Happy Sweet (?) 16 Kelsey!

Today, Feb. 28, is my daughters 16th birthday! Not sure how SWEET she is, she's more SASSY :) At any rate, Happy Birthday Daughter Kelsey.

I remember the day of her birth. I had a doctors appointment that morning, and as he checked he, he didn't know if he was feeling her head, or her TAILBONE. So he said, "What are you doing today?" I said, "I don't know...you tell me" Haha. He told me to get my stuff, then go to Labor & Delivery. Once I'm there, they will do a sonogram to see her position, if she is breech like he suspected, I'd be having a c-section that day, if she wasn't, we'd get labor started (I was already having contractions). So I left his office and kinda freaked out a little! I was seperated with my husband at the time, and he was living in WI. I went home, made arrangements for my MIL to come to my house to watch Zach, but the neighbor would watch him until she got there (she lived over an hour away). Then I went to the hospital, and my mom came up there to be with me. My husband was called of course and he said he'd be there as soon as he could.

The sonogram was done, and Kelsey was indeed in breech position. They set up a time in the OR and got me all prepped. Of course my husband wasn't there yet...so my mom got to go in with me and watch her granddaughter be born. My husband got there right as they were bringing Kelsey out of the OR and heading to the nursery.

I was so excited to have a baby girl, I had always wanted one. Zach adjusted well to his baby sister...it wasn't until she start walking and talking that he grew to dislike her :(

Wasn't she cute? Bald head and all?


Kelsey grew up fast. Sometimes she was a little terror, sometimes she was very angelic. She did good things like walking in the Light the Night Walk and raised money to fight leukemia. She even got a bunch of hair cut one time and donated it to Locks of Love. I was so proud of her.


Then...she turned into a teenager...scary stuff. LOL. She still has her days of being a terror, and days of being angelic, but more often our days are like PMS hell (haha sorry Kels).

I can't believe my 1st daughter is now 16. Soon, (after she gets her 50 hours of drive time in) she'll be getting her drivers license...YIKES! Next she'll be graduating and off to college...

Once again, Happy Sweet (SASSY) 16 Kelsey.



Toodles!

Because I'm a meanie!

Tomorrow, Feb. 28, is my daughter Kelsey's 16Th birthday. Since she is turning 16, she thinks she deserves the world for gifts. She's mentioned a few things she wants, like a car, a cell phone, a big party for all her friends at maybe a hotel or something, and many other things. Yeah sure Kelsey, I'll get right on that. Sure, if I had money, I'd gladly get her a cell phone, and if I had a lot of money, I'd get her a car, that she could get a job and HELP pay for...but we don't have the money, its not an option, deal with it. She will be getting one thing she wanted, a bedding set for her room, even though its more then I usually spend on birthdays...she should consider herself lucky. She of course pushes my buttons with, "You don't love me as much as you love Zach, Jilly & Bree" blah blah blah. Teen drama queen.

Anyways...Because I'm me, a smart ass, and goofy...I've decided to give her a little gag gift. I am getting her a car, and a cell phone...the matchbox and toy variety. I'm sure that you'll hear her screaming and having a fit wherever you live...so if you hear loud noise, you'll know where it is and why LOL.

Thats all for tonight, I'm off to cuddle with Miss Bree since she wants NOTHING to do with her Dora bed at bedtime :( Here is a picture for you to enjoy...


Toodles :)

5 Question Friday, and some GOOD news

Its that time again. Time for me to participate in Mama M.'s 5 Question Friday blog hop. So, relax, put your feet up, grab a drink and a snack, and read on my friends...

1. Do you sing karaoke? If so, what is your go to song?


2. What is your favorite coffee drink?


3. If you could choose your own name, what would it be?


4. Were you ever bullied?


5. How often do you eat fast food?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My answers to these lovely questions are as followed...

1. NO. Never have. Never will. Be thankful :)

2. I'm not a huge coffee drink fan. Mainly because I'm a wuss and I like SWEET stuff, not strong bitter stuff...which is what you usually get from coffee places.

I do have 1-2 cups of Joe in the mornings when I first get up, but they are loaded..(don't laugh, don't gag LOL)...with 3 tsp of sugar, and 2 tsp of powdered flavored creamer...usually hazelnut or french vanilla.

Occasionally, I'll get a caramel latte with cream & sugar from the Dunkin' Donuts at Walmart. There is one girl there that makes them nice and sweet, if I see her working I ask for her to make my drink :)

3. I have no idea. Renee is OK with me. Its not overly popular, nor is it to off the wall...its just right.

When I was young I hated my middle name though. Everyone pronounced it DANIEL instead of DANIELLE, and that made me so mad, because by golly was was a girl, not a dude!! When I graduated high school, the VP (Ms. Jandris) called me up to get my diploma as Renee DANIEL...I was pissed and embarrassed.

I have become friends with my middle name now, and I even like it. I like it so much now, that I passed it on to Aubrey, it is her middle name too.

4. Yes I was bullied a few times (and had a stalker, does that count too? Maybe the stalker issue could be addressed in a different 5QF). I don't remember all the details of my bully issues, because I'm old and my memory sucks...plus I try to block out yucky stuff. I do remember the one, a dude at my bus stop. I think I was a freshman at the time. This dickhead dude used to harass me daily. I got so bothered by it that I even walked to a far away bus stop most of the time just to avoid him. One day, my older brother (who had graduated already) went to the bus stop with me and told this dink in a not so nice way to leave me alone, OR ELSE. Problem solved :)

5. Hahaha! I think you can tell by my fat ass photos that I'm a fast food lover. I would eat it at every meal if I could afford it. I'd also weigh a gazillion and 500 lbs, instead of just the gazillion I weigh presently. So yeah, I get fast food, way to often. Bad me. Why does everything bad have to taste so good? Evil. EVIL I TELL YOU!

I hope you enjoyed 5 Question Friday. Please join in, leave your answers in the comments, or blog it and link it over at Mama M.'s.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, the GOOD NEWS. Aubrey did something today that she has NEVER done before. AND, she did it twice! She went to her room, laid in her Dora bed, and fell asleep!! TWICE! This has never happened before. She normally wants to be held, rocked and or cuddled till she falls asleep. Occasionally she'll lay on the couch or floor and fall asleep watching her shows, but she has never in her life went to her bed and fallen asleep. EVER. I was over joyed. I praised her big time, and told her how awesome it was that she did that. I asked her if she'd do it tonight at bedtime, she says she will...I'll believe it when I see it. :) Please cross your fingers. Night times would be much more enjoyable if she'd learn to do this every night.

Today for breakfast we had colored pancakes. Bree picked the colors yellow, green and pink. I made Bisquick's pancakes, and jazzed it up by adding some sugar, vanilla, butter flavoring, cinnamon and banana mashed up. They are yummy. See how pretty...




Today has been a day of going here and there. Took the girls to school, came home, went to Fashion Bug, then to Walmart, then home. Then to get the girls at school, then home. Then to drop the girls off at their dads/Bria's, then home. Now I'm home to stay for the night and in my comfy clothes, whew!

Tomorrow we are going to visit Gram. Bree will play, and I'll help mom with stuff she needs done. Then it will be home for Bree to play play doh with daddy :) Sunday is Kelsey's 16Th birthday. Scary. God help me. LOL.

Here is a picture, hopefully it will make you smile. Bree told me to "Clap Mommy, I'm getting married!"...


That's all for now. Toodles!

Sparky I miss you

I didn't get to post yesterday. Things got crazy once school got out and there was no time, when there was time, I was to tired!

Yesterday after school and after Bill got off work, we went out to Yorkville to pick up my van that was done being repaired. I had to say good-bye to the 2010 Silver van that I nicknamed Sparky, and I picked up Moana....Good OLD Moana...she still moans, to bad they couldn't fix that...Unfortunately she moans for other reasons, things not caused by the accident. Moana looks good after her little repair surgery...she's no Sparky, but she'll do, she gets me here and there, although very vocally.

After picking up the van, we went to Petsmart, so Jilly & Kelsey could see where Zach works. Bree loves going there and seeing the animals. While there, there was a cat getting shaved in the grooming area, poor cat! He/she is going to be cold!

Next stop was dinner. We decided to do Kelsey's birthday dinner out early since the weekend is going to be busy. We have a tradition of a birthday dinner out at a restaurant (my fave tradition lol). We took her to Santa Fe, one of her favorite places. Unfortunatly serviced sucked. The old lady that was going to seat us wanted to put us right by the front door. Umm no thanks lady. To cold! I asked to sit in a different location. Then she sat us without menus... It just wasn't their best service...we used to go there often and it was never that bad. Bree enjoyed eating out, although she didn't eat a whole lot. She mostly looked around and talked talked talked.

Finally, next stop was home. It was nearly 8:00 I think by the time we got here. Bree was wound for sound, and didn't go to bed till 10:00. By then I said screw posting, I'm going to bed.

So far today has been spent playing with Bree, hanging out in her bed that she has named her "Dora bed", having a picnic lunch out in the living room on a blanket, and cuddling. Bill got home early again and he has taken a turn in the Dora bed too, and playing playdoh and other things. Bree is napping, a late nap, not a good thing, I should go wake her up soon...and pray she isn't the exorcist when I do. She can be in quite the mood when woken up before she's ready.

Bree has said some funny things lately. Today she was singing me a song from the show Little Bear. She told me to "wiggle my NIPS" HAHAHA. Sorry Bree, I don't know how to do that! I think she really meant to say HIPS. I hope so anyways... Last week I was eating leftover meatloaf for lunch. When I was done, my plate had ketchup smeared all over it. She asked me, "Mom, did you eat a bloody nose?" LOL. Also, Bree seems to love to be the star of the show. She had daddy in her room the other night laying on her Dora bed, watching her dance. She had put on a tutu and was playing music from a book and from one of her ride on toys, then she'd dance around for him. She would also demand that he clap his hands, and say "Bravo" such a silly girl. I'll include the video of that for you, well one of them anyways...Excuse her messy room. It was clean, before she & daddy started playing in there.

Aubrey dancing for Daddy from Renee Kofoid on Vimeo.

Thats all for now. Toodles!

National Pancake Day!

Did you know that today is National Pancake Day? WHAT?! How could you NOT know, its a very important day! Shame on you! Just kidding :) Yeah it is another crazy made up kind of day, but still...

If pancakes can be this pretty, maybe we should all make some today! Why not breakfast for dinner tonight? I'm very tempted...I wonder if I have everything I need to make these... These beautiful pancakes are from Amanda over at i am mommy and i am baker. She makes some super pretty things. If you like to check out food blogs, please please visit hers. I'm so glad I came across Amanda, and her blogs. It was in one of those blog communities on a blog I read, where I discovered Amanda, and I now frequent her blog all the time!

You know what? Not everyone liked Amanda's pancakes. While she got a lot of good comments on them, she also got some negative ones too, she talks about that here on her blog. Some mean people even posted on their blogs about them and her, saying some rather hateful things, how rude. To each their own I guess. I personally think Amanda's pancakes are super cool :)

If you decide to make these pretty pancakes, please let me know how they turned out...take a picture if you can.

Have a marvelous National Pancake Day!

Toodles!

Doodles and Pudding

Ahhhh the day is almost done, I can't wait till bedtime! I woke up at 4:30ish to pee and couldn't get back to sleep. I hate when that happens. I laid in bed tossing and turning, and was expecting the phone to ring at any minute saying school was cancelled due to snow, but thankfully that phone call never came! Yay! We didn't get as much snow as they were predicting, which is good I guess. I'm kinda bummed in a way, because I love snow, but relieved in a way too because I had the appointment an hour away to take the van in for repairs.

So the good news is I turned my van in, and the loaner I got is a 2010 Caravan, its very nice :) I wish the money fairy would drop me a load so I can get one for keeps. Bree & I were gone all morning. She was NOT happy when we got into the other van, she kept crying, "I don't want this van, I want MY VAN!" Thankfully she chilled out after a trip into Petsmart and a handful of fruit snacks later.

This afternoon, I felt like bugging Kelsey, who kept putting her feet on me and stuff...so I took the pen I had in my hand and colored and doodled all over her feet/ankles/legs. It was fun. I drew all the Yo Gabba Gabba people, and some other little doodles too on the bottom of her foot...which look bad because she was so wiggly from it tickling. Here are a few pics...keep in mind, I'm NO ARTIST, and she was very wiggly, plus Bree was climbing on me too!





That was how I passed the time while listening to Kelsey yap about the kind of birthday party she wants. First it was pizza, then fondue, then cake, then cupcakes, then cake again...oy.

Speaking of fondue...what all do you dip into your cheese fondue? If we go this route, I need some ideas.

Oh, I don't think I mentioned that on Saturday, when I was trying to keep Bree awake because she hadn't napped, and it was to late to nap, to early to go to bed, I came up with something to help. We painted. With PUDDING. In the bathtub :) I figured she could do it there so if it makes a huge mess (and it did) we could just hose it all down the drain. Good thinking on my part! We only had pumpkin spice pudding so that is what we used. She enjoyed it, so did Jilly! Here is a pic of Bree covered in pudding, having fun.



Thats it for now, I'm going to go cuddle with the little pudding girl in a few and hope for sleep. Toodles!

Snoooooooow

It's snowing out. Yay! But Boo too... I love snow. I am just stressing a bit because I have an appointment tomorrow morning, and hour away, that I need to drive to, in the yucky snowy stuff. I'm hoping that since I have a main road to take (although 1/2 the way is pretty much the country portion of it) maybe it won't be so nasty. If there is school, I have to drop the girls off then pretty much head right out. If the roads are cleared, I'll get there a bit early, if they are nasty, hopefully the extra time will still get me there by 10.

My appt. is at the car repair place to get the damage to the van fixed from the accident on Jan. 18. It was supposed to be done last week, but the part they ordered didn't arrive in time. I hope the rental is something cool, and it better be big enough for a car seat, plus room for Kels, Jilly & Jackie (Jilly's friend that I transport to and from school every day). It's going to be a pain moving the car seat back and forth and stuff. I hope Miss Bree cooperates!

I'm wondering what tomorrow will be like. If there is NO school, then I'll just take all the girls with me. If they have school and end up being let out early I'm in trouble, because I won't know this, and I won't be back in time to pick them up. Not sure what I'll end up doing. If it was a different day other then a Monday, I'd have my mother in law pick them up, but she is busy on Mondays and not around. I'm kinda stressing over this. So, please cross your fingers that there is either no school or school all day tomorrow for me! :)

Not much has gone on around here today. We went to breakfast this morning at a place in town. We used to go there often, but than Bree came around and money got tight so we haven't gone in forever. It was nice. They have a buffet thing at breakfast time and we all got that. I like it because I can get what I want and how much I want and be a happy camper. Bree liked the whipped cream and froot loops (yep, she mixed them lol) she also liked the watermelon.

The rest of the day was spent with kids making messes, and not listening, and the older girls fighting. Miss Bree didn't nap today so she's been cranky tonight. She went to bed at 6:40, and I hoped it was for the night, but less then an hour later she was up, and she's more cranky, fun fun. So that said, she is sitting on my lap right now and wanting to cuddle so I gotta go.

Toodles

Yummy Snack

I'm a fat girl. I like snacks...to much. I love popcorn, but can't eat it. Well, I CAN eat it, if I want to pay for it the next day with my rear being glued to the toilet. So, I've had to be a bit creative about some popcorn type snacks...trying to get a similar flavor, buttery & salty with different items. Sometimes I used puffed wheat, or puffed rice cereal, or even Cheerio's. Yes, Cheerio's! In fact, many years ago, Cheerio's had a recipe for hot buttered Cheerio's so I'm not just nutty making this part up. Its not popcorn by any means, but its decent, and satisfied a craving.

Recently, I got to thinking, how I'd like something similar to caramel corn. Hmmm what could I do? Then I came up with my own little recipe. First time I made it, it was THE BOMB, as in GOOD! So I stuck to that recipe and I make it often. I'm going to share it with you now. Are you ready? You'll think I'm nuts probably. I'll take something healthy, and totally demolish it and make it into something yummy (and bad for me)...

You'll need:

Puffed Rice cereal -about 1/4 of a bag or so...for me its however much I can fit in the pan without it going all over as I stir LOL



Some butter, I use about 1/2 a stick



Some brown sugar (I don't measure, I dump, I'm guessing about 1/4-1/2 cup)



You'll also need some cinnamon, and salt. :)

Here is what you do...

Melt the butter then sprinkle in some salt & cinnamon



Then add in the brown sugar, and stir, for about maybe a minute, or a little less




Then add the puffed rice cereal, and stir



Stir and cook for about a minute, coating all the cereal with the buttery sugar mix. Then chow down. Its yummy!




Seriously, its GOOD. Try it! Thats it for now. Toodles, and happy snacking.

It's 5 Question Friday Time

Its Friday, which means, its Mama M.'s 5Q Friday time, and I think I'll join in again. Its fun, and I'm to tired to type anything else at the moment hehe.

1. Have you ever hit an animal with your vehicle?


2. When you see a string on your clothes do you pull it off or cut if off?


3. Did you have your own room or share a room when you were young?


4. Would you rather wear the same thing for the rest of your life or eat the same thing for the rest of your life?


5. What was your favorite TV show as a child?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Yes, it was dark, and the kids, mom & I were going to see Christmas lights...we took country roads to the place. Shortly after we started our trip, a cat crossed my path, but I didn't see it until it was to late :( I cried and cried. I told Kelsey it was something else, I don't remember what, if she knew it was a cat she would have totally freaked out.
Another time a duck flew into my windshield as I drove over a bridge...so I didn't hit it, it hit me. I think it only got stunned, for it wasn't laying on the roadside on my way back.

2. If I have scissors handy, I'll cut it, if not, I'll pull it...just depends on the circumstances.

3. I believe I always had my own room, at least thats how I remember it. I was the only girl, so I got lucky that way.

4. I guess I would rather wear the same thing every day. I pretty much do that anyways, since I don't have much that fits my fatass anymore.

5. Hmm so many...Family Affair, Love Boat, The Gong Show lol Thats all I can come up with at the moment because I have a cranky little one wanting my attention.

Thats all for now...Toodles!

Blog nicknames

I read a lot of blogs. A lot of those blogs have nicknames for their family so they don't put their real names on the blog for every Tom, Dick, and Harry to see. There are some named after cookies, some after McDonald's menu items, some are just Mama, and Mr...you get the point. So, I got to thinking, maybe I should put nicknames for my family on my blog...or maybe not. I've yet to decide. My luck I'd give everyone nicknames and then forget to call them that and use their real names as I normally do. I'm still thinking about it...

Here are some possible ideas I came up with. NUTS. We are all nuts here anyways, so why not be named nuts? I had trouble coming up with the nuts that Jilly & I should be though...For Bill I got Breadnut (yes there is such a thing, although I had never heard of it until I looked up nuts lol), because he is the family bread winner I thought it would be appropriate for him. For Kelsey, I figured Chestnut, because, well...she has a large chest! :( For Zach, I thought Beechnut would work, since the scientific name for it has the not the nicest name for what he is in it. For Bree, Peanut, because she is the littlest nut in the family.

Then, with the help of my friend, we came up with some other names...Diva for Jilly, Princess for Bree, Drama for Kelsey, Supermom for me...not sure on the others yet. Who knows...like I said, I'm still thinking

What do you think? Nicknames or no nicknames? If you think nicknames, do you have any good ideas for us? Share your thoughts please :)

Toodles!

Popcorn Time

On Bill's nights off from his second job, he and Bree have popcorn time. She LOVES popcorn, and so does he. She looks forward to it. Usually we have dinner, then she has a bath, then after a little playtime, its popcorn time...Then daddy goes to bed.

Tonight was different...Daddy went to bed early (without telling us! naughty daddy). Bree was waiting for popcorn time, but it didn't come. I checked on Daddy, to see if he was still awake in the bedroom maybe just watching TV, but he was sound asleep already. Poohy. So, I did what needed to be done. I made popcorn for Bree & Jilly to share. I love it, but can't eat it, it does badddddddd things to me!

Mmmmm Popcorn!






Sorry the last one is kinda dark. I had my finger on the flash thingy. Oops.

Thats it for now. Toodles!

The Happenings

Since my blog week last week was filled with Mama M.'s Valentine's Extravaganza, I haven't filled you in on other daily life here...not that its very exciting or anything, you probably didn't miss it LOL. So, I'm going to give you little bits and pieces of things going on around here the last week or so...


*The other day Bree & I were talking about names. Bill had went outside, then came in the garage, and made noise. Bree asked what that noise was, then said, "Its just Bill again" lol umm ok, but its DADDY to you. So we started talking more about names. I explained to her that my name is Renee. She did not like that! "YOU ARE NOT A RENEE!" she said. I told her yes I was, its my name. "YOU ARE NOT A RENEE EITHER (she always adds either to things)! YOU ARE MOMMY!" she yelled. I told her yes, I am mommy to her and Kels, Jilly & Zach, but to other people I'm Renee. "YOU ARE NOT A RENEE EITHER" was her reply to that. So I gave up the discussion lol. Later I asked her if Renee could have a kiss, lol and she yelled at me again.

*Speaking of kisses... Bree tends to wipe off just about everyones kisses once they are given. She doesn't always do it with mine, but to almost everyone else she does. SO the other day Bill came home from lunch and when he went back to work, he gave her a kiss, she immediately wiped it off. He said, "ok,be that way, I'll just give mommy a kiss" she was sitting on my lap at the time...he leaned over and kissed me, and Bree immediately wiped his kiss off of me! LOL She is such a turd

*I was busy making a shitload of cookies last week. I had just put the icing layer on some and they were wet still. Bree kept coming in and wanting to mess with them. SHe ended up touching one and messing it up. SO I said fine, take it, then go play! She took it, took a bite, and as she was walking away she said, "These are the best cookies EVER! Thanks Mommy!" lol made me feel guilty for scolding her for messing with the cookies.
Here are a few of the cookies I made...



My older girls, Kelsey & Jillian, were in our local paper. Kels made it in the print version. Jillian was in the online version. Here is a picture of Kelsey, and a link to view Jillian's.

Jilly in the newspaper

Here is a picture of Bree in the cape my friend Kami made for her. Bree loves to dress as a princess, and sometimes a WonderPet and she needs a cape...Kami was kind enough to make her one. :) Thanks Kami!



*The last few days, I've been busy making some file folder games for Aubrey to play with and learn from. Here is a link to view some that I have made so far. FILE FOLDERS

*For about a month now, whenever Miss Bree cries or wants attention, she'll cry and say "owie owie, ouchie ouchie", I think she realizes when she says this we definately come see what the problem is. Not that she is ignored other times though. Anyways, she is always crying this, and I am pretty sure there are no owies. I look for them, ask her about them, ask where they are and she never tells me, so that leads me to think there are none. Its very frustrating. How do I know when she for real has one and when she is just looking for attention??

Saturday evening, she had a late nap. When she woke up, she was screaming, and I mean screaming! SHe kept saying OWIE OUCHIE, and was even tensing up, like she was really in pain. This went on for an hour. I was at my wits end. I asked her about every body part, if hurt or whatever and she'd say no or just ignore me. Nothing I could do would help her. She wanted to be held, only by me. She didn't want me to sit with her. She didn't want to watch tv, color, paint, take a bath, nothing. I was tempted to take her to the ER to see if there really was some kind of problem. Finally I just told her we HAVE to take a bath (she usually LOVES them and is eager, so I figured she'd enjoy it once she got in). She was reluctant and crying about it, but I put her in anyways. Thank God that did the trick and she then shut up and was happy and playing. I thought maybe she had a tummy ache or something. Her poop had been hard the last few days so I thought maybe she had some constipation issues and warm baths always made Jilly feel better when she had that problem... Not sure if that was the case with Bree or not, but it did shut her up.

There was more of the owie crying that night. Then the next morning. Its an every day thing lately...not as bad as Sat, night, but still some every day. What do I do? If I ignore her cries about an owie, what if there really IS an owie somewhere? Its stressing me out.

*Jilly has been a stinker lately too. She is mouthy, doesn't listen, and purposely does things that she KNOWS annoy people. She is always in Bree's face, even when Bree tells her to leave her alone. She picks fights with Kelsey. She is wild, and quite frankly bratty. I'm not sure if she is acting up because her dad is gone and she misses him, using this as a way to vent about it or what. I just know that she needs to adjust her attitude, this is not fun.

*Kelsey has been home sick the last few days. She complained of feeling icky when I picked her up from her dads on Sunday and has gotten worse...but I'm hoping today she is on the better side of feeling bad, I would really like her back in school tomorrow!

I'm sure there is more I should be talking about, but thats a start...if I remember the rest later I'll add to this post. I hope everyone is having a great Tuesday. Toodles!

Valentine's Week Day 7!

Today is the final installment of Mama M.'s Valentine's Extravaganza! The theme today is top 10 things you love about your love. I was hoping after a crappy night last night that I'd have had a nap so I could concentrate on this post, but my daughter who NEVER SLEEPS didn't make that happen for me today, so now I'm dead tired and probably won't even make sense. Anyways...here are my 10 things, in no particular order...

1. His hardworkingness (lol I don't think thats a word!) He works 2 jobs, so I can be a stay at home mom to the kids.

2. His sense of humor! Disgusting at times, but so is mine :)

3. The way he wants to always make me happy, via a candy bar, or whatever I'm craving.

4. He cooks!

5. He thinks I'm beautiful, even though I've packed on the pounds and look like a freakin moose.

6. He grocery shops :)

7. He took on my wild kids, and treated them well. He's been a bit grumpy with them lately, because he is so tired...sometimes they deserve it, other times they don't so much.

8. He is a great dad to Aubrey. He plays play-doh, princesses, tea party, the works!

9. He remembers birthdays, and anniversarys and if we have the money, I always get flowers, because he knows I love them.

10. He goes out of his way to make sure I am comfortable. When I was prego and couldn't get my fat ass up into our tall bed, he built a step thingy. He brought a stool to help me get up into his truck after my c-section. I told him my back hurts, so for Christmas he got me a chair massager thingy...stuff like that.

There are many more things of course, those are just the things that came to my tired mind at the moment.

Happy Valentine's Day Bill, I love you! I hope everyone else had a great Valentine's Day too.

This concludes the Valentine's Extravaganza, we will now go back to regular scheduled programing, starting tomorrow :)

Toodles!

Valentine's Week Day 6

We are almost done with the Valentine's Extravaganza! I hope you've enjoyed it all so far! (OMG I almost typed FART instead of FAR! What is up with me!?) So once again today, I'm taking part in Mama M.'s blog hop...topic for today is a favorite photo of me and my love.

My favorite picture of Bill & I isn't really 'romantic', but its very special...and full of love. I wasn't all glammed up (not like I ever really do that anyways), nor was he dressed up...but it is one of the best pictures ever of us, and with special reason...

That was taken Dec. 19, 2007, at the birth of our daughter Aubrey.

Do you have a favorite photo of you and your love? Blog about it, and show me!

Toodles

Valentine's Week Day 5

Yep today is another installment of Mama M.'s Valentines Extravaganza blog hop...5 Question Friday style today!

1. What is the one thing your love does for you that you can't live without?


2. When did you know your love was "the one"?


3. Does your love have a special ringtone on your cell?


4. What are you attracted to most in your special someone?


5. Did you know when/where he/she was going to pop the big question?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. He takes care of me, and the kids. He works super duper hard at 2 jobs, so that I can stay home with the kids and be MOM.

2. I think after our 2nd date, when he met my crazy wild kids and still called me later that night wanting to see me (us) again! :)

3. Nope, I'm not sure how to give special tones to different people, so he gets the same as everyone else. I think on his phone though he has a special one for me, or at least he used to...it was a song by Hinder that we both liked together.

4. His sick sense of humor..something we both have.

5. Kinda, sorta, I knew approximately when he'd do it...he did it a tad earlier though.

Thats all for now...See ya tomorrow! Toodles

Valentine's Week Day 5

Houston, we have a problem! I want to participate in Mama M.'s Valentines Extravaganza, but the topic is: Romantic Screw Ups, and I don't think Bill made any...if he did, I don't remember them, so it can't be that bad. So, I'll post a little screw up he did, not really a romantic one, but one I'll always remember.

When I was in the hospital, after giving birth to Aubrey, he did something that I'll always remember. I can laugh about it now, but at the time I was hormonal and I cried... I had bought myself some cute pajama bottoms, and a comfy long sleeved soft shirt to wear with them. The shirt was white. This was my comfy stuff to wear once I was unhooked from the IV, and cathater etc. Something that I could see visitors in, and walk the halls in without my rear end hanging out of a crappy ugly hospital gown. Ok, so now you know that much.. Also for at the hospital we had gotten some plastic wine type glasses, and some sparkling grape juice, so we could toast and celebrate the birth of Aubrey with the older kids. Once that was done, the glasses were sitting around after everyone left (except Bill), and it was bugging me having all the garbage sitting around the room. I was going to get up and take care of it, but he wouldn't let me. So, being the smartass he is, he took 2 of the cups and held them up to my boobs, and called me Madonna. The cups still had a little bit of the purple sparkling grape juice in them...which got all over my new white shirt, on the boob area. I got mad, and I got all teary. It was the only real clothing I had to wear while at the hospital and now I was going to have to resort to the stupid ugly open backed gowns again. I was not happy. Of course, upon seeing me so upset, he decided to make it better by running out to the store I got the shirt at and getting me another...he even got me 2 :) So all was well after that. I was able to then laugh about it. Stupid Madonna boobs...goofy husband...

Toodles!

Valentine's Week Day 4

Another day in Mama M.'s Valentines Extravaganza blog hop...Day 4 is "Favorite wedding day story"

Again, to save time, (and because I'm lazy right now!) I'm going to copy & paste what I put on my old blog...

Feb. 2, 2007, I got married! Yep, you read it right, I got married. I married my prince charming Bill in a small courthouse ceremony with a few family members in attendance. Bill looked VERY handsome in his new suit. I wore a red lacey top and a black skirt. I felt like a moose, but Bill assured me that I looked beautiful and he loves me just the way I am...no wonder I married him! Jilly cried at the wedding. When asked why she said, "because someone always has to cry at weddings!" she is such a nut.

After the ceremony mom took the kids back to her house and then their dads picked them up there for the weekend. Bill & I went out to dinner. We thought about going to someplace high class and expensive. I suggested that we just go to Applebees since we both know we like their food and the price is right. So Applebees it was. We were still dressed up when we went there, and the hostess asked why, we told her we just got married. During our meal several waitresses came by with balloons for us and offered congratulations. Our waitress said they were going to take some $ off of our bill since we were just married...she came back a few minutes later and said it was on the house! We got all of our food free! That was very nice of them.

After our dinner Bill & I came home to our nice quiet home. We just chilled out and watched movies and had popcorn and champange (sp?). Then we did what most newlyweds do lol.

The next day we had a reception here at our house for family and a few close friends. We had about 40 people here in our SMALL home, it was very crowded. Everything went well though. The wedding cake I made looked decent and even tasted good, thats a plus lol.

Sunday was spent cleaning up the mess from the party. The rest of the week there were errands to run, thank yous to write, shopping to do, physical therapy appointments for Bill, and other odds and ends to take care of.

The first week of marriage has been great, except for the fact that Bill & I have been sick! I woke up at 3 a.m. on our wedding day with a sore throat and things went downhill after that. Here it is a week later and I am still feeling crappy. Bill of course kissed his bride and caught what I had...so we've both been coughing a lot and feeling run down. We'll be glad when we finally feel better!

The day we were married we were taking the girls to school (for 1/2 a day, we picked them up later for the wedding) and we saw a rainbow. How often do you see a rainbow on a FREEZING Feb. day? I thought it was pretty cool and kind of a sign that it was a special day.

There ya have it! Here are a few pics from our wedding, and the cake for the party the day after.

It's your turn, tell me about YOUR wedding!

Toodles!

Valentine's Week Day 3

Ack! I got behind, so I'll post both day 3 & 4 today. I got busy doing cookies yesterday and was to tired to blog when I was done. Sorry.

So, continuing with Mama M.'s Valentines Extravaganza...Day 3 is "Engagement Story"

I knew Bill was going to propose to me, because in Nov. of 2006, he took me to the jewelry store to look at rings...and ended up purchasing one :) It of course had to get resized because I have small fingers (only small thing on my body now a days), so I wouldn't get it for a while. It was due to come back around my birthday. So as my birthday got close, we figured we'd go out there and pick up the ring, but he kept delaying it, I got worried. Come to find out, he had already picked it up, and I didn't know. I went to stay at his place, and we went had plans to go to Chicago to see the Christmas lights. This was the day before my birthday. Before we went, Bill got on his knee and asked me to marry him and gave me the ring we picked out. It wasn't all candle light and rose petals or anything, but thats ok by me :) We celebrated by going out to Chicago, and out to dinner and stuff. The next day, I posted on my old blog this:

Guess what I got for my birthday! For starters I got a dozen roses, cake, card, trip to Chicago to see the lights and freeze my ass off lol, and.......drum roll please.....a ring and a marriage proposal! I said YES!

Some of you will think I'm totally off my rocker, since I haven't been with Bill for that long...but I don't give a shit. I love him, he loves me, he treats me and the kids wonderfully, and I just KNOW, without any doubt, that he is the one. So, please, just be happy for us.

Bill made me breakfast this morning, my favorite, french toast and hash browns. I was going to do dishes, but he said I'm not allowed to do them on my birthday, so he is out doing them now. He is so good to me.

So there ya have it, my engagement story :) Tell me about yours!

Toodles!

Valentine's Week Day 2

Another day of Mama M.'s Valentine's Day Extravaganza :) Day 2: "Favorite Date Story."

I actually blogged about this date on my old myspace blog, so I'm going to just copy & paste :)

I had today off! WOOHOO! I wasn't sure when we were going to be back from Michigan when I asked for my time off so I took today off just in case we didn't come back until today.. Since we came home yesterday I had the day free to do whatever. So, I went on a date. I spent the day with Bill. He took me shopping. He is such a nice guy, I didn't have to pay for anything! He paid for my bath & body stuff, my lunch, filled my gas tank, and he even bought me a ring to remind me of him. Its pretty, it has a blue gemstone in it. Right now its being resized because I have small fingers. I didn't expect any of this. I would have gladly paid for my own stuff, but he said no way, it was his treat. Hell I could get spoiled big time ;) He made me feel like a princess today, I felt special. With him I don't feel like I am one of many woman...I feel like I am the one and only and he wants to devote all his attention to me, I don't have to share it with others. That is a good feeling. Oh, I also met his mom today, and I got to see his home. He isn't hiding me, like others have done in the past.

Nice date wasn't it? He actually gave me something else that day too...As I was leaving his house, he said he had one more thing for me. He told me to hold out my hand, so I did. He gave me a key. A key to his house! He said he had a feeling I'd be using that a lot from now on. LOL he was right!

Our date the following weekend was also nice, so I'm going to post that one too...

On Sunday Bill and I went to breakfast then went to the place he works at to get on the bus that was taking us on our trip to Woodfield Mall for a day of shopping. It was a great day. We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. After that I went to their little store to buy the kids some gifts, I went to pay for it and Bill took it...he bought. Nice guy huh?! :) We cruised the mall all day. Bill carried the shopping bags and everything, he even went into the girlie stores that I like (like bath & body), and did it all with NO COMPLAINTS! Later in the afternoon we passed one of those manicure places and Bill asked me if I wanted a manicure or a pedicure. I told him it would be nice, but he'd be bored waiting. He said it was ok, he wanted me to feel good and enjoy one, so he paid for me to have a pedicure. It was nice. He is so thoughtful. OH, I forgot to mention...he got a cell phone yesterday! He is no longer a cell phone virgin! LOL We boarded the bus at 5, and headed back to Mendota. The ride back was hard, knowing my time with Bill was going to be ending soon. Once we returned it was back to his house for me to pack up my stuff and head home. Its so hard going home. Home doesn't feel like home anymore...they say home is where your heart is...and I tend to leave that at Bills.

Sappy huh? Hehe I was IN LOVE. Still am. We've grown older, fatter, and grumpier lol but we still love each other.

Toodles!

Valentine's Week Day 1

First, I must say, very excitedly....THE VALENTINE VAN SCHOOL PROJECT IS GONE FROM MY HOUSE AND AT SCHOOL! Yay! :) It is what it is, and hopefully its good enough for the teacher. I really really wanna shove it up her...well you know.. I'm so glad its gone, and I don't have to stress over that stupid project any longer. Ok, on to other news...

As you know, I sometimes join in on Mama M.'s Friday blog hop. Well, this week, she has a week long one, all about Valentines/Love, that type of thing. I'm a day late on this one, it should have been posted last night, but I was just to darn tired. I am going to try to do each day of her Valentines Week Extravaganza...hopefully I succeed.

Day 1 is, "Tell me how you met your love or best friend day". Here we go...

I joined Yahoo Personals. I was lonely. Never really got much action on it, of course at the time I was using the free version...maybe thats why? Anyways, I was also on another personal type site too, and I was dating a few dudes here and there, most were LOSERS. A few were nice, but just not right for me. Then one day, I get a msg from someone on yahoo, Bill. He seemed pretty nice from that brief msg I got, so I figured what the hell I'll reply. Of course, since I was using that free version, the only reply I could send was the premade ones they had for me to pick from, bah humbug. So, I ended up joining with the PAID version, just so I could actually type my own response to him. We hit it off and typed back and forth for a few days. We set up our first date to be at the forest preserve near my home. Our date was on Oct. 19, 2006. We met there, and walked around the track there and talked. He held my hand. It was cold, and I didn't have gloves, so he kept switching hands he held to make sure they stayed equally warm. I thought that was pretty sweet. :) Our time was limited for that date because I had to make sure to get home in time for the girls to get out of school. After walking the track, we went to sit in his truck for a few more minutes to warm up before I had to go. When I got to his truck, I found a surprise waiting for me...a dozen pink roses! My favorite! He scored major brownie points for that :) We said our good byes and off we went. I had to leave to go out of town early the next morning so we'd not see eachother again until I got back. While I was gone out of town to my cousins wedding, Bill & I talked on the phone as much as possible. Upon my return home, we wanted to go out again briefly, even though I was super tired from the trip. My mom wasn't in the babysitting mood, so I told him if he wanted to see me, he'd have to see my kids as well. So we met at the local ice cream shop. He met my kids, who were very wild that night...and he still wanted to see me again after that! Whew! LOL I thought for sure my wild kids would have scared him away. After that, we were pretty much together all the times we were not working or sleeping.

Thats my story, and I'm sticking to it! :) How did YOU meet your love or best friend?

Toodles

A whole lot of nothing

I've got nothing to talk about tonight, well nothing exciting anyways. I spent the day hanging out at home pretty much. We did venture out to the dog grooming place to get Moo's nails trimmed, but that is it! The rest of the day was spent doing a lot of nothing, and a lot of working on Jilly's stupid school project. I will be so glad when that son of a gun is out of my house and not tormenting me. It has turned out ok, but I keep looking at it, and wanting to do more to it to make it be better in her teachers eyes...but I haven't a clue how to do the other stuff to improve it. So, for now, it will have to do, unless I come up with some brillant idea in my sleep tonight. I'd like to figure out how to get it to make noise of some kind. I thought about getting one of those cards, that you can record your own stuff on, then when the person opens it it plays it back...I thought I could rig it up to play when the back door of the Valentine Van is opened or something...but do I really want to spend the money on one of those cards? Not really.. Magnets are another thing that we could use...but how?? Lights...I have one light for it, thanks to Grandma, but I wish I had some lights to use for headlights too.. See, I keep thinking about that damn project!

So, here is what we have. It contains screws, a hinge, wheels (tuna cans)/axles, a latch thingy, and some incline planes, a light, and recycled materials. The van driver is Bree, Jilly didn't want to be it. Here are pictures:





Jilly still needs to add a few more small hearts on the sides I think...but we will see. I just want it done and gone.

Onto better news...Bree has slept all night twice this week yay! Crossing my fingers she does so tonight too. She did go to bed early tonight, she had no nap and just couldn't stay awake any longer, I think it was around 6:30 when she conked out, she was falling asleep at the dinner table.

Sending a thank you to my friend Tammy, she knitted me a scarf and mailed it to me. She lives in Canada, I sure wish she lived closer so we could hang out! She is super nice and awesome, and a wonderful friend. She is awesome at sewing and knitting too, and a bunch of other stuff as well!


Thats it for now. I'm just waiting for Bill to shower, then I'm tossing laundry in and going to bed! I'd do laundry first, but he might not appreciate showering in cold water...there probably isn't much hot left anyways after the dishwasher running.

Toodles!

5 Question Friday

Its FRIDAY! You know what that means? It means I'm going to join in on Mama M.'s 5QF blog hop.




1. What are you most afraid of?

2. Do you use a flat iron or curling iron?

3. Hands-free or phone to the ear?

4. Do you have a matching bedroom set?

5. Do you believe in the paranormal?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. I'm afraid of Death, and the dentist.

2. I don't use either! I blow dry my hair and use my fingers to style it, easy peasy :)

3. Phone to ear...If I knew how to do it hands free I might...but usually if you do a speaker phone type thing you have to yell to be heard...so I don't bother.

4. Yes I do! I never really did before I met Bill. He had purchased a new one a year or so before we met.

5. Yes I do. And I enjoy watching stuff like Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State, Ghost Adventurers. (Don't tell my mom, she'd not be happy! She is very Christian and against that type of thing)

Thats all for now...Toodles!

Teenage daughters = ARGH!

My daughter that will be 16 later this month is giving me a run for my money lately. She has become very mouthy, and disrespectful. When she isn't those things, she is the drama queen, no body loves her according to her... I don't remember being this way as a teenager...or maybe I just have selective memory.

So last night/evening I should say, Kelsey was doing drawing homework at the kitchen table. Bill was also in the kitchen cooking dinner. Bill turned the light on, because it was getting dark, and Kels snapped at him about it. Saying something like, "HEY! I want the light off!" Bill of course snapped back, telling her she isn't the only one in the house, and he wanted it on! She came back with more crap, and some cuss words with it. He did the same back. She did it again, and stomped off to her room and slammed the bedroom door. Oy.

Kels needs to learn to watch her mouth and tone, and to quit cussing! Bill needs to pretty much do the same. Things would have been so much easier if she said, "Hey Bill, the light hurts my eyes, can we keep it off?" in a nice tone. But nope, thats not how she does things, she just snaps off without thinking. He is the same. Maybe thats why they don't get along very well, they are both hot heads.

Then this morning when I took Kels to school, she had a hissy fit because I was going to go shopping for groceries without her. If I went without her she feared I'd not get her expensive shampoo & conditioner for her and God forbid she had to shower without it! She bitched and bitched about it all the way to school. "I can't shower without it!" "I can't comb through my hair without it!" Yeah sure. What did you do all these years before you got that kind of shampoo...that you got the first time about a month ago? According to her she cried everytime she had to comb her hair...BS. I was nice, and got it for her, but I really shouldn't have.

Then comes this evening...She started to go off on me on how I don't let her drive ever. How she'll have to lie about the hours she gets in to get her license blah blah blah. How I'm so mean, and don't love her because I won't let her drive...UGH. She doesn't understand my reasoning. I don't want her driving when I have Jilly & Bree in the van. I'm not going to risk their lives, just to teach her to drive. Sure, she isn't THAT BAD, but, there are horrible drivers on the road, and I don't feel she has the experience or know how to avoid those idiots without injury/damage. If I get time when I don't have the younger kids with us, then yeah, I'll let her drive....but those times are few and far between. My oh my the drama. I'm such a bitch (according to her). Bill agreed to watch Bree & cook dinner so I could take Kels out to drive to shut her up. As soon as she is in the car, she is all nicey nicey like she never was a demon minutes ago....Oy.

Its been another day of running around. I need a vacation day :) Bill, Bree & I went grocery shopping this morning. First to Aldi's, then to Jewel, then to Walmart. Not fun. Came home put it all away, had lunch, then it seemed to be time to get the girls. I also had to get gas, and make a run to the store in town to pick up something I forgot at the other 3 stores LOL. I'm such a doofus.

The plan while out this morning was for me to also get the haircut I've been in dire need of, but that didn't happen. We went by the hair place at Walmart, but the only chick working was the one that totally messed up my hair last time, and NO WAY IN HELL was I letting her near me with scissors again...so my haircut will wait. Hopefully tomorrow I can get one, if not I may go nuts and shave my head, can't look much worse then it does now!

Oh, and to top off my day, my dreaded 'Aunt' decided to visit...EARLY! Bah!

Thats it for tonight, my bed is calling me...Toodles!

Busy long day

Today was busy! Kind of a good thing, but kinda not lol. After taking the girls to school, I came home fed Bree breakfast, and we headed out. I had to drive an hour away to the car place for the estimate to fix the van. We picked Zach up on the way. We arrived at the car place a few minutes early, and thankfully they got us right in. The damage is estimated at $1166, thank God I don't have to pay for it! The van goes in on Feb. 16 to get repaired. I'm so happy I'll have a loaner car to use while its in the shop. I would hate to be stuck with one vehicle.

Next we went to visit my mother at her work. Bree hasn't ever been to Gram's workplace, so Gram had to show her off to everyone. Bree came out with a few goodies and was a happy camper.

Next stop was Petsmart. Zach works there, and has for a year and a half now. He's been bugging me to go see his place of work ever since he started, but I couldn't see driving an hour there just to see a pet store, then driving an hour back, with a cranky little one and fighting sisters in the back seats. So since we had to be out that way anyways, we were sure to visit today. Zach was thrilled to show Bree all the animals there. She saw fish, rats, birds, snakes, mice, cats, and dogs, and a few other things that I'm forgetting at the moment. But do you know what she enjoyed most? Empty painted Hermit crab shells! She had to go to them and touch them all several times, and wanted one. Her favorite was the one that looked like a soccer ball. Funny thing is, last night, all she was talking about was how she was going to see a snake at Zach's work, and how she'd touch it, hold it, and put it on her neck, but not on her face or in her nose (her words, not mine LOL). But when it came time to see the snake, and to be able to touch it, she wanted NOTHING to do with it. Silly girl.

Next stop was the new Super Target out there. WOW! I've never been to a Super Target. It was totally awesome. I wish I had a bunch of money to spend. Cute things were there. I saw some Ni Hao Kai Lan underwear for Bree, she's been asking for some but I didn't think anyone had made them yet, so of course when I saw them, I had to get some for her. Stupid me, saw the tag on the shelf that said size 2T/3T, so I grabbed them...came home to get them out of the package, and discovered they were a size 6! UGH. I should have double checked, and not assumed they were on the right part of the shelf.

Finally it was time to head back towards home. We dropped Zach back off on the way and off we went. We got home and came in for a whopping 20 minutes, then had to go back out to pick up the girls. It felt as if we were on the go and in the van all darn day.

While we were out, Bill finally put up the rain gutter shelves in the girls room for me. I saw them on the Family Fun Magazine web site a long time ago. We got the stuff to make it, but it sat in the garage forever. Finally its done. It looks nice. There is one for Bree & one for Jilly, by their beds. They can keep stuffed animals in it, books, whatever. See:



Oh, and yesterday, I had Bill help me with a little project with Bree. We made footprint penguins. Only thing is, I messed up. I was thinking side view when I put the finishing touches of the beak & eyes on...but for a side view, the white on the belly should have been on the side too, duh. So I should have put the beak in front, and 2 eyes. Oh well...we can always make more :)


Pretty cool what you can do with feet isn't it? Bree likes her feet painted. Its very helpful having someone else home to help, it keeps the mess factor down a lot! Otherwise she is trying to walk away with paint on her foot before I can set the paper down to wash her feet off.

Thank you to those that left us Anniversary wishes in the comments yesterday. Bill & I decided to go out for a bit of alone time together. My mother in law babysat. We went to get Bill a haircut, since it has been months since he had one, he was looking rather girlish :P Then we got diapers & milk, then went to dinner at Steak & Shake. Exciting huh? Oh well, at least we got out, with no kids, and enjoyed each other for a while. That was nice.

Oh, good news from last night. Bree slept all night! She rarely does this. When she does, I'm super excited :) Can she do it two nights in a row? Hmmm cross your fingers! I would be in 7th Heaven.

Bree's been talking a lot as I mentioned the other day. Now her new thing to talk about is a triceratops. Such big words for a little girl. Also another cute thing...when we leave to go somewhere and Bill is home, we say, "toodle loo daddy poo" but lately I've been trying to teach her new sayings like, "later gator", "in a while crocodile", "see ya soon big baboon". So, she now tells her dad "Toodle loo BIG BABOON!" Hahaha :)

Thats it for now...Toodle loo big baboon!