Santa Clause came into town tonight on the local fire trucks through our subdivision.

Reflections

Preston likes to look at his reflection in this one ornament several times throughout the day.

Because a lot of my family wont be able to see us during the Christmas holidays I thought that I would share with them my decorating obsession.

Cute sign my sister got me!!
More pics to come, oh yeah there is more, the outside is still to come!!

Before there was Wii....there was Mer

This is what happens to your kids when Aunt Jen Jen gives them a bath with shaving cream!!!!

After playing Wii Mario Karts at my dads house we just had to purchase one even before leaving TN because it was that fun. My dad makes the funniest noises to just about anything your doing, playing Wii, walking, cooking, reading, it doesn't really matter to him as long as he gets to make silly noises.

Pictures of the kids at the indoor waterpark the weekend before Thanksgiving.

What was I thinking????

This is going to be the first Christmas in our new house and so I got this bright idea, or so I thought so at the time, to invite everyone on our court to our house for a dessert party. Obviously I was not thinking this through because our court has 21 homes on it, I must now begin to put up Christmas decorations in preparation for this event so our house is partly decorated already and its not even Thanksgiving. I did not decorate the outside of our house, its bad enough the inside is already done. We don't want the neighbors talking about us like we do the house down the road who already has every shred of Christmas decor out, every light on, every wreath hung, and every reindeer posing in the yard. They have had that stuff up since the day after Halloween. No sir-re, I'm a closet decorator, I wont pull out the big guns till its time and then every bush will have twinkle, every window will have a wreath, but until then its indoors only. I must be out of mind!!!
P.S .Dear Hubby-your not allowed to comment on this post, I already know you think Im crazy and out of my mind!

First snow

Winter is here in Ohio. Its been cold for a while with temperatures in the 30's but I never really think its winter time until the first snow. This morning we got the first snow. It snowed a bit yesterday but none of it stuck. This is what we woke up to this morning.

Why I love you so....

My husband and I are coming up on our anniversary soon so I thought Id share the reasons why I love him so and tolerate him most days......just kidding I love him so!

• He has driven 45 minutes to surprise me in the morning with fresh Hot krispy kreme doughbnuts that are only found on the other side of Columbus.
• He brings home flowers just because.
• He has bought me chocolate on many many occasions.
• He still provides me my needs and most of my wants.
• He is a wonderful father.
• He calls just to hear my voice or to tell me what he wants for dinner, either way he calls.
• He makes me laugh.
• He lets me sleep in on the weekends and he takes care of the kids breakfast.
• He encourages me to get out , do things, make friends, have new hobbies and have fun.
• He takes care of me each day and even when Im throwing up or have snot running out of my nose.
• He still loves me, tolerates me, wants to spend time with me, and wants to be my husband for now.....

spiders are gone

Yesterday I finally got the stitches out of my knee. The doctor also showed me pics of the knee during the surgery and compared the two pics of my MRI that I had 3 weeks before surgery and those that were taken the day of surgery. The tear went from being something slight to something large and he showed me that I had arthritis in my knee as well. Great. I decided to celebrate getting my stitches out by going for a run for the first time since I tore it back in the summer. The run was a little painful but well worth it. Ask me tomorrow and I may have a different answer.
My son thought that my stitches looked like spiders coming out of my knee so yesterday when he went with me to get them removed he watched the nurse and kept saying "where are the spiders going, why are you taking the spiders out, your going to cut the spiders legs off, your going to throw away the spiders". Afterwards he looked at me and said no more spiders on your knees mom and you can chase me. Start running little boy cause momma's back!!!

History has been made

That's all I seem to hear all over the TV this morning. You should know that I did not vote for you, I do not believe in your beliefs and the fact that I'm pretty certain that you wont turn to God and pray about those tough decisions that each President will have to face, makes me scared. Twice now in the past month I have been in line behind someone who has a welfare card and twice now the system was cheated. Wasnt welfare created to help you for a short time, to help those that needed it the most, to be a stepping stone so you could get back on your feet? Yesterday the woman had 2 buggies, with 213.00 worth of groceries that ranged from steak, to the most expensive juices and food. After swiping her card her total was 24.00 dollars out of pocket. I kept my mouth shut and did not say anything but I cant say the same for the woman behind me who out loud after the woman left made the comment of where can I get a card like that, surely that's for 2 to 3 weeks worth of groceries. The checkout lady heard the comments and said nope its weekly. The lady and I both sat there looking at our buggies, looking at our coupons in hand, generic items in cart and no steak in sight. Something definitely isn't right about that picture.
Granted we aren't poor but we aren't rich either and I cant help but wonder how things are going to be now that you are President. You want to share the wealth of those that work hard for it, you want to give to those who don't even try, who chose not to work, who can work and just plain don't because they are provided for.
I only hope that I am completely wrong about you, I hope that the book of Revelations in the Bible isn't talking about you, I hope that you prove me wrong but I'm not going to hold my breath. Good luck to us all.

Halloween

I believe this year was the best Halloween that we have ever had. It was the first Halloween that we had in our new house and what a difference a neighborhood makes. First of all let me say that this was also the first year that we had Trinity on Halloween so it was so much fun getting to see her dress up. Second we had friends over for dinner and to trick or treat with us and we had a blast with them. Then after dinner we took all 4 kids out and hit the streets. The weather was beautiful and in this neighborhood everyone sits in their driveways to pass out candy so you never have to knock or ring a doorbell. They not only passed out candy some of them even had tables set up where you could make your own smores with a fire pit that they had on the driveway. There was even a dancing clown that had dancing contest on his driveway. Later in the night after we were settling in we got "Boo'd" by one of our neighbors who rang the doorbell and ran and left us even more goodies in a bag. We couldn't of asked for a better night with such great neighbors, friends over and the weather. I cant wait to see what happens next year. Happy Halloween!!

Here is pic of Preston as the Hulk, Trinity as a witch and our good friends who dressed up as the good and bad Spider man.

I havent written in a while because Im tired, lazy and downright sick. First, Preston and I spent a few days in TN where we got a cold. The weather was so different for us that I think our bodies went into climate shut down. I had to dig out our short sleeves to wear while we were there. We had been in long sleeves, pants and jackets here in Ohio. Then upon our return I had my knee surgery. 3 days on the couch with ice on my knee and crutches is not my idea of a good time. During that time my cold got worse and now Preston and I are both getting over bronchitis. Im off the crutches and can walk normal now without a limp but the cold kicked our butts so we have been home sick for a week now. Benedryl has become our best friend and we are taking an easy so that we feel better for Halloween. Its been a rough 2 weeks for us and I hope that the end is soon to come because I miss my life that I once had. The life where my nose doesnt hurt from being rubbed with tissues all day, the life where I have energy to get up and do things, the life where we venture out into the world, the life where I dont feel like I have a benedryl hang over and the life where I can speak a sentence without coughing up a lung. I will write more and put up pics of our Halloween later in the week. For now I need to chug some more benedryl.

Counting down the days

I had my knee surgery on Tuesday and even though I wasn't nervous going in I was nervous about the pain that I had heard of that is yet to come afterwards. Only there wasn't much pain, I didn't even crack open the wonderful drugs that would of knocked me out and made me forget about just about anything that the doctor gave me. All would of been fine and dandy except that I spent a few days in TN before my surgery and brought back a nasty cold that settled into my lungs and kicked my lungs butt. So this weekend I have been in bed all day with cold/flu medicine and drinking lots of OJ. I would of never imagined that my biggest worry wouldn't be my knee at all and instead this cold. I will be glad when I'm no longer a limping smoking trucker sounding woman who actually brushes her hair and puts on clothes and ventures outside.

Carving of the pumpkins!

The Pumpkin Patch

I love this time of year that we can take the kids to the pumpkin patch. Its always so much fun and its a tradition which makes it that much more special. Each year we visit a different place. This year we went right up the road from our house.

Friends Forever means so much more than you can imagine.

Dear Jennifer,
Two years ago this month I received a call from your mother letting me know that you were in a car wreck along with your two daughters and that you and Hannah did not survive. Over these past two years not a day has gone by that I don't think about you and miss you. I have spoken to you in heaven as if you were in the room with me. After two years its not any easier. We would be emailing each other, telling one another what our kids were going to be for Halloween and sharing pictures of birthday parties and I miss having you here to do that with. When we were little we would play with your pink barbie dream house that had an elevator on the side and so when I think about you in heaven I imagine you and Hannah living in your own dream house and you even have an elevator. I can still see the notes that we would pass to one another in church and we would sign it BFF (Best friends forever). Its hard to imagine that its been two years, its hard to imagine that your other daughter Sarah is two years older since the wreck. I know if you were here and saw the tears running down my face that you would tell me to stop crying that you are in a better place and that you are happy and I should be too. One of these days I will join you in heaven and we can once again play in the dream house and pass notes. BFF you are missed!!!

WTGL II

This is a follow up to my Way to go list post. After receiving a comment that someone thought I was being serious about the fertility pills that my parents took to have me I figured that maybe I need to follow up and say IT WAS A JOKE!!!! Fertility pills did not cause any ailments whatsoever. Fertility pills are great and I wouldn't be here without them. I started joking with my mom about taking fertility pills when I had an ailment a long long time ago. So for the person out there that thought I was being serious and God love him because he is a man, he doesn't have any children and he is furthest away from the medical field as you can get....I WAS KIDDING!!! Its a good thing your cute and your wife loves you.


P.S- My brother in law Mark would like to let it be known that he was not the one that questioned this. I mean lets face after each of you read this in the back of your mind you were all thinking "I bet it was Mark".

How long does this last????

When my son was born I signed up for Pampers email. They would send coupons, tell me about up and coming products and articles about children that were the same age as my son. For instance when he was 6 months old I got an email stating "your son is now 6 months old, here are things he may be doing, interested in or what to watch out for". Today I got an email from Pampers stating "your son is now 40 months old". I'm curious how long I will continue to receive these emails. Am I going to still receive emails when he is 20 stating "your son is now 240 months old, he may be interested in sex, girls and alcohol so watch out".

My knee is a loser

After getting an MRI done last Friday for my knee and seeing the orthopedic doctor again today, it is official..... I have to have surgery to fix the tear and and remove the fluid around my knee. I am not looking forward to this. The surgery doesn't bother me ... I mean lets face it I'm no stranger to a hospital after working at one, Ive had minor surgery done in the past for my lung, Ive had yucky medical procedures done and Ive given birth. In the past either someone is looking past my boobs into my lungs or at my whoha down below so atleast this time its something other than my girl parts and I don't have to worry about what bra and panties I have on. But something else is different this time. This time I have a child at home who depends upon me and its very hard to swallow knowing that the day I return back from surgery and the next day that I will be so out of it from pain pills that I wont be able to take care of my son. No I don't plan on being here alone with him during that time so don't call child services on me yet!!! As a mother you just feel and probably know deep down that no one can take care of your child better than you can. To relinquish those duties is like handing over the keys to someone else to your brand new $80,000 car that you have only driven home from the dealer, not that I know what that feels like either but it was the best comparison that I could come up with. I would say that my son is worth much more than the amount of the car but lets face it some days he just isn't. Knee surgery stinks but not being able to chase after my son and play the hulk with him stinks even more so surgery it is.

Hint to the hubby

To my husband who reads this blog while he is suppose to be working. If you need some extra help with an early anniversary present then Nicholas Sparks new book is coming out tomorrow the 30th, its called The Lucky One. Just in case you need a hint. Since you have told me a million times that you have no idea what I'm thinking and that you cant read my mind, which I still cant figure out why you cant do that, then this is your cheat sheet to my thoughts.
HINT!!! HINT!!! HINT!!! HINT!!! HINT!!! HINT!!!

Way to go list

I have had knee pain for several months and tried shrugging it off however my knee pain is annoying, uncomfortable, keeps me from getting on the floor to play with my kids and keeps me from running, which I love to do. So... I went to the orthopedic doctor and learned that I have torn my meniscus. This is just one more thing to add to my "way to go mom list". What is this list you ask well 30 plus years ago my parents wanted another baby for my older sister to play with, tease, be compared to and beat up so they tried having a baby with no success. My mother then took fertility pills that I call experimental because lets face it wasn't everything back then. Anyways those experimental pills are the reason for knee pain. Or so I like to think because its always nice to have someone or something to blame so I just blame everything on the fertility pills and now I can add my knee issues to that long list of "way to go mom for taking fertility pills and causing ailments to my body". Mom you could of atleast read the pamphlet that they gave you or the pill bottle itself, I'm sure somewhere in the literature it said can cause many, many issues to your unborn child if taken therefore giving that child free will to blame you.

Fertility pill ailments
1) Fever
2) chicken pox
3) colds
4) jammed fingers
5) broken small toe
6) Scraped knees
7) concussion
8) flu
9) girl issues
10) lung collapse
11) migraines
12) sinus problems
13) bruises
14) pink eye
15) bronchitis
16) kidney stones
17) morning sickness-OK this one could of been from the pregnancy but we have no proof.
18) sore throats
19) root canal
20) stretch marks-again prove to me it wasn't from fertility pills
21) PMS
22) knee pain

Darn those fertility pills.

A piece of home in a box

I met one of my neighbors last week that I had not previously met and when I began talking to her she immediately asked where I was from. Funny how that southern accent lingers on even after living in Ohio 5 years. When I told her I was from TN she informed me that she was going to a wedding this past weekend in Brentwood TN. She had lots of questions for me such as what is the weather like, where to eat and so forth. I gave her the name of several local restaurants to try and directions from her hotel. They returned from their weekend trip last night and at the knock of the door she had brought me something that was home in a box. She was thanking me for all of my help and had given me a box of GooGoo's. In that single moment she had brought TN right here to my home in OH. Its funny how something so simple can mean so much. Even though I told her thank you many times I don't think she will ever know just how much that meant to me. I may be 30'ish, have my own family, lived away from home many years but every now and then I get a little homesick and miss TN.

Contagious cleaning

Am I the only woman who frantically cleans for her mother in law? I scrub the showers even though she will never use them, I vacuum every room even though she wont go into each of them, I dusts the spare bedroom even though she isn't spending the night in there. Its my father in laws birthday so we are baking a cake and Ive been cleaning all day. I don't know why I always feel a need to scrub everything when my in laws come but I do. Its not because they care how clean my house is, I mean lets face it I'm already in the family they cant throw me out, their son already married me, shared his last name with me, and knocked me up. I know they love me and accept me because their will has my name all over it, mostly because I crossed out everyone else's name and put mine in its place(not really). Back to my point, I feel this need to clean more than I do when its my family that visits. My family knows I'm a slob. I know I'm not the only one that does this. I wonder if my mother in law cleaned for her mother in law? This is a vicious vicious cycle that someone other than me needs to stop because lets face it here in Ohio she is our only saving grace should we need help with the kids so I cant stop cleaning now the kids aren't old enough to take care of themselves.
Its strange to admit because I usually only hear the opposite but I actually like my inlaws. They are still married so that in itself is something to respect. I finally stopped calling them Mr. & Mrs. Bolin after they insisted I stop. That was a hard one especially growing up in the south I was taught that anyone older than yourself should be referred to as mam, sir, Mr. or Mrs. After I started calling them by their first names I kept waiting for a slap on the back of the head or something from my parents. My mother in law and I can shop for hours and she has come to the understanding that I can keep up with her shopping as long as she feeds me. She has forgotten to feed me during our hours of shopping and all I remember is blur, stomach grumbles, visions of fries floating in my head and blood sugar to low that I almost passed out. The understanding is a mutual effort between us because
shopping + food= more shopping. You would think that since I get along with my in laws that the need to clean would fly out the window but it actually makes me want to clean even more. I wonder if the opposite would happen if I didn't get along with them if it would make me not want to clean. No time to find out now, I got toilets that need scrubbing.

Crafty Curtains

I have been staring at the kids bathroom window since the day we moved and had given up on what to put up as curtains because nothing seemed to work or it was too much and clashed. The kids bathroom is in dogs and cats so I gave up on my search of finding the perfect material with both dogs and cats that would match the shower curtain so instead I decided to piece together my own curtain with some scrap booking items that I had such as wooden cats and dogs and ribbon. This is what came out of my creation. Every now and then it comes in handy to come from such a creative and crafty family.

Finito!!!!!!

The deck addition is finished. It feels good to see a finished project especially after we had some building issues, paint issues, and then Ike type weather. The kids love it and pretend that it is their stage. We are looking forward to being able to sit outside and enjoy the fall type weather.

This is what the deck looked like before and after:

Summer time is over and so are the fabulous days at the pool, thank goodness we have an indoor pool near us as well so let the fabulous days of the indoor pool begin. I might not get a tan but I do get to keep my sanity during the long Ohio winter.





(This is Preston swimming under water)

You found us Ike...now go away!

Hurricane Ike made a little visit to central Ohio and left its mark. Yesterday evening we got winds at 75mph and we lost electricity right around dinner time at 5:30until about 11:30pm. I must say that solar lights from around our walkways made for good lighting inside the house and we kept one in our bathroom as we went to sleep so we could see if we needed to get up. They are already lit and work better than candles. Good ole pb&j sandwiches saved dinner however nothing could save our trampoline that broke into two pieces after being folded over like a taco. We had to go out into the winds and actually scramble to disassemble the remainder of the trampoline to keep it from being lifted up and thrown into the back of the house. The wind so so strong that we were standing on the legs of the trampoline trying to hold it down and it lifted both of us up and the stakes out of the ground that were holding the trampoline. A lot of our neighbors lost trees and privacy fences and everyone has some sort of roof damage. We saw grills, outdoor furniture and trashcans being tossed around like they were nothing. Schools are closed here today because half of Ohio has no power. It could of been a lot worse so we are thankful that its just a trampoline. After seeing what we saw last night I cant imagine what it was like in TX and other places.
This is what is left of our trampoline.

The birth of a deck

My husband decided that he wanted to redo our deck, to change it,to add to it, to cause our yard to look like a construction zone and to make me work. Upon us getting married my job was clearly to birth and burp babies and to make the house a home. His job was anything on the outside other than my flowers. How quickly he forgets that deal because as he is expanding the deck from what is already 250 sq. ft he decides to add another 100 sq ft. and put me to work. He informs me as he is in the middle of building this monstrous deck that it will need to be painted and since Im the painter for the inside of the house that my new job will be to paint the entire 350 sq.ft deck. The existing deck was already painted with deck paint so now the entire thing has to be re- painted in order to make it look right. Im thinking since my husband has crossed our job responsibility that it is only fair that if we have another baby that my husband birth and burp that child. Its only fair!!

My vote

Its no secret that I am a Republican so when McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate I was ecstatic. It refreshing to have someone running for office that isnt part of the Washington clan. She is a mother of 5, her youngest with down syndrome, her 17 year old daughter is pregnant, her husband got a few dui's while in his 20's, and they are still digging into her past for more dirt. Trust me she has dirt, so does everyone living in America. In my opinion no one can say that she isnt right for Americans, she is the typical American dealing with typical issues. She's got my vote!

How far would you go to watch ironman

Last night Preston was laying in bed with us watching a little TV before going off to his own bed and decided to twist the top off of his sippy cup. Good news is that it was water and not milk, bad news is that it was full, cold and soaked our bed. That was last night.
Fast forward to this morning and Preston gets up and goes to potty like he always does however not 20 minutes later he informs me that I shouldn't be mad at him. I tell him that depends on what he did and why would I be mad. He tells me that he didn't feel like getting up and instead has peed in his underwear. I asked him why he didn't take the 10 steps to the potty and he told me the following "mom I'm watching IronMan and cant get up to go to the potty so I peed on myself and you cant be mad and I still want my friend Jake to come play and he is coming to play with me and your not mad right."
I didn't realize that the IronMan cartoon was worth feeling warm, gross pee running down your leg and risking the wrath of mommy. I'm at a loss as to what to do so instead I tell him I need to watch IronMan myself to see just how far I would go to watch it and see if I believe its worth peeing on myself before I decide how to approach this issue. Im off to watch IronMan and see if I can stay dry.

Festival

Labor Day Festival: This weekend we took the kids and niece to our local festival to ride some rides, eat carnival food and play games. They had a great time and no one threw up on the kiddie roller coaster! Any other time I wouldnt be surprised that no one threw up except that 2 of the 3 kids had thrown up the night before so it was a good puke free day for all of us.

Tools, boys, oh my!!

Wednesday-The deck has been put on hold because after almost 3 weeks of no rain we are finally getting some today. Our grass is brown, dusty and dead so hats off to you rain for finally finding us.



Tuesday-We are expanding our deck this week and my hubby and son have been hard at work. They both have the same look when they put a tool in their hand, its the "Im man, I have tools, what can I fix or build for you today woman"! I guess as long as they are having fun and they still have all of their fingers then its a good day.

Birthdays-Another year older

Birthdays-We just finished celebrating Prestons 3rd Birthday in June and this past weekend we celebrated Trinity's 7th. Wow I cant believe you are already 7 years old. I have been a part of your life for 5 years now and to watch you grow up to be a tween is fun, scared and exciting. I get to see you love Hannah Montana, drool over the Jonas Brothers, watch you put on makeup with your friends, roll your eyes at your dad when he embarrasses you, talk about boys and the fact that you have a boyfriend from school, and I get to enjoy all of that minus the stretch marks. Im sad that my kids are growing up so fast but I have enjoyed every minute of watching you grow up.

Decision struggles

Struggles. Over the past 2 week I have been struggling with a decision that I must make soon or atleast within the next year. After ignoring my son who was throwing a tantrum, I mean reading a local newspaper, I came across an article stating that the city we live in is going to be creating a new position for next year. Everything they listed in regards to the positions are things that I have experience in, its working for the city, its great benefits and great hours. The location of the office is in the back of our subdivision and one block away from where my son will be in PreK. My dilemma is that even though I understand that Preston will be starting Prek next year I wasn't expecting to want to go back to work this soon and Im not sure if Im making the right decision. If I do go back to work then Preston will spend half of the day in Prek and the other half in daycare, so instead of picking him up after Prek he will stay a few more hours. I wasn't even planning on looking for a job until a year from now but sometimes you cant let an opportunity pass you. I have my resume ready so its just a matter of getting it to the right person and making that step. Some days I'm ready to take the step and other days I want to hold on to my son forever and never let him go and stay with him here at our house and forget school and work and OK after reading my thoughts I know that I cant do that and its not feasible. I have started a list of pros and cons of going back to work:

Pros
-----

1) I will have a position close to my son, home and wont need to look for a job a year from now.
2) Financially we will be able to do things we have always wanted to such as go on the Disney Cruise and replace the ugly flooring in the kitchen.
3) My son will be better prepared for school because he will be comfortable being away from us during the day.


Cons
----

1) My son will cry until he gets used to it
2) I will cry until I get used to it
3) I always knew that this day would come where he would need to have some independence away from us and go off to school and I would need to let him go even if it is just to school, but it just plain sucks that even if its in a few months, a year or 2 years from now its going to be hard.

Worried?!?!

Should I be worried that my sons favorite saying is "what the"? He says it on a daily basis and even though he doesn't finish the sentence, thank goodness, its a little odd to hear my 3 year old son say it. He picked it up from the alltel commercial with all of the guys from the other mobile phone services. I knew that he would pick things up from us, and far worse than saying what the, but from a commercial, come on. Maybe we are safe from now until someone teaches him the last word of the phrase. I hope no one ever teaches him or he just comes up with something else annoying to say.

Robbed, Robbed I say!

Ive been staying up watching the olympics and so far other than holding my breath each time Michael Phelps swam I havent really reacted too much....that was until last night. Ive kept up with the gymnastics and watched it each time but didnt have any emotions about it but that was about to surface. Last night I cried for Nastia Liukin, because even though she tied with China girl, who is no way of age to be competing and I can only hope that her real age surfaces after the olmpics and they give the gold to its rightfull owner, ok back my point, Nastia came in 2nd. Thats not fair. I felt for her as she learned of the tie decision making process and as she stood on the podium almost in tears. She was a lot braver than me, I would of cried as the results came out. You deserved the Gold Nastia, the gold I tell you!!!

Team USA

Michael Phelps you make me proud to be an American all over again!!!

Boys R A Joy

The wonderful conversations my 3 year old son shares with me.


This week while at the grocery store with Preston in the buggy.

Me- Preston please stop kicking me while I push the buggy.
Preston-What am I doing
Me- Your kicking me and I asked you to stop because your hurting mommy
Preston- Mommy Im not being a bad boy Im just not listening to you.


Today at a restaurant

Me-Preston please stop pulling the front of your shorts down.
Preston-I just want to see my hulk underwear
Me-I dont think others want to see your hulk underwear
Preston-I bet that boy wants to see them
Me-No honey people dont want to see them so please stop pulling them down
Preston-Mommy Im just looking at whats big in my hulk underwear.
Me-Your not the first male to say that now leave your pants alone.

Things you might not know about me:

1. I go through a roll of paper towels in one week. I hate sponges and I dont like using dish towels to clean with so I use paper towels. We should buy stock in paper products because with 4 people in the house we use a lot of toilet paper as well.

2. I hate clutter and mess which is strange because growing up my room was never clean and clutter was my middle name.

3. My pantry has to be in order or it drives me nuts, can we say OCD.

4. I could wear flip flops all year long.

5. I have to drink something hot in the morning, either coffee or tea, anything with caffeine.

6. My favorite store is Target and I secretly wish I worked there so I could get a discount.

7. I cook dinner 6 nights a week and we have pizza the other night. We dont eat out for dinner. We eat out sometimes when guest come to visit, so please come visit so I can eat out and get a night off from cooking.

8. I miss Las Palmas restaurant.

9. I bribe my son on a regular basis to behave in public.

10. I let my son watch scary hulk videos on the computer, eat candy everynow and then and run around in just his underwear for most of the day.

11. We were contiplating taking Trinity to see the Jonas Brothers concert for her birthday and secretly I probably wanted to see them more than she did.

12. I will paint anything that doesnt move and I paint everything. Ive been known to paint lamps, picture frames and toilet paper holders to give them a new color and reuse instead of purchasing new.


Basically Im a flip flop cleaning fool with ocd that gives into her son. I can live with that!!!

Breezy weekends

This weekend we spent some time at the park, playing outside, playing with neighbors, attending a block party and enjoying the nice comfortable weather. It was nice to open up all of the windows in the house and have a cool breeze come through. We had 75-80 degree weather all weekend and even though we didn't get to go to the pool we spent most of our time outside. Here is a picture taken today of the kids. I figure I need to take as many as I can of the kids getting along before they become teenagers and don't want to sit beside one another.

Kids, kids, kids oh my!

For all of the times that I beg my hubby for another child, for all of the times that I wish I was pregnant, for all of the times that I wish that Preston had a brother.... I now take all of that back. Today I had Trinity for the day and since it finally rained we weren't able to go to the pool so instead she asked if she could have a neighbor over to play. Little did I know that one play mate would turn into 3 kids from the neighborhood. So today I had my 2 kids and 3 other kids and my wish for another child went down the toilet. I am so exhausted at this point that I can barely even type this. My brain is mush. I once loved being a stay at home mom but today I would of traded my husband for his job in a heartbeat. Lucky punk for getting to go to work, for not hearing screaming all day, for sitting at his desk sipping his coffee, for not having to break up fights, for being able to go to the bathroom at his own pace and not trying to break the world record for fastest pee'r so that you can get back to the kids to make sure that they aren't burning down the house. Im sure that next week I will get back to wishing for another baby but right now Im looking forward to only taking care of the kids that I am legally bound to watch.

Summer weekends

Summer weekends are always the best. During the summer months from time to time my hubby can work from home on Friday which means that he can get his work done in time to join us at the pool. This Friday we took our kids and the neighbors kids to the pool and we had a blast. On Saturday we went to Touch a Truck, its a boys dream come true. They have all sorts of large trucks such a firetrucks, trash truck, bulldozers and dump trucks and they allow the children to climb in, on and all around. We then went to the pool afterwards. On Sunday yep you guessed it, we went to the pool. Basically we spent the weekend playing,climbing and swimming. All in all Id say it was a good weekend.

Mamma Mia I want to see ya!

Persevering Preston

Preston has become one busy little fellow. Monday we have pool day, Tuesday we have play date, Wednesday is movie morning and its Kung Fu Panda so we cant miss that, Thursday we are walking through some PreK facilities to sign Preston up for next year (crazy that you have to do that a year in advance here), and on Friday Trinity is coming so we will be back at the pool. Im going to need a nap somewhere throughout the week. Nap and maybe a calgon bath. Nap, calgon bath and maybe some Starbucks coffee. Nap, calgon bath, Starbucks coffee and maybe some chocolate. Ok I could go on and on so Im just going to take a nap in my calgon bath with some sort of chocolate Starbucks drink in my hand.

The only time I can get away with dancing in my pj's with 3-D glasses on.

Why its fun having another girl in the house other than myself. My stepdaughter is a huge Hannah Montana fan so this Saturday night we spent the evening in front of the tv watching the Hannah Montana 3-D concert on Disney channel. And yes you better believe we had our 3-D glasses (Walmart was given them out the week prior to the program). Whats a better way of spending your Saturday evening then watching Hannah Montana through 3-D glasses with popcorn, M&M's and in our pajamas. Trinity, my stepdaughter had her Hannah pjs on. I dont think they make Hannah Montana pjs in my size but if they did it would be a hard decision to make to sleep wearing Hannah Montana or the cute Jonas Brothers. Wow those Jonas Brothers, I will just leave it at that.

Child's interpretation of a rainbow

Preston saw a rainbow for the first time the other day and Im pretty sure that many rainbows have been in the sky during his life but since he can now name colors it was easier to point it out to him. I told him that it was sent from God to make us happy. He immediately said mommy you have to close your eyes, hold hands, and then we have to eat. He has associated the name God with eating because at mammys house we say the God is great, God is good let us thank him for our food prayer and then we eat. I informed him that we just ate and he informed me that God made the rainbow and now we have to eat. He settled on a popsicle instead. God made popsicles too!

Mommy group

Today the mommy group that I belong to met for a day of scrapbooking while the kids played together. Preston and I had so much fun. Its really nice to hang out with other stay at home moms. We met at Amy's house with lunch and scrapbooking items in hand and spent the next several hours talking, scrapbooking and just enjoying the day. The kids all got along and played so well together, they also play at the pool together so it helped that they already knew one another. By the end of our play date I had eaten a great lunch, laughed, finished 3 pages of my scrapbooking,
enjoyed spending time with everyone and was grateful that Preston is making friends and enjoying himself as well.

Diaper duty-no more

We just won a Million Dollars!!! Just kidding, however, we will probably save ourselves a million dollars now because finally Preston is potty trained. He has been accident free for a few weeks so Id say we are diaper free at this point. Whats that? No more diapers, how will we survive? What will we do with out all of those stinky diapers in our trash? What will we do with all that extra money? Id say something cool like we are going to Disneyland but we aren't, atleast not yet. So the only cool thing I can say is that we celebrated by buying him Hulk toys.