8.31.2009---yes busy. with what?---

Can you tell what this is? I have been busy making a tutu for my darling girl for her first birthday pictures which are going to coming up soon. Like in a week and two days. sigh.

8.30.2009~*~Holy fruit bar~*~

Wow...

I♥ this girl!

8.29.2009~~WHAT A DAY~~

So our Saturday was full of lots of stuff.
First: Stormy couldn't get back inside after picking the tomato she was NOT supposed to but she decided to make Sage laugh by yelling at the door. And it worked. Sage laughed. And I did my usual...take pictures of it. Oh--I let Stormy in after the last couple of pictures. ahem.

And my twin came over with her girls. We practiced some cheers--yep--her 6th grade daughter is cheering for the first time this year. We also worked on a music mix for competition. We didn't get much done because...

my twinkie wanted to play with the baby. Oh-and we couldn't figure out the flippin software. I did later.

AND my brother-in-law and his wife stopped over. My nephew Logan is six weeks younger than Sage. You can't tell it though. These two were very content to watch the neighborhood kids run around like crazy.

Then we went to my neighbor's house for an almost end of the summer party. It was a blast. Saw a few people I haven't seen in FOREVER! We trekked our way home close to midnight. By trekking...I mean we walked next door to our house. And thanks to the cool, cooler, kind of cold weather...we all slept wonderfully. The kids were a tad chilly in the morning but managed to hunker down in their blankets to stay a little warm.

8.28.2009--missing her--

This kid of mine. I hardly ever get to see her these days. She is always doing something! So I thought I would share a quick pic of her--taken with my cell phone because we were on our way home from school or actually--to school--or...I can't remember when exactly but regardless I snapped it. And it isn't great because I just hold the phone and push the button and hope I get something in it. I can't drive and take pics at the same time. Oh--let me rephrase-I can't drive well and take pics at the same time. So it's one or the other. Hence...the picture almost missing the face shot. Sigh.

8.27.2009~~Future movie stars hiding~~

Hiding from the mommarazzi of course.

sooo...what's up...

That would be me. Up way too late for having to get up so early to get kids to school. BUT-I wanted to let you know that all is well here on the home front. JUST CRAZY BUSY! I don't always have time to blog/twitter/google odds and ends...etc. I do check my email like crazy though...hmmm how odd? ANYWAYS~ I will try to blog tomorrow. I have some cute pictures to share. Not any "photog" ones. Just ones from my affectionately known crappy camera. BUT, I thought I would share something funny that one of my kids did before I sign off for the night. Guess which kid?






So STORMY and I are driving in the truck--well me driving. She was in her booster seat.--and she says
"Hey Mom. Look. I can make my eyes not blink!!"
And she opens her eyes really, REALLY big to show me.

And I smiled really, REALLY big. She keeps us on our toes--that's for sure!

8.26.2009---not going to bed tonight!!!----------

So after a power nap on the way home from Shayne's cheer practice someone was bright eyed and bushy-tailed and not tired! Good thing she is so friggin cute!

8.25.2009~*~hand me downs*~*~*~

This dress used to belong to one of my older girls. Any guess which one? Yep. This was a gift (from one of my cousin's) at my oldest daughter's FIRST birthday...way back in January, 2003. I can't believe it was Shayne's. It was one of my favorites. And I finally pulled it out of the wrong part of the closet so Sage can wear it...as she gets so close to her first birthday.

8.24.2009~*~*So what Sage do if someone other than Mommy takes pictures of her?*~*~*~

So what does Sage do when Shayne takes her picture?
Well...

The same ol' same ol'

8.23.2009*~*~from a different view*~*~

So Sunday we went to dinner to celebrate my nephew's 15th birthday and my sister-in-law's birthday (that was on the 22nd). Shayne grabbed the camera for me (the affectionately known as crappy one). But we left it in the truck during dinner. Oops. Dinner was good. And you know what made it better? My dinner was free. Why? Because it came out mooing. I had ordered my little 6 oz. steak medium-well--preferably closer to well done. But it was squishy and red...and that is enough visual for that. I didn't throw a huge fit. I quietly said that it wasn't cooked enough and sent it back. It came back to me a few minutes later. Still not well done so I just ate around the edges and dealt with it. When our tickets came, I was pleasantly surprised at how small my total was. Seriously. Only $12.15 for me and my kids!?!?! AWESOME. I didn't ask for that. When the manager came by and said thanks for coming in, I told him "Thank you very much." He was thankful that I simply let them fix the steak and hopes I will return. Very cool right?

Anyways~No I didn't take my camera in for pictures of the birthday dinner. But one of my kids took a bunch of pictures while we were in the truck. It's so funny to me to see things through my kids' view.

So--Shayne's point of view...You know your hand looks red on the picture when you hold the camera up to it? Did you know that Sage will make the funny face for her too? Did you know that Stormy yells when someone else has the camera and she wants a turn? Did you know that Connor will let someone other than his Momma take his picture and even say "PUWEEEESSS take mied picture?"
Well-now you know.

8.22.2009~*~*~Outside fun and not fun stuff*~*~*~

So Saturday the 22nd was another beautiful day! We got a call from my sister-in-law asking if we wanted to go up to her boyfriend's for a small cookout--it included smore-making so I was totally in. We headed up there around 5ish. The kids played for awhile. I did a few pictures (of course).

Sage took Stormy's headband and thought it was an edible item...



I think Shayne is the most tired of having her picture taken. She has been around the longest after all.

Stormy fixed her headband by herself. She is so stylin'.

My little man was in top form at this point. No really. He was being really good.

And then:

For some reason my son completely freaked out over the fire. He was so scared. I-HAVE-NO-IDEA-WHY. But eventually, he calmed down. The smores were wonderful! I didn't have to do any of the work for it so I think that made it taste even better. I love me some toasted marshmallows!

So what's up with the blog title right? The not fun stuff...

Aside from the mosquito bites I have, and Stormy got and the baby...

I ran into someone I went to college with. I didn't much care for in school and that sentiment continues to this day. She was obnoxious. Maybe it had something to do with how she critiqued a paper of mine. And the fact that I didn't change a single thing to what she suggested and I got an"A" on it because I left out her suggestions. Maybe it was the fact that she knew everything. Please note the sarcasm there. And...anyways...Let me ask you a question. Ready?

What is the worst question you can be asked as a woman? Seriously. Think about it. You may have even asked another woman this at one point in your life. I have. And I then learned the girl code for it. You don't ask it ever. Ready for it?

"Are you pregnant?"

Yes. I did the line spaces for deep breaths to calm down. Ummmm...my response:

"No. I did have a baby like almost a year ago."

She tells me she finished school and is now an RN. (You see, I was going to school for this for a bit. I decided my family had to come first since that is the order that I did things. My kids are really young and I have plenty of time for school. AND the school I was going to was CRAZY expensive. Like $30,000+ for an Associates. That's nuts. I can to the community college (which is accredited and well known) for a fraction of that right?)--Okay I digress.

From one woman to another. You never ask that question. EVER. And if you yourself look like you could be carrying an elephant, you should already know better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

I think that's it for this wonderful day. Seriously. My kids and I got to spend time with great company (excluding the dumb*$ I went to school with).

Traditions

I have a few stories to tell but first up is this:

Happy 15th Birthday Donnie!!

Second up...my stories. That will have to wait until after I get the pit we call home cleaned so it will be a pit no more!

8.22.2009---traditions---

8.21.2009~*~*Something new and something old*~*~

So Friday was so gorgeous I decided to take all 4 of my kids (+ my two day care kids) to a new (to us) park. I should have known it wasn't going to be as easy as I had planned. It was a really cool park. No one else was there when we got there. Shayne wasn't allowed to play because of a previous attitude problem {which I let her earn back 10 minutes of play time}. I should have done a before and after picture of me. The before picture would be me smiling and loving this weather! The after picture...well let's discuss that in a minute shall we? Here are some photos from the park...

There is "rock" climbing wall, and a spider rope net thing and a few different slides and so much fun to be had!

So~of course other parents and their kids started showing up. Connor decided after a child had talked to him to call him a name and tell him to shut up. So of course, I had to get him and hold him hostage and not let him play anymore. Which went over...not well. I haven't been that embarrassed by a tantrum in...I don't even know how long. But I wasn't going to cave in. He was NOT going to keep this up. At this moment, my sweet day care little girl decided to hit Sage with a water bottle. So what does Sage do? Well what you would do if someone cracked you upside your head with a full water bottle? Yeah-she is screaming. I am sweating from holding Connor and trying to comfort Sage and trying to wrangle the rest of the kids. So we go home and Connor...gets sent to his room.
Fast forward later in the day...the girls have gotten in trouble for {once again} not listening to me and back talking!!! They are dying to go outside and play. And to be honest...I wanted to go out too. BUT they are in trouble...so dilemma...okay solution.

"Yes, girls we can go out. BUT you are not allowed to ride any bikes, toys, etc. The only you can do is color with the chalk."

They are fine with that. But what to do with Connor? Dilemma...okay solution.

"Connor, you may NOT come outside. You did not listen to Mommy at the park. You said bad words. You are going to listen to me. You get to sit on the rug and watch the other kids play."

"Okay Momma. I sorrwweeee."

"Thank you for saying you're sorry. You are still going to just watch everyone else play. Maybe when you can be a good boy and listen and not call names,you will get to come out."

While I held Sage (or my neighbor did) the girls colored and we did some cheers. And Connor sat with his tractor, poking his head up every once in awhile to see if what was happening. It was kind of sad. I almost caved in. Almost. I hope it got through to him. I'm not sure who felt worse about it. Him or I. I hope I don't have to do that again for a long time. I can't wait to go back to that park when they are all ready to listen and not backtalk and not call me names or other people names.

8.20.2009~*~*Bathing beauty*~*~*

Seriously makes my heart smile...

8.19.2009 ~*~*Good morning sunshines*~*~

Because school is in, we have to get up early (before 9AM--gasp) and eat breakfast at a normal breakfast time. So...here they are...eating breakfast...

And of course their morning cup 'o joe..aka...milk.