So long 09. Welcome 2010

I don't know about you all, but 2009, for us, was pretty rough. We had some health issues, my feet, Kelsey's toes, Moo's broken leg, Kelsey's broken finger requiring surgery, just to mention a few things. Thankfully nothing was life threatening, and these things have healed well. We have had some major financial issues as well. I'm hoping the new year is much easier on us all the way around.

There will for sure be at least one downer in this new year. Jilly's dad is leaving, to live in his home country, Norway. This means Jilly will no longer have a dad around. Please keep her in your thoughts. He leaves Jan. 14.

Jilly will turn 10 in 2010. Zach will turn 20 in 2010 Kinda cool. Kels will be turning 16...but will she be Sweet? LOL Bill & I will celebrate our 3 yr anniversary in Feb. of 2010, and Bree will turn 3 in Dec. 2010.

Kelsey & I would like to shed some extra pounds this year. Its going to be so tough, I LOVE my food, the junkier the better. Wish us luck!

Have you made any resolutions? Do you make them every year? Do you keep them?

Tonight, New Years Eve, is pretty boring. Bill is leaving for work soon. Kelsey is babysitting elsewhere. Jilly is at her dads. So Bree & I are here, watching Nick Jr. I'm about Olivia, Wonder Pets, and Ni Hao Kai Lan'd out! I was hoping for an early night tonight, but Miss Bree took a long, late nap, so I have a feeling we'll be up ringing in the New Year come midnight. I've been telling her about New Years, and she is excited. She has been saying, "Happy New Year" over and over tonight. If she's awake at midnight I'm going to let her make lots of noise :)

Oh well, kind of a boring post tonight, sorry. I hope you all have a happy, healthy and safe New Year! Don't drink & drive tonight. Hugs to all.

Here is your last toodles of 2009....TOODLES!

Happy New Year from Renee Kofoid on Vimeo.

What do ya wanna know about me Wednesday?

Just for fun, I thought I'd do this today. Not sure why, since no one usually comments on my blog. I guess I'll have an easy question answering session then Haha :)

If you'd like to know something about me, please ask in the comments, and I'll answer there. I'll try to answer whatever it is asked, as long as its not to X rated LOL.

Here are a few things about me now, in case you ever wondered...

* I was born in Saginaw Michigan, and lived in MI until my Freshman year of HS, when we moved to IL.

* I have 2 Brothers. I'm the only girl and the baby of the family.

* My parents, brothers & I all have "R" names. Richard, Rhea, Rick, Robb & Renee.

* I've been married 3 x's. Yes, I know, thats a lot. I'm never doing it again. Bill is stuck with me.

* I dislike small places and spiders.

Anything else you'd wanna know? Ask away!

Toodles!

Crappy Morning

Technically, it was a crappy night and it lead to a crappy morning... I couldn't fall asleep last night. When I did, Bree woke up 3 times. Between her wake ups, I had breathing issues, our house is so dry, my nose gets all stuffed up and my mouth all dry. I think I drool out all my saliva leaving me a cotton mouth lol. Its hard to swallow even. Gives you a lovely image of me doesn't it? So, I'm pretty tired today.

Let me tell you about my morning...I got up, due to the breathing issues and the dog needing to pee. After I took care of the dog, I laid down on the couch for a few, but it didn't last long, a stomach ache sent me to the bathroom. I did my business, then flushed. I sat on the toilet during most of the flush, because I figured my fat ass would muffle the noise a bit, I didn't want to risk waking up Bree to early. I waited till almost the end of the flush cycle, the noisiest part was done, and I stood up to pull up my pj pants when I heard a strange sound coming from the toilet. I quickly turned on the light (I had been doing my business by night light), and looked over to the toilet to discover water at the very top ready to pour out. I searched in the bathroom closet for the plunger. By the time I found it, water had poured over the edge of the toilet and was going all over the bathroom carpet. What kind of idiot puts carpet in the bathroom anyways?! I plunged and water started going down, but this was of course after the carpet within a few feet of the toilet was soaked. I grabbed some nearby towels off the towel rack, and when I did, the whole rack came off the wall. Nice eh? LOL It definately was not my morning. What a mess.

Thankfully, the rest of the day wasn't so bad. It wasn't great, but wasn't bad either. Pretty much a lazy day. I tried taking a nap, but couldn't fall asleep, go figure. That always happens to me.

Its now nearly 10 p.m. and I'm beat. Once this show that I'm watching is over I'm going to hit the sack and tell my bed how much I miss it and love it. LOL I sure hope the dog, and Bree let me sleep good tonight. I hope my toilet is nice to me as well :)

G'nighty night all. Toodles!

Shopping, playdough fun, and pain

Today, Kels, Bree & I went shopping. We just went to Walmart & Hobby Lobby, but it seemed like we were shopping for hours! Bree fell asleep during our visit at Wallyworld, and had to be carried, and she is SO HEAVY! I was glad to get her in her car seat for a break. While at Wallyworld, Bree had a gift card (Thanks Uncle Walt & Aunt Linda!) to spend. She wanted several things, a new doll, playdough, and a tea party set mainly. We talked her into the playdough kit and the cheapo tea party set, the doll is going to have to wait till some other time. She really has plenty of dolls, but she LOVES getting new babies.

The playdough set is an ice cream maker thing. Bree couldn't wait to get home to play playdough with daddy, its their new thing lately to do with eachother. Bill is usually working or sleeping because he works hard at 2 jobs, so they don't get to much time to play together. He is on vacation from his day job this week and Bree is loving her daddy time, I think he is loving it too! They played playdough for hours today!


To be honest, I'm enjoying the Bree & Daddy time too, it gives me a little break :) Before this new playdough set they played with a different one we had, its a monkey one. When he comes home from his night job, Bree grabs his hand and says "follow me daddy" and she takes him into the kitchen to play "tato" as she calls it.

I'm glad to get the break from Bree a bit, because my shoulder has really been bothering me. It started a month or so ago, and hasn't stopped. Some days its not to bad, other days its really bothersome. It hurts to lift Bree. It hurts to lift my arm to put my hand on the steering wheel, it hurts lifting a gallon of milk, it just plain hurts a lot. I'm not sure what to do for it, ice or heat? I've tried heat, didn't seem to do much. I've done Icy Hot, and ibuprofin, that didn't do a whole lot either. I guess now that I'm getting old, I'm falling apart. Blah.

Anyways, thats how our day went. I'm so ready for bed, and its only 6:20! Shouldn't this day be done already?

I hope you have all had a marvelous day. Toodles!

Snow & Stuff

Well, after the Christmas Eve ice issues, then came SNOW :) We've had a few days of snow and it looks super pretty. Have I mentioned I LOVE snow?

Kelsey took Aubrey out to play in the snow for a bit, she enjoyed it. I went out too, just to take some pictures.


Once back inside, time was spent watching Bree play with playdough, and riding her horse. She really enjoys her horse.


The evening was spent playing Bop It with Kelsey, and Bree & daddy eating popcorn. Bree LOVES popcorn time with daddy.

(I hate my husbands hats! They are icky, just wanted to state that lol)

Today, I took a few pics of Kelsey. Whatcha think?




And last but not least, here is a stunning self portrait of yours truly...

Did you need a barf bag after that? Haha

No pics of Jilly, she is at her dads. She'll be spend as much time there as possible before he leaves for Norway.

Wow, its already after 4 p.m. I guess I should get off my fat ass and figure out something for dinner...I wish I had a personal chef, I hate cooking. I like 'baking' just hate 'cooking'.

Toodles!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope your day was full of safe holiday fun.

I sure hope Santa was good to everyone today! He was to the kiddos here, as good as he can be at the moment anyways. I'll load this post up with photos, because I can :) But first, I must say, these last few days have been stressful! Mostly due to the crappy weather, power going out, and teasing us with a 10 minute outing today too. Yesterday it rained like a monsoon, the few times I went out, I got drenched. Yesterday was just a icky day, cold, damp, tiresome day.

Today I woke up before the kids, I took a quick shower to get it out of the way before the craziness began. Once Bree woke up , Jilly woke up, Kels was already up. Then there was flying wrapping paper as the girls ripped open their gifts. After that, I went to the kitchen to make breakfast. I tried out a new coffee cake recipe, it was pretty good. We also had eggs, toast, and sausage. It was pretty yummy. The rest of the day has been spent picking up major messes, and the kids playing with their stuff. Bree really likes her horse. Kels is a fan of the bop it, and Jilly is a fan of her DS games.

I've been pretty bored today, imagine that. Everyone is busy with their stuff, Bill's on his pc, so I've been sitting at mine, or in the rocking chair trying to stay awake lol.

Anyways, Here are a bunch of pics, I hope you enjoy them. Toodles.
The presents as Santa left them (we have a small house, small tree, so he had to leave the presents on the couch)


Stockings

Bree & her horse, that she loves

Kels with the Bop It gift

Jilly with some of her stuff

Bree decorating daddy

Bree in her new tent, with her new sleeping bag, with her new Kai Lan :)

Since I'm to stupid to figure out how to post a video on here that I have on Flickr, I will just let you click on this to view Tigger smacking Bree's new train, if you would like to see it. She would have really smacked it off the tracks if Jilly didn't walk by and distract her. She's a nutty cat.

Yay finally we have power again!

We were hit with a lovely ice storm, which knocked down tree limbs, and power throughout our town. Well, half the town was knocked out anyways, the half I live in unfortunately. We were without electricity for 12+hrs, and it sucked donkey schlong! It was hard sleeping, because I was worried about Aubrey getting cold or waking up scared, so I'm pretty sleepy today. By morning it was 60 in the house, and to me, thats freakin COLD! By 8 something, we decided to go to McD's for breakfast, then to my inlaws for a bit. Power was supposed to be on around 9:15 according to the ComEd recording. Thankfully, it did :) I came home to get a diaper and my phone charging cord and it was back on. The house was still pretty chilly, so we stayed at the inlaws for a bit longer.

Now the house is toasty again, I've gotten a shower YAY, and I got to check my email and stuff. Double Yay! Now, if only I can get Bree to nap, so I can too :) Although I'm not sure I want her to, she may stay awake late tonight if she does which means Santa (Or Panta as Bree says) has to come even later...This Panta is tired.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. Be safe everyone!

Toodles

I love you, but NOT NOW

Winter weather is normally awesome in my book, but I need bad stuff to hold off for a few days. Our weather forecast is freezing rain, wintery mix, snow, wind, that kind of stuff. Usually I say BRING IT ON, but I've got places to go, things to do. Tomorrow, Kels, Bree & I need to head out to LaSalle to get a few last minute things and some much needed milk, diapers, that kind of stuff. Christmas Eve night, I need to pick up Jilly from her dads. Christmas Day afternoon, I need to return her to her dads. So I don't want bad roads for those things. So, winter weather, hold off till Christmas Day night, and I'll be a very happy camper. Thanks!

Things might be kind of crazy around here till Jan. 5. Not only is school out, but my husband is on vacation from his main job. EEK. Bill is a hard worker, and works 2 jobs so I can be home with the kids. Unfortunately, that makes him super tired and extremely CRANKY. I'm hoping with the time off he can rest up a bit and get back to his old nice goofy self and not such a bear to be around. Wish us luck :)

Is everyone ready for Christmas? I am, pretty much. I'm ready for it to be over too. The tree will probably come down the day after. The outside lights will probably stay on till Jan. 1. Not sure when they'll be taken down, depends on the weather, but they won't be turned on after that.

Trying to get the house organized to fit all the new stuff coming in is going to be a chore. I sure hope my ex, Jilly's dad, lets me have the bunk beds soon so I can have more space in Jilly/Bree's room for toys & such.

Those that read my blog, do you like it? Obviously you must a little, or you'd not be coming back... How about leaving comments? :) It would make me feel really special lol. If ya like me, maybe pass me on to a friend that enjoys reading blogs. I'd love to get more readers. Do you like blog 'carnivals'? Should I be doing those or are they annoying? Give me some clues on what would bring in more readers. Please & Thank You. :)

Thats it for now. I hope everyone had a good day. Toodles

I'm FULL already!

My sweet little Bree is enjoying her toy kitchen that Gram got her for her birthday. She's had tea parties with daddy, she's played wash daddy's hair with the kitchen faucet thingy, she's cooked crackers, and donuts, and, she's made soup, for me, over and over, and over. Its either Dora soup (Dora shaped noodles) or Wormie soup (chicken noodle). She brings me her toy bowl, and a few spoons, and says, "Lunchtime mommy!" "Eat your soup!" So I do. Then, she brings me more, and more, and even more! After about 50 servings, I'm begging her no more. I politely tell her "no thanks, I'm full" but she doesn't get it LOL.

More later, Bree wants to cuddle...toodles

If its not cakes, its COOKIES

Whew! Its been a long day. (Isn't today supposed to be the shortest day of the year?) Seems like I've been running here and there and baking and decorating cookies ALL DAY!

I needed a recipe that involved ingredients I already had at home since I'm pretty broke at the moment. I came across this one over at Amanda's site. I had all the stuff, it sounded easy, and the decorating was pretty too, so I figured I'd give it a try. They turned out pretty good. I did dot tree's for Jilly's class Christmas party, and the extras I messed around with and did some goofy things...they are for us to eat anyways. What do ya think?





I think they are decent. I'm still learning. Amanda said to use a ziplock bag, which worked well, mostly...Next time I'll use a more heavy duty one, I had a bag blow out lol. Thankfully it was on one of the extra cookies that are for us.

I think I like doing cookies, and I hope to try more, and improve.

Thats it for now, I'm tired. Have a great night. Toodles.

Sunday, the day after

Yesterday was busy all day with party preparations, the party, then putting together toys, cleaning up, and getting a birthday girl off to dreamland. I was super tired and didn't post last night.

Bree had a great party. In attendance were, Grandma Rhea, Grandma Mary, Grandpa Rick, Leah, Noah, Beth, Trinity, and Emily, along with us. Not everyone that was invited came, but that's OK, we had fun without them :P Our tiny house was full with those that did come anyways.

Miss Aubrey looked super cute in her birthday tutu.



She loved opening all her presents, and she got some great stuff.



And she (we) enjoyed some great birthday cake that yours truly made.




Bree had to try on her new Kai Lan sweatshirt, which she LOVED. She wore it the rest of the day too, and after her bath, she put it on over her PJ's until bedtime.



After the party, we watched Daddy put together the play kitchen Bree got. He got rather frustrated, and said many cuss words...



Throughout the day, we all had a turn holding baby Trinity (my niece). Bree had her turn early in the day before the party, the rest of us during the party. She is so cute.





Here is a picture of Grandma Rhea holding Trinity...


It was a great day. I asked Bree if she had a good birthday, and she said yes, that is the important thing :) Now, we can officially start the terrible twos...although we've had a preview many times already LOL.

Oh, almost forgot...Here are a few pictures of Bree with the birthday cards she received from my December Mommy group. We do a birthday card exchange. While she didn't get all she was supposed to (I'm sure they will be coming eventually...) she enjoyed those she did get. They came from all over the states, and Canada, and even Australia. Thank you December Mommies.




Thats it, I hope you enjoyed seeing the party pictures :) Toodles!

Happy Birthday Aubrey!

Since I don't know if I'll have any time or energy to post tomorrow I'm going to post this now, its only a few hours till midnight anyways.

On December 19th, my baby girl turns 2! I can't believe she is 2 already, seems like just yesterday I was in the OR having a C-section. She has blossomed into such a big girl. She makes me laugh every day. She makes me pull my hair out every day too. Aubrey is so loved by everyone. Have a wonderful birthday my darling Aubrey Danielle. XOXOXO

Here is Aubrey making her 'cookie' today. It kept her busy for a bit while I worked on her cake.



Today, I spent the day making Aubrey's birthday cake. She is having Ni Hao Kai Lan, her favorite show now. I always make the kids cakes, so I did hers as well. It took a long time to make because I'm no artist. If I could freehand it, things would be so much easier. But instead, I have to cut out a picture, then trace it to the cake, then try to decipher my tracing lines lol. Some of the features I was able to freehand though. But it seemed to take FOREVER to get done. I suppose it didn't help that I had a toddler to keep busy during that time too, and we had many trips to the potty for her. Some with good results, some not so much, but we are trying :) Anyways...Here are some pictures of the cake:






Thats it for now...Toodles!

Finally, rearranged.

Rearranged it and it feels so gooooooood! I finally got to fufill my rearranging needs. It was a lot of work, but now my living room is cleaned well, and different then it had been, which in turn makes me a very very happy camper. Change is GOOD.

Unfortunatly, Kelso's class ring was not found in my cleaning process. UGH! I sure hope it turns up. I'm totally stressing over it. Maybe in my other cleaning tomorrow I'll come across it. Cross your fingers.

Tomorrow I'll be doing more cleaning, in preperation for Aubrey's birthday party. Gotta have a clean house for company. Tomorrow night is Jilly's Christmas program for school. She plays a penguin. I hope its fun, and I hope Aubrey cooperates and sits quietly and watches so I can enjoy it too.

Whelp, sorry its short & boring, but I'm to tired and don't really have anything exciting to chat about, so I'm ending this one for now. G'night, sleep tight, and of course...toodles. I'm off to bed. :)

Missing ring

UGH! On my birthday, Kelsey took off her class ring, so she could put lotion on her hands. She supposedly set her ring on my desk. Then forgot about it until the next day, in the afternoon. She went to put the ring on, and it was gone. I hadn't seen it on my desk at all, if I had, I'd have put the damn thing up for safe keeping. So, we've been looking all over for this damn ring since, and haven't had any luck finding it. Its a $440 ring, that she has only had for a month! UGH! I'm so mad at her for being careless with it. I've told her over and over, leave the damn ring on your finger, that way it doesn't get lost because you always have your finger with you! But nope, she'd take it off to shower, and other stuff...and now look whats happened. Mother knows best Kelsey, please listen more often. It seems like I'm the only one worried about this ring. I guess no one else seems to care that there is a missing $440 ring, since no one else has bothered to help me search for it. I think this calls for a living room furniture re-arranging, so the living room can get a serious cleaning and I can hunt for the ring better...but unfortunatly, I need my husband to help me, the tv thing is a bit to heavy for me, and it involves moving cables etc...and getting him to help me is like ummm making the dead come alive. He HATES me rearranging the furniture. I LOVE doing it, and NEED doing it now and then to keep me sane. I'm stuck in this house all day every day pretty much, I need changes now and then.

Saturday, my little Aubrey turns 2! Can you believe it? Doesn't seem possible. We are having a little family birthday party for her. Ni Hao Kai Lan is the theme. She LOVES that show. When it comes on she happily yells, "Kai Lan's on, YAY!" and claps her hands. She's so cute. Cross your fingers that the cake I'm making turns out the way I envision it.

Speaking of Aubrey. She was so funny the other night. She'd give me a kiss, tell me bye, and say she is going to school. Then she'd walk down the hallway in the house, and come back. She would announce her return, and tell me she missed me, then she'd do it all over again. She did this several times. Then, she decided I needed to eat imaginary food. She went down the hallway to get some, bring it back and feed it to me, then go get more, and more, and more. THEN, she came back with a brush, and a headband. She wanted to fix my hair she said. I of course let her. She put the headband on all cockeyed, then announced, "PRINCESS MOMMY!" loudly to everyone. LOL she is a total nut. She kept working on my hair, telling me she was putting in a pigtail, which really meant she was yanking on my hair. If I yelled OUCH, she said, "Mommy don't say ouch!" haha. I kept asking if she was done yet, her reply was "nope, not yet". She is so much fun sometimes. :)

Thats it for now, I should probaby start to tackle my TO DO list that is a mile long. Toodles :)

Idiot drivers

Today, it was super foggy out. As I'm going down the long road to walmarthell, I'm cautiously going the speed limit. Then, I look in my rear view mirror, to see Mario, speed up behind me. Then, he eases over to the center to see if he can pass...well, the idiot did pass, but he almost ran right into an oncoming truck. He was in such a damn hurry that he had to pass me in the horrible fog, and didn't see the truck coming. Thankfully, I did, and immediately slowed down to let him get in front of me. He's lucky. Stupid dink. Why risk your life, and every one elses on the road doing stupid risks like that when the weather is nasty? Stupid dink. I must be a horrible person, because I wished I'd see him in a ditch down the road, so I could say "told ya so, stupid dink". I don't want him hurt or anything, I just want the crap scared out of him, make him pee himself a little in fright. Idiot drivers.

Party time

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. It was a busy day of Christmas parties, and by the time we got home, and Bree finally went to bed at 11:30 I was to tired to even type a word.

The morning was spent at the kids Christmas party, put on by Bill's employer. They had different crafts set up for the kids to do, and then Santa came by to give the kids little gifts. The crafts were to much for Bree, she didn't have the attention span to sit there doing them, but she tried a bit. She was all talk of sitting with Santa before the party, once we got there, she changed her mind quite quickly. She allowed Bill to hold her near Santa, but that was about it. Here are a few pictures.




Later in the evening my mother in law came over to babysit the girls, so Bill & I could go to his work adult Christmas party. It was nice to get out just he & I, I don't think we had been out alone together since last years party.

Upon returning home, Bree ordered me to sit with her and cuddle. Which I did until she finally fell asleep at 11:30! She told me when I got home, "Mommy, I MISSSSED you!" so sweet. :)

Today, I've been busy trying to figure out what the hell to do for Aubrey's birthday cake. I had an idea, but then it got squashed because things weren't going to work the way I had envisioned, so it was plan B....which also had its issues. I think they are all worked out now, so later , like Friday, I'll have everything under control and organized to make her cake. I hope.

I'm debating on running out to Walmarthell right now. I need a few things, need to return the DS we got Jilly for Christmas, and exchange it for games too. (She had a DS at her dads, that she had to keep there, but now that he is moving to Norway, she gets to bring it home...we had gotten her one for Christmas, but she sure doesn't need 2! So we'll exchange the one, for some games). I'd like to go and get it done. Not sure I feel like putting on presentable clothing and actually going out and driving there, and dealing with weekend shoppers...hmmm what to do what to do...

Thats it for now...toodles.

The bestest gifts ever

As I said in the previous post, it was my birthday yesterday. I got some great gifts, and they were not the kind that money could buy. Kelsey gave me a foot massage, Jilly gave me a back massage, and Bree did my hair, she kept asking me if I wanted pigtails lol. Silly girl. BUT, the best was yet to come...Bree went to bed at 9 (instead of 11ish like she had been doing) AND she slept till 7:20 with no wake ups. Yay Bree and Yay for ME! The dog also cooperated and didn't whine to pee at all last night. I almost got to sleep till my alarm went off, I ended up a few minutes early, because I had to pee haha.

Today was a quiet day. The girls had a full day of school (yay!). I spent the day doing some cleaning, and some relaxing. My living room was clean a few hours ago, but looking at it now, you'd never know. Its rather depressing. The house needs to be decent tomorrow, because my MIL is coming over to babysit tomorrow night so Bill & I can go to his work Christmas party.

Tomorrow is going to be kinda busy. Early in the day is the kids Christmas party from my husbands work, then later is the adult one. As I said, my MIL is babysitting. I don't let Kelsey babysit. She & Jilly don't get along, I'd come home to a destroyed house, and one of them would be injured.

I'm hoping Bree cooperates at the party tomorrow and sits on Santa's lap, at least long enough for me to take a picture. Wish us luck on that :) She keeps talking about it and saying she will...but saying and doing are totally different things. I have a feeling she won't go near Santa (or Panta as she calls him).

Thats it for now...tata and toodles

Happy Birthday...to ME!

Happy Birthday to myself! Yay. I survived another year. I'm not just an old fart now, I'm a really old fart! 41 yrs old to be exact. It started out on a somewhat bad note this morning, but the day has improved somewhat. I'm feeling really tired tonight, from the yucky last night...or maybe its because I'm really old now.

School was an hour later this morning because of the icy roads. Once I got the girls to school I came home for breakfast and to chill out a bit. Then Bill, Bree & I went to run some errands. We had some groceries to get and a few Christmas items. Got home, had lunch, then it was time to get the girls again. Came home, chilled a bit, then went and picked up KFC/Taco Bell for dinner. We always go out to dinner for our birthdays, but Bill went to bed instead (he has to work tonight) so it was just the girls & I, so we opted for fast food...not really what I wanted, but since I had to pay myself I went the cheaper faster route. Unfortunately it wasn't so fast...

Kels & Jilly are giving Bree her bath right now for me, so I can relax. That is nice of them. When they are done, we'll probably have some cake. Can't have a birthday without cake ya know :)

I'm hoping Bree is kind tonight and goes to bed a bit earlier then last nights 11:40. She didn't have much nap today, so maybe, just maybe, I'll get lucky. Cross your fingers for me!

Today, I've been thinking about my grandma's. Both are now deceased, but both are on my mind. My dads mom, was so good at sending everyone a birthday card. It always arrived on time, and she never forgot. I miss cards from Grandma. Thinking about her got me thinking about my moms mom. She used to call me Binky, that was the nickname she gave me and called me that even as an adult! I guess it was originally Stinky, because when she held me as a baby I always pooped haha. She figured growing up called Stinky wouldn't be a good thing...so she changed it to Binky (thanks gram!).

I guess thats all for now. Sounds like a lot of giggling going on in the bathroom, so I better go check on the crazy girls...Toodles.

I wanna win!

One of the regular blogs I read is having a giveaway. I WANT TO WIN! Blogging about it gives me a chance to do so...so here I am, blogging about it. To get your chance to win, go to MckMama's Giveaway site. Oh? What is the prize? It's a brand spankin' new HP TouchSmart computer! I want it I want it! It would be totally orgasmic to win :)

I'll post again later tonight about other stuff. Until then, toodles

Birthday Wishes

I'm so tired, but my little night owl daughter won't go to sleep, someone please make her sleep! I've been half tempted to stop her daytime nap, but that is my only sanity during the day. I try to get her to take it earlier in the day, but that rarely happens, if Bree isn't ready to sleep, Bree won't sleep. Last night it was after 11 again when she went to sleep. Then at 4:50 she was up crying. I got her back to sleep, then the dog whined to go out. I took the dog out, climbed into bed, shut my eyes, and Bree was up again. Bah! I got her back to sleep in about 15 minutes, but by then it was pretty close to the time I'd have to get up anyways, so I just stayed up. I wonder if I'll ever get to sleep in till my alarm clock goes off. It frustrates me.

So, on Dec. 10, I will have a birthday....and I'll be 41 yrs old. Eek. Every year for my birthday, I wish for snow, lots of it. So far the forecast on my birthday doesn't call for snow, but we did get some yesterday, and today, and tonight and tomorrow I think we are getting some. I just hope its not bad enough for a snow day. Tomorrow I have errands I need to run and can't if the roads are nasty, and on my bday I don't really want Kels & Jilly home all day fighting, it would make for a crappy birthday. I'm looking forward to birthday cake, one that I don't have to make. Bill ordered one for me. Its a request I always make. Can't have a birthday without cake, and I sure as hell don't want to make my own and have to clean the mess lol. I'm also hoping for dinner out, or carry out in...cross your fingers for me :)

OMG Can I just say how annoying this Upside Down Show is? Gives me a total headache, I think those 2 dudes need some ritalin or something. I wish Bree didn't like it. The good thing is its keeping her quiet, and laying down...for now. Maybe she'll get bored and sleep.

There is ONE good thing about Jilly's dad moving. We have agreed that he'd give me her bunk beds from his house. That way, Bree can have the bottom, and Jilly the top, instead of having 2 beds taking up all the floor space. Now maybe I'll be able to get some toys in their room and out of my living room. I have no idea where in the heck all the Christmas toys are going. Bree is getting some big items. What were we thinking?

I guess thats it for now, I have had nothing exciting happen today to share. Toodles

Give me a switch please

At 4:10 this morning, Bree woke up crying. We went and cuddled & rocked for a bit and she was back to sleep shortly after. Then of course the dog wanted to go out. So once I got back into bed, I laid there, tossing and turning thinking about stuff. Thinking about the beautiful snow I saw outside when I was up with Bree, thinking about my birthday that is in a few more days, and mostly, thinking about Jilly and how things are going to be for her come Jan. when her dad goes to Norway. I feel so bad for her. I wish I had a switch that I could flick on or off my thoughts when I want to try to relax and sleep. Why didn't God think of this when he made us?

Today has been busy, I rolled out, cut and baked all the cookies I mixed up yesterday. Then later this evening I iced some of them. I tried royal icing for the first time. I think they look nice. I still obviously have a lot to learn about using it, but it was fun.

As I mentioned above, we got some snow overnight. Bree & I were so excited to see it. Bill...not so much. Once we dropped Kels & Jilly off at school, Bree got bundled up and we went out to play for a bit. She really enjoyed it.

I'm going to overload you all on pics tonight, because I can. Enjoy, and toodles.

The meeting results

Whelp, just returned from the meeting with Jilly's dad. The news isn't so bad for ME, but its not so good for Jilly.

A little background info...The ex, came from the country Norway, to be with me back in 1999. He left his family, friends, job, everything to be with me. We married right away, had Jilly...seperated after Jilly was about a year old. Once we divorced, he met someone else, and they have since had a child together, and got married.

Ok, back to now. The ex is so in the hole financially that he can't get out of it. He owns 2 homes and can't sell either, he can't get refinancing or any other help. So, he has decided to move back to Norway to live with his family, get a job, and climb out of the hole he is in. He is moving there in Jan. with his son. His wife is staying here in IL until June, then she and her kids (except for 1) will move out there as well. So, Jilly's father will no longer be around for her come Jan.. I'm very sad for Jilly. I don't think she quite gets it yet...but she will once he is gone.

Until June, the ex wants Jilly to continue to go to his home to be with his wife & step kids to remain a part of their lives as much as possible. He will have her give me my child support check every other week until June. At that point, somehow he is going to have child support deposited into my bank account monthly.

As far as visits from her dad or her to him...He said he would get here to visit her whenever possible, and he'd like her to visit there too, but we agree she is to young to travel the 14 hr plane trip alone.

Technically, he isn't supposed to move more then an hour away from Jilly, its in our divorce decree. I could raise a stink about that, but I won't. I know its killing him having to leave Jilly, and if he could find other ways to avoid it he would.

Please keep Jilly in your thoughts and prayers. She is going to miss her daddy and her little brother too.

Toodles.

Whew

Whew! I can relax a bit now. Child support finally came in on Friday and I was able to get some things we needed AND fill my van's gas tank. Yay. I still have one thing to stress about, and that is the talk I'm having with Jilly's dad later today. I hope whatever it is he needs to talk about isn't anything to serious.

The weekend has been spent running around and being lazy. Last night we ran out to Walmart and Big Lots. I got my haircut while at Walmart...didn't notice until this morning when I fixed my hair what a crappy haircut it was! How did I not see this last night? My bangs are a lot shorter then they should be, and they are at an angle...going the wrong direction then they should be going even though really there shouldn't be an angle! Oy. Remind me if I go back there to stay away from "Diedra" she was wicked with the scissors.

Aubrey went to bed at 11:15 last night, and was up at 4:20 this morning! I was not a happy camper. She did go back to sleep around 6:30, and I tried to as well, but the stupid dog had other ideas for me.

Today we took another trip to Walmart because I got the bright idea to make Christmas cookies. I haven't had my recipe of cookies in several years and they really sounded yummy right now. We also stopped at Menards for a few things. We are going to make a rain gutter book/stuffed animal shelf, like the one in this picture here. It will go in Jilly/Bree's room. I think we are going to do one big long one on the one empty wall in there.

Now my cookie dough is made, and chilling. I was trying to get Bree to nap, so I could roll and cut them in peace, but she doesn't seem to interested in sleeping, drat.

I also need to rearrange the girls room to try to squeeze the toybox into there (hopefully it will work! its such a small crowded room already). I need to make room out here for all the stuff that a certain little one is getting for her birthday and Christmas...to many big items. Santa needs to bring us a bigger house. Or at least a professional organizer to help me make more room in the one we have :)

I have some pictures to share today. First is one of Bree and how she fell asleep for her nap yesterday. She was coloring, had a pen in one hand, and a crayon in the other, and fell asleep.



Then there is the one of Bree and how she fell asleep at 6:30 this morning...


Then we have Cranky Chef Bree, who was helping me make cookies earlier today and she was in such a crabby mood, everything set her off...



This cheered her up a bit...



There ya go, didn't that just make your day? LOL Please excuse my UGLY and messy kitchen in that last pic.

Whelp, thats it for now, I better get busy...Toodles