Happy Thanksgiving

I have this song stuck in my head that I hear on Radio Disney all the time. I don't know who it is, but it's some pop person. Usually I know all of my people from Radio Disney, so it must be a pop person that isn't from the Disney stable like Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Blue.... etc.

Anyway.. the song says, "I'm a winner....cuz I'm awesome....."

Why am I singing that? Because I went to the grocery store this morning and got everything I need for tomorrow. I was in and out in record time.

Then I headed to Costco just as they opened. I'm so on the ball I can't stand it. ;)

I got the remainder of the stuff I needed, plus other stuff so that I can stay near my house all of this fabulous four day weekend without having to go out if we don't want to.

Yessss. My sense of accomplishment this morning is through the roof!

I loved going to Costco today. I figured it would be busy so I went in with an open mind. While I was standing there waiting to pay, and about the 20th person in line, I watched people.

It was so funny to see everybody with carts full of rolls and stacked boxes of pies. The man in front of me had 150 rolls in his cart. (He had SCADS of bags.) A woman behind me was holding probably a dozen pies in her hands with her arms stretched out and her head peeking out of the top. It just looked so holiday-ish there today. I can see why this starts the beginning of a happy season for Maddy. So Maddy, since I have 80% of my Christmas shopping done, and Thanksgiving ready.... I finally get it. ;)

I also realized, what with the theme of the week being gratitude, that we are so lucky to live in a place where we can go and buy so much food. I remember watching an Oprah show a long time ago (before Oprah got super annoying) with a man who moved here from Ethiopia. He said the first huge memory he had about our country was that he could go buy fruit in a store. Fruit from all over the world, so if he craved an orange even during off season, he could buy an orange. The biggest was that he was amazed that we have an entire aisle just for our pets, filled with dog food, cat food and treats. That was one of those lightbulb moments that I remember all the time. It helps me to realize how lucky I am all of the time. So I thought of this man again today as I was watching the millions of rolls and pies being paid for.

Now I'm not trying to get all Oprah-ish here, but I just want to say that I am grateful. I'm grateful I live in this country, I'm grateful for my family (all of you!) and my friends (all of you!)

Also for Coca Cola, andU2. Plus so many more things, of course.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my family and friends who happen to read this!!! And THANK YOU for everything that you do!

Mwah!

For Shanna.....

My friend Shanna is having a boy!! This post is all for her. She mentioned on her blog how she is a little afraid of the thought of having a boy after so many girls. Granted, I only had one girl when I found out that my second child was going to be a boy, but I went through that total fear of not knowing too. How do you take care of a boy? Do you have to wrestle with them? Will they love me as much as my daughter does? Will they remember me on mother's day when they are married? A million things went through my head.

I now know better. Like I told her in an email today, boys love their mommies more than anybody else in the world. I have two momma's boys. - And I love every minute of it.

So, thinking of things that are boyish to pass on to Shanna.

Always check pockets when you do laundry. You'd be surprised at the collection of Downey smelling rocks that will accumulate on top of your washing machine. They love rocks.

Hot Wheels. They love Hot Wheels, and they are great for bribing them to make it through a trip to Target for under $1.

Trains. I think they all are born with the knowledge of Thomas. Wait until you are humming "They're two they're four they're six they're eight.... shunting trucks and hauling frieght....." The best is that there is usually one of these in their hands at all times and they love to run them along the door and window of the car when they are in the carseat. Careful though, the wheels can get stuck in your hair. True story.

Pretty much anything with wheels. They are fascinated by these things, and unfortunately as you all know they never grow out of this.

Someday you will know the name of all 200 Pokemon, including their evolved form. Trust me.

Legos hurt.

Fart jokes and the word butt.

They love to pick pretty weeds for mom. :)

These are just a few of the observations I have made since having boys. If anybody knows more to pass on... leave some for Shanna!

Congratulations my friend!!!!

The earth is flat, and it feels like I walked right off the edge of it. ;)

Wow. Do you ever have so much to update that you are almost afraid to blog?

I was so sick for awhile, and that put me out of commission for several days. Then Mike has been home and we've been busy doing house stuff and family stuff.

I promise a better post later today. :)

day 8 in the sick ward

And I am NOT feeling nurturing anymore!!!!

My boys have been sick all week. All three kids were sick since last week, but the boys and their asthma have been awful. I got them to the doctor and now they are on medication to finally kick it since they weren't getting better. Matthew even has an ear infection to top it all off.

I usually kind of enjoy when my kids are sick. They get snuggly. There is nothing better than sitting on the couch, under a blanket with a snuggly child. I like to play with their hair and give them a lot of kisses on top of their heads or on the feverish cheeks.

Until today. Today I could tell that the medication is doing it's job. They are feeling better and the coughing and wheezing has subsided. I didn't send them to school because I wanted them to be strong before they went back to the germ buffet. But today they won't let me have a second to myself!

When we got Piper we were watching the mom dog with the puppies. She was trying so hard to find a place to lie down but puppies kept following her. She looked desperate. Everytime a puppy came near her she'd growl. Mike asked the owner if she was aggressive at all and she said, "Not at all, she's just ready for the puppies to find homes and stop nursing."

I can totally respect that. Been there done that. Now I think of the look that poor mommy dog had as her poor boobies were hanging down and she just wanted to be left alone. I swear I feel like that dog today.

we are experiencing technical difficulties

halloween 2007

(I still can't get pictures off of my memory card into the computer, so I'll have to post them in a couple more days.) It's totally Maddy's fault for ruining my computer. ;)

Last night was fun. I thought if I had things in order downstairs and dinner somewhat ready that we wouldn't have the major stress out before starting trick or treating. Somehow we still lost track of time and managed to freak out trying to get everybody into costumes, fed and all that.

My mom came over to hand out candy at the house, and brought pizza with her. Thanks mom!

I loved walking around with the kids this year. They stuck together, and I let them run off on their own as long as they stopped at the end of the street if they happened to split up. It was nice that they all got a little taste of independence. I think they really liked that. Our neighborhood is great on Halloween too because there are SO many kids and parents walking around that it feels like a street party. Everybody decorates their houses like crazy, and the streets are lined with jack o lanterns. I always feel like I'm in a movie on halloween night here.

I was easy to find too, if they happened to feel lost. Like Trevor said, "You were the only one wearing a witch hat with feathers sticking out of the top."

At one point Megan even hooked up with the girl from last week's school trouble, and another friend. I swear, girls are so weird.

So all in all, a great halloween. As usual it seems like it came and went pretty fast and I can't believe it is November. It's hard to switch gears and start thinking about Christmas already, (Especially when it is unseasonably hot here still!) but I've already started a little shopping. So far I feel totally on the ball!

And admit it.... who else had candy for breakfast? Haha! ;)

Oh, and check out my ticker at the bottom. Only 11 months, 4 weeks and 2 days until the next one.

Happy halloween!

Finally.

Not only am I glad that it is Halloween just for the fun day itself, but also this marks the end of the crazy/busy month of October at our house. Fall festivals, pumpkin walks, three birthdays, another month of single parenthood and normal life. October has been a blur.

I feel so unorganized lately. I have a calendar to help me remember who has what on what days and all that, but the bad thing about the calendar is that it doesn't do some of the work for me.

Three halloween class parties today, and stuff that needed to be brought in for those, making regular lunches in hopes that some good food will be eaten by these children today, one more pumpkin to carve, plus a shortened day as far as sunlight goes. I'm sure as soon as the kids get home we'll be getting started on dinner and costumes. I am going nuts with the rushed feeling I've had lately. I'm pretty high anxiety in the first place.

I am officially worn out. Done. Cooked. Frazzled. - and 3 more days left in the countdown!

Happy halloween!

Are you smarter than a 2nd grader?

I'm sure I am like every other mom who thinks their child is a genius. Not too long ago we were in the car listening to the radio and Trevor told me that the part of the song that was on was called the 'bridge.' He told me when the reprise was, and all that. Words that are vaguely familiar to me, but if you asked me I might not remember the answer.

Tonight at dinner I asked T if he finished his homework, and if he had his spelling pre-test tomorrow. He said he had it today and that he didn't have to do the spelling part of his homework because he does "super spelling" or something like that. I didn't believe him, because he does try to get away with sneaky things like not brushing his teeth, or to get out of homework.

He says, "I am! My words are different than the ones on that list. One that I had to do today was courteous. Do you want me to spell it so you'll belive me? C O U R T E O U S. Gah, you neeeever believe me!"

OK, so he was right. Plus I caught him helping his sister on her 4th grade math today. Not that his sister is behind in math, but Trevor LOVES math. (OK and I have asked him random math questions thinking he won't know the answer and he does. It's almost freaky.)

It got me to thinking about the same thought that I had back during the conversation about music. I am so glad that the time he was a week old and I dropped him, that I didn't cause permanant damage to his little brain. Apparently that car seat really did protect him. (I was walking down stairs at a restaurant and tripped. Resulting in falling about 6 steps towards the bottom of the stairs, carseat with baby strapped in, mid air and falling fast. I felt so bad. I cried for a long time, but Trevor just sat in the seat like a happy little guy.

Then not too long after that (since he was still in the car seat and tiny) we went out for dinner one night. Trevor was a lousy sleeper, so I was in a zombie state for about a year. We went to Macayo's. I set him on the table and we ate. It took me awhile to realized that I had set the poor kid on top of one of those candles that they use to keep the cheese crisps warm. His seat was pretty toasty. Here I am, really trying to ruin this kid. I'm positive I had divine help that first year.

All in all, I'm just glad to know that I didn't ruin him. What a relief. ;)

Hallow-WHAT?!?!

I'm a little ticked.

Today I went to Target. I went towards the back in the hope that I might find some little halloween thing I couldn't live without. (A habit I keep up until after Halloween and there is no more sign of any black or orange.) On my way back I noticed that the little endcaps throughout the store that would have the Halloween type linens like place mats and table runners were gone.

Then I see that the cups and things in the kitchen areas were gone.

Replaced with - get this - CHRISTMAS stuff!

Where did the Halloween linen stuff and kitchen stuff go to??????

They just threw it all willy nilly in the Halloween section in the back! (Which already shares with the stupid pre lit moving reindeer, seal and moose.) The poor stacks of stuff didn't even have a dignified shelf tag.

They are moving out my Halloween stuff and getting it ready for clearance BEFORE it is even Halloween!! Can't I have my moment here people? I mean I've been waiting for this all year long and now it's bad enough I have to share it with Christmas, but to take it away from the other areas of the store???? To cast aside the cute little 99 cent Halloween scrubby sponges like they don't have any worth?!?!?

This rates right up there with the whole CK/KC HOF scandal. I would almost say boycott Target, but they know they have me wrapped right around Bullseye the dog's little paw finger.

.... and speaking of Target ....

"Matthew, where would you like to go for your birthday dinner?"

"Target. They have good popcorn."

I love that kid.

the tooth fairy uses new technology

Not long ago Megan lost a front tooth. I was a horrible mom and remember that was a night Mike was out of town and I was exhausted before I went to bed, so I forgot to put some money under her pillow. Thank goodness that night she had also come into my room because she had a nightmare and slept with me.

So when she woke up to look under her pillow in her room and noticed the tooth was still there, I thought quick and said that I would check my email. Sure enough, the tooth fairy emailed me to say since Megan wasn't in her own bed, she would try again the next night. Whew.

Sure enough the next night she had a visit from the tooth fairy.

Last night Megan looses another tooth. Same deal, she puts the tooth under her bed but this time I don't have ANY cash and it is way too late to go get some. I ended up downstairs and rummaged through my scrap stuff. I found a Target giftcard that was left over from when my friends decorated my front yard with a ton of them on my birthday years ago. I was saving them to make a page someday.

Instead, I wrapped it up with a 'letter from the tooth fairy' that she had $5 credit on this card. (There's nothing left on it, but I always pay the cashier so she would never notice that it was blank anyway.) I had no idea she even had a loose tooth (she told me she didn't know either, so I can't feel that bad.) But I do have to applaude myself for some quick thinking creativity! haha!

Now I have learned my lesson. Trevor has a tooth that has been loose for a couple of weeks. You can bet that I am prepared for that one to come out. I have money ready.

A revolution has started! haha! Free Simon and all that!

Long story behind how I came to have this on my scraproom wall. Add to that, a smaller button that is now pinned on my visor in my car, so everytime I drive anywhere I am reminded that "It is OK."

- and Laura. Now I think of Laura wherever I go.

Last year when Laura (don't know how to link, but she's the chick with the blog linked on here somewhere.) came out for the 2Peas crop, we ended up at Target before she had to go to the airport. She loved this little swag thingie made of felt pumpkins. So when I went back to Target after Halloween I found it and had it sitting on my desk all year. I finally got it to her in time so she could use it this year!

These are what she sent me in return! I really have to laugh when I see them. I have friends with the most odd sense of humor. Which is exactly why we all get along.

Speaking of friends, I was tagged by Michelle (another chick with the link somewhere over there) --> -->

It kind of goes with my obsession of liking to fill out questionaires. Or maybe I just like to talk about myself. Who knows, but I am thrilled to be tagged. Here it goes:

1. What is your spouses name? Mike. Or MIA as he's been known for a little while. ;)

2. How long have you been together? We met in 87. Plus married 17 years. = 20 years. Whoa.

3. How long did you date? 3 years

4. Who eats more? Me.

5. Who said I love you first? him

6. Who is taller? I think we're both the same

7.Who sings better? oooo, definitely him.

8. Who is smarter? definitely him. I suffer from mommy brain.

9. Whose temper is worse? Yeah, that would be mine.

10. Who does the laundry? me mostly, but he helps.

11. Who does the dishes? Me. He cooks. It's a fair trade.

12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? the dog.

13. Who pays the bills? He brings home the bacon, da da da, fries it up in a paaaan... da da da

14. Who mows the lawn? like Michelle said, a team of dudes.

15. Who cooks dinner? him. He's a food artist.

16. Who drives when you are together? It kind of depends. Usually him so I can beat the kids over the head if needed. ;)

17. Who is more stubborn? Geeze, this list makes me look terrible. Definitely me.

18. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? I am never wrong.

19. Who kissed who first? Hee hee. Him. In a green Samarai listening to Alphaville.

20. Who asked who out? he asked me.

21. Who proposed? Him.

22. Who is more sensitive? yep, me again.

23. Who has more friends? split.

24. Who wears the pants in the family? both. I prefer jeans.

Now I'm going to tag Lisa. I'd tag more, but really that seems unfair to not leave more for her to tag now does it? Then again, it may take a month for her to update her blog.

guilty.

This photo cracks me up. If that isn't a look of guilt....

How do you install a doggie door on your arcadia door?

This is how we do it at our house.

First, open glass door and shut screen door to allow beautiful fall air into the house. You should already have your dogs in the backyard at this point.

Second, have somebody ring doorbell on the front of the house.

Third, have 50 pound lab puppy not realize the screen door is shut while thinking she is doing her duty of protecting the family from whoever is at the front door. Run full bore through screen until there is a hole big enough for puppy to go in and out of for the rest of the season.

for daddy

From the picture below, to this.

The last of the single digits. Nine years old.

Happy birthday Megan!

Happy birthday to my little girl!! It has been the most amazing NINE years ever!!!

We love you!

I'm the multi-tasking queen. What do you do when you are waiting for the pork chops to broil? Make a page. ;)

I think I'll just keep on making 8x12 enlargements. It almost feels like cheating.

My scanner is protesting from all of the times I have accused it of being dirty or cutting off half of a page. Or it may have been bumped by the kids one too many times. I have to resort to a photo. Which Lisa is wanting to see.

She is my inspiration for this page. Being that she gave me that cool scrollish rub on, and I pulled out the sewing machine to do wavy stitching on the top and bottom like she does.

You might be able to see it if you click on the picture. It was very stressful to NOT stitch in a straight line. I am the one who makes sure all of my brad thingies line up the same way on the back of my pages. It stresses me out to know if they are all wonky back there.

Check out the screws on all of my outlet and switch covers at my house... they are all lined up horizontally. Yep, who's OCD?

So this was a big test for me. Whew, I did it. And - I LIKE IT. *singing* think George Michael's Freedom....

Oh, and if you are interested in the journaling, here it is:

What is the best thing about losing a front tooth? Of course, it's having a place to put your straw! I love watching Trevor when he is drinking a soda. It must be a little quirk that I didn't realize I liked so much until I started to notice that I have a lot of pictures of him like this throughout the years. - We were taking a break from swimming and I was taking pictures while watching him enjoy a coke.

******

It is fall break, and we have been super busy. Which is much better than being bored! Ha!

My little girly is going to Kentucky tomorrow morning for a few days. She is so excited. She's all packed up, and we made a trip to Target to find some things to put in her carry on. Books, coloring books, a charged MP3 player, Nintendo DS..... she should be set.

Now I have to remember to breathe until she comes home.

little tiny airplanes

It is a valuable lesson to be learned. Be careful what you say because you never know when it could become birthday fodder when you have the weirdest of friends!

A million little airplanes! (At least it looked that way!) That is what I got in my front yard for my birthday this year. From what I understand, all hand cut by Beth (the original martha stewart) And since they came the night before, I had NO CLUE about it.

It was hysterical! And I really appreciate the effort considering my front yard is still gravel. Those sticks are hard to get into the ground!! See, had I known, I would have watered the yard for them. But no... they had to be sneaky.

I left them up until the morning so the kids could see them. I noticed neighbors driving slowly trying to figure out what they were. One stopped and said, "It looks like Mike got the job!" I just nodded. How do you explain this funky birthday tradition you know? Haha!

Some of my favorites that I can put on my blog (some I did have to pull out the night before. I still have to live here you know!)

Are you still lactating?

28 days until Halloween

Hello my name is Kerry and I'm a cleanaholic

U2 sucks. <-- That is SO untrue!

genre: non fiction - we love you!

I need adult time!

It's 8:08

Oops I mean 9:11

You KNOW how I feel about tank tops!

Come fly with me

Mmm smell the undo

Kim Possibly the biggest fan ever!

Have you seen my Shego costume?

Can I borrow one more sweater?

Target lover

Clinton/Obama 2008 (WTH!?!?) ;)

Love me, love my dogs

Birthdays are no calorie days

My ipod kicks your ipod's ass

There were more. A lot more. Haha! Thank you to everybody involved whether you were here or in spirit. :) Mwah!

alas, no update.

No penny yet. (I'm sure everybody has been DYING to know!) But I do have to say that I like the doctor's answer today better than the info online about what to do. If he hasn't had a bad tummy ache over the weekend then I shouldn't worry about it. It will take care of itself. If he gets a tummy ache, that is what to watch out for.

Whew. Because THAT was not fun.

I love October. Probably because

a) U2 has an album called October
b) it's cooler
c) lots of birthdays in our family
d) halloween (duh!)

and finally.... the halfway point. I have been assured that this will go by fast now. Please please please.

One exciting thing happened today. Old Navy has the cutest Halloween tshirts. Now everybody in the family has a Halloween tshirt, including the dog who has a orange and black collar that says "tricks for treats" on it. Who knew? I also saw Christmas collars. Do I really need to change collars depending on the season? Sure, those brown eyes deserve the best in doggie accessories.

I'm reeeeally reaching for blogging material right about now.

The proof is in the poo. Motherhood rocks.

How did I make it through two other children without swallowing a single foreign object or stuffing something up their nose?

Leave it to matthew.

He swallowed a penny tonight. So after a few calls, at least I'm not in panic mode anymore.

Everybody pretty much told me the same thing. Keep an eye on him to make sure that he doesn't choke. (It should be past his esophagus now.) and - get this - collect poo for the weekend.

No. Way.

Yep, all of those extra produce bags from the store and I are going to become friends this weekend, since I have to 'collect bowel movements' and try to feel for a penny. Gag. I hope I get that Volkswagen bug that I've been wanting for Mother's Day next year. ;)

He was crying so hard until I told him that he had to poop the penny out, then he just started laughing. You have to love boys. Trevor even asked me if he did get it out if I was going to put it in the scrapbook. I don't think so. Some things don't need to be put in there buddy.

Even though this sounds totally awful, I am at least hoping to find 'the object' because the next step is going to the doctor for an xray.



Motherhood. What can you say?

My house is suffering, but the kids are clean and fed.

I told Lisa the other day that I've been doing it wrong all along. I usually would do stuff that needed to be done during the day, like cleaning and laundry and then 'reward' myself with scrap time at night after the kids go to bed. This of course is after picking them up from school and helping with homework and spending some play time with them too.

The thing is, I usually end up cleaning until the middle of the night because I never know when to stop. Several weeks of this have made for a sparkly clean house, but one very exhausted me. One thing leads to another. So this week I've done it backwards. I'm scrapping first to save my sanity.

It isn't like the house can't wait, right? No matter how hard you work it is undone so fast you think a tornado went through anyway.

I have two more I'm going to work on too. Along with some Halloween cards. Then I'm sure I'll get tired of scrapping for a couple of days. Then pick up on cleaning again. I really do fun and exciting stuff occasionally! I really do! It just doesn't sound like it lately.

Here is my T. The journaling says:

I usually write about how fast time goes by, and how shocking and sad it seems to me - especially after looking at these photos. You have changed so much and gotten so big! But I also have to say after going through boxes of photos to find some of these that my biggest feeling is gratitide. I am so grateful for the 7 years that you have been here. I love having a boy, more than I ever could have known. I love your energy, your funky little observations, and the things that you do and say that make me laugh every single day. I do miss the little boy from years ago, but watching you grow has been one of the greatest things ever. My T man is SEVEN!

I just noticed that you can't see #1 on the scan on the top left photo, but it is there on the layout. I did forget #3 on it's photo though. Off to find more rub ons! Ack!