One Last Post

Figured I would write the final post for 2010...

2010 was a good year...It could have been worse.

We still are all here.

We are taken care of by grace and mercy.

Jeremy has a job.

Matthew is doing great in school.

Olivia turned 5 and is giving me a run for my money.

Carter will be 3 in a few months and although he still has an occasional bout with his stomach issues he is healthy and off all medications.

Mikey is doing good. He is going school and working. I am very proud of him.

I am going to focus on myself . Giving more to others. Building relationships and nurturing the ones I have.

I have no specif goals for 2011 ...I quit making resolutions long ago...because I can't keep them.

Honesty is always the best policy ;)

I am Thankful for those who have walked along side of me over the past year. I am thankful for everyone who has prayed, brought meals and helped out with the kids.

It takes a village to raise children.

You can never ever have enough people love you or your children.

Happy New Year!!

296 pounds

Yep, that is what our total so far is in our weight loss journey.

I have no idea why I am sharing this or even giving it a title.

I am trying to find a blessing in each and everyday.

Play-doh is not as fun as what it looks like on TV.

It should snow and quit being cold.

The kids should really learn the Fruits of the Spirit.

I should really thrown on some jeans and fluff my hair before my hubby comes home.

I am working on not complaining or grumbling when doing things for my family, myself or others.

I am randomly blogging so you won't forget about me.

Billy Madison is still a funny classic.

My teenage son is full of teenage angst.

I will soon be registering Miss America for School and Carter for preschool ( God willing he learns not to pee outside or on the floor)

When I have free time I am going to decorate the house ( if you know me, your laughing)

Over the last few months God is testing me, he is given me what I can handle as long as I have trust and faith in him.

I am guarded by nature.

2011 I will strive to LIVE and not go through the motions.

I will laugh more. Worry Less.

Carter John Deere

Oh, I know I have not blogged in forever. I will fill you in later on why but for now I want to share a few things about my baby AKA Carter John Deere.

That is what he calls himself as he is decked out with his John Deere sweatshirt and hat. For Christmas he received 9 John Deere trucks & trailers. The kid is in heaven. I just love watching him play with all his trucks, tractors & trailers.

About a month ago I could hear him screaming on the kitchen counter. I ran into the kitchen only to find blood coming from his mouth and Miss America telling me she was going to her room for a big time out.

It took only seconds for me to realize she had used the toe nail clippers on his tongue. YIKES!! he cried for a few seconds as my mom was here and shoved a towel in his mouth so we could see how much damage had been done. Lucky for us ,very little had been cut. He cried for a few seconds and now tells anyone who listens his Lala ( Olivia) cut his tongue with scissors, oh, that's great. Some secrets are meant to be kept in our home ( not that I am blogging about it)

He tells me this morning that going on the potty makes him sick and his back hurts so he needs to wear his diaper.

He takes my coffee and always asks for a "little bit " and that means 2 big gulps , puts down the cup and exclaims he has germs.

If I do something he doesn't like ( like say no to having his pliers grip my nose) he tells me I am on the naughty list.

He is loud. He doesn't mean to be it is just his personality. He loves people and birthdays. We have let him have his way one to many times ( give me a break he is the baby) when it comes to blowing out other peoples candles. We have a string of birthday's from September to December , each time we sing for the birthday person we must relight the candles and let him do it.

I am so thankful for my Carter John Deere. He always has a smile , he loves to cuddle and melts my heart daily.

We love our "Surprise" baby ...

3 kids..3 times the Loot!

Benefit #376 of having more then one kid....

I get to rummage through 3 bags of candy..eat all the Almond Joys , hide over half of it and use it for Easter Candy or a PMS craving.

Just sayin'

Sassy Sumo's

How can you not love a sumo wrestler?? Especially since they are 2 & 5 years old??
I love Halloween costumes! We pulled up the bins this year and everyday for 3 weeks the kids wore crazy costumes. I was again reminded on why I collect them. They are fun. The create memories and most of all you laugh.

The best part is when these Sumo's run their butt & bellies shake..

Friday's Facts...

Thankful For:

No more calls from politicians telling me why I should vote for them. Arghhh..18 missed calls in one day can drive a person crazy. One of my friends turned off her ringer for days. Another one weighed her junk politics mail..2.8 pounds of flyer's. Seriously!

Listening To:

Toy Story 3

What's For Dinner:

Taco's...

Looking Forward To:

Putting up my Christmas tree. I found some AWESOME decorations last year for 10 cents each! I am going to have a Pink & Teal Tree. I can't wait. If you drive by next week and it is up. Please don't say a word!

I am Missing:

I still have not found my housekeeper. ;)

Quote of the week:

" Sometimes we expect more from others because we would be willing to do that much for them."

De-Funk De-Junk

I logged into blogger last night. First time in about a month. I think I just felt overwhelmed and the fact that the one thing my mom always told me was "if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all ". Not that I follow this rule. Not that I am good at following this rule but you get the idea. I sometimes have no filter and things just come out of my mouth. Truth be told I am working on this.

People disappoint me. People make me angry. People are people and that's what makes the world go around.

I realize that everyone is different. It is hard not to judge one another. However when their actions display the same thing over and over again, how do you keep from telling them that they have hurt you? That they are bringing you down? What if these people are are your family? Your friends? Do you continue to just "love " them?

I wish that I could blog about something upbeat but I can't today. I am not sure if it is emotions getting the best of me or my chronic pain that seems to have taken over my life.

Whatever it maybe I need to really de-funk and de-junk my life.

This is the 4th post I have written today. I am going to post this one. If not for me then for you...my stalkers. I am alive, I am holding my own.

Next post will be a happy one. A thankful one.

Friday Facts

Thankful For:

There is so much I could say...I am just a thankful person. I am thankful for all the people in my life and the ones who come along side of our kids and love them and support them in all they do. I try not to take any day for granted. Does that mean I am not crabby or self -centered sometimes? No, I still battle the crap. I still get depleted. I still run on empty but in the back of my mind I am always thankful. We are blessed with much more then most people , not because we are better then others or work harder then others being blessed has nothing to do with either of that. Our life could be worse and I don't take what we have for granted.


Listening To: Mickey Mouse and a kid yelling for a circle sandwich.


What's For Dinner: Left overs from the week...almost like a Buffet...well except we won't be having hundreds of people coming through the line.


Looking Forward To:

Fall is here. I am thinking of decorating today , however that will depend on if my mood changes or not. I am just a bit crabby today. I am feeling depleted. Empty. I figured if I blogged I would feel better but no...


I am Missing: about 30 hours of sleep this past week.

Quote of the week: " In a minute. I promise. I will get you what you need in a minute. "
This is me...all week..I feel like I just can't get it all pulled together.


~ What Are Your Friday Facts??? I would love to read about your week!

Lazy Days with Rachael Ray

Yesterday was way to busy for me. I am hurting today. We ran errands, then dropped Liv off at school, headed to town, picked up Liv, headed home where I changed a diaper grabbed some Snacks for Matthew's first Football game ( they WON!) left early ( had one sad 13 year old) to go grab dinner , change into our leader shirts for our church group headed to church , came home loaded / unloaded the dishwasher, put grumpy kids to bed , fixed dinner ( for me) watched one show and crawled into bed.

Today I skipped MOPS, showered around 11, found a sitter, went to the store, headed home, forgot why I went to the store, put dinner in the crockpot, and that's about it. My back & legs are aching, the couch is my friend today.

I love Rachael Ray. I want her pots & pans set, her serving dishes and knife set.

I want to be like her.

I am making these. Inside out English Muffins!

The Brie & Apricot preserves is what I will be trying.

You can cook these on the griddle!! How sweet is that!

What fun!

Look What Lala Did...

She helped me with my make-up....

I almost forgot to thank her.

Here She is Miss America

Oh my Sweet Sue..I am so in love with you. You are the highlight of my day. You are my girl ( although Dad claims you as his) You are my life. I adore watching you grow up.

I was very nervous about having a girl. I was scared. I had no idea how to raise you ( not that I had any idea how to raise your brother but he was a boy) and I felt alone teaching you all the stuff girls should know.

I love watching you come out of my room dressed up in my clothes, I love watching your facial expressions as I put on my make-up and curl my hair. Your always one step behind me in EVERYTHING I do...Today you wanted to make the Sloppy Joes and I have to say you did a pretty good job.
Second year of preschool and you are a bit bored. You are dying to go to Kindergarten and can't figure out why you are not there but on the flip side you are not fond of the idea of leaving me all day.

Your very social...My eyes are not even open yet and you are asking for a play date. You bring me the phone everyday so I can call your friend(s).

You love shoes and anything that sparkles You are alot like your Grammy Karen. You tell me every week that she has more shoes and anklets then you do and when you get bigger your buying her house so you can have her closet.

You loved picking blackberries and talk about our 30 minute adventure every week. You love to boss around your brothers ( and your mom & dad) given the chance.

You my dear, keep me on my toes....

Happy 5th Birthday our Princess!

8th Grade

This is the first day of 6th Grade...oh, how he has grown....

First day of 8th grade..Last year in Middle School. Yes, I shed a tear.

I will Love you forever. I will Like you for always. As Long as I am Living my baby you'll be.

Picture Overload

Sooo...Matthew figured out a way to get my pictures to upload..not an easy way but a way...

Date Night

The Fair

Silly Kids...Snow boots and all

Pedicures with the family...My niece Jada

Miss America and her Cousins...

Annual Tractor Show the Grandpa

Everyone should Vote!

To much fun...equals an exhausted 4 year old

Priceless....

Scary Monster

Loves cruising the boat with her daddy....

My Not So Lucky Morning

Lucky Charms for breakfast, Does not make for a lucky day. Who was I kidding??

He said a bad word

My little kids hate going to the nursery. We have had our number flash on the screen many times during church service. Arghh...and remember I told you my husband makes us sit towards the front? We have had a child with us 4 out of the last 9 times we attended service.

They act as if we never have taken them to "church school"

Really? How can you forget? We have been attending for 8 years!

Olivia still hangs on to me, evil eyes me as I run for the door.

I need this break! Don't they get it?

Don't they get I am women before I am a mom? Of course not. No Way.

We went to the first MOPS meeting of the year. This requires Carter to go to "Church School" and because we don't go but 2 times a month , he is not a fan of me bolting from the door. I can hear him screaming as I walk Liv to her class. He is sobbing. I think to myself he has to stay there, I am not missing this meeting, I am not getting a sitter ( as I have done the previous year due to not being able to load them or unload them) I am going to try and tune you out. He quit crying by the time I walked past his classroom door. Okay, I ran past the door in hopes he would NOT see me.

We had a great meeting. I don't get called away.

We arrive home and as we are getting out of the truck I ask Carter " how was church School?"

It Sucked!!

I try not to laugh as I process what he just blurted out.

Tattletale Olivia tells me Carter said a naughty word.

Followed by...

Aren't you going to spank his A**?

Access Allowed

Blogger has a new feature that will allow you to see who is reading your blog. It is a cool feature that will allow you to see how many hits you get a day, week, month and it even breaks it down to the hour. It will let you see where your visitors are coming from ( Canada, Thailand) and will let you see the keyword people use to search for your blog.

If I wanted to be rich off this I would blog about my husband and my life anonymously and care about how people find my blog, then I wouldn't care who found me but when you find that you have CREEPERS looking at your blog for S**ual stuff you tend to go a bit nuts and lock it down.

I was a bit overwhelmed by the response I got when I went private..I am sorry to all you readers out there. NOBODY was allowed access so PLEASE quit taking it so personal. I changed a few settings so now you should be able to read it without logging into a google account, but I would encourage you to set up a google account ( this is very easy) so if these setting's do not work, then you will be able to view the blog and comment on my post so I don't feel like I am being stalked I will send out an invite to your email address and then you will be able to read it. If you do not get an invite this means I don't like you then email me.

So whatcha going to do???

Set up a google account

Comment on the posts you love

and continue stalking me...

Mu ah!! xoxoxox

Your Home Is Not for Show

Yep, that is what a good friend told me a few weeks back...that must have been because she seen me a WRECK because my counter was full of crap, toys strung from one end of the house to another, I am sure there was toys in the toilets, toilet paper wrapped around a baby doll, soap nicely dispensed all over the counter with soapy hand prints covering my bathroom mirror, or the fact every toy bin had been dumped out and was resting nicely into a large heap that I had to walk over to get to the dresser.

The shoe bin had been dumped out by the door , the dogs food was thrown all around, there was enough food under the counters for a complete 5 course meal...

Why would I freak out? I mean really?

As my good friend had mentioned, my house was not for show...a family actually lived here.

My response was a family of monkeys live here...at least nobody was flinging poo

( not yet anyways)

In Your Dreams...

Maybe it was the heartache I felt sending my "baby" to 8th grade today , maybe it was the emotions I feel knowing my princess will be 5 in few weeks or maybe it is the fact we still have an empty chair at the dinner table. Whatever it maybe , has had me dreaming of a baby the last few weeks. I wake up with joy in my heart and an automatic sense of chaoticness ( that could be because it is chaotic) as I stumble to the coffee pot. Does this feeling ever end? Do you really know your done having children? Yes, situations make it harder for us at this time in our life to justify having a baby and the fact my in-laws and best friend would think we are nutso...Maybe one day I can get another princess...my Lucy Sue. Until then...I will dream , and cherish the others chaotic blessings...

Hey Mom Call Me

When I met Jeremy he would tell me all the time if he ever won the lottery he would spend his days taking the elderly out to coffee, everyday that he could. I will never forget that. I could see how much he loved his grandparents and the elderly.

Jeremy's grandparent's are WONDERFUL, all of them.

They will call him if their TV isn't working , he will drop everything and go and help them, whatever their need maybe. He will stop by for coffee and cookies ( as Grandma will always have cookies) My kids love going to see them ( they know grandma will load them up on cookies) and they love seeing the kids.

When Matthew was about 7-9 years old they would go every Monday and have 3:00 coffee and cookies. Jeremy would try to limit Matthew to 3 cookies but always turned a blind eye when Grandma would sneak Matthew a few more for good measure.

When I had my first Surgery Grandma was in California. She spent 2 days trying to call me at the hospital, not knowing I had been sent home to recover.

Grandma is in her 90's as well as Grandpa and I have to tell you they are amazing.

We went to visit Grandma yesterday as she was recovering from hip surgery. She looked good in spite of all the pain she was in. She was very happy to see us and good thing she wasn't to embarrassed as my kids ran up & down the hallways making friends with the health care staff.

One of the highlights was the fact Grandma had cookies in her recovery room, making the kids so excited!!

Jeremy went later in the evening to bring Grandpa back home after his visit with Grandma...as they where leaving Grandpa bent down to kiss Grandma , patted her arm and tells her...

..Hey mom, why don't you call me when you think your coming home, give me a few days notice so I can clean the house. It is not to bad, I think you can get in...

My heart melted as Jeremy told me the story....that sounds just like Jeremy & I...I call him when I am about an hour away from home so he can "clean the house" and if you know Grandma you know everything has to be just right at home...just like me.

When I told Jeremy that totally reminded me of us...he smiled and said I know, I had to tell you it was the sweetest thing ever!

Today Jeremy is "babysitting" his other Grandpa for the day. His Grandma has to be out of town for the day , she called Jeremy to ask him to babysit Grandpa ( as he has Alzheimer's) and without hesitation he said yes....

What a very unselfish man who teaches me and our children everyday how to love others and put others before yourself.

" Love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your mind" This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is just like it " LOVE your neighbor as yourself"

Matthew 22:37-39

Quick update

Here is a quick update on my back...

It still hurts ...

Okay, I will give you a bit more then that..

I have had continuing leg pain that I swear has never gone away and not one surgery has fixed it. The 3rd surgery was the most helpful but not 100% curable.

I am scheduled for an MRI to see if another surgery will be needed. My doctor doesn't recommend another one and at this point I don't care...what could it really hurt? I mean c'mon if it has any chance of taking away the pain then I will go for it. However, since he doesn't recommend it unless absolutely necessary I am looking at other options.

Sometimes I feel as if I am walking around broken....I look normal but inside I am sad and disappointed that there has not been a relief to the pain in over 4 almost 5 years...could you imagine walking around with a broken arm or leg even a finger for 5 years and yet, trying to live life?

I have 4 reasons to get out of bed each morning...

I adore them and they adore me.

No peeing on your sister

I am really starting wonder if my kids are normal. Yep, you can guess by the title of this post that naughtiness has stuck again.

So, Miss America is eating breakfast in her chair ( an overstuffed kids chair) and she starts screaming.

I ignore her and continue on facecracking it.

She comes running to me and is covered in something....yea, that would be pee.

GROSS!!

Carter had taken it upon himself to pee on her.

GROSS!!!

I clean her up , punish Carter and put the chair outside to dry.

Fast forward 4 hours later.....

Olivia goes to get the chair and I look outside just in time to see Carter doing the pee stance, ready to aim.....

URGHHH.....

Needless to say he got in BIG trouble...and now walks around the house yelling...

I NOT PEE ON LALA!!

Well jeez kid I hope you don't pee on her again, what are you a dog?

* Carter name for Olivia is Lala....he can't say Olivia

Why Hello!

aww...my blog..how I have missed you. I have not even signed into my blog account for awhile and that means I have about 200 blog post to read. YIKES!

I can't sleep. My mind is a racing.

I made a "to do list" of 56 things I need to accomplish in the next few weeks. My mind is ready for them but my body is not. I broke the list down into manageable chunks , now let me NOT lose the list or let life get in the way.

You will need to bare with me. I still can't load pictures on this super slow thing I call a computer...that means you might not see what I found in my strawberries or all the pictures of my darling kiddos.

Why is it I even attempt to check out library books? I pay more in late charges then any person I know. I mean how hard is it to grab the 4 items and drop them off 4 blocks away? Obviously to hard or I wouldn't owe 5.46

Why is it that you spend so much time worrying about if people like you or not? I mean really? Who cares if they do or don't? Why do people consume themselves with playing games pitting friends against friends? Why is it people can't say no without feeling guilty? Why is it your the one who has to reach out and having no one reach back? Why can't people take words for what they are? Why must people project their own insecurities on others? Why do people try to let others get to know them, when the other doesn't care to know them?

These are the questions that roll around in my head and I know that I will NEVER get the answers. So I let it go....but hey if you have the answers fill me in!

Went to the spray park today...the lids LOVED it! Well the little ones did. Mr. I am to cool for anything because I am 14 tried to enjoy it. Aww.. the joys of having such a huge age gap. If any of you think it is easier then having kids2-3 years apart you are mistaken..BIG TIME!

Olivia will be 5 in a few weeks...a no frills party has turned into a a " BIG FRILLS ' party...

Carter my baby ( and always will be) has an obsession with tractors. Has to sleep with a tractor & trailer every night.

I am suppose to be working on my home school lesson plans...I have to turn them in by Friday...urghh once again my procrastination gets the best of me.

Jeremy & Matthew where wrestling around last week and Matthew took Jeremy down , resulting a rib injury for Jer. Matthew felt bad but I think inside he was thinking he was Mr. tough pants..

I feel bad...but it was kinda funny..

Until next time...

I promise it won't be a long time...

I have been Surviving

Yep, I need some time way from the blog.

My thoughts seems to be going in a directions that I would rather not share due the fact they would make me look like a crazy. No seriously, I have been in pain and pain doesn't help my attitude.

I just wish that there was something, anything the doctor could do for me. My good days seems far and few. I try to put on the " I am okay, everything is great " face but that that is getting old too....

We had a great family vacation with the in-laws. It was so nice to get away. Waking up everyday to the sun was definitely good for the spirit. I was even able to finish a book ( that has not happened in over a year) and get a tan. What sucked was coming home to having no plumbing and having Roto-Rooter come out 2 times to fix the problem, I mean really fridge goes out right before we leave and then the plumbing. Nothing like an 800.00 week in the home owners department ( and they say this the American Dream)

I have been busy with just keeping up with the kids and all the family activities. My best friend even emailed me asking if she had made me mad because we have not seen each other or talked really in over a month.

So where have I been? I have been surviving.

Another Month

Thought you might want an update on the family...since it has been one month since the last post. I wonder if I even still have any blog stalkers out there? I wonder if they missed me?



Today we celebrate 12 years of marriage. To me it is an accomplishment. He is my best friend , my life, my everything. I could not imagine life without him. Everyday we work at it. I savor everyday with him.



I also know that after 12 years love changes...



* your heart fills up with thankfulness that he calls you in the middle of the day



* you can make mistakes and know he forgives you ( like not getting him card on your anniversary)



* He can make you laugh



* He gets your humor



* He knows "your crazy eyes" look



* He knows what food you like and don't like



* He cooks dinner , even though I stay home



* He is the one I cry for every time I get out of surgery



* He gets me ( and that is hard for anyone)



Life is not perfect. Marriage is not perfect. Life is hard. Marriage is hard.

But everything seems a bit easier when you walk through it with your best friend.

Why Not?

Why not have your fridge & freezer go out on a 93 degree day? Why not fork over 300.00 bucks to fix it right after you spent your monthly budget on Popsicles and slip & Slides? Why not scrub your freezer/fridge clean on a very hot day? Why not lose 150.00 in food?

Why wake up in excrucitating pain 5days ago knowing full well something is not right? Why not sit around and wait for the doctor to call you back?

I am having a not.so.very.unhappy.day.

But I then remember why not me? There are people with much less "everything" then me.

There are people hungry and hurting.

So I am turning this around....thanks to my hubby who has had to hear me cry at least 3 times today ( damn monthly PMS)

Honey, Lets look on the bright side...what if the fridge went out when we went on a vacation? what if we came back to that smell?

He is right.

What if?

Bright side...My brother in law loaned us his air conditioner so we have a very cool bedroom...my mother n law called at a not so good time today and offered to brave the heat and crowds to try and find me a pool for the kids since our got a hole in it yesterday.

Awww....on my not.so.very.rotten.day I still have family who loves us.

So I think...

Friday Facts

Thankful For:

My hardworking husband. He is a great dad and a wonderful person. Yes, there are days I want to hurt him. There are days we don't see eye to eye so please don't misconstrue the compliments as an indicator that we are perfect and I have the perfect life...Blah. That is not me. We are not perfect. We have had our crap. Lots of it. But I can honestly tell you that his parents did something right with him..he is a good person. Honest, loving, giving and teaches me everyday to look on the bright side of everything life gives us. He has made my life better. He has shown me how to love, how to protect and how to love God.

I am so Thankful for my children. Matthew received an award this week. it was a big deal award. Only one of these awards are given out. It was for the Happiest/joyful student in the school. I was SOOOO proud. I mean his mother is crazy and he some how walks away with this award???

Maybe this is a good indicator he won't need Prozac when he gets older?

Listening To:

A bunch construction going on outside...house is quiet. Kids are sleeping...

What's For Dinner: Hot & Ready...feed my family for 6.00? Oh, yeah...

Looking Forward To:

I am planting a garden. My first one. It is a bit late. I am not sure how this will work but we shall see. Let's look on the bright side..I might just get lucky and have nothing grow...not forcing me into making Zucchini bread, muffins, pancakes, biscuits..you name it..

The sun shining, the sun coming around and the sun staying here...

I am Missing:

A baby around the house..I know I am crazy, crazy, crazy. crazy...but the whole new baby thing is so addicting.

Quote of the week: AMEN! ...Carter walks around the house yelling AMEN!

What are your Friday Facts??

What!? No Big Screen TV?

I was laying in bed last night watching Bethanny Getting Married on BRAVO. I am a reality TV junkie. I have no idea why I get sucked in. These ladies are crazy and I love it. I can see myself in Bethanny, She is a REAL Housewife from New York , ya know? I am Real Housewives in a small town of perfect people...so we could really be good friends.

She is having a baby and getting married and the show is based around those 2 big details. Her and her soon to be husband had to register for gifts for their upcoming wedding and when watching them it reminded me of when we ( Jeremy & I ) went to Target to register for Olivia.

Having 9 years between our oldest and her and thinking that having more kids might not be for us we had purged all of our baby things. I saved the crib. it was outdated when Miss America arrived but I didn't care. I wanted all my kids and grandkids to have the same crib. I am sure there has been a massive recall or our crib or by the time I have grandkids it will be deemed unsafe.

We had never registered together for anything. Not for our wedding nor our first child. I registered by myself for our wedding as the Mr. was working out of town all the time.

So fast forward to our second child...I should have never brought Jeremy. He was like a crazy with the registering gun thingy they give you. He was going through out the store a bit bored at first until he realized he could register for anything...

and I mean anything....

When your cousin announces at the baby shower that she was sorry she couldn't purchase the big 52 inch plasma big screen for us ( as noted on our registry) I could have died.

Really? You registered for that?

And you can bet he did.

I LOVE that guy...

and we wonder why people don't take us to seriously...

Last Derby

Matthew was 4 when we took him to his first fishing derby. We had no idea you had to be 5 in order to compete. The only way we found out is when he got first place and they asked him how old he was he said 4 . Good thing they all know us...they did not break his heart, they let him keep his prize. This year was his last derby. I was a bit sad. We have been doing local derby's for the 9 years.

Time doesn't stop, sometimes I wish it did.

As for Miss America & Carter John...they are still to young.

A room with a view..

Or a front porch...Seriously, My bedroom window is right next to this big mess. I am looking on the bright side , Carter is fascinated for hours with the all the dirt moving....He even made himself comfy during the whole process..

Potty training sucks.

And it is gross. It is messy. I really really really wish I could send them away to a potty training boot camp. Somebody PLEASE start one up.

I am joking. I don't anyone else helping my kiddos in the training process.

You would think I have potty trained 2 kids that I would be a pro , Super Potty Training Mama.

NOPE.

Not here.

The beginning is always gross.

Every child is different.

Matthew learned by peeing outside. Olivia received bandaids as her reward. Carter likes candy.

Screw the reward chart. I can't hardly remember to balance the checkbook let alone put a shiny star on a chart.

What are your ideas? Even if I have 3 kids..I still LOVE other moms advice.

Super Busy

Although the weather has been horrible lately the sun decided to come through for us this weekend. I decided to have an impromptu garage sale. I did a sweep of the house the messy, everywhere you turn there is crap and put it for sale. The one thing I wish I would have taken into consideration is that it was the first nice Saturday in a long time. Nobody was really out to garage sale. They where at home cleaning their garage.

I love the ones who show up at 7:30 as you still have tarps on your stuff and the rip off your tarps, you get back from hanging out your signs only to find them digging through everything. I love the ones who pick up an item that is priced at 25 cents and want you to take a dime.

Really?

My favorite has to be when 2 customers get into a fight. This is priceless. One has to be 70 and the other maybe 30 and they fight over ONE shirt. I keep thinking I am going to grab the shirt and put it back into the donate pile. Thoughts of punishing them as I would my 2 & 4 Year old children.

Listen people, if you can't get along I will remove the said item until one of you can play fair.

Good Times.

Jeremy took the kids to the fishing derby. Olivia was to young and Matthew was right at the cutoff for his age. He caught his limit and then had to come home to clean them. GROSS. Carter LOVED the whole concept of fishing. Jeremy told me he was so excited. Carter actually touched the fish and tried to kiss it. DOUBLE YUK!

We closed up shop and went to a going away party for Jeremy's Cousin. She and her family are moving to Idaho. It was great to get together but sad to know she is moving 10 hours away. Just another reminder that family is important.

Sunday we finally made it to church ( as we have missed at least a good month) only to see our number flashing on the screen ( 2nd time in a row) to go and retrieve one of our darling children. Have I mentioned before we sit close to the front? Carter had to come sit with us for about an hour during service ( he had gotten sick , not flu sick just his tummy stuff) he did great sitting on our laps minus the spilt coffee and kicking the elderly ladies chair a few times.

After church the rain started AGAIN. Blah.

We proceeded to head to our local Log Show event. Matthew loved the show and Olivia was excited to see the tug of war between the loggers and the kids. Of course the kids WON!

And the sun came out!

This weekend was full and I loved it.

Kids snuggled into bed at 7:30 and me 8:30.

I was wide awake at 3am by 5:30 I was back in bed.

I was reminded that for me to complain about how busy I am or to complain about how my weekends fill up with obligations for others , it is not about us. It is about others. It is about showing respect, love and admiration and I am okay if my summer looks like that.

It's just a poll

I was watching a show yesterday, I don't remember the name , it was on Bravo and they where talking about sex and the average married couple with children are having sex once a month. Now without being to graphic I just thought that seemed a bit low. I mean who answers these polls? Are those polls out there really a reflection on the average American people? Sometimes I see a poll and I wonder " who in the heck did they poll? " The polls on my blog CANNOT I repeat CANNOT be traced back to you. I will never know who clicked on what. I SWEAR. I just wanted to see what the average blog reader , average married, not married person ( but a couple with children) has to say.

Are we half dog?

or pig..or what ever animal looks like this after they are done eating..
Who watches these kids???

Just like Brother

He was in the shower, I took him out and the next thing I know he out side naked pushing his lawn mower....I brought him back in to get dressed...made it as far as the diaper and he was off again...

Keeps me on my toes

This motorcycle thingy that is obnoxiously loud really needs to find a home outside....I mean c'mon my walls, legs and feet can only take so much crashing into...
He got big boy undies...and thought they would be grand on his head...

Carter, you never ever cease to amaze me or keep me smilin...