Happy Halloween!

I am going to be eating lots and lots of chocolate this week. Yummmy! Afterall, someone has to guard all that candy the kids will be leaving home alone while they are at school. Right?

The Christmas shopping went well. I spent just over 400 at Walmart and bought a small toystore. I only have 3 presents left to buy and of course the stocking stuffers. I will do that on Friday or Monday when I don't have any kids at home. The best part of my shopping day was getting to have breakfast with my husband. He came from work and spent about 30 minutes with me. I miss getting to spend as much time with him as we used to. I am looking forward to retirement for that very reason. :)

Hallelujah it is over!

I am done.

Saturday at 6 a.m. I was on my way down to Sioux Falls. At 10:30 I taught my first class at the Family History Conference. At 1:00 I taught the second one. By 2:20 I was headed out the door and rushing home to get ready for the Halloween Party I was in charge of. At 4:00 I arrived home, changed clothes, and headed for the community center. At 5:30 I left Billy still working on the haunted house. At 6:00 the party started. By 9:00 it was over. 60 sugar filled kids screamed and played themselves into a frenzy. By 9:20 I had the entire community center cleaned up and I was home staring at the mess the tornado had done to my house while I was gone.

It is over for another year. The classes went great. People were requesting me specifically. They actually called the director of the conference and asked which classes I would be teaching so they could attend them. That says a lot. Not that I am bragging....

The Halloween party was a hit but had too many out-of-control unsupervised kids there. Next year I am putting a "must be accompanied by an adult" on the posters. We are not babysitters. Oy!

Tomorrow I go Christmas shopping for all 5 kids. I am leaving at 6 a.m. and have to be at the preschool to pick up Mr. Bill at 11:30. If you see a blur whiz by you in Walmart, it is probably me. Happy Monday!

Love Thursday Friday...

One of my loves are my cats.

I currently have five full-time cats and one part-time cat. We have Mouse, Micki, Waddler, Ghost, and the newest kitten Sandy that live with us all the time.

Then we have Mittens who sort of lives here part-time. Mostly when he is hungry. He is a stray but likes to hang out with us. I know six cats are a bit much and if I were single I am sure I would be referred to as a "cat lady". But they are great creatures.
Waddler and Sandy both sleep in the doorway to my room. When the alarm goes off at 5:25 a.m. both of them immediately jump onto my bed. One starts circling my head and the other lays directly on top of me. If I don't pet Waddler right away he nibbles on any exposed flesh he can find. Sandy lays down on my neck and purrs like a mack truck. I have no fears of falling back asleep, trust me.

And the other cats keep me entertained while in the shower. Mouse, Micki, and Waddler all love to sit on the edge of the tub while I shower. One of them will frequently jump in the far end of the tub and lap up the water that has accumulated there.

Micki finds us and climbs up on our shoulder and rubs his head on our faces. It is his way of saying I love you. It is so cute to watch him and my husband rubbing noses in the mornings.

All five cats come running from every corner of the house when someone crinkles a plastic bag because their treats come in a similar sounding foil bag. There have been many times when we crinkle a bag just to get the cats to come running or to trick one into coming back in the house. Hey, I never said they were smart.

And the best part is at any given time I can pick up one of my kitties and they will love me and purr with happiness.

There is no better love.

***The pictures are of Waddler, Micki as a kitten, and Mouse as a kitten. I would post the rest but blogger is not cooperating.***

This is too cool!

Pandora Internet Radio!

You type in the name of a song you like and it pulls up other songs of the same style and then plays them, radio style. You do have to register to keep listening after about 4 songs but it is soooo worth it to me.

Music, my style, for free. What more could a girl want?

Ripping my hair out

Marea has issues. I have mentioned this before on my blog. It is all related to her RAD.

Yesterday we dealt with a reaccuring issue she has: stealing. Every single year since she started school she has stolen something from school. In preschool it was a sucker from another kid. In kindergarten she stole money from the teacher and from other students. Yesterday, in first grade, we emptied her backpack to find she has been stealing food and drinks out of her teacher's fridge. After an interrogation we finally got her to admit she took them from her teacher when she was supposed to be following the class to the bus after school. (Another part of RAD is lying.)

I took her to school and made her give the evidence to her teacher and apologize. She said what she had to say and her teacher did an awesome job expressing her disappointment and sadness over losing her trust in Marea. Did Marea care? No. Part of RAD is that they have no remorse and they can't see that there will be consequences for their behavior.

Marea came home totally and completely unremorseful for what she had done. She is actually being more naughty than she was before she got caught. I know most of you have no idea what RAD is or what it entails on the parenting end but let me just say it has to be the most difficult parenting situation you will ever be in. Typical parenting strategies do NOT work on these kids. You cannot discipline the way you would think you should. As the therapist tells me regularly, "You have to think outside the box."

I am frustrated, disappointed, angry, and just in general upset with Marea. She is obviously not getting the lessons we are trying to teach her. We can't trust her, even in our own house. I am finding it hard to "think outside the box" right now. I think Billy and I pretend like everything is going well with her to save ourselves from a nervous breakdown until something like this happens and we "discover" that we were totally wrong. She has been with us since she was 2 and I wonder if she will ever love us and heal from what has happened to her.

Right now her "punishment" is that she is on permanent time-in. That means wherever I go she goes and she has to ask to do anything and everything including blinking her eyes. You see time-out only gives these kids exactly what they were after, distance from you both emotionally and physically. So she does time-in's. She spends her life glued to me or her dad. When she starts showing some responsiblity I can let the leash out a little. We haven't had to do this for a good year or so. I thought she was making progress.

I just want to cry.

Slow Down!

Where has October gone too? The month is almost gone already!

Saturday is my annual Family History Conference where I teach. This year I teach two classes again. I need to finish getting my lesson prepared.

Then Saturday evening is our town's Kid's Halloween Party (which I am in charge of). I have most of that ready but I need to get in some set up time. Unfortunately there is a conference in the building the night before so I have to do all my setting up on Saturday. Just thinking about it makes me crazy.

And the kids have a gazillion activities going on for school that parents are ever so privileged to participate in this week.

Is it November yet?

It's Offical!

I have gone and thrown my hat in the ring again this year.

I have a book idea brewing that is getting me all excited.


Are you in?

Don't even mess with me!

This is so the kind of day I am having today. I couldn't have said it any better.

The Diary of Anne Frank

I went to the library and checked out some books the other day. Whilst perusing the autobiography section I noticed The Diary of Anne Frank. I have never read the book myself but have heard all of the stories about it. So I decided to check it out, literally.

I have read 3/4 of it and I must say it is not at all what I expected after hearing about this book for years. It is a diary of a 13 year old. The only difference is she talks of the war, the fighting, and the loneliness she feels after living in "The secret annex" for so long.

It is obvious life for her went downhill after the first year. The journal entries get long and boring and dull, just as I imagine her life must have been by then. It is making it very hard to get to the end of the book too.

I also checked out a book by Rosie O'Donnell. It was not at all what I was expecting. I love Rosie. I love that she is not afraid to speak what she feels and puts it all out there. Her book was a look into her soul. It was dark and sometimes downright scary. Interesting peek into her life.

The other two books I got are young adult books. My favorite type of reading. Coincidentally, it is also my favorite style to write in. And speaking of writing... NaNoWriMo starts on November 1st. Last year I failed miserably because I tried a style of writing that I struggled with too much. This year I don't even have a topic to write on so I don't know if I will be doing it again. I do like the challenge though. Have you any ideas for a small novel topic? Share them with me. Or do NaNoWriMo yourself!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my girl, Cassie. Today, she turns 7!

I know I always say where has the time gone, but it truly feels like it is flying by. I remember so well going into labor with Cassie. We had debated between naming her Cassidy or Cassandra with the distinct intention of calling her Cassie. Billy had been gone to Australia, getting ready for the Olympics and I was living at my moms waiting for our house to be finished. It was 3:30 in the morning when I woke up to regular pains. Nervous that the nearest hospital was an hour away I woke Billy and we left. After the usual rigmarole at the hospital Cassie was born at 3:30 p.m. She was so tiny (our smallest baby at 6lb 13oz) and so adorable.

Cassie is our most loving and cuddly child by far. She is always climbing into our laps and sneaking kisses. I wish for her to be happy and healthy. I love her more than any words could ever express.

Happy Birthday Cass!

Conversations in the Shower

This morning in the shower I showed Billy a new cleanser I have gotten a sample of. It is Biore's new pore refining cleanser.

He got right up in my face and said, "You don't have any pores!"

"Yes, I do too."

"I don't see anything."

"That is because you don't ever look at my face."

"Yes I do."

"Uh huh. (Pointing to my chest) You think my eyes have nipples."

"I like nipples."

"Oy!"

Pictures

Pictures of the drywall progress we made last weekend are up on my other blog.

One week later

Max is doing much better. Yesterday he was actually running about and wanting to play. The drain was driving him bonkers though.

He had a check-up visit to the vet this afternoon. The vet took the drain out. The bottom of the sore is still a little oozy so he flushed it with some penicillin but otherwise Max should be fine. We just have to take him back in another week to have the stitches removed.

If you don't, you should.

Have you been over to Cute Overload yet? If you haven't, you should go. You are missing out on great pictures like this:

Damn Talking Toys

Last night at 2 a.m. I suddenly hear a very cheery voice say, "I want to be your friend!"

I sit straight up in bed. Billy looks at me and says, "I tried to find the dumb thing before I came to bed." He rolls over and pulls the blanket back up and goes to sleep.

I lay back down and 2 seconds after my head hit the pillow I hear the cheery voice again, "I need a hug!"

I throw the blanket back, dumping the cat off onto the floor in the process, and stomp into Marea's room. Then, as if possessed, the cheery voice goes off over and over. "I like being your friend!" "Will you be my friend?" "I love you!"

I follow the sound, digging through the pile of stuffed animals on Marea's bed. I finally find the pink stuffed, overly happy thing crammed between the wall and the mattress. I rip open the velcro opening on its back and slide the switch to OFF.

Sleep, precious sleep.

The "S" word

The weatherman, he did utter the "s" word on the news this morning. I am not ready for this. Am I ready at the beginning of any winter? No. But the older I get the harder it seems to be for me to tolerate the cold. When I was a kid we would dig tunnels, sled, and basically roll around in the white fluffy stuff from sun-up to sun-down. One of my most fun memories was when we lived in Alaska. We lived nextdoor to a park with tennis courts. Each time it would snow the tennis courts would get filled. It was always deeper than the net height. We would open the tennis court door and push our way through the snow, digging tunnels and making secret houses. It was so much fun.

Now, I don't even like to put one itty bitty little toe in the snow. There I said it, S-N-O-W.

I have this theory that since I was born in July, a very warm summer month, that my body likes WARMTH! Evidence of this theory presents itself in my oldest daughter Becca. That child cannot get cold enough. She goes outside without a coat on, she hardly wears hats and gloves, and she sleeps without any blankets on. She still has a fan blowing on her at night even though it was a whopping 66F in here last night. She was born in December.

What month were you born and does my theory hold true for you?

Weekend Accomplished

We spent the entire weekend working on the upstairs bedrooms. We managed to get all the wiring in and fully functional. There are 5 outlets in each 8X9ft bedroom. We finished the insulation and got one room completely and entirely enrobed in sheetrock. The other one we didn't even get to. I will get pictures soon. I would do it today but the kids are off for "Native American Day" also known as Columbus Day. And after the last two weekends of us locking ourselves in the upstairs I think my kids could use some Mommy-time. :)

What did you do this weekend?

Petmergency

Max got outside today while Becca was going out. He usually goes out to potty and comes back in but if left outside he will run off to play with the neighbor dogs.

About a half an hour after Becca left I heard Max barking and realized he was outside so I asked Cassie to let him in. She ran outside and called him and he came in and laid down by the couch.

About 10 minutes later Marea gasps and yells, "MOM! Max is bleeding." I look down over the edge of the couch and see tissue, pink tissues. After taking off his collar and inspecting as best as I could I realized he ripped a huge flap of skin up and it was hanging loose. He wasn't whining or anything. He must have been in shock.

I immediately called the nearby vet and explained the situation. The assistant gave me the go ahead to bring him in right away. "Oh and we only take cash or check for small animal visits," she adds. I just said, "Okay!" and head out the door. I took the kids to the neighbors and ran Max in to the vet.

They gave him a shot to sedate him as he was not being too cooperative at that point. An hour later Max has 15 stitches holding down a large flap of neck skin and a drain because the underlying tissue was full of debris.

I have no idea what he did. He had a large piece of wood stuck in the tissues in his neck and a puncture wound in the center of the flap of skin. He must have got caught on something and tried to pull free thus causing more damage.

Poor Maxy boy!

Making progress

We spent the entire weekend working on the bedroom remodel. You can see the progress on my house blog, Big House on the Prairie.

The long awaited pics

Here is the kitten I found a few days ago. It has gained about a pound already I think.

Becca sneaking in for a snuggle. Once it stopped hissing at us and realized we were friendly, it really got cuddly.

Crockpot Love

I am in love.... with my crockpot.

I have recently begun making a lot of meals in it. I love that I start dinner in the morning (when I am at my best energy level anyway) and then just put it together after the kids get home and we eat.

The bad thing is I don't care much for most of the meals that come out of a crockpot. :) I have bought the frozen crockpot meals at Walmart and they are okay. I just tried Tee's chicken recipe the other day and the kids devoured it (so did my hubby). I thought it was good but I am not a big meat eater. Today I have started a pot roast. Something I haven't cooked in oh....15 years! I will have a small portion of roast since it is not my favorite food. I do like the cabbage that gets thrown in with the pot roast though. Yummy! My husband will be pleasantly surprised though. He loves meat and potato dishes.

So, what do you cook in your crockpot? Share your favorite recipes with me.

Technology

In this state of the art world full of computers, ipods, and cell phones we have inadvertently changed telephone etiquette.

No longer do you finish the thought you were expressing to the person on the other end of the call and say good-bye.

Oh, no. You simply start a sentence and then stare blankly at your phone as it beeps and says, "Powering off. Battery Low."

Then you are left with the dilemma to call back just to say goodbye or just assume the person knows your cell phone died and the conversation is now over.

You too?

Are you all having to wait for my blog to load?

It seems to take forever for it to load completely for me and I was wondering if you all are experiencing the same thing?

Megan

She is definitely my little Gemini.

(Geminians, like their sign, often seem to have two personalities, but they can see both sides of an argument! They are great communicators, and are adaptable and lively. Gemini rules the lungs, hands arms and shoulders, which means they can be good with their hands but are restless.)

As we were discussing what color she wanted her room painted she grinned at me.

"I had an idea."

"Oh? And what is that?"

"I want a dark side and a light side!"

"But what color?"

"I want a beachy sunrise scene on one side and a dark sky with moon and stars on the other."

Yep, that is a gemini for you. Complete opposites cohabitating in one room.

Just like the person.