Little Bishop Chronicles

Hacked: the first draft

2010-07-06T20:46:00.006-05:00

It was a ~~night like any other~~ dark and stormy night. The house was quiet. Eerily quiet. ~~So quiet you could hear a mouse (OR SIX)~~. In this house, there lived me an eccentric old woman, who suffered from ~~depression, anxiety, OCD~~ insomnia. Her only cure was to ~~sit on the couch with her laptop blogging while watching shows like The Bachelorette and Make It or Break it~~ write.

After a long week of battling ~~six~~ an army of mice and crossing battle lines, the mice launched their surprise attack. A hacker. They sent spies across enemy lines to destroy years of writing and memories. They must have had a mole on the inside. Kris perhaps? Maybe it wasn't intentional on his part. Perhaps he was just taken in by their cute little eyes and petite figures. Perhaps one night while I sat blogging, he felt lonely and just needed someone to confide in. And perhaps the deranged ~~rodent~~ mastermind, who has apparently been stalking Kris for weeks, decided to take matters into her own hands.

So she hired a hit man of sorts. A hacker. Someone who could destroy my entire life, my identity. Someone who could take from me what matters most. My ~~blog!~~ husband. This past week has been an absolute nightmare.

Did anyone out there notice that I have been rather quiet for a week? Like uncharacteristically quiet? Want to know why?

Someone hacked my Gmail account. And then sent out a link to some of my contacts. It got flagged and Google shut my ENTIRE account down, with no warning and no explanation. My email. My blog. My calendar. My Google Reader. My life essentially. The first few days were filled with anger, bitterness, frustration and utter despair (only slightly exaggerated). For days, I had nowhere to go. No way of knowing what had happened or why. I felt lost in a world of bloggers, flaunting their un-hacked accounts, writing away. OK...now I'm REALLY exaggerating, because in reality after a day without my blog I just started a new one. I couldn't just sit idly by and wait and HOPE that Google would figure it all out for me. I took matters into my own hands. And I'm pleased with the outcome.

So where does this leave us dear readers? Here is where I am going to make my plea. Little Bishop Chronicles has officially been re-established HERE. Please take just a moment to follow me there, as this will be my last blog post here. PLEASE! PRETTY PLEASE!! I'm obviously not afraid to beg. Because I love all of you stalkers! I truly do! I was devastated when I thought I had lost all of my posts (MY MEMORIES), not to mention this great group of followers that has been looking to me and ~~me alone~~ 50 other bloggers to bring joy and laughter to your otherwise boring days. Man I'm arrogant aren't I?

So if you are still reading this now, check out the new layout and give me a chance over there. I'd love you forever! I'm SO thankful that Google was able to give me everything back, but I am going to be moving my blog officially, so if you loved me here, please consider loving me there! See how easy I have made it for you?!? There are only 13 a couple of new posts there. Recipes included in some of those new posts-doesn't that entice some of you?

Now, with that out of the way, who wants to tell me how to import this blog into my new one?

And one more thing. I had almost 800 UNREAD items in my Google Reader, so please forgive me if I missed some of your posts. I just had to mark them all as read and will start afresh with your new posts! It was just too overwhelming but I sure am glad to have my reader back!!

My nemesis

2010-06-30T13:29:00.005-05:00

They say bad things come in threes. I find this puzzling in light of the most recent circumstances on the home front. We captured a third little mouse last night. The trap was very unkind to this unfortunate creature...or so Kris told me. With small shrieks of panic and anxiety, I disposed of the first two, all by myself! When we heard the trap last night and saw the rodent's futile attempts to break free I told my husband "You can get that one." I'd had my fill.

Unfortunately for him, the mouse's struggles caused a small mess that I had no intention of looking at, let alone cleaning! But Kris stepped up and saved me, and with our third mouse properly evacuated from our home, I tried to tell myself that three was it. Notice, I said TRIED. I'm a paranoid pessimist, so I pretty much assume there are at least 5 other mice breeding underneath my dishwasher. But there was that small shred of optimism, of hope, in me that they-those bad things I referenced in the beginning-were all done. Afraid not. Sometime during the night I heard our last remaining trap sound its glorious, beautiful music. We had been asleep but I don't sleep well or deeply so I heard it snap, said "Kris did you hear that?", he mumbled "yeah" and back to sleep we went. I awoke to find the trap flipped over. There was no immediate assurance that a mouse had indeed fallen prey, but rushing around to get out the door by 7am, I hoped for the best before telling Kris "I love you. Bye. Oh and there's a mouse in the trap for you!"

He called me after he got up to ask if I had actually seen a mouse in the trap. I told him I had not. I didn't even turn the kitchen light on. I just knew the trap had been flipped over and to be honest, I'd had it up to "here" (imagine me standing with my hand drawing a line 2 feet above my head) with mice. I did not want to start out my morning with visions of a dead rodent. You know? Kris told me that there was NO mouse in the trap. So mouse #4 is still out there. I REALLY hope it was the deranged mother mouse. You know, the one that doesn't care about her children? She has sent three of them out to die, with no regard for them at all. Granted, if she is under there creating more babies each day, I suppose she can afford to lose two or three. BUT...I have four and even on my rough days, I can't imagine sending one or two of them out, never to return. I have lost ALL respect for this mouse, as a mother.

The reason I think (HOPE) mouse #4 is the mother, and mastermind (not to mention completely unrealistically infertile now!) is because it was obviously near/on the trap because it managed to spring the trap without getting caught. And this is not the first time that has happened. Her babies are idiots. She, however, is not. If I could just lure her out. Have a chat. A little heart to heart. From one crazy mother to another. I could just explain to her that this is MY home. My kids don't get in her kids' beds and she needs to keep hers out of mine. And then, I could do as my friend Derek suggested the other day: "If you're feeling particularly vengeful, you could just strangle the thing and look it in the eye while you do it...so it KNOWS the score." Yeah, that's exactly what I'd like to do! Well put Derek!

Sigh...

Kris is talking about getting rat poisoning. Our kids are old enough that they won't get into it. We'd put it in areas they wouldn't go. We have had so many suggestions and some really great advice. Someone mentioned calling an exterminator. This of course is my first choice, but it's expensive and Kris wants to try a few other options first. Being that he hasn't suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, he can't really understand what these mice are doing to me. I'm scared to be in my own home. Not because I am afraid of the mice themselves. But I'm constantly on edge. I never know when one will run across my foot. EWW! I don't know if they are getting into the food. I constantly inspect everything. Because I know they are rooming somewhere under the dishwasher (though it could be in the basement), I hate being in my kitchen. This makes cooking difficult. Let's face it. It makes cooking almost non-existent. It takes sheer willpower for me to move through my house. And there is no way I'm even going in my basement, for fear that they have a huge nest somewhere down in my laundry room. Kris insists he has been down there and hasn't seen any, but my overactive imagination is WAY beyond that at this point. And it's not just my kitchen I can't stand being in. I'm tense and jumpy being anywhere in my house. Last night while laying in bed, I felt something move across my neck (we had the fan on in our room so I'm SURE it was just a stray hair) but immediately I started envisioning scenarios where there were mice running across my body while I slept. These mice are really NOT helping my current non-medicated mental state.

The Standoff

2010-06-29T10:29:00.002-05:00

Let me start by telling you about the little "incident" we had yesterday. I was standing at the kitchen sink cleaning something when I heard Abbey screaming and crying. Naturally I assumed she and Olivia were fighting, so I was getting ready to put my best mom voice on (a.k.a. yell). She ran into the kitchen in near hysterics. She said "I just saw the mouse on Olivia's bed!" At this, I grabbed the broom and headed back to their bedroom. I slammed it down on the bed a few times, trying to get the mouse to scurry out so I could attack it. No luck. So I left the room and went back to what I was doing, broom never leaving my side.

That's when I heard Kaleb scream and he told me he was trying to go to the bathroom and saw it in the hallway by the laundry baskets. When they told me again it was just sitting back behind the baskets I went back there, clutching my broom tightly. We closed the bedroom and bathroom doors so it couldn't dart into one of those rooms. The only place it could go was right past us. So imagine it if you can. I'm standing in the narrow hallway, with four small children gathered around. We're standing still and tense, watching two white laundry baskets full of clothes. That's the scene.

I spotted the mouse back there and decided to move one basket to get a better view. I moved one successfully, spotting the mouse hiding as far away as he could behind the second basket. Keep in mind the kids are all still hovered around me. Broom lifted, I reach over to move the second basket. The mouse took off, scurried OVER MY FOOT and into the living room. We all started screaming (though Kat insists she did not scream) and jumping around in all directions! It would have been amusing to anyone observing.

We didn't see the mouse again before we left for the day. It was quite the exciting morning, as you can imagine. Shortly after I got home from work, I heard the trap engage. Kris said "I think we got it." I was scared (but hopeful) to look; I did glance over though and saw there was indeed a small mouse trying to get its head out of the trap. After a few moments of struggling, it gave up the fight. It was time to celebrate! But then there was the question of "Who's going to pick it up?" ONE of us managed to remove the trap with said mouse in it and that was that. Or so we thought...

In the back of my mind, I worried that there was more than one. I was convinced that my first sighting of the mouse was that of a small brown mouse. The one that was caught was more grayish and seemed awfully small. But I tried to tell myself I just saw it wrong the first time. Until this morning. When I woke up, a second trap has been sprung, and we caught another small gray mouse.

While I am thankful and happy that we now have two less mice in our house, I am still worried there is a mother mouse somewhere, the one that keeps moving, feeding from and then avoiding the traps. We have two traps still set (though the peanut butter is completely gone from one of them) and we'll see what happens.

At this point, I have to ask myself what kind of a mouse mother sends her children out into a war zone? A cold, deranged one. That's what I say! I think the mastermind mouse is still living under the dishwasher, probably breeding a bigger army. This does not make me happy. Not one bit! But for now, I'll just have to rejoice in the little victories, right?

Did we get the mouse?

2010-06-28T22:33:00.002-05:00

Oh yeah! We did! I can't write tonight though, so the standoff and subsequent capture will have to wait. But it's gone...

Who wants some fudge??

2010-06-27T17:50:00.003-05:00

I hate making fudge.

It is time consuming and painful.

So I just refused to make it.

Until a few years ago.

I discovered a recipe online for microwave fudge. I had my doubts. Surely you can't make fudge in the microwave. At least, not fudge that looks and tastes like fudge. Boy was I wrong!

I am not sure why more people don't make their fudge this way. I'll be honest. The consistency/texture isn't exactly like what you may be used to, but it is fudge-like and tastes great! And with as easy as it is, why WOULDN'T you make fudge this way?

I don't have a picture. Primarily because I'm too lazy to go to the fridge and take a picture!

Ready for the recipe?

1 12oz package chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Pour chocolate chips and milk into microwave-safe container. Cover and microwave for 3 minutes. Stir until smooth. Add flavor of choice, pour into square pan and cool in fridge for 2-3 hours.

Possible flavors:

Amaretto

2 tsp almond extract (you can add 1/4-1/2 cup almonds if you want)

Mint

use mint chips in place of milk/semi-sweet OR 1-2 tsp mint extract

Almond Joy

1 tsp coconut extract, 1/4 cup coconut, 1/4 cup chopped almonds

Strawberry/Orange/Cherry

2 tsp extract of choice

Walnut/Pecan

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Almond Joy is my favorite!

More on the mouse...

2010-06-26T17:43:00.004-05:00

To show you just how smart this mouse of ours is, the trap was directly in front of the dishwasher. And yet the mouse managed to pull the trap back towards the dishwasher, so that the trap could not engage!

If that wasn't enough two nights ago, LAST NIGHT the mouse decided to take the trap that was here:

And pulled it underneath the cabinet!

When I got home from work today, Kris showed me the two traps we had originally set. The mouse has managed to take all of the peanut butter off of both traps, spring one trap and bend the other one so that it could not spring. It managed to thwart our attempts!

Preparing the traps...making sure they are being set correctly...

We'll be ready tonight. It's WAR!

Smarter than a mouse

2010-06-25T09:52:00.002-05:00

If only we could be smarter than the mouse we are apparently keeping as a pet...

Kris finally got some cheap traps, the kind that crush the mouse, instead of the more humane ones that close the mouse in, since they aren't working anyway. I have no good feelings for this mouse that has caused me an extreme amount of anxiety over the last few weeks. So I'm OK with doing whatever it takes to get it out of my house. I had a dream last night that there were three of them. It's weighing on me so heavily now that I am dreaming about it!

I HATE to be scared. Just ask Kris what happens when you stand outside the bathroom door, thinking it would be funny to startle me when I open the door. He has never done THAT again! I tend to be jumpy in general, especially when I'm not in the best place mentally. So, naturally, I am extremely jumpy and on edge. I never know when the mouse is going to show itself and so my guard is constantly up. There has been a lot of screaming in my house this last week. The mouse has peeked it's tiny little head out from under my entertainment center. It has run across the baseboards in my living room. It has gone down into the hallway towards the kids' rooms. It has spent time under the China cabinet in my dining room. And it has run across the kitchen to hide under the dishwasher right in front of me. Last night I was so on edge I was thinking about the mouse and saw a shadow move across the ceiling and screamed. Poor Kris. I scared him! I had to explain to him, feeling quite foolish, that I'd seen a shadow and it scared me.

Last night we learned just how smart this mouse is. Kris set the traps with peanut butter and we put one in front of the dishwasher, where it seems to reside (underneath it) and one in another area we see the mouse hide. Kris watched one of the traps move last night. Backwards. Not sideways. Backwards. It was as if the mouse had reached out it paws, placed one on each side of the trap, and pulled it back! This left the trap to where if it sprung, it would hit the dishwasher, instead of fully engaging. Kris turned it sideways at this point in the hopes that it couldn't do that again. This morning when we woke up, the peanut butter was gone from one trap completely. Additionally, the trap that had been in front of the dishwasher was missing SOME of the peanut butter, and beyond that, IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE KITCHEN FLOOR!!! I am not exaggerating, not even a little.

So instead of US capturing the mouse, it's like the mouse is saying to us, "I'm gonna get you!" AHHH!!!! Kris thinks he may not have set the traps right. We have no idea what we're doing. We've never tried to catch mice before. The instructions for setting the traps were confusing. But either the mouse is really THAT sly, he has help from 20 other mice, or the traps are set wrong. Let's hope it's the latter!

I told Kris last night that if the mouse would just start cooking meals for us, I'd be OK with letting it live here. You know, like in Ratatouille?

A new plan

2010-06-25T08:51:00.002-05:00

I woke up this morning to the knowledge that God is good and kind. It took something as simple as my children sleeping in. Today is my day home with them. I shared a lot of my feelings with Kris last night, including some things I wasn't really able to write about here, which of course was NOT easy...I told him how I was scared to be alone with the kids. Not because I am afraid I will do anything to them, but because I am afraid of the out-of-control-I-can't-handle-this feelings that I have had lately while alone with them.

The kids are notorious for sleeping in on days that Kris is home with them and getting up by 7:30 on days I am home with them. Last night they didn't go to bed until 9pm, which usually means they will wake up incredibly cranky and it sets the tone for the whole day. I don't know why...it is just how it happens. I tend to believe that Kris makes more noise in the morning than I do and so they hear him and decide it's time to get up. But for whatever reason, even with all the factors against them, Kaleb and Abbey (our earliest risers) didn't get up until 8:30!! I still can't believe it because those two NEVER sleep past 8am. Katherine and Olivia are still asleep. We did have a minor incident a few minutes ago with Kaleb trying to wake Katherine up, but other than that, they've been pretty good. Granted, I've only been up for 30 minutes and the day is still young...

So it took a little thing like the kids sleeping in to remind me that God is looking out for me. Of course I knew He was and is, but the reminder brought me some comfort this morning.

While I'm talking about this, I have serious issues with the mindset that if you're depressed, you just aren't trusting God enough. From someone who loves the Lord AND battles depression, that's just not true! You can trust God to the very core of your being and still be depressed. I do not believe that it is as simple as "just trust God". Trusting God doesn't free everyone of depression. Maybe some, but not everyone. Because I have been at the height of my spiritual walk and still battled this. And I'll ~~curl up in a corner and cry silently~~ fight anyone who tries to tell me differently. FOR ME, there is little connection between my mental health and my relationship with God. My mental health is not an ultimate indicator of my spiritual health. Sure, when I am completely relying on God, I can "handle" things better than when I'm not. That is true with any aspect of your life. But that doesn't mean that God is going to prevent you from experiencing something. Sure he CAN. It's well within His power to do so. But sometimes He chooses to allow you go through certain things in life. Struggling with depression is no different than the person who has to live life with a missing limb or cancer. Sure the exact struggles are different but ultimately, the burden is the same. God doesn't always keep our lives nice and neat and free of pain and sorrow. I have no doubts that He COULD, but that just isn't how God works. At least, that has not been how He has worked in my life. You can't learn and grow if God makes everything easy for you.

Last night while we were talking, Kris and I came up with a new plan for working this summer. It isn't ideal (for him!) but it will be better than what we are doing now. He'll go to the office to work in the morning (7am-noon) and then at noon I will meet him down there with the kids. He will take the kids home and I will work until 8pm. We'll see each other less, but we think that this schedule will reduce some of the tension we both feel because we have to get certain things done whether the kids are around or not. Not having hours to put in during the morning hours will help me while I am home with the kids too. It will relieve the pressure I constantly feel to get all my hours in. It'll be easier on the kids because I can give them the attention they are needing. It's really a much better deal for me than for Kris, but I married a good man and he is willing to make this sacrifice for me. We just have a month and a half left before school starts, so it's not a permanent schedule. We'll see how it goes...

Friday Funnies

2010-06-25T00:01:00.001-05:00

It's been a long, crazy week. I feel like I've barely been home. I think I feel that way because I HAVE barely been home! My schedule was completely thrown off by working onsite for one of our clients on Monday and Tuesday. After work Tuesday, I went to our downtown office and worked even more. Wednesday was spent TRYING to work from home before getting out and celebrating an awesome night at WICKED (blog with pictures to come!). This morning was filled with a funeral and then work. I'm feeling drained. And to top it off, I have NOTHING for Friday Funnies. It isn't for a lack of listening either. Some weeks I guess the kids just don't give me good writing material! Or rather, FUNNY material. There is ALWAYS good writing material with those four...this week it just doesn't really fit the theme! SO...maybe one or two of you will link up and give me something to laugh about? Please? Pretty please??? :-) The link will stay open until Saturday morning so you'll have a little more time in case it is 5pm on Friday and you're just now reading this!

Rambling thoughts...

2010-06-24T22:55:00.002-05:00

I'm going to expose my heart here tonight. I'm a mess. I'm an emotional, un-medicated mess. I've really been struggling with my emotions and state of mind these last couple of weeks. There are some issues I'm struggling with that I can't even write about, because either they involve someone else or they are just too personal. Don't get me wrong...I'm not known for being IMPERSONAL on my blog. But there are just some things that even I know are inappropriate to write about in a public setting such as this.

I am in no condition to appropriately be a mother to my children. Hear me out. I've battled depression for well over 10 years now. Some years are worse than others. Sometimes it hits me hard and I'm down for the count. It's been a year and a half since my last major depression, and it was one of the worst. I went to a new doctor and got back on medication and finally things started to improve. I started feeling better and everything began to even out.

And I did good for quite a while. And like most crazy people, since I was feeling SO good, I thought for sure I could go off of my medication and have no problems at all. WRONG. It just took a while for my body to get all out of whack again.

The good thing is that I have been through this enough to recognize what is happening. I was waiting (last week), to see if I started feeling better. Instead, I feel like I am drowning. The biggest clue is how I feel completely incapable of 'handling' my children by myself for long periods of time (and by long I mean more than a couple of hours). It's even worse when I try to throw working in there too. I think it's time to call the doctor...

I know that some people will think that I shouldn't even share this much of myself here on my blog. But I need to talk about it and I'm not good with the face to face/verbal aspect of talking. And I know that I am not alone...and maybe there is someone else out there that is too afraid (or worse, ashamed) to talk about it. And if sharing my story can help someone else, even just a little bit, then it's the right thing to do.

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

2010-06-24T00:01:00.001-05:00

I've seen people participate and I've thought about participating from time to time but never quite got around to it myself. This week, however, I am taking the time to be a part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop. The 'prompt' I chose was "What summer means to your family."

This is really the perfect prompt after these last few weeks. Summer is in full swing. The kids are not going to summer school, which is a ~~nightmare~~ blessing in disguise, and Kris and I are barely able to see one another, let alone have any real conversation that isn't done over the phone with kids screaming in the background or via Google Talk while we are working.

To me, summer means chaos.

Summer means not seeing my husband.

Summer means less routine and no structure (poor parenting at its finest), which in turn leads to even more chaos in my house.

Summer means I should not have gone off of all my medication, or at the very least that perhaps I should consider going back on it until school starts again.

Summer means odd work schedules. Me working long days in the office on Monday and Thursday. Kris in the office the remaining days. On our off days, still trying to put in 8 hours from home. Or, like today, me covering for our onsite liason (in Fenton MO) for 7 hours and then driving to our downtown office and putting in another 5 hours.

Summer also means HOT. I hate hot. I hate humidity. I hate having vehicles that are old and can't stand up to the heat.

Summer ultimately means one cranky momma, who will complain at the drop of the hat (what's new?) about every little thing. It means that the tension in my neck is never-ending, making the pain almost unbearable.

Yet...

It also means that I have spent another year married to my best friend.

It means that a few days a week, if I can tear myself away from the craziness of trying to work while my kids CONSTANTLY ask me things like "When can we eat breakfast?" or "When can we have a snack?" or by 10:30am, "When can we eat lunch?" (all to which I reply "Eat whatever you want as long as you can get it for yourself!"), I could actually spend some time enjoying my kids.

It means that three days a week, I don't have to (but should) get up before 8am. The kids know to go downstairs and watch cartoons between 7-8am and let whichever parent is still home sleep, or at least lay in bed pretending they can't hear the screaming and fighting and tattling.

It means that I've had the bittersweet privilege of watching my kids grow another year older.

It means that my favorite fall weather is not far behind. Fall makes me smile. It makes me ache for heaven. Not in a morbid sense. In the sense that fall reminds me of how awesome God is. It reminds me of the beauty of God's creation and fills me with peace and hope.

Summer reminds me that if I can just survive a little while longer, school will resume, work schedules will normalize, the leaves will begin to turn and fall will soon put things back into perspective for me.

My Dirty Hair Days - Update #4

2010-06-23T13:41:00.004-05:00

This will be my fourth and final update on my experiment using baking soda & water to wash my hair, instead of shampoo. For all the old updates and the original reason for starting the experiment, go here.

This picture is to show you that for the most part, the fly-aways or frizzy parts that used to stick up all the time are at the very least a little tamer. When the humidity is bad, I think I will forever be cursed with that. But overall, there is a decrease in it. I am not sure if it is because my hair is healthier or what, but I'm telling myself that is the reason!

Overall, I have loved this experience. If I could give one tip to anyone else trying this, don't be afraid to use MORE baking soda. When I don't use the right amount, my hair feels very heavy and greasy at the back of my head. When I use the right amount, my hair feels clean and light and wonderful.

So how do I look at my 6 week experiment? About the same. But I've saved money, my hair is healthier and I feel good about what I am doing. So I am going to continue using baking soda and water and will not go back to shampoo again.

Business2Blogger

2010-06-23T10:10:00.002-05:00

I know very little about blogging, given the vast amount of information that is out there. But a blog friend of mine (Deanna at Mom's The Glue) wrote about Business2Blogger this morning and I decided to check it out. I'll admit I am feeling a bit intimidated by the whole thing, but it seems like a possible way to get involved in reviewing products and hosting giveaways. I see my blog friends all around me getting to test out great products and then write about them, and I think "Hey, I do that for free. No one gives me the products and I don't have them to give away, but if I like (or hate) something, you're gonna know about it!" So, the more I think about it, the more I think this type of opportunity would be a good fit for me. Realistically, I am going to try something and write about it, whether it's given to me or not. I'm a passionate person and writing is my outlet.

I was trying to put the button on my blog, but because I am using a pre-made template, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to add the button into the HTML. I started getting frustrated and just decided to start out by writing a blog post about Business2Blogger and later, with the help of my husband, I will add the button to the blog itself.

I really wish I could just wake up one day 'speaking' HTML. To just know that language would be great. To be able to open up the code and look at it and not be completely confused by the jumble of letters and symbols. But that is not going to happen, so I'll have to learn the hard way, like everyone else!

But that is beside the point!

I'm going to try out Business2Blogger, see what happens and will report back to you!

Wish I could take the day off

2010-06-23T08:41:00.002-05:00

I am home today, after working out of the home the last two days. I only put in about 7.5 hours Monday, but then I worked a good 12.5 hours yesterday. I was trying to work extra and get myself caught up and actually ahead so that I could take the day off today. Not going to happen though. I left the office still behind, thus I need to put in some hours today, instead of just playing with my kids, going to the library and grocery store, making Cool Ivy lotion for my winners and writing. Though I will most likely manage to squeeze all of that in before I begin dolling myself up for my night out on the town with the husband to see Wicked! It's going to be a busy day. Fortunately, because I've already worked 20 hours this week, I only NEED to work for four hours today.

Kris and I are going to a funeral in the morning. A dear man who battled brain cancer for I believe 17 years went home to be with the Lord on Father's Day. An amazing man of God and example of all things good and kind. I know the funeral will be a celebration of his life and legacy and while it is a sad, sad time for the family, it is also a time of rejoicing and I am thankful that Kris and I get to be a part of it and had the privilege of knowing this man and his family.

I'm worried about Friday Funnies. I've got nothing so far. Well, that's not true. I have one very short moment to write about so far. So unless the kids do funny, crazy things today, I'm afraid I won't have much. But I'll still write what I have and hopefully some of you out there will be able to join in. Maybe I should invite a couple other bloggers to co-host with me. What do you think? Anyone interested in co-hosting Friday Funnies with me? I'm new to a lot of this stuff and maybe that is what I need to do? Suggestions? Comments? Volunteers? Fire away!

It's almost here...

2010-06-22T23:40:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow night...

Wednesday, June 23, 2010...

We are going to...

The Fabulous Fox Theatre

to see...

I.AM.EXCITED.

ECSTATIC.

THRILLED.

WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE!

I have been waiting for this show to return to St. Louis. Knowing next to nothing about it in 2007, I quickly found out what all the fuss was about. The music is incredible. Incredible isn't even strong enough to describe it. The story entertaining and fulfilling. I read the book Wicked, so I could see what the musical was based on. And as soon as we were able to pre-order our tickets, we did. We are DEAD CENTER, Mezzinine.

It is going to be an incredible night!

Way Back Wednesday

2010-06-22T22:13:00.005-05:00

I've mentioned before that I made a local blog friend here in St. Louis (Melissa @ The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom). She, along with a couple other great bloggers are starting a little meme called Way Back Wednesday. You can get more details here, but the gist is taking a trip down memory lane. I've been married for over a decade now (11 years-~~HOLY COW HOW DID HE NOT KILL ME BY NOW???-~~) and so it is really fun to reminisce! The topic this week is "What are your favorite memories from your wedding?" Seeing as how my 11th anniversary has just been celebrated, I thought I would join in and share some of my unique, funny memories. And let me just say that some are extremely unique. Such as the backyard barbecue reception we had. Literally. In my backyard! It was EXACTLY what I wanted!!

Complete with burgers, hot dogs, and Mom's Swedish Meatballs!

My dad built a gazebo shortly before the wedding out behind the house I grew up in and it was just gorgeous! Check it out! Dance floor and benches, under the shade of the trees, surrounded by beautiful flowers.

People tell me to this day that my wedding reception was one of the funnest ones they have ever been too!

Dancing with my dad...to Butterfly Kisses...

Then having the pleasure of dancing with my Pappaw, who went to be with the Lord just over a year later. I will forever cherish this picture!

And what would a big event in my life be without a somewhat odd, amusing story? Here is the picture to set the stage:

You like my Men In Black limo driver? Well, he's not the crux of this story, but he did play an integral role.

Kris and I were in the limo on the way to our overnight destination when we realized that one of our friends had left to head back to St. Louis, with all of Kris' essentials in his car (we were in my hometown in Indiana for the wedding). Shoes, deodorant, toothbrush, etc...and we weren't going to have a car until the next day, so obtaining these items was going to be problematic. The limo driver overhead us talking and told us he could swing by Walmart if we wanted. Did we WANT to? Not really. Were we willing to be the crazy people who did it? Of course!

The limo pulls up outside one of the only stores in town to supply our grooming needs. Our choices in this semi-small town were Walmart and Kmart. I'm not even sure if Kmart was still open at that time of night. We get out and we proceed to go about our business, fully decked out in wedding attire (minus my veil). Shortly after walking in, I heard a little girl say "Mommy look at that girl!"

As we were checking out, the young kid at the cash register said "Did you just go to prom?" I said "Um...no...we just got married." How do I look like I went to prom? Who wears a wedding dress to prom?? It was funny anyway. We got back in the limo and were driven to our destination. And now, almost every year on our anniversary we go to Walmart, in whatever town we happen to be in. It's kind of our thing. It's just what we do. Some years we wind up taking 2-3 trips to Walmart! Very classy...

Second lotion winner!

2010-06-21T21:37:00.002-05:00

Well ladies, all 5 of you, your chances were REALLY great, but unfortunately only one of you gets to win the lotion. Ready to see who it was?

Sippy Cup Mom said...

Cool Ivy!!! :-) That is so cool!

Congratulations Melissa! I'll be in touch so we can make arrangements to get you your lotion.

Mice and fire

2010-06-20T18:49:00.004-05:00

Both of the above words caused me quite a bit of anxiety yesterday. Our bedroom is in an addition in our house; therefore, it does not have central air/heat. Is that what it is called? I don't know much about the technical terminology here. I just know that we have a space heater in the winter, and a window A/C unit for the summer. The space heater works great. My mother-in-law was kind enough to give it to us. It heats the room extremely well...too much at times, which is great because that means we won't overheat it during the winter months, like we have with space heaters in the past.

The air conditioner is a different story. During the hottest summer days, it barely cools the room down. The room remains humid and smells musty all summer. But it is better than nothing. So I am thankful for it, though I ~~am never content~~ wouldn't mind a better window unit. We've had it for years and it was well-used before we took possession of it. So I am convinced that if we had a better, newer model that our room would stay pleasant and we could actually keep the door open. Currently though, it cools the room better and keeps our central A/C from kicking on too much if we leave the door shut. Which is just as well since our bedroom is a ~~an embarrassing disaster area that I am absolutely ashamed of, yet unwilling to do anything about~~ catch-all for pretty much everything that doesn't have a home.

ANYWAY...

Last night while we had friends over playing bridge, I started smelling something. Burning. Something was just not quite right. It seemed to be coming from the kitchen. Of course, I remained rooted to my spot, envisioning Kris opening up the bedroom door (that is off the kitchen) and flames being everywhere, however unrealistic that might have been. It wasn't nearly that bad, but there was smoke throughout the room. The wiring or something went wrong behind the outlet the A/C was plugged into and melted the faceplate and a plug cover that was in it. Who knows what else would have happened if we hadn't been home! I am so thankful we were there and awake and able to deal with it. Kris and one of our friends went to Walgreens to get a surge protector and/or something else to hopefully keep it from happening again.

The mouse we've been housing for a week or so made another appearance last night. It was hiding out underneath the dishwasher and kept peeking its head, looking at me. Testing me. Taunting me. Of course it creeped me out. I didn't scream so much. I'm pretty sure I freaked out a little bit though and got some laughs out of my friends and husband (i.e. I'm pretty sure they were making fun of me!) I'm a little hazy on the details. ;-) I hate that stupid mouse.

As I was writing this, a neighbor came over and said "Did you know your grill was on fire like that?" I asked in shock "It is?" Sure enough, when I went out there, having just preheated it to grill some pork steaks, it really was on fire. Not just on the inside either. The cover and handle are scorched. I turned the grill off but couldn't get close enough to turn the gas tank off yet. I couldn't lift the handle either (too hot) so it's still smoldering on the inside. My overactive imagination is now playing out scenarios where it explodes.

Granted, the house burning down would (hopefully) ensure that the mouse problem is solved. But I'm pretty sure I'd rather keep the mouse for a pet than go through that! A little later I decided to cook a pizza and also some toffee. I couldn't help but think "I wonder if one of these appliances will catch fire." They didn't. Today anyway...

For the dads in my life...

2010-06-20T17:50:00.006-05:00

Mama M. is having a little contest to celebrate all the wonderful Father's out there. I was planning to write this post anyway, but decided I would link up and enter the contest while I was at it.

First and foremost, to my Dad. I am so thankful that God allowed me to be your child. I have so many good memories, but overall as I watch Abbey and Livvy twirl throughout the house in "pretty dresses" expressing their need to be princesses, I am grateful that you always made me feel like a princess. It's important to a little girl and I love you!!

To my husband and the father of my children:

I have so much to say I am not even sure where to begin. There are so many qualities you possess that make you an amazing father. It is not enough to just write a blog post to express how blessed I have been these last 9 1/2 years, exploring parenthood with you.

My favorite memory of you as you became a father for the first time was the look on your face as you gazed upon Katherine's tiny little form. Tears brimming in your eyes you looked from her to me and just kept repeating "She's so beautiful!" I cherish that memory! With each new birth, your absolute joy and amazement was incredible to witness and something I will never forget.

As the children grew, you remained passionate about being involved in their lives. Holding them, hugging them, kissing them, playing games with them, giving them complex algebra problems, and exasperating them as all men are naturally prone to do. YOU are a present father. A constant in their lives. A place of strength and comfort and safety. Though they don't see it now, when they have their own children, I know that they will look back and be amazed at your dedication, commitment and love. And they will realize how truly blessed they were. Our girls will look for men who will embody all the qualities you possess. Our son will grow up to be a loving and kind man, who adores his children. Because of your example.

You are no less passionate now about fatherhood than you were almost 10 years again when this journey began. The depth of your love for your children (and me!) is the greatest example of God's own love that I have ever witnessed. I count myself blessed that you have shown me firsthand what it means to be loved unconditionally, and that you extend this same love to our children.

You amaze me every day and if you don't already know it, your children adore you. You love them without abandon and it is one of the greatest gifts you could give them. Never, EVER underestimate your value or the impact you have in their lives. I pray that our girls will one day choose to love a man like you; one who will cherish them, build them up and love them unconditionally, through the good times and the bad. I pray that our son learns how to love his future wife (and some day children) as you have loved all of us.

We are blessed beyond measure, having you in our lives. I do not tell you that nearly enough. I hope that you know how deeply we all love you and appreciate everything that you do for us. It is because of you and your love for us that we can even begin to understand how deeply God loves us.

From the bottom of my heart, I love you.

I almost forgot...in honor of Father's Day, here is our very own "Godly singer" Abigail singing about her name, which means "Father's Joy".

Thanksgiving in June

2010-06-19T16:50:00.001-05:00

I love turkey. Kris loves turkey. We'd have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner once a week if it was feasible (and I had the energy to make it all!). Plus leftover turkey is always great (unless is goes bad). Tonight we are having turkey. I found one on sale a month or so ago and finally decided to thaw it out. Turkey is also fairly painless to make; it takes time yes. But little effort really. I just put some salt, pepper and Lawry's salt on it, put it in the roaster oven and let it cook. That way, my oven is free to make the other delicious sides that go so great with turkey.

I'm planning to make homemade mashed potatoes, frozen corn, and homemade gravy to go with it. I've also tried two new recipes, both of which are mostly yeast-free. The bread is gluten-free and isn't bad. I'm not sure how it will taste as just a stand alone bread. I can see how it would be good with gravy or toasted with butter though. The recipe is at Elana's Pantry, where I get most of my tasty gluten-free recipes. My pictures aren't the best. They're aren't ever, but they are worse today because I seem to have misplaced my digital camera and had to take pictures on my phone.

Next up, Weight Watchers Strawberry Pie. This recipe was posted recently on Mom's The Glue and seemed like a perfect additional to our fairly healthy summertime Thanksgiving dinner.

Another chance for lotion...

2010-06-19T16:36:00.002-05:00

So, my 100th follower never did get back with me and I wasn't quite sure how to handle the lotion giveaway for that particular person. After some thought, I decided we'll just have another giveaway drawing for the second 'batch' of lotion. All you have to do to enter is comment on this blog. No extra entries. Just comment and I'll virtually draw a winner on Monday, June 21. You can still take your pick between Cool Ivy or Lavender Woods. Tell me in the comments which kind you want and make sure you leave your email address. And Katie (the winner of the lotion giveaway originally), I haven't forgotten about you and hope to get your lotion out to you this week! I was having issues 'packaging' it and now I just need to find a safe way to get it to you, since the best way to package it turned out to be an 8oz. jar. Also, if you get this lotion, I have learned by trial and error that you should get it out of the jar with a clean spoon or clean hands. If you dip dirty fingers into it, it will grow mold. And it's kinda gross. So, there's a tip when dealing with homemade lotion! Open to U.S. only.

More awards? For me?!?

2010-06-18T13:28:00.010-05:00

When I first began dipping my toes into the blogging world back in February, I never imagined it would become to me what it has. I had 32 'readers' at the time I participated in the Ultimate Blog Party 2010. I had no idea what to expect, and was really clueless to all the great bloggers out there. You know how when there is an accident everyone slows down and wants to see what is going on? We have this desire within us for knowledge. For more. I feel that way reading other people's blogs. Some blogs I subscribe to for the great giveaways or coupons/deals, but some of them, listed as "Blogs I Love" in my Google reader, are like those accident scenes for me. I can't help but slow down and try to take in as much as I can. There is something so satisfying about it. I can know absolutely nothing about the person behind the blog, but when they write, I am drawn in and want to know more. I want to see how the story is going to end. I want to get to know the person behind the blog.

I am truly humbled that there are even one or two people that understand what I am talking about and feel the same way about my own little blog. I never imagined my blog would grow and become what it is today. I am constantly amazed at the relationships I've built and friends I have made through this blog. This whole process has been one of enjoyment and true fulfillment and I can't help but take some time to acknowledge that from time to time. Every time I get a new award, I am in awe. That someone reads my blog and thinks "Man I like this girl" or "I love the way she writes" is one of the greatest compliments I have received. I am humbled that any of you reading this may want to know more as you pass by this accident scene that is my blog and life.

That being said, I was given two awards recently. Technically three, but one was a duplicate but who's counting? ~~(Me!)~~ Two bloggers I love chose to award me and I am humbled and blessed that they think anything of me and this blog of mine.

The first one was given to me by Kelly at Between The Lines AND Melissa (I just learned her real name yesterday!) at The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom. Thank you ladies for your generosity and faithfully slowing down traffic to look at my accident called life! ;-)

1. Thank whoever gave you the award.

2. Tell 7 things about yourself that readers may not know.
3. Pay it forward by nominating 15 bloggers you've recently discovered.

The next award is actually one I've never seen or heard of but this one was also given to me by Kelly (see above).

1. Thank the person who gave you this award.

2. Share 10 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award along to 10 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic!

4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

I'm a rebel so I'm going against the rules. Really, that's not the reason but I'm going to do what Kelly did and combine the rules a bit and award anywhere between 1-10 people. I won't know until I'm done! Before I pass on the awards, here are some random facts about me (I'll try not to repeat any I may have already told you):

*I'm going to see Wicked next week!!! I am SO SO SO excited about this and have been looking forward to it since I missed the chance back in 2007.

*I don't think that I will ever truly learn how to accept a compliment. Instead of saying "Yeah right" (most of the time) though I have learned to smile and say "thank you" even if I don't believe that someone could actually think something good about me. Unless it's about my cooking. I LOVE hearing one of my kids say "Mommy your food is the best!" and I do believe it! This gives me immeasurable amounts of joy.

*I am left-handed and turn my paper completely sideways to write (what's paper?), and the opposite direction that MOST lefties turn theirs.

*Because there is a mouse in my house (yeah, I'm a regular Dr. Seuss), the other day my scrunchy fell out of my hair and landed softly on my neck unexpectedly. I screamed, convinced the mouse had just run across the back on my neck even though it was completely unrealistic. TRUE STORY!

*I hate cats. I'm sorry. I just do. I see one and get angry. It's irrational, but true nonetheless.

*I love the word "nonetheless".

*I'm a GLEEK (but you already knew this). I just felt like it was worth reiterating.

*I like the word "reiterating" too.

*I am attracted to bald men. Specifically bald celebrities:

Michael Jordan

Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller

Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break gave me a LOT to ogle!)

Sinead O'Connor (JUST KIDDING!!!)

Yul Brenner in The King & I (NOT KIDDING!!!)

Arnold Vosloo

Ok, enough of that! On to who gets the awards! My nominees would be:

Melissa at The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom. Melissa, you can just use the second award if you want so you don't have to come up with another 10 people or so to nominate. Or you can nominate more Beautiful Bloggers. Your choice!

Emmy's Boo's and Rawr's

Thrifty Wifey

The Life of Ann James

The Motherhood Umbrella

Start Dreaming

ShowMeMama

Friday Funnies

2010-06-18T00:01:00.017-05:00

WRITE YOUR STORIES, LINK UP BELOW AND JOIN IN. OR, JUST ENJOY MY KIDS. :-)

I heard Abbey singing the following song this week:

"It's my talent to sing. It's my talent to sing. My talent will always be to sing."

We were getting ready to go to my parents' house for the weekend and the kids were helping me get their clothes together to pack. Livvy was getting excited about leaving and exclaimed:

"Daddy will be surprised we're gone!"

I had to explain to her that Daddy was coming with us and we couldn't leave until he got home. Her response?

"Oh."

Katherine hears all of this, laughs and like her mother says "Livvy's hilarious!"

The kids were having a lively discussion about ice cream and ice cream toppings and at the end of the conversation, proving how much she listens to every word her parents say, Livvy said "Nice, Kaleb!" I say that all the time in response to things. It's much more amusing from the lips of a four year old!

I think I've mentioned before that Livvy is a chatter box. She even talks in her sleep. Seriously! So we're in the van and she is bored and whining (what's new?) Then she said "You know what will make me stop talking?" "No Livvy. What?" "Playing on your phone." Later, after seeing a picture of herself from a couple years ago she said, "I talk a lot when I have short hair but when I have long hair I don't." As if THAT is why she talks incessantly!

While at my parents' house this week, Abbey was excited to tell me that she used the grown up toothpaste, instead of the kid toothpaste. She made me smell her breath and then told me "The toothpaste says sparkling white, but it was really sparkling pink." I knew what she had meant. The toothpaste must have promised to make your TEETH sparkling white, but the color was pink, and Abbey couldn't really have known this. I couldn't help but laugh when I went upstairs a while later and saw the toothpaste on the sink.

Abbey was getting dressed Sunday morning and excited to show Mammaw her new "pretty dress". I think Kris told her she was beautiful and she said she should write a song called "Beautiful Just Like You" then she told Kris that she would sing "beautiful" and then he would say "just like you!"

Livvy was talking to me and being silly and I'll be honest. I tuned her out. I have NO idea what she was saying. She was yelling and going on and on about some picture she had drawn. And I just heard all this "noise" and started laughing. And she said, "What??? [pause] Are you going to make that a Friday Funny??"

I'm going to start a little installment within Friday Funnies here called "Godly songs with Abbey". Abbey talks all the time about how she wants to be a Godly singer when she grows up and she has been singing more and more songs lately. I am going to try to video at least one of them each week to put on here. In the midst of chaos and craziness while trying to work from home I heard Abbey singing a song in her room-and while it isn't "funny" so much, it's just too precious not to include on here. Here is what I heard her singing:

"Oh thank you, thank you to the Lord. It will be a pleasure to know the Lord. You just have to say thank you and then God will still love you. When you don't think anybody loves you, he's the one person that always will. I say thank you. You say thank you. This is the life of the Lord."

In this video, Abbey is singing about her talent. It seems fitting to end with this song, since earlier in the week, as I mentioned above, I heard her singing about her talent always being to sing.

And last but not least, when I got home from work I found a sign. A poster, if you will. I'll preface it by saying that yesterday Kaleb was begging me to buy paper towel because he wanted to start his own cleaning business. He found the Windex and decided cleaning windows and doors was the way to go. He wanted Katherine to go into business with him, but she wanted to do a craft business. Apparently today Kat gave in because here is what I saw when I got home. Check out their logo! I LOVE MY KIDS!!!

Our Motto: When you make a mess we clean it our best!

Kris said that if he had money he would pay them sheerly based on their creativity. Those kids are awesome. Really. I am so proud!

Can it be? Are the Smurfs REALLY coming back?

2010-06-17T10:19:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine posted a link on Facebook today (thanks Chris!). After my previous Smurfs post, I couldn't help but share. And when it comes out, I suggest that all of us pick the same day to go see this and then come back and talk about it! :-) Gleeks will be thrilled to know that Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays (Emma) amongs many others will be in it! Who else is smurfing excited???

Texas Sheet Cake

2010-06-15T18:53:00.003-05:00

When I am down, I cook. Rather, I bake. Unless I am really in a depressed funk...then I don't do ANYTHING. I am also prone to bouts of sporadic baking when my kitchen is clean. So in addition to the cheeseburgers I grilled for dinner, I decided to go ahead and make a dessert too. I also took some frozen corn and heated it up, then put some butter and cream cheese in it. YUM! I THOUGHT about making a gluten/sugar-free dessert but quickly threw that idea aside. I opted for the rich, delicious Texas Sheet Cake, also known in my family as Chocolate Brownie Cake. And I thought I would share the recipe with you guys. Forgive the messy spatula! I forgot to take a picture before my family tore into the still warm cake and it was half gone before I remembered to get a shot of it. That's one of the great things about this cake...you can eat it while it's still warm!

Chocolate Brownie Cake

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 sticks butter

1 cup water

3 Tbsp cocoa

3 eggs (beaten)

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour with sugar, salt and baking soda. In saucepan bring butter, water and cocoa to boil. Pour over flour and sugar mixture and mix well. In another bowl, beat eggs, milk and vanilla. Add to other mixture. Bake in greased and floured cookie sheet/bar pan at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Start icing last 5 minutes cake is baking.

Icing

1 stick butter

3 Tbsp cocoa

6 Tbsp milk

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c pecans

Mix butter, cocoa, and milk in pan over low heat. Don't boil. Remove from heat. Add sugar, nuts, vanilla and mix well. Frost cake as soon as it comes out from the oven. Makes 24 large services or 48 party size squares.

La la la la la la, sing a happy song. La la la la la la, smurf your whole day long

2010-06-15T16:10:00.004-05:00

That's right my friends. We're going to talk about The Smurfs.

I'm 31 years old and so when I was growing up, The Smurfs was THE show. OK, it wasn't the ONLY show, but it was a smurfing good show! I don't remember many details about the show itself...I mean, as far as dialog is concerned. I remember Gargamel and his cat. I remember Papa Smurf and Smurfette. I don't think that the biggest reason I remember Grouchy Smurf is because I too am grouchy. That cannot be it!

But what I remember most is loving that show. Last week at the library one my kids (I have so many I can't remember which one) picked out Season 1 of The Smurfs. As a mother and faithful Smurf lover (not in a weird creepy way either), it made my heart happy!

Boy was I surprised when I started listening to The Smurfs while the kids were watching. Thankfully I didn't have to shield little ears from some of the words we heard on E.T. and The Goonies that shocked me when we re-watched those with the kids! However, what I did hear surprised me. And made me laugh. I never realized how many words they substituted with SMURF or a form of it. Nouns, verbs, adjectives...nothing is safe! For instance:

Hefty Smurf: See a grandfather anywhere, Brainy?

Brainy Smurf: Absosmurfly not, Hefty.

Or how about these?

After Smurfette's pet dies, Papa Smurf says "Let us have a smurf of silence for our dearly departed friend."

Other conversations I overheard:

"Are you sure you know what you're smurfing?"

"At last, I finally smurfed my error!"

"Hooray I'm not a dog anymore! Thank Smurfness!"

What was the most interesting to me was the fact that I actually understood what they were trying to say. Even though every other word was "smurf" or "smurfing" or "smurfy", I was able to EASILY follow the conversation!

I'm probably the only one amused by this. So much so that I decided that I would bring "Smufy" back. Not really...but since my husband isn't too fond of swear words (NOT that I am known for swearing), I told him that I was going to just start inserting "smurf" or another appropriate form of the word whenever I had an urge to say something that he didn't approve of. We've had quite a few laughs lately. He was freaking out about something (I don't even remember what and I exaggerate when I say freaking out) and I told him to "Calm the SMURF down!"

Find The Smurfs on YouTube or at your local library and see if I am exaggerating. I'm not. They seriously over-use that word!

Oh and while I was home over the weekend, Katherine found our old Smurf figurines in the play closet. I took a few pictures of the ones we could find.

Does anyone else still have any of these figurines?

I need to be in the office

2010-06-15T12:52:00.004-05:00

Or find a babysitter. A free one.

I have gone from not liking working from home to hating it. It's official. That didn't take long! They've barely been out of school three weeks. *sigh*

It doesn't help that I was having an emotional day yesterday. AND I WORKED AT THE OFFICE!!! I was just a mess when I got home last night and my awesome husband knows that when I come home that way, the best fix is Chinese. So that's what we had for dinner. I love him for knowing me and loving me and not saying "Are you sure you want to do that? It's not Weight Watcher friendly and we really don't have the money for it." I have a good man...

I had thought (hoped) that when I woke up today I would feel less emotional. It's not really hormonal either (in terms of "girl stuff"), so I am perplexed. Though now that I sit here thinking about it, I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. I've been off of my anti-depressant for over a month now. Yeah...that might explain it. That's so frustrating. I was feeling so good being off of ALL medication. I don't have anything against medicine, especially anti-depressants. I do believe that some people need them and that they are incredibly beneficial. They have been for me for so many years. I had just hoped that I could finally be off of them and not experience what I am experiencing now, feeling despondent and alone. I'm going to give it a couple more days and see if anything changes before I call the doctor.

I was so frustrated with the kids today. Before I even got out of bed, before 8am even, Kaleb was already having an attitude and being disrespectful to me. Oh, I'm such a horrible mother for not letting him play the Wii before 10am. I wonder what Super Nanny would think! There was fighting, whining, screaming, crying...all before 10:30am--yes I'm talking about the KIDS, not just me! And between 8:30 and 10:30, I attempted to work. It didn't go well, so at 10:30 I took a break and finally got around to cleaning/organizing my kitchen and dining room. It needed to be done and having it in order will help me cook dinner at night, which in turn will keep us from spending money we don't have on food that we don't need.

I had just finished washing the kitchen floor when Abbey tracked some dirty paper onto it. That's when I lost it and the monster appeared. That monster that starts yelling and crying at the same time out of frustration. "I can't get anything done. I try to work and you fight and whine and I have to referee it. I try to clean and you just track stuff all over the place and make bigger messes as soon as I get anything done." Kat and Kaleb just stared at me. Abbey went downstairs, untouched by my outburst. Livvy was in her own world screaming (not in pain or anger or anything) downstairs.

My poor Little Bishops...

HTC Hero

2010-06-13T22:09:00.000-05:00

I told you it was coming. This blog post is a review of the HTC Hero. Unlike the winners of the HTC Evo (I'm still jealous), I had to buy my own phone. Don't get me started...it still makes me sad that I didn't win. But only a little. Because the Hero is a very cool phone. Android is absolutely amazing. I don' t know much about phones and operating systems and all the technical stuff, but I do know that Android is probably one of the best things out there, as far as cell phones are concerned. Combine that with some of the cool features HTC has developed in their phones and you have got one pretty sweet phone. So far, the FREE apps I have found in the Android Market are great; so great that I haven't even really had to think twice about searching through the paid apps (not that SOMEONE would let me pay anyway...) Yet. I take that back; I did pay for one app, which I will talk about in a minute. But it was only 99 cents and I was given permission. ;-)

As a warning, I am totally going to geek out in this post. If you are in the market for a cell phone, this particular post is a MUST READ! And if you don't go for the HTC Hero, a phone that sports Android as the operating system is a MUST HAVE. I am now convinced of that. Kris is beyond ready to get his own Android phone after seeing mine! In fact, he's actually watching YouTube videos right now comparing the HTC Hero to the Samsung Moment.

So after our torturous hike last weekend, I told Kris if we got to the top of Cove Mountain and there was NOTHING to see, he had to go and buy me the Evo. When we actually got to the top of the mountain and there was nothing to see, I knew we didn't have the money for the Evo he rightfully owed me. But I still kept teasing Kris about it. He's a good sport and he wants me to be happy. So he worked out a compromise. He reminded me of the Hero and how much I had wanted it back when I first learned of it. A compromise was quickly reached and that same night, he bought me the step down from the Evo. I have been in love ever since. Whether I am talking about Kris or the phone is debatable! Open to interpretation...

Now, let's talk about apps! I'm not even sure where to begin...

I guess I'll start with my favorite and the most practical for me. It's the WWDiary. It's a tool for people who utilize the tools given in Weight Watchers. I LOVE this app. It is everything I could want/hope for in an app!! It's basically like being on the WW website, only it's on the phone and it is right there with you, wherever you are.

See the little bar code on the right? If you have the bar code scanner app (which I do and will discuss momentarily), you can actually scan foods and it will automatically input the name of said item into the diary. It won't automatically input the calories, fat and fiber, but it's easy enough to add it manually.

Next, you've got your food journal. The top shows you how many daily points you have left. The left side shows your activity points. The right corner shows you your weekly points (WW calls them flex points). Once you have added an item, it saves it so if you have that same item again and start to type it in, a drop down menu will appear and you can just select it.

Here are two more screen shots. There is a points calculator, a place to track your activity, and a way to track your weight (which I am not posting a picture of!).

Next up, let's talk about Scrabble. To my knowledge, the iPhone is the only phone you can use the Facebook Scrabble app on. That makes me mad and makes me hate the iPhone even more. ;-) I love Scrabble. I'm addicted. And I don't like that I can't play it on my phone. But I succumbed, needing some way to get my fix. I paid 99 cents for an app called WordWise. It's not nearly as great as the Words With Friends for iPhone (or iPad, I found out recently) but it is sufficient until Hasboro gets their act together and decides to offer Scrabble to the rest of the mobile world. Of the handful of things I am passionate about, Scrabble IS one of them! Now, if I could just find a good BRIDGE app for my phone...I'll have to put Kris to work on that one.

HTC is all about "scenes" from what Kris has told me. I have 7 different "pages" (6 plus your home screen) that I can put things on rather than just looking at all my applications in a big long list. There are widgets and other things you can put on these different pages. Highly customizable. So, I found a ton of free games that my kids can play and of course, I have a special "page" just for my kids. And let me just say that my kids LOVE this phone! They are always asking if they can play on it. It's so ~~annoying~~ cute!

And while I am talking about games, I need to share this with you (primarily SippyCupMom and anyone else who owns an iPhone!). This game is completely useless, mindless and not really all that fun, though it is addicting. I just like the level where you can throw an iPhone in the trash!

The next two apps are things that I would not want to live without on any phone. The first is the ability to tether my phone to my laptop. It's taken a week of searching but we finally found a way to tether my phone! That means that now, as before on my Instinct, when we are travelling I can connect to my phone's internet and blog while Kris drives! :-) Really, it's just great for any time you are somewhere that does not have internet. Places are becoming more and more stingy with free wi-fi and so having the ability within my phone is a MUST. I was SO excited to find this app in the Android Market and could not believe how simple it was. The picture may not mean much to some...but it does to me! I tested it out earlier, so it does work!

This app is one that I could do without if I had to. I did without it on my Instinct and just had Kris buy me a cheap MP3 player. Most of you who have followed me for a while know that I love listening to books through Audible.com. Their player is supported on a number of phones, but isn't yet supported on the iPhone or Android phones. Until now. There is actually a Beta version for Android! I'm testing it out and so far so good! I'm thrilled about this app. They have already said on their website that they were expecting to release Audible for Android summer 2010, so the full version IS coming soon, but today for the first time I stumbled upon the Beta version.

Oh and I couldn't figure out how to download it from the website at first. It was Kris who looked at it and told me that I could use the bar code scanner app that I had:

See it in the top right? It uses the phone's camera and looks like this before you scan something:

Kris told me that if I pulled that program up I would simply need to scan the code box on the computer screen. It looked like this:

See that black and white box? Yeah...I just scanned it and that was all it took. It started downloading to my phone! How cool is that?!? So now I have the ability to listen to my audio books on my phone again-a luxury I have done without for almost 2 years now. Sure my MP3 player is nice and small and I really like it, but if I can do everything through my phone, why not just use the one device?

I also love having such easy access to my Google calendar. That was a big complaint on my Instinct...I had to get on the web to view and use my Google calendar. There just wasn't an easy way to utilize all the things I love about Google Calendar. But that is not an issue at all with the HTC Hero. It has a fully functional Google Calendar app, as well as a widget for the calendar too that you can put on one of your pages.

OK...I think I have highlighted MOST of what I wanted to regarding the awesomeness of my new phone! Plus it's almost midnight and I have to go to the office tomorrow, so no sleeping in for me...

A future in sales

2010-06-12T22:26:00.003-05:00

My son is 8. He is possibly the greatest ~~conman~~ sales person I have ever seen. He can coerce his sisters into giving him large sums of money for the stupidest reasons. And somehow they are convinced that his reasoning is perfectly logical!

At our family reunion every year there is an auction. This auction is a way to pay for the following year's reunion though ~~my money-conscious husband~~ someone I love VERY much doesn't seem to quite feel as generous towards this cause as I do. But that's another blog post entirely, one which I will NEVER ever write! ;-)

People always bring silly little things to sell at the auction and it's really fun, especially for the kids. The bidding is outrageous at times (like $42 for a t-shirt) but overall it's just a fun way to ensure that the money is there for future reunions. We gave the kids each a $2 limit. We only had $17 in cash and that was it. Kris eventually upped the amount to $4, and later on when Livvy had wandered off to the playground, we told the kids they could split her money and spend up to $5. Kaleb spotted a treasure he had to have. It was a narrow-mouthed jar, with real money in it. If Kaleb can make money, he will. It doesn't matter where or how...he WILL find a way to make money. So this small jar was right up his alley. I gave him an extra $1 and he was able to purchase his treasure for $6. He was ecstatic. Immediately, he started trying to get the money out of his jar. He kept sticking his finger in there trying to coax the money out. It wouldn't surprise me if he had sat there cooing at it and the money just fall right out. It didn't happen THAT easy for him but within about 5 minutes, he managed to get the first dollar out. He kept going and I was able to snap a couple of pictures before he managed to get all SIX dollars out of there. He was SO excited! He came running up to me saying "I got a free jar!" Do you see it? He paid $6 for it, found $6 in it, and wound up with a free jar to boot!

Once we got home from the reunion, after much hard playing outside, a storm began. It was a BIG storm too. The wind was gusting 120 mph (I'm sure I've exaggerated that number), and the rain was pouring down. Thunder and lightning were not far behind. It's still raging now, though not quite as hard. I'm sure a lot of you have seen the movie Twister. Remember that one lady's house that has all the wind chimes? And there are at least 2 scenes where you see complete calm and hear just the wind chimes, before the tornado touches down. You know...that whole calm before the storm thing?

Well, my mom has wind chimes. A lot of them. And they always make me think of that movie. Tonight more so than ever before! So I stepped out on the deck/porch and shot a short video. This was totally a Twister moment. I felt like a storm chaser...braving the horrible conditions to get the best pictures and video, with no regard for the danger that is out there. Granted, the threat to my life was minimal. The video is sub-par. Overall, I am NOTHING like a storm chaser but a girl can dream can't she?

I haven't forgotten

2010-06-11T14:49:00.002-05:00

I know it's been a while since I posted a "My Dirty Hair Days" update. It isn't because I gave in and started using 'real' shampoo and conditioner again. I just haven't had time. I am sitting here now with freshly washed (with baking soda/water) and conditioned (with water/vinegar) hair and once I dry it I will take some pictures and try to get a post up. I have now concluded my 6 week experiment-it officially ended on the 8th of June. It has been a great experience and while I haven't seen a dramatic improvement (like night and day type), the little things are enough, coupled with the money I'll save on shampoo and conditioner; I will continue this means of caring for my hair. I'd like to get to a point where my kids are using this method too...but right now it's just easier to use the store-bought shampoo and conditioner with them.

On another note, for the gazillionth time I have switched back to Weight Watchers. In the fall I lost 20 lbs. when I was diagnosed with Candida. I completely changed the way I eat and live and had never felt better. And then I just fell off the wagon. Actually, I'm pretty sure I jumped off of it! I'd get back on, for a few days here and there, but overall my cheating caused me to find half of those pounds again. So, with my new HTC Hero and the help of a FREE app that essentially has all the Weight Watcher tools right there at my fingertips, I have started WW again. I sound like an infomercial or something. So, here's to hoping that I can make this last and finally get the weight back off. I'm so fickle though. I don't have a lot of confidence in myself and my ability to be self-controlled and disciplined for a long period of time. That's not just based in low self-esteem (though I'm not denying that I struggle with that!). It's based on past experience and what I always do. It seems next to impossible to break that viscous cycle. And yes, I know that it is primarily from trying to do it on my own instead of trusting God. Another area I struggle...it's no wonder I don't experience lifelong success with my weight loss.

Kris and I are getting ready to head out of town yet again. This time the kids are going with us. We're headed out to Indiana for a family reunion. The kids are excited, which translates to horribly behaved. It has been a chaotic day, to say the least. We've had lying, screaming, revenge, hatred, and all kinds of other nonsense today. Needless to say, I haven't accomplished much actual work today and still need to get us packed. So I suppose I should get off of here and get to it.

Friday Funnies

2010-06-11T00:01:00.004-05:00

Who's ready for Friday Funnies?

To participate:

#1. Have funny kids (optional) ;-)

#2. Write your own Friday Funnies post and link to my post.

#3. Don't forget to add your link below so we can all enjoy.

So the kids gave us at least a little funny material within an hour of returning from our trip, but only a small amount. Either they've stopped being funny (yeah right!) or I've just missed a lot.

We were in the van driving home from Grandma's and Kaleb was trying to tell us something. But he couldn't remember what it was and told us he forgot what he was talking about. Livvy then said "I know what Kaleb was gonna say. He was gonna talk about my Bible." Yeah...that's not at all what he was going to say but it was a quick reminder that the world revolves around Livvy! (I don't know WHO she gets that from!) Kaleb had this I-WAS-SO-NOT-GOING-TO-SAY-THAT look on his face. Priceless...

We have the game Hullabaloo that the kids like to play from time to time. Livvy was asking if she could play it and telling me it's the one where you jump on the animals. She couldn't think of the name so when I told her she said "Yeah. Hello Balloon!" I tried to explain that it was Hullabaloo but she continued arguing with me, insisting it was balloon because there was no blue in it. Apparently 'balloo' is synonymous with blue.

Kris sent me a text tonight telling me about a conversation he had with Olivia. You know how much I hate Clifford the Big Red Van? If you don't know, just know it's a '98 big boxy thing that hates me as much as I hate it. The A/C is intermittent. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Mostly it doesn't. And I complain about it. ALL THE TIME. So, Kris took the kids to the store today and Livvy told him in a very happy (excited) voice "Daddy the air is working! It's because mommy isn't here!" Even my four year old knows that stupid van hates me...
I'm afraid that's all I have for today. This summer schedule has been insane! I'm so busy working during the day I miss out on a lot of the good stuff. It seems I have numerous funny conversations with Livvy this week, but I was right in the middle of projects at work and unable to really stop and write them down. That makes me sad. Maybe next week!

So what are your kids saying to make you laugh? Every little bit helps you get through the day. Link up!

Anyone else participating in any of these fun little hops?

2010-06-10T22:04:00.003-05:00

I'm not going to forget Friday Funnies this week! I'm not! They will be up by 12:01am. I know how ~~my awesome bloggy friend Dee~~ EVERYONE looks forward to them each week. Beyond that, the Little Bishops didn't give me much to write this week, so it won't take long. :-)

Let's talk about The Bachelorette for a moment. The more I watch this show the more I just don't really care for it. I really thought it was just women that were catty and immature. These guys are a big bunch of babies. And their egos...I'm annoyed. Justin is a giant...insert word of choice here...I'm going to go with idiot. [Keep it clean people!] I do like Chris L. And Roberto. And one other guy...I can't think of his name. Frank maybe? Although he's a bit TOO emotional for my liking. Don't get me wrong. I love a man who can get emotional, in the right setting. But some of this is just a little too much; and they tattle on one another and whine about what the others are doing. Kris overheard some of it and said "What? Are the in Jr. High?"

They're like children. OH. Right. They're MEN! Mystery solved!!

I started writing this about an hour ago, and then I turned on Hell's Kitchen. Gordon Ramsey is so distracting! And scary. I've said it before. I could never tolerate him or Jillian Michaels in real life. I believe either one of them would send me straight off the edge of the crazy cliff! Ultimately though, this show makes me laugh. He's just so mean. Something about seeing other people's misfortune...that sounds horrible doesn't it?

And it gives me something to do while my husband ~~wanders around outside in the dark talking to who knows who on the phone at 11PM~~ WORKS. Seriously though...where is he? He's been outside for at least 30 minutes (actually not exaggerating like I usually do). He walked out on the phone a while ago and I haven't seen him since. He's probably walked to IL by now-the man paces when he's on the phone. I shouldn't be upset about it...it drives me CRAZY when he paces and talks right in front of me. Wait...I mean while he's on the phone. It doesn't bother me when he is just walking around the room talking to me!

And I'm not really upset. I'm...well, not quite frantic. Just a little uneasy. My overactive, paranoid imagination has spun all kinds of horrible stories about what has happened to him. If we had ditches in our neighborhood, I'd be worried that he was laying dead in a ditch somewhere. This is how my crazy mind works...

Tonight I managed (I think) to follow proper massage etiquette. Unlike last time. Phew! They actually went by my file this time and had a woman perform (is that the right word for it?) the massage. It was a lot different. She wasn't nearly as rough as the men I had previously give me massages; and while the massage felt good, I could tell I needed something more on my neck. Oh well...it was an hour with no kids, no work, just relaxing!

Hiking is for...

2010-06-08T13:00:00.000-05:00

...people who are not me!

This post is not for those suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder. In other words, it will most likely be long and at times, boring. It may end up being about as long as my "Anniversary Hike" in the Great Smoky Mountains.

It was a day to remember. The weather was beautiful; not too hot at all, and surrounded by trees in Gatlinburg, there was a nice cool breeze as well. I wasn't feeling the best that morning. My hips and post-surgery knee were already aching because of the humidity and impending rain and I had the usual neck pain. But Kris and I found what reviews were calling an "easy" hike to a beautiful waterfall and after throwing back some Ibuprofren, I decided to give it a try.

Let me just say that Kris LOVES hiking. His high school youth group used to take trips to the Smokies and hike for DAYS. They'd stay overnight in bear shelters and all kinds of other crazy nonsense.

Me, on the other hand? I love the beach. I love sitting and doing nothing! It's my favorite way to spend vacation! So hiking is a bit of a challenge for me. Not to mention that I am overweight and out of shape. This NEVER helps ANYTHING! But a 1.3 mile hike to a waterfall on a paved path shouldn't be too hard right? Granted we have to go back the 1.3 miles afterward, but going back is always easier, right?

After about 5 hours, I would find out how wrong that was.

I bet we didn't even get half a mile into the hike before I needed to stop and catch my breath, and rest my legs. I'm a fast walker and so I had to consciously slow down and take my time so I didn't get too worn out too quickly.

Here are a couple of pictures from the trail head:

I'd like to point out that all I really noticed here was that it was 1.3 miles to the Falls. This sign will come back to haunt me later...

The expert hiker, backpack and all

And then there's me...

I will say that we had some really great views on the way to the Falls and at this point I was actually enjoying myself.

And then, all of a sudden we see this sign, for the second time actually. The first time it was at the trail head and a small child was getting her knee bandaged...before she even started hiking!

So being the paranoid drama queen that I am, I kept telling Kris not to fall and I kept envisioning him falling down the side of the steep cliff and dying. Who knew you'd need Xanax for hiking? Not me...or I might have brought some! ;-)

I finally began wondering if we were ever going to make it to the Falls...1.3 miles as it turns out is a lot longer than you think it should be! At least, it was for me.

And then we saw them! We made it to Laurel Falls! It was nice and peaceful, and I would say worth the hike.

We stopped by the Falls and had a little snack and rested our legs. At this point, I was feeling pretty good, and knowing how much Kris enjoys hiking (coupled with the fact that he THOUGHT the "tower" he read about online was only another mile ahead), I told him I wanted to keep going. I thought that if I made it 1.3 miles, I could go another mile. After all, I kept reminding myself coming back is much easier.

It was a little rocky...

with lots of tree roots...

After we had been walking for what seemed like forever, we started wondering if we were ever going to get to that elusive tower.

Maybe it's around this bend...

No? Well maybe this one...

I guess not. SURELY IT'S RIGHT AROUND THIS CORNER!!

It wasn't.

So many times we considered turning back. But there was this nagging voice that kept saying "If you turn back now you'll regret it. What if you came all this way and turned around right before the end?" We trudged on and were FINALLY rewarded with THIS:

It's a little hard to see, but the bottom line is that by the time we got to this sign, we had hiked 3.1 miles! THREE POINT ONE! And I was FEELING IT. We had to stop numerous times (more than I'd like to admit) so that I could rest. This was NOT an easy hike. In fact I am pretty sure that it is considered moderate to difficult. We had hiked all this way for what? Another sign? Apparently. Eager to have something to celebrate after our hard work, we convinced ourselves that surely if we hiked the other .9 miles to Cove Mountain we would see some wonderful mountain views and it would be worth it. Right? Well...it's me we're talking about so what do you think?

We kept going to the top of Cove Mountain. Expectantly hoping to see some gorgeous views, THIS is what we saw at the 'top' of Cove Mountain.

Another sign? Are you kidding me????

Well, we're feeling pretty disappointed at this point in time. We've seen NOTHING. The best views we had of the mountains were before we ever even got to Laurel Falls. You can only get so many pictures of trees, you know?

Does anyone want to guess what happened next?

We were desperate. We wanted to see something of value. ANYTHING. So, yes, we kept going the additional .1 mile to the "tower". After all, we'd already hiked FOUR miles. What's another .1?

FINALLY. There's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Or is there?

Well, it IS a tower...

A pollution observation (or something like that) tower...at this point I told Kris that I felt like I was in a BAD episode of LOST. We're in the middle of nowhere, trees all around and then there is this out-of-place, man-made "building". If we could have gotten inside there might have even been a button to push...

Worse still, after climbing two flights of stairs, we couldn't go any farther, so we still didn't get to see any great views

Unless you count these:

What is that? A lake? Oh...no...it's just a mud puddle...

It was at this point, 4.1 miles later, we decided to head back. It had taken us 4 hours to get here. Given that it's ALWAYS quicker going back, it should only take us about 2 hours to get back right? Oh how wrong we were. It seemed to take FOREVER just getting back the .1 mile to the last sign. I knew then that this was going to be a difficult journey. My knees were hurting from having to balance myself and my weight and walk down the rugged path. By the time we made it back to the sign indicating Laurel Falls was 1.8 miles, my hands and feet were swollen and aching. Blisters were beginning to form on the bottoms of my big toes. My hips were regretting bearing four children. I was cursing the fact that I married a man who loves hiking. OK, I wasn't really on that last point. I wasn't thinking about him at all. All I could think about was how miserable I was. But we kept going, because what other choice did we have?

We FINALLY made it back to the Falls and just rested for a while. I wanted nothing more at this point than to pull my shoes and socks off and dip my aching feet into the water. But Kris and I were concerned that if I did that, I'd have no motivation or ability really to get back to the van. After all, we still had another 1.3 miles to hike in order to get back to the van. The last mile back was the most difficult by far. I was drained. Physically, mentally and emotionally. So many times I just wanted to quit. To just sit down and cry. Instead I walked and fought back tears...and then (after almost 8 hours of hiking) we saw the end of the trail. And the van. If I could have run, I would have! The moment I sat down in the van I took my shoes and socks off, letting my feet breathe. I discovered long blisters on both big toes and a place where a stick or something had cut my ankle. All in all though, we were safe and back in more comfortable surroundings. We made our way back to the resort where I found myself increasingly thankful for the whirlpool tub in our room! After a relaxing soak, I managed to hobble to the couch, which I didn't move from for about 4 hours.

Almost 2 1/2 full days later, my legs and hips STILL hurt. I'm practically limping when I first get up from sitting for any length of time. Today it has been much better than it was but my muscles are still stiff and tight and in pain!

I do have good news though. It was all worth it in the end. Why? Because we compromised and Kris bought the much more affordable HTC Hero! Check it out!!

There will be much more to come on this phone. It is amazing and I have several things I will be showing you. Not because I got the phone free. Not because anyone is giving me anything. But because I LOVE this phone!! Android is incredible! OK...I'd better stop before this blog post doubles in length.

Gleeks Unite

2010-06-08T09:14:00.008-05:00

Well, all my fellow Gleeks out there know what tonight is. Tonight is the season finale of Glee. Who's excited? I know I am. Though sadly I won't get to watch the finale until at least tomorrow night. A friend of mine posted this video from tonight's episode, so I thought I'd share it with you!

I cannot wait to watch New Directions square off against Vocal Adrenaline. And I am pretty sure that Will confronts (talks to) Emma tonight too. While I am extremely sad that Glee will be leaving us for a few months, I am looking forward to one last episode. I've already Googled it to find out when season 1 comes out on DVD. For those interested, it will be on September 14th. I'd better start saving now!

Back from vacation

2010-06-07T22:10:00.002-05:00

I'm back! Did you ~~nearly forget I existed~~ miss me?

I worked for almost 10 hours today and managed to finally get things caught up (sort of) at work. As caught up as they are going to be anyway. It will only take an hour in the morning for things to get behind again. I had to make the most of my time in the office today, since I am only there are Mondays and Thursdays this summer.

So, I'd like to blame my lack of writing on the fact that Blogger has been down for a while. Sure...that's it...anyone buying that? But I'm back now and beyond ready to get back into the swing of things and that does include writing. Hopefully that will start with posting some pictures from our little mini anniversary getaway AND a story about my accidental, YES ACCIDENTAL!, 8 mile hike on Saturday. I must REALLY love my husband...though the constant pain that has lasted for 2 days straight and shows no signs of letting up...it's got me wondering... ;-)

I'll be back soon my friends!

Tomorrow...

Friday Funnies...oops...

2010-06-05T08:30:00.003-05:00

I completely forgot about Friday Funnies yesterday! Oh the shame!! I have two excuses for you.

#1. The kids didn't give me much to go on. I have nothing written down anywhere. It was a chaotic week and darn them they just weren't that funny!! They'll be funny next week if I have to force them! :-) And if you were planning to participate, just hang on to your post. They will be back in full force next Friday.

#2. I was kind of travelling, which usually is no excuse, since I am on my laptop (and the internet) while we drive. However, I was busy trying to design a logo for our school's PTF.

Bottom line is that I got really busy yesterday and just forgot. Last night as I was sitting here at the resort I thought about blogging. I just didn't realize it was Friday, or you would have read another Abbey story from about 3 years ago. I have plenty of stories that I remember that I haven't written down yet.

So dear readers, please forgive me! Friday Funnies will be back next week.

Anniversary 2010 has commenced...

2010-06-03T23:55:00.000-05:00

Kris and I have safely made it to my parents' house in Indiana. We are stopping here for the night, before driving in to Gatlinburg tomorrow. We're hoping to get to the resort around check-in, since we are only there until Sunday morning. Here is a picture of Mountain Loft, the resort we are staying at:

Doesn't it look beautiful??

We had an exciting start to our trip. About an hour in, we stopped at a rest area. That was fun...

Don't mind the finger smudge on the left side - I'm not skilled at taking pictures with my phone!

Actually, there were two things that I deemed blog-worthy at the rest area. You'll find that with me anything is blog-worthy! It just depends on my mood at the time. This first item found on the grounds of the rest area was cause for closer inspection. I had to get right up next to it, read the whole sign and then was still confused! So I took a picture of it...I should note that there was no fire wood for sale here, nor was there any place to burn firewood. So, while it may appear reasonable to some, I just could not for the life of me figure out WHY?!? Oh and it seems to have something to do with a beetle?

Let's move on shall we? We were wandering around and saw a tall sign. Kris encouraged me to see what it said. I obliged. The first thing that caught our eye was the words: "Don't let an accident spoil your trip--watch your children."

So I'm looking at this sign and there is an identical sign about 15 feet to the left of this one. It stands to reason that these signs are guarding something, of some kind. A playground maybe? Yes, I believe this is the playground.

Lest you think I'm making this up...see the sign's shadow??

I just had to get a closer look at this playground that is so dangerous they have to warn you to watch your children.

Hey look! A swimming pool!!! I wonder if this is the "silver lake" the rest area was named for...

We decided to stop at Pizza Hut in Effingham, IL for dinner. It was a routine dinner. Nothing stood out. At all. That is, until I went to the bathroom. When I first saw this, I was immediately confused and had to remind myself that I was on land, and not somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean in an airplane. This is quite possibly the narrowest door I have ever seen anywhere besides on an airplane. I wasn't even sure I could fit through it!

So began our anniversary trip!

Welcome Wednesday and a Winner!

2010-06-02T09:01:00.004-05:00

I'd like to report that after my completely inconsequential meltdown yesterday and a few hours of sleep, I am feeling better today. I'm still not getting my phone, but I feel like I am coming to peace with it. Maybe. I haven't been up too long so only time will tell!

Well, it's time to announce the winner of the 8oz. of lotion! Thanks to everyone who entered. The winner will be emailed and will have 48 hours to get in touch with me or a new winner will be chosen. OK...here we go. And the winner is...

MrsPaterson said: "I'd love the Cool Ivy! I love what lavender does, but pregnancy has turned me against the scent forever. :-/
(And congrats on your giveaway!)"

Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who entered!

Working from home is...well...it's going. Actually, I have managed to get in quite a few hours this week already, which is great considering there was a holiday and I'm off on Friday. I have enough hours that I shouldn't have to use any PTO. Kris and I are gearing up for a 3 day excursion to Gatlinburg, TN. Our 11th wedding anniversary is coming up, on Saturday to be precise. I'm not 100% thrilled about the 9 hour drive each way, except that it will be kid-free (thanks Grandma for babysitting!!) and Kris and I have Ted Dekker's newest, The Bride Collector, to listen to.

So far, it's pretty good. Dekker's main character (or the bad guy at least) is really creepy! In true Dekker fashion.

I'm also joining Welcome Wednesday again. Feel free to link up and find some great blogs!

A sad day for Jamie

2010-06-01T16:59:00.003-05:00

I'm sad today. I knew I didn't win the HTC Evo writing contest. I didn't really expect that I would. But I had high hopes that I would. I am not sure I've ever 'hoped' for something so much. At least not enough that it leaves me wanting to cry because I didn't win. It's compounded by the fact that Kris essentially told me last night that the new phone was out of the question. He asked me when he ever gave me any sign that he would get it for me, and has told me over and over again that we don't have the money. Which I guess I understand, but then I don't understand, if that is true, how we can drive for 18 hours this weekend and spend all the money in gas and food if we don't have enough for a new phone. We'll spend more on our trip to Gatlinburg. Part of me doesn't want to go...if money really is that bad, and I suppose it is because we have to come up with an extra $300/month for tuition, then how on earth can we even consider making a trip to TN this weekend? It doesn't make sense to me and I get pissed off when I can't understand something.

I'm a mess today. Over a stupid phone. And it makes absolutely no sense. How stupid it is for me to be sitting here all emotional over a gadget that I don't need. My phone works just fine. In fact, I just got my old Instinct replaced because it was freezing up and I had to keep re-calibrating it. I didn't realize how much I had my heart set on winning that stupid phone. I wish I had never become one of those geeks who wants the newest toy.

And with money being so tight, I feel like I should give up the spending money I do get each pay period just to make it easier to pay tuition. I am glad I at least got to get two massages in before I cancelled the membership. It sure was nice to experience that.

I need more sleep...

Drama, drama, drama

2010-05-31T17:39:00.002-05:00

Those of you who know me, or are used to my writing, probably have me pegged for a drama queen. I don't deny it. I am. Through and through. About a year and a half ago, Kris upgraded his cell phone and left me longing for an upgrade myself. See here for details. Bottom line, I whined and begged and pleaded with him until I wore him down and he finally gave in and bought me the Samsung Instinct.

Knowing that he wouldn't let me get another new phone so soon, I entered to win the HTC Evo that Sprint was giving away. I entered the writing contest AND the Facebook contest. I did not win either one. So sad. Seriously...I was distraught! Ever since then, I've been making little comments to Kris about buying me the Evo for our anniversary (which is June 5). It just seems like the most natural, reasonable gift, seeing as how it will be released on June 4th. It's fate, right? At least that is what I am trying to convince him of. I mean, who cares that it will cost us at least $100 that we don't really have. It's our anniversary. I take our anniversary very seriously around here! Isn't it enough that he is whisking me away to Gatlinburg for two days? For a drama queen like myself, no, it's not enough. Poor, poor Kris.

So, I keep asking him if he is going to buy me the HTC Evo. It wouldn't even be a question. Except that I just found out that I am a Sprint Premier customer and so instead of having to wait 2 years to get $150 off an upgrade, I could have upgraded back in January!! Poor Kris. I made sure I let him know this. So I can get the discount they are offering for a two year contract, plus my $150 upgrade. Which means the Evo shouldn't really cost us much at all. And considering they are releasing the phone in honor of my 11th wedding anniversary, I kind of HAVE to get it, don't I?

In order to shut me up, Kris may break down and give in. The things this man has to go through to live with me. I really do feel sorry for him sometimes. Though not enough to figure out a way to just be patient and wait until next January when an even better phone is bound to be out. At least, I'm hoping he gives in. I'm sure I can find some way to make it up to him.

Oh, HTC EVO how I long for you!

***KRIS JUST SAID THAT IF EVERYONE WHO READS MY BLOG WOULD DONATE A DOLLAR I COULD GET THE PHONE. HA HA! I LOVE THAT MAN! He's funny. And only about 75% serious. HOWEVER, NO DONATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED!***

I'm so fickle...

2010-05-31T17:12:00.002-05:00

I have a hard time finding something that works and then sticking with it. I'm talking about weight loss. The three things I have done in the past that I have followed through with for more than 2 weeks have been The Weigh Down Diet (I read the book), Weight Watchers, and 6 solid weeks of living yeast-free. I've tried other things and find that I just fail. I've been going through The Lord's Table online and the lessons are good, but I can't seem to make myself stick to the meal plan. So I'm back to Weight Watchers, for the gazillionth time and hoping this time around I can get over this plateau I've been on for months. Would it be best for everyone in my home if I continued eating yeast-free? Of course! Do I really believe I can do it? No. I've proven to myself that going completely yeast-free again, after allowing the sugar and gluten back into my body, is problematic. I just don't want to. I'm fickle. I need constant change. I'm weak and I love food. I'm not giving up completely on yeast-free though. I'm still going to try new recipes and try to adapt some things so that I have healthier options. But I'm just really struggling here to completely abstain from all the yeast-filled goodness that exists. Do I cringe when I eat fast food or something from a box? Yeah. And then I get over it. It's dangerous, since I am highly susceptible to yeast-overgrowth. My hope though is that I can maintain a reasonable amount of self-control and not get myself back to the extremely unhealthy place I was last fall. I now know what to watch for (with my body and how it responds to the 'bad' foods) and so hopefully I can use that as a gauge for what is OK and what isn't. I was writing a separate blog to keep track of all my weight/food 'stuff' but I am going to switch back over and just include it here, since I wasn't updating it much anyway. So any yeast-free recipes I make I'll post here. Likewise, any non-yeast-free recipes I make I will post here. I was doing Willpower Wednesday where I forced myself to get up and cook or work on other crafty projects one night a week. I want to continue that, but I think with the summer I will have to pick a different day for this. I am not sure yet what day this will become...I may have to come up with another clever name (and cute button to match)!

I'm also hoping to get back to EA Sports Active and Pilates for the Wii. Kris said until we "play" those enough we can't buy the Wii Sports Plus, so I'd better get busy! I think we are going to get rid of our Y membership to help offset the cost of tuition for the kids. So it will be important to get back to doing some sort of physical activity and I'm too much of a wimp to walk in this heat!

You know, I never did write about the scavenger hunt we had over spring break. Some of you may remember me complaining about how mad I was that some of my team's photos were losing to Kris' team. My team lost the scavenger hunt. As a refresher, here is the post where I first talked about the best day I've ever had with my kids: Grr....

The link to the scavenger isn't valid anymore for voting...but you can see the results (if you have a Facebook account). Some of my team's pictures won, but overall, Kris' team got more votes. Next year though...I'm determined...and I've learned how people vote. So hopefully we'll have more of a chance. Although, considering the amount of awesome people who voted, it was actually a pretty close competition. The final score was Pink Lightning (me, Kaleb and Livvy): 841 and Fast Thunder (Kris, Kat, and Abbey): 1019. Those are individual votes. We each had 25 pictures that were judged-so to have that many votes was pretty incredible.

Thinking about this scavenger hunt leaves me longing for vacation next year. We are all so excited to do this all over again. Next to our Christmas ornaments (see this post from 2008 for more details), it's my favorite family tradition! I still need to make the certificate showcasing the winning team so that we can proudly display it in our home. I'm hoping to work on that this evening.

Memorial Day, Abbey style...

2010-05-31T11:19:00.003-05:00

So, we rearranged our house a bit yesterday. With us working at home this summer, we needed to move a computer desk upstairs and make room for it in the living room. This meant moving the China cabinet into the already tiny dining room, where it belongs anyway. We got it all situated and it looks great, even if our dining room is cramped and we had to take the leaf out of the table, so it now only seats four.

Before

After

In the process of rearranging, we came across a blank thank you card and Kris told Abbey she could have it. She was being all secretive and writing in it, hiding it anytime we would walk near her. She kept saying we couldn't look at it.

Later that afternoon, she kept asking me if the mail would come and I told her that the mail didn't come on Memorial Day. She hid *something* behind her back; I pretended not to know what it was. She told me she was going to recycle something outside and I left it at that. Today she said "I wonder if that mail came." I told her that it didn't come and she said "Maybe you should check anyway." I obliged, knowing full well she had put something in the mailbox yesterday when she was supposedly recycling! Inside was the card we gave her yesterday. She had written thank you in it, to Kris and I, for being her mommy and daddy. Then she wrote "Thank you for not killing me when I was in your stomach." She thinks of the oddest things (and then speaks them aloud!)...I am not sure if she was referring to abortion (which we've barely glossed over with her) or what. Later she started asking me about the baby that died in my stomach. I had a miscarriage a few years ago, and this is what she was talking about. Then we had a lengthy conversation about whether or not it was a boy or a girl and we should ask God when we got to heaven to show us the baby that died.

Anyway...that was a cute and funny little story, but has little to do with Memorial Day. The reason that I titled this as I did is because Abbey asked me yesterday who was going to stay home with them today. I explained to her that we were all going to be home because Monday was Memorial Day. At the time, she was writing in the thank you card I mentioned above. She asked me what Memorial Day was and I told her it was a day that we remember all the soldiers who have fought and died in wars and the people who still fight so that we can have freedom. Then she said the sweetest thing. She said "Oh I wish I could have given this thank you card to a soldier!" I assured her we could buy another thank you card for her to give to a soldier. She makes me smile.

On a completely different note, I indulged in two fuzzy navels at a birthday party Saturday night. I think that was what led to the horrific night that ensued. I don't drink much, at all. In fact I think the last time I had a drink was maybe last September? And when I do drink, it has never been more than 2 drinks total...and I only drink the girly drinks, the ones with more juice than alcohol in them. But I enjoyed my two drinks Saturday night and thought nothing of it, until I woke up Sunday morning. You see, I had a nightmare that night. A horrible, vivid nightmare, that I hope to never experience the likes of again. Here is how it went:

It began with Abbey almost getting kidnapped by some strange man. Right after that, I saw Olivia standing near an open window. I knew we were in a two story building. It was just one of those things you know in dreams. I still am not sure if she fell or jumped, but out the window she went, crashing down to the ground. I ran downstairs and outside to see her tiny little body all contorted on the ground. I bent down next to her and talked to her for a few minutes and then she died right in front of my eyes. As if that wasn't bad enough, I didn't wake up. The dream continued all night. I went through days of grieving her, and planning her funeral. It was absolutely awful! I have never had a dream like that before and hope to never repeat it.

When I woke up, I was exhausted. That was one of the first nights I slept straight through the night, and yet I felt like I hadn't gotten any sleep. I still can't get the image of her little broken limbs out of my head. Kaleb was sick yesterday morning and so I stayed home from church with him. He and I went back to bed around 9:30am and slept until 1pm.

Needless to say, I will not be indulging in any sweet, alcoholic beverages again anytime soon!

Yeast-free No Bake Cookies

2010-05-28T21:23:00.002-05:00

This recipe was fairly easy to adapt to yeast-free. I wrote about it on my 'other' blog but wanted to post the recipe here. I'm thinking about switching back here and chronicling my weight loss (or these days "weight find") journey here since I don't update that one much. So, because I don't want to make you go to the trouble of clicking the link to go that "that" blog, I'm copying and pasting it here. I'm a cheater. Or lazy. Or both. However, if you don't care about whether or not this recipe is yeast-free and just want THE BEST recipe for no-bake cookies, it's listed below.

***taken from Living *mostly* Yeast Free***

It's been almost a week since I checked in here. I'm contemplating switching backing to writing about my yeast-free journey on my main blog, since I can't seem to keep up with this one as much as the other. It was such a great idea when I was constantly trying new recipes and trying to adapt my lifestyle to eating healthier. I'm just really having a hard time resisting. I've put so many rules on myself, and broken even more rules than I imposed, if that is possible. I've gained about 5 pounds back in the last 2 months and I am NOT happy about it. And yet what do I want to do to make myself feel better (temporarily)? EAT. Good foods. Bad foods. FOOD. I've done a lot of baking lately, because I love it. It is not something that I can give up easily. But when I bake, I have a hard time not ~~eating a whole batch of cookies plus half the cookie dough~~sampling. I am still doing The Lord's Table, but haven't been diligent about sticking to the meal plan, which I know is making this journey much more difficult than it has to be.

Now I will say that I haven't just made ALL sugary yeast-filled recipes, though there have been 2 batches of chocolate chip cookies, and a pan of butterscotch brownies. I made another batch of yeast-free chocolate cupcakes with a cream cheese icing this time earlier in the week. And today I finally attempted yeast-free No-bake Cookies. Those were good. With one exception. I used Swerve as my sugar alternative. And for whatever reason, while it has zero calories and zero fat, it has a strange effect. This is the third recipe I've tried it in, and each time it's the same thing. Freezing cold. What? Yeah...let me explain. You take a bite and as you chew, your mouth just gets colder and colder. My 7 year old told me today we should call them "Magic No-Bake Cookies". Because, she said, that's what they are...magic! The kids loved the cookies and a few people who sampled them at church tonight liked them as well. But I just can't get used to that coldness in my mouth. It's just weird; unnatural. BUT, if you use a different sugar alternative, or you want just a gluten-free version, here is the recipe. The flavor of these is really great...it was just the cold that was hard to handle. I may try to make them with agave nectar the next time and see if it impacts the texture/consistency much. If I add more oats to them it may help...we'll see.

Gluten-free No Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar (or sugar alternative)

8 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup gluten-free unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup cashew butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup pecans

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

3 cups gluten-free quick oats

In large saucepan, combine sugar, butter, milk and cocoa. Heat, stirring frequently until boiling. Boil 1-2 minutes; remove from heat and cool 1 minute. Stir in cashew butter, vanilla & salt and mix well. Add oatmeal (and nuts/coconut if desired). Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment paper and let cool until it hardens.

Kaleb's Baptism

2010-05-28T16:45:00.002-05:00

Here is the video of Kris baptizing Kaleb, our 8 year old son. The sound quality is horrible as always, but you get the gist of it without the best quality sound!

Oh those kids...

2010-05-28T12:37:00.005-05:00

In the past two weeks, I've had the awesome privilege of being mentioned on two different blogs. That's a pretty great honor! Kelly at Between the Lines features different recipes each Friday and I was honored that she allowed me to share my Grandma's Milky Way Cake recipe with her readers. I know a few of you too have asked about this delicious cake lately, so here is the recipe! It completely goes against the yeast-free lifestyle I've basically stopped living (*sigh*)...but it makes up for it in so many ways!! If you're doing Weight Watchers, one piece is 12 points, and let me tell you this cake is worth EVERY.SINGLE.POINT.! Check out Kelly's blog! Here is the post about Mammaw's Milky Way Cake.

I gave the Trendy Blog Award to Deana at Mom's The Glue earlier this week. She's the one who allowed me to design some buttons for her. She then rewarded me by writing a really sweet post about it, displaying the buttons. Check that out here.

I tested out a new recipe today. I was looking for a quick brownie recipe, one that I had all the ingredients for! I got out my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook and found a recipe for Butterscotch Brownies. I took that recipe and added a couple of my own ingredients and the result? Amazing! Want the recipe?

Butterscotch Brownies

1/4 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of square pan (8x8x2). Melt butter in 1 1/2 quart saucepan over low heat; remove from heat. Stir in brown sugar, vanilla and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spread in pan (batter will be thick). Bake 25 minutes. Cool slightly then cut into squares while warm. Makes 16-25 brownies.

Friday Funnies

2010-05-28T00:01:00.000-05:00

Livvy came up to us at bedtime one evening after putting her jammies on and said "How do I look?" I replied "Gorgeous!" She then said "These are pajamas that make me love Jesus more...if I keep them on."

A couple of weeks ago I order some things from Vista Print. Someone posted about their free items on their blog, I checked it out, and ended up buying SIX items, all for under $10. I ordered one item for each kid; Abbey chose a t-shirt. I asked her what she wanted to write on it. Please understand, this is TOTALLY Abbey's idea. I've shared before that my awesome 7 year old loves God AND herself the most. Then Uncle Brandon. So this shirt should come as no surprise to anyone!

In case you can't read that, it says "Abbey is cute! Her real name is Abigail. I love Abigail!"

Olivia was in the bathroom at bedtime and saw a box of baking soda sitting on the bathroom sink. I left it there this morning after I showered. Yes, even though there hasn't been an update recently, I'm still continuing My Dirty Hair Days experiment! I'll try to update that soon. So anyway, Livvy said:

"Why's that in here?"

Me: "Because I wash my hair with that."

Livvy: "No. That's for cooking or volcanoes."

Well, that's all the material the kids gave me this week. Keep your ears open and link up next Friday. I'd love to hear what your kiddos have to say!

Are you ready?

2010-05-27T20:49:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is Friday Funnies! Who's with me?? Let's try to get more than TWO participants this week! ;-)

Rules:

Write down something funny or unusual your kid says or does.

Link up.

Check out some of the other funny stories.

There's no pressure or obligation to follow, though you are more than welcome.

I'll get the link up and ready; it'll be up at midnight, CST.

Let's talk for a minute about my indulgence in The Bachelorette. I just started watching it, as I settle in to log in to work. Tomorrow is my first summer day home with the kiddos, trying to work. So I am hoping to get a few productive hours in tonight so that tomorrow will be easier.

Oh my gosh, I already hate Justin the professional wrestler!! Rated-R? Really?? Totally NOT impressed with him. He loves his grandma to death--I'm a little creeped out right now!

I'm a sap for people who have lost loved ones. So, I like this guy, Phil, whose brother died. He seems like a nice, sweet guy. He looks familiar...but I can't pinpoint who he looks like.

Mr. Weatherman...no thanks. Jonathan...he says he's 30 but he looks like he is about 12. He's just a baby.

I can't tolerate Ty and his dog. Newly divorced and ready to jump into a long-term relationship. I just didn't like that he told his dog he might bring a new mom home...

I like the guy whose mom died...I think I will always root for anyone who has come through the loss of a loved one.

These guys are all sitting around like they watched The Bachelor as it was going on. Do you really think they sat around watching it when it aired, or do you think they watched it around the time they were trying to BE on the Bachelorette? I don't think they watched it. It's a guilty pleasure show for me, but for guys? My husband watches a lot of shows with me that some guys would consider horrible...but he wouldn't be caught dead watching this! He has standards!

OK...I need to keep this short...I'll be back tomorrow with just a couple of funny stories. The kids didn't give me a ton of material this past week.

Kids Bowl Free!!

2010-05-26T21:47:00.009-05:00

BOWLING!

We took the kids bowling tonight. We're participating in Kids Bowl Free this summer and let me just say that this is a pretty great deal, especially if you have your own shoes. I signed the kids up a couple of months ago. When I talked to Kris about it yesterday, combined with the fact that you can get a family pass for $24.95 which allows up to 4 adults 2 free games per day (Monday-Friday) ALL SUMMER LONG, he said "Let's do it!" So we signed ourselves up too and added my mother-in-law to our pass.

So tonight, accompanied by my mother-in-law, we all went bowling. Want to see how fancy I am? I even have my own bowling ball! Check it out...because this information will be useful later.

My super cool pink swirly ball...note the left-handed finger holes...yeah, I'm *that* cool!

This next picture is me with my bowling ball...taken for a very specific purpose:

You see, this picture is here to show you that just because you own your own bowling ball and shoes does NOT mean you are any GOOD at bowling. Don't believe me? Check it out. The top row that says 'M' - well, that stands for MOM. Those are MY scores! The game did NOT start out well...

Look at those first two frames!!! Not that the others are all that much better...

How embarrassing!

It didn't get much better by the end of the first game...

56? Really???

You think THAT is bad? Look at my kids' scores!

Kaleb: 93

Olivia (SHE'S FOUR!!!): 75

Katherine: 74

Abbey: 66

It was so NOT a good first game. At all! The second game was better, but I still just could NOT find my stride. Here is the outcome of that (and I should note that on this game, I only beat Kaleb by ONE point!):

Woohoo! I got an 86! I actually managed to pull off 2-3 spares!

All in all though, we had a lot of fun. We are definitely going to try to go at least one day per week. If the kids are driving me insane or I feel cooped up this summer while I am supposed to be working, we may sneak out to bowl a couple of games, just for a change of pace! It may be necessary for ALL of us!

Want to see how adorable my kids are with their bowling balls? I know you do! Wait...I should specify...my kids don't have their own balls...not yet anyway...

Welcome Wednesday - My poor, poor Google Reader

2010-05-26T09:02:00.003-05:00

Remember how I said yesterday my Google Reader was feeling overwhelmed? Now that I sorted it all out and gave it some room to breathe, I am doing what I always do and going to clutter it back up again. I really do love blogs. They make my day. They show me I am not alone in this world of wifery (new word I just made up-hey if husbandry can be a word, so can wifery!) and motherhood (real word I did not make up). It's amazing to me how many people you can connect with. I was telling my husband last night how much I love my own blog (I'm conceited) and how I've really enjoyed connecting with new people. I discovered why. I don't have any friends. Slow down...before you throw stones...I have a hard time making friends...girl friends. It is not easy for me and I do not have a lot of CLOSE friends that are girls. The ones I had through high school and college have, for the most part, moved away or we have just drifted.

I do have a couple of people in my life presently that I would consider GOOD friends (@Jennifer Young I'm including you in that) but beyond that, I don't have any other friends that I could just sit down and pour my heart out to. As a married woman, though I find I can connect easier with men, I can't just befriend all the cool guys I know and pour my heart out to them-that is a dangerous place to be. So I find that I am lacking when it comes to female friends because, for whatever reason, I just can't connect as easily with women.

ALL THAT TO SAY this blog and these new connections I am making has (have? I hate improper grammar--but I love parentheses!) been really good for me. While I'm not necessarily going to call all my new blog friends up on the phone (because by now you should know that I DETEST the phone) and have hour long conversations with them, I feel like that is what we do by reading one another's blogs and random incessant tweeting! And I don't know about the rest of you, but I NEED this. Everyone needs friends. So what if I make all my friends online? ;-)

**Don't worry-this isn't going to turn into some creepy stalking thing...at least not on my end! What you do is your own business!!

This isn't nearly as coherent as I want it to be. I just feel very passionately about this and the friendships I am making from being in a blog community. People outside of it just don't understand. My husband doesn't understand, but being the amazing man he is, he supports me 100% and loves that I have some excitement over making friends. I love that man!

So getting back to suffocating my Google reader, a friend whose blog I read is participating in this:

So today I will add my 'name' to the list and once more find other blogs to ~~choke~~ add to my Google reader! Here are the 'rules'/steps:

1. Follow the Welcome Wednesday Host (Take It From Me) as well as the 2 Spotlighted Blogs of the Week. (These will make up the top three slots on the Linky)

2. Link up your blog name and URL with our Linky. (You only need to add your info once for it to be seen on all the blog hops)

3. Grab our Welcome Wednesday button and include it in a post about the event on your blog.

4. Go to as many blogs on the MckLinky as you want and Follow them. Be sure to tell them you are from Welcome Wednesday!

5. Be sure to Follow back any followers you have gained from our Welcome Wednesday event!

Feel free to join in and make some new friends with me!

Am I really ready for summer?

2010-05-25T18:45:00.002-05:00

If you are here because I told you I left something for you on my site, it's at the bottom. Feel free to read the whole post anyway...but your award is near the bottom.

The answer to that question above is NO. Absolutely not.

I hate this week. Every year. Every year I hate this same week. It is a week that signifies chaos and disobedience and sheer craziness in our home. It's the last week of school. And it is NOT my friend. Most of my kids handle change well. One of them, specifically Kaleb, does not accept change. He resists and fights it EVERY.STEP.OF.THE.WAY. School ending (just like school beginning) is a really rough transition in our household. Most families relish it and get excited about the potential summer brings. Not us.

Like some of you, my husband and I both work outside the home full-time. Summer is equally stressful for us, as we have the added problem of "What on earth will we do with our kids?" I haven't had a chance to try to enroll the older three in summer school yet. Even if I can get them in still (I'm hoping to go over there on Friday), there's the issue of Olivia. So our summer will look like this, with at least one kid home at all times. Monday/Thursday I will go into the office and TRY to put in 10 hour days. TRY being the key word there...Tuesday/Wednesday/Friday I will TRY to put in another 20 hours from home. We simply cannot afford to pay someone to watch all of our kids, no matter how good they typically are for other people! We priced it and compared that to the amount of money we will lose from my income if I only manage to get in 30 (instead of 40) hours each week. We'll lose less money with Kris and I alternating days working from home than if we pay someone. It wouldn't be nearly as big of a deal if their school tuition had not gone up by about $300 a month. That's a car payment! A car payment that we don't have. I so want to put them in public school just for the financial ease, but that is the ONLY reason. And it is not reason enough. We love having our kids in private school, both for the education they receive and the Biblical guidance and support. It's worth the money...it's just really hard when every penny is budgeted already and we just don't have $300 lying around. We don't even have enough 'needless' expenses to get rid of to come up with that amount.

All of that aside...my kids have just been CRAZY this week. Not crazy as in super silly either. Crazy as in emotional, mean, snotty, disrespectful. Especially the one that hates change of any kind. We've had a really rough time getting any kind of calm and respectful ANYTHING from Kaleb. Here's to hoping we can quickly find a summer routine. It will be hard to be consistent when Kris will be home 2 days and I will be home 3. We're going to try to have a set schedule during the day but seeing as how that is one of our biggest failures (a schedule) it will be interesting. It wouldn't be nearly as dreadful if I wasn't having to put in 40 hours of work each week in addition.

I didn't start this with the intent to express all of that, but sometimes that is just how it happens, you know?

In other news, I was given the Trendy Treehouse Trendy Blog Award! I guess that means I'm trendy. But because I don't really know what that means, I'm going to have to "Google" it!

I think that I will pick the most unlikely definition and assume that is why I got the award. :-) From the Urban dictionary, here is what I found:

Trendy (a noun)

"A sheep. A person without any self-identification or thoughts of her own. A person who does what the crowd is doing, out of insecurity and immaturity. A person who looks like everyone else because of an immature fear of being himself."

Robyn at The Journey bestowed this ~~insulting~~ AWESOME award on me...Robyn, what are you trying to say???? ;-) Another definition and probably an extremely arrogant, though more fitting one is this:

"Items that come on the market and everyone 'must' have one."

So I think what Robyn is truly saying is that my blog is just SOOO cool that EVERYONE MUST READ IT!!! Thanks Robyn!!! I'll take the award as a compliment, as I am sure it was intended.

With any blog award, there are rules. If your name appears below, assume that I am giving this to you based on the SECOND definition, and not the first! You've got to then give the award to 10 other bloggers you think are 'trendy', post about the award and let those ten know you gave them the award. You get the idea right?

Is it OK that I am going to include some of my favorite new giveaway blogs? Because I am. I think they are trendy too. And it's my blog and I can think, say and do what I want. Plus I think some of the product reviewers out there are by definition trendy (the SECOND definition), in that they are reviewing new products on the market, or products that are trending at the moment.

1. I have to start with My life with rats and more - This one is at the top of the list because this is where I won my first (and only, so far) giveaway!

2. The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom - I really connected with this wonderful new friend on Twitter while LOST was finale-ing (like my new made up word?) Sunday night. And the best part? We live in the same town! So not only have I made a new blogging friend, we can actually get together. How cool is that?!?

3. Slice o' Heaven - another great giveaway site

4. Mom's The Glue - Really cute blog and I got to help her out with some button designs recently. It was super fun for me! She's got some great ideas and themes during the week that you may really enjoy.

Side note: I'm really getting into this whole graphic design thing. My husband said I should have charged her when he found out I volunteered to help her...for free! I told him if I wanted to build up a portfolio I needed to do some free work. Then he asked me to design a logo for him for his side business. I told him it would cost him $50/hour. I'm pretty sure he was quite proud of me for that!

5. Little Yaya's - more giveaways!

6. Life with the Lebedas - recipes, giveaways, great non-giveaway posts (by the way, Jennifer, I hate ants too-they're really bad this year for us too)

7. Hearts Make Families - I just love this blog. It's sincere and heart-felt...check it out.

8. Four Chickens - awesome site for gluten-free recipes and other helpful info. I'm hoping to try one or two recipes from this blog tomorrow night!

9. Aubut Life - who doesn't love giveaways?

10. KludgyMom - a fun blog to read

So there you have it! It's time to do my devo and catch up on some shows!

Paring down

2010-05-24T13:21:00.003-05:00

So, my Google reader is feeling overwhelmed right now. Yes, that's right. My Google reader FEELS things. :-)

I'm trying to pare it down and make it more manageable. If you follow my blog and I am NOT currently following you, or you lose a follower and find out that it is me, please let me know so that I can add it back. Seriously. Let me know. I'll be sifting through blogs I follow today so don't panic if I disappear...just comment here or send me an email and let me know I disappeared.

Also, does anyone know how Google Friend works in conjunction with Google Reader? It seems that lately I have added blogs to follow via Google Friend but they aren't showing up in my Google Reader. And sometimes it seems I add them and then they DO show up in my Google reader. If I unsubscribed to a blog in blogger, will it disappear from my Google reader? Will it remove me from Google Friend Connect? Does anyone know?

I'm OBVIOUSLY not motivated to work today. Well, that's not true. I have been working...but feel this need for more mental breaks than I normally need. I've received a few comments about different things lately and wanted to share a little bit about my obsession with T.V. My husband and I love to watch 'our shows'. We have a long, LONG list on www.hulu.com. It's quite embarrassing actually, the amount of time we spend watching T.V. together, but at the same time, we really enjoy it. It's a way to connect for us. Are we alone in that?

Shows I HAVE to watch in order of importance (LOST and 24 got removed since they are ending):

GLEE

Psych

Chuck

Big Bang Theory

How I Met Your Mother

Community

The Office

The Biggest Loser

Shows I keep up with but could do without if forced:

Modern Family

30 Rock

Friday Night Lights

Flash Forward

House

Fringe

Parks and Recreation

Summer shows I enjoy:

Mental

Lie to Me

Royal Pains

So which of those shows do you watch? Chances are you watch one or more of those, seeing as how my husband and I watch A LOT of T.V.

Now that I've admitted to the obscene amount of T.V. I watch, let me just tell you about a guilty pleasure of mine. I like reality T.V. Kris doesn't. Not really. So, if I want to watch reality T.V. I have to do it when he is working. That being said, last year I picked up The Bachelor about halfway through, primarily because it came on Hulu, and so it was easy to put in the queue and watch when I got around to it. I'm always looking for shows that I can watch when Kris isn't around. If only The Food Network shows like Ace of Cakes came on Hulu!!

Like most of the reality T.V. world, I fell in love with Allie. Not in the weird, creepy way either. I was SO sad to see her go. I had no intention really of watching The Bachelor or The Bachelorette beyond that one season. But when I found out Allie was going to be the next Bachelorette, I secretly jumped for joy! So, while it shames me slightly to admit it, I am going to do it anyway. I'm moderately excited about the beginning to the new season of The Bachelorette tonight!

What is YOUR guilty pleasure T.V. show?

Another busy Monday

2010-05-24T09:06:00.002-05:00

I didn't have any time yesterday to write, what with the finale of Lost and all. I won't go into details or provide any spoilers. I will just say that I was satisfied with the ending to the show and feel that had they ended it any other way, I would have been upset. It wasn't cheesy or over the top, and I really appreciate that they didn't try too hard, like Seinfeld did with their finale. Today looks to be a busy day without much time to write as well, so I'm taking just a moment to check in. If you are here from Monday Madness, welcome!

If you want to find out a little bit more about me and my writing style, please grab a cup of coffee (or soda or whatever strikes your fancy) and sit back and chill here for a while. I'm pretty laid back, except when I am annoyed or agitated about something...which is most of the time. :-) So, in other words, I'm fairly uptight!

Oops...

2010-05-22T20:19:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure where to begin. I have so many things to say about my massage experience tonight, but I am not quite sure which part to start with. Do I start with the part where I confused tanning with getting a massage? Do I explain that I was up until after 1am and only got about 6 hours of sleep, thus I was absolutely exhausted most of the day? Do I explain that I was kind of 'out of it' all day long?

OK...everything I said above is true. Kris and I went out last night, thanks to a good friend who watched our kids overnight. We had a great time, but didn't get very much sleep. Kris less than me because he had to get up and go to work at 6:30am. Though you shouldn't feel too sorry for him because he took about a 3 hour nap this afternoon, and I did not. So I was already operating on little sleep.

I had a really hard time getting through the day, even with the help of some caffeine. My eyes were burning and my mind felt foggy all day. I put in about 2 1/2 hours of work this afternoon, barely. I was planning on working 4, but couldn't last any longer, as I was afraid I would fall asleep at my desk.

After work, I went to the Tan Co. When I signed up with MassageLuxe, they gave me a coupon for $100 in free tanning, so it seemed silly NOT to do it. What I love about tanning is how relaxed it makes me feel and how loose it makes my muscles. The bronzing of my skin is just an added bonus! Let me just say this about the Tan Co. They really REALLY want to sell their lotion! I listened to the worker try to sell me lotion for 10 minutes before she would let me go tan. This is not the first time they've bombarded me with my "need" to nourish my skin before, during and after tanning. Well, I don't have $500 to spend on lotion. I make my own thank you very much, and I told the lady that today. And yet she still kept going! Oh well...I'm sure she makes a commission or something off of selling lotion.

Anyway...that is just a side story. That's just to set this up...so we can talk about tanning and how much you take off. I won't go into detail...I'll just note that I don't want a tan line, and I'm pretty sure that is a fairly universal opinion on the matter.

That being said...after tanning, I went home and cleaned up the living room. By the time I was done it was time to leave for my massage appointment. Off I went, so ready to relax and let the stress and anxiety of the alarm fiasco melt away. I was supposed to have a woman giving me the massage. That's on my paperwork and has been from the beginning. But the first time I went, a man did the massage. It wasn't bad and he was very respectful. I didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

For whatever reason, the same thing happened tonight. I got a man. When I called to see if they had any appointments for the evening, the receptionist told me that the girl who would be doing my massage was really good. So, I breathed a small sigh of relief, just because a female massage therapist will allow me to relax even more than a male massage therapist.

Imagine my surprise when a man comes in and tells me that he will be my therapist. Um...OK... So he takes me back to the room and tells me to undress to my level of comfort. In situations like this, let me just tell you, my level of comfort INCLUDES my panties! Plus I think that if I were a therapist, I would think "Um...this person is REALLY creepy. Do they really think I'm going to work on their girly parts?"

My only explanation is that I was really tired and my brain chose that exact moment to stop working. It wasn't until I laid down on the table that I realized my mistake. And at that point, I was warring with my mind...should I get up and correct the mistake or just hope he doesn't notice? If I get up, is he going to walk in right as I am in the midst of donning the undergarments that were never supposed to come off???? OH THE HORROR!!!

So I stayed right where I was. All in all, the man was very respectful and didn't seem creeped out about it. But as I was laying there getting my massage (which was WONDERFUL by the way), I started thinking "I wonder what massage therapists talk about with other coworkers." At my job, my coworkers and I talk about our jobs and our vendors and we especially discuss the idiots that we sometimes deal with. So I furthered the thought, wondering if this guy was going to go into the break room after the massage and discuss how disgusted he was by my state of undress. Seriously though...what do they talk about? Do they get people who berate them or treat them unkindly? Are there weirdos that darken their door? Are there clients that just irritate them? What do you think?

Have you ever done anything like this? Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you accidentally did something you never intended to do?

***My husband just read this and wants me to add, for those who don't know...I was covered with a blanket the entire time. He didn't realize this and so he was imagining something completely different than how I described it above. If you don't know, you lay on a table completely covered by a sheet and blanket. They just uncover the part they are working on and they never work on the 'private parts' as we call them here in our house.***

Anxiety on a Saturday morning

2010-05-22T12:21:00.004-05:00

It was a beautiful spring day. The sun was out, the rain and clouds were gone, and the fall-like temperatures had given way to warmer days. It was a good day to take some time to myself. Some time to get some much needed rest. And by rest, I mean put in another 4 hours of work since I was short this week. Enough of the warm fuzzy writing...I don't talk that way and I'm not going to write that way! That being said...I nearly gave myself a panic attack today.

As I stated above, I needed to put in four extra hours this week to get up to 40 hours. Saturdays I don't mind working, when I have nothing else planned and I am alone. It's great really. I am usually able to get a lot accomplished. Last week I came in (with all three girls who played quietly on computers for 2 hours like good girls!) and had no problems. I got into the building just fine, completely forgetting that Kris had casually mentioned something, at some point, about a code. Because I got into the building so smoothly, it slipped my mind that I might possibly need to know anything regarding an alarm.

Until this morning.

This morning that all changed. Once I let myself into the building, this almost loud, solid high-pitched note began. Usually the key card pad makes a similar sound when you swipe your key, but it stops. This did not stop. I was confused. But thought maybe the key pad had finally given up the fight. After all, Kris and I had just discussed how it sounded sick the day before.

I unlocked our office and let myself in, getting my computer started. That's when the alarm sound changed. To more of a car alarm type sound. It was loud and shrill and wouldn't stop. I was slightly panicked, and at this point thought it would probably be best to call Kris. That's when he told me I had to disarm it with a code. He gave me the info and walked me through it, but at this point the alarm had been sounding for a good two minutes or so.

I felt better once it was eerily quiet again, but that's when the anxiety really kicked it up a notch. Heart racing, hard to breathe, stomach roiling. Fortunately I do keep Xanax in my desk at work and though I haven't taken one in quite some time, this seems a good occasion. Kris and I were talking about whether or not someone was going to come and investigate the fact that the alarm was going off and he didn't know how long before they sent someone. I'm still waiting (30 minutes later) to see if the police are going to storm the building. Let's hope they don't or I might need to throw back another Xanax! But if they do, Kris gave me the verbal code to show them that I truly am allowed to be here.

Bless his heart, the man KNOWS me. He apologized and sympathized with me, knowing exactly how this type of situation would leave me feeling. I love that man. We were talking before I left about whether or not I would try to get a massage today. I'm thinking after that I could really use it!! I'm still scared I'll screw up when I go to leave and leave the alarm disabled or worse, going off...I may rethink this whole coming in to work on Saturday thing...

OK...now that I have that out of the way (feel free to laugh at my misfortune...it'll be amusing to me in about a week), I got a new award from my blogger friend Tylaine! Check out her cute blog, Just Me.

I am assuming the award has something to do with leaving comments since it says "Super Comments Award" right there on the picture. So with that being said, I suppose the idea is to give to to someone who leaves super awesome comments, like I obviously must! ;-) Anyway, there are some 'about me' questions to answer, which I will do momentarily and of course you pass it on. Tylaine gave it to three people, so I will follow suit. I'm going to give this awards to some of my newer commenters too, primarily because their comments made me smile!

1. Sue at The Homeschool Chick - she wrote "LOL - Your Friday Funnies are so great!"

2. Robyn at The Journey - she wrote "::sigh:: you become my soul sister with every post I read :) "

3. Steph at The Adventures of Goober Grape & Monkey Man - she wrote "Okay, I love the way you write :) You seem like my kind of chick! ;)"

That being said...if you are still reading and WANT to know the answers to my questions...you will have to read just a little bit more (and by a little I mean quite a bit!).

1. Why do you blog?

For me. It's all about me, and all for me. I love that I have some friends along for the ride, but it's my therapy. It's my way to express all the thoughts, ideas, and feelings swimming around inside of me. I'm not sure I could survive without writing down everything that goes on inside my head!

2. What are your three best memories?

-Spending a week in Florida with Kris last summer for our ten year anniversary. Best vacation ever!

-laughing with my kids

-giving birth (the actual experience)

3. If you had to change your real name, what would you change it to?

Hmm...I wouldn't change my name, but I suppose if I HAD to I'd likely change it to Captain Sarcasm or something else as long as it had the word Sarcasm in it.

4. What are 5 things you can't live without?

Is it cheating if I say Kris, Katherine, Kaleb, Abbey and Olivia? Doesn't matter. It's my blog so I'm saying it. Because it's true. I can't imagine even ONE of them not being in my life.

5. What are the four best books you have ever read?

-The Circle Trilogy (counts as one because I said so) - Black, Red & White by Ted Dekker (though I do NOT recommend Green which came out last year)

-Inkheart (and Inkspell & Inkdeath) by Cornelia Funk

-The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (I liked the entire Chronilces of Narnia series but this was my favorite, followed by The Last Battle)

-Wicked by Gregory Maguire (a caution if you are sensitive and wanting to read this-LOTS of foul language, inappropriate scenes and such, but the story is incredible)

6. Tell me something unique and interesting about yourself.

I have two extra ribs (seriously-see here), and a rare blood clotting disorder called Factor V Leiden.

7. What do you love about yourself?

Not much at all...certainly NOT my low self-esteem! Although, I do love my feet and I love that my kids and husband think I'm funny.

8. What is the best movie ever made?

Christmas - hands down ELF.

Chick flick - it's a toss up between While You Were Sleeping, 13 Going on 30 and 50 First Dates.

Not chick flick - I'd have to go with Last of the Mohicans or Dan In Real Life

Fantasy type - I'd choose Lord of the Rings trilogy AND The Chronicles of Narnia movies

Musical type movie - definitely ONCE (excellent movie and even better music but a warning-there is a LOT of cursing).

I love movies so narrowing it down to just one is impossible!

9. If you have a Freaky Friday experience who would you want to trade places with and why?

I think I'd just have to trade places with my always interesting Abbey. I'd love to go through a day in her head!

10. What is the best part about being a woman?

Being emotional. Wait...that says best not worst, doesn't it? Hmm...well then...seeing as how for the most part I hate all the things that come with being a woman, I'd have to go with Tylaine and agree that it would have to be the ability to give birth to children and experience a mother's love like only a woman can.

Friday Funnies - Week 4

2010-05-21T00:01:00.011-05:00

Friday Funnies is a time to share all the funny or unusual things that your kids say or do. I hope you'll join in! Link up below. I will visit all of your blogs and look forward to reading what your little ones have to say.

While watching the movie Phantom of the Opera, Olivia decided she wanted to 'be' the first pretty girl she saw. Do your kids ever do that? When watching a movie, they pick out which character they are? It's so cute. So the first pretty girl that Olivia saw was Carlotta (Minnie Driver).

Later she decided she wanted to be Christine, after Katherine and I were talking about what a "drama queen" Carlotta was. So Livvy (I use Livvy and Olivia interchangeably quite often in case you haven't noticed) decided she would be Christine instead.

Now during most of the movie, Livvy and Abbey were downstairs watching Phineas and Ferb and Hannah Montana. So Olivia saw part of the beginning, bits and pieces of the middle and about the last 15 minutes of the movie. As the movie is ending and there is that final scene between Raul, Christine and the Phantom Olivia said "Mommy I cannot believe I in love with him...[long pause]...but I not really right? Right mommy? [If you don't answer her after she says 'right' she will continue incessantly until you respond as she did here] But I not really in love with him right? Because I not in this movie right? [long pause as we continue watching] I don't want to be in love with a guy so bloody."

At the end of the movie Livvy said "Daddy's missing all the fun!"

The next night, we decided to watch The Incredible Hulk (not to be confused with the horrible Hulk made in 2003) with the older kids. Livvy likes to come in and out ~~annoying us~~ looking cute and was sitting with me after barely seeing any of the movie. I was trying to explain to her that Hulk was a man that turned into a monster.

Enter Betty Ross:

So I asked Livvy:

"Do you want to be her? The monster is in love with her."

Livvy:

"No I don't want to be in love with that monster. I'd run away!"

Abbey put the Roomba to work cleaning the carpet one evening this week and proclaimed:

"A Roomba is a good dog because it likes to clean!"

We try to have pizza and movie night once a week. The two youngest are at odds with the two oldest. Kat and Kaleb are ready for more movie and less cartoon, and Abbey and Livvy still love their cartoons. It's been hard to find a balance. And on top of that, Kat and Kaleb have taken to reading during the movies. Don't get me wrong. We will NOT discourage reading, EVER. But it's kind of annoying when we're trying to watch a movie as a family and Kris and I are the only ones watching it, especially if it is a particularly BAD movie. I wish I had a book to read during those! So this week, as we're watching Hulk, Kat and Kaleb both have their noses in books and Kris said:

"Are you going to read through this movie too?"

Katherine looked up, raised up her book to show us and said with a certain amount of incredulity (another good word!):

"It's my Bible!!!"

Next up is a topic that should probably leave me more concerned than amused! Kaleb and Abbey were talking about something...I'm not quite sure what. And I heard Kaleb say "Abbey you're talking like Bible times." Then I heard Abbey say "What? It's not like I'm going to marry my babies." OK...um...what???? What are they learning in school and church????

Not in the "funny" category but worth noting here...I had an interesting conversation with Kaleb. On Sunday, he told me that he didn't want to go to choir because he didn't like it. I told him that he could stay with me then during our Sunday night service. He was happy about this, especially after I told him Daddy was preaching. Abbey decided she too didn't want to go to choir. I asked her why and she just said she didn't like it. I told her she could stay with me too but that she had to just sit there-she couldn't bring something else to do. It was choir or sitting quietly during the adult service. Kaleb asked if I meant him too and I said "yes." He asked if he could bring paper and I said "No." Choir or service. He stomped out of the room saying "What did I do wrong? I didn't kill you or something. Why are you punishing me?" He's a little...what's a masculine word for dramatic? Is there one?

We went to Casa Gallardo Monday night because they had a sign announcing kids eat free on Monday nights. We went in and the sign said that only one kid eats free per paying adult. I hate that...it's much better when you get 2 kids free per adult. Obviously Kaleb didn't appreciate it either because he said "It's only on Mondays. Can't they just go all out?"

While at Casa, Olivia handed me her water and said: "You can have devil water."

My response: "Did you say devil water?"

Olivia: "Yeah, devil. It means two waters."

I think she meant double...

Jumbled up thoughts

2010-05-20T23:42:00.002-05:00

I have so many things I want to write about, but like last night, I am extremely tired and don't have time. That really makes me sad. I'll try to be quick and try not to lose you...my brain feels fuzzy and who knows if this will make any sense.

First, I went to a benefit concert tonight that a friend of mine was performing at. It was really good. It was great to go to dinner with a good friend beforehand, eat some awesome guacamole, then go to the concert. It was very uplifting.

Second, my friend Faith just started her own blog. I was talking to her last night about how much I love my blog, how I've made some great friends recently, and how it has become this obsessive hobby of mine. I like to think I inspired her. ;-) In reality, writing isn't new to her...just the form of blogging. So...if any of you are interested in stopping by her blog and checking it out, you can find it here at Not Just A Mom.

Third, the kids at the concert tonight made me really question myself. They just looked so young, and I felt so old. I was watching them interact, some of them being college and high school students and I found myself missing those days. Those carefree days before marriage and definitely before kids. And I love my family. I wouldn't go back and do it any differently. But I miss being young and free. And I miss my hair. The kind that looked OK in a pony tail. The kind that laid flat and looked pretty. The kind that didn't have 5 millions grays threatening to discolor my whole head! *sigh*

Last but not least...I WON MY FIRST GIVEAWAY!!!! My girls are going to be SO excited. I can't decide whether to tell them tomorrow or wait and surprise them. Although I am horrible with waiting and surprises so most likely I will tell them. I entered this one, specifically with Abbey in mind. It was for YoYo Lip Gloss. I had entered one to win Dora DVDs for Livvy and some art thing for Kat, and a Marble Racer thing for Kaleb. But the lip gloss was one I entered WITH Abbey next to me. I KNEW I would win one sooner or later. Out of the many I entered, about 2/5ths (that doesn't look right but it was more than 1/4 and less than 2/3) of them have ended but many are still open. So it was encouraging to win one from my first round of entries. I'm really excited about it...even though it won't be me using the lip gloss! I think there are 4 lip glosses so all of my girls will get to take part in the fun once it arrives.

Short and sweet...

2010-05-19T22:13:00.004-05:00

Are you going to participate in Friday Funnies this week? It's not too late to listen for those adorable things your kids say and jot them down. On Friday, I will have the link up so you can link your posts and join in with me! I have some great stories this week. I love that my kids can provide me (and a handful of you) minutes of entertainment! I want to hear what your kids are saying and doing too, so get those posts ready!

Are you entered into my lotion giveaway yet? You still have until June 1. Check it out. It's not a fancy, high-end giveaway...but it's homemade, safe for your skin and it's...well...it's FREE!

GLEE was AWESOME this week...at the very least, it was the BEST episode yet...musically. Between Piano Man and Dream On...AWESOME. Absolutely incredible! I cannot wait to own season 1 so that I can watch it all over again when I am down. Or when I am happy. Or whenever I want!

Banning all Memes!

2010-05-18T23:07:00.001-05:00

As my youngest would say "Tricked ya!"

I don't know why that is my subject. Probably because it's Tuesday and I was thinking about doing Post It Note Tuesday but until I learn how to design my own post it notes and add a little spice...I'm not going to do it. Wait...I don't mean that quite as harsh as it might sound. I just mean that I'd like to learn how to design my own and didn't have time today and so I'm not participating today. I still love the concept...I just want to make my own fun background.

First of all, before I get into the 'meat' of this post, there is something that I need to get off my chest. To the person in my office building who left their plastic glove (just one!) in the bathroom on the back of the toilet tank...GROSS! Not to mention creepy. Why? Really...why?? Could you not have left it on the sink? Of all places, the back of the toilet seemed to be the best option? What could you possibly have been doing? Nevermind. On second thought, don't tell me. Don't ever, EVER tell me!

OK...I feel a little bit better...

I decided to take part in my kids' school PTF (Parent/Teacher Fellowship). We had our first meeting tonight. And I cried. Yeah, you read that right. I cried like a little baby (not really-here I go lying again--it was more like an emotional mom who has trouble expressing herself verbally--wait--that's me). Who cries at PTF meetings?? Uh, *raises hand sheepishly* apparently I do. I didn't go expecting to cry. I didn't go expecting to pour my heart out either.

Two years ago when my kids were at this school I tried to get involved. I tried to be a part of the class parties and get to know some of the mothers. But I felt such resistance. These people were already friends. Had been for years. And they didn't seem the least bit interested in letting someone new in. I know I am generalizing and probably not ALL of the mothers were like this-but it only takes one or two...

It's hard for a shy person like me (yeah I know hard to believe if you've read my blog much) to break the ice and build relationships. It takes a lot for me to get to know people; to put myself out there and so I don't do it often. And if I do it, and it backfires...you better believe I am going to be hesitant to put myself out there again. That is exactly what happened two years ago and I still know next to no one at my kids' school. But my mother-in-law is heading this PTF up, and if being a part of it can save another family from feeling shut off and left out, then I'll do what I can. So...I cried. Explaining what I went through and how hard it was to put myself out there and try to get to know the other parents.

You know, I think that is one reason why I like writing so much. Everything I want to say and the way I want to express myself is just so much easier in writing-it comes naturally. Writing is easy for me. I seriously do write the way I think, or how I would talk if we were face to face and I knew you. But for some reason I just can't be that free and comfortable face to face in new settings or crowds. I know there is a lot to be said for building relationships face to face, but I'm much happier when I feel safe in my little bubble of words. From my writing, you may not think that I have a hard time making friends, but I do. At least initially. It's that beginning part...not knowing what to say or how to act, not being sure of myself. Being self-conscious or worried that people won't like me, however lame and superficial that may sound. That's what I struggle with.

Completely unrelated:

Do any of you watch Community? I really like that show, especially the Spanish teacher-in fact, if it weren't for the Spanish teacher, Kris and I wouldn't have watched it beyond the first couple of episodes. It's light and funny. And the mascot, while it completely creeps me out, just makes me laugh. I can't look at it and not laugh. Granted, it might just seem creepy to you but it's actually really funny if you understand it and why it looks the way it does. They were trying to be politically correct and so it couldn't have a certain color eye or smile. Anyway...if you ever have a chance to check it out, start from the beginning and give it a shot.

D-Listed Blog Party

2010-05-17T13:53:00.006-05:00

I'm always on the lookout for more blogs to fall in love with, as if I have enough time as it is to keep up with my current list! So when I came across this blog party, I just felt compelled to overwhelm myself with more cool blogs! :-)

That being said, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I'll try to keep some of it to little known facts, so as not to bore any of you who know the usual.

Here are the well-known facts:

I am 31 years old and have enough white/gray hairs to last me a lifetime.

I'm a wife to an amazingly gifted and kind husband. We have been married for almost 11 years and I look forward to how ever many more God grants us.

I have four incredibly adorable, awesome stair-step children (9, 8, 7, and 4) that I love and adore.

We are one BIG happy family.

I am very busy these days and don't like it, but still find (MAKE) time to write as often as I can. I am also presently annoyed that my pictures are cut off when viewing my blog, the last two anyway. But can't take the time to mess with it...so sorry they are cut off. I do know it and feel bad about it, but am not willing to fix it right now. :-)

Now, let's move on to the GOOD stuff. The stuff only my closest friends know about me.

#1. I don't like to be hugged. I have mentioned this one before...but most of the time, it makes me cringe inside. I accept it well, especially from those who have no idea that it bothers me. I also can't stand for someone to put their hand on my back or my shoulder, especially if they know I don't like it. Yes, Cindy, I'm talking to you!

#2. I was adopted as a baby and have NEVER, EVER wished my life had turned out any different. I am thankful every day that God placed me with a family who loves me and allowed me to stay in the family, instead of spending my childhood lost in the foster care system. My mom and dad will never truly know how grateful I am for their sacrifice, for raising me and instilling God's love in me and praying daily for me.

#3. Someday I want to travel the world. I love to fly and would love to go anywhere I am able. I have always had a heart for overseas missions as well and it will be interesting to see if God uses that later on in life. Right now my mission field is my family.

#4. I love to sing but am extremely self-conscious about my voice. I especially love the alto and tenor parts...and I am lost hearing a good male voice singing tenor. I'm a sucker for good old fashioned hymns, especially the ones I know the harmony to!

#5. Some day, if I ever find myself with a little extra money, I am going to invest in a completely superficial, unimportant physical improvement: Laser Hair Removal.

OK, I think that's enough for now. Are you still there??? Those weren't interesting facts. In fact, I never promised they would be. I just said they would be lesser known facts about me. I'm kinda boring overall!

At the risk of repeating myself...

2010-05-16T21:25:00.003-05:00

...I LOVE Bailey's Little Bites!! Seriously! This stuff is just so darn cute! Tara has a new product I discovered today and I am tempted to buy it just because it's so adorable! Chinese food! She has a Beef Stir Fry Dinner now. Look at this!

Crab rangoon? Fortune cookie? Egg roll too? Awesome!! The creativity and detail here is amazing!

And I'd like to just share that Julie, the winner of my first ever giveaway ($10 to Bailey's Little Bites Etsy Store) chose and has now received her Cupcake and mini Cupcake!

I also wanted to share with you what Julie had to say after receiving her felt cupcakes:

"I have received my prize-honest to Pete-they are adorable..thanks so much."

After responding to make sure it was OK to quote her on that, she replied:

"I think her products are so cute and reasonably priced."

I just thought it was important that you saw what someone else was saying about these cool felt foods.

So, feel free to check out Bailey's Little Bites at Etsy, on Twitter, or on Facebook!

My Dirty Hair Days - Update #3

2010-05-16T00:07:00.006-05:00

If you are just tuning in, these posts may help you catch up with My Dirty Hair Days experiment, though it isn't REQUIRED READING. I'm almost halfway through the experiment now!

In the beginning...they didn't wash their hair (not the real title of the post but it's true...)

My Dirty Hair Days - Update #1

My Dirty Hair Days - Update #2

I told Kris last night that I thought my hair was actually getting softer. He said "It is. It's also getting bigger." Ha! It is though! I've always had really thick hair. I used to have people all the time tell me they envied my hair, I assume because it was always so thick and full. That sounds WAY more arrogant than I intended. If this fullness continues though, pretty soon I'll look a bit ridiculous!

Well, these days instead of growing longer (though I am sure it is little by little) it is growing...um...wider! It's just so much fuller now right after I dry it. I actually have to brush my hair in layers now too. I switched over to one of those boar's hair brushes and because I just don't think it gets through all the hair in one stroke, I am having to divide my hair into four sections and brush each one separately to make sure all the tangles are out and it is all lying/laying (?) smooth. I took a few more pictures tonight, though I am pretty sure the pictures don't really show any difference at all. The fullness is probably the biggest difference I can see and feel right now with having switched from shampoo to baking soda/water. It has now been 20 days since I last shampooed my hair in the traditional sense! Almost 3 weeks in means that I am halfway to my committed time of 6 weeks!

I think that I am finally starting to notice a difference...besides the fact that I haven't had to buy shampoo and conditioner in a while! As I mentioned above, it finally feels softer and it is most definitely fuller. I am able to go 3, instead of 2, days in between washing with baking soda/water now before my hair starts to look and feel like it needs to be washed. Oh and at our local grocery store here (Schnucks) I found a plastic bottle of baking soda with a lid! This is great because it means not only can I leave that in the shower at home to just add to a cup of warm water, I can also keep one in my gym bag so that I don't have to get my Ziploc bog of mysterious white powder out and have someone call the cops thinking I have some weird drug habit in the locker room at the YMCA!!!

Here are a couple of pictures! And if you haven't already, don't forget to enter my giveaway for some of my homemade, all natural lotion!

Please forgive to goofy look on my face. It was late and I was tired! And apparently I don't really know how to smile at 11pm. At least the picture is small, so as not to frighten anyone more than necessary.

Let's celebrate...with a GIVEAWAY!

2010-05-15T20:51:00.007-05:00

The ~~just made up 3 hours ago~~ much sought-after, long-anticipated GIVEAWAY is here! It's FINALLY here. I know you have all just been sitting there with eyes glued to the screen, mouses (mice?) ready, eagerly awaiting my second ever giveaway. And now that the kiddos are ~~taped down in beds with duct tape~~ snuggly tucked into bed and the husband is ~~nowhere in sight!~~ down in the basement working on a devotion, I'm staying true to my word and preparing the ~~quickly thrown together most random and cheap~~ best giveaway ever for you! Yes YOU. Because I now have 102 followers and that is reason to celebrate. Shoot...5 followers is reason to celebrate!

So if you are just joining in because someone you know and love directed you to this giveaway, don't get too excited, but don't leave just yet! My review of this product is totally biased. Besides myself, my kids and a couple of friends who "ooh"-d and "ahh"-ed (but didn't ask me to make them any either because they didn't like it and were being polite or they're jerks--just kidding friends!), no one else has tried this homemade lotion of mine. Sure other people out there SOMEWHERE have tried it, because I got the recipe online...but you know what I mean. Basically, you just have to take my word for it that it's a good product!

One lucky winner will receive their choice of an 8 oz. bottle of all natural, dye and chemical free body lotion, in either a Cool Ivy scent (my favorite) or Lavender Woods. If you have sensitive skin or eczema, I'd go for the Lavender Woods, as it is made strictly with essential oils, which are completely safe for the skin. My daughter with bad eczema has been using this new lotion and hasn't had softer, smoother, healthier skin in 6 years! I tend to exaggerate...but in this I do not. I cannot believe how good her skin is looking and feeling after years of it feeling like sandpaper.

Oh and by the way, this will probably be the most unorganized, haphazard giveaway you have ever seen! But enter anyway. Because it's free. And because you want me to have more than one person enter my second giveaway, don't you? Can I get some pity entries please? :-) You'll have a month's worth of great lotion (give or take a few days/months depending on how often you actually use lotion) without spending $10.50 or more at Bath & Body Works!

Everyone else has a mandatory entry so I decided that I would too. Because it's the "thing" to do, right? Alright...here we go.

Be sure to leave your email address in a form you are comfortable with in the comment and leave a separate comment for each entry (i.e. 2 entries = 2 comments)

Mandatory entry: Tell me in the comments which scent you'd prefer.

Cool Ivy

a blend of Cool Water for Women oil and Ivy oil

Lavender Woods

a blend of Lavender (known for calming/soothing) and Cedarwood

EXTRA ENTRIES:

Follow Little Bishop Chronicles through Google Friend (+1 entry)

Leave a relevant comment on any of my other posts, (+1 entry for each. Unlimited)

"Like" Little Bishop Chronicles on Facebook (+2 entries)

Follow Little Bishop Chronicles on Twitter (+2 entries)

Subscribe to my blog in a reader (+2 entries)

Grab my button and put it on your blog, letting me know where I can find it (+5 entries)

Post a link to this giveaway on your Facebook page or in your status, tagging Little Bishop Chronicles (+5 entries)

Blog about this giveaway and provide a link to your post (+10 entries)

Giveaway will end on June 1, 2010 and the winner will be notified via email; winner will have 48 hours to get back in touch with me or I will choose another winner.

***No one is compensating me at all for this giveaway. In fact, I bought all of my own ingredients. I may actually lose money on this giveaway. ;-) All opinions are my own!!***

Two Milestones!!!!

2010-05-15T15:22:00.005-05:00

As of my previous post, I hit 300 blog posts (on this blog anyway!). Also after that post I came home from working and found that I have now hit 100 followers. That didn't take long. I'm a bit confused though because the last person to "follow" was showing up yesterday. So I suppose I already had 100 followers and it just hadn't updated? Did anyone read my last post and join and you just aren't showing up? I want to give credit where credit is due. I *think* my 100th follower is Mommy Gator over at Table for 3...Actually make that 4!. If you 'followed' my blog today, you're going to have to tell me because from everything I can see, she was my most recent follower, joining us as of yesterday. Unless I hear anything different from you, I am going to assume that Mommy Gator is indeed my 100th follower and winner of 8oz of my homemade lotion! Speak up if it was really you and you joined this blog today.

So do you know what else that means? It means that someone else is going to also get an 8oz bottle of lotion!!! I said in my previous post that I was going to giveaway my favorite "Cool Ivy" lotion. However...I started thinking about it in terms of my girls with eczema and so I am going to give the winners a choice between "Cool Ivy" or "Lavender Woods". That's my super creative new name for my combination of Lavender and Cedarwood essential oil. If you have sensitive skin and want to keep it 100% all natural, you can choose that scent instead.

Stay tuned...the giveaway will be posted soon!! I'm super excited!!!!

100th follower

2010-05-15T13:44:00.002-05:00

I have made a decision.

I am ONE follower away from 100 followers! How cool is that?!? It's a milestone I never thought about before, much less believed I would achieve! I have contemplated (anyone else love that word?) whether or not I should do something "special" to commemorate this achievement. I was going to just let it pass me by, but then I started thinking that while I don't have cool product reviews I get to do and giveaways handed to me, I can make lotion! Wonderful, chemical-free lotion!

So, once I hit 100 followers, which should *hopefully* be soon, I am going to have a giveaway. I am going to make up a batch of my favorite lotion (Cool Ivy scented) and give it to not one, but TWO readers. My 100th follower will receive one 8oz. bottle and then I will hold a giveaway for the other 8oz. bottle. Sure, it's not much, and costs me little, but my husband wouldn't be too happy if I gave away an extravagant $50 Pampered Chef gift certificate! Someday my friends...some sweet day...

I don't expect the giveaway to attract too much attention outside of YOU, my wonderful readers, and I'm OK with that. It's not a 'big' deal but surely some of you will want to participate because #1. Your chances will be really good and #2. Why the heck not?!? #3. It's a great way to see if I was lying about how great this homemade lotion is, because after all, sometimes I lie apparently.

As soon as I get that 100th follower (via Google Friend), I'll get the giveaway set up and posted. It'll be a good way for me to jump in to trying another giveaway, after my somewhat flawed initial one, without having too much expense or stress on my shoulders. I'm sorry it can't be 'more' than just an 8oz. bottle of lotion for the two winners but it's something, right? And those of you who read this blog don't read it for giveaways anyway, so ADDED BONUS! :-)

Friday Funnies - Week 3

2010-05-14T00:00:00.001-05:00

What do you think of my new button?

I think it's much more stylish!

This is my third week hosting my Friday Funnies...all by my lonesome. But that's OK! I have cool kids and I like to write about them. So, while the list is short (the kids didn't give me much material this week), I do have a couple of funny stories/conversations.

This one is from a couple of weeks ago that I forgot to post then. There is this woman at school that is called Pitsa. I'm not sure if I spelled it write and I am not sure where she is from. I just know that is her name, and it is I guess pronounced "pizza". So we somehow got to talking about her and actual pizza and Livvy proclaims "And then I'm gonna eat her all up!" We got a good laugh out of it, until Kaleb started to get upset and tell us that it was gossip. I questioned this and asked him what he meant. He informed me that it was gossip because I was talking about her name!

I mentioned previously that my mother-in-law and I went to Victoria's Secret on Mother's Day and left with some "intimates".

When I got home, Abbey asked me:

"What's in your bag?"

I replied:

"Bras and panties."

She walked away shaking her head saying:

"You don't expect that every day!"

**you know, like "you don't see that every day!"**

This next one isn't funny so much as cute and melts the heart...my heart anyway. The kids were playing in the van and Abbey & Livvy were trying to get me to participate in "knock knock" jokes with them. I refused. Livvy decided that she would play with Abbey instead. Here is the joke that I heard.

Abbey:

Knock Knock

Livvy:

Who's there?

Abbey:

God

Livvy:

God who?

Abbey:

God the Holy Spirit

Livvy:

Oooh, that's a good one! That's a serious one.

If there is anyone out there who wants to participate, link up. If not, well, hopefully you'll enjoy my funny kids!

Also, I thought this was a cool idea. You can check it out if you'd like. It's a little less overwhelming than some of the other Friday following memes out there.

96 and counting...

2010-05-13T21:38:00.002-05:00

Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be pushing 100 followers. WOW. That's crazy! And it makes me insanely happy! If you read this blog because you like this blog, please leave a comment and let me know. I'm trying to gauge how many of my followers actually like me. :-)

I wish that I was super popular AND had this incredible giveaway to celebrate hitting 100 followers, which I imagine will happen sooner or later...at least the follower part. Not sure about the giveaway. I'm so intrigued by all of the bloggers out there who are always getting products, reviewing them and then giving them away. How fun would it be to have people just send you stuff??? Granted, you agree to test the product and write about it, but don't all of us bloggers love to write anyway???? I'll test anything that is free! OK, well maybe not ANYTHING. If you offer me crack, I'm not going to test it just because it's free...

Overall, I don't really wish I was super popular. See how I just lie left and right? I do want people to like me though. I guess that it will be harder to like a liar huh?

Braley Mama...this is for you! *I just couldn't resist. I've been meaning to do it for a while and kept forgetting!

I'm going to rave about muffins

2010-05-13T12:33:00.003-05:00

I'm not one to eat something low-fat or 'healthy' based off of some hippie freak telling me that it tastes good, or that it doesn't taste like dirt. Those hippie freaks are liars. OK, not really...but if you eat dirt or grass for so long, I suppose it would start to taste GOOD. But for those of us with sensitive palates who aren't used to eating tree bark, tree bark is NOT going to just immediately taste good.

Fakes will not do it for me. If it doesn't closely resemble (in look AND taste) the original fat and sugar-filled treat, I will not eat it. I love desserts, but I have my standards! If it doesn't taste good, I simply will not eat it. If only most everything I cook didn't taste good!!! ;)

I say all of that because the "muffins" I made last night during my ~~attempt to get off my tail and do something for once!~~ highly acclaimed (by me) Willpower Wednesday were even better for breakfast! While they are called Cinnamon Bun Muffins, to me they taste like a really rich and incredibly moist spice cake or carrot cake, both of which I happen to love. I covered them in a delicious cream cheese icing, stuck them in the fridge, and then served them for breakfast. My kids were longing for more. I kid you not. L.O.N.G.I.N.G. They LOVED these.

Have you ever given your kids a treat or a gift and their eyes have just lit up? Their faces beamed with delight? They get so excited and they just want MORE? That's what every single one of mine (my "big" kid a.k.a husband included) did! They wanted more. But the recipe only made 9.

I froze three of them for future eating so I would have something in a pinch, plus I wanted to see how they did without icing. Anyone think they would freeze OK with icing? I didn't try that because I wasn't sure. Kris and I both had one last night. That left 4. I gave Katherine a whole one to try this morning. Kat loved it and without evening wanting to know what it was or tasted like, Kaleb asked for a whole one. You have to understand...this kid does NOT do that! But I told him that they were good and he could see how much Kat was enjoying hers so he just knew he was going to love it. I actually HAD to make the younger girls share one so that I could enjoy one for breakfast myself. Selfish mother that I am! I really wished I had more to give them...they would have kept eating them.

Why am I gushing on and on about muffins? Because they are THAT good! And because I get so excited when I find a recipe for YEAST-FREE (meaning gluten AND sugar-free) food that tastes the same, if not BETTER, than the original! These are *those* muffins!

Take it from someone who won't eat food that is pretending to be the 'real' thing but actually tastes horrible. MAKE THESE MUFFINS. I'm actually hoping to make a double-batch tonight and bring them in to work tomorrow to see if anyone can even tell the difference. I'll be surprised if they can!

I love my feet!

2010-05-12T22:10:00.005-05:00

Before I forget, check out my Willpower Wednesday! Cinnamon Bun Muffins and Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting = YUM!

It's no secret that I love my feet. I think (and have been told on numerous occasions) that I have cute feet. And of the handful of features people seem to think are 'good' about me, I will agree on my feet. Don't judge me...I have a lot of self-esteem issues to work through still-one body part at a time! Those of you aware of my 'issues', you'll be glad to know that I now have 2 physical features I can tolerate, even (dare I say it!) like. My feet are one (or two) of them. One I cannot mention here and don't go around bragging about. My hair (is that a part really though?) used to be one until baby #4. Hopefully with my no shampoo experiment it will become a favorite again.

That being said, I used to get pedicures all the time. OK, not all the time. Don't you love the way I just lie to you sometimes? Let me back up and say that I used to get pedicures regularly. Yes, that is much more truthful. For a while, especially during flip flop season (and we all know flip flop season is pretty much all year round unless there is snow on the ground), I loved nothing more than to have my beautiful feet pampered. After all, it was much cheaper than a Swedish massage and ~~easier for me to sneak into the budget~~ more affordable. One of my favorite things in the world is having my feet massaged. My feet and my head. I know that some people can't stand to have other people look at, let alone touch their feet, but again...I have cute feet. So I'm OK with it. :-)

For Mother's Day, I was going to treat my mother-in-law to a pedicure. Cindy, please understand I love you and would have done this anyway...but my toes were in need of some serious attention and so I suggested to our wonderful Kris that it would be a great Mother's Day gift for YOU. ;-) I just happened to benefit from it as well.

Well, Cindy and I got so carried away between free Hydro-massages and our trip to Victoria's Secret to look at overpriced bras and panties (which we both walked away with) that by the time we went to get pedicures, all the places we checked were closed. I hadn't thought that one through very well. Next time I'll remember that EVERYTHING closes early on Sunday, especially on holidays! And my dear husband, as your mom told you tonight, there WILL be a next time. Yeah yeah yeah...I know...I'd better get a Pampered Chef show on the calendar!

Forgoing the pedicure was NEVER an option. That would be absurd! We just took a rain check. Fast forward to tonight. We got the promised pedicures. Believe it or not, this was the first time my mother-in-law had experienced a pedicure. Can you believe that? I think she is now 'hooked'! I'm pretty sure she offered to pay for next month's, right Cindy?

And now that I have this ~~blog most of my followers follow because they want me to follow them back~~ ever-so-popular (to me and a few friends & family) blog, I want to take pictures all the time, so of course, I snapped a couple of pictures of our lovely toes! Feet haters, close your eyes. It'll be over soon. Oh and in case I offended anyone with my strike-through comment above...those of you who read this blog because you love me, I adore you and appreciate every single one of you. I truly do! Even if we've never met! Tylaine, Braley Mama...I'm talking to you, among others! It means the world to me. The rest of you, (those I was referring to who may never click on my link again) well, you aren't reading this anyway now, are you?

I have a little challenge for you. If you get the answer right, you'll get 100 points. Maybe some day you can rack up Bishop Bucks to redeem for cool things. You know, like Swag Bucks. Or not. My points are like those points when there is a cat in the road (sounded more humane than person) and someone says "5 points if you hit it!" No one ever takes that challenge, thus those points (that are really worth nothing anyway) never actually get awarded. So, for fun...here is the question. First person to get it right wins absolutely NOTHING!

WHICH FEET ARE THAT OF THE 29 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AND WHICH FEET ARE THAT OF THE 49 YEAR OLD MOTHER-IN-LAW?

Off topic, if someone were to forbid me from using parentheses, I think I may have to go postal and kill someone. It's so unnatural for me not to use parentheses (anywhere I'd like!).

My poor baby (Olivia) is having a rough time this week. Between her stupid allergy (soy bean-see I wrote it like that just so I could use parentheses again, in case you didn't realize how often I use parentheses) and her asthma, the ~~can't-decide-if-it-wants-to-be-hot-or-cold-or-humid-or-rainy-just-to-annoy-me~~ ever-changing weather has not been kind to her. She has that same old telling cough. The one that signifies an asthma attack is fast approaching. We started treating her with Albuterol and Orapred two days ago, throwing a little Benadryl in there too, for good measure, unsure of what kind of soy bean exposure she's had over the last week. It's so hard to keep her from everything with soy in it and who knows if she's allergic to something else on top of it! It's pretty funny when your four year old LOVES Whole Foods and always asks you to get her food from there! Here are a couple of shots I got tonight while doing a much needed rescue treatment. We never know, when she gets like this, if we will wind up in the ER. We're praying that we can keep it under control here at home though.

I'm a winner!

2010-05-11T19:17:00.009-05:00

So, I've mentioned before that I didn't know ~~anything~~ much about giveaways and blog prizes, etc...

This past week, not even knowing that I had a chance to win something (I'm sure it pays to read the instructions in their entirety!), I wrote a post about my "whoopsie" moment, (when my kids were all home and I was at work because I didn't know they had a half day) as part of Mother's Day Mania. I liked the topic and had a good story to tell, and so I participated. So imagine my surprise when I saw this at My Little Life:

I WON SOMETHING!!

How cool is that?!?

I'm going to give you a brief (YES I do know how to keep something brief!) update on my hair. It's not an official update so it doesn't get its own post. I was able to go 3 days this time between washing my hair. I had two normal (not to mention decent) hair days, then was able to put my hair in a pony tail today without it looking oily or greasy!!! The reason I say this is because usually the day after washing my hair, there is no hope except for it to go up in the pony tail. But I washed it last on Sunday morning (w/just baking soda & water). I dried/straightened it, and had a pretty good hair day yesterday. I was able to wear it down all day too which was HUGE. Normally I can't stand the way it feels down on the second day. But I last ALL day without the urge to pull it back once. To me, this is an indicator that it is indeed getting healthier. I made it through today with my hair up and then washed it at the Y, as you will see expounded upon below.

We went back to the Y tonight. We haven't gone in at least 3 weeks I believe. I was planning to tackle the evil elliptical tonight but they were all taken, so I took that as a sign that I should just take it easy and stick to the bike!!! I lasted 25 minutes. My chiropractor nixed all the upper body weights until he gives me the go ahead and all of the leg machines were taken so I went down to the showers. I tell you this because this was the first time I've been to Y since I stopped using shampoo on my heart. Yes, that says heart. Everyone loves a good laugh at someone else's expense, so I am leaving my typo. I have NO idea what I was thinking when I typed that except that I was clearly out of it!!! I meant my HAIR!! I have not, nor will I ever attempt to use shampoo on my heart!! So I had to come up with some way to transport my baking soda mixture. It wasn't easy. I found that unlike the vinegar mixture, if I make it up ahead of time and store it in a container, it just doesn't work as well. So taking it already mixed up just wasn't an option. My little travel shampoo bottle was wet and so I didn't want to put baking soda directly in there. I wound up pouring some baking soda into a plastic (ziploc) baggie. Let's just hope that my gym bag never gets searched. I imagine I'd be in a bit of trouble for that until they test it and find out that it actually is NOT cocaine! I can see it now...

Tonight I discovered Chefs vs. City.

It's like Amazing Race...but centered around food!!! How great it that?!? I get bored with The Amazing Race, though I do enjoy it from time to time. However, I really like Chef vs. City on The Food Network. Why can't Food Network shows come on Hulu???

2010-05-11T09:58:00.009-05:00

Yeah...I'm doing the post its again this week. I'm doubling up today (see Follow Me Back Tuesday below).

And now....

I LOVE this picture!

If you're interested, you can find out more about Follow Me Back Tuesday here. I look forward to meeting more bloggers out there!

Mommy and Me Monday

2010-05-10T01:34:00.006-05:00

Hosted by Krystyn
Today is a GREAT day to participate in this (though any MONDAY is a good excuse to finally get into some of the pictures!). I had a wonderful Mother's Day and made sure that I took plenty of pictures, to preserve the great memories, as well as participate in Mommy and Me Monday! ;) Without further ado:

Bad Reputation

2010-05-09T23:19:00.002-05:00

I'm so giddy right now!

I'm watching Glee from Tuesday night-"Bad Reputation". First of all...the murder mystery music all throughout is awesome! Mr. Schuester is now interrogating everyone. Kurt just cornered him and told him he'd been watching too many reruns of Law & Order.

The songs SO FAR are amazing. "Ice Ice Baby" and "Can't Touch This". Molly Shannon is on this episode. A friend just told me that Arnie is going to sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" at the end too! Can't wait!!!

So, I'm writing while I am watching and just completely "Gleeking" out. Oh and when Sue said "I might buy a small diaper for your chin, because it looks like a baby's ***" I just couldn't stop laughing.

I am SOOO glad I resisted the urge to watch this earlier this week. What a great end to Mother's Day!!!

HydroMassage-a LOCAL giveaway-ENDS TOMORROW NIGHT

2010-05-09T17:39:00.004-05:00

OK, technically it isn't a giveaway...it's a FREE massage...but it is ending soon and I think you should benefit from it if you can.

Earlier this week I read about a promotion going on where mothers could get a free HydroMassage. I had never heard of this before so being a good Google addict, I "Googled" it! Sounded like a cool concept and I like free.

I have NEVER had a 'real' massage before. NEVER.EVER. Even though I have wanted one. For about 10 years. Since my neck has gotten so bad due to 2 degenerated discs, I have gone from WANTING a massage to NEEDING a massage. When I saw "FREE", I didn't care if it was only going to be 10-15 minutes and if a REAL person wasn't giving it to me. FREE IS FREE right?

I printed a coupon for myself and my mother-in-law and off we went today. Well, back up...I called the closest location to me to make sure that they were participating in the offer. The location I went to wasn't necessarily honoring the coupons through the 15th. It is up to each individual location how long they want to offer it, and even if they want to participate.

In my area, MassageLuxe in Brentwood, MO is participating in the Mother's Day free HydroMassage. It was WONDERFUL!!! You can control the intensity and speed, as well as what areas it massages. It is 90 degree water that shoots up (probably not the official term) underneath and provides a very relaxing, low-medium intensity massage. You can remain completely clothed as well and you are in a room all by yourself. It was a really great experience.

I was so impressed and so in need of a massage that when I heard about the great promotion they are running right now, I committed almost all of my monthly spending money to join. For $48.88/month (w/o membership it's $74) not only do I get one 60-min Swedish/Deep Tissue massage/month; I will also get UNLIMITED access to the HydroMassage. I can literally go EVERY DAY for 15 minutes for a little neck relief!!! THIS was really the selling point for me. There are days that my neck is so bad I am just dying for even a few minutes of relief. And this particular location is on my way home from work. But if I am out in a different area, I can actually use the HydroMassage at any of the FOUR St. Louis area locations!

To top it all off, I get my first massage for FREE!!! It's scheduled for Thursday night. Having never had one of these before, I am really, REALLY excited. I can't wait to experience it, and then write about it. After my HydroMassage today, I told the employees that I was definitely going to write about this on my blog! They liked this and said that if I was serious, while they were only offering the free HydroMassage today, they would extend it to tomorrow if anyone goes to THEIR location tonight or tomorrow and mentions MY NAME and/or MY BLOG!!! HOW COOL IS THAT??

SO...here it is. If you are in the Saint Louis area and have a chance, go to MassageLuxe tonight (before 8pm-HURRY) or tomorrow between 8am-10pm. You have to go to the one in Brentwood. The address is 1409 South Hanley Rd. You may want to call ahead and mention my name and make sure that it is OK for men or non-mothers to benefit from this special. It was originally for mothers but my understanding from talking to them is that it will apply to anyone who reads my blog. If you want to call, the number is 314-594-5893.

ALSO...if you are in the area and want a great deal on a one hour massage, please contact me. I have coupons for a $38 massage for all new customers. You DO NOT have to become a member to benefit from this $38 massage. There are no strings attached. You just have to get the coupon from me that has my name on it. I believe in this so much and I haven't even gone for my one hour massage yet. Having looked into prices lately, and knowing my chiropractor's office charges $60 for a one hour massage, this is a great deal! Can't wait to share my experience with you.

By the way, I had a great, relaxing Mother's Day. We're finishing it off by catching up on LOST with my mother-in-law. After getting home, we're going to catch up on my favorites: GLEE (duh!) and Chuck.

Let me know if you are interested in one of the massage coupons for $38!