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November Fesitivities

2010-10-27T16:01:00.001-05:00

Movie night at the zoo? sounds fab!

2009-09-18T22:03:00.000-05:00

The Louisville Zoo was playing The Wizard of Oz tonight, on a giant screen, outdoors. We went last week to their showing of Night At the Museum 2 (funny!!!), and had a good time with our friends the Barnhards. So of course I wanted the boys to see this American classic film. I told them a bit about it, and Kenshin was a bit scared, but told me if I sat by him, he'd be okay. :)

Since we left the house later than I wanted, I decided to stop at Arby's for the 5 for $5 deal. That's where it all went wrong. LOL I had to wait in the drive-thru line for almost 20 MINUTES for 5 burgers and a fry: 7 minutes waiting for the cars ahead of me, 4 minutes waiting for the guy to take my credit card, and another 8 minutes for the food, then another 2 minutes for the fries. Oh. My. Word. The manager will get an email about this. *nod nod*

By that time, I noticed some stormy-looking clouds, so I asked the boys if they wanted to rent a movie instead, and they liked that new plan. I got DragonBall from RedBox, and we headed home. DragonBall didn't work in our DVD player (probably the format, out DVD player is ancient) so RB gave us a credit, and the boys selected Alvin and the Chipmunks from our collection. Red Vines, 7-up, crackers, chocolate, fruity cheerios, and fruit snacks. What do they all have in common? SUGAR!! Krillin didn't go hog-wild like Kenshin, but both boys were not feeling so hot by bed-time. LOL

Miaka didn't care about the movie, but she cracked up, watching the boys laugh. She also really, really likes Keebler crackers. She hung out on the couch with the boys, munching her way through a small plate of them. ... the crackers, not the boys. ...LOL

All the kids were in bed by 10:15 (after a vigorous tooth-brushing and mouthwash, and a story). I hate going to sleep when Phil is still at work, so I'm waiting up for him. Dishes are mostly done. Coupons are a mess. Living Room looks like a play-room. But the kids are asleep, so I sure won't be vacuuming. LOL

Miaka's Month of Firsts

2009-07-08T12:19:00.009-05:00

So, I'm a bit late posting all this, but better late than never, right? :) During June, Miaka did a lot of things for the first time:

The night before we left for Oregon, she pulled herself to standing in her crib, for the first time. She loves to stand!
A few weeks before we left, she was "scooting" around the floor, sort of Army crawl. While hanging out in Oregon and Washington, she started Crawling with a capital C. :)
She also started sitting on her own, and being able to transfer from sitting to crawling. :D

She sat up in a shopping cart! And then she slobbered on it.
She had her first ice cream. "Grampa" Gilbert had the gall to try to take it away from her, and I heard her scream from the other side of the store. LOLShe had solid foods for the first time. She had had "slobber foods" (you know, those little cereal thingies that dissolve easily with slobber) before, but she tried several jar baby foods, and loved them! really, she did.
She moved up in diaper sizes, from size 1 to 2. wahoo! :)

When we got home, we took her 0-3 months clothes and moved in her 3-6month size! Yes indeed, she's a growing girl. :)
She went into a pool for the first time. whee! okay, this is just her playing in an empty pool, but still fun!This is "for reals" at Busch Gardens.
There ya go, dad! :)

And back again...

2009-06-19T01:08:00.003-05:00

We (the kids and I) went to Oregon for Jaylin's funeral. We stayed for 9 days, helping Emily get settled. Then we took a train ride and went to Maple Valley, WA for a week. I finally bought the return tickets on Friday, after looking at several options; for Saturday at 12:20. Friday afternoon, we got to hang out with Levi. I'm so glad I saw him! I apparently wrote a horrible letter to him several years ago, and told him I couldn't be his friend, and that's why we haven't spoken in 8+ years. I suck. I apologized. We moved on. yay! (yes, a horrible summation, but there it is) So I got "home" a lot later than I intended, and since both of my sisters were at the local fair, I was locked out (turns out I wasn't, but oh well). I finally got the text with the code to get into Missy's house, but after getting the kids to bed (I had to take them to Preston's for one last hurrah, lol) and all, I fell asleep with Miaka and thus couldn't pack the car.

Saturday dawned bright and early, but I slept through it. LOL! I didn't wake up until 8, and then didn't get everything packed in Sheila's car until 10, and we didn't leave until close to 10:45. yeah! So we get to the airport just after 11. Unload all the bags (checking in 6!) and realize Miaka was asleep, so Sheila kept her there at the car while I checked us in. The first guy got all flustered and handed me off to another lady. She asked again what time my flight was, where I was going, etc. After several minutes, she said, "Your flight was at 10:20." WHAT!!?? I just stood there with my jaw open, and feeling SO STUPID. I said, "Oh my!" She looked at other options for me to travel that day, and said, "There's a flight into Salt Lake, then on to Las Vegas. hmmm...but you'd have to stay the night there." I blurted out, "I don't know anyone in Las Vegas!"** She tried to help me feel better, and joked, "Are you staying with family? Are you still on good terms with them?" I laughed, and said, "Yes, my sister is right over there. I must have mixed up another day's time with today and just got it stuck in my head, I'm so embarrassed!" And she replied, "Well, you've got a lot going on. 3 kids, checking in 6 bags, that's a lot!" :) So in the end, she booked me for Sunday and no additional cost. Thank you, nice Southwest lady! :D

Well, the rest of the day I was a burden. LOL Seriously, Sheila and Missy were expecting me to be gone, and they did a lot of work making sure I was included in all their activities. They even traded cars so that Preston and my boys could hang out some more. (I had been using Sheila and Andy's extra car, but Andy needed it that day.) In all this, I was not able to visit my mom again, which upset her. It upset me, too, but what could I have done? For some reason, after missing my flight, calling my mom wasn't my first thought.

Sunday there was very little to pack, since I just grabbed some clothes from the bags. We got there in plenty of time, boarded smoothly. There were some people grumbling (audibly) about "the baby" on the plane, while waiting to board. Miaka woke up, looked back, grinned real big and everyone went, "oooohhhh!" and smiled and laughed. That flight was 4.5 hours long, and I got lots of compliments afterwards on how well-behaved my children were. yay me! :) The flight attendants made the trip fun by saying funny things, like "You're getting very sleepy!" when we taxiied for take-off, and whispering, "Wake u-up!" when we taxiied at landing.

When we got to Chicago, I noticed that our connecting flight was delayed, and wouldn't leave for 3 hours. I got dinner from Potbelly's (where else? ;>) and then realized there was a USO, so we headed over there. What a nice place! TV, comfy chairs, internet, a semi-secluded dark room (perfect for nursing the baby), food, drinks...and it was all free! :) The volunteers there were so helpful and accommodating. About 10 minutes before boarding, we left there and headed to the gate. ... Where we found that the flight was delayed ANOTHER hour. OMG!!! The USO had closed, so I had to wait with the kids right there, with all the other grumbly and upset passengers. When we finally got on the plane, I was amazed and thankful that the boys did NOT fall asleep on the flight (it was only a 1-hour flight).

So we arrived without further incident, and finally got home around 1:30am. Of course, I've been on West Coast time (yes, I know it's called Pacific, whatever LOL) for 2 weeks, so for me it was only 10:30, and I had a hard time getting to bed and asleep. I finally fell asleep around 4:30, and didn't wake up until after 8, and the boys were still asleep, so I decided that Krillin was NOT starting Cub Scout camp that day. LOL :)

The boys are now fine, but I am still having a tough time adjusting to East Coast time. Is it because I'm older? Because of the time of day I arrived? or just because I'm stubborn? ;)

**It was at this point, in telling the story to Missy, once we got back to Sheila's house (4 hours later) that Missy almost collapsed to the floor in laughter. I realized with horror who I had forgotten, and whispered, "Oh. Dad." I could have seen my dad, his wife, and my sister Lisa, all in one stroke (all of whom I haven't seen for at least a year), and I totally blanked on them. I suck.
"I don't know anyone in Las Vegas!" is now my motto for when I do something totally, inconceivably stupid.

please pray for my friend Emily

2009-05-24T14:34:00.002-05:00

My friend since we first met in 2003, Emily, lost her daughter on Friday night. Little Jaylin, who would have turned 2 this summer, was hit by a car and died that night. David is taking it especially hard, and is under a doctor's care. Please pray for her family.

new pictures

2009-04-20T23:38:00.003-05:00

I uploaded new pictures to Facebook. What? You're not my friend on FB yet? What are you waiting for? ;) Here's a link to the album. :) **click the picture!**

Earth, wind, and...wait for it...

2009-03-17T10:32:00.003-05:00

Last night I made bread. That, plus the week's worth of "not-dishwasher-able" dishes made for a pretty hefty pile. So once the dish-drain was full, I folded a towel and placed it on our flat-surface cooktop, and started putting the heavy dishes there to dry. A bit later, P-chan decided to cook some chicken helper for his lunch. After several minutes, he yelled out to me, something about smoke. The towel was smoking! He grabbed the stoneware pieces and told me to take them, that they weren't hot. My brain was slow, and didn't believe him, so he got a little frantic. I finally moved and placed them in the sink, while he turned off the burner. I grabbed the towel, which was smoldering, and took it to the back porch, where it promptly burst into flames. I was still holding it, so of course I did the logical thing and started waving it around. *yeah, not smart, I know* Then I remembered what I was actually supposed to do, and dropped it, and smothered it with itself. After the flames were out, it still sat smoldering, so I had to get a cup of water to douse it.
So how did the burner get turned on? I had assumed that P-chan had somehow turned on the wrong burner, but it turns out that as the stoneware was drying, one of them turned on the burner. Moral of the story? Don't use your stove for a drying area!
And also, I need more counter space....

At least the bread turned out pretty well. I forgot that I was supposed to add several minutes to the baking time, since I was using my stoneware pans. It was a bit doughy when it first came out, but I think it's fine now. And since I'm a pack-rat, I had bread bags on hand, so it looks like I bought unsliced bread. I posted the recipe over at Kitchen Crazy.

Any ideas where the camera's cord is? Yeah, me neither.

backup, backup, backup!

2009-03-11T13:10:00.002-05:00

About a week ago, one of my external hard drives stopped working. For a few days, it had been making a weird clicking noise. Then, it just stopped being recognized by the computer. At first, I thought it was "no big deal" because it's the EHD that has all my "digital freebies" (digital scrapbook stuff that I've downloaded for free). But as time goes on, I realize that EHD had more and more stuff on it that I'd forgotten about. Like the Excel file with all my unused coupons for different digi stores. And all the digital card projects (that I'd paid for!). Plus, almost 2 years of my favorites sites.
Since the EHD crashed, I've signed up for Mozy. The backup had been running for several days, and was 36% complete. Then last night, Windows thought it would be the perfect time to install some updates and restart the computer. GAAAAHHH!!! Now the Mozy backup had to start all over. oh, I am so frustrated!!!
But, I am relieved that the other EHD is still working fine. That one has all the pictures, completed scrapbook pages, and all the digi stuff that I've purchased.

Moral of the story: backup your files!! You never know what you're going to miss using.

Got boogies?

2009-03-06T21:32:00.003-05:00

I've seen these in several stores recently, and I have to admit, I laughed that we would "need" wipes just for boogers. But with a sick baby girl and not feeling so hot myself, I decided to give them a try. I love them! It's that simple. :) And then I found this giveaway on a blog, so I had to enter!! Sweeps4Bloggers is holding a contest to win 2 packs. Wish me luck! :)

cheese

2009-02-20T07:53:00.003-05:00

Here's Miaka, sharing her cheesy grin for you all to see! :D

And me, sharing my blue tongue from the cupcake I ate (Tuesday night). :P

free quickpage!

2009-02-13T10:42:00.004-05:00

I am participating in the Quick Page Team Challenge at Pretty Scrappy. I got a free kit to work with, and the assignment was to create a quickpage, brag book page, or hybrid project. This week I got to work with Juicy Pop by Creations by Rachael, and I chose to make a 12x12 quickpage. If you'd like to download it, visit the gallery at Pretty Scrappy. If you'd like to help me out even further, register and vote for me!

Polar Plunge!

2009-02-08T19:01:00.003-05:00

P-chan accepted the challenge of participating in the 2009 Polar Bear Plunge for Special Olympics . Not only will he be Getting His Plunge On, but he'll be raising money for children and adults in Kentucky with intellectual disabilities so that they can have the opportunity to experience the joy of sports training and competition.

We are asking you to help by supporting our fund-raising efforts with a donation. Your tax-deductible gift will make a difference in the lives of many! It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause - you can make your donation online by simply clicking on the link at the bottom of this message. If you would prefer, you can also mail your tax-deductible contribution with the form on the website.

Any amount, great or small, helps the cause. We greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on P-chan's progress. Click here to visit my personal page.

Join in the LIST!

2009-01-22T03:58:00.002-05:00

(while I wait for LOST to become available on ABC.com....)

Join in the fun! Copy and paste the list. Bold the things you have done...
Found this on a random blog. I love stuff like this.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo ~ not in front of actual people!
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea ~ well, it was Tampa Bay...
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning ~ hello! I worked in fast food for 6 years...
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight ~ funny story! I got a concussion!
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill ~ I totally did this to go ring-shopping after getting engaged
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person ~ (sheesh, someone is obsessed with Europe!)
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance I was just there for the ride. It was Kenshin being transported.
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud ~ mud hole in PG, ftw!
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone. 2 of 'em!
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle ~ P-chan's bike goes 35 in the 20 zone around the house. ROFL
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person ~ I think I must have, but I don't remember it so I'm not counting it
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Made amends with someone who offended you
101. Flew in a small Cessna plane with just you and the pilot
102. Ran out of gas
103. Eaten fried okra ~ NASTY!
104. Swam in the Caribbean Sea
105. Peed in a swimming pool ~ this reminds me of the sign that was at the pool where my grandparents lived: Welcome to our OOL. Notice there is no P in it. Please keep it that way.
106. Rented a beach house
107. Hosted an exchange student
108. Been a Secret Santa to a family in need
109. Worked on a political campaign
110. Coached a sports team
111. Baked bread from scratch
112. Driven from coast to coast
113. Paid off all of your debt ~ and we liked it so much, we're doing it again this year!
114. Roast marshmallows over a campfire
115. Cut up a credit card ~ it was expired; does that count?
116. Drove a car through a flood ~ but in Tampa, it's called "rain"
117. Been on t.v. ~ I was in a commercial for bike helmets, as a public safety announcement (my whole family was)
118. Seen the twin towers.
119. Been to ground zero
120. Been on top of the Empire State Building
121. Lived outside of the United States
122. Stayed awake for more than 24 contiguous hours
123. Applied for a reality TV show

Now add something that's not on this list and keep it going, if you'd like.

Slide to the left!

2009-01-20T15:56:00.001-05:00

Now everybody clap your hands!

Seriously, now. He isn't the candidate I wanted, but I honor and respect that he won. I pray he will make the best decisions for the country. Obama ftw!

Gallery of Miaka

2009-01-17T20:44:00.003-05:00

Here are the long-awaited and promised pictures! :) They are in chronological order.

Here is Miaka, the day after she came home.

That's what she looks like most of the time.

Here's what the boys started to think she looked like:

aaaawww, pretty girl!

oh, the baby's not too shabby either. ;)

nekky!

yes! she got to wear the same pants as the boys!

right after the bath (still have to edit those pictures, lol)

why yes, that IS a preemie-sized onesie.

just chillin' with Krillin:

in case you wondered, bunnies are her "thing":

I ADORE how she sticks her bum out!! :D This is from yesterday.

That's it for now! We don't have an armchair (like Missy does, to measure her children). So, any suggestions on how to "show" Miaka growing?

My hungry, hungry hippo

2009-01-12T15:57:00.001-05:00

Miaka has a new nickname: Hungry Hippo! I admit, it doesn't bring to mind a flattering image, but it fits nonetheless. She is hungry all the time, being a baby does that to ya. And she's growing fast! She is 3.5 weeks old today, and weighs 7 lbs, 10 oz. That means she's packed on 1 lb, 3oz since she was born. That's over 18% of her starting weight!! She has also grown an inch taller. However, she is STILL smaller than Krillin-at-birth. ROFL

Pictures will be posted tomorrow. Today was crazy. And I finally found the cord for the camera. :)

Andrea Gold has some new products

2008-12-25T23:55:00.005-05:00

Andrea has some great new products at GDS. First up is her Holiday Splash kit.

It's on sale right now for $3.20.
Next is the Add-On for Holiday Splash, on sale for $1.20:

Here's a page I did using both kits:

I love the deep, rich colors and elements! :)

She's also released her 2nd set of classic templates, in a set called Classic 50 pack Template Bundle #02. :)

And here's a quick review of all the templates included:

That's less than 55¢ per template! :)

And her latest release is a grungy, purple-y kit called My Imperfect Life. I promise I'll have something done later this week, to show it off. :D

And finally, Andrea is offering an awesome promotion!

That's right: Spend $5 and get this great QP collection (see the bottom middle one? That's mine! :D)

and if you spend $10, you get $5 credit toward your next order in Andrea's shop!
Don't forget, when you spend $10 at GDS, you automatically qualify for the design team's collab kit. So basically, you're getting (at least) 3 kits, a QP collection, a HUGE collab kit, and $5 back, when you spend $10. woot!

Christmas wishes fulfilled!

2008-12-25T23:10:00.004-05:00

We hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Day! Ours is just about over, and it was wonderful. So many things to be thankful for:
Nice weather
Not being in the hospital
Miaka is here! :)
P-chan didn't have to work today
The boys didn't get a case of the "gimmees"

Our day started just after 7am, when Krillin woke up for the bathroom, and stayed awake for the stockings. LOL He was considerate enough to wait (and even wake up) Kenshin before digging into the stockings. Since I never knew what they asked Santa for, I was a bit anxious that Santa brought something they would like. Santa won big points today! :D Krillin got the new Superman movie and some FunKeys, and Kenshin got the Walle movie and FunKeys.

Here's summary of our favorite gifts of the day:
What was the gift you were most excited about giving?
Dad: Flight of the Conchords DVD set, to Mom.
Mom: 6-Minute Stretching book, to Dad.
Krillin: the "Dad's Fix-it Shop" sign, to Dad.
Kenshin: The RC car, to Dad.
Miaka: I didn't give anything, I was just cute and pooted all day.

What is the gift you are most excited about receiving today?
Dad: 6-Minute Stretching book, from Mom. I've been looking for this book for months, ever since I lost the one I had, on the trip to FL.
Mom: Flight of the Conchords DVD set, from Dad. These guys are hiLARious!
Krillin: mini Transformers set, from Mom & Dad. (At least, Mom thinks this was his favorite....)
Kenshin: Ben 10 Omnitrix watch. "I've been wishing for this all DAY!" Really, he's been asking for this for months, but that's what he said today. He also hugged it, and for a few seconds, I thought he was going to cry.
Miaka: I got some very cute clothes from Auntie Emily.

Funniest quote of the day is brought to us by P-chan. A little background, first: We have had a certain frog candle for years (I think we got it when we got married); the frog is relaxing on an inner tube, with his legs hanging out. Over the years, between moving 5 times and having kids, it has gotten pretty beat up. Legs missing, elbows cracked, etc. Last week, P-chan decided he was going to burn it. We put it on a fire-safe plate and forgot about it. Today, he remembered his vow to burn the frog, and placed it in front of the tiny manger scene we have, and told the boys it would keep Jesus warm. About 45minutes later, I heard, "Look, the frog gave his eyes to warm baby Jesus!"
For the record, it was a good 15 minutes before I could stop laughing. Miaka was very upset at me. P-chan is now chagrined at his own comment, but I don't think it was sacrilegious, just irreverent. Thoughts?

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T01:54:00.003-05:00

Have some fun with these brain-bending Christmas song titles! The answers will be in the comments. :D

1. The apartment of 2 psychiatrists.

2. The lad is a diminutive percussionist.

3. Decorate the entry-ways .

4. Sir Lancelot with laryngitis.

5. A B C D E F G H I J K M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.

6. Present me naught but dual incisors for this festive Yuletide.

7. The smog-less bewitching hour arrived.

8. Exuberation to this orb.

9. 288 Yuletide hours.

10. Do you perceive the same longitudinal pressure which stimulates my auditory sense organs.

11. The red-suited pa is due in this burg.

12. Stepping on the pad cover.

13. Uncouth dolt has his beezer in the booze and thinks he is a Dark Cloud's boyfriend.

14. Far back in a hay bin.

15. Leave and do an elevated broadcast.

16. That exiguous hamlet south of the holy city.

17. Behold! I envisioned a trio of nautical vessels.

18. Listen, the winged heavenly messengers are proclaiming tunefully.

19. A joyful song relative to hollow metallic vessels which vibrate and bring forth a ringing sound when struck.

20. As the guardians of little woolly animal's protected their charges in the shadows of the earth.

21. Frozen precipitation commence

22. Monarchial triad

23. Oh, member of the round table with missing areas

24. Boulder of the tinkling metal spheres

25. Vehicular homicide was committed on Dad's mom by a precipitous darling

26. Wanted in December: top forward incisors

27. We are Kong, Lear, and Nat Cole

28. Cup-shaped instruments fashioned of a whitish metallic element

29. Oh small Israel urban center

30. Our fervent hope is that you thoroughly enjoy your yuletide season

31. Parent was observed osculating a red-coated unshaven teamster

32. May the Deity bestow an absence of fatigue to mild male humans

33. Natal celebration devoid of color, rather albino, as a hallucinatory phenomenon for me.

34. Obese personification fabricated of compressed mounds of minute crystals.

35. Tranquiltiy upon the terrestrial sphere.

36. Have hitherward the entire assembly of those who are loyal in their belief

baby Miaka is here! :)

2008-12-20T18:44:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to let you all know that I had my baby! :D
Miaka was born at 9:06am EST on December 19, 2008. The labor was short and easy. Well, in my eyes anyway! :) She weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces, and was 19 inches long. She has a full head of dark hair, and seems to have blue eyes...but you know that could change. :)
She looks a LOT like Krillin and Kenshin.

It's been a long time, but I did it!

2008-12-04T08:47:00.002-05:00

Yessirree, I locked myself out of the house. I had just gotten the boys on the bus, and remembered it's garbage day, so I went inside to get the garbage and outgoing mail. I put both of them in their proper spots, returned to the house, and that's when I found the door locked. I don't even remember locking the front door when I took out the trash. It's a good habit to have, I guess. I've caught myself doing it when the boys and I go for a walk. But this time I didn't catch myself. oops! Why not go in through the garage, you ask? Well, because I don't like the idea of someone getting into my house through the garage, so that door is deadbolted all the time. And the back door? We have our Christmas tree in front of the back door, so of course it's deadbolted, too.
I went down to Becca's house to borrow her phone and phonebook. After a few minutes, I realized that all of the listings are for greater Louisville, and...well, I don't really live "that" close to Louisville, and I would probably be charged extra. But then Becca's husband tried a spatula to unlock their door, and it worked. So we came back here, he tried it, and VOILA! It worked! I'm very thankful for that, but also a little freaked out that a plastic spatula can open my locked door.
So I am safely back at home. No harm done. Becca and her husband saw me in all my Morning Glory, of course, so maybe there was some harm. ;0 I'm in my jammies, with a fleece hoody, a fleece hat (to cover my bed-head), and no make-up. hurray for mornings!

Thanksgiving and more

2008-12-01T08:33:00.003-05:00

December 1 already?? That means I'm down to 2 weeks until the baby's due date! As excited as I am, I really hope that she doesn't come this week. Why? Because P-chan AND Jessica are going to be out of town for their jobs. Jessica is my BFF here, and in the Original Plan, she would watch the boys while P-chan and I went to the hospital. In the Backup Plan (if P-chan was out of town) Jessica would take me to the hospital, and the boys would stay with Beverly. So for this week, we're down to a somewhat last-minute and spontaneous plan, going something like this:
If it's Tuesday, Wednesday, or early Friday, Beverly will drive me and Donna will watch the boys.
If it's Thursday, Donna will drive me and Amanda will watch the boys.
P-chan will be home by Friday afternoon, and Jessica will be back Friday evening.
I love plans, don't you?

Thanksgiving was spent with Amanda, April, and their families (and another friend, but I can't remember her name, oops!). The food was delicious, and it was nice to be around people we like. :) But on a homesick note, it just wasn't the same as being with Emily and her fam. I really miss you, Emily!

Black Friday, I did not venture out at 4am. Nope, it wasn't until about 10:30 that I left the house. My first stop was CVS, where they had some freebies and a few "better than free" items. Almost everything was still in stock, too. :) Of course I got rainchecks on the things I missed. Next, Jessica and I went to see Twilight. Without giving anything away, I liked it, but still thought parts could have been done better. If they make the 2nd book into a movie, I will probably see that as well. After that, I went to Meijer, and realized that the sale ended at noon (it was almost 3pm). Doh! So then I went to Lowe's to take advantage of their gift card offer, and also got the drill set that I've been oogling! :D And the final stop was Walgreens, where I got paid to take several tubes of Colgate Total toothpaste. LOL Then it was back home, where the boys and I spent a nice evening "at home" (usually I'm dragging them to several stores) while P-chan went to work.

Saturday I got a tank of gas, and paid $1.56 per gallon. :D

All I want for Christmas

2008-11-29T12:59:00.004-05:00

...is the name of one of Pretty Scrappy's newest kits, and I love it! Casey does an awesome job with all her designs, and this new kit is so sparkly, that I just have to have it! :D I "met" Casey through her blog several months ago, probably through a link from DigiFree, for her "Live, Laugh, Love" themed mega kit that she was (and still is!) giving away for free, pieces at a time. Then she offered some personalized snaps, and I ordered those. When Hurricane Ike hit Casey and her family, I wanted to help her out, but didn't know how. When her design team released the "New Beginnings" kit, I was very excited. :) Now I'm in the store every week, ooohing and aahhhing over everything. :) I am Casey's #1 stalker! (I've got the blinkie to prove it!)

note: the Pretty Scrappy store is down as of blog posting time, but they are working on it! I think Black Friday killed it. LOL

update: The new store is up and running, and the link is updated! yay! :)

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-11-25T18:37:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was the big 3-0 for me! I am officially no longer in my 20s. ROFL P-chan and the boys sprayed silly string all over the kitchen, and baked brownies. I opened up my presents: a little mind-buster game, a pair of earrings, and not 1 but 3 different watches. LMBO Now I can match them to different outfits, woot! :)
P-chan made me a special Birthday Potato. What made it so special? Why, he put exactly what I wanted on it, of course! :P Then we ate brownies; I had peanut butter on mine, and they all had frosting and ice cream with theirs. :D
Thanks, boys! :))

On the baby front, I am only 3 weeks out from the due date now. Things are very uncomfortable for me. I am just about ready for her to come out. I say "just about" because I still need to sew the diapers! LOL Miaka and I received many wonderful gifts at the baby shower, so she's pretty set for clothing. We also got several of the bedding set items from Target, woot! :)

Great deal from ArtsCow!

2008-11-08T20:00:00.002-05:00

Are you looking for a great deal on photobooks? Through November 25, 2008, ArtsCow is offering unlimited 8x8" photobooks (20 pages) for $6.99, and that includes shipping! Holy Cow! :D They have plenty of pre-done layouts, in case you don't have digi-scrap pages. If you haven't signed up for ArtsCow yet, feel free to use my referral code:
http://www.artscow.com/?Ref=464838
And then use this coupon code at checkout to get the books discounted:
PBSD699
Well, what are you waiting for? Go! :)

$1.98

2008-11-05T14:51:00.001-05:00

that's what I paid for gas today. :D

How was the election process for you? Did your candidate win?

brag book exchange with Andrea

2008-10-30T22:34:00.002-05:00

Andrea Gold is hosting the Brag Book Exchange at GDS, and there are still a few more days to get in on this! I finally got my page done, here it is in all its glory! :D
click here for credits!
If you decide to buy the kit and participate, you'll get all the others submitted by forum members, and 2 exclusive pages designed by Andrea herself.

Get all the details at GDS: http://www.godigitalscrapbooking.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8610

Happy Mogloween!

2008-10-29T09:10:00.001-05:00

In the game DragonFable, it's Mogloween! I'm busily trick-or-treating to get the bad candy from the moglins so they don't turn into Moglinsters. whee!

Only 1 more Sunday to practice our Primary presentation. ack! I know April is freaking out, so I'm trying to stay calm...but the kids still barely know the songs. We don't know what else to do, but pray. So please pray for us! :D

Last night, Krillin turned in his popcorn sales for scouts. P-chan totally worked the "cute" angle to collect orders from the neighbors. He wrote out a "script" for Krillin to read at each house:
Hello, my name is Krillin. I am fundraising for my cub scout troop. Would you like to buy popcorn to help me?
They all thought it was adorable, and ordered from him. Not counting ours, he has 12 orders, including 1 from a certain sister in WA. Thanks! :D I have no idea whether he gets a prize for this, as we weren't part of the troop when everything was announced. But he feels really good, helping out his troop!

On Saturday night, we went to Walgreens for a last-minute trip to use expiring RR's. :D When we came outside, we saw that there had been an accident in the intersection. Kenshin knew that the police and firetrucks (his favorite!!) would soon be showing up, so we all decided to wait around and see what happened. The first trucks there were the ambulances. Then the firetrucks, and finally the police. (I didn't have my camera, or I would totally have taken pictures. How looky-loo of me.) We live in a small town (this is 1 of 4 traffic lights), so this was pretty exciting stuff for us looky-loo's and for the emergency services. It reminded me of when Kenshin had to go in the ambulance. LOL Anyway, there were 2 ambulances, 1 big firetruck, 2 small firetrucks, 4 police cars, and another EMS truck, but it was just an SUV. A green truck had hit a black SUV in the intersection. From what I heard people saying, one of the drivers was drunk, but I couldn't tell which. One person from each car had to go in an ambulance, but there was none of that "rush rush" stuff, so I don't think they were life-threatening injuries. Krillin remembered what the firefighter told them the other day, and asked Kenshin if he wanted to see them use the Jaws of Life, and of course Kenshin said yes. (For the rest of the night and all day Sunday, Kenshin kept talking about the Jobs of Life. I thought it was so cute, I didn't correct him!) The Jaws of Life were not necessary, as nothing was crushing anyone, or flipped over. When most of the vehicles cleared away and the tow-trucks showed up, we could see that the green truck's front was all smashed up, and the SUV's side was smashed (we could even see the airbags), and had a flat tire. Since all the vehicles were now gone, Kenshin announced it was time to go home. LOL I tried looking up info on the accident, but it didn't even make the news here.

Gas is now $2.43 here. If I use our grocery store discount, then it's $2.33. :D How low can it go?

Would you like some free printable Halloween treat boxes? Go to Gail's blog and pick them up, then head to KJoi for the instructions. :) They are so cute, and you don't even need a photo editor to use them, you could use them in Word even. Have fun!

I feel rich!

2008-10-13T13:23:00.002-05:00

I paid $3.09/gallon for gas on Saturday. The full tank was less than $33. I haven't paid that little in a looooong time, and it felt good! How are the prices in your neck of the woods?

With all the Regisiter Rewards deals I did last week at Walgreens, I have over $100 to spend there in the next 2 weeks. I have NO idea what I'm going to use it on. Although, P-chan mentioned an exercise thing they sell...Christmas present, woot! I'll have to pore over the sales flyer again, too.

Do you need to buy toys for a bunch of kids (or maybe just spoil a few)? Amazon is doing several sales, most of which are stackable. The original Amazon prices came to over $250. For all the details, check out this thread at SlickDeals:
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=198420&t=954135
I did 2 orders, and paid $80 for over 17 toys (nice ones!!). I can't post what I bought, because people who read my blog will be receiving some of the toys for Christmas! LOL

almost forgot!

2008-10-10T09:41:00.002-05:00

I almost forgot to tell y'all how the latest ultrasound went. (see? totally scatterbrained!)

The baby is fine! Her kidneys are still "enlarged" but not "as enlarged" as before. Just like the boys, so no worries. The doctor says she's measuring small, about 28 weeks (and I'm 30 weeks along), but since I'm a small person, it's okay. Again, just like the boys. Oh, and much to P-chan's dismay, she's still a girl. ROFL I'm glad for that, because I just bought some more clothes from the consignment shop. :D

ttfn!

long time!

2008-10-07T23:39:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lapse in posting. I've been very scatter-brained, exhausted, and busy. LOL

Krillin has started going to Cub Scouts; he's in the same pack as some friends that are a year older. Today was his third week going, and he loves it! I bought him a polo shirt (clearance! lol), book, and belt at the BSA store, since a friend is giving him a few supplies. We still need to get him the official shirt, but I had to check the finances first. LOL
The den leader, Andy, is great! He's former Army, but nobody's perfect. ;) Tonight he showed them some magic tricks, which the boys LOVED. That earns them something in their book. I still need to read up on what it all is. :)

P-chan brought me the latest book in the Inheritance Series, "Brisingr". I was very touched by the gesture, because 2 days before we decided I shouldn't buy it new, no matter how much I wanted to read it. LOL He had borrowed it from a co-worker ("I just took it."), who challenged me to read it in 1 day. If I had been able to concentrate for longer than an hour at a time, I could have done it. But I have not been able to concentrate, so it took me 4 days. Very good book! I highly recommend it (in fact, the whole series) to anyone who likes dragons and magic.

I've been reading the Charlie Bone books. Very light reading, kinda fluffy. Just what I need right now. :) The boys lost "By the Banks of Plum Creek" so I started where we left off in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". Oh my word, is the print TINY in that book. I felt like I needed bifocals.

General Conference was very good. I couldn't concentrate enough to take notes, so I will need to read the talks later. But I do remember the announcement of a new temple, in Rome. I thought the reaction was odd, until P-chan reminded me that the Vatican is in Rome. ooooohhhh! *smacks forehead* Yep, that is big news. Have I mentioned how scatter-brained I am lately?

I have been "couponing" a lot more than I had been the last few months. My favorite cashier at Walgreens told me that some of the other cashiers are afraid of my coupons. I find this funny, because coupons just aren't scary. She explained that they're afraid they'll mess up and then I'll be mad at them. I have been trying to figure out why I would elicit this response. I don't think I've ever yelled at a cashier there.... But maybe I have, and I've forgotten about it. There was one cashier who I got really frustrated with, when she kept calling the manager over to check if I could use a coupon. Finally, the manager got fed up and told her, "All of them are good. She knows what she's doing. Don't call me again unless the register beeps." And ya know what? The register never beeps! :D Now she's not exactly friendly, but she doesn't question everything anymore.
Last week I got 45 body washes for 50¢ each, 14 toothbrushes for free, and some cheap cookies. This week it's all about the Glade. So far, I have 9 Wisp flameless candles they paid me to take, and I plan to get more....just have to find them. LOL Also, 4 plug-ins, 5 candles, 1 scented oil holder, and 4 refills for free after rebates and coupons. Counting the Register Rewards from last week as "cash", this week I have spent $59, and I have $31.50 in new Register Rewards, and I'll get $23 in rebates, leaving a total of $4.50 out of pocket. Nice! It'll get better, too, since the toothbrushes are still generating RR, and I still have coupons for them. hahahahaha!

So what am I going to do with all these? I'm glad you asked! I'm putting together care packages for Military members serving overseas. Zappos.com has a store in town, and they are donating the shoe boxes. The most expensive part will be the shipping, but it's no more expensive than sending a box to family here, thanks to the APO/FPO rules. :)

I have started playing DragonFable, an online animated fantasy RPG. P-chan found it, and I kept questioning his actions, so he finally made me start my own account. LOL While P-chan has 3 different characters, I only have 1, a mage. Because it's all done online in the browser, I can logout when I'm bored and login when I'm ready to play again. Krillin has also gotten in on the action. He's got a warrior with bright yellow armor, white hair, and green eyes. :) My mage wears a yellow dress and has white skin and blue hair. You can change anything in the appearance just by visiting the barber, except for the clothing. You're stuck with that, once you choose it at the beginning. LOL

Okay, I'd better post this before it becomes a month since the last post...

I've been tagged!

2008-09-15T17:01:00.002-05:00

DeDe tagged everyone who visited her blog to do this, so here goes! :)

List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 random surprises about yourself.

JOYS
1. Family- I love my husband and boys, and am looking forward to the new wee one (girl!) in December.
2. my Church calling (teaching the kids 3-11 each week) There are usually only 6 kids total, but it's a challenge to meet each age group's need. And I love it!
3. Finding good deals on anything and everything. Knowing that I got a great deal makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

FEARS
1. something going wrong with my pregnancy/delivery
2. P-chan dying (morbid, I know)
3. random violence

GOALS
1. after the baby is born ~ lose 20 pounds
2. after the baby is born ~ follow a housekeeping schedule. I can't do it right now (chemicals, bending over, general pukiness, etc), but I will!!
3. Praying more (I'm working on that right now)

OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS
1. Computers! I can't stay away from the computer too long or I go crazy! Yesterday drove me nuts.
2. Books - I love reading! I have found that I really like young adult series, since there's no smut and not too much swearing. I am currently reading the Midnighters, Charlie Bone, Inheritance, and Artemis Fowl series.
3. I collect stamps! I have for over 20 years now. Used, new, old, foreign, US, doesn't matter. I will horde it.

SURPRISES (ummmm, what?)
1. I am not lactose-intolerant when I'm pregnant. cheap milk FTW!
2. I don't like milk chocolate.
3. I really like the Twilight books. I never thought I would get into them - I mean, really, vampires? - but I totally got into them. The last book was a bit strange, but I'm blaming my perception on my pregnancy. kwim?

so if you want to, do this on your blog, too!

fun Friday

2008-09-12T13:33:00.006-05:00

Here are some pages I've done recently.
This is my friend Penny, along with a totally candid (and thus weird) picture of my family. This is my entry for round 2 of the Supreme Team contest at GoDigitalScrapbooking.
credits
Kenshin fell asleep in the suitcase!
credits
the boys having fun in the car
credits
baby Kenshin! This was my round 1 entry for the Supreme Team.
credits
after-birthday ice cream
credits

I've started doing most of my pages in a 8x6 size, so that I can cut them in half (4x6) for easier printing. I got the idea from Maryanne Curth.

LetteringDelights has a new free candy bar wrapper to celebrate the back-to-school season. You can find it in their newsletter here. It comes in PDF, so even if you don't digital scrapbook you can enjoy it! They are also having their Dollar Day sale!

Do you shop at Walgreens? Do you like to save money? Trust me, they're not mutually exclusive! I'm going to use this coupon to save $10 off $40 in 2 transactions, spend $67, and get $66 in rebates.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pnyiq2_9yqcr3TDwmQUT5Nw&hl=en
~~Don't forget about the Robitussin coupons for $3 off. Use them with the RR deal: buy 3 @ $3.99 each, pay $2.97 after coupons, and get $10 RR to use on your next purchase.~~ Ahh, dang, Wyeth took that coupon down. sorry!

I remember.

2008-09-11T09:42:00.004-05:00

I was awakened by a phone call from my sister, Cyndie. I was surprised, because Cyndie knew that we worked late, and so a phone call at 7 am (MST) was more than a little odd.
"Turn on your TV."
"What? Why?" I thought maybe a funny commercial was on.
"A plane hit the World Trade Center in New York. Turn on your TV."
"Bull****."
"I'm not joking. Turn on the TV now!"
"Okay, okay. Hang on." I wandered to the living room and flipped on the TV. "What channel?"
"Doesn't matter. It's on all of them."
And then I saw it. The buildings full of flames. The clouds of smoke. The noise was awful. All those people! I just wanted the reporters to shut up. I don't remember hanging up the phone, but asked Cyndie to find out if Missy and her family was okay (Doug worked in NYC, and I wasn't sure where Missy's office was; they lived in Yonkers). For the next 2 hours, I could not move. I know I woke up P-chan.
And then the buildings collapsed. I could not stop crying. We just sat and watched. There were some phone calls to and from people we knew. Everyone was subdued.
Sometime after noon, I realized we still had to go to work, so we got ready. {We both worked for a call center for DirecTV; P-chan in HR, and I was a floor supervisor.}
I remember the meeting at work, where they told us about all the things this meant for customer service issues (there were a few movies that were replaced by "fluffier" movies), as well as things they were implementing for the employees (counseling, time off, etc). I was concerned about my team, as they'd only been on the phones for a few weeks, and most were fresh out of high school. But every single employee showed up, and every single one did a fine job.
I was surprised that so many customers didn't know anything about the attacks. I explained to one irate customer that the HBO feed was coming out of Los Angeles, because the New York feed was down.
"Why the **** is it down?"
"Because the World Trade Center was hit by two planes this morning and 2 buildings collapsed. Most communication from New York is solely news right now."
He paused, then asked, in a much nicer voice, "Would this be covered by CNN?"
"Yes, sir. I'm watching that coverage right now."
"Thank you. I'm sorry I was such an ***. I didn't know."

Other customers wanted to know why Passenger 57 wasn't playing. "The station decided to not show it, in light of the presumed terrorist attacks in New York this morning." Again, the pause, followed by the question of news coverage.

I remember one employee (under another supervisor) who broke down in tears. The customer on the phone was desperate to learn if their sister was in the towers, and thought we had some way of finding out. The supervisor had to take over the call, and explain we didn't have any way of knowing. The supervisor was crying. Everybody who heard the supervisor was crying. I wasn't even sure if my sister was okay, so I was sobbing.

I remember September 11, 2001. Where were you?

there and back again...

2008-09-06T17:23:00.002-05:00

We left 2 hours later than I had wanted to (on Sunday), but we still made pretty good time. Stayed overnight somewhere in Georgia, south of Atlanta. The first place we stopped at was a Motel 6. There was a cockroach running across the welcome mat of the office; I felt that did not bode well. Then the check-in guy was extremely rude and they didn't have any ground-floor rooms, so we decided to find someplace else. Just a block over was a Red Roof Inn, which looked nice. The rate was nice, too, and the lobby was new and clean. When we got up to the room, Kenshin asked, "When does Cooper get here?" I had to explain to the boys that Cooper does not appear every time we stay at a hotel, and that he's still in North Dakota. I'm certain Krillin knew that already, but Kenshin was really sad. After we read a book (P-chan was already asleep), we all hit the sack.

The next morning, I was awakened by Krillin, who wanted to watch TV. I asked him what time it was, and he told me it was 8:14am. WHAT?! Yep, the alarm clock said so. Then P-chan looked at his watch, and informed me it was actually just after 4am, so please go back to sleep. It took some convincing, but Krillin finally went back to sleep. At our wake-up call, the boys went with P-chan to get breakfast, while I got ready. Finding things to eat at the continental breakfasts is always a challenge (due to diabetes), but I had the same thing I usually have at home: 2 pieces of toast with butter. We were on the road by 9am, and the driving was good.

About an hour into Florida, we were pulled over by a cop. He informed us that the tinting on our front windows is too dark. What the? Keep in mind that we bought this car 2 years ago from a dealership, and the only other owner lived in Florida....where the tinting was done. No problem, officer, we can get that fixed! "Yes, you can!" was his cheerful reply. We got a warning, but no ticket. whew! I immediately called Penny to ask her to look up how to remove tinting.

Despite being "behind" in our time schedule, and the frequent stops (food, etc), we made excellent time. I think Google map's estimate was way off! We were "behind" by almost 2 hours due to starting late on Sunday, but still got to Penny's house by the time we intended. She is awesome! She had the tinting-removal instructions for us, helped us unpack the car, and then watched the kids while we went to the store to buy all the stuff we needed for the tinting-removal. When we got back, dinner was ready (lovely chicken pot pie) and the boys had settled in nicely. Kenshin wasn't even afraid of the Max the Chihuahua anymore! By 9pm, P-chan and I were both exhausted, and we had to be up early the next morning, so we all went to bed. Even Penny's family! I don't know what time they normally go to bed, but nobody complained. Thank you for letting us use your bedroom, Madison! Your bed is very comfortable.

We went to Florida because of the court hearing to end our guardianship over my sister. She hasn't lived with us for 2 years, and she's now living with dad. So we drove for 2 days and left our kids with Penny for most of the day while we went to the courthouse in Tampa. The end result? You would think that we've provided enough information and paperwork to show that we really are serious about not wanting the guardianship. That the judge would see that us taking the time and money to travel there would show our dedication to doing things the right way. That they would say, yes, this is good, you are free. NO! They want more paperwork. One is a "plan of person", which is basically a plan for my sister for the next year. This make no sense to me, because my sister doesn't even live with us! We have no information for it! The other thing they want is proof that a new guardianship is being filed by dad. That one shouldn't be a problem, since they've got their attorney working on it. But it has to be provided in 30 days.

So after the hearing, P-chan and I had to go to our attorney's office and fill out the Plan of Person. We also closed a bank account that had been dormant for 2 years. And I got to see my friend (and Mary Kay rep) Jeanette. It was so good to see her again! I could have talked with her for hours, but this wasn't a vacation; we had to get back to the kids, and still leave for home that evening. ugh!

We got back to Penny's in time to eat dinner with Madison before she left for dance with her grandma in the Pimped Out Truck. Penny is not exaggerating! That truck is Pimped Out! It has a bigger DVD screen that our first TV. Dinner was a delicious smoked ham (thanks, Michael! ), a spinach salad (with avocados and sunflower seeds), and yellow rice. Since the rest of the meal basically had no carbs, I had some rice. I know, I live dangerously! Then we packed the car....well, P-chan packed while I gabbed with Penny. We got some pictures, and then we were on the road by 6pm.

We drove until almost midnight, and stayed at a Best Western. Not the most comfortable bed I've slept on, but at least nobody woke me up in the middle of the night. They had advertised a "hot breakfast", so when everyone was ready, we packed the car and headed over to that. Pretty much still a continental breakfast, but they also had boiled eggs, and you could make your own Belgian waffle. I still had toast with butter, but also had an egg and a glass of milk (that's 3 carb choices total, in case you wondered). P-chan and Krillin played a game of checkers, then we checked out.

I drove for most of the day, as being the passenger still makes me slightly nauseous. We got caught in some traffic on the northern side of Nashville (due to an accident), so we stopped for dinner at McD's. The boys got to play, we got some free mini cones, life was good. P-chan did, however, get upset about McD's flag hanging by one end.

Kenshin started whining about being sleepy and wanting to stop at a hotel, but we told him we'd be home before it was time for a hotel. We were in the driveway at 9:30, and were all in bed by 10:30.

All in all, it was a good trip. I am still disappointed that that much time and money went into our trip, and the guardianship still hasn't been released. But it was also nice to see Penny and Jeanette again. And it was fun seeing how different Tampa is in just a short time. I give it a B+.

130th post! oh, and I'm back.

2008-09-04T14:12:00.002-05:00

Blogger tells me this is my 130th post. woot!

The trip to Florida and back again was fun! Well, as much fun that being in the car with your spouse and 2 kids for 4 days can be. Things we learned:
Julie likes music. Static is a killer.
P-chan doesn't really enjoy the selection on Julie's mp3 player.
Kenshin likes hotels!
Krillin is really bossy!

Things we are thankful for:
mp3 player
art supplies
sunglasses
interstate highways
friends!

I will post pictures and more info later. right now, I'm tired and just want to sleep. or puke. I'm not sure which.

Headed out to Florida

2008-08-31T00:57:00.002-05:00

We are headed back to Florida! Fortunately, we're not moving there. Unfortunately, it's for a court hearing. We are getting the guardianship over my sister (who hasn't lived with us for 2 years) dismissed. I thought it was taken care of 2 years ago, but 6 months ago we had to get a bunch of paperwork going. What a pain! Now we have to appear in court. I'm not looking forward to it.
However, there is a silver lining! I get to see my friend Penny! When she heard we were going to be there, she graciously offered to let us stay at her house. AND watch the kids while we're at the courthouse! She's the best!
So, I will post again after we get back. TTFN!

Happy birthday Kenshin!

2008-08-22T20:40:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Kenshin's 4th birthday today, complete with cupcakes with red frosting (Kenshin's favorite) and presents! It's hard to remember to savor each day. Time is slipping by so fast! There are times (like yesterday) that I just cannot believe how old he is. I love you, Kenshin!

It was also his first day of riding the bus to school, so I got some photos of that. :)

Kenshin's first day of pre-school!

2008-08-21T20:59:00.001-05:00

Kenshin started pre-school today! He has been looking forward to this ever since I took him for regisitration in June, and especially since the teachers came for a visit on Monday. Since I'm so attached to him, I couldn't not take him on the first day! When we got to the classroom, nobody was there, so we went down to the lunchroom, just in case they were still there. They were! It turns out that the teachers didn't tell me that they were meeting in the lunchroom so the kids could all eat breakfast together. oops! But it all worked out.

While he was gone, I kept feeling "bored" and not knowing what to do! But I kept busy, and by the time he got home we were both happy he was home.

Talkative Tuesday

2008-08-12T08:16:00.007-05:00

~~boys from space~~
P-chan finally bought his helmet for his motorcycle (that's what we're calling it now, since it's legally "motorcycle" class). The boys had to try on the cool dragon!

~~end of the visit~~
Rebekah went home Saturday, and boy do we miss her! Krillin was sad when he realized he never gave her the art project he's been working on. I realized that we also never gave her the mini-bat from the Louisville Slugger Museum. oops! Well, that's what first class mail is for, I suppose. ;)
While she was here, we got to visit several places that we hadn't been to before: JB Speed Art Museum (we got some fun pictures!); and The Old School House

Bullitt County Old Stone Jail

and Bernheim Forest trails (I was not feeling well that day, so I stayed home).

~~Primary lesson~~
Sunday was my turn to teach Sharing Time in Primary at church. We talked about the Holy Ghost, and how it acts as a shield against temptations. I made a CTR shield, and it turned out quite nice, if I do say so myself. And I do! LOL

~~girl stuff~~
I am not a "girly-girl." I never have been. And now that we're having a girl, people keep saying, "You're going to have so much fun dressing her up! Pink will be your new favorite color!" I just nod and laugh, but it makes me want to scream. Why pink? And what's with all the frills? gah! How am I going to take care of a girl??

And then I saw the Tiddliwinks Ladybug collection at Target. I love it! I must have it all (well, the dust ruffle I can do without). And now, I think I am starting to "get" the girl thing. Well, at least the ladybugs. :)

~~Krillin starts school today~~
Yesterday we met his new teacher, and saw the classroom. Ben and Collin from our street will also be in his class, so I warned the teacher. LOL
Kenshin cried today when he realized why Krillin was going outside with his backpack. It's only 10am, and already I miss him. Only 6 more hours till he gets home.

happy birthday P-chan!

2008-08-08T16:22:00.003-05:00

Today is the glorious celebration of the anniversary of the birth of my dear, loving husband! He said he "didn't care" what type of cake I made for him, so the boys chose! It was a yellow cake with my favorite buttercream frosting. I found a picture of the characters the boys wanted, and hand-drew them onto the white crumb-layer. Please click the picture to see it larger!

Then I outlined everything in grey, and filled it all in.

If you recognize the characters, you are my favorite! For everyone else, it is Zatch, Tia, and Ponygon from the anime Zatchbell on Cartoon Network. P-chan does watch the show, so he knew who they were.
I put a LOT of candles on his cake (cuz he's so old!) and I'm surprised the smoke alarm didn't go off, because 14 of them were the sparking, trick candles. He "blew out" the candles about 10 times before he finally used something to kill them. We also had Chocolate Cherry Nut Truffle ice cream and then P-chan got to open his presents! All in all, a fun party. I love you, P-chan! Happy birthday!

No external plumbing!

2008-08-07T19:41:00.002-05:00

The ultrasound was done yesterday, and the baby looks healthy. And, there is no external plumbing! (P-chan won't allow me to say the "g" word yet.)
I have another ultrasound in a few weeks, and another at 36 weeks. yay!

On a side note (but ironically works well with my title)... If you are feeling down about your house, please visit this blog here and immediately feel better. really!

another round, on the house!

2008-08-04T11:28:00.002-05:00

Yes, folks, we're in the throes of Kenshin's round of puking. He started at about 4am, and hasn't really stopped. He actually slept with all his stuffed animals, in my bathroom. Since today was Krillin's "school physical" doc appointment, I had to put a barf bucket in the car. yay! Kenshin even obliged me by using it. I love to feel needed. At least he didn't puke at the doctor's office. Unfortunately, he is so tired, he can't even walk, so I had to carry him. From the car. To the office. It's about a football field. Not good for my belly or pulled muscle, but necessary, since I don't have a stroller that will hold him! When I got to the building, a very nice uniformed man carried Kenshin the rest of the way. Thank you, Army guy! And, Doc was nice enough to see Kenshin today, instead of tomorrow, for his school physical. yay! Kenshin did perk up for standing on the "spaceship" scale. And even when he's about to fall asleep, he can yell, "A firetruck!" at the top of his lungs, and point.

I really hope Rebekah doesn't get sick from being around us. That would really stink.

I'm operating on pure caffeine and will power today, as I've had about 3 hours sleep. The last time I had caffeine was a year ago, when I drove (by myself) with the boys to North Dakota. It's very effective on me because I don't have it often.

When we got home, I noticed the back left tire looked funny, so I looked closer, and found a nail in it! So we all got back in the car, and drove to the repair shop. There, I ordered a tire repair, rotation, balance, and the rest of the repairs we've been holding off. So much for savings this month.

Random quote for the day (from Saturday), courtesy of Kenshin:
"I love Kay-Kay! She is pretty. *pause* Is Kay-Kay a girl?"
(Krillin) "Yes, she's a girl."
"Good. Does she have a boyfriend?"
"I don't think so."
"Good! She can be my girlfriend. I love her."
(Kay-Kay is a 10yo girl from down the street. go, Kenshin!)

Sunday resting

2008-08-03T14:37:00.005-05:00

Today is a day of rest, right? It would be, if we had worked on the house on Friday and Saturday like we were supposed to... But we didn't, so we're still doing cleaning and de-cluttering of the "spacement" (the 3rd bedroom), which we have used for a storage room. It has also been the room for crafts, scrapbooking, sewing, Pampered Chef, and guest room. Right now, we're turning it into the guest room, because Rebekah is coming for a visit! P-chan's sister gets in Monday night, and will be here until Saturday afternoon. I'm excited because Kenshin has never met her, and Krillin hasn't seen her for 5 years. I plan to take lots pictures to aid the boys in remembering this visit. Remember, if it's not in the scrapbook (or the blog), it didn't happen! LOL

I forgot to mention the great deal I got on my shoes! Zappo's outlet store is right here in our little town, and they're having a 50% off sale through the 15th. Plus, if you bring in school supplies to donate, you get an extra 10% off. I spent a few hours with Jecka, looking for some good shoes for me, and some for Kenshin. I ended up with a so-cute pair of green walkers for Kenshin, a blue pair of walkers for every-day use, and a black pair of almost-slip-ons that are good for more dressy occasions. So here are my new shoes and my cute pink dress! I haven't had time to edit the photo. Please don't look directly at my legs or you'll go blind! And yeah, it's a bad hair day...

sorry for the dust and dizziness!

2008-08-02T22:26:00.004-05:00

If you check my blog at any time this weekend, you may notice that I keep changing it, thus making you dizzy. Sorry! I'm still not satisfied with the background, but I finally have the 2 sidebars that I have wanted for so long!!

doc, shopping, and puking

2008-08-02T17:12:00.006-05:00

~~Doc~~
Thursday was my latest prenatal appointment. Doc was irritated that I didn't have my glucometer with me, and again threatened to put me on meds for high fasting blood sugars if I "don't do something about it". Since I'm still nauseated all the time, I can't drink the water I need, so I have higher sugars than I should. ugh! Personally, though, I think she's overreacting. I'm never over 140, and most of the time I'm within the "normal" parameters (90-120--and that's normal for a non-diabetic person!). Anyway... I mentioned that my pulled groin muscle seems to be getting worse, and asked if there was anything else it could be. Turns out, it could be my pelvic bones separating, in anticipation of delivery. lovely! The only way to find out is to have an x-ray done, and that's just stupid. She could also prescribe some muscle relaxants, and if it helps, then we know it's the muscles. yay! I said I'd love that! Then she asked if I had someone that could care for the kids, since the muscle relaxants would knock me out. oh! Never mind then. I'd rather be in pain and awake, than out of it. So I've just to keep taking tylenol whenever it's too much. This week, I've had to take it before I go to bed, so that I can get to sleep. I hate taking meds. On a bright note, next week is my level-2 ultrasound, and they will check the baby's gender then!! wahoo! Less than a week away now.

~~Shopping~~
When we got back from the doctor, I called the boys' favorite baby-sitter, Amy, so I could have some well-deserved time to myself (P-chan was out of town this week). I went to the mall, since I had some gift certificates burning a hole in my purse. JCPenney is re-doing their escalator, so the store is a mess! I browsed all the 70%-off racks, and tried on some maternity clothes, but the only thing I liked was a red polo, and I already have one. *sigh* Why are all of the shirts cleavage-revealing?
Then I headed over to Motherhood. I tried on lots of things, luxuriating in the ...um...luxury... of being by myself! I ended up getting a red shirt, a tan/green blouse, a tan skirt, and a pink dress. Everything else either didn't fit me well, was see-through, or too expensive. I'm still on the prowl for more solid-colored shirts and skirts, but the dress is SO CUTE that I'll be okay for awhile.

Back at JCPenney, I remembered what the doc said about keeping my legs comfortable at night, and bought 2 king-sized pillows (1 firm, 1 extra-firm). I decided to skip the pillowcases, since they're waaaaaay too expensive ($25 for 2 pillowcases!!!???), and I can totally sew my own.
Then I went to Walgreens, where I had the most fun of the day! I had 3 store coupons for $5 off $20, plenty of coupons for body wash and shampoo, and grabbed the rebate catalog. In the end, I spent $51, got $14 back in Register Rewards, and will get another $45.88 in rebates. Here's what I got (some of them are rebates for my friend, but still...) :

In the end, I spent a net total of $13.43, which includes a lunch stop at BK with the boys. Plus, P-chan got home that night, yay!

~~puking~~
Krillin threw up that night, 3 different times, all before 6:30am. After that, he refused to go back to sleep, thinking that was making him puke. Then, all Friday, every time he drank something, he threw up. I told him I knew exactly how he felt. He spent the entire day lounging on the couch, and playing on the computer. At about 3, he fell asleep on the couch, and stayed asleep for almost 3 hours. When he woke up, he asked for something to eat and drink, so I got him toast and water. Yep, it came back up. The only thing he could keep down was Pepsi, if he drank it slowly, and it had ice. He seemed to be doing better, but still didn't have any energy. I told him that if he didn't throw up any more that night, he could play with friends the next day. He was afraid to go to sleep for the night, but I reminded him that he slept on the couch just fine, so he didn't have to sleep on his bed. He finally assented to getting comfy on the bean-bag on the floor of his room. He fell asleep to the story of Almanzo helping get the potatoes in the wagon for the potato-sellers from New York City.
The next day Krillin was all better. I still couldn't figure out what made him sick, though. Then his friend Mikey commented that he had been sick and puking, the day before he played with Krillin. mystery solved!

PS. I love the smilies I use! If you do, too, be sure to check out the site! (link on the bottom)

19 weeks along!

2008-07-26T19:58:00.004-05:00

This week was the 19th week of my pregnancy. I realized yesterday I hadn't taken a photo of my belly, so I took one last night! Well, several, really, but only 1 good one; here it is. :)
Yep, that's flour on my belly. I was making more zucchini bread. Why? Because the dagnabbit grubs killed all the squash plants again. I thought I had taken all the precautions, and gotten rid of them from last year, but at least 7 different disgusting grubs got into the plants, and some of the squash themselves, and I had to rip out the plants. I'm "afeared" for my pumpkins now, too...but they haven't flowered yet, so we'll just have to see. Any-hoo, not counting the zucchini I used for the previous loaves, I had 3 small, 2 medium, and the ginormous albino one. I was shredding zucchini for a long time. ... I just figured out that THAT is why my right arm hurts.
I made 1 loaf last night, and today I made 4 more (after getting more eggs). I'll make 4 more tomorrow, I think (I ran out of vanilla, flour, and brown sugar, so had to buy some more). I have enough zucchini for 4, but that's a lot of bread. Missy suggested using it as an extra ingredient for things like spaghetti sauce, and it's not a bad idea. Of course, we don't eat a lot of pasta right now, on account of me not being able to enjoy it. I'll probably make the 4 loaves and share the joy with our neighbors. I love being able to use all 4 stoneware loaf pans at the same time. Maybe I'll use the mini loaf pan, too, just for giggles! I used up the last of the Pampered Chef vanilla and cinnamon. *sniff*

Today we went to Bro Decker's house for the Pioneer Day celebration. We missed the walk-through, and I forgot my camera, but at least we got there for good food.

cool, huh? I got these images from Spell With Flickr. Now you do it, too! Just type in your word and the images will show up. If you'd like a different image for a letter, just click that image, and a new one will appear. Then you can copy and paste the html code that shows up. yay!

Breaking Dawn

2008-07-25T17:02:00.004-05:00

If you're like me, you are anxiously awaiting the release of Stephenie Meyer's new book, Breaking Dawn...which you will borrow from a friend when they're done with it. (If you haven't heard of it, then please click here, here, and here for info on the first 3 books.) And maybe you're a little more *ahem* obsessed with it, with an actual countdown blinkie on your blog, and tons of Edward flair buttons on your Facebook account, and you will actually purchase the book at 12:01am on August 2. If you need something to tide you over until then, please check out the Normal Mormon Husbands blog starting Monday. I'm sure it will be a blast!
(that was quite a few links, eh?)

random quote of the day (from Dec 28, 2007):
Krillin: I didn't know a penguin was an animal!

I feel kicking!!

2008-07-24T23:59:00.002-05:00

and I love it!

Of course, the boys don't believe me, because it's not visible yet....

I'm a stalker!

2008-07-23T11:16:00.003-05:00

~~stalker~~
I made a "stalker" blinkie for Pretty Scrappy's blog. :D It's on the right-hand side, right there at the top.

~~right now~~
Kenshin is hanging upside-down on the arm of the couch, asking me to say funny things, and then giggling like crazy....probably because everything is funnier when the blood is rushing to one's head.

I got a blog award!

2008-07-20T19:27:00.003-05:00

LindaJ presented me with a blog award several days ago, and now I finally have the time to pass it on. :)

The rules of the award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.

2. Link the person you received your award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated.

So without further ado, here are my nominations.

Missy, for the inspiration on recording my own history, via her "Mommy, Tell me a story" blog.
Karen, for the funny stories about her boys. I hope my boys grow up to be like hers. :)
Sheila, for the fun family pictures!
Vicky, who finally started a blog.

Victoria, who actually inspired me to start my blog. See, I even styled my blog address after hers!
Penny, my friend in Florida. Her blog is filled with fun stories about her family.

Pretty Scrappy, for the awesome 3-tiered theme digi album she's giving away, called "Live, Laugh, Love". Plus, she made me some very cool digi-snaps with my boys' names on them.
Audra's Little Scraps, for her LDS-themed digi-kits. She also does custom overlays. Guess what I had made?

Now I'm off to let the nominees know. Later, gators!

back from Vanceburg

2008-07-19T20:39:00.002-05:00

I will write more about this later, but just wanted to pop in and say, I had a great time!

EDIT:
As I mentioned, Uncle Al had found a family graveyard, and we were cleaning it up. I should have called Uncle Al to find out how much work this was going to be, or perhaps what clothes I should have worn, but I didn't. I'm preggo, and I have a hard time tying shoes, and it's summer, so I've been in flip-flops for awhile. Yes, I wore the flip-flops for the weekend.

When I got off the freeway, Uncle Al called my cell-phone and started to give me directions to the graveyard (instead of going directly to the motel), and gave me the first turn-off, and then I lost all reception. So I decided to drive to the road, and if I still couldn't get a signal, then I'd turn around and go to the motel. It was a looooong road! And there was only 1 store, which we stopped at so the boys could use the bathroom. But they were closed (aaaaaarrrggh!), so I gave the boys the extra pull-ups I had packed, and basically told them to wet their pants. LOL Better than peeing on someone's prized begonias, ya know? Besides, there was NO shoulder on that road.

At the corner, I saw 2 guys standing at a car, but I didn't see the boys, so I kept on driving. Luckily, the guys turned out to be Uncle Al and Uncle Doug, and they trailed me until I figured it out. :) So we drove right to the graveyard. At one point along SR-344, it looked very similar to the road leading to our subdivision, and Krillin commented on it. "See, how the dirt is high up on that side, and on the other side, there's houses? It looks like our road. See? And right there, that could be the chicken house!" Yep, there's a house near us that has chickens. :D

As soon as I stepped out of the car, a tick landed on my foot. I said a silent "thank you" prayer for the insight to bring insect repellent. Then Uncle Doug showed me the grove that the graveyard was...er...buried in. The land had not been properly cared for since it passed out of the May family, and it showed. It was a little grove of trees on the top of a hill in a farm. Trees had to be cut down, underbrush cleared away, and headstones identified and cleaned up.

Krillin and Kenshin are more city-boy than farm-boys, so they balked at the work, but were willing to help clear the sticks/branches. I helped by writing down the headstone inscriptions (made more visible by baking soda!), and raking.

The man who owns the farm stopped by to talk for a bit, and even let us borrow a "real" chainsaw (I guess Doug's 2-bit wasn't enough) and other tools. He told us that in the 90 years that his family had owned the farm, no May family line had ever come to visit it.

At about 7:30 or so, Uncle Al called it a good day's work, and we headed to the motel. What a beautiful drive! The roads were narrow, and some parts unpaved, but God's hand could be seen everywhere in that countryside. I love it! At the motel, I took the registration card to fill out my license plate number, and Uncle Al surprised me by paying for my room. I was very touched by his blessing. :) For dinner, Uncle Al and Doug got pizza and milk, and some cookies.

I can't fully explain it, but eating the pizza and milk (no cookie for me ;)) really made me feel at home. Sitting out there on my cooler, in front of the motel, talking with my uncles, and the boys getting to know their cousins... I guess it reminded me of the fun times had while camping, when I was young. The only thing missing was P-chan.

I had to check the boys over for ticks, and was relieved to find none. Then they got to check me! LOL Then I found I had a signal on my cell-phone, so I called P-chan. After I read the boys their good-night story (Little House on the Prairie), I also fell asleep quickly. When I woke up, I sensed that something was weird... I finally figured out that I could breathe through my nose. LOL I guess one-star motels agree with me. ;) (I have had horrible allergies during the pregnancy, and have to sleep with tissues!)

I spent a bit of time at the local Family Dollar, looking for a pair of crocs-like clogs for me, and some socks for the boys, but ended up with only socks. At least I had some jeans on that day! :) We worked until just after noon, at the graveyard. The local Stake President and his family worked along with us. President Smith reminded me (in both looks and voice) of Micheal Gaston, of "Jericho" fame (at least in my mind). Nice family!

While Uncle Al went to the Genealogy center in Vanceburg, Uncle Doug led me to another cemetery, where my Great-great-great-great-great grandfather is buried, along with several family members. I got several pictures. Uncle Doug pointed out the nearby stream (which was very dirty and gross), where some people had been swimming the day earlier. LOL

We headed back to the motel for some R&R. Uncle Doug took Casey to the Genealogy center, and the boys and I hung out in the motel room. I considered a nap, but then decided against it... I always end up groggier after the nap. go fig! At about 3, everyone came back, and we hung out for a bit. I found out that Uncle Doug lives in Ohio, just a few hours from us, so I hope we can visit each other again, soon. I don't like driving at night, and I wanted to be home before it got dark, so I decided to leave a little earlier than I would have if P-chan was there. We got some pictures, lots of hugs, and said bye-bye.

We ended up right behind a dumptruck full of dirt, all along the windy, no-passing road. LOL Krillin likes to peek over at the speedometer and tell me I'm either going "too fast" or "too slow!" The truck afforded him many "too slow!" comments. :)

We had been on the freeway for about 10 miles when the cell phone finally got reception again! Why it would work on the other road one day and not the next, I'll never know. We stopped at McDonald's for dinner, and we got home just before 9pm, so still plenty of sunlight. :)

Off to Vanceburg, KY ... and a Mogert update

2008-07-18T10:27:00.004-05:00

And what in the world is in Vanceburg, KY? you might ask.

Well, for this weekend, at least 2 of my uncles and 1 of the boys' cousins. Uncle Alan organized a clean-up of some ancestor's gravesites, and a little family reunion. I found out about it 2 months ago, and then promptly forgot. (I blame it on pregnancy brain!) But luckily, Missy and Dyan reminded me yesterday, so I'm packing right now, and leaving in a few hours. It's a 3-hour drive from here, so we'll get there this evening. I haven't seen any family from WA in 3 years, and the boys don't even remember anyone from there. I am taking BOTH cameras, just in case I use up all the space on one.

~~Mogert~~
I finally know what a Mogert is! I actually asked him where he got the word. As is with any mystery solved, it's not as fun to know as the want to know, so I've put it in white text. You'll have to highlight to find out. :)
In the movie "Spiderwick Chrocnicles", they fight the evil ogres, led by Mulgarath. When an almost-4yo combines "Mulgarath" and "ogre" you get: Mogert.

picture of my house

2008-07-14T13:17:00.010-05:00

We live in Kentucky, while most of our extended family lives in Utah and Washington. So far, only 2 family members have visited us (my MIL in March 2007, and Karen & fam in May 2007).
EDIT: P-chan reminded me that my dad visited us first, in January 2007 (he actually helped us move in!); P-chan's BIL (with some of the kids) came to visit in April 2007 (I think ~ my arm was broken, so it was either March or April); and his brother Andrew & fam came in October 2007. I feel very silly for not remembering those visits.
I was informed by Vicky that she had yet to see my house, as it isn't available on any of the snazzy "live" maps...I don't know why it isn't. I swear I really do live at my address. LOL The closest thing I have found is on MSN Live Maps... I have to search for the street that leads to the subdivision, and even then, some of the streets are labeled wrong. LOL
Here's where my house should be (click for bigger image):

But the "live" picture is about 2 years old, so it doesn't even show the ground being broken for our house. for shame! And here is a picture of our house. We hate the house itself sometimes, but I do love living in this community and Kentucky.

I have more recent pictures (the trees are bigger and the grass looks better), but I cannot find my camera cord, so on the camera they stay. Here is one of the back of the house, taken after sunset, so it's dark. sorry. I just noticed that this is also before we did anything with the yard; now we have a garden and a swingset.

later!

mogert

2008-07-13T16:29:00.002-05:00

Right now, Kenshin said:
"I'm shooting the mogerts! I'll be back soon!" and then he ran out of the room (he took his unloaded watergun with him).
From the other room: "We are thankful for the Prophet! And you're goin' down!"
Many shooting sounds, with cries of "Mogert, mogert!" abound.

I'll let you know when I find out what a mogert is.

albino zucchini...and etc

2008-07-12T18:55:00.007-05:00

My Our garden is starting to have some delicious food ready to eat! We now have waaaaaay more lettuce than we would normally eat (4 different kinds, no less); sugar snap peas; strawberries; carrots; and of course zucchini. I don't know what I was thinking, planting 3 zucchini plants...probably that I like z.bread...but I failed to think of the fact that I am diabetic when pregnant. oops! As my dad used to say, "It's zucchini season, lock your doors." We already have 3 ripe, one being albino. What's that about? Also, our yellow squash (that the boys got from the trip to Slowpoke Farm) are coming in nicely. We are still waiting for the hot peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, and honeydew to grow some actual fruit.

~mmm, bread!~~I made 2 loaves of z.bread today. P-chan ground some wheat for flour, so I used half wheat, half white. I also used the Splenda brown sugar for the brown sugar. I have NO idea what the ending carb count was, but I felt justified in having 2 thinnish slices with lunch. You know, fruits of my labor and all.

~~mmm, brown sugar!~~
As for the Splenda brown sugar: Dang that was expensive! $5 for 1 pound, which was enough for the 2 loaves, with some leftover. (So that makes the z.bread over $2.50 for each loaf. Not exactly frugal.) It has a very molasses-y smell, which is sooo yummy. It made me wonder if Karen could tell I made the bread with fake sugar....

~~New car!!~~P-chan's moped was delivered last week. If anyone knows where to find the $*%@# fuel switch, please let us know. The owner's manual was written by somebody for whom English is definitely a second language. ScooterDepot.us has less than stellar customer service. In fact, they are the worst I've dealt with. Talking to a live person is near impossible, and they have yet to return our calls. On the bright side, we have a huge box for the boys to play with, packing bubbles and twist-ties galore, a wood palette, and the metal frame from the box even gave us $1.28 in "scrap metal" salvage. LOL P-chan will have to take a motorcycle class, and get a license endorsement, so it might be another month before he can officially drive it. *sigh*

~~here, doggy, doggy!~~
I am dog-sitting this weekend. Well, sort of. Since Kenshin is scared-to-death of dogs (even the 15-pound beagle called Lucky), Lucky has to stay at her house, instead of coming here. I'm watching over Lucky, because Hugh tagged along with Jecka and Andrew over to NC for a friend's wedding reception. (Jecka would normally watch Lucky) So, 3 times a day, I drive over to Hugh's house and make sure Lucky hasn't messed on anything, that she has food and water, and let her run in the backyard to take care of business. And 3 times a day, Kenshin freaks out that Lucky might try to show him some affection. *sigh*

~weird bugs!~~
If you like looking at weird bugs, check this out: What's That Bug. If I weren't so nauseated from being pregnant, I would really enjoy that site more.

toodles!

good-bye to Pampered Chef

2008-07-09T11:35:00.002-05:00

As you may know, I was a "cooking consultant" with Pampered Chef for several years. I started out doing it for the discount, and continued with it as a hobby. I really enjoy cooking, and meeting new people. When we moved here to Kentucky, I struggled finding a new customer base, and it became more like a chain around my neck, than the fun hobby I had signed up for. There were times in the past that I wondered if it was time to quit (really, how many stoneware do I need?? LOL) but it always happened that I would get a big order or a show to "keep me alive". This time, no orders and no cooking shows blessedly appeared (I think it's been 6 months since I turned anything in). I took that as a sign that it's time for me to hang up my hat. About the same time, there were several things that came down the line from corporate that really got my goat, so I am glad I made the decision. I decided to "blog" this decision because it makes it more final, somehow. Also, I want to list some things on ebay. ROFL
I may become a consultant again in a few years, but right now I'm focused on my other hobbies. The 2 things I will miss the most are hanging out with Penny at conference, and of course the discount. ;)
If you are looking for a Pampered Chef consultant, I can refer you to one. My good friend Penny is in Florida, and I think she's awesome!

games (or mindless ways to amuse yourself online)

2008-07-05T22:35:00.004-05:00

Krillin has been playing a lot of Yahoo games lately. It started with P-chan showing him Magic Pen (totally cool, go play it!), and then of course he had to explore the others. Today, I heard very weird music coming from the speakers, so I went over to find out what game he was playing. Turned out to be a game where you "play surgeon", like removing an arrow from a leg. Yep, you get to cut a body apart. NOT COOL. I told him he'd have to get my permission to play any more games from Yahoo, or I'd remove it from the "okay" list on the computer. So he spent the next few minutes asking "is this one okay?" and having me read about them. Most of them are okay, but I banned a few of them.
Some of my favorites are Sleepless Knight 2, Crazy Pool, and Indestructable Tank. P-chan also like Doodle Defender (LOL's and OMG's attack you!).

random quote of the day

2008-07-04T23:31:00.003-05:00

"I saw a robber once, and I had to punch him in the wiener."
~Kenshin

Kenshin is quite the story-teller. It's really easy to believe anything he tells you, because he's convinced it's true. For instance, he has a dad who lives in Florida. They do all kinds of fun things together, like have a dog named Lucky, who doesn't bite. I *think* that his desire to have another parent comes from one of his friends, whose parents are divorced, and he "has" two houses.

I hope you all had a fun and safe Independence Day celebration!

some scrapbook pages

2008-07-02T17:03:00.002-05:00

I did some last-minute challenges at GDS on June 30th. Here are 2 of them:

This is a scraplift, please click here for credits

This is of my nephews when they came to visit last year. I blurred the name for privacy issues. Please click here for credits.

disappointment and fun

2008-07-02T13:04:00.004-05:00

After I watered my garden last night, I left a bucket with dirt, some cups, and my pitcher (aka watering can) on the back porch. Then I went for a walk with the boys, around the block, while P-chan was on the phone. When I got back, I went to collect the items from the porch, and found that the pitcher was missing. I looked all over the yard, and it is nowhere to be found. And, the cups were inside it, but then were scattered all over the porch. So, whoever took the pitcher, left a mess. How disappointing. I hope the thief didn't drink out of the pitcher, because I had just used it for mixing the Miracle Gro. Then again....no, that's mean. I hope they didn't drink from it.

I've been having some mindless fun on Facebook. There are literally thousands of applications in which to waste your time, but I only have about 20 on my account. My favorites are the Green Patch and Knighthood. If you'd like to join me, find my address in my info here.

Krillin started a 4-week Summer Camp on Monday. It's from 9am to 5pm, at the local middle school. It has been weird and quiet with him gone during the day. The neighborhood kids still come around to ask for him, and then stay to play with Kenshin. Kenshin kept asking me (the first day) when Krillin would be back, but now he just plays, plays, plays all day.

Krillin is officially 6!

2008-06-29T12:49:00.004-05:00

Our oldest son, Krillin, turned 6 yesterday. He had chosen a Superman theme two months ago, so I have been planning. It occurred to me on Wednesday of this week that I still had the "final preparations" to do. That included all the shopping, decorations, and cake. I must be a glutton for punishment. Wednesday was a horrible, terrible, no-good, nasty, no-good day. Ditto for most of Thursday, but I did get the cake baked. Friday was an 8-store, 4 hour shopping trip, including Office Depot (nametags and a poster), Dollar Tree (most of the party supplies), Hobby Lobby (clear vanilla), Toys R Us (Krillin's special Birthday visit, and some Superman decorations), Kroger (frosting ingredients, and lunch), Home Depot (garden supplies, nothing to do with the party ), B&E Salvage (they had tins of Altoids Chocolate-Dipped Cinnamon mints for 25¢. I bought 40.), and Rite Aid (rebate shampoos). Luckily, the stores were almost in a circle, so not much gas wasted. I took a breather when we got home, then it was time to start the piñata and put the cake together.

For the piñata, the boys and their friend helped me get the newspaper into strips, then slap them on the balloon. They actually were a lot of help, doing it quickly and efficiently. Kenshin lost interest soon, but the others kept on. My idea was to make it kinda spiky and pointy, like kryptonite, and then cover it with green crepe paper. I was trying to figure out how to do that with a round balloon, and then had the brilliant idea to use one of the mylar, helium-filled, star balloons that Krillin had chosen for decorations. Then I added some cones (actually hats left over from an Elmo party), and it was poke-y! Unfortunately, it took forever to dry, so I couldn't decorate it. I called it Grey Kryptonite. Highly dangerous, you know.

For the cake, I was all on my own. I did get some inspirations here and here. I decided to go with a round 2-layer cake; the bottom was blue, and the top was the Superman emblem. I couldn't reach Emily for her frosting recipe (she's out of town for a few months), so I searched and found this fantastic one. Best frosting I've had. The only hiccup I had was the coloring of the frosting, and that's my fault because my Wilton colors were dried out, and I didn't know it. oopsies! The blue and yellow worked okay, but the red still looked pink to me on the finished cake. I pretty much eyeballed the cutting for the emblem. I only had to re-cut the top part once. For the emblem's design, I used a basic emblem image, re-sized to 8 inches across, and cut out the yellow parts, so I could "pencil in" (I used a razor blade) the design. I did finally get hold of Emily, and she helped with the "how-to's" of the frosting. I was very pleased with the cake! I would post a picture, but after the cake was all cut and divvied out, I realized I never took a picture of it. mmmm.... it looked kinda' like this. But 2 layers.

Saturday morning, we had to finish cleaning the house, and I was not feeling good. The house looked great, but I didn't do decorations. Sorry, Krillin. P-chan put up the canopy so the kids wouldn't fry in the heat (the guests had started to arrive), and then we set up the Superman Training Course (inspiration from here). The piñata was finally dry, so P-chan filled it with candy, noting that the mylar didn't fly out like a rubber balloon would have. Then he ingeniously rigged a bunch of his sock garters together to create a hammock for the piñata, so it could dangle dangerously overhead in the canopy. And dangle it did! Jecka got knocked in the cheek, and I got knocked in the temple. Did I mention it was hot and windy???!! Then P-chan left to get the pizzas.

Superman Training Course:
1. Leap Over a Tall Building : we have a kid's castle, so the boys took turns jumping, climbing, etc on it and grabbing a Superman "flag".
2. Speed and Precision : we set up 2 kid chairs, put a 2x4 between them, and the kids had to walk the beam, pick up some Kryptonite (glow sticks), and drop it into the lead bucket.
3. Save Citizen from Danger : P-chan wasn't back, and I didn't feel like chasing anyone, so the boys pushed the little car (with Kenshin in it) down the driveway and back. Kenshin got to push Krillin.
4. X-Ray Vision : Using the "flags" they got in the first game, they tried to tape them on the poster-sized Superman. This was indoors, and it felt nice to cool off.

P-chan got back, so it was time to eat! Pizza was enjoyed by all, then the cake and Scooperman ice cream. I got a lot of "ooh"s and "aahhh"s on the cake, and Krillin had the biggest grin on his face, so that made my day! We sang to Krillin (no candles), and ingested a lot of sugar. I was good and only had a tiny piece of cake, and 1 scoop of ice cream.

Then it was time for the piñata!!!! Krillin and Kenshin each got 3 swings, and everyone else got 2. They all got 2 turns, and this thing (though falling apart), still wouldn't yield. Remember how I used a mylar balloon? Those things are pretty tough to break with a bat. The paper mache fell apart, but the balloon held on. Finally, an older boy smashed that thing apart when we told him not to use the blindfold. yay, candy!

Krillin opened his presents, and then it was time for everyone to go home. After they left, I realized I hadn't given them their loot bags. Oh, well.

A little after the Birthday Extravaganza, I took the boys and their friend to a game night at a local church. I decided to go, because I had a huge tub of ice cream, and it's not good for sugar to be tempting me. So I took it to share!

old MTV

2008-06-26T18:15:00.004-05:00

Finally found some time to go searching on YouTube for my personal most-remembered videos from old MTV. Here they are:

Land of Confusion by Genesis
I was 8 when this video was released. It remains in my top 5 Favorite Songs.

I've Got My Mind Set On You by George Harrison
This remains one of my favorites, due to the cool animatronics.
There are 2 versions of this, here's the one I did NOT forget. lol

Take on Me by A-ha
I so wanted to be that girl!

and for the cheese topping: Shake Your Love by Debbie Gibson
I still can't help singing along with this song!

I've probably seen thousands of videos on MTV and VH1, but these are the ones I remember. I'm sure some more will come to me later. On a side note, I enjoyed the Pop-Up Videos on VH1.

Oh, and the pictures from yesterday were from the zoo. In fact, they were the only pictures I got before my battery died. oops! I did also get a video of a large turtle moving, but don't know how to load that.

~~Frugal thing for the day~~

When P-chan and I worked at DirecTV, we ended up with a lot of "free crap" with DTV and premium-channel brands on them. One was a coat from HBO Sports; we've had it for about 7 years. The last time I washed it, it left these weird blue plastic-like flakes on the inside of the washer, because the outer liner started coming apart. gross!
To make a long story short (too late!), I pulled it apart tonight. I now have 5 velcro patches, 3 clasps, a coat zipper, and 2 lengths of elastic-pulls (one went around the waist, the other around the hood), and the entire fleece liner.
The longest elastic was used this very night to fix the decrepit laundry mesh basket.
The velcro and fleece may be used soon for cloth diapers.
Any ideas for the others?

Wordless Wednesday

2008-06-25T19:32:00.004-05:00

Yes, I'm pregnant!

2008-06-20T12:04:00.002-05:00

Yep, I am pregnant. I posted the picture to be funny, but ended up confusing some peeps. my bad!
I am about 14 weeks along, due on December 16. P-chan was relieved that we'll get the tax credit for the Bean during 2008. We won't find out Bean's gender for another 10 weeks, since my clinic doesn't do it until 24 weeks. I would love to have a girl (who wouldn't?), but a boy would suit us just fine as well. You know, diaper cleanings are easier with boys.

Yes, this baby was planned. Honestly, I've been wanting another one since Kenshin was just a year old, but P-chan still needed some time. I got to thinking about it today, and Bean will be 5 school years behind Kenshin. yikes!

I complain (to P-chan, mostly) about having to drive to Ft Knox (45-min drive) for my medical care, but when I'm pregnant, it is a good thing. Mostly because I have to take Zofran (ondansetron; it prevents nausea and vomiting) 5 times a day, and Ft Knox carries this medicine, so we don't have to pay for it. When we lived in MacDill AFB, they didn't carry it, and the co-pay at Walgreens was $10/pill. Yes, you read that right: 10 bucks per pill. So I didn't take it with Kenshin, and lost too much weight (don't worry, I gained it all back ), but learned how NOT to throw up (mostly, I just sat there). So I'm thankful that I can get my medicine on-post, because this time, we don't have a sister living with us, who can watch the kiddies while I'm puking.

So I have 6 more months of nausea to look forward to (it's not just morning sickness, it's called hyperemesis gravidarum), but the reward will be sooooo worth it.

My favorite shirt

2008-06-17T14:18:00.003-05:00

...Superman

2008-06-15T00:12:00.004-05:00

^^the date says Sunday, but I wrote this Saturday.^^

In the car today (driving to the Mt Washington Fire Department for a FRED activity), I sang a line from the REM song "I am Superman"... "I am Superman, and I can do anything!" Krillin said, "Superman can't lift a house!" (by the way, that's how he measures everything...he compares it to a house) I replied, "Yes he can!"
"No, he can't!"
"Yeah, Superman can lift anything! He can even make the world spin backwards."
*pause* "You mean, he can make it go day-night-day-night, really fast?"
"Nope. I mean, he made time go backwards."
"Why would he want to do that?"
"Because Lois Lane, his girlfriend, had died, and he was sad, and so he made the world spin backwards, and it turned back time, and he saved her."
"She was his girlfriend?"
"Yes."
"You mean, he wanted to kiss her and marry her?"
"uh, yeah."
"That's not right!"
"You don't think Superman should kiss her?"
"No!!!"
"Do you think it's weird for Daddy to kiss me?"
"No, that's fine, because Dad is a regular man, you are a regular girl. It's just wrong for Superman to marry Lois Lane, because it's wrong for a not-regular person to marry a regular person."
I had to bite my lip SO HARD to stop from laughing, that I couldn't direct the conversation to why it's okay for different people to be together. Maybe tomorrow...

We were the only family (again) to show up for the FRED activity, so it was short. Nick read them "Just Me and My Dad" by Mercer Mayer. The kids got to pick a book and a treat from the FRED box, and a toy from the fire station. Kenshin chose the frisbee (because it has a firetruck on it), and Krillin chose the pink "super-duper bouncy ball". They were also given a coupon for a free treat from DQ.
Then we went on a tour of the firehouse. The Captain told us that if the alarm sounded, we would have to come inside until things calmed down, then we would have to leave. Kenshin was awed by the girl firefighter, and was shy around her. They got to look at all the things on the firetruck, and got to sit in it. Then they turned on the engine and the lights, and even did a bit of the siren (but not much, because those things are LOUD right next to ya!). Then they showed us the Ambulance. Krillin was more interested in the ambulance than the firetruck, and told everyone about when I broke my wrist {I just realized I never published that post, so it is published now. }. Then he remembered that Kenshin also had to have an ambulance, way back in 2006.
Right then, the alarm sounded and we had to hurry inside while the firefighters got dressed, and they left with the ambulance, too. I didn't ask where they were going, but I'm sure whatever it was, the people were well-taken care of.

What is FRED? It stands for Fathers Reading Every Day, and it's sponsored by the local adult education and community center. The kids get a story, and then get to choose a book. Many are "used", but like my kids care! I buy books from Goodwill all the time. Tonight, Krillin chose a Clifford book, and Kenshin chose a Curious George. The program is intended for fathers to get more involved in reading to the kids, but there were only 2 fathers at the opening night, and none since.

P-chan couldn't be there today, as he is in Terre Haute, IN helping tear out drywall in apartment buildings affected by the flooding. We got a call last night from our Elder's Quorum President asking if P-chan could volunteer in TH, needing to be there at 9am. I called P-chan at work (he works at Pizza Hut part-time to help save for our Emergency Fund), and he immediately asked PH for the next night off, got permission from his AF chain of command, and called me back. We called up the "chain of command" in our stake, but apparently nobody else was going, so he was going to drive there by himself (3.5 hrs away). Then I got another call from our home teacher, saying there's a guy from Louisville 4th ward (which is actually RIGHT NEXT TO US but because of the odd stake boundaries, NOT in the same stake--our stake center is in Indiana, go fig!) going up, and to give him a call right then. In the end, P-chan ended up with a ride there and back, and a sleeping back to boot (they had no idea where they'd be staying). So he got home at 1am, slept for 3 hours, got up, drove to the guy's house, and tried to sleep during the drive. Poor guy. He will be back sometime tomorrow, hopefully in time to tuck the boys in for bed.

some scrapbook pages, and a "Tag"!

2008-06-12T09:40:00.005-05:00

Here are a few pages I made, using Andrea's 'Discover' kit. I printed these at about 5cm by 9cm, to fit into an Altoid Tin, altered the tin's outside with the 'block' paper, and then printed a title using Carrie Stephen's 'Cardboard Alpha'. I was really proud of my first time using Mod Podge!

I was Tagged by Victoria!

The Rules:
~Link the person(s) who tagged you
~Mention the rules on your blog
~Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
~Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them
~Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged

My Quirks:

1. I am lactose-intolerant, and soy-intolerant. End result: my milk is expensive.

2. I am the "tree-hugger" of our neighborhood: I have a garden, a clothesline for the summer, and I recycle, even though I have to drive it to the center (our garbage co. doesn't do it).

3. I bite my nails when I read books.

4. I don't like milk chocolate.

5. After living in one place for a few years, I start to get the "itch" to move somewhere else.

I'm tagging:
Melissa
Karen
Sheila
Ocha
Penny
Andrea

updates

2008-06-10T16:35:00.002-05:00

My friend Penny commented that my blog is about random stuff, and I have to agree. I like it when people read my blog, but I don't really think about other people when I'm writing. No offense! LOL

I currently have a cold. My doctor thinks it's because I haven't been taking my allergy meds, so she told me to take them for another week longer and see if I get better. Since I'm not coughing, I will play along with that. But I do have a sore throat, swollen glands, my face hurts where my sinuses are, and my constant post-nasal drip is really gross. so there!

A few people have asked me if I ever did give Krillin his own key to the house. The answer: No. I decided that would be a really bad idea. I just make sure to leave Ft Knox by 3pm, no matter what (since that's usually where I was racing home, from).

Hmmm....what else? A year ago we read Dave Ramsey's book, Total Money Makeover, and decided to Get Out of Debt, and save 6 months of expenses. We participated in the beta program for Financial Peace University online, and had a blast! We paid off about $5600 in credit card debt by the end of 2007, so January we started saving. We are about halfway to our goal, and we think the Emergency Fund will be complete by the end of this year. Next year we'll still be saving (this time for Retirement and for House Upgrades), but we'll have a bit more for vacations and the like. We haven't been back to Utah since we left in 2002, so it's about time for a visit, eh? I'd also like to take some time in WA, but we've been back there about 4 times since we got married, so I think Utah will win.

Krillin's last day of Kindergarten was today. I almost cried! Since Mrs. Kessler will be at a different school next year, all her walls were already bare! It was so sad!!!! I made her a little Altoid-tin mini album, with pictures of Krillin. I also gave her a beach bag and several goodies inside that. I am so sad that she won't be Kenshin's teacher in 2 years.

There's something that I thought of, but then of course I talked on the phone and have since forgotten it. Oh, well. Blog at ya later!

teenage crushes

2008-05-22T18:21:00.005-05:00

SweetShoppe posted a challenge to name our teenage crushes! LOL So here are a few of mine:
Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains)

Michael J Fox (first celebrity crush, Back to the Future)

David Duchovny ("Fox Mulder" on X-Files)

Wil Wheaton ("Wesley Crusher" on Star Trek: TNG)

Micheal Dorn ("Worf" on ST: TNG) hubba, hubba!!

well, he looks a little crazy there, but how about this?

Patrick Stewart ("Capt Picard" on ST: TNG)

ah, heck, let's just say the entire male crew of the Enterprise NCC-1701!! ROFL

typing...one...and more free stuff

2008-04-17T15:37:00.004-05:00

That makes me sad. But the test made me laugh!! I HATE timed things!!!
52 words

Speedtest

ONE WORD

answer with just one word...it's harder than you think...

1. Where is your cell phone? up
2 . Your significant other? redhead
3. Your hair? brown
4. Your mother? mom
5. Your father? there
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? idk
8. Your favorite drink? water
9. Your dream/goal? college
10. The room you're in? living
11. Your ex? na
12. Your fear? death
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Washington
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you're not? thin
16. Muffins? blueberry
17. One of your wish list items? health
18. Where you grew up? gypsy
19. The last thing you did? scrapbook
20. What are you wearing? skirt
21. Your TV? silver
22. Your pets? na
23. Your computer? lurve
24. Your life? full
25. Your mood? exhausted
26. Missing someone? yep
27. Your car? accord
28. Something you're not wearing? pants
29. Favorite Store? CLEARANCE
30. Your summer? hot
31. Like someone? P-chan
32. Your favorite color? purple
33. When is the last time you laughed? minutes
34. Do you cry a lot? nope

Now it's your turn!

It's another week at Lettering Delights, so click the link below to see the new free thing!

free candy bar wrappers

2008-04-04T12:26:00.004-05:00

Lettering Delights is having their birthday celebration all April long! Every week, they will have a new selection of candy bar wrappers for FREE! This week's selection is 3 birthday-themed wrappers for full-size chocolate bars. They come in PDF format, so you only need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print them. sweet! Don't forget to enter their coloring contest, and get a $5 off $10 coupon just for entering (you do need to register--for free-- on the site in order to enter the contest). have fun!

Obi Kanobi and the shiny guy

2008-03-12T22:40:00.001-05:00

I found this video while reading articles about SNL. yeah, weird, eh?
Any-hoo, here's the vid! It's soooo cute!

ADSR weeks 1 and 2...and other stuff

2008-03-10T16:40:00.004-05:00

I completely forgot to post my layouts here for the Amazing Digi Scrapping Race (season 3!) here, so I am pleased to present them now. For those that don't know, the ADSR is hosted by Natural Designs in Scrapbooking (NDISB). For six weeks, teams complete layouts and get prizes. There are usually 2 assignments each week, and every once in awhile we get a surprise challenge. It's not a "race" by the strict definition, since you don't have to be the "fastest" team to win. You don't even have to be the best! All you have to do is complete the challenges each week, and get them turned in on time (by midnight PST on Sunday). The only way you'll be disqualified is if you don't follow the challenge rules, or you post late. Then, at the end of the six weeks, all qualifying teams will be put into a drawing. wahoo! We have a chance at winning!!
I teamed up with my BFF right here in my small town, Jecka. She got each challenge done before I did, so I know she's committed to continuing!
Here is my first page for week #1 (scrap about your favorite person to scrap about):

This is the page that Jecka and I worked on together for challenge #2. I chose the background, worked my magic on the photo, and she did the elements and journaling.

Challenge #3 (second week) was to journal about myself. I hardly ever do that.
#4 was another about me! gol-LEE, what is UP with that? We were to gripe about something. I chose my favorite show. read on!
Man, I look pretty ticked off in that picture.
On a side note, I went clothes-shopping for my oldest growing boy, Krillin. He shot up to a size 5 over the winter, and I'm still scrambling to get his wardrobe "finished". That included more school pants and shirts, a few hoodies (because he discovered this week that he "really likes them so much"), and some henley's cuz I love 'em so gosh darn much. I also bought Kenshin a coat, because his is looking kinda ratty. (poor Kenshin, he hardly ever gets anything new! I know the feeling.) I ended up paying $36 for 3 pants, 3 hoodies, 1 coat, 3 long underwear, 2 henley's, 2 long-sleeved polos, 2 pairs of jammies, 6 polos, 3 shirts for me, a skirt, and some funky beads. Oh, and a firetruck for Kenshin, because I felt bad. I consignment shops.

Then I spent a lovely hour at Walgreens (I'm not joking, it was lovely!), gettin' my deals on! By using the Register Rewards I earned last week, and coupons, I paid $8 for over $126 in stuff. Most of it's for Easter. ssshhhh! But I also got the Dryel system I've been wanting to try, some workbooks for the boys, and I'll get a $10 rebate for batteries. I love my job.
I just noticed that one of my receipts had a credit balance before tax.

some new layouts

2008-03-07T15:53:00.004-05:00

I've been meaning to post these...well, since they were done! LOL Click on the images for better detail. Both are using AmyLeigh's kit "Going in Circles". I love this kit! :D

On a completely different note, I decided that I really hate trying to keep up with bleaching the unattractive hair on my upper lip. I had read a review (on another scrapper's blog) about Sally Hansen's Lavender something or other waxing kit, and decided to buy it (since it was on clearance at Rite Aid!! ROFL). I used it that night (about a week ago, actually). OH! MY! WORD!! That hurt!! LMBO And I had to do it a few times in some spots, cuz I just didn't get the hang of how to pull it off. The stuff you put on afterwards, the oil something, is to clean the excess wax off, and I think it also numbs you, because I wasn't really in pain? but when I touched it, it still felt like it should be in pain...kwim? Anyhoo, it's a week later and I am pleased with the results. I have experienced some dry skin there, but I think that's actually from the exfoliation. LOL I am stubble-free (that was my main concern; I mean, my man wants me to feel like a woman when he kisses me, NOT like a man, for goodnesssake!) And like the miracle of childbirth, I will face the pain again for such smooth results. And no yucky smell, like with the bleach!! :D
So, my "official" review:
Price: 4 out of 5 The regular price was $6.99, which I would be willing to pay (but I only paid $3.50 teehee). This includes 20 strips, to about 10 applications.
Smell: 5 out of 5 No funky smell!
Instructions included: 4 out of 5 They were clear, concise, and grammar was perfect. It's even available in Spanish, if you're into that. My only complaint is that it said to microwave the wax wand with the lid, but I had to remove the lid for that part to ever get warm.
Pain: 3 out of 5 I could stand to do this myself, but it brought tears to my eyes.

PS. I just looked it up, and they are replacing it with this: Microwaveable Eyebrow, Lip, and Face Wax. They've done away with the "wand".

fun with leprechauns

2008-02-13T23:41:00.002-05:00

I am having BLAST creating cards and sending them to unsuspecting people. bwahahahaha!
here's the link cuz I'm lazy today:
http://www.innerleprechaun.com/lepregrams.html
have fun!

good day, bad day

2008-01-25T18:52:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I think I got the login issue (on my computer) fixed, so I can do stuff again. But now my internet keeps going out. grr.
Yesterday, Krillin was awarded the Bronco of the Month for his classroom. They had a little program after school for all the Broncos. He was so cute! His teacher thinks he is so funny and serious, all at the same time. He asked her, "What are you going to say?" when he realized the teachers were saying something about their students. Then he sat and thought about what he would say. When it was their turn, he held the mic really close to his mouth, so he sounded really loud.

I fell today while going down the steps at the front of my house, and scraped the heck out of my right shin. It hurts a LOT!!! The only reason I didn't cry is because I didn't want to freak out my kid. AND, I was carrying my coupon boxes (yes, that's plural), a box to ship, and my purse. Of course everything went flying. At least the coupons stayed in their envelopes, or I really would screamed. It kinda irks me that 2 different neighbors saw me on the ground, and did nothing to help. so much for the neighborhood!
I was going to tough it out and still go shopping, but then realized my leg was swelling, so we went back inside and called my mommy. It's true! I called my mom to ask what type of pain reliever would be best. So I took some tylenol and put my leg up until the pain abated. But I HAD to get to the post office, I had 3 packages and 2 large envelopes to mail, and most of them should have been mailed on Tuesday. So I braved it.
Actually, I went to Walgreens first to buy a ginormous band-aid for my wound (nothing bloody, but it sure is sensitive and my jeans weren't helping). I ended up just doing my entire "deals" trip there, since I was feeling fine, aside from the limp. My total was $82-something before coupons, and $29.29 after. PLUS I got 3 coupons: $10 oyno, $5 oyno, and a free movie ticket. The manager rang me up, and he was amazed in a good way. He said, "It's too bad that doesn't work like that at the grocery store." I giggled and said, "It does for me!" And he just laughed and shook his head.
I was still limping pretty bad, so I did take more time than I had planned, so I had to scoot to the Post Office, and then got distracted by the fun postage stamps!! I got back home RIGHT after the bus dropped Krillin off, so he wasn't worried yet. I really need to get him a key.
In the mail, I got a rebate check for some lunch meat, and my Victoria's Secret order came in, and my sister sent me a huge envelope of expired coupons so I can send them to my friend Heather to use (she's in the Azores) at the commissary. Thanks Lisa!!
So: bad day cuz I scraped my shin, but good day cuz of the deals, and I also have some things to scrapbook.

still bogged with emails!

2008-01-23T00:15:00.000-05:00

I still have almost 600 emails in my inbox, plus 800+ in my Digital Scrapbooking folder, and waaayyyyy too many in other folders. ugh! Maybe I should just delete them all and start fresh?? LOL

um, actually, I think I'm going to do that. I'm taking too much time with the sorting and labeling, and I'll never look at most of these ever again, anyway. I need to de-clutter my emails as well as my house. :)

Reba & Kelly!!

2008-01-19T00:13:00.000-05:00

Tonight I went with Jecka to the Reba & Kelly concert.

It was aweSOME!!! Did you ever watch the Reba show on TV? Remember Barbara Jean? She was there! Melissa Peterman (aka "Barbara Jean") was the opening comedy act. She was hilarious!! I love how she calls herself Barbara-Jean.
Then there was a 15-minute break, and Reba & Kelly came onstage!!! Kelly was wearing a black sleeveless shirt with white grapics all over it (couldn't read it), and a pair of flaired jeans. Reba wore a maroon tanktop with sparklies, and some way cute jeans (bet they're from her line of clothes!), and about 10 necklaces!
They came up through the stage on a little elevator, singing a "cover" of an oldies song, but I totally can't remember it right now. Then came Walk Away, Lights Went Out in Georgia, another song by Kelly, then Beautiful Disaster. Even though Beautiful Disaster is on 2 of her albums, I had never heard it before. I love it! Then came Sleeping with the Telephone (so sweet! and very near to my heart) and Miss Independent. Then they "brought it down a bit" (their words) with The Greatest Man (aaawww!), Kathy's Clown (another oldie cover), Up to the Mountain (by Kathy Griffin), How Blue, One Promise Too Late, and Be Still (another "new" Kelly song for me).
Then Love Revival really brought down the house, followed by Never Again (my new favorite Kelly song), And Still, Break Away, Does He Love You (I don't like this one), and Is There Life Out There.
Then Melissa Peterman came onstage to "surprise!!!" Reba. Reba and Kelly sang I'm a Survivor, and Melissa joined in at the end, being all goofy, it was great! I'm pretty sure her mic was turned off, unless she really is a good singer. Then they sang A Moment Like This, and exited the stage.
Of course, we knew that wasn't the end!!! After about 5 minutes of clapping, screaming, hooting, hollering, stomping, whistling, and chanting, they came back onstage. They had fresh clothes on. They performed Since You Been Gone, Because of You, and Fancy (Don't Let Me Down). Everyone sang along to them all, at the top of our lungs, and it was AWESOME. Then they brought the curtains down, and it really was the end. *sigh* I'm so glad Jecka took me!!!
The only bummer was that none of the merchandise had Reba&Kelly on it. It was just Reba's stuff. and Kelly's stuff. dang! But I bought 2 keychains. Can't walk away empty-handed!

AmyLiegh's CT!

2008-01-18T00:26:00.000-05:00

I just got invited to be on AmyLeigh Fennell's CT! I am very excited to be working with her and all the talented team members.
As soon as I find the blinkie, I'll add it here.

I'm on Andrea Gold's creative team!!

2008-01-16T15:46:00.000-05:00

I just got the email yesterday, right before I went to bed. Andrea Gold accepted my application to be on her Creative Team (CT)!! That means I'll be using her products a lot in my scrapbook pages. Check out her stuff! Congrats to the other scrappers who also got the call!

...mushroom

2008-01-14T15:48:00.000-05:00

I bought some not-so-fresh mushrooms Saturday, and today I sliced them up and put them in the dehydrator. And boy do they STINK!!
I now have a bunch of remains for the compost, and soon will have dry mushrooms that I'll keep in my new-to-me freezer. I did tell P-chan that I wouldn't do the compost over the winter, but it really started to bug me that all those good food remains were ending in the trash. So I started again yesterday. And instead of putting them in the dirt around garden, I'm going to fill in the hole from when P-chan dug out the tree stump.
My sister Lisa is coming to stay with us for awhile. It's unclear whether it's just a visit, or if it's long-term, but I suspect just a visit. The boys are really excited, and I am too!

quizzies! :)

2008-01-10T17:26:00.000-05:00

whuuuuut? especially when combined with the last quiz....

Your Slanguage Profile

Prison Slang: 75%
Aussie Slang: 50%
British Slang: 25%
Canadian Slang: 25%
Southern Slang: 25%
Victorian Slang: 25%

What Slanguage Do You Speak?

heehee

Your Quirk Factor: 35%

You have a few little quirks, but you generally blend in well with society.

Only those who know you well know how weird you can be.

How Quirky Are You?

uh...okay!

You Belong in 1957

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

you have mail!

2008-01-09T14:09:00.000-05:00

I have been ignoring the majority of my emails, ever since I went on vacation back in October. I now have over 1100 emails...and that's after I sorted through most of my inbox. gah! So I will be deleting a bunch over the next...oh, I dunno...week. TTYL!

Nebbercracker

2008-01-07T23:00:00.000-05:00

Have you seen Monster House? My boys love that movie. One sure way to make Kenshin laugh is to hold up your hand in a fist and say in a shaky voice, "Get off my lawn!" (Some other ways are to say "underwear" or "stinky.") He talks about Nebbercracker all the time. I end up having to explain to some people that he's not talking about a neighbor. Tonight, Kenshin is talking about uvula's. He tells me, "I have a uve-yu-ah, and you have a uve-yu-ah, and Nebbercracker's house has a uve-yu-ah, too. But our house doesn't have one! That means it won't throw us up."
Indeed.
That is something to be thankful for.
On the other hand, it is 11pm and my 3-year-old son is awake, talking about his uvula.
I think it's time for his allergy medicine.... ;)

funny Kenshin

2008-01-07T19:03:00.001-05:00

Tonight, Kenshin and Krillin watched Quest for Camelot. very cute movie! The soundtrack is great, too. But I digress. Kenshin, sitting on his little yellow chair, announced, "My butt is trying to get in my heart." I couldn't stop laughing!
Then he repeated it, and I realized he was saying "My blood is trying to get in my heart." Not as funny, but still very good to hear. He is fascinated with the body's way of working.

Krillin didn't seem very happy when I surprised him at the door, when he got home from school. Finally learned that he almost forgot to get off the bus, because he wasn't paying attention. So he was embarrassed. He also forgot to tell his teacher he wanted a building. I don't know what that's about, but he was sad. But, all is better now, because he had some chocolate. What can I say, he's my son.
The other night, we were making stuffed mushrooms, and Kenshin pushed a wee bit hard on the mushroom, causing it to fall apart. He hung his head sadly, and Krillin said, "Well, that was unexpected." Then Kenshin ate the "stuffing" part, and Krillin said, "As was that." Bonus points if you figure out what movie that's from.

The day after I posted my need for a freezer, I found it!! Theresa, our Relief Society president, mentioned that she had one and hadn't been able to locate someone who needed it. Now I just need to locate a truck or van we could use to move it. I forgot to ask anyone on Sunday, though. As soon as I step in the Primary room, I forget stuff.

Resolutions

2008-01-02T19:43:00.000-05:00

Since it's already the 2nd day of 2008, I decided I should write some resolutions. Then, I can reference them wherever I am (assuming "where" has internet access).

~Prepare my Primary lessons early in the week, so that if I need to procure something, I have time.
~Declutter the house and garage. (We have a 2-car attached garage...guess how many cars fit in it right now...)
~Blog more often than once a month.
~Take more pictures.
~Scrapbook more than twice a month.
~Volunteer my time as well as belongings, to shelters and such.
~Stop biting my nails.
~Grocery-shop during the week, so the weekend can be true family time.
~Use what we have, minimize spending.

Family Goals for 2008:
~Save equivalent of 6 months of expenses.
~Declutter the house and garage. (I put this on both, because most of the shtuff is mine, but I need their help. )
~Family Home Evening, complete with real lessons.

OAMC

2008-01-02T19:16:00.000-05:00

I have decided that when we buy our "outside" freezer, I will start doing once-a-month-cooking (or OAMC as those "in the know" call it). Well, I'll start doubling my dinners anyway. The only thing that frightens me is that one day of all cooking. But I sure do like the sound of just grabbing the items and throwing them in a crockpot or casserole. Any tips or suggestions?

funnies

2007-12-28T22:40:00.000-05:00

Just had to share some funny stuff the boys said today!
They both got postcards from my dad, who spent Christmas at Disney Land with his wife. Any-hoo, after I read the card to Kenshin (as I was driving, shame on me!), I passed it to him, and he didn't say anything...I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a puzzled look on his face, as he studied the picture on the postcard. Finally, he said, "That's not the Clubhouse!" Yes, he meant the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Can you tell I let him watch weekday morning cartoons? Mickey and Minnie were sitting on the bed in their "house" but Kenshin has only seen the animated Clubhouse. teehee

Later in the day, after a run to McDonald's to use some of the 30-something "free item" coupons I still have (and they expire in 3 days!!!), they were watching Go Diego and Krillin got a funny look on his face. Then he said, "I didn't know a penguin was an animal!" whaaaat? I couldn't stop laughing. I wonder what he thought they were... plant? mineral?

On another note, I have prepared my rebates for the month. I've been sitting on a few cuz I'm just lazy, but I filled them all out, cut the UPCs off, and got the envelopes ready, with postage and all. happy day! There's about $50 in total, plus a free bracelet and tote bag. I also requested November and December rebates from Rite Aid, so that's another $100 we'll soon have in hand. Rebates are dreamy!

I think flowers from florist places are overpriced. But that's nothing compared to the site I found today! Secret Spoons sells gorgeous treats, mostly chocolate-dipped somethings. I just had to click on this:
And if you do, too, then you'll see why I almost fell out of my chair laughing. I mean seriously! The next time you want to pay $30 for 2 caramel apples, please give me a ring. I won't even charge you shipping! I even have all the ingredients on hand, so you won't have to wait for me to find a good deal!

Christmas Tag

2007-12-27T10:21:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by several people, so here's my list for the world to see! :)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? The kid in me loves wrapping paper, but the tree-hugger in me loves bags! LOL Just as long as it’s covered.
2. Real or artificial tree? Artificial, cuz it was free. I do love the smell of real trees, but they’re too much hassle for indoors.

3. When do you put up your Christmas tree? About a week before Christmas.

4. When do you take the tree down? When it starts to annoy me.

5. Do you like eggnog? YES! But I’m lactose-intolerant, so P-chan thinks “mine” tastes funny. LOL

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The quilt! I was 13, and got a very pretty quilt. I remember it quite fondly, because it was the first new blanket I ever got. And then my dog decided to have her puppies on it, a year later. Also the Ramona Quimby set of books, when I was 9. Although, that may have been a birthday present (that is at the end of Nov).

7. Do you have a nativity scene? We have a tiny glass one (with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus) that hangs on our tree, and a small one from the Dollar Store (M, J, Jesus, and the three kings). But I don't have a "real" one with all the pieces that can move around.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My sisters’ husbands, and my father in law.

9. Easiest person to buy for? So far, my boys. They’ve loved every gift. :D of course, they’re young….

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? An ugly ornament. And there was that time that my husband put all my gifts in 2 laundry baskets and bound them with phone cord. Yeah…

11. Mail or email Christmas card? eh, what? Oh, yeah…I always intend to mail, but…

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Santa Clause.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? The day after Christmas, for next year. I shop all year long! I’m usually done by Thanksgiving. Now, whether I send them in time is another question....

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present ? Yep! I received some fancy liqueur chocolates, so I gave them to someone who would actually enjoy them.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Candy cane pie

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? whatever’s handy!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Messiah by Handel! I also really enjoy zany songs, like I want a Hippo.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, Rudolph. The song taught me well! :)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star ? Angel that Krillin made at school.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? One on Christmas Eve, everyone picks their own, and the rest on Christmas day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Not being around family. Also crazy drivers and rude employees.

23. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color? I guess the theme is “be grateful for what you have” cuz it’s just whatever gets on it. LOL But I plan to transition to more sparkle.

24. What do/did you leave for Santa? 2 days before, we write letters and leave them on the tree; the elves come and pick up our letters! Then we leave cookies on the Santa plate (used only this night!) and milk. I really like the idea of him writing back. We also leave a bowl of juice (colored water) and sugar wafers for the reindeer, on the lawn, since we don't have a chimney. :)

Now that you've read this, you are TAGGED! Go post this on your blog/email. :D

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-27T09:57:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the late post, but we were just having too good a time for me to stop and blog about it! :D
The boys love hearing the story about Jesus' birth, so the book my sister sent was a very special gift. :) They opened that box early, since that's technically from last year. ;) They also got to open their birthday presents now, since I'm a DORK and hid the box that they got from my dad, waaaay back in August. So they stopped asking if they could open their Christmas presents! LOL
Christmas Eve we (P-chan and me, not the boys!!) slept in, and ate a late breakfast. Then I found an ad for the local grocery store that had a coupon for $5 off a $50 gift card, and we had 6 coupons (didn't you know I'm a coupon freak? I get 6 Sunday papers! ROFL), so we sat down to figure out our finances, and due to the fact our credit cards are paid off (weeeeee're deeeeebt freeeeeee!), we could swing all 6 cards. :D So we checked out the movie times for a surprise for the boys, and headed out. Kenshin (because he was up since 4 am!!!!) fell asleep on the way there, so we headed to Meijer, much to Krillin's chagrin ("NOOOOOOO! I hate stores!!"). We bought our 6 gift cards, feeling very proud of our thrifty selves. Then the checkout guy (at the self-checkout) said, "You got more? You can pay for the gift card with a gift card, ya know."
DING DING DING
We were ALL OVER that deal!! The cards take 10 minutes to activate, so we toured the store (as if we haven't walked around before) between times. Kenshin woke up when we got to the pet area. Just before 2:30, I suggested we leave for the movie theatre. At the ticket counter there, P-chan bought the tickets and the boys and I ran to the theatre while P-chan bought popcorn and sprite. We had just arrived at our seats when the movie started. The chipmunks were singing, and both boys had their eyes glued to the screen, trying to figure out where they've heard those voices before. Then the chipmunks themselves were on the screen, and Kenshin yelled, "It's the CHIPMUNKS!" and started giggling. Luckily, everyone in the theatre thought that ourburst was funny. :) Both boys were almost rolling off their chairs from laughter, the entire movie. I had come prepared with some cookies and fruit snacks, so P-chan offering the popcorn and sprite was a very nice bonus. It was fantastic! I also really liked it. I plan to buy it when it comes to DVD. :)
After the movie, we headed back to Meijer, to do more "rolling" of the gift cards. We left when they closed, about 7pm. So, all told, we ended up with $510 in gift cards for $270. NICE.

There's also a great deal on the Rite Aid gift cards ($5 off $25) and I buy the rebate stuff there every month, so we are going to do that one as well. It is SPECTACULAR to be able to afford this, it will help our grocery budget soooo much in the coming months! Being credit-card free is AWESOME! :D

Any-who, we went to McDonald's for dinner (using the GC from the birthday box) and the boys got to play in the PlayPlace. :) The boys fell asleep on the way home, but Krillin did remind me to put the cookies and chocolate milk out for Santa. I'm sure as far as they were concerned, it was the best Christmas Eve ever! LOL

Christmas Day was great! The boys actually slept until 9, but P-chan woke me up at 8 so I could unwrap my presents. :) When they got up, the boys kept getting distracted with the presents they unwrapped before they opened another. LOL At 1pm, we went over to Jessica's house for lunch. Jessica had bought the HoneyBaked Ham from the store, and it was delicious. She also prepared cornbread stuffing, crescent rolls, macaroni & cheese, and brownies. Hugh made a delicious cheesecake; yum-o! I brought stuffed mushrooms, green onion sticks (they're covered in cream cheese, then rolled in shredded cheese), and baked mashed potatoes. We ended up staying until almost 9pm, because we played a game of Phase 10. that was fun! :)

Happy Holidays! Talk to you soon!

Santa

2007-12-08T01:11:00.000-05:00

Birthday

2007-11-24T15:13:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday! da-na-na-na-na-na-nah! I got some nice surprises from a few scrapping boards. I have one more year to enjoy before I hit the big "3-0". Funny thing, though, it doesn't seem like such a big deal. huh! Maybe it's just a sign of me getting old.

Turkey!

2007-11-23T00:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!! Only a few hours left before people go crazy over the DEALS of Black Friday. I had a shopping list all ready, but the forces of germs have conspired against me. I am stuffed up, and have a bad cough, and am trying to remember to breathe deeply so it won't turn into bronchitis. In fact, all of us are so sick that we had to forgo any T-day plans. The boys both have sore throats and were barfy earlier this week, and even P-chan was throwing up yesterday (that is NOT a pretty sound!).
Well, at least that's what I'm saying now, to cover the fact that nobody invited us over for T-day dinner. So if I am feeling better tomorrow or Saturday, I plan to get some shopping done, and have Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday night.

I took a fun quiz today! Turns out I am classy! LOL

whoosh!

2007-11-06T15:55:00.000-05:00

Did you watch Heroes last night? whoa!!! I mean, Kensei isn't Kensei and he's someone else? Holy cow!! And I totally called it that Hiro would be Kensei. booyah! Anyway, lots to think about. Now I gotta find a forum that has some good convos about Heroes. :D

color blind?

2007-10-26T11:32:00.000-05:00

Sweet, I've always wanted to be a master of something. Click the pic to try it yourself!

SAS-y Halloween party!

2007-10-25T22:04:00.000-05:00

Stone Accent Studios will be having a blog party, which means lots of freebies for digi-scrapping! :) Be sure to mark you calendar.

Only 6 (well, really 5 by the time I post this) days 'til Halloween, which means I need to figure something out for P-chan and me. Krillin will be going as Draco Malfoy (he thinks it's "so cool!") and Kenshin will be Thomas the Tank Engine. Next year, the boys will be dice, P-chan will be a pencil, and I will be an RPG character sheet. (the link is to someone else's, not mine) I will of course need to create a character sheet; I'll probably base it on my ZAngband character.

bionic woman

2007-10-11T23:29:00.000-05:00

So far, I really like the new NBC show, Bionic Woman. They had a fun little quiz on the website, so I took it. I totally bombed the last test, but if I had figured out sooner that I had the directions backwards, I would have done better.

See What You're Made Of - Visit The Official Site

Toy Recall

2007-10-10T14:10:00.000-05:00

My sister emailed me this. Thank goodness for her thoughtfulness, as I had no idea my kids could get injured on this!

loud

2007-10-09T08:22:00.000-05:00

We have lived in our house for 9 months now. yay! Before here, we lived in an apartment on the air force base in Florida. We lived on the ground floor of a 2-level building, which had 7 units; 1 was a duplex-style, and the rest were single-level. There was an apartment above us, and the duplex was next to us. For the last 8 months we lived there, the apartment above us was empty. And Mellanie, my next-door neighbor, told me that she never heard any noise from our apartment. Considering the yelling from one end of our apartment to the other (yes, in a 800-square foot apartment we felt the need to yell ) and the TV and the boys, I was constantly asking her if we were too loud, but she insisted she never heard anything. So it's been almost 2 years since we really had to worry about our noise level. BUT even now, I find myself thinking that the subwoofer should be turned down, or that we shouldn't sing so loud, or that the boys are yelling too loud, and that the neighbors will hear us.
Did that happen to any of you when you moved to your house?