Weekend

Whoaaaaa! What happened to Friday? Is it really over already!? DAMN! (sorry Andrea, cover your ears girl!)

We had a jam-packed weekend that left me feeling, um, DEAD!

Friday, we just decided since Becca was at a sleepover/luau that we could have fun too so we took the kids in to town to this amazingly, mouthwatering, yummy mexican restaurant called Guadalajara's. Mmmmm. The kids each ordered (can you guess?) chicken nuggets with fries or a hotdog with fries. So adventurous are my children! Billy and I ordered chicken fajitas which came with a huge plate of beans and rice and lettuce and all the fixin's. The chicken arrived on a separate metal plate that was still sizzlin as the waiter set them at our table. Mmmm Mmmmm!
We also got all the free chips and homemade salsa we could eat. We will be back! :)

Saturday Billy had to pick Becca up from her party and they arrived home at 11:30 a.m. Becca said the party had 36, oh yeah! 3-6 girls! CAN YOU IMAGINE!? As if my life isn't crazy enough, let's throw in 31 extra children? I THINK NOT! She is one crazy mom! Anyhoo, after Becca showered and dressed we decided to hit the matinee of Madagascar. It was okay, not really a plot line but Mr. Bill liked the characters. Not one I will buy unless Mr. Bill wants to see it again. I got to gorge myself on oiled popcorn and boxes and boxes of movie theater candy though. What more can a girl want?

After the movies we explored McCrory Gardens in Brookings. The kids enjoyed running around and snapping all kinds of pictures.

Saturday after the movies

Mr. Bill was not in the picture taking mood:

Run Billy Run!

Sunday, we layed low and go some house work done. The kids and I cleaned up the yard while Billy mowed. We also got in about 5 hours of softball. Do you have any idea how sore my muscles were after that? Even my inner thighs hurt and Denise Austin says they are one of the most underused muscles in our bodies. Well ladies, take up softball and they will be hard as a rock. (Just don't expect to do any major moving, and forget sex for awhile!) LOL

Monday, in the shower I formed this great idea. I told the kids we were going on an adventure. I packed a picnic lunch, we filled up the gas tank, and we drove. To no where in particular, we just drove. We checked out several small towns around us (and there are many of them), as in less than 100 people. We stopped in Revillo South Dakota to have lunch at the school playground.

The kids at the park in Revillo

Mr. Bill grabbed a handful of goldfish crackers and ran off. Mmmm healthy lunch Mom! After several hours of driving and playing we found ourselves in Milbank.

The museum was closed so we could only look at the trains but the kids had fun at the train park.

We left our house at 10 a.m. On Monday and arrived home at 8 p.m. We took a little side trip though. We wound our way back to Watertown which is only 30 miles north of our house and they happened to be having a carnival in the grocery store parking lot. $40 later the kids each rode 8 rides and mom and dad each got to go on one. The kids had a blast and so did Billy and I. There is a lot to be said for some family bonding time.

Today, is well, the beginning of summer break and it shows. My kids don't know what to do with themselves, and I don't know what to do with them. We are off to a good start eh?

I am IT

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

I have been tagged by Sandy's Dad, Mac! Here goes:

The nearest book to me is the Bible. (I had to use it for a Sunday School lesson about 3 weeks ago and have yet to put it away. he he he)

Pg 123, 5th sentence, is Exodus: And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod before it.

Now I tag~~~~~~~~LORI! I bet she reads some interesting stuff!

I love ME!

What do I love about me? Let me count the things:

1. I love my name, Jodi Rebecca. I love that it is original and it sounds so girly.

2. I love that I am a go-getter! I love to do things until they are done, and done well.

3. I love that I am competitive.

4. I love that I am a smart gal. I can debate with the best of em!

5. I love that I am a leader. I have always done my best when directing a group of people.

6. I love that I am a great mom.

7. I love being short. I am 5'4 and don't mind a bit. I am the shortest in my family and get teased about it quite often, but I love being short!

8. I love my ability to pull out of a crisis mostly unscathed and ready to fight the next battle.

9. I love that I can jump in and do "guy-things" and do them well.

10. I love the woman I have grown to be.

Now I am making this a meme. We spend so much time telling ourselves what we do wrong, so tell me, WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOU?! Post it in your blog for us all to read!

Failure to learn

I got the call today. Marea's teacher called. She will be repeating kindergarten. It is not that her teacher handed down this verdict. We have been talking with her for a few months now. I have been checking in and she has been keeping me updated. Marea just is not going to do well if we move her on. She doesn't know all the letters in the alphabet, she hardly knows that they have sounds associated with them, she can't recognize the numbers 1-10. She is just not "there".

I know I shouldn't feel like I failed, but I do. I feel like I should have been able to do more, to help her, to FIX IT! My heart tells my head not to be silly but I still feel bad.

With Marea's RAD we are looking at some serious repercussions from this decision. Things could be pretty nasty next year. I am hoping she will take this as her opportunity to get her butt in gear and learn and not use it as a way to make me and her miserable for the entire 8 months.

Next year I will have 4th, 3rd, and two kindergarteners. Oy!

Free sex bookmarks

I added this new feature to my blog the other day because I have heard rumors of it and because I was curious. You can track who comes to your blog when they do a search online and your blog gets pulled up AND it tells you what they were searching for.
So are you ready for my results?
Drumroll please.......

Today's random searches that brought up Organized Chaos:
Free Sex Bookmarks ( I really must have mommy brain because I DON'T remember mentioning this on my blog?!)
Dr. Phil's t.v. show
Chaos Energy
Bottle of water sold on ebay (again did I mention this? Hmmm, mommy brain is a killer!) LOL


Oh, this technology cracks me up!

What color are you?

you are aqua #00FFFF

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well. Your saturation level is very high - you are all about getting things done. The world may think you work too hard but you have a lot to show for it, and it keeps you going. You shouldn't be afraid to lead people, because if you're doing it, it'll be done right. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Thanks Andrea! This is so cool and SO correct!

Farewell

This is the last day of my sanity. The kids are done with school for the year. As much as I wanted to be done, I have quickly revised my opinion of summer break. My kids got to go to school for two hours this morning to clean out their desks and lockers and walk out the door.

Shortly after they arrived home I made lunch, because the lunchroom apparently is not open on the last day of school. So I begin making sloppy joes for lunch. Megan (my insanely picky eater, who would survive on pb&j if she could) informs me that she doesn't like sloppy joes. I informed her that she better get used to eating anything I cook because I am NOT the lunchroom and I do not have an open salad bar at every meal. She informed me that she would be in the pantry for the rest of the day (no doubt snacking on animal crackers and cereal). I continued cooking the hamburger and then decided to use that reverse psychology stuff on Megan. I asked her to come help me, which she did. I had her pour the ketchup on the hamburger (she likes ketchup) as I mixed in it. Then I had her put a spoonful of brown sugar in the pan (likes brown sugar too!). Then I had her add just a very small amount of mustard (which she doesn't like at all!) and she says, "No wonder I don't like sloppy joes!" I tell her you can't even taste the mustard it just neutralizes some of the sweetness in the sugar. As we sit down to eat she is still arguing with me about eating a sloppy joe. So I hand her half a bun and tell her to make her own sandwich. She complains the entire time telling me she isn't going to eat it. As she is putting it together the meat keeps falling out on the table so she picks it up with her fingers and then licks her fingers off. Oooops! As I sat down to eat my lunch she sneaks a small bite of her sandwich and looks at me surprised. "This is good! I wonder why I didn't like it before?!"

1st challenge of the summer averted!

How many more will I have before September?
Stay tuned!
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Mmmmm

Guess what arrived in my mailbox today?

Something chocolate covered.....

Thanks Sandy!

Norm

Norm, oh Norm? When are you coming to South Dakota? Can't wait for my turn!

Confused? Go check out Cori's Blog!

Judgement Day

On the drive home from school this morning I was thinking....

Why do we take it upon ourselves to judge other people? A neighbor of mine recently checked himself into rehab. I live in a town of 100 people so everyone, and I mean EVERYONE knows. Everyone who I have talked to in the last week talks about it. What are they going to do? Why has his wife moved to another town? Are they getting divorced? What are they doing with the house? You get the idea. Many people think he is just horrible for waiting this long to go to rehab. I don't know this family very well, despite the fact that they live right across the street from me but I think it is great he is seeking help.

My first thoughts were how sad for his family to have to go through this ordeal. I said a prayer that his family will pull through and everyone will be better off. I think of them often and wonder how he is doing in rehab. Learning to live without an addiction is not an easy thing to do. So I am left wondering why we think we have the right to judge people, like this family, who are dealing with issues or going through rough times.

I believe in God, we have established this, and in every bible I have read and church I have attended, they tell us that at the second coming God will be here. It will be judgement day. So why do we, as mere mortals, feel like we have the right to condone people? Does it hurt your family if your neighbor is gay? Does a passing teenager with body piercings have any effect on your life? Do parents need you telling them what they are doing wrong? In the end all of these people will have to answer to God. They will have to explain to him, not us, why they made the choices they did.

I am not preaching, I am just musing. I wonder why we automatically jump to conclusions instead of giving people the benefit of the doubt. Maybe this was a survival skill when we were cavepeople? ;)

Grand Central Station

It has been one of those days where the phone never stops ringing.

First it was the softball coach, "No practice, it is pouring." Well obviously. The catch? The girls have had ONE practice and Wednesday is their first game. We will not be squeezing in a practice this weekend because the coach is going on vacation. Oh my!

Second call was a mom returning my call. She has invited Becca to a luau party on the last day of school and I wanted to make sure they would get lunch since the school is not serving lunch since the kids are out at 11 a.m. She assured me they would be getting plenty of snacks and food all night. Okey Dokey! Just the overprotective parent in me coming out!

Third call was a 77 year old man who is researching his ancestors. He found my name at the family history center in Minnesota and he thought I could help him. Sure, ya betcha! So I spent an hour online doing research and found all the descendants but no ancestors. The joy of the hunt!

Fourth call was my sister-in-law. I am still not really sure what she called for, other than to talk. That is the beauty of our relationship, we just TALK, about nothing for like a whole hour! I never thought any of my in-laws and I would ever have a relationship of any sort. I am glad to say at least one of them is normal! :)

I am going to start saying, "Grand Central Station" when I answer the phone now!

Jodi's FAQ's

Here are the answers to all the questions I get over and over (in rl and on the net).....

1. I bet you have your hands full?!
Yes, yes I do. But I love all my kids and wouldn't have had it any other way.

2. Why did you move so much as a kid? Followed by: Was your dad in the military?
My dad was in Vietnam but I was not a military brat. My parents moved, I think, to try and save their marriage. I think they felt like the problems would stay at the old places. I lived in SD, WY, HI, AK, OR, CA all before I was 12. The longest place we lived was AK for two years.

3. Why did you get married so young? Closely followed by: When was your first child born? (Like I cannot read into those questions! LOL)
I got married at 18 because I had been dating Billy for 3 years prior and I was and am madly in love with him. He is perfect for me in every way. Our first child was born in 1995, 2.5 YEARS after we were married. We will be celebrating our 12th anniversary in June.

4. Are they all yours? (referring to my kids, of course)
Yes they are. I purposely had five kids. Not one of them was an oops.

5. Do you collect anything?
No. Because when I was younger I collected Teddy Bears and you know what, everyone started buying me anything with a bear on it. ANYTHING! Whether it was a cute bear or not, it didn't matter. By the time I got rid of my bears I had over 300 items with a bear on it and 90% of it was stuffed bears! Do you know how hard it is to stuff 200 stuffed bears into a small two room apartment!?

6. How did you get started making webpages?
My husband sat down with me one day and was goofing on the computer. He showed me the basics of how to set up a webpage and I fell in love! I say it is like interior decorating (my passion) on the internet. And it is soooo easy to update and change. Fun!

7. What are you going to do when your kids are all in school?
I don't know. We talk about me getting a job, which I may do. But I enjoy being able to be home and keep the house running smoothly. I also enjoy being here for my kids when they need me. I have considered becoming a realtor. I love looking at the inside of other people's houses to see how they are set up and decorated. That would be a good job for me. Either way, I have 3 years yet before I have to worry about it.

8. If you don't like movies what do you do for fun?
I play on the net, make webpages, read bloggers, garden, play with my kids, clean my house (yes that can be fun!), scrapbooking, read books, read magazines, do home improvement projects, jump on the trampoline, and go shopping. I don't need a movie to have fun!

9. Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Yes, I have one younger brother and two sisters, one older and one younger. I am the official middle child, with all the symptoms to go with it.

10. Are your parents divorced?
Yes, they divorced when I was 12. My mom remarried a few years after that and my dad has been remarried for a few years now. I refer to both my dad and my step-dad as dad on my blog. I guess you have to figure out which oneI am talking about. LOL

11. How can Cassie and Marea's birthday's be only 8 months apart?
I love when I get this question. Cassie and Marea were both born in 1999 and so for a few months each year they are the same age. They are not twins and I tell people they are 8 months apart. Most people just nod and walk away. A few do the math and wonder how the h*** I had two kids 8 months apart. FYI, Marea is adopted.

12. How long have you been foster parents?
Almost 5 years.

13. Why do you write such personal stuff on your blog for the world to read?
Because I can.

Did I miss a question? Is there something you are dying to know about me? If so leave it in the comments and I will do my best to add it!

A universal problem?

FAMILY

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.

But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
Come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family,
an unwise investment indeed, don't you think?

Do you know what the word FAMILY means?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

(Thanks to Aunt Sandi for sending this on to me. You have no idea how true this is!)

Happy Monday!

It is Monday! Have you all made it so far? Cori? Are you still with us today? ;)

I enjoy Monday's because it is the start of the week, my kids all head off to school (well for this last week anyway), I get the mounds of laundry done, and it is one day I don't have to run to the school at 11 to pick up Cassie. It is nice not to have to keep track of time.

We had a great weekend. Becca and Megan joined softball for the summer so we headed off to our local Walmart to purchase gloves, a bat, and a ball. They spent a good portion of the weekend playing ball. I even took a few turns at bat. When I was a kid they hadn't invented metal bats yet so we played with the good old fashioned wooden ones. When we were looking at bats at Walmart we found one, yes ONE wooden bat and probably 30 metal ones. We opted for a metal one, figuring they were the "new" thing. LOL Anyway, while we were playing with the girls at the park I took a turn at bat with this new lightweight metal stick. I hit the first one with a slight tap and it rolled to the pitcher. I decided to put a little more force behind the next one. As the ball flew towards me and the bat and ball collided the metal bat vibrated and OWIE it made my hand sting like a m****** f*****! Apparently, (after conferring with other adults who have more experience with these newfangled things), you are supposed to keep a very tight grip on the bat so it doesn't vibrate when you hit the ball. At any rate, the ball was outta here!

Mr. Bill has not taken well to his bed being in Cassie's room. He has wet the bed each time he has slept in in (nap and bedtime) and last night he woke up screaming and then peed on me. I think most of what we dealt with last night was a night terror, something he has been suffering with since he was a newborn. He seems like he is awake but all he does is scream. Nothing makes him stop. When he was a baby I would hold him and walk around and talk about anything and everything in a very calm and normal voice. Eventually (30 min-1 hour later) he would stop screaming and start listening to me. Last night, I was holding him and he was kicking and screaming as usual and then he peed all over him and me. I was shocked but ignored it. He layed his head on me and fell asleep. I took him to his bed and cleaned him up and tucked him in. I almost brought him to bed with me but he fell back asleep so fast that I decided he was alright. This morning he woke up and was cheery and fine. I have just layed him down for his nap and I have decided if he pees again I am moving his bed back in my room. Obviously he just wasn't ready yet. We can always try again in a few months.

I am free!

Today I redecorated my room. And in the process Mr. Bill and I moved his bed out of my room and into Cassie's room. The selling point? Cassie has a night light. Mom and Dad don't! Either way I can't believe for the first time in 10 years I have a bedroom with no kids in it. He is currently napping in his bed in Cassie AND Mr. Bill's room. He went up without a fight and crawled right into bed. Aaaah, smell that? FREEDOM!

I have also been on a cleaning streak in the rest of the house. With this nice weather I feel the need to clean so I have been and it is nice. I am finishing up the weeks laundry so I have less to do on Monday and less to worry about this weekend. The upstairs is squeaky clean and as soon as the hot water returns I will get the downstairs scoured. Summer is awesome!

Life, death, and kids

Yesterday my kind neighbor drove his bobcat into my yard and RIPPED IT A NEW ONE! Okay, well not really. He drove it and ripped out a bunch of grass and tripled the size of my garden. Yahoo! Alison, Margie? I hope you are on your way to South Dakota? ;) So this weekend I will be spending the days outside digging in my garden. Yea!

I have lost my voice (thank heavens for email)! I think it is allergy related because when I am outside it is really bad. I cannot yell (how do you parent without raising your voice????) and I sound funny when I do talk. It is driving me nuts. On the plus side though it is making me refocus my parenting skills. I have to talk to my kids instead of getting irritated and yelling. (Which I KNOW I do way to much of, but it was sort of a trade off. I vowed never to spank my kids and I have substituted yelling in its place. Not good, I know.) Maybe God took away my voice for this very reason. Hmmmmm....

I don't think enough people appreciate the work that goes into having a large family. I was watching a show about quads today and the chaos the parents go through. (Ironically the dad said, "It is an organized chaos.") I could totally sympathize with the family even though my kids are not all the same age. The mom took all four 2 year olds to the store and had to push around two carts to do it. I am sure she got many strange looks. I know because it happens to me all the time.

Many people stop me in the stores, or worse stare and count all of us as we are walking around the store. The people who stop me usually say, "oh I bet it is fun at your house". I am never sure if they mean that in a good way or not. But you know, I love my kids, all five of them. If being pregnant didn't suck so much I would consider having more of them. I get the chance to be a mom, to be a mentor, to be a teacher, to be a friend, to be a boss, to be a supporter, and so many other things I never would have gotten the opportunity to do without kids. Having kids has made me strive to be the best ME I can be. And yes, it is hard too. I spend many days organizing, driving, playing referee, cleaning, washing, and holding. But I wouldn't trade any of it. Not one day of it. I just stare in awe at all of them at how wonderful they are as a family, as a person, and as a sibling. Coming from a large family has many many benefits. My kids share incredibly well, they play together with little fighting, they help each other when one needs it, they are loving to each other, and when I am gone I know they will have someone else to be there for them.

Over before it starts...

The other day I took the kids shopping. I decided to let the girls each pick out a new article of clothing provided it was around $5.00. I let Becca and Megan run in the girls section while I watched. I browsed the clothes while they looked. Occasionally I would find something I thought was really cute and I would show it to them. They both gave me the "Mom that IS sooooo uncool" look. At first I thought I was reading too much into it. After all I am only 30 and I was a teenager not that long ago. And I see what the other kids at school wear so I know whats cool right? RIGHT!

Wrong! After the third item got "the look" I knew I had been demoted to MOM, the embarrasing one who dresses us funny. How did I get here so fast?

Stormy weather  

Human Garbage Disposal

Someone tape my mouth shut today! Eeek! All morning I have wanted to eat and eat and eat and eat some more! I don't know why. I am not usually hungry after breakfast but today I can't stop eating. Someone save me from myself!

Mr. Bill is doing that limping thing again. He refuses to walk on his leg but tells me it doesn't hurt. Last time (on the other leg) we ran him to the doctors, did the exam, xrays, and millions of questions (did he fall, was he running, etc.) only to discover nothing. It is hard to watch my almost 3 year old crawl around the house. It is either that or he makes me carry him. Last time the doctor moved his leg all over the place and he didn't even wince but by that night he was fine so I wonder if he didn't pop something out of place then and now and she just happened to put it back while moving it around. Boys!

I bought some weed AND grass killing spray at Walmart the other day. I am dying (ha ha get it...dying) to get out there and spray the weeds but our weather has other ideas. It is either windier than a tornado or raining buckets or both. I don't think we have seen the sun in weeks. I have a garden to plant soon too (Margie? Are you coming to help?) so the weather had best shape up soon! Because I said so!

We are passing a virus around in my house this week. We finally (knock on wood) got rid of the strep throat, after 5 of us had it, and now this. Mr. Bill got it first and spent two days sitting on the toilet, Billy got it next (only he did not mention it to me), and Saturday I visited the porcelain goddess at least every 10 minutes. Thankfully for me it only lasted about 4 hours and I was feeling pretty normal again. Cassie got it yesterday and was pretty miserable all day. Who do you suppose is next?

Boy-o-Boy!

Words I have never heard my girls say,

"Mom can you put on my cape?"

"My tail hurts!"

"I farted! That was my butt! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"I want to watch Spiderman!"

*while in a mid-air leap from the couch* "To infinity and beyyyyooond!"

Here she is! 

Tasty kitty! 

Micki is 5 weeks old! 

Cassie 

Marea 

Megan 

Becca 

The experts say...

The "experts" tell us that kids have a very short attention span?

So why is it when Mr. Bill gets upset about something and starts screaming, he can keep it up for a good half an hour? If his attention span is only 5-10 minutes then what is he screaming about on minute 16 or 20? And not only does he keep it up, but he can watch t.v. in between fits. Oh yes, if he is throwing a fit and a t.v. show he likes starts, he will stop screaming and watch t.v. until he gets bored or a commercial comes on and he resumes the screaming like he never stopped.



WHAT IS UP WITH THIS?!

Claws and Cars

We have gone from cute adorable CUDDLY kitty to an all out fur-flying, claw-weilding maniac!

Our once cute (okay she is still absolutely adorable) kitty has turned everything in her wake into a scratching post. If any of us stand still for too long (i.e. long enough for her to get to our feet) she will use her claws to climb up our legs. I shudder to think how painful that will be when we are no longer wearing denim pants. Ow! She has learned how to climb up on the couch, using her claws. And she doesn't mind in the least if she happens to grab your leg on the way up rather than the already abused couch.

She also has this new annoying habit of meowing loudly and persistantly whenever she hears us come home. She keeps it up until one of us comes and brings her downstairs. (She is currently gated in my room when we are not home as I am pretty sure she would do somersaults to get down the stairs alone).

No one told me it would be like this!

------------------------------------------------

And in other news.....

WE GOT A NEW CAR!

Okay, well it is new to us. It is a 2001 Metro (AWESOME GAS MILEAGE) and we will be going to pick it up tomorrow! Hallelujah! My husband once again has a nice vehicle that is not falling apart. Anybody want to buy the junker van?

See me doing the happy dance? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mind vs. Reality

Do you know how you think about something for so long that soon you have overanalyzed it and reality becomes obscure? Why does that happen?

In my short life, I have dealt with PMS quite regularly. As a teenager, I quickly learned to recognize the symptoms and held my tongue when needed. It is a monthly battle to watch for the signs and recognize that the anger, frustration, jealousy, sadness, etc. that I am feeling is not "real" but rather a figment of my hormone's imagination. It is frustrating to decipher if what I am feeling is genuine and I should do something about it or if it is the ugly hormones doing a dance on my brain functions.

Take for instance, my husband. He is typically the target of these "episodes" because, well because he loves me and he lives with me. Anyhoo, lately he has become "unplugged" (as Dr. Phil would say) to his family. He is not here very often as work and friends have become a higher priority. Now my non-pms brain knows this is not right and that it should change but there is nothing I can do to MAKE him want to spend time with his family. But my PMSing brain thinks there is plenty I can do, and yelling at him has become the outlet of choice. During the non-pmsing weeks I can rationalize my pain and cope. Basically, it sucks but I can deal with it. When PMS strikes I CANNOT DEAL WITH IT! I want to scream, kick, pull my hair out (or his), and just let him know how absolutely miserable I feel.

Do you think he is one bit interested? No. He is not. He has no problems telling me I have PMS and to basically shutup and leave him alone.

Now men of this world: if there is one thing you should never EVER EVER say to a woman (whether it is true or not) is that she is PMSing. Why? Because if she is, she is going to rip your face off and stuff it down your throat and then dump a bucket of salt on the exposed flesh. Sound painful? It will be. And if she is not PMSing and you suggest she is, she will never forgive you for making her feelings unvalidated and worthless. Either way you lose, so if you are thinking it, keep it to yourself. It is for your own safety.

So today I sit here on the verge of tears wondering why my husband is so rude, disrespectful, and distant. Today I will laugh, cry, scream, and sing all at once and no one, not even myself can stop it.

Vonnie and Shannnon

My baby sister is married! Shown here with her husband and baby girl!

I heard already!

Please don't make me look at the pictures anymore!!!!!!

Renee and Kenny--They Do!


Now I must move on to bigger and sexier things!



Seriously though, I really do hope they both have found the love of their life. In Hollywood, everything is so superficial, so for them I hope this is the real thing.

As if!

As if I don't spend enough time on this computer, I discovered this today:

DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING

IF I DON'T GO, I WON'T KNOW WHAT I AM MISSING RIGHT?

Know what I did yesterday?

I hung cabinets in the office and organized my desk and work area so now I just want to sit here and look at the clean-ness that is around me. Organization makes life so much easier.

This morning Billy tried to drive his van to work despite the fact that it should already be in the junkyard. He called me shortly after pulling out of the driveway and says, "The hood latch is broken and the hood won't shut correctly." Ummmm, well can anything else break on this van? I think not. He drove it anyway but I anticipate it won't be too many more days and he will be looking at my van again. We are in the shopping mode but so far haven't found a vehicle worth its price tag. I think we may try to ride it out this summer since the kids are almost done with school and I don't need my van then.

Billy and I did something fun at the park on Mother's Day. We played tetherball. (What were YOU thinking? ;) I haven't done that since I was a kid. I used to play all the time at recess and at the parks when I was younger. I cannot tell you how many times I got smacked in the face with the ball and my glasses got smashed. On Sunday though, we played against each other and I never laughed so much in years. It was a blast and we both ended up winning a game. I told Billy that we really need to get a tetherball pole in our yard. He agreed. It was fun, even though I have rope burns all up and down my forearms. LOL

I found a new blog from a gal who commented here on mine. She is a very interesting writer and is very good about expressing feelings in her blog. Go check her out!

Life or Death

My mom is out of the hospital this weekend after threatening her home-health nurse that she intended to take her own life.

Billy's mom is out of the hospital after receiving a blood transfusion because the cancer and chemo have sucked the life out of her, almost literally.

Billy's grandma is home and resting after several days in the hospital because her pacemaker was running overtime and her cancer was causing problems.

Do you think they had a happy mother's day? Oy!

On a better note:
We spent the weekend doing something we haven't done in quite awhile, being lazy! It was so nice to sit and relax and veg and do NOTHING all weekend. Saturday was a lazy lazy day. The kids ate cereal for two meals and take out for the third. LOL Sunday I had to teach Sunday School and then we had the end of the season ceremony for the kids so we attended church as well. After church we headed into Brookings to eat at DQ (YUM!) and then we went to the park. We played for an hour or so before the thunder started and the hail and rain poured down on us. We ran for the van, which was several hundred feet away, and waited out the storm while shopping at Walmart. Then we came home and rested some more. All-in-all it was a good day. I didn't do anything nearly as ambitious as Andrea. :)

Someone tell my husband....

that luscious is not pronounced LUH SEE SHH USH!

Stranded....

It is offical. My husband's van is dead.

D-E-A-D

So he is driving my van.

Which leaves me at home, all day, with no ability to go anywhere.

Will I survive?



.....stay tuned......

Sensitvity...

I have always had sensitive teeth, super SUPER sensitive teeth. When I was in high school I remember biting into a snickers and feeling the pain surge through each tooth to my head. At the time I was wishing to curl up in the fetal position and die a quick death. After several visits to the dentist to have my teeth plastic coated (because this would fix it ya know) I realized it was just my teeth and I would have to learn to deal with it. I ground the plastic coating off after a week and was back to the usual bone tingling pain whenever I ate anything sweet, cold, or hot. Over the years I have learned not to eat cold apples or anything else I have to bite into. Ice cream and I do not get along at all. I also don't each many candy bars or chewy candy because the longer it lingers on my teeth the more it hurts. I use sensitive teeth toothpaste religiously and pray. ;)

Oddly enough as I get older the pain seems to just get worse and worse. On my latest trip to the dentist (after five years of not seeing one) I refused to let them clean my teeth. Do you know how incredibly painful it is to have that metal thingy scraping at my teeth? OWWWWWWW! My teeth hurt now just thinking about it. They attempted to clean them anyway assuring me I would be fine. After the first two minutes my eyes were watering and my mouth felt like I had been kicked by a horse. I told them to stop and got up and left. Will I be going back? NO!

Anyway, the point of this whole post is I found a dentist in a nearby city that practices conscious sedation. So basically you are unconscious but can still move when told too. I think next time I need to see a dentist that is where I will be going. I will be so out of it I won't give a rip what he is doing to my mouth and you stay drugged for several hours afterwards. Thank Heavens for modern drugs!

I also heard on the radio the other day that scientists are finding people who have sensitive teeth almost always have other senses that are sensitve as well. That explains why I can smell dog poo from miles away and why each time I was pregnant I could smell the doctor's perfume from the parking lot. It was also the reason why I threw up continuously from week 6 to week 16! I will never forget when I was pregnant with Megan and we bought a new dishwasher. I went down one morning to load the dishwasher. When I pulled the door open the smell of new plastic was soooo strong and overwhelming that I threw up right there. I didn't even have time to respond and get to the bathroom.

Brain w-a-s-h-e-d

Today while I was shopping at Walmart, I remember I needed dishwashing liquid. So I take the cart with Cassie and Mr. Bill to the soap aisle (which is located in the food aisles, which I TOTALLY don't understand.)

I spent about 20 minutes just studying the rainbow of bottles and smelling the "mandarian orange", "green apple", and "grapefruit extract" bottles. As I am standing and looking at the wall of bottles in front of me trying to decide which bottle will get my precious money spent on it, Cassie looks at me and says, "You should get Palmol Oxy Plus."

"Really, why?"

"Cause it cuts grease."

"Oh, where did you learn that?"

"I saw it on t.v."

"Really"

"If you cook grease for dinner, than it will clean it up."

"Grease for dinner eh?"

"Yeah, you should buy Palmol Oxy Plus Mom!"

"I think I will stick with the grapefruit scented Joy I bought this time, Cass."

"Okay but next time lets get the Palmol Oxy Plus."

"Okay!"

Washing up...

Mr. Bill had a few miniature candy bars a few minutes ago (I know bad mommy) and then had chocolate all over his hands. I told him to go grab the baby wipes so we could wash his hands. He went into the other room and I continued reading some blogs. A few minutes later he comes back with his hands behind his back and says "I don't need any baby wipes." I told him he did and to go get them. So he pulls his hands out from behind his back and shows them to me. They were clean but dripping wet. I said, "Where did you wash your hands?" He did his embarrased grin and said, "In Max's water...." and looked at the floor.


Max

Do I even try to explain....?

Change is good!

How do you like my new blog?

Pretty and bubbly, just like me! LOL

Energy!

When I was 10 years old, we lived in Alaska and Richard Simmons was wildly famous. Everyone was dancing to his videos and losing weight and bouncing around like they were on drugs. I can remember my mom exercising with his videos every morning for several years. My mom happened to work at a t.v. station at the time and was fortunate to get a couple of tickets to a "concert" that Richard Simmons was doing in Anchorage. So we went, as a family to watch Richard dance and scream and smile. I don't remember very much about the concert but I will never forget what happened afterwards.

Richard sat down on a table in the back of the room and personally greeted each and every person there (some 50k) and signed autographs. When it came to be our turn Richard kissed my mom on the cheek and hugged her in his overly enthusiastic style and then signed the book she had brought with her that he had written. I was next. I blushed when he smiled at me and refused to get any closer for fear that he would kiss me too. He laughed and said, "Well then your cheek will just fall off without a kiss!" I just shoved the newspaper article I was holding towards him, which he signed and handed back with a giggle. My older sister had broken her arm and had it in a cast so Richard Simmons signed that too. He really was the most sincere and kind man I had seen in real life that was also on t.v.

I still have the book he signed for my mom and my newspaper article too.

Our baby kitty, now 3 weeks old.  

No, NO IT IS NOT!

If I see "incorrect password" one more time I am going to shoot blogger! Everytime I type in my password I see this "********!" Like my 3 year old is peeking over my shoulder trying to read my password so he can sneak into my blogger and leave a nasty post for the world to read?!

How do you know it is incorrect dear Blog when I can't even read it!? Who made you the all-knowing program! Huh! Huh!? We humans, we still know more than you! We wrote you and we CAN DESTROY YOU! Muuuuhhahahahahahahaha!

So go ******* yourself!

Modesty?

One thing I really liked about the Mormon Religion was that they encouraged their kids to cover up their bodies. I don't mean in ugly hideous bags but in stylish clothes that reached below the belly button and up to the neck thus not exposing any flesh.

As a mother of four girls, you can imagine this ranks high on a list of concerns for me. Cassie, my five year old, recently grew about a foot and a half while I wasn't looking. Friday I noticed her belly button was hanging out, her ankles were uncovered and everytime she bent over her butt crack made its debut. I decided we would have to go digging in my extra clothing boxes that contain piles and piles of hand-me-downs. Yes the dreaded hand-me-downs. (Although my kids still are in the stages where hand-me-downs are cool. I know, just wait. I was a teenager with two sisters too.)

Anyway, so I dug out the boxes and found her 5 shirts but no pants. Apparently Marea is wearing all the size 5 pants or they have been worn out from being passed down. Cassie was sooo excited to have "new" clothes and tried them all on immediately. I allowed her to wear some of them that day. Since then I have noticed a dramatic decrease in the new clothes, as in she hasn't worn them at all. She has gone back to the flesh-exposing ones I thought I had banished.

So today, since I am doing laundry, the evil clothes will be quietly and quickly confiscated and hidden away to be handed down to my niece. Because you see my dear, I don't want you exposing any thing more than you have to. I pray that by the time you are old enough to have the sorts of flesh men want to look at, these tummy baring, middrift exposing, cleavage showing styles will have been done away with. Until then, I choose what you wear. When you are old enough to make your own choices then you are free to wear what you want, when you want.

And by old enough I mean, "when-you-are-no-longer-eligible-to-be-on-our-insurance" old. Got it?