Apparently people ask my mother on a daily basis "How's it going with the kids?" because she makes sure to mention that she tells people everyday that things are going "fine" ... which is mom-speak for the house is still standing and noone has died yet.
She is right though, things are going fine. I approached this situation with trepidation, of course, but so far things have been just fine.
Despite the fact that in the first three days Benny broke a plate, Dylan broke a lamp and I broke a glass, things have been fine. Thank goodness noone has broken a mirror yet. Knock wood.
Mom is exceedingly happy to have been able to give up her terrible Cup-O-Soup dinner habit. I am very happy to cook every night and have someone ELSE wash the dishes. Fantastic!
The kids really love venturing out into the backyard pretty much whenever they feel the need. The yard is fully fenced and gated and totally secure unlike at the Arizona house where the yard was completely open, exceedingly large and totally open to strangers, bears, turkeys, deer, etc.
Elizabeth also just adores her new school. All the kids are super friendly, she's constantly greeting kids on the way into school and waving goodbye to new friends on the way out. It's very sweet. Her school is much closer to home now, we can walk there if we are so inclined and we have been a few times. She's also getting almost twice as many classroom hours here than she was back in Arizona, and she loves that too. Crazy kid. Loves learning. I'm truly blessed.
I am loving the shopping variety. I can actually check all the grocery mailers and find the best deals and save a ton of money on food that way, instead of getting packaged stuff at Walmart and fresh stuff at Safeway, end of story. Yes, I realize that my joy at a wider selection of grocery stores makes me A) old and B) lame and C) busted.
I'm fine with that. I get to shop at Trader Joe's, so it's all good.
We are hopeful that Bob will be able to get a job soon. There are a few opportunities we know about and he's applied for a few things and gotten in touch with the local union so...you know, we're staying positive.
All in all the arrangement is working out pretty well for us. The boys have their own room, which Benny sleeps in all night and Dylan really tries to sleep in all night. Elizabeth bunks with my mom and Bob and I have our own room. Downstairs the kids have a playroom with their own TV (for the horrible cartoons) and computers for their PBS Kids and Nick Jr. games. So they're totally happy.
I think the family member with the most joy in his heart is Sonny. He gets to lay outside in the sunshine all day, run around and play with the kids in the yard and not have to be on the tie-out at ALL anymore. He is in dog heaven.
Thanksgiving is coming up and I'm so happy that we'll all be together here. It will be different for me, I'm used to running the party back home, but I'm sure I'll get to do a lot of the cooking and frankly I use all my mom's recipes anyway so it will go over just fine.
I'm sure I just jinxed our harmony with this positive and upbeat post, but hey, I know you all wanted to know if we had killed each other yet...truth is, we haven't even come close.
And that's a good thing.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Friday, November 06, 2009
The Worst Thing I Have Ever Seen
Do you have any idea how difficult it is to clean dog shit off of mini blinds?
Let me back up.
This morning, unbeknownst to me, the dog took a crap in the house.
Also unbeknownst to me, the baby found said crap before anyone else did.
Benny apparently thought that the crap was a stinking pile of modeling clay or perhaps food since he smeared it all over his face, clothes, hands and feet and possibly ate some then proceeded to fingerpaint with it all over the room in which it was found.
I became aware of this activity after I smelled the lovely aroma of dog crap coming off of my child and saw that he was covered in said crap.
I thought that was bad enough. Then I found the crime scene.
Shredded piles of dog crap everywhere. Dog poo smeared on the wood floor, and in the cracks in between the boards.
Dog poo on the chairs, on the piano bench AND keys. Dog poo on the windows and on the aforementioned mini blinds.
First step was to clean the baby. I had Bob secure the crime scene to ensure no further contamination.
I put the baby in the tub and scrubbed the shit off of him. I even scrubbed inside his mouth, just in case.
As I handed the sparkly clean little shit disturber off to his dad he said... "Why did you let him do that?"
"Oh yeah! I LET him do that! I fucking watched him, I thought it was HILARIOUS! Shut up!" I said.
Bob dressed the baby, and I got down to business with the shit.
There I was on my hands and knees, spraying wood floor cleaner on poo smears and using almost a whole roll of paper towels to wipe it all up. I had a toothpick to clean the poo out of the grooves between the boards.
Cleaning poo off of a piano makes a really lovely song.
Then it was time for the mini blinds. Let me just tell you that scrubbing dried up dog poo off of mini blinds is not the MOST fun I've ever had.
The whole mini blind scrubbing procedure took about 45 minutes. I started with paper towels and spray cleaner and eventually moved up to Lysol wipes. Just when you think you've got it all cleaned, you flip over another blind and find MORE poo. It's a real treat.
I filled a whole grocery bag full of paper towels and Lysol wipes.
Then I took a freaking shower, because seriously I was elbow deep in poo for like an hour.
Literally, the worst thing I have ever seen.
Let me back up.
This morning, unbeknownst to me, the dog took a crap in the house.
Also unbeknownst to me, the baby found said crap before anyone else did.
Benny apparently thought that the crap was a stinking pile of modeling clay or perhaps food since he smeared it all over his face, clothes, hands and feet and possibly ate some then proceeded to fingerpaint with it all over the room in which it was found.
I became aware of this activity after I smelled the lovely aroma of dog crap coming off of my child and saw that he was covered in said crap.
I thought that was bad enough. Then I found the crime scene.
Shredded piles of dog crap everywhere. Dog poo smeared on the wood floor, and in the cracks in between the boards.
Dog poo on the chairs, on the piano bench AND keys. Dog poo on the windows and on the aforementioned mini blinds.
First step was to clean the baby. I had Bob secure the crime scene to ensure no further contamination.
I put the baby in the tub and scrubbed the shit off of him. I even scrubbed inside his mouth, just in case.
As I handed the sparkly clean little shit disturber off to his dad he said... "Why did you let him do that?"
"Oh yeah! I LET him do that! I fucking watched him, I thought it was HILARIOUS! Shut up!" I said.
Bob dressed the baby, and I got down to business with the shit.
There I was on my hands and knees, spraying wood floor cleaner on poo smears and using almost a whole roll of paper towels to wipe it all up. I had a toothpick to clean the poo out of the grooves between the boards.
Cleaning poo off of a piano makes a really lovely song.
Then it was time for the mini blinds. Let me just tell you that scrubbing dried up dog poo off of mini blinds is not the MOST fun I've ever had.
The whole mini blind scrubbing procedure took about 45 minutes. I started with paper towels and spray cleaner and eventually moved up to Lysol wipes. Just when you think you've got it all cleaned, you flip over another blind and find MORE poo. It's a real treat.
I filled a whole grocery bag full of paper towels and Lysol wipes.
Then I took a freaking shower, because seriously I was elbow deep in poo for like an hour.
Literally, the worst thing I have ever seen.
Friday, October 16, 2009
It was bound to happen someday
Elizabeth has not been feeling well these last few days. A sore throat, turned into fever, turned into some sort of croupy nightmare.
Last night she took a hot bath to alleviate all those symptoms.
Afterwards she wanted to change into totally different pajamas. I told her to forget it because I didn't want her rifling through the laundry baskets destroying the delicate order of the clothes just to change unnecessarily.
About a half hour later she tried to convince me to let her change again.
"Mom," she croaked. "There is a spot on my pajamas. I better change."
"No Liz," I said. "You will live with a tiny spot on your PJs. You do not need to change."
"Mom," she said in her 'OK here's the deal' voice.
She motioned to me "That is your body."
She motioned to herself "And THIS is my body. You're in charge of your body. And I am in charge of my body. So I can do whatever I want."
"No no no little girl," I said.
I pointed to her.
"That body's existence is SUBSIDIZED by this body," I pointed to myself. "and THAT body," I pointed to her father.
"So until you start paying rent, half the utilities, buying your own food and cooking it and driving yourself around town, WE are in charge of THAT little body and YOU will do what WE say you will do, not whatever you want to do. You got that?"
She shook her tiny head as if to say, "Oh mother, you really do not know anything" and tried to rekindle her opposition but I cut her off.
"You are NOT changing because there is a speck of a spot on your PJs. End of discussion."
And as that familiar phrase spilled from my lips, I became my mother.
Last night she took a hot bath to alleviate all those symptoms.
Afterwards she wanted to change into totally different pajamas. I told her to forget it because I didn't want her rifling through the laundry baskets destroying the delicate order of the clothes just to change unnecessarily.
About a half hour later she tried to convince me to let her change again.
"Mom," she croaked. "There is a spot on my pajamas. I better change."
"No Liz," I said. "You will live with a tiny spot on your PJs. You do not need to change."
"Mom," she said in her 'OK here's the deal' voice.
She motioned to me "That is your body."
She motioned to herself "And THIS is my body. You're in charge of your body. And I am in charge of my body. So I can do whatever I want."
"No no no little girl," I said.
I pointed to her.
"That body's existence is SUBSIDIZED by this body," I pointed to myself. "and THAT body," I pointed to her father.
"So until you start paying rent, half the utilities, buying your own food and cooking it and driving yourself around town, WE are in charge of THAT little body and YOU will do what WE say you will do, not whatever you want to do. You got that?"
She shook her tiny head as if to say, "Oh mother, you really do not know anything" and tried to rekindle her opposition but I cut her off.
"You are NOT changing because there is a speck of a spot on your PJs. End of discussion."
And as that familiar phrase spilled from my lips, I became my mother.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
So crazy, but such a good heart
My husband's cousin Evan is preparing to go on a church mission to Ecuador. He is leaving for his language training in about a week or so.
Today was his farewell gathering. Bob had to work so I took the kids over to visit with him and see their aunt and uncle and all their cousins. Mormons=lots of cousins.
Another of Bob's cousins has two little girls, one around 3 the other maybe a few months older than Ben. Dylan of course zeroed in on the girls and only wanted to hang out with them. What can I say, he digs chicks.
At some point during the party, Dylan wandered over to me with a very sour look on his face. He explained to me that the girls had a penguin toy and he threw it into tall grass and now he couldn't find it and he had to find it for the girls.
I went to go help him find the penguin, but it was nowhere to be found.
I told him "Look, honey, I can't find that toy and the girls don't seem upset at all so I think it's going to be alright."
He sat down in the grass, hung his head in his hands and mumbled, "It's all my fault mom. It's all my fault."
"Honey, it's ok!" I tried to reassure him.
He just stood up, gave me a hug and said, "I just want to go home now."
Poor little lamb.
Today was his farewell gathering. Bob had to work so I took the kids over to visit with him and see their aunt and uncle and all their cousins. Mormons=lots of cousins.
Another of Bob's cousins has two little girls, one around 3 the other maybe a few months older than Ben. Dylan of course zeroed in on the girls and only wanted to hang out with them. What can I say, he digs chicks.
At some point during the party, Dylan wandered over to me with a very sour look on his face. He explained to me that the girls had a penguin toy and he threw it into tall grass and now he couldn't find it and he had to find it for the girls.
I went to go help him find the penguin, but it was nowhere to be found.
I told him "Look, honey, I can't find that toy and the girls don't seem upset at all so I think it's going to be alright."
He sat down in the grass, hung his head in his hands and mumbled, "It's all my fault mom. It's all my fault."
"Honey, it's ok!" I tried to reassure him.
He just stood up, gave me a hug and said, "I just want to go home now."
Poor little lamb.
Eff You Nickelodeon!
Not that we didn't already have plans for this afternoon, BUT I'm still annoyed with Nickelodeon's Worldwide Day of Play
Not that it's not a good idea or a nice sentiment. But seriously.
My kids were split on the concept.
Once the announcement started running on Nick "Turn off your televisions..." etc.... my daughter turned to face me, got VERY serious and said "Mom, don't listen to him!"
And I probably would have been more alarmed by her reluctance to switch off the boob tube if she wasn't actually drawing a picture of butterflies while I was watching a documentary on Homer's "Odyssey"
Her brother, however, took the news very seriously.
As soon as the "Turn off your TV" annoucement started running, HE began running through the house admonishing us for watching TV and reminding us to put down our cell phones!
"We gotta turn off the TVs! ALL the TVs!!" he ran by yelling.
I appreciate the sentiment Nickelodeon, I really do, but isn't The Fresh Beat Band enough torture for one week?
Not that it's not a good idea or a nice sentiment. But seriously.
My kids were split on the concept.
Once the announcement started running on Nick "Turn off your televisions..." etc.... my daughter turned to face me, got VERY serious and said "Mom, don't listen to him!"
And I probably would have been more alarmed by her reluctance to switch off the boob tube if she wasn't actually drawing a picture of butterflies while I was watching a documentary on Homer's "Odyssey"
Her brother, however, took the news very seriously.
As soon as the "Turn off your TV" annoucement started running, HE began running through the house admonishing us for watching TV and reminding us to put down our cell phones!
"We gotta turn off the TVs! ALL the TVs!!" he ran by yelling.
I appreciate the sentiment Nickelodeon, I really do, but isn't The Fresh Beat Band enough torture for one week?
Friday, September 25, 2009
My Budget Beauty Guide
I've never been much of a girlie girl. I'd never even colored or curled my own hair until I got into college.
Now that I'm a mom of three, I'm still not much of a glamazon, though, I still would prefer to go out into the world looking nice.
Over the years I've settled on a pretty good beauty plan which is nearly effortless, affordable and makes even a busy mom look beautiful!
So here is my Budget Beauty Guide!
These are the products that I advise you to give a try as they have worked wonders for me!
Let's start in the shower....
I use Suave's Brilliant Brunette shampoo and conditioner. I've used the higher priced brands and found that I get the same shine and smoothness with Suave, at about a third of the price!
Twice or thrice a week I use the Equate (Walmart) brand of Fresh Mint Dandruff Shampoo instead of the Suave. It's cooling and invigorating and has the added scalp moisturizing benefits. I don't have dandruff, and maybe this is why...
To wash my face, I prefer either a handmade bar of tea-tree oil or Neem oil soap or Noxema's Blackhead Cleanser.
After the shower the first step is to moisturize.
For the face, I favor Aveeno's Positively Radiant Triple Boosting Serum followed by Aveeno's Ultra Calming Daily Moisturizer.
Though at the point of sale both of those products seem pricey (at $10+ each) I promise you they are worth it in the long run. If you use them as per instructions they last a long time. I've had my bottles for almost six months and they are still going strong. I think $30 a year isn't much to pay for radiant skin!
Other basic products I use and recommend:
Vermonts' Original Bag Balm -- excellent for dry lips, elbows and heels
L'Occitane Mom and Baby Balm -- very mild in smell, excellent for sensitive skin
Colgate Special White Baking Soda and Peroxide Mint Zing Paste - always Paste, never gel...ew.
Dove Antiperspirant and Deodorant -- in Original Clean scent. Works great and helps reduce razor burn.
Onto cosmetics....
I have recently become a major fan of E.L.F.. Almost everything is $1 and everything that I've tried has been fantastic.
My favorites:
All Over Color/Cover Stick: I have it in Medium (a foundation color) and in Toasted and Pink Lemonade (both shimmery eyeshadow, cheek and/or lip shades).
The Cover Stick is fantastic. Creamy, moisturizing and light. It evens out my skin tone without feeling heavy
I also rather enjoy the E.L.F. line of cream eyeshadows. Lots of color variety! And almost everything is just $1. Great product, great value.
Another big winner in the E.L.F. family is the Plumping Lip Glaze. One side is a natural clear plumping glaze and the other is a gorgeous lip-enhancing color.
Next on my list of must have brands is Rimmel. Affordable and great quality makeup.
Among my faves is the new!
Recover - Anti Fatigue Concealer. It's made specifically for the area around your eyes and is made to combat bags, sags, circles and darkness.
And it works!
Another fantastic Rimmel product is the Hide the Blemish concealer. It's like a tube of lipstick but instead of making your pout perfect it erases, literally erases, blemishes, spots, discolorations.....just vanishes them.
To finish off the look I've become fond of Rimmel's Lasting Finish Mineral Powder Foundation. It's very light, yet provides great coverage and helps even out skin tone.
To finish off the look, I go to an old standby, Jane Cosmetics.
For a stubborn blemish or a persistent red patch:
Jane's BePure Mineral Correcting Concealer (in Green) is GREAT for minimizing blemishes or red spots.
My mascara:
I used to be a CoverGirl devotee...but then I found Jane's MaxLash2.
One side of the tube is a white eyelash primer, meant to condition, lengthen and moisturize lashes, the other side is a thickening eyelash mascara in five different colors, I use "Black".
Other great Eyeshadows: Along with all the Rimmel cream shadows I've also become a fan of Wet N'Wild's cream eyeshadow multipacks.
Not only do you get FOUR radiant, shimmery shades of eyeshadow, but you also get one shade of Illuminator for use at brows on cheeks or wherever you need a boost of color and shine.
So those are my budget recommendations for beauty. I hope you can benefit from my experience!
Now that I'm a mom of three, I'm still not much of a glamazon, though, I still would prefer to go out into the world looking nice.
Over the years I've settled on a pretty good beauty plan which is nearly effortless, affordable and makes even a busy mom look beautiful!
So here is my Budget Beauty Guide!
These are the products that I advise you to give a try as they have worked wonders for me!
Let's start in the shower....
I use Suave's Brilliant Brunette shampoo and conditioner. I've used the higher priced brands and found that I get the same shine and smoothness with Suave, at about a third of the price!
Twice or thrice a week I use the Equate (Walmart) brand of Fresh Mint Dandruff Shampoo instead of the Suave. It's cooling and invigorating and has the added scalp moisturizing benefits. I don't have dandruff, and maybe this is why...
To wash my face, I prefer either a handmade bar of tea-tree oil or Neem oil soap or Noxema's Blackhead Cleanser.
After the shower the first step is to moisturize.
For the face, I favor Aveeno's Positively Radiant Triple Boosting Serum followed by Aveeno's Ultra Calming Daily Moisturizer.
Though at the point of sale both of those products seem pricey (at $10+ each) I promise you they are worth it in the long run. If you use them as per instructions they last a long time. I've had my bottles for almost six months and they are still going strong. I think $30 a year isn't much to pay for radiant skin!
Other basic products I use and recommend:
Vermonts' Original Bag Balm -- excellent for dry lips, elbows and heels
L'Occitane Mom and Baby Balm -- very mild in smell, excellent for sensitive skin
Colgate Special White Baking Soda and Peroxide Mint Zing Paste - always Paste, never gel...ew.
Dove Antiperspirant and Deodorant -- in Original Clean scent. Works great and helps reduce razor burn.
Onto cosmetics....
I have recently become a major fan of E.L.F.. Almost everything is $1 and everything that I've tried has been fantastic.
My favorites:
All Over Color/Cover Stick: I have it in Medium (a foundation color) and in Toasted and Pink Lemonade (both shimmery eyeshadow, cheek and/or lip shades).
The Cover Stick is fantastic. Creamy, moisturizing and light. It evens out my skin tone without feeling heavy
I also rather enjoy the E.L.F. line of cream eyeshadows. Lots of color variety! And almost everything is just $1. Great product, great value.
Another big winner in the E.L.F. family is the Plumping Lip Glaze. One side is a natural clear plumping glaze and the other is a gorgeous lip-enhancing color.
Next on my list of must have brands is Rimmel. Affordable and great quality makeup.
Among my faves is the new!
Recover - Anti Fatigue Concealer. It's made specifically for the area around your eyes and is made to combat bags, sags, circles and darkness.
And it works!
Another fantastic Rimmel product is the Hide the Blemish concealer. It's like a tube of lipstick but instead of making your pout perfect it erases, literally erases, blemishes, spots, discolorations.....just vanishes them.
To finish off the look I've become fond of Rimmel's Lasting Finish Mineral Powder Foundation. It's very light, yet provides great coverage and helps even out skin tone.
To finish off the look, I go to an old standby, Jane Cosmetics.
For a stubborn blemish or a persistent red patch:
Jane's BePure Mineral Correcting Concealer (in Green) is GREAT for minimizing blemishes or red spots.
My mascara:
I used to be a CoverGirl devotee...but then I found Jane's MaxLash2.
One side of the tube is a white eyelash primer, meant to condition, lengthen and moisturize lashes, the other side is a thickening eyelash mascara in five different colors, I use "Black".
Other great Eyeshadows: Along with all the Rimmel cream shadows I've also become a fan of Wet N'Wild's cream eyeshadow multipacks.
Not only do you get FOUR radiant, shimmery shades of eyeshadow, but you also get one shade of Illuminator for use at brows on cheeks or wherever you need a boost of color and shine.So those are my budget recommendations for beauty. I hope you can benefit from my experience!
What Would You Do For Some Pudding in the Morning?
This morning Dylan politely requested that he be allowed to eat pudding for breakfast.
"Moooooooooooom!" he yelled from across the house. "I. WANT. PUDDING!!!!!!!!!!!"
"You are crazy! It's 9:30 in the morning!" I said.
Ten minutes later.
"Mooooom! I SAID! I. WANT. PUDDING!!!" he yelled again.
"Yeah, well, I want fifty bucks." I said.
"Ok!"
He jumped off the couch and ran by me into the kitchen where he grabbed the step stool.
"I have to get the stepping stone to get mommy fifty bucks so I can haaave pudddding!!!!" he sang out to noone in particular.
I chuckled.
He went into my bedroom.
"There's money in daddy's room!" he yelled out, again, to noone specific.
He pilfered a handful of change from Bob's dresser and returned to me, not with $50 but rather a quarter and two pennies.
"That's 27 cents. That's not fifty bucks," I said.
"Oh, OK!" he grabbed the coins and ran back to The Bank of Daddy's Change.
He returned again, this time, two quarters, three pennies.
"Closer, but nope. Not fifty bucks yet," I said.
"OK!" he was getting annoyed now.
He left and returned again, this time he only had the pennies.
"No dude. You're not getting it. Get the big silver ones," I said.
"OK!!"
He left again and returned a few minutes later with four quarters, stacked neatly.
"Here you go mom. Big silver ones. Fifty bucks."
What can I say, I gave the kid a pudding.
"Moooooooooooom!" he yelled from across the house. "I. WANT. PUDDING!!!!!!!!!!!"
"You are crazy! It's 9:30 in the morning!" I said.
Ten minutes later.
"Mooooom! I SAID! I. WANT. PUDDING!!!" he yelled again.
"Yeah, well, I want fifty bucks." I said.
"Ok!"
He jumped off the couch and ran by me into the kitchen where he grabbed the step stool.
"I have to get the stepping stone to get mommy fifty bucks so I can haaave pudddding!!!!" he sang out to noone in particular.
I chuckled.
He went into my bedroom.
"There's money in daddy's room!" he yelled out, again, to noone specific.
He pilfered a handful of change from Bob's dresser and returned to me, not with $50 but rather a quarter and two pennies.
"That's 27 cents. That's not fifty bucks," I said.
"Oh, OK!" he grabbed the coins and ran back to The Bank of Daddy's Change.
He returned again, this time, two quarters, three pennies.
"Closer, but nope. Not fifty bucks yet," I said.
"OK!" he was getting annoyed now.
He left and returned again, this time he only had the pennies.
"No dude. You're not getting it. Get the big silver ones," I said.
"OK!!"
He left again and returned a few minutes later with four quarters, stacked neatly.
"Here you go mom. Big silver ones. Fifty bucks."
What can I say, I gave the kid a pudding.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Some Funny Vignettes
Because my life as of late has been largely consumed with packing, taping, folding, sorting, trashing and cleaning....I present for you here a collection of the hilarious things that have happened this week:
------
The kids have started using what they call "Good Noodle" charts. Basically a list of chores or activities that they can earn star stickers for every day. Each sticker is worth 25 cents toward the purchase of a toy. They are each working toward a specific toy.
One of Dylan's items is "Get a good report from school" since he's had some issues in that area.
When we pick him up from school we ask the teacher thumbs up or down. Then we ask Dylan in the car on the way home. One day this week his teacher gave him a good report, said he listened well and is improving but that he tends to be overzealous in giving the kids hugs. Which I think is a cute problem to have. In the car, I asked Dylan how his day was, his reply...
"I didn't even kick anyone!"
------
Last night we were watching The Weather Channel to see if we'd be getting rain this weekend or not. We're not, incidentally.
When we clicked over they were showing the forecast for the southern states. All rain, just rain everywhere.
Dylan bolted upright on the couch and said "That's way too much raining! There's rain everywhere! That's too much rain."
-------
My kids love to dance, particularly they love to dance to the NCIS theme song. Don't ask me why, they just love it.
The other day I was watching one of those daily NCIS marathons, where they play like three episodes in a row. So every hour on the hour I would jack up the TV volume and the theme song would start playing and Dylan and Elizabeth would come running in from wherever they were and start dancing to the techno beat.
Then about 30 seconds later just barely over the top of the couch I'd see this other little head running in from another room, it was BENNY!
He'd join the other kids, with a big smile on his face, and HE'D start dancing too!
So funny. I'll have to tape it sometime!
------
The kids have started using what they call "Good Noodle" charts. Basically a list of chores or activities that they can earn star stickers for every day. Each sticker is worth 25 cents toward the purchase of a toy. They are each working toward a specific toy.
One of Dylan's items is "Get a good report from school" since he's had some issues in that area.
When we pick him up from school we ask the teacher thumbs up or down. Then we ask Dylan in the car on the way home. One day this week his teacher gave him a good report, said he listened well and is improving but that he tends to be overzealous in giving the kids hugs. Which I think is a cute problem to have. In the car, I asked Dylan how his day was, his reply...
"I didn't even kick anyone!"
------
Last night we were watching The Weather Channel to see if we'd be getting rain this weekend or not. We're not, incidentally.
When we clicked over they were showing the forecast for the southern states. All rain, just rain everywhere.
Dylan bolted upright on the couch and said "That's way too much raining! There's rain everywhere! That's too much rain."
-------
My kids love to dance, particularly they love to dance to the NCIS theme song. Don't ask me why, they just love it.
The other day I was watching one of those daily NCIS marathons, where they play like three episodes in a row. So every hour on the hour I would jack up the TV volume and the theme song would start playing and Dylan and Elizabeth would come running in from wherever they were and start dancing to the techno beat.
Then about 30 seconds later just barely over the top of the couch I'd see this other little head running in from another room, it was BENNY!
He'd join the other kids, with a big smile on his face, and HE'D start dancing too!
So funny. I'll have to tape it sometime!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
BB11: Yay Jordan!
I'm ridiculously so happy that Jordan won the big money!
Here's hoping that she and Jeff can take the money and run and have a wonderful life together!
Click here for great interview videos.
Here's hoping that she and Jeff can take the money and run and have a wonderful life together!
Click here for great interview videos.
Packing sucks!
We are listing the house for sale and therefore was are clearing out all of our clutter and junk so it is presentable for potential buyers.
This is not easy. This is not fun.
I had a kick ass day of cleaning and packing and boxing up my life yesterday. Today, eh, not so much.
I'm burnt out!!
Today's mission is to get my bedroom and closet presentable for strangers to traipse through. NOT AN EASY TASK!
This will involve folding 800 piles of laundry, actually MAKING the bed every day and cleaning...my GOD the cleaning!
My first step is to go through my closet and bag up and donate ALL the clothes that I am seriously never EVER going to wear again.
This should be a doozy.
Then I will fold ALL of the laundry in the known universe AND put it all away where it belongs...that second step really is the key.
After that is all finished I'll make the bed with MATCHING pillowcases instead of what I usually do, which is whatever I grab goes on the bed!
Then vacuum vacuum vacuum. Voila!
Now, if I could just get myself away from the computer, which is much more fun than cleaning.....hmmmm, if only.
This is not easy. This is not fun.
I had a kick ass day of cleaning and packing and boxing up my life yesterday. Today, eh, not so much.
I'm burnt out!!
Today's mission is to get my bedroom and closet presentable for strangers to traipse through. NOT AN EASY TASK!
This will involve folding 800 piles of laundry, actually MAKING the bed every day and cleaning...my GOD the cleaning!
My first step is to go through my closet and bag up and donate ALL the clothes that I am seriously never EVER going to wear again.
This should be a doozy.
Then I will fold ALL of the laundry in the known universe AND put it all away where it belongs...that second step really is the key.
After that is all finished I'll make the bed with MATCHING pillowcases instead of what I usually do, which is whatever I grab goes on the bed!
Then vacuum vacuum vacuum. Voila!
Now, if I could just get myself away from the computer, which is much more fun than cleaning.....hmmmm, if only.
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