AS THE DAYS GO BY

Migraines Suck

2012-01-05T10:50:00.001-05:00

I suffer from migraines and have for most of my memory. They’re not headaches. They’re migraines. Blinding, pounding, nausea inducing migraines. I try to explain to Ben what they feel like because “headache” is far too mild.

Imagine that you have a grape in your hand. Now, squeeze one end of the grape. See how the opposite end is sort of swollen looking, like the skin might rip at any moment? That’s how my eyes feel. Even blinking hurts them. It feels like the inside if my eyelids are lined with sandpaper. Now, imagine that you have teeny tiny elves all around your poor swollen eyes. Not cute little elves either. Knife wielding angry elves. Every single time the weakest bit of light hits your poor swollen eyes the evil little elves poke you one trillion times with their tiny little knives. Now imagine that every little sound you hear is amplified by one million times. Sort of like being at a rock concert in the front row with out all the fun of actually being at a rock concert. Now, remember that time you had the stomach virus from hell. The nausea, the body aches, and oh the nausea. Sucks right? But I’m not done yet. Now imagine that your brain is swollen against your skull and feels like it might explode at any given moment. Oh, and your head weighs about a trillion pounds. As if that isn’t enough, imagine that your neck and shoulder muscles are so tight that you can barely bend your head. You feel like your shoulders have taken permanent residence up around your ears. It’s not a lot of fun. Add in a job where you have lots of people to deal with, a computer screen to stare at and (if you’re lucky) the drive thru to contend with. But, you think to yourself, I can handle this for one day. It’s not so bad for a day. Then 3 days pass. Then it’s Christmas and you can’t even really enjoy the day because you’re head hurts so dang bad. Then it’s 3 weeks later and you still have the cursed migraine and you’re seriously debating ripping your own head off because at least you wouldn’t have that stupid migraine anymore.

Did I mention that this whole time you’re taking Excedrin Migraine and Ibuprofen like it’s candy? 2 Excedrin is the recommended dosage. As you take them the first day you think “Ah..this will get me some relief.” Only to find out later that it doesn’t make a dent in the pain. Then you take 4 Ibuprofen because that HAS to help right? Nope, no such luck. So you drink a pop thinking “I read somewhere caffeine helps.” Nope, not at all. You think “Maybe a massage.” But, since it’s the holidays you don’t have the extra money, so you beg your husband to do it. Except he’s afraid of hurting you and is, understandably, tired from work. So it doesn’t really help at all. Calling the chiropractor will help, but they don’t have any openings. Awesome. Finally, after 3 weeks of suffering, you have an emotional breakdown. It had to happen sometime right?

This is exactly how my life went from a few weeks before Christmas until after the New Year. It was awful. I was miserable. I had a migraine on Christmas, I had a migraine on New Years. It sucked. A lot. I think the worse part is that people just don’t understand. It’s hard to explain to someone what it feels like. They seem to have the “Take some Tylenol and get over it” mentality. If someone tells you that they’re suffering from a migraine, please offer to help them out so they can go crawl into a dark hole and sleep for a few hours. Or at least be understanding. Maybe loan them a pair of sunglasses. Or a massage.

No Resolution For You!

2012-01-03T16:44:00.000-05:00

I should probably post lots and lots of pictures of the girls opening their Christmas presents, but I'm not going to. Mostly because the pictures are still on the camera and I don't have the patience to upload them, edit them, then fight with Blogger to get them posted. Maybe some other day. Or maybe not.

Instead, I'm going to blog about New Years Resolutions. It seems like everyone makes them. Or at least says they do. I don't. I used to. Of course, like 90% (just a guess) of other people in the world, I always failed miserably. Then I would get all depressed because I couldn't stick to my Resolutions. I think I'll just bypass all that guilt and not make any resolutions to start with.

Tis The Season

2011-12-14T08:26:00.001-05:00

I spent all of yesterday being totally stressed out about Christmas. I'm way behind on my shopping, there's never enough money to buy what I want and pay the bills too. Between Ben and I's work schedule there's no way we will be able to take the girls to see Santa this year. I had myself so stressed out I was getting ill. I managed to get two giant cold sores from the stress.

This morning I realized something. Christmas isn't about presents. It's not about spending every dime we have on extravagant presents for everyone. It's about celebrating the birth of Jesus. It's about spending time with family. It's about being grateful for the things that we are able to give to the people we love.

And Santa? My kids don't even care. Adelae said "I'll just write him a letter."

I kind of suck at this

2011-12-05T10:49:00.001-05:00

I used to be a good blogger. I blogged at least once a week. Or at least once a month. Now I just don't feel like I have anything to say. Or not anything that people care about reading anyway. I'm boring. I feel boring. I feel like perhaps I've gone about as far as I can with this blog. I'm debating taking it off line. I post all of my pictures and thoughts on Facebook. I don't have any deep thoughts to share with the blogging community, not that many people would read it if I did.

Also, I'm busy. Between work, kids, husband and house I don't really feel like I have much left to give. Then things I want to blog about, I can't because it's insanely personal. Not really meant for the world at large to read. But, it's hard to take away something that chronicles my children's developments. There's so many great pictures on here, I would hate to lose them all. I'm undecided as of now what I will do. But, don't be surprised if the next time you go to search for my blog (not that many of you every do), it isn't there.

Depression Confession

2011-10-30T13:56:00.001-04:00

I suffer from a mild form of depression. I choose not to take medication because I can usually fight off the really bad attacks. Then there are days like today. Everything seems wrong. Nothing makes me smile. I want to go to bed, pull the covers over my head and sleep for days. I want to cry, but the tears won't come. I know people will say to "get over it" or "you're being overly dramatic." I only wish it were that easy. Trust me, I wish I could jump up and "get over it." I hate feeling like this. I hate it. I want to smile and laugh with my kids. I want to want to play. I wish my husband understood how hard I fight to keep that weight from crushing me. I wish that weight didn't exist.

I know that tomorrow's another day. I know that weight might not be there in the morning. I know that I have a million reasons to be happy. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

If I could save time in a bottle..

2011-10-20T17:13:00.000-04:00

It would be at times like these.

The Guilt Will Get Ya

2011-09-06T19:45:00.004-04:00

I knew when I started working that I would eventually face the Working Mom Guilt. At first, I felt guilty that I didn't miss my kids more. I felt guilty that I actually ENJOYED dropping them off at the sitter's house and getting out of the house. I felt guilty because I didn't feel guilty, if that makes any sense.

So, I've been cruising along fairly guilt free for the last few months. Today, all that guilt caught up with me in one crushing blow. I was discussing with a co-worker (also a working mom) about Adelae feeling shy at school. Her response was not what I expected. I expected her to say that everything would be fine. After all, we're both working moms. Instead, she said that I should pull Adelae out of school, quit my job and stay at home again. That's when it hit me right between the eyes.....The Working Mom Guilt.

I've always had an over active imagination. So, the picture I mentally pained quickly went from bad to worse. I imagined poor Adelae being left at the door with out a "Have a good day!" or a "Have fun!" I imagined poor Adelae playing all by herself at recess because her teachers didn't know she was shy. Why didn't they know? Because I couldn't tell them because I was too busy at work to drop her off or pick her up from school. I imagined all the other kids thinking that the babysitter was her mom. I imagined Adelae alone outside the school waiting on a Mommy that never came. The Working Mom Guilt was in full force. I was trying to wait on customers while holding back tears. I wanted to rush out of the bank, drive as fast as I could to my daughter's school, pick her up, hug her and reassure her that I loved her.

Then I got a grip. The girls baby sitter is one of my good friends. Adelae gets dropped off at school with the baby sitter's son, who is in Adelae's class. I know she's never dropped off without a "Goodbye!" or a "Have a nice day!" I know that it doesn't matter if the other kids think that the sitter is Adelae's mom. I know that she'll never be left all alone in the front of the school waiting on me. That Working Mom Guilt was trying to take hold deep inside. It was playing on my insecurities. I knew that none of it was true.

You see, I thought long and hard before I went back to work. I didn't jump at the first job that came my way. I didn't accept the job before Ben and I really looked at the pros and cons. I know that in order to do the things we want to do, I had to find a job. I had to go back to work, at least part time. And, despite the Working Mom Guilt, I'm confident I made the right decision.

Adelae's teacher sends home a progress book every day. I'm able to communicate with them through that book. I've written notes about how shy she is feeling. They are doing their best to work with her. Adelae won't ever be left in front of the school crying because Mommy didn't pick her up. The girls know that they are far more important to me than any job could possibly be.

I still can't quite fathom why another working mom would lay that Working Mom Guilt Trip on me. I don't know that I'll ever understand. But, the next time she tries, I can keep the Working Mom Guilt Monster at bay. I had 4.5 very good years at home with my kids. Now it's time for mommy to go to work and make some money!

That Wasn't So Bad

2011-08-31T13:26:00.012-04:00

Our little camping trip went remarkably well. Sure, I forgot the camera at home, we got a late start and almost didn't get to the campground in time to get the key for our little cabin. Thankfully I had my phone and Ben managed to grab the girl at the camp store before she left for the night, so all's well that ends well.

Here's our little cabin in the woods. (Except not so much in the woods, so more like our little cabin by an unmowed field)

We arrived pretty late the first night, so we didn't do much more than unpack and go to sleep.

The next day was jam packed with action.

We did a little playing on the playground.

Visited the lake (the girls first time ever seeing any body of water larger than a pond)

Went to the beach.

Played in the sand.

Swam like little fish.

Played in the sand some more.

Had some friends over for dinner.

We, of course, had a gigantic thunderstorm our second night there. Apparently, if you want it to rain, just tell us to go camping. Thanks to our little cabin, we stayed perfectly dry. I do have to admit that I was more than a little nervous about Adelae sleeping in the top bunk inches away from the canvas roof as the wind howled, rain pelted and lightening flashed. So, I woke her up, tucked her in bed with her Daddy and attempted to fall back asleep.

The next day we decided to head home early. Our original plan was to head to the zoo, but with Brinna's fear of everything that moves, we thought it might not be such a good idea. We headed back to the beach to collect some shells and take some more pictures before we headed home.

One last summer fling

2011-08-21T17:52:00.002-04:00

The end of summer is upon us. Before too long Adelae will be starting her second year of preschool, the weather will get colder and I imagine the snow will start to fly. We've truly made the most of our summer. We've had one party after another, or so it seems. It's left very little time for our little family to just be together, something we really enjoy. So, when Ben's boss told him he needed to start using his vacation time and I had 2 days off in a row, we decided we were going to get away. Adelae has been begging to go camping, so camping we shall go!

You might remember our last camping trip that didn't turn out so great. If not, definitely go read about it, it truly was The Trip That Had It All (and then some). But, now we're a year older and a year wiser so we thought we'd try it again.

I checked the weather radar and there's not a chance of rain, Brinna's old enough to walk by herself, the sand toys are already in the car, and we've packed lots and lots of stuff to do. I'm sure that something will go wrong, things always seem to, but I know that we'll survive and have fun anyway.

The Joys of Summer

2011-07-14T12:35:00.003-04:00

When I was a kid I LOVED summer. I loved the hot weather. I couldn't wait to get out of bed and go hand out with my friends. To me, summer was swimming, bike riding, sleep overs and swinging. I miss those simple little joys.

As an adult, I often feel like I have way to many responsibilities to just let go and have fun. There's always something that has to be done. Now that I'm working, there's even more that has to be done in a shorter amount of time. I miss swinging and swimming and laughing so hard my cheeks hurt. I miss playing with wild abandon, not caring how I look or how others perceive me.

So, I've made a decision. I will play like a child. I will relish every single moment I get to spend with my kids. I give so many underdogs and power pushes that my arms are sore. I will run, jump, scream and play. I will laugh until my stomach hurts. I will enjoy the joys of summer, just like I'm a child.

Even if I have to do it between loads of laundry.

*The two other little girls in the pictures are my nieces, Makayla and Alayna, respectively. The pictures, except for the swing picture, were taken by Stacy Thomas.*

Trying to find a balance

2011-07-09T20:21:00.004-04:00

The adjustment to my new work schedule has been a bit difficult, to say the least. This is the first steady job I've had since Adelae was born. That's almost 4.5 years. That's a LONG time to be with out a job. A really long time. My part-time job has turned into a 5 day a week job. Not every day is a full day, and that makes it almost harder in some ways. In case you were wondering, working 10-6 is not a good shift. You might think it would be, but it's not. At least I don't enjoy it.

I do, however, enjoy my job. I love the people I work with and I enjoy the work. I just haven't quite been able to balance work and home yet. When I get home, I'm so exhausted that I just want to sit and be still. Having 2 young children does not make sitting and being still very easy. And someone still has to cook dinner, clean up dinner, take care of the kids and maybe squeeze in some alone time with my husband. It hasn't been easy.

I feel like no matter what I do, something suffers. If I cut back on my hours at work, then Ben has to work overtime to make the money to pay the bills. If I spend more time with my husband, my kids suffer. If I spend more time with my kids, my husband suffers. I feel like I'm being pulled in about 20 different directions at once. Apparently the laundry and dishes still pile up, even if you don't have time to take care of them. It also doesn't help that it's summer. We are always so busy in the summer. We have something going on almost every day of every weekend. It's exhausting. I miss sitting around all day on Saturday and not doing anything. I miss sleeping in and morning cuddles with my girls.

I am extremely fortunate though. I have an amazing babysitter. The kids LOVE going to her house. In fact, there are days when I don't work and they STILL ask to go to the sitters. Thanks to her, I'm able to go to work and give my full attention to my job. I don't ever worry that my kids aren't being taken care of.

And then there's my husband. When I stayed at home, most of the house cleaning and cooking fell to me. That was my job. I hated it, but it was my job. Since I've started working he's pulled his weight and then some. We've started working on a schedule. On the nights when I come home early, I cook dinner and he does the dishes. On the nights when I come home late, he starts dinner and I do the dishes. I had to work this morning for a few hours. I came home to a pretty clean house, the kids were eating lunch and the dishes were done. He even did a load of his laundry. It was awesome. Especially since a nasty migraine decided to smack me upside the head in my last hour of work. After he spent the morning picking up the house, he went outside and started working on the railing for the slide platform he built a few weeks ago.

What did I do? I sat and read on my Nook. I might have even dozed for a little bit. Shh...don't tell. ;)

All in all, we're slowly getting into a rhythm. Will will make this work. I have faith that in another month, we'll be like a well oiled machine.

At least I hope so.

Watch out world!

2011-05-25T11:52:00.003-04:00

After almost 2 years, I'm re-joining the work force! It's only part-time, but it's a job! I feel lucky to have found employment, especially with the economy the way it is. I would say that this means I'll be blogging less, but I rarely blog at all as it is! HA!

I know that I should probably be focusing on how the extra money is going to help out with paying the bills and buying the necessary things, but all I can think about is "Do I want a Kindle, a Nook Color, or a tablet of some sort?"

There are days..

2011-04-28T10:05:00.005-04:00

..when I want to run from the house screaming. There are days when I'm pretty sure if I say "Brinna, NO!" one more time my head will explode. There are days when Adelae is so defiant I have to double check and make sure she hasn't turned into a teenager. There are days when Ben drives me absolutely up the wall. There are days I dream about being on a beach on a tropical island alone. No kids. No husband. No dog. No laundry. No dishes. No chores. Just me, the beach, a cold drink, and maybe a cabana boy thrown in for good measure.

There there are days when the girls play so nicely together. There are days when we play Dinosaur Train.

Or they work together to "cook" me a fabulous plastic breakfast.

Or they pose together for a quick picture.

There are days when Brinna will climb on my lap, throw her tiny arms around me and proclaim "BIIIG NUNNLES!" (which is Brinna speak for big snuggles) and squeeze me as tight as she can. I live for the unsolicited "I love you Mommy" from Adelae. Or the unprovoked hugs from Ben.

When the going gets rough, and believe me it does, I remember those days.

However, I'm not totally ruling out a trip to the Caribbean, but maybe I'll take Ben with me. Maybe.

3 minute in the life....

2011-04-25T17:18:00.002-04:00

...of Brinna. This is a fairly typical conversation with Brinna. It's long, just over 3 minutes. I think it's unbearably adorable though :)

What does Easter really mean?

2011-04-24T16:31:00.003-04:00

We don't talk about the Easter Bunny in our house. The only way Adelae knows about the EB (Easter Bunny) is what she's learned from school or her friends. I'm sure that people have asked her "Is the Easter Bunny coming to your house?" too. Brinna thinks the Easter Bunny is made of chocolate. Adelae knew that you were suppose to get presents on Easter, but she originally thought Jesus brought them. Ben told her it was the EB and she was a little skeptical.

Thanks to Children's Church and us talking about it at home, Adelae does know that Easter is the day that Jesus rose from the dead. I think we must be doing something right!

Since it's been awhile since I posted a Conversation with Adelae, I thought I'd post the one of her talking about Easter.

I don't have time

2011-04-19T09:48:00.003-04:00

I can't decide if I've hit a huge case of writer's block or if I just don't have the motivation, but I feel like I don't have anything thing fun to say anymore. I don't even read blogs like I used to. Apparently having two little kids keeps me busy! Between the girls, weekend trips, projects, Adelae's preschool, Brinna's clingy stage and housework I just don't have any time left!

I suppose I could blog after the kids go to bed, but that's ME time. I prefer to sit on the couch and watch mindless TV and work on my cross stitch. (It's April and I STILL haven't finished Brinna's stocking that I was suppose to have done in December.) Or, let's be really honest, I just want to stare at the TV and veg. I don't want to think. I think I've almost hit the stage where I'd rather sit in a quiet room in the dark and just enjoy the silence. I miss silence.

You know what else I miss? Eating my ice cream by myself. Or eating warm food. I also miss being able to sit through an entire meal. It seems like the second my butt hits the chair I hear "I need a drink." "I finished my noodles, can I have more?" Or Brinna decides that she's "all done" and takes off like a shot out of her high chair. Let me tell you, she's FAST! I keep threatening to tie her to her chair.

Anyway..I just feel like there's not enough hours in the day. I hear it's only going to get worse at the kids get older. I'm thinking that I might have to give up sleeping. Or Facebook. But probably sleeping.

You want to do WHAT?

2011-03-26T10:56:00.000-04:00

Adelae has been asking for a few months to have her hair cut short. I was VERY much against her having it cut. I figured it would eventually blow over. Not so much the case. Ben had a hair cut scheduled and he was going to take Adelae along for a quick trim. She begged and begged and begged me to let her have her hair cut short. I figured since she'd been asking for so long, I might as well let her do it. Again, THIS WAS NOT MY IDEA! She'd NEVER had a real hair cut. Sure, we'd done trims here and there, but never more than a couple of inches. I kept asking her "Are you SURE you want to do this? You know it's going to take a REALLY long time to grow back." She kept saying that she wanted it short, so I let her. I mean, it IS her hair after all.

This is the before picture. (You'll have to excuse the poor quality.I took all of these pictures with my phone.)

And (GULP!) the after. Where did all of her hair go?

But she likes it and that's all that matters :)

She was so excited that washing, combing and drying her hair only took a few minutes. She was ecstatic about the lack of tangles. Not to mention that she could eat dinner with out her hair pulled back. It's a super cute cut, I have to admit. But, WOW does it maker her look older!

What the what? It's been a MONTH?!

2011-03-25T10:30:00.006-04:00

Has it really been over a month since I blogged? Geez! Time sure does fly! We've been so incredibly busy the last few months, I've barely had time to catch my breath!

Adelae turned 4 in February. Her obsession with Rapunzel is alive and well.

Brinna got a new doll baby WITH HAIR that she absolutely adores. We call the baby Baby Nana. I'm not sure why, other than that's what Brinna decided to name her. The hope was that this would help her to stop playing with my hair as she falls asleep. Sadly, it hasn't worked. But, she loves the baby and carries it with her everywhere she goes.

We were able to take advantage of some very spring like weather with some outside time.

Adelae and I were fortunate enough to go see Disney Princesses on Ice. It was a wonderful show and I highly recommend it to anyone with girls obsessed with Princesses. It was so nice to be able to spend some one-on-one time with my big girl!

And last, but certainly not least, we were able to spend a few days at Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, Ohio. The girls had an absolute blast playing all the water. Hmm..I think I'll have to get some more pictures posted from that trip. It was awesome!

As always, the kids are growing like weeds. Brinna changes more and more every day. She's really developing her own personality. Adelae is getting more and more opinionated every single day. She made her very first big girl decision, she decided to have her hair cut short! I'll post pictures in another blog, along with all the feelings that came with that decision.

So,that's what we've been up to. Not to mention the regular daily grind. I keep thinking that our schedule is going to calm down at some point. Then I think "Wouldn't that be boring?!" There are a lot more fantastic outings to come as well. So far we have a trip to see some of my friends in PA in June, a camping trip in July, Brinna's 2nd birthday in July as well, and a few other things. I'm excited for warm weather and summer!

The one where I talk about weight

2011-02-17T14:37:00.002-05:00

Last year I started working out. (Remember this post?) I did really well for about 2 months. I didn't work out every day, but I averaged about 5 days a week. Not too shabby for someone that hates exercise!

Then I weighed myself.

There's a reason why I don't own a scale. I hadn't lost a single solitary pound. Not one. Not even half a pound. Nothing. Nada. After all my hard work I was still the exact same weight I was when I started. I was crushed. I tried to blow it off and say "Oh, but my jeans fit better and that's all that matters." I didn't believe it. I wanted to have lost weight. Not a lot, just a few pounds.

So, I stopped working out. I figured what was the point? If I wasn't going to lose any weight than why should I even bother? If I wasn't losing any weight, why couldn't I just sit on the couch and eat cake? That's what I'd rather be doing, not sweating and grunting and feeling sore.

Then I started thinking about what my weight REALLY means. Is the number on the scale that important? I'm 5' 1" tall and at my thinnest I was 130 lbs. After 2 kids, I'm stuck at 150 lbs. I can't seem to get below that weight. According to the research I've done, that means that I'm obese. My jaw hit the floor when I saw that. Obese? I know I'm a little...jiggly, but obese? I mean really? Obese? What the hell?! I started feeling really depressed. Then and there I decided that I wasn't going to let the number on the scale determine who I was or how I felt about myself.

I knew that when I was working out that I felt better. I knew that I was losing inches because I had to wear a belt to keep my jeans from falling off. For the first time in years, I actually had muscles! So, I decided to start working out again. In turn, I'm making healthier food choices.

I have no idea if I've lost weight, and this time around I truly don't care. I'm focused on the way I look and the way I feel, not a number on the scale. My genes have predetermined that I'm never going to be stick thin. I'm always going to have curves. I love my curves! They're what attracted Ben to me in the first place. Why would I want to get rid of them?

I'm slowly learning to embrace the body that God has given me. I might be 150 lbs, but I'm determined to make that 150 lbs look good!

Conversations with Brinna

2011-02-04T11:00:00.002-05:00

****WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS RIDICULOUSLY CUTE VIDEOS*****

Now that Brinna has hit the 18 month mark, her vocabulary has really expanded. She repeats almost everything we say, which is good and bad. Good because she's learning lots of new words. Bad because sometimes words slip out that she's not suppose to hear. I really do try to watch what I say, but sometimes the occasional bad word pops out. The other day I think she was walking around saying "Oh, sh!t." I pretended to think it was something else ;)

Her favorite thing to say is "Adelae." She's hit the phase where she knows that things belong to people. She spends most of the day bringing us our belongings, whether we want them or not.

This first video is just a little chat that Brinna and I had.

Brinna loves her baby dolls. She has a ton of them and they all get loved and played with throughout the day. It's so cute to see her playing Mommy. She was playing with her baby yesterday and, for once, I was quick enough with the camera to shoot a video.

It's true....

2011-01-19T12:50:00.002-05:00

...Kids really do say the darndest things! :) I used to get those email forwards with the funny things kids say and I would think to myself "Yeah right. Kids don't really say that type of stuff." Now that I have a very precarious almost 4 year old I know that truth. They really do say stuff like that!

A few of Adelae's latest gems:

On Monday morning she said "Mommy, why does Daddy always have to go to work? Doesn't he know we have enough money?"

After Brinna pooped "She's in poopy town, I'm in tootsie town, and you're in diaper changing town."

Upon hearing that the dog made Cinderella Barbie (her former favorite) a midnight snack "It's ok. She was kinda old and dirty anyway."

Adelae's preschool had a guest lunch the other day. As I was dropping Adelae off, I made sure that she knew that I would be back to eat lunch with her. She said "Is Brinna coming too? Please don't forget her. She's too little to stay home by herself."

As we were baking cookies a few days ago, I told her that she reminded me of myself when I was little. She said "Yeah, I know. Cause we both have brown hair."

Then she said something so cute, I couldn't resist getting in on video.

Some people just shouldn't dance

2011-01-11T15:36:00.003-05:00

I'm not a 'gamer.' I can't play video games for hours on end. First of all, I'm not very good at them. Second of all, they're just boring. But, I was the one who hounded Ben to buy the XBox Kinect. We love it. I love it because you have to get up and move. I love it because we can play it for hours and all enjoy it. I love it because it gets all of us up and active on these cold and dreary winter days.
I love having Kinect parties. I love that when I have Kinect parties, I can convince people that don't normally dance to dance. Like my brother and my husband. I also reserve the right to record anyone and everyone that dances. And then post that video on my blog. (Insert evil laugh here.) You'll have to excuse the quality on the last two videos. I took them with my cell phone.

Rumor has it that my sister in law has a video of my pathetic attempt at dancing on her phone. If that video ever surfaces I promise to post it, just so I can share in the humiliation.

I want something

2011-01-05T15:16:00.002-05:00

Adelae's new thing is to constantly tell me "Mommy I need something." As a wonderful and ever patient mother, my response is "What do you need." As a 3 almost 4 year old her answer is ALWAYS "I don't know....something." I'm glad that she's so specific. It's not at all frustrating to run through things like drink, snack, or something to do to only have her reply "Umm.....like what to drink, what to eat, what to do?" Then, because I'm a super patient Mommy, I list all of the drinks we have available, all of the available snacks and anything I can think of for her to do. You would think that something would appeal to her. You know what she does? She cries. Why does she cry? Because apparently none of the things I've spent 10 minutes listing is what she wants. Then she'll inevitably say "I just wanted XYZ." My dear sweet Adelae. If you KNEW what you wanted, why not just ASK for what you wanted? If I dare ask her that question, it causes more hysterics. She'll barely be able to get out "I told you I needed something."
Since I'm so patient this never frustrates me beyond belief. It never ever causes me to go just a little bit loony.
Seriously, it's a good thing she's so adorable.

Let Me Help You

2011-01-04T11:58:00.001-05:00

Everyone in my house has been sick forever. Or at least it feels that way. Adelae and Brinna had the flu over Christmas, then Ben got it. I somehow missed the flu, but I wound up with the worst cold in the history of colds. It's not the nasal congestion, the constant runny nose or even the general feeling of blahness that's the worst. It's the darn coughing. I haven't slept in days (or that's how it feels). It seems like everytime I breath, I cough. And cough, and cough some more. As a result, my throat is terribly sore and I'm exhausted. As a result of that, my house is a wreck.

I decided we were picking up today no matter what. I couldn't take the toys, shoes, socks and who knows what else scattered all over the floor. In the midst of picking things up, I had a horrible coughing attack. My sweet Adelae took my hand, led me to the chair, sat me down and said "Mommy, what can I do to make you better? Let me help you." I tell you, my heart just melted. She then proceeded to pick up all of her toys with no complaint. I guess i must be doing something right!

A few Christmas videos

2010-12-22T10:05:00.002-05:00

Isn't it amazing how social media has changed the way we live? Facebook, Twitter, blogs, texting, Foursquare, and the smart phone have definitely changed the way we communicate with each other. What if all of these things were around when Jesus was born? Wouldn't that make for some interesting stories? Well, the folks at ExcentricPT and Igniter Media thought it would!

The first video called "The Digital Story of the Nativity"

The second video is called "A Social Network Christmas" and is a little more serious than the first, but still very entertaining.

We've been robbed.....almost

2010-12-21T15:47:00.003-05:00

Ya know what you DON'T want to hear at 5:00 in the morning? Your husband saying "Honey, someone tried to steal both of our cars last night."
That's exactly how I was woken up this morning. I should have immediately gotten out of bed and taken action. Instead, I said "Was anything stolen?" When I heard him say "no," I said "Great. I'll call the cops when I wake up." And then I went back to sleep. About 10 minutes later I sat up and said "Did he just say someone tried to steal BOTH our cars?!" I was shocked. We live in the country. Things like that aren't suppose to happen out here. That's why we moved OUT of the city. But, things like that can happen anywhere!
It turns out our cars were almost stolen by a few juveniles that were on a car stealing spree. They had also escaped from police custody. The fugitives actually had the nerve to knock on our neighbors door and ask if the neighbors could take them to a nearby town. Luckily, the neighbors are smarter than me and told them no and called the police.
A few deputies came out and combed our yard looking for the kids. This was at about 2:00 AM. Guess what I was doing while punks were trying to steal my car and cops were combing my yard with flashlights.
Sleeping. Yeah, I was sleeping. I slept through the whole darn thing. I've always considered myself a light sleeper. Guess I'm going to have to rethink that. I can't help but wonder why the dog never barked. It's quite obvious by his actions today that he's very spooked. I know for a fact if he was barking, I would have heard him. At least I'm pretty sure. I mean, he barks LOUD. I can only assume that he didn't see any immediate danger since the would be thieves were outside and not trying to break into our house.
It's still scary though. I can't help but feel like a little bit of my illusion of safety has been shattered. I can't help but think "What if." What if they had tried to break in to the house? What if they neighbors had let them in? What if they had knocked on my door? What if I had let them in (and I probably would have...I'm not so smart like that)? What if they had succeeded in stealing one of our cars? What if someone had gotten hurt?
It's all scary. This is the first time this has ever happened to me. When we lived in the apartment I never had the illusion of safety. I knew that place was dangerous. Here, I thought we were safe. Part of me knows that we're still safe, but I'm definitely re-thinking where we keep the gun.

The screwdriver they used to try to start the car. It was one of ours that was left in the car for one reason or another.

Contents of the glove box. I'm assuming they were looking for an extra key.

Tip of the screwdriver. You can't tell, but the tip is broken off.

Tip of the screwdriver in the ignition. I'm guessing the broken screwdriver is what kept them from stealing the car.

All in all, I'd say we got off pretty easy. Things could have been a lot worse. The kids have been arrested and will be charged for attempting to steal our cars. I'm so thankful that nobody was hurt.

The dreaded pink eye

2010-12-19T17:06:00.002-05:00

Adelae's been in school since September and up until now, we've managed to avoid one of the joys that comes with school....illness. The flu has (knock on wood) missed us so far. There haven't been any reports of lice (knock on wood again). Other than a cold or two, it hasn't been anything we can't deal with. Until yesterday. Adelae woke up with gunky eyes. I looked at Ben and said "Oh crap. She has pink eye." I put in a call to the pediatrician, since Adelae's eyes weren't pink or itching her, the nurse said it was probably a cold that had settled in her eye and not to be to worried. So, we continued about our day. A day that included several errands.
While we were out to lunch Adelae said the phrase I was dreading "Mommy, my eyes hurt." I asked her if they itched and she said no and they still weren't pink. So, we continued our errands. We were in the middle of Meijer, I took one look at her and said to Ben, "We need to get out of here. Her eyes are horrible." And they were. They were fire engine red, swollen and just nasty looking.
I whipped out my phone and started frantically looking up doctors hoping I'd be able to find a walk in clinic that was still open. Luckily, the doctor that Ben and I see has a walk in clinic. Even luckier, they were still open and had open times. Unfortunately, we only had about 30 minutes to get there. Have you ever tried to check out at Meijer the weekend before Christmas? Well, it's not fun. Or fast. Somehow we managed to find the only open check out lane. We were out of there in lightening speed.
The Nurse Practioner that looked at Adelae was really nice. She said that she was pretty sure it was pink eye and she would just go ahead and prescribe us some eye drops.
I am so glad that we were able to get her some medicine. I just feel really bad for making her wait. I knew I should have taken her to the doctor that morning, but I went against my gut. Had we gone that morning, her eyes wouldn't have gotten so bad.

And I'd have my Christmas shopping done.

I'm tired

2010-12-16T15:01:00.002-05:00

I've always been a night owl. It's very rare that I go to bed before midnight. I use the time to work on my cross stitch projects, read, watch TV or just hang out with Ben. I love my quiet time. Lately, the late nights have not been loving me though. I'm so tired all the time. As I sit here typing this (at 3:00 in the afternoon), I'm fighting to stay awake. Ben keeps hinting that it's because I'm getting older and can't function on 6 hours of sleep. I'm not ready to believe that! My body can't be betraying me right? Maybe I just need more coffee.

Refocusing: My Faith

2010-12-14T10:47:00.003-05:00

In addition to refocusing my marriage, I've spend the last year refocusing my faith. When my marriage was in trouble, my faith was also in trouble. I'm fairly certain the two go hand in hand.
It was hard for me to keep the faith when I felt like things were slowly falling apart around me. I did a lot of praying in that time. I just wanted answers. I wanted to know that everything was going to be ok. During those hard times, I found that praying really calmed me down. When things were particularly difficult, I'd say "Ok God, I can't handle this. I need a little help here." More often than not, I would feel immediately comforted. It was like a calm would just wash over me. I could take a second (or a minute) and refocus. I would think that what I was enduring was nothing compared to what Jesus endured for me. Suddenly, my problems weren't so bad. I could refocus.
Earlier this fall I felt this call. I knew that I was suppose to be doing more. Somewhere, I was suppose to be doing more. So, I volunteered to help with Children's Church on Sundays. Making the lesson plans, while time consuming, is so much fun. Teaching the children about the Bible has fulfilled a need I didn't even know I had. It's wonderful to see their eager faces each and every Sunday morning.
I can honestly say that if you had told me at the beginning of the year that I'd be such a large part of our tiny church, I wouldn't have believed you. I never though my faith was strong enough.
Turns out, all I needed to do was to refocus.

Refocusing

2010-12-13T12:20:00.002-05:00

2010 has been a equally horrible and wonderful year. This past year has tested my marriage in so many ways. For a really long time Ben and I were just existing. We weren't interacting with each other hardly at all. I think it was a combo of depression (on both our parts), lack of communication, living with two young children, and money problems. We fought a lot, about everything. I would say "It's a nice day" and Ben would say "No, it's not." That might be exaggerating a little bit, but not by much. As a result, neither of us were happy. The kids weren't happy. It was awful. I felt like I was living in a powder keg.
Then the inevitable happened. The powder keg exploded. We had one of those knock down drag out fights. You know the one where you say all those horrible and nasty things that you think, but don't really mean. Or maybe you do mean them in way way way back of your mind. There was shouting and cussing, belittling and just general nastiness. I can't say what the fight started over. I can't even remember all of the things that were said. I know it was ugly. I know that the phrase "Let's just get divorced" was said by both of us. I know that if we weren't married with little kids, that would have been the end of us. I know that we both admitted that we were fastly falling out of love with each other. It sucked. A lot.
The next morning after we were calm, we talked. We talked and talked and talked. The bottom line was that we love each other. I know deep in my heart that we are meant to be together. We are soul mates. So, we chose to get some help. It wasn't something that we told a lot of people about. It was a very private matter. We went faithfully for what seemed like forever. It was hard. It was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. We faced a lot of our demons and refocused.
We focused on what our marriage could be and should be, not what it had become. Each week I felt us growing closer. Slowly, the fighting stopped. We kissed more, we hugged all the time. We remembered the wonderful things about each other that we loved so much. The passion was back. We fell in love all over again.
Yes, we still have our issues and demons. We still argue. We still annoy each other. But, at the end of the day, there is no place we'd rather be. I'm so grateful to Ben for wanting to save our marriage. I'm so grateful that he helps me through my hard times and lets me help him through his. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing man in my life. He is my soul mate and my one true love.
I am happier now than I think I've ever been. It just took a little refocusing.

We had a first today!

2010-12-10T13:51:00.001-05:00

Today was the first time I had to call poison control.

Brinna got ahold of the toothpaste while I was in the shower. I had it on the back of the sink, where I thought she couldn't reach. She either grew a few inches, has Go Go Gadjet arms, or she scaled the sink. Either way, she got it.

When i got out of the shower she proudly held the tube up and said "Mamma teef!" Or at least that's what i think she said.

I went into panic mode. Did she eat it? Did she fingerpaint the couch with it? How much did she eat? I smelled her breath......minty fresh. Crap.

So, I called the pediatrician. The told me to call poison control. After an obnoxiously long time on hold, the woman (nurse?) assured me that Brinna would be fine. I was told to give her some milk and keep an eye on her. Thankfully she's fine.

I'm still not sure how she got that toothpaste, but I'll find a new place to keep it, that's for sure!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-08T10:32:00.002-05:00

Wordless Wednesday is brought to you by 5 Minutes For Mom.

Not Me!

2010-11-29T15:27:00.004-05:00

I most certainly did NOT convince my husband that we needed an XBox 360 with Kinect. Nope! Not me!

I also did not enlist the help of people he works with to convince him that we need one. Nope! Not me!

Once I did convince him that we needed an XBox Kinect, I did not also convince him that we needed Dance Central.

When the Kinect finally got here, we absolutely did NOT spend the entire day playing when we were suppose to be doing housework. Nope! Not us!

I also most certainly did NOT take a video of Ben dancing. If you've ever seen Ben dance, you'll know why he made me promise that. I also did NOT laugh the entire time I was taking the video. I did NOT laugh so hard that I had tears running down my face. I also was NOT laughing so hard that I had to stop taking the video.

If I did take a video of Ben dancing, I most certainly would NOT post it on my blog. Nope! That would be SOOOOOO mean of me. I would NEVER EVER do such a mean thing.

Or maybe I would and call it payback for the time he threw up in my hair.

Maybe this will teach him not to read my blog. Or teach him to not throw up in my hair.

In all fairness, I really should add that he scores much higher than I do on the dance game.

Letters of Intent

2010-11-05T13:24:00.003-04:00

Dear sweet baby Brinna;

SLEEEEEP CHILD SLEEEEP! Seriously! Mommy is TIRED. Like beyond tired. Exhausted. This business of not napping unless I'm holding you is getting old. Likewise to the waking in the middle of the night and screaming your tiny little head off. Yes, I love snuggling with you. I don't even mind bringing you into Mommy and Daddy's bed. However, if I bring you into my bed, you must SLEEP! 2:00 am (or 4:00 am) is NOT playtime. It is sleep time. Daddy has to get up really early for work in the morning and when you wake him up at 3:00 am by repeatedly smacking him in the face, he's crabby. When you scream at the top of your lungs like someone is hurting you, you wake up your sister. That makes her crabby. When you continue crying, that wakes up Mommy. That makes Mommy tired and crabby. I promise you, we will ALL be in better moods if you would just SLEEEEEP! Just lay your tiny little head down and close your eyes. If you can't sleep, could you at least learn to play quietly in your crib? Mommy put a ton of toys in there. You have a tiny baby, a glow worm, a nice fuzzy stuffed elephant and a stuffed kitty. They're all there to entertain you.
I love you, my sweet sweet baby, but if you don't start sleeping, Mommy's going to lose her ever-lovin' mind.

Sincerely,
ZZZZZZZZZ...what? oh, I was typing...
Your very sleepy Mommy

Dear Adelae;

It wouldn't be fair of me to write a letter to your sister and not to you. So, stop sassing me please. I get it, you're 3 (almost 4) and fiercely independent. I understand that you have opinions on what you do and don't like. I get it! But when Mommy says "Hurry up and get dressed." That means hurry up and get dressed. It does not mean go play with your toys until you're good and ready to get dressed. When Mommy says "Please pick up your shoes and put them away." That means to put them away. It doesn't mean to put them in another room where you think I can't see them. And no, I don't care if that's what Daddy does. When Mommy says to eat your dinner, you don't get to say "But I don't want that dinner." You get to eat it and be grateful that we have hot food. And if you don't eat your nice hot dinner, you can expect to put on your pajamas and go to bed. Yes, I know that means that I'm a mean Mommy. I honestly don't care. You'll get over it. So, let's work on the attitude. Mmmkay?

Sincerely;
I swear, child if you don't pick that up.....

Trick Or Treat Smell My Feet

2010-11-03T09:58:00.004-04:00

Ready to Trick or Treat

Waiting not so patiently for the parade to start.

Adelae showing off her very regal wave.

The bunny in the parade.

CAAAAANNNNDDDYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday is brought to you by 5 Minutes For Mom

Brinna Says CHEESE and FIH-AH

2010-11-02T12:51:00.002-04:00

Here are some super cute videos of Brinna. Ignore the food on her face and on her clothes. It was dinner time which is never neat in our house.

Sick of it

2010-11-01T17:26:00.002-04:00

I'm sick of cleaning.

I'm sick of the dishes.

I'm sick of the laundry.

I'm sick of being expected to know where everybody's stuff is all the time.

I'm sick of being everything to everyone and nothing to myself.

I'm sick of being fat.

I'm sick of changing dirty diapers.

I'm sick of people not accepting the consequences of their actions.

I'm sick of censoring myself.

I'm sick of always being second best.

I'm sick of cooking dinner.

I'm sick of running errands.

I'm sick of people that can't drive.

I'm sick of hearing about children dying.

I'm sick of hearing about rapes and murders.

I'm sick of Obama bashing.

I'm sick of political commercials.

I'm sick of people being mean.

I'm sick of Brinna being sick.

I'm sick of my husband working all the time.

I'm sick of not having a job.

I'm sick of grumpy kids.

I'm sick of running errands.

I'm sick of rude people.

I'm sick of it.

Really?--Letters of Intent

2010-10-29T13:06:00.003-04:00

Dear Ear Nose and Throat Associates:
Attn: Dr. Shreck

You might not remember me, I'm sure you're absurdly busy, but you did my sinus surgery back in September. You did a great job and I can't complain about your surgical skills. However, I really think you might need a watch. Or a lesson in time management. I came to your office yesterday for a follow up to my follow up. I was informed upon check-in that you were running at least and hour and a half behind. AN HOUR AND A HALF! WHAT?! How does one get THAT far behind? And why oh why wouldn't your secretary, nurse, or someone call patients and explain that you are behind. Maybe do them the courtesy of seeing if they would like to reschedule.
I wish I could explain what an ordeal it is to bring a 3.5 year old and a 15 month old to Mommy's doctor appointment. First, there's the diapers and the wipes. Then there's the snack and the drinks. And, of course, the toys. You see, I want to be prepared so that my appointment can go as smoothly as possible. But here's the thing, an hour and a half wait with two little kids just simply isn't possible. Not to mention my appointment was at 4:15, so that would mean I wouldn't be seen until 5:45. That's dangerously close to the dinner hour. Maybe other kids don't turn into crazed maniacs around the dinner hour, but mine do. So, again, not a good scenario.
I was totally amazed that the receptionist was totally rude as well. She said "It's not like I can do anything about it." I explained that I would be unable to wait and she said "What do you want me to do?" What I wanted to say was "Walk your lazy behind over to your handy dandy computer and schedule a different appointment. And while you're at it, how about an apology and some compassion." But what I said was "Can you just cancel my appointment?" I kindly explained that I had made the 25 minute drive and that I was a little frustrated. She said "That's not MY fault." Apparently she knows of some teleportation device that would beam me directly into your office, eliminating the need to drive.
It's like this...if I showed up an hour and a half late, would you still see me? What's that? The answer is no? Well then, why am I expected to wait on you? Do you forget that you charged me almost $20,000 to do the surgery? Do you forget that YOU work for ME, not the other way around? You see, I'm wise to this game. I won't play it. I won't make my kids and myself miserable because of your poor time management. I won't do it. Yes, you are a great doctor, but you will no longer be MY doctor.

Signed:
I'm not waiting

We didn't blow away!

2010-10-28T12:41:00.002-04:00

I'm still here, we haven't blown away in all of this crazy wind! I find myself facing a lot of writer's block lately. I have a lot of stuff in my head, it's just hard to get it out. Not to mention, it's a wee bit disheartening to post blogs and have no comments. I'm sure people are reading, but I need some comments people! Don't have an account? No problem! Post under anonymous, but please sign your name so I know who you are!

We've been ridiculously busy for...well...since forever it seems. I know that one of these days we're going to be able to sit around in our pajamas all day long and watch TV. Right? No? Not gonna happen? Sigh....

Here's a few updates:

Adelae is still loving pre-school. She is making lots of little friends and learning so much. When I hear her sing her songs, it makes me smile from ear to ear. I remember my Grandma telling me that one of her favorite memories of me when I was little was when I would sing her all my preschool songs. I like to think that Grandma's looking down at Adelae and smiling that same smile. Adelae has developed a real passion for reading lately. When I go up to check on her at night she's almost always cuddled up in bed with her flashlight and her book. She can't read the words yet, but she loves to look at the pictures. Her imagination has really taken flight as well. She's starting to get into playing house with her various dolls and stuffed animals. Adelae is also working on testing my patience, but she's 3 so it's to be expected. Over all she is such an amazing little girl. I love to watch her grow. Even though she's a big girl now, she's not about a few snuggles here and there. The other morning she climbed in bed with me and whispered "I just wanna hold your hand like this till I fall asleep again." How could I say no?

Brinna is changing a little bit every single day it seems. She's starting to "talk" more and more every day. Right now her favorite thing to do is to point to something and say "UH! AH! AH! AH!" insistently until you give it to her. She is entranced by baby dolls and petrified of any toy that moves on it's own. She has definite opinions on what she does and doesn't like! I would like to say that she's growing like a weed, but well...I can't. She's definitely our little munchkin. She just had her 15 month check up and she's weighing in at a whopping 16 lbs 4 oz and is 29 inches long. Our doctor said that some people are just tiny and isn't concerned at all. Brinna eats like a horse, so I'm not sure where she's putting it all. It's my theory that she has a hollow leg. Brinna has a wee bit of hero worship going on where her big sister is concerned. Lately she does everything Adelae does. Most of the time it's pretty cute. Most of the time. It's not so cute when Adelae is sassing back and Brinna starts yelling "AH, UH, BA, MA, AH, AH!" at me. Brinna recently learned how to give kisses and hugs. She will routinely walk over to me just to give me a hug and a kiss. It completely melts my heart.

I'm doing well. I've fully recovered from my sinus surgery (although I dang near had a heart attack when we got the bill). I have my final check up this afternoon, but I expect that all is well. I recently decided that I needed a few more tattoos, so I had that done last weekend. Other than that the kids are keeping me hopping! It seems like between school, appointments and errands we are rarely home. That's ok though, it keeps us all busy and occupied. Sadly, my housework is sorely behind. I suppose I should be doing that instead of blogging, but blogging is just more fun!

Ben's tired. Poor guy! They've been pushing him really hard a work lately. He's been working three 12 hour shifts and one 10 hour shift, not to mention a few hours of overtime on the weekend. He's hoping his schedule slows down sometime soon so he can spend some time with us. We miss him! He took Adelae to their first Father/Daughter activity at school the other day. They had a pumpkin carving night. All of the kids sang their Halloween songs and Ben was one proud Daddy. I love that he loves spending one-on-one time with each of our girls. They are very lucky indeed!

We've been fighting some awfully strong winds the last few days and I'm pretty much over it. I suppose this will be the wind that finally blows winter our way. We're hoping the propane fireplace that we purchased will help keep us all warm and cozy this winter. If not, I'm going to pack up and move down South.

We're slowly getting ready for Christmas too. Adelae has a wish list a mile long. She's really nice and helping her sister make her wish list too. I'm pretty sure that the Tiana (from Princess and the Frog) Barbie that Adelae put on Brinna's list isn't really for Brinna. When I pointed out that Brinna might be too little for a Barbie Adelae said "Oh. Well I can just play with it till she's big like me." At least she's thoughtful!

That's about all that's worth reporting in our little part of the world!

A Halloween Preview-Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-20T17:19:00.004-04:00

Here's a little Halloween costume cuteness to feast your eyes on.

Wordless Wednesday is brought to you by 5 Minutes For Mom

Toot Toot!

2010-10-15T15:10:00.002-04:00

I rarely toot my own horn, mostly because I don't really ever do anything worthy of it, but today I am. About three weeks ago I started The 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels. If you've ever watched The Biggest Loser you know that Jillian is no joke. If you know me, you should know that I hate exercise. Hate it. With a passion. I'd rather do just about anything than exercise. A month or so ago I decided that it was time to start doing something. I was feeling blah and very overweight and unhealthy. I've been hearing about the 30 Day Shred and decided that I could do it. It's only 20 minutes. I mean, I can do just about anything for 20 minutes, right?
The first day was rough. I almost passed out afterward and couldn't walk. The second day was worse. I actually had to take an Aleve so I could walk! But, I kept on. Day by day it got a little easier. I can say that I've noticed a big difference just in the three short weeks I've been doing it. Today when I got dressed I realized that, for the first time in a long time, my breasts are bigger than my stomach! Hooray! Last night Ben commented that was looking a lot thinner. Yay for me!!! So, just this once, I'll toot my own horn :D

*****TOOT TOOT******

Bullying

2010-10-11T14:34:00.002-04:00

I don't often post about current events, but something has been weighing heavily on my mind the last few days. Bullying has been all over the news lately. There's the college student that jumped off the George Washington Bridge, the high school in Mentor where 4 students have killed themselves over the course of a little over 2 years, and a little closer to home a mother was bullied through her blog moments after she has posted that her son had died due to a congenital heart defect.
Bullying is everywhere. It happens online, in the hallways of our high schools, locker rooms, college campuses, elementary school playgrounds and everywhere in between. There are no words to explain how disgusted it makes me to see this happening everywhere. Kids are bullied because they're smaller, not as smart, gay, black, latino or "different" in any way. It's gross. All of this media coverage has me thinking about the bullies as well as their victims.
How is a bully made? Are they just mean? Is it some sort of cry for attention? Does the relative anonymity of a YouTube post or a comment on a blog make people feel safe?
Chances are, adult bullies were child bullies. (I have no proof of that, it's just a thought.) So, why weren't they stopped? Why AREN'T they stopped now? Where are the parents? Why are they not disciplining their children? I hear over and over again "The school didn't do anything." Why is it the school's responsibility? Why isn't it the parents job? If I found out that either of my girls were bullying other children, you can bet there would be consequences at home. I would work with the school to make sure the behavior was stopped immediately. Shouldn't others do the same?
With all of the technology out there, internet bullying is almost seen as a victimless crime. You can post nasty comments to a grieving mother under "anonymous" and you never have to see the reaction. It's just as easy to harass classmates on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. You never see the reaction. You aren't there when that person, who is already hurting, reads that comment.
I've walked high school hallways and I've seen bullying. I've seen a group of students tease another student and laugh. When did it become funny to hurt others? When did we lose our empathy, our ability to care about others?
I wish I had the answer. I wish I could grab all of those people that are hurting others and scream at them. Or smack them. Or anything to get their attention. But I can't. I can write this blog and hope that maybe it touches someone. I can pray for the bullies as well as their victims. I can make sure that my children aren't bullies. I can make sure that they feel comfortable talking to me so if they're ever bullies they will tell me. If they are ever bullied, I can make sure that I stand up for them. I can offer words of encouragement to those that are being bullied in the hopes that my kind words will be the ones that reach them.
I hope that others will do the same.

You can tell it's Monday

2010-09-27T16:58:00.002-04:00

Don't tell anyone, but I actually like Mondays. Well, usually. It's the day when our schedule goes back to "normal." It's usually a down day for the girls and I. I catch up on laundry, which means I get to watch some of the shows that I miss while I fold laundry. (Thank you networks for putting episodes online!) I get the dishes done, the kids nap. Over all, it's a good day.
Not today. Today we all have a horrible case of the Mondays. It started last night about 11:15 when Brinna woke up screaming her tiny little head off and continued all day long. Apparently, Brinna decided that she didn't need any sleep last night. She woke up at 11:15 and finally fell back asleep at 4:30 am. That means that I didn't fall asleep until 4:30 am. Adelae wakes up at 7:30 am every day. That means that I had 3 hours of sleep. 3 stinking hours! Have you ever tried to take care of two very active little girls and do housework on 3 hours of sleep? I don't recommend it. I thought that maybe I'd get in a short nap. Nope! Not today! Today Adelae decided we needed to play! So, we did. Then I figured I might as well do my workout, so I did.
So, here I sit at 5:00 pm so exhausted I can barely move. The dishes are still in the kitchen and dinner still has to be fixed.
Today I say "Is it Tuesday yet?"

Katy Perry & Her Girls

2010-09-24T09:20:00.005-04:00

Have you heard about the latest controversy on Sesame Street? Yes, I said "controversy" and "Sesame Street" in the same sentence. Apparently parents all over are offended by this video. Go ahead and watch it, I'll wait. And if you catch yourself singing, I promise not to tell anyone.

Done? Good! Did you like it? Find yourself singing along? Did you figure out what people are making such a big deal about? No? Go watch it again. I'll wait.

Get it yet? Well, I can tell you that I had to watch the video about 3 times before I could find anything objectionable, and even then I got it wrong. I thought, "hmm...is it because of Katy Perry's past songs?" After all, the lyrics to one is "I kissed a girl and I liked it, the taste of her cherry Chapstick." Or could it be the lyrics of the song that this parody is based on "You PMS like a bitch, I should know." As much as I love Katy Perry (and I do), I don't listen to her songs with the kids. I think the lyrics are inappropriate. I wanted to know if I was right so I decided to dig a little deeper. I looked at various new articles, blogs and comments on the video. (It's not hard, just Google Katy Perry & Elmo if you want to see what people are saying.)
The problem? Katy's cleavage. So, I watched it again. I suppose there is one point where her girls are a little jiggly. I decided to perform an unofficial study. I had Adelae watch it to see if she would notice. She watched it, then watched it again. Her and Brinna danced and Adelae even sang "Elmo's up, Elmo's down, Elmo's running around." Not once did she say "Mommy, her boobs are jiggly. I need to wear a low cut shirt so I can be like the girl in the song." In fact, I think the shirt I had on at the time showed more cleavage that the outfit that Katy had on.
So, this leads me to the question, would most preschoolers notice? The answer, I highly doubt it. We need to keep in mind the audience for shows like Sesame Street. It's not me or my husband. It's preschoolers, children aged from birth to 5 or 6. Has our society become so overly sexualized that even preshcoolers know that breasts can be sexual? Seriously? If that's the case, then I think the parents that are complaining really need to take a good hard look at the lessons they are teaching their children.
We are very open about our bodies in our house. I breastfed Brinna for a year. Adelae sees my breasts a lot. In fact, she takes a shower with me. It's just easier. I see nothing wrong with it. God gave us these bodies. They are beautiful. Plus, she's THREE! THREE! Right in the middle of the target audience for Sesame Street. Even at 6 I don't think that she's going to look at that video and say "Wow Mommy! Look at her boobies! They make me want to wear low cut shirts!" If she does? Well, that's the day that I think it's time to turn off the TV and spend some quality time with my child.

The love of a sister

2010-09-16T14:20:00.003-04:00

There a so many things that amaze me about my children. One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is the love they have for each other. If one cries, the other one cries. If one is in a bad mood, the other one is in a bad mood. If one is happy, the other one is happy. It's fascinating.
The three of us were sitting in the living room together. I was rocking Brinna trying to get her to nap and Adelae was on the couch being silly. Adelae started laughing at herself. Brinna pops her head up and just starts laughing hysterically with Adelae. Now, I'm pretty sure that Brinna didn't understand why Adelae was laughing (She told me a joke), but she was laughing because her big sister was laughing. It was one of those simple moments that just sort of take my breath away.

In case you're wondering the joke was:
What does a duck have for a snack?
Cheese and QUACKERS!

3 down!!

2010-09-15T09:30:00.002-04:00

Happy Anniversary, babe! I love you :D

Don't forget to check out 5 Minutes For Mom for more Wordless Wednesday.

It's in the mail

2010-09-14T14:18:00.001-04:00

For the first time in years I'm applying for a job. And not just any job, a job I really really want. I've been watching the Classifieds every week for the ad for this particular job. I was starting to think it was never gping to show up. Then yesterday it appeared. "Wanted: a breastfeeding peer helper" Yes! Finally! I sat down and wrote a resume and what I hope is an awesome cover letter. I. Want. This. Job. I want it very very badly. More than I've wanted anything in a long time.

I know the time has come when we can no longer afford for me to be a stay at home mom. Preschool tuition, the need for another car and the want to own our own home someday make it impossible. We need to be a two income family. Or Ben needs a raise, a really big raise. Since that's most likely not going to happen, it's time for me to venture out into the work force.

So, my resume is in the mail! If all my lovely readers could send me some "get the job" vibes, or even say a quick prayer, I would appreciate it.

Adelae goes to school..part 2

2010-09-11T11:59:00.002-04:00

I was going to tell you all about what Adelae did at school on her first day, but I figure it's a story best told by her. You'll have to bear with her, she had had a really long day and was a little tired :)

Adelae goes to school..part 1

2010-09-10T14:02:00.006-04:00

Today was Adelae's first day of pre-school. She was SO excited to go! She couldn't even sleep last night. I, on the other hand, was a whole bag of emotions. Nervous, scared, proud, anxious and excited about sum it up. I knew she'd be ok, but it's the realization that she's growing up and this is the start of her independence. But, I'm so very proud of her for not being scared to tackle this brand new experience.

Doesn't she look so big?

Every girl needs a pink back pack with her name on it.

Away she goes!

And this is how I left her, playing ponies with her new friends.

Stay tuned for Adelae's report on how her first day of school went.

At least it's not bed bugs

2010-09-09T09:09:00.003-04:00

Am I the only person that's totally freaked out by the bed bug epidemic? I'm petrified I check our mattresses about 3 times a day, just to make sure. So, you can imagine how freaked out I was when Brinna had three little red bumps on her cheek. I stripped the beds, flipped the mattresses and had a mini freak out session. No signs of bed bugs. Whew! Then I found more bumps. I kept telling Ben "It's bed bugs. I just know it's bed bugs." I made him re-check all the beds...twice. (It was the day after my surgery and I wasn't suppose to be doing anything.) Still no bed bugs. Yet the rash continued to spread. It's probably a good thing I was taking my Lortab (Vicodin) or I probably would have been having panic attacks. In case you don't know this about me..I HATE BUGS!
Anyway...the rash continued to spread. I thought "Hmm..chicken pox?" So I asked my stepmom. She said "chicken pox." So, I called the doctor. The phone nurse said "Not chicken pox since Brinna's been vaccinated." Fabulous. So now I'm back to bed bugs.
I can't take the not knowing, so I made an appointment for her. It took the doctor all of five minutes to make a diagnosis. Not bed bugs.
It's hand, foot and mouth. (Not to be confused with Hoof and Mouth or Mad Cow Disease.) Basically, she has a virus. There's really nothing we can do except to give her Tylenol or Motrin for her sore throat. At least it's not bed bugs!

2 times a day

2010-09-04T09:50:00.001-04:00

My post op instructions were rather funny. I was told to use Afrin 2 times a day for 2 days. Absolutely no more than that. The post op nurse made a very big deal about that. It was written on the Afrin bottle, on my post op instructions and, just in case we forgot, on a bright yellow post-it note. Apparently Afrin is very addictive. I'm ok with all that. I hate Afrin anyway, so no big deal.

I find it absolutely hilarious that they are so over the top about their Afrin use instructions, yet they prescribed me 120 Lortab (which is basically Vicodin). 120 Vicodin! Yowza! I'm allowed to take 2 every six hours, so roughly 8 a day. Now, I'm bad at math but i think that works out to roughly a 2 week supply. The post op instructions say to take the Lortab for 2 or 3 days. Why did they feel the need to prescribe me enough for 2 weeks? Doesn't it seem like they should be a little more concerned about Lortab addiction?

If they are going to go out of their way to make sure i know Afrin is addictive, shouldn't they do the same for the narcotic? I'm just sayin'......

Sinus Surgery is HOT!!

2010-09-03T19:39:00.001-04:00

This is the fabulous look I'll be sporting the next few days. It's sexy, I know.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-01T16:52:00.005-04:00

This is how God says "Good Morning"

As always, don't forget to check out 5 Minutes For Mom to see what others are wordless about.

Letters of Intent

2010-08-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

Dear Self:
Get motivated to write more blogs. Stop being so afraid you'll offend someone by posting a blog on the proposed Mosque by Ground Zero. (For it, by the way) I don't know why on Earth you think you're too busy to write. I mean, it's not like you've been busy every single weekend since May. It's not as if you have a 1 year old that just learned to walk, open drawers and cupboard doors, and learned to close drawers and cupboard doors. It's not like you're trying to get the house ready for a visit from out of state family. You also don't have a surgery scheduled soon or child waiting to start preschool. Oh wait...that's right..you do have all of those things. Hmm..Ok...maybe I'll forgive you, just this once! But seriously, start blogging again.

Sincerely,
Your creative side

Dear adorably honest 3 year old:

It's not appropriate to ask Grammy why she has a big bump on her head (it's a mole) or why she has wrinkles, or why her skin is bumpy. Yes I know Mommy laughed, but that still doesn't make it right. It's also NOT ok to tell Mommy that she needs a bra for her tummy since "bras are for holding up your boobs so they aren't saggy and jiggly and Mommy's tummy is saggy and jiggly." Mommy has quite enough body issues with out you adding to it. It's also not ok to make your sister cry by literally dragging her away from your toys. Also, I'm fairly certain it wasn't your 1 year old sister that knocked over all the toys and drug them into the corner so "she could hide from Mommy."

Signed,
It's a good thing you're so darn cute or I'd get really mad

Dear adorably cute toddler:

Please stop pinching your fingers in the dresser drawers. It hurts. You think you would have learned that lesson by now. Could you also please stop climbing the stairs at lightening quick speed? It gives Mommy a slight heart attack when you sit at the top of stairs and wave to me. The door to the stairs is shut for a reason. Let's leave it that way, mmmkay? And I know that you're getting teeth, but biting everyone isn't cool. But, please don't stop giving Mommy hugs and saying "awwww" while you do it.

Sincerely,
Your mommy that loves you even though she's slightly frazzled

PS...I know you don't know what the toilet is for yet, but take it from me when I tell you it's NOT for playing.

As always, don't forget to check out Foursons for more fabulous Letters of Intent.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-25T10:45:00.002-04:00

This is a perfectly acceptable outfit to wear to feed the cats...in August...

Don't forget to see what others are wordless about by visiting 5 Minutes For Mom.

She can walk!

2010-08-24T14:29:00.001-04:00

I'm really late in posting these videos, but it's official, we have a walker! Brinna would now rather walk than crawl. It always amazes me how fast little ones become masters at walking. She's practically running all over the house now!

But he's my most favorite pet...

2010-08-22T17:28:00.002-04:00

We live in the country. Part of living in the country is finding bugs in the house. This time of year, crickets are especially popular. Adelae and I found a HUGE cricket in the bathroom the other day. I should also mention that I'm a teeny bit afraid of crickets. (They're big, black and very hoppy. I can't squish them cause...well...ewwwww and I can't catch them because I'm petrified they're going to jump on me.) So, I made the mistake of telling Adelae that the cricket would be ok until Daddy got home. Somehow, in Adelae's mind, this translated into "You can keep the cricket as your pet." Ben found the offending cricket and put it outside. A meltdown ensued. Had I been able to find the camera, I would have caught the whole thing, but the camera was lost in the abyss of the kitchen table. Anyway...I had a nice conversation with Adelae about the whole thing. I did manage to catch that on video.

So over it...

2010-08-10T14:55:00.002-04:00

Remember when it was winter and I was complaining about the cold? And longing for summer? Well..I'm so over this summer. I'm sick and tired of the heat and humidity. I'm over it. Take it back. As of this very minute it's 93*F with a heat index of 103*F. There's absolutely no breeze and it's so humid I feel like I could wring water out of the air. We don't have air conditioning so it's about 95*F inside the house. I'm hot. I'm sweaty. I feel like I can't breath. The kids are hot and sweaty and crabby. Brinna won't nap. Adelae doesn't want to play. Even the dog and cats are lethargic. I'm over it. I want fall. I want 70*F days and 50*F nights. I want the humidity to go away. I want dry crisp fall air.

Dear Computer

2010-08-03T11:12:00.002-04:00

Please don't get another virus. Please!

I was in sheer panic mode when we came home from a night away to find that our computer had been infected with a virus. I don't care so much about the recipe book I've spent years creating, or the spreadsheet that makes sure my bank account is balanced, or the patterns for projects that I have. I don't care about Ben's fantasy baseball team (although he really does), I don't care about Facebook or Twitter (mostly because I access them from my phone), I don't even care about this blog. I was, however, in full on panic mode over my pictures. I have been using my Shutterfly site as a back up for my pictures. However, I've been neglecting uploading them. I share a lot of pictures on Facebook, but not all of them (I know..hard to believe when you look at all the ones I upload to Facebook). I foolishly also haven't backed anything up to discs lately. Not smart, I know. All I could think of was that I was going to lose all my pictures from the last year. All of Brinna's birth pictures, all of the pictures from her first Christmas..all of it. I sat at my computer and cried. And cried some more.
I called Best Buy and they wanted a small fortune to retrieve my files and get rid of the virus on my computer. I honestly could have almost bought a new computer for what they wanted to charge me. I cried some more.
Then, like any true modern day woman, I hit up Facebook. I KNEW someone on my friends list could help me. I was right. An old friend from Bowling Green came to my rescue. He gave me detailed instructions on how to activate the Safe Mode on my computer (Alt F8 upon starting the computer and hold till it beeps). It worked! I was able to run a virus scan and TADA! No more virus! Peter Lunn (hope you don't mind me sharing your name here Pete!) you saved the day! Many thanks to you, my friend! :)
And what have I learned from this experience (other than Facebook is really valuable, despite what my husband thinks), you may ask? Don't open emails from people you don't know. (Yes Ben I'm looking at you)

The Proper Way to Eat a Cake

2010-07-29T10:08:00.003-04:00

A Year of Firsts

2010-07-26T10:16:00.008-04:00

**Warning**This post is VERY picture heavy

To My Sweet Baby Brinna:

Now that you're a year old, it's time for Mommy to get a little sentimental and look at all of your "firsts." It amazes me how much you've grown and changed in 12 short months.

The first time I saw you. You cried and cried and cried, until they brought you over to me.

The first time you officially met your big sister. She loved you immediately and couldn't wait to hold you.

Your first bath was NOT a success. In fact you hated it.

Your first real smile. Your little grin still makes Mommy's heart melt.

Your first family nap.

The first time you sucked your thumb.

Your first Halloween.

Your first Christmas.

The first time you sat up all by yourself.

Crawling for the first time.

The first time you stood.

Your first Easter.

Our first vacation to Kalahari.

The first time you decided you were a monkey instead of a baby.

And finally....

Your first 4th of July.

I love you, my sweet baby girl! I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Brinna's 1 year pictures

2010-07-21T09:42:00.003-04:00

Brinna turns 1 on Sunday and we had her pictures taken at JC Penny Portrait Studios. We've always had Adelae's pictures taken there and they do such a fabulous job. These are a few of my favorites.

These are just the thumbnail pictures off of the JC Penny website, so they're not the greatest quality, but they're so darn cute I couldn't help but pass them along! I should note that I only put my blog stamp on them because I don't want them stolen off of my blog and used for evil. All of the credit goes to the fabulous staff at JC Penny.

Why am I always LATE?

2010-07-19T08:53:00.002-04:00

So, before I had kids I was always a pretty punctual person (unless it was work, then I seemed to be a little more of the "Thank goodness I made it on time" person). If I was going to a movie, I made sure I was at least 20 minutes early. If I was meeting people for dinner, I was almost always the first one there. Doctors appointments? Always early.
Then we had Adelae. I went from being 15-20 minutes early to being about 5 minutes early. As she got older and I had less stuff to pack, I started showing up early to places again.
Then we had Brinna. I don't know why, but I can NOT seem to get out of the house on time. We are always showing up to places right on time or late. I hate being late. It makes me anxious. I feel like I've inconvenienced the people I'm suppose to meet or the staff. When we're barely on time to church, I feel like we're making a big commotion when we come in with our two kids.
Now, we're not usually more than a few minutes late, but I still feel like it's rude. I hate it when someone tells me they're going to show up at 12:00 and they show up late with no phone call to explain the reason. Yeah..I'm kind of weird like that!
In order to map out the reason we're always late, I decided to log our timeline when we were getting ready for church last week. Church starts at 10:00 and we need to leave by 9:45 to be there on time.

7:30 Everyone wakes up. We play in bed until about 8:00
8:00-8:15 Change Brinna's diaper, Adelae's pull up, make coffee
8:15-8:45 Breakfast for everyone (except me. I just enjoy my coffee)
8:45 I turn on the computer while Ben entertains the girls. And this is where it all goes downhill. I wind up spending way more time on the computer than I planned. I get lost in cyberspace for at least 30 minutes.
9:15 "OH CRAP! Why didn't you tell me what time it is? The kids are still in their pajamas. I have to get ready. Ben, you have to get ready. Crap!"
Theoretically we should have plenty of time to get ready. I mean, there's two of us to dress the kids and get them ready. I usually have the girls clothes picked out the night before, so all they have to do is put them on.
The next 30 minutes goes a little like this
Me; "Ben, can you please dress the girls while I get ready?"
Ben; "Sure. Where are the clothes?"
Me; "on the couch."
Ben; "Ok."
I proceed to the bathroom to put my makeup on and try to do something with my hair.
I come out and the kids are still in their pjs.
Me; "BEN! I thought you were going to get the girls dressed!"
Ben; "I couldn't find the clothes."
Me; "Um..They're RIGHT here!"
Ben; "Oh, can you get them dressed if you're done?"
Me; "UGH! Yes, it's fine." (said in a very sarcastic tone)
Ben; "Ok. I'll go get dressed now."
From this point on it's a flurry of activity and a lot of me saying "COME ON! We're LATE! Let's GO!"
I can usually push us out the door by 9:45. That's on time right? Nope! Because once we get in the car it's Ben saying "Oh, I forgot my wallet." And me saying "Oh, I forgot Brinna's bottle." Or "Whoops we didn't bring any snacks." Or other things that are similar. So, in reality we don't usually head out of the driveway till 9:50 or 9:55.
I can hear what you're thinking. "Hey, just don't turn on the computer!" I mean, that's 30 whole minutes! Yeah, tried that. I wind up watching morning news shows and not doing anything any way. It's like when I had kids, I lost all my motivation to be on time. I WANT to be on time, I just have a MUCH harder time actually DOING it. I keep trying to convince myself that I'm not the only one that has this problem. Other people are late right?
Ben thinks that I make too much of an ordeal about us being late. I was raised that it's rude and disrespectful. Is it really? Are we really late if we're just 5 minutes late? And if not, what's late? Is it 10 minutes? 15 minutes? At what point do you say "Oh, just forget it. We're late. I'm not going?"

Letters of Intent

2010-07-02T13:01:00.002-04:00

Dear Contacts:

I don't understand you. I take care of you. I change you every 30 days(give or take a few), I don't sleep in you, I make sure to clean you each and every night. Why oh why do you insist on sticking to my eyeball like you were put in with super glue? Why? Why do you insist on making most of my days miserable. Why? I don't understand. According to my eye doctor, you're the best on the market. I'm contemplating just going back to wearing my glasses. And I really really hate my glasses. I'll give you one more opportunity before I chuck you forever. Please oh please oh please don't make me go back to wearing my glasses. Please?

Sincerely,
One who does not look good in glasses.

Dear adorable 3 year old daughter,

I love you very much. You'll always be my first born and my baby. Always. Now, let's talk about the hunger strike you're apparently on. I just want you to eat. You don't have to eat very much, just enough to survive. I would really appreciate it if you would do it with no tears and screaming. The crying and screaming are getting REALLY old. Really. I don't have much sanity left and you're stealing it meal by meal. I'm pretty sure if this continues, Mommy's going to wind up in the loony bin saying "Just eat your food. Please. Just eat your darn food! If you don't eat, you're going to bed." Over and over and over.

Sincerely,
Mommy's about to snap

Wait...what's that? Hmm...apparently I already say that over and over again. Well, now I'm wondering, do you think I could nap in the loony bin? And I bet they don't make you cook or clean either right? And my family could probably come visit once in awhile right? So, in reality it's like a vacation. Maybe I could even afford one of those fancy spa places. Ya know..where the celebs go to "rest." Actually, it's sounding better and better............

The Trip That Had It All

2010-07-01T10:18:00.010-04:00

We recently decided to embark on a camping adventure. In my infinite wisdom, I picked a camp ground close to home, ya know..so if things went wrong we could leave. **Ahem**
Well, the trip was..um...eventful..yeah..that's the word...eventful. We woke on Thursday morning armed with lists and hopeful attitudes. Unfortunately, Adelae also woke with a horrible stomach bug. I won't go into details, but let's just say we changed panties a lot before we left the house and packed a few extra diapers. That should have been my first clue that maybe we should stay home. But, nope! Ben insisted that we go ahead with our plans. So, we did!

Thankfully the kids slept most the hour drive.

I should mention that an hour isn't nearly long enough for a sick preschooler to nap.

Brinna was really excited to be at the campground.

Thankfully, Adelae's stomach bug was fairly short lived (if you can consider 10 hours, 5 of which were at a camp ground short lived). She was able to play at the playground and make Twizzler mustaches by the campfire.

The rest of Thursday was pretty uneventful. The air mattress didn't deflate, the tent didn't come crashing down on us and no bears ate us. (Not that there are bears there, but ya know...kind of a concern when sleeping in the woods.) We did see a raccoon, but he was pretty friendly. At least that what I was telling myself when he was about 2 feet from me. I would have taken a picture, but I was too scared to move. I hate raccoons.

Friday was an absolutely gorgeous, if hot, day. We hit the beach, thinking the kids would LOVE to cool off. Other than Adelae screaming like we were trying to drown her, it was fun.

We even rented a paddle boat! The scenery on the lake was just gorgeous and so peaceful. I could have floated all day.

Given the start to our trip, I should have known that something bad was about to happen. Should have just KNOWN. Friday night the sky got REALLY dark and we started to hear thunder. I checked the weather radar on my phone and sure enough there was a HUGE thunderstorm approaching. After much talking (Me: We need to go home. Ben: no we'll be fine. Me: no, seriously..let's go home. Ben: No, seriously we'll be fine.) we decided to ride out the storm in the car. It wasn't a big deal. We got a lot of wind, a lot of rain and couple of lightening strikes. Ben and I had a couple of beers, we cranked some fantastic 80's rock and made the most of the storm.

Little did I know, there was another huge storm coming. I woke up at about 1:00 in the morning to lightening so close it made the hairs on my arms stand up and thunder so loud I thought it was the end of the world. The wind was blowing so hard that I was convinced our tent was going to take flight. Everyone slept through it but me. I kept thinking "Whose bright idea was it to put our tent underneath of two trees. Oh yeah..mine..." Luckily, we escaped the storm with no major damage. The tree that was 15 ft from our camp sight..not so much

All in all, we still had a lot of fun. We learned a few things like 1)don't go camping with a sick preschooler 2)don't forget the sand toys 3)take Brinna's walker 2)leave if the radar says there are severe thunderstorms. We'll definitely go camping again...next year.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-30T10:24:00.002-04:00

I love this picture. I have no idea why Adelae looks so disgusted. I love the fact that Brinna's looking at her like she's a crazy lunatic. heehee.....

For more Wordless Wednesday, head over to 5 Minutes For Mom.

I'm here...

2010-06-22T11:05:00.002-04:00

...sort of... I've learned that there are some companies overseas stealing people's images off of blogs and using them for advertisement. So, I'm trying to figure out how to watermark my pictures before I post anymore.
There have also been some issues of other bloggers stealing posts, so I'm also working on getting my blog copywrighted.
I'm hoping to get all that stuff figured out today or tomorrow. I have a lot of great pictures to post from our camping extravaganza, not to mention a few stories to share.

Coversation with Adelae

2010-06-09T09:47:00.003-04:00

I know how you all love Adelae's witty remarks. Here's a few new ones

Me "Adelae I love you a thousand times!"

Adelae "I love you and Daddy and Brinna a thousand times too!"

Me "Aww..that's so nice!"

Adelae "But I love myself a million times."

I was making Hamburger Helper the other night for dinner (I know, I know..totally unhealthy) and I let Adelae pick which one.

Me to Ben "Adelae picked our dinner tonight."

Ben to Adelae "What did you pick?"

Adelae to Ben "My nose?!"

I know all parents have had that moment when your kid says something embarrassing in a public place. I was at the chiropractor paying my co-pay and Adelae was scratching her behind.
I leaned down and whispered "Honey, we don't scratch our butts in public. It's icky."

Adelae replies with "But Mommy, it itches very badly. I think I have bugs!"

Letters of Intent

2010-06-04T10:33:00.003-04:00

Dear Mr & Mrs G;
I wrote this post to you awhile ago when you were calling our previous dog over to your house. Now I'm writing it again.
I have been very patient with you, Mr. & Mrs. G, in regards to my animals. I've asked you nicely. I've pleaded. I've begged. Well, no more Mrs. Nice Shaun. Nope!
I let it go when I saw that you had MY dog in YOUR dog kennel. I politely asked you not to do it again. I bit my tongue so hard I thought I was going to bite it in half. I put on my kind neighborly face and simply said "Please call me next time." You got a little huffy with me, Mrs. G, but I let it go.
Flash forward a few weeks. I was out in the garden (which you can't see from your house) and I HEARD you call my dog over to your yard. I peeked around my shed. I saw you in your front yard, hands cupped around your mouth and I heard you shout "Vinnie! Come here boy!" I nearly lost my marbles right then and there. I grabbed the dog's leash and hightailed it over to your house. You were feeding my dog treats. I saw you with my own two eyes. I once again explained that you were NOT to call my dog over to your house. Your response, Mrs. G, was to say "It's not MY fault he comes over here." (Which is EXACTLY what you said LAST time with our OTHER dog that you were CALLING over to your house.) My response was "Well, Mrs. G, I was out in my garden and I heard you call his name." Your response was "No, I was asking Mr. G if he had seen Vinnie lately." Ooooookkkkkkaaaayyyyy..... I once again said "Mrs. G, we're trying to teach Vinnie his boundaries. If you play with him when he comes over, it's reinforcing negative behavior. You are more than welcome to come over and play with Vinnie anytime you want. In fact, I'm sure he'd love to play with you in his own yard with his toys." Your snotty response, Mrs G, "We're not going to NOT play with him if he comes over. We just love that dog." Oooooooookkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy again. So, I asked you, Mrs. G if you would like to keep Vinnie for your very own. You see, I would rather you keep him then have him get hit on the road. Your response, once again in a very snotty tone was "No, we're too old for dogs. They're too much work." Ummm...yeah..I was kind of speechless. Well, not really. I had a lot of things to say, but in the interest of respect (which I seem to have, even though you don't) I bit my tongue even harder. I looked you straight in the eye, Mrs. G and I said "If we can't teach Vinnie to stay in the yard, he's going to have to go back to the pound. I won't have him getting killed because you keep reinforcing his bad behavior." Your response, Mrs. G was something like "You should have trained your dog better."
Now, let me ask you something, Mr. & Mrs. G. How am I suppose to train my dog if you keep calling him across the road? How am I suppose to teach him to respond to his name and the command "come" if that's the technique you use to get him into your yard? How?
This situation has a very simple ending. Stop calling my dog across the road. Walk over to my yard if you want to play with him.

Sincerely,
Your fed up neighbor

I guess I'm "acceptable"

2010-06-03T15:25:00.003-04:00

I belong to several mommy internet websites. In one particular forum and opinion was posted that really threw me for a loop. A woman stated that she only has one child and only ever wanted one child. I don't have a problem with that. I think if you want one child great, if you want fifteen children, also great. It doesn't really affect me either way. As I read more of her post I was absolutely appalled. She stated that she believes that one child is perfect, two children are "acceptable" and three or more "i just don't see the reason for it." Wow! was all I could say. She also went on to state that "i always try to assume accidents, when i see large families." I can't even begin to process that. How can some one, especially a mother, think that way? How can this woman feel sorry for people with more than one child? If that wasn't bad enough she had this to say "it seems self indulgent and selfish to me. who are you helping? your kids, by dividing your time amongst them? your husband who sees you less and less with each child? the community in general? your friends, because now you can "keep up"? i don't get it. and i'm not asking to." Umm...what? Seriously? You should all know by now that I'm very rarely speechless. This truly has me speechless. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around how someone could think this way! Each and every child is a blessing, accident or planned, 1st or 10th.
Isn't this some sort of bigotry? I mean she is clearly against people with more than what she considers the "acceptable" amount of children. She clearly stated that she has no desire to learn more about larger families. How is that any different from people that are so entrenched in race hate that they refuse to speak with a person of a different nationality. How is it different from people that refuse to speak to homosexuals? How? In my opinion, it's not. I feel sad that she's going to pass this sort of judgmental attitude onto her son. I keep going back to her post and re-reading trying to find something that makes it less appalling, so far it just gets worse and worse. I just sit here shaking my head.
So, what do you think? Is it ok to have more than one child? Ten children?

Dying to Camp!!

2010-06-02T10:25:00.003-04:00

Some of my most vivid memories from my childhood are from our various camping trips. We always camped several times a year. My uncle and aunt (that raised me) owned a cannery and they would always shut down for a week in July. We always went camping that week. When I was young we always went to Hocking Hills with our neighbors, whose son happened to be my very best friend. We would hike and hike and hike some more. As I got older, we would go to different state parks across Ohio and Indiana. I remember canoeing, horse back riding, and one time we even went spelunking. For the last year I've been obsessed with camping. I want to go SO bad! I want my kids to experience the great outdoors. We had great plans to go camping last summer, but I decided tent camping while 9 months pregnant might not be such a good idea. So, we never got around to it. This year we WILL camp. I WILL be done! Probably not for a week, but we will go!
On Memorial Day weekend I convinced Ben to get the tent out and set it up in the backyard. He thought I was a bit loony, but he did it anyway. We set up our "campsite" and campfire. We cooked hot dogs and s'mores. I was really worried that Adelae wouldn't sleep in the tent. At 9:00 she looked at Ben and said "Daddy, it's dark now. Can I sleep in the tent?" She crawled into her little sleeping bag and fell right asleep.
Sadly, Brinna was sick, so she and I had to sleep in the house. It rained a little bit and I didn't think the damp night air would be good for her. But, we're still counting our first little camp out a success!

WOW!

2010-05-26T19:28:00.002-04:00

There are so many times I get forwarded emails with pictures of rainbows. I always wonder if they are photoshopped. These are pictures Ben took in our backyard a few weeks ago. We had one of the summer pop up storms and immediately after we went outside to look for a rainbow. What we saw was one of the most spectacular sights I've ever seen. I can promise you that none of these pictures were photoshopped. They are straight off of our camera. I swear, I could see the beginning and the end of the rainbow. What an amazing amazing sight. I bet I'll never see another rainbow like this in my life.

Look Ma! No hands!

2010-05-12T09:29:00.002-04:00

Why does Brinna think she's old enough to be standing with out holding on? Will someone tell her that she needs to stop growing so fast?

Don't forget to link up at 5 Minutes for Mom

I love my jammies!

2010-05-11T10:24:00.003-04:00

I love pajamas. I'd wear them all day every day if I could, in fact sometimes I do! This usually results in some form of debate between my husband and I. He says that I let the kids (and myself) stay in jammies for way too long. I'll admit, most days it's 11:00 before we get dressed. Sometimes it's even after lunch (shhh..he doesn't know that). I see nothing wrong with it. It's not that we're unproductive while we're in our jammies. In fact, we do the same things in our jams that we in our clothes. To me, jammies are just comfy clothes. There's no real difference between sweats and pajamas, is there? If I "get dressed" by putting on clean pajama pants, does that mean that I'm not "dressed"?
When Ben is home, he likes to have the kids dressed by no later than 9:00. It doesn't matter if they get dressed just to watch cartoons (which they can do perfectly well in their jammies), they HAVE to get dressed. When Ben is home, I just get out clothes for the kids as soon as we get up it saves us the debate. I still don't agree with him though. I think if my kids and I are comfy and cozy in our jammies, then we should get to wear them as long as we want!
I know a lot of our difference of opinion comes from the type of people we are. He's much more of a morning person and I'm more of a night owl. I like to ease into my day one cup of coffee at at time and Ben prefers to charge into the morning. We've learned to adapt to each other. Except for the debate on the pajamas!
So, what do you do? Are you a morning person? Do you like to ease into your morning? Do you wear your jammies all morning or get dressed right away? Is it ok for the kids to wear their jammies all morning?

The one where Brinna does cute stuff

2010-05-08T10:36:00.001-04:00

It's very possible that nobody else will enjoy this video but me. But, it's so darn cute I just couldn't resist posting it. It's just a clip of Brinna chattering and playing.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-05T08:39:00.001-04:00

Isn't she cute?

As always you can link up at 5 Minutes For Mom

I need a favor!

2010-05-01T09:19:00.003-04:00

Ok faithful followers, I have a favor to ask of all of you. Awhile back I wrote a story about my sister, Maria, and my niece, Gabby. Gabby was born missing part of her brain. She has yet to receive an official diagnosis, but we now know that her birth defect was caused by a gene mutation. My sister has started a blog to share Gabby's story with the world. She's not asking for help, or for money, she just wants support and to show the rest of the world how special Gabby is. In these troubled times, we can all use a little inspiration. Trust me, faithful followers, you'll find it in Gabby. I whole heartedly believe that Gabby was put on this Earth by God to teach us all something. She has defied all the odds so far and I know she will continue to do so in the future. She is a medical mystery and a miracle. So, I ask you to click right here and read Gabby's story. And don't forget to leave some comment love for my sister!

Linked, if just for a moment

2010-04-30T21:14:00.002-04:00

Last week while I was grocery shopping I had a chance encounter with another mother. I was browsing the produce section at Meijer and I heard a little boy screaming "BUT I WANT IT NOW! YOU SAID I COULD HAVE IT!" I didn't pay much attention, because hearing kids crying at a store like Meijer, is not out of the ordinary. It's the price we pay for shopping at a place that has a huge toy section. I wound up looking at some produce that was right where the little boy was crying.
He was about 3 or 4 years old, roughly the same age as Adelae. He was sitting on the floor at the end of the produce stand. His mother was crouched in front of him and I heard her say "I told you IF you were good, then we could go back to the toy section and see if there was anything that you would like. We are not finished with our shopping yet. When you calm down, we'll finish our shopping." She then calmly turned away and proceeded to look at some produce. It was obvious, to me, that the little boy was in a time out and mother was using the strategy very successfully.
Personally, I've never been able to pull off the public time out. It makes me very nervous and embarrassed when Adelae cries in public. I'm always tempted to leave my cart sit and RUN out of the store. I've never left and I don't give into her demands, but I usually leave her sit in the cart and continue my shopping. This mother was the picture of calm. She had a little girl sitting in the cart and she was playing and laughing with the little girl and not giving her son attention for his bad behavior.
I'll admit, I lingered over the produce so I could see how she handled things. As I was standing there an older lady walked past. In a matter of seconds she took in the scene. (Crying boy, mom playing with daughter seemingly ignoring crying little boy.) Then the older woman looked at me and said quite loudly "SOME people need to learn how to CONTROL their children! The supermarket is NO place for that sort of behavior."
I know the other mom heard her because her face turned bright red. The older woman continued on past me. I looked at the mother of the little boy and I felt and immediate kinship. We're both mothers of preschoolers. We've both experienced the public meltdown. I'm not one to strike up conversations with random people at the grocery store, but I had to let her know that I supported her. I said "Oh boy! Some people are SO rude!" She looked at me like she was on the Titanic and I had just rescued her. We chatted for a few minutes about crabby preschoolers, public meltdowns and a few other things. You know, mom stuff.
In that moment we were linked. I was her savior, so to speak. I was her lifeline. I gave her the strength to continue with her discipline strategy. In the midst of our conversation, her son calmed down and it was time for us to continue on our separate ways. I'll probably never see her again. If, by chance we did happen to be in the same place at the same time, I doubt I would recognize her. But, in that moment we were linked. We were a team. I hope that if I'm in her position, I'll be strong like she was. And some bitter old woman throws snide comments my way, I hope there's another mom to pick me back up.

Our little mini vaca

2010-04-24T17:43:00.005-04:00

We were fortunate enough to be able to go to Kalahari about a week ago (ok it was a little longer than a week). I promised to get the pictures up and, well, life just got in the way. I'm working on a rather heavy post for (hopefully) tomorrow, but ya just never know!

We really did have a blast at Kalahari. In case you're not familiar, Kalahari is a massive indoor waterpark. We went to the one in Sandusky, OH and it was a BLAST! When we first got there and Adelae was crying and Brinna was crying I looked and Ben and said "Well, this was a waste of money." Luckily, they both warmed up to it after a bit. It took us literally forcing Adelae to go down the slides in the kids area, but it worked. She was a pro after about 5 minutes.

Brinna was a wee bit overwhelmed by all the noise and the people. She pretty much stuck with me on the sidelines while Adelae played. That was ok with both of us. I did get her to sit in the little swing and in the water with me for a bit.

Surprisingly enough, she took really long naps both days we were there. At home I can't get her to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time!

They also have a fantastic dry play area for babies, which was much more Brinna's speed.

Ben got to ride lots of crazy water slides that I would never ever attempt, cause I'm a big scaredy cat. He and Adelae also LOVED the wave pool.

I am so glad that we took the time to take a little mini vacation. We're contemplating going back this summer :)

Conversations with Brinna

2010-04-19T12:54:00.002-04:00

Now that Brinna's "talking" I had get it on video. I think it's about the cutest thing I've ever seen! I took this video in our hotel room at Kalahari. I'll post more about our mini-vacation later.

Stop and smell the flowers

2010-04-14T16:35:00.001-04:00

Even if they are dandelions

The Anatomy of a Fight

2010-04-13T11:18:00.003-04:00

Well, fight might be the wrong word. Ben and I are both very opinionated. We have our opinions and it's near impossible to sway either of us. This leads to a lot of little minor disagreements. Like the one that took place the other day. Let me set the stage..

Scene: A cloudy, but warm and breezy morning. Me at the computer, Ben standing in the middle of the room. Cloth diapers are in the wash.

Me: I was really hoping it would be sunny today so I could sun bleach the diapers.

Ben: That doesn't mean that you can't hang them on the line.

Me: I know that. I just wanted to sun bleach them.

Ben: You can still hang them on the line.

Me: I know I can hang them on the line. But it requires SUN to SUN bleach diapers.

Ben: No it doesn't.

Me: Are you serious? Seriously? It's called SUN bleaching. The name alone suggests the need for sun. If not, it would be called "cloud bleaching."

Ben: You can get a sunburn on a cloudy day.

Me: What on Earth does that have to do with the diapers?

Our voices are getting louder and louder through this

Ben: I'm just saying that there is sun.

Me: I know that. I just said that I wish it was sunny.

Ben: So now you're not going to hang them on the line?

Me: (shouting) I never said that. I SAID I wish is were sunny. I'll still hang them on the line.

Ben: (shouting) SO WHY ARE WE FIGHTING?

Me: (matching his tone) I DON'T KNOW!

Ben: (still shouting) WELL LET'S STOP!

Me: (shouting) OK!

Adelae: (shouting) MOMMY!

Me: (shouting) WHAT?!

Adelae: (shouting) I'M THIRSTY!

Me: Ok, let's get some juice.

See, it wasn't a fight. But, we do tend to shout a lot. However, at some point, the shouting turns to joking. So we just kinda shout cause we know how ridiculous we're being. The tone completely changes. Adelae even gets in it. I suppose anyone looking in on us would think that we were really fighting, but we know we're not. I suppose every marriage is filled with silly little conversations like this.

We keep saying that we need to apply for The Marriage Ref.

So what silly little arguments to do you have with your spouse?

From My Phone

2010-04-11T17:45:00.001-04:00

I'm blogging from my phone. How crazy is that? I can vividly remember the first time I used a computer. It was in the elementary school library. There was a black screen and various vivid green numbers and letters. No mouse. You had to type in the name of the program you were looking for. I think everyone my age remembers playing Oregon Trail for hours. It was impossible to win, everyone always died no matter what you did. But man, it was FUN!

I also remember the first cell phone I saw. It was my dad's massive bag phone. The thing was enormous and weighed as much as a small child, but it was so cool! Then came the handheld cells. Again, massive, but so cool!

It amazes me how far technology has come in such a short amount of time. Back then I would have never dreamed that my cell phone would be a computer or that my computer would be a phone.

It's so crazy to see my 3 year old using a computer like a pro (well, as much of a pro as a 3 yr old can be). I can't even begin to imagine how technology will advance in the next 20 years. I'm excited to see what happens!

By the way, does anyone know if you can still play Oregon Trail?

Easter--Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-07T14:33:00.004-04:00

Letters of Intent

2010-04-02T09:56:00.003-04:00

Dear Jesus,

You're a pretty amazing guy. Seriously. The whole water into wine thing...amazing! Feeding the masses with a few loaves and a few fish...pretty cool! But, with all the things that you did in your life I have to say that dying on the cross so my sins could be forgiven is...well...I don't really have a word for it. Awe inspiring *almost* covers it. Thank you, Jesus! Thank you!

Sincerely,
A believer

Don't forget to check out Foursons for more Letters. And, as always, Happy Friday!

I don't know what to do with this kid

2010-04-01T15:48:00.001-04:00

This is a conversation I had with Adelae yesterday. I love that she's so smart, opinionated and funny.

Like Mother Like Daughter---WW

2010-03-31T10:16:00.004-04:00

When my Grandmother passed, we were all asked what we would like to remember her by. I begged for this footstool. I asked for it over and over and over again. I really wanted it. Ben thought I was a lunatic. He kept saying, it's just a footstool. Well, not to me. To me, that one footstool was a constant in my life. I never realized how old it was until we found these pictures. Yes, that's me at about 8 months on the stool that now sits in my living room. And that's Brinna, doing the same thing on the same stool. Now he understands why I wanted it so bad.

I also have to add that I never realized how much Brinna looks like me till I saw these pictures side by side. It makes me happy since Adelae definitely favors her Daddy.

I'm never completely wordless, but lots of others are! Go see what they're wordless about this week at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Not Me! Monday

2010-03-29T16:03:00.002-04:00

Time to confess! Did you shout at your husband about how wrong he was, only to realize he was right? Did you scream at your child in the other room to get dressed, only to realize she'd already done it? Well then, Not Me! Monday is perfect for you!

I certainly did NOT let my daughter eat cereal for breakfast....twice. Nope! I'm always ready with a brand new recipe that encompasses all the food groups and tastes like a little slice of heaven!

I did not get up extra early in order to be ready on time and not have to rush around. I most certainly did not use that extra hour farming my farm and serving dishes in my cafe on Facebook. Nope! I'm sure that would indicate some type of addiction.

I most certainly did not let the dishes pile up all week until Friday, which is my husband's self-proclaimed dish day. Nope! That would just be mean!

I am not typing this blog as one child yells at me from another room and the other one climbs up on me whining because she's teething. Nope! I would drop everything and go running to them.

So, what did you not do this week? Feel free to 'fess up! And if you're not brave enough to admit what you didn't do this week, head on over to My Charming Kids and see what other didn't do!

Letters of Intent

2010-03-26T09:06:00.003-04:00

Dear loyal readers,

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. It's been warm and we've been outside almost all day every day. So, I haven't had much time to blog. I'd love to say I'm back, but well...I'm not making any promises.

Signed,
Me

Dear Facebook,

I love you. I love keeping in touch with family and friends. However, your games are KILLING ME! They're addicting. You would think I could just stop playing. I mean, I KNOW that it's not a big deal if my (gasp) crops wither (gasp) or the food I'm "cooking" in my restaurant goes bad (double gasp), but I CAN'T HELP MYSELF! Seriously..I can't. Yes, I have an addiction to Facebook games. I love them. I LOVE THEM. It makes my husband crazy. I figure he doesn't have much room to talk since he spends hours building his fantasy baseball team.

Signed
Gotta go my food and crops are ready

Don't forget to head over to Foursons and check out other Letters of Intent.

Thank You Michael Moore

2010-03-25T14:48:00.002-04:00

Ok, I wasn't going to post anything on my blog about the health care bill. Which, unless you are living under a rock, you know is highly controversial (the bill, not me not posting about it). But, well..I can't resist. Someone on what I refer to as my "mommy board" posted this and it's too good not to pass along. It pretty much sums up how I feel about the recent health care bill vote.

To My Fellow Citizens, the Republicans:

Thanks to last night's vote, that child of yours who has had asthma since birth will now be covered after suffering for her first nine years as an American child with a pre-existing condition.

Thanks to last night's vote, that 23-year-old of yours who will be hit one day by a drunk driver and spend six months recovering in the hospital will now not go bankrupt because you will be able to keep him on your insurance policy.

Thanks to last night's vote, after your cancer returns for the third time — racking up another $200,000 in costs to keep you alive — your insurance company will have to commit a criminal act if they even think of dropping you from their rolls.

Yes, my Republican friends, even though you have opposed this health care bill, we've made sure it is going to cover you, too, in your time of need. I know you're upset right now. I know you probably think that if you did get wiped out by an illness, or thrown out of your home because of a medical bankruptcy, that you would somehow pull yourself up by your bootstraps and survive. I know that's a comforting story to tell yourself, and if John Wayne were still alive I'm sure he could make that into a movie for you.

But the reality is that these health insurance companies have only one mission: To take as much money from you as they can — and then work like demons to deny you whatever coverage and help they can should you get sick.

So, when you find yourself suddenly broadsided by a life-threatening illness someday, perhaps you'll thank those pinko-socialist, Canadian-loving Democrats and independents for what they did Sunday evening.

If it's any consolation, the thieves who run the health insurance companies will still get to deny coverage to adults with pre-existing conditions for the next four years. They'll also get to cap an individual's annual health care reimbursements for the next four years. And if they break the pre-existing ban that was passed last night, they'll only be fined $100 a day! And, the best part? The law will require all citizens who aren't poor or old to write a check to a private insurance company. It's truly a banner day for these corporations.

So don't feel too bad. We're a long way from universal health care. Over 15 million Americans will still be uncovered — and that means about 15,000 will still lose their lives each year because they won't be able to afford to see a doctor or get an operation. But another 30,000 will live. I hope that's ok with you.

If you don't mind, we're now going to get busy trying to improve upon this bill so that all Americans are covered and so the grubby health insurance companies will be put out of business — because when it comes to helping the sick, no one should ever be allowed to ask the question, "How much money can we save by making this poor bastard suffer?"

Please, my Republican friends, if you can, take a quiet moment away from your AM radio and cable news network this morning and be happy for your country. We're doing better. And we're doing it for you, too.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. I'll have more to say on this tonight, live on CNN, at 9pm ET. I'll be talking with Larry King about the health care bill and where we go from here, considering we still don't have universal health care.

P.P.S. In case you missed these photos in yesterday's NY Times Sunday Magazine… That's the results of seven years of madness. The Iraq War began its 8th year this weekend. How can we remove more of those responsible for this tragedy in November?

Wordless Wednesday--Spring!

2010-03-24T12:32:00.002-04:00

What are you wordless about this Wednesday? Head on over to 5 minutes for mom to see what others are wordless about.

Letters of Intent

2010-03-12T14:35:00.007-05:00

Dear Dog Abandoner Person,

Thanks! Yes, I said Thank you! I don't know who you are or why you chose to abandon your sweet dog, but your loss is clearly our gain. We thought it might be a little too soon to replace our dear sweet Annie, but I need a dog. We live in the middle of nowhere and I need that security that a dog gives me. I'd been looking around on websites for a week or so when I stumbled upon Vinnie. His picture stole my heart. I decided we must have him! So, we headed off to the pound yesterday to pick him up. I was worried that he would be too big for us to handle, after all we do have two young children.

Turns out that's not much of a problem.
Vinnie has officially been deemed "a good boy" and will be residing with us for a very long time.
I think he looks pretty happy, don't you?

Sincerely,
A grateful pet owner

PS..I don't condone just dropping your pet off in the middle of nowhere. I shake my finger at you and say "Bad!"

On a different note,

Dear Baby,
Please sleep. I don't care if it's on me, in your crib, on the floor, or the car seat, just SLEEP! You are 7.5 months old and you have a cold. You NEED TO SLEEP! This business of not napping during the day and only sleeping for 3 hours at a time at night has GOT to stop. I am suffering migraines from exhaustion and I'm more than a little grouchy. So, if you could SLEEP I would really appreciate. Your big sister and daddy would really appreciate it to. We all know that you're the princess, you don't have to exert your power with a sleep strike.

Signed

YAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN (also known as your mommy)

Head on over to Foursons to read more letters, you know you wanna!

Gimme that FOOD!

2010-03-11T10:27:00.002-05:00

It took us a little bit to figure out what this grunting noise meant. At first we thought the obvious, then we realized Brinna ONLY makes this noise when we're feeding her. And only when it's something that she REALLY likes.

Letters of Intent

2010-03-05T12:45:00.002-05:00

Dear AT&T,

I'm having a love/hate relationship with you right now. I love my phone, I love your over the phone customer service. However, I DETEST your coverage. You see, I was a happy Centennial customer until December. My husband and I wanted spiffy new phones, and since you bought out Centennial, we had the option to switch carriers. Clearly, we opted to do so. Originally our coverage was a little spotty, but we chalked it up to the switching over of the towers. When I went in to your store and waited an hour and a half to see someone (a whole different issue) to explain my problem, I was told that we just needed new SIM cards. Keep in mind, this was within my 30 days Buyer Remorse period. Well, the new SIM cards didn't work to fix the problem. So, I called your customer care line. I've received fantastic help, but they are unable to cancel my contract unless I pay the cancellation fee, which is out of my budget (which you already know). So now I have a phone that receives coverage about 1/2 the time. It has also started to randomly turn off and on all by itself. This, by the way, is my second handset. So you see, I can't decide if I love you or hate you. I so badly want to cancel my service and use a carrier that works better in my area, but I know I'll sacrifice your excellent customer service. I'm so frustrated. Every single time I try to make a call and my phone says "Emergency Calls Only" I feel like bashing it against the wall. Surely you have an exception to your no cancellation rule. Surely we fit into that category. Please?

Sincerely,
A frustrated user

Dear VTech,

I'm not impressed at all with your customer service. I called you because our VSmile TV Learning System quit working after having it for 1 month. When I called the first time, I was told to re-set the system and I did. It worked for another 2 months. When I called the second time, I was told that you would replace my system, but not with the one I had. It was your "new and upgraded" version. However, this "new" version did not include the microphone or the writing pad on the controller. When I explained that I would be happy to take your replacement, if you would send me the one that I had, your representative became quite *ahem* bitchy with me. She acted like I was stupid, which I'm not. I simply wanted my system replaced with what I already had. If that was not possible, I was willing to take a voucher for the price of the system, so I could apply it to another VTech toy, and if that wasn't possible I wanted the VTech Motion. All you kept saying was "I'm sorry, but...." As I explain to my daughter, and apology followed by a "but" is not an apology at all.
Cut to my second phone call in two days, I spoke to a "manager" )who sounded suspiciously like the first representative I spoke to) and was given exactly what I wanted, which was the VTech Motion. So, thank you to the "manager."

Signed,
Why couldn't you just give me what I wanted the first time

If you can't go over it....

2010-03-04T20:29:00.000-05:00

....just take it with you!

Super Tigger!

2010-03-03T09:22:00.005-05:00

I'm always in for a surprise when Ben picks out clothes for the girls. He dug in Brinna's drawer and found this Tigger outfit.

I'm pretty sure the thing that he attached as a cape is really suppose to be a bib. When I explained that to him he said "It looks better as a cape." This, of course, led to us flying Brinna around the house proclaiming her to be "Super Tigger." The rest of us managed to get into a lot of situations that required Super Tigger to "fly" to our rescue. Who knew a simple outfit could be a source of entertainment all day long.

Don't forget to go over to 5 Minutes for Mom and see more Wordless Wednesday.

Not Me! Monday

2010-03-01T13:50:00.003-05:00

Hooray! It's time for Not Me! Monday!

I most certainly did not take the day off on Saturday. I certainly did not go to the mall alone, even though I was on crutches. I also did not take my ol sweet time and crutch around the mall a few times, even though I had already bought what I went for. I would never do that! Upon returning from the mall, I did not plunk down in front of the computer and declare myself "off duty until further notice." I did not tell my husband that he was in charge of dinner cause I was too tired from crutching around the mall. I did not also use my severely sprained ankle as a way to make him wait on me. I would never do that! I would also never lock myself in the bathroom for an hour while soaking in a hot bath. When my husband told me at 9:00 pm how exhausted he was from his day as a stay at home dad, I would never say "See how hard it is?" I would also never ask him if he wants to trade jobs. His answer would never be a resounding "NO!" If he were to say "NO!" I would never dissolve into hysterical laughter. Nope! Not me!

Come on! What do you have to not confess to? Don't forget to head over My Charming Kids and link up or just check out others Not Me! Monday posts.

Small Talk Six

2010-02-27T08:46:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile since I've done one of these! I'm still suffering from writer's block, so I thought this might get my brain working again.

This weeks topic is "6 famous people you would love to have dinner with."

1. It it too cliche to say Jesus? I'm pretty sure He would be the most amazing dinner guest EVER!

Anyone after Jesus just seems a bit silly, doesn't it? But, I still have 5 more to go...

2. Annie Oakley would be another cool person to have dinner with. I have always been fascinated with her. One of the first biographies I ever read was about Annie Oakley.

3. On a personal note, I'd love to have my great-grandparents over for dinner. I love family history and it would be so neat to pick their brains about my ancestry.

4.I would also love to have dinner with Bill Gates. I'm pretty sure I could convince him to throw a couple of million our way. I mean, he's got loads of money and he likes to give to charity. If nothing else, I bet the food would be REALLY good!

5.Cinderella. This one isn't for me, obviously. Adelae would FLIP if Cinderella showed up at our door.

6. Cleopatra is my final dinner guest. I am absolutely fascinated with her. I would love to hear all of her stories first hand.

Letters of Intent

2010-02-26T12:13:00.002-05:00

Dear Girl Scouts:

I love your delicious cookies. I love your Thin Mints. I love your ThanksALot. I love them all! I would buy cases upon cases of your delicious cookies, if I could afford it. I will most likely go bankrupt buying your cookies since you keep raising the prices. I only bought 5 boxes this year instead of my usual 6. I'm already freaking out because we only have two boxes left! Maybe you could consider having a summer time cookie sale? And maybe another in the fall? I need my Girl Scout Cookie fix!!!

Sincerely,
A Girl Scout Cookie Addict

It's not fun

2010-02-23T11:07:00.003-05:00

I've been suffering from writers block lately. I have all these fantastic posts that are in my brain, but just can't seem to transfer to the screen. As a result, my blog is littered with half written posts. Sigh...Such is life I suppose!

I did have a fabulous day of taking two kids to the doctor and running errands all by myself last week. That was fun. Or not. Depending on if you like lugging two kids around by yourself. I've decided that I don't really like it all that much. I think I'll save the mall for when Ben's with us.

Brinna's been on a sleeping strike the last week or so. She has decided that sleeping is over rated. That's fun. Or not. Mostly not. The other night I was so exhausted I had to take a nap just so I had the energy to climb the stairs to go to bed.

Adelae has also decided now that she's 3 that she doesn't need any help with anything. She's also under the impression that she makes the rules. That's fun. Or not. I spend my days saying things over and over and over again. Mental note to self, you really can't reason with a 3 year old.

Ben's working a ton, as usual, so he is just exhausted. That is also fun for me. Or not. Depending on if you like to only see your husband for a few hours a day. It's not really fun for him either though, so I guess we're even.

Winter is still here. That's fun. Or not. We all have a bad case of cabin fever. It's just warm enough that we could go out and play if the yard wasn't a muddy mess. I'm so ready for sunshine and warmth.