a hotel with no phone book and no computer. So she called me to look up possible sites and cost. (Which she ditched BTW because it's really expensive!) Of course I'm usually home, always online on one computer or another, and love to dig for information anyway so I get a kick out of finding their requests quickly. Honestly, finding phone numbers or getting Mapquest directions takes about 2 seconds, kind of a challenge. Serious info-junkie here. I love to look up all kinds of stuff. IMDB cures my movie trivia jones quite often!

Now imagine my interest when a fellow mom on the school yahoo group mentioned she does work for ChaCha, an information search company that people access from their mobile phones by either call or text. So I checked out the company's website and found that when people are out and about and they need information or have a question, they can call/text ChaCha their question from any mobile phone and a ChaCha search guide (real person) looks up what they need and texts that info right back. How freakin' cool!! I can do that! I basically have done this for years, but by voice instead of texting...since texting messages to my family would require they all learn how to use the text function on their phones--ha. So I dug deeper into this company information and found out that you do have to takes skills tests and a typing test to apply to train to be a guide. Then after training and you become a guide (the person who researches and sends answers) then you are paid by the number of answers/searches you complete. Whoa-hold up... this service I've been providing for years to my family is actually a job?? A job that I can work when/if/how much or how little a week I want?? Holy sheet batman!! Sign me UP! As I still await paychecks from work I completed MONTHS ago and transcription work opportunities continue to slither down the toilet with cheap (read- crappy, scary, can we say liability??) offshore companies, a work opportunity supporting my helpful info-junkie habit sounds great!! Yeeeehaaawww!!! I'll still be using my transcription and education skills, but in yet another light. That and I could use some gas money. Truth though- I did volunteer to cut back on work this summer because I was about to lose my mind and knew that schooling both kids soon with that former volume of work day in and day out, carrying over and piling up for weeks on end was just not going to cut it. Bring out the straight jackets and padded walls...that's where I was headed. But this service??? I think is doable because you can work when you want. If I only have an hour or two hours I can devote to work in a morning, that's what I'll do. If I can get back on and work another hour later, I will. The bonus is, when I need to attend to something else- kids, dinner, laundry, loose rabbits, dance class, 12 inches of snow that needs shoveled, etc, I can stop right there without the stress of killing myself to get back to that six-hour pile of work that SHOULD be done in the next two hours. Truth also- I really enjoy my MT work will continue one small, very low volume account that I do through a service. I mean small account of only one or two jobs a week, not a problem.

So guess what I'm going to do today?? As I sit here on the swing, in the sun, enjoying the weather, I'm going to go back to the ChaCha site, read over all the information again to double-check there aren't any hidden trap doors or red flags then I'll send my application and see what happens. Hopefully they'll email me back with an invitation to take their tests. Research skills and typing tests?? Yeah I think I should be able to handle those ~wink, wink~
Will keep you posted!

Wagon's long gone

Apparently I fell so far off the blogging wagon that I can't even see the tracks! Been one of those weeks I guess. I'll try to catch up:

- Days are getting cooler already- I'm wearing a sweater right now on the swing.

- Drag racing Night Under Fire last weekend was a BLAST! Miss B was able to get John Force's autograph again, this time on the back of her shirt, as well as Ashley Force and Jill (last name escapes me) who drives one of the jet cars- very cool! Pics are on the other computer so I'll post some later!

- Kids are stoked for school stuff to arrive. Poor UPS man won't have a chance when he hits this driveway! :-D

-I'm running out of weeks to go visit the parents in WV. I really want to go, though wish I could without the hassle. Would be nice if I was just a bit closer, even an hour away would be do-able, so we could go visit for the day or even back and forth a few days in a row and not have to pack/drag/unpack/repack...ugh. We've traveled so much and such long distance over the years, I'm about done with that fuss. Also, none of us sleep very well out of our own beds. I need to talk mom into Sleep Number beds for the guest room/beds! Kids are making me crazy to go visit but with school and fall dance about to start, I'm just about out of time.

-Garden is flourishing! Tomatoes are FINALLY starting to ripen. I may have to dig out a homemade spaghetti sauce recipe because even though I could eat tomatoes every day, I don't think I'll put a dent in these! Also cukes out the wazoo!! I need to drag out the big pot and find my jars, might have to go raid some from Grandma, so I can get some pickles made. Pickles anyone? slices or spears??

-We have shrews. Lovely little critters. We knew they were here as Ben caught and killed 5 or 6 last spring, but we hadn't seen any since late fall last year...when the leaves started moving in quick bursts of short lines here and there and I though I was seeing things. We've also seen them make runs under the snow, and you watch their pipeline tunnel move as they travel. Kind of neat actually but I'd prefer them dead. If they weren't so vicious, evil little beings that bite I wouldn't mind, but they also reproduce several times a year, one article said up to aprx 80 shrews can be sustained per acre of land before they start killing and eating each other. Nice.

-The bookmobile just pulled up the next street over which is my cue to get off my arse! We have books to return, and the kids are going to leave without me! :-D

I'll try to keep up better and post some pics soon!

August already?!

Can't be!! I was just starting to enjoy summer!! Dangit! I'm gonna stomp my foot and pout my lip until it's the fourth of July all over again...

It's not working.

Crud. That sucks. Figures. The only time of year I enjoy and it's near over like THAT.

Oh well. Guess I have to make the best of these last few weeks before school starts, fall dance starts, and the weather gets really chilly. I'm going to miss my mornings in the front yard swing with sunshine glaring down at me.

Guess this means I am down to the wire for cleaning the Pit of Shit. I did finally sort the school shelves from last year -old papers to be tossed, books boxed up to be returned, cleared out shelves for new school stuff that should arrive this/next week. So the school section of the room is looking better, but my desk, files, bills...assorted crap...HA! I have managed to fill one huge trash bag of assorted papers and one huge trash can of shredded stuff. So far I manged to admit-

I keep too much stuff.
I have printed hard copies of receipts, schedules, reminders and other info that I never really need a paper copy of! I do recycle printed pages and use the backs, but I've still probably killed an entire forest.
I need to shred more and file less.
I need to make a scheduled time twice a week to deal with receipts, papers, bills and assorted things (like I use to when I was teaching) and STICK to IT so I don't have to dig myself out of this mess ever, EVER again!

Cheryl Cr@w will never be the same!

If you read Mon's chocolate milk and Rolos story...this is the second half, unless she's feverishly blogging and beats me to the punch. And yes, this is about jr. high mentality, but we were poor, frazzled college kids in need of cheap entertainment so bear with me if you dare.

One night, not long after the above-mentioned fiasco in her car, we were probably supposed to be studying for an exam, when the Sheryl Cr@w song All I Wanna Do came on the radio. New lyrics to that tune instantly came flowing out of my brain. I don't know where from because I've been searching for them for weeks now after prodding from Mon to blog about it. Eternally lost in the gray matter-I cannot find them. Anyway, as this song started to play, I was lying on the floor, books around me, trying to study, working on a Rolo and Mon had on a pair of Santa Christmas boxers (we were poor, tired and busy- no time for laundry- the boxers were new=clean) that I'd picked out for the soon-to-be Mr. FixIt and the lyrics spewed out recapping the previous night of near choking to death. They went something like this (not in order, just parts that seem possible after digging through 14 or so years of gray matter and cobwebs):


All I wanna do is not die on this chocolate milk
Just sit here, enjoy and have a snack
....

We are swigin' choc milk at 7 on Wednesday
In a big purple Grand Am somewhere in Zanesville
-----
All I''m gonna do, is choke on milk...I gotta feeling, this stuff is comin' up.
All I'm gonna do, is gag on this.. I cant help it, I'm not the only one.
Oh yea I'm gonna shoot, this out my nose-
Oh no here comes my Rolo-Be-cause Mon-i-ca just sucked a chunk down her lungs



*******

You get the idea? I hope because that is awful.
It's beyond cheesy and really stupid but for some reason it just spilled out and it was hysterical! We were snorting and laughing our asses off until Mon ripped a toot and we laughed harder. Tears came, and in the midst of literally rolling on the floor in hysterics and from sheer force of laughter she let go of another one promptly grabbing her own a$$, which if you remember was in my honey's brand new Santa shorts, and hauled butt to the bathroom!! Grandma is hollering from the other end of the house, "You girls ok in there??" I've never cried so hard from laughing in my life!

So from then on:
* That song became known as the Chocolate Milk Puke Song
*My grandmother was CERTAIN we had fallen off the deep end
*We could never eat Rolos...at least not together because of choking hazard
*Mr. FixIt never would wear those Santa boxers. We did wash them...a lot. He still won't.

Peek into the Monique mind

Wow what a day! Trying to catch up with all the bloggy friends and read so many blogs I think my eyeballs will shrivel in my sleep later!! Though the last one I read revived me a bit. OH MAN! Near fell out of my chair! I will have to one-up the chocolate and Rolos fiasco with another chocolate milk incident involving the (at the time) soon-to-be Mr. FixIt's Santa boxers, but for right now go enjoy the above tale from Monica's point of view.

She did neglect to mention naked trolls and climbing in windows at 4 am, but those fun times are blog fodder for another day! :-D

For a clue into the chocolate milk and Santa boxers story...Mr. FixIt never did wear those boxers after he found out what we did to them...

Five-year-old boy

Can you believe this little turkey in the high chair....

is now FIVE??

Hold up, now. He was an every-two-hour nursing, mustard poop-through-the- diaper-leg four times a day squirming specimen just a few weeks ago wasn't he??


When did he start talking in full sentences and asking questions about everything he sees, hears, smells?? Including the poor elderly woman in the check out in front of us who "I think this lady needs her pants checked momma!" I prayed the poor woman was seriously hard of hearing.





When did he start thinking "underpants" is the most hysterical word on the planet? Jeesh!










Where is the boy who was adamant for almost an entire year to be "Super Larry Boy" not Superman... super Larry Boy...??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my little guy!

But it doesn't stop there.

No birthday is complete without a trip to Chuck E Cheese Hell.

Sorry the pic is dark of Monster Man in the Chuck E car. I didn't fuss with photo tricks to fix it. You're lucky I got out of there alive to even post.