Martha Stewart Fans

Let the countdown begin! The new season of the Emmy-winning series, The Martha Stewart Show, will premiere on September 26t h on Hallmark Channel, and to gear up for the exciting season, Martha is launching an “Ultimate Fan” sweepstakes exclusively on Facebook starting today.

One grand prize winner will receive a one-of-a-kind Martha Stewart fan experience, including a trip for two to see The Martha Stewart Show LIVE in New York City, round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations, courtesy of Delta Vacations, lunch for two at one of Martha’s favorite BBQ restaurants, Hill Country, and two complimentary facials at Mario Badescu Skin Care Salon.

To enter, go to the Martha Stewart Facebook Fan Page located at Facebook.com/marthastewart between now and September 26th, select the Sweepstakes tab, “Like” us at the top of the page if you are not already a Fan, and complete and submit the Official Entry Form.

All entrants must be 18 years or older, and entries are limited to one per person. For additional official rules please visit http://www.marthastewart.com/412911/marthas-ultimate-fan-sweepstakes-official-rules. In the meantime, check out www.marthastewart.com for great end-of-summer recipes, craft projects for the whole family and more.

It's a Full House

We are still at my parents' house. We've been here since Friday. It is Monday. We will probably stay until Wednesday. Enough said? No? Well, let me break it down for ya.

I love my parents. Love love LOVE them. However, I don't want to live with them. And yes, 5 days feels like living with them.

I will live close to them, I will live in a home that has two separate living quarters with them, but I will not live with them in a single home dwelling that is the smallest house they've ever lived in. (At least since I've been around.)

I'll just say it's cozy. (Did you know "cozy" is a nice word for small in realty lingo? Stick with me kids, I have all the inside scoop on life's secrets. I know how to read between the lines.)

A day in the life around here consists of everyone getting up and trying to get in the shower first because they have one shower and the hot water does not last long. My mom is normally the lucky one and manages to get in first. I am unlucky in this area because as hard as I try to get a shower in the morning (here or at my own house), my child has some sort of 6th sense that causes him to wake up out of a sound sleep as soon as my toes touch the floor to get out of bed. My alarm could go off... he stays sleeping. My cell phone could ring... stays asleep. Saturday morning a semi drove by right outside our window and blew his big loud horn... he kept on sleepin. But let me quietly pull the covers back and slowly move my leg off the bed and he's up. He has a special gift and I fully expect him to have a future in the military or CIA.

Normally I just put him in bed with me, nurse him back to sleep and lay there watching old reruns of Full House where Uncle Jesse's hair looks like this. I call these the "Mullet Episodes" and I don't like them. I can handle the newer reruns where Uncle Jesse's hair looks like this, but the old ones like make me like wanna gag myself with a spoon or spend the rest of my day saying things like "You got it dude" and "You're in big trouble mister".

My father does not shower at home on the days he works out so you'll typically find him sitting at the table doing his crossword puzzle while my mom makes his breakfast. Then he'll head into the living room to watch his 2 daily morning shows; Let's Make A Deal and The Price Is Right. As soon as the Showcase Showdown ends, he'll leave for the YMCA and return about 2 hours later.

Meanwhile, my mom is asking everyone else what they want for breakfast like she's a short order cook. And btw... if you ever spend the night, just know that she is willing and able and READY to make pretty much any breakfast dish you can think of at any given time. Eggs, bacon, pancake/waffle mix, an assortment of cereals, oatmeal, hash browns, potatoes, mush (yes, mush), danish or some sort of breakfast pastry, bread for french toast or just plain toast, bagels, cream cheese, OJ, coffee, an assortment of hot teas, milk... these things are ALWAYS in stock in my mother's kitchen. And I'm not complaining, this is one of the reasons why I gain 10 pounds every weekend we're here. (The other would be because I eat out of boredom and stress, but we'll visit that thought later.)

So, while my dad is at the Y, my mom is busy cooking or cleaning up or doing laundry or whatever chore she can think of to keep herself busy.

I am normally feeding my face and trying to feed the baby, T1 is either getting in his semi warm shower or on the computer. T2 will usually sit and watch tv and then get right on his schoolwork so he can play with his other homeschooled friends in the neighborhood.

And that my friends, is as exciting as it gets. Seriously. By the time breakfast is over, my day becomes a blur of chasing the baby around trying to keep him out of the curio cabinets or keep his fingerprints off my dad's huge flatscreen tv, or keep him from unplugging all the lamps or turning the DirectTV off (because it sits low and he loves the little blue light - or rather he loves the almost heart attack that my father has every. single. time. he does it.) I'm not sure why my father doesn't just pick up the remote that must always be in his possession and turn it back on, but I'm in my shoes, I don't walk in his. I can't pretend to understand the hardship of being right in the middle of Plinko and having it taken from you without knowing if that red puck make it into the $10,000 slot or the $1,000 slot. It's a hard knock life.

Have Mercy.

Got Roast

Baby T was up earlier than normal today, but maybe that's because he went to bed a little earlier than normal. Our nightly routine is that I go to bed when he goes to bed, or vice versa. He nurses, then I just lay him down beside me (the whole co-sleeping thing) and I lay down, but last night was a rough night for me and I just needed some "me time". Now normally I roll my eyes at that phrase ("me time") because I feel like it's a cop out, but last night the baby was tired and I was not. I was hungry and I wanted to watch the season finale of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. So, I nursed him, put him in his crib and went downstairs and made some sinful and disgusting food to go with my sinful and disgusting show and sat my butt down and watched it. Twice actually, because Bravo played it over... and over... and over... I think I finally headed back upstairs around 1:00 feeling a little guilty that Baby T was in his crib and more guilty about watching grown women call each other "clowns" and "garbage" when clearly they are "tramps" and "trailer trash" in nice houses, possibly in foreclosure. But not to worry... this kid has instincts! As soon as I crawled into my bed, he popped up in his. I got him out, put him on my lap, nursed him and he fell right back to sleep in bed with mama. And I was happy.

So now we've had breakfast and I've got an English Roast in the slow cooker. Today I made up my own recipe... I added salt and pepper, onion flakes and then covered it with beef gravy. I normally use cream of mushroom soup, but I felt like trying something different. We'll have that with a salad, mashed potatoes, carrots and crescent rolls. I'm feeling all homemakery.

Later today I will be making new lace and crinoline outfits for the boys and leopard print outfits for my dogs. Cause that's the Danielle way.

Here's a recap if your interested:

Caroline: You know what you are? You're a clown.
Danielle: I'm a clown. Really?
Caroline: Your whole life is a joke.
Danielle: You're saying this, sitting there with red hair? I'm the clown?
Caroline: Yes, you are.
Danielle: Really?
Caroline: Yeah. No matter how hard you try, no matter what you do, no matter who you talk to, okay, you will not hurt me. Do you know why? I have integrity, okay, and I sit here and I tell you the truth, okay? And when I called you garbage, I meant you were garbage."

So worth losing those extra hours of sleep.

Yet Another Birthday

Today is my little 2 year old daycare girl's birthday. She's a doll. She can't say my name so she calls me "honey". We don't know where she got that, because we're not around anyone who calls me "honey", but anyway, it's adorable!

I can't believe she's 2 already and it just reminds me how fast kids grow up and how fast my little baby will grow and how even though I really want this to be over, I should enjoy it because it's gonna go fast! I mean, I have a 15 YEAR OLD!! I should know this by now!

I had a wonderful birthday! I worked all day and then Mr. R came over and we met my parents and kids at one of my favorite restaurants. The food was good and they gave me a free piece of cake. :) Then we came back to my house, watched American Idol, had cake and ice cream and I opened my presents.

Saturday is my dad's birthday and then we should be done for awhile. People think they gain weight over the holidays... not us, we gain all our weight in March from all the cake and ice cream we have.

My kids are leaving again today. :( They were only home for 2 nights! When I tucked them in (yep, I still tuck them in every night - well, I hug and kiss them good night, I don't really "tuck them in") last night, I was sad because I knew I wouldn't be doing it again for a few more nights. It's hard when they're gone for more than half the week. Last time they were gone for 5 nights. That's just too long!

I have my glucose tolerance test tomorrow morning. I sure hope I pass it and don't have to take a second one. I'll also see one of the doctors and I'm going to ask him how big the baby is measuring and why I feel so out of breath all the time. It's not real comfortable when something (or someONE) is pressing up against your ribs. :)

Good news! I think we may have a name... and it's funny because I had dropped the whole topic for awhile because we just couldn't agree on anything, but then as we were driving home from the restaurant Tuesday night Mr. R started talking about it and mentioned some names that his mom had told him. One of them is a name I have had picked out for YEARS! I asked him about that name and he said he's liked that name for a long time too. I was shocked! So, we may just finally have a name! I'm not going to say what it is just yet because I don't want to jinx it. But for those of you who know me, it's the name I've always had picked out if I ever had another boy.

Well, I'm off to get laundry started and think about what we're going to have for lunch.

Happy St. Patty's Day

My kids have been gone since Thursday and I really miss them. They were suppose to come home yesterday, but at the last minute decided to stay with grandpa and grandma another night... I literally cried when I got off the phone with T2. 5 nights away from home is too much! I know they're having fun, but they're my kids, darn it!

I'm sure it also didn't help that Mr. R was going back home and I was extremely tired from our long day at the hospital and I was getting a sore throat. All that combined gave me reason for a break down.

So, I did what any normal person would do... went to Subway and got a foot long sub, drove home, stuffed my face, got in the shower, called my best friend and watched tv until I fell asleep.

Yesterday Mr. R finally had his doctor's appointment with the specialist. Actually, we saw two doctors and they both agreed he really needs an endoscopy. So, we have that scheduled in April. Hopefully they'll find out what's making him so sick and can fix it.

After that we had a lot of errands and running around to do. That always tires me out. We went to a new baby store and it was really nice. Somehow we managed to walk out without buying anything. That's a first. I just wasn't in the mood to shop.

Today is my birthday and I just want to go back to bed. I'm tired, I have a sore throat, my kids aren't here to entertain my oldest dc boy (who asks every 5 minutes "when is T2 coming home?") and I'm grouchy. I'm not in the mood to celebrate St. Patty's Day or my birthday.

I guess we're all going out to eat tonight, then we'll come back here, have cake, open presents and party like it's 1999. Yeah right, I hope I'm in bed by 10:00.

You'll all have to drink green beer without me.

How Long Til June?

Wonder how many time you'll see that as a title?

I have a feeling this winter and spring are going to go very slow. Ahhh, I want this baby now! And I have a long way to go. 15 weeks down... 25 more to go... I'm thinking of maybe making a chain, like the "25 days til Christmas" kind, only it will be a "25 weeks til baby" chain. I'll make it pink and blue and every week we can tear off a link.

I have to admit I wasn't sure how I felt in the beginning and pretty much cried about every other day over it, but now since I've seen it and felt it, I really am glad it's coming. How can you be too disappointed about a new baby?! I'm pretty sure I had these same feeling with both my boys but I wouldn't trade them for anything now!

I know my life will be different. I haven't gotten up in the middle of the night for years, haven't had to pack a diaper bag or carry a car seat to and from the car each time we go somewhere, and sleeping in... well I guess I can kiss that good bye for a few years. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to all that, but I'm sure when I see its little face for the first time, all the dreaded things that I haven't been use to doing, won't matter anymore. Plus it's nice to know that this baby will have a father who will actually be around and will help me out if I get too tired or stressed. And then of course there's always grandma and grandpa... right, grandma?

Anyway, we do still have lives and most of the time it doesn't revolve around the baby-to-come... tonight we are going to my parents'. We haven't seen them since Dec.2 when we got back from my grandpa's funeral. My dad was very sick and I'm trying to stay away from any and all illnesses right now. We are going to a zoo over by where they live for a drive-through Christmas light show. Then we'll probably find a Christmas movie on tv. They just got new cable so I'm sure the boys will need to check out all the new channels. Tomorrow we'll go to church, have lunch and then I'm going shopping. I'll try and talk my mom into going, but she's not too excited about all the Christmas crowds right now. Well, neither am I but I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet and there's not too many shopping days left so I pretty much have to deal with the crowds.

Mr. R is off hunting again. He left yesterday and will be back on Sunday. This is the last weekend he's going. I hope he gets a big buck. I don't get to talk to him very much when he's gone because they are way down south and he doesn't get very good reception on his crappy Sprint phone. I keep telling him he needs to switch over to AT&T... maybe one day he'll listen. Can you hear me now?!

That's about all we're up to this weekend. I have laundry going and I need to do some dishes. Then I'll get us all packed up and we'll head off to Muncie. The dogs will be excited to go. They haven't left the house in awhile. All we have to say is "Wanna go to grandma's house?" and they start jumping all over the place.

Oh, one more bit of baby news... the nurse practitioner called from my OB's office yesterday and all my tests didn't come back ok. They want me to have a colposcopy done on the 31st but I'm thinking that I'm not going to do that. My pap came back abnormal and they want to take a look at my cervix with a microscope and perhaps take some biopsies. (I've had this done before and had severe cramping after the biopsies.) This happened with my other two pregnancies and cleared up on its own afterwards and I've continued to have normal paps ever since. The NP said it is most likely from the pregnancy hormones and that it's NOT cancer so I don't need to worry. Well, ok, if it could just be hormones, lets just wait until after the baby is born, do another pap and go from there. I'm not excited about getting my cervix messed with at this point. That's just too close to the baby and if it's not absolutely necessary, I say we wait. I'm going to call this week and see if I can talk to the doctor sometime before the appointment. I hope he agrees and says we can wait.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Hey Good Lookin'

whatcha got cookin'...

I have been quite the cook lately. Mainly because we are SO broke that eating out just isn't an option right now, but that's ok because we need to eat at home more.

In the last week I've made pork chops, a roast, chicken... Yep, I can make more than just spaghetti and mac n cheese.

Tonight I made honey bbq chicken wings, fried potatoes and a salad with cucumbers, green peppers and croutons. A little later I'll either be making brownies or oatmeal cookies for dessert. Or maybe both.

I already made a big batch of brownies and peanut butter cookies this morning, but they're all gone. They left this afternoon with Mr. R on a 5 day hunting trip. It's been raining all week (with no end in sight) and we're suppose to get snow tomorrow. What men will put up with to hunt. Of course I'm sure they think we're crazy when we spend hours at crowded malls and stand in long check out lines. Mars/Venus.

Oh snap! The Wizard Of Oz is on. I wish we were at my parents' house so my kids and I could watch it with my mom. We're planning on going over tomorrow night to spend the night and we're going to be making some kind of dessert thing with some new gadget my mom just got. I guess you can fill these little pastries with pudding or icing or some kind of stuff? Anyway, hopefully there will be another good movie on. I'm ready for some good Christmas movies. Of course National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is one of my favs. And of course you can't have Christmas without A Christmas Story! The part where they're at the Chinese restaurant is the best.

My aunt is coming up again next week. My grandpa has to have surgery on Tuesday so her and my mom will go up again for the day. We'll go over and spend the night Tuesday night so we can see her. It's fun to see her so much, but unfortunately it's not under good circumstances.

Oh, before I forget... T2 had an appointment with his allergy/asthma doctor on Wednesday and he blew a 100% on his breathing test. YAY! He's doing real good and all his meds are working great. Plus, we didn't have to deal with the NP that we don't care for, instead we got to see the one we LOVE!!! She's just the sweetest woman and it was great to see and talk to her. She just got back from visiting her son, daughter-in-law and grandkids in Australia and from the sounds of it, she had a great visit. We talk about homeschooling with her because her grandkids are homeschooled. She said she got to teach them when she was there and really enjoyed it. We found out she's only working part-time now on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so we made sure to make our 6 month check up on a Wednesday!

Well, I'm off to clean up the kitchen and then relax. I just realized that I don't have to make dessert. Mr. R brought over doughnuts and brownies from an awesome place called Long's Bakery... so, we can just have that. Yippeee!

Have a great weekend!

They'll Be Turned Into Pumpkins At Midnight

I woke up today and my migraine was gone, thank the Lord! I'm not sure if I could have handled another day of that. Today has actually been a decent day. So far, I haven't had any bad news. It seems that lately, bad news of some sort has been a daily thing. Everything I think is going to work out, seems to be heading the other direction.

So about a month ago we lost CBS on our cable system. They had some sort of contract and one side wouldn't agree on the contract and the other side didn't agree on the money and so CBS pulled their station. Well, you'd think that wouldn't be a big deal but there are only a handful of shows that I actually remind myself to watch at a certain time. One is The Young and the Restless (daily) and the other is CSI (Thursday nights). Both of those show are on CBS.

Luckily we have rabbit ears in our kitchen, so we just took them out to the living room and used them as needed. Except that got annoying because every day at 12:28, I'd have to remember to unplug the cable and hook up the rabbit ears so I could watch Y&R. Then, after that was over, I'd have to unhook the rabbit ears and hook up the cable back up. No, it was not the end of the world, but it was a nasty reminder each time I did it that I do NOT clean behind my tv often enough.

Anyhoo... I'm laying in bed this morning flipping through channels and I stopped on Rachael Ray. I haven't ever really cared for her, but she was making some sort of turkey sandwiches that were suppose to taste like sour cream and onion potato chips, so yeah, it caught my eye... anyway, I'm sitting there and it struck me, HEY... this is a CBS show!! Oh my gosh, we have CBS again.

I knew at that moment my day was off to a great start. (Nope, I don't have much of a life, but thanks for caring.)

T2 is having a friend spend the night tonight. On a night that I need to be in bed at a decent hour because I have to work in the morning. What was I thinking?! I guess I was thinking that I've probably given my kids so many other things to put them into therapy when they grown up, that I didn't want to add "We never got to have friends over, that's why we're serial killers!" to the list.

I've already given them strict orders that all the wrestling and running around will cease at 9pm and at that time they can watch movies, play video games or TP the neighbor's house - just as long as it's quiet. (And how much noise does toilet paper make?!)

They also know that they are to be in bed, lights out and mouths shuts no later than midnight. This time was of some debate before the actual sleepover was set, but I'm thinking if Cinderella had a time frame at the ball, this princess has a time frame to be in bed.

Wouldn't want anyone to turn into a pumpkin...

Carrie Under---- (AI)

I'm losing more respect for you every day Carrie DIDYOUHAVE Underwear on! Wow, what a trashy outfit you were wearing tonight on American Idol. How about you cover it up, sweetie. I'm sure the cameraman enjoyed it. I, however, was very disappointed in you.

Happy NPAD!

Did you know today was National Provider Appreciation Day? I actually forgot myself until I got a call from a former dc parent who mentioned it. I had the day off, so I'll consider that my gift.

I really wanted to sleep in a little this morning, but that's almost impossible when your daycare is IN your house. I tried, but was fully awake by 7:50 so I decided to get up and get breakfast for me and the boys. I watched some tv then got ready for the day.

Then it was off to run errands. The boys and I went to get gas, Aldi's, the newspaper office, Walmart and Bath & Body Works.

Isn't it weird when you see someone out and about that you know and you know that they know who you are and you both look straight at each other but neither of you say anything. Not a "hi", "hello", "how are you"... nothing. Why do people do that? It happened to me today, twice. I'm never sure how to handle those kind of situations so I usually say nothing and just walk away.

We got Chinese for dinner tonight. (vegetarian T1 got Subway) T2 and I split and order of sesame chicken, white rice and crab rangoons. It was good, but spicy. We haven't ordered from this particular place in probably over a year and they've really spiced up the sauce on the sesame chicken. Hopefully that will clear up my sinuses.

I got a call this afternoon from a former daycare mom wanting to know if it would be possible for her to bring her daughter back. I would be so excited for them to come back! I was really sad when they left as they were really good dc parents! And well, of course I just love their daughter... talk about a FUNNY little girl! She kept me in stitches daily. And the mom... just a doll!! Loved the family and will totally welcome them back! "K" is starting Kindergarten this fall and needs somewhere to hang until mom can get her. I hope it works out.

I'm over the "beautiful" rain (yesterday's post). It's cold today, and wet AND cold don't mix.

"Home Alone" just started on FX. T2 and I are going to get our blankets and cuddle up on the couch together. I love that movie and I love cuddling with my kid so it looks like it's going to be a good night!

PS- BTW, the hair... it's brassy. But not enough to have to wear a hat. :)

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Almost every one of my daycare parents came in this morning and mentioned something about the rain and what a lousy day it was. I woke up to the rain and when I went out to get the paper, I said "What a beautiful day!". Do we forget that we need rain? Our grass really needs the rain. Plus it's actually cooled down some and it feels good. I was up at 4am the other night because it was so hot I couldn't sleep. I'm still refusing to turn on the A/C. I figure it will be a nice break on the bills to not use the heat or air for a couple of months. Anyway, I thought it was a great day.

Right at this very moment I'm coloring my hair. Click here to see the color. It claims on the package that it has a "Pure Blonde Guarantee", even on dark brown hair. Well, most of my hair is light brown/blonde so it better work. Mr. R told me to make an appointment at the salon and it would be his Mother's Day gift from him (or rather from the boys) but I don't trust salons. The last time I went to have my hair colored blonde for my best friend's wedding, it ended up a nasty light brown. Now I do it myself. They've really come a long way with packaged hair color, you don't have all the brassiness with the newer ones. And, if I have to wear a hat for a couple of days, oh well. :)

I got it... Monday I start "The Firm" program. I looked through the menus and I can't say I'm excited about that, but I'll try it and see. I have to do something or I'll be wearing a parka all summer.

Kathy Lee Gifford is still the same train wreck she was when she was on Regis. I don't know WHAT The Today Show was thinking. She still talks nonstop about those freakin kids. I swear, I turned it on yesterday morning to watch HER interview and within 5 minutes Kathy Lee was spewing out Cody's name. Then I SWEAR it was only 5 minutes later and she had to bring up Cassidy. GOOD NIGHT lady, we don't want to hear about your dang kids anymore! And the funny thing was, she was all against Heather's blog giving out info on her daughter Leta, and how that's so unsafe, and yet she's been talking about her kids for how many years now? Remember every Christmas when she'd make them come out and perform? GAG! Good job NBC, you just ruined your ratings. I mean, you put Kathy Lee up against Ellen. Not the smartest move.

Well, I'm now 8 minutes past the time I was suppose to rinse my hair so I guess I'd better go do that. I'll let you know how it turns out and if you're lucky, you may get a pic. I know the excitement of that makes you weak in the knees, but try to contain yourselves. :)

Happy Earth Day!

What did I do for Earth Day? Umm, well, I taught my preschoolers about it and how we need to take care of the earth and pick up the trash and blah blah blah... but other than that... nada. I really wanted to take them around the block with little grocery bags and have them pick up trash, but I had a couple of kiddos today that either did not deserve to go outside or probably wouldn't have made it around the block without throwing a major fit. So, we didn't do anything. Sorry earth, my sanity was more important. Besides, Al Gore's got my back. He said he'd do my part today. Thanks Big Al!! (He let's me call him that, but only on "special" occasions!!)

Right now I'm watching the big end of the season New York Housewives thing where they all meet up after the show and sit on couches and talk to a host and fight and explain why they acted like fools and etc. etc. etc. You know I didn't think I could stomach the New York chics because let's face it, compared to the OC girls, they are... well, let's just say "woof"! But then I watched a couple episodes and I decided I could tolerate it. A couple of them are actually funny.

Anyway, today was a bad day. Sick kiddos... misbehaving kiddos... headaches... no alcohol in the house (kidding)... I told my mom at dinner that tonight may be a THREE Advil night. Whoohooo, I'm a rebel! Yes, I get high on Advil. Call rehab.

Seriously, I have a major headache so I'm off to crawl into bed. At 9:30. I'm pathetic.

Happy Easter! (almost)

So... yesterday was the day that I had a huge decision to make. I went to look at the building for the daycare again and almost signed the lease. I was ready. But then when we sat down to sign it, things just started going bad. He was going back on his word and was backing me into a corner. I'm not good with those kind of business tactics. I'm not going to get into everything on here, but let's just say he had guts. However, I had guts too and so I walked. And the odd thing is, I didn't have any feeling about it one way or the other. Am I really wanting to get this daycare out of my house? YES!!! But I'm certainly not going to put myself in a bad situation that I'll be contracted to stay in for 2 years. It's so awesome the way God works! I had been praying for months about this and I honestly felt like it was a go. Then when it came down to the very end, I realized I was getting screwed and I was able to let it go. I'm not even disappointed. I have a plan B, so that's what I'm working on now. I think this will be even better than what I thought I wanted. I'm excited!

The boys and I went to Old Navy tonight. Nothing like last minute shopping for Easter clothes, huh. Actually, I already have my outfit but I wanted to get the boys new shirts at least. We don't get dressed up like we use to. Kind of sad, but kind of practical not to spend money on clothes that won't get worn often. T1 got a polo shirt for tomorrow (bought by his mama), then he bought himself a pair of shorts and another shirt. I bought T2 a polo shirt and 2 pairs of flip flops. On the way home I realized that both of their shirts have the same colors (light blue, brown and orange) in them and it reminded me of how when they were small, I would dress them in the same colors or outfits for special occasions. Awww... I miss them being little!! Easter is another holiday that just isn't the same when your kids start growing up. OH, they still want an Easter basket, but you can't get away with coloring books, candy and a new bottle of bubbles. I also miss having egg hunts! T2 agreed to color eggs this year but we forgot to boil them and it just got to be too late. We may do it tomorrow afternoon if we get bored.

Tonight was FREE night for me... Yippee!! At Old Navy T1 asked if I'd just get his stuff on my card and he'd pay me back. Well, I did and because my total was over $50, I got a free make-up bag with lipgloss, a candle, body wash and lotion inside. It's really cool! Then, on the way home we went through Wendy's and since I'm trying to be a good girl, I got the chicken salad. T1 (the vegetarian) gets the cheeseburger deluxe but without meat. As I was sitting at the window I was like "why did I get a salad, I could really get a hamburger right now." Well, we got our order, T1 checked it and sure enough there was meat on his sandwich. So, I drove back through and told them. I had the hamburger in my hand and the guy acted like he wanted it back so I asked if he'd have to throw it away and he said "yes", so I said "Well, can I keep it for my dogs?" and he said "sure". Well, unfortunately my poor dogs didn't get any of it. But in my defense, when T2 (who LOVES salads) saw my chicken salad, I ended up having to share, so I was still hungry.

I share MUCH of my food with T2, MUCH of the time. This morning I came down and made myself two wheat waffles with butter. Went back upstairs to get back in bed and watch some tv but someone had snuck in and snuggled up in my covers already... guess who got most of my wheat waffles? I think I ended up giving him every other bite. Finally I asked him if he wanted me to fix him some. So I went back down and fixed him two more waffles and gave him a small bowl of probiotic yogurt. He was nice enough to share ONE bite of his waffles with me. lol Oh well, I love days when he still want to snuggle in my bed, so I guess it was worth it. We just laid in my bed and watched Animal Planet for most of the morning. I'm in love with Escape to Chimp Eden! The chimps are cute to watch and Eugene Cussons isn't bad either! (HOTT!) Move over Cesar Millan! Those poor chimps though! Wow, I couldn't believe how horrible some of them were being treated. They rescued some that had been chained up for 13 years and others that had been in small little cages without even any sunlight. So sad!

Well, I'm off to get the new clothes out of the dryer and get ready for bed. I hope you'll all be in church tomorrow morning celebrating the day that Christ arose from the dead! He is Risen!

Home Show and Basketball

Yesterday I didn't have any daycare kids... so off to the Home Show we went. We left the house around 11:00am and left the Home Show around 3:00pm. We stopped at Applebees for lunch/dinner and got back home a little after 4:30. I had a headache all day and it was really bad by the time we got home so I went to bed and slept until almost 7:30pm. I got up and made the kids some snacks and sat around. Since we missed Young and the Restless, we moved the couch over in front of the computer and me, T1, T2, and my mom got comfy and watched it. It's never good to miss your soap on Friday, that's usually when all the important stuff happens. It was almost 11:00 when we got done watching that and I was tired, so we all went to bed.

Today we got up and went to T2's game. They actually did better today and got 12 points. And I'm very pleased to announce MY SON got 6 of those points! (Proud Mama Moment!) He got a silver star today for "Best Offense". And... And... they got his name right today. Yippee!

Now I'm home and catching up on laundry and it will soon be time to make dinner. I have NO idea what to have. It's hard when you have a vegetarian in the family. If it were just T2 and I , I'd open up a pack of chicken nuggets and call it a night.

Anyway... back to the Home Show... they had 2 model homes and one cottage there this year. I got some pics. (And of course I'm also throwing in some from this morning's game.)

Enjoy the pics and your weekend!

Snow Again

But not enough to let me sleep in. (One of my daycare moms is a teacher and if it snows enough they always give a 2 hour delay but no such luck today.) I could have used the sleep too. The wonderful part of being an aging woman is all the changes that happen in your 30s. UGH! I have a long list of evil PMS symptoms (which by the way, all started once I hit 30) and to add to that list I now have heart palpitations. And I know they're PMS related because I've kept track. And thank goodness I'm not the hypochondriac I use to be or I probably would have ended up in the ER a couple times by now. I read up on it and heart palps aren't dangerous however, they are scary. And they keep you up at night!! I would lay down last night and be on the verge of falling asleep and my heart would flutter or start pounding. It's a very annoying feeling! It also happens sometimes after I eat and I need to watch my caffeine intake as I'm sure that's not helping matters. But anyway... yeah, thanks to the palps I didn't sleep well at all. The joys of getting older.

Did you watch the Democrats debate it up last night? I watched most of the first half. I can't stand "Hellary" or Obama so watching them go back and forth was a delight. They're both morons but I will give props to "Hellary" who pointed out that Obama is incapable of answering questions in regards to where he stands on issues. HELLO... I think I said this over a year ago when he made an appearance on Oprah and couldn't answer a question to save his life. Sorry, gotta throw it out there, but Oprah, PLEASE... we know you like him cause he's black! Stop frontin girlfriend! Anyhoo... it was fun to watch them go after each other's spouses and work ethics. I was in Republican heaven. And did you notice when they kept showing shots from behind... Hillary's got back!! Mr. R was here and when I mentioned that he said "Well, you know Bill likes some junk in the trunk!!" which reminded us of Monica and I said "Yeah, come to think of it, she was no small thing, huh!" Baby Got Back!

My teeth are hurting today. Mr. R went and got us doughnuts and I think the sugar got into one of my cavities. That why I like Mr. R.... last night before he left he took my SUV to the gas station and filled it up and brought back Krispy Kremes so we'd have them for breakfast this morning. AND, on his way over he stopped and got me dog food. I guess I'll keep him around for awhile.

T2 got his new basketball shoes in the mail yesterday. (I guess UPS didn't take off MLK day.) He is all excited to wear them to practice tonight. It takes so little to make that kid happy.

I had a "mini" interview this morning. A father looking for daycare came over to check the place out and I sent a handbook about the daycare and the policies home with him. He called around 11:00 and wanted to come over right then, so I told him he could but that we were really busy (preschool day) and I couldn't sit down and talk. He said he just wanted to check the place out. I'm always a little leery of things like that, especially with a man, but he seemed real nice. His son is in a center now so I was telling that a home daycare is a little different, it probably didn't look like a center but I try to make the room nice for the kids. He said it looked wonderful and just as good as a center and that it was much nicer than the last home daycare he had been to. That made me feel good. I could really use a couple more kids.

Well, I am off work early today and I think I'm going to lay down and try to take a little nap. Hopefully my heart won't decide to go all crazy and I can relax a little. I hope you're having a great Tuesday!

Thirtysomething?

Remember that show? On one of the "mom" forums I'm on, someone brought up that show. I use to love that show. I went in and looked it up to see if it was out on dvd, but no such luck. Although I did find out that it came out in 1987 which meant I was only 14 years old. It's weird that I was watching that at 14 thinking about what my life would be like when I was in my 30's and here I am... almost 35. Life is nothing like I thought it would be, but it's still all good! Can't complain!

I went tanning this morning and took one of my new cds that I got in the mail the other day. It's the conference from Dr. Wayne Dyer, "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life". I got the book too. It's really good. Although it's all about the Tao, it does mention God quite a bit. I am careful not to let things like the Tao void out the Bible. I think it's ok to read things like this and "The Secret" just as long as you remember WHO made the universe and WHO is still in charge. However, I do believe there are other things out there that can help out along the way. Anyway, I usually like to tan in the stand up because that only takes 10 minutes and the bed takes 20, but I really enjoyed laying there listening to my cd.

Mr. R started his new job this week, or rather "training" for his new job and that means he's in training/classes from 8-5 every day sitting at a table listening to people speak and doing exercises with his co-workers such as getting blindfolded and using rope to make a square together. LOL I have to laugh because he is SO not that kind of person and I know he hates it. Poor thing! Besides, he doesn't need any class to teach him how to get along with people, he's great at that! It's so sad because at some point during the day he'll text me and say: "This sucks!"

It's such a boring Wednesday here but boring is good. I think Mr. R is coming over tonight and we'll eat and watch a movie. I rented Superbad last night. I hope it's not too bad for the kids. I thought it was PG-13, but NO it's rated R. I hate that! I want to see "Mad Money". Maybe this weekend if we're not snowed in. We're suppose to get a big snowstorm this weekend but I hope is passes us, T2's first game is Saturday morning. He's so excited.

Well, Mr. R brought over some Valentine Reese cups and I'm going to go get one out of the fridge. Cause you know that's where you have to keep them, right?! Have a great day!

Tax Time

It's tax time. Just thought I'd put that out there. I have nothing to say about that, I was just sitting here trying to come up with a title and saw my attendance and food records for last year sitting on my desk just waiting for April 14.

T2 had basketball pictures yesterday and I was so irritated!! They all get uniforms which include: a jersey, shorts and a WHITE tee shirt with the Upward logo. They were suppose to wear their "uniforms" for pictures and so at 8:00 AM yesterday, I was up getting T2's white shirt in the dryer. I had washed everything else Thursday night and washed whites Friday afternoon. I forgot they were in the washer until I was tossing back and forth trying to get to sleep around 2am Saturday morning. I would have gotten up and put them in the dryer right then, but our dryer is upstairs and there were 4 other people sleeping and I was feeling nice. So, I made myself a note and put it on the bathroom sink so I'd remember. Hard work I tell ya. But, you do what you're suppose to do, right? Yeah, not everyone. As soon as we walked in, I looked over at his team and saw one little boy with his gold jersey and shorts with a BLACK tee shirt underneath. I about flipped!! A BLACK tee shirt? WHY???? I swear, there always has to be one kid that ruins all the group pictures!!!! Of course, I'm anal like that and it just bugged me all day. I looked over at the other group and they had a kid on their team in dark blue shorts with a light blue stripe down the sides... totally out of uniform. So I guess there really is one on every team. I wish this sort of thing bugged others like it bugs me. Perfectionist thinking IS good. Right?

The same thing happened at our family Christmas... we were all taking pics up against a white wall and for the separate family shots, we could have had everyone centered without any wood or trim on the sides, but it didn't happen that way. And of course, you never notice those things until after the pics are taken. Oh well, I guess I'm just picky about pictures.

We didn't do much this weekend. Friday night we went out with Mr. R and looked for basketball shoes for T2. He didn't find any he liked. Then we went to Starbucks and I got a Double Chocolate Chip frap. And as much as I loves me some chocolate, I didn't care for this. Something about the chocolate pieces coming up in the straw with the rest of the drink just didn't do it for me. I don't like chunks of things mixed in drinks. I like little pieces of ice, but not anything else. Not to mention it's 510 calories for a Grande! 510!!! Without the whipped cream it would have only been 400, but when your sippin in that many calories, what's another 110? Guess I better stick to my iced nonfat carmel macchiato. Only 190 calories. I could eat that buttery caramel sauce on everything. Anway... then we went to the video store, they had nothing so decided we'd come home, set up the home theater system I got for Christmas and watch 'Live Free or Die Hard'. Let's just say that we have half the system set up and we didn't get to watch the movie and let's leave it at that. Ok? Ok!

We went to my parent's house last night and then went to church this morning. Stayed for lunch and then came home. I decided I was going to take a nap so got in bed, flipped on the tv and ended up watching this 1963 movie. It's called 'Sunday In New York'. I'm a sucker for old movies. Have you ever noticed how much they smoked in movies back then? And the drinking... They are always making drinks and every house or apartment has a bar and when anyone walks in they make a martini for them. I also like how every restuarant has a band and dancing and how going out to eat was such an event. I love movies from the 60's. Needless to say, I didn't take my nap until later which meant I didn't wake up until oh, about 7:00... which means even though it's almost 10:00, I'm not ready to go back to bed!

And oh my gosh, I now remember why I never watch Extreme Home Makeover... I'm sitting here crying. That little girl is so sweet!! I don't think people really understand what it really is to have the gift of having healthy children! I can't imagine what some parents go through! I guess that would put the nonperfect basketball photo waaay down on the list, huh.

Well, off to bed. The weekend is over and I have a long week ahead. Kiss kiss.

This Is Hard!

Only 5 days in and I want to go home. Posting every day is hard people! I don't have much. My life is not very exciting. So this is all I have...

Why in the world do the Patriots (who won) have to be babies? Oh my gosh, you won, get over it. Move on. Be happy. Go back to New England and cry to your mommies. Sorry that our Colts fans are TRUE fans. Sorry we had the home advantage. Why don't you just say Colts fans are big mouths instead of claiming we cheat.

You want to talk about cheating... go in your locker room, replay the game and watch!

Yippee, I Got The Day Off!

Here are some pics of our sky last night. The second one reminds me of the wild fires out in California. Prayers to everyone out there! I can't even begin to know what they're going through. But I have a question... Why aren't people doing more? When Katrina hit New Orleans everyone was all ready to jump up and help. I just don't see that with this and there's been way more people effect by this than the hurricane. Have you noticed this, or is it just me? Anyway, it's horrible and my heart goes out to everyone who's effected. Here's my pics:

I got the day off today. I didn't have any daycare kids coming. This is rare but so nice! I just got back from vacation so really I don't need a day off, but I'll take it. I learned so much on our vacation about how good it does your outlook on life just to be able to get away and relax. I totally needed it and felt so much better about things when I got home.

So what did I do on my day off? I took the kids shopping. They need fall/winter clothes and it's easier to do a few things at a time than all at once. We went to Old Navy and Kohl's. I also got a few things... a new purse, a pair of jeans, a belt and three shirts. Yay me!

The most important thing we did today was take my dad out for lunch. He's still having a hard time at his job so we stopped in and went to Bob Evan's. It's hilarious because EVERYONE knows him in there. We walked in and the lady at the register was like "Hi Harold! Who'd you bring with you today?". Then we heard the same thing when the hostess sat us and then again when the waitress came over and someone stopped him on our way back to our table. I said "Wow dad, you're a celebrity!" and my dad said "I've had every waitress in here!" to which I replied "WHAT a stud!!!" and then said "You know I'm gonna have to tell mom!" Anyway, it was nice to sit and talk to my dad. On our way back to drop him off, I said "Dad, don't worry about everyone at work! We know what a great guy you are, and we love you and that's all that matters!" He said knowing that, is the only way he can get through the day sometimes. It's so sad!! I just don't understand why these young managers want to get rid of people over 50? Don't they know that they are almost the only ones with any work ethic anymore? His manager is the oldest one in his store and she is 32, everyone else (besides my dad) is in their early 20's. But everyone else also... doesn't show up for work on time, takes off early, calls in at least one day a week, can't stick to their schedules, etc... why would you want that over someone who is reliable? I don't understand it.

Well, I'm off to bed. I missed Y&R today so I just got done watching it online. It's really good right now. Although I don't think I'll ever be able to park in a parking garage again.

A Fall Fashion Accessory MUST!

What do you get for $156? Two beautiful dog collar "charms" and two freaked out dogs who may, no, who WILL pee all over the car if we should ever happen to accidentally drive by the vets office again. But it's not over yet... tomorrow they're both going to get groomed. Poor babies!

Fall fashion tip... Bells are IN!

OH... and don't get me started on tonight's Deal or No Deal... a TRUE Colts fan would NEVER have let all that go!!! Wow, could you tell who wears the pants in that marriage? Poor guy!