Cheese!

Told ya my eyes change colors w/my moods. Green, Blue, brownish, Hazelish, specks and flecks…

Hey! You there… Who are you? Who is peeking at my thoughts? Can you leave me a little hint?????????

They’re baaaaack! While shopping for daughter some new snow boots and new tennis shoes, look what I came across…

I call these, ‘Punky Brewster’ because I SOOOO loved Punky Brewster and I SOOOOO wanted to be just like her. And I SOOOO wanted some shoes like this, ahem, ’several’ years ago.

That being said…I’m SOOOOO glad daughter was not into these. They’re cloth and I bet very hard to keep clean.

*sigh* I just remembered the Chuck Taylor days. *sigh*

Let me show you what my little girl has been up to!  At seven years old she has designed/sewed a purse!  What the hay…? — you say!  It is true.  She wanted to make ‘matching bags’ for her and her bff.  So we went out together and purchased a pattern/zippers/etc.

When we got home — after further review of the just purchased pattern — she informed me that it just wouldn’t do.  She had her own ideas and so she was just going to, ‘eyeball it’!!  What the hay??  Furthermore, the pattern would only, ‘hold her back’!

Here is the finished product:

She cut strips of fabric and braided them for the straps.  We had to make an urgent trip to Wally World fabric dept for just the right bow.  She was so pleased with her results and so am I.  I’ve been bragging to everyone.  It’s only the second thing she’s ever sewn.

She received a request to make another one from her Aunt T in Georgia.  Of course she wants it made with Georgia Tech fabric and that may be a problem for me!

Forgot to mention…

GO STEELERS! 

On Feb 1st we are going to attend a kick butt Superbowl Party and watch the Steelers kick butt. 

I have decided.

Nuff said.

Edited to add:  Boo. Yah.  !!!!!!!!!  Nobody has ever ran 100 yard touchdown interception!!!  Until NOW!!!

Daughter’s scared because her bday is coming up and she has the whole party planned including all the presents. She asked me if her plans were going to work with mine. I replied, “I’m going to get you the same thing for your bday that I got for mine.”

She gasped.

They went out and bought me a cake for my birthday. No presents.

I knew it would throw her off her game if I said that. However, I was very happy on my bday. Both kids gave me so many – happy bday, we love you’s. It was truly awesome. They snuggled with me and loved on me all day. They listened to everything I asked them to do and did not fight with eachother. It was nice.

So I want to give her a bday just as good as mine but she will be sweating it until day of. She thinks the fact that I got no presents is terrible but that’s not true. I want her to be just as happy as I was and yes I know (for her) that will have to include presents.

Until then…she’s sweating it!!!

wind chill temp -30
real live temp during warmest part of day (courtesy of my car thermometer)

It’s so cold it hurts.

A great way to learn letters/shapes/etc is to use shaving cream and let them draw it out with their fingers…

All apologies for the pic quality…bad cell phone pic/good memory.

Gross educational science kit from son’s bday has lots of experiments in it such as making poop, growing germs, blood & guts etc. The first one we did was make poop. It was really gross. It looked, smelled and felt like poop. It stunk the whole house up! The balloon was the stomach/intestines. The final product was pooped out…

The picture really doesn’t do it justice but here ya go…

He turned five and I choked on tears! I’m not ready for my babies to grow up!! Where did the time go??

Thank goodness for basements. That is the best place to host an indoor birthday party for five year old boys.

I feel so guilty for the lack of effort I put into this party but he seemed to enjoy himself very much so I will try to move forward…lol. I don’t know how I ever will get past the guilt though.

There were intentions of two birthday cakes. Monster truck cake and regular cake. He wanted a monster truck cake in the shape of a monster cake. I did make one. It was not great. I will not post pics. We did not take it to the party.

We put a last minute order in at the bakery for a cake. It had monster trucks on top the cake. He was satisfied because to him the one I made was fine. (yay for the perspective of a five year old). The bakery cake wasn’t in the shape he wanted but he didn’t care because he already had the one I made!

There was kids, people, presents, music and food. It was in the basement of one of our fav restaurants. Nuff said. It was pretty awesome/even for the parents.

love hat hair

I can’t post more pics because they have other kid’s faces in them and I don’t think they’d appreciate me plastering their kids all over the internet without permission and I’m not about to call them. Lazy day, remember??

Anyway… presents included shaving cream (oh yes…his big bday wish), gross science kit, trucks, football stuff etc. Good day!

Blue October’s Approaching Normal album release March 24, 2009!!!

Can’t wait! I love Dirt Room!

I would love to fly to Cali to catch a show.

Do you remember when I posted that the kids were at grandma’s and I was lonely?  Well they ended up staying two nights and it practically killed me!  I know, I know.  Everyone says I’m a weirdo because in those situations I should be screaming, “Free at Last, Free at LAST!”  But I don’t.  I may not care too much for your kids (lol), but I like mine. : )

Anyway… the first night I had to work the next day so I pretty much just went to bed.  The second night was a Friday.  I’m off on Saturday’s.  So I told hubs that I was going to call a gf and go out.  He had to work later that night so I just assumed he wouldn’t want to do anything.

Eventually we just decided to run to the next town over and get a pizza.  I was craving Papa John’s something fierce!

We get to the next town and he says, “let me take you to this new restaurant I just found.  I really like it and I think you will too.  We’ll grab a pizza on our way back that you can have for later.”

“Okay.  Sure.  I really want Papa John’s but ok.”

So we go and we are waiting on a table.  Something like an Applebee’s/O’Charlie’s/Ruby Tuesday’s mixed in one…  Same ole, same ole.  Family’s and kids of which I currently had none so let’s just get a pizza and go home so I can watch reality trash tv without fear of a kid walking in.

But then they call our name and we go to be seated.  We walk past the familys and they take us to the cool room.  !!Oh yeah!!  I forgot about the cool rooms!  I forgot they treat you differently when you don’t have kids! 

We were seated at a table with tall stools instead of booths/booster seats.  My feet didn’t touch the floor!  Music was jamming nicely.

::::: I just realized what a loser I must be to have been so excited about eating in a restaurant:::::

Anyway… I decided to have one of these…

Yeah… it was really good.  I like Amaretto.  So I had another one.  I think I might’ve had three.  Woo Hoo, party girl! (sarcasm)

I notice hubs has his back to a tv.  I politely offer to switch places with him.  It was so sweet that he purposely sat w/his back to the tv.  He’s trying to have a real date with me!

He didn’t answer me.  He was just staring off into space.

OH!!!  There are 20 tv’s in here!  How did I miss that??  He was in heaven.  Duh!  This is a sports bar-ish place.  It had been a while since I was in a place like this…lol.

So we watched tv, I drank, text our friends and ate to our heart’s delight.  We didn’t even really talk much to each other.  After almost a decade of marriage sometimes it’s ok to just…not.

I proceeded to have a beautiful salad and medium New York Strip.  Yummy.  It was really good.  I didn’t cut anyone’s food up except my own.  I didn’t wipe any mouth except my own.  I enjoyed my food while it was still hot.

I had more pictures but I don’t know what happened to them. lol I’m a dork.  I was secretly snapping pics of the stools and the bar etc.  I’m sort of embarrassed to admit that!

When my son was not quite three years old he had to get 18 stitches sewed into his face…his cute little cheek.  He had gone to the farm with his father that day to work with his dad and grandpa.  Farming season… no doubt.

I was at work when I received a call from husband…”Hey babe.  How’s your day?”

“Fine.  Just working on payroll… How about you?”

“Not too good.  We’re on the way to the hospital with your son.”

I still don’t know why he said, ‘your son.’  He’s actually our son.  It’s just his way to talk like that… carrying on…

“The hospital?  Why?  What’s wrong?!”

My heart stopped.

The whole thing was eery and creepy.  I knew something was wrong.

The phone disconnected.  Damn country life – randomly placed cell towers.

I frantically tried to call back.  No one answered.  I tried all the cells of all the people that were at the farm that day.  Noone answered.

I replayed the whole conversation in my head.  No crying.  You’re taking my son the hospital after a farming accident and I don’t hear him crying in the background~??  Maybe the accident didn’t involve my son?  But then why would you say, ‘your son’ if it didn’t involve my son?  I analyzed and analyzed every word, every enunciation, every sound.

I closed the office.  Locked the door.  Raced to the hospital.  It was less than two minutes from me but about twenty minutes from the farm.  So I sat in the ER all alone and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally they come rushing in.  Husband had my son in his arms.  Blood everywhere.  Someones tshirt on my son’s face trying to stop the bleeding.  I was terrified.  I searched for clues of any and all symptoms.  I said, then yelled, “What happened??”  I needed to measure this on my own.  I didn’t want someone else’s opinion of, ‘he’s fine’.  I needed to know for sure.

My son lay there practically lifeless in my husband’s arms.  His eyes were closed like he was sleeping.  The color was drained from his face.  I was still frantic — someone just tell me what happened!

As the doctor’s took him back and examined him I learned he had been attacked by a dog.  His eyes were only closed because that’s how he was dealing with the pain/shock.  His brain, heart, vital organs were all fine. 

Breathe.

I choked back tears as I watched them strap him into a papoose so that he could not move when they sewed into his skin, eighteen stitches.  I held his hands and rubbed his legs.  Through some of the pokes I had to turn my head.  I wished it were me and not him.

He saw smiling face.  He heard me say it was almost over and how brave he was.  He looked to me for reassurance.  I gave it to him.  But it was a lie.  I was helpless and so was he.  All I had was prayer.  Prayer worked.

He had a couple places that they taped/glued instead of sewed.  He had a near miss right by his eye.  It started right in the corner of his eye and barely missed his eyeball.

I wished I had pictures but I’m glad I don’t.  In my mind I will never forget that first view of his cheek cut wide open full of dirt and dog hair.

The story is that the dog didn’t attack him.  They say the dog jumped up on him to play and his claws accidentally pierced through his skin.  Truth be told, nobody saw it.  They were five feet away but turned facing the other direction. 

I believe he was bit in at least one place.  On his face you could clearly see teeth above and below his chin/cheek showing where at one time the dog had most of my son’s face in his mouth.

He’s fine now.  He barely has a little scar.  By teenage years it will likely be nonexistent.  It may just look like a little dimple if you can see it at all.

When he had the stitches in he looked like he had navy blue kitty whiskers.  So that’s what we called them.

A few weeks ago when I had some stitches, I tried to hide them from him.  I knew if he saw them he would think that I had been through the same ordeal he had experienced.  It wasn’t nearly as bad for me.  The dr created the reason for the stitches and then stitched me…all while I was somewhat comfortably medicated.

However, eventually he did see them and he did panic  for me.  And now, even though my stitches are out, he checks my scars just about every day to see how they’re healing.  LoL –  my momma’s boy.  I feel so sorry for his girlfriends/future wife.  It will take a special girl to love him enough to deal with me. 

By the way — the dog belonged to the renters of the farm house that husband’s dad owns.  They moved out of state and I don’t know what happened to the dog.

I feel terrible for not keeping a better blog.  Ugh!  Where does the time go?  Things seem too silly to blog about at present time but I know they will catch my interest next year when I’m looking back.

So I’m going to submit a few quick entries to remind myself of some of the little things we’ve recently experienced.  Afterward I’ll post another grid of some random pics.  I HAVE TO QUIT DELAYING ON BUYING A NEW CAMERA!  MUST DO THAT NOW!

Here goes…

wait…first I gotta ask how you like my cheesy new blog colors?  I don’t care for them much but was tired of seeing the old one.  lu!

“All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous.”  — Paracelsus

Last year I wrote a thought provoking post on hope and perspective for my Happy New Year post.  I didn’t mean to.  It  just came out.  This year I should do it again.  I’m still a firm believer in perspective and it’s usefulness in this daily thing we do, called life.  In fact…if you ever stumbled across my blue notebook — it would take you days to rummage through all of my emotions recorded about hope/bad, perspective/good.

Blue notebook(?) you ask.  That’s my secret diary, journal or whatever you want to call it.  I like to write real things — not just chronlogical events of our lives.  Surprise!  Will you ever get to read it?  No.  Not even after I’m dead.  I’ve hired someone to burn it upon notice of my deceasness.  lol, jk but No.  You won’t ever get to see it.  Not sure why I even brought it up.  I guess I just wanted you to know there’s more to me and my writing than this generic blog.   I also wanted you to consider starting a blue notebook of your own.  It’s very therapeutic.  It’s the best friend that never talks back.

Back to Happy New Year…

We stayed up to watch the Eastern Time Zone ball drop for New Year’s Eve.  I’ll never get used to that.  Why on earth would we want to celebrate the new year an hour early??  I miss being home where the ball drops at midnight, not eleven.  However — we had a fabulous time.  Brittany stayed with us the last few nights and she brought a nice fresh breath of air into the home.  It was good to spend time with her.  The kids love her to pieces as well.

We played ping pong, had a cheeseball etc.  It was very laid back but that was perfect for me.  We’ve needed a break so it was nice to get one.  We were going to get some champagne but the kids are very anti-alcohol and lectured us about the pitfalls of drinking.  I’m not sure who raised them that way!  So I opted to opt out of drinking.  They rarely rarely rarely see me drink and have never seen me drunk (or even close) so I guess it is just really bothersome for them to think of me with a glass of alcohol.  Hmmm.  Doesn’t really bother them to see their dad with a beer.  That hardly seems fair.  But anyway — I didn’t really want to drink anyway so it worked out.  I was just going to try the new champagne Lou told me to try.

What am I rambling about?  I don’t know either.  Both kids have gone to grandmas for the night so I am here by myself.  It’s lonely.  I don’t know what I’ll do when they grow up and go off to college.  At this rate – it’s right around the corner.  I’m going to be a miserable old bat with 40 cats…in a small town in Vermont.  It’s true.  It’ll finally come true.

Daughter has the giggle-toots because she is so so so tired.  She’s standing over on the treadmill just laughing hysterically for no reason.  She’s reading every word I type.  I think she thinks I don’t know she’s reading this and that it must be some secret that I’m typing.  She thinks she has stumbled across a secret diary of mine.

Well daughter — tis no secret here!  Except now — the whole world is privileged to the knowledge of your little problem (giggle-toots at sleepy time).

It seems like such a waste for you to go through all this trouble and not get any good juicy info from this so-called secret diary of mine.  So let me try to think of something great to share with you…

wait for it…

wait for it…

BEDTIME!

I know you don’t.

Yes it is.

Okay, you’re right.

It’s not your bedtime.

Wait for it…

Wait for it…

It’s PAST your bedtime!

Toot Toot

Okay… so the question that daughter just asked me is, “If it’s past my bedtime then how come I’m not in bed, MOTHER?”

My answer is…

wait for it…

wait for it…

GO TO BED, Now.  Tomorrow — go to bed early to make up for going to bed late tonight.

Yes.

Don’t try to change your question.

You made your own bed this time!  (pun intended)

You’re good.  You’re a fast talker.  You should be in sales.  BUT YOU”RE NOT AS GOOD AS THE MASTER (me)!

Sweet dreams.  Sleep tight.  Don’t let the bed bugs bite…rah rah rah rah rah rah rah.

Niney niney.

Go.

Now.

Bye.

Lu2.

In my last catching up post I forgot to mention that daughter can ride her bike now and son can ALMOST do it.  He probably could do it if he really wanted to but loses focus and doesn’t want to practice.  He can definitely ride little short distances but stops when he realizes he’s doing it by himself.

ALSO — didn’ t mention that my babies have totally ((and accidentally)) beome Starbuck’s babies!  How did this happen??  My four year old son requests Starbuck’s hot chocolate all the time.  Daughter obviously asks for it but we already know she’s diva.  BUT WHEN MY SON say’s, “Mom — I will go on a long trip w/you if you get me a Starbuck’s.”  I sort of cringe a little on the inside.  Is that bad parenting?  He doesn’t like to be in the car for very long at all but know that it’s about a 45 min drive to the nearest Starbuck’s — hence the bargaining statement.

Ack!  I’m so no good at this!!

edited to add pictures…

It’s been a long while since I’ve posted so I wanted to do some quick catching up.  Later I’ll add some pictures.

We’ve been uber busy so don’t expect a big fancy post!

We’ve gone trick or treating, Roller Skating, been in a few parades, been on the combine, enjoyed Thanksgiving, made homemade pizzas, put up our Charlie Brown Christmas tree (again), not very many road trips, made homemade cookies (YES! From scratch!) and our traditional pineapple-upside down birthday cake for Jesus.

Son’s favorite Christmas gift was a “Bug Vacuum” (go figure he loved the $20 gift the most).  I’m not sure what daughter’s favorite gift was (prolly one of the fifty million Webkinz she got). 

She did get a sewing machine though and has just finished sewing her first pillow! Yay!  It was so much fun to have that time with her.  She didn’t know I had it in me to show her how.  I believe I surprised her with my mad sewing skillz!  She might’ve actually ‘admired’ me for a second…just a second. 

I’m not really very ‘domesticated’ (lol) but I don’t want to hold my kids back from any opportunities so we will venture together to learn a little bit of everything until they find their place in the world.  As it stands now, daughter is planning to be a famous fashion designer and son is going to work at Stinky Station in Decatur.  Oh brother, help us!  For now I’m just praying nobody decides they want to be a wild animal tamer or plumber (although plumbers do make a healthy/honest salary…hmmm).

That’s all I have time for now but I promise to get on later to put up some pics to match what we have been doing lately!!!!!!!

Hi there!  How are ya?  Me?  I’m fine.  Thanks for asking!

Getting ready to go make some italian chicken for dinner!  Mmmmm.

We are also going to have BBQ’d ribs this week with cheesy taters and baked taters for those of us who don’t care for cheesy taters!  Mmmmm.

I’d like to make a casserole but I’m the only one in this family that really cares for casseroles.  Hmmmm.

I’ll make some pineapple angel dessert and pistachio salad.   Mmmmm.

My diet is losing this week.  This week my diet is non-existent.  Mmmmm.  It’s going to be a good week!!

Well I better start cooking now.  Not much time to do a lot of the cooking through the week so I usually try to do the ‘prep’ work on SUndays.  Hmmmm.  Doesn’t sound so mmmm now.