What A Weekend!!

My honey took some vacation time this month.  Just in time for our 13th Anniversary ♥  TWELVE WHOLE DAYS!!!  Vacation started on the 11th.  We enjoyed a few quiet days together as a family.  The kids were out of school for a long weekend from the 9th - 12th.  That was pretty nice :o) All of us home and relaxing.  I think? I honestly can't recall exactly what we did that weekend.  *mental note: need to blog more*

Anyhow, kids went back to school on the 13th.  We had been trying to decide what we were going to do for our anniversary??? We had thought going to Hot Springs for the weekend.  Supposed to be really nice up there, lots to see/do.  Not to mention lots of great food to eat!!  But the more we thought about it, the more it seemed not so practical.  We knew we could have a kid free weekend at home and enjoy the time together just as much as we would there.

Boy have we!!!  Cousin Gina said she would take the kids Friday night, so after I dropped the kids off at school, came home, and we were ready, we took off for Jonesboro and went to eat lunch at The Brickhouse Grill.  We'd never eaten there before and have been wanting to for awhile.  We each got a big burger.  Mine was the California,... (of course? lol) It was loaded down with lots of veggies, incl. avacado! YUM!! It was VERY filling.  I couldn't even eat the whole thing.  The steak fries were awesome too!! Was a wonderful lunch.  Chris enjoyed a couple of darker beers too.

Not dark enough for his liking, but still good enough that he had two!

We left there and went to wander around the mall awhile.  We got the kids each a little something.  Sydney a Paramore Tshirt from Hot Topic, and Jessica the book she's been wanting,.... Richelle Mead's "Spirit Bound"

I had already gotten Geoffery's surprise and stuck it in his backpack Friday morning.  One of his Pokemon Adventure Series comic books :o) He liked that!  Anyhow,.... we got coffee from Starbucks and headed home,.... picking up ribs from Couch's BBQ on the way for dinner later :o)

Got home, and flopped down,.... still full from lunch, and watched some Smallville,.... we had picked up season 9 a few days ago.  We finally ate dinner around 7:30 and later fixed some Espresso Martini's that we had seen Giada fix on FoodTV.  While ours came out rather strong, they were still really good.  We decided that rather than the 10oz of vodka, maybe make it 6-8oz instead.  Look at how pretty they are! And hubby got to use the shaker mom got him too!!

Tastes as pretty as they look!

We finished drinking our martini's and watched one last episode of Smallville and crawled into bed.  *Yawn* Was a really nice day together!  Eating, talking, laughing.... *sigh* I love my honey!! ♥

Now, Saturday,.... we got up, showered and stuff.  I decided to just pull my hair back and throw clothes on and we took off for Jonesboro and went to eat at Cracker Barrel for breakfast! By the time we got there, it was lunch time, but we still got breakfast food!! YUMMY blue berry pancakes :o) He got an asst of food.  Grits, eggs, meats, biscuits, gravy... the works let me tell ya!  Was very good, and filling.  

From there, yes,... back to the mall.  We had been looking for Lord of the Rings video game, it's supposed to be co-op play, but we haven't yet found it for the PS3.  So, thought we would look again for that.  We ended up in Dillards, and found Chris some new shirts.  They were having their end of season sale, so we really racked up :o) Got like 5 shirts for about $13/ea.  I love a good sale :o) LOL He was pleased too!!  We looked around at the "ladies" section,.... but bleh,... just not much I could find on sale that interested me.  I also learned that Reba McIntire has a clothing line.  Some neat stuff too.  

Wandered around some more,... ended up back in Barnes & Noble and got coffee's again for the ride home :o) YUMMY!!! By this time, Gina had already dropped Sydney and Geoffery off with my MIL Linda.  All was moving along well.  We headed for home so that we could get ready for our evening out with Gina and Glenn.  We had reservations for 7pm at Omar's Steakhouse.

Thanks to my mom, she put the taste of salmon in my mouth/head, so yeah, we HAD to go there for sure.  I needed their parmesan  encrusted salmon!! Mmmm.  We were all looking forward to a nice dinner out.

Got to Gina's around 6, she wasn't quite ready so we visited with the kids and Glenn while she finished up.  Then we were on our way!! Thanks to our chauffeur Glenn, we knew we could enjoy the night and not worry about getting home in one piece.  So, once there, I ordered myself a White Russian! YUMMY!!!

Cheers!

Was rather surprised at how quickly that went to my head.  I mean, really I ate nearly ALL my pancakes when we had breakfast (that is a LOT for me) so didn't think my stomach was that empty!?!  Well, it was alright, I was in a GREAT mood and enjoying the evening.  By the time dinner arrived, I was on my 2nd drink and pretty darned giggly.  Gina had ordered the lobster tails, and I actually go to sample!! I've never had lobster like that before.  It was very good, but I love my salmon!!! *drool*

While we were sitting there waiting on our creme bruele for dessert, Gina got this idea to go and get tattoo's!?! I don't know where it came from, but hey, sounded cool.... she suggested just a simple star,... matching,... on the tops of our hands.  Well, hubby says "whatever you girls wanna do..."  Cool!!! So, we ate dessert, surfed the web on my phone to find something that was like what we wanted.  Chris had already called the place we would use,.... The Zen Factory.  They would be open until Midnight.  We ate and headed that way!!

Gina wanted to look around a bit,... but we still decided upon the stars that we'd found online.  Then we had to wait as they were rather busy,.... but the artist took the time and drew up a nice design for the both of us.  We had decided on a large star, with stars to represent our kids.  So, 2 little ones for her, 4 little ones for me.

Here we are waiting our turn,.... it's WAY past Gina's bedtime!

Is it our turn yet??

 Hubby thought we should have a picture of our virginal hands.... 

Virginal hands?? ahahaha!!!

Gina said left hands,... which was fine with me,.... might seem lame, but since it's the hand I wear my wedding ring on,... well, your wedding ring hand,... just kinda seemed to tie it all up ya know? Hubby says "yeah, and the ring you can take off when you do the dishes" Bah.  It seems right in my head LOL

Finally when it was time to go back, Gina wanted to go first.  This is her first tattoo ever!

Who's idea was this???

Right here, he's just getting everything prepped up.  She looks pretty nervous to me!!  

Why did I suggest this idea?????

Here she is,..... she doesn't look very happy does she??? She really said it hurt LOL  I don't know that she will want another one or not now???  She had thought about getting this awesome sun/moon deal.  Hmm... guess you'll have to stay tuned to see how that turns out ROFL

Then it was my turn,.... I was a tad bit nervous thinking that maybe this area of the hand was more tender than my shoulder tat??? Maybe it WAS going to be terrible????

Piece of Cake!

Or maybe my poor cousin has a REALLY low pain thresh hold??? LOL  Poor girl.  Yeah, of course it's not pleasant,... and there was one part that hurt, but it never lasts so long that ya can't stand it.

The final products!

Turned out great!!!!

So, I think it was a wonderful idea,.... and well worth the touch of pain,.... not sure if Gina feels the same LOL

We got home after midnight, took the dogs out and all that,.... by 1:30 or so I was dead and went to sleep.  

All in all, it's been a WONDERFUL weekend.  Dinner was superb!! The time we've had together has been so great.  I so enjoy vegging and watching tv together, the trips to Jonesboro,... laughing, talking.  

Almost hard to believe it's been 13yrs!!  I am truly blessed with a husband, that is my best friend.  I am grateful for how well he takes care of me, and our family.  It's been an incredible 13 years and I look forward to so many more!!!

I love you honey!

♥♥♥

9/11

REMEMBER

Damned if you do,.... damned if you do.

So, yesterday, had a major dental day.  Dentist SCRUBBED my bottom teeth.  We're doing this in sections.  Bottom, then left top, then right top along with tooth repair.  Fun stuff.

Because of this, I was sure to fix hubby something simple for dinner as he was working last night.  Frozen pizza.  Piece of cake, preheat, throw it in,... no fuss no mess right????  WRONG.

As I went to put the pizza into the oven, a waft of smoke came pouring out.  CRAP.  I had forgotten that we had dripped juice into the bottom of the oven from when we were doing our ribs last weekend.  Huge stinky mess.  Lovely.  Hubby ran to Sonic and got some burgers instead.  I made a mental note to put the self clean on on the oven before bed.

About 9:30 I was wrappin up to head to bed,.... turned the oven on, said good night to the kids etc etc.  Crawled into bed.  Right about 10 the house alarm went off.  I figure one of the cats did something to set it off, knocked something over etc.  When I flew outta bed to shut it off,.... the house was full of smoke and cats were freaking out.  2 were tryin to rush into my room!  I was like screw this, shut the alarm off, and then the oven.  Turned the stove vent on HIGH to see if it would help clear the air some.

Then I crawled BACK into bed, my eyes were tearing up from the smoke.  Took a good while to doze back off again.  Then about 11:30ish I wake to an alarm.  I fly out of bed again, turn off the house alarm and I'm thinking something is wrong with it, because it's just making a single beep sound,.... loud but beep, beep, .... I wasn't all the way awake, so I had no idea what was going on.  Then realized,.... it was the carbon monoxide detector.  GAH! I pulled it down,.... tried to muffle the sound under a blanket, then tossed it into my room,.... still wouldn't shut up.  Pulled a battery out and ran into the living room to open doors.  The air was still very warm, we had no breeze of any sort.  For a good 15 mins I had front and back doors open in hopes of airing things out.  I popped online to see about self cleaning modes producing carbon monoxide.  Surely this was some weird fluke????  Well, little did I know, when burning food bits in the oven like that, it can turn into carbon monoxide.  GAH!! I swear.  Try and do something good and this is what happens???? *sigh*

Closed up the doors,.... opened up the two windows hoping that it would help.  Crawled back into bed and text hubby about the whole ordeal.  My eyes burned from smoke still,.... and then I had mosquitoes in the house.  Lovely.  I dozed off waiting for hubby to text me back.  It wasn't until 1am that he did.  Wasn't much else we could do, everyone and everything seemed fine after all that.  I went back to sleep.  I had cracked the bedroom door so the cats could come/go since the house was still smokey and smelly.  I woke at least 2 more times in the night, paranoid I guess. 

Hubby got home just before 6:30.  I had already gotten up around 4 and closed the windows up and turned the alarm back on, so the alarm being turned off woke me up.  Talk about a long rough night.  It's 12:30pm and the house still stinks.  Not a smoke smell, the smell of self cleaning oven smell.  Just yucky.  I've sworn off self cleaning, and am sticking with Easy Off from now on.

Back to School

August 19th, the kids returned to school. Jessica isn't in this picture because she was over at Cousin Gina's getting ready. She wanted help with hair and make up :o) She's turning into a real big girl *sigh*

Anyhow,..... first day of school. Sydney & Geoffery. They were both very excited. Can't you tell? LOL In all honesty, Sydney was looking forward to seeing her friends, but starting "Jr. High" was a bit scary to her. She felt like she wouldn't know anyone, or where her classes were or any of that scary stuff.

Let me paint a picture for you though. The school is one big cluster of rooms. You have sections though, but they all adjoin to each other in one way or another. I forget how many students hubby's class was when he graduated, but it wasn't many. Not compared to where I went to school. Sydney's graduating class might be 100 and that's probably pushing it. My graduating class was 300+ if I recall. The cool thing with here, is that there's one elementary school, one middle/jr high school, and one high school. All put together. So, that also means that the kids you went to 1st grade with, will join you in 6th grade, 9th grade etc (provided they don't move outta town) Are you getting all this? LOL I tried to explain to her, that she wasn't going to be sitting in rooms with totally new kids. There would be plenty of students she would know. "I might KNOW them but I probably won't LIKE them" *rollseyes* Yes dear. She can be so stubborn/negative sometimes LOL As for finding her classes,.... well, she's not far from where she had classes before, so I didn't worry about that either LOL Silly girl.

Geoffery, he was thrilled to get back to school. In 4th grade he would be going from class to class more so than he did in 3rd. More than anything though, he just wanted to see his friends again. He is the most social of kids. I still think he will either be a comedian or a politician . Stay tuned to find out ;o)

Their first 2 days went very well. Schedules were a bit messed up for the girls, but Sydney's was taken care of quickly enough. They had her in beginning band class, and she's now in the senior band class. Big difference. She was glad to have that moved around. Since she's now in "senior band" there's a lot more going on. Generally there's beginning, juniors and seniors. 6th grade is beginning,... then 7th & 8th is Jr,.... all high school would be senior band. He lost a lot of seniors last year at graduation, and there just aren't enough kids to for both Jr and Sr bands. She got bumped up!! *gasp* Means she is learning to march!!! This is fairly new for our school,... Brian's last year was really the first year they started marching.... so fall of 2009 they were working on it I think it was. She's not sure how much she's going to enjoy marching, but she's not said much negative so I think she'll manage fine :o) She likes all her other teachers,... even her math one. I hope that lasts through the year as math is her weakest subject.

Jessica on the other hand. I hope things get cleared up quickly, as I am waiting on a call from the counselor. She spent a semester I guess it was in Texas with her dad. Upon her return and getting classes here, things were really messed up. Here, certain grades get certain classes. She had taken one of those classes there, so they gave her the other one in its place. She was in a class w/ Jrs and Srs when she was a freshman. Because of that, this year, things are still messed up. A class she's already taken is being replaced with one she needs, spanish I guess. But she's also in yearbook club, and has to have a class for that. The only place they could put her is with the Senior yearbook class,.... her teacher told her yesterday she'd not get credit for the class. I guess because she's not a senior???? While her classmates that are in yearbook are in the sophomore class (when she's in spanish) will get credit for taking the class. Yeah, not too thrilled about that. So, we'll get that sorted out. I'm hoping as hubby has said, that it's just a misunderstanding on Jessica's part.

I think Sydney has already come home with a cold and has given it to me. My head has been stopped up since last night. I thought allergies at first, but not so sure now. Yeah, school is back in session.

One in 4th, one in 7th and one in 10th. Where does the time go???

In other news, Brian is doing well in Texas. He says/thinks? he has a job working at a nearby theater. He said he's to start working there soon??? Guess I'll have to follow up on that to be sure.

Well,.... just thought I would do a bit of catching up here. Maybe I'll stick with it? lol I'm not holding my breath.

Parenting....

Can really really suck.

I wish I had a wonderful guide for all those little things that we have to deal with. You know what I'm talking about,.... messy rooms.... boyfriend troubles,.... cell phone calls that use up all your minutes for the month, or how about loss of scholarships and wanting to have a boy you've never met but only online to visit you over the summer??? Yes, there really should be a guide for all these wonderful trivial things.

It's been awhile I know since I've posted. Lots to jabber about :o)

My cousin and her family are working on moving out our way. They even made a week long visit here,.... they're from Las Vegas. Moving to Arkansas,... CULTURE SHOCK! lol It's been a long process since her husband not only is driving loads out this way to put into storage, they need to find a rental home, and he needs a job. Busy busy!!! BUT they hope to be headed out of Vegas by the 15th. I'm really looking forward to it. They're very nervous about starting over again. Sure can't blame them. I want them to have a new and better life here,.... with ME! My cousin is more like a sister than anything to me. We were VERY close growing up. Pretty well inseparable. She has a daughter Sydney's age (year younger) and while they were here they got along beautifully!!! It was great! Kinda like when we were kids :o) Very exciting.

Since I'm not sure how she'd feel about me posting pics of her and the kids here, I'll refrain,.... but we had a great visit that's for sure!!

What else?? The school year is nearly over :o) Looking forward to that!!! Maybe I'll get to sleep in some???? Wouldn't THAT be great?? :o) The kids would be getting out in two days but we have snow days to make up, so now it's 7 days. Well, 6 since today is over.

Brian is already done with school. We went last week and got his transcript in hopes of sending it in so he could get his scholarship reinstated since he bombed so bad the first semester. He paid for the second semester. Well, he bombed again. SOooooo he not only loses his scholarship for good,.... but he lost the money he paid for the 2 classes. I'm so disappointed. He's not been able to find a job here, not to mention that he blew his car money on those classes that he won't ever get back,.... so he has no car. Just a mess. His plans now are to go live with his dad in TX. He'll be within walking distance to places that he can apply to, so it will be a good move. I hate it, hate that he's leaving,... but I know this is the right thing for him. I'm also grateful that his dad and step mom are willing to help him out.

The girls already know he's more or less leaving,.... but aren't realizing it's "for good" but Jess is looking forward to having his room. LOL I can't blame her. Sydney is a slob. Jess isn't a neat freak by any means, but she's a whole lot neater than Sydney is.

Oh, and while I'm talking about Jess. She met a boy in a chat room (she's an anime freak, found some kid type chat place) and she tells me how he's got some beanie babies he's going to send her as he doesn't want them anymore. Todays news is that he wants to drive up here this summer to SEE her. HUH? How OLD IS this boy?? 18. Riiiiiighhhhttt. You're 15,.... this is SO not going to happen. We're just 2 1/2 yrs apart,.... Mmmhmm..... what part of this is SO NOT going to happen did you NOT understand??? LOL

Sure I tossed it around, maybe I'm being too strict??? "I'll talk to Chris about it,.... but don't hold your breath" Maybe it was false hope I gave her??? But I couldn't make it anymore clear to her that I didn't like this idea even a tiny bit. "you would never be alone with him,...." "he is NOT staying at our house" ROFL That sort of thing,..... to which I got "I know.... " "I know...." no,... she did NOT know.

Text hubby about it,.... "Tell her to tell him not to waste his money" :o) LOL Good way to put it,... so yup, that's exactly what I told her. I'm sure she's bummed out about it big time, but eh, she's 15, she'll live :o) Lots of time for boyfriends when she's older right????

What else can I share????

Took Geoffery to the Drs last Friday. He'd had this up/down low grade fever, sore throat, wanted to rule out strep since its going around at the school. While there waiting, was a sweet little blonde headed baby girl with her parents. She was in her mom's arms and watching Geoff and I. I waved to her which in turn she waved that cute little baby wave back. Such a doll.

"Isn't she cute Geoffery?" he was playing on his DS, pokemon game of some sort,... ".... hmm? yeah..." in his "whatever" sort of voice. "Don't you want one???" "A BABY??" "yeah! Shouldn't we have another one???" "....NOooooo!!" *giggle* I was pretty amused.

"Babies are like puppies,..... they always chew on things... don't they?? and whine...." ROFL!!!

I cracked up. I've always told people that having a baby is like having a puppy. You're cleaning up pee/poop, vomit,.... you've got the whining/crying thing going on,.... the teething stage is always fun,... Dr visits for shots or illnesses you can't treat at home,.... yup yup you want to experience having a baby, get a puppy first.

Granted once your puppy is house broken,.... having a puppy in the house is tons better. You don't have to hear the whining about why they can't go over to a friends house, their room isn't THAT messy,.... or "ewwww do I have to eat THIS for dinner??" Well, I could go on and on and on with that one,....

Yeah, there really should be a parenting guide for all the little things that we don't know how to deal with. Just say NO! I think will be my motto from here on out.

1 Question - 3 Answers

Very frustrating I tell you!

It's tax time!! We filed and got our money already!! Yay!!! We've paid a ton of bills already and our one big splurge this year, is going to be a pair of iPhones!! YAY!! We've both wanted one for,... well,... since they came out??? But of course we'd already bought our phones, and couldn't do it for the upgrade price until recently.

Well, I am eligible for upgrade, which we can't figure out since when we paid for our new phones last time, we got them together, so technically if I'm eligible, so should hubby. But no, he's not eligible until March 3rd.

Surely we can get this taken care of right?? I can plead with the reps that I really want to get my husband this phone for Valentine's Day. So, I call AT&T directly.

I get this woman,.... I can only assume that it was a woman,.... she had a bit of an accent,.... as soon as she spoke, my eyes rolled to the back of my head. OHHHH NOOoooooo. *SIGH* Grin and bear it and put on my best polite voice and hope to God that she's with the program to do what I'm asking.

"Hello, I'm wanting to get an iPhone for my husband for Valentine's Day, only he isn't eligible for an upgrade until March 3rd, less than a month away,... I was hoping that you could help me out, by doing an early upgrade for us?"

She said a LOT of stuff that I couldn't understand. But the jist was that no, she couldn't do this,... that sure she could put him in for an early upgrade, but he's still going to have to pay full price.

Umm.... then what's the point??? To her the point is, that do early upgrade, you can then buy a new phone. Well, if you're paying full price in the first place, what's the point of doing early upgrade at all?? Any Joe Blow can walk in off the street w/ the money and buy any phone he wants right?? This was just not making sense and as much as I tried to explain it to her,... the less I was able to even understand her. I decided she was talking with a mouth full of bricks,.... but now I'm thinking it might have been more like rocks. Defiantly rocks. I gave up and hung up,... I didn't say thank you, I didn't say good bye, I just hung up. Rude I know, but I had had enough,... and I sure wasn't going to say thank you for her help,... because she didn't help!!! ARGH!!!!

All the while, I'm trying to call the local AT&T store,... nice new fancy store that opened up right near our new fancy mall. But I kept getting the message that all the reps were busy at the moment. I just kept redialing,....

During this time, I'm popping into the "Online Chat" that the AT&T website provides,.... surely this person can understand what I want and I won't have to hear some horrid accent that I can't understand right????

It really went along quite well. I could understand her, she could understand me. Good deal!!! However,.... she too said that we'd have to pay full price for a phone, even though we're like 26 days from his actual upgrade date!! This makes NO sense at all. We've been with them for umm.... gosh,.... too many years now!!! This is just ridiculous!!! I did thank her for her time, considering she gave a lot of detail and explanation.

I still wasn't happy. See, once upon a time, I dropped my poor old clam shell type cell phone into a toilet. Yeah, was great fun. Short story is that the phone was pretty well dead,... wouldn't hold calls etc,... I called AT&T and got an early upgrade, I could go into any store and purchase any phone for the upgrade price. Piece of cake. So, they're telling me that in order for him to get early upgrade, he'll have to flush his phone???? *sigh*

I finally got through to the local store,.... I explained and the gal put me on hold to verify if they could help or not.

She returned,... promptly I might add, and said "So long as you're within 30 days of upgrade, we can assist you"

To be clear, I asked her "and we can purchase him an iPhone 3Gs for the upgrade price of $199.00 correct???"

"For the 16gb yes, that's the price"

TA DA!!! I knew I could make this happen, I just sure didn't expect the long major ordeal. Such a pain in the rear.

Welcome February!

We have kissed another month goodbye! Hard to believe. Time flies when we're having fun????

Speaking OF fun,... the 29th was my 41st Birthday. Wow huh?? Yeah, I know. Who would ever guess that? LOL I dunno, most days I don't think I'm THAT old. Other days, my body says I'm older ROFL!!!

So, the plans for my Birthday?? Enjoy a nice quiet day by myself as the kids would be in school, hubby at work. He was going to take off, and we would go for lunch or dinner, but you know,.... bills and all that??? So, we planned for dinner on Saturday night :o) Olive Garden!!! We just got one here in our area!! Mmmm Mmmm!!!

Well,.... OF COURSE it's my Birthday and all, so we had a nice threat of some lovely weather. I do say lovely sarcastically of course. The 28th I went and got groceries, and prepared for the worst. I bought batteries and flashlights, I bought cans of soup we could easily heat up with the propane deep fryer, I got lots of milk, bread and sandwich meats. Yes, we would NOT have a repeat like last year!!!! I would NOT allow it!!!

Hubby went to work Thursday night, made sure he took my truck as it has traction control, he and his buddy prepared Thursday morning and bought some de-icer stuff for the windows etc,.... so yes, we were prepared for the worst right???

I stayed up until about midnight, watching and waiting to see what was going to happen. I was hearing sleet coming down starting around 8pm and it didn't quit!! But still nothing was posted online about whether or not school would be open or not????? I gave up and went to bed.

I woke at 5:30am, pulled up the site, and TA DA! NO SCHOOL!!! Cool :o) I peeked outside and it was pretty white looking, and if I remember right, snowing??? (hey, I've slept since then, give me a break!) I went back to bed and got up with the alarm at 6:30, shoo'd Sydney back to bed who then told Jess that there wasn't any school. I patiently waited for Chris to get home, I knew with all the sleet the roads would be terrible.

I wasn't wrong. When he finally got home, it was about 7:45. A good 45 mins + more than usual. He pulled into the garage and good grief!! The ice on the truck was a good 1/2" thick!!!! Dang. It was solid. I wish now I'd taken a picture LOL

He came in and vegged for a bit before going to shower. He was wore out from the drive home. I don't blame him!!! He popped out to have a cigarette in the garage and found that the ice was melting off the truck, and puddling up really good. We have the girls twin beds out there from when Jess left and we put the full sized bed in for Sydney. One of the beds was getting wet!!! GAH!!!! Quick thinking, was grab towels and plenty of them.

HA! There was probably about 10 gallons of water stuck to the truck,.... a few towels no matter how big, were NOT going to save us. Sooo.... Chris backed the truck out, and Brian and I beat on the thing w/ brooms to knock as much ice off as we could. It was snowing at this point REALLY good!!! We were freezing, but we got it done :o) Then they moved the mattress to a dry part of the garage and we were done!!!

Plans were, he would shower, sleep till about 3 and was going to stay home :o) Sounded like a GREAT idea to me :o) Sure didn't want him driving in that mess!!

Well, he woke up about 2:45pm, and called the guy he was to work with, and found that HE was going to work,.... so Chris couldn't hardly stay home :o( Bleh. Friend also said he'd pick him up, he had 4wheel drive :o) So that did make me feel better. Just BLEH. I couldn't wrap my head around him going in LOL I jumped up like OHHH I need to feed you!!! (duh Shannah) Got him some food going, got a few things ready before hand so he would be ready to go.

Chat for a few,.... and towards the last, he asked if I thought he should get the fireplace ready??? Hmmmm nahhh.... I'm sure we'll be okay..... well, maybe we should JUST incase,... we already had the power flickering earlier,... so he ran out and turned the propane on and went to light the pilot, and dang if we couldn't get it lit!!! His ride came, told him no worries,.... that we could live through the night :o) LOL Off he went.

The day had gone pretty good. I had a nice pkg from my Aunt and my Mom :o) My inlaws had given me a few goodies the day before,.... plus a yummy chocolate cake :o) I had Brian fix dinner for us LOL Frozen pizza's. He also served me :o) Yup yup,.... I did as little as possible Friday.

I watched my soaps,... I think I had 3 episodes,... then I watched Desperate Housewives, been Netflixing that :o) LOVE it!!! Once I finished watching those, I was going to watch Mercy,.... by then it was around 9:30.

The power flickered.

The power went out.

The power came back on.

The power went out.
.
.
.
.
The power did NOT come back on. Yes ladies and gents,.... THREE years in a row, I have no power on my Birthday ROFL I'm picking a new Birthday.

I got the kids their flashlights ready, called my MIL to make sure it wasn't just our general area,.... which it wasn't. I then called the electric company, the recorded message guesstimated around midnight for the power to be back on. Well, not terrible I suppose.

The kids were all wound up,.... once they calmed down, the girls were huddled in their room doing whatever, Geoffery fell asleep in the recliner while I read (thank God for booklights!) and who knows what Brian was doing.

At about 11:30, the power came back on :o) YAY!!!!! I led Geoff to bed, did a few things and headed to bed myself.

It snowed all day and night,.... when Saturday rolled around, Chris got home and was walking through our driveway in snow that was knee deep!!! We had some wind as well, so it was drifting high around the house. It was pretty darned cold too!!!

It was enough snow/ice that the kids didn't go back to school Monday or Tuesday!! Nice long 5 day break LOL We're wondering now if they'll have Spring Break?? Or will the time off cut into their Summer break??? Hmm... guess we'll see!!!

Since everyone was either at work/school, I got off my lazy rear and got some major cleaning done!!! I still have a few more things left to do, but wow the house sure needed it :o)

Well,... I guess that's it. I've got some pics and a video to put up soon,... will have to get to work on that :o)

Have a good one!
**HUGS**

Sydney turns 12yrs old!

This year, she wanted to do her party at home,... do a sleep over. She invited her 7 closest friends,.... 5 of them were able to attend. 4 were able to stay the night. We had 6 girls total for most the evening. *phew*

They hung out in the bedroom for the most part,... they came out and had pizza, goofed around with the cats and dogs,... they had some cake and icecream and hurried through opening presents,... then played on the Wii and the Xbox 360. They put on make up and played with the Littlest Pet Shop stuff, they painted nails and laughed and teased and made a lot of girlie noises LOL

Poor Chris, he had to work the next morning, so by 11pm we told the girls, they needed to tone it down,... they had decided to all cram themselves in the bedroom to sleep,... some in the bed, others on the floor.

Chris and I were snug in bed with lights/tv off by midnight. I dozed off,... but kept an ear to the door listening for girls. I woke a couple of times,... the last time I recall it was around 1:30 and they were still opening/closing doors and giggling.

The alarm went off far too early,.... 4:30am. We crawled out of bed, and I came into the livingroom,... heard the bathroom door shut and the bedroom door shut,... girls were STILL awake????? OMG!! I found out later it was Sydney,.... she had announced that she was going to bed as Chris was getting out the door to work LOL

Thankfully he slept through all the girl noises. Although, we were both pretty dead tired LOL

I talked to the girls later that morning and found they had a great time playing, and that most all of them stayed up really really late. So, I suppose the party was a great success :o)

Chris and I later decided that that many sleeping over,.... won't happen again LOL It was just pretty crazy. We are glad that they all had such a wonderful time though :o)

Here are a few of the pics from the party :o)


Happy 12th Birthday baby girl!!!
Mommy and Daddy love you so much!!!
xoxo

Geoffery's Christmas Program

Geoffery was Ralph the Reindeer in his Christmas program this year. A real speaking part!!! We went over his lines often,... he had them down to a "T" and was very excited about his big role.

It was great fun watching the program,... and I was thrilled that Chris was off work so he could attend too :o) We were so very proud of him as he did such a GREAT job!!!

Here are a few pics, and the video of his big performance!!





I think he's a natural at the mic!!

Holidays!

It's hard to believe that we're so close now to 2010!! This has been a pretty rough year for a lot of people. Us included. Granted, I know things could have been so much worse, but still yet. I'm sure hoping for a much better year ahead!!!

Thanksgiving was quiet, we spent it with Chris's folks. Chris had been working nights if I recall, so it was a long rough week for him. We usually will take a turkey and deep fry it for ourselves later on to eat. This year, neither of us were in the mood to mess with all that.

It was a nice Thanksgiving though, relaxing. Enjoyed some quiet. I think that was also the weekend we vegged and watched some Harry Potter. I'd not watched all of our DVD's so that was pretty fun :o) Good movies.

The month of December was filled with activity. We were trying to get a little bit of shopping done, which we managed to do online. Chris is great with Ebay!! :o)

Anyhow, on the 8th I think it was, Sydney had her band concert. They have a large beginning band,... she was crammed in the center, first row on the stage, with the teacher right in front of her. So, I didn't get to SEE her much,.... not to mention the stands in their faces too.


They played really well, and it was a great concert as always. Very proud of her for taking up an instrument. Only thing I ever really wanted to play was violin, but in school I was too shy to even consider taking band. I hope that she continues through the rest of her school years, as it would be really good for her. She would like to learn to play the guitar, and I hope that somehow this might help her or motivate her to learn.

Sometime after the concert,... one early Saturday morning, we headed to the school auditorium for Breakfast with Santa!! Geoffery was very much looking forward to this, he brought his LONG list,.... and couldn't wait to see Santa. We got in, and his number was 49. We went over and he got a cinnamon roll and a cup of milk. We went to the table where he could write another letter to Santa, and he ate and contemplated whether or not he wanted to write a letter. He finally "gave in" and scribbled out a letter. He kept saying that he HAD one with him,... he didn't NEED to write another,... but I knew he needed to kill some time. Santa hadn't even arrived yet!

He wanted to sit with a friend of his, so we did that,.... they both impatiently waited for Santa's arrival. Then they had to wait for their group of numbers to be called. During that wait, they both gave in and went and got their faces painted :o) His friend got called up to go see Santa before he did. Poor Geoffery was so anxious.

Finally it was his turn!!! Here are a few pictures from this day :o)



Then we go into the class parties. These are always the last day of the school year. This year, on Sydney's 12th Birthday. Dec 18th.

Sadly, I was informed by Sydney that she did NOT want me to attend hers. *cries* I couldn't believe it. She doesn't need me anymore. "It's embarrassing" she tells me. EMBARRASSING???? "I'm embarrassing????" :o( "I didn't say YOU were, just that it is embarrassing when you're there" *cries* I don't dress silly, or talk funny, or hug and fawn all over her,..... hmm okay, maybe the later part I do a little bit??? :o) Ahhh well, I knew this day would come eventually.

So, we're driving to school, when we realize she forgot her soda. Dang. Doesn't that just figure??? My plans were to drop them off, go home and get ready and go up for Geoff's party. Well, now it would be: go home, get ready, grab Sydney's soda and drop it off to her first, then go to his party. Meant I got to sneak in there anyhow HA!!! I win.

Or so I thought. I got there,... and the hall was quiet,... the kids were all in their rooms. Hmmm odd. I know they've changed things around a lot there, but sheesh. I went into the office, and waited,... finally got to drop off the soda and told them the "She doesn't want me here at her party" story,.... also mentioned how it was her Bday,... found out that they weren't doing the whole big party like normal. They were just having fun class time, having some food, exchanging gifts,... simple. So, I didn't feel so bad :o)

I headed over to the elementary building,.... and enjoyed Geoffery's party. He is such a character that kid. He was so very excited about his party. We had already had a long talk about being thankful for whatever gift he might get. A $3.00 limit on a gift doesn't buy much, and he is usually always disappointed.

Here are a few pics from the party... lots of good food,... kids had a great time,....




Well, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that he was not pleased with his gift. I took this picture, and inside I was giggling. How I managed to capture this so perfectly,.... I looked at him sternly and put on a smile to remind him of how he was to behave. *sigh* Sadly though, even through his fake "I like this" smile, he was pretty upset. He's not been into trucks since he was very small.

Once in the truck, we had another long detailed talk about the art of giving and receiving through the holidays. We also talked about the art of regifting!!

In the end, the day was great since it was the last day of school, they got out early, it was Sydney's birthday!!! so much excitement for one day!!!

Of course, I did fail to post about Geoffery's big performance!!! I'll do a different post and show pics and video of that next :o)

A tad bit late, but Halloween pics!

This year, it was just Sydney and Geoffery to take out trick or treating. We had initially planned on going to the big church here in town. They always have a big fun deal for the kids. Since Chris was working that day, we thought it would work out perfect. He'd get home from work, kids would be set to go,... and we'd go down there and let the kids run around and play games and get candy.

Sadly, the church started and ended much earlier than past years. After finding this out, it was too late to try and hurry the kids up to get ready to go. I ended up getting them ready and took them trick or treating. We got home just after Chris had. Spent a good hour walking around a neighborhood getting all kinds of yummy candy!!

There were a couple of really fun things though. Geoffery year before last, was a HUGE Star Wars freak. We went to a house, and out front in the driveway, was a man dressed up to the hilt as Darth Vader. He had the saber and everything. Totally decked out. I watched Geoffery, as he stood there in awe.

He's gone from Star Wars, to Sonic the Hedgehog and now Pokemon. Still yet though, this man dressed as Darth Vader was a bit much,... all he could muster up to say was "Holy smoke" He didn't even go up to the folks to get candy he was so dumbfounded LOL It was totally classic!!

From there, we came to another house, it was such a nice evening,... that most everyone was sitting out in chairs on their porches or driveways. This group was lined up against their garage door,.... they had chalk outlines on the driveway, flashing lights, eerie music,... and they were dressed up big time,... I couldn't see everyone, but there was one up there that freaked Geoffery out enough that he was like "HECK NO" he wasn't goin up there to get anything from them :o)

It was so much fun, I laughed and just enjoyed being with them that night. It's great fun to look at things through kids eyes.

Here are a few pics I took at the house,.... Sydney was a "Pumpkin Fairy" and Geoffery, the character from "Scream"

Let's talk about hair

Once upon a time,.....

Mom and I went to the mall, Southland Mall in CA, and I went to "Command Performance" there to get my hair cut. My hair just so you know is VERY thick,.... at the time it was fairly long. I had to have been around 16 or 17 maybe??? Anyhow, I've gotten used to sitting down in the chair and the hairdresser running her fingers through it saying "Goodness you have a lot of hair" (or something along those lines)

As she was cutting, she commented on the color of my hair,... "Did you know you had some platinum in your hair??" Umm... no, I honestly didn't. At that time, I thought "Cool!! I have some blonde in my hair!!!" Mmm hmm....

By the time I was 21 I was coloring the GREY out of my hair. Granted it wasn't much,... but any grey at that age is unheard of right??? Seems my mom's side of the family grey's early. Nice. Thanks a lot. *SIGH*

Ever since, I have been coloring my hair. Usually a color that matches what my haircolor is normally. Well, I'm 40 now, and "THEY" say that you should start going lighter, makes you look younger and all that crap.

When mom came to visit, we did a haircare day. Went to a salon and got pampered,... I had some highlights put in and it was wonderful. I really liked it. BUT maintaining it.... that's another story. I just can't see going in every 6 weeks or whatever to get it redone for $100+. So, instead, I found a haircolor that closely matched and have been doing the all over color. It's lighter than my natural color for sure. Decent enough, but I do miss the look of the highlights.

Soo,... while getting groceries the other day, I NEEDED haircolor,.... (hate when these nasty grey roots start showing up) I came acrossed this

For Lt Brown to Dk Brown hair,.... and for LONG hair as well. I pondered over the box,.... even called my cousin to get her 2cents on the ordeal. Told her what was in the box,... cap, things to pull the hair through the cap, this rinse that other stuff,... blah blah blah. Well,.... she seemed a tad bit skeptical, but that yes, it would blend in the grey,..... SOLD.

I got 2 boxes. Just because something says it's for long hair, doesn't mean MY long hair,... my THICK LONG hair.

Today,... I'm going to attempt to try doing this. I'd do before and afters, but I think I'd rather not LOL I'll just let ya know how it goes instead ;o)

Wish me luck!!!

Oh yeah, I still plan on posting the kids Halloween pics,... and giving the run down from our trip around trick or treating. It's quite funny :o)

Teenage Frustration

And I'm not talking about the teenager being frustrated. The mom is frustrated with the teen.

*pulls hair out*

I dunno what I've done wrong, or how to correct the situation, but it seems he's just lazy and doesn't give a crap about much of anything.

I feel like he's for sure not giving 100% at school. Going to Comm. College so he can continue on to a 4yr college and get a degree in gaming design. Sounds wonderful doesn't it?? I mean, great in that he has a goal.

If there was a meter here to show where he was at in reaching that goal,.... well, the meter wouldn't read much of anything.

He doesn't study,.... he's confessed that he's skipped some classes..... hey, I did too when I went for a full semester,.... but he has a goal!!! I didn't.

His room is most always a mess,.... yesterday he came out and asked me "If I clean up my room, can I go hang out w/ my friends" What I thought was sad is that he's 18 and asking if he can do something IF is room is cleaned. Well, at 18 shouldn't he BE keeping his room clean???? I guess not.

Then today,... he's gotta work,.... he's got a seasonal position at Game Stop,... like his dream job,.... he's worked 1 day a week since he started a few weeks ago. He came in to ask me a question,... all dressed and ready to go.

He was a wrinkled mess. Looked like he'd slept in his shirt or worse!!! Just looked horrible. Grrr.... I went off. Nagging mom ensued. I hate being the nagging mom,.... but every time I turn around,... well, he just gives me plenty to nag about.

Told him he needed to either go change or iron his shirt. "Nothing else fits" Well, that's a lie,.... I know for a fact he's got other shirts that fit just fine. ARGH.... knowing him they're either in a pile and dirty, or in a pile and clean.

I'm just frustrated that he doesn't care more about himself. His job. His schooling. Nothing.

I know he has it easy here,.... free room/board. He's got internet, cellphone, gaming,.... it's all right here. Who'd wanna leave that??? I just don't think we ask too much of him. Go to school, do well, work hard,.... various household duties,... we want him to get a decent job so he can start saving towards a car,... but I don't even think he cares about that.

I dunno. Just needed to rant I suppose.

I do have a plan! He has no school on Fridays. So, this Friday, will be job hunting day. He'll go with me in the morning and anything along the way, we'll stop off and get an application, he can fill it out right then and there,... turn it in. Something has to pan out. I'm tired of him being so lazy and not caring about things.

We'll see how this goes I guess.

Enough ranting. I have dinner to start for the littles. They want to go to this Halloween Carnival that a family is having. Should be fun :o) Best get us ready!

**edit**

I just hung up with said lazy teenager. He was about to leave work and head home. He was excited to tell me that he got an achievement at work today... ??? Umm... okay?? what??? "I'm on the board for doing good deeds" "Ohh, that's neat, what was your good deed?" "I alphabetized the whole half of the store" "ewww, bet that was fun" "ohhh yeah..." "well, that's really cool honey" *sigh* All that ranting and look what he goes and does. Damn kid. LOL

You know it's time for home schooling when....

Your daughter gets into the car after school and the first thing she tells you about is how her teacher sorta melted down.

The class wasn't cooperating is what I gather,... finally a student answers a question, and the teacher thanks her and proceeds to sit down at her desk and tell the students that she gives up, that they can do what they want and she'll sit at her desk and just relax. She sat down and removed her glasses, and had to wipe her eyes. Sydney said she was crying real tears!?!

To add insult to injury, one of the office workers comes in and tells them all that they're going to get zero's but nooooo.. they don't CARE about zero's do they????

I'm sorry.... is this teaching???? I'm confused.

I'm very frustrated. I send youngest to school w/ notes in his folder for the teacher, and never get replies. Just a simple "I got your note" or SOMETHING, ANYTHING would be great!!

Then there are the papers he's to return,.... they sit in his folder and I wonder "did she see these??" "did you turn these in??" to which he says yes, "did she see them??" "I think so?" *headdesk*

Communication is lacking lately. If I didn't think I'd have no hair at the end of a week, I really would give home schooling a shot,.... and like hubby says,.. the kids need the interaction with the other kids. He is right about that, especially w/ Geoffery. He's VERY social.

Oh well, what can we do?? I know teaching isn't EASY, but there just seems to be something amiss here.

The Draft

I know that we've not reinstated the draft,.... I know that it will probably never happen in my lifetime right??? I feel pretty confident in that. I mean, really,.... would they ever force our men to go to war again??? Could they??? Should I pack Brian's bags and move him to Canada now???

I picked up the mail today. Brian had a weird letter. Used his FULL (he has 2 middle names, so yeah... when you see all that you become alert) name on it too,.... hmm... school something or other maybe??? I waited until we got home so he could open it.

It was a letter reminding him that he was an 18 year old male, and that per the law he had to register for the draft.

Hit me like a ton of bricks. I mean, I know that boys are supposed to. I remember thinking how weird it was that boys did and girls didn't when I was close to being 18.

Now that I'm a MOM,... having my baby boy (okay,.... so he's not a baby anymore,...) have to register for the draft, well, just puts a lump in your gut.

Standing there in the kitchen, the kids are all snarfing down mini Oreo cookies for snack. I look at Geoffery who will have his turn to register in 9 years. This happy go lucky and yes Inky, always in smiles boy.... all I can do now is pray that the draft never goes live,... ever.

Fun times at Pumpkin Hollow

Last week, we went to Pumpkin Hollow with Geoffery's class. This is the annual 3rd grade field trip. Second time we've been. The first time was less than stellar so I wasn't expecting much, but was glad Chris had the day off so he could go along. That always helps :o) Geoffery was VERY excited about his field trip. What kid isn't???

Here are some photos of our fun time there.... it did end up much better than anticipated.


When we first got there, the kids watched a short video that would explain where we were going, what we would see,.... they all look so thrilled don't they? lol

Daddy got picked to hand out the feed for the goats,.....

Here's Geoffery feeding one of the many goats they had

After feeding the goats and running around, going to the restroom,... it was time for the hay ride!!! Here's Geoffery with his best friend Kristopher :o)

At the top of the hill,... there was a nice pond, the kids were each given a quarter to get feed to feed the ducks, the turtles and the catfish that were in this pond

Daddy and Geoffery at the pond

Kris and Geoffery bein silly before walking through the corn maze

Here, we're waiting to go down to the pumpkin patch.... these large bails of hay were great for climbing on,... and proclaiming that you're the "KING OF THE WORLD!!!!!"

Down at the pumpkin patch, there were so many pumpkins to pick from,... rather sad that they only let the kids pick such small ones,... they're hardly suitable for carving.... but hey... they're having fun right??? Daddy is helping find the best one ;o)

I think this is the one......

YUP! This is THE pumpkin for me!!!!

Ahhh finally lunch time!!!! Can we go home now??? (someone was looking forward to getting home so he can play his videogame on the Wii)

Before we headed out, we did sample some fresh pumpkin pie and pumpkin roll,... omg delicious!!! I could've eaten the whole things :o) We also went over to the fish pond and got our picture taken before going home.

All in all it was a very nice day :o) The weather was perfect,.... considering the day before we had had rain and I fully expected us to be muddy messes,... it wasn't that bad.


Since then,.... things have been fairly quiet around the house. Chris worked nights,... getting a few things done around the house,... getting ready for cooler weather so going through the kids clothes. I have BAGS upon BAGS of clothes and toys that will go to a gal where Chris works. She'll take it to her church where the items will go to those that need it most. I usually do Goodwill, but ya know, if you're HAVING to shop there,... you don't have a whole lot of money in the first place,... so yeah... am glad that the church will see to it that people who need it will get the stuff,... FREE.

Geoffery brought home a sheet to sign up for basketball. One year that Sydney was cheering, I was quite sure they had "pee wee" teams for 3rd graders. I swear they were playing each other. Maybe I'm wrong??? anyhow.... I thought what a great deal for him, then when 4th grade rolls around, he'll be that much better!!! (to play against other schools etc)

Geoff announced Friday after school that he had basketball practice Monday!! ?? Umm.... what time??? "I don't remember" "which gym??" (there are 3 at the schools) "Dunno..." *SIGH* Yup, so far this was organization at it's best huh??

Monday I called up there to find out,.... and even the office wasn't sure. She didn't sound thrilled about it in the first place as football was still going on, and the practices would be over lapping. Well,... this bodes well already doesn't it?? She gave me a cell number of the guy doing the coaching,... I called, left a message and he quickly returned the call.

Which is when he explained that this is a sort of try out for the 3rd graders. Normally basketball doesn't start until 4th grade,... but if any 3rd graders show potential, they'll put them on the 4th grade teams. A try out??? How can 3rd graders try out for something they've not ever done anything with??? I mean, Geoff has NEVER played any form of basketball outside of PE. Yeah, I felt this could've been handled so much better. You know,... a notice sent home to all 3rd grade parents,... Geoffery thought he would be ON a team,... so we had to tell him otherwise. Just go out and play your best, and have fun,...

Chris took him last night, and he said he did pretty good,... he can dribble the ball pretty well,... Geoffery had already been bragging on how well he can do this,... but shooting the ball,... hmm.. not so much LOL He had a GREAT time though, so that was good :o) He'll have like 2 more of these practices where the boys are watched and evaluated. We aren't expecting much, but maybe this will give him an idea of what to do for 4th grade :o)

In the mean time, we're waiting for the sign ups for soccer. At least soccer is something he CAN be on a team for.

Jessica's 15th Birthday is Saturday. Hard to believe she'll be 15. I hate that she's not HERE with US. I'd like to do something fun with her. Have her friends over,.. that sort of thing. I don't know what she has planned,.... but I just finished boxing up all her goodies to send off this afternoon :o)

I guess that's it for now. It's sprinkling outside. I had delusions of going out and weed eating around the house LOL Riiiiggghhhttt... I've got plenty to do inside, so going to get off my rump and get that done :o)

Have a great day!!