Yawn...

My weekend has been so boring. I need some excitement, but only the GOOD kind. Don't forsee anything happening though, drat.

I spent my day today cleaning the girls room. By girls I mean Jilly & Bree's room. It was a diaster zone. Hmmm maybe I should link this to my Show me Saturday Disaster post hehe. Jilly had a mountain of clothing on the floor, there were books, toys, dolls, junk...you name it, it was on the floor. Mid cleaning it dawned on me that I should take a picture, see:


As I said, that was MID cleaning, it was much worse when I started. But still, in this picture its pretty messy. I worked for a long time cleaning that room. I even cleaned out Jilly's dresser, refolding and organizing the clothing that she hip-hazardly shoved in the drawers, everything was mixed up, pj's in the shirt drawer, pants in the undie drawer, you get the picture. It took longer then it should have because I had a little 2 yr old helping. By helping she was getting more stuff out after I put stuff away. Kinda frustrating. Finally, I was able to see the floor. Big improvement. I still need to sort toys, but I kinda figure why bother. Is Bree really going to put all her Kai Lan stuff in the Kai Lan bin? Or all her tea party stuff in the tea party bin? Doubtful, she'll just toss it in something, just to get it off the floor, so why should I go through the hassel of seperating everything right now. Here is the finished room:


Better right? I wonder how long it will last. With just Bree home right now it will be good, but once Jilly gets home tomorrow, I bet it will get dirty again fast.

After cleaning I came out to relax a bit, and Bree fell asleep, at 4...big mistake. She slept till 6:30, I had to go wake her up or she'd have slept longer. I think she needed the sleep, but I really don't want to be up till 2 a.m. now. I too tried to nap, but of course I couldn't fall asleep. So here it is 10 p.m. and she is going strong, I am yawning and having a hard time keeping my eyes open.

Please keep Jilly in your thoughts, tomorrow she says good bye to her step mom & step siblings and to her dads house, and they move to Norway. I think its going to be a sad day for her.

QOTD: Did you keep your room clean as a child?

Toodles!

Sunny Day Fun & Show Me Saturday (Disasters)

Happy Saturday! Beautiful day here in IL, although its gonna be a HOT one. I've got Bree's little pool set up outside and filled up to hopefully warm up a bit, so after nap she can have fun in the pool. Its kind of a boring day here. The older girls are gone for the weekend, Bill is going to be sleeping most of the day, so its just Bree & I. If anyone is in my area and bored as well, stop by and visit :)

Before posting Show me Saturday I have stuff to show you. I mentioned yesterday I'd be sharing pictures of our day yesterday, and I have them all ready to show you now. I did them in collages so you can see more for less ;) Enjoy!








Kelsey & Jilly had a blast. It was Jilly's first time swimming in a long time (in a normal sized pool). Bree still wasn't a fan of the water but she had a good time doing other stuff.

Ok, time for Show Me Saturday! This week's topic is DISASTERS, could be any kind, food related, party/wedding related, weather related...anything that didn't work out as planned. Blog about it, show a picture, and link up! Please use my Renee's Ramblings button (located over on the side here, highlight, control c to copy then paste to your blog posting). I'll tell you a disaster story of my own, then I'll add the link up(linky is open until Friday).

My story: My dear friend from high school was getting remarried. She asked me to make her wedding cake, it was my gift to her. I was 7 months pregnant with Bree at the time, and it was a hot October. I made the cake, it took me forever, I struggled with it, since I don't normally do wedding cakes I'm not super sure what exactly I'm doing LOL. Anyways, I got it to look decent. It didn't meet my perfection requirements, but at the time it was the best this fat prego woman could muster up. Next was the stress of transporting it, and my family to the wedding, 2 1/2 hrs away. We carefully boxed it, and leveled it in the truck. We made sure no one touched it etc. and Bill drove slowly and carefully avoiding bumps etc. . I thought we were in the clear. Before I go any further, let me show you a picture of the cake as it sat on my kitchen table when I was finished:



See, kinda pretty, not to shabby for a non wedding cake maker. So anyways...we get to the location to set the cake up. I had brought with me some supplies for touch ups just in case there was a little mark up during transpot. My husband carefully carried in the heavy cake in the box and set it down on the table. He opened the box to look, and then shut it right away. He told me that I didn't want to look in there. I thought he was being his usual smart ass self and joking...so I was laughing. Until I opened the box. My laughter quickly turned to tears. This is what I saw....



The cake I worked so hard on, the gift for my friend, was ruined. I seriously cried. I also panicked! What was I going to do? We needed to go get ready for the wedding, and I had a disaster on my hands. We ended up cutting the cake into pieces that resembled slices and plating it all up, and it was later served after the dinner at the reception. I was heartbroken, but at least there was cake! And as for the top section, my friend (who was pregnant at the time) kept that for herself and she ate the whole thing HAHA. So while it was depressing, and a big disaster, we were still able to make the best of the situation, thankfully. I think my problem with the cake was that it was to moist, and didn't hold up well because of it. See what I get for not making dry cakes?? I can laugh at my disaster now, but the day it happened...no way, I was a pregnant hormonal tired weepy mess.

I hope you enjoyed my disaster story. Now post and show pictures about yours! Link up!

Today's QOTD: What kind of foods do you hate?

Toodles!

5 Question Friday 5/28/10

Happy Friday everyone. I hope you've enjoyed the day so far. We did for the most part. (I still have something weighing heavily on my mind.) Today was Jilly's last day of school. She got out at 9:30 this morning. While she was at school I decorated a cake for my dad really quick, then once Jilly got home we hit the road. We went to deliver Dad his birthday cake, then had lunch, then went to my friends Dan & Cindy's to swim. After that, I met Bria to drop Jilly off to her for her last weekend there, then headed home. Bree fell asleep on the way home and is still sleeping, yikes, I'm never going to get any sleep tonight. I'll probably have some pics to post later tonight or tomorrow, since I took a bunch today, and of course I have to share...But right now I need to get busy with 5 Question Friday!

You know the drill by now. I get the questions from Mama M.'s, post them here, and answer them. You can join in by doing them on your blog (and linking back to Mama M. please) or even by just answering the questions here in my comments area. Either way, its fun :) Here we go!




1. Is there something you've always wanted to try but just can't muster up the courage to actually do yet?


2. If you had $100 handed to you in cash without your significant other knowing about it, what would you spend it on?


3. What was your favorite piece of playground equipment as a child?


4. Do you prefer a sweet or hearty breakfast?


5. Are you a Neat Freak or a Messy Bessy?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. hmmm I can't think of anything really. I'm not into anything daring...I don't want to risk my life when I have kids to parent.

2. Well, I'd like to spend it on myself, clothing, or a mani/pedi, or a massage, or maybe a movie and a GNO (girls night out), but chances are I'd spend it on needs the kids have, or dinner out or something with them.

3. You expect me to remember that far back?? I'll guess a swing, or maybe a teeter totter.

4. SWEET. I'm a fan of sweet things no matter what time of the day it is. Donuts, sweet cereal, or oatmeal...anything like that. How about sweet AND hearty...I love food...

5. Depends on what day it is :) I'd have to say a Messy Bessy, but mainly for a few reasons. A) our house is super small and we have a lot of stuff, running out of places to put things
B) as soon as I clean, the girls (younger 2 mostly) mess it up! I get frustrated sometimes and figure why bother cleaning it if its going to be a disaster 5 minutes later. I'd love to be a Neat Freak...maybe if the house was bigger and the kids were older...maybe someday.

There ya go, I hope you enjoyed my answers to 5QF.

Now I have a question for you: QOTD: Do you miss someone today?

Toodles!

Out with the old, in with the new

The first spring Bill & I were together, I purchased a pool for the backyard, one of those do it yourself things you get at Walmart for a few hundred bucks. The girls loved it. Unfortunately it was a pain in the butt to keep clean, and it took up most of our back yard. When Bill went to working 2 jobs, it was just to hard to maintain the pool, so once it went down it didn't go back up. Yesterday I sold the pool. With the money I got a new kiddie pool (and other stuff too). The kiddie pool came with 2 blow up dinosaurs, which Bree loves. The pool has a slide, and a 'waterfall' feature as well. It seems to be a hit. Bree spent a lot of time out in her pool today. When Jilly got home from school she too enjoyed the pool. I took a ton of pics earlier in the day, so of course I'll share them here :) I hope you enjoy. I did them in a collage so you can see many without me posting a ton. One of my faves of Bree is her wedgie butt lol, I love her little booty.






Toodles!

Expressing feelings

There is something bothering me tonight. Well, its been bothering me since yesterday actually. It seems I have made a friend mad, and I didn't mean to.

I think when you are close friends with someone, in real life, or online, you should be able to talk to those friends. I mean talk, express your feelings, about whatever. Friends do that, right? Or am I crazy? All the friend needs to do is listen, maybe acknowledge they heard what you said. They don't have to do as you say, take your advice, or whatever. They could listen, and choose to do things their way, or they could listen and maybe something good could come out of the situation. Whatever happens, you should be allowed to speak your mind to a friend, and all should be hunky dory.

Apparently that is not the case.

Something had been bothering me for a long time, and yesterday, I spoke up about it to a friend. I did it in a nice way (I thought so anyways), I just expressed my concern about something (concerning her health & her families, I was worried about safety), and I asked said friend how they'd feel if something happened because of what they were doing. Said friend left the conversation, and has not returned...its been a day and a half. Normally we talk EVERY DAY, off and on all day. I'm sad that my feelings bothered her so much that she chose to leave, I didn't think it was necessary. Something to the lines of, "You do it your way, I do it mine", or "Mind your own business", or "Yes, I hear your thoughts, but I don't agree" could have been said... but no, said friend just left. Mad. I'm sorry friend is mad. But I'm not sorry I spoke up. I hope friend can get over being mad, and return to being friends. I miss this friend.

Does anything I said make sense? I hope so. I just miss this friend. I'm sad she got mad. Not sorry I spoke up. I have been honestly concerned for safety reasons.

Do you speak up to your friends when there is something bothering you?

Toodles

Renee's Recipe Round-Up

Whoopsie! I almost forgot! I'll be leaving this linky open till Tuesday, so you have plenty of time if you want to participate in Renee's Recipe Round-Up. All you have to do is blog about a recipe containing the item I pick for the theme, which this week will be FRUIT. Then come here and link up. If you want to participate, please link back to me on your blog, and if you can, use my Renee's Ramblings button, which is located over there on the side (just highlight it, hit control c to copy, then control v to paste it to your blog post). You don't really have to do a fancy food blogger type of blog post, just posting the recipe works ok for me if its easier for you. I have yet to do a fancy food blog type post for my recipes...some day.

So for my Renee's Recipe Round-Up FRUIT recipe, I'm going to post my fruit salad recipe. Its so easy and so good. You can taylor it to your liking by adding fruits you like, omiting those you don't...Enjoy!


The basics:
canned pineapple chunks (drain, but save a little juice in case your salad ends up to thick) use however many cans you want depending on how many people you are feeding. For a party I use 3 cans, for home I use 1.

canned mandrian oranges (drain) again, use however many you want. For a party I use 2, for home I use 1.

1 package of INSTANT vanilla pudding (just pour the dry pack into the fruit). Use a small pk if your making a small batch, the large if you are making a big one.

Now add what you like, such as:
banana slices
apple cut into chunks (I sometimes use a red apple and a yellow or green for color)
blueberries
strawberries
raspberries
you could even add a can of fruit cocktail (drained) if you'd like

Try to make it at least 3 hrs before your event. Enjoy

Now tell me YOUR favorite fruit recipe and link up! :)

Toodles
QOTD: Have you ever expressed your feelings to a friend about something, and it made them mad?

No more Mondays

Today is the last Monday of school for the year! Yikes. Kelsey's last day of school is today, Jilly's is Friday. Which means its the end of quiet times, and the beginning of sister fights, kids going in and out, constant eating all day, many many messes, and all that fun stuff. Woohoo! I'm thankful I have my kids though, don't get me wrong. I just wish they'd behave a little better some (most) of the time.

The morning so far has started pretty rough today. After a crappy nights sleep I did NOT want to get up, thats for sure. Kelsey still isn't feeling well, she has a sore throat and stuff. Jilly was crying and dramatic because of her sunburn she got over the weekend. Bree woke cranky and screamed in the van from Jilly's school to Kelsey's. I ate corn last night and I'm suffering the consequences today...so its been quite the morning. LOL. At least its going to be a nice warm (HOT) day, and no rain. We will probably spend a lot of time out in the back yard sweating, and watching Bree & Jilly play with Bree's water table. I wish we still had our pool up...but then again I don't. It took up way to much room and we always had problems keeping it clean.

Please keep Jilly in your thoughts, she has a rough weekend coming up. It will be her last weekend with her step mom & step siblings, then they move to Norway. SO she will have to say good-bye to them, and to her dads house, she'll have nothing left of her dad here to be comforted by. I have a feeling its going to be a tearfilled weekend.

Thats all for now, almost time to get Kels from school already, she only had to go till 9:30 today. Fun fun. Toodles!
QOTD: Do you ever think about what it would be like to return to school?

Pool Experience

As I mentioned yesterday, we were going to my Cindy & Dan's house for Kelsey & Bree to go into the pool (Jilly didn't go because she was at Bria's). It was Bree's first experience in a big pool, with cold water. She was not a fan. I think once the water warms up more and she gets used to it she'll love it, but the first experience wasn't super. There was a brief time where Kelsey got her distracted by tossing a ball then going after it over and over, where she enjoyed it a bit, but she spent most of the time sitting next to me with our feet dangling in the water from the pool edge. Poor thing got so cold she was shivering. Kels loved the water though, she always does! I bet Jilly would have too! Me? I didn't get in, I didn't want to be mistaken for Shamu.

I'll post some pics real quick and then today's QOTD, then I'm outta here to go play outside with Miss Crankypants Bree.

Oh, one more thing, please keep my friends Cindy & Dan in your thoughts today. They are going to what would have been Elliott's Graduation ceremony. The school will be honoring Elliott with a empty chair, and some words in a speech I believe...Its a hard day for them.

Ready for pics?







QOTD: Can you swim?
Toodles!

Show Me Saturday! Pets

Happy Saturday! I hope you are all being blessed with a beautiful sunny day like we are here. In a little bit I'm taking Kelsey & Bree to our friends Dan & Cindy's to swim in the pool. It will be Bree's first big pool experience, I hope it goes well :) I'm taking the camera for sure, and will probably have picture overload for you all later, so be prepared.

I almost forget about Show Me Saturday. I just remembered a little bit ago and thought I'd swing on here and post it really fast before we head out the door. The topic will be Pets. Please blog about your pets, show a picture, and link up.

We have 2 cats and a dog. The cats Bill had before we met him. Tigger was always friendly and petable. Sissy was very skittish of everyone, but she has come a long way since we moved in. Sissy is my buddy pretty much, she loves to come sit on my chest, rub against my face and get petted. Sissy has a little spike of hair on her head that is very funny. It doesn't blend in with the other hair, it actually stands up! Bill has tried to cut it off to see if it would not grow back and be normal looking but no such luck. I kinda like it, its different. Maybe she is a unicorn wanna be LOL. Our dog is Jasmine, but she doesn't know that name, we call her Moo. It was a nickname that ended up sticking, she is white with some black spots, she looks like a cow. Moo broke her leg last spring and it ended up costing us a shitload of money...money we didn't have in the first place. We have some issues with Moo, and I honestly don't trust her much, and would never leave her & Bree unattended together. I could go into a long long post about our dog issues, but I won't.. I'm posting pics of the zoo here. I can't wait to see yours!








Your turn! Link up please! (Please link back to me in your blog if you praticipate).
QOTD: What is your favorite kind of pet?

TGIF

It's Friday It's Friday! Hip Hip Hooray its Friday! Today was Kelsey's last Friday of school for the school year. She goes back Monday and then she is out for the summer. Jilly goes to school until the 28th. Then it will be crazy time. You'll probably hear Kels & Jilly fighting all the way where you live! I can only hope & pray they find some sisterly love and decide to get along for a change (yeah I know, wishful thinking).

Today Jilly went to Bria's (her step mom) for the weekend, only one more weekend of visits I believe before Bria & the kids move to Norway, then Jilly will be with me ALL the time. She is going to miss them.

Kels is staying here this weekend so she can go see a friend graduate. In the mean time she has had fun playing with Bree. Bree has been full of mischief tonight! I don't know where she gets her energy. She kept taking Kelsey's phone and saying you can't get me Kelso! Then she'd laugh and laugh. Right now they are cuddling together on the couch. Bree only had a 15 min. nap today, I can't believe she is still awake.

I'm not going to do Mama M.'s 5 Question Friday today. I looked at the questions and I don't really have any good answers for them, so it would be totally boring and stupid if I did them. Oh well, there's always next week.

Maybe I should ask YOU all 5 questions instead :)
1. How did you meet your spouse/significant other?
2. What is your favorite song?
3. Do you like thunder storms?
4. Do you twitter?
5. What time did you wake up today?

There. Answer those in the comments area if you want. :)

Oh....what did you think of Grey's Anatomy last night? Was that intense or what? I'm looking forward to next season for sure.

I keep forgetting to mention it, I have signed up to walk in the Relay For Life in memory of Elliott (friends son who passed away in April for those of you that do not know). If anyone has a few dollars to spare and would like to donate PLEASE do. Here is a link to my donation page, I'd be grateful for any support you can give. I hope to reach my goal, I signed up late, so who knows. Wish me luck! It should be a fun night of walking, talking, and friends if nothing else. I just hope the weather (and Bree!) cooperates.

Ok, thats all for now. I think I'm going to go cuddle with my little crazy girl, and hope she goes to sleep so I can too! Have a great night. Toodles!

Renee's Recipe Round-Up

Glad to see you again! Thanks for stopping by. If you are new here, WELCOME! Today I'm doing the 2nd Renee's Recipe Round-Up. Last week I came up with the idea, and I got a few people interested so I'm going to do it again. Hopefully each week we'll get more and more participating.

Basically, what it is, is that I post a theme food, last week was potatoes, this week is PORK. You blog your favorite recipe to go with that theme, then come back here and link up below. Easy right? Please if you are going to participate in this, please use my Renee's Ramblings button over on the side there in your post, I'd appreciate it. You'll have to highlight the code, then do control c to copy, because I have right click disabled on my blog for safety reasons. I don't know about you, but I'm not a cooking fan, I'd rather bake :) I get tired of the same meals all the time, so I'm looking for some new things to try, which is why I started Renee's Recipe Round-Up.

I don't really have much of a pork recipe myself. But I know some of my blog friends do. All I do really is take a big ole pork roast, stick it in the crock pot with some Cookies Flavor Enhancer sprinkled on, and a little bit of water, and let it cook for several hours. Then I shred it up and mix in some store bought BBQ sauce and have BBQ pork sandwiches. Or, we get pork chops, and use the Cookies Flavor Enhancer on them or a marinade (store bought packet kind) and grill them. This is why I need recipes :) Please post your pork here!

Thanks bunches! Toodles (P.S. if you haven't read the previous post, Bree's interview, please check it out, she's very cute :) )

Kid Interview 4 Vloggy style-Bree

Welcome! Today is the final of my kid interviews, today is Miss Bree. Getting a 2 yr old to cooperate and actually answer questions is no easy task! I ended up with like 3 videos and I edited them and put them into one. FYI, when she says Ninny, she means Jilly. She couldn't say Jilly at first and called her Ninny, and the nickname stuck she pretty much always calls Jilly Ninny.

Enjoy :)



So sorry I didn't get that up last night, I got tired, and the editing took to long, by the time Bree fell asleep at nearly 11 p.m. I was in no mood to blog haha. I hope you enjoyed her little interview.

I'll be back later today to post about Renee's Recipe Round-Up...but I'll give you a heads up, the theme for this week is PORK, so get those pork recipes ready to link up. :)

Also, a quick shout out to my friends that took the time to blog my questions yesterday! I know Tammy and Mindi (would link, but her blog is private) did it, and others talked about doing it, haven't gotten around to check yet ;)

Today's QOTD: What is your favorite breakfast food?

See ya later today. Toodles!

Super Comments Award

My friend D over at Crazy Daze & Nite Dreams has granted me the Super Comments award. I'm honored :) D and I seem to have a ton in common, and her daughter Mindi is great too! I always feel so special to get these awards, but also sad because no one I know will continue with them once I pass them on.

The rules for this award are, I answer the questions given to me, then I come up with 7 of my favorite commenting friends and pass it along to them with 10 questions that I have made up. But, like I said, no one I pass these things will do them, so I have another idea. I'll answer my questions, then make up 10 of my own, and anyone that reads my blog, if they'd like to take those questions and answer them on their blog, or in my comment area they are welcome to do so! You regular commentors on my blog know who you are...so I'll be watching, hoping someone will actually do this :)



1. Have you ever eaten a bug?
2. Have you ever farted in public?
3. Have you ever doorbell ditched?
4. How many places have you lived (states, houses, etc.)
5. Have you ever had a root canal?
6. How old were you when you got your first kiss, and where were you when it happened.
7. Have you ever forgotten to wear a bra out in public?
8. Have you ever fainted?
9. Who was your first crush?
10. Would you ever go on a Reality Show, and if so, which one?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Yes, I ate a bug(s). Not on purpose though. When I was young, I made some instant oatmeal. As I was eating it I saw something in it and checked it out...Food bugs. GROSS. Not sure how many I ate before I saw them.

2. Hasn't everyone farted in public from time to time? Come on, I know you have...you've gone into a empty aisle at Walmart or Target, or someplace and let one rip, then hurried away hoping no one would hear or smell it! Come on, I know you have! Me? Never...haha yeah sure :)

3. I have no actual memory of doorbell ditching, but I'm sure I have.

4. OMG, I can't remember all of them, but its around 30 moves. We moved A LOT when I was young, Dad got transfered several times, and sometimes we just moved to different houses in the same areas. Then as an adult I moved many times as well. As for how many states, Umm Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin.

5. Yes I have had a root canal, more than one.

6. 1st grade I think, from Craig Grey, we were at school.

7. I believe yes, and thankfully I had a sweatshirt that I could cover up my boobs with so it wouldn't be so noticable.

8. Yes, I've fainted several times. The earliest one I remember was when my mom was putting earrings in for me. I had problems with infections in the holes and she'd have to poke through stuff and I passed out. Another time I did it at work when I was a teen working at BK. I'd get really sick the first day of my period. I told my boss I was sick and needed to go home, she said she couldn't let me because she was short handed. I remember working whopper boards, someone called for a double whopper with cheese, next thing I know I'm on the floor, my boss says, "Ok Renee, you can call your mom and go home now!" LOL. I told her, duh, she should have listened. The next time I remember I was sick, with the flu, I was in the bathroom sitting on the john, I passed out and fell off the john and hit my head on the tub, ouch. Oh yeah, and then there was the time I donated blood and passed out, pissed myself and barfed all over myself. FUN TIMES!

9. Same as #6

10. I'd like to be on Dancing with the Stars. Its the only reality show I really watch, and I love the dancing, the pretty dresses and the hot pro dancers ;) Maybe I'd shed a few pounds doing all that dancing too.

Now, I have to make up 10 questions, and hope like heck some of my readers will want to answer them. (since I'm doing all these questions, I think I'll skip a QOTD today)

1. Who is your favorite cartoon charactor?
2. What actors/actresses do you think are mighty fine, hot and sexy?
3. Where would your dream vacation be to?
4. What size shoe do you wear?
5. What is the grossest thing that you've witnessed or been a part of?
6. Do you think Renee (me) is super cool?
7. Why do you blog? If you don't blog, do you ever think you will?
8. What is a pet peeve you have?
9. What is your worst habit?
10. Would you ever pose naked for pictures?

Have an awesome Tuesday everyone. I hope to blog again later with my kid interview #4 Bree. I've got some video interview with her, I just need to edit and upload to youtube. See ya all later! Toodles!

Are you ready? PICTURE Overload!

Since I don't have a whole lot to say today this post is going to be mostly made up of pictures! I bet that thrills you beyond belief right? :) Not much went on this weekend. Kelsey went to spend the weekend with my friend Cindy to help with their garage sale, she just got home a bit ago and she is in 7th heaven. Why you ask? Because Dan & Cindy gave Kelsey Elliott's cell phone to use until the contract expires. So she can be a texting fool until then, and she is sooo very happy. Thanks Dan & Cindy! Jilly went to Bria's for the weekend and got home early today. After that we spent most of the day outside. Bree has been somewhat cranky this weekend, I think she needed outside time, hopefully her mood will improve.

Remember the donkey weaning story? And then the donkey took our cuddle chair? Well...he stuck again! This time he took Bree's diapers! He brings one each night for bedtime but thats it. (I hid the diapers) I'm hoping this will encourage Bree to wear her big girl panties now, she kept wanting to resort to diapers. I'm hoping out of sight out of mind. She isn't a total fan of big girl panties, she likes to be NAKED.

Today while playing outside we saw our neighborhood owl out in the neighbors tree. They used to be in our tree now and then, and I think they lived in the other neighbors tree for a bit, but it got cut down. Anyways, very cool seeing owls at the house in town, not in the country. We have robins that nested on the edge of our house, they just had babies, and they were NOT pleased with the owl being so close. They kept very close tabs on it all the time.

Here are pictures from today, enjoy!













I hope you all had a great weekend! Don't forget, Renee's Recipe Round-Up linky is still open, and Show Me Saturday linky still open, please add to them :) Toodles!

QOTD: Do you have a 'bucket list'?

Dear...

Show Me Saturday! Guilty Pleasures

Happy Saturday!

I actually remembered, Show Me Saturday. Yay me! Hopefully someone will link up with me this time. If not, oh well. A few weeks ago I came up with this idea, to read about it and the rules, click on this post here. Basically, I give a topic, and we (me, and you too :) ) blog about it with a picture, and link up here. Sounds like fun, no? yes?

This week I chose "Guilty Pleasures' as the topic. What are yours? What do you partake in and enjoy, even though you really shouldn't?

For me, my guilty pleasure is this...



Isn't it beautiful? All icy, cold, sweat on the cup...all big and refreshing, so very yummy....ohhh ahhh how I love you McD's coke. I shouldn't spend the money on them. They are bad for me. But I can't resist. It makes me happy. It puts a smile on my face, it makes my day seem better. For some its something really bad like alcohol, drugs, cigarettes....for me its coke, but only coke from McD's. My habit isn't to horrible... could be so much worse.

So tell me...what is your guilty pleasure? Link up! Toodles

QOTD: Where is your favorite place to grocery shop?

Kid Interview 3 Vloggy style

It's time for Kelsey's interview! She was brave and let me video it. We did it in the bathroom while Bree was taking a bath, so you can hear Bree and splashing water in the background, sorry. At one point I mention my boob, sorry about that too lol. I had to rest my camera holding arm on my boob it was getting tired. Enjoy!




I posted the QOTD earlier in my 5QF post, so I'm not going to do another one tonight. Don't forget to link up on the Renee's Recipe Round-Up please :) Tomorrow will be "show me Saturday" I hope to see you linking up to that as well.

Before I go, I want to show you my pretty toenails that Kelsey painted for me the other day (the colors were my picking). They are very cool. To bad my feet (other then the nails) are ugly!



See ya tomorrow! Toodles :)

TGIF & 5QF!

Whew! I survived another week! Some days I was wondering if I really would lol. I would have been on here earlier to post, but ummm my darling little Miss Bree decided to spill her chocolate milk all over the living room carpet (accidentally of course). I had been thinking about cleaning the carpet, it was in definite need, but I didn't expect to have to do it TODAY! Oh well, at least one room got done.

So its Friday...you know what that means right? Mama M.'s 5 Question Friday! As most weeks, I'm going to participate. I was hoping to Vlog it, but didn't get time so I'm typing it. For all the rules, please visit, Mama M.'s. Join along if you can! Here we go!



1. Take your pick...date night, girls night out, or night out alone?


2. Can you touch your nose with your tongue?


3. What is your favorite flower and why?


4. If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself?


5. If you won the lottery, what is the very first thing you would do?
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1. Hmmm, they ALL sound good! I can't decide. Probably either date night, or GNO. Hubby & I never get to have date night anymore with him working 2 jobs and us being broke. It would be nice to have time alone with him out of the house, like us at dinner & a movie. GNO also sounds spectacular...I can't remember the last time I had a GNO, probably before Jillian was born. I think I'm long over due. Time alone wouldn't be so bad either, I could go see a chick flick, chomp on a candy bar and slurp up a coke while doing so, doesn't sound so bad to me :)

2. I can, if I try really really hard! Not worth the effort :)

3. Gosh, I have a few...lilacs, they smell so good! pink roses, yellow roses with pink tips, lavender roses, and I just saw there is a rainbow rose that looks super cool! The lavender colored roses bring back a great memory, my dad got me 16 of them for my 16th birthday, I will never forget it, it was my first time getting flowers, and they were so pretty.

4. Stay away from junk/fast food! And to see a dentist regularly. If I did that, I'd not be addicted to fast food, nor would I be a fat cow, and my teeth would be pretty not ugly and hurting all the time.

5. Get out of all debt. Buy a bigger house!

That's all folks :) Feel free to participate too, either by blogging on your own and linking up or by answering these questions in the comments. Have a great Friday! Toodles!

QOTD: Do you like to watch sports?

Oh! P.S. Don't forget to link up to Renee's Recipe Round-Up! And providing I remember, tomorrow will be Show Me Saturday! Topic for that is going to be "guilty pleasure" blog about what yours is, or show a picture of yours and link up. So you have a heads up now and can prepare ;)
LOL My daughter took off all her clothing and is on her bouncy horse naked...nothing like bare back riding lol....what a nut.

Kid Interview 2

Yesterday I posted an interview with Jillian. Today is Zach's turn. Since he is here, I thought I'd take a few minutes to ask him some questions. If you've read my blog previously, or read the info on the side here showing pictures of all the family members, you would have noticed that Zach is gay. So, my questions to him are about his 'coming out' etc. So, that said, if you have something against homosexuals, this post is not the one for you to read. If you would like to get to know about Zach, then please, read on.

1. At what age did you realize you might be gay?
I would have to say around 15-16

2. Do you think you are born gay or that its something you learned as you grew up?
of course dating girls was just to awkward in my opinion, I mean yea some women are attractive but there is something about a guy that just makes me happy


3. Were you afraid at your first gay encounter?
no I had no reason to be we liked eachother and were comfortable in our own skin and thats all it takes to make me at ease

4. Have you 'come out' to everyone now?
pretty much so I'm sure there are a few people who dont know but will find out eventually

5. Have you had more positive or negative reactions to those you've come out to?
I'd have to say more positive there have been the occasional " cant you fix it" or "you know its against the bible" but I'm happy and thats all that should matter

6. What is the worst reaction you've experienced about coming out?
there really wasnt a bad one so no clue lol

7. What was the best reaction you've experienced about coming out?
all of the positve ones were the best ones im just happy I'm excepted for who I am

8. Who were you most afraid to tell?
I would have to say my grandparents because they grew up in a different time and have different beliefs then society today

9. Did anyone surprise you with their reactions? Such as someone you thought would be totally against it was ok with it, or vise versa?
basically everyone surprised me i was expecting to be disowned by my father and his side of the family because I know how much they are set in their old fashioned ways

10. Do you want to get a life long partner and adopt kids some day?
of course I do its what we all live for. I would love to one day settle down and have a family, as long as I can get an asian baby and name it Panda Delilah

11. What kind of reactions do you get when you have public displays of affection?
I've had the good and the bad nowadays tho its accepted.... some people are like awwwww and others tell me to burn in hell, which in return they get an earful from me

12. Do you find a lot of people curious about 'gay' activities, do people ask you a lot of questions?
not really but I always like to make my "sexcapades" known lol it brings more awareness to the term anal astronaut

Umm so there ya have it LOL. Toodles!
QOTD: Do you have any gay friends or family?

Renee's Recipe Round-Up

I was thinking again...scary huh?! See, I was cooking dinner, and making a potato dish that I make often, and I thought it would be nice to know how other people make their potatoes. So I thought, why not do a recipe swap type of thing. I will call it Renee's Recipe Round-Up, and try to do it weekly. I'll give a theme, such as 'potatoes', then you blog your favorite potato recipe and link up. Maybe another time we'll have 'chicken' as the theme, etc. Easy peasy? So, please keep an eye out for this feature. I don't have a pretty button, and I don't know how to make them...so you can just use my Renee's Ramblings button over on the side. (You will have to highlight it, hit control C, then put it on your blog by doing control V, since I have right click disabled)

So, lets give this a try shall we? I'll start one tonight. I'll leave the linky thingy up for a week I think, that should give you all plenty of time to blog and link up. Hopefully I'll remember to do this one and not forget like "Show me Saturday" LOL. I do want to try to bring that back though.

Renee's Recipe Round-Up....Potatoes!
Post your favorite potato recipe and link up!

Here is how I cook potatoes often, its super easy and a family pleaser:
*I peel, and clean several potatoes (6-8 usually)
*I chop them up into small bite size pieces with my handy dandy Pampered Chef food chopper upper thingy (mine is the old version though, I've had it for years!)
*I put them in a casserole type dish that has a lid
*Than add some chunks of butter (probably about 4 T worth)
*I sprinkle them with some Cookies Flavor Enhancers all purpose seasoning
*Cover and microwave. I start with about 6 minutes, then go from there, until they are fork tender.
*I like to eat them just like that, but the kids sometimes put ketchup on them, or if we have gravy we sometimes put that on them. Its super easy, very yummy.

How do YOU cook your potatoes? Link up!

Kid Interview 1

Since I'm really boring and have nothing really exciting to say at this very moment I decided to interview Jillian. Kelsey & Bree will follow at another time, since Kels isn't home and at the moment Bree won't cooperate.



Here are the questions with Jilly's answers:

1. What is your favorite subject in school?
P.E.

2. What is your least favorite subject?
Social Studies

3. What is your favorite TV show?
Wizards of Weaverly Place

4. Where do you like to go out to eat at?
Steak & Shake

5. If I let you have another pet, what would it be?
a bunny

6. What kind of job do you want when you are an adult?
I want to be a singer

7. What is your favorite candy?
Smarties & Hershey's cookies & cream

8. Do you want to marry when you are older?
Yes, I want to marry Justin Beiber

9. Do you want to have kids? How many?
Yes, 2

10. If you could only wear 1 color of clothing, what color would you want it to be?
GREEN

11. Do you want to go to your high school prom?
Yes

12. Who do you have a crush on right now?
Justin Beiber & Robert Pattinson

13. What is your favorite movie?
Twilight & New Moon

14. What is your favorite Disney movie?
Toy Story

15. What is your favorite song?
Eenie Meenie (Justin Beiber) You Smile (Justin Beiber)

16. Is your mom the coolest?
Uhhh surrrreee

17. What is your favorite DS game?
Cooking Mama

18. What is your favorite thing on the McDonalds menu?
Shamrock shakes & French fries!

19. What do you do in your spare time?
Drive my mom insane. Listen to music, watch TV, drink Dr. Pepper, play with Bree and beat up Kelsey.

20. Who are your favorite teachers?
Mrs. Hartman (3rd grade), Mrs. Kramer (1st grade), Miss Rose (current art teacher)

There you have it, now you know the ins & outs of Miss Jilly Bean. I hope you enjoyed getting to know her. Toodles!

QOTD: Can you play a musical instrument?

Maybe tomorrow

I'm an idiot for thinking I'll post when Bree goes to sleep at night. Why? Because the last few nights have been very late nights, (11 last night, and its 10:30 tonight and she still isn't sleeping) by the time she falls asleep I'm to darn tired to think of typing out a blog that actually makes a tiny bit of sense. Right now I can barely keep my eyes open. I'm a tired mama.

So, a real post will come tomorrow. Hopefully I'm sane enough to do it EARLY in the day instead of waiting until night time.

Before I go...anyone know how to get nail polish out of carpet?

Toodles
QOTD: How many kids is to many kids for one family to have?

Cookies, Mother's Day Mania, Versatile blogger

Happy Mother's Day ! I hope all the mother's are having a marvelous day of pampering and good things. I got flowers from my mom, and Bill, and Zach too, along with some candles from him, and some cards. Kelsey made breakfast for me today too, it was nice. Unfortunately the cleaning fairy never showed up, so I had to get busy and clean the disaster kitchen, and then the living room. I still need to do laundry, but I'm being lazy at the moment.

Yesterday was BUSY. I was on the go all day. Took Jilly to her step mom's, then went to my friend Cindy's, and to my moms, then to the library, came home for a few hours then left again to Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, and Target. Got home, got my pj's on, ate a crappy dinner, then had to get dressed again, because my MIL finally got home, so I could run something over to her, ended up not getting back until 8:45 p.m. than I cuddled with Bree, she stayed up till 10:30, where does she get her energy?? By then I was to tired to blog, so I missed Mama M's Mother's Day Mania day? she says day 4, I think it was 3, because Friday was a regular 5QF, not a mother's day related one. Whatever it was, I missed it. Sorry. I think the topic was most embarrassing mothering moment or the best thing about being a mom. I don't think I've ever been embarrassing LOL...I must have blocked any moments of that from my memory. I do love being a mom though. I loved being pregnant, even the aches and pains, I didn't feel like I loved that at the time, but I did. I loved child birth too, while painful, its the most awesome experience one can ever have. I love my kids. I love the "Hey mom! I love you" that Bree tells me a million times a day. I love all my kids. I do not *love* the constant fighting between the older ones, but I'm glad I'm able to have them all around and healthy to be able to do that. Some mothers are not so lucky and have lost their children way to soon, and today on Mother's Day, they are feeling sad.

Todays Mother's Day Mania is to write a letter to your first born... I feel kinda awkward doing so here on the blog...for there are some things that I'd rather not say publicly. I'll do the best I can.

Zach,
You were so wanted, and you were a struggle to get. It took a lot of practice, and doctors appointments to conceive you. Once I found out I was pregnant (in the bathroom of Lord & Taylors at the mall with my friend Amy) I was so excited! I wrote letters to you in your baby book as the pregnancy went along, I shared how I was feeling, what you were doing (ie: kicking the crap out of me, etc). Being pregnant with you was so cool, and it had some struggles too, but you (and I) came out super. You were a handful as a baby, very colicy. Thank God Grandma would come help me out now and then, so I'd not go crazy hehe. Once that was taken care of, you turned into such an awesome boy and you were quite happy. You learned so much every day, and amazed me with your speech and the things you did. We used to go shopping with Grandma every Saturday, and you were pretty good most of the time, we always enjoyed our days w/Gram. Once your sister Kelsey came, you started to turn into a handful. Some days you were super good, and other days horrible to Kelsey. That is pretty much how its been ever since. I so wish you guys would get along and realize its great to be brother and sister, and friends.
Through the years you went through a lot. Some good, some bad. While I've not always agreed with your choices, I always love you and support you the best way I'm able. Now that you are an adult, I hope you are able to get a good job, that you ENJOY, and that you can be happy. I hope you will be able to look at life a little more on the positive side, and not always with some of the meanness you show towards some people. I hope that you find someone that can be a long time partner that can make you happy and be on cloud 9 all the time. I'm thankful that you are able to come to me with things, and share things with me that most 19 yr olds (or any age guy!) wouldn't tell his mom. I'm glad we have bonded and you feel comfortable doing that. I'm sorry that life hasn't always been perfect, and at times has been hard because of the way things went, please know that I did my best.
Remember, I love you.
Mom.

There ya have it, the end of Mother's Day Mania. I hope you enjoyed it.
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I mentioned yesterday I went to moms, Cindy's, and MIL's house. I delivered cookies I made. Wanna see? I also made some for teacher appreciation week, and delivered those on Friday. Here are some pics:







This last pic is some of the teacher ones before I got writing on them. The ones with the black birds on them were for Cindy. The day Elliott passed away, she asked for a sign from him that he is out there...and a blackbird flew by, so she thinks of Elliott when she sees them. I thought it would be nice to make some like that for her.

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Gosh this is a long post today! Sorry! I've been given another blog award thingy, this time from Dazee Dreamer over at Crazy Days & Nite Dreams. Thank you Dazee Dreamer! I'm glad you think highly of me and want to give me this award. The rules are:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic!
4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

I can do #1 & 2 no problem. Its 3 that is the hard part...so I think I'm going to break that rule, since no one I know will do these when I send them. :( Sorry about that part.

So, 7 things about me...
1. My toenails are green & pink ...green toe, pink toe, green toe, pink toe...you get the picture.
2. I have a fear of small places. Slept in a water heater box as a kid, thought it would be a good fort, woke up in the middle of the night in a panic thinking I couldn't get out...that started it.
3. I have saggy boobs. LOL TMI? :)
4. I started a new craft/hobby last night. Washer necklaces.
5. Being licked grosses me out (well, not THAT kind of lick..;) ) My kids think its funny to lick my arm, or cheek, and watch me scream and wipe it off as quick as possible.
6. I need new underwear.
7. I'm drinking a cold refreshing McD's coke as I type this (a Mother's Day gift to myself).
There ya have it! Thanks again Dazee Dreamer for the award.

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I mentioned flowers above, the roses Bill got me are super cool, I've never seen anything like them before...see



Thats it! I'm done, better finish before this turns into a book! Toodles!

QOTD: What did you get for Mother's Day?

We interrupt Mother's Day Mania to bring you...5QF!

Happy Friday! Since not everyone is a mother, Mama M. decided to not make todays 5 Question Friday about mothering, its just a regular 5QF. Tomorrow we will resume the Mother's Day Mania.

For the official rules of 5QF, please visit Mama M.'s blog. Feel free to participate too! You can blog your own 5QF answers and link up over at Mama M's. or heck, even answer here in the comments area if you don't want to go that far. Ok, here we go! Questions here, my answers below...




1. What is your worst memory of your siblings?


2. What was YOUR naughtiest childhood memory? (Must be something YOU did, no pawning it off on someone else!)


3. Where do you like to go to relax?


4. What was the last thing you won?


5. If you could be on a game show, which would you choose?
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1. Hmmm hard to pick just 1! How about the time my brother set my hair on fire? Or the time my brother tried to suffocate me with bean bag chairs? Or maybe the time both brothers went to throw me on my parents bed to wrestle me (I was not a willing participate!), and they threw a little to hard and I went into the wall...they then covered my mouth so I couldn't scream for my mom. Ahhhh brotherly love...

2. Naughty? ME?? Never! haha Ummm lets see....I used to sneak an extra pop now and then, we were only allowed 1 a day, sometimes I snuck another. Or maybe the times my 1 brother & I used to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night and go hang out with our friends...we'd go dancing in the street LOL. Seriously. We lived on a busy road during the day, but at night it was dead, so we'd play in the road, dance around, walk down to the donut place. If a car came down the road sometimes we'd yell, "hit the deck" and jump into the ditch to hide. We were weird.

3. Where I'd LIKE to go to relax is a spa, get a massage, pedicure etc...but thats not the case since we are poor LOL. Ummm I relax at my computer. I'd like to relax in a hot bubble bath, but its kind of hard when kids are beating on the door, "MOM what are you doing?" "Mom, can I come in?" "Mom, I gotta go PEE!" "Mom, so & so hurt me" "Mom, she took my stuff!"...Oy.

4. Hmmm its been a long time I think since I was lucky to win something. Hard to remember. I've won 4 numbers in the lottery once, got like $60, but that was years ago. I also won a $50 gift cert. at a book store, again years ago... Gosh, I can't recall anything I've won recently! Either I've been super unlucky or my memory is just that bad! (which makes me super unlucky too!)

5. I don't really even know what kind of game shows are on anymore. I don't normally watch them. I saw Minute to Win it once, it was kinda cool. I think the Newlywed game would be fun...is that even still on? I used to watch it years ago and always chuckled.

There ya have it! I hope you enjoyed todays 5 Question Friday. I have my own question for you all to answer in the comments, I'll post todays QOTD below. Toodles!

QOTD: What is your favorite animal/bird/creature?

Mother's Day Mania-Day 2

Howdy everyone! Today's Mother's Day Mania is birth stories! I have 4 kids, so this could take a while LOL. So get a drink & snack, sit down and put your reading glasses on....

For the official rules of Mama M.'s Mother's Day Mania please visit her blog.

Ok, First was Zach. I was due for Zach on Aug. 10, that night we went to my husbands class reunion. So many people asked, "When are you due? You are as big as a house" When I told them I was due that day they were shocked that I was even there LOL. No baby that night, darn it. I had a doctor appt. on the 13th, he stripped my membranes when he examined me, and told me if it didn't bring on labor I was to be at the hospital by such & such time the next day for induction. After the appt. my husband and I went on our merry way. We went out to dinner at a little drive in place. While there I kinda started feeling icky, back ache, just blah feeling...didn't think much of it. Went home, chilled out...kept feeling icky. Went to bed for a while, I think it was around midnight that the back pains started to get pretty bad...and diarrhea started, (oh fun!) I kinda thought woohoo, I think this is it! It was a long painful night. We ended up going to the hospital in the morning Aug. 14, 1990. My husband spent a lot of my labor watching sports on ESPN, that totally annoyed me. My mom was there too, helping me cope with the pain. I was a wuss and afraid of needles. The IV wasn't to bad though, because they did it during a contraction so I didn't really think about the IV going in. I did not in anyway want an epidural though! The thought of a needle in my back scared the crap out of me. I did end up getting some drugs in my IV, I think it was demoral. Wow that stuff is totally cool. It felt like I was sleeping, I couldn't keep my eyes open, but I heard everything going on, and it was in slow motion. Fun stuff. I don't remember all the details of pushing and all, shame on me. I do remember not being able to see in the mirror, and I was bummed about that. I remember it hurting, and getting a lot of stitches, down in my girly parts...because I gave birth to a toddler! Zachary Allen was 9 lbs 5 oz. (after 19 hrs of labor) my big little boy. I remember making my husband go get me fast food right after birth lol, I was hungry! I also was in for a surprise...BLEEDING. No one told me about that part. Those pads that are ice packs too are so cool. :)

Next came Kelsey...My pregnancy with Kels was stressful, I discovered my husband had had an affair and I was an emotional wreck. We ended up seperating during that time so it was me pregnant and sick a lot of the time, taking care of a toddler (Zach) alone. Anyways...I ended up going to a doctor appt. (Feb. 28, 1994) he checked me and said he 'thought' he felt her head, but there was a slight chance it was her tailbone. He asked what I was doing today, I said I don't know you tell me! Then he told me to make arrangements for Zach to be watched, then go to Labor & Delivery for a sonogram. If it showed Kelsey was breech, we'd do a C-section, if not, then I could go my merry way and wait for labor. So I did what I was told, and ended up at L & D. Sure enough, she was breech. At this point I was also having contractions. So, arrangements were made, people were called, including Kelsey's dad, who was living/working in Wisconsin at the time. He drove as fast as he could to get there but just missed it. My mom went into the operating room with me in his place. She was the first to hold her and got to take Kelsey to the nursery. Kelsey weighed 8lbs 6 oz. I picked her name, I figured my husband didn't deserve to have a say in it after what he did. So her name is Kelsey Elizabeth (my moms middle name). Shortly after Kelsey's birth I took my husband back...and we tried to make it work for several years, but we just couldn't do it anymore and divorced.

Then after I remarried, came Jillian. My pregnancy was kind of tough, had high blood pressure issues, ended up having her 3 wks early due to it. After being on bedrest, my blood pressure was still in a bad range so my doctor called me and told me to head to the hospital, this was on Aug. 22. I was to go in, be given some cervix ripening stuff and the next day induction. I freaked out because Aug. 23, 2007 was the first day of school and I wanted to be there for Zach & Kelsey. I called my mom in a panick, she settled me down and said she'd be there for them. So off to the hospital I went. Contractions started right away, but didn't do a whole lot. The next morning, pitocin was started. Unfortunately, Jillian didn't like it, and her heart rate kept dropping, so they had to stop it. Guess what that meant? Another C-section for me. It was evening before they got me in finally. Jillian Jenny was born weighing 6 lbs, my tiniest little baby so far. Her dad was in the operating room with me, as he should have been. My mom and Zach & Kelsey were waiting for me when I got out of recovery. I remember when they came in to see me & Jilly, Zach looked at me, saw the bag of pee on the side of bed, and said, "Mom, what are they feeding you? Orange juice?" He thought it was an IV thing LOL. It was my PEE!

Child #4, after a divorce and remarraige, was Aubrey! Since I had 3 c-sections already, no VBAC was allowed. I had a scheduled C-section for Dec. 19, 2007. We got there super early. My mom came to the house to manage the older kids, and bring them out in time to meet their sister. On the way to my house that morning, mom hit a deer...eek! Anyways, I got in early around 7:30ish, the kids arrived just as I got wheeled back, so I was able to kiss them all before getting sliced open. I got back and was prepped. The nurses were super nice, and helped calm my nerves. Maybe knowing what was going on freaked me out more than the unknown. Bill was able to come sit by me once they had me all set. The c-section went fast. Bill & I got all teary. Bill got to cut the cord. We got to see Bree, and get a picture, then she went off to get her stuff done while I was closed up and off to recovery. It seemed like I was in recovery forever! The numbness seemed to last and last and I had to wait until I could feel certain things before I could go to my room. I was anxious to get back to my baby and show her off to everyone. My brother & SIL were there by the time I got to my room, it was nice having them there to meet Aubrey Danielle. She weighed in at 7lbs 4 oz. . I enjoyed a nice stay at the hospital :) got to rest while I could before going back to our crazy house. Came back home Dec. 22, it was nice to be home a few days before Christmas.

There ya go, my birth stories. I hope they made sense! I'm tired and my memory is kind of bad lol I hope I got it all accurate.

Off to cuddle with child #4 in hopes she goes to sleep soon...Toodles!

QOTD: Did you have drugs during child birth?

P.S. Be sure to read the post before this one...my Mom's guest post.

Busy day! Guest post...My mom!

I've been up to my eyeballs today in the kitchen making some treats for some special people, so I haven't been able to get around to posting my Mother's Day Mania day 2 yet. I will do that shortly, but first I've got a Guest Blogger post...My Mom! Please read, and enjoy! I'll blog again later tonight with Mother's Day Mania day 2 (birth stories), so please come back later! :)
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My Mom's post:

Mothering without “smothering”


Hi, my name is Rhea and I’m Renee’s mom. I got married at age 18 and by the time I was 23 I had three children; Rick, Robb and Renee. Marrying young has its advantages…I had the energy then to raise the kids and have fun with them too.

All mothers know that each child is different. Mine were all very different personalities.

Rick was the firstborn and did everything early, from cutting his 1st tooth at 2 months, to walking at 9 months and talking a LOT by age 1. He was a fun baby and very outgoing.


Then came Robb. This was the baby that my mom said was payback…...he was real cute and sweet but oh so stubborn just like me….only I call it being persistent!. Must be something about being a middle child. When Robb didn’t want to do something he would dig his heels in, cross his arms over his chest and stick that little chin out. I loved and love him anyway.



When Renee came along I was really happy to have a girl to love. She was 3 weeks late in arriving, but so worth it. She was a very loved little girl and very shy. She was a mommy’s girl and I think still is. We used to call her Binky (substitute for stinky when she would have dirty diapers) and that name stuck for many years. She and Robb were buddies and would play together a lot. When she got a little older she loved to roller skate and was pretty good at it. She and two of her friends loved to hang out at the roller rink.

The teens brought some angst and worry but all in all I enjoyed my kids during their teen years. Well, maybe except the time when Rick took my company car for a ride and ended up sailing into a field having fun with his friends. Or when Robb got into a fight with some kids who were picking on him. Or when Renee dated a loser and we worried about her. Thankfully we got through those times ok.

One of the things I have learned over the years is to let my kids make their own way and their own mistakes. I try even now that they’re grownups with kids of their own to stay out of their affairs unless asked and support them by listening and loving them even when I don’t agree with them.

I am a strong Christian and believe my prayers have a big impact on my children and grandchildren because I belong to a big God who hears and answers prayer. There are some prayers that haven't come to fruition yet, but I have faith they will.

This is a poem for you Renee....


I covered you with blankets against the cool night air....
But now that you are tall...and out of reach,
I fold my hands and cover you with prayer.
~author unknown~

Love, Mom

Mother's Day Mania-Day 1

Bree is sleeping, and I should be taking a nap, but instead I'm blogging! Why? Well because I want to be part of Mama M.'s Mother's Day Mania that's why! Even though I had a crappy night, was up 3 times w/Bree, 1 time with the dumb dog that has to pee in the middle of the night, and 1 time because my husband flung the cat onto me after she pounced on him in the wee morning hours...let me say that waking to cat claws in your back isn't fun! Everytime I was woken up, falling back to sleep was difficult due to hubby and his loud snoring. Bah! Ok, sorry, I started ranting...tiredness makes me cranky.

Like I said, today is the start of Mama M.'s Mother's Day Mania. To get the details click on this post. Today is Whoopsie Wednesday! Here we go:

My whoopsie involves Zach. I don't remember his exact age, but he was a young toddler. When you were a kid did your parents or siblings ever have you lay down, then they grab an arm and a leg and swing you, sometimes they tossed you onto a bed or something soft? Well I had it done to me lots of times...and I liked it. So, I thought I'd do it with Zach for fun. Well, he laughed for a minute or two...then started crying. I didn't know what was wrong. He kept favoring his arm. Crap. We ended up taking him to the ER, and he had dislocated his elbow, but thankfully while they were messing with it to X-ray, it went back into place. Poor Zach. I felt so bad. Its amazing how something so fun can go so bad so fast!

That is the only whoopsie I can think of at the moment...I'm sure there were more with my other kids, but I must have selective memory and maybe I blocked out the bad stuff. Oh wait! I remember another...with Kelsey...

We were at the old Walmart in Plano. She was sitting in the cart seat sideways. I was stupid for letting her. She was doing fine, she loved sitting like that and we never had any problems until that day...she flung herself back for some reason, and out of the cart she went, onto the hard Walmart floor. Scared the crapola out of me. She screamed bloody murder for a bit, and a code white (I think that was the code for accident) was called, management and everyone came to the scene. I got her settled down and we decided it was best to take her to the doctors to be checked over real quick. She was fine, thank God.

OK now really, thats all I can remember. If I think of anymore I'll add to it later.

Toodles!

QOTD: Do you touch bugs/worms, etc? Can you put a worm on a fishing hook? (my answer is HELL NO! I'm not a fan of bugs of any kind, my kids think its funny to hold them and chase me around the yard with them, bad bad kids :P )

1st Vlog....Beware

I've decided to try vlogging...hehe in my own crazy way... I had some notes, so I'd not forget stuff, but they got in the way, so I moved them, and forgot stuff, but oh well. Didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped. I should have tried a few more times to make it better, but I was in a hurry.

Are you ready?


Are you SURE you are ready?


Hmmm....not sure I believe you....


Oh well, here it is anyways :)




LOL I'm such a dork right? Go ahead, say it, Renee's a DORK! :P I'm not a fan of being in front of a camera, and I wanted to hide my double chin...hence the bag :)

Bree wanted to get involved, so here is a tiny video of her as well....

Show Me Saturday! Prom

I was just thinking, and came up with a possible idea! Scary huh?! How about I host a "Show Me Saturday" weekly. Which means, I'll give a topic, and you blog about that topic, with a picture of the topic at hand. I don't know that I'll remember to do it every week...but I'll try. We'll see how things go. Hopefully I can get SOMEONE to link up :) I totally just came up with this idea, so I haven't totally thought it through.

I think right now at this moment, the only rules I have are that you link back to me, you can use the blog button I have over on the side for now (you'll have to highlight then hit control & c, because I have right click disabled on the site, sorry), if things go well I'll try to get a special button made up. The other rule would be no pornographic pictures of any kind.

The first topic is.....PROM! Blog about your prom, or a prom, and be sure to include a picture if you have one, after all, its SHOW ME Saturday :) I hope this works!

Ok, the reason I have prom on the mind is its a busy prom weekend! My niece went to one last night and today. My son Zach is at one tonight with a co-worker, and this evening I took the girls to my oldest daughters school to watch all the prom go'ers show off their fancy dresses.

I just happen to have a picture of me going to my prom (well it was taken BEFORE prom actually). It was back in my skinny days..which didn't last long LOL. My prom date was actually my first husband, we married about a year after prom. It was my senior prom, he was already out of school. It took place at a country club, than after we went out to Chicago to roam the city all dressed up. It was COLD and rainy. Brr. Anyways, here is my SHOW ME picture:



Now its YOUR TURN! Show me! Blog about prom, and post a pic, then link up here. Have fun.

Toodles!
QOTD (question of the day to answer in comments): How much did your prom dress (or tux) cost?