New ornament

I almost forgot to show you......each year we get the kids an ornament with, hopefully, it depicting the interests of the year.....so I present you with the coolest ornament of the year......

It was 18.95 at Hallmark, which normally would make me break out in hives for a minute.....but ya'll know my obsession with HP and all.........I mean, HIS obsession with HP.  Yes his....yes.....my son.......sorry.
It was the only place I could find any Harry Potter ornaments, so unless you all know something I don't on where to find them, Hallmark is your place!!!

Teacher Gifts

So, every year I struggle with teacher gifts. During the year I can think of all these cute, creative, fun, different things to do for the teachers......but then December rolls around and I suddenly doubt myself and my creativeness and go with a gift card. Practical, yes. Fun, cute and creative, notsomuch.

This year Michael's has these ADORABLE bird cages for a dollar, thankyouverymuch, and I bought a bunch. I got each of our 3 teachers a Target gift card (cause really.....is there another store to shop at???) and put it in the cage with my favorite winter candies....Brachs christmas nougats (thank you, btw, Brachs for NOT changing the name to "holiday nougats" or some other wimpy cop-out name)

Cloches and apothecary jars

I finally finished my glass domes turned cloches from Hobby Lobby. They turned out awesome, if I do say so myself. I glued bases on them and spray painted heirloom white. I also glued on a knob on the top. Am I obsessed with cloches?? i think 4 on one buffet is not that many, is it???

I have this little number behind my kitchen sink. Apothecary jars run in a close 2nd behind my cloche obsession  love.

The big candy cane sticks are from the Dollar Tree, the "soft" mints are from Target along with those wrapped chewy tree/red/white one. I looooove those. LOVE. The fake snow and big candy ornaments are from Target, also. (Guess I have another obsession love)

I saw this at crate and barrel (outlet store near us) and it was $30. GASP. I had one in our basement, but with a metal top. Little spray paint (walmart has red for .96) and voila....

I absolutely love it...and....a little secret for you...i can't stand candy canes. I know, I know. But, they scream the holidays and i love the simplicity and colors of them. Just don't want to eat them, k?!

I have also taken to cookie jars, but didn't want to buy a ton for all the holidays. This is my favorite, plain white one from Pottery Barn, with holiday ribbon. Saved sooo much money and space....

Another cloche

And just a tree and some reindeer in our dining room

Apparently my decorating style went from browns, to red/greens to silver. I don't like to get rid of things, so I tried to mix up the colors by room.

Here is the fireplace

The mercury glass trees were the find.of.all.time. Kohls used to do these crazy online deals. Crazy, I tell ya. Those guys were marked 29.99 and I got them (about 3 years ago) for .99. AND free shipping. Crazy, right??!!!!

Yes, I love silver this year.

And....what do I do with that cord???? It is driving me c.r.a.z.y.!!!!

Just so he knows

My dad was not a good dad. He never abused us mentally, physically or sexually....but he did emotionally. He never told us he loved us, he never hugged or kissed us and he never spent any time with us.
I never thought I'd have to talk about him to my kids because he died several years ago and my kids had never met him/heard about him/seen photos of him.
Tonight C. asked me about him. I started out being vague ("he died" "in his 50's" "heart attack" bla bla) and then he asked "was he a nice dad?"
I just froze. I didn't want to lie or give my father the gift of making him out to be a good person to the grandchild he chose to never meet. So I just answered, "no". This threw him for a loop. He asked, "what did he do mean to you?"
I had NO idea what to say, since he is too young to know or understand. But, I didn't think my father deserved a lie that he was a good person.
I simply said, "He didn't do anything mean to me. He never told me he loved me." His eyes got wide. I said, "You are very lucky that you have a dad that tells you that every day."
I think that is one reason I kiss him, hug him, snuggle him (against his will) and tell him I love him a million times a day. I cannot even imagine my children growing up NOT knowing that I, and their father, love them more than anything in this world.

Food issues

My son is 7 1/2. He is sweet, smart, funny and sometimes acts like a turkey. (not the animal) He blows me away with his retention of pretty much anything with numbers and chapters of books. He has loved math since he was about 3. He started reading around the same time. He loves his sister more than anything. Even though he questioned it, he believed my answer about the tooth fairy being real. He still loves to snuggle up with me at night. He just took up chess and asks NL husband to play every single day. And he does. And sometimes C. wins. He still sleeps with his "Bear" that he's had since he was a baby.

One thing he is not, though, is a good eater. He is what some might call "picky", although NL husband and I know it is nowhere near picky. I'd take picky ANY day over his "food issues". He, since about the age of 2, will not eat pretty much anything. He will eat: apples, pears, bananas, strawberries, pancakes, toast with butter (not too brown of the toast and butter must be melted), hot dogs (NOT grilled or on a bun), chicken nuggets, cheese sticks, yogurt tubes (but only Yoplait), buttered noodles, crackers. That's it. Also, he will not eat food at anyones house. He may, MAY, eat at our families homes, but it will be Wheat Thins or Cheez its.

It is exhausting some days. Most days I feel like a failure and it is somehow my fault. The boy hasn't eaten a vegetable in over 5 years. He seems to be growing and he's not a skeleton, but it's exhausting. It used to be containable.....then we started having to take him to restaurants.  Then family functions. Most family members are super, super nice and will bend over backwards to get him something, anything, to eat. But you just don't want to have to have family, or anyone for that matter, go through so much for food. It's not an allergy. It's not that other food makes him ill. He's just.....well.....he's just that way.

And sometimes on the rare occasion that I/he/we are questioned on it, the other person will say something along the lines of, "Yes, our son/daughter is picky, too! He will only try 2 bites of everything on his plate every night and he/she makes a big deal about it." Ok, maybe that's a little exaggerated. But, my point is that he won't even do that. I think people really think he's just "picky" and that it's us, not him.

And I have done the whole "you cannot leave the table until you've XXXX (tried everything, taken a bite of a vegetable, finished everything" and believe me....that boy will sit. it. out. No joke.

The reason I'm writing all this (other than hoping there are others out there with me) is that I just had to email another mom about a potential playdate this week. Her boy is 7 also. Last time he came over here and had dinner......now it's our turn. I am dying a little inside. I'm worried how it will go over there. What will he say? What will he do? Will they think it's us, too?? I started to write this long winded email to her (long winded like this post) and then I just stopped. I reread it and realized how ridiculous I sounded. Why am I making such a big deal about food?? I erased the whole thing and just wrote, "Sounds great! How about Wednesday."

Was that the right thing??

Just to add....

Vitatops has 9 grams of fiber per top. NINE. Apparently I didn't really realize what this would mean for me, but I just wanted to mention that again....just in case.

Cloches and Vitatops

So my new love of cloches has screeched to a halt. I check Goodwill weekly and have yet to find another cheese dome. Hobby Lobby has some tops, but no plates/stands.  Or so I thought....
Well, today I was at Hobby Lobby (it's a bad relationship we have) and I'm in the dollhouse section. (did you even know they had one??) I look down and see THIS

Two separate "tops" and two "stands". Well, the glassware is 50% at Hobby Lobby this week (it's 50% off about 99% of the time) but the stands were not. Which is totally fine since the small one was 3.47 and the large was 5.47. Not too shabby. I just need to Gorilla glue the stand to a candlestick, spray paint it and glue a glass knob of some sort on the top as a handle. Who knew???

One another topic...anyone try Vitatops? And if so, why didn't you tell me????? They are like muffin tops, but super good for you. AND...they DON'T taste good for you.

I picked up this box at Super Target today for 3.99 (I think) they look JUST like the picture (I hate when they don't) and they taste fabulous. Like a choc. chip muffin top. But, with 9 grams of fiber, TONS of vitamin and only 120 calories. Mmmmm.

And they are big....check them out next to my hand. (please excuse my hand...I'm 37, but my hands are 86)

Halloween

Well, Halloween was a huge success this year.  We did a "group" thing this year.....5 ladies, 12 kids and 3 streets took a bit of time.  My oldest was running ahead like lightning and the little one was sloooooow and was about 2 houses behind at any given time.
But they had fun. We had fun. It was finally a nice day out for trick or treating.

New craft

Whew. I have been b.u.s.y. being lazy and surfing the Internet. The blog world is a buzzing and there are some amazing blogs out there with some very crafty people. I'm talking UBER crafty.

One is Jellybean Junkyard  Not only is she SUPER crafty, she gave me inspiration to do this:

Give Thanks daily board

Seriously....CUTE, right?!?!

It was more a tiny bit more work than I had thought, but totally worth it. She did hers on a wood board and I did mine on a piece of canvas (from JoAnnes). I painted it with some left over paint from our computer room. I then tried forever to find coin envelopes, but I couldn't. So I just used small envelopes and cut down a tiny bit. Cut some cute scrapbook paper to fit over it and gluesticked it on. (is that a word?? Nope...spell check told me it is not. Sheesh.)
I finally used my Sizzix to cut out the numbers and letters.
I mod podged it on. I gotta say, being my first Mod Podge experience....I love that stuff. It is fun to use. (I'm weird)
So, for each day of November the kids will write something they are thankful for. Lord knows they need to be reminded of that lately.  Next year they can use the other side of the card, and they get to see what they wrote the previous year.
Check out Jellybean junkyard and see how she did hers. Hers is way cuter!

My new love of Dollar Tree

I hope I'm not alone on my thoughts that the Dollar Tree was full of crap stuff that you could find other places for close to a dollar. Well, I was WRONG. Starting with their fall decorations...they kicked butt this year. From leaf garland, to black crows, to cute ceramic pumpkins......ALL CUTE. And one dollar. I know, I know.

This halloween, I was looking through Pottery Barns catalog, which i LOVE, but can't always afford (or want to pay for) and they have some cuuuuute things. One of my faves is their vase full of moss and little skulls. Pretty pricey, though. Well...wouldn't you know it....Dollar tree has vases, spanish moss and little skulls for ONE DOLLAR. Check out what I've made....all from the dollar tree....

Vase from dollar store, gorilla glued a base (NOT from dollar tree, but on clearance for $2 at Menard's (?? random find) Spanish moss and skulls.

Seriously...LOVE the cloche with the moss and skulls. I do. The skulls are a little too fake and plastic-y looking, so I just took some craft paint in a dark brown and added some water. I dabbed that mix on each piece and let dry for a little bit. It really made a huge difference.

Also found at the dollar tree...

Super cute. I just sanded the edges a bit and took some left over watered down paint and made it look more aged.

This one I just got some black bottles at Hobby Lobby (not $1, but pretty close) and printed some spooky labels from the Internet. The glittery skull is from the Dollar Tree. See....they are my new favorite place to shop.  The white stand is from my last cheese dome turned cloche. (the bottom part)  The jar is full of gumball eyeballs. Now all I need is some spiderwebs and I'm good to go. :)

The tale of 2 halloween costumes

My kids are VERY differant. My son, 7 1/2, wants to be a lego for halloween. (I was SO hoping for Harry Potter, but he's his own person) Simple enough, I think....I've seen it in Family Fun magazine. Ummmm....little harder than I thought. I went through 3 boxes until I got the body right, and even now it's still not up to "my" standards, but it will do.
I started with a box and cut out a circle for his head and arms. I bought 6 disposable containers from the dollar store, lined them up and cut out circles for them. I couldn't glue them to the box because the rim is too thin, so i taped them to the inside.

I then went to Menards and bought Blue spray paint (he wants to be a blue Lego)

Spray paint that bad boy....

Please excuse our DIScusting garage. It's just too gross to talk about.
Anyways....all I need is a few more coats (and smooth out all my mistake cuts, random uneveness and tape marks) and to somehow get the LEGO logo on the front of each circle.

My daughter, 4 1/2, wants to be a bag of frozen corn. Yes, that is correct. She is a  Weirdo unique individual. Anyways, she started by wanting to be a PIECE of frozen corn, but a friend suggested a bag and that is MUCH easier. Poster board (Dollar Tree 2/$1) and some yellow pompoms. My friend did all the words in the proper fonts and here it is:

Just need to figure out a way to put it on her without sewing (either staples, glue or tape. That's how I roll....)

Fall decorating

Sooooo....I've been a little obsessed with spray painting and decorating lately (what, me??? obsessed????)  I have recently started following some "thrifty" blogs and I am in LURVE with cloches. LURVE.

Here is what you do.....you start at Goodwill. Get past the smell and some of the, cough, more interesting items and look for a cheese dome.

Usually about 2.99 around these here parts....

Then you find a candle stick (usually chunky and short does the trick). Gorilla glue the sucker on to the bottom and wait several hours. Then you spray paint that bad boy in any color you like. I prefer ORB. :)Now you have yourself a cloche that can be filled with all your holiday goodness. Some examples:

Isn't that lovely????

Here are some more (see.....i'm not obsessed at ALL)

I also LOVE to spray paint....I got these lovelies from the Dollar Store (my new favorite spray paint store) and spray painted them ORB (oil rubbed bronze), Heirloom white and bronze. The tall candle sticks were on clearance at TJ Maxx for like $2 and were just awful. I spray painted them and added them to my fall dining table.

My good friend, L., has these AH-mazing candy glass jars on her counter in her kitchen. I wanted to do the same, but in apocothary jars. I did NOT, on the other hand, want my kids messing with them....so I told them they were "fake candy". Ya know what???? THEY BELIEVED ME!!!

I thank Thrifty Decor Chic and all my other fabulous blog friends for so many inspirations.

English is my first language

So, Starbucks has these $()%&)&@)@&)(#&@# treat receipts where if you buy a beverage in the morning, you can come back after 2 pm and get Grande iced drink for $2. Sounds like a good deal, right?! Well, I end up drinking about 10 starbucks drinks a week now. :(

I'm ALWAYS in a state of confusion on how to order my drink after 2 pm without using 15 words to describe the drink. I want a nonfat carmel latte. Well, it HAS to be grande and it HAS to be iced (says so on the treat receipt stamp). So, do I need to even use "grande iced" or not???? Also, I always feel the need to mention the treat receipt because once I didn't and they acted all out of sorts when I handed it over. I think they had to void it and redo it...... I'm too confused.

Anyways, this is my conversation today in the drive thru (Cause I'm lazy like that)
Starbucks: Welcome to starbucks. What may I get you today?
Me: I'd like to use my treat receipt to get a grande iced nonfat carmel latte.
Starbucks: I'm sorry, I can't hear you. Hold on.
Next person: What can I get for you.
Me: I'd like to use my treat receipt to get a grande iced nonfat carmel latte.
New guy: Do you want a carmel macciato? (no, had one this am)
Me: No thank you. I'd like to use my treat receipt to get a grande iced nonfat carmel latte.
New guy: An iced latte? Ok. It has to be a grande, is that ok??
Me: ????????? didn't I say that?!?!?!?!  "Yes please"
New guy: So, a grande iced carmel latte?
Me: Yes. Can you make it non fat please?
New guy: Oh, sure. (didn't he hear me?!?!?!?!)
I get to the window....my total is $4.xx. Sigh.
I hand over my treat receipt, that I have now mentioned 3 times. when they see it, I obviously have caused a huge problem. I am starting to view them like Hobby Lobby. They had to redo everything and I could tell I am not their favorite person at the moment.
Any suggestions???

I'm a brat....

My 7 year old is OBSESSED with legos. How many pieces  per box and the $$ amount....how many in a particular series......etc.
I, on the other hand, find them WAY overpriced and kind of over blown.
Well.......let's just say I rec'd an email from amazon (yes, i'm on their personal email list, thankyouverymuch) (so is everyone else in the world)
GUESS WHAT IS COMING OUT IN ONE MONTH!???? 5 OVERPRICED harry potter lego sets. I suddenly find them a great deal and cannot just chose one....errr....i mean my son cannot just pick one. all 5 cost $260. That's not that terrible, is it?????????? I mean...lets break this down: you get hogwarts castle, which is about 1290 pieces, costs $129.99 and according to Son, that is a "GREAT deal. That's 10 cents a piece and that's a great deal!!"
He's pretty smart, that boy. I think I'll rethink the whole lego thing.

Spray Paint

I have recently discovered Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint. Swooooon. I am in love with it and am currently spray painting pretty much everything I own. (Husband is annoyed none too pleased with it)
So far I've spray painted Dollar Tree ceramic pumpkins. They were a yucky orange color. Now they are oil rubbed bronze.
Side note....have you BEEN to the Dollar Tree lately?? Did you know everything is ONE DOLLAR???!!!! I haven't been in one in foreva and just went recently. They have some cute things, which some are made more cute with some spray paint.
I'm also obsessed with cloches and apochathery jars. I don't know why....no, actually I do know why.
Lately I've been visiting blogs that will have "share" days and other people will post links to their blogs with photos of cool things they've been making. There are literally like 8 million of these cool blogs out there. Tons of finds at Goodwill (I've only given to them up to now....now I guess I need to shop there) Seriously....they will take some of the more scary of items, but give a little spray paint and you have some cuuuuute things.
So, when I finally find and make some of these things I will post photos!

Subway....eat fresh....

I love Subway. I do. I love all their veggies, except onions. (In my opinion, onions are evil) I do, however, LOVE green peppers. LOVE them.
Anyways, every single time I go to Subway I order one of two ways. I either list all the veggies I want and say, "and a TON of green peppers" or I say "and a MASSIVE amount of green peppers."
Doesn't really matter how I say it....all I know is that apparently green peppers are reeeaaallly expensive, or "TON" and "MASSIVE" to Subway workers means 3 pieces. Every. Single. Time.
I have to then say, "More please." and then they give me 3 more slices. wth?? i always order lettuce and they give you 5 cups of that, so why can I not get that much in green peppers?? Maybe I need to get a turkey and green pepper on wheat next time. (cheap bastards)

Fall

I love, love, love fall. I cannot wait to decorate for fall (which I wait until Sept. 1st, because I think that is long enough)
I love pumpkins, acorns, leaves, more pumpkins, pears, gourds, and more pumpkins.
I purchased some huge letters at Hobby Lobby (oh how I hate the Hobby Lobby) and i'm spray painting them black. I got letters to spell "eek" and "boo" and am going to hang them on the wall with orange ribbon. Yes, not fall, but close enough for me.
I was so close to go to Bath and Body Works today to get some halloween hand soap but I had the kids with me, and honestly....the bug me. A lot. "WOW!! A huge display of ornate and expensive glass items?!?!?!? Lets go stand uncomfotablly close to it!!!" (they don't SAY that but I just know they are thinking it)

Hobby Lobby

Dear Hobby Lobby,
You suck. You really do. First of all, are you the last store in America to NOT use the scanner/upc system?? You depend on (mostly) old workers who really make up their own reasons on why a iron plate holder is NOT part of the 50% off iron items, because it was in a section with non-iron things. Sigh.
And, there is NO give. None. They are taught to stick to their guns. If you don't buy it, someone will. Maybe. And, when you decide you don't want an item anymore because it isn't on sale (according to the old cashier) then it is a HUGE deal and it requires LOTS and LOTS of sighing/eye rolling/work. WTH???
Do me a favor, just put everything on sale for 50% off because at some point in each month it is ALL FIFTY PERCENT OFF.
Thank you,
Lazy

Notsomuch

I just discovered Pandora on my iphone (yes, i'm slow) and I guess I don't completely understand how it works.
Dear Pandora Radio,
When I enter the "Dave Matthews" room, I resent the fact that you think I would also like Coldplay/smashing pumpkins/nirvana. Well, because I don't. I just like DMB. Kay? thnx.

New background

I'm trying to find a new background for my super exciting blog. I first did a calculator (for my love of numbers) and then I saw this....it shows a pure laziness that only I can offer. AND....it looks like LOST (the best show EVA!!)

Anyways, if anyone knows how to change it more or has found cool backgrounds, please let me know.

I'm looking for either a woman/scene/background of nothing....or teapots.

Pizza

So, I just ordered a pizza. I haven't done that in AGES. The kid shows up, total is $20.25. I give him 2 twenties and say, "Can I get $14 back?" He does NOT have change. All $20's and $50's. So, faced with either NOT tipping him or giving him a $20 tip, I just stop/stare and panic.

But who comes to my resue you are asking???? MY SEVEN YEAR OLD. Yes. He says, "How much you need, mom??" I say "$6". The boy goes running to his room and gives me 5 singles (all wrinkled, cause he's 7 and that's how they roll)

While waiting, I may have told the kid, "Yep....my 7 year old has to support me." I think he thought I was serious.

Pool

Dear Douchebag Public Pool Guest,

If you are going to put your tote/towels/shoes 5 feet away from a chair, please don't assume anyone knows that you wanted said chair. AND, when someone (me) sits in said chair, please don't try to make me feel bad that I am sitting in "your" chair.
Just an FYI.... to save a space at a public pool, you must put your tote ON the chair.
K? thnx.

Guilty as charged

M. is still young enough to nap, but we don't let her because then we can't put her to bed at 7:30. She'll be up every. single. minute. with some reason why she can't sleep. It's just easier this way.

The other day she fell asleep on the couch at 5 pm. Sooooo...it was a lot of getting out of bed and saying anything to stall bedtime.

The best one?? "Mom!! THERE ARE FREE (three) REASONS I WON'T GO TO BED!! One is I'm not tired. Two is you gave me the wrong sheets. And free is YOU GAVE ME THE WRONG SHEETS."

She would have preferred I gave her the flannel winter sheets to go along with her flannel pj's. Oh, and it's about a million degrees outside.

What's that again?

We went to the Morton Arboretum today. While there we walked by a HUGE weeping willow. I was telling the kids all about the huge weeping willow we had in our neighbors yard growing up. C's response? "Hey, that kind of rhymes with the 5th chapter of the 2nd Harry Potter book "whomping willow."
Did I mention that we are on chapter 9 of book 5?
How does one remember something like that???
This is also the boy that when picking him up from school, he cannot for the life of him remember what happened at math time because, "That was 3 hours ago, mom. I don't remember!"
Whatever little dude. Whatever.

Snuggle Time

I love to snuggle with my kids. LOVE it. I am aware that C. is getting to the age where it will probably be ending pretty soon, so I "force snuggle" him at any moment I get, usually without his consent.
Well, this morning I couldn't sleep with all this crazy rain, so I went into his room and said, "I can't sleep little dude, can I snuggle with you for a little bit?" He sat up, calm, and responded after a few seconds of thought, "As long as you don't toot."
A simple boy with simple requirements. Maybe snuggling won't be ending anytime soon.

Photo

I never seem to be able to get good photos of our family. I found this one on my SIL ipad recently. Notice how young the kids are?? I guess this was quite awhile ago. Anyways...my left eye isn't drooping (like it does lately) and my smile is sort of normal, and both kids are facing forward, kind of. And M. isn't pissed about something. And Jeff is in the photo, and smiling. This rarely ever happens, and within 1 second, AND when someone has a camera.

Slow Start

So, as every day begins for me lately, I have BIG plans. Clean, laundry, errands, clean/purge a cabinet/drawer/closet wash and vacum the car.....and here it is, almost 11 am and i am JUST dressed. The kids JUST got dressed. Why oh why am I so incredible slow and lazy????

So incredibly politically incorrect....

Sooooo......I'm a former Jew (I converted a long time ago....long story, don't ask)

Last night I'm watching Family Guy, as any responsible adult does, right?!?!? And this clip showed and I almost peed my pants. I don't know why. It's so wrong on so many levels, but such foreshadowing of what was to come...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPi4OcUrHkE

Bacon

This is one of the funniest things ever......IF you like bacon. Which of course you do, right?! RIGHT?! Good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaK9bjLy3v4

Complaining about nice people

So, I am usually the first one to notice the little nice things people do.....I really am suprised when nice things happen. But....my bank (fifth third) gives me suckers every.single.time. i'm in the drive thru. VERY nice thought, but sometimes my kids aren't in the car....and sometimes it's 9 in the morning. The other day they sent 2 out with my deposit slip and then 3 more with my receipt. Weird, right?! Anyways, not one to look the gift horse in the mouth....how do I politely ask them to stop being nice??!!!

Lost tooth and Harry Potter

C's tooth has been loose for days......he finally pulled it last night. sniff sniff. He is 7 1/2 and this is only his 2nd tooth he's pulled. :( Before bed last night he asked, so innocently...."mom....are you sure you aren't the one that puts the money under my pillow?" Oh....My.....Gawd....i am NOT ready for that. I know he's getting to that age....but man. I assured him that I had NO idea what he was talking about and that was that.

I stayed up until 12:30 last night to finish off the last 200 pages of Harry Potter book 4. I am addicted, but seriously...she could not have told that book with maybe, say 500 pages???

New diet

I seem to have started a new diet by mistake.....hot starbucks in the morning, iced in the afternoon filled in with pretzel m&ms the rest of the day. Sounds good, right?!?

Harry Potter

I'm obsessed. Absolutely obsessed with Harry Potter. It started innocently enough with a summer reading plan to read all 7 books this summer to C. He decided to read himself, which worked out well for both of us (me) cause in total there are 4,167 pages and I just can't imagine reading all that out loud. So, we each read when we have time. We have 3 down and are about 1/7 way through the 4th. *(it's a loooooong one that 4th book)

NL husband mentioned last night that he still has tons 'o vacation time left and maybe we should look into going to FL and taking the kids to Disney. Do you KNOW what is there??? DID YOU HEAR???? HARRY POTTER WORLD!!!!! OMG......

I looked it up and it's about a billion dollars a person to get in. (of course it is.....everything at disney is a billion dollars) But.....maybe I could go alone?? Ok, maybe just C. and me!!!!!!! (or maybe just alone)

I'm like a kid in a candy shop......oh except I'm 37.

What happened to me??

Here are just a few of the things I have heard come out of my mouth the past couple months that I NEVER thought I'd have to say to my kids:

Please don't lick your sisters/brothers hand

Please remove your hand from your pants

No playing with your penis while watching tv

Please don't eat whatever you just found in your ear

Please remove your feet from your sisters/brothers face

Please stop smelling your sisters/brothers feet

Didn't I just ask you to remove your hand from your pants?

Didn't I just ask you to not play with your penis while watching tv?

Sigh.

Day at the Field Museum

So today was a "free day" at the field museum in Chicago. Normally it would have cost about $100 to get in, which is INSANE.
So, I drive the kids down and meet my SIL and BIL and the cousins.
O.M.G. doesn't even begin to describe it. P.A.I.N.F.U.L. was more correct.
C. was fine. He LOVES his cousins (boys that are 9 and 7) M. was....well.....I don't know. All I remember is her saying, "I'm-hungry-can-we-eat-now-I-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom-no-i-don't-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom-can-we-go-home-now-i-don't-want-to-go-in-there-i-want-to-go-here-no-i-don't." OMG.....I'm going to go put my head in the dishwasher and start it. It might be more peaceful.

Going to the movies

Back in the day, I LOVED going to the movies. The darkness, the quiet, the huge screen....completely losing yourself in a story for 2 hours and forgetting everything going on in life for that time. It was perfect for me.

Then I had kids......I find that it's been years since I have gone to the movies. Now the kids are old enough to take them, but now the movies consist of g- rated films. Sigh. Not quite the same, but it's still fun to lose yourself and your thoughts for an hour plus. And.....m&m's makes a new pretzel m&m that is PERFECT for the movie.

Today I went with some friends and saw "Despicable Me". It was actually really cute and sweet and quite funny. Funnier than I had thought. I cried a bit at the end with its sweet ending. The kids LOVED it and had already been reciting the lines for weeks. So, to watch their faces light up when those lines came up in the movie was priceless.

So, even though there are not any f-bombs, gratuitous sex or violence anymore at the movies for me, I still can find a movie here and there that will make me shed a tear.

iCarly

So, C. LOVES iCarly. loves, loves, loves the show.

The other night I put the kids to bed, joined NL husband on the couch and we proceeded to watch iCarly for 15 minutes without realizing/caring/speaking about it.

Finally I said, "what does it say about us that we have watched this show for 15 minutes and the kids aren't even around?"
His response: "I've seen this one."

My boy George

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100706/ap_on_en_mu/eu_britain_people_george_michael_2

My poor boy, George Michael, has got himself into a mess again. :(

He needs to take a break from the whole "driving" thing and concentrate on something else for awhile. (me! me! me!)

No, seriously I am lazy

I have never tried to hide the fact that I am lazy. If there is an easy way to do something, chances are I know about it and have done it.
When I decided to start a blog, the hardest part was coming up with a name. Conversation with husband went like this:
Me: so, i'm having a hard time coming up with a good name for the blog.
Him: how about ""
Me: i was thinking lazy is as lazy does.
Him: but then people will think you're lazy
Me: stare
Him: stare
Me: but but but ......i AM lazy
Him: good point

The boy seems to think his little sister wants to play school for 2+ hours.........here is her schedule. (at least he let her off with only 10 minutes of math)

First Post

So, for years I've been told that "you should blog. Everyone does." I just couldn't think of anything interesting to say, nothing really funny or anything that I think others would read (plus it seemed like so much work, and as you can tell.....I'm a little lazy).
Well, I guess it's time to try. Even if just to jot down funny things the kids say, weird/odd things that happen, new things we've tried.....all written down so that someday when my memory goes (I think it already has) I can look back, read what I posted and say, "I did that??!?!?!" hahaha. Kidding.