Another Sunday leads to another Monday

Sounds like a Buffet song doesn't it?! lol

I'd rather not talk about my morning and the Parade so I'll skip a few hours of my day. This late afternoon I swept and mopped the kitchen/dining room. Sprayed and washed all of SweetPea's laundry (sheesh, she had more than me and the kids!), I dusted the living room, the kids cleaned their rooms, then I cooked dinner and baked brownies. It's been a nice day but I wish Husker wasn't called in.

Speaking of... I called and told him about an idea I had. I always get so ticked when he gets a call and takes it, I don't know why... I guess I just hate the fact that I'm going to be home all day alone with the kids...it's almost an everyday thing. So I told him that I had a idea that would make me completely happy to see him take his calls. He'd have to give me $20 for every O/T call he takes. Hey, really $20 is NOTHING compared to what he makes extra, it's like pennies. I was really just kidding around... but he called me and said he was thinking about it
and thought it was a good idea! HA!

Hey.. more scrappin' money for me! :) WooHoo!

So now that the house is completely clean, kids bathed and playing I'm going to scrap a little. Oh, I put some music on...found an old Toni Braxton CD, love her!

It'll Fall Off!

I've resorted to the constant reminder that if Lil'Buddy continues to play with his "pee pee" it'll fall off. I swear he plays that thing like a guitar!

Tonight he came running up to me naked and asked me to watch what he could do to his pee pee. He stretched the skin over the top and said, "Look, I can hide my pee pee!!"

Yeah... totally NOT my area of expertise. So, I went with the "play with it and it'll fall off" deal. Apparently he doesn't care.

Ugh!

Tart Making 101

I found this on another site and had to copy!! I LOVE Yankee Candle Tarts! Right now I have a Macintosh tart in the warmer!! *photos not included in instructions.
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This is SUPER easy and really fast. Anyone can do this. You will need soy wax pieces, scent, candy thermometer, mold or ice cube tray, and a microwave safe container.

First, I poured about 1/3 of the pound of soy wax pieces into a microwave safe bowl. I nuked it for a couple of minutes......watch it to see when it's all melted. It should not take more than 2 minutes. If there is a little bit of dried wax on the sides of the bowl, you can just stir it down in and the heat of the melted wax will melt the remaining chips.

When it comes out of the microwave, it will be VERY HOT. Mine was nearly 200 degrees. Allow it to cool down to about 140 degrees Fahrenheit. You can use a candy thermometer to check the temp. If you gently stir the wax with the thermometer, it will cool off a bit quicker. It only took about 10 minutes for mine to drop to 140 degrees.

Now you add your scent. Since this was my first attempt, I wasn't really sure how much to add. So I put a 1/2 teaspoon of melon scent into the liquid wax and stirred it. I then waved my hand over it to see how it smelled. It seemed good enough, so I left it at that.

Now you can pour the liquid wax into your mold. I used a small ice cube tray. This tray is from a dorm-size refrigerator, so each cube is only about 1 ounce. Once it was poured, I left it on the kitchen counter. Within an hour it was totally set up and ready to pop out.

And here they are. Basic cream cubes - no color added. If you want to add a color, you can do that at the same time as you add the scent. I wasn't interested in adding a color because it's just a waste of money when all I care about is the scent. LOL

Hope you give this a try and have fun with it!

ETA: The wax cost $7 and the scent cost $4. I can make 30 mini cubes with these supplies and there will still be 1/2 the scent left. So that works out to be less than 37 cents per cube. And the scent is fabulous!!

Oh and one more thing.....these need to cure for 10-14 days. So set them aside to rest before using them.

Wine!

Tonight as I'm preparing dinner I decide to pour myself a glass of wine. It sits on the counter as I'm chopping and Princess comes over and says:

"We aren't supposed to drink those kind of drinks are we Mommma? Only big people!"

I agree, right as Lil'Buddy comes over and says:

"I want a drink, I want a drink!", Princess tells him no and explains just WHY he can't have a drink.

"If you drink that it'll make those red things pop up all over your face!!"

I have no idea why my daughter thinks wine gives you pimples... but I don't think I'll argue that one! ;)

I'm so pissed off!

This will be a long story and a well needed vent!

My sister (now 24 yrs old) has three kids; 8, 6, 3
She was having problems with her husband, had an affair, admitted to it, ended up leaving her husband with her three kids behind. Now, I didn't agree to this and the way she did it. BUT I do understand her not going home to where her husband would be, he had threatened her and was beginning to be abusive towards her. But she left her kids there. Plain and simple. Her actions from that point were juvenile. Partying, staying out all night and would be gone for days without letting anyone know where she was. This went on for months. The oldest (whom didn't belong to her husband) went to live with her father and his wife.

Time went by, they filed for a divorce. My family at that point disowned my sister. Their decision was based on her actions towards the kids. I didn't agree with this. If anything she needed them more than ever. Help her understand her wrongs and help her to make them right. Give her support so she would know it was okay to be a SINGLE mom with three children. Help her get settled into her changed life. These are just my thoughts as being a Mother of 3 children myself.

My family (consisting of my father's mom and my 2 aunts) did the complete opposite. They pushed her completely out of their lives. They have had nothing to do with the younger two kids but have claimed "ownership" over the older one. My sister was very young when she had her so a lot of us really spoiled her. My grandmother gets her every weekend, picks her up from school several times a week, they take her to church every Sunday and they really think that she is "theirs". They don't allow my mom to contact her and they have kept her from my sister since Sept.

Some really bad things have happened the last couple of weeks. And I found out tonight that they have been telling my niece that my sister and my mom are DEAD!!!!!
WHY would you tell this to a 8 year old child when it's completely a LIE??? Can you even begin to imagine how sad and hurt she felt that her Mother and Grandmother that raised her are dead?? She actually saw them this past week and nearly had a breakdown, at 8 now, when she saw them. Isn't this the most horrible thing you've ever heard?

This, my friends, is why I do not live near my family... some of them are just evil!

I am having the hardest time biting my tongue. I want to confront them with this but another part of me just wants to say that it will come back to them in the end and to not get involved.

Hair Flipping

Ever since I chopped off my hair I still do that hair flipping thing after I've washed it to put into the hair towel. I'm seriously going to give myself whiplash because all the weight is gone... there's nothing to flip anymore!!

RAK #2

Here is last week's RAK (random act of kindness)!

My Favorite Pic

Well...for tonight!

Loose Tooth!!

Princess has her first loose tooth. Two milestones in one night... what am I going to do?!!?

She was eating an apple and said her tooth was hurting. I checked it and there was blood all over her gums and the tooth was very loose. Not long and it'll be gone! She was bouncing all over the house with excitement. It's not over losing a tooth.. it's about the $$ she'll find under the pillow... she's already rubbing it in with Lil'Buddy!!

School Orientation

It went really well! We listened to the orientation for about 30 mins. They basically went through the handbook and talked about school activities, etc...
Afterwards we went to her classroom, met her teacher and talked to her for a few minutes. Princess was completely ready to go, like tonight! lol Of course you know I had to take my camera and get what pics I could!


Here is the entrance to the school part. Her room will be the last window by the white van in the pic. Isn't it beautiful?! Those doors cannot be opened from the outside while school is in session. You have to ring a doorbell and the Secretary will answer it. VERY COOL!!


This is her before we left the house. I promise, she posed like this all on her own!! lol


And this is her and I when we got there. She never refuses a pic with Mommy! *don't ask about the pic, I tried to edit it several times and blogger refuses to cooperate with me!

The other photos I got were of the classroom door. Her beside the classroom and the front of the building.

All in all, orientation went wonderful and I didn't cry like I thought I would. I suppose I'm saving that for the first day of school!!

Chelsea Handler Show

I caught the first episode of the Chelsea Handler show that is on E! now... HILARIOUS!!! The woman is funny as hell! Loved it!

Here's a link to learn a little more!

Chelsea Handler Show

Getting my tissues

I have a feeling that tomorrow I will just break down! We have orientation at Princess' school tomorrow night. We'll meet all of the teachers, tour the school and classrooms as well as meet all of the other students/parents. I can't believe this day is already here. I just want to keep her a little girl, my little girl, my little Princess forever.

I'm happy we chose the private school for her. We already set aside the tuition costs, which is good, now we won't have to worry about that. I'm excited about school shopping with her and getting an actual "wardrobe" together! New shoes and dresses, hairbows and accessories! Less than 4 months and my baby girl will be a kindergartener!

Meal Planning

Do you make a meal menu at home? I always try to plan at least a weeks worth of meals especially when I am grocery shopping. Today I planned for two weeks!

Here is my 2 week Menu. I left out 1 day for eating out!
These are in no order, I'll figure that out later!!

Fettuccine with Beef and Peppers
Enchiladas & Beans
Baked Ziti
Sausage Bean Hash
Spaghetti
Potato Ham Casserole
Tacos
Beans & Rice w/ Sausage
Chicken Pot Pie
Chili
Grilled Teryaki Steaks
Broiled Chicken
Meatloaf

All is good!

So much to journal about!
We got home last night around 8:30pm from our 3 day getaway. I drove into Jax around noon on Thursday. Princess had her physical for school. She did awesome! Her height and weight are on track (though she said she's still a skinny-Minnie), her eyesight is beyond awesome (20/20 and 20/16) and her hearing was perfect (no more excuses that she didn't "hear me" huh?!?). My appointment had to be rescheduled for Friday so I had the rest of the afternoon/evening to do whatever. I called Blue and she met me at Wal-Mart. We shopped a little then met Sailor at KoKo's for dinner (Japanese). It was delicious!! The kids love the "show" they put on at the Habatchi grill!
Afterwards we went to Blues and just hung out till it was time to turn in.

Friday morning we got up and went to the park playdate with the playgroup. There were about 9 of us there. It was a super nice day, but hot as hell. We all went to lunch at DQ afterwards. I had my appointment at 2pm so I headed over there. Scrappingmom was SO nice to come over and pick up the older two while I was there. They were going to put my IUD in and I didn't want the kids in the room with me... how devastating! So, the IUD. That $(*EWOI#(*@&$^!$ hurt like HELL! At first it was like having a pap done. Then I felt pinching then LOTS of pressure. OMG they didn't tell me it was going to HURT! I bled so bad. It was awful. I sat in the room crying for about 25-30 mins. afterwards. Okay so I had a stressful day too, and that certainly didn't help. I had really bad cramps and bleeding all day/night and the next day. So I hope it will be worth it.

That night we had a crop at Cuba's house. The kids were ornery. The baby wouldn't stay asleep. I didn't really get to work on anything till about 10pm. I was okay with that because I knew I was staying over so I could work all night. Scrappingmom realized she had a flat so FBI and I tried to change it, her spare was no good though :( That was fun! I ate lots of yummy food, I'm sure I'll pay for it later.
At 5:30am I finally went to bed with 3 pages done (almost fully complete).

Saturday I got up around 11-11:30am, played around with my layouts again, spent the day with Cuba, and I learned how to make her delicious Lattés!! WooHoo I am now an in-house "Barista"!!! We went to Woody's for lunch and to Hobby Lobby. I finally got part 1 of the 3 piece tote I want.



I went with the black one, if they have had pink, I would have went with that for sure. Isn't it purty?!

Once I got home I opened up my package from Gina for the MO Swap! LOVED the bunny and the plush stack! SO CUTE!!!! THANK YOU!! :)

I'll post my layouts later. I have had to grocery shop, run to Wal-Mart and do a little laundry today. I'm making fried chicken tenderloins tonight, watching DH and then I have to figure what the hell is wrong with this burner I just bought, it's not cooperating!

How was your weekend?

Where do the days go?

It's Thursday already, well, it's nearly 2am but still, Thursday!
I can't even tell you what I have actually done in those few days. Laundry. Hmm, that's about it! I had some orders come in so I have worked on those. I did one scrapbook project this week, waiting do to at least 1 or 2 more for the crop on Friday.

Today we have appointments to attend. Lucky me gets to visit the OB/GYN one last time for my six week check-up, I still have no idea if they plan on inputting this IUD today or not! Princess also has a Physical so she can start school in August. We were planning on going to TLC but Husker has asked that we go to breakfast together before heading to Jax. He's been so sweet today, he turned down an overtime call because he was with the kids outside washing vehicles and playing in the water! He said "nah, don't answer it, I'm having too much fun out here with them!" That is the first time he's turned down a call! And breakfast together on a Thursday?! Now, you see how I can't refuse?!?!

We may be staying over tomorrow at Blue's house! I think the kids are going to LOVE that!! They just LOVE 'little' Princess! Tomorrow is the group's monthly crop. I have lots of things I want to accomplish, so hopefully I can get everything that I want done. I will be staying over Fri. too so another weekend and I'm scarce! Have a great one you guys! After next week it'll calm down for a while! :)

4 days!

I haven't had time to really do much online since Thursday!
Friday we had our playgroup's 2nd Easter Party! It was so much fun!! The lady was late so we didn't get to decorate, I was on the go the entire time. I didn't get a chance to sit down or even eat anything... which isn't unusual.

After the party Cuba and I (along with our dozen kids) headed to Daytona to pay a visit to the hair salon! Her stylist Tracy hooked me up with a new hairdo! It's REALLY weird to have had long hair my entire life and now this. I have noticed that I have gradually gone shorter and shorter over the years, I finally got he courage to just go for it!



We got back to Jax around 8pm, I stayed at her house and watched the kids so her and her husband could go out on their dinner date. I was completely exhausted, the drive home would have sucked bad! We stayed over and got up the next morning well rested. We spent most of the day hanging out with Cuba and family. I finally made it over to Scrapbooks to look around. They were having an "egg hunt" with discounts hidden inside. I got the 25% ticket - woohoo! I bought some chipboard letters and 2 distressing ink pads. I finally got on the road home. All three kids slept the entire way, well SweetPea woke up for a few minutes and I had to pull over for her just to get her comfy. Once I got home I got a shower then we headed to Wal-Mart for things I needed for Easter. By that time it was midnight and I figured most everything would be cleared out.

I shopped till 2am with three kids.. and I was surprised to see other people in there shopping with newborns and other kids that late!! By 3am I was in bed and back up at 9am to clean the house and get it ready for company.

The kids had a great Easter. Cuba and Di came up with their families. We cooked a big dinner then went to the park for our own Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had so much fun and it was nice to share that with their friends! By the end of the day I was so exhausted I couldn't keep my eyes open! Today has been re-coup day! I have had to clean all over again and do laundry. FUN!

So, how do you like my haircut?

MIA Today

I've pretty much been MIA today. We've been cleaning the carpets, rearranging furniture and doing some Spring cleaning. Our dining/kitchen looks like we just moved in, it's a mess! Both of the kids' rooms look great though, Princess' floor was beginning to make me sick with all of the spill stains and wear, but it looks great now!

I think I will have to do another toy purge. The last one just wasn't enough. She has SO much that I think she just gets so overwhelmed and she doesn't know really how to clean up when they start playing with everything! Lil'Buddy's room isn't a problem at all. His toys are very organized and each bin contains certain toy sets, so it's very easy to pickup.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day again too. We're going to clean all of the upholstery in the house. Sofa, Chair, Dining Chairs, etc..
I also have to do shopping for our Playgroup Easter party that is on Friday.

I decided to ebay most of my handbags! They all sit in a plastic bin in my closet. I have some really nice ones that I used for a few months then bought a new one. They need a new home!! :)

So, if I don't get back on here tomorrow it won't be till Saturday sometime. After the party on Friday I'm heading to Daytona with Cuba for a hair appointment with her hairdresser! WOOHOO! I can't wait! I'm still undecided what to do with my hair. We shall see! :)

Favorite Pics of the Week

I took these pics of me and SweetPea over the weekend!!

Baby Blues

That may not be titled right... PSA: I do not, repeat, do not have the "baby blues" lol I wanted to show you my "Baby Blue"!! :)

This is the portrait that I brought home with me Monday evening. I ordered 2 other poses but opted for those to be shipped for pickup in 2 weeks. I was curious how this color looked printed and when I found out they had in-store printing she offered to print and show me (then I got it for FREE ...woohoo!)

These are SweetPea's first portraits, the others are so pretty, all in white. Thanks Cuba for the absolutely beautiful dress and accessories. She's dressed head to toe in everything you got for her, literally (well, minus the diaper)!! I got SO many comments on her and her dress today! :) Aww!



Sorry for the bad quality, it's a pic of the pic! Click on it for a larger image.

My Weekend

Saturday we got ready and went into Jax early. I picked up some clothes for the kids at a store, then I met PurpleMama at her house to pick them up. We headed to Target for some shopping! I didn't get much, it was a little overwhelming with 2 carts, 4 kids and I just felt rushed so I lost my shopping mood quickly. After I dropped them off I followed Blue over to Bunco. I had a great time and it was so needed. Even if I did have the baby with me, she slept 95% of the time so most wouldn't have even known she was there. I miss my friends, my personal time, enjoying life ...

Bunco ran a little late, we sometimes get too chatty :) Half way through our game the lights started to flicker, a storm was coming through so we stopped to light candles just in case! Can you imagine what her neighbors were thinking; 18 women, candles and rolling dice?!?! LOL

I was unsure about driving home since there were tornado warnings/watches earlier near the house and since I was alone I couldn't pawn off the driving to Husker! But the rain had stopped, I called Husker at work to see how it was there and he said it seemed to have passed so I went home. It was a quiet drive. Princess was the only one awake playing her gameboy.

Sunday we took the kids to see Ice Age 2. It was a cute movie. Nothing else really happened. Since Desperate Housewives wasn't on I started going through my closet to clean out clothes and reorganize.

I think I have way too many clothes!! I counted (just in pants); over 30 pair!!
8 are black, 6 are khaki, 4 white, 5 jeans and the rest are a mix. CRAZY!!!

2 Completed Projects

This week I managed to start on 2 projects and actually FINISH them!!
One would be a nifty little notebook I plan to carry in my purse. I got it a while back at Target with a whole load of similar items. I was excited to finally alter one!!




This is the outside and inside of the notebook. Isn't it so cute!?! :)

The other project I can't post right now because it's a RAK (random act of kindness) for someone who frequents my blog... I don't want to ruin the surprise!! But I can't wait to post the pics, probably later this weekend.

Well, 2 projects, start to finish...not too bad! I also page-planned several layouts. There are just a few things I need to buy first!

One Pissed Off Day

My day started out good but by mid-afternoon it has just gone downhill.

1. No babysitter for Bunco tomorrow. So this means I'm missing my group's 1 year anniversary game, the first game that I will miss in a year! I hate that I live too far to find a local sitter and leave them here. I cannot do that! And I hate that I can never find anyone to watch my kids. This is one of the things I hate from being far from family (though they'd never help me either I'm sure) and hate about Husker's job... I HATE HIS JOB!

2. Husker gets called in right in the middle of my grocery shopping and rushes me to finish. We get home and I'm stuck with unloading the entire van AND putting everything away on top of keeping the baby happy and 2 other kids OUT of all of the food. He comes in, gets dressed and leaves. He'll work the second shift (3-11pm) then his regular shift (11pm-7am) so we won't "see" him till later tomorrow afternoon. Then right back to work again.

4. I finally check my email to find out that a Scrapbooking group I requested to join last night approved me THEN unsub'd me. Bastards. I know it's because there's 2 people in there that I used to know. One was in the first playgroup I was in, we were not great friends but knew one another. But we never had any arguments or reasons to 'dislike' one another... I just haven't seen her in 2 years. The other girl is just a bitch. She was in our playgroup for a little bit, I never met her because she worked from home. She complained ALL the time about not having playdates that "accomodated" her... but she was only available on weekends. We set some up but she NEVER went. So, she unsub'd from the playgroup. BIG whoop... get over it!!!! These things HAVE NOTHING to do with scrapbooking and the hobby of. Just goes to show you how nasty some people are and can be! If that's the way they are I don't want ANY part of it!

5. I'm home alone again tonight. Story of my life.

**update...PurpleMama said she'd watch my babes! hooray!

OM'Goodness!

Fat people don't get kidnapped

A little risqué for Marriott, you think??!

"You're such a weenie!"

This is what my lovely daughter yelled at her little brother this evening after he swiped her doll away from her and ran with all his might!

He followed her name calling with ....

"You're a chicken butt"

Where did my kids learn "weenie" and "chicken butt"??? I guess it's better than some really 'fowl' names they could have used! haha

How could I forget??

Saturday we ventured back to Swampfest so the kids could enjoy the Kids Zone and all of the contests going on. We had slept late so they missed the Kids Tractor Pull Contest (the kind that's a tricycle). We let them ride some rides, jump on the bounce houses and slides then it was time for the Kids Frog Jumping Contest.

I had told Princess during the week that to enter she had to practice so she's been jumping all over the house. Well I was wrong, it was actual FROGS! The old man picked kids from the audience. Not only was Princess picked, Husker was picked as her "buddy" then they got to pick another helper (Lil'Buddy)... turns out the frog they got was "Pee Wee".... THE HUGE GIGANTIC BULLFROG!!! He was bigger than my head... Oh goodness it was the funniest thing, I could barely take pictures from laughing so much!!! I got lots of great pictures, and the look on Lil'Buddy's face when they took the top off and they saw the huge frog! Husker ended up picking it up out of the bucket and down on the "Lily Pad"... they actually got 3 big jumps out of him...

So my whole family came home Frog Jumping Contest Winners with 3 trophies and certificates!!! HAHAHAAA!!! Here are 4 pics below!


Princess answering his questions.


Pulling PeeWee out of the bucket *eww

Putting PeeWee back in the bucket.

My crew with their awards!

Ali & JC

Is it just you and I that stalk my blog now?
I guess I am no longer an interesting subject!! lol!

Why can't I spend money???

I have acquired some sort of mental block from spending money. I don't know why but it's going to drive me crazy! When I was married previously I went through a period of not working, I simply didn't have to. I literally went shopping every day. I probably spent $1k a month or more in just buying whatever I wanted; clothes, shoes, decor, etc... and I didn't blink an eye!

But now... forget it. I am having the hardest time just bidding on these stupid auctions I have on my watch list. Why can't I just buy the stuff??? Is it because now that I'm a Mom I feel guilty spending money on myself? I have no problem buying things for the kids whenever I want.

This issue needs to resolve itself because Mama wants some new scrapbooking toys!!!

Who Else??

Anyone else tired of looking at those big-ass honkers on my blog?????