At Least It's Over.......

Yesterday was a crazy day. I had to drag, I mean drag myself out of bed. It felt like I was getting a cold. I went through the usual morning routine; pick up Myshel, make lunches, rush the kids to get ready, get McKaylie off to the bus, drive Noah to school.....all the while thinking, I am such a mess, I look like I just rolled out of bed (which I kind of had), at least after I drop Noah off I can come home and shower and look and feel better...................yeeaaahh, that didn't happen!

When I got to Noah's school, they asked me if I was going to stay for the "Read With Me". They were having a make up day because the last date was cancelled because of snow. Read With Me is a great program, where we, the parents, learn about a kid's book, then we go in the classroom with our kids and the teacher reads the book to us. Then they have a craft that relates to the book. After that, the parents go back and discuss how we think the kids liked the book and then we're all given a copy of the book for free! It usually takes about an hour. I thought, "I probably look pretty scary, but I'll stay. It will only take an hour and we'll get our free book. Besides Noah will like that I was there when they read the book." So, I stayed. They finished the Read With Me and then announced that they were having some people come in and talk about the adult education programs in the area. Which is all great and dandy, except I'm really wanting to get out of there. 30 minutes later I was walking out and one of the teachers stopped me to "discuss" a few things. Fine, they weren't all that important, but whatever. 15 more minutes and I'm finally in my car.......

While I'm driving home, I remember that we forgot some of our food in the frig. at the church from the won ton making the night before. The family history center should be open so I figured I'm just slip in and get the food and I wouldn't have to see or be seen by anyone. Then I wouldn't have to make another trip later. I get to the church and there's a few cars there......ok, well, I might not know any of them.....they'll think I'm scary and sad and I'll be on my way. yeah, that didn't happen either. Our relief society presidency was having a meeting AND there were others there decorating for the sweetheart dance they're having tonight. Dang! I forgot all about that! I peeked in the gym, hoping that there was a lot of people helping and I wouldn't be missed. There was only 2 people besides the activities chairperson. Dang! I stayed and helped until it was time to go pick up Noah. All the time I was thinking, "of all the days that you didn't get up and shower and make yourself look half decent, you had to pick today!!!!!

I picked up Noah, ran home and was there exactly 35 minutes before we had to leave to go to speech therapy in Portland (about a 45 minute drive) That's not enough time to shower! I fixed myself up the best I could, grabbed something very quick to eat and we were off again. Speech went great. On Thursday I don't get home until about an hour and a half after Myshel and Vance get home from school. So, I called to check on them. This is how the conversation went.

Vance: Hello
Me: Hey bud, how is everything?
Vance: Good
Me: Myshel's home right?
Vance: Yeah, I think so.
Me: You think? You don't know?
Vance: Yeah, she's here.
Me: Let me talk to her.
I hear Vance yelling at her through the phone....."Myshel......Myshel.....Mom wants to talk to you", Myshel...... I can hear him walking through the house while he's yelling for her.
Vance: "She's not here"---just matter a fact--it's no big deal--whatever
Me, a little panicked: "What do you mean she's not there?"
Vance: "I don't know. She isn't here"
Me: "Seriously, she isn't there?"
Vance: "Moooommm, she isn't here"
Me: "Ok, I'm on my way home, bye"

Then I immediately called Chad told him about the conversation, that I was in Portland and he needed to find his daughter and then call me back. He left work early and came home.

About 20 long minutes later Chad called me back. She was at the school and would be home soon. She stayed after chatting with her friends and then decided to talk to her Algebra teacher about an assignment. I got home around 4:30. This is how the conversation went.

Myshel: Mom, I told you I might have to stay after school
Me: No, you said that if you decided to stay after school, you'd call me. You didn't call. I can't just assume that you're ok when you don't show up.
Myshel: I don't think that's what I said.
Me: You know the rules, you have to call and let us know, especially on speech days.
Myshel: Well, maybe if you'd get me a cell phone, it would be easier to call you.
Me: Nice try!

We also talked to Vance about how he should actually check to see if any one's home BEFORE he turns on the TV.

It was about 5 o'clock when all this was finished and I finally went and took my shower!

Food Tag....

I was tagged by 2 Kids And Tired. This is a fun one and made me think.

Standard tag rules apply:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.

2. Share 5 food facts about yourself.

3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them)

4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

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1. I would consider myself a picky eater (so would my husband). I just don't like some food/flavors. (i.e. I don't like mac & cheese, Ramon noodles or hot dogs. Peanut butter is bearable at times) I found as I get older that I like some of the things that I didn't like when I was younger and some of the things I did like then, I don't like now. However, when I go to other people's houses, I'll eat whatever they offer me.

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2. I don't mind cooking. I think I'm pretty good at it, but I hate the idea of cooking dinner every single night, which is why I don't. My hat's off to those of you who do!

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3. I love going out to lunch with my hubby. I think I like it better than going out for dinner.

I'm not sure what makes it more enjoyable, but it is.

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4. When we lived in Maine before, my husband would have duty every other Saturday. The kids and I would go to the gallery for breakfast on that Saturday morning. Chad would make us omelets and then come and eat breakfast with us. While we ate the kids would watch cartoons. There was hardly anyone there at that time of the morning, so it would be nice and quiet. We hated that Chad had duty, but we all looked forward to those breakfasts. They are one of my favorite memories from being stationed at that base.

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5. I've taught all my kids to cook, except Noah, because he's not old enough yet. McKaylie doesn't cook a lot and she's always supervised, but she can do it. And, Vance can make omelet just about as good as his dad's!

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I tag: Marie, Joey, Katy, Life Ticks On, PJ

Much Ado About Nothing........

It snowed again last night. They predicted that we'd get 7-12 inches and then rain. We only got about 5 inches and no rain (that I know of). I'm not complaining, we haven't seen the ground since last December, so the less snow we get the better if you ask me and it didn't rain! The rain just turns everything to ice. We already are way, way over the snowfall average for this area. Last fall, Vance could hardly wait for the snow to come and I think that even he's getting a little tired of it. I will say, though, that it is nice when it snows, because it gives you a nice fluffy layer for a short while. All the snow on the ground is hard and crusted. By the end of the day it will be all packed and hard, but for a little while we'll have some fluffy snow. McKaylie was helping make a snowman while she waited for the bus. The kids still had school, which is good, except for Noah. He's home today and will have to make up his school day on Friday.

Have I mentioned how much I hate this housing???? I do, I really do. It's so small and has an awkward layout. It's the oldest housing in the area. They were actually in the process of tearing down this housing to build new, when it was decided to close this base. So, all work stopped and we're stuck living in small, old, outdated housing. The only thing about this housing that makes it worth while is that the school system here is very good. So anyway, Monday I decided to rearrange my living room, yet again. Trying to make things fit better to give us a little more room, but also trying to keep the heat registers open so that the sectional doesn't block off the heat. (There's heat registers of 2 of the 3 walls in the living room area--doesn't leave a lot of options) My little brain was thinking away when it came to me.......I can take the corner section out of my sectional and hook the 2 ends together and it would just be one long couch basically. It would fit on the one wall that doesn't have the register and open up the room. So that's what I did. I don't know if I think the "look" is all that great, but I had to give up on getting the"look" I want in my house when I moved in here. What did I do with the corner of the sectional???? I put it in the only corner in the entire house that was available, in Myshel's room. I don't think she minded at all having an extra seat in her bedroom. It's not perfect, but it definitely opened up the living room and that makes a big difference. But, ohhhhh how I miss my housing in Virginia! I always did like that housing and was sad to leave it.

The young women in our ward are celebrating the Chinese New Year tonight at their activities. Myshel volunteered me to make won tons. I thought that was aweful nice of her. I guess that means I'll be spending the afternoon getting ready to teach the girls how to make won tons. At least there will be something yummy to eat afterward. They're also having someone make mandarin chicken, so double yum!

I have a pile of sewing that I've been trying to get done. I've told myself that I can't go back to scrapbooking until the sewing is finished. It's my goal to accomplish that today, along with the laundry and getting ready for the YW acitivity and working on speech with Noah for an hour. That's besides all the normal everyday stuff that I'll also have to manage. And I wonder why time seems to fly by..........

Time's Flying By....

Is it just me or is anyone else out there just blown away that in two days it will be March?!? It seems like we were just getting settled after moving to Maine and here it is, 8 months later. I remember wishing that Christmas would just get here already and now it's been over for 2 months! Time just seems to be flying by for me. Also, Daylight Savings is going to come early this year and Easter is early, which is strange, but also makes it seem like time is flying by even faster. Before I know it, it will be summer (not that I'd mind that) and the kids will be out of school! Things just need to slow down a little.

Mary Engelbreit Monday

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.

---Phylis Diller

Break Time's Over.....

My kid's vacation is over tomorrow. This week has gone by so fast. We really didn't do a lot all week, but it was still really nice just to hang out and not have anything pressing that we just had to do either. It was really nice having Chad around all day, too. We really appreciate the time that we have together. He went back to work today.

I'm not sure that I'm ready for the vacation to be over. It's not that I'm not ready for them to go back to school. It's more that I'm not ready to start getting up at 5:30AM and spend the day runing around. It was a much needed break, but I guess we have to get back to "real life".

5 Year Old Sweetness......

Thursday evening we sent Myshel off to Youth Conference. Her leader picked her up around 5:30PM. They had about an hour's drive ahead of them, so we let her take our portable DVD player for the drive. She was there until Saturday night when we had to go and pick her up in the town where they had the conference.

Chad and I were talking Friday night about how quiet the house was without Myshel home. It really was much quieter. A little while after this conversation, Noah came and asked us when Myshel would be home. My heart melted a little, I couldn't help but think that it was so cute that he missed his big sister, too and wanted her home. Chad was thinking the same thing. This is how the conversation went.

Noah: "When is Myshel coming home?"
Chad: "She won't be home until tomorrow night, when we go get her."
Me (thinking "ohhhhh, how sweet"): "Why, Bud? Do you miss her?"
Noah: "No, I miss the DVD player!"
So much for that sweet little boy!

Myshel had a pretty good time at youth conference. I think she had more fun than she let on. Apparently there's a boy that "shadowed" her and her friends all day Saturday. Chad and I teased her that he must have liked her. She said, "yeah, probably, but it was just creapy!". You just keep thinking that, Myshel! Boys=Creapy!

A New Do.....

My kids are officially on winter break. Chad also took leave and will have the week off from work. So, we will have a whole week to spend together. We don't plan on going any where special, just whatever comes to mind at the time. I'm mostly just looking forward to some time off from the running around and being together as a family. I hope the kids see it that way, too. It's raining today, which makes it look rather dreary outside. It's a good day to cuddle up and watch movies!

Over the weekend, McKaylie got her hair cut. I had had enough. Her hair is so thick that if she doesn't keep it brushed it just looks ratty. I gave her a choice, she could keep it brushed and pulled back out of her face or she could get it cut. After 3 days of trying to keep it brushed, she told me she wanted it cut. I was very relieved! I really like her new hair-do. It makes her look older, though. When Chad saw her after she cut it and told me to go back to the store and get his little girl back!

Before:

After:

Mary Engelbreit Monday

May your walls know joy; may every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility.

---Maryanne Radmacher-Hershey

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day Chatter

Yesterday's storm was nuts. It snowed about 10 inches here and then around 11AM started to rain. It would change from freezing rain to just rain off and on through the rest of the day. The streets all over town were flooding because all the storm drains were blocked with snow. It was just a slushy, icy mess! We're considering ourselves lucky, though, because we never lost our power. A lot of people around the state did. My kids were making we crazy yesterday, too. By this morning I was ready to boot them out the door to school. They have all next week off for their winter break. I hope next week goes better than yesterday did!

This morning Noah was grumpy about his pants. I didn't have his favorite ones washed and he had to wear the ones he doesn't like. It wasn't as ugly as it's been in the past, but it wasn't pretty either. So, after finally getting him ready to go, driving 7 miles to his school, we find out that they's cancelled it for the day! Grrrrrr! Gee, it's dejavu! It's like I've heard this story before about 100 times! Noah is by far my most challenging child. He is so headstrong. When he decides he wants something a certain way, it's really hard to change his mind. He makes me want to pull my hair out.......a lot! He's started throwing a fit about his socks, too! We all know that that comes from his dad's side of the family, don't we!!!!!!

So today is Valentine's Day........Chad has duty, so I won't be seeing much of him. That kind of puts a damper on the day, but I've actually spent a lot of Holiday/Birthday/Anniversaries without Chad around at all, so it's not that unusual. At least I'll get to see him today AND he'll be home tomorrow and we can go out then.

I always put a valentine present and candy out for my kids so that they'll see it first thing in the morning. I always tell them it's from the Valentine Fairy. They know it's from me, but it's a fun little game. But, this Valentine's morning, the Valentine Fairy didn't come! I decided to do it later in the day after the kids get home from school. That way they won't be eating the candy before they leave.

Also, this year we decided that we would all make valentines for each other, instead of just from me! That way the kids are thinking about each other and mom and dad, instead of just what they'll get from me! It also makes Chad have to come up with a valentine for everyone instead of me doing all the work! Plus, I know the schools don't do much for Valentine's Day anymore. I remember we always had a big party at school and we would make our own Valentine boxes. We would get to go around and put our valentine cards in the different kid's boxes. There was usually a contest for the most creative box, too. I wish they still did things like that.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day with your sweethear or family or both!

Tag-#2

Tagged by Life Ticks On...

ABC's of me:
A- Attached or single: Definitely attached
B- Best Friend: That would be Chad
C-Cake or Pie: Cake unless it's pumpkin pie!
D- Day of Choice: I know it should be Sunday, but it's probably Saturday. It's the one day that we can all be together as a family
E- Essential Item: Scriptures
F- Favorite Color: Blue
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: I could/would take either one
H- Hometown: Cody
I- Indulgence(s): Scrapbooking, Computer time
J- January or July: That's tough, I'd probably say July, though.
K-Kids: Myshel-15, Vance-12(almost 13), McKaylie-7, Noah-5
L-Life is incomplete without: My family, Christ
M- Marriage Date: December 28, 1990
N- Number of Siblings: 4; 2 older sisters, 1 older brother, 1 younger sister
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples, but I do love a good orange
P- Phobias or Fears: probably snakes, they really creep me out
Q-Quotes(s):"Look to the lighthouse of the Lord. There is no fog so dense, no night so dark, no gale so strong, no mariner so lost, but what its beacon light can rescue."---Thomas S. Monson
R- Reason To Smile: My family, the dogs
S- Season: Autumn. I love the cooler temperatures, but it's not cold yet. And the colors are so beautiful
T- Tag: Marie, Mom2My6Kids, Katy, Maine Mom
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I've had grey hair since I was in high school
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I don't think I could go without a juicy hamburger forever, so I guess "oppressor of Animal"
W- Worst Habit: Managing my time, I get worse and worse at it as time goes by
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: I've had both
Y- Your Favorite Food: Pizza
Z: Zodiac: Aquarius

Tag

Tagged by Mom2My6Kids........List 6 unimportant things/habits/quirks about myself.....

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1-Sometimes I like listening/watching the kid's cartoons/shows, even when they're not around. I don't know why.

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2-(like Mom2My6Kids) My hands and feet are always cold. When Chad and I were dating he used to tease me and tell me that I must be a fish, because I'm always cold! I would just remind him of the saying, "cold hands, warm heart"!

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3-(Unlike Mom2My6Kids) I hardly ever have shoes on when I'm at home. I always take my shoes off right away. In the summer, I'll have bare feet, in the winter I'll have stocking feet.

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4-When my kids ask me permission for something, I usually answer "I guess" instead of just "yes". I get that from my mom. She used to always answer us, "I suppose".

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5-I almost always have my hair pulled back. The older I get and the more kids/dogs I get, the more often it's pulled back!

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6-I like clocks that chime every hour. I have 4 of them in my house, but only 1 has the chimes on.

Here are the rules:

* Link to the person that tagged you.

* Post the rules on your blog.

* Share 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

* Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

* Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Snow Day.......Again!

The kids are home from school again today. So far, we have about 8 inches and it's still snowing. This is their 5th snow day this year. That means that any snow days after today will have to be made up in June! Considering there's still about 2 1/2 months that we could reasonably get snow, that's not good. And in case I haven't mentioned.......I'm sick of the snow!

Mary Engelbreit Monday

All the statistics in the world can't measure the warmth of a smile.
---Chris Hart

Today's forcast.....Crazy-Hectic!

My life seems to be crazy all the time. Maybe crazy is the norm for me, maybe there's a crazy-hectic, crazy-norm, and crazy-mellow.....I don't know, but I'm going to have to try and get a little more organzied, I think. Maybe a little more organization in my life would make it more crazy-mellow, instead of crazy-hectic. It's worth a try.

I have needed to cut out some of my computer time, so I've started to limit my time, which means I can't always read/comment on all the blogs that I want to. I'll have to divide my time between different days.

Since I haven't updated for a few days, I guess I'd better do that. There's really only one thing going on in our house that's worth blogging about right now. Apparently, since my life isn't crazy-hectic all the time, we decide to add a little more hectic to it, by adding another member........It's something we've been considering and talking about for awhile. The opportunity was there and the timing seemed right........

Meet Vanilla, our newest member of the family

She's a Pembroke Welsh Corgi
I'm sure you can guess that she is so loved and so spoiled already (we've had her for 3 days)! I'm not sure that she loves being packed around all the time, though, but she takes it like a pro.

You might not guess it from the picture, but she's a stinker, too. She goes around looking for trouble. She steals toys away from Nutmeg and chases her around. Secretly, I think Nutmeg likes it. They're total opposites of each other, but they're getting along really well.Nutmeg & VanillaShe sleeps at my feet while I'm at the computer, which is so cute.

So, there's the update, we're a family of 6; 2 parents, 4 kids and 2 dogs.

I told ya, it's crazy, crazy, crazy around here!

A Great Birthday.....

I had a great birthday. I did have to shovel snow, go grocery shopping, do the dishes, pick-up the house and do laundry....but really I do most of those things everyday, so, I won't complain.

That night Chad made me a lobster dinner.......

They were sooooo good! Look at the steam coming off of them. Yum Yum!
We had cake from Cold Stone Creamery. It was soo good, too. Mine was a raspberry cheesecake and the other one was a chocolate lovers....whatever (I obvisouly didn't pick it out!)
I bought myself a new Mary Engelbreit calendar. It's very cute I might have to post these, too. They're monthly ones, those.
Chad bought me this Willow Tree figurine-Promise---I love Willow Tree
Chad and the kids also bought me a new camera. I really like it, but now I'll have to figure out how it works. It has a better zoom than my last one, which is what I really wanted. My mom sent me a box full of lots of little goodies, my favorite was a bouquet of roses that are made of really thin wood. They're so pretty and you would never know they were wood. My in-laws sent me some money, which I spent on lots and lots of scrapbook stuff. It was fun and I found some really great deals! I got phone calls from my family, which I also love. It's always nice to hear from everyone and catch up on what's going on. It was a great birthday. Thanks for all your birthday wishes for me, too.

Snow and Rain, Go Away--Don't Come Back Another Day!

Are you tired of hearing about the snow yet???? Because I sure am tired of dealing with it!!!! Last week was pretty mild around here. Everything started to melt, except my backyard just turned to sheer ice. It's like a skating rink. If it wasn't set on a hill I'd get some skates and test it out!

Yesterday we were suppose to get a little snow and then have it turn to rain. We got 4 inches of snow and it rained just enough to turn everything to slush, then it froze overnight. Today, it's raining again, by this afternoon we're suppose to get some more snow......by tomorrow morning we're suppose to have 6-10 inches of snow..........then a little more snow on Friday, a little more snow on Saturday and a little more snow on Sunday! Ahhhhhhhhh You know, I knew that we'd have snowy winters when we moved to Maine, but this is crazy AND it doesn't stay snow around here, it turns to ice. You can drive all over this area and there's just yards and fields that are completely covered in ice. It's pretty wild. I know I've turned into a whiner about the snow and living in the south has made me somewhat of a weiny in the cold weather, so, I guess I should just "buck-up" and get over it, but I'm probably not going to.

To Me.....

Yep, today is my birthday. I woke up to McKaylie whispering "Happy Birthday" in my ear. Sweet isn't she! There's 2 inches of snow on the ground and still snowing, but it going to change to rain by noon! Like that's any better. I have to go grocery shopping and drive to Portland. It's going to be a crazy day!

Hee Hee Hee

I think that I should first start off by saying that I don't watch sports, it's not my thing. I really wasn't rooting for one team or the other. That being said.......Yeah Giants! I love it!



I was so excited when we turned the TV on just to see what the score was and saw that the Patriots were leading in the 4th quarter. We sat down and watched until the end. Now that was entertainment! What an ending! I loved it!



Everywhere I have gone for the last week, all I've heard, is how the Patriots are just going to demolish the Giants! The Giants have no chance. The Patriots are so awesome, it's a sure thing and on and on and on and on. It was ridiculous and it's one thing to have your team and root for them, but the people around here were just down right arrogant about it. They acted as if the Patriots were untouchable, to the point of being rude about it. That to me, takes all the enjoyment out the sports.



So, forgive me all you die hard Patriots fans, but HA! I think you needed to be knocked down a peg or two and it just goes to show, that no team is untouchable and that the underdog can win and I LOVED IT!

Promise Fullfilled.....

McKaylie had been asking for a Webkinz for a long time. Quite frankly, I wasn't sure why. I really didn't think that it would be that much more than a stuffed animal to her. I knew you could go online with it, but I didn't think that it would hold her interest for that long. However, Santa came through for her and brought her a Webkinz. She was ecstatic. I couldn't believe how excited she was about it. I was glad that Santa was such a smart, insightfull, well informed person. On Christmas day, we went online and gave her new Webkinz, a black fresian, a name, Black Mist. Then the world of "Webkinz" opened up to our whole family....... After you "adopt" your pet online, your pet will have a room of it's own that you can decorate and buy things for. You need to feed it, take it to the doctor, to the academy and so many more things. You earn money, Webkinz dollars, to do all these wonderful things, by playing games, taking quizzes (academic) and a whole list of other activities. McKaylie loved it. Noah loved it. Vance loved it (playing some of the games that is). Even I would play the word game and majongg on it (I had to help earn money for the horse to eat, right). Mckaylie knew right away that you can have more than one pet in your "house" and play with all of them at the same time. They would each have their own room and they can go in and out of each other's rooms, etc. So, of course, she starting asking for another one. ( Does the word "gimmies" seem appropriate, here???)

Now, McKaylie and Noah have developed a very bad habit of coming into my bed in the middle of the night and sleeping there till morning. I don't ususally notice them come in until they're already settled and pushing me out of the way. We have a king size bed, but when you get two adults, two kids and a dog in there, it's a little too much, no, it's a lot too much.

We've been working on fixing this for awhile. We tried shutting the doors, but they just open them and come in. I couldn't bring myself to lock my door for the whole night. It bothered me. So, finally, I bought two child gates (whatever they're called) and put them in their doorway, one above the other. Now, they both could take them down if they really wanted to. So, we told them that it was there to remind them when they got up in the middle of the night that they were suppose to stay in their own room. We were ready for some frustrating nights......they never came. From the first night, 3 1/2 weeks ago, they've stayed in their own room, all night, no fuss. I promised them if they could do that, that I'd get them something special as a reward and this weekend, they got it, Webkinz.....
Now there's 4 pets living in their "virtual" house and they've had lots of fun decorating the new rooms and playing. I'm sure you might be wonder why there's 3 new ones....one's Vance's-----don't ask!


















So, now we have:
Bluberry--the Koala Bear (Noah's)
Black Mist--the Black Fresian (McKaylie's)
Dewey--the Tie Dye Frog (Vance's)
Raki--the Raccoon (McKaylie's)

Remember that "gimmies" word, they're already talking about their "next" Webkinz. I've started an epidemic...................

A Little of This, A Little of That.....

Well, for starters, I haven't decided about Firefox and Internet Explorer. There are things that I like about both of them and things that I don't like.... Like this underlining thing that has started since I started using Firefox. I'll probably keep both and use both them for different things. Thanks for your comments!

Santa finally broke down this last Christmas and brought the kids a Play Station 2. We haven't had any of those games in our house before, because I don't think they're necessary and they distract kids from doing what is more important. And some of the games!!!!! WoW!!! In short, I think they can be a waste of time. Why did we get it then, you're asking???? I'm not sure I have an answer for that.

But since having it, I've learned that even a 5 year old can learn how to pick out a rifle and hunt polar bears, jump a motorcycle with style, find all the dragon eggs for Arthur and the Invisibles, and get Sully through the Scare Factory to name just a few. I've also found that the PS2 can be a great bargaining chip. They seem to really want to play it, so they're willing to do a little extra for it, sort of thing.

On the other hand, I'll had to listen to a few "just let me finish this part in the game first", a few "he's been on there longer than I was", a few "it's MY turn", and a whole lot of "please, let me play, mom, please". I can't say that I don't enjoy some of it. It's hilarious to watch the little ones play, because they move all over like they're there in the game. I've played a few times myself, but I don't feel a need to be on it, either. I guess as time goes by we'll see how things go with it.

I am finally feeling a little more organized at home. I managed to get my sister some of the pages I edited for her website sent, not as many as I'd hoped, but it's a start. I have several other small projects I'm trying to finish up, too. My house doesn't seem to be falling apart too badly either. It seems that every time I put my attention on one project, even for a little while, everything else explodes.....like if you clean the kitchen and it looks great and you go into the living room and it looks like a hurricane hit it......yeah, I haven't gotten to that point, yet.....knock on wood!

I feel like I have about a hundred errands to run today, things I've been putting off all week and here I am on the computer. My originally logic was.......I'm already on the computer taking care of stuff that had to get done and finishing a few other things, so, I mine as well update my blog........unfortunately it always takes longer to update my blog than I think it will, probably because I don't ever just update my blog!

Tonight McKaylie has a sleep-over at a friend's house, and Vance is having one of his friends over after school to play PS2 and have pizza. (I actually feel kind of good about Vance's friend coming over. He has such an awesome mom, who I know can be very picky about what her kids do and where they go. So, I feel pretty happy that she's comfortable with her son coming over to hang out at our house) Tomorrow, I have a visiting teaching conference, President Hinckley's funeral and a trip to the store(s) to fulfill a promise that I'll post about next week.

So, I think I'll stop rambling and tell you all to have a great weekend!