Old Friends/ The wonders of the internet!

Lately I have reconnected with several of my old friends.. How nice to talk to them- brings to mind the old cliche about how the more things change the more they stay the same... My sleep deficit is definatly increasing because of this. We have spent hours on Yahoo messenger, hours on the phone (Theresa you always have been able to make me laugh until I almost pee my pants!) and sent countless emails and MySpace messages. They say that people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. I'm so glad that some of them have gone from seasonal to lifelong!

Random Things About Me...

My friend Paul (AKA Lord Grim) tagged me for this on FaceBook (I'm not a big fan of F.B. I think MySpace is much cooler) but anyway I thought it was really fun and I would include it here.

Random Things About Me:

I think Spanish Moss is one of the coolest things ever.

I can eat my weight in chocolate.

Even though I already have 4 kids who consume every waking moment (and then some) and frequently drive me to the brink of insanity it makes me incredibly sad to think that I probably wont have anymore.

I still on occasion- bite my nails- hence the fake ones.

80’s music rocks

Reading is one of my guilty pleasures (too time consuming)

I hate folding up socks- unless a pair is obvious I throw them in a laundry basket and fold them up when the basket is full…

The smell of wet peanut butter makes me want to throw up.

I have never broken a bone, never had stitches (unless you count a couple of episiotomies!)

Very few people REALLY know me (oh you privileged few! If you talk I’ll kill you!)

Even as tall as I am (5’8) it looks like I’m destined to be the short one in my family- my husband is 6’4, Chris is 6’5, Katherine is supposed to be 1/2 an inch taller than me, Brianna is supposed to be 6 foot! (Chris was supposed to be 6’2- so the accuracy of these predictions is obviously NOT foolproof.) It’s too early to tell about Shawn (you’re supposed to double their height when they are 2) but I’m willing to bet money that I’ll be looking up at him before I know it!

I have extraordinary caffeine tolerance. I <3 Mtn.Dew!

Summer is my favorite season- laying out by a pool or at the beach all day is one of my favorite things.

I have never acquired a taste for coffee or beer.

I could eat Mexican or Italian food everyday for the rest of my life.

I had a pig named Squealer in 9th grade- he got too fat to go to fair! (yes we were farm kids- you haven’t lived until you’ve had a cow pie fight.)

I grew up in a town with no stoplights- still doesn’t have any. Real progressive place- but it will always be home.

99.99% of the time I am totally and completely in love with my husband. There is that .01% where I feel like taking clues from Lorena Bobbitt; however I would be smart enough to turn on the garbage disposal…

I have been known to eat (chocolate) frosting out of the container and cookie dough right out of the tube.

If I hear one more thing about going green I’m going to start burning tires in my backyard (J/K!)

Coloring my hair ALWAYS makes me feel better (What is my natural color anyway???)

I stay in the shower until the hot water runs out. If I can talk my husband into a tank less hot water heater, our water bill is going through the roof.

My toenails are always painted.The color usually reflects my mood… Right now they are turquoise! ;0)

I am the worlds worst procrastinator (although I try to make myself feel better by saying I work better under pressure!) Right now I’m supposed to be writing a 7 page paper on Community Analysis (thrilling- I know!)

Midlife crisis or spring fever???

I have been in such a mood for the past couple of weeks! I'm so restless! I went Saturday and got my nails done- instead of white tips, I got black. They turned out pretty cool AFTER I went home and repainted them! I went to the same place I always go, but had a different girl- she did the tips with a straight line- instead of curved- honestly I was so desperate to get out of there (what possessed me to take my kids!?!?!?) I was just like Oh well- maybe I'll learn to like it! Needless to say I didn't... All's well that ends well I guess. They look pretty good now I was surprsingly competent with the little french manicure tip stickers.

Well that satisfied me for a couple of days. Yesterday I got some L'oreal Color Rays. Ya know the real funky colored highlights? (Told ya I was in a mood) Anyway- I got red- thought it would look pretty cool with my dark hair. I did the bottom 3 inches or so of all my hair (Ozzy Ozborne-esque) and some regular highlights. The box said it was for previously colored dark hair- which describes mine. I didn't get anything close to red- it more of a burgandy- a pretty subtle burgandy- until the light hits it that is...

Elton was hanging out with me while I was coloring my hair and said "So what are you going to do this time- get your eyebrow pierced?" He was referring to my last "episode" like this about 8 years ago, when I had my tongue pierced. The tongue ring is long gone now, but I was rather fond of it. I'll probably pass on the eyebrow ring- don't get me wrong, I think they are pretty cool. It just doesn't say "Responsible mother of 4"... I have several good friends with their eyebrows pierced, but um- none of them have kids!

Oh yeah! The coolest part of my midlife crisis is- I finally decided to suck it up and go on a diet- I have lost 15 pounds in a week and a half! YEAH! Atkins rocks!

Shawn's First SNOW!

Poor baby- still sick from the flu shot...

He's thrilled because he managed to knock his hat off- no clue how he did it- he was too bundled up to move his arms!

On the back deck

My gardenia bushes that normally over 6 feet tall- completely flopped over!

More snow pictures

C,K,&B sledding w/ Grandpa

Let it snow!

It has been snowing ALL day long! The kids are loving it! It's been a couple years since we,ve had any snow- but it wasn't half as pretty as this! As per tradition the kids and I walked over to Dad and Janet's- like most self respecting Southerners I don't drive in the snow. I drove home from Greenville after an ice storm in 96 (I think) that pretty much cured me of wanting to venture out in inclimate weather! I had signed up to take my exams at ECU- of course rather than cancel the 8 am exam they decided to "wait and see what happens"... Rather than forfeit $200 I got a hotel in Greenville, woke up the next morning realized that my car was covered in 6 inches of solid ice and I had left my coat in the car which of course I couldn't open. The hotel clerk took pity on me and helped me pour hot water over the windshield and door. Yes I realize that wasn't brilliant- but I was desperate! Of course they had postponed the test, but I only found that out after driving to ECU, parking, and walking to Brewster. I walk back to my car only to realize that the water I had poured over the car had frozen inside the door locks and I couldn't get my key in. It took a campus police officer over 2 hours to get me in my car! I don't remember his name, but he was definatly my hero that day! He took me out to breakfast and even called to make sure I made it home o.k. The 45 minute drive took over 3 hours- needless to say it was NOT one of my better days! But on the brighter side I was helped out by 2 complete strangers who really went out of their way to assist me. Kind of restores your faith in human kind...

After watching the Inaugeration today- I am dwelling on the need to feel hopeful... I hope that God heard the prayers of our nation and filled them. I have serious doubts though. I (who honestly tries to stay as cut off from the real world as much as possible) am very concerned for America. Even I (usually blissfully ignorant) see the severity of our economic status and it is scary! Stores are closing left and right here- plants are closing down, unemployment is through the roof. My husbands company is having a hiring freeze- I imagine many more are. It's rather depressing... I'm changing the subject.

Sometimes I think that when my husband dies he should be cannonized. God knew I needed a patient man, and sometimes he borders on Sainthood. I got really mad at him when he said he was going to work! He had a list on the desk of about a dozen people who had called into him. There probably aren't enough people there to run the core! I told him "You're on salary- you get paid whether you are there or not. Don't be stupid- Stay home!" So he said "My boss is from Chicago- this is nothing to him. I need to at least try and go to work." Being the loving supportive wife that I am I said "well I'm only packing you and sandwich for lunch- in case you get stuck in a ditch on your way to work- and you better not call me, because I'm not coming to get you!" LOL! Poor man. Thankfully he's usually amused by my rantings. It's not so much the going to work I'm concerned about its the coming home from work in the middle of the night... I don't care if his boss IS from Chicago- When in Rome do as the Romans do! Which in this case would mean. If the weatherman even hints at snow head to the nearest grocery store- stock up on every concievable item. Fill up your cart as if you will be snowbound for a month. Fill up your car with gas- even though you will not be going anywhere until it all melts. This may be your last opportunity to be out for a while so make the most of it. A fact that I HATED when I worked at Belk's! I guess we did our part as good self respecting southerners yesterday- Elton went to Wal-mart- along with 95% of Wilson County. At the time, we didn't know it was supposed to snow, but we quickly figured it out. People here fret more over the threat of snow than they do an impending hurricane. I filled up my van with gas- I only had a quarter tank, and everyone else was doing it... I went shopping. I went to Goody's- bought 2 shirts, went to Ross for Less bought 2 more shirts and 2 bras. So excited to have something that is not a nursing bra! I have other bras- but they are rather delapitated. After surveying our closet I have decided that I am in desperate need of clothing. When I was working I took up more than 2/3 of our closet space. I now take up 1/4 of our closet space. My husband actually has more clothes than I do! LOTS more- something is definately wrong with this picture! I love shopping- jut not necessarily for me... The fact that I needed to quickly move it up to the top of my priority list became glaringly apparent Sat. when I was walking into Wal-mart. The back seam on the right shoe had split about 1/2 way down (just enough to make it flop up and down!) and I realized that Iwas kind of dragging my right foot to compensate! I've had this pair of 9-West shoes for probably about 6 years, and LOVED them. If it's too cold for flip-flops 95% of the time I have on these shoes. They went from broke in and comfortable to seriously delapitated! They were definatly an embaressment. I had looked (casually) for other shoes, but had found nothing. I had to make it a mission. I did find some at one of the shoe stores in the mall. Thinking about going and getting another pair in brown.

Sick Baby!

That stupid flu shot has made Shawny sick. On and off fever since Friday- incredibly fussy, super runny nose, tons of eye boogers. Very disgusting- poor baby. We're supposed to go back in a month for a booster to the flu shot- I'm thinking- NOT! He's pititful, and how ironic that this is the first time he's ever been really sick- all b/c of a shot that is supposed to prevent illness...

On a happier note- we have been almost guaranteed 3-5 inches of snow tomorrow. Looks like BriBri's going to need that snowsuit after all! ;0)

Hoping for some great pics tomorrow.

Shawny's shots

Shawn had his 6 month shots today (YES I know that I am seriously behind schedule- we'll just pretend that it wasn't from me being slack- that it was me being a concerned parent and trying to space out his immunizations- THAT makes me hip and trendy- instead of a procrastinator! ;0) ) I just can't seem to get on board with the whole non-vaccinating thing. I don't know whether vaccinations cause autism. I just know that I would rather have a child with autism than a child who spends their entire life in an iron lung. They had a huge display about that in the Children's Science Museum at the Imperial Centre. I knew such things existed, but really didn't know any of the details- and the photographs were just heartwrenching. My point to all of this is to tell you that Shawn weighs a whopping 20 pounds! That puts him in the 85th percentile. I'm surprised its not higher- he's a little butterball! He was such a brave little boy- he got 4 shots 2 in each leg. He cried for about 30 seconds and then was fast asleep! We have to go back in a month for his flu shot booster.

Chris and Brianna M. are spending the night tonight. Shawn and my Brianna are fast asleep, Katherine and Brianna M. are plotting revenge against the Chris's. The Chris's are watching TV and probably plotting something evil. Life is never boring. Chris pierced Cheddars ears tonight. with an earring and no ice... The girls found the marker and decided the earring placement. All of this went on upstairs- I was oblivious- sitting on the couch reading a cookbook I got from the library today. Sorry Buffy... I just don't understand why boys want both their ears pierced. Chris pierced his right one a couple weeks ago. Oh well its only an ear I guess. He desperately wants gauges- not in MY lifetime! ICK! WHY would you purposely want to look like something out of National Geographic???

Katherine's First Presentation Day

My sweet little scientists!

Brianna (AKA World's Best Assistant) doing her thing!

I've been saying for the last year or so that we were going to start attending IHOW's monthly presentation day. We FINALLY did it- and it went great! Katherine decided to do one of the experiments in her Science books that demonstrates the difference between suspensions and solutions. Bascially she had 4 jars filled with water. She added either salt, food coloring, oil or sand to each jar. Brianna (being such a enthusiastic assistant) shook each jar, and Katherine discussed how when allowed to settle suspensions (oil and sand) would seperate from the water, but solutions (salt and food coloring) would stay intermixed. Katherine did a bang up job and I was so proud of her! We are definatly going to make it a monthly commitment. It's such good practice for her speaking in front of a crowd- or in Katherine's case- just speaking at all! ;0) Some of the other presentations were on; snowflakes (very interesting) legos (actually used the overhead projector! We're going to have to do something in PowerPoint!) Going Green, and Mars.

We did a practice run Wednesday night and ever since then Brianna has been dumping everything she can get her hands on into a glass of water. When I get mad at her she says "Momma I'm doing SCIENCE!" LOL

Good Movie

This was a really good movie. Can't wait to read the book- its always checked out at the library...

I want a simpler life,,,

During my 6 hours of yard raking- I actually had time to think. Like long uninterrupted rambling makes no sense and having no relevence thoughts (like that last sentence... UGH! Oh well its MY blog! ;0)) It was quite enjoyable- I think I will make it a point to do it more often. I was thinking about how January is already 1/2 over (Yeah! It's my least favorite month...) Spring will be here before you know it, and then summer. Wonderful summer! I don't mind the heat- hate the humidity, but I LOVE the long days and having nothing to do! I'm so tired of living my life by the clock. Up by 7:30 at the absolute latest. Leave the house at 7:45 to take Chris to school. Get Brianna to school by 9, pick her up by 12, pick up Chris at 3:15. Not to mention all of Katherine's activities! ICK! I feel like I spend half my life driving my kids to and from places. It made me think of something Elton's cousin Steve said to me one time. He was inviting us to his house for dinner or something and I asked what time should we be there and he said "Oh... Edge of dark." I heard him- but I made him repeat it anyway... At first I thought it was really funny. Very antiquated and very country, but then I was struck by the casualness of it. Me, being the control freak that I am would have said 7 oclock or whatever. Because I would want to know what time to expect people. Mostly because I stress about stuff like that. I've decided that I would like to worry less about time and take a more casual attitude about life in general. Stop stressing about all the basically meaningless things. I want to be like Les Stroud (better known as "Survivorman" on TV) we watched a documentary where he and his family (wife and 2 kids) purchased some property in the wilderness in Canada, and built a home all outfitted with solar and wind energy, they were going to live off of the land etc... HOW COOL! I think my husband would get onboard, not so sure about the kids- we could probably get them psyched up about it. I would LOVE it. As long as I could still have high speed internet!

No more leaves!

Although I absolutely love having an 8 foot privacy fence around our backyard there is one drawback. I can let the leaves pile up and do nothing about it! I'll rake all the leaves and blow off the driveway and front yard and call it a day! Out of sight out of mind... Well I see it- but I usually choose to ignore it. It was getting out of hand. 2 pecan trees, a magnolia, and a birch (these are the worst shedding trees of all!) plus a few others. I decided that I had better get on the ball and get all these leaves up to the street. The city comes by with the huge trucks and sucks up all the leaves you put by the street Nov- sometime in January. I DID NOT WANT TO GET STUCK WITH ALL OF THESE LEAVES! It would take me months to get rid of them all otherwise. I don't think my neighbors would appreciate me burning them off either. 6 hours later- My yard is finally "deleafed" and all the old garden vines and stems and stuff are gone. I'll probably be hating life tomorrow!

A little friendly competition!

There is a new blogger in town!

http://katherineskreations.blogspot.com/

Making carpet angels

I found some awesome deals at the Goodwill the other day. Sometimes you hit and sometimes you miss. It was definatly a good bargain day- Including this super cute brandspankin new snowsuit that perfectly matches the snowboots I bought on a previous trip! Now if we'd only get some snow!

Beautiful Bridesmaid!

Katherine is going to be a Jr. Bridesmaid in my friend Jennifer's wedding May 2nd. She is so excited and had a fabulous time trying on dresses at David's Bridal.

PLEASE DO YOUR PART...

Please do your part to ensure the safety of our troops...

In April of 2003, members of the Indiana National Guard were protecting KBR employees at a power plant in Southern Iraq. After their service, some of these troops exhibited signs of cancer, tumors and rashes, and new reports indicate that these injuries may be the result of exposure to toxins present at the site.
Incredibly, CBS News has uncovered evidence that KBR may have known about the risks months before it took any action to inform those soldiers.
Please take a minute to join over 5,000 other people who have already signed the petition, and tell KBR to come clean.

The petition reads:
To: William Utt, CEO of KBR
It's time for you to cooperate with the military and with Congress to find out exactly what is happening to those members of the military who may have been exposed to hexavalent chromium, and who are now showing dangerous symptoms.
Our troops deserve the best possible effort to ensure that their health and well being is protected. There is too much at risk to not move as quickly as possible to take action on this issue.
I stand with IAVA in calling on you to come clean.


It will only take a minute. All you have to do is put in your name, email address, and zip code.

Here's the link:

http://www2.iava.org/o/436/t/8492/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1797&t=&limit=75

I am making some progress (NY's Resolutions)

I have played with Photoshop (and my new pen mouse) exactly once. It is incredibly frustrating and annoying. I am more of an instant gratification girl. I got the entire background removed from a picture (which sounds like it should be easy right??? Well its NOT!) Then the storm knocked out the power and it all disappeared. Oh well- now that classes have resumed I won't have much time to play with it anyway. It will be a slow process...

I have finally began work on my recipe collection! This has been on my "To-Do" list forever... I bought the binder, the page protectors, the computer paper, and my black ink cartridge is full. I've printed out a few and have been taking all the recipes that I have online (Food network and some other recipe sites) and putting them all in a Word file. Once I get all that done I can begin the arduous task of typing up all my handwritten recipes (UGH!)

I decluttered and organized the cabinets in the laundry room, the shelves in my bathroom, and the bottom shelf in the linen closet. Unfortunately my "to-do" list is much longer than my completed list but I am making progress. Baby Steps!

Happy 8 month B-day Shawny!

I can't believe its been 8 months already! Time flies. The changes in him are just amazing. BTW Tooth #3 made its appearance yesterday Top front left. Top front right should be here any day now! He is making good use of his 3 teeth and is always ready for a snack. I love his meal time too- perfect opportunity to clean up the kitchen or whatever else. He's already exerting his independence and wants to feed himself. Which is definatly O.K. with me! He loves his Puffies (the baby cereal that basically melts when it hits saliva), his Fruities (the dehydrated fruits that are chopped up really small for babies). Brianna is a big fan of all these "treats" too. Except the dehydrated strawberries- they're "skusting" LOL

Other Brianna terminology and translations"

Oh I scott = Oh I forgot
Doo Dah = Hot dog
skusting = disgusting

I would post a picture of Shawn on this monumental day but as luck would have it- I have lost the adapter that my memory stick plugs into... Hopefully it will show up soon. I've looked in all the logical places for it- in the camera case, in the printer, on the desk, in the top middle drawer, and on the floor.

This seems to be just typical of how life seems to be going lately. Elton spent several hours trying to figure out what was wrong with the electricity running out to the barn. Bobby brought over a dolly and Chris and Elton moved the freezer in the house. They plugged it up- nothing... They got some kind of tool to see how far the electrical current was moving through it, apparently the motor was burned out in it. PERFECT! Especially since I already had tons of stuff to go in there... We looked at Lowes, Home Depot and Sears. We ended up getting a used one from a local appliance store- it was less than half the price- the man who runs the store said it was his dads and he would guarantee it... They delivered it about an hour later, so now its full and super cold.

Last night we were having "Family Movie Night" and I decided it was cold and went to turn the gas logs on. You have to turn one dial (the gas) and push a button (the ignition) well the button usually pops when it strikes- you could push the button all the way in with no resistance and no noise... I went in the kitchen to tell Elton about it, and he said something like I must not have pushed it right or something! Talk about infuriating! #1- I'm the one who turns on the fireplace 99% of the time. #2 It's a BUTTON- just how many ways are there to push it???? GRRRR!

I am a Hoarder!

Some of my cleaning stuff- all organized and easy to get to...

Had to use the cabinets in the laundry room!

The pantry. I am Old Mother Hubbard no longer! ;0)

I like having lots of stuff. I hate running out of things and either having to change my dinner menu or run to the store. I try to buy things like paper towels and toilet paper in bulk b/c you just can’t run out of stuff like that. I buy cleaning supplies in mass quantities. I bought 10 bottles of Antibacterial Windex at one time. I love that stuff- I use it everyday, and Harris Teeter had it buy one get one free and I had $1 coupons that I printed online. I have it stashed everywhere- under all 3 bathroom sinks, the kitchen sink, and in the linen closet. One of the home organization books I read suggested using a over the door shoe holder for your cleaning supplies- I put one up several years ago and I LOVE it! No digging around looking for what you need. I’m all for anything that makes my life easier. I don’t understand women who get offended when their husbands buy them practical gifts. Some of my practical gifts have included a carpet cleaner (which I love and couldn’t live without) a new dishwasher (which obviously comes in EXTREMELY handy!) a blender ( I use it occasionally- he bought it for me for Mothers Day years ago, but I much would have rather had that than flowers that would die or jewelry that would sit in my jewelry box…) Trying to improve my quality of life- now THAT shows love!
We have been going to Williamsburg so often the past 3 months, I have gotten very confused about what I have where…. I might end up with 3 cartons of eggs in Virginia- but none at home. It’s been driving me crazy! “Well we were going to have this for dinner- but we didn’t have _________.” UGH! There are certain things that you know use often and keep on hand. My supplies have seriously dwindled. That became glaringly apparent this past week when I actually prepared dinner every single night (like a real dinner with side dishes and all.)
I told Elton Friday we are going shopping and we are spending an obscene amount of money on groceries. I checked all of the local grocery stores sales flyers online, made lists of all the stuff I wanted. Checked online for coupons- printed them out. I was out of computer paper and had to use lined notebook paper- but more about that later… Chris, Katherine, and Brianna were spending the night at Dad and Janet’s- so we only had to deal with Shawn and he can easily be bribed with Puffies.
We went to Aldi’s and bought paper towels, toilet paper, canned goods, milk , butter and eggs (cheaper than anywhere else). I really need to start shopping there more often. You can save quite a bit of money- but you kind of have to plan ahead. For instance- you have to make sure you have a quarter- I chunk all of our loose change in a jar, but the quarters are used for car washing & vacuuming, and the laundromat at the campground. You get the quarter back when you return the cart- but there is the annoyance factor- especially when you have small children and have to either drag them all up to the store, and get the cart, or leave them in the car, go get the cart and then go get them. When you write it all down, it sounds minor- but even minor irritations can be monumental when shopping with small children.
Then we went to Harris Teeter. Generally they are overpriced- but they have AWESOME sales! I’m a huge fan of buy one get one free (esp. when you can find a coupon online) I’m an even bigger fan of buy 2 get 3 free, but my favorite is buy 1 get 2 free. We ended up saving much more than we spent and the cashier actually had to call a manger over to approve our transaction b/c the computer flagged it! ;0) They also do double and triple coupons- YEAH!
Then we were off to Food Lion- they had Diet Mountain Dew 3 12 packs for $9+ you got 2 free 2 liters! So we bought 9 cases- that should keep my caffeine addiction satisfied for awhile! They had Tide on sale and I had downloaded a coupon. Then we went home to unload. We only put away all of the things that needed to be refrigerated or frozen. We decided to go out to dinner since we are seldom alone and there was no way in the world I was going to cook. We went to Anthony’s a new Italian restaurant. It sucked. It was really pretty- but my food was awful- the salad was o.k., the bread was edible. I ordered the Chicken Marsala- which I love at Olive Garden- but this was 2 chicken breasts that looked like they had been boiled and plopped in a plate of wine with a can of mushrooms dumped over the top- I am not a super picky eater- but I had one bite of that- it was gross. It also came with a side of spaghetti- which was pretty bad- the stuff you buy in a can is better. I ate it anyway. They didn’t end up charging me for my meal- which was good. So I basically had spaghetti, salad and bread for free. Who serves chicken marsala with a side of spaghetti- Olive Garden has garlic mashed potatoes which are awesome! Elton had Shrimp Scampi- he said the shrimp were overcooked and rubbery. It was still nice though- I had good company, Shawn slept through the entire meal, and I decided that I’m going to paint my living room the color of the restaurant. It was a really pretty sagey grayish green. No time soon- I have enough projects right now. But I am tired of the burgundy walls and ready for a change. Elton offered to go to Lowes so we could look at paint samples. He’s so cute- I think he felt worse about my dinner being horrible than I did. I really didn’t care. So we went to Lowes and picked up a couple different paint samples. It is so hard to match paint colors! We had some Lowes gift cards and bought tons of florescent bulbs. We are making the switch. My dad swears by them- I think they are ugly- defiantly NOT cheap. Since the 60 watt bulbs only burn 13 watts of power and they last 10,000 hours- we decided it would be a good investment. We are so tired of $500 light bills! Of course lights are only a part of that- Elton went out to the barn today came in and said “YOUR kids left the upstairs bathroom window open.” (We don’t claim them when they are bad!) WHY would the bathroom window even be open??? It’s freezing outside! Sometimes they are retarded!
After Lowes we went to Wal-mart to finish up our shopping marathon. We ended up buying all kinds of stuff- shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, cleaning stuff, diapers, formula. We finally bought a booster seat for Brianna- honestly Shawn probably should have been out of his infant car seat months ago, but I have been reluctant to give it up- its so much easier just to grab the whole car seat and plop it in a cart than to take him in and out every time we go anywhere. It was almost 11 when we were checking out and we were tired and ready to get home- dreading putting away all this stuff. We go through the checkout line and the cashier calls someone to see if she can accept the coupons that I printed out on notebook paper. They took them at Harris Teeter! The woman says no, they’re on notebook paper not on “computerized” paper. She’s an idiot and that made me mad. She called a manager- they said no. It was only about $3 worth of coupons- but it was the principal now! I told her I wanted to talk to the manager, so she called him over and I explained it to him- that you can still scan the coupons- Harris Teeter took them, and what did it matter what kind of paper I printed them off on?!?!?! BTW- I was buying more computer paper. He called someone and they O.K.ed it, but I was SO mad! I told them ”I’m buying $300 worth of stuff and you won’t let me use $3 worth of coupons because you don’t like the paper I printed them off on?” I was getting ready to leave both the carts sitting there. I would have ended up going back today and buying it all again. It was just the point of it. It was absurd.
This morning I cleaned out the pantry, got everything put away in there all nice and organized, had to put stuff in the laundry room cabinets. Elton is fixing the electricity that runs out to the barn so we can restock our freezer. (Apparently Chris and I cut the power line that runs from the deck to the barn when we were planting tomatoes. Oops) I’ll spend the afternoon putting all the meat we bought into portion sized freezer bags. We ended up with tons of meat- a ham, steaks, ribs, hamburger, chicken, shrimp, pork. Both of the refridgerators are full- the deep freeze is getting ready to be. All is well with the world!

Privacy Please! I couldn't resist!

Bathtime

Playpen Posing

Look at those big blue eyes!

Gimme that camera!

My favorite

How precious!

Happy Homecoming

When you come home to a sight like this it puts a smile on your face and its easy to ignore the drooly fingerprinty smears on the window! 1/3 of my welcoming committee was still in bed fast asleep.

While you were sleeping...

I reminded myself to treasure every second of your fleeting "babyness". It's hard to believe you haven't been here a full 8 months yet and so quickly you have become such a boy. You are constantly in motion: crawling, scooting, climbing, standing, falling, bumping, and banging. You already gravitate to every concievable "no-no" So I will cherish every cuddle, rejoice in every milestone (even if secretly it makes my heart ache) and soak in every moment.

We're going on a Road Trip...by Candlelight

Not really (would be nice though!) That's just the game we played tonight while the lights were out. The wind is howling, I guess it must have blown over a power line. The lights were only out about 30 minutes. Katherine and I decided to take an apple, a banana, chicken, donuts, eggs, a frosty, goose (?) ham, ice cream, jam, kangaroo, lemonade, minutemaid, nabs, octopus, and punch. She was quick to abandon the game when the lights came back on. Chris rocks at this game, but he refused to play and decided to listen to music on his headphones. Brianna opted to try and confuse us by yelling out random food names. Shawn ate his Puffies, and Elton announced that he was going on a road trip and the only things he was taking were a bed and a sound-proof box!

Sign of Spring???

Yesterday on my way home from picking Brianna up from Preschool I saw some Forsythia. Hopefully a sign of an early spring. I hate cold weather, and can't wait for the days to get warm and L O N G E R!