December 30, 2005

Another Drive Thru Story

It's been so long since I've had an "incident" out in public that I almost forgot what it feels like.
But no worries...I quickly remembered tonight...

I made a quick trip out to Walmart to get a couple more things before we head to Michigan for my mom's side of the family Christmas tomorrow, ran through Starbucks to get my aunt's boyfriend and cousin's husband some gift cards to go along with the gifts I got them for our family gift exchange, asked the kids where they wanted to go to pick up food, and they decided on Taco Bell. OK, so we pull in, there's another black trailblazer in front of us. She's taking kind of long with her order, but no big deal, so we pull up order and start to pull up and I hear the cashier say "sorry, your card isn't going through, it's been rejected". I didn't pay much attention and just pulled up behind the trailblazer. The woman sat there forever and was having a very loud conversation with the cashier, I wasn't paying attention because I was talking with my mom and kids. Finally she leaves, but without getting any food. We pull up, she's still sitting there but pulled up far enough for me to get to the window. I figured she was waiting for her food order. So, we get done, she's still in front of us, but moves and turns left to pull up in front of Taco Bell , we continue going straight out and I stop real quick to put my debit card and receipt away and check the food. My kids look over and the woman is flipping me off. They tell me she's flipping me off and so I look and sure enough she is. I roll down my window and she starts calling me a B*&^% and asking why I stopped and told me to move it and asked if I had a problem. Now you have to understand that she had turned left and stopped in front of Taco Bell and I was continuing to go straight to pull out and get back on the road to go home. SO...why she thought she needed to tell me to move was beyond me since I wasn't anywhere close to her. So after her yelling at me to move it and yelling B*&^% again, I yelled back and told her that if it was ok with her, I was checking my food order. She yelled something else back but I was laughing by then and just pulled away. OH MY GOSH....WHAT is wrong with people?
I absolutely cannot stand when people start yelling at me- ESPECIALLY OTHER WOMEN!
And ESPECIALLY when they're calling me a B*&^%!!!!!
We figure her card got declined and she couldn't get her food, so she was already ticked off and needed someone else to yell at. LOL Oh my goodness, it made me so mad!
I wasn't calm like I should have been and I know I should have just drove away, but I get so upset that people who don't even know me feel like they have a right to start yelling and cussing at me when I'm minding my own business.
Of course Taylor was in the back seat saying that when he gets married, he's going to have a QUIET wife. LOL Ya, not after a few years with her mother-in-law! hee hee
Well, I guess my kind, gentle spirit went out the window today... I'll pray for forgiveness and pray for her and better luck tomorrow!!

Speaking of tomorrow and luck... all my aunts will be together-which could be scary...the tension has been building with two of them for years, so please pray that this year isn't the year that everything blows up! There's always one good fight between them when we get together but it usually gets diffused quickly. In the past, we have had Christmas at our house, so there's kind of a common ground without one having the home court advantage, but this year we are having it at one of their houses, so we will be on her turf. In any case, I'm taking the video camera!

Gotta love family!!




December 27, 2005

Almost Taylor's Birthday

So Christmas is over...we were more than blessed with what we received...the kids got MORE than enough and we still have one Christmas left this coming Saturday. Please...no more huge dump trucks or diggers...I keep tripping on them.

Taylor's birthday is tomorrow...my baby is turning 9. I can't believe it. I wish I could go back 9 years!! I would do it in a second. Of course I'd like to be living where I am now, and making the money that I am now, and be wiser (as I think I am now) but I would go back if I could!
I think I was just starting to go into labor at this time 9 years ago...
I want to go back...I want to go back...I want to go back... Ok, I'm clicking my Nikes together but nothing is happening...darn that Wizard of Oz!! Well, maybe I should think about that a little more...do I REALLY want to go through all that pain? Do I really want to push that big 8 pd 3oz baby out? Do I really want to see that little face again for the first time. YOU BET I DO!!!!!!

I am SO not through having children! Only one problem...not only do I NOT have a husband, I don't even have a boyfriend, heck, I'm not even talking to anyone right now... I guess there are other ways...Hmm, I think I'll pass and just relive the joys of childbirth through "A Baby Story" and all my fellow new mommy bloggers.

~Happy Birthday My Baby Boy~

December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and something amazing has happened...
I didn't leave the house other than to run up to Subway!
Which means...I had all my Christmas shopping done before
Christmas Eve this year. wow~wow~wow
So, I have spent a very relaxing day at home today. I have
almost all the christmas presents wrapped and under the tree,
(except for those that I want Taylor to think really came from
Santa...those will be put out later) and I'm now relaxing before
our busy evening begins.

Here is our Christmas Eve schedule:
=Church (communion, candles and carols)
=Go out driving around looking at Christmas lights
while having hot chocolate and listening to a Christmas cd
=Make peanut butter cookies for Santa
=Let the kids open 2 gifts (1 from me, 1 from Gpa and Gma)
=Get cookies and milk ready for Santa and lay out carrots for reindeer
=Sprinkle reindeer dust out on the front lawn
=Relax and watch a Christmas movie, have popcorn and eggnog
=Go to bed and listen for Santa's bells

I'm so excited about the gifts I got my kids!! They will be very happy children tomorrow morning! I'm also very thankful that my kids will have such a good Christmas as I know that there are so many who will not be having any Christmas.
It breaks my heart to think there will be children tomorrow morning who will not have anything to unwrap, who will be all excited when they wake up only to be heartbroken when they see nothing under the tree. The Lord has truly blessed us this year and the years past! For that, we are very blessed and thankful to Him!


~May you all have a very Merry Christmas~
~ Jesus is Born!~
Luke 2

December 22, 2005

skittzle de frittzle

Do ya like that "Title"? I couldn't think of anything unique...and that's unique, you have to admit that!!

Today was my last day of daycare for 11 whole days. I'm having anxiety already. Can you believe that??? I have nothing to do for 11 days (other than finish up my shopping and make a trip to Michigan) and I have anxiety. But, that's me...I hate working, but if I'm not, I'm bored and that makes me anxious.

I can't believe that Christmas is only 3 days away. And I can't believe I'm not done with my shopping...oh yes I can!! I'm always down to the last minute with my Christmas shopping. It's my special tradition! Can't break it now.

Tomorrow's exciting plans include getting up at a decent hour to go to a Big and Tall store with my mom to find shirts for my dad. She has some gift certificates to use by Saturday so we picked tomorrow to go. We're getting up early because I have already told her that I will have to be back by 12:30 for The Young and the Restless. I have to see what happens with Lauren and Sheila!

I got some very nice gifts from my daycare families today! I got a bunch of movie tickets and that rocks considering that is one of the things we're going to make sure to do next week. I also got a gift certificate to the place I go tanning, so...I think I may just make myself an appointment tomorrow!! :o) Nothing wrong with looking nice and tan for Christmas right?!

We still haven't gotten Tyler's jeans that we ordered on the 9th from The Children's Place (amazon.com)!! These jeans were suppose to be here sometime between the 15th-20th. OK...so today is the 22nd, I was nice, gave them 2 more days and then I called them! They gave me the fedex tracking number and they didn't even leave their warehouse until the 19th. They left Ohio to make their way to their final destination at 3:12 am this morning...but, we still didn't get them!! The funny thing is, I ordered my dad a dvd on Monday and it came today. Go figure!

Can you tell I have absolutely NOTHING to blog about today? I'm tired...going to bed now.

~Night night, don't let the bed bugs bite~





December 20, 2005

Hoping this works tonight

Last night I had a huge blog about Nanny 911...of course as soon as I hit "publish post" it disappeared out into cyberspace...I think Nanny Deb had something to do with it. Oh well, I don't feel like rehashing it...so on to other things....
P.S. Did you know that Nanny Deb is only 33? She looks 63! Yikes, is that what dealing with kids does to you???

So today I had 4 daycare kids...one has croup and will be out until Thursday.
My 2 kiddos who are really hard to like these days, were picked up at 3:30 and will not be back until January 3rd. Yay!! Yippeee!! Doing the HAPPY dance!!! Hey, I'm trying to like these kids, but the more I know them, and their parents, the more I want to shake them. ALL of them! The parents are "gentle discipline" people and GRRRRRRRR sometimes I just want to hand them a wooden spoon, place them in a room with their 4 yr old and tell them to GO AT IT!!!! Or if not, hand that spoon over to me!! She is the SNOTTIEST little thing!!! Seriously, she's going to get the crap beat out of her in Kindergarten. If not then, DEFINITELY in middle school!! These are just some examples of the things I have witnessed in the last week....

She screams and whines if her dad doesn't put her coat on a red hanger in the morning. This started a few weeks ago. I had six hangers on the kids coat rack, 2 red, 2 white and 2 blue...(I have an americana theme in my front entryway) So, you know what mean ol' me did last week....well, I have two kids who come before this family, so I made sure their coats were already on the 2 red hangers. Ok, so last Monday, she doesn't notice...Tuesday I do the same thing and move coats to red hangers...they come in and I think she's forgotten about the hangers, OH NO...her dad put her coat on a white hanger, she sees this and starts whining that she wants her coat on the blue hanger (the hanger he had in his hand for his son's coat) so what does spineless dad do...says "Ok sweetie, I'll put your coat on the blue hanger! You're so wonderful honey!!" Grrr, I wanted to throw up. But, on with my day...until naptime...the kids were sleeping and I happened to look over at the coat rack. Something in me snapped and I went over and grabbed all the coats and hangers...took all the coats off and got all the hangers and went upstairs and got 6 green hangers...ALL ONE COLOR!! Hmmm, whatcha gonna do now little girl????!!! So, dad comes to pick up, no one says anything. The next morning however, dad notices and says "Oh, I see you changed the hangers."
I said "Ya, I decided to have them all green, ya know, for Christmas"...to which he responds "Oh, well, you should do green and red." BITING MY TONGUE because I SO badly wanted to say "NO! I can't do two colors because your spoiled little picky brat would have a meltdown if she didn't get the right color hanger!!!!!" But I didn't.

And I'm not even going to get into the time that this little 4 yr old picked up her plate up, held it over the side of the table and acted like she was going to tip it upside down, all while looking me straight in the face. Well, she did that ONCE!! I made it very clear that if she ever did that, she would eat on the floor!! Of course that didn't stop her from throwing food. Until, I made her get up from the table one day to pick up all the food she threw and go sit in time out. Then she was so afraid that I wouldn't let her come back in the kitchen for the rest of her lunch, that she promised never to do it again. And so far, she hasn't.

OH another gem....Last Friday, I gave each child a candy cane at pick-up. I give them to the parents so that they can either give them to them in the car or wait until they get home. Well, of course this little girl was already whining for it before I could even hand it to dad. And of course, dad gave it to her. Well, they were my last pick-ups, so when they left, I went in the kitchen. About 5 minutes later, I hear someone knocking on my door. I answer and her dad is standing there with her candy cane in his hand. About a 1/2 inch is gone from the top. He looks at me and says, "could we have another candy cane, hers broke and she is not happy" I just stood there looking at him for about 10 seconds, didn't say anything and couldn't move. All I was thinking was "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"
The whole stinking candy cane is there except for a little bit and you need a new one???? So finally he looks at me and says "Well, if you have extras...we have plenty at home" I snap out of my shock and say to my son, (who is in the kitchen) "Hey Tyler, could you bring me a candy cane?" I hand it to him , he says thanks and leaves. Meanwhile, my mom was outside the whole time getting stuff out of her trunk and when she comes in, she asks what happened. Then she tells me that she was screaming at her dad to go get her a new one since hers broke. Grrrrrrrrr
Had enough yet? There's more...
Yesterday she woke up from nap and had in her head that her grandma was going to be coming to get her to take her to get her hair cut. She told me this like she knew it to be a fact so I said ok but that her parents hadn't mentioned it to me, so maybe that was going to be something they were going to do later. She insisted that her grandma WOULD come and WOULD take her to get her hair cut. So, we wait, and here comes her dad. I answer the door and she immediately starts screaming and crying...so loud that we can't even understand what she's saying...finally we get "grandma" and "haircut" and I tell dad that she had been saying all afternoon that her grandma was coming not her dad. So, she is throwing a royal fit , all while dad is talking nice and softly to her and bribbing her with different things, (none of which are making her shut up), the she proceeds to kick her dad. He says in his soft voice again "Honey, Angel, do you want to have to sit in the corner when we get home?" I'm getting ready to throw up...no actually, I was getting ready to step in and tell her that she was still in Miss. Tonja's house and if she didn't quit, I was going to put her in time out myself. But, I didn't and she kicked dad again. And you know what, he deserved it! If you're not going to teach your child who's in charge, I hope you get the crap kicked out of you. So at that point I grabbed his son's coat out of his hands and put his son's coat on him as a hint to GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!!! Finally they left and she was still throwing a fit.

Oh, and she is always trying to get my boys in trouble...and I actually almost believed her at first, until one day she was yelling from the daycare room that Tyler was bothering her and wouldn't let her on the slide, so I go in there, all ready to yell at Tyler and he's not in there...he's no where in sight, he's not even on the first floor...he's upstairs in his room!! BRAT!!!! I tried to explain to her that it is not nice to tattle and even more so, it's not nice to lie.

Oh and can we say her little snotty voice is like "nails on a chalkboard"!!!!!!!!!!
I love her, as much as I can, and I certainly don't want anything bad to happen to her, I just want her parents to whip her butt real good some time. Well, NOT gonna happen!! All I can say is...I only keep kids til their 5 so, I'm not going to have to deal with any of it after that, and I probably won't even be in contact with them by the time she is 10 and a super snot! SO...oh well, too bad...I'm laughing because these parents don't even KNOW what they are in for!!!!!!! This monster attitude has only yet begun!!

But again...YIPPEEEEEEE today was their last day and I won't see them again for another 13 days....whoohooo!! OH, and let me tell ya...I was seriously debating on giving her her Christmas gift today. I wanted to tell her that Santa told me that she was on his naughty list, but of course, I couldn't do that. So, I gave her her gift, gave her brother his gift and sent a little something home for her parents.
OH...ya, did I mention that grandma came to pick them up today...and is taking her to get her hair cut...isn't that precious? UGH!!!

On a brighter side...I only have 2 kids tomorrow and 2 kids on Thursday and then I'm done until January 3, 2006. yay! A break...a much needed break!!! Time to spend with just my boys!!! Yay...it will be w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l !!!! And we have plans!!
We are going to hit the hills and go sledding (provided it snows)!! We are going to go see "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" cause 1 was just so darn cute!! Oh and because I think I can manage to sit through that without going crazy...unlike King Kong! Which by the way is like 3 hours long. NO WAY!!! I could never sit there for 3 hours watching that! Never! lol I would be asleep, in a braindead coma, or insane!

Speaking of INSANE...my rant for the day... I got my gas bill today....
Hmmm, 3 x's more than last month's bill. Now seriously, I haven't used that much more heat!!! Last month's bill was $63 ...this month's $180. You have to be kidding me right!?! I plan on calling them tomorrow!! We use gas only for heat...not hot water, just heat!! This week is the first week it's been real cold, like 0 degrees cold.
I've pretty much kept the heat the same each day, I can't see where it's jumped
3 x's in price in just one month! No way!

Well, I'm off to help Tyler with his laundry. He likes to put it in, but doesn't like to take everything out when they're dry. Must be genetic!



~5 more days...are you ready?~

December 18, 2005

5 weird things about me

Ok, so I tagged myself...from -This Mom Blogs- and here are my answers:

1. When I sleep, I have to have 2 comforters on top of me, (even in the summer) and I have to have them pulled up under my feet. I hate to sleep in a made bed that has the corners tucked under the mattress and I hate top sheets.

2. I buy ice from walmart and refuse to use the ice from our ice maker. I won't drink our city water, so why would I want the ice? It's just frozen city water!

3. If my bottled water is not drank within a few hours of opening it, I get a new bottle and use the rest to put in my dogs' water bowls. I don't want it, but I won't pour it down the drain.

4. Our bathroom on our first floor is used for the daycare bathroom, I won't use that bathroom. I will wait until the kids are down for nap or have my oldest watch the kids while I go up to my own bathroom real quick.

5. I rearrange the daycare kids' coats after the parents leave from right to left on who is going to be leaving first. They all have to be in order so whoever is leaving first has their coat on the end.

There are many more...but that should give you an idea of how weird I really am!

December 17, 2005

Working Mothers in the Bible

I think some people think that to be a good Christian mother, you need to be a non working, stay at home mom. Well, did these people read Proverbs 31? This woman was a working mother/wife, AND...she worked outside the home! She bought fields and planted vineyards, (and did so out of her own earnings), she made linen garments and sold them, and still watched over the household affairs.
But...verse 15...
She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
There it is...she had servants!! I knew there was a catch!! LOL
Just had to throw that in there. Couldn't we all use a few "servants"?

So...today I did the usual wal*mart trip. It wasn't horrible. Even when a woman cut in front of me in line then directed me to back up while her husband (who had the cart) made his way in front of me at the direction of his wife. I just rolled my eyes. I mean HELLO, I could have my kids racing in and out of lines too to get a spot and then motion for me to hurry and sneak in...grrr. I secretly prayed as I got out of line to find another one, that when they got to the counter, the cashier had to put her light on. I secretly unprayed that prayer after I couldn't find a shorter line and ended up back behind them. God was probably rolling His eyes!! Oh...and my heart dropped when I saw our register light start flashing, but I knew I couldn't get upset. Thankfully, it only stayed flashing for about 10 seconds.

We are home now, got all our groceries put away, ate dinner and are getting ready to watch "Home Alone". I can always watch that movie at Christmas, any other time and I'd pass!! Little Macaulay is so cute!! Don'tchathink?!

~later~

December 16, 2005

13 hour work day

Yes, I worked 13 hours today! 7:30am-8:30pm. The fact that it's 10:00 and I haven't passed out yet is a miracle. What a rough day! How some providers work 6am -6pm is beyond me. And what whiners I had today. wow! Some parents need to make sure their kids are in bed at a decent hour! Talk about some little grouches today! I am SO happy it's the weekend!! And so happy I work 4 days next week and then will be off for 11 days straight. Yippeeeee! And I hope some time during that time it snows so the kids and I can go sledding!!!!!

Mom was off work today and made potato soup for dinner...YUM!!
It was the highlight of my day!!

I have really been trying to make a point of reading my Bible this week and I have had such a good time doing it. I just told a friend today that she needed to start reading her Bible. She's going through a lot right now and had another big blow happen to her yesterday. She's blaming God. It's sad. It's not easy to tell people that God will take care of them when they feel their life is falling apart. That's why it is so important to have a strong relationship with Him before things start to go bad. I look at my parents and everything that they've been through in the last 2 years and I have to have admiration for the faith that they have that God will never forget about them or stop providing for them. It would have been easy for them to have lost their faith. It would have been easy for me to have lost my faith too in these 2 years, and I consider it a miracle that my kids and I went out and found our own church and became very involved and active in that church.
To most people, I may have had every right to give up on church. Unfortunately, I know that those people are the same people who don't have the faith it takes to keep going even when they've been knocked down. How sad for them!

Anyway...I need to get to bed. I'm so tired.

~good night...don't call me early...i'm sleepin in~

December 15, 2005

updating for the week

Well, we did get the snow and ice last Thursday and I closed the daycare on Friday. I was only going to have one family, so I didn't see the need to stay open.
Although I had already agreed to watch one of my daycare girls that night so her parents could go Christmas Shopping, so technically I did still work, but it was fun with just her. We had dinner, watched a Christmas movie and baked sugar cookies and decorated them. She took a few home to her mommy and daddy.

We still have snow on the ground and some ice on the driveway, but it's probably going to melt today. The temps are up and it's raining. Well, it's snowing but as soon as it hit the ground it's melting.

I went out to walmart last night to get my layaway out. YIKES!!!! Remind me next year not to put stuff in layaway and just buy it instead! The first line I stood in was the one back to the layaway dept. I got in that line at 7:30. I got back to pay for everything at about 8:10. Then, after paying for it, the clerk sent a piece of paper to the back and I had to go over to the infants area and stand in another long line to pick it up. I finally got my stuff at about 8:57 and got out to my car by 9:00. Then because my poor kids were at home with my dad, they hadn't had dinner and were starving so I ran through Mc Donald's and made it home just in time to watch the last half of Trading Spouses.

We are making Christmas Trees at the daycare this afternoon.
You take one sugar cone, place it upside down, put green frosting all over it and decorate with multi colored M&Ms. I think it will be fun and the kids will have a blast doing it. IF they don't eat all the M&Ms before putting them on the cone.

Taylor had his Christmas program last Sunday. We had to be there at 8am to do the first service and then go back again to do the 2nd service. The bells went great...I didn't mess up at all. lol And Taylor did SO good with his solo/trio!
My mom stayed home from Muncie and went with us so she could see Taylor. After church we met my dad for lunch at IHOP. Tyler has been begging to go there.

We bought a new tree Monday night and put it up. That's all I have to say about that. I hate Christmas trees! Well, no, I like them, I just don't like putting it up.

I have most of my Christmas shopping done. I have all the daycare shopping done. I get things for the kids and then something little for each family. I still have little things to get for the boys stockings and a couple more things for my parents. We draw names on my mom's side and I still have to get for them, but I have until the 31st for that. Oh, and the dogs are done too. Now I just have to do the wonderful task of wrapping it all... ugh

~10 more days~

December 7, 2005

Tomorrow's Forecast

This is what The Weather Channel says:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A HEAVY SNOW WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THURSDAY TO 4 AM EST FRIDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. IT IS A WARNING.

SNOW WILL SPREAD INTO WESTERN INDIANA AFTER 9 AM EST THURSDAY MORNING AND THE REMAINDER OF CENTRAL INDIANA BY 2 PM EST. SNOW WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES LATE AFTERNOON THURSDAY AND THURSDAY EVENING. THE SNOW WILL TAPER TO FLURRIES AND END WELL BEFORE DAYBREAK FRIDAY. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM 4 TO 7 INCHES WITH MOST LOCATIONS NEAR 6 INCHES.

A HEAVY SNOW WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.


I've already got a note waiting by the front door for my daycare parents tomorrow...just letting them know if this should happen that we may have an early pick-up tomorrow night!
I'm not getting stuck with a house full of kids. LOL

School Closing

For those of you who know my parents situation and everything they went through in their last church and leaving and moving in with me two years ago and etc...etc...etc...

Remember that my father started a Christian School at that church in 2001...the school was doing very well and in the black the last year my dad was there with NO financial help from the church at all...well, for the last two years he's been gone, it's gone in the Red and left begging the church for help. The church now refuses to help the school at all and it was just decided at a board meeting this past Sunday night that they are closing the school at the end of this year.

First off, they have a person running it who knows nothing about running a school and doesn't even have any college education at all...
but he is the music minister and has 5 kids (4 of which attend that school for FREE) and a wife who is the paid secretary for the school, who is usually off shopping or at the tanning bed instead of being in the office to answer parent's calls during school hours. Not to mention off giving piano lessons in the church Sunday School rooms , thus making more money for herself during school hours.

Secondly, that church is MORE than capable of helping the school, they just don't want to mess with it just like they don't want to mess with the kids who come from "unfortunate" families on the church van each Sunday morning and Wednesday night. The "van kids" as they call them, are trouble.
They have absolutely no community outreach concern and could care less if they get any new members in...they're only worried about kicking out those who don't "fit" into their mold. And they've done it.

You know, I made my peace with the fact that even though my dad loved his grandkids so much that he shed blood, sweat and tears to start that school for them and other children in our community, not to mention fought a whole church board on a monthly basis to make sure it got started, only to have it placed in the hands of someone uneducated and undeserving of it... and that we would have to leave it all behind and my kids would lose out on the school that was partly started for them. And I was ok with the fact that although we left and choose to homeschool, at least some other child(ren) who couldn't make it in public schools would have a safe and loving place to go...and I even swallowed my pride and continued to tell people that it was a great school.

But, the fact that they are shutting the doors because of money mismanagement and church politics makes me SICK!!!!

I will be honest, there was a time when I had hoped that the doors would close. Those were my selfish "bitter" thoughts, right after we left, because my kids could no longer go to a school their grandfather had worked so hard to start for them. So, I guess in that respect if I went back to all the "wrongs" that were done to my family, I could be happy. But I'm not.

But, I can't say I'm exactly sad either. It really won't bother me to know that everyone else will know now what a failure the person put in charge is and how selfish that church is with its money and how unwilling they are to help out in seeing that kids in our community can get a Christian education. That's bad of me and I'm wrong, I know.

I guess I have mixed feelings. I will say that I am SO sorry for all the parents who are losing the secure feeling of dropping their kids off at a school where their Lord can be talked about, prayed to, and taught about openly without having to call a school board meeting and PTA meeting to see if it's ok or politically correct. And where they can leave their children knowing that they will be safe- spiritually, emotionally and physically.

But what hurts me more is that I also feel a deep saddness for the kids who have been made fun of, rejected and/or even hurt physically at public schools because of their beliefs, only to find a place where they belong and actually like learning and going to school again, only to lose it because of careless financial decisions and selfish church board rulings.

I wonder how some of these board members can sleep at night. And I wonder if it's in the church manual that board members have to have actually READ their Bibles before being elected?! Church politics are sins made "politically correct".

December 6, 2005

WHY?!?

Please tell me why....

Do parents bring their kids sick to daycare? Is it to punish me? The other daycare parents who will soon have to miss work because THEIR kids are sick? Or is it just because they are too selfish to stay at home and take care of their kids themselves? If you can't take care of them, don't have them!!

Why...

Do daycare parents feel they can "barter" my paid holidays and time off? If it's in the contract and you signed it and agreed to it, why are you complaining now?!

Why...

Do I go to Applebees 3 straight times in a row and their ribs are horrible so then I don't go forever, because I figure it will just be bad ribs again, but then finally go tonight and get REALLY GREAT ribs?? They probably got a new cook 2 months ago and I've been missing out all this time.

Why...

Do I always wait until the last minute to do my Christmas shopping?

Why...

Do I live in such a HICK town that has in our weekly newspaper the
following under "Police Report" ...
"when two males exited the bar, and upon noticing the police car, went back inside the watering hole."

The WATERING HOLE????? This is how the police document things in this town?

On that note, I need to go to bed, because Pa's got the picture box real loud and the kiddies is up gettin their weekly baths and I need to set my hair in rollers so as I can get up and go into town in my bathrobe and slippers tomorrow morning and get us some grits from Aunt Mays Kitchen. That is IF I can get one of our jacked up cars on our front lawn off the cement blocks and runnin.
Hey, does anyone know if Aunt Mays still takes food stamps?

~Y'all have a good night, ya hear~




December 4, 2005

Gone Is The Weekend...

Again! The weeks go so slow and the weekends go so fast! I had the most UNproductive weekend ever!! I'm ashamed!! Friday night was a bust...Saturday morning I got up late (yes, I did get to sleep in) and forgot that I needed to be at the bank by noon. Didn't get anything done all day...left at about 4:30 to go get the boys' haircuts. Looked around walmart for a bit while waiting for my mom
to have dinner with her at 6:30. Got back from that at 7:30 and did our weekly shopping until about 9:45. WHAT there is in walmart that keeps us in there for hours upon hours at a time is a mystery to me! I think they have some secret time warp rays that hit you when you walk in and again when you leave...then you get out in your car and look at the clock and wonder HOW you just spent two and a half hours in there and only came out with one CD and some bananas?! It's kind of spooky if you think about it!

While I was in there, I ran into a friend from church. She said they just stopped in real quick to pick up a few things...I saw them again later on and then again in line, they were one register over from me and they left the exact same time I did...YA, did you say you were just going to run in and out? IMPOSSIBLE at walmart!!

Anyway, when I talked to her she asked if we were still homeschooling, I told her we were...she said she was pretty sure they were going to homeschool next year. She has 5 kids, the youngest is in first or second grade and the oldest is in highschool (not sure how old...probably 15 or 16). I told her about the co-op and how fun it is and how great it is to get away each week and what a nice break it is for both the kids and moms...she said that is something that they would definately look into. Yippeeee, I'm not going to be the only homeschooling freak at my church anymore. lol Not that anyone's ever made me feel that way, but when I started attending my church, I was invited by another friend of mine who also has 5 kids and homeschools, and I felt like since she was the music leader and a big part of the church, that we at least had something in common with her and her family and you know...'power in numbers' I guess. I think we are the only homeschooling family there now since she stepped down from her music leader position to travel with her husband. He travels with his job and they have a RV, so they just load up the kids and hit the road. Kinda cool for the kids...what a great way to homeschool! I HATE that my kids and I have to stay in the house every day! I know they get bored and frustrated, but...I gotta work. In a perfect world I would have a wonderful husband who made a nice living and we could go out on field trips all the time...To the zoo, museums, The Children's Museum, co-ops, the mall ...opps, did I just say the mall?! Well, that counts...right?! There are MANY things to learn in the mall!! Oh well, since it's not a perfect world we'll stay at home with screaming kids and try to work our schoolwork in there between getting the kids down for naps and the 15 minutes we have before one of them decides screaming is more fun than sleeping.

So back to my UNproductive weekend...
When we finally got out of walmart we had freezing rain and had to sit in the car for almost 10 minutes before I could even get the ice off the windshield and side windows. I didn't have a scraper but did buy some of that de-icer stuff...don't waste your money, it doesn't work. So, we finally melted and headed home. I drove about 40 the whole way. It wasn't bad until we got in our subdivision. Our driveway has an incline and when I put it in park, we slid. SO...on went the emergency brake and that held it. And let me tell you just how fun it was to try and get groceries and walk up the driveway on solid ice. I'm shocked I didn't fall.

If you know my mom, you know that if there is even a mention of snow she is glued to the weather channel. I wondered how she would handle it when she got out of work at 11. Well shortly after we got home, we got a call that she just clocked out and was leaving early. lol My dad just bought her a 2006 Equinox with all wheel drive, so she didn't have much trouble but I'm sure she was praying the whole way home.

This morning I was in bed and it was so comfortable and cozy...but, I was a greeter at church so...up and adam...in the shower, took the dogs out, got the kids up , then for some reason I started slowing down and not paying attention and when I finally looked at a clock, I had 20 minutes and I was still in my towel with a towel on my head. Needless to say, the lovely people who I had to greet saw a no make-up, flat haired woman at our church doors today. OH well, it was too cold to care anyway... I'm sure they wouldn't have cared if Freddy Kruger were opening the doors, just as long as someone was letting them in. Speaking of which...the woman that I greet with is not nice. At least not to me. I don't know if I'm overly paranoid or what, and I've tried to not make much about it and just let it go as "me making something out of nothing" but this woman hates me. I had a "run in" with her over the summer when I was working in our church nursery before I started greeting with her...I went into the nursery to "do my time" and she was there from the first service. She looked at me weird and asked what I was doing. I said that I was on the schedule to be in there. She said she didn't see my name on the board. I said it wasn't up there, but I was on the schedule. Then she asked if I had just come in to "look at the babies"..UMMMM NO, I'm working in here today!! She looked at me like I was lying and stood there for some time, like she didn't trust me to stay in there with two babies. Finally she left and the next few times I went in she didn't say a word and just left. Well...I decided that I wasn't too excited about working in the nursery, since I do daycare all week...so I didn't sign up to work again in the fall and told our children's pastor why...she was very understanding but quick to give me the handbells. LOL Anyway, so I haven't really had much contact with this other woman much. Well, the last time I greeted, I greeted with her. I tried to talk to her but she kind of just kept looking away. When they called me to greet again this week, they told me who I would be greeting with but I didn't think that was her name so I didn't give it another thought. Well, when I got to church this morning, there she was at the door with bulletins in her hand. So, I said hi to her and that I was greeting with her today...she didn't say a word, just turned around and literally had her back to me the whole time. I don't know what I've done to her, but it annoys me. The only time she talked to me was when she ran out of bulletins and asked how many I had, then told me to give her half. Oh well, I'm just going to brush it off...I figure I only have to spend 15 mintues with her a month...I think I can handle that. lol
They'll probably change who I greet with next month anyway...I just want to know why she doesn't like me. And it's not that she's shy...she's very friendly and nice to everyone else who's coming in and standing around. She talks to everyone. (But me!) lol

I did make a nice lunch for us when we got home, watched some of the Colts game and then took a nice 2 hour nap. I didn't get any of the cleaning downstairs done but did get the daycare blankets washed and a load of clothes done. Now I'm just praying that all the runny noses I wiped on Friday are cleared up for tomorrow. Or at least that the parents will bring some meds if they aren't. ugh

Well, even with my 2 hour nap, I'm tired...so I'm off to bed. My alarm is going to ring WAY too early and I have a feeling I'm not going to want to get up. I love weekends!


~bye bye my fair friend, see you again in 5 days...
I'll be thinking of you every day until we meet again~
OH and...GO COLTS!! 12-0
Colts 35
Titans 3

December 2, 2005

nothing

I have nothing to blog about, but since I have time, I feel I should blog something so...I'll just tell you about my last couple of days.

Yesterday...not much happened. I had 5 daycare kids here. It was a normal daycare day. It snowed huge snow flakes around 8am. It stuck a little, but then melted by noon. We had hand bell practice in the evening. The kids are getting ready for their program which will be on Sunday Dec. 11. so we are making the final adjustments. The kids are doing hand bells as well as singing 2 songs. In one song "Celebrate the Child" there are two solo parts. We hadn't filled those parts yet, so last night our children's pastor had all the kids on the stage and announced that they would fill those solo parts. She told the kids who did NOT want a solo to sit down. All sat down but 6. I was looking at sheet music and wasn't paying attention but heard her say they would split the two verses up and 3 kids could sing the first verse and the other 3 could sing the second. So, the song starts and I look up, the kids are singing the first verse, get to the chorus and who grabs a mic...my TAYLOR!! Mr. Doesn't Say a Word in Public EVER!! is going to sing one of the verses? He's going to actually hold a mic and sing into it in front of our whole church. OH MY GOSH...NO WAY!! I was shocked but brimming with excitement. I couldn't wait for Tyler's class to get over so when he came in I could tell him that his brother actually took a singing part in the program. I was grinning ear to ear. I also told his brother that if he made fun of him I would ground him for FOREVER plus one day!!! So, practice is over and we get in the car and I get all proud mommylike and start in on the "I'm SO proud of you Taylor", "I am so excited", "I can't believe you took a part", etc... Well...this is what really happened...Taylor was by some noisy kids and didn't hear our children's pastor say to sit down so he just kept standing there and Ooops, got a part. Of course him being so SHY he didn't dare speak up and say he didn't want a part, so he took it. LOL I said to him, "Oh well, we have the cd so get practicing" And we did TODAY!! He'll be fine and I'll be right up front with them since I am leading the bells, so he shouldn't have any problems. Actually I think it will be very good for him.

Today.... was another normal daycare day except for the fact that my little ones are all getting colds and I had to wipe noses about 1,000 times today. Oh and I had one little one who was horribly whiney all morning, acting like he was either sick or tired or both and I had to figure it out myself because his mom couldn't bother to tell me anything at drop off. I found out from dad tonight at pick up that he didn't sleep last night. Ohhhhh ok, well that must have been why he was trying to go to sleep on me at 9am and wanted to be held all morning and would cry everytime I'd try to put him down! Hmmm, wonder why he just didn't tell me what was wrong, I mean he IS 16 months old, he should be able to let me know what's going on, don't ya think? I guess I'm going to have to start giving mom the third degree every morning. All daycare parents are like that and I don't understand it, but oh well, there are a lot of things I don't understand about them. And there's probably many things about me that they can't understand. Sounds like a normal relationship to me!!
Tonight we went to Blockbuster...didn't have the movie we wanted...go figure! Then we ran through McDonald's and came home. Now I am sitting here bored and just happy with the thought that I do not have to get up in the morning. Of course I'll be wide awake by 8am, it's Sunday that I'll want to sleep in. That's always the way it works. Sunday I am greeting at church so we have to be up and be there early.
Other than that, I have no plans for this weekend. Jealous? Ya, didn't think so.

~happy weekend~

November 30, 2005

Guess What...



We now have our stockings hung

by our chimney with care...

November 28, 2005

Monday's Musings

Good evening! TGMIO!!!!!! (Thank God Monday Is Over) Or is almost over!
I am ready to go to bed! Or at least get my pajamas on, turn the Colts on, and get under my covers. What a day!! And it's only Monday....and that's bad when you run a daycare that's opened Monday thru Friday! AND you had a daycare dad ask if his kids could stay late this coming Friday because the ditz that runs the daycare (me) advertised in the November newsletter that for an additional fee, the daycare would be opened late every Friday evening until Christmas so that parents could do shopping....what was I thinking? Oh ya, extra Christmas money.

Anyway...my two 17 month old daycare boys have found their screaming voices. I don't mean crying/screaming...I mean get happy, or mad or just for the heck of it screaming at the top of their lungs. Which, could be good for a couple of my other daycare kids who may actually be part deaf, cause why else would they be SO loud ALL the time. Seriously, I'm wondering if they need their hearing tested! It seems everything they say, laugh, cry, whine, or sing about is super loud! OR....could it be from a SUPER lack of discipline at home?? They have one of "those" moms...one of those wonderful "patient" moms who never raises her voice... always says in a calm quiet almost whispered voice anything and everything to her kids, even when injury or death may result. Say it with me, in a quiet voice... "No no honey, please don't put the car in drive while mommy is pumping gas". NO quieter!! You have to almost whisper when you say it!!
"No no sweetie, it's not funny when you pour baby powder on your newborn sisters face...now see what you did sugar, your sissy can't breathe...go get mommy the phone so we can call 911...hurry honey, sissy's turning blue...hurry up sweetie...get up, get the phone for mommy and I'll get you a sucker..."
You get what I'm saying...that's not patients...that's a woman who is on zoloft, prozac, paxil, zanax, and sarafem, and couldn't get angry or yell if her life depended on it. That is not a good mom!! That is a "I can't deal with having kids so give me the drugs cop out mom." HEY! I'd love to live my life one huge buzz after another too, but I actually want to remember my kids growing up and actually instill some discipline in them. Trust me, my kids see me as anything but calm. They see me as someone who if they dared to act up in public, or at a friends house or in front of my friends or just generally misbehaving out of the boundaries of their own home, would get the living daylights knocked out of them.
But, they also see me sit down and read stories to them at least 3 times a week. They see me cry at sad commercials, sad movies and while reading blogs of parents who have terminally ill children. They hear me start my prayer out EVERY SINGLE NIGHT by saying "Dear Jesus, thank you SO much for letting me be Tyler and Taylor's mom!" and every night I mean it! And not too long ago they saw me cry while trying to revive their last gold fish...not because I cared about the fish, but because I cared about the little boy whose heart was breaking because his pet was swimming upside down and he'd already lost about 3 other fish that month. How does one revive a goldfish you ask? Well, we're not talking CPR!! Actually, I think it was the cold water that did it. The poor little thing was swimming on it's side trying so hard not to do that upside down deathstroke. I thought it was a lost cause so I took the net and put him in the toilet. Before I flushed, I saw him move and swim a little...so I got him out and put him back in the tank...he swam a little and then started doing the upside down thing. So, I put him back in the cold toilet water again and he started swimming more...I did this a couple more times and wouldn't you know it, the thing lived. Well, only for another 12 hours...but those were GOOD hours!!! AND, we got a good picture of "Cosmo" in those 12 hours, so it's all good! We're done with fish now...except for "Smarty" who is our beta that we got from a graduation open house this past summer. OH wait...should I count the gold fish that are out in our fountain by our front walk? The ones that we've had for a couple years...the ones that get frozen all winter and thaw out in the spring? Did you know they did that??? They do!!!

Anyway....back to my original thought....kids need discipline, and yelling never hurt. Although it doesn't really do any good unless it IS one of those time where injury or death could result...but anyway, when you're not on a handful of anti depressants every day, things happen, you yell and you feel better. Sometimes.

And now... I have to talk about the good part of my day...my mom had the day off so we cooked. Yay! Ok, she cooked, but still Yay!! She cooked lunch for my daycare kids because she was already in the kitchen getting the chili we had tonight ready...so she made the kids grilled cheese AND cut them up in cute little squares AND cut the crusts off for the kids who don't like it (Tyler). I like having her around and HATE that she works. She's my mom and I want a stay at home mom dag-nab-it! OH...and she promised Tyler the next day she had off that they would make a cheesecake...and they did....and it was YUMmy!! And it's calling my name but I'm tuning it out like I do my overly loud daycare kids....

Well, it's after 10 now...and I'm so tired...the boys just came down and they got their showers on their own without being asked...Ok, so it IS a good Monday!

~go colts~

November 27, 2005

"A" is for...

Ahh yes, it's the "Good Mother" whose children would never cuss...
(See "Traditions" post)

Just said by my 8 yr old son: "I am NOT an ass!"

"Ass" has been a popular word here today and YES!, just so you know...we DID go to church this morning...whereas, the whole "ass" thing got started.

It's the first Sunday of Advent and we sang quite a few Christmas songs, one being 'What Child is This' which says "where ox and ass are feeding". I have to admit, I made myself think about anything other than the fact that we all just sang "ass" and that if I looked over at my 11 yo we would both probably start laughing...YES, I'm immature like that!! It comes from being a PK, I guess?

Anyway, we did discuss this at lunch this afternoon. I was a good mom and made their lunch and made us all sit together at the kitchen table. So, considering the fact that it was lunchtime and we hadn't done anything else but go to church, the conversation was about... church. And the "ass" thing in the song was brought up.

As for Taylor "being an ass"...we went to Payless on Friday to find slippers. Taylor got "Donkey" from Shrek. They're really cute and they are the first things on every morning or as soon as he comes home and can get his shoes off. Of course at lunch Tyler decided to let Taylor know that he had 2 "asses" on his feet.

Then later on, Taylor was throwing a fit about something and I told him he was acting like his slippers. That was all that was said. However, his older brother could not leave it at that, and reminded him what his slippers were! Taylor made no comment. Whew! Taylor just got up and walked into the kitchen not saying a word. Yippeee...no big huge fight....how did I get so lucky?

On his way back from the kitchen however (5 minutes after the fact) he decided to let us know in a very loud voice: " I am NOT an ass!"

I'm still NOT counting it as my child saying a cuss word, he meant donkey!! I know he did!! We just had a huge discussion on it. Besides, it can't be bad...we sang it in church!!

Although, the fact that these slippers are donkeys make for such intersting possiblilities of things to say...

Examples:
They are so huge and bulky, they have him tripping constantly which could make someone ask:
"Are you tripping over your own ass?!"

He says they're so comfortable but hard to walk in sometimes, so he likes to take a break:
"My ass needs a break!"

The dogs LOVE to chase these fun stuffed looking things:
"Mom, the dogs are chasing my ass again!"

And he just loved his slippers so much that that first night he had them, he swore he was going to wear them all the time, even to bed. But....
"His ass was too big to fit under the covers!"

I'm leaving you with that!

November 26, 2005

Traditions

I've been thinking about "traditions" today and how unique and fun they are. Actually I was thinking about them on Thanksgiving and how since we stayed home this year, some of those traditions were broken. We spend Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family and always have. Well, with my grandma living with my aunt now and my uncle recovering from his stem cell transplant AND the fact that both my mom and dad had to work on Friday, we did not get together this year. I thought it would be fun to share some of our family's traditions. Some have been passed down and some have been started by me, now that I have children.

On Thanksgiving my grandma makes the same things every year...including things that may not be considered a "traditional" Thanksgiving dish like...chicken and noodles, oyster dressing and cherry pudding (with nuts for my dad-without for my uncle). Still, we have these things every year, so since we did our own Thanksgiving this year, we didn't have these things except for the cherry pudding (my mom made that for my dad as a surprise). At the end of dinner we asked him if he wanted dessert and we said we had pumpkin pie and apple pie...he sat and thought a minute and then my mom said "OR we have cherry pudding". His face just lit up. I, on the other hand like silly little things with "special" dinners, including candles and non alcoholic wine. We had both this year. It just makes the table look better with candles. And the non alcoholic wine is just for fun...and makes 5 more glasses to wash after dinner. yay!

We don't do the traditional "putting the tree up the day after Thanksgiving" and I will NEVER do the traditional "black friday getting up at 4am to go shopping and trying not to kill anyone who gets in your way because 1. that's just TOO flippin early in the morning to do ANYTHING and 2. I would be a major GROUCH at that time and anyone who got in my way would be in for it."

Hmm, maybe I WOULD do good in a crowd at that time of the day.

We do have our "Christmas lights" tradition that I started when the kids were little and when I was not making much money at all...that consisted of us making hot chocolate and driving around looking at Christmas lights.

I also started the "Christmas Eve PJs" tradition. That is where I let my kids open 1 gift on Christmas Eve and it's always new pajamas, washed and ready to wear, and those are the PJs they wear to bed on Christmas Eve. Sometimes I'll add little things to their pjs like, slippers or a robe or a handmade blanket.

OH yes....the handmade blankets....I started that one last year and already I've heard a million times "are we going to get blankets again, PLEASE!!!". And then my mom put in her request for one too, but bigger. She even has her fabric and design picked out. Hmmm, guess I know what I'll be doing in a couple weeks. Only this year I plan to be more professional and actually measure the fabric and perhaps use two pieces rather than just one. I think it looks better and makes for a cozier blanket.

OH and then we can't forget the Red Ryder BB Gun - 'A Chrismas Story' movie that my dad makes us watch at least a couple times in December. The Chinese restaurant part is hilarious though so it's ok. I have to admit I'm a sucker for Christmas movies. Even the first 'Home Alone' is watchable at Christmastime. I already made my mom sit down and watch the first Christmas CBS Sunday night movie last Sunday. It was called 'Snow Wonder' and it was really good!! I plan on making my mom watch tomorrow's movie too...it's called 'Silver Bells'. Here's the link: http://www.cbs.com/specials/silver_bells/ It looks good too even though I do not care for Anne Heche...she's too crazy for me...and not a good crazy ... but a looney crazy as in hook up the electrodes and refill the lithium!!

And yes, we still have that crazy tradition of leaving cookies and milk for Santa. I still have a 8 yo who believes and I'm doing everything in my power to continue that as along as possible. I've given Tyler strict orders that he is NOT to in any way tell his younger brother that Santa is not real or I will take all his gifts back to the store. I thought for sure this would be the year that the "Santa Legend" would leave the Clay household, but nope, not yet...Taylor even prayed for him last night. This of course was after Taylor told my dad that he didn't want the "scooper" construction truck that was on his list...even though my dad had made it to Toys R Us early to make SURE he got that $50 remote control construction truck. My dad told him that when he made his list, Santa already had his elves start making the gifts and told him that his bags get filled up long before Christmas Eve, so that there is a very good possibility that he may have already packed that for him. Taylor bought it and said that was ok and that he'd be happy with whatever Santa got him. Then in his prayer last night he prayed for all the tsunami people,(cause he still prays for that every night??), all the hurricane people and for Santa to get all the bags packed in time. Ok, so maybe believing in Santa is not normal for a 3rd grader...but he's our baby and I'm keeping it that way darn it! Besides, I don't want my kids acting like teenagers and growing up before they need to. They can stay kids as long as they'd like. I'm proud my 3rd grader has absolutley NO idea what a joint is. I'm also proud that I have a 6th grader and 3rd grader who have never said the "F" word!!! And I'm pretty sure my 3rd grader doesn't even know that word and if my 6th grader does, it's a good bet he doesn't know what it means. Ahhh, more joys of homeschooling. And NO they are not sheltered!! They are kids!! Anyone have a problem with that??

How I got from traditions to kids being kids is beyond me, but ya know I gotta get my 2 cents in there about how kids should be raised in every post. OH!! and praise God!...my 11 yr old is standing over my shoulder reading this right now, and he just said "What's a joint?". Giving myself some "good mama" pats on the back...:o) Yippeee, my kids are KIDS!!!

~happy holidays - cause they are here~




November 23, 2005

We have...(it's white and fluffy)

Snow!!!!!!! It was just flurries when we woke up but now we actually
have something on the ground. Taylor got up and came downstairs and sat on my lap (his normal morning routine)... I wasn't really thinking about it at that point, but all of a sudden the snow must have caught his eye because he jumped up and got all excited. Then he was off to the closet where he pulled out his snow pants, hat, gloves and winter coat. The boots were already out and sitting by the door. For some reason yesterday he thought he needed to find them and put them on the rug by the other shoes. He said he wanted snow...well, he got it and has already been out playing in it which meant I had to get the camcorder out, charge it and search for a blank tape so I could get all the "first snow" fun.

Meanwhile, we are having 'Pajama and Movie Day' at the daycare. All the kids came wearing their pajamas and brought some movies to share. I decided to wear regular clothes...I don't think I could work in PJs all day. We had our big Thanksgiving Feast and Party yesterday since everyone wasn't going to be here today. So, we're just hanging out watching movies and relaxing. It's almost lunch time, then naptime , then only a few hours and I'll be free for 4 whole days. Yippee!! And, we're not going anywhere this year for Thanksgiving so I will have the whole 4 days to do whatever I want! I think sleeping in is right at the top of that list! Tomorrow I will get up early to help mom get stuff ready. I am in charge of making some small things, like green bean casserole and some other little things. I still have to go to the store tonight...not looking forward to that!! I'm actually kind of glad we're staying home this year but will miss seeing my dad's side of the family. I hope next year everyone is well and healthy, and my uncle's leukemia is long gone and we can all be together again.

~Off to sing...'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' for the 50th time... LOL~




November 20, 2005

Sunday...

We did not make it to church today...it seems my 8 yr old is not quite over the stomach bug he had earlier this week. I really thought we made out good, with only vomiting once and nothing else...well, the "nothing else" aka diarrhea, is now here! It started last night and I had to make a quick run to CVS to get some children's Imodium AD. I gave him his "doses" and crossed my fingers. They must have come uncrossed sometime in the night because at about 3:30am , we were up, in and out of the bathroom and watching Animal Planet for the next hour.
I learned alot about mama crocodiles...and how they carry their newly born crocs in their mouths...well, unless they get a little too excited while trying to pick them up and bite down on them with their huge teeth, in that case, they just go ahead and eat the baby since they've already half killed them anyway. How motherly!!

So...so far today I have answered all my emails, watched an episode of 'Golden Girls', tried a "Aunt Jemima Griddlecakes" breakfast sandwich (very good, will buy again) and found the space heater in the garage to put her next to my computer so I will be all toasty warm while cleaverly writting on my blog each day this winter! I'm thinking about a shower and getting my kids some lunch (since it's almost 2:00 now!) and perhaps running up to the store to buy a newspaper. But for now, I will continue writting on my blog while watching my yorkie destory a roll of paper towels. He's so cute and never gets to have any fun, so I say GO FOR IT ANDY!!!! Tear it up boy!!!

I worked yesterday. I had a daycare dad ask me at pick-up Friday night if I ever did weekend care. I said I had in the past. He said he was looking for someone for Saturday from 10-2. I figured since I am only working 3 days this week, I could swing it. The kids got here, we got ready and went to walmart. I took Tyler to Payless and let him go in by himself to look, he didn't find anything (he has to have "namebrand" shoes now...so off to Kohls we'll go this week), then we went through McDonalds for lunch...OH MY! it cost me almost $20 for me and 4 kids! (Rethinking the foster care thing!!! We could never go out to eat!!) We came home, ate, and their dad called and said he was on his way...easy cheesey!! Wish my daycare days were that fun and short!!

I guess I need to go get something done...I have to get lunch, clean the downstairs, do some laundry and make out my daycare menu for the week...all before 9pm! At that time I will be on the couch watching "Snow Wonder" the CBS Sunday night movie. It looks good and I'm going to make my mom sit down and watch it with me. I'm need to get in the holiday spirit and this movie looks like a good start.

~Have a happy Lord's Day~

November 17, 2005

Random Thoughts

I don't really have a 'subject' that I want to talk about today, so here are some random thoughts that have been running through my brain and some updates on what we've been up to.

Taylor was the proud recipient of the stomach flu Tuesday night. I had stayed up late watching the CMA's and at about 11:30 he informed me he didn't feel good. So, I let him get in bed with me. He kept telling me he couldn't get to sleep. I told him to think about everything he wanted for Christmas and how fun Christmas day would be. That seemed to work and we fell asleep. At 2am he wakes me up and says he's going to throw up so we go into the bathroom. Nothing. We go back to bed, with a trash can next to him. About a half hour later, he's using that trash can. I'm up again, downstairs trying to find Sprite or 7up or ginger ale. NO luck. We did have some Gatorade but it was left over from early in the summer when we all had some kind of stomach flu. So, I decided Coke would work. He sipped some and fell asleep. Of course I couldn't sleep because I was afraid he was going to get sick again. He never did and I got to work 10 hours on only 2 hours of sleep. Ya know, most people at most jobs would have taken the day off, unfortunately, if I take the day off at the last minute, I get attitude for it. Thankfully (knocking on wood) no one else has gotten it. YET! Of course, it may have been from all the chocolate chip cookies Grandma made that day. She had the day off and spoiled the kids by making cookies, taking them to the store and getting them some goodies, and she even made us all dinner - homemade vegetable soup and cornbread. Yum! So, maybe it was the 10 cookies he had before bed. Ya think?!
Oh, and just to let you know...we are stocked up on "Twist Up" (the walmart version of 7up).

I read a blog the other day where someone had mentioned Walmart (and even posted and anti link) and how they try not to shop there because they are putting all the little people out of business and they are taking over and how everything they sell comes from overseas and Americans are losing jobs and blah blah blah... First off, I would just like to say it's good that people have convictions and I'm happy for that, but in all honestly, probably MOST of what these people have in their homes comes from overseas. And excuse me, but do these anti- Walmart people drive cars?? Do you think we get oil from America?? Ummm, NO! (Although we have PLENTY!!)
I will never understand why people let themselves get worked up over things that we really cannot control. It's a fact, most of the time buying American things cost an arm and a leg. Well, let's blame the Americans for making their things so darn costly!! YES, it is harder to buy things from a mom and pop store and it is more expensive to buy things handmade, and I will agree the quality is worth it, but the Americans are the ones pricing it. And I know what they say, they HAVE to raise their prices to keep up. Well, it doesn't mean hard working Americans can afford them.!
So, because these people want to make a stand, they refuse to go without, and not shop at walmart. (when they could be saving money) Not to mention most of "these people" all have computers, play stations, cameras, children's toys, etc... I'm scratching my head on this one!! Sounds a little conflicting to me.

On a small note...very disappointed with the CMA's!! Moving them out of Nashville and to New York City is a total set back to country music in my opinion and proves that they ARE in fact interested in all the fame, glitz and glory that they so adamantly deny. They would say..."Country music is all because we love country music!!" Ya, whatever! That's why half of them live out in L.A. now!! Stick to your grass roots people!! And the "redneck woman" winning female artist of the year?? Am I coming down with Taylor's flu...no wait, I just want to puke! There IS a difference between "white trash" and country folk!!! Hopefully Jenny Craig will sign her on as the 2006 spokeswoman and she can loose that beer gut she has going on! Any woman that chews needs a good dose of Martha Stewart!! OH and what does Elton John have to do with country? Anyone? Anyone?? I love Dolly Parton, but they sounded horrible together! They could have at least thrown some humor into the performance and had EJ in drag dressed as Dolly! Especially in New York City!!

~have a great day~









November 12, 2005

Fostering thoughts on Fostering

I am thinking about becoming a foster parent. I personally know someone who works within the foster care system and will help me out with this. He is a former client of mine and we have been emailing back and forth.

I wanted to become a foster parent a few years ago when a cute little boy named Monty came into my life. A lady at our old church was a foster parent and got a call one day for a newborn who was being released from the hospital that day. She immediately called me, knowing I had an in-home daycare, and asked if I had anything she could borrow for this baby. I had a bassinet, that was my son's and let her borrow that so he would have a place to sleep that night. I met her and instantly fell in love with this motherless child. Maybe I should give you some insight as to why this is close to my heart...I am adopted. For the first 3 days of my life, I did not have a mother. I layed in a hospital with no one to call mommy. I'm sure I got lots of attention from nurses and maybe my birth mother did hold me and spend time with me, but still...that's so sad. I'm sure I didn't know any better and I did receive the best parents in the world on my 3rd day of life...so, I guess it was worth the wait!!!!

Anyway, his name was Monty. He was so cute. In the months to come, I would take him home with me after church on Sunday afternoons, sometimes he would spend the night, and I waited my turn among all the other women to hold him during church. I just loved him. We all loved him. The whole church loved him. And when he was a little older, he got a great family!!! There were lots of prayers sent up for that little guy and they worked! I think about him every now and then.

Ok, so I have been thinking about this more seriously and although getting paid to help out with the expenses of having another child or children full time would be helpful, I did not realize how much you actually got paid. I can honestly say my first thoughts about this were that I would be an excellent foster parent because I'm a stay at home mom who runs her business (daycare) from home. What a perfect place/situation for a child. Well, in doing more research, I have found that I could foster two small children and make more than I do working. And if my child's biological "father" (who is SO undeserving of that title) starting paying support like is COURT ORDERED now...I would be doing very well. I'm thinking of it in the aspect of being able to be a real stay at home mom and getting to focus on homeschooling more, not being trapped inside the house all day and doing what my kids want to do instead of what I HAVE to do with the daycare job. I love my job, don't get me wrong, but never having to deal with sick kids, non paying parents and everything else that goes along with it, would be WONDERFUL!!!

Of course this is still very much in the early "thinking" stages and I'm praying about it and seeking the Lord's will. But, it would be great. Except for I think foster kids would be like pets...I would just keep collecting them and end up with 10 kids.


*Please pray for/with me regarding this decision*

My week...more food issues.

Ok, so it was a pretty boring week, but it went fast and it's the weekend, so Yippeeee!
Not much happened this week, nothing too interesting.
I broke two dates with the new guys I met. And I also wrote him an email telling him why I thought I wasn't interested. To which he replied by writing me a very nice, understanding email. Hmm, maybe he WILL get a chance!?! He has 4 kids and a mean ex wife. She even looks mean...I looked her up on yahoo personals because he said she had an ad on there. LOL I'm SOOOOO tempted to put the link...but I won't. I'll be nice. But, if there are any men out there who wants a woman with 5 kids (cause one isn't his), doesn't want to work, is on prozac, zoloft and other meds, will run you into debt beyond belief and sleeps alot...email me privately, I'll hook ya up.

I have another fast food/take out complaint...I'm sure you can't believe that, but it's true. Ok, I live in a very small town where for 8 years we have had either Dairy Queen, Subway or a couple pizza places to choose from..OH and I guess I should add that we do have our very own "Diner" which an out of town guest of mine referred to as "Fortville Hooters"...lol Anyway... not too long ago we got a Chinese restaurant and for the first couple weeks there was a line out the door each night. Wow~something other than pizza!! Great!! I will admit, they do have very good food. However I find it a little unsettling that when you place your order, the guy takes your phone number and nothing else, when you walk in to get your food, they know exactly who you are...even if there are 3 other people walking in for their food...it's very bizarre! OK...for my story...this past Wednesday evening Taylor and I were getting hungry (Tyler was in Muncie with my parents), and I did not feel like cooking (BIG shocker!!) so Taylor decided he wanted Subway and I wasn't in the mood, (besides the fact we went there on Sunday and the bread was horrible AND I spent $16 on just me and my two kids....geez!) So, I decide I'll order chinese, go to the ATM, take Taylor through Subway , pick up my food and go back home. As I was walking out the door I realized that I had ordered a pint of wonton soup and "crispy chicken" instead of the "sesame chicken". I do not know why, but I've made this mistake before...I love the sesame chicken and I'm not too fond of the crispy chicken...so, I thought I would call them real quick and change my order. LOL Ya, well it sounds simple enough.... So one of the chinese girls answers and I am trying to explain to her that I just ordered but I wanted to change it. She doesn't understand so hands the phone to the guy who actually CAN speak english (at least enough to take orders and tell you how much it is)...I tell him that I just called a minute ago and ordered the wonton soup and crispy chicken and could I please cancel that and get the sesame chicken instead. This is his reply (and use your best chinese voice while saying this aloud to yourself)..."NO! I make food! Your food ready!" Hmm...ok, so I tell him again that I just want to switch the crispy to the sesame but keep the wonton. Again he says "No! I make food! Your food ready now!" He is seriously offended. So, I say "You mean I can't change my order and you're still going to make me pay for it" and he says "Yes, your food ready now!" I say "Ok, just cancel my order then!" He says "Your food ready!" I said "Never mind, I want to cancel it." He says "I add on sesame chicken?" I say "NO, please just cancel my order" He hangs up on me! I ate Dairy Queen.

OH...and here's a shout out to Arby's and the great food we got there this week!!!(not) On Thursday nights we are in a rush and usually don't have dinner until after church. So, we had a quick snack, went to church and decided we'd go to Arby's. There was some apprehension from me since it was already 8:05 when we left and I really wanted to get home to watch Will and Grace at 8:30...I knew it had to be a quick trip since Arby's is about 10 minutes away from us. So we go and I realize I'm almost out of gas...thankfully there is a gas station in the same parking lot so that was good. We order our food, the kids only wanted the motzerella (sp?) sticks and I didn't want to eat alot before bed so I got a kid's meal...we get home, I go up to my room, get comfortable and have only missed the first 5 minutes of W&G. I eat some fries, get out my tiny kidsize roast beef sandwich, open it up and it's half PINK! Yuck...I look at the bun, and there are blood stains. Gross! Well, for anyone who knows me, you know I value my food. lol I am ticked...I HAVE to call to complain which is going to take time away from my show and means I have to get up, go back downstairs and look a phone number up in a phone book (which I HATE to do!!) There is only one Arby's on Pendleton pike so I call it...I'm ticked, probably pretty snotty and as soon as they pick up I ask to talk to a manager. It was the wrong Arby's. I ask if they have the number to the other Arby's and they do. I get it and call. Ask to talk to a manager again...at this point I'm no longer mad because I just had to be nice and apologize to the 1st manager I just yelled at. So, I ask if he's had any complaints about his roast beef tonight. He says yes and that there is a problem and the batch they just cooked did not get cooked to the proper temperature. GREAT!! He tells me I can come back in and he'll take care of it...NO WAY...CSI is on in about 10 minutes!!! There is NO way I'm missing that!! So, he takes my name and says he'll take care of me next time I come in. I'm thinking great, a free meal for me and the kids. OH NO, he says next time I come in just mention his name and tell them what happened and they will give me a free kids meal. Wow~don't go overboard there!! I'm thinking what if that was for Taylor and he ate it? He wouldn't have known any better.

Maybe these are all signs that I need to cook more? Naaaaa

OK...speaking of CSI...really liked the episode (even though it's 2 parter) but was SHOCKED to see Nick's new look!! (Nick is the HOT csi guy!!!) He grew a mustache and I do NOT like it at all!
Warrick even made a comment on it. Hilarious!!

Well, we are off to Walmart to say 'hi' to grandma and get pictures developed, pick up some groceries so I don't have to do it tomorrow and then PROBABLY, most LIKELY, go through a drive thru.

...will I ever learn?...