The Douglas Family Diaries

A case of just-wait-itis

2012-02-09T16:25:00.004-05:00

I got this post from a friend. Normally I just gloss over these types of things but by just glancing at the positive comments I decided to read the whole thing.

http://katiewetherbee.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/joy-or-just-wait/

I am one of those parents who always gets the look, or the comment when I am at the store. I almost always have 2 or more of my kids with me and we are not quiet as we shop. Eva right now is a true terror at the grocery store. She hates it with a passion and is not afraid to show it. It is not uncommon for a store manager, shopper or security guard to approach me and my unruly child at the store. I have learned to press on and get it done and get the heck out of there.

Unfortunately, there are those suckers who make the mistake of actually verbalizing their thoughts to me or in some cases my child. First mistake, NEVER approach my child in any form to criticise or discipline. I am not known for my classy responses and if you come at my child you really don't deserve one.

I have been out with all of my kids and had people make comments about how many kids I have, what am I thinking? I feel sorry for you, you sure have your hands full. I used to take serious offense to these comments until a friend gave me a wonderful response "better full than empty". It took me a while but I finally remembered to use that phrase and instead of a cringe I get a semi smile. I really don't care what those people think about my kids. I love them and loud or not, dirty or not, crazy or not, they are mine and I wouldn't trade them for all the crazy looks in the world.

So, long story short, I really liked this gal's post. Having been that person in the store, I can and would appreciate someone who instead of finding the negative in a child, sees the special thing that only a child can add to your life. I turn a deaf ear when I hear someone else's child in the store. I don't know what's going on with them. Who am I to judge? I have taken on clerks who have singled out those parents who have loud kids. Maybe they need some help or could use and extra hand instead of a nasty comment. It reminds me of the story of the lady in the airport with her kids and she's waiting in the line...I'm not going to re tell the whole thing but you probably recognize it.

That's it. The End.

We are Young!

2012-02-09T11:04:00.003-05:00

Since I love me some music and I love me some dancing I am a Glee fan and a few weeks ago during a Glee marathon I saw this song:

I loved it from the beginning. I get that wowza feeling when I listen to it so I finally figured out what song it was and decided to post it for your viewing pleasure. I'm making it my unofficial anthem. Don't be hater!

A Little Privacy Please!

2012-02-06T15:01:00.003-05:00

My mom picked the kids up from school today since Erin had her surgery and she had some goodies for the kids. Emily got a JB poster. Words cannot describe how she feels about this. I hung it up for her and she insisted it go next to her bed. As soon as I hung it she kicked me out and said "I just need a little privacy please.." So of course I let her close the door then opened it while she was unaware climbing up her bunk muttering to herself

" oh yes, this will do nicely"

"oh you are so handsome"

"Oh my your eyes are so big"

"I'm going to like having you in my room!"

"Now I can tell everyone that Justin Beaver is in my room!"

At this point she is stroking his hair and I take off to get my camera and as I get back she is

"just let me do this Justin, I just have to do one little thing.."

and she totally smooches his poster! OMG! I tried to capture the moment but she saw me and totally freaked out saying "a little privacy mother! PLEASE!"

OMG!!! What am I going to do with her? She is not even a pre teen and she's already kissing posters!!!

Spirit Day

2012-02-06T14:58:00.002-05:00

Last friday was spirit day at school and the kids were to wear something sports related. Emily chose her cheerleading dress up costume and I snagged a Redskins jersey at Target (for only $5 might I add). David refused to be in the picture but he looked snazzy.

Surgery Update

2012-02-06T14:50:00.003-05:00

Erin had her surgery this morning to repair her hernia. She did amazingly well. I expected some crying and got none. When we were allowed back in the recovery room she was so out of it, sitting on the nurses lap, licking a huge blue Popsicle like a dog. I mean she was licking it like it was the best thing on the planet. It was so funny. I got her a redbox movie and her favorite happy meal and we were good to go. She's doing really good but starting to complain that it hurts but that's normal. I'm so proud of her! The hard part is keeping her off her feet. Luckily David and Emily are taking turns letting her play their 3ds's and that seems to work for a little bit. The Dr. said she should be up and at it as early as tomorrow morning but I'm keeping her in bed for a few days.

I'm getting old

2012-02-06T14:43:00.004-05:00

My birthday was last week and the kids made me my cake. As you can see it is fabulous...kinda....sorta...in an I'm blind and I'm just gonna throw all the sprinkles I can find on your cake since I really can't decide what to do sort of way. Each kid got to choose something to put on it. Obviously Erin chose the green candles :). Although, personally I think they put way too many on there. Let's not make the dining room a fire hazard people. And yes, Christopher did check the smoke detectors to make sure they were working. I'm not kidding.

While we were enjoying our cake, that was pretty yummy actually, Eva busted out some BEP from Just Dance, she's so stinking cute. Just ignore the continuous laughter. Emily tends to crack herself up.

Going under the knife

2012-02-05T21:26:00.002-05:00

Sweet Erin goes under the knife tomorrow morning to have her hernia repaired. It shouldn't be a long surgery and hopefully we will be back home by lunchtime with spongebob movies and diet coke in tow. Thank you to netflix and the full season of fresh beat band that we have saved as our favorites. That is one kid show that I can sit through. They rock, literally. Please keep her in your prayers that all will go well. Thanks!

A scouting we will go!

2012-01-28T17:03:00.005-05:00

David had a really big night last week at scouts! He achieved his Wolf rank!!!

He was also the only boy there to pass the uniform inspection!

This is Emily getting totally hooked up with her troop. Today she went to play bingo with the elderly as a service activity with her troop. She had such a great time and she got loaded up with some petals afterwards!

Speaking of girl scouts: it's cookie time so let me know what you want peeps!

There's this girl named Eva

2012-01-28T16:54:00.004-05:00

and she is obsessed with noodles and things she's allergic to. This is her happy face:

notice she is eating a bowl of noodles

And this is her sneaking off to eat a salad, which is not bad but since she had already had one with her dinner and she stole someone else's salad which had dressing that she is allergic to, it's another story. She knows this. And as soon as she saw me she gave me the hand and said go away I'm eating!

Erinism

2012-01-21T20:04:00.003-05:00

Erin is a doll who just simply loves life. She is almost always happy and frolicking around. Today she treated me to one of her specialties, an Erinism. The kids and I were loading up in the car and she saw David's book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Being the sweet child that she is she picked it up and said "Oh look David don't forget your diarrhea of a wimpy kid!"

Me: "Oh yes David don't forget your diarrhea! " Giggles and snorts!!!

Aahh, warms my soul. That kid. I think I'll be remembering that one for a while :).

I know it's kinda wrong but I'll be missing these little Erinism's when her speech therapy kicks in.

Chairperson Emily

2012-01-18T20:22:00.002-05:00

Emily was elected chairperson in her group at school and here she is taking charge! Way to go babe!!! Who would have thought my shy, timid little girl would be leading her group and giving class presentations by herself?

Bringing in the new year

2012-01-18T16:14:00.005-05:00

We like to do it with a bang! For example, this is how we started of 2012

2 weeks of tardies at school
a lost tooth thanks to the trampoline
pneumonia, just because
hernia, because apparently we wanted to make our quota for dr's appointments early this year

yup, looks like we did it right. Yay us!

Best Mac-n-cheese EVER!

2012-01-07T18:16:00.003-05:00

Get ready to do your happy dance. I just did. This is the bestest recipe ever and it's pretty easy.

1 package penne pasta
2tbs butter
2tbs flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup shredded white cheddar
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 cup shredded gruyere
1 tbs salt
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare pasta according to package

Melt butter in med. saucepan, whisk in flour, whisking for 1min.
Gradually whisk in milk and half and half, whisk 3-5 min or until thick. Stir in cheddar, parm an gruyere and then salt/pepper/nutmeg.

Stir in pasta and pour into baking dish. Bake 15 min or until golden and bubbly. Enjoy!

Emily get's waxed

2012-01-03T10:42:00.004-05:00

Well so far we are starting 2012 off with a bang. Erin has pneumonia, Eva is following in her footsteps most likely since she also has a fever and wicked cough. David has has a cough and runny nose for the last 2 weeks and Emily we thought was going deaf. No joke.

Emily's hearing has been deteriorating for the last few months. At her check up in sept. she failed the hearing test but we chalked it up to wax in her ears. The same thing happened at her 5yr check up and we did the ENT thing and they cleaned her ears and retested in a sound proof room and she passed.

Well we all know she is a screamer but lately she has been complaining that she can't hear us and we have to repeat things a million times. The final straw was when she started watching our mouths when we speak. Enter Dr. Marks. We did the debrox thing at home to clean out her ears but we saw no improvement. So I told him I wanted to have the electrode thingy done like we did with Erin for her speech therapy so we can tell how much functionality the different parts of her ear has. That requires an audiologist but first we have to do the whole re screen thing.

Today was re screen day. I have been preparing myself to hear that she would need hearing aids or that she was simply going deaf. I questioned each ear infection she has had and thought about every time she banged her head and wondered if that had contributed.

We went in and did our thing, the Dr. M (who is awesome!) checked her out and said let's clean her out first and go from there. He also has been prepping for serious stuff since he was aware of her past. The nurse came in and started cleaning her out and let me just say---GAG! It was so foul I just can't describe it. It was way more than the last time and it's a wonder she heard anything at all. She only got 1 beep on the test today and I was not surprised after what came out of her ears. GROSS!

Dr. M came back and we re tested again and she got every beep. And now she is curled up in the corner telling us all to be be quiet (we are whispering) and to stop yelling at her. Hmmm. A huge weight is lifted but it's almost too good to be true. My little waxy red head was so stinking clogged she was clinically deaf but now after a good "waxing" she is totally normal. She even had me turn off the heat in the car because she said the air was too loud. Makes me feel bad for her since she doesn't even know what it's like to hear normally but now she is so excited and talking so much because she can hear herself it's funny.

So now we have added to her checkup list an annual ear cleaning.

Out with the wax and in with the sound. Welcome 2012!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T21:24:00.002-05:00

Ho Ho Ho!!!

Santa came to our house and left chaos in his wake. Emily still swears that she saw him peeking in on her and she is a little spooked by that. On a whim I told her that the elves would put an X on the roof if the house, including her bedroom were not clean and Santa would skip over those houses. Rotten I know. When we came back from our Christmas Eve festivities she screamed that we did not have an X so he had to come.

I had most of the wrapping still to do so I called in my reserves (Christopher) and we got it done lickety split. David was up first and he very calmly went to survey the tree then he looked around and counted his and surprisingly went to watch cartoons until the girls got up. When Emily got up she immediately screams, DID HE COME???? Erin just took off running to the tree and I heard lots of OOH's and AAH's. Poor, exhausted Eva was last and she would have kept on sleeping if they hadn't all crammed in there to "check and see if she is awake".

She was hesitant at first but after they helped her get the first one opened she was a maniac in gift opening precision. I was expecting pure chaos but it was rather calm. The kids got all of their fav's. D's top 3 were a 3ds, monopoly electronic and the hot wheels high jump. I screwed up Emily's, I thought I got her a pink 3ds but I actually got her a pink dsi, which she is happy with but I am bummed that I screwed it up. She also got the Rapunzel doll she wanted and new boots. Erin got the infamous mickey rocket and a train set. Eva had a musical Christmas with a singing pablo, backyardigans karaoke thing and a musical baton. My mom's family gift to them was the nickelodeon dance wii game and it is so much fun. The kids have spent hours on it and Erin is addicted. I scored a new food processor and Christopher finally got the new shirt he wanted.

The rest of the day was spent here and there: Church, my Uncle Dave's then the Crowley's. Eva met her breaking point and went to bed early and was the last to rise today. I wish. Now it's all quiet and I finally get a chance to do some blogging. Enjoy the pics, there are a lot.

Santa Visits Riverside 2011

2011-12-26T20:50:00.003-05:00

Christmas is not Christmas without a trip to Riverside to be with the Candland's and sit on Santa's lap. The ride was amazingly quiet and the food was simply delicious. After some singing Santa came to hand out some gifts and shocker alert... Emily was freak out free and marched right up, told him what she wanted and got it done. However, there was a small tantrum when her Santa gift was not acceptable but that was later rectified with a simple reminder that "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit". A motto that is heard daily in this household. Erin was timid at first but told him she wanted her Mickey's rocket and hopped off. Eva boasted her dainty little cry but quickly rallied when she opened the mickey mouse phone. David calmly got up there and stated he wanted the hot wheels high jump track (that he asked for last year and didn't get). And to top it off, on the ride home Emily makes a sudden realization

E-"Daddy"

C-"Yes"

E-"Did you know that Granddad and Santa look alike? I mean, a lot alike, like they could be twins and stuff. Their faces are so much alike"

Hmmm, and I'm thinking the jig is up! She has asked more questions this year then I can come up with answers for. Oh well.

More pics from Lynchburg

2011-12-26T20:34:00.005-05:00

My brother finally got around to sending me those pics from our trip to Lynchburg a few weeks ago. Mind you, this was after several emails full of heckling, but since his camera is loads better than mine, I eagerly await his set of pics. Here are some....

on top of the playset (that he designed and built himself, also note his nickname when he was younger was MacGyver)

Em, swinging with my popple, one of my favorite toys that my Dad found from when I was little and brought for me, along with my raccoon care bear. I am officially ancient.

Erin is all smiles with her friend, Cassidy, who is her cousin

D means business!

A baby for my baby

My brother Paul tests out D's new ball (which I love even though I throw like a girl)

Happy Holiday Party

2011-12-18T20:15:00.004-05:00

Friday was the last day of school for the kids and I was somehow scheduled to do class parties for both kids. WTH? Since I'm a pro at delegating it all worked out though. Emily's party had a grinch theme and david's was a winter theme (since it's taboo to say christmas and all that). I had a good time in each of their classes and learned to love gluten free pretzels at the same time. They are in fact yummo, go figure.

A Berry Bowles Christmas

2011-12-18T20:02:00.003-05:00

Went to Lynchburg a few weeks ago to have Christmas with my brothers. The ride was torturous! Eva is not a good traveler and she makes the ride unbearable. We finally got there after what seemed like forever when it was only 2 hours. The whole crew was there. We had lunch and did presents and the weather was good enough to play outside for a while. We all had a good time and wish we could have stayed longer but it was in fact a school night so off we went. Enter another long, torturous ride home. Here are some pics from our journey.

Santa Who?

2011-12-12T21:11:00.004-05:00

Dang!

David just blew my socks away when he announced....I know who really is Santa. It's Granddad. Yup, I know it. (This is in reference to what we are doing this week and I mentioned Riverside)

BOO!!!!

I was totally happy with never telling my kids Santa's dirty little secret, but he just let the cat out of the bag, in front of the girls, who wanted to know what he said when I suddenly started singing Christmas songs at the top of my lungs. LALALALALALA!!!!

I actually find it pretty amusing that the kids realize that I go shopping each year, and the gifts under the tree are wrapped with our wrapping paper, and they see the monster size bags "hidden" in the closet but so far they haven't put 2+2 together and realized that Santa=Me.

I guess David has kinda sorta done it and he thinks he is hot stuff right now with this big revelation. I have conspired with him so he will not utter those words in the house to bring the girls down. I still remember the first time someone told David that Santa wasn't real. It was a few years ago, my nephews were in the car with us while we went to see Christmas lights and at the big house where the lights dance to the music I hear "Well you know that there is no Santa, he isn't real..." Followed by WHAT!?@!?# and lots of tears.

I quickly distract the kids with the lights but the seed was planted. I personally see no harm in letting the kids believe. It's fun and part of being a child. It's kinda like Halloween. I don't worship the devil or practice Wicca just because I let my kids dress up and ask for candy, contrary to what some people believe. These are fun traditions that are part of being a kid. Why should I deny them a little excitement or simple pleasure that does no harm?

Anyways, I guess for now we are still at 1+1=1.5 and until he officially pops the Santa balloon that is now somewhat deflated we are still rocking around the Christmas tree. I mean, of course Santa is real, who else eats ALL of those cookies that the kids leave out each year?

The Douglas Emancipation Act

2011-12-09T15:59:00.004-05:00

Breaking News!

A 2 year old brunette, wearing only a pink shirt was last seen in the pantry of the Douglas family household, liberating the family's stock of rice. Sources say that the 2 year old was spurred on by the likes of a red head and a blond haired, blue eyed sprite. With their encouragement the brunette took offense to the white rice and brown rice being separated. Therefore, she did the only thing she could think of to remedy the offense and emptied all containers of rice and proceeded to stomp, giggle and throw said rice as far as she could. After this emancipation act she then was reported to have giggled and said "I did it mommy!!! I did it!!!"

No comments from the brown or white rice. All correspondence should be sent to their current location, my pantry floor.

Following the liberation of the rice the 2 year old took offense to the noodles and a similar act of liberation to the penne, elbow and celletani noodles was also reported. It appears it is a day of freedom in the Douglas house.

Thank you.

A Great Day for Up!

2011-12-06T20:37:00.007-05:00

Emily's Girl Scout troop held an activity at the YMCA Rock Wall this past week. It was courage week and you guessed it, you had to climb the wall to earn your petal. She had been looking forward to this for a while and was super giddy when we got there and got suited up. Then it came time to actually get in line to climb and ...dum dum dum.... she flips out!
After some serious cheer leading and pep talking she got her self saddled up and away she went!

I was so excited for her to get to climb and the fact that she got half way up before realizing how high she was and freaked was impressive to me. Her first run ended at the half way mark but she rallied and tried again and got to the top to ring that bell.
After that she was like a drug addict, running from line to line, challenging the other girls, trying to beat their times. We were the last ones there that night, we stayed there past her bed time but I felt it was justified for this first time experience and it was so much stinking fun that I didn't want to leave ;)

She was amazing!

A celebration of Christ

2011-12-06T20:26:00.004-05:00

At church we had a "Celebration of Christ" where people set up their nativities and there was a program and such. I wasn't expecting the production that it was and I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw. There were many different displays of a variety of navitities, there was a lovely program with singing and stories. I heart the singing. And, there was a "live" nativity where my gf was Mary and she and her husband (Joseph-but they are also really married) are singing the story of Christ's birth. It was special. You felt like you where there, in the stable, with the wisemen, watching Joseph and Mary cuddle their baby. Personally, the fact that my gf, who rocks, was singing was fabulous in it self but it really made the scene. I also took pics of this amazing nativity that had to be at least 15ft long.

There are more but you get the idea.

All I want for Christmas is a green snowman

2011-12-06T20:22:00.004-05:00

I heart the free workshops that Lowes and Home Depot do. You never know what fabulous treat you will come home with. This past week it was snowman napkin holders. My main reason for this was to knock off another badge for David in scouts since he needed to make something useful but I also needed a napkin holder so it worked out pretty good. The girls tagged along and made one too. We took them home and painted them, Erin chose green of course. That's ok cuz it's just her. David is the traditional white with one side happy and the other sad. Emily's is a pretty light blue and is happy all around. Somehow I neglected to take pics of the finished products so use your imagination. Tally ho!

Scout night!

2011-12-06T20:20:00.003-05:00

Another fabulous Pack Meeting for big D. He walked away with 2 rank advancement beads, the soccer belt loop and pin and his citizenship belt loop.

It's Christmas Time...

2011-11-27T15:50:00.005-05:00

The tree is up! It's a miracle, all things considered. FYI, I am walking a bit better now and that means I will have to resume laundry duty soon, boo!

Yesterday we spent the day cleaning and decorating. It took all day since the lights on the tree refused to work at all so we had to go out and buy lights for our pre-lit tree, but so far we have only lost 2 ornaments so we are looking good so far. We usually lose about a dozen or so ornaments and I restock during the after Christmas sale.

Everyone took part in decorating the tree. Eva did amazingly well. Erin grabbed all the green ornaments and grouped them together on the tree. David and Emily were in charge of the "special" ornaments and hung them up top so Eva's grubby little hands can't get them.

Last year during the after Christmas sale I got these nifty wall decor thingy's and I let the kids pick one and do it up. It was really kind of neat, big, but neat. They got a kick out of it so I got my .75 out of it.

So check that off my list.

My Little Whampana Girl

2011-11-27T15:15:00.004-05:00

On the last day of school before Thanksgiving break Emily's class had a feast and a mini program to celebrate. She was a little Whampana girl, complete with a brown bag shirt and feathered hat. She did a fabulous job with the songs and the sign language. She makes a good little Indian princess!

Twas the Night before Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T16:40:00.004-05:00

and everything fell to pieces!

My Black Friday dreams were devastated.

My back was my worst enemy.

My house was (and is) a mess.

My Thanksgiving dinner was neither purchased, planned nor cooked.

My drugs were not working.

WTH???

Here's what happened. I try to be a good little wife by raking/blowing the leaves and dumping them and where does that get me? I'll tell you where, in the Urgent Care center getting a shot in my hiney! That, btw didn't help. I mean, if you count going from a 10 to a 9 I guess it helped but I was really hoping/expecting a noticeable difference that didn't come. I'm faithfully taking my drugs and they are not putting a dent into my pain. This officially makes this back pain event one of my top 3. Bummer! I mean I can't even change Eva's diapers. Boohoo! I can't lift her up to the changing table or even walk to it. Darn. As for bathing, I'm off the clock.

Thanks to my mom who saved the day and got our TG meal pre cooked from Martins! She saved the day since I am pretty much bed ridden for at least the next few days. And that leads me into problem #1-----> Black Friday!

I am a hard core Black Friday shopper. I scour the ads weeks in advance and plan my attack. I have it down to a science and I usually get at least half, usually more, of my xmas shopping done then. Well, this year I can't even think about it since I can't stand up. How will I ever make it through the wall mart madness if I can push and shove my way through the lines?!?! This is a travesty, I horrible travesty! I have been forced to re do my plans and make an online attack plan. Hopefully I can still take advantage of the door busters from my handy dandy bed. If not, well that screaming you hear will be me cursing the back gods to hell.

As for the house, well, it may very well be a goner by the time I can get up to clean it. At least the kitchen will survive since Christopher does clean a kitchen good. As for the laundry, well maybe we just shouldn't go there. I have trained David and Emily in certain area's but as for putting it all away, well that's another story.

Now I'm worried that the decorate the day after TG tradition may be blown as well. EEEKK!!! I can't get in the attic let alone pull down any tubs to get it started so we may have to wait until Saturday before we can decorate!!! Gasp! The horrors!!!

And to top it all off, I was forced to watch the entire Macy's TG day Christmas parade where I bore witness to Scotty Mcreary caught red microphoned, lip singing to his song. AAAHHH!!!! What's a girl to do? Seriously, what did I do to deserve such misery?? I mean, Scotty flippin Mcreary lip.singing.!!!!

Well, the countdown is only 4 more hours until my online BF quest begins. I should really go prepare.

At least we did have a yummy TG dinner as a family. We are all safe, happy and loved. So, I guess, even if I can't walk and can barely stand long enough to brush my teeth, as long as we have each other we are good.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Finite!

2011-11-13T15:34:00.004-05:00

Soccer season is over, done, finite! I'm sorta happy, sorta sad. I love soccer, I love watching the kids play soccer but, I don't like cold, rainy soccer and I'm ready for a Saturday that doesn't require me running here and there and everywhere. This was the, shall I say, finale week, in our after school activities and I'm so excited to have more than one day "free" each week. My chauffeur skills are awesome but definitely tiresome. David has decided to take a break from sports for the winter and go big in the spring with a double header of soccer and baseball, I don't blame him.

Anyways, the last game was awesome. He went big. The opposing team was actually very good. Those stinking kids would barrel down the field like a mack truck and BAM! next thing you knew there was a ball in your face. David played goalie 2nd, and he had some monster saves. Go D! Then he got out on the field and ran, I mean ran, and was more aggressive than he had been. I guess he was saving it for the final game. For the last 15 minutes the coaches had all the players on the field and 2 balls and it was chaos, but the kids loved it. David scored a goal during the chaos and was totally wiped by the end of the game.

I took a lot of pics for this game since I realized that I had not taken many this season. I think I officially made up for that this game. I took some video but it didn't turn out great since I was also holding Eva, who would not sit still and was "ready to go" pretty much since we got there. Stinker.

Look out Mike Tyson!

2011-11-10T16:10:00.003-05:00

She floats like a butterfly but stings like a bee!

She's got skills

2011-11-10T15:48:00.006-05:00

Erin just wrapped up her soccer lessons and she had so much fun. She felt like such a big girl getting to play and she rocked it each week. I have officially renamed her my little sprite, one because she loves the drink and 2 because she frolics when she runs. It's so dainty. She loved ever second of her soccer lessons and she definitely wants to play in the spring which will be some kind of cute.

finger's please!

2011-11-06T15:52:00.003-05:00

This is why we will be live in residents at the orthodontist's office

Shake your booty!

2011-11-04T15:15:00.001-04:00

This is how we like to party! Eva loves to shake it to some Britney and I finally got some video. She sings this song everywhere we go.

Halloween 2011!

2011-11-04T15:10:00.006-04:00

It was a bootiful day! jk It was a crazy, jam packed, OMG-what-am-I-doing day!

We did several Halloween festivities. First we had Maybooery at the kids school, then we had a trunk or treat at church and finally, we had trick or treating on Halloween. My favorite part was when it started raining as soon as we walked out of the house. Nothing better than trick or treating in the dark, while it's cold and rainy. Emily and Erin switched costumes for each event so I never knew what they were going to be until we left which was.....amusing.

Trunk or treat at church

Eva really got into it and started grabbing candy

We lost David in the mix but the girls stayed together

Half frozen but our buckets are filled!

Halloween night

(yes, I did make them sit and pose in the rain, just like any good mom would do)

We have Hannah Montana, a ninja, mickey mouse sans ears, and barney

not digging the rain

A Pumpkin Picking We Will Go!

2011-10-27T19:56:00.004-04:00

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We did our pumpkin patch trip about 2 weeks ago and the kids l0ved it! We were there for hours! They did the boo house and the hay maze complete with the corn bounce. First we picked our pumpkins after a glorious hayride. We were lucky enough to sit directly behind the tractor and we were rewarded with mouthfuls of dirt on the way there. We got smart and were the last to get on for the ride back so we got to sit on the end. The kids loved the hayrides. I think we would still be there searching for the "great pumpkin" if they had their way. Erin grabbed just about any pumpkin she could carry and piled it up. It was really cute. We just started carving the pumpkins today so hopefully they won't rot before Halloween. Pics of the masterpieces will be posted of course. Eva wasn't feeling good but I dragged her along anyways and she held up good but refused to pose for pics, as you can see but she is still a doll and she is making new traditions by crying in all the group pics :) Love her!

My 2 Scouts!

2011-10-27T19:25:00.003-04:00

Emily got pinned and received 2 petals! She had to recite the GS promise and she was the only girl to do it without help!

This is David getting his wolf rank advancement beads! He rocks!

Like Father, Like son

2011-10-27T19:19:00.003-04:00

It's been a while but now that my computer is up and running let the posting begin! Here's a pic a snapped as I was driving off to one of my many appointments. They were so cute!

Yes, David is now officially using power tools! We have also begun manual labor with him as he is now cutting the grass by himself. Yes, uh huh, it's awesome!

The Best Mom Ever

2011-10-08T19:17:00.002-04:00

I let Emily get on Barbie.com today since she was bugging me silly and she told me

"You are the best mom ever! You don't need to try so hard, I just want you to be who you are!"

Yup, that's me, the best mom ever, and all I had to do is let her play on the computer. Yay!

Erin finally gets to play!

2011-10-08T16:56:00.004-04:00

Erin started soccer this past week and she is having a blast! Team Fit was there to coach her and it's too much fun to watch her. When we got there they promptly kicked us out and we had to watch from the top windows (which is why the angles and pics are bad). She is one of three girls there but that's not holding her back. She runs like a little sprite and laughs and screams cowabunga!!!!

This is part of her little game, aka chaos

Emily and Justin forever!

2011-10-05T18:35:00.001-04:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Finally, a Soccer Game!

2011-10-02T19:01:00.002-04:00

Here's my main man D. Kicking some serious ball. Aaahhh! That's how I like to spend my Saturday mornings. Fall ball started almost a month ago and there haven't been any pictures because we keep getting rained out! I'm all for playing in the rain but the coaches tend to frown on playing with thunder and lightning. Me, I call it cheering from heaven ;)

At Saturday's game I gave him a hefty challenge: score 5 goals. We both laughed but it gave him something to try for. He did score the only 2 goals of the game for either team and let me just say they were some stinking amazing goals. The other team had a good goalie, he actually blocked over a dozen solid attempts but D slipped it in anyways. Whoo hoo!!! Go D, go D it's your birthday, go D!

D racks it up!

2011-10-02T18:55:00.004-04:00

We made it our goal when David started scouts to earn an award at every pack meeting. So far, so good! As of today he is officially half a wolf, which means he has completed half of the achievements to earning his Wolf rank. Go D!

The last pack meeting he earned his bike belt loop and his video game belt loop. That's right, I said video game belt loop. Who the heck knew you could earn awards for playing video games?!?! I wouldn't be surprised to see a burping, farting and back talking belt loop in our near future :)

Just saying...

Excuse Me Sir

2011-09-28T20:35:00.005-04:00

We pull up to a red light and David see's a Domino's delivery man so he rolls down his window and says to the man "Yes, um I would like a large pepperoni pizza, with cheese please"

I'm wondering if he really thought that's how you order pizza! Or if he really expected him to whip out a piping hot pizza. Mmmm, that would be nice right about now.

Don't forget the cinnastix!

Disney On Ice

2011-09-24T17:41:00.009-04:00

It was AMAZING!!!!

I took the girls to Disney on Ice Dare to Dream last night at the Coliseum and it was fab-u-lous! It was Girl Scout night and Emily will get a special patch for it. Eva stayed with Grandma and Caroline for some special girl time and the boys did some laser tag for Jr's bday.

We were so excited we were screaming and dancing and acting like crazy loons the whole time. We loved the Tangled bit where they were flying on her hair. The finale was amazing. The best part for sure. They brought out all the past princesses and everyone was wearing sparkly white outfits and there was even fireworks. This will be a new tradition for sure. Erin loved it so much she has added it to her are we going there today list along with the beach. I can't wait to go again and spend stupid amounts of money on souvenirs and next time Eva will have to join us. Peace out Princesses!

Soccer time baby!

2011-09-24T17:36:00.003-04:00

Fall soccer has started. Emily opted for Girl Scouts instead of sports, so David is the only one playing now. Erin will start in a few weeks but not on the Y team. I always forget how rainy fall ball is and true to form we've only played 1 game out of 3 so far this season. Boo!

My New Table

2011-09-24T17:31:00.002-04:00

You remember the old:

Here's the new:

Table top was stained and legs painted

TADA!

The table took about a day and it took me about 30 minutes to recover the chairs. Not bad for a weekend project.

My Mom Moment

2011-09-22T15:42:00.003-04:00

David and I were riding home from Scouts last night and I can't remember if I was Losing My Jagger with Maroon 5 or Going all the Way with Britney but he suddenly turns his head and scrunches down in his seat. I notice and ask what's up and he gives me the look. You know, the OMG! I can't believe THAT'S my mom look. The don't look now. Please don't let anyone see me with her look. Then he says "what's wrong with you?"

hahahahahaha!

"Why are you acting like that?"

Well, my son, what can I say? I love music and I want to bee bop my way through life kid. Music keeps me young. There is always music on in the car and if the song rocks, so do I. Deal with it.

So now I'm going to go spread a little glitter in the air courtesy of Pink.

Sad News

2011-09-17T22:18:00.001-04:00

Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment
community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and
trauma complications from being repeatedly poked in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of
celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth,
Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies ,
and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a
man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Born and bread in Minnesota ,
Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with
turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his
dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he
still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for
millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, three children: John
Dough, Jane Dough and Dosey Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is
also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

Thanks, I guess

2011-09-17T14:59:00.003-04:00

On the way home from shopping Emily and I stop for a quick bite to eat and as we are munching away she says

"This is so DANG good!!!"

"haha ok"

"But don't worry momma, you make good things bad too"

"Thanks, I think"

Erin's Big Week!

2011-09-15T20:44:00.004-04:00

Started off like this:

First day at preschool

Proud of her picture!

Party Time!

So excited she started sucking her fingers!

She asked for green lip gloss and so she got it

and a dog with a green bag, shirt and bowl

with green bags and cards...

are you sensing the theme here?

Erin turned the big fat 4! Her favorite color is green so we went out of our way to have a green day for her. She requested a green hello kitty cake and so I did her up one and it was pretty good for a fly by the seat of my pants kinda cake. We were so busy that day but I really like to make their cakes, just a little special something for them, so they pick and I create. I don't do fondant, yet, but they still turn out pretty good.

Anywho, we did green plates, forks, food, decorations, you get the idea. She was so cute when she got a card with money in it she took off running around the house screaming "I got money! I got money!" She was so excited all day and thrilled when she got this barbie pool thing that she'd been wanting. I wasn't sure what to get her so I went with green things, a green outfit, wallet, nail polish, lip gloss, dog. Then I took her to TRU and let her pick out some toys and she of course picked Minnie stuff, some cart thing and a music set (why oh why did I get that??? )

She also started preschool this week and she is super jazzed about that. It's only 2 days a week and she wishes it was more (so do I) and she is loving every second of it. It was so amazing to be able to just walk her in and drop her off. Emily is still not at that point and Erin is so laid back she just goes with it. It's totally wiping her out though and she's had a case of the cranky pants syndrome but I'm sure that will change as she adjusts more.

She's so fab and I'm so proud of her! She rocks my world with her tiny hiny. I can't believe she is 4 and will be in kindergarten next year.

We did it!

2011-09-11T20:27:00.005-04:00

We survived the first week of school!

Props for us (um I mean me)

We made it to school, on time, every day and surprisingly did not have a major case of the grumpies in the afternoon. Phew!

Erin starts her preschool tomorrow and is so stinking excited. She has begged me every day to let her go and now I finally can say YES!

Neither kid had any complaints about their classes, although Emily did say that first grade is soooo easy mom! (wait in see squirt).

My favorite part of the week was this:

---> pause the Bieb

This is the treat that I got on the first day of school. My baby read to me for the first time EVER! We struggled over the summer to keep her sight words fresh and to make progress reading and up until this point she had never read anything so imagine me extreme surprise when this pops out! I'ma liking her teacher so far if this is the kind of results I'm going to see.

And, yup, I cried like a baby.

By the way, feel free to notice that background.....courtesy of "hunky handyman". Looks so fab compared to what is was before. Can't wait to show the table he just redid. Gotta finish the chairs first though.

School's Back in Session

2011-09-06T08:53:00.004-04:00

Today is the first day of school! Emily starts 1st and David 3rd. Emily is super excited and David is still "reacting" to his allergy. We woke up to pouring rain, boo. I fixed their fav's for breakfast, egg sandwiches and cinnamon rolls and we shook our booties up to the school.

D was a rock star and did his thang. He even gave me the aww mom a few times as I was hugging and a kissing him in front of everyone. Maybe that's my clue that he's getting too old (gasp!) for me to walk him to class. Tough nuggies I say!

Emily was good up until we dropped of David. Then she got real quiet, not fussing but silent. I took her in and got her set up, amazed that out of all the supplies we brought in there was not a single one in her desk...wth???

She looked terrified but hung in there and didn't. freak. out!!!! Baby steps peeps. Baby steps. This was a big step for her.

Me on the other hand, I stood out in the hallway like a stalker watching and waiting, making sure the was ok. Then I stalked back to D's room and did the same there. He'll never know...

Then I made a dash for the car before the blubbering began, boohoohooo!!!

So now, I only have 2, count them 2 kids at home, it's so quiet. Erin will start preschool next week and she can't wait. I'm not sure where to begin, what to do. We've been so busy this summer it's strange to have a few moments of peace.

Watch out!

2011-09-06T08:47:00.002-04:00

What exactly are my crazy kids doing? Well, I decided to have a little fun with them as they started to kick and squash the giant mushrooms in my mom's yard so as they started kicking them I screamed "Oh no! Don't kick the Smurfs!!!" They all immediately looked at each other and started asking questions. Huh?!?

So, I reminded them of their happy meal toys and told them that smurfs live under mushrooms and they had better not kick them bc that's not nice so they all knelt down and started looking for smurfs under the mushrooms, hehehe.

They didn't find any. Imagine that. But Emily did ask if we could keep one as a pet. Since I always say "NO PETS!" I made her day when I told her YES you can keep a smurf....if you can find one.

If I Die Young

2011-09-05T21:19:00.002-04:00

Scared you for a minute!

Morbid I know but I heard this on the radio and I can't get it out of my head!!! EEK EEK EEK! So I must share it with everyone so they too can have it stuck in their head. I think if it didn't have a little Bon Jovi in it I really wouldn't remember it but alas, it does, so here it is for your viewing pleasure.

pause the Bieb

and as a funny side, we in the Douglas clan like to "rock out". That's how we deal. And ( i know you shouldn't start a sentence with and but it's my blog so...) since big momma likes to listen to the crazy cool stuff I just scream out a lyric if it's something the kids shouldn't hear so they really don't know what is being sung. SO, on that note, Emily is currently running around singing some funny versions of Katie Perry's "Last Friday Night" and some Bruno Mars song about lighters and Eminem and it's really funny. Every time she starts I run for a camera to record her but she always spots me and stops and I can't catch her.

Twas The Night Before School Starts

2011-09-05T15:41:00.004-04:00

As we were out shopping today David informed me that he can't go to school because he has a school allergy (wink wink). Let the games begin...

So for some reason I started to write a little something like this and then decided um no, but I found this amusing so I posted it instead with a few minor edits

Twas the night before school starts, when all through the house
All the children were whining, including the spouse.
The clothes were laid out, disheveled at best,
The mommy ecstatic to empty her nest.

The children were tossing around in their beds
While nightmares of homework haunted their heads.
With ma on her laptop and pa in a mood,
She smiled widely while he darkly stewed.

When in the kids rooms there arose such a clatter,
Mommy sprang from her work to see what was the matter.
It was just one of the children piteously crying
Mommy just shrugged because no one was dying.

The moon it shone brightly, the stars were a’winking
And Mommy couldn’t help but sigh as she was thinking.
The kids would be gone now for most of the day,
And now it was her time, she’d get to play.

Now homework! Now schedules! But late in the day
So many free hours she’d spend her own way.
To drop the kids off! To send them to school!
Her hubby at work! The mom was no fool!

She was excited and happy as she went to bed
She set her alarm clock that was next to her head.
Closing her eyes she falls into deep slumber,
6:45 is the magical number.

The alarm awakens her with a start
Her husband stirs and then loudly farts.
She rises from bed to wake up the brood
Ignoring the fact they’re in a foul mood.

She kissed them goodbye and hurried them out
She watched for a moment, they stomp and they pout.
In the kitchen her husband slams down his joe
She kisses him and tells him it’s time that he go.

With everyone gone, she’s alone, it’s her break!
She whoops and she dances, and diet coke she makes.
She exclaimed to no one, because no one’s in sight,
Finally in her world, all is quite right!

Racking them up!

2011-09-01T20:15:00.003-04:00

Last night at scouts, David literally racked it up. He walked away with 6 belt loops and 3 pins for various achievements. Way to go dude!

Happy Birthday Eva!

2011-09-01T20:09:00.004-04:00

What better way to celebrate then to start the day off with a trip to Toys R Us!

Today is my sweet baby Eva's 2nd birthday! She was so excited she woke up singing the birthday song to herself. It was a busy day with shopping, cake and school open house but we had a blast making the day special for her.

She was so stoked for her cake that she refused to open gifts until the cake was served. Pig! She unintentially got a lot of food stuff for her bday like a picnic set and a tea set but she loves that they play music.

She is so sweet and she surprises me each day with new words and sentences. I'm so lucky to be her mom!

Happy Birthday princess!

Double Whammy!

2011-08-31T21:18:00.005-04:00

Just when you thought it was safe in Richmond---SHAZAAM!

Tuesday brought us a 5.8 earthquake that we are still feeling aftershocks from (yup). I was on the computer and the kids were frolicking and then there was a whole lot of shaking going on and I'm not singing boys and girls. When it finally sunk in that it was indeed an earthquake I gathered the troops and we stood in the doorways of our bedrooms, some were screaming, some were crying and all were freaking the crap out! Luckily no damage to report although they may be permanently damaged from my description of what causes an earthquake.

dun dun. dun dun. dun dun dun dun

Then Saturday brings up good old Irene. Now I like to think that I'm prepared for all occasions but sadly I was lacking in this. Good old hubby of mine went to Lowe's, aka his 2nd home, Friday night during my "supply shop" time and did he return with supplies? Oh no, he came back with....crown molding. That's right, no batteries, bottled water or lanterns. Crown molding (which he promptly put up while the storm was raging). Now the dining room looks fab but I really could have used some batteries when our power went out for 3 days.

We still had water so I wasn't freaking out but it did get a little tense round these parts at night without flashlights and batteries. Our neighborhood was hit hard with power outages but short pump wasn't so we spent the days hanging out at stores there and with the Crowley crew who did have power and eventually I realized our serious lacking in games so I can now say we are prepared for that. And on a side note, I have totally kick a certain someones booty in a little game called Battle of the Sexes.

You'll be happy to know that we sustained no damage to the house, only my sanity, as it is the last week before school starts and we were trapped without power and couldn't even go to a park since they were closed for cleanup.

But whatever. We survived. It was gravy. There are still tons without power and ours doesn't seem to be permanent. We've lost it a few times since we got it back. Now I'm concentrating on fixing what didn't work in my preparations for the next time. At least we didn't have one of those nasty tree's come down on our house, right?

I tree blocking the road by our house maybeury and avalon, literally wrapped in power lines

Now on to Eva's big bday tomorrow and back to school stuff. Peace.

New pics!

2011-08-27T10:55:00.005-04:00

I know, it's only been 2 years since I had new pics taken so I bit the bullet and took them all in. It was....something. Our photographer was different. And let me just say, not so talented. I did get some good pics but they weren't as good as I have had in the past. Anywho, for those who haven't seen it on FB here they are:

The sweetness of Eva

2011-08-26T21:24:00.004-04:00

Eva really is just plain sweetness. Every day she learns new words and it just amazes me. Her new word on this day was horse. When she says horse she is really thinking of Little House on the Prairie. She curls up with Christopher and they watch it every night. She'll walk in and say "Daddy horse!" and that's his cue to put it on. It's really cute.

don't forget to pause the Bieb

Nags Head or Bust!

2011-08-25T17:57:00.011-04:00

Warning!!! This is BIG!!!

Create your own photo slideshow

Last week we went to Nags Head, NC for our family vacation. It was fabulous, amazing, stupendous! We got our own house in south nags head and we were beach bums the whole week. Our house was just the right size for us, it could have used a few updates but I'm not complaining because it was the beach baby. But, I do have to say that the mosquito's, courtesy of the creek in front of the house, drove me batty. It was a plaque of mosquito's. I have officially remained the house Chez Mosquito. You couldn't escape them and you really couldn't hang out outside of the house because of it. But that aside, we had amazing weather, no storms, no earthquakes. AMAZING! I did really LOVE having a 3 story house even if it was just for a week. Aaaahhhh!

They were doing a beach rejuvenation that week, which meant they were using huge machines to blow sand day AND night to add to the shoreline and yes they were in front of our house. The difference was amazing. The work caused a 90 degree angle on the beach that effectively captured all the seaweed known to man so we had what I like to call a seaweed swamp directly in front of our access so we moved it down a bit so we could play sans seaweed. The up side was that it also trapped some really great shells and I even found a sand dollar (which broke on the way home).

We did a little of everything, the aquarium, putt putt, bumper boats, shopping and of course, daily trips to the 7-11 near our house to get Slurpee's and soda's. The cashier started giving me discounts bc we were there so much. Christopher and I were even able to go to his favorite restaurant for dinner one night, Owen's, sans kids, so we could stuff our faces with all kinds of seafood fare. We tried for our traditional Big Al's but the wait was horrible and lets face it, we all know the service is bad so we skipped it this time. I did, however, introduce the kids to Sonic and their famous cherry limeades. Sinful I know, but I couldn't resist. They are hooked just like me :)

David was a rock star. He boogied like a pro. He got stung twice by jelly fish and still ventured out again. He had a nasty reaction to it and I told him to pee on it ;). He just gave the the "Mom" look that I wasn't prepared to see til he hit his teenage years. Me, on the other hand, I was land bound after that. He even tried that skim board thingy and was pretty good at it. One of his favorite things to do was Prof. Hackers, so of course we did. I'd bet he would stay there all day if we let him.

Now brace yourself, Emily, if you can believe it, took to the water like a fish. She was fearless in her ocean adventures. She got out there and boogie boarded like it was going out of style. She even got stung by jelly fish and didn't freak out. Gasp! I had to call her back in several times as she started to get swept away. She had no problem going where the water was over her head. We had good swells all week and most of the time the waves were over her head and she just laughed at them. As a treat, I took her to Claire's boutique at the outlets and let her pick some earrings (clip on's, duh) so she totally feels like a big girl.

We went to our favorite putt putt, Prof. Hackers Lost Treasure and had a blast and at the end of the week we did bumper boats. That was amazing. The kids had never done that before so they were tickled. David kept doing this one handed thing that was really funny. I was so shocked that Emily did so much on this trip and I was really proud of her. She is really growing up, btw, she turned 6 while we were at the beach so we did her up there. Lucky her!

Eva loved every second of the beach. There was a "small beach" area where the old beach met the new beach and there was a tide pool in between and that's where she spent most of her time. There were a few occasions when she would wonder down the beach shouting and pointing "kistoper!" which was really amusing. She didn't really venture to the "ocean" until the last few days and her favorite part was sitting and letting the waves wash around her.

Erin spent most of her time making friends. No joke. She just started playing with who ever was around and love it. She even told the waves to go to their room! She lurved the bumper boats and putt putt with a passion and repeatedly asks to go back to do them again.

So, we had fun in the morning, the afternoon the rocked the beach and at night we recovered. We all had a fabulous time and we are already planning for next year!

Happy Birthday Emmy!

2011-08-15T23:02:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was Emily's 6th birthday! I didn't have access to post (since I'm obx bound baby) but now I do since my hacker skills are limitless so here are the pics from my baby's, sniff sniff bday fun!

We had a party with some friends on friday and on her official bday we went to the beach! Her theme was fancy nancy meets justin beaver so I went crazy trying to find stuff that fits in that catagory to make a fancy cake. She and her friends all dressed up and went bowling and we had her favorite meal-spagetti-for dinner and we totally rocked it out.

Good Day

2011-08-07T16:50:00.002-04:00

Today is a good day.

First of all, my ever-so-shy redhead got up and gave a talk in Primary--whooohooo!!!!

This may seem like small potatoes to you but keep in mind this is the first one that didn't end up in tears, kicking, screaming and running off. She. Actually.Spoke. OMG!

Also, today marks the one week mark. That is, 1, count them, 1 week until 2 things happen. First, the previously mentioned shy red head turns the big fat 6--eek--eek--eek! and wait for it...we are so going to the beach!!!! Sucka!!!!

Can't wait. Made my list. Barely sleeping. Yip---freaking--eeee!!!!

Jealous???? Don't worry I would be too. So excited I could dance naked in the rain!

Why I hate laundry

2011-08-05T14:49:00.002-04:00

It's so freaking needy, that's why!

always wanting to be washed
then dried
then ironed
and hung up
and carried around
like a stalker it's always there when you turn around
and don't even get me started on stains...
and like a temper mental little red head if it sits too long it throws a fit and starts to get salty
and why, oh why!?!?! do the stores have to have such cute little outfits and great sales that all but beg you to get more only to add to your already overflowing mound of LAUNDRY?!?!

A visit from Texas

2011-08-04T15:03:00.009-04:00

Melanie came to visit us this past week and I finally got to meet little miss Brook. She is so precious. I heart her chunky thighs. Amazing how it can be cute to have chunky thighs when you are little and not so when you are an adult....but that's another story.

I kinda forget all the things we did but I know it included hanging out, eating out and swimming. I got a week pass at AMFAM just for her visit so we could all go to the pool and not have to pay for passes, yup, I'm slick like that. The kids loved AMFAM so much they want me to switch. I have to admit their child care area is light years better than the Y but the gym itself is not exactly to my liking. Shocking I know.

Anyways, so we did the pool thing alot and we did Mitchie's Tavern in charlottesville (finally) and we did a GNO at the Cheesecake factory, where the waiter called me sweetie, honey and baby repeatedly. Oh I feel so loved, whatever.

The kids loved hanging out and by hanging out I mean running and screaming like lunatics. Out of our long list of fun things to do while she was here I think we only did maybe 2 but still we had fun. It's a shame we only see her once a year. I think I need to figure out this skype thingy so the kids can chat more.

So here's to another visit. See ya next year!

A curse on your house!

2011-08-01T20:31:00.002-04:00

My very dramatic red headed daughter has a potty mouth. Literally.

Let me preface this beauty with the fact that it was late and after an ice cream party, after she had a grande mint chocolate chip ice cream cone she let this little gem out

"David I wish you had the atomic runs!"

muhahahahahah!!!!!!!

I think I just let that sink in for a while. I won't even dignify that with a definition bc it really speaks for itself.

Lakefest 2011

2011-07-31T12:56:00.004-04:00

Warning: This is a BIG post
Just keeping it real ;)

A few weeks ago we went to my brother's lake house for LAKEFEST! I delayed posting it bc I was waiting (past my 48 hour deadline) for my brother's pic but he is now off in Africa or somewhere and I'm not that patient so I'll do a 2nd post when I get his pics. Back to Lakefest---> It's tons of fun and we do it every year. They have fireworks that the launch off the bridge and you can pull your boat literally right under it and have an incredible view. We spent the day swimming, boating, floating, skiing and tubing and just having a ball.

My nieces, Sydney and Cassidy were such wondrous help with the kids. Erin was so taken by Cassidy. She even let "her friend" do her hair and now requests her hair to be done just like her friend did. Man, I wish the lived closer.

David did his ski thing again and totally rocked it. He loved the tubing of course. Emily shocked all of us and got right on the tube AND tried to ski. She had a hard time getting up but she tried very hard and never once freaked out, which is a huge accomplishment. She was so funny, we told her to give thumbs up for faster and down for slower and the first day it was all thumbs down, on the 2nd day she was flying all over the place and after every turn she would give major thumbs up. She had so much fun. She told me I was the best mom ever for letting her spend the night so she could have a sleepover with her cousins. I rock!

I have tons of video so brace yourself and the slide show has at least 100 pics so grab a diet coke and have a seat on your tushy.

David doing his ski thang

Emily dragging..I mean skiing

Emily flipping me off, jk jk this has her doing her thumbs up a million times but it looks like I taught her some trashy sign language

And rounding it out is big D doing the tube. Funny how right after I turn the video off they decide to go overboard

As you can tell Erin never tried anything. I did take Eva tubing and she lurved it. She giggled and squealed like the pig she is.

Then we had crabs, yum! and that finishes this post!

Picture this

2011-07-29T15:49:00.003-04:00

David, Emily and Erin are sitting, squatting and standing around the tv playing mario cart on the wii.

David suddenly cries out "hey Emily, I just lapped you. pause. I wasn't going to say anything but yeah, I just passed you...again!"

Emily's ingenious reply "oh David, your just jealous!"

These are the dog days of summer my friends and there is more where that came from.

Harry Potta!

2011-07-29T15:15:00.002-04:00

Yes'm I did purposely spell that wrong. That's my attempt at a written accent don't you know. Only the "cool" people know how to say Harry Potta correctly.

So yes'm I finally saw it. And yes'm it was so rocking awesome. I lurved it! Epic. Truly EPIC! That's how you turn a book (series) into a movie (twihards take note please).

So that's pretty much my post peeps. Just wanted to let you know that if you're cool you like Harry Potta and you've already seen the movie. Thank goodness for date nights ;)

The end.

Bee's suck

2011-07-22T14:00:00.004-04:00

It's day 3.

Generally that would mean that my bee stings have improved. But do I get so lucky, nope, nuh uh. I woke up this morning after repeatedly waking up last night and made that dreaded decision to call the doctor. My legs have giant bullseye's on them and my hand is so swollen that when I got to the doctor's office they thought my hand was broken. I said, nope it's a bee sting. Oh.

After quickly looking at my swollen, streaking, pussing stings she told me, yup you are allergic and you have 2 infections that will require 4 freaking medications to treat. Yay me.

But all of this will not stop me from my date night and seeing Harry Potter. I refuse to wait any longer!

I'm just hoping these meds kick in without knocking me out and without gaining weight, because one is a steroid and they make you gain tons of water weight. I told the doc, look lady, I'm on a plan and this is not on it. I told Christopher and he said, oh I feel sorry for you. Gee thanks hun. So we shall see. Anyways....

I hate bee's.

but on a positive note, Melanie and Eva will be here in 3 days! Wahoo!!!!

Gee Thanks Emily

2011-07-21T16:59:00.003-04:00

As Emily is brushing my hair she informs me:

"Wait, yup, you have cracks in your head"

"Do you want me to curl it? I just need a curl doohickey. What's a doohickey?"

"wait, stop you just ruined my genius"

" You're going to look so cute like a gumdrop"

" You may be a little bit adorable but not like I was expecting, kinda like a boy, but it might work"

I was attacked!

2011-07-20T15:38:00.005-04:00

Holy freaking motherload!!!

I was doing my good deed of the day and cutting the grass so my semi-injured husband wouldn't have to and what do I get for my troubles?????

I wander into a hive of bee's and get massively swarmed. *$&#&%*#&*!!!!!!

At first I thought, man those are some big rocks I have in the yard, cuz they really sting when they hit you. Then I somehow realize those "rocks" are flying and won't get off my clothes so what do I do? The genius that I am....

I scream like a little girl and take off running, then I realize, shoot Emily is still over there so I run back, scream like a little girl again because they are still following me and stinging me and scream for her to run into the house. She is somehow not being viciously attacked and is standing there asking me why? I seriously do NOT have time to answer that so I grab her and high tale it back to the house where I promptly start stripping because the freaking bee's are all over me and are now swarming the door. WTH?!?!?!

I start looking for the phone, which I left outside near the killer bee's so I have to go back out there so I can call for help. I had David stand by with shoe's and a flyswatter to catch any bee's attempting to breach the house and I ran like I was on fire, partly because where I was stung felt like it was on fire. Sad face. I threw Emily in the shower because she had them in her hair but miraculously didn't get stung. Then I called for backup because I was swelling bad, turning red and shaking like a fool.

I went back for my clothes after my shower and there were seriously too many bee's to count still flying around inside my shorts so I threw them outside after killing the 6 that tried to escape. Those %*#$&#& bee's are still attacking my mower as we speak the little %*$&*$.

I'm too swollen to figure out exactly how many times I was stung and the redness keeps a creeping but needless to say I am feeling a like I'm on fire, an hour later and I'm counting the minutes until Christopher gets home.

I hate bee's!

A little fountain time

2011-07-18T17:37:00.003-04:00

To beat the heat do the following:

1: get thee dressed in bathing suits and slather on sunscreen

2: load up thy car and blast the ac

3: go to the mall and let your kids run amock (bc don't all malls have water fountains?)

4: saved the best for last, a must for all fountain trips: subway chocolate chip cookies and a diet fountain coke

Call the DOCTOR!!!

2011-07-10T20:28:00.003-04:00

We have a serious case of Bieber Fever here!!!!

Last friday the boys had a boys night at the Diamond, going nuts at the squirrels game and then they went to Dave and Busters to eat and play, so the girls and I had a girls night filled with pizza and the Justin Bieber movie.

Let me just say, I'm officially a fan! I'm so Bieberfied that I'm ready to make a new playlist just of him. Emily has me hooked. She was so excited when I surprised her with the movie I thought she was going to cry. The girls sang and danced and it was so cute. I made a list of the funny things she said and now I can't find it but I do remember a few:

When the movie started she said "wait, who is that? Is that JB? I thought he was handsomer"

Then later when they showed the older pics of him she said "OMG he is sooo cute! I mean he is really hot!"

"He is my biggest fan!"

"Can we go to northern canada and get his autograph?"

Now somehow I have promised to let her write him and go to a concert and get a t-shirt. I think her birthday party has now been changed from a Fancy Nancy dress up party to a rock you bottom JB party.

She has already chosen him for a future husband and she shakes her bon bon when someone mentions his name. What am I going to do with her??????

Is summer vacation over yet?

2011-07-08T15:04:00.003-04:00

Seriously!

It's only my 2nd week with all the kids home (technically my 3rd but since David was gone for 1 week at camp I'm not counting it) and I've had a series of Epiphanies

1: I will not have hair by the end of the summer simply because my kids are home and I'm pulling it out trying to survive and women without hair are not sexy. There, I said it.

2: There is not a big enough, fresh enough diet coke to survive

3: my kids eat a lot, no joke. David cleared 15 french toast sticks before I could ration them out and he was still hungry. Thank goodness I coupon.

4: patience is a virtue that came and went 2.5 weeks ago

5: cleaning is for birds. what's the point anyways? the kids tear it up or make a bigger mess trying to "help".

I need chocolate. Bad.

I got this

2011-07-06T14:05:00.002-04:00

I couldn't decide whether to title this post " I heart Google" or "Yo, I got this". I went with I got this because Google and I have a love/hate relationship. While I love the google friendliness, I hate the google spying if you know what I mean. But that's besides the point.

So this post is devoted to my hunky handyman, who lately has become the handiest guy I know. There's not a thing the he can't do with the aid of, did you guess??? Google.

As with any house there are always things to get done. Instead of paying someone to do it my hunk handyman has learned to do it himself. And not just house stuff, car stuff too. His latest feat occurred only yesterday when he, gulp, took apart his dash board and replaced his turn key thingy because all of the sudden the car didn't like our keys and refused to turn. But why spend $100's of dollars having someone else do it? He simply googled it and went to the store and did it himself for less than $100. ( go hunky handyman!)

It didn't' take him long and he had his trusty helper, Big D, there and it turned into quite the learning experience. (I'm secretly hoping that I can cross something scoutish off for the endeavor)

So, in conclusion, way to go hunky handyman, thank you for saving money (my favorite past time) and fixing up the homestead too :)

And, really there is nothing that google can't tell you. That's kinda scary though, right?

Sparklerfest!

2011-07-04T19:20:00.003-04:00

Happy 4th of July!

Christopher surprised us and got sparklers on the way home from Riverside and we decked ourselves out for the 4th. No fireworks this year due to rain but we made our own (just in time might I add, because it started pouring literally as soon as I took this pic)

We went to the River and all I got was this dirty bathing suit

2011-07-03T18:59:00.002-04:00

We went to Riverside yesterday for the annual Fourth of July festivities. The kids had a great time in the river. Emily branched out and made some new friends--yippee!!!! My favorite part is trying to get the yuck out of their bathing suits ;)

I even managed to get a "group pic" done and it wasn't that bad. I might actually be able to use it. Fabulous! On the way home we stopped and got some sparklers for the kids. That should be fun, assuming they don't burn the house down or light each other's hair on fire. Don't worry, I'll take pictures in any event (wink wink)

My 3 girls

2011-07-03T18:54:00.004-04:00

New addiction: chocolate teddy grahams. Try and take them and you lose an arm.

See my tongue? Guess what I sucked on to make it change color?

I'm just sitting here, looking pretty so you won't notice that I just broke your new vacuum...

I'm a bobcat, hear me ROAR!

2011-07-03T18:47:00.003-04:00

This past week, David earned his Bobcat rank and I can not be more proud! It's his first scout award and I'm super excited. I even got to go up with him when he received his award and embarrass him but giving him a whopper of a hug and kiss in front of EVERYONE.

Now we're officially on the wolf track and we've already got a good start. He hasn't received any of his awards from Scout Camp yet but he should get them at the next pack meeting. I'm excited to see what he gets then. There's even a video game belt loop. WTH? Anywho...

Way to go big man! smooches!!!

Scout Camp!

2011-06-26T14:23:00.004-04:00

David went scout camp last week and had a blast. He was totally exhausted by mid week but we survived and he got a ton of things marked off. His favorites were archery, bb guns, sports and fishing. I got to chaperone one day and I loved it. I wish I could have stayed all week. I even got out there and shot the guns, wormed up my fishing pole, shot me some arrows and played a mean game of kick ball. I did have to show those kids my kick ball skills. I kinda rock at kicking and catching if I do say so. By the end of the week they 'tested' their skills at archery and bb guns and David got a special patch for bb gun marksmanship and is now a bonafied member of the junior usa shooting team!

David's Baptism

2011-06-12T20:17:00.002-04:00

Create a free picture slideshow

Yesterday David was baptized!

It went amazingly well. The girls behaved there were no big problems. Grandmom gave a great talk on baptism and the Holy Ghost. The songs that I stressed over turned out great. Everything was fabulous! I almost can't believe it's over. We've been talking about it for the last year and now it's finally done. Phew!

It was a very special day and I hope that he always remembers it. We gave him his fancy shmancy new scriptures and he really liked them especially because the edges are gold so he thinks he has gold scriptures which is really cute.

After we all forged over to Maggiano's and gave them a run for their money. That turned out great as well. We were worried we wouldn't all be seated together but we were close enough and once again the kids all behaved, which is a feat unto itself considering all the children there.

A great day, one for the memory books, which of course I'm already making (with Kim's help of course)

Happy Early Birthday USA!

2011-06-07T20:23:00.007-04:00

my little rock star!

hmm, I guess this proves she's mine...

Emily's KG class celebrated July 4th early since they won't be in school then. They dressed up and had a parade and a party. And low and behold, my shy red head was shaking hands and giving high 5's to all the upper class men like she was a celebrity or something. I was beyond amazed. I guess there's hope for her yet!

Soccer's out for Summer!

2011-06-07T20:18:00.004-04:00

Soccer is over! At least until the fall. They kids got their trophies and pictures, which I'll scan and post later. Emily's team was the bears and her coach gave out bear beanies which was super sweet! David was named MVP and best goalie! I'm sad to see the season end but I'm also glad to have my saturday's back.

Now on to swimming lessons....

It's Great to be 8!

2011-06-07T19:36:00.003-04:00

My little man turned 8 years old yesterday!

It's been a whirlwind week of party festivities. He started scouts! Whoo hoo!!! That's a little crazy but he likes it a lot. He had a black light bowling party that was awesome! A few of his best buddies showed up. Erin and Eva had to stay home at the last minute with hand, foot and mouth (yuck!) but Emily and I trucked ahead. There was lots of dancing and singing and all around goofiness. The big hit was the beyblades. The girls picked that out for David and it has been a huge success. Who knew spinning tops in a bowl would be so entertaining.

While we were there another group was having a Justin Beiber party complete with a full size cut out and Emily went nuts. She danced like a fool the whole time. And I'm not talking swaying side to side. I'm talking all out, shake your booty dancing! David did quite a bit of dancing himself and don't ask me where he gets his moves from...

On Sunday, we did up the house in full party decor and did his family party so his sick sisters could join in the fun. I made another cake for this party and then did cupcakes on Monday for his class (we are so caked out!) But honestly I'll use any excuse to use rainbow chip frosting ;)

In just a few days he will be baptized! We're giving him his very own, personalized, fancy pants, leather scriptures for the occasion. I'm still running crazy getting that together and trying to survive all of the end of the school year parties and stuff. Should be fun and a little crazy with a side of awesomeness!

Memorial Day 2011

2011-06-01T22:02:00.003-04:00

We spent memorial day at Riverside and the kids had a grand day!

It was hot hot hot! But thanks to the snow cone machine we survived. The kids all had fun in the river and so far no ticks have been spotted so I call that a success. Our drive home however, was not. Let's just say 4 kids, 2 hour drive and a hot day playing outside do not = good ride home but we made it!!!!

Now on to birthdays, baptisms, scouts, end of year class parties and blah blah blah. June is too busy for my taste this year!

Get your scout on!

2011-06-01T21:56:00.002-04:00

Big D started scouts tonight!!!

I'm so excited! He's so excited! Everyone's so excited! I took him to the scout store today and he had such a good time picking out his stuff. He seemed so grown up in there.

He had his first troup meeting tonight and had a blast. Lots of his friends were there and he got to play bball when he was done. Hopefully he will get to go to scout camp but there is so much drama getting him in since someone dropped the ball (not me of course!) but I think it will work out and he'll get to go. He really wants to go so you know I'll work it out!

He looks so cute in his little uniform that I just want to pinch his cheeks!

Singing in the rain...

2011-05-24T20:20:00.005-04:00

and maybe playing a little soccer too. Last week David was lucky enough to play some ball in a serious downpour. I have to admit I thought it was fun. Emily's game was sunny and YES! she did actually play. Halle-freakin-llujah!!! David's coach left him goalie for most of the game and at the end told him that he played like a pro! He did rock some seriously good saves and I did hear the other team comment on how many balls he blocked. (brag brag brag) He's a rock star! I wish I could figure out how to put the video's in stream so I won't have to load them all individually. I guess I'm not tech savvy enough yet, however I did add more ram to my computer all by my lonesome. Maybe I rock a little too.

Emily's first field day!

2011-05-15T18:29:00.004-04:00

Last friday Emily had her very first field day! She was so excited and then when it started and she saw all the people there she kinda freaked for a bit but after a while she got back into it. She didn't participate in the opening exercises that day so I don't have video of that but she did do it during David's field day. She skipped the first few events and after a little persuasion (meaning, I left until she stopped throwing her tantrum) she got in there and did her thing and had a blast! Her class didn't really rock the tug-of-war but she still had fun! I took a lot of video but I'm still trying to figure out how to link them together and post them so if I ever figure it out I'll post them.

Emily goes Ape crazy!

2011-05-15T17:46:00.002-04:00

Emily went to the Zoo for her last field trip of the year and I tagged along to chaperone. She had a great time walking around the zoo. My favorite animal was Zoe, the baby chimp. She was precious! We got to see lions, tigers and leopards, he he he because they didn't have bears, and I must say that a leopards tail is amazingly thick! They also had a ton of chimps and one in particular was showing off and balancing on a log in the lake and it was so surreal because he really looked like a seriously hairy man walking on water. She refused to feed the giraffe's but I did and was shocked by how purple and slimy their nasty "little" tongues are. She eventually warmed up and started petting some animals but she refused to pose for me. There was this amazing bird santuary there and you could take a stick with peanut butter on it to feed them and they swarmed us. One bird landed on another parent's head! I lucked out and had her best buds in my group so I think she had a blast on this field trip!

A Whole New World

2011-05-01T18:27:00.003-04:00

and NO we're not talking about Aladdin.

Emily: Mommy, how do you spell James?
Me: J-a-m-e-s. Why?
Emily: Mommy (dramatic pause) when are we going to Minnesota?
Me: I don't know, why?
Emily: well, I REALLY want to go to that WORLD because James is there.
Me: Wait, who is James?
Emily: James, from Big Time Rush is in the world of Minnesota and he is so handsome and I want his autograph....giggles

then she follows up with

Wow this is one HOT car mom!
hahahaha!!! I said this is one. hot. car and I'm not talking about sweating

Later that night I got this little gem from her as yet another delay tactic from going to sleep.

Emily: Mommy!!!!
Me: what?!?
Emily: I'm sweating to death
Me: oh that's too bad
Emily: NO really mom I'm sweating to death, i mean it, to death
Me: Oh well...now shut it and go to bed
Emily: mommy
Me: what?
Emily: I'm sweating to heaven. Do you hear me? I'm really sweating to heaven! You gotta do something here!!!
Me: How about I gag you?
Emily: well I'm seriously sweating to death and heaven aren't you going to do something?
Me: yep, I'm going to shut your door
Emily: ok, ok, ok, I'll stop now
Me: it's about stinking time kid

Springbreakathon 2011

2011-04-28T20:47:00.004-04:00

For spring break this year we did a little something special each day. Christopher wasn't able to go anywhere with us so we had to do some creative planning so I wouldn't go crazy and we could all have fun. We did bowling, Krispy Creme, thrift store shopping, a trip to Uncle Brian's house in Lynchburg, Chuck-E-Cheese, a day of play dates and what spring break would be complete without a day of cleaning? Then we rounded off the week with Easter, complete with our annual find your basket hunt followed by a crazy egg hunt and dinner at Grandma's.

CMOR 30 cents day!

2011-04-26T17:17:00.002-04:00

We went to the Children's Museum for the first time....ever

We played with the eggs and showed our hiny's

We made a trip to the farmer's market

and posed with farmer Joe

and milked some cows

all this for only 3o cents!

I'm a soccer MOM

2011-04-26T17:07:00.003-04:00

David and Emily started soccer. This is Emily's first time "playing". I say "playing" because really what she's doing is standing on the sideline screaming and crying. She has yet to get on the field without me dragging her and I have exhausted all bribes. I even got her this nifty hot pink glow in the dark soccer ball, which has yet to make an appearance on the field. I keep hoping she'll ease up and play but I'm a realistic person and I don't really expect it now.

David on the other hand is a rockstar on the field. I love to watch him play. He doesn't care which position he's in as long as he can run. It's awesome!

I think for fall soccer I'll put Erin in since she is fearless and wants to play. But I doubt that I could find clothes to fit her tiny hiny.

Spring Sale!

2011-04-10T18:15:00.002-04:00

I just finished my Children's Spring Sale!

Yea! Yea! Pat myself on the back! Yea!

It was really hard this time without having Christopher's help. Since he took a job with BB&T he is really busy and between that and "working out" and school it's crazy. But somehow we managed. Overall this sale was better. We sold almost half of our inventory and my biggest consignors walked away with some big $$$.

This week is clean up week and then it will take at least another week or two to get the house back into a routine. I'm glad this one is over and I'm glad I proved that I could do it without big daddy's help. It was tough for a few days with having to figure out who was watching my kids and eating out....a lot...but we can deal with that for a week, right?

So this week it's all about getting my crap out of that space and back up in my attic and then getting my house back in shape and dealing with a diaper rash that won't go away. WTH?

Then we get to plan spring break which is the following week and we have big plans. A little DC action with a little Uncle Brian action followed with a side of bowling. I hope I survive all of that because that's a lot of doing without Daddio's help with the scrubs. I guess I just need something new to bribe them with.

Anyways, so yep, sales over, it was better than the last, go me!

Memories

2011-03-22T19:53:00.003-04:00

Today I was running errands with Erin and Eva and we happened to drive by the hospital and out of no where Erin asks if that is where we got our babies from. So I explain to her that that's where she was born. I think nothing of it because we have driven past the hospital too many times to count and she has never mentioned anything. So we continue on our merry little way when she starts telling me about how Daddy dressed her and brought her up the elevator with David and Emily to come visit me and baby Eva. And then tells me about how Granny took care of her while I was in the hospital and she doesn't want me to be gone so long....and I'm like stunned. Who would have thought that my little 3 year old could remember her baby sister's birth when she was 1 year old in such detail?!?

I still have this weird feeling about it. I guess you just don't think that your kids will remember somethings because they are just too young but obviously they are never too little to remember things that meant something important. I'm glad she can remember that day but it still shocks me that she really does remember down to the little details, something that happened when she was so young. It really was sweet how she talked about her baby sister and how she got to sit on the bed with me and hold her for the first time. I hope she never forgets this little memory of hers and I hope she surprises me with a few more. How cute.

Field Trip to Henricus Park

2011-03-18T16:56:00.004-04:00

David's class went to Henricus park for a field trip on Indians. They got to visit an actual Indian Reservation and go in the hut. They were shown how to farm and how to make foods from the land and all that good stuff. I think he got to see a tobacco barn and clean (skin) a deer. YUK! Looks like a neat place but I think I can do without the deer skinning. Thankfully his teacher is super good about taking pics and posting them on the class site so I got some good ones.

Girls and Bathrooms

2011-03-16T15:41:00.005-04:00

A friend sent me this and well, I just couldn't resist.

When you have to visit a public bathroom, you usually find a
line of women, so you smile politely and take your place. Once it's your turn, you check for feet under the stall doors.
Every stall is occupied.

Finally, a door opens and you dash in, nearly knocking down the woman leaving the stall. You get in to find the door won't latch. It doesn't matter, the wait has been so long you are about to wet your pants! The dispenser for the modern "seat covers"(invented by someone's Mom, no doubt) is handy, but empty. You would hang your purse on the door hook, if there was one, but there isn't - so you carefully, but quickly drape it around your neck, (Mom would turn over in her grave if you put it on the FLOOR!), yank down your pants, and assume " The Stance..."
In this position your aging, toneless (God I should have
gone to the gym!!!) thigh muscles begin to shake.

You'd love to sit down, but you certainly hadn't taken time to wipe the seat or lay toilet paper on it, so you hold "The Stance". To take your mind off your trembling thighs, you reach for what you discover to be the empty toilet paper dispenser.

In your mind, you can hear your mother's voice saying, "Honey, if you had tried to clean the seat, you would have KNOWN there was no toilet paper!" Your thighs shake more. You remember the tiny tissue that you blew your nose on yesterday - the one that's still in your purse. (Oh yeah, the purse around your neck that, now, you have to hold up trying not to strangle yourself at the same time). That will have to do. You crumple it in the puffiest way possible. It's still smaller than your thumbnail.

Someone pushes your door open because the latch doesn't work.
The door hits your purse, which is hanging around your neck in front of your chest, and you and your purse topple backward against the tank of the toilet.

"Occupied!" you scream, as you reach for the door, dropping your precious, tiny, crumpled tissue in a puddle on the floor, lose your footing altogether, and slide down directly onto the TOILET SEAT.

It is wet of course.

You bolt up, knowing all too well that it's too late. Your bare bottom has made contact with every imaginable germ and life form on the uncovered seat because YOU never laid down toilet paper - not that there was any, even if you had taken time to try. You know that your mother would be utterly appalled if she knew, because, you're certain her bare bottom never touched a public toilet seat because, frankly, dear, "You just don't KNOW what kind of diseases you could get".

By this time, the automatic sensor on the back of the toilet is so confused that it flushes, propelling a stream of water like a fire hose against the inside of the bowl that sprays a fine mist of water that covers your butt and runs down your legs and into your shoes. The flush somehow sucks everything down with such force that you grab onto the empty toilet paper dispenser for fear of being dragged in too.

At this point, you give up. You're soaked by the spewing water and the wet toilet seat. You're e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d. You try to wipe with a gum wrapper you found in your pocket and then slink out inconspicuously to the sinks. You can't figure out how to operate the faucets with the automatic sensors.....so you wipe your hands with spit and a dry paper towel and walk past the line of women still waiting..

You are no longer able to smile politely to them.

A kind soul at the very end of the line points out a piece of toilet paper trailing from your shoe. (Where was that when you NEEDED it??) You yank the paper from your shoe, plunk it in the woman's hand and tell her warmly,"Here, you just might need this". As you exit, you spot your hubby, who has long since entered, used, and left the men's restroom. Annoyed, he asks, "What took you so long, and why is your purse hanging around your neck?" ..................

This is dedicated to women everywhere who deal with public restrooms (rest??? you've GOT to be kidding!!). It finally explains to the men what really does take us so long. It also answers their other commonly asked questions about why women go to the restroom in pairs. It's so the other gal can hold the door shut, hang onto your purse, and hand you Kleenex under the door!

Now, take this story and add some children in to the mix and picture all this going on while you have kids trying to peek under the stall and touch every grubby little surface and wash their hands in the toilet while the other kids are screaming and peeing in their pants while you try to find your hand sanitizer. This hits a little too close to home.

Spring Pics are IN

2011-03-15T19:28:00.007-04:00

David and Emily's school takes pictures in the fall and in the spring. I don't usually buy the fall pics because you don't get to preview them first and you do with the spring ones. Plus, the spring ones have a nifty little background that is usually pretty good. Although, I thought the rock last year stunk. I went with my plan and didn't buy the fall ones only to find out that Emily's picture was so stinking sweet it gave me a tooth ache so now I'm bummed but her class did make ornaments with their pictures so at least I have a teaser of that one. Anywho, here's my totally scandalous scans of the pictures they had taken

Do you ever?

2011-03-11T08:40:00.003-05:00

Lay awake at night thinking of all the great blog posts you could do and then forget what they were when you actually sit down to post them?

Put milk in the bowl and then put it in the refrigerator and take a spoon to the carton?

Um, forget your kids names?

Dream that your hair or teeth are falling out?

Change the channel when your husband comes in the room so he won't see you drooling over McSteamy?

Let your kids play hooky because you just don't feel like getting them ready?

Order takeout and claim it as homemade?

Have a secret stash of chocolate hidden in your underware drawer for "emergencies"?

Of course, I'm not saying I do any of these things...but I am just saying...