Not Me! Monday ~>

It's that time again... already?? Now you get to find out all of the things I absolutely did not do this week (picture version)!



* I did not cut 2 inches off of hair off of my own head today at school while my children were watching Cinderella! Because school is NOT a beauty shop, and it's inappropriate to cut your hair while at work.

* I definitely did not spend an hour dressing, fighting, cajoling, sweet talking, pleading, and bribing my 21 month old to get her picture taken for our Christmas cards. She didn't decide to smash two of the ornaments together and shatter one of them. A 21 month old wouldn't have glass ornaments anway, because her college educated mother would know better than to give her one ~ even if it did add holiday spirit and cuteness to the picture!

* I will so totally not be scarfing down one of these meals on Sunday!

* Or any of this on Thursday

* This wouldn't go with the picture right above it... with a Jack Daniels honey glaze....

* I'm also not enjoying this Wednesday night after we arrive at my parent's house. Because I'm on a diet, and I am strictly watching what I eat... even during this holiday season.

* My MIL didn't purchase me a one pound box of Gertrude Hawk assorted truffles for part of my present, either!

* The ladies I work with and I didn't have a conversation today about how we couldn't wait to stand out on the bus landing tomorrow, and wave at the yellow stretch taxis that whisk the children off to their own little places for 5 whole days. Because none of us need a break! And none of us (in MckMama's words) have gone freakin postal on these little lovelies that refuse to listen!

* I wasn't mean, rude, and disrespectful by telling my husband that I don't want to have to eat at his parent's house this coming Saturday. I didn't complain that his mother's turkey is always dry, and her stuffing is gross. The sad thing is... my husband totally didn't agree with me!! :o) Because eating scrumptous food isn't something I look forward to on the holidays, and thinking about eating things that are gross to me doesn't put me in a semi-grumpy mood.

Well, that's it!! Head on over to MckMama's blog, and read some more fun stories of what people didn't do this week.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, too! I won't be posting again until at least next Monday. I hope your Thanksgiving is awesome, tasty, wonderful, full of great memories, safe, and full of thankfullness to our great God for our many blessings!

New Digs for the Kid

So I entered a contest at Step Into the Sun to win my munchkin a new Christmas tree shirt and hair bow (both hand made, and totally adorable!). She would totally LOVE them because she is such a girly girl (yes already at 1 1/2), and loves having pitties (bows) in her hair. She asks me to put them in her head every day. Just look at that face.. how cute would she be in that shirt with matching bow? She'd be pretty spiffy, I think :o)

I Challenge You

Wanna know how to help someone? Wanna feel totally grateful for all of the wonderful things God has given you and blessed you with? Wanna show God how thankful and appreciative you are for all of His blessings?? Click the button below, and go help.





I am donating money to try and help. I am so thankful for all of the blessings God has richly bestowed upon me and my family. This is the least I can do!

MckMama Contest

So, if you've got any clue here in blogdom, you know who this insanely cute child is in the picture. This is MckMama's daughter (the only girl out of 4 kids, may I add), Small Fry. Isn't she insanely cute? It looks like she's had her jaw dropped from finding out her Mama has announced that she's pregnant yet again.

Anywho.. I am entering this contest and here are my reasons why

1) I would love a blog header (I'm assuming Jennisa is doing it, and her stuff is amazing) with my cute kid's picture on it, but I can't afford one, so why not try to win one.

2) Cool tools for photography can never hurt anyone's collection

3) I NEVER WIN any of the contests anyone has online ~ MckMama, Lisa Leonard, 5 Minutes for Mom... NEVER. So I'm desperately trying again. At some point I will end up giving up on everything completely, but not yet!

4) I like using the excuse of doing this contest to have the honor of posting this beautiful child's face on my blog.

So, if you're a slacker like me, head on over to MckMama's blog, and get the rules because who knows when she's going to say time's up.

Even if you don't want to enter the contest, just take a bit of your time to read about her amazing family, and see how the Hand of God has miraculously touched their newborn, Stellan. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll smile, and your heart will be thoroughly warmed by this mother of 4 insanely adorable LITTLE children (her MSC, as she likes to call them ~ Many Small Children). Their story is great!

Today's Lesson (AKA Attention Ladies Who Want to Know About Calories)

Who said that a 21 month old can't teach us a good lesson about dieting and calories? My 21 month old has made me see the light, and now I'm going to share the lesson she taught me today to all of you! (You can thank me later). My husband is one of the Odyssey of the Mind coaches for the middle school (it's a competition team, they receive a problem, only the kids can solve it, they have a budget, they have a certain amount of time to solve it in... and so on). Since he's a nice coach, he spends our money, and buys the kids a snack (7 cans of Pringles, a couple boxes of popcorn, and 4 cases of soda later... I'm broke, but that's another post). And, since he spends so much money on snacks for his team, we don't have money to drive back and forth from school to the house then the house back to school to pick him up, so the kiddo and I just stay there with him (not really cuz of the snacks, I'm just cheap). After picking up my lovely little punkin, we went in to the room with all of the crazy children. (I do promise, this IS going somewhere... so stick with me). All of the crazy children were eating Pringles and drinking soda (of course), so the kiddo decides she wants a "cacker" (Pringle). I hand her one, and she scarfs it down (it was tasty because that is the first chip she's ever had). She asks politely for another one, and I oblige. But, this is where my child taught me a valuable lesson in dieting and calorie intake. She held the Pringle in her hand, and was walking around conversing with all of the students, and trying to take a ball away from them while holding a Pringle AND a Nunny (her bunny blanket) in her hands. So.... a few minutes later, she comes back and hands me the Pringle with just a few nibbles out of it, and I thought... oh that's wonderful, she doesn't like them! However, the Pringle was all wet and partially mushy. My genius child licked all of the yummy flavoring off of the chip, but didn't eat the actual chip. Do you know how many calories a day you can save yourself if you just lick your food instead of actually eat it? What a novel idea. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to lick my cereal, lick my pizza (weight watchers, of course), and lick my pork chop and baked potato. I still get all of the flavor, and just a portion of the calories! Now, aren't you glad that I enlightened you? :o)

Prayer Warriors ~ UNITE!!

Baby Kayleigh is in desperate need of prayers!! She has had a really rough time the last two days, and has been moved back to the NICU. She's having a very difficult time breathing, which could be the result of a few different things. PLEASE PRAY FOR HER AND HER FAMILY! Also, please visit their blog (you can click on the button on my sidebar, and it'll take you directly to her blog), and let her parents know that you're praying for them. They need to know that they have people from all over the world uniting together to pray for their precious girl... especially now! Thanks for your help! Now, get off of blogger and go storm Heaven with prayers for Kayleigh! :o) (Thanks)

Not Me! Monday :o)

Yay!! It's that time of the week again! Here is what I didn't do this week ~

* I so totally did not freak out loudly when the Steelers won yesterday. I didn't freak out louder and didn't yell at the TV when they took the last touchdown away.

* I didn't take my girl outside, and cover her in leaves just to get a few really cute pictures. My little girl also didn't have a major allergy attack after being covered in said leaves; and Mommy didn't feel bad at all.

* I didn't laugh uncontrollably when, in the middle of a lesson, one of my students ripped a loud, smelly fart. Because I am an adult, and farts aren't funny.... especially not when you're in the middle of a story, the room is completely quiet except for one child reading, and the kid's eyes get the size of quarters. It wasn't a funny situation at all.

* I am not purchasing red, sparkly shoes for my kiddo for her Christmas dress. And, I'm not the least bit excited about it.

* Being invited to an Advent dinner at my parent's church the Sunday after Thanksgiving hasn't gotten me all giddy with excitement. It's just a dinner, after all, and it's nothing to be excited about.

* While picking our munchkin up from the babysitter on Friday, I totally didn't miss the last step and make a hard, crash landing on the cement. I also didn't sprawl out for the rest of the parents to see. It was a totally graceful thing, I swear it was. As you can tell, I'm not clutzy.

* My child's mouth didn't get stuffed full of "dold shish" yesterday in church so she would sit down, and shut up. She wasn't yelling loudly in the sanctuary "Yook, Mama, yights... pitty yights". She also didn't see a baby in front of us and demand to hold the "baby doll" because he was "cuke". When she was told she couldn't have the baby, she totally didn't scream out loud, and the congregation of about 100 didn't stare directly.at.us. for about 2 minutes. I also definitely didn't deserve this horrifying experience because I don't make my child sit in church so everyone can see my cute kid. It doesn't fill me with pride when people compliment us on how adorable and smart she is.

* I'm not excited that we have exactly 1 week from tomorrow with children, then get a 5 day break. I haven't been counting down the days since October.

*I wasn't a bad wife, and pretended to be doing something was working really hard on something while my husband dealt with a screaming, tired child. I hadn't had enough of her tantrums, and didn't decide that it was his turn since he doesn't deal with them very often and it was high time he had a turn because I had something important to do.

I think I've confessed enough about all of the stuff I didn't do the last week. Head on over to MckMama's Blog to see more great posts!!

Cute Kid Vid

The Steelers finally won a game, which means everyone has the honor of seeing my cute kid cheering them on in her Steeler cheerleader outfit. She gave a big yell for the "Teelers"

She also likes Swiper the fox on Dora, and says "Oh Maaaaaan" any time you say his name to her. It's quite hilarious.

Enjoy my insanely cute kid (hey, I gotta brag, cuz she is cute)!

A Note in a Card

The little girl I work with made a card for her guardian because her birthday is December 1st. I won't be working with her again until the weekend after Thanksgiving weekend, so she wanted to make one now so she didn't forget. Here is what the card said ~



Happy Birthday

You may be 50 years old
But don't worry
You still look as good as you did when you were 47





I almost laughed hysterically out loud at that when I read it. But, I kept my composure, and didn't laugh so she thought I was making fun of her.

Granted, she is in 6th grade, but it was still funny. A couple of weeks ago, she told me that a project was due on "November Toooth" instead of the second.

PLEASE HELP US!!

I just set up an account on Rate My Space on HGTV. I am trying to get a TON of votes so maybe (just maybe) we'll win a bathroom makeover. Our bathroom desperately needs a makeover. We don't have the money to get it redone because we spent $5600 on a new heat pump when ours blew, and another $4000 on a new roof when ours blew off (yes, it really blew off) last February. When we moved in to this house, they sort of forgot to tell us sneakily didn't tell us that the bathroom had major mold and mildew issues. The entire bottom row of tiles that surrounds the tub has fallen off due to mildew, and we have mold growing all along the ceiling. Therefore, our 20 month old STILL takes a bath in the kitchen sink because I refuse to let her in that bathroom. So, this is where you come in, blogger friends, (AND SERIOUSLY PLEASE HELP!!!)

I need you to do the following~

* go to Rate My Space
* create an account (yes, it's a pain, but if it helps us, it's worth it, right?)
* in the search area type moldy, mildewy
* use the pull down menu to choose bathrooms and hit enter
* my entry is the one that says "Worst Bathroom EVER! EWWWWWW"
* my user name is bwolf229
* look at my disgusting pictures (I'm embarrassed for people to see these, but maybe it'll help us get a bathroom redo that we desperately need)
* and RATE MY SPACE. I think the lower rating you get, the better chance you get at a redo (not sure though)


Seriously, please please please please please please please please help us! A ton of you look at my blog, and if you took just a minute out of your day to go and vote, we may actually have a chance. I want my daughter to be able to take a bath in a normal bath tub, and not have to worry about what she's being exposed to! Thanks!

My Husband is a Genius Dork

My husband likes to talk about his genius IQ (as does my MIL). My genius put his daughter's shoes on the right wrong feet, and did not notice. Should that occur if you're a genius? Yeah, I pretty much didn't think so, either!

Leafy Fun

Yesterday we took the munchkin outside to play in a pile of leaves. She absolutely loved it. Here are a few of my favorites ~























I LOVE her face in this one


































She was twirling in "seekers" (circles) in
the leaves, and was having a ball

I <3>

Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?

One of my kiddos is out of medicine for his ADHD... that's what the matter "be"!!! He's going to send his teacher to the looney bin if he doesn't get his medicine SOON! However, I will say, that he uses his ADHD to try to get an "advantage" over adults. He thinks he can act out and do whatever he wants to do (hitting, swearing, being a total wreck), then just say "I'm allowed because I don't have my medicine in me". I understand that a child who has ADHD acts differently than a child who doesn't. I get that. But, is it really necessary for all of those other "things" to happen because he's not on his medicine? I've had other kids with ADHD, and when they didn't have their medicine, yes, they were different. But not that drastically different. Can anyone offer me some advice, info on how to deal with him? His own mother tells him that he is able to control himself, and that the medicine doesn't make him stop completely. I don't want to be too hard on him, but he is totally wrecking my class at the same time. I need help here, people!!

Rev WET

there is an older gentlemen who brightens my day, every single day. he is always out walking his dog in the morning with his insulated thermos of coffee. he waves to every passerby with a huge grin, and a nice friendly shake of his hand. i love this. he makes me smile every morning. starting your day off with a smile is great. you can tell he's a happy man. it's also cute because he wears a knit hat with devil horns on it for halloween. i love seeing him wave to everyone because he doesn't discriminate. he waves to every.single.person.that.passes. not the good looking ones. not the skinny ones. not the white ones. not the black ones. not the young. not the old. everyone. how many of us could say that we'd give a frinedly grin and wave to everyone we passed? i found out that he used to be the pastor at a church we used to attend. i also found out that he was a great pastor, and a great support for the people of his church. just by looking at him, i can tell that he'd be a great person to lean on for support. he looks like a very Godly man (if you can tell by someone on the outside that they are Godly, he is the perfect example). willie thompson, thank you for making a snippet of my day wonderful. just driving by you, and seeing your friendly wave and big smile warms my heart. it seriously warms my heart.



*btw, his license plate reads "Rev WET" or revered william e. thompson... which i think is adorable.

Oh, By the Way, I'm Going to Hawaii????

Yeah, I didn't know, either, but evidently it's true!! Here's the story of how I found out that I am lucky enough to go to Hawaii (oh yeah, but first, I have to go tonight, have a little fun, then fly back in time to teach tomorrow... totally doable, right?)


OK so here's how I found out ~

In our school, we have 2 "waves" of buses. The teachers decide amongst the grade on how they're going to get the students to each wave. In my building, we have a weekly calendar set up where one week I do first wave, the next week I do second wave, and so on. I eventually get a "wave-free" week at the end of the month. This week is my second wave week. The teacher that does wave 2 with me told me that as soon as he got back from taking the wild people to the buses, he was hightailing it out of there, and was going home. I told him that I was going to the "Y" to work out. A little eavesdropper looks at me and loudly exclaims, "Hey, that's NOT FAIR!" Huh? What's not fair? "It's not fair that you're going there after school!". Ummm, well if you'd like, you can go work out for me, and hopefully it'll work out so the calories are taken off of my 28 year old it's-going-to-take-forever-to-get-these-friggin-pounds-off body instead of your i'm-a-kid-and-I-lose-5-pounds-for-taking-2-steps body. Wouldn't it be awesome if someone could work out for us? Novel idea right there, I'm telling you! Anyway.... I asked him why he thought it was unfair that I was going to the "Y", and he didn't get to go. His response was "well, you taught my brother, Jake, your first year, so I think that means you should take me to Hawaii, too, because you know my family" WHAT???? Hawaii??? Dude, I wish I was going to Hawaii.... unfortunately I'm just going to the "Y" to burn some of my hips, thighs, butt, and stomach off. When I plan my trip to Hawaii, I'll be sure not to tell you, though!



So, I guess I don't really get to go to Hawaii. But, wouldn't it be awesome if, while trudging along on a treadmill, we were whisked away to Hawaii to make the workout seem less harsh? I still am totally for the whole someone doing my workout for me, and I still lose the weight thing, though!! Besides, I'm kinda glad I'm not going to Hawaii for 2 reasons 1) I so wouldn't be caught dead in a bathing suit 2) I'd be dog tired tomorrow morning after my flight, fun times, and flight home... I'd need 20 gallons of coffee to keep me semi-conscious!

I'm Praying......

for baby Kayleigh. Hopefully her button will be available soon to proudly display on my sidebar, just like MckMama's. Until then, pray for healing for her tiny, one pound body. Pray that her heart surgery has fixed her heart, and that she will start to burst forth and grow like a weed! Pray for her parents, Adam and Aimee, and that God will bring a sense of calm to them throughout this storm. We prayed for Stellan, we prayed for Gwyneth Rose, now let's pray for baby Kayleigh!!!

Not Me! Monday :o)

It's that time again! Theraputic Not ME! Mondays.... ahhhh the thought just brings a smile to my face. Here are the things I did NOT do this week~

* I did not skip church because my little princess has a really nasty bump on her "sum" from sucking it. Her "sum" hasn't been hurting her at all, and hasn't caused Mommy to be overly concerned :o(

* I totally didn't scarf down a Big Mac yesterday because I was craving one. And it totally didn't suck, either! Bleh!

* I haven't had 756 ounces of water in the last week, and I haven't been floating around my classroom every day.

* I don't want to spend money to get Gevalia Cafe coffee. Because I can't afford expensive things, and I'm not ridiculous enough to spend that much money on coffee because it's just so darn good!

* My 20 month old didn't stay up until 11pm Friday night because she was in an adorable mood. Her Mommy didn't want to play with her extra that night, so she went to bed on time, as always.

* Yesterday, I didn't spend an hour cutting thick, disgusting mats out of my dogs fur. He's a Pomeranian, and has the thickest fur, and it mats so easily. It doesn't drive me nuts when he has mats because it doesn't make his fur look all yucky!

* Usually I am a nice person, but 4 little kids didn't get on my every last nerve at the movie theater the other day because they were rude. I didn't wish that I could have taken their mother, and shake her like crazy, and make her realize that she needs to get her kids straight before taking them out in public.

*My 20 month old didn't flip out at Wal-Mart the other day, and scream loud enough for the entire store to hear her. Not all the way in the Lawn and Garden section... they didn't hear her shrill for a "ceweal bar".... and didn't know that she was wanting it immediately. I didn't have a ton of stares, and people didn't look at me like I was a horrible mother. :(

*I'm not doing this post at school (the kids are at recess and I have indoor duty today, so I do have an excuse)!!!

Head over to Stellan's Mama's blog, and check out other Not Me! Mondays!!

C'mon, Boys!

Dear Steelers,

What is up with this sucky game playing that you've been exhibiting the last few weeks? How about getting it together, and making your fans proud again??? My realllllyyyyyy cute kid has a reallllyyyyyy cute Steelers cheerleader outfit that she's dying to model for all of blogdom, but it isn't going on until you get your act together. The kid even has the "Go Teeelers Touchdown" saying down pat. LET'S GO BOYS!

Here is just a sampling of the wonderful support you would receive. It would be ten times better in her cheerleader uniform, too!

My Skinny Jeans Will Come

Hop on over to my other blog I created today (I'm Gonna Be a Hot Mama). This blog is to help me record all of my successes, frustrations, ups, and downs on my journey to become a healthy weight again. Please, leave me messages on there to let me know you're rallying behind me. I would also appreciate tons of prayer throughout this process. It's one powerful thing, prayer that is, and I could use a ton of it at this point. I appreciate all of your support! Check often for updates! :o)

Teach Your Children Well {Parents Get Lessons Yourselves First}

The little girl I work with on the weekend and I went to see Madagascar 2. She wanted to go see Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and I gave my greatest effort to talk her out of it. Now I wish that I would have listened to her suggestion! It's so sad how a couple rude children/parents can ruin a fun, enjoyable thing.


The first unenjoyable experience was the family sitting behind us. It was a mother and a dude (he pretty much sounded like he was not in to women, so I'm thinking he was just a tag-a-long), and then 4 small boys. Approximately 5 minutes in to the movie, all 4 of the boys were screaming their heads off because they didn't want to sit (being all under the age of 4, I can see why). Instead of watching the movie, they decided to spill their popcorn all over us, hang on the back of our seats, kick the back of seats, scream, cry, and yell. That pretty much ruined the movie in itsself. Then, the dude decided to get in on the action. I'm finally watching the movie (because they tag teamed the kids and they were finally semi-quiet), and Mr. Dude decides to say as loudly as he can "Ohhhhhhhh myyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Goddddddddddddddddddddaaaaaaaaaaaaaa a hippooooooo would want to get with a girafeeeeee??? Like, soooooooo grooooooosssssssaaaaaaaaa. Makeeee me like-a pukeeeeeeaaaaa!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh". Of course Mom couldn't miss out on her chance to ruin it, either. One of the boys threw her keys, and she kept knocking in to our seats, and was asking loudly where they had put her keys. When she couldn't find them, she decided to tell the boys they were little s***s because they had lost her keys. I had it with them, and there was nowhere to move in the whole theater!



As if that wasn't enough to ruin a fun movie-going experience, some little brat decides to run up behind me while waiting in line to leave, and try to plow me over. He got past me, then tries to push past the woman in front of me. He didn't succeed in that attempt, and his mother grabbed him (while knocking in to me, surprise surprise). After we got out of the theater, we were walking down the ramp, and the brat struck again. He rammed in to me, and pushed me out of the way. I looked at him, and looked at his mother expecting her to say something to him. She had the nerve to roll her eyes and snort at me like it was my fault because I didn't get out of her kid's way!!! I looked at the little girl I work with and said, "Oh, I love it when rude parents allow their children to be rude and just push people out of the way".


In either case, if that would have been my child, there would have been a huge problem. My 20 month old already says excuse me (cue me), please (peeeeeeeaaaase), thank you (kank yew), bless you (besss yewwwww), and you're welcome (yewww wewcome). She says an occasional "mooooob" (move) when she wants around us because she hears us tell the dog to move. But, we instantly correct her, and make her say excuse me. It would be so nice if manners were still important in today's society. I'd be ashamed if my child acted like that out in public, and it would kill me to think that someone thought my kid was a brat. Sadly, people just don't care, and in all reality it isn't the kids fault because they just do what they're taught. When they aren't taught manners, how can you expect them to behave properly?

Letter of Apology

My Dearest, Sweetest, Cutest Baby Girl,


Mommy is so so so so so so so very sorry that she forgot to get "beer" (that's how she says bear, no kidding) for you because you took him inside last night. I'm sorry that you have to stay at Frankie's all day, and have nothing to snuggle with, or rub against your nose while you suck your "sum" to go to sleep! Mommy feels horrible, guilty, and like a bad, bad Mommy! It made me feel even more guilty when you looked at me and gave me a big "I wove yewww" before Daddy took you inside. I hope you have a good day without anything to snuggle, and Mommy will make it up to you tonight with lots of extra snuggles!!


I love you, baby girl!

Mama

Blurbs from the Sleep-Talking Hubster

My boy comes up with some pretty hilarious conversations while he's about ready to go to sleep, but he's not quite in a deep sleep. He had another funny one the other day, and I thought to myself "I should do a blog post about his funny responses!" And that, my friends, is exactly what I'm doing.



One day right after we got DirecTV, I couldn't figure out how to shut the stupid television off using the new remote. It was dark in the room, so I couldn't read what all of the little buttons on the remote said. I decided to ask AT how to turn the TV off so I would be able to get to sleep. I shook him, got a "hmmmf", and he rolled over. I tried again, and he asked what I needed. I told him my dilemma, and asked him what to do. His response was "gee whiz, you just wag your tail". HMMMMM.... I have a tail, do I? Nice to know after 26 years of living! I finally made him coherent enough to answer my question because I was laughing so hysterically that it woke him up.





Almost as soon as we moved in to our new house, he had another "episode". At first, it totally scared the living daylights out of me, but ended up being hilarious. After we had gone to bed, he was pretty much conked out, and I was still awake watching television (I knew how to turn it off by myself at that point, by the way). All of a sudden, he sits up and starts convulsing. I'm talking like shaking the whole bed convulsing. I asked him if I needed to call 911, and he didn't respond. He stopped, rolled over, and started snoring again like nothing had happened. A few minutes later, he did the same thing, so I shook him really hard and kept asking "Are you alright? Do I need to call an ambulance? Can you talk to me?". Once again, he all of a sudden stopped. This time, I didn't let him go back to sleep, and MADE him talk to me. I asked if he felt O.K., and his response was, "Yeah, if it wasn't for those damn birds chasing me!" This set of another hysterical laughing spell, it woke up him, he didn't know why I was laughing, I told him what he had just done, and he started to laugh hysterically, also.




So, two nights ago. AT has finally gotten a sleep study done, and got a C-PAP machine for his sleep apnea. The only problem is getting him to put the mask on if he's really sleepy. He was laying there snoring away; and I asked him if he had his water tank cleaned and filled so he could put his mask on, turn the machine on, then go to sleep. He's like "yes, my conference is ready to go on, so leave me alone" He was more aware of what was going on because he sits up, looks at me and asks, "Did I just tell you that my conference was ready to go on my face?" I confirmed that he had just said those words, and he's like... could you tell what I was thinking about? (He had a conference with a parent the next morning).






There are other times he's said silly stuff, too. One time he told me about an eggplant. But the first two are my favorite!

I Can Give the Answer with ONE Word!

While perusing the net, as I often do in the evenings, I repeatedly came across a certain question. The question was "What was the downfall of John McCain's campaign?". I, being the genius that I am, can answer that question with one word.




BUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


There you have it, Internet questioners.... a simple, to the point, one word answer. It can't get any easier or truer (I think that's a word... maybe?).

Goodbye, My Friend

A piece of advice~



When the "goggy" tub toy your parents bought your daughter for Christmas starts spewing chunks of mold at her when she plays with it in the "basth", it's time to say "Goodbye, my friend". Then, proceed to gently tell the kiddo that the "goggy" had to go to sleep. To sleep in the trash can, that is!

7 Things About Me

My friend, Grace, had a post on her blog listing 7 weird things about herself. I decided to join in the fun, and tell you 7 weird (or just random) things about myself. And here is the list ~


1. I organize my M&M's, Skittles, Reese's Pieces, or any other candy that is differnt colors in to colors. Then, I eat them according to which color has the most number of candies to the least number of candies. Weird, I know, but that's me!



2. When I eat Chex Mix, I pick out the Chex, and leave everything else in the bag for my husband to eat. I leave some Chex in the bag for him, too, but that's the only thing I will eat out of the whole bag (except for the occasional pretzel).



4. When I play volleyball and it's my turn to serve, I bounce the ball 3 times, spin it, and bounce it again twice. I've done it since seventh grade!



5. When I'm in the car alone I like to turn the radio to a station that plays all of today's hits (Chris Brown, Ne Yo, etc.) and blast it. I make sure to roll down the windows so I look cool, too. Our car has a spoiler on it, so it doesn't look like I'm just pretending to be that cool, either!



6. I'm 28 years old, and I still can't sleep without a blanket to hold. I've slept with a blanket since I was little, and I just can't sleep without one. I've tried and it just doesn't work. The cute thing is, my 1 1/2 year old is the exact same way.




7. Flip flops are my favorite shoes to wear. They go on my feet the day it gets the least bit warm out, and stay there until it's pushing it with the cooler fall weather. I literally just stopped wearing them like a week ago, and it's November. I teach with an older woman, and she loves to razz me about my "bare feet sticking out in this cold weather. If she were my mother she'd have me leaned over her knee then give me a good woopin". Personally, I think it's none of her business, but she still has to comment.



8. (for good measure) I'm deathly deathly deathly deathly (did I mention DEATHLY?) afraid of needles. When I found out I'd be getting an epidural when I had my C-section, I probably produced 10 bucket fulls of sweat. Not to mention the poor nurse that had me death gripping her scrubs. After it was all said and done, her first comment was, "Wow, sweetie, I guess you really were scared, weren't you?" UMMMMM YEAH!

Spelling/Grammar Check is Imperative, People!

My husband and I both have jobs in the education field; which means that we receive TONS of emails daily regarding a myriad of school related subjects. Also, being the nosey wifey that I am, I check his email for him (oh, sorry I snoop in his email... yeah, that's better). I like to see which of my former students got in trouble or were absent on a particular day, and to basically just be nosey (I hate to admit it, but it's true). As I was reading an email sent out to him today, I noticed that his VP (vice principal), who LOVES to tell people that she has a Masters in Education, walks around with a huge chip on her shoulder, and thinks she is Queen Bee when the real boss-man isn't around, needs to learn a thing or two about grammar check. Here is her email~


Remember it is not too early to be thinking of whom you judge and who you volunteer will be. Solicit the most involved and excited parent! There is a coaches training they have to complete.


Frankly, I'd be mortified if I sent that message to anyone without the bragging in my signature that I have MS Ed. But, to have that title after your signature, and to send an email like that..... she needs to be told about herself.




Here's another from one of the teachers at MY school ~

Attached is the form that you must sign and turn in to [our secretary]. If it be handled in the next couple of days it would be appreciated.



Are you seriously kidding me? And we claim to give our children a "quality education"?? If you heard a teacher or administrator speaking in that manner, would you want your child to attend that school? How about teachers and admin learning to speak/write correctly before we go around telling about the education we provide for our students!

Lay Off, Dude!!

My husband has incessantly been making fun of me about a comment I made to Miss Biz on Sunday. Reeeeewind to Sunday late-ish afternoon ~

Biz woke up from an overly extensive nap (I'm talking like 4 1/2 hour nap, which is crazy for her). I could tell she was still sleepy, and knew that the temper tantrums were festering inside of her just waiting for the correct moment to be released in one gigantic wooosh. She saw a hat, wanted it on immediately (the child has her father's patience level, so immediately means this second or watch out). I didn't even get the chance to say, "Ok, Mommy will put your hat on, let me get it", and the temper tantrums wreaked havoc on our nice snuggle. She wailed, she tried to hit, she screamed, she tried to throw herself on the floor; it was an all out doozy. After some stern converation, asking if there needed to be a time out or spanking, and the calming down of a princess, we had a conversation about being nice. I was holding her again, and I told her "Jesus wants you to be a nice girl. It makes Jesus sad when you're not sweet, and you scream, hit, and throw yourself on the floor". She looked at me and goes "Beshush, nice giwl" "Yes, Biz, Jesus wants you to be a nice girl". I thought, why not tell her that Jesus wants her to be nice, and doesn't like when she throws temper tantrums. It's just another way to let her know that she needs to control herself (at 20 months, I know that isn't going to happen, but still I'm going to try everything I can to make her understand). Well, my hubster heard our convo (which I didn't know), and here are just some of the comments I've gotten out of his loud mouth the last 2 days


~ Biz, if you don't eat all of your food, you're going to make Jesus sad, and you'll go to hell
~ Sissy, if you don't lay down and go to sleep, Jesus will be sad with you
~ Munchkins, Jesus is going to be sad if you pull Coley's fur


He's nonstop. He told me that I made it seem like she was going to hell if she wasn't nice. I know that she's not going to be nice. I'm 28 and I'm not nice all the time! He's taking it a little too far, but he's doing it in a silly, goofy, let's make fun of your mommy for being overly concerned about how you act way. I thought I had a good point, and a good lesson for her. And, now I'm constantly being made fun of!! :(

What Do You Do.........

when the grandson of the lady who babysits your kid plows your kid over, makes her knock her head, then smiles with delight over the fact that he just railroaded your kid on to the floor? This kid isn't tiny, either. He's 3 months younger than my girlfriend, stands a good 2" over her, and outweighs her by approximately 10lbs. The thing that really got me was that after he did this, his grandmother tells him "oh that's not how we tickle". Excuse me.... that's not how we tickle??? Did she mean that's not how we tackle? If it happens again, do I correct him myself and let his grandmother be mad at me or what? I'm not going to allow him to just shove my kid on the floor, and then have nothing be done about it. I understand that my girl is gonna get hurt, but to allow a child to just steamroll another one then call it tickling? I was a little unhappy about that situation! What would you do?

Not Me Monday

So, it's that time again (well, a little early, but still)!! The best part about this Not Me! Monday is that God's little miracle, Stellan, has been born, he's healthy, and he's going home!!! What an awesome God we have! So, here goes nothing ~

* I did not do this post at 7:51pm EST Sunday

night so I didn't have to bother with it tomorrow after dealing with my class who will be hyped up on the gajillion pounds of candy they got this weekend. Cuz 20 crazy, wacky, bouncing off the walls children aren't hard to deal with!

* I did not take tons of pictures of my hilarious daughter eating chocolate icing because she stole it from me while baking.

* I totally didn't cringe at the sound of Christmas music at Wal-Mart yesterday. Hearing CHRISTMAS music the day after Halloween didn't bug me one bit, nope it didn't!

* I haven't said a super gazillion times in the last week that I can't wait for Thanksgiving Break to get here..... so, get here pronto! It's not like I need a small 5 day break or anything!

* I didn't go visit a 6 week old baby, take one whiff of her newborn smelling little head, and want another newborn that instant. We're waiting until our punkins is 3 or 4 before we want another one, so I didn't think twice about wanting another one right now!

* I totally still haven't slacked off in the writing lesson plans/grading papers department. Who needs to write lesson plans and grade papers anyway? I'm not about 5 weeks behind ~ NOT ME!

* I didn't decide that I wanted coffee from McDonalds, saw the HUGE line at the drive-thru, proceeded to run inside to get in line, saw that line was huge, noticed a person I knew at the front of this said long line, proceeded to go up to her, asked her to please get me my coffee, handed her my money, went to have a chat with her daughter while I waited, have her hand me my coffee that I didn't wait in line for, all while about 15 people were standing in line that I should have been behind (wow that's a long one). As a teacher, I should know that cutting in line is a huge no-no, right? NOT! Especially not when you NEED good, hot coffee on a chilly morning! It was necessary, people!

* I did not let a bad word slip out of my mouth (munchkin was not present, but I still am not a big swearer) when I was LEGALLY passing someone (nothing was coming on the other side of the road, I checked 5 times), and a lady on her friggin cell phone decided to pull out of a road directly in front of me while I was using the opposite lane to pass a slow-poke! I didn't get scared at all, and didn't think I was going to slam in to someone and be seriously injured. Can they just make some type of device to prevent people from using their cell phones while they're driving?? It's dangerous!

* I did not spend $40 on hair bows for my princess on Saturday.... bows that match almost 95% of all of the outfits she has so she can have pretties in her hair every day. My husband didn't flip out, either. I plead NOT GUILTY! (Actually, I plead guilty of accessorizing my insanely cute daughter's head) When you're a princess, you have to be uber cute all the time!

* And, lastly, I did not see some of the most gorgeous, vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows while driving to visit the insanely cute 6 week old. I'm talkin colors I haven't seen many places this entire fall. They took my breath away. Thank you, God, for painting the trees gorgeous colors for us all to enjoy~ just another way that you show us your undying love.

Phew.... I'm not done..... Head on over to STELLAN's Mommy's Blog to see other posts!!!

Don't Ruin It!

As I walk in to Wal-Mart today, I hear something, stop and listen more closely, and confirm what I thought I had previously heard ~ I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going insane. Yes, the sound I heard today was CHRISTMAS music! I wasn't going crazy (phew!) Isn't it a tad bit too early? Halloween was just yesterday, people! Give it some time. Thanksgiving hasn't even come yet, and the bells of Christmas are already ringing? Yikes! It seems to get earlier and earlier every year. I think next year, it may begin on July 4th.



Now, don't get me wrong, I love Christmas music. That's all we listen to on our trip to Amish country for Thanksgiving (along with having HoHo Mint Mochas to make things a little jollier and peppermintier). I love how the songs get me in the mood for the month awaiting me ~ getting the tree out, seeing all of my ornaments from the time I was born clear until now, getting new ornaments every year from my Gram and parents, getting the kiddo new ornaments every year, decorating the house, having the magical feeling in the air, singing Christmas carols, poinsettias, going to church on Christmas Eve, thanking our amazing Heavenly Father for sending his only son to die on the dross for our sins..... all of it is wonderful!


I digress..... But, Christmas music at the beginning of November??? Personally, that's a way to ruin the holidays {for ME} because it gets a little redundant after 2 months. I'm just sayin..... not meaning to step on toes, if it's your thing, you got what you enjoy and your holidays will begin a little early. But, for me, it's just not time yet!

I'll Have a Slice of....

So, reading the menu at a local restaurant deciding what I wanted to have for dinner (we've been slacking in the cooking at home department the last two days cuz we've been so busy), I found what I wanted. I don't know if this is a new "hit" item for restaurants to serve or what, but it sounds delectable. When I told my husband the only thing from the menu that I wanted was a nice, big slice of Cappuccino MOUSE Pie, he about hit the floor. You'd want an enormous, honkin slice of that, too, wouldn't you??? :o)