Runaway Cart

Yesterday the little boys (Collin and Hudson) and I took Mimi out to run her errands. Collin had been up since 6 am so by the afternoon he was a real grump. He saw a playhouse in Sam's Club and decided he wanted it. He whined and complained about wanting me to buy him "the little house with the doorbell".

When reasoning didn't work and Mimi was in the checkout line I figured it was best we head out to the car. So I parked the cart next to my car so I could put Huddy's carseat in the car. Collin was still carrying on about the playhouse. As I opened the car door to place the baby in I heard Collin say, "Momma Momma" frantically. I turned around just as the cart rolled passed our car heading downhill and picking up speed. I screamed and started running chasing it. I had the carseat containing the baby on my arm too. I was in a full sprint in order to catch the cart which had already made it about 4 parking spaces before I caught up with it. (Man, I bet that was a funny sight, I bet the security got a laugh outta watching it.)Mimi came out of the store as I was pulling the cart up the hill and could tell that something was going on.

I told Collin he can be glad I have been running on the treadmill for the last few months I guess it was all in preperation for the runaway shopping cart race! Consider it a lesson learned for me. Whew, scared me!

2 Teeth

Last week Huddy popped out his 1st and 2nd teeth almost overnight. He also can sit pretty well too. Here he is in some pictures I took of him on Monday.

Newest Mom News

On Monday night Mom fell at home and hit her head. We ended up in the ER where Mom had another seizure right in front of me. Being by her side and helpless was a terrible feeling. Kristi and I pushed to have her admitted so she could see her Neurologist doctors. Testing confirmed Mom has had some seizures and they are upping her medicines. So no driving for 6 months and the fear and worry starts all over. Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.

*I just happen to have my camera in the car and I scooped it up with my purse before joining Mom in the ambulance. Anyone that knows my Mom knows she likes pictures and documenting everyones medical issues. She even told Kristi to video her if she was to have another seizure in the ER. Some people might find us weird. Oh well!

Spring Break

We headed to Atlanta for an over nighter with Steven , Doron and Nate and we invited Mimi along too. We had alot of fun touring the World of Coke and The Georgia Aquarium. The first picture is the kids touching Stingrays in a tank, the second is our whole group as we entered the World of Coke and thirdly Macy and Huddy at The Varsity a local Atlanta icon a greasy spoon type restuarant. I highly recommend the World of Coke because I think everyone enjoyed it. The Aquarium wasn't that good for younger children but school age kids would enjoy it . It was a nice break and we all had a good time.

Days Like This

Momma said there'd be days like this.
Days where it rains and is cold after having a few days warm weather and sun.
Days where every request you ask of the 3 year old is met with "But I not want to."
Days when parenting isn't fun or glorious but its a job you just can't quit.
Days that you just think slapping yourself in the head will make it better somehow.

Yes, Momma it's been one of those days. But we are onto a change of pace the kids are now on Spring Break from school , Brian has a few days off and we are all better. So things are looking up!!

Right to remain silent

This is the sight that greeted me when I opened the fridge yesterday. The tea pitcher had been handcuffed using Collin's policeman set and placed back onto the shelf. Living with these people is full of head scratching surprises.

Sick update: Looks like we're in the all clear. The house has been aired out and I have scrubbed and cleaned to rid this joint of the funk.

My Dad

My Dad has always been the type of person to dream of taking an adventure. We have listened to his dreams of traveling to far away lands, hiking some unthinkable trails and getting to experience amazing new places. All this from a man who barely could operate his own dvd player!

He is having an adventure it just wasn't the type he had in mind. My Dad is a prideful man. He has worked hard all his life to give his family the best. He has never been without a job and he always taken care of us. The day after Christmas he was let go from his job because of cut backs. What a shock to us all and what a blow to a hard working man in his 60's. But Dad handled it well, he dusted his self off and set out to find what would be next for him.

After the weeks turned into months he had a opportunity to train some guys on reading blueprints for the company my brother works for. One thing lead to another and they offered him a job. Woohoo, a job offer! BUT there's a hitch, the location of the project is in Kansas City, MO.

Being the adventurous sort of fellow he is he took the job. I won't lie to you the thoughts of my Dad the man who can misplace his reading glasses daily going off on his own was alittle scary to me. The thoughts of him traveling by plane and driving in a unfamiliar city did worry me. But with the help of a TomTom GPS and some courage he is doing just fine.

He is basically the Frat house Dad for several young men whom he is sharing a rental house with. He is running 2 major projects and he is surviving without Mom's watchful eye and useful advice.

I shouldn't have been so worried because Dad is a survivor and a strong man. He served 2 tours in Vietnam , he has been married 38 years, and raised 2 pretty decent kids. That alone is medal worthy in my book. So he has life skills in his back pocket for situations like this. He sees God's hand in this opportunity. Dad has the unique chance to work with the Son that he introduced almost 20 years ago to the construction business.

He is a focused and driven person and believes his work is a direct reflection on himself. He is surprising me that he is learning new skills. He even sent us some pictures he labeled using his new laptop to show us his new residence. He is learning the ropes of the airport and flying. Things that I don't think most guys his age would take to with such an open mind.

Dad we are proud of you. You are in our thoughts. We love you very much. Take care of yourself and we will see you soon.

P.S. to Dad:
If you get to missing Mom too much just burn a few biscuits and it will seems like she's there. Oh and make sure you blame it on the oven. (Come on Mom you know it's funny!)

Dropping like flies

Macy and I woke in the wee hour this morning with the virus. I am waiting to see who will be the next victim. I sent Brian out to buy more Sprite that and crackers are all we need. Hopefully we are on the tail end of this bug.

The Goings On here

Just last Sunday we had snow on the ground and one week later we are wearing shorts! Seriously it was hot today, a perfect day for working in the yard ,cleaning out the garage or a great day to sell box after box of Girl Scout cookies outside of Walmart. Did we do any of these things today?? No, we sure didn't!
Because we have been plagued with the 24 hour stomach bug. Three of the Eight of us (Park, Logan, and Bri so far) have been ill and I am sure the rest of us will follow soon. Oh yippee!

But the girls and I hit some close by neighborhoods and sold 26 boxes of cookies on Saturday. And our troop sold today at Walmart and did pretty well. Hopefully we will sell off the last cases this week.

This weather has me itching for spring, big time. Next week is our school's Spring break. We can't wait!

Southern Snow

Logan and Macy enjoying the snow. It doesn't take much snow to get Alabama kids all excited. Our Northern friends get a laugh that 1 inch of snow is considered a snow day.
My niece Hailey and Molly at Mimi's house. Mimi had the girls and Hudson over to spend the night. I told Mimi good thing she had company so she wasn't outside making snow angels by herself. The neighbors might have thought the Dog Lady was losing her marbles.
Burrr Huddy's 1st snow with Mimi. Look at that fishy face!
Hudson is thinking," Wait a second what is this white stuff, never seen that before??"

She made it!

Macy had tryouts yesterday for the 2009-2010 JV Cheerleading squad. She really worked hard and tryouts were abit nerve racking but she made it! We are very happy for her.

This week Logan and Macy found out what role they landed in the school play Wizard of Oz for this Spring. Logan will be the Wizard and Macy the Lion. I can't wait to see them both in action!

The year of the project

Logan our 7th grader has had to do alot of projects this year. Here he is with the latest one for his Mythology class. He did a model of Hermes Staff also commonly seen as the medical symbol. The pole has 2 rubber snakes around it which is hard to see in the picture but it turned out pretty cool. This year has been a hard school year for Logan but he is showing a good bit of improvement.And I can see he is really trying to make better decisions. He is getting taller and thinning down too. In just 2 months he will be entering his teenage years. Yikes! Logan is a good kid with a kind heart, I know he is capiable of big things.

Camera thief

Someone snuck my camera and took about 10 pictures. Out of all the things to take pictures of the thief took photos of the inside of our refrigerator. But atleast the camera caper took a few self portraits so I knew who to thank for the fridge inventory.

BTW I am not sure what he is doing with his mouth, in person he does not resemble a monkey with swollen cheeks. Never boring around here I tell you that!

Siblings

Molly (9) and Collin (3)

There are times when you do forget that about the screaming, fighting and hearing them wish they were an only child.

Moments like this happen often and make me know for sure a sibling really is a priceless gift.

Guy Smiley

Hudson is 7 months old now and such a happy lil guy. I love the fun stage he's in. He wakes up in the mornings and makes cute little noises and entertains himself. He is pretty independent but given the choice he would love to be on my hip all day. What a sweetie!

Bed of Nails

This week Parker's class went to the McWane center on a field trip. The above picture is Parker testing out the bed of nails which was a huge hit with all the 2nd graders. Parker had a great time on the field trip and I did my best to smile and get through the day. I am just not a huge fan of taking lots of kids, some without parents to places like this. A place where they scurry from one thing to another when there are hundreds of other kids with the same mind set. Most of the time you have to deal with rude unsupervised kids breaking in lines and not taking turns. But I survived and he was happy I was there.

Just alittle back story to this picture. Parker went to school dressed in a nice red stripped button down, but when I met him at the Museum he was sporting just his undershirt. It was a cold day and he was half dress in a UNDERSHIRT! I quickly questioned him on where his shirt was and he said he didn't like that shirt and it was at school. I am a bit neurotic about the children dressing nice in public but there was nothing I could do to fix this situation. He was grounded from the Wii for a day for disobeying. I told him maybe I should give him some payback and show up at school in a ridiculous outfit and embarrass him. He said he'd rather just get a spanking. I guess I am atleast thankful the undershirt was new and clean.

Claw foot

The best part of having pre-teens and little one is watching them find funny things to do with him to entertain themselves all in the name of babysitting . Logan and Macy got the ingenious idea to put a Batman glove on Huddy's foot. He thought it was so funny that the whole family was in stitches over him. He loves them to death and he seems to provide them plenty of entertainment too.

My black haired child?

This is some of the really funny pictures that I discovered on Molly's camera. I didn't know I had given birth to a black headed child with a staring problem but apparently I did. So funny to see what a 9 year finds to be picture worthy like her pizza while on her school field trip? Oh yes see that pile of "stuff" in the corner of her room? That would be prime example of Molly's room organization. Oh Lord, give me strength to raise this child to be a functioning adult.

Cupid

I used this picture to make candy bar wrappers that covered big Hershey bars for Collin's class. It turned out pretty cute but I am sure he will hate me for this picture when he's a teenager. :)

Time flies

Macy Jane is my.........
Unexpected treasure
Easy goin' baby
Lil shoe fanatic
Modest
Responsible
Slow poke
Social butterfly
Always on the go
Beautiful
Smiling
Klutzy
Texting Queen

I am so proud to call you Mine! No matter what life throws at you I know you will handle it beautifully. -Love, Mom

Project Onstar

Collin's class was talking about Stars at school last week and they made their own star constellations. The teacher asked each child to name their constellation and Collin came up with the name"Onstar" for his . Everyone got a good laugh over it. He doesn't watch too much tv does he?

50 pounds gone

Excuse the blurry picture but I wanted to show you these jeans that I was wearing just in September that are now 3 sizes too big. I have been really trying to change my lifestyle to make changes that I can forever live with. I am beginning to like my workouts and am getting some strength back. I have a ways to go but I will take it slow and do it the right way. No magic plan or pills just the old fashion way of counting calories, cardio workouts and weight training. I have 15 pounds to reach my next mini goal that I hope to reach by May. Wish me luck!

Going public about losing weight is a scary thing. I am really trying to face my fears and am doing alot of reading to education myself on losing weight in a healthy manner and changing behaviors so that I can keep it off. I am sure like everything else there will be bumps in the road but I know I need to do this for my overall health and well being. I want to be the best Mom for my kids and taking time to care for myself will benefit them in the long run. I will have alot of grandkids to spoil someday aand I want to be around to enjoy it!

Spelling Bee Boy

Parker won his class Spelling Bee and was able to be in the school Spelling Bee. He did his best but was super nervous. He will never forget how to spell the word Frolic I am sure.But he is still a winner in our eyes!

When she laughs

When she laughs she makes the whole room laugh. You can't help but laugh along when you hear it, its a deep belly giggle. Truly one of the best sounds to my ears. Don't ever change that Molly Ann,your smile and awesome laugh makes this world a better place.

Six Months

Huddy Buddy turned 6 months on the 9th. He is so happy, squishy and ticklish that it is adorable. He chews on everything in sight. He still sucks his fingers but has added his feet and toes to the mix. True talent I tell you!
He started eating rice cereal with veggies and fruit mixed in on Christmas Day. Hudson is the best eater I have had he gobbles it up barely missing a bite. He smiles and coos and does everything cute to get your attention.
He is entering my favorite age. He laughs,babbles and smiles when you look at him. He still loves the swing . No words yet but I think he attempts to say Hey, time will tell on that.

New York City

Brian and I went to New York for his work a few weeks ago. I was able to go for Friday-Monday thanks to the help of our family. Brian worked there in the New York office till Wednesday. We had alot of fun! We went to China town, Little Italy, Brooklyn, Time Square, a Greenwich Village Comedy Club to name a few places.We walked a ton and rode the Subway several times. We enjoyed some really good food and getting to experience a real winter for a short time. We aren't really touristy type people but it was a fun trip just doing what we wanted.

1 year post accident

The picture above is my Girl Scout troop (Macy in stripes) with my Mom. I asked Mom to help us with a sewing badge and the girls are wearing hats that they hand made for a service project that gives hats to children with cancer.

A year ago we were dealing with recovering from brain surgery right now, I'm sure everyone remembers how traumatic that was. Mom is a living miracle and life will never be the same for any of us.

My parents are facing hard times. My Dad was laid off the day after Christmas and shortly after had to have knee surgery. They are strong people and this will be their newest hurdle but when you've already seen a miracle happen you know anything is possible. I love them both and hope this uncertainty is short lived.

Brotherly Love

Twelve and a half years apart. One day I will have a First Grader and a Senior at the same time. But they love each other even though they won't share the same interest they are brothers and that alone makes them close.

Christmas Pictures

Click the picture below for a slide show of our Christmas season
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Christmas 2008

The decorations have been put away for another year. Christmas 2008 went off without a hitch. The kids had a nice year getting just the right amount of stuff. We had warned them that we were scaling back on presents but all in all it was just right.

The biggest surprise was something Brian and I referred to as Project Coconut. Project Coconut had been something we had tossed around for some time. Mid December Project Coconut went into action. We added a cute little pup to join our family at the Funny Farm. Brian and I fell in love with her right away. She is a miniature Dachshund that is dapple colored( a mixture of colors). I wanted to give her to the kids already named to cut down on the arguing. We mulled over every girly Christmas-y name and we agreed on Candy Cane. So on Christmas Eve Brian went a brought home our new baby girl. Our 10 year old Dachshund Patty is doing okay accepting her but really wishes the puppy would just leave her alone. The kids are thrilled with Candy and so far no complaining about tending after her. She is so laid back and she loves being spoiled.

We enjoyed time with both our families. We had plenty good food and alot of laughs too. It was a nice holiday for us all. I have alot of pictures to sort through and I will make another picture Christmas post soon.

Hoilday Cheer from the Funny Farm

These pictures were included in my Christmas card this year. The card that those of you that normally get a card from me it should arrive in a couple of days. Let's just think of it as a New Years card, Can we? Time kinda slipped away from me this Christmas more so than ever before.

But life here at the Funny Farm is going fine. Santa's early present to Collin was the gift of hearing. He had his 4th set of tubes put in on Friday after the Doctor had delayed surgery twice . I have been teasing Collin about making sure tubes were on the top of his Christmas list. I think he just wanted to squeak one more hospital copay out of me for 2008.

Hudson is growing and changing. He is a smiling little thing now. In the last few weeks he has found his feet and he holds on to them and tries to put them in his mouth alot. He has a cute laugh too.

The older kids are thrilled to have a break from school. Brian and I are thrilled to have a break from school too. Nice change of pace.

We are all set for Christmas. Presents have been wrapped and the kids are getting giddy with anticipation. Just looking at the tree and pile of presents reminds me how blessed we are. Tomorrow we go see Santa, yes we have waited THIS LATE to see Santa. I really am running behind , remember I already told you that. Tomorrow the girls and I will do some baking and candy making for our neighbors and friends. A tradition Macy and Molly really love and look forward to. If I don't find time to post again before the big day, Merry Christmas Ya'll!

Celebrating Life

My Mom celebrates a birthday today that almost didn't happen. Her life has taken a whole new course and she has embraced and accepted it far better than most people would. It wasn't her time to go and I thankful everyday for that. Mom, your are a special person. We love you and hope you have a great birthday!

Cutest Santa Ever

Elf the Moons!

This is so funny. They would only let us add 5 pictures, so we could not get Huddy Buddy in the video. Stil, it is hilarious.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Waving Franticly

Wow, I just realized I haven't updated in almost a month! Life has been definitely interesting and blogging kinda got put on the bottom of the list . But don't fear I am back for now.

Let's talk Thanksgiving. I know it's old news especially since I went and decorated the blog for Christmas but humor me. Our Turkey Day consisted of parade watching along with coughing and Kleenex, yummy food from rubbermaid containers,and a nap. Half of the family was sick so we didn't host or attend the Thanksgiving day meal. Brian was our meals on wheels delivery service and went and filled up plastic bowls with all the good food his Mom and Grandmother had prepared. It was alittle sad but it will be memory for sure because we have never missed a Turkey Day with Brian's family.

Friday was followed by both the lil one's (Collin and Hudson) visiting the Doctor. Poor guys were so sick. Hudson with a double ear infection , and Collin with ear infections and bronchitis. Collin needed a breathing treatment and inhaler. I went with Doron to a few store to hit the sales , we didn't do our normal marathon shopping just went to 3 stores. And then I went to the drugstore to pick up the $120 worth of medicine for the boys. Ouch!

So any money I saved I handed over to Walgreens for drugs. My best purchase was a Onieda 85 pc flatware set for $47. Small forks and spoons have a way of disappearing in this house. I had bought new flatware 4 years ago and there are no small forks to be found. I have been buying plastic forks for awhile because I don't want to raise cavemen. Every time I would pass out the plastic forks I would give my speech on how we used to have nice forks but they somehow grew legs and walked away. I am very protective of my new forks and usually count them to make sure all 16 are still present. So far so good.

But the boys are better. Yea! And Collin gets a brand new set of tubes in his ears next Friday. Set number 4, our ENT must love us.

I have alot of pictures to go through and will post some ASAP. Hope everyone is happy and healthy. Now that we recapped Thanksgiving it's on to Christmas. The house is decorated and the gifts are in the works. Next week is our annual Santa picture. Lots to do but it seems more fun doing everything this year without morning sickness. Merry Christmas ya'll!

Superman boys

Reasons for being a bit busy

1. Homecoming festivities. Helping prepare for the event. Including the parade and the game day events. Football every Saturday all-day-long for the last 8 weeks . Which is now over and it couldn't have ended soon enough for me this year.

2.Attending field trips. Not because I just love going to the pumpkin patch for the hundredth time but because it's a huge deal to the little pumpkin patch goer that I can share in such an event.


3.Fall festival at school. Our class won best booth for 2nd grade and the prize was cash to be used for something new for the classroom. The kids loved playing Candyland at our booth. It was both educational and fun!I put a few days work into with the help of the other room Mom. Time consuming yet fun for the kids.

4. Halloween. For a person with a few kids this isn't such a hurdle but it is like putting on a production for the kids at my house who like to think of costumes you just don't buy off the rack. (pictures coming). The kids got a good bit of wear out of them by not just Trick 0rTreating but also wore them to a festival at a local church on Wednesday night before. Sure fun for the kids but work for me.

5. Cleaning up and griping about all the candy wrappers and sucker sticks that have been laying around. Because 5 kids can really get a ton of candy and we all know how hard it is to actually walk to the trash can.

6. Cooking meals, washing clothes, doing dishes and being the over all Bossy butt of my family. Making sure teeth were brushed , homework was done , feeding and diapering the littlest member. And the list goes on and on.

So all in all it's busy and at times the chores that keep my head above water is all that gets done. Sometimes clean enough is where the bar is set. Someday these times will be past and I hope I can look back on the job I did and be happy I was on a field trip while there was laundry piled up at home. Sure my inner neat freak hates it really hates it , but theres a life to live and therefor a price to pay for it. I am not Super woman but Wonder woman, wonder what the heck I was thinking.

I am waving hello for New Orleans. :) Miss ya'll!