Sophie

Our kittens, Macie and Allie, got a special post all to themselves, probably because they are kittens, they are the newest, and well, they just did. But here's a post all for Sophie. One of her favorite spots to sleep is on top of our dryer, in a backpack.

She's full of attitude and is caught talking back to the kittens on many occassions in a not so friendly voice. She has also been spotted on the counter licking on the plates, bowls, or whatever is in the sink.
She tends to carry herself with dignity and expects to be treated like royalty on her terms.

Sophie has also been caught loving on her owners, snuggling in a blanket with them and offering all the kids a wonderful companionship.

keeping warm during Hobo Days

Six kids, but not all mine. Although I would claim them all as my own. Several of mine were missing in this picture. Cousins...who enjoyed each others company today. But can you see how everyone was keeping warm with all the winter gear and many blankets? They all waited patiently for the parade to start.

Grandma was also keeping warm while waiting for the parade to start.

Grandpa never complained and it sure looks like he's having fun.

This little man was very intrigued by the bands playing music. He loved to dance, but was very unsure of the scary, noisy firetrucks.
I think Matt and I both have great expressions. I was trying, but not sure if Matt was or if the lens caught him at the best moment. :) Don't you just love how well I matched today? I mean, a 10 year old Adidas coat, a pink scarf, a blue hat, gray gloves. It was great! But at least I was warm!

twice in one night

My husband thinks he's funny. Especially after I've been sitting in training all day and then driving for several hours. I come walking in the garage door and I see Dalton cleaning up the laundry room. No big deal right? Well, behind the door was my loving husband, who looked slightly odd and made a slightly scary noise. Can you guess what I did by the picture?

Did you guess that I socked him a good him a good one right in the nose?

You're wrong!

I screamed and shook and probably should have cleaned out my shorts pants!

But have you figured out why he looks like that?

Guess again!

(scroll down)

Because he had toilet paper stuffed up his nose to stop it from running! And he didn't want me to take his picture. So he covered his nose with his hands. But I'm good. You knew that already though right? I held the button down slightly and moved the camera around the front extremely quickly while pushing the button and with the help of image editing software, I was able to pull this out for the results! You'd scream if you saw this too!

You remember the title of this post? TWICE IN ONE NIGHT. He got me again in the bedroom (not that way!!). Behind the door. Making that scary sound. And again, I screamed and shook in my shorts pants.

hilarious baby videos

A baby scared of his own fart.


A baby laughing....


A baby laughing very funny...

kitty update

Do you remember these two little furballs we brought home one early April day? Way back then they were small, innocent (not entirely), busy exploring their new home and also needed names. So much has changed since then. As you can see, they sit on top of the garage roof like the queens they pretend to be.

They try to act like they are still so tiny and get themselves into the strangest positions and predicaments.

They share a sisterly love for each other...well because they are sisters.
They cuddle in laundry baskets, on beds, under beds, and they explore the rafters in the laundry room while they act like they're ready to pounce.

They nap together, they unroll toilet paper, they climb trees and they eat us out of house and home.

These two not so innocent kittens helped themselves to a loaf of bread yesterday and hauled it through the house, shredded the bag and left slices of bread up and down the stairs and crumbs everywhere I toes walked.

But even through all of this, they are our pets and they are loved.

glasses

Shaylee with her new glasses that she will use for reading.

Joseph with his new glasses that he will use all the time to see if the headaches go away. If they don't go away then it's possibly from a side effect of the medicine he takes.
Both kids are excited for them.

busy weekend

We had a very busy weekend. Yesterday the girls were in a volleyball tournament that lasted all day. Shaylee's team, 6th grade, took 2nd place. It was a heart-breaker for her though because they had made it to that final championship game and then they lost the tie breaker game at the last 3 points. I still think they did great, I mean they got 2nd place and they got a trophy!

Shawndra's team, 5th grade, took 3rd place. Both girls played very well and had a lot of fun, but it sure tired them out. They both fell asleep in the truck on the way home.

Then we had to swing over to Elkton to pick up the other kids at grandpa and grandma's. We were supposed to make it to a wedding yesterday, but with the tournament, we didn't. We did make it to the reception (a little late). I wasn't too sure about going in the attire we were wearing, but we knew we couldn't waste anymore time, since the supper had started an hour prior. It was beautiful. The colors were the warm fall colors. And they had fun little bite sized pies to snack on for dessert. Yum! As a thank you, they sent home some apple butter and apple jelly...homemade!

Today we went to an auction and loaded up on lots of stuff. Then we came home and took care of our ginormous yard that was cluttered with zillions of leaves. Oh my gosh, I mowed up leaves and dumped the bag probably over a hundred times. It took me 4 hours. While I was doing that, Mike was finishing up the trailer and the kids were helping to rake. Our yard looks great. Now we'll see how long that lasts before the last few leaves fall or the wind switches and we get the neighbors leaves!

Did I mention that I have no pictures because my battery in my camera died BEFORE the championship game. However, another parent is supposed to be emailing us the pictures and when they do, I will add them up here.

new bedroom furniture

We finally got our new bedroom furniture and it was quite the fiasco getting it inside. Once we got it in, then we were in for another surprise...how big everything was and how small our room was upon completion.

This one is Mike's dresser. It's really tall. And you can see we have just a walk way through the foot of the bed and that. Not that we ever had a big space there, but it used to be bigger.

Here's our new headboard. King size! Woo whoo! And to the left is my, yes my, nightstand. I claimed it. He had it before, but I claimed it this time.
Again, my nightstand. Did I mention, that Mike didn't care I claimed it? He's such a wonderful husband.

And the big bed. Remember, King Size! A 4 post bed! And we love it. And we haven't even slept in it yet.

Now let me tell you, it took the furniture guys well over an hour to get everything in and put together. We amused them by our shock on how much room the bed takes up. They said a lot of people say that, too! Then they ran into the problem of the tall dresser not fitting through the door. Let's just say, when we move, maybe the new owners will want our new bedroom set, that won't be so new 100 years from now. LOL. In all seriousness, it's a huge piece, a "beast" as they called it. In fact, they even had to bring it up the back and through the patio. I tried to get their names so they could move it out when we moved, but they laughed.

But finally, we have a brand spankin new, fresh smelling, beauty shining real wood bedroom set.

wipers

Only I could get strung out, stressed and overwhelmed because of my wipers. Seriously...leave it to me.

Last year my work van was in the shop three times getting the wipers fixed. Well low and behold it snowed this past week and now my wipers are acting up again. And this time, the whole darn wiper tore requiring a new one.

No big deal, right?

I head to the store, find the wipers, but no book to determine the size. So I go to customer service to ask for help. Some guy comes and says he'd check in back. There was no book and he had no clue what size I needed. I can't blame him. That's the reason there's usually a book to look at to find the size.

I go to the second store, fewer wipers to choose from. No book. No one around to help. I leave.

I go to a dealership, to the parts department. They don't have the wipers. They have to special order them and they would take 2-3 days. Really? By this time, I've spent half my life a good hour searching for wipers.

Finally, stressed out and running late, I hurry back to the office and ask where else I can go because I need to be able to charge them. That's how this job works. Everywhere I go, I charge things. They send me to NAPA.

NAPA fixed my problem and even put them on my van AND offered nice conversation. They were amused by the fuss I had gone to trying to find my wipers.

Anyhow, after losing 8 hours of office time to the holiday yesterday (no I'm not complaining about a paid holiday) I was finding myself in a time crunch to get everything done. I have a pile of work to do at the office. But it will still be there tomorrow and the next day or until I get it done.

Those darn wipers had me in such a frenzy. Geez.

eye doctor

Today was the end of a great 4 day weekend. But wow, did the time go fast or what? We had appointments for all six kids to see the eye doctor and myself at the end. It turned out to be a pricey day after paying for Mike's glasses and contacts from a week ago, fitting two kids for glasses, me for glasses and our exams. Aye yi yi.

Sigh.

Did you catch that? Two kids need glasses. And several are borderline, which is a crappy place to be because the doctor says there is a slight lens presciption, yet it doesn't necessarily warrant glasses. But we can try glasses if we want, or we can ask the teachers to move the kids. Ugh. I wish it was black and white. Yes, your child needs glasses. Unfortunately it's not that simple.

Joseph is the first one that probably needed the glasses the most. He's been complaining of headaches for months, especially last school year. Joseph also takes Vyvanse for ADHD and it is a slight side effect of the drug to suffer from headaches. However, after watching him read the letters during the exam and seeing the large amount of letters he guessed wrong, we felt it was necessary for him to get glasses. We helped him pick out a nice pair of green glasses. Joseph is so excited, too! Now I just hope he can take care of them.

Shaylee is the other one who is getting glasses. She has never complained of having troubles seeing or headaches, but she had some troubles with the eye exam. Her prescription is not high and she could possibly do without them, but after talking to her, we felt she should get the glasses for reading. And the doctor agreed, that reading is when she would benefit from them. Shaylee said her eyes hurt when she reads. So we found a really cute pair of glasses for her and she is probably more excited to get them than Joseph. Next week, our kids will sport their new look.

Jayden did not cooperate with his exam. She got very little information from him, but she did get enough information to see that his eyes are not crossing or something else (I can't remember what else she said.) But since we don't have any concerns about him, we'll try again in a year. We went into the appointment knowing he would have troubles.

The funniest thing about getting drops in their eyes is who threw the biggest fit. Shaylee. The oldest. Devin, Joseph, Dalton, and Shawndra didn't flinch, cry, whine, pout or anything. They took the drops like champs. But my oldest on the other hand, wasn't so nice to the doctor, pouted in the corner while they dilated, and walked out at the end stomping her feet not looking back or answering the doctor. But, that's Shaylee for you. Believe me, we talked to her about this and how disrespectful it was to treat the doctor the way she did. Hopefully she'll use a little more respect when dealing with professionals (and others).

I'll throw some pictures on here when they get their glasses.

taco soup

I've had a few requests for my taco soup recipe. Well, I can't call it my recipe so to speak because I found it somewhere else. But it is mine now and will be used again because this taco soup was delicious! I'll give you a photo tutorial of how to eat it because I'm sure you're thinking how exactly do you eat taco soup? For starters, once it's cooked, you dish 1/2 to 3/4 of the soup into your bowl.

Then add some lettuce.

And a dollop of sour cream. I tend to use a bigger dollop.

And a handful of cheddar cheese.

Throw some tortilla chips on top. We also tried them on the bottom, but they get soggier faster. If you don't mind soggy, then the bottom works pretty slick, too. Some of the kids preferred to have their chips on the side to use them to scoop. And that worked too.

Stir it up and wah-la. Taco Soup! Enjoy!

Taco Soup

2 cans kidney beans

2 cans pinto beans (I used 3 cans and the reduced sodium.)

2 cans corn

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 can tomatoes and chilies

1 packet taco seasoning (I used Ortega.)

1 packet ranch dressing mix (I used Hidden Valley.)

1 lb. ground turkey or hamburger (I used turkey.)

shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream, tortillas

Brown the meat, drain, and put the meat on the bottom of the crock pot.

Sprinkle the seasoning packets on top of meat.

Drain and rinse the beans and add.

Drain the ENTIRE contents of the corn and tomato cans.

Stir.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. I think the longer you cook it the better it tastes. I cooked ours on low for 9 hours. Stir well and serve with a handful of shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream and tortillas.

whats for supper?

I love my crock pot. I just wish I was able to find more things to cook in it. Today, I have taco soup cooking. We've never had it, but so far it smells really good! If it's a good one, I'll post the recipe later.

So, what's for supper at your house? Do you know of any good crock pot recipes?

white stuff

What in the heck is this white crap on my deck? Are you kidding me? It's early October!

I don't want to be ready for this stuff already.

before and after

Spur of the moment today, I decided for the last time that I really hated the bushes outside the front of the house. So Mike and I went outside and started trimming. This is how awful things looked before we started.

Lots of trimming with the clippers. We wished we had a hedge trimmer to make the tops a bit more evening, but we did our best, making piles of branches, twigs, and leaves all over.
Upon completion, this is what it looks like. Yes, the bushes look much better. Now since we've been living here for a year, we probably should paint that one window. Aye yi yi. We had that window put in when we moved in and still haven't gotten around to painting the wood around it. I guess it's a bit more noticeable now.

And then we decided we really didn't like the dried up ugly bushes, so we cut them out of there completely. Now next spring, we'll have to pull the rocks out and redo the landscaping.

I would really like to get rid of the bushes completely, but since I have little talent in the area of landscaping, I'm not sure what we'll do. We've managed to do little odds and ends all summer. Now next year, bigger projects are in store.

pilot cars

If you follow me on Twitter, then you know my patience for pilot cars has been growing thin lately, especially when I am already running late for a date for a weekly home visit.
I was lucky enough to sit and wait, passing my time Tweeting, talking on the phone, and snapping pictures of the "Pilot Car Follow Me" signs. I mean, what else was I supposed to do? I thought about getting out and chatting with the girl with the sign, but that surely would have been a sign to put me away in a straight-jacket.

So instead, I talked on the phone to Kathy, told her I was taking pictures of stop signs and pilot cars and was going to post about it. Now isn't that exciting?! It doesn't get much better than that. Well, unless somebody comes into your house to use your bathroom while you aren't home...now that can be exciting.

wordless wednesday

sneezing panda video

This video is too funny not to share. It's been circulating for awhile, but is certainly worth the look.

chocolate

Nothing could ever taste better than chocolate.

Especially being 4 years old and having mini candy bars spread on a table.


Or being 2 1/2 years old and discovering the tastiness of chocolate covered fingers.

Trying to get every last morsel...


can leave one literally showing the scrumptiousness in one's mouth.

And yes, I realize scrumptiousness is not a real word, but in this post, it is.

Not Me! Monday

Have you thought about jumping on the bandwagon and trying a Not Me Monday? I know some of you have thought about it because you've told me. Now is the time to actually jump in and do it! Give it a try, it's fun, and it's free! What more could you want?

I suggest checking out MckMama's blog because hundreds of other people are already participating in this fun carnival. It's fun to read other posts and to read MckMama's herself.

I did not start making this post on Thursday, to be sure I didn't forget some funny stuff.

Figuring I might have a small gain on the scale this week, I did not bring the same shorts and t-shirt I wore last week to work so I could change into those clothes. I mean I would never want to stand on a scale in heavy blue jeans on a week where it might be bad. And under no circumstances did I remove my underwear, glasses, watch and chapstick. Now that would be downright crazy! To top it off the scale never said I lost 4.2 pounds.

I did not drive a wee bit over the suggested speed in an effort to get to my daycare provider on time, to be slowed down by someone traveling 19 mph in a 45, with no options to pass.

At a wedding reception this weekend, I did not catch 3 of my 6 children in compromising positions, in plain site.

And I would never take a picture of them in these positions with the thoughts of this specific post in mind. I mean, really, at a wedding reception and I thought about Not Me Monday? Nope, not me!

My youngest daughter was not hiding something under her dress. She's a princess and would never lift her dress.......

to have a truck fly out of her dress. That would be completely unlady like of her. Definitely not something my family would do.

And the reason for this post being published so late, is certainly not due to problems with technology because technology always works perfect in my life.

new picture

So I just added our most recent family picture to the blog. Shopped for two hours yesterday before the wedding trying to find outfits that would look good for everyone. I was completely stressed out, but don't think I did too bad. What do you all think? Leave a comment and let me know!?

I'll be posting more pictures either later tonight or tomorrow. I took 240, so it's hard to sort them out. I think I've got several post options with the different pictures.

toddlers and medicine

So yesterday was a day to visit the doctor for both Jayden and I. We've had the sickies in our house for several weeks. I can't remember the last time everyone was healthy. My sore throat has been persistent for close to two weeks. When I woke up yesterday and this morning I could hardly breathe. My chest and throat felt like it was clamped off and I couldn't get air in very well. I also was lacking my voice (which Mike found hilarious) on and off the past couple of days.

I called the doctors office and was very thankful even though he was only working half the day and was booked that he still agreed to see me. Then I had to call back again and beg and plead on my hands and knees see if he would be willing to see Jayden as well. Good thing (maybe?) that Jayden has such a medical history that his doctor is willing to see him anytime he needs to be seen.

We both were given prescriptions for antibiotics. I have a very swollen throat and Jayden has a runny nose and goopy ears. I suggested we try a chewable antibiotic because pinning him down and gagging him with the medicine is surely not fun.

I go to Wal-Mart and stroll through the store for about 45 minutes until our prescriptions filled, spending money I don't have, on things I don't need (well, not entirely true) and then head home. I cut his pull in half and give it to Jayden because I know he's going to flip a cartwheel and beg for more because it tastes like candy he'll really like the chewable pill, just like his vitamins. Nope. Out onto the floor it went.

Sigh. We call the pharmacy and they suggest smashing it into powder and putting it in his food. So I put it in the applesauce and gave it to him. He took one bite, then another, and then he shuddered and pushed it away. Now I'm thinking what next? I call the doctor, who is gone for the weekend, and ask the receptionist what to do. Thankfully the doctor came back to the clinic and he called in a new prescription. This time it's liquid.

I guess it's back to taking two people to pin him down, hold his hands and legs, put the syringe in his mouth and leave it there while I slowly squirt the medicine in. Oh well, at least I know he's getting the medicine and hopefully he'll get better soon.

As for me, I swallow my pills with no trouble. Maybe someday soon he'll start doing the same. Ha!

homework or not

After missing 4 days of school in one week due to the flu and such, we had a few battles in our house about doing some homework. Usually Miss Shaylee was very cooperative and worked hard on it.

Or not.

And then it was back to business, focusing hard on finding some information on the computer.

Or not.
In all seriousness, Shaylee did really well getting caught up on her homework that she had missed. 6th grade is proving to be tougher than the previous years and math has left her feeling a bit perplexed and overwhelmed. Thank goodness Mike is patient with explaining things and can tackle that better than I can.

a different perspective

Could someone please tell me where this year has gone? My gosh, it seems like yesterday when it was last winter, and the beginning of summer. And now, here it is, October. That seriously just amazes me.

I once heard the reason why time goes so fast when you get older is because you've lived so much life in your past. Many years worth. Where as a three year old who is waiting for their birthday thinks it takes forever because they don't have a huge life to compare it to. Make sense? I've lived a 1/3 of my life already. A three year old is just beginning life. It just puts things in a different perspective. I've celebrated so many holidays and birthdays that when they roll around again, it seems like yesterday. But to someone so young, they have nothing but the future to look to and that seems like forever to them.

Our kids are so young where many thing in the future take forever and they in fact, say, "that'll take forever". Remember to think in their shoes. It makes a person think in a different perspective.