Minor Setback

Most of you know I set some financial goals at the beginning of the year.

Well this past weekend our financial goals were smashed, crushed, and stomped on. Thank goodness for the two extra paydays a year. Today was one of those and since I have paid all the bills for the month it is like "free money". I used it all to get us back to where we were after our big spending party. Our savings account is back to where it was and I still have one revolving account paid off and one half-way there.

I realize this won't be the last time we have a setback like this. I just have to keep my eye on the goals. This is much harder than I want it to be.

Spring has Sprung!

Finally today as I let the dog out to pee, I saw it!

A tulip is peeking out of the ground ever so small. That means it really is coming. Life is returning to South Dakota and I can once again venture outside to enjoy sunshine and LIFE!

I love spring!

God Bless YOU!

As we round the corner in Walmart with our cart full of our kids this weekend, a man is standing there. His chin hits the floor as he sees us.

"Are they all yours?" he gasps.

"Yes." I answer.

"God Bless YOU!" he replies.

Indeed.

ABC's about Jodi

A is for age: 31 and loving it!
B is for booze: None. Never have. Maybe someday.
C is for career: Domestic Engineer, Internal Control CEO, Financial Advisor. You pick what you want to call me. I prefer Mom.
D is for your Dad's name: Gordon and Steve, in that order.
E is for essential items you bring to a party: Me?
F is for favorite song at the moment: I am digging back into the 80's right now.
G is for favorite game: Scrabble or Boggle. I love words.
J is for jam you like: Grape
K is for kids: 5. Four girls and 1 boy. Life is good.
L is for love: My life. Everything is good, most of the time.
M is for mom's name: Kathy and Norma, in that order too.
N is for name of your ex's: Do we really want to go that far back? Nah.
O is for over night hospital stays: Just to give birth. Four nights.
P is for phobias: Heights, definitely heights.
Q is for quotes you like: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
R is for relationship that lasted the longest: My hubby and I have been together for 16 yrs.
S is for sexual preference: My husband? LOL
T is for trouble the naugtiest thing you did as a kid: Snuck money out of my mom's change jar and bought candy with it.
U is for underwear: Bikinis, DAILY!
V is for vegetables you love: broccoli
W is for worries: You want the whole list? I have five kids remember?
X is for xrays you 've had: Once after I broke my nose when I was 8.
Y is for yummy food you make: Brownies. YUM!
Z is for zodiac sign: Leo

Conscience or Not?

Marea is a great, well behaved kid. That is until she is out of our line of vision. Seriously! If we are watching her, she is an angel. As soon as we can't see her she is naughty. At school, on the bus, at a babysitters, anywhere where we aren't, she is a horrible kid. (And no I am NOT exaggerating.) She breaks every rule she can.

Tonight we picked her up at 7 p.m. from a cheerleading camp we allowed her to attend after school. My other kids said she was naughty the entire time she was there. She was up on stage playing with the drums, not listening to the leaders, etc. When we arrived to pick her up we found her and another kindergarten girl in the hallway running around like monkeys. (I don't know where the supervisors were). As soon as she saw us she straightened up immediately and went back to the room they were all supposed to be in. During her little presentation of cheers, she was not cooperating or doing what she was supposed to until she spotted us in the crowd. She instantly told her "friend" something , who had been goofing around with her instead of cheering, and started behaving.

She has this unbelievable talent for manipulating full grown adults into doing whatever she wants or allowing her to do whatever she wants. Her teacher this year is a prime example of this. Her preschool year, the lunch ladies were so entranced by Marea that her teacher had to tell them to BACK OFF because it was allowing Marea too much control in the lunchroom and she was abusing that power.

This is all a part of RAD and believe me, I am thankful she behaves around us because if she pulled that stuff in my presence, she would be pulling her foot out of her butt as well. It just is so hard to know that "the naughty kid, the obnoxious kid, the troubled kid" is mine.

Today she lost the privilege of going to anymore school activities like the cheerleader camp at least until I feel we can trust her to behave herself. I don't know if that day will ever come.

Couch Meets Chainsaw

My hubby tried to save it, really he did. He hauled it all the way upstairs by himself. He begged, pleaded, and bribed it into going into Becca's bedroom but it just wasn't going to make the corner. Finally he gave into my wishes and got out the chainsaw. He cut the couch in half and we hauled it outside. The couch is over 7 years old. When I bought it I went for denim fabric because I thought, WHAT IS MORE WASHABLE?! What I didn't consider is that denim fades unevenly if all surfaces are not washed/touched regularly. That is the white areas you see on the arms of the couch. It faded drastically compared to the back of the couch and looked soooo bad!

In it's place, I got 2 of these:


What an awesome looking living room I have now!

Follow the road less traveled

I was going to come here today to post about someone very close to me who decided last week that life was not worth living. This person (who's name is being withheld for obvious reasons)attempted suicide, but fortunately did not succeed. After a week in a treatment facility, it was determined that this person and their spouse were having problems and the only solution this person could see to end the disagreement/anger was suicide.

This makes many many thoughts run through my head.
1. What are we not teaching our children as far as coping methods for life, that would make a person choose suicide over communication?

2. What is our world coming to that suicide is the chosen method to "escape" from the pain we experience?

3. What can I teach my kids, either by example or by talking, that will help them avoid this type of solution?

4. What can I do to help the above person?

You see, I am an emotionally strong person. I don't in the very least pretend that I have any inclination about what was going through this person's head at the time.

For me when life gets bad, I mumble to myself, "THIS TOO SHALL PASS!" and/or I look for a way to make it better so I am not miserable. I cannot imagine getting to the point where I just want life to be over. How do we teach our children that suicide is not a way out or a way to get attention?

***I heard on the news, ironically, that for every 1 homicide in the U.S. there are 2 suicides. We just don't talk about them.***

Battle on the Treadmill

My Body: "Get off this thing woman! What are you trying to do to me!? Someone call 911! Helllllp!"

My Brain: "Nope, I am not getting off. We are running for 30 minutes. Keep moving those legs!"

My Body: "Oh, yea? I can make you stop. Take this side cramp! That will make you quit moving."

My Brain: "I can run through that. No pain no gain."

My Body: "Well I can make your calves burn. That will make you get off this tortorous device!"

My Brain: "Like you haven't done this to me before? Oh pulllleaz!"

My Body: "I don't know why you are so mean to me!"

My Brain:"Did you see those health insurance results? You have high triglycerides and borderline high cholesterol! We are running!"

My Body:"Okay fine, you just keep on running then."

My Brain: "Thank you, I will."

My Body: "But don't think I am giving up any of my fat!"

THE MOMMY TEST

I was out walking with my 4 year old daughter. She picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that.

"Why?" my daughter asked.

"Because it's been laying outside, you don't know where it's been, it's dirty and probably has germs" I replied.

At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, "Wow! How do you know all this stuff?"

"Uh," ...I was thinking quickly, " All moms know this stuff. It's on the Mommy Test. You have to know it, or they don't let you be a Mommy."

We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information.

"OH...I get it!" she beamed, "So if you don't pass the test you have to be the daddy."

"Exactly" I replied back with a big smile on my face.

Thanks to Mary, for emaling that to me. Too funny!

What?

So today she comes home from school totally and completely giddy and loving. Is that from the card I snuck under her pillow yesterday telling her that we love her and are so proud of who she has become or the fact that they don't have school for the rest of the week? Why must parenting be so hard?????

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Two of our kitties are off to be fixed tomorrow. The momma cat, who has produced 7 extra cats, will go and the one remaining baby is going with her. I hope this is a quick and easy operation for them. At least now I am not in danger of producing anymore kittens at my house. :)

Frustrated beyond belief...

Megan! She has been having problems in school since the end of last year. I thought it stemmed from a problem with making friends. Then I thought it was because her and her teacher seemed to butt heads. I was incredibly leery of sending her into third grade this year because, well, the teachers are not the most lovey people on the planet. At first Megan did really well and seemed to genuinely love her teacher. And over the last six months I have watched her fall. She is not doing her work completely, correctly, or at all. And most of the time if she does do it she doesn't hand it in and then gets a pink slip and 7 points deducted. That can make an A a B really quickly.

And not only is her schoolwork suffering but she is miserable all the time. She is angry, mean, crabby, etc. She takes it out on me and her siblings. She comes home angry and frequently says and does things that are totally intended to hurt the person she is targeting.

I have tried numerous times to talk with her and her teacher about this but Megan is so damn stubborn that I can't get her to even answer a single question and her teacher is helpful but what she thinks is the problem seems to be way off base to me, thus nothing has changed.

I am so frustrated and at a loss. I just want to sit down and cry. Do I pull her out of school and homeschool her? (something my husband is very against but something Megan was really wanting to do last year) do I leave her to suffer? do I call the teacher AGAIN and see if we can figure this out? do I let it go and hope next year will be better?

I just don't know what to do!

All alone...

The kids are off to school (two hours late because of the 12 inches of snow we got yesterday and last night) and my sister who came to visit on Friday is off heading toward home. Mr. Bill and I are at a loss. He is enjoying being able to watch cartoons without interruption and I am just hanging out. No babysitting for me today since some of the schools cancelled altogether.

Spring Break is this week for my kiddos so they only have school until Wednesday. I am looking forward to some quality time with them.

Other than that, life is boring here today, but I will take it! :)

I am sooo excited!

I got an email today from a gal who wants me to do my Internet Genealogy presentation in Pierre for a workshop she is setting up. She even asked me how much I charge! LOL I have never charged so I have no idea! I just enjoy sharing my passion with others.

See me? DANCING ON THE CEILING TODAY!

Murphy's Law?

Is there some law that I don't know about that states when one kid gets sick, it is mandatory that at least one other also get sick?????

On Wednesday Cassie didn't feel good. Her tummy hurt, she said. By Wednesday night she was running a 103 fever. So today rise and shine my four girls and THREE of the four are running fevers and their tummies hurt. What is up with this!?

At least no one puked or anything else. They just seem to be slightly off. I hope this is a quick virus and I hope it is mommy-proof! :)

What a difference!

From this....


To this in just a few short months...

What it is like inside the womb...by Mr. Bill

"I was floating around inside your tummy and I saw a piece of pizza so I grabbed it and ate it. Just a little bit in my mouth though. Did you stick your hand in your tummy and tickle me? (Me-shaking my head).

Oh. You ate pizza when I was in your tummy didn't you? (Me-nodding). And daddy poked me! I know he poked me when I was in your tummy. I was trying to take little bites of food that was floating around in your tummy too and daddy poked me!

Did the hospital give you sleeping medicine? (Me-shaking my head). Did they give you wake-up medicine? (Me-still shaking my head). I got the hiccups when I was in your tummy because you would tickle me and I would laugh too much.

Because I should share in the wealth, right?

Becca with her attitude I have been getting plenty of lately. Anyone want a 10 year old who has pms already? I'll even give a discount to a loyal reader? Anyone?*

*Of course this is a hoax as I love my daughter even if she is recreating the exorsist on a daily basis.

Oy do I feel stupid!

When Blogger updated their functions the last time, I noticed the date and time option at the bottom of the text box had disappeared. This sort of irked me because then I couldn't make a post show up the next day. After emailing blogger support here is the response I got:

Hi Jodi,
Thanks for writing in. I understand that you are unable to find the date and time options. These options are still in their usual place below the posting form. If you click the small arrow by the "post and comment options" text, you will see the options as before. This change was made to make this section more compact and to allow for more options to be included in it. We apologize for any confusion it has caused.
Sincerely,
Samantha
Blogger Support

Just pass the stupidest blogger award this way please.

It's Friday! Need I say more...

Oh well, I do have a little more to say.

Mr. Bill went to Kindergarten/Preschool Screening today and he PASSED with flying colors! He knew how to do every single thing they asked him to do. I was a little nervous about the fine motor because at home he does not like to draw. He drew them everything they asked for just perfectly so at least now I know he CAN do it, he just doesn't WANT to do it.

I am a proud mommy!

They discovered what I have known for about a year now, Mr. Bill is not yet right or left-handed. He uses both hands equally for just about everything. He typically cuts left-handed which is hard when I have no left hand scissors in the house. LOL I figure by this time next year he will have chosen one of his hands to be the dominant one. Until then, can we spell ambidextrous?

Promise made, Promise kept

Remember this room? It used to be a walk in pantry.....
Here are the after pictures of a very LOOOOOOONG remodeling project. It only took so long because we opted to "do it as we had the money" instead of buying everything at once and then starting. We learned our lesson and won't do a project that way ever again. I am absolutely in love with how it turned out though. As you can see the kitten likes the new sink.



To see many more hideous before pictures of this very same room you can go here.