Sunday, December 18, 2011

A Sunday Riddle

What do you get when you mix a Don't Spill The Beans game, and a Nerf Blaster with Joey and Dominic?

Can you see where this is going? LOL!!!! Only my boys would decide to stuff the blaster with the beans and try hard to shoot them out. It has been an interesting day, that's for sure. I have to laugh, I know who was the master mind behind this, however, no one will admit it. They both stand there smiling and laughing. Thankfully it didn't shoot or jam the gun. The boys were heart broken over this. They had it planned perfectly. What they didn't plan was Nic sticking his face right up to the gun as Joey tried AGAIN to shoot it. The Nerf bullet that was in another chamber fired and left a perfect welt right next to his nose. Thankfully it wasn't his eye or this post would be taking a whole different turn.

Most days I am thankful for the laughter that these kids bring into our lives, however after something like this, I am thankful I can lock them in their room...from my side of the door!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Here comes Santa Clause...

And there goes Dominic, right up my butt!

I thought it would be fun to surprise Nic with a trip to the mall since I needed to finish up some shopping and he could see Santa. I knew, with his odd ball people fear, that he wouldn't be too thrilled to see the Big Man, but it would be fun for me. I won't lie, I love to watch screaming kids sit on Santa's lap. Those pictures are great!

I couldn't get Nic anywhere close to Santa. He saw a train ride right next to Santa and he wouldn't even ride that because it was too close to Santa. So, as he has himself smashed up against a store window, hands covering his eyes, Santa gets up out of his chair. I picked Dominic up and walked over to Santa. Santa started rubbing his back and talking to him about Mater from Cars. You would think this would make the boy loosen up right? WRONG! He couldn't get up my butt since I was holding him, so he decided to climb down my shirt. Santa wouldn't take the hint and just kept trying to talk to Nic.

As we walked away, Nic decided he hated me. He stomped his foot when we got out of eye-shot from Santa and told me so. People probably thought I was crazy because I lost it. I was laughing so hard I couldn't stop. When I asked him who was going to leave him presents because Santa won't come to our house now, he said "I don't need any" and stomped his foot again and closed his eyes. That is is sign of being a total brat. You get the closed eyes, head up look. I tried to explain how upset his sisters and brother will be to learn Santa won't come to our house and he informs me "Joey is bad anyway". Ahhhahhahaa!!! Can't really argue that one!

Since I don't have a new picture of Santa and Dominic from this year, here is one from 2009. The last time he would see Santa in person. Enjoy! :D

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Just call me Yoda!

Yesterday was a crazy day, but that is typical in our house. Our little guy hasn't been sleeping well from the raging ear infection he has, so I was not looking forward to waking him up for school. Don't get me wrong, he LOVES school and doesn't want to miss a single day. I just knew he was going to wake up pissy from a lack of sleep.

I went in his room and said "Niiiic, time to get up. It's a school day!" Hearing that, he typically springs to his feet and runs to the table for breakfast. Oh, but not yesterday. Nope, not my son. He stayed under his Star Wars blanket, all toasty and warm. I was half tempted to get under the covers with him, I was freezing, and he looked so comfy. I called for him to get up again and the blankets suddenly get kicked onto the floor and he springs to his feet. Success, right? NOPE! He stood in place, arms folded across his chest with the meanest look on his face that I have ever seen. The mean monster speaks to me. "I not Nic, I YODA. You call me YODA today. Destroy the Sith, we must. You got that, Mom?" Ummm, yeah, whatever Yoda. Breakfast is on the table.

We get to school and by this time, he is so excited he can't wait to get out of his car seat. He knows his friends will be there and his day will be wonderful. He loves his teacher, talks about her all the time. We have drop off and the director gets each child out of the car for you and they walk into their rooms from there. He gives me my good-bye kiss and I said "Have a great day, Yoda. I'll see you soon." He stops dead in his tracks and with a look of great disgust, he looks back to me and yells "Mom, I am Dominic now, don't call me Yoda when we are here."

I. Can't. Win.


This picture is from Monday. He was shoving his last piece of chocolate from St. Nick in his mouth. :D That's my boy!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving?!?!?!?!?

On facebook, I've been reading the 30 days of Thanks people have been posting because of our upcoming holiday. I thought this was stupid...mostly because this year has been HORRIBLE and I just want it to be over. This year, my extended family said hello and goodbye to their son in 45 minutes. My friend Ashley passed away in August at the age of 41 because of Inflammatory Breast Cancer and in September, my very dear friend, Debi, passed away just days after her 33rd birthday from liver cancer. Our oldest daughter broke not one but 3 bones, our second daughter was rushed to the ER for staples. There has been more that I just don't feel the need to post. We'll just say this has been a hard and trying year.

Then, as I thought more about this post, I see all that I do have to be thankful for. I have the most awesome husband any woman could ever ask for. I have 4 healthy kids, who mean the world to me. I have a great relationship with my sister. Even though my extended family had to say goodbye to their son, they still experienced a love that no one will ever know. For that, I am thankful. I have had the pleasure of calling Debi and Ashley my friends. I had the pleasure of spending time with each of these ladies and the impact they have had on my life has been immeasurable. I'm thankful that Debi's husband has let us reach out to him and still stay connected, even just in small ways. I am thankful Debi's boys have the love and support they deserve from a great Dad and wonderful grandparents. I know Debi is smiling down on them. I am thankful for some very awesome friends. Without them, I'm not sure where I would be. I have been blessed beyond belief in the friend department.

The best thing I have to be thankful for...our "new" family! Mr. Crafty recently reconnected to his biological family and it seems as though life has now fallen into place, especially for him. This has been a long time coming and I am so very, very thankful the reunion took place this year. It seems like I have known all of them forever, even though I, myself, just met them for the first time this year. Mr. Crafty smiles every day, he sort of has the "pep in his step" you hear people talk about. His life seems to be truly complete. I love seeing how happy he is, and for that, I am expecially thankful. I am thankful they get to see the wonderful man he is, how great of a person he is and how much he adores his family. I am thankful our kids will have the pleasure of calling them family; Grandma, Aunts, cousins.

So yes, while I thought I didn't have much to be thankful for...I discovered I have more blessing to be thankful for than a lot of people could ever wish for.

If you are reading this, you have had some impact in my life and for you, I am also thankful. Enjoy your holidy and know I appreciate you.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

The "NEW" and improved Crafty's

Mr. Crafty and I decided we have had enough of looking the way we have been for quite a few years. It's time to get healthy for us and for our kids. It's only fair to the entire family. So, this June we decided we would completely change what we eat. We follow a low carb, diabetic diet and yes, we do allow ourselves special treats when we are craving something bad enough. You will never survive any eating plan by completely cutting out food, so we don't. Those cravings are few and far between now, so really, there are no troubles. We eat 90% veggies and then allow ourselves 10% for protein or other foods. Even as people "on the go", we manage to make this work and it takes no effort really. It's about being smart and making smart choices. OK, driving and eating a salad is pretty much impossible, and shoving your face with salad at a red light only makes you look like a cow. My suggestion is to just pull into the parking lot and enjoy your salad, or whatever you are eating. My point is, it is easy and can be done, so no excuses.

If only I could find my motivation to get back on my treadmill. In February, I was starting the couch to 5k program again since I took off the summer before and never got back on. My goal was to run a leg of the Flying Pig Marathon for the first time in my life, but I stepped wrong while on my treadmill and crushed my foot. This kept me in a boot/soft cast from February until June. I gained even more weight while not being able to do anything. I broke 2 bones on the top of my foot, crushed my arch, shattered a plantar plate or something and tore some muscles. It wasn't pretty. Anyway, I started back up a few times since June, but once I start feeling the pressure on my foot, I freak out and take the next day off. This leads to taking the next day off, the next day, the next day. You get the picture. I'm scared. I need to get over it. I miss running...BAD. I enjoyed it so much the first time I started last year (2010). I'll get there, I know I will, I just have to schedule time, it's beyond time to put me first.

Anyway, so far, in 3 months, I have lost 30 pounds and Mr. Crafty has lost 60 lbs. I would love to sneak some sugar into his salads for lunch, it doesn't seem fair. LOL!!!!

I'm so proud of Mr. Crafty. He looks amazing. Until I did these side by side shots (posted below), I couldn't see it anywhere on me. Now I at least see it in my face. The ever so adoring Mr. Crafty says my face now looks long. Uhhh...is that supposed to be a compliment? I've turned into stretch?!?! He absolutely loses sugar free brownie points for that comment.

Here it is, our side by side shots.
Me: Feb 2011 -


Me: August 2011 -

Mr. Crafty (with a less than thrilled Dominic) - Feb 2011

Mr. Crafty - Sept 2011

Thursday, September 1, 2011

If airplanes in the night sky...

I'll spare you, I won't sing the song, but it did come to my mind as I was typing this entry. Not that you could hear me if I did sing it.

If you know me, my family, you know about Joey. You know that the sweet looking 7 year old is really the devil in disguise. You can't let his big and beautiful blue eyes and long dark eye lashes fool you. Not even when he bats them at you. He is hilariously funny, mostly because he has no idea he is so funny. He is smart, way too smart for being 7. Loves to build and take things apart so he can put them back together. He fixes things for me, like my broken dishwasher. Joey is honest, or, I should say, brutally honest. His honesty is so bad that when we are in public and he opens his mouth, we all cringe and hold our breath afraid of what he is going to say. He has never been into sports, just trains and now Star Wars. I mean, just a few month back he saw a baby picture of himself holding a football and he said "Awww, is that me with a basketball". *Sigh* There went my dreams of having a quarterback for a son.

Imagine my surprise on the last day of 1st grade, when he brought me a paper about football saying he wanted to sign up. He was so excited. I jumped on it. I wasn't about to let him even take a second to think about what he just said. I jumped on the computer and signed him up within 5 seconds of him saying he wanted to play. He never has touched a football, much less watched a game. I didn't care, this was MY dream. He was signed up and for his uniform #, we picked #7...you know, after John Elway (Denver Broncos).

He has been playing for about a month now. And he is still just as clueless as he was the first day of practice. I watched my dreams shatter right before my eyes. It's ok though, he is having a blast. How do I know he is? Well, it is obvious when you watch him at practice. Especially when they warm up. One warm up is to run the length of the field and back. As all the kids are busting their butts to get back to the coach, there is Joey, dead last, twirling as he runs and has his arms straight out pointing to either side like an airplane as he makes the noise of "Brrrrrooooomm" with every twirl he does. Parents crack up and I am in tears laughing. The coaches? They aren't too fond of him. Another way to tell, last night the coaches gave him the ball and it was his job to run into another kid who was told to tackle him. I thought this was fabulous because he is scared to death of being tackled. He believes his head is going to pop off. So, this kid is coming full speed at Joey and what did he do? Threw the ball at the kid and took off running like a little bitch in the opposite direction. Oh, the howls coming from the parents. Again, I almost died laughing. Watching the 4 grown, very big coaches turn around to not face him and see them cracking up was also priceless. However, being the coach and needing to correct him, he gets in Joey's face and yells at him and tells him to do it again and don't throw the ball. He told Joey if he dropped the ball, he had to run the hill. The kids hate the hill. I don't blame them one bit. Second try...Joey runs down the side, and starts up the middle. He sees the kid coming at him and hides behind the coach's legs and yells "neener neener neener". He never dropped the ball. It's sort of frustrating, but at the same time, so incredibly hilarious because if you know Joey, it's 100% something only he would do.

So, twice a week and every Saturday morning, I get to watch my dreams slip away and pray that Dominic does much better when he is old enough to play. LOL!!!





Monday, August 29, 2011

Oh no I di-int!

Do you remember your parents saying things to you that would absolutely make your skin crawl? You probably swore that you would never say them when you got older. People probably always told you that you too would one day say the same things to your kids, and you would roll your eyes and think "Great! Another old person who thinks I'm going to be just like my parents!" You stood your ground, you would never say anything so stupid. Parents are old, things today weren't like they were back when your parents were little, right? I mean, the old people who lived my house still had a record player when cassette tapes were the rage. You could hear your parents snicker and catch them winking at each other as you argued you would never say stupid things like they did.

One thing I really hated to hear my Dad say was "You're going to school, not the prom, hurry up and get out of here before you are late". UGH! I'm having flashbacks of that as I type it out. I can hear his voice so clearly in my head. I haven't heard that voice in 15 years and it would be nice...if it was any other saying of his except for that one. I remember slamming my stuff around the minute he would yell that up the steps to me. It made me so mad!

Hailee, our almost 14 year old, was running a little late for school. She likes to get there right at 7 so she can hang out with her friends before the bell at 7:30. She leaves the house at 5 til 7 so she can be there. It was 7:00 on the button and she was still getting ready in her room. Before I had time to even think about what was coming out of my mouth, the words just flew out. "Let's go, Hailee, you're going to school, not the prom!!!!!!!!!!!" I felt the air suck back into my body with force, I felt my eyes squint shut and could feel the muscles in my face tense up right as I said it. Yep, I said it, I actually said it.

I was tempted to rinse my mouth out with soap for that one.

On that note, I'll leave you with my prom picture. Don't laugh at my huge hair...but you can tell how long it would take to get ready, I mean, teasing the hair that high would take at least an hour alone, add in make up and mirror gawking and we're talking almost 2 hours.

Ahhh, young love. This would be Mr. Crafty and I from May 1992. My senior prom.



Friday, August 19, 2011

If there is admission into Heaven...

So, today was the funeral for a friend of mine. A very young friend. Her name was Ashley. She was just 41, the mother of 2 small kids, ages 9 and 5. Kids who were much to young to be without their mother, that's for sure. Ashley was diagnosed in 2009 with Stage IV Inflammatory Breast Cancer.

Every phone call she made started with "Hello beautiful", and if I was having a bad day when she called, that ALWAYS cheered me up. How could it not? If she received bad news from scans and she would call, she still started that call with "Hello beautiful". Truth be told, she was the beautiful one. Inside and out. With the church being standing room only, you can only imagine the impact she had on everyone's lives. There will certainly be a void in our world, but I know that she wouldn't want us to be crying over her. She always told me she admired my sense of humor, so I decided that I wouldn't be too emotional today. I would try to find the positive. It won't be easy when deep down I'm so sad.

As I walked into the visitation, a kind of calm/peace came over me, and I kind of cracked a smile. It was probably the first in a few days for me. I was even able to joke with a good friend that I was shocked the church was still standing after she walked in. If there was one person to get Kristy into a church, it would have been Ashley...that right there is proof enough of the awesome woman she was.

I met Ashley through coupons. Yes, you read that right. LOL! There is actually a group of us who became good friends that way. I met her just a few months before her diagnosis. I'll still never forget when we found out. We met at another friend's house and not wanting to bring attention to her diagnosis, we all wore pink shirts. If you know me, you know how much I hate pink. It's one of my favorite shirts now though...simply because of what it represents. And not that it represents breast cancer, but that it represents us girls coming together for Ashley. That night was crazy, I remember the lost look in her eyes, the numbness in her soul. Yet, sitting next to her on the couch, she grabbed my leg, and said "what's up, beautiful?". That's just how she was.

She was a fighter, that is for sure. She promised to never give up the fight, and she sure didn't. No one expected it to end this way, we thought she was going to be the one miracle patient who beat the odds of Stage IV Inflammatory Breast Cancer. We didn't think it, we expected it, we were sure because of the fight she had in her. She was determined. This wasn't going to beat her.

Unfortunately on August 17th, she lost that battle. And, it doesn't feel right saying she "lost the battle". She gave it everything she had and more. She didn't give up, not even for a second. So, I don't know how to word what happened here. All I know is because of this disease, 2 young kids are without their mother, a Mother and Father had to bury their daughter, people were left behind.

We never did get to work on the scrapbook she wanted desperately to put together with me. I think of that almost every night now. I'd still love to do it, her kids deserve it. She had a story to write, we were just never going to give it an ending. Those were her exact words to me on the phone one day. "I want to write my story, but there will never be an ending because I'm not going anywhere."

But, that's all getting mushy again, and I won't do it today. I'll leave you with this. If there is admission into Heaven, you better believe Ashley has a coupon!!!


Good bye, beautiful, you will be missed by many!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Time flies

Before you know it, that precious, beautiful little baby you were holding in your arms is a teenager. That teenager comes equipt with eye rolls, attitude, lots of laughs and their very own unique style. A style I might not like, but she feels comfortable, so why worry?

Today, another sort of touching day in Church. The youth got up to talk to the congregation about their mission trips they just came back from. The middle schoolers went to one, while the high schoolers went to another. Our oldest is a Middle schooler.

She was standing there with her group of friends, telling stories about the fun they had, the workshops they attended, the crops they worked on, the meditation they did, etc. As she was standing there, playing with her hair and rubbing her nose as she does when she is embarrassed or nervous, I was envisioning our little girl. The one who used to sport her prettiest dress ups, big purple hat, feather boa and the most gorgeous high heels a dollar could get you.

What I was seeing was someone totally different. What I was seeing is my almost grown 13 (soon to be 14) year old, wearing real make up, having her colored hair that is flat ironed, her all black clothing and gawdy gym shoes. I suddenly realized that yep, she is growing up. The MP3 wearing, texting, eye rolling girl is the same little girl who (still) laughs at the goofiest stuff...and can't stop or control the laughter, the same baby girl who wore those dress up outfits to the store. Yep, I was getting teary eyed. It seriously seems like yesterday I was holding her in my arms, now I'm excited when I get a good night kiss from her.

These kids, they've got to stop grown up!

Friday, July 22, 2011

Proof Joey is the devil.

First, let me start this off by stating that I absolutely love my Joey-Joe. He has always been my "rotten child", or as I like to call him, "The one my parents wished on me". He's just as mean and rotten as I was as a child, although he has not beaten anyone up (yet). By the time I was 7, a boy in our neighborhood used to walk around with a bike chain and lock to hit me with if I ever came near him again. Yeah, I was "that kid". I beat him up so much he had to carry protection with him everywhere.

Today, Nic and I were driving around running some errands. I asked him to sing his ABC's for me so that I can assure his preschool teacher he still knows his alphabet. He adores his teacher, Ms. Shannon. Everything he does, he asks if I will tell her in an email. I pretend to email her and he gets very excited to hear how she emails back and is thrilled with his progress. Come on...you've never told those kinds of lies to your kids? LOL!

Today, he decided he was not going to sing his ABC's. There was nothing I could do to get him to do it. Well, I could have bribed him with M&M's, but that's going to extremes when I know he knows his alphabet. So, I told him I would let Ms. Shannon know he forgot his alphabet and she would probably cry.

None of this phased Dominic. He, at 3, is pretty wise. Even at 3 he knows that his older brother must have always been the devil. How do I know this? Because after I told him that Ms. Shannon was going to cry, he looked at me with a very serious face and said "Teachers doesn't have tears. They cried them all out when Joey was a little boy"!!!!!!

Yes Dominic, you are probably right. ROFLMAO!!!


Who would believe someone so handsome would be so mean?

Monday, July 18, 2011

It shouldn't be allowed...

This little story isn't about the kids, it's about me and one of my many issues I have. I hate feet. I mean, I literally hate feet. They gross me out, far more than anyone can ever understand. I could seriously suffer a heart attack if someone touches me with their feet...and this is one of the reasons I will not share blankets with my husband. Yes, even in a deep sleep if a foot touches me, I'll freak out and possibly puke everywhere. When our oldest was born, the nurse brought her to me, and my mom quickly unwrapped her from her blankets to show me how perfect she was. In my drugged stupor from having a c-section, I almost tossed my perfect baby across the room as a foot almost touched my skin! Yes, my dislike of feet is *THAT* bad. Had it not been for my mom grabbing her, there is no telling what may have happened. LOL!

So, imagine my surprise as I am sitting on the couch, eating a salad and watching some TV. A commercial for News 5 comes on and the 2 news anchors are talking about an upcoming story. They say something like "Don't be grossed out, we'll test this product" and what do they show??? Someone shaving dead skin from their nasty feet using a ped-egg. That's it!!! Dinner is over. O-V-E-R! How can you even put these images on TV?

Have you seen the commercial? Check it out HERE. Tell me, is this something you want to see without warning of the vile dead skin shaving being shown? Blaaaaaaahhh, I think NOT.

Now I understand why people always say it's horrible to watch TV and eat at the same time.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Missing our Lee Lee

It's that time of year again. Time for Hailee to go on a mission trip with our church and the group of middle school kids. Last year was her first adventure. She had a wonderful time and came home with a ton of stories and a renewed feeling of self worth. No mother and father in their right minds would deny their child that experience.

I remember being miserable when she was gone last year. To the point I didn't want to leave my house because I needed to be a Mom of 4, not 3. I know it sounds weird, but, well, it just felt different. She has always been around as our family has grown and it wasn't like she was just spending the night somewhere for one night, she was gone last year for 7 days. We all missed her terribly. So much so, that Dominic wouldn't talk to her when she came back home. He was mad because she left him. LOL!

This year, it is just a 5 day trip. I know it is a temporary break and I realize that sometimes that "know it all" attitude and her constant eye rolls bug me more than anything, but right now, I wouldn't mind so much getting an eye roll. Our house dynamics change with out her, as I am sure they would with out any one of the kids. Everything is off kilter. It's truly a sign we were meant to be a family of 6. I'm just missing her right now, even though I would never deny her this trip, this experience, or a chance to get away from US. She needs the break as well, it's obviously time for her to grow up. As much as I want to, I can't stop the aging process.

I miss you Lee...I hope you are having the time of your life.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

That's sign language in our house.

Today was Hailee's confirmation. As I sat in church thinking back over the past 13 years and how far I've come as a parent, how far Hailee has come as our daughter and how much our lives changed in these past 13 or so years, I looked down trying not to cry. I see Joey out of the corner of my eye playing with paper. I thought "no big deal, he's quiet in Church right now, not disrupting Pastor Kathy or anyone else and not fidgeting." WAIT...that means something is wrong. Seriously wrong. Panic starts to rush over me and I automatically tune out what Kathy is saying...or whoever it was reading at the time. I can't tell you who is around me all of a sudden, because, all I see is Joey finishing up his paper air plane he just constructed out of the prayer cards in the pew. The evil grin of "haaaahaaa, look out below" rushes over his face and I feel all the blood rush to my head. I have two options, pass out or stop the boy in his tracks. Only, I'm frozen. I see him start to pull his arm back, still with his evil grin on his face. Right before launch, he decided to look at me out of the corner of his eye to see if he is going to be able to get away with this or not. Our eyes meet. I don't remember saying anything, but I remember showing my clenched teeth. That's sign language in our house. It means, DO IT AND DIE. Suddenly, the evil grin is gone, his head hangs in disbelief. I know what he's thinking. He's thinking "Man, if I didn't look at her, I would be sailing this plane right through our service." Supermom kicked in and that little piece of paper became mine. Phew, I survived that one.

The kids were called up to leave for Children's church and while we had every intention of having Joey stay with us to see his sister make her Confirmation, I asked him to leave. I'm not really sure what I was thinking to begin with. Of course he wouldn't sit with us that long...and behave at the same time. "See ya soon, sucker", that was the look I got as he was walking out past me.

After service, Joey came running up to show me the craft he worked on in Children's Church. What did they make? YUP, paper airplanes. Maybe God really does have a sense of humor.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

What have I done?

There are often times during the course of the year I ask myself "What have I done to deserve this?" Today is one of those days. Today is a day when I seriously consider selling my son on the black market. Of course, I would never. I am grateful to have him in my life, to be his Mom, to be the one he sings his "Nite nite" song to every night and I get to be smothered in his snot nosed kisses - but still, I consider it, if even for just a second. I need something to get me through moments like this. Right? I can't be alone...can I?

Today, I am on a serious mission to clean my craft room of all of the stuff that has piled up in here. Tomorrow is trash pick up, so I've got to get this done. That means I put the boy in charge of himself. I fully expected to be shot at 900 times by anything he can make into a gun, to have bombs (hard golf balls) thrown at me and to be sliced by the light saber at least 12 dozen times. This is typical in this house.

About 1 1/2 hours into my cleaning, I realize, nothing has happened. I've not been shot, I'm not sporting any new bumps from bombs being thrown and I'm still whole. Something is wrong...very, very wrong.


Along with eating almost a dozen donuts that were in the fridge, the boy helped himself to some chocolate syrup. Oh, but he was thoughtful. He made a cup for me too.


Kids...gotta love em!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Hoppy Easter!

This weekend was jam packed with Easter activities. So, I'll just post some pictures for you to enjoy. Haahaa! Not much funny happened, we were much too busy to notice if it did.

Easter Eggs we colored.

Easter Egg hunt at church. Hailee decided to sit this one out since, well, you know, she is a teenager. She tells me that with an eyeroll. LOL!







Easter Sunday.

Every year at our church, the kids decorate the cross. Being Catholic for 29 years, this was something strange when I first saw it being done, but it is now one of my favorite parts of Easter. I love going to our "new" church (no longer catholic) and seeing the decorated cross. I played with the sky on a photo editing site and thought this looks pretty cool.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The Emergency Kit

Last night we were supposed to get "the storm of the century" the way the weathermen were acting. Severe thunderstorms and the possibility of a tornado. Great, a sleepless night, much like the night before. Where we live, the tornado sirens go off as soon as a storm starts brewing. No one here takes the sirens seriously - unless you are a kid. We were even chatting on facebook making fun of the storms and teasing about twisters sweeping us away and being found "in the rubble with stubble". That still makes me laugh to type that.

Anyway, as predicted, the sirens started going off before it started to rain. No biggie. I told the kids they would hear the sirens and not to freak. They had flash lights for when the power would go out. It always does here, no storm needed. I turned on the news and it was just a warning for the thunderstorms that were on the way. I went to the girls room to let them know it's ok and I was going to bed. The boys were sound asleep.

A few minutes later, all 4 kids came into our room, with the dog and all of their worldly possessions. Sirens were sounding, thunderstorms were in full effect and the wind had picked up big time. I turn on the TV and sure enough we have a tornado warning. The funny thing is though, the weathermen were saying it probably wouldn't happen, but because the wind was blowing so fast, they issued a warning for the entire viewing area anyway. *SIGH* All this for no reason. Whatever, better safe than sorry. I don't mind my kids coming into my room when they feel scared, so we listened to John snore (he had no idea the kids and dog were even in the room) and watched the weather report.

I looked in the girls "emergency kits" they packed. I was shocked at the differences in what these two packed. In Hanna's bag (the 10 year old), there was her nebulizer, albuterol, pictures of my Mom, extra insulin for me, her blankie, a stuffed animal, a cross she received from our Pastor almost 6 years ago and a wallet with more change in it than I'd care to count. Time to look in Hailee's bag! Hanna was laughing hard and rolling her eyes when I looked in Hailee's bag. I knew this was going to be good. In Hailee's bag (the 13 year old), I found her camera, cell phone, charger, make up, make up remover, zit cream, flat iron and toilet paper. I had to explain that if there was a tornado, we'd be without power so none of these things would be needed. I was cracking up. She responds with "Even in an emergency, you gotta look good and still be able to wipe your butt."

Monday, April 18, 2011

Let me get serious for a minute.

It's not often that I am serious. I don't like being serious, there is too much stress in the "real world" to read about it on a blog or on facebook, but today, I'm serious.

I learned this morning that someone from our church passed away very unexpectedly last night. He was a great man, very involved in church, always greeted us with a smile and even commented to me how great it was to see us back in church. We were AWOL for a while. He didn't say it to make us feel uncomfortable, he said it because he was truly happy to see us back. He made EVERYONE feel welcome, even if you have never stepped foot in the church doors before. I didn't know a lot about him or his wife, I only knew that they were both great people, had a decent sized family and loved their church family. Woody will be missed by so many people. I can't imagine what his wife is going through today...and will continue to go through for some time now. I hope she knows how many lives Woody has touched, just by being him. I'm saddened by the news of his passing, as I'm sure a lot of others are as well.

This made me realize just how short life is, how it can change in an instant. Woody's death wasn't planned, it wasn't supposed to happen now. All I can think about is my husband. Does he realize what he means to me, to us? Does he know how much we count on him? Do I tell him enough how wonderful I think he is? Do I tell him and show him how much I love him? I know that the sound of him snoring at night makes me go crazy and I want nothing but to put the pillow over his face to stop him from doing it...but how would I feel if the snoring stopped? I don't think I could go on. Well, obviously, I would have to, but how?

My Dad passed away when I was 21, I watched my Mom let herself go after losing him. She passed away 10 years after him. For some reason, probably because I was caught up in being a new wife, trying to start my own family, I didn't realize what my Mom went through. It didn't really seem like life was really short. My dad was only 47 years old when he died. For some reason, at 21, I didn't see any of this. Now, it's all I can think about. 47 years old. That would be 11 years from now. I can't imagine leaving my kids and my life ending before it even begins. Why I see it today, I have no idea.

If you know me, you know I'm not a mushy, lovey dovey person. I rarely show affection towards people other than our kids. Here I sit though, wondering, have I told John enough? I know I haven't. Heck, I was screaming at him all night to turn over and STFU. Today, I sit here thankful he is answering my text messages. I look at the beautiful roses he got me last night and think "Thank you, God, for bringing him into my life"...but do I tell HIM that? Nope.

So, with that, I'll tell him more, I'll try to stop bitching about his snoring, and I won't take him for granted. I'll show him how thankful I am to have him in my life, I'll show him and tell him how much I really love him. How much I admire him and how proud I am of him. I don't think he could ever fully understand how much he means to me, or even know how much I truly love him. I don't think there are enough ways to tell him, enough words in the dictionary. He is the kind of man people dream of having. Hard working, loving, caring, spoils me...and I take it for granted on some days. I realized today it's time I start showing him, because, God forbid, what if tomorrow never comes?

Hug your loved ones...

Saturday, April 16, 2011

I just don't even know what to say.

Joey and Hanna were in his room playing hospital. Joey was the patient with a head injury. You see, Dominic shot Joey in the head with his toy gun. The same toy gun he held to my forehead this morning and started shooting at me (as I slept) and sweetly asked for breakfast.

Having no bandages in the hospital, Joey resorted to the closest thing he could find.


The wide eyes...that was the expression when I told him what his bandage is really used for!!! You just can't make this stuff up.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

He pooped it out, Mom!

Ahhh, my boys. Oh how I love my boys. They are starting to fight almost as bad as the girls do. Dominic can be a total stinker and Joey just asks for it. It's like his payback from being so evil when he was 4. I kind of just sit back and laugh at those two fighting. Although, I do have to referee their arguments and fights more than I do the girls. Dominic will bite Joey the minute he gets a chance, and Joey will slap himself and scream "Mooom, Dominic hit me."

Today, the fight is over a pencil cap eraser. Joey was doing homework and Dominic came up behind him, grabbed the eraser off of his pencil and took off running like the devil. He even has the evil laugh to go with it. Joey immediately screams and runs after him, making Nic laugh even harder. It was funny to watch. I'll admit that.

Nic pretended to eat the eraser, which sent Joey into a crying, screaming fit. Really, who cries over an eraser? So, I asked Nic where it was, he told me it was on the floor. I kind of believed he ate it, he has been known to do worse things. I asked him to show it to me. He brought it in, just like my good little boy. Haaahaa!

I walked over to Joey and handed it to Joey. He wouldn't touch it and was giving me the stink eye. I have no idea what that was about so I had to ask. The answer "He pooped it out, Mom! I am not touching that nasty thing, just throw it away right now! Are you trying to kill me by giving me something from his butt?"

Yes, yes I am Joey, poop kills...you didn't know?

Just another day in the Powell house.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Whoa! What happened here???

Just 6 months ago, our oldest daughter looked like, well, a typical 13 year old, I think anyway. She still looked young, but like she was just starting to grow up. She at lest still looked like a kid, certainly not like a teenager. Oh, she had the hormones and attitude to go with a teenager, just not the looks. Here is a picture taken of her in October. The month she turned 13.

6 months later, I have no idea who this young woman is. She kinda looks like our daughter, she has the teenager attitude our daughter has...hummm, she even talks like her. I have to check her phone to see who she is, because our sweet girl is attached to that phone the minute the school bell rings. What do you know? This girl has the same phone and she gets into my van. It MUST be our daughter. Anyway, this is my Lee Lee. Taken this weekend, in April...just 6 months after the first picture above.

Friday, April 8, 2011

The Green Toe...

Really, you just have to love Joey. His stories amaze me.

Last night we were sitting down eating dinner and he tells us, out of no where, all about his green toe. We joked for a while, kind of like making this out to be some super hero. The Green Toe, with a yellow cape. We had no idea what he was talking about, but we let him talk, he was getting excited the more he was telling us. And to be honest, we were all zoning in and out and only catching part of his story.

Finally, I started paying close attention to what he was saying. "OMG Joe, do you have another ingrown toe nail? Is this what you mean by your green toe?" Dear God, I'm ready to gag, this is at dinner and I can totally picture now what he may be referring to.

"Yep, but don't worry, Mom. I squeezed all the green and yellow blood out. I'M A MAN!!!!"

That was it...the end of dinner. Everyone was finished. Maybe he is the key to weight loss? I'm still shuddering over this story.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

This can't be good...

This morning I had to run to the store to get some toilet paper. Yeah, I know, how can you actually wait until there is no more on the roll? Anyway, Nic Dominic and I ran to CVS since I have a gift card to use up. He loves to be a big helper, so he asked to carry the toilet paper. It is almost as big as he is, but he insists on carrying it through the store. We had to stop several times before getting to the check out because #1, the package was huge, and #2, he saw some bright and shiny items. No big deal, we aren't in any hurry, so we take our time and I let him look at whatever he wants to look at.

As we are walking, he starts talking about going potty like a big boy. We have this conversation at least 900 times a day, surely one day he will be completely potty trained, right? So, we walk and we talk.

Out of no where, Dominic tells me he doesn't need toilet paper, he will pee and poop in his pull up. I had to remind him there are 5 other people in our house who do not wear diapers or pull ups, so we need the toilet paper. I can see the wheels spinning in his little mind, I know he's thinking something...so I wait for it.

Nothing. Humm, surely he is going to ask or say something. Right? Nope, something else caught his eye. YES! I'm off the hook with this one!

Finally he decides he has had enough looking and we can go pay. FUN TIMES! He gets to hold the receipt, and he loves that as much as carrying groceries or toilet paper around. He's an odd ball, that's for sure.

At the cash register, there is a young woman cashier. She comments to him about what a big boy he is for helping his mommy. He smiled his little "shy" smile and then hid behind me. That's typical Dominic. As I am getting my gift card out, he comes back around and says "Mommy needs it to wipe her butt. She doesn't poop in pull ups." God, let this ground open up and swallow me!!! I tried to play it off cool, like I didn't hear him, I look at the cashier and hand her my gift card, and she is laughing so hard, her eyes are welling up with tears! All I could do is smile and tell her to have a nice day, all she could do was nod.

Yep, that is just one part of the Everyday life in

the Powell house!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

DON'T CALL ME NIC!!!!

Those were the words shouted to me from the 3 year old this morning. He told me he will never be called Nic again! "I am Dominic, a big boy. I go to school and I sleep in a big boy bed. I NOT Nic!"

Fine, I can try to call him Dominic, although, since finding out he was a boy during an ultrasound, I have called him Nic. Even Mr. Crafty, who was totally against calling him Nic, has, on occasion, called him Nic. I guess we will put a stop to that A.S.A.P. Although, after this little conversation (read that as him screaming at me, not talking, he is in a horrible mood), I asked him where "big boys" go to the potty. He happily tells me that big boys go potty in the bathroom. Absolutely! He's right. So, I ask, "Where do YOU go to the bathroom?" and he answers with "mostly in my pull ups"!

Obviously, I will not be winning this conversation.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Let the fights begin!!!

And why not? It was only 7:00 a.m., why not let the girls go ahead and fight? Everyone is up anyway, so I'll stay out of this one. I'll let them work it out on their own. To be totally honest, unless there is blood involved, I have told them to deal with it on their own.

What is it that the girls are fighting over this early? Pre wrap! You know, the stuff athletes use that now all the girls use for hair bands. Here is a picture below if you don't know what it is. And if you don't, consider yourself lucky because you clearly do not have kids fighting over it at 7:00 a.m.

As I let them fight over it, I can hear Hanna begging Hailee to let her have some of it. Oh no, you can't pry that stuff away from Hailee. I don't see the big deal, it's a good size roll of foam. So, I've had it with the bickering. I override Hailee's "no" ruling and tell Hanna she can have some. Then I hear a THUD - - I wait for the tears, sure one of them knocked the other to the floor in their room. Nothing. Ahhh, nice! Hailee just threw the roll at Hanna and it hit the floor. I'm fine with that, like I said, it's early and I don't want to deal with this anyway. Then I hear it. Here it comes! The 13 year old attitude, all over the prewrap. They start going at it again because Hailee is mumbling to Hanna that she will look stupid with the prewrap, the exact same prewrap that Hailee wears. Really, these two will fight about anything.

I kinda giggle inside when I hear them fighting, I remember PLENTY of fights with my sister. We are 3 years apart (I'm the baby) and so are Hailee and Hanna. We had some doozies and lets be real here, we still have arguments with each other. We now resolve the problems in about 5 seconds, instead with fist fighting or clawing each other with our nails. Our husbands don't understand how we can argue so bad or so much with each other and then in a 5 second turn around, we are back to being best friends. I think we drive them a little crazy.

I try to tell my girls that one day, they will be best friends too. They disagree. At their age, I would also disagree that my sister would one day be my best friend. But she is, I would go to the ends of the earth for her, and I know she would do the same for me.

Here is a picture of me and my sis together. Enjoy it because it's probably one of the only pictures you will see of me.

Monday, April 4, 2011

My first post on this blog!

While I thought that my first post would be a funny one, with all that Joey has to say, it's mostly a serious post. OH well, it is what it is. Enjoy!


Today it is raining and nasty out. Instead of making Hanna and Joey walk home from the corner, I decided to pick them up so they wouldn't get wet. I see Hanna getting off of the bus and I see that she is crying. I also notice a band aid on her knee and figured that is why she is crying. She will get just a scratch and she thinks she needs to be rushed to the ER. Of course, getting stitches the amount of times she has, I guess she worries. LOL!

She gets into my van and the flood gates open. I asked if she was ok, DUH, dumb thing to do with an emotional girl. She starts to tell me the story of today. She forgot one of her books and left it in her locker. So, she got a check. She is crying because of ONE check, her first check of the school year. It really means nothing, you have to have 3, I believe, before anything even happens. All these tears over a silly check for forgetting a book. Now, first, I'll say this, she had set a goal to go all year without getting any checks. That means no forgotten homework, no behavior reminders, no forgotten books...you get the idea. We are 2 months away from the end of the year and she got her first check. It just broke her little heart. I keep trying to tell her, as we sit in the van, not to worry, it isn't a big deal, just don't get another one. Joey just dies laughing. I asked what was so funny and he comes back with "Seriously, a check! Hanna, I got a detention and didn't even CARE and I'm only in the first grade!"

I try to ignore the band aid on Hanna's knee because I know that's going to bring more tears. We get into the house and Joey turns and lifts up his shirt showing me two big band aids on his belly. He starts telling me how he was jumping up and down in school and scratched his belly on the metal ledge of the chalk board. He tells me that I should be expecting an e-mail from his teacher about it. No tears, he just tells it like it is. Hanna hears this and comes running back to me, again, crying her eyes out. She has one little band aid and and a teeny scratch. She rips off the band aid and has to have me check it out all the while more tears are streaming down her face. I think that might be why she is so skinny! It's all those tears she cries. All the water weight is gone!