Halloween Party-OVER!

We had the halloween party on Saturday and I have to say it was a hit! We had about 40 kids in attendance who all partook of the games, food, and fun! The haunted house was also a hit! My husband has never been so proud. :)

Here is a picture of all of my kiddos dressed and ready for the party!


Tonight it is trick-or-treating for us all! (Yea! Free Chocolate!)

OMG!

I just realized today is October 31! Do you know what that means!?


TOMORROW NANOWRIMO STARTS!

I have to start writing my second novel, currently titled, Trafaglar!

Are you ready? I know I am!

So this is where our money is going....

Exxon Mobil posts record U.S. profit

They should all be lined up and shot. Making the poor suffer and the middle class become poor just so they can drive to work.

Joy

I have been tagged by Rebekah!

10 things that give me JOY & 6 people to tag:

1. Spending a rainy day inside curled up in bed with a good book.
2. The smell of a freshly bathed newborn baby.
3. Watching my kids play together WITHOUT fighting.
4. A night spent talking with my hubby about what our future holds.
5. Good friends who listen when you want to talk.
6. Surprising my kids with a treat.
7. Getting complements about what a great family we are.
8. Eating chocolate after my kids are in bed for the night.
9. Watching my kids master a new task and knowing it.
10. Writing in my blog everyday.

Now I tag:
Sandy, Amanda, Evey (the comment stealer), Rana, Margie, and Steve!

Insert Foot!

Also today while I was in town, I ran into a lady I babysat for my freshman year in college. Her kids are much older now and I haven't seen her in probably 10 years. She knew I had adopted a child.

I was telling her the kids ages and she says, "So which one is yours?" I didn't know how to respond. I wanted to yell, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHICH ONE IS MINE!? THEY ARE ALL MINE YOU DIMWITTED MORON! YOUR LITTLE COMMENT COULD HAVE JUST UNDONE ALL THE WORK WE HAVE BEEN DOING WITH MY DAUGHTER TO HELP HER FEEL LIKE SHE DOES INDEED BELONG TO THIS FAMILY!"

But instead I hesitated and put my hand on Cassie's head and hoped Marea wouldn't notice. Then, as if sensing her mistake, the lady says, "Well, I guess they are all yours."

Why? Why would you even say..... or even think such a deameaning thing......?

Black and White

On the way to town today, Cassie and Marea were having a conversation about good and bad words. Mr. Bill apparently said the car was stupid and dumb (two words he no doubt learned from his sisters) and Cassie and Marea were arguing about whether or not they were bad words.

I volunteered that although they weren't "bad" words, they weren't nice words and if they used them they could hurt someone's feelings.

This seemed to confuse the heck out of them. Marea pipes up, "So are they good or bad words then?"

"Neither," I said. "They are just not nice."

Cassie says, "So they are bad words!"

It just isn't that black and white girls!

Money

My blog is worth $9,032.64.
How much is your blog worth?

Weekend, whew!

What a full weekend we had around here!

Friday, I spent the entire day cleaning the house and getting ready for my lesson on Saturday. We had my Sister-in-law and her family coming on Friday night so I had to get the house cleaned up and ready. Becca had basketball practice and a game too so as soon as Billy got home he rushed the kids off to basketball. I spent the evening tweaking my webpage I had created to teach at the family history conference from. His sister arrived at 8 and he finally got home at 9. We stayed up until 11 talking and catching up. Finally I had to go to bed as I knew I had to be up by 5:30 a.m.

Saturday morning I woke and showered and got ready for my Family History Conference lesson. I woke Billy up as I was leaving so he could get up and get the kids ready to go. They were headed to the Hobo Day parade in Brookings (part of the SDSU fall lineup, we attend every year). It is a great parade. Usually it lasts well over an hour, sometimes closer to two. I had to miss it this year and I was bummed.
I arrived in Sioux Falls at 8 a.m. and set up for my class. A fellow teacher, P.H. was there again this year. He is the guy that sets up the internet and screen so I can teach my class. I bookmarked the webpage I had made for my class so it would be easy to access when it was my turn to teach.
I saw a lot of old friends at the conference this year and I got to stand up and teach. Two things I enjoy immensely. My first lesson went off without a hitch, although the webpages started loading extremely slowly toward the end. Many people came up and thanked me for the lesson. My second lesson didn't go nearly as well. The internet did not want to cooperate for me and many times I ended up talking with nothing to show the class. I finally roped P.A. into coming up and messing with the internet. Several times he had to come up and as soon as he stood by me the pages loaded. I told him he just had to stand by me as obviously the computer liked him! LOL After a few minutes of this, the computer finally kicked in and the rest of my lesson went off without a hitch. After that I was done teaching so I sat and watched the last lesson of the day. At 3:30 the conference ended and I was out the door. I stopped in Brookings and picked up some pizza for dinner, as I was NOT about to cook, and we still had our company.

Billy's sister stayed until 8 or so and then they headed for home. We crashed into bed at 9!

Now today I am staring at piles of blankets that need washed (comes with having company I guess) and the disaster area called my house. Oh well, small payment for a fun weekend!

Mmm, mmmm, good...

Goes well with PMS....

More Halloween Preparations

Here is a pic of the beanbag toss game my hubby made for the halloween party. Is he good or what? Just a little plywood and paint and tons of talent. :)

"Junk from Jodi"

Think of this like Hints from Heloise. These are tricks I have learned on my own.

*If you put a piece of bread in dry brown sugar overnight, magically it gets soft again. Remove the bread after the sugar is moist or the bread is dry. (You may have to repeat with a new piece of bread if the sugar is really dry).

* Windex will take ink out of fabrics. So will hairspray but you have to use a lot more of it.



What tricks do you have up your sleeve?

5 BIG ONES

Andrea did an awesome post and asked us five big questions. Once we answered them we were to go to our blog and do our own so here I am.

Answer them if you dare.....

1. How did your parents tell you about the birds and the bees?

2. What is one thing you wish you could have changed about your wedding day?

3. If you could be on any talk show, which one would you choose, and what would the topic of the show be?

4. Have you ever had surgery?

5. Did you ever sneak out of your parents house as a kid? Where did you go?

Halloween Explosion

I have created a monster.....

I told ya all I am in charge of planning our town Halloween party right?

Well Billy volunteered himself to do a haunted house. I gave him free rein and told him it was up to him as I was busy enough with my own stuff. Well, 300.00 later we have a housefull of scary props, strobe lights, and everything else orange, black, and scary.

He has plans, BIG plans. He spent the last two nights building a coffin out of plywood. He has to make several other items including some free-standing walls. I had no idea he liked halloween this much......

Happy 6th Birthday to my baby!

Happy Birthday Miss Cassie!

Boy in Training

Daddy did it! When we were at Hobby Lobby yesterday, Billy took Mr. Bill to the bathroom and apparently had a lesson in "How To Pee Standing Up". Mr. Bill was so proud of himself as he told me what he did. I gave him a high five (all the while thinking that now I am going to have to deal with a boy standing and peeing at home!)

Now today everytime I go in the bathroom the toilet seat is up. He is not peeing standing up, he still sits but no longer on the toilet seat. Obviously this needs some further explanation. Thanks Dad!

Self Portrait Friday

I have never done one of these but Tee's was so amazing that it got my brain going at this early hour so I here are mine:

Today we are to post:
Favorite photo you took.
Favorite photo someone else took.
Favorite photo of yourself.

1. A favorite pic I took:












This was taken at the beginning of the summer. Mr. Bill found one of the first dandelion fluffs.

2. Favorite Photo someone else took

All of my kids at Easter time. What a bunch of cuties! Their dad took this picture. Usually I am the one taking pics so it was hard to find a picture I hadn't taken. :)

3. Favorite Self Portrait

This is my favorite baby picture. I was 9 months old. I think this is the only time I ever had professional pictures taken as a baby cause everyone of them I am wearing the same dress.

My spidey boy

My deal of the year. I went to Walmart yesterday after taking my dear sweet forgetful husband his wallet which he had left at home. We checked out the clearance racks in the infants section and Mr. Bill spotted these pajamas. The were the ONLY ones left at a size 3T (just his size!) and they were.........



TWO DOLLARS!

He put them on as soon as we got home yesterday afternoon and has not taken them off since. Hopefully I can get him to remove them today so they can get washed and so can he.

I love getting a good deal.

The death toll is up to 5.....

What happens when 3-year-old boy meets monster toys! :)

Update

I am gearing up for NaNoWriMo 2005. This years book is headed towards a fantasy, I think. That may change but for now that is where I am leaning. I tend to write young adult type stories which is funny because those are the types of books I like to read the most. I am always raiding the young adult section at the library. :) On November 1 I can start writing. I am going to do the blog format again this year even though it is a pain afterwards cause the whole story goes backwards. LOL If you want to read it, you can find it at Jodi's Novel Idea. I am very excited to put out another novel this year. The one from last year, if I print it, is over 50 pages. Yikes!

I am also preparing my lesson to teach at the Family History Conference again this year. This year I am teaching the same class twice. I get to talk about Internet Searching. I really enjoy sharing my passion for genealogy with others.

I have also volunteered myself to head the Halloween Committee for our town's halloween party. Bascially I have two weeks to get donations, make plans, and implement it all. Yes, I am a gluten for punishment.

I think I am finally on the mend health-wise as well. I am beginning to feel somewhat normal now. I did manage to breathe on Billy and give him whatever I had. Poor guy, and he has to work because he has used up all of his sick-leave between me and his mom's funeral. He got antibiotics right away though so at least he didn't have to suffer for three days first right? The girls and I are just finishing up our antibiotics so hopefully we shall all be better for awhile.

I haven't heard a thing about how my mom is doing. I hope she really has turned things around. I imagine I will hear if she isn't doing well.

Alrighty then, everyone caught up? ;)

Sucker!

Family are good for so many things....

1. Babysitting
2. Birthday Gifts
3. Taxi Service
4. Fundraisers

My nephew calls me on the phone tonight.

"Hi Aunt Jodi"
"Hello, who is this?"
"C"
"Hi. What's up?"
"Do you want to buy some popcorn for boyscouts?"
"Oh, sure. Give me the chocolate covered stuff I got last year."
"Okay, That will be 16.00 (for like 6 ounces of popcorn)."
"Okay."
(His mom whispers in the background, "Tell her thank you!")
"Thank you. Good Bye!"
"Uhhhh, Bye."

Watch out!

Apparently once I obtained the wonderful bacteria that causes strep throat, my body became the most inhabitable place for germs looking for a new home.


On Friday, my ears, nose and every other orifice in my body filled up with fluid. I feel like someone is sitting on my head and I can only hear out of one ear at a time, depending on which way I tip my head. Yesterday the cough started. At least I am still on antibiotics so nothing like a sinus infection or ear infection can happen right? We won't even mention the insane itching the yeast infection is causing, complements of the antibiotics.

When I get sick, I go all the way baby!

I am it, again!

I got tagged by Margie

Here's the deal:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same.

Here's my 23rd post's fifth sentence:
After we got the kids to bed I sat and played Star Wars on the computer with Billy.

I won't tag anyone, as I can't remember who hasn't done this one. If you haven't done it already, consider yourself tagged! :)

3 wishes...

Did you all happen to catch the NBC show "3 Wishes" last night?

It was shot in what I consider my hometown. I currently live 30 miles north of Brookings, South Dakota but my heart still lives there. It was so awesome to see all these places that I frequent to be portrayed on t.v.

The man in the story who is dying of cancer, used to work at the same place my hubby does. So close to home.

I am eager to see the Sparkman family roaming about Brookings too. I am sure I will see them eventually. How cool that the mayor made a wish like that.

And Rosie, man can that girl sing! You can download the mp3 of her song, Higher up the Mountain from the nbc website. The girls have been listening to it all morning! I hope she aspires to great things.

Music Lover

I know I am slow on this one, but since I have been sick I have an excuse, right? ;)
Here is the list of Top 100 Songs from 1992, the year I graduated High School. The blue ones are ones I remember, red for the ones I loved, and the others I don't like or don't remember.

1. End Of The Road, Boyz II Men
2. Baby Got Back, Sir Mix A-lot
3. Jump, Kris Kross
4. Save The Best For Last, Vanessa Williams
5. Baby-Baby-Baby, TLC
6. Tears In Heaven, Eric Clapton
7. My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It), En Vogue
8. Under The Bridge, Red Hot Chili Peppers
9. All 4 Love, Color Me Badd
10. Just Another Day, Jon Secada
11. I Love Your Smile, Shanice
12. To Be With You, Mr. Big
13. I'm Too Sexy, Right Said Fred
14. Black Or White, Michael Jackson
15. Achy Breaky Heart, Billy Ray Cyrus
16. I'll Be There, Mariah Carey
17. November Rain, Guns N' Roses
18. Life Is A Highway, Tom Cochrane
19. Remember The Time, Michael Jackson
20. Finally, CeCe Peniston
21. This Used To Be My Playground, Madonna
22. Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough, Patty Smyth
23. Can't Let Go, Mariah Carey
24. Jump Around, House Of Pain
25. Diamonds and Pearls, Prince and The N.P.G.
26. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, George Michael and Elton John
27. Masterpiece, Atlantic Starr
28. If You Asked Me To, Celine Dion
29. Giving Him Something He Can Feel, En Vogue
30. Live and Learn, Joe Public
31. Come and Talk To Me, Jodeci
32. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana
33. Humpin' Around, Bobby Brown
34. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover, Sophie B. Hawkins
35. Tell Me What You Want Me To Do, Teven Campbell
36. Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg, TLC
37. It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday, Boyz II Men
38. Move This, Technotronic
39. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
40. Tennessee, Arrested Development
41. The Best Things In Life Are Free, Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson
42. Make It Happen, Mariah Carey
43. The One, Elton John
44. Set Adrift On Memory Bliss, P.M. Dawn
45. Stay, Shakespear's Sister
46. 2 Legit 2 Quit, Hammer
47. Please Don't Go, K.W.S.
48. Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes), Mint Condition
49. Wishing On A Star, Cover Girls
50. She's Playing Hard To Get, Hi-Five
51. I'd Die Without You, P.M. Dawn
52. Good For Me, Amy Grant
53. All I Want, Toad The Wet Sprocket
54. When A Man Loves A Woman, Michael Bolton
55. I Can't Dance, Genesis
56. Hazard, Richard Marx
57. Mysterious Ways, U2
58. Too Funky, George Michael
59. How Do You Talk To An Angel, Heights
60. One, U2
61. Keep On Walkin', CeCe Peniston
62. Hold On My Heart, Genesis
63. The Way I Feel About You, Karyn White
64. Beauty and The Beast, Calms Dion and Peabo Bryson
65. Warm It Up, Kris Kross
66. In The Closet, Michael Jackson
67. People Everyday, Arrested Development
68. No Son Of Nine, Genesis
69. Wildside, Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch
70. Do I Have To Say The Words?, Bryan Adams
71. Friday I'm In Love, Cure
72. Everything About You, Ugly Kid Joe
73. Blowing Kisses In The Wind, Paula Abdul
74. Thought I'd Died and Gone To Heaven, Bryan Adams
75. Rhythm Is A Dancer, Snap
76. Addams Groove, Hammer
77. Missing You Now, Michael Bolton
78. Back To The Hotel, N2Deep
79. Everything Changes, Kathy Troccoli
80. Have You Ever Needed Somone So Bad, Def Leppard
81. Take This Heart, Richard Marx
82. When I Look Into Your Eyes, Firehouse
83. I Wanna Love You, Jade
84. Uhh Ahh, Boyz II Men
85. Real Love, Mary J. Blige
86. Justified and Ancient, The KLF
87. Slow Motion, Color Me Badd
88. What About Your Friends, TLC
89. Thinkin' Back, Color Me Badd
90. Would I Lie To You?, Charles and Eddie
91. That's What Love Is For, Amy Grant
92. Keep Coming Back, Richard Marx
93. Free Your Mind, En Vogue
94. Keep It Comin', Keith Sweat
95. Just Take My Heart, Mr. Big
96. I Will Remember You, Amy Grant
97. We Got A Love Thang, CeCe Peniston
98. Let's Get Rocked, Def Leppard
99. They Want EFX, Das EFX
100. I Can't Make You Love Me, Bonnie Raitt

This year was the beginning of the end for Rock as we knew it. It was the beginning of the alternative crap that made me switch to country. :)

Bored?

God must think I am bored. Or people have learned I am a stay-at-home mom. Over the course of the last week, I have gotten several calls from people wanting me to do some activity or another.

I have been asked to put on the local halloween party for the kids. That could be fun.

I have been asked to babysit for a gal who is having her first child in a week and needs a babysitter but hasn't been able to find a daycare she likes. Money and a baby, hmmmmm?

I have been asked to be a Girl Scout Leader again this year. Definitely not!

Bored, me, Nah!

Where art thou?

I am back! Did you miss meeeee? ;)

We had a good weekend, although not perfect. Friday on the way out to the hills my throat suddenly started to hurt. When I say suddenly I mean like right NOW. It didn't get a little scratchy and progress to painful, it went from perfectly fine to full-blown SPIT DON'T SWALLOW!

By Saturday morning, I obviously had a fever. Thankfully I had stopped at Walmart and purchased some drugs, lots and lots of them the night before. I had my brother's wedding to get ready for so I lived on motrin all day.

His wedding was beautiful, amazing, and everything you want a wedding to be. I am so happy for them both. They have been together for the last 10 years and seem to just worship each other. It is great to see two people who love each other so much. The reception was great too. The DJ they hired was amazingly sneaky at getting us into dances we had no intentions of doing but we had fun anyway. I even got to see my husband, who never dances, dance to several songs. By about 9:30 my sore throat and fever had caught up to me and our kids were getting tired so we headed out. The kids crashed when we got back to my sisters and I tried to sleep.

By the time I got up on Sunday, I KNEW I was dying. We arrived home at 10:30 Sunday night and I crashed again. When I woke up on Monday I called the doc. Billy stayed home to help take care of the kids, as I was in no shape to even get up to pee. By Saturday, Becca and Megan both were complaining of sore throats as well so I took all three of us in to the doc. STREP THROAT. Two words I never want to hear again. We all were given antibiotics.

The antibiotic they gave me, can apparently "upset your tummy". Ummmm, I spent allllllll day and ALLL freaking night puking on top of my already-sore-throat! I called the doc yesterday to switch meds and thankfully got some much easier on the tummy. During our conversation the nurse tells me, "You may want to stop taking that antibiotic and just wait until you get the new one." YA THINK!

Today I am moving, although slowly. Billy is back at work. Let's hope I NEVER get this again.