Gneiting Day Drama

Ahoy Matey! My Baby is THREE!!!

2010-09-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

My Pirate is a whopping three years old today. Where has the time gone? For E.'s birthday, he requested everything be pirate related. By far, Ethan has become my most animated child. He has an imagination and loves to do let his imagination run wild. Happy Birthday, Boogah! We love you!!

Do, do, do, do, do, do, do BatMan, I mean Wah-Bin!

2010-09-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

Meet Wah-bin: aka Robin.....The Adventures of Wah-Bin and Daisy-Mae

"Come on Daisy, let's find the ban-damits" says Wah-Bin

"Look Daisy-Mae, I found them! Wun wike da wind, get um!"

"Quick, you're letting dem get way..go boy, I mean durl!"

"I ahmost dare Daisy"

"Daisy-Mae, you da best Batman durl eva!"

"Good job today durl. We did it, we get dose ban-damit bad guys"

"What it is, Daisy?"

"Take a sweep Daisy, I wub you gurl!"

Daisy taking a break while Wah-Bin.....

Decides to play soccer.....The End!

Goodbye Soccer, Hello School!

2010-08-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

It's sad but true, summer soccer is finally over! Thank heavens. Don't most places have soccer as a fall sport? I'm sure that R., NC is a little backwards at times, but dang! Sitting out in the amazingly humid NC heat is enough to make any human being want to choke someone.
There were days during soccer that the weather was amazing. (Few and far between). Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that my children want to be physically active and be involved with sports. It's a great way for them to develop new friendships and be able to take charge without going to a time out for telling mom..."I don't have to listen to what you say, I'm big and I can do whatever I want!" Yes, it's sad but true, my wonderful, intelligent, sassy, oldest son Lucas told me those exact words last week when I asked him to eat his snack in the kitchen. I can laugh (try to) about it now, but at that moment I felt myself begin to evolve into a Lioness and want to attack my prey! It was one of those out of body moments that I find myself having more of the older my children get.
The boys have enjoyed the summer so far. They went with Jesse to Idaho for 2 weeks to visit friends and family. I think it was good for them and their dad to be able to spend some quality time together. However, it was hard for me to let them go. I seriously went into panic mode the night they left. For me, being a mother is a job that I don't take lightly. I want my children to experience new things, go new places, meet new people, grow as an individual, love one another and so on. That being said, I also like when I am with them to see first hand what their reactions may be. Guess you could say that I'm a selfish mom. To answer my last statement, YES, I am a selfish mother. I want to succeed at the task that I have been given of bringing my children up in truth and righteousness. Being a mother is so hard at times, but it so worth it!
Sorry, about that rant, okay.... I've been on break from school for the past two weeks. I start back on Monday. I love learning new things. If you would've asked me 3 years ago where I would be now, I don't think that I would have chosen the right answer. I'm actually even thing about getting another associates degree after I finish up with this one. Who knows what the future holds?!!? I don't!
Yesterday the boys had their last soccer games of the season. Lucas has a great game. He even played goalie the last quarter. His team finished the season being undefeated! Tanner and Ethan were on the same team. They both had a great game yesterday. Tanner scored 2 goals and my baby Ethan scored his first goal! Wouldn't you know that I went off and left my camera and camcorder at home. I didn't even get any pictures of their achievements. Oh well, I'm sure there will be more to come.
Ethan is pretty much potty trained. Actually has been for quite sometime now. The only time I worry is nighttime and if he gets upset. He's a little booger (as his papaw calls him) and when he gets good and mad I honestly believe that he purposely pees on himself and whatever he may be sitting, standing, or laying on at the time.
Tanner is about to start the more at four program this coming school year. Lucas will be going into the first grade. Ethan, well, let's just say that I'm sure he'll still be having moments of pure frustration at daycare. There's one little boy in his class named Coy who he constantly has issues with.I'm sure that Ethan probably starts most of them fights. Hopefully he will soon grow out of that stage.
So here on the home front, the only new thing getting ready to start is school. Hopefully we can get back to somewhat of a normal life.

We're on the Home Stretch

2010-07-05T20:39:00.001-07:00

Many of you may know that the boys and I have moved next door to Jesse. So far, no problem. Being in school full time is enough to drive me batty. I feel like I NEVER have enough time to get anything done. I did have a moment of mental lapse and signed all three boys up for soccer, as if I didn't have anything else going on......

Jesse and the boys are out in Idaho visiting his family. They're on a two week vacation. I hope they have a great time. I also hope that Saturday finds its way here sooner than later cause I'm about to go nuts not having my babies here. I LOVE being a mother and every little nook and cranny that it entails. I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father for trusting me enough to send these special little spirits here for me to take care of. What an amazing experience!

While the boys have been gone this past week you would think that I could have gotten a lot of things done around the house. That's not the case. You see, I have this great aunt Florence who has needed my help cleaning out her brother's properties since he has passed away. Boy was that a job! Boy O' Boy I am SOOOOOOOOOO Glad that's over!!!!! Today has been my only day since moving in to the house that I have actually had time to do any decorating. I haven't stopped since I woke up this morning. I am 5 different shades of colors. Mostly spray paint colors. I'm still not done or close to being done, but here are some pictures of how things are going. I'm going for the Retro/vintage/Mod look if you can't tell.

Howdy Stranger!

2010-03-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

I sure am getting better and better at blogging! Here's a quick update of how things have been going since my last post! hahaha. Here's my life's checklist!

Still in school-check

Lucas is still in school-check

Lucas is signed up and playing baseball-check (that's why he isn't any any of the pictures)

Lucas, Tanner, and Ethan have been continually sick. Colds mostly, probably a few allergies as well....too many dr. visits to try and remember-check

Ethan had tubes put in his ears-check

I have had more hair colors since Jan.01,2010 than I have had my entire life until now-check

I changes my hair color today-check

Been doing a lot of yard work-check

Cancelled my nasal surgery that was originally scheduled for this coming Monday-check

Almost through getting things ready for Alex's bridal shower on Friday-check

Getting more and more excited for the boys and I to have a place to call "our own"-check

Constantly surrounded by daily drama at school(should I have "thunk" it to be any other way......?"-check

Taught Ethan to say"What choo talkin' bout Willis?" (His version sounds a little more like.."what shoo-talkk bowwow widdis."-check

At a happy place in my life- 3/4 of the way -check

need to be kicked in the rumpus for not keeping in better contact with my friends-check

Was released from my young women calling in church-check

accepted a new calling in church, RS secretary-check

still going a million miles an hour plus-check

Hope you are having a great day and a beautiful spring! Spring sure has sprung here!

Random Happenings!

2009-11-25T20:24:00.000-08:00

Here are random pictures of the happenings in my life over the last little while!

Mya and Lucas at Bojangles for Randleman Elementary Night.

Ethan's 2nd Birthday party!

Ethan under the cedar tree at his party

Ethan's actual birthday and his new ride!

Late night shopping run with Tanner.

GNO with girls I went to High School with.

Stefanie's new hair "do", I don't know why she didn't have faith in me?

Stef from the front

Megan's new "do"

Ethan's first trick or treating experience walking. This was the first house that we went to. You would've thought that he had been walking for days on end. Nope, just lazy.

Tanner and Lucas at the trunk or treat get together.

Ethan at the trunk or treat get together. I wanted the boys to be "The 3 Little Pimps", but Ethan is the only one who wanted to play dress up with me....LOL! He wouldn't keep the wig on.

Halloween night, Tanner, Lucas, Hillary, and Cole at Grandma's house.

TRICK OR TREAT!

The Pigs Have Wings!

2009-11-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

Yes my long time friends, I am still alive and kicking. I'm sure some of you were thinking one of two things: 1) "Man is this girl still around?" 2) I sure am glad that I haven't been reading any blog posts of hers lately!" Any way you look at it my life has been full speed ahead for a while now. Extra-curricular activities have become a thing of the past. "When Pigs Fly" has become my new famous phrase.
Okay, here's a quick run down on life since my last posting in August.

* I started school at the local community college! Yippee! I am in the cosmetology program and loving every minute of it.
* Lucas started Kindergarten! My eldest baby is getting so old. Where has all the time gone?
* Lucas lost his first tooth. He's quite the little snaggle tooth.
* Lucas has decided that he loves the ladies! I don't know why this is exceptionally hard for me to process. One night I was helping him wash his hair when he said "mom, I want papa's smell good soap." (meaning Axe) After the bath he looked up at me with that ever so famous Lucas look and said, " Mom, now ALL the girls will want to kiss me!" I nearly fell off my chair in shock. Trying my best to hold back all laughter and tears that instantly filled my whole being, I told Lucas "I don't want to hear that you're kissing ANY girls at school. You're way too young to be thinking about kissing girls." Lucas smiled really big and said, " Well, that's that!" Guess that's what I get for buying him shirts that said..."Smooth Like Butta" and "Ladies Man"
* Tanner and Ethan have started doing to daycare. I'm in school 5 days a week from 8-2:30 pm or 3 depending on the day. The first day was so hard for me. You'd think that Tanner and Ethan would've went nuts being around people they didn't know, not on day 1. Day 2 to the present, I haven't been as lucky.
* Ethan started potty training! Yippee again! Back in July Ethan started showing interest in going to the bathroom. The first day he went the the potty 4 times in a row. What a happy but sad time. My newly 2 year old isn't a baby anymore. The best feeling ever will be when I am totally diaper free! I don't think I'll know what to do with myself.
* A couple weeks ago I attended a 2 day hair show in Charlotte. I wasn't too sure if it would be all that fun, but it was. The first day of the show was so fun that the group I went with had to pull me out as the doors were being locked.
* When I went to pick Tanner and Ethan up from daycare yesterday, Tanner pointed to a little girl in his class named Madison and proceeded to inform me that "Look, she's my boyfriend mom! She likes to kiss me all the time." I laughed and said, "You mean your girlfriend." He nodded his head and agreed, as did 3 other little boys that were standing with him. Each one of the 3 told me that Madison was their girlfriend too, but that she wouldn't kiss on them! I guess we know who the popular girl in the class is. A couple days before Tanner was telling me that another little girl named Molly was his girlfriend.
* NEW MOON will be here soon and I can't wait! NEW MOON!!!! YEAH! Dena, do we need to pre order tickets? I'm sure we do. Let me know what you're gonna do. Wish you were here to go with us, Mandi! You can fly out and we'll have a good ole GNO!
I think that's it in a nutshell, or maybe even a chapter or two. I will try even harder to post more frequently. Hope you all are doing fabulous!!!!

The Kids On The Hill

2009-08-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

This past Tuesday Lucas and Tanner had another soccer game. There friends, Amara and Blakelyn came along to show their support. My boys just love these girls. (I do too. It's like having 3 daughters when their little sister is in the mix.)

Tanner actually scored his first goal of the season with an assist from big brother Lucas! He was so happy. It was cute to see Lucas so proud of his little brother.

Lucas continued his normal pattern of making every goal for the team with the exception of one or two. I have a little competitor on my hands.

After the games I took the kids over to the play area. They played on the equipment for a while but soon found that a small hill offered a lot more fun.

I remember rolling down hills when I was little. I think it's one of the few memories I have from my childhood. I know, that's sad.) Last summer I decided to try it out to see if I could prolong the fun just one more time. I think that I rolled a complete 360 twice before coming to an abrupt halt. In that eternal minute I felt like I would vomit for the rest of my days here on earth. What was I thinking? Well, I know afterwards I thought that I'd NEVER do that again and boy have I stuck to my guns on that one.

Thought of the Day: Try something different! (even if you have to vomit:-)

2009-08-02T23:53:00.001-07:00

Games on Friday nights are the new happening thing. For the last couple months on Friday nights a ton of gals meet up at Stef's house to play games and just hang out. Laughing is a fo' sho' must. If you leave from game night and haven't laughed so hard that the tears start rolling, then something just isn't right.

Two Friday's ago we decided to play a new game. It's called "Chubby Bunny". I had never heard of this game before then. You take a tons of regular sized marshmallows and see how many you can fit in your mouth while being able to say the words"chubby bunny" after each marshmallow is added.

I don't think I want another marshmallow again for a very long time. I believe I won the game, but I could be wrong. I was able to fit 20 marshmallows in my mouth at once. Yes a portion of them were hanging out, but hey, that's what you call talent.

I dare you to try and break my record!

Hell-erh!

2009-07-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

Just as Madea would say..."Hell-erh!" I've finally found my way back to the computer. Here's a rundown of our life on FF.(fast forward..)
* Lucas and Tanner are playing summer soccer on the same team. Go Storms!!! (the name of their team)
* My grandma who lives next door to my parents, has redone 2 rooms in her house. I've been covered in paint for about two weeks now. It still isn't all the way done, but I think the end is near.
* Lucas just finished a 3 week summer school camp called Jump Start. It's for kids who are entering Kindergarten in the fall, who haven't ever been in a preschool/daycare setting before. It is suppose to help them prepare for school. Lucas loved it. He has made so many new friends. Most of them being girls. (Now the fun begins)
The first day of school camp I picked Lucas up afterwards. When I got to the classroom he came over and said "Hey mom! Now listen mom, I want to ride the bus. You have to trust me and let me be an adult." After trying to compose myself I told him I would see what I could do about it. The next day the bus was picking him up in the morning and dropping him off in the afternoon. There was only one day that Lucas came home upset from school. He told me that he wasn't ever going back to school. "Ms. Millikan doesn't like me and she's so mean. I'm not going back to school!" I asked Lucas what happened and he told me that he broke a crayon. This is how the conversation went:
Lucas: All I did is break a crayon. I didn't even mean to do it.
Me: Why did you break a crayon.
Lucas: I wanted the red to be darker. Every time I started to color the crayon would break.
Me: How many crayons did you break, Lucas?
Lucas: 3! But I didn't mean to! Ms. Millikan said that those are her crayons, not mine and that I couldn't use them anymore.
After consoling him and explaining why Ms. Millikan didn't want him to use the crayons he decided to watch a movie and forgot all about it. The next afternoon when he got off the bus he was yelling "I love school!!! I love it, I love it!" Guess he and the teacher had a good "Coming to J. meeting" or, they did something really fun to make him forget all about being mad!
* Yard work! I have been doing yard work like a crazy person. Since Grandma was redoing some of her house I decided that the front yard needed a little updating as well.
* I have started helping my old neighbors do some yard work. Their health has been deteriorating and thus the yard needed a little TLC.
* A friend of mine is having a baby boy soon. I decided that for her baby gift I would do murals on the wall to match the baby bedding. I worked on the room a little here and there for a couple weeks. Finally got it done. Yeah!
* I have applied to go back to school. Hopefully everything will work out.
Amongst all of the fun we've been on the run. And we're still running it feels like. Sorry I don't have any pic's. I'll post some later.

We're Back...

2009-06-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

Once again, a lot of time has passed since my last post. We have been out west for 2 weeks. It was an amazing trip. The only bad part was not seeing my boys for 2 weeks. Jesse and the boys went to stay in Idaho with his family while I stayed in Utah with my BFF Danny.

I NEVER thought I'd hear myself say that I wouldn't mind living in Utah. Guess what? I wouldn't mind living in Utah! The weather was great. Yes, it did rain most of the time I was there, but on the flip side, at least it would stop for a couple hours at a time.

Here are some of the hi lites from the trip:

Cafe Rio! Who could visit Utah and not get one of the most amazing salads on earth?!!?

Savannah. Looking at this little girl, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that miracles do happen.Cody. Lucas' Best Friend. He's such a great big brother. Quite the little jokester!
Smithers! Good ole' Smithees! He has to be the best all around dog ever.
Eli! My sweet little nephew. I was so glad to be able to spend time with him. I love you Spanky! (doesn't he look like Spanky off of The Little Rascals?)
Sidney. My niece. I enjoyed watching her walk and jump on her knees. Such a happy baby! Love you Squid Burger!

Eli and Savannah. Danny's house was always full of family and friends. Just a great place where everyone enjoyed being.

Tanner, Lucas and Cody. The 3 amigos! Back together again.

Lucas and Cody. Best Friends. Watching these two try to pack as much fun as possible into an evening was priceless. (My boys came down to SLC the day before we left to come back to NC. I was so happy to see them all. Lucas has been waiting a whole year to see Cody again.)

Tanner, Smithers and Lucas. This picture was taken around 11pm the night before we had to leave. We were up and 'outta there by 5:00am the next morning.
Last, but not least, Danny! She is the most amazing friend! Thanks so much for the wonderful hospitality and friendship. My sister from another mother...LOL!

A Day In The Life Of Drew..

2009-05-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'd like you to meet a new friend of the family. His name is Drew the bird. (Lucas named him Drew.) One morning last week I was weed eating. Walking back to the house, something caught my eye. It was a little bird.
The bird wouldn't fly. He just looked at me and started to hop along as I bent over to try and pick him up. I was able to pick the bird up. He literally screamed for about 3 minutes straight. I went to find a worm to feed him. After he ate it was as if he said to himself, "hey, this person isn't so bad." The bird stopped screaming and just sat comfortably in my hand.
When the boys saw the bird, they of course wanted to hold him and pet him. (Assuming it was a him!) Lucas then decided that he was going to name the bird Drew. The following pictures tell the story of Drew the Bird.

2009-05-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

Remember Mimi on the Drew Carey Show? (Totally loved her!)
Look, it's mini-me! Guess I'll have to fly to WY in October to apply Sidney's chalk-up (chalk + make-up) face!

Just One Of The Guys

2009-05-13T19:57:00.001-07:00

This past Sunday my sister and her kids came over for lunch. The kids usually get along great with one another. They will play for hours.
Hillary is always the only girl in a room full of boys. She can hang with the best of them. She can hang so well that when she saw Lucas and Tanner peeing outside by the trees, she decided that she wanted to do the same thing.
When Stefanie told Hillary that she could NOT pee outside like the boys she had a fit. A couple minutes later we look up to find Hillary and Tanner standing by the fence. Hillary was pulling her pants down saying that she really had to go. Out of the blue you hear Tanner, "Hiddy, you got a jine-er" and laughed hysterically. At that moment I thought that I may be joining the out door bathroom myself. I think everyone got a good laugh out of that one.
(Getting a little help from Mom!)
After all the fun, Tanner got to missing. This is where he was found. Some days I wish I could find a place to hide and take a nap!

Happy MD To You and You and YOU!

2009-05-10T19:52:00.001-07:00

I hope that everyone out there had a most fabulous Mother's Day. If you didn't get a chance to relax today, then try and take at least 10 minutes out of your busy schedule tomorrow just for you.

I heard the most amusing line on the radio this afternoon. It went a little something like this...

radio d.j. man- everyone needs to tell their mom, Happy Mother's day and THANK YOU for letting me live in your uterus!" For some reason unknown to me, that phrase nearly had me wetting my pants driving down the road. As soon as I arrived back to my grandmother's house and found my mom I decided that I should tell her "Happy Mother's Day!" She started to say "Thanks" and then I finished it up with "Thanks for letting me live in your Uterus!" My mom just looked at me like I had just escaped from a mental institution. (Believe you me if I would've really been in the looney bin, then she, (my mom,) would have been right there beside me in the next room!)

This is what my day consisted of:

- Church @ 9:30am

- got a call from my nephew Eli wishing me a Happy Mother's Day! He's such a cutie and I am without a doubt his FAVORITE aunt!

- Grandma's for lunch (home made tacos, mmmmmm...good!)

- played with the boys outside for a while

- took my cousin to High Point

- stopped by Krispy Kreme. Actually we passed it on the way home and saw the HOT and fresh sign on. Couldn't resist!

- (need I say more???????????)

- totally stuffed my face all the way back to Randleman

- played outside with the kids again

- gave kids a bath

- put kids to bed

- jumped on the Internet for a minute to check email and decided to write this post

I know, I know, you're so fetchin jealous, huh?? Who wouldn't want to run around like a chicken with their head cut off on a day that should be totally dedicated to them?

(Here are some pictures from today after church!)

Playin' Possum

2009-05-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big yard clean up day for us. My grandmother wanted some bushes cut down. Some meaning about 9 or so.

While in the process of cutting the monstrous things as close to the ground as my hands would allow, I heard my cousin Shelisa saying..."Lucas what do you have?" Lucas replied, "It's a baby possum. Braxton (the dalmatian) just killed it dead."

This is where you put your imagination to work 'cause I didn't have a camera with me to snap some pictures. Okay, here's Lucas walking towards Shelisa and I without a shirt or shoes on. (the above picture is compliments of the internet. BTW, he wasn't wearing gloves, but this is how he was carrying the thing) Thank goodness he was wearing shorts. He's holding a dead baby possum by the tail acting like he's just won the jackpot in Vegas. He was so proud of himself he was gleaming. In the midst of the conversation Lucas and Shelisa were having, I was trying to get on my feet to help get this nasty varmint away from my 5 year old son.

Knowing that I wasn't going to touch the thing, I thought to myself, what should I do now. Before I had time to think, Shelisa flipped out. She started getting louder,"Lucas, go throw that thing in the field! You shouldn't touch things like that. Possum's carry diseases!" The look on Lucas' face was priceless when he thought that he was going to catch a rare form of "Possum- itis!" Lucas said "Well grandma told me to come show it to you!" Shelisa turned to look at me and at the same time we both said "What the...."

My sweet, sweet grandma. Heaven knows we all love her and she is a diamond in the rough type of gal. But come on now, you don't tell a 5 year old to pick up a dead possum. Maybe she was thinking, well, at least it won't bite him. I'm not really sure how I will act when I'm 80, so I can't really judge her actions.

Once Lucas threw the dead thing into the field, I told him that he had to go wash his hands with lots of soap. By that point I think Lucas was ready to use sandpaper as soap to get the yuck off. Needless to say, I don't think that Lucas will ever be playing possum, or playing with possum's ever again!

It's Been A While

2009-04-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hello strangers! Well, this past week has been very busy! My baby sister, Laurie and her family came in from Wyoming to visit! It was so good to see all of them.

Friday, we went to have family pictures made. What a headache family pictures can be! When you have 7 kids ages 5 and under you should go ahead and have the mindset of "DRAMA!"

Here are some of the finished products!

Ethan, Lucas and Tanner

Hillary and Cole

Eli and Sidney

Saturday morning I finally went to the doctor to see what was going on with the dizzy spells I have been having. Come to find out I have a double ear infection and an inner ear infection. The doctor said he was surprised that I was even able to walk. (me too for that matter!)

Before the doctor left the room I was begging for some sort of miracle shot to help make me feel better. I was lucky enough to get one shot. Come to think of it, I don't even know what the shot was. Oh well, at least it put my mind at ease for a few moments.

Before leaving I asked the the doctor how long the antibiotic would take to kick in. He told me that within 2 days I should feel much better. I now know that was a bunch of crock! (not the pot) Today is day 5 and the last day of taking my medication. I feel tons better, but I'm still not up to speed. I can actually open my eyes!! Amazing!

That's all for now. I need to get ready to go grocery shopping when my mom gets home from work. I'm not a huge fan of taking 3 small boys to the grocery store. I tried that today with my mom and it didn't turn out so well! Have a great day!

Yeah Me!

2009-04-01T18:07:00.001-07:00

This past Friday night I was suppose to go to a Wedding and reception in Charlotte. I was so excited cause I haven't been able to spend much time with the bride and groom in such a long time.
I stopped over by a friend's house before going on my adventure. I needed some moral support to go with me on the long ride. When I arrived at my friend's, I got out of the car and heard air leaking from somewhere. I thought that the radiator had burst or something. (not even sure if a radiator can burst) I walked around the front of the car. When I got to the passenger side this is what I found.
Holy Crap, you say! Holy freakin' crap is what I said! Thank goodness Mr. Dalton was at home to help fix the problem.
I must be honest in admitting that I didn't really think that a 16 year old would be able to patch this enormous hole in the back tire.

Through the wind and the rain Dalton was a real trooper!

While the tire was begin fixed all I could manage to do is slam my finger in the door and let a few swear words slip. Anyhow, the tire is fixed and all is well. How has your week been so far? Much thanks to Dalton for helping me!

My Crazy Dream, I Mean, Nightmare!

2009-03-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

A couple nights ago, I drifted off to some much needed sleep. I'm sure my body was yelling.."Yeah, here I come sleep-land!" Only one problem, it was more like "Hell-land!"

If you're interested, this is how a night in my mind began....

Once upon a time in a land far far away, (and believe you me, my mind fo' show' is far far away most every day) there lived this lady named Jennifer. On most any day if Jennifer wasn't around her own home, you could find her at the Hollowell home. Okay enough of trying to put this dream in to fairy tale form. I was hanging out over at the Hollowell's when all the sudden I found myself standing in the bathroom. I was gazing at myself in the mirror when out of the blue, my top front tooth started to wiggle on its own. I took a closer look thinking that I was starting to loose my mind. The closer I got to the mirror, the more my tooth started to furiously shake. "What the".......is all I could think. Then all the sudden like a crack head looking for their next fix, my tooth fell right out of my mouth into my hand. I stood there staring at myself. What seemed like forever was really just a few seconds until the bottom fell out. My other top, front tooth fell out and there I stood looking like I should break out with "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth!" I started to yell, but there was no point. Everyone was gone by this point.

All the sudden my mouth started feeling all crazy and my teeth started to shake. One by one every tooth in my head fell right out of my mouth into my hands. Within seconds I was holding a handful of teeth. I looked in the mirror again and thought, "Well hello ole' toothless one!"

Before I knew it I was holding a small brown paper bag filled with my teeth. Within seconds hundreds of small little shark-like teeth started falling into the bag. I quickly looked back into the mirror to see if they were my teeth and in fact they were.

And then.......................I woke up and went on about my day. It wasn't until this afternoon that I remembered this nightmare. Probably a good thing since it was an out of body experience!

Daily/Weekly Pet Peeve

2009-03-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I'm back to the blogging world. For today anyways. My boys have been extremely sick. They've been running 105.0 fevers while drowning in snot, and not being able to eat anything. If you know my boys then you know that they really don't have much room to loose a couple pounds here or there. I bet Lucas has lost close to 5 pounds since the sickness has attacked his little frame. Slowly but surely he is getting around to eating again! Yippee! Go Lucas go! Tanner's appetite will come and go. He'd rather play and eat popsicles all day. Ethan ate so much the other day that he puked the whole night. I'm so lucky! You know that you're jealous.
So my pet peeve for the week has to be wiping snot off of my kids' faces! How in the world can one child be filled with so much snot? My kids are lucky enough to get all different variations of the mucus as well. Let me try to define them for you.

1) clear, first sign of snot, snot: this is the snot that slowly starts to run out of one nostril at the beginning of a sickness or cold. Usually one leaking nostril is sufficient.

2) clear double-leaking snot: this is the snot that starts after a day or two of the first sign of snot, snot. You know that if this snot appears that you need to buckle your seatbelt and hold on cause the ride is about to begin. A good ole' cold or sickness is brewing freely!

3) rainbow snot: this is when the clear snot starts to turn colors. I've actually seen quite the range of colors. Usually starting with a yellowish tint, it soon becomes a greenish tint. If you're lucky like me, then it can also become a red-brownish tint. That's the best color cause you know the cold that you have is now becoming a little more in-depth.

4) aggravating snot: this is the snot that you just can't get rid of. Not only does it linger like a bad itch, it starts to form a shape of sorts in your nose which in return like to hang around your throat. If you're anything like me, then "hocking a loogie" isn't something that you're a pro at. Heaven knows I've tried and tried and all I ever end up with is a snot induced vomit in my mouth. (I think I hate that feeling worse than giving birth totally drug free)

5) clear faucet type snot: this is the snot that starts post sickness. it's been close to a week since you started feeling bad and you're starting to think that maybe the grass is green on the other side. (you know from experience that the snot is always greener on the other side.) your nose continues to pour but at least the color is now translucent. Not much longer now......

So this is what I've been dealing with for over a week now. Please tell me that someone else out there has had better luck the past couple of weeks! Til next time...over and out!

A Big Ole' Rat

2009-02-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago we had a little visitor. I mean big visitor. I walked into my kitchen one afternoon and found this:I couldn't believe my eyes. Was this really happening? The answer to the question, YES, it sure was. The further into the kitchen I walked, the bigger the droppings were becoming. So enthralled by my finding( s), I forgot that I wasn't wearing any shoes. As I looked around for my flip flops I started to panic. I couldn't find them anywhere. I was already in the center of a big war zone with nothing to protect my feet. Looking back at the pictures I see that my gray pair of flip flops were starring me in the face. I can look back and laugh about it all now.

I was bound and determine I was going to find the culprit. Down on all fours searching my baseboards for cracks, I wasn't coming up with anything. It wasn't until I got back up on my feet, thinking it was now time for that always needed shower, that I actually caught the varmint red, (or should I say black) handed!

I caught a big ole' rat. I even decided that he was so cute I should keep him and name him ETHAN!!!!

What I thought were droppings, were in fact the black beans that I had given him earlier for dinner. Having short term memory loss really does suck!

Lucas did WHAT!??!

2009-02-18T10:27:00.000-08:00

When I got home from working at the tanning bed this past Saturday, I found Tanner and Ethan sitting on the back porch. They were just playing away. Both Lucas and Jesse were no where to be found. Tanner did his usual running at me showering me with hugs and kisses. All the sudden I hear "Wucas bwoke yo' bed!" For a second I thought that I was dreaming. I stepped back into reality and actually heard what Tanner kept saying over and over. "Mom, Wucas did it, Wucas bwoke yo' bed!!!" Wouldn't you assume that at that point I would come in and check things out? No, I asked Tanner again, "Are you sure, Tanner!" Tanner replied with a quick "Yep," and went back to playing on the porch.
I slowly walked through the back door and saw Jesse vacuuming the living room floor. Now if any of you know Jesse, you know as well as I do that if he is doing some sort of mad cleaning, then something negative around him has happened. I asked him if Lucas broke the bed (I know, a freakin' smart person would just walk into my bedroom and check things out.) It just seemed to me that the longer I procrastinated, the bed would magically be fixed. Wrong again! Jesse looked at me and said, "so you've already saw it!" Me, "no, Tanner was just telling me about his day." Jesse, "Go look." Do I have to, I don't want to, in this moment I felt all the emotion that Stuart off of Madd TV must be feeling when his crazy momma tries to get him to do something he doesn't want to. But I don't wanna!!!!
I took a deep breath and this is what I found.Another deep breath! Count to ten....is there anything positive I can take out of the situation? Look, look, count to ten again. Well, I believe there is Sherlock. The bed didn't break in the middle of the slat? That's great news. Maybe, just maybe it can be fixed. I went to take a quick look. Of course, I could fix this myself! I could hear the church bells in the background! Doesn't staying positive really change things?
This is how my bed should look.

When I told Jesse that I could fix it, he told me not to touch it. Feelings= Hurt! What, you think I can't fix the bed.? Well buddy, my grandpa and dad have taught me how to do things. I'm not an invalid. Jesse then proceeds to tell me that I'm a girl. I couldn't help but call him a sexist pig! Then we laughed at each other.

At the end of the day Jesse was able to fix the bed and you can't even tell that it had been broken. Oh yeah, before I forget...... I'm sure some of you are wondering, how did a 5 year old break the bed? Well, this is how...He took his dad's belt, threw half of it over the slat and started swinging on it. An engineer in the making, I guess. You see, this past week he has been swinging a lot on the bed. I've told him, his dad has told him , even Heidi has told him, you don't do that, you could break the bed or get hurt. Does a 5 year old ever listen when something looks really fun? Yours very well may, but my 5 year old on the other hand, doesn't! Any ideas on how to get him to listen? I'm listening, and I promise that I won't ask you 3-4 times like I did Tanner.

Stay! Don't move!

2009-02-17T09:09:00.000-08:00

These are the words I continually told my children about 10 minutes ago! While I was in my room cleaning I noticed that it sounded like fun was in the air. All three boys are getting along? What in the world, did they break into the medicine cabinet and take something? They NEVER, all three of them get along for more than 2 seconds at a time.

Laughing, laughing til Ethan peed his diaper, laughing til Lucas decided he should look like a Chip and Dale guy without his shirt, and last but not least, laughing until Tanner decided to take all his clothes off. Thank goodness he decided to leave the diaper on this time.

To my surprise, they boys decided to bring the party to my bedroom. What the........ You see I went and bought a spray bottle to discipline my cat. Jack likes to get on the counters and table top and it literally drives me insane. So I decided it was now time to drench his solid white butt any time he decides to do these things. (HE HATES IT!)

The water bottle I bought for the cat had become an in-home sprinkler system. The boys were drenched, while laughing so hard they could hardly breathe. Of course I have to keep my name as the "mean mom" so I asked rather hatefully for the weapon. Lucas handed it over and I lost all control. I started spraying all the kids. I couldn't help myself. It was as if something jumped in my body and took over. Like I had the trigger-finger or something. (that is a real diagnosis BTW, just ask my mom.) I sprayed and sprayed while getting water everywhere. So much fun! I really enjoyed myself. Then from no where I decided that it was time to stop playing and be the adult again. My carpet and walls were getting soaked. I wish I could be a kid again and really enjoy things like that. It really helped to brighten my day.

Today's comment: Act is if no one is watching an let loose with the kids. Theses will be one of the moments that they remember when they're older and gone from the nest!

Dancing Queen, I mean King's!

2009-02-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

We've discovered that Ethan has a love for music, just as his brothers do as well. He really like Grateful Dead, but we only had MC Hammer and Vanillia Ice at the time.

Lil' 8 Second Cowboy

2009-02-02T20:38:00.000-08:00

We've discovered that our little Ethan has already made up his mind about what he wants to be when he grows up. A Bull Rider! He even has the 8 second ride down pat! Please disreguard the last 2 seconds of the video! It was as much a surprise to us as it will be to you!

Oh No I Ain't!

2009-01-30T06:23:00.000-08:00

Wednesday evening I was preparing a chicken to bake for dinner. Lucas walked in the room and almost lost it. Lucas-"Mom, what in the crap is that thing? I hope you don't plan on me eating that!" Me-"Lucas this is a chicken, I'm going to bake it and we'll eat it for dinner. Lucas-"Oh, I ain't gonna eat that thing. Is it even dead?" Me-"Yes Lucas, it is dead, the head is gone and everything." Lucas kept looking at the bird with wondering eyes and asked, "well, is it's heart still beating mom? Are you really sure it's dead?" Me-"Yes Lucas it's dead (as I held it up for him to look at.) He took a good look at it, looked it over from top to bottom and then said, "Well why does it have such a big ole' butt hole?" It was then time to change the subject before I busted out in laughter! As Lucas was walking away, I hear him mumble, "I aint' eatin' no freakin' dead bird! that's gross!"

Must not have been too gross cause Lucas and Tanner both about ate the whole bird between the two of them. Lucas was talking to himself, saying "Just don't even think about it, just don't think about it!"

Lil' Producer

2009-01-29T07:37:00.000-08:00

As I was downloading pictures this morning onto my computer, I found this little video. I know I didn't video this, so that leaves one little varmint who could be responsible! Lucas! His new favorite thing is to take the camera and take pictures and make videos as you can see. He even takes pictures of shows that are playing on the television. Crazy!

Yep, the house isn't clean, so close your eyes. The one positive thing about this video, Lucas caught Tanner in the act. He caught him red-handed! The kids aren't supposed to eat anywhere except the kitchen. Thanks Lucas for helping my keep an eye on Tanner!

Eat More Veggies!

2009-01-24T18:44:00.000-08:00

This afternoon we went to our Home Teachers home for dinner and a movie! On the way there we passes quite a few cow pastures. Thus raising the questions about cows. Lucas asked"Mom, do they just stand there all day?" I replied, "yeah until it's their time to go." What was I thinking trying to explain to a 5 year old about how he eats animals on a daily basis?!!!?

The conversation went to me trying to explain to Lucas that we eat cow and pig almost everyday! Lucas stopped thought for a second and I knew this was the beginning of a long drawn out argument. Lucas looked at me with such sad eyes and said "mom, I DO NOT EAT COWS, THAT'S D-skusking!(lucas language)"

Me, Yeah dear you do, you know when you eat hamburgers or hot dogs or steak, that is part of the cow that you're eating." Lucas- "Oh NO it ain't either, I ain't a cow killer!" Then I decided to go ahead and add the pig and chicken meat on in the conversation. Me-"Those chicken nuggets you love so much, buddy, that was once a living chicken!"

I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. Lucas still very admit that he doesn't eat animals was trying to convince us that we (mom and dad) were wrong.

Oh yeah, Jesse jumped in on the action too. Jesse- "Hey Lucas, when you eat bacon and sausage, then you're eating a pig. That's where that meat comes from." Lucas' all time favorite used to be bacon. He could eat the whole package after I cooked it up. Now I hope he doesn't cry when I decided to cook bacon.

Lucas told all of us that he wasn't EVER going to eat an animal again, because that was mean.

Jesse told him that vegetables were good. Lucas responded- "Yep they are I love broccoli."

So I guess our 5 year old will now become a vegetarian. Hopefully he doesn't have any nightmares tonight!

NC Snow!

2009-01-20T09:53:00.000-08:00

For all of the people who said (and you know who you are), "It doesn't snow in NC." Well, let me give a preview of our morning thus far

Look at all our snow! Hey, I know that for those of you living in the west , this probably looks like a dusting. To us, it's like a stinkin' blizzard hit. Especially since my kids have NEVER had the opportunity to see snow. These pictures go to show just how amazed they were by the white stuff!

Tanner couldn't wait to get outside and check things out. I believe that he would have stayed in a diaper and rain boots until his hands started freezing off.

As you can tell, the boys are seriously bundled up. Not only is it cold, but the wind is nasty today too!

Here we have little Ethan sitting on : a cookie sheet followed by a water proof one sided blanket. He was wearing : leg warmers, socks, a onesie, footed pj's followed by one of his many Halloween costumes. Oh yeah, and the yellow rain boots that Tanner didn't want to give up until he saw his Superman boots. The things on Lucas' feet are wal-mart bags. Yes, people I know we are a red-neck type of family, but when you don't have the appropriate gear for winter you have to do what you can. Let me just say that this little idea is an old one that dates back many generations in our family. May not look too cute, but dang sure keeps your feet from freezing and getting wet! And yes, Lucas is eating the snow. Sick, I know, I can't keep his little mouth out of it!

Here is Ethan finally having a chance to walk in the snow. He loved it until he fell down. I couldn't find any gloves in the house today so we used another red-neck trick, sandwich bags first over hands, with socks on top. I must have Jesse stop by Wal-mart on his way home! Hope everyone has a great day! Can't wait til tonight when it really starts to freeze. We will be boogie boarding down the hill in our front yard. If you want to join in on the fun, just give me a call!

Slow Yo' Ro'

2009-01-19T16:09:00.000-08:00

In actual English the term Slow yo' ro' would actually be .... "Slow your roll." aka..slow down a bit or tighten up every chance ya get! ( I guess you could say my "roll" has been in slow-mo for a while!) I am a little behind times in posting lately. Honestly I have no reason for this bad behavior. I promise to try and make up for lost time.

The first weekend in January we went to sweet little Blakelyn's 5th birthday party! What a party it was. I don't think that I've laughed that hard in a long time. Believe you me, I do like a good laugh. The party was held at a local gymnastics center. The parents were able to race their children through the obstacle course. It was Tanner and myself with Jesse and Lucas behind us. Talk about a workout. I thought I was gonna die after the last balance beam I rolled (actually kicked and pushed off of Jesse so I could say I at least beat him, by an inch or 2 is all, but hey, it's all about winning here!)

The kids had a wonderful time. Tanner was fascinated by the foam block pit. For the first couple seconds, so was I cause I couldn't get up and out of there. My socks were falling off and my fat butt couldn't do anything but roll on through. (Isn't that a lyric in a song?) Jesse actually lost the car keys in the foam pit. I have no idea how he ever found them and still almost beat me. Luck I tell ya.

Ethan and Kagan hanging out!

Here is Lucas and his little sweetheart Blakelyn!

Lucas loved this part of the party.

Ethan's favorite part of the party!

Lola Sue

2009-01-18T18:52:00.000-08:00

January 8th, 2009 a beautiful daughter of our Heavenly Father was welcomed into the world. Miss Lola Sue! Jesse's sister Lindsie and her husband Josh had their first baby! We're so happy for them and know that they are going to be absolutely amazing parents. Lola is one of the cutest babies ever, and yes, of course I am biased! Beautiful, healthy, and loved beyond belief, what else could you ask for. We're so proud of you guys. Way to go Lindsie with the labor. You are a super trooper! Aren't epidurals the best? Love them (well, I loved the only one I was ever able to get the other two births are a whole other story) Congratulations! Here is Miss Lola Sue:
The happy family! Linds, you look amazing, BTW!

American Idol

2009-01-14T06:56:00.000-08:00

Finally! My favorite show is back on the air. American Idol came out singing/swinging last night. I actually did think there may be some blows between bikini girl :

And the new judge Kara:I was ready and waiting for a good cat fight:You know it would've been 2 on 1 cause ole' Paula just ain't gonna let her new best buddy go without some sort of reinforcement! Oh well, maybe next time! I must say, it was good TV. Even Jesse likes it. Well, what man doesn't like a little tiff between a half naked woman with a killer body and two other beautiful women?

Isn't Simon so predictable though? You knew as soon as b. girl walked in he was going to put her through no matter what. Randy to for that matter. What is this world coming to? Pure craziness!

I really liked the blind guy at the end. What an amazing guy. I hope he goes far. I even liked tattoo girl with the funky earrings. Now she was amazing! Anyhow, there's my re-cap from last night. If you didn't get to see it, I'm sorry. If you've never liked A.I. , well then, I'm sorry too! Have a fabulous day.

Quote of the day: If you want to get noticed, wear a bikini out in public. It always does the trick!

Post Party Pictures

2009-01-05T06:27:00.001-08:00

I totally spaced the fact that I hadn't done a post about Lucas and Tanner's birthday party! I know, I'm an awful mom, but hey, I'm doing it now!We have always had them a combined birthday since their birthdays are only 4 days apart. I'm sure once they get older they won't enjoy this idea but for now, it works!

Tanner's birthday was December 8th and he turned 3. I seriously don't know what to think about him being 3. I thought Lucas was a tough child at 3 , but heaven knows Tanner has Lucas beat by a good country mile! This child is on the go non-stop. From the time his little body rolls out of bed in the morning til the time he cries himself to sleep at night. (No need to feel sorry for the trying part, it's just a ritual we go through every night. He tried his best to sound like he's crying but it's more like an animal being locked in a cage trying to get out).

Tanner's newest achievements are: #1 Telling me he can't do it! "I too tired mom! You do it!" #2 If you upset Tanner over anything big or small, he crosses his arms turns his head and says "You not my friend no mo!" (This phrase is usually given to his dad when he doesn't get his way.) #3 Impatient is his middle name. If he asks for something then by George you'd better jump up, run to him, and obey his every beckon call. (If not then all hell seems to break loose in a matters of 2.5 seconds). Don't get me wrong, Tanner is a very loving child. He loves to give hugs and kisses (most of the time). He loves his brothers very much and he loves making people laugh!

Lucas' birthday was December 12th. He turned the big "5." At one point in my life I wasn't for sure that we'd ever make it this far. (joking!) Lucas is a very strong willed child. It's his way or the highway. I don't have any idea where he gets that from. Must be his dad. (ok, 1/2 Jesse and 1/2 me)

Lucas' newest achievements are #1 Learning new things. He loves to learn everything he can. He can't wait til the fall when he is able to start school. (I have mixed feelings about that one). #2 He loves video games! Imagine that...that strictly is a gene he inherited from his dad. He loves the fighting games and in return tries out all the new moves he's learned on Tanner. (Not the best idea) #3 The kid LOVES to draw! I think he's going to be my little artist. He could sit and draw for hours at a time. 99% of the time you can even tell what the picture is! #4 Lucas loves to make people happy. He likes to give any and everything away Lucas-"Hey you want this, I don't need it anymore?" Me-"Lucas you just got that, let's don't give it away just yet."

We had a nice little at home party, nothing fancy but fun. Friends and family attended and the boy's loved it.

G.D.O.

2008-12-31T08:39:00.000-08:00

While Monique was in town we had a Girls Day out! The infamous Chillis was the happening place. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. Technically it wasn't a GDO since our ever so great Natalia graced us with "his" presence. I'm glad you got to go Nate, wouldn't have been the same without ya.
I don't know what was going on here! Looks like I needed a fast bathroom break and Mandi was nearly begging me to go! LOL!

A few moments in the Gneiting Home

2008-12-31T08:06:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while since I've been able to go get to the computer and actually post something. Technically I should be cleaning my house right now, but hey, I need a break! We hope that everyone had an amazing Christmas! We had a good Christmas, but I'm also glad that it's over. Our new cat, "Jack Frost" decided that he liked to tree to lounge around in.

Christmas eve my parents, sister and her kiddos came over so we could have our own little family get together. It was fun, yes, but also a little chaotic to some. (Thanks again numnuts for posting those pictures on your face book or my space page....just remember that pay back is always fun!)

Christmas day we woke up and the boys opened up their presents. Lucas was not happy to begin with. He'd open a present and say, "I didn't ask for this, I don't want it, Tanner, you can have it!" After about the 5th time he said that Jesse looked at me and said "Next year Santa isn't coming to our house!" We'll see when the time arrives! Lucas really didn't like anything he got until he opened his present from his Grandma/Pa Grebb! It was a remote control bug type thingy! He replied with, "Now that's what I'm talking about!" He was instantly happy and told Tanner that he wanted all his other presents back now. What an Indian giver, huh!Tanner was excited for everything he got. Even down to a box of crayons. Every time he opened a present he just said, "wow, look at dis one! It's ga-weight!"

Ethan loved opening presents this year also. Of course he to loved everything he received as well.Happy New Year to Everyone! Let's hope and pray that things start to get better, soon!

Ain't No Holla, Baby Got Back Girl

2008-12-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

This past Friday night was a Girls' Night Out to REMEMBER! One I shall never forget! It was a blast. A big round of applause to Mandi for orchestrating this epic event! Here are a few of the unforgettable moments from the party!
The Asheboro girls know how to par-tay!

To Hella With Bella, Hello Jack Frost!

2008-12-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

As you know we got a beautiful cat, Bella, but decided that she wasn't going to work out with our family. She now resides with my mom and dad at the present time. I think mom is growing attached to her, but dad could really care less.
A good friend of mine called the other day to tell me about this kitten named Jack Frost who really needed a good home. I of course was all for it. I knew Jesse would be a hard one to crack. Somehow these puppy dog eyes of mine worked and we now have a new addition to our family. Please join me in welcoming Mr. Jack Frost (he was already named).
So far, he's a good fit for our family. The boys love him and he isn't quiet sure about them yet.

That Time of Year!

2008-12-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

The time is here. The tree's are up, the stocking's are hung. (if you have somewhere to hang them, that is!) The smell of Christmas is in the air! Oh wait a minute, there I go off to my imaginary world again. Our tree is up, we have 2 stockings hung for a family of 5. ( 1 stocking is hanging on our back glass door with tape) Can anyone say RED-NECK! Oh well, it works for now, until I have time to go to walmart and buy some more door/window hangy thingies! The smell of Christmas isn't so much in our house at the present time. It's more like the scent of "Hot poops Au DE toilette" (don't even know if that's the right spelling, but you catch my drift!) This is suppose to be the Happy time of Year where friends and family come together and have happy days and reminisce on past holiday moments. Yes, some moments are better than others.

About 4 years ago or so we (my mom's side of the family) decided to try something new. We all sat in a circle at my grandmother's house while each person introduced themselves (which did turn into a comedy within itself), told about something they were grateful for and something exciting that had happened to them within the last year. Let's just say that my family is a little crazy and likes to laugh. It seemed to have turned into an A.A. (meeting) Christmas type of tradition. When everyone would state their names, the rest of the crowd would join together and say " Hi so and so, Welcome!" Not really sure why we have carried on that tradition cause it seriously was a tear-jerking, knee-slapping type of event.

This is going to sound pretty lame, but I'm almost ready for Christmas time to be over. I'm ready for January. Christmas, parties, birthdays, more birthdays and too much food! Don't get me wrong, I'm just ready to slow things down a notch or two.

Speaking of which, my little Lucas turned 5 years old today! I can't believe that he's five. Let's just say that the delivery of my first born was amazing. (The only child I've been able to get drugs with) I told that nurse that I'd deliver 20 in a row if it was going to be that easy. Looking back, I'm thinking maybe that was the wrong thing to say! Oh well, everyone is healthy, happy and breathing! That's all that really matters! I hope you all have a wonderful day and if you still have Christmas shopping to do, that it may be pleasant!

Sorry, the video is pretty old and dark, hopefully it turns out!

Here's a video of when Lucas was about 2.5 months old. Aren't babies the best?!!?

(Thanks Mandi for the great pictures, as always!)

Birthday wishes

2008-12-11T08:11:00.000-08:00

So my mom and dad sent me this email for my birthday! Check it out!
P.S. Laurie is my sister and she sells Mary Kay!

Tan the Man is 3!

2008-12-08T20:48:00.000-08:00

My sweet, little innocent middle child (*coughing*) Tanner, turned 3 today. Where has the time gone? Well let's start at the beginning! It was a cold December night. My contractions were getting closer and closer and when I sat down in a warm bath to try and ease some pain, that was my first mistake. Didn't know at the time that doing something (stupid) like that can help speed things along. Believe me, that's the only speeding that went on that night. (We'll get more into that later)

A couple days previous I had been having *false* alarms and kept going to the hospital. I was ready to deliever this child myself! Not to mention the fact that he was 4 weeks early. Thank the Lord for that or I really would've died right there on the bed. (Actually I did, I saw the light and honey I was on my way.......help me, I need to go to the light. My poor body can't endure such traumatic pain! I didn't think it could anyway.) The light bulb must've broke cause I woke up from the most crazy out of body experience and there he was. My little Tanner!

Back to the speeding comment. You see, I decided to stay at my mom's house since the hospital was a good 45 minutes from mine. (About 20 minutes closer from her house) After I got out of the bath, I told her, "we got to go NOW!" Her response, "well, let's call Jesse." I won't repeat the thoughts that were going through my head at the time. I will say that I told her she was nuts! "I can't wait on Jesse, he's at least 15 minutes away and this baby is going to drop out or I'm gonna die one!" I will say in Jesse's defense, he was dead asleep when we called and he made it in 10 minutes. Simply amazing!

We're finally all loaded up in the car. Mom was driving (huge mistake) I was riding shot-gun (if I had a real gun I think I probably would've blown some people to smithereens! Just simple passer biers that were watching me beat the He** out of the top of my moms car telling her to hurry. The speed limit was 65 and then turned to 55 a little later down the road. Let's imagine for a minute, you're in labor and the speed limit is 65. Would you A: go like a bat out of hell to get to the hospital, or would you B: drive the exact speed limit! (Not a mile or two over, exactly 65 and then exactly 55!) Well, let's just say that my dear mother, lord bless her, likes to obey the laws of the land. We went 65 only the whole way until we could only go 55. I remember yelling at one point, could you at least go 5 miles over the speed limit.

Jesse's in the back of the car minding his own business at the time, until he got a bright idea to ask "Hey, do you really think you're in labor this time?" I turned around like the girl in the Exorcist movie and my head was about to start spinning laps. Clenching my teeth I told him a few choice words. He didn't speak the rest of the trip.

We get to the hospital and I seriously can't get out of the car to get in the wheelchair I was in so much pain. After a couple minutes of screaming I somehow made it in the chair. You know how when you go to a hospital they always look at ya and try to ignore ya cause they hate their job and don't want to be there? Well, that didn't happen, they took one look at me and the gates of heaven (triage room) opened up automatically. I was rolled into a room where of course the nurses wanted to check to see how far I was dilated. My water hadn't broke yet so I thought for sure I'd be able to get some kind of drugs. If you've ever been in a similar situation, then you can sympathize when I tell you I could even get my pj bottoms off to get on the bed. Again, praying that I would die at this point. By the grace of God my bottoms came off and my water broke on its own! More like exploded. I swear it hit every wall in the room. No joke. Still standing by the bed not actually able to crawl up in it yet, the nurses are becoming frantic. :we need you to get on the bed, you're having this baby now! We can see the head!" What the !@#$$%!!!! "You can what? " My response, "GET ME DRUGS, NOW!" The nurses looked very sympathetic while almost trying not to smile. They told me "sorry honey, you don't have time!"

Not only did I not have time for any type of pain medication, my own Dr. didn't have time to get there to deliver me. They had to pull some random Joe-Blow Dr. out of who knows where. I remember him telling me "Push, (getting a little louder) Push!" I let out a big, "What do you think I'm freakin' doing here (with a devilish sound to my voice). I do remember feeling like my soul was just hanging out on the ceiling looking down at me. Crazy, I know.

Tanner was born, 4 weeks early perfectly healthy and beautiful. He was an oinker from the start! He is such a blessing in our life, I love this child unconditionally! Even when his dad just came in and showed my that Tanner tore my B.O.M. to shreds. It's not the end of the world. I can get another one!

Tanner really is my funny child! He will make you laugh when you want to be so mad at him, but you just can't! Happy birthday, Buddy!

I love this picture of Tanner and his cousin Hillary! This is his normal face!

Family Tradition!

2008-12-04T08:15:00.000-08:00

Dear goodness! A family tradition! I'm not sure if this counts or not, but EVERY year we go to a family gathering my children, like most normal people need to poop every now and again. Always after eating Christmas dinner for some reason. (Probably cause we stuff em' so full of food so we don't have to feed them for the rest of the day! LOL Totally kidding. I do feed my kids more than once a day. Sometimes twice if they're lucky!LOL!) Anywho, who gets the kids a plate of food and helps them out while eating? I do. Who usually tried to be nice and fix her husband a plate of food? I do. So when I ask one simple question, a very easy task for most parents. "Hey, do you mind changing the kid after I get him all cleaned up?" I could've left him totally covered in food and really messy, but hey, I am a loving wife! MY DH responds with, an "I'm going to kill you" type of glare. Then he tells me, "NO! I'm not gonna do it. I can't believe that you ask me to change a diaper in front of your family!" I in return fly off the handle and it always ends in an amazing Christmas fight. I guess I ought to write a book called, "Dad's Changing Nuttin' For Christmas, Not a Thing!"Come on, its not like I'm asking you to do this!Believe me, if this was possible, this is where the diaper changing would take place!

Our One Night Guest!

2008-12-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

Today our friends the De Voe's came over to visit for a while. Megan volunteers at the local animal shelter a couple days during the week. (amazing woman, I tell ya! She's always on the go!)

Now I will give you a daily run down of our afternoon. Megan and Sidney (Ethan's twinner) came over to the house for a couple hours until it was time to go to the pound. I decided that I would take the boys and let them visit with the dogs. They needed to get out of the house, and heaven knows I did too!

As we arrive to the pound, Tanner and Ethan had both fallen asleep in the car. Like the awful mother that I am I decided it would be easier to let them get their nap out in the car while I took Lucas in to look around. Yes, it was cold outside, and yes they did have their coats on and I covered them up with a blanket. I did lock my car doors and enabled the alarm. Believe me, if someone was ever to take Tanner they'd bring him back quicker than they could blink. The pound we went to is a very small little place and I could see them from every angle.

When we were walking to go inside an older gentleman was carrying in a beautiful cat! I fell head over heels for this cat. When we got inside I asked him "Hey are you getting rid of this cat?" He replied with a quick "Yep, ya want her?" Well let me see, um YEAH! I did have a slight mental block when I thought of what Jesse may say. Let's just say that he isn't a fan of animals. Lucas of course kept saying, "Mommy, please can we get the cat?!!!" How can you say no to a 4 year old who is just about in tears? Some people are strong, and others, not so much. I fall into the latter of the two categories. We loaded up, put the cat in a carrying case and headed off to get Jesse at work. Was he upset? Well I guess it's safe to say that's an understatement. He was livid! Still is for that matter. All he could say was, "I can't believe you got a cat! You know I hate cats! What were you thinking?!" In times like these I've found it better to play mute and act like the trees outside are the prettiest things that I've ever laid my eyes on. It works for a couple minutes. 2 minutes of peace is great!

When we pulled up to the house Jesse said that cat wasn't going inside. He refused! The cat is inside at this very moment. I proceeded to take the litter box, food and water into our bathroom so the cat could get familiar with her new surroundings. (If not but for one night!) When Jesse realized what I was doing, he again said "that cat isn't coming out of that cage. The cat is now in our bathroom with food, water and a litter box. Her kennel is open so she can roam free while in the bathroom.

I know that I will have to take her back to the pound tomorrow. It's already tearing my heart in two. What if nobody adopts her? Then what? I'm sure she will be adopted soon and find a great home.

Lucas has even named her. He named her Bella. No joke! I think he's heard me talk too much about the Twilight series. I thought Bella was a great name. Here are some pictures of our house guest for the night! Anyone out there want to help save Bella?

Drop it Like it's HOT!

2008-12-01T08:48:00.000-08:00

As many of you know my children along with my niece Hillary love to dance! This is a little preview into our life of "Dropping it Like it's Hot!"

Happy Black Friday!

2008-11-28T11:21:00.000-08:00

How bad am I? I didn't take any Thanksgiving day pictures! Maybe next year, or maybe not?
We went to the big city of Robbins for our annual Thanksgiving day feast! There was plenty of food and tons of conversation to go 'round.
After the feasting festivities were over some of my peeps (parents, sister and her kids and grandma) came over to sit back and play on the Wii for a bit. Fun times. Given, there is almost always an argument between Jesse and I about something silly during a holiday. This holiday was no exception. Games around here can be brutal. We are a family who likes to win. Who doesn't? The night ended great, so all is well.
I thought (being the key word) about going shopping early this morning. Somehow reality stepped in and I decided that it wouldn't be that great of an idea. Thank goodness I sometimes listen to that little voice in the back of my head. To those of you who went out to fight the crowds, "Yeah you!"
Ethan has been taking a few steps here and there. Last night for some reason, he decided that he really wants to walk. He was on cloud nine walking back and forth to everyone in the room. He was so excited that he could actually do it all by himself!

Hi Ho Cheerio's!

2008-11-18T08:04:00.000-08:00

Playing games is always fun and exciting in the Gneiting home. If we don't have a game, believe you me, we will invent it. Today's game of choice, "Hi Ho Freakin' Cheerio's!" The actual Hi Ho Cheery-O game is suppose to look like this :Being the imaginative people that my boy's are, they decided it needed to look a little like this instead:This is how Mr. Dyson thought the game should go:And now we're back to square one... Any ideas for some fun, exciting, new games we should play?

Where O' Where R U Right Now?

2008-11-13T06:39:00.000-08:00

THE GNEITINGVILLE FUN TIMES
I'm getting really slack at blogging here lately. It's that time of the year when all the fun starts. For example, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthday's, and certainly sicknesses. What better time of the year?
Ethan is FINALLY over (keeping fingers crossed) his pink eye/cellulitis stuff. I thought that kids eye (s) would never be normal again. An added bonus, Ethan likes to slap people right upside the head. No warning siren, no bells, just a good ole' slap in the face. It will definitely knock ya back into reality when your feeling that a nap would be nice. Just imagine with me, you're sitting on the couch after a long hard days work. You've been chasing and cleaning up after 3 (or more) rambunctious kids. You tell yourself, "I only want to rest my eyes for a couple seconds, and then I'll finish cleaning or do whatever else needs to be done." You stretch out on the couch. Feel yourself just snuggling into the couch becoming all relaxed. Think happy thoughts.........BAM, out of the blue you feel a low blow smack ya right in the forehead. What the !@#$%^&? Open your eyes. You see a 13 month old little boy just grinning and talking away. What would your first initial reaction be? Mine, is usually, "What are you thinking? Did that baby just jack me? Are you kidding?" By this point, the good feeling you had for a split second is gone. Never any rest for a mom!
On a happier note, Ethan did take 5 steps all by himself last Saturday. My dad was over and had just made the comment.."I think he's going to start walking very soon." I replied with, "nah, he's too cautious, I think it will be a while before he tries." Come hell or high water my children always want to prove me wrong. As soon as those words came out of my mouth, (no joke) Ethan let go of the coffee table and took 5 steps to me. I couldn't believe it. My baby is growing up!
Tanner has become such a sweet little spirit. I guess that would be the best way to describe him. 100% BOY, 110% HOLY TERROR!!!! If there is something to jump off of, throw, spit, yell at, kick or karate chop, then Tanner is right on it.
Lucas is growing up so quick. I can't believe that he will be starting kindergarten next year. He is constantly learning new things. His latest accomplishments are back talking, not listening, fighting with his brothers and ignoring the fool out of anyone he sees fit.
MY LIFE IS AMAZING!!!! NEVER A DULL MOMENT HERE, FOLKS!

Get Out And Vote!

2008-11-04T06:09:00.001-08:00

I hope that everyone gets the chance to get out and vote today! I was out bright and early this morning. I left the house at 6:20am and was at my destination by 6:25am. There was a line when I arrived, but only because the polls didn't open until 6:30am. I think I was the third person to vote and get out the door. Now that my daily duty is done, I think I'll try something a little more challenging! Have a great day!

Post Party Fun!

2008-11-03T06:24:00.000-08:00

Saturday we attended Hillary's birthday party @ JUMP N FUN! Oh, what fun it was. I think everyone had a blast. Even the parents were participating. Some parents threw their back out because they thought they were still a kid...not mentioning any names, Jesse.

Ethan loved jumping and sliding just as much as the next kid. I thought he would be scared of the big slide, but boy was I wrong.

After the party we decided to go shopping so I could find some new shirts. Let me just tell ya for future reference, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TAKE CHILDREN SHOPPING AFTER A LONG DAY OF PARTYING. IT NEVER TURNS OUT WELL. GO WITH WHAT YOUR GUT IS SAYING, AND GO ON HOME!!!! I promised myself to abide by this rule the next time I get a wild hair up my back side and want to take kids who haven't had anything but sweets to eat all day out shopping. Believe me, not so fun!

Of course the Gneiting boys fell asleep on the way home. My goodness, I was tuckered out and didn't play nearly as long and hard as they did. I think that there's something about our driveway that wakes the boys up every time we pull in. It's like an automatic on switch. It sends a singe of fire to the brain that says "hey, wake up, the party is back on!" Well, Enough about my weekend, what about yours?

Come N' Get It!

2008-10-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very high-energy day for us. We started the morning off taking Ethan back to the Dr. When we got home Lucas, Tanner and I headed out the door for a day full of fun. What could me more exciting than sitting at home for the last 2-3 weeks straight being sick, you ask?!!? Well of course visiting Charles Edward Cheese (aka: Chuck E Cheese) himself. The kids had a great time and so did the adults I think.

On the way home from visiting Chuck I was the proud recipient of an instant migraine. I'm telling ya, this one came on strong in the blink of an eye. I really didn't think I was going to be able to make the drive from Greensboro to Franklinville. Some how we made it safely home. Thank goodness Jesse was home so I could lay down and try to sleep it off.

After waking from a much needed rest, I felt much better. I even decided to cook dinner. That's when it hit me like a tons of bricks. It was like I was back on the roller coaster ride at Chuck E Cheese all over again. HOLD ON, SHE'S GONNA BLOW!! That's the feeling I had but I had to suck it up and prepare dinner for my family. The boys were starving. Believe me, when my kids say that they need to eat, they really need to eat.

After dinner was ready and on the table, we all sat down to a fast easy meal. This meal was so EASY, that flashes of it were flying by my head and an alarming rate. That's right, I said flying! You see, Tanner, being the sweet little innocent child that he is was in one of his daily unique moods. He decided that after he ate the entire pot of broccoli by himself (minus 2-3 pieces that we were able to sneak away from him) that the pasta needed a lesson in jumping! If any of you guys have children who watch Yo Gabba Gabba, then you know the "Jumpy, Jump, Jump, Jump, Jump" song. Tanner started to serenade us with a lovely song while throwing his pasta up in the air. (The pasta needed exercise I guess) Pretty soon Ethan decided that he wanted to be in on the fun. He laughed and laughed, thus encouraging Tanner to continue with his show. Tanner is the type of child that loves to make people laugh, both young and old. Trying to keep a straight face and reprimanding him just doesn't go hand in hand most of the time. Needless to say Jesse, Lucas, Ethan and I were in hysterics. Probably a bad idea looking back.

This hysterical show quickly turned into a food fight at the table with Jesse (who should be the adult) throwing food back at Tanner. I had the camera near by to try and document this happy occasion. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Only 1 problem, I can't get it downloaded for some reason....I"ll try again later.

Video of the Day!

2008-10-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

The first video is of Lucas doing "the twist" at the zoo halloween party. The 2nd video, is of Jesse singing during the Kazoo parade!

Satur-Day of Fun!

2008-10-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

This morning we attended little Maci's birthday party! What a fabulous party it was! Great job, Missy! I forgot to take any pictures while we were there. I'll get some from Missy and post them later.

After the birthday party we met up with Megan and Sidney for Boo at the Zoo! What a boo-tiful day it turned out to be. We went to the Kazoo party before the costume contest. It was a lot of fun too! Ethan loves his new Kazoo. He learned how the thing worked before Tanner!

It's always nice to know one of the head Veterinarian's at the zoo. After Ryan was done working he met up to walk around with us. He even got Lucas backstage passes to the crocodile exhibit. (I think it was a miniature croc or something, anyhow, Ryan climbed over the wall and took Lucas for a closer look.) When Lucas came out, he said, "Mom, the croc didn't jump up at me!" Well thank goodness for that!

All Things Girlie!

2008-10-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

I decided to try something new and exciting today! We have a birthday party to attend tomorrow for a 2 year old little girl. Miss Maci is turning 2! I can't believe it. While sitting and longing to one day have a little girl of my own, I decided to try and make a tutu for Maci. I think it turned out fine, next time I'll have more of an idea of what I'm doing. Here's the finished product!

(Notice that there isn't a face on the baby in the picture, that's because, well, um...it's Ethan and I don't want it to come back and haunt him one day. I would love to of had a picture of Lucas modeling it for me, but Jesse wouldn't get the camera! Believe me, it was hilarious!)

6 Years (and counting) of Marital Bliss

2008-10-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MY HUSBAND OF 6 YEARS, (yesterday!) It seems like just yesterday we were preparing to get married and start our family. Jesse and I were living in Idaho Falls at the time (not together, btw) and came back to NC to get married in the Raleigh Temple. It was a good day. The weather was perfect. After the wedding we had a reception at my grandparents house. Everything almost seems like a dream it went by so fast.

6 years, 3 kids, 1 house, 1 dog (we actually sold him when I got pregnant with Ethan), Tons of nieces and nephews later.....we're still holding on!

Thanks for all of the memorable moments Jesse! I love you!

(I'll post pictures later)

Flu Bound

2008-10-17T19:29:00.000-07:00

As you can tell, I haven't been keeping up to date with the world of blogging lately. I was the happy recipient of the FLU. One night I really thought I was going to die. I have never felt anything like it before. Natural childbirth didn't even compare to the pain I felt. Maybe I should explain that a little better. Both times I had "out of body experiences!" Both of them totally painful but in very different ways. It's too hard to even explain.

I came down with the flu Sunday night. Thank goodness Monday was a banking holiday so Jesse was home and could watch the boys. Tuesday my yearly sinus infection crept right on in and has decided to linger longer than usual. By Wednesday I was 98.9% better. No flu, but my sinuses are haywire. Tanner has had a few "hot poop" diapers which thank-goodness haven't amounted to anything more. Lucas woke up this morning with what I think may be pink eye and has a good ole sinus infection too.

I just hate it when my kids are sick. Yeah, they're way more calm, but I hate to see them in pain.

That's the 9-1-1 on the happenings in our life this past week. Now maybe I can get back into the swing of things.

Totally random, but the weather here is finally starting to feel a little nippy. We were in the mid 80's yesterday and it's 55 I think outside now. Perfect weather to sit back, read a book, and make some hot chocolate! I really hope it snows this winter!!!! Laurie, send some of your snow our way!

Random Ramblings

2008-10-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

This morning I was changing Tanner's diaper. He looked up at me and said..

"Mom, you boodaful"

Me- "Thanks, Tanner. You trying to kiss my butt?"

Tanner- "No I not kiss yo butt, I kiss yo mouff!"

Thoughtless Thursday

2008-10-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tanner and Hillary. Tanner was a very serious baby. He didn't smile too much
Ya think Lucas watched mom a little too much?
Hillary and Lucas! Tanner arrived soon after
Lucas' no butt!
Lucas' first beach trip.
These next pictures are when Lucas was little. I think he looks identical to Ethan. I'll have to post some pictures of Ethan next. My computer is a little jacked.

I love this picture of Lucas. He loved his Great grandpa's "Weed Eater" hat. He wore it all the time with the "I'm the big brother" shirt!

Ahhhhh, Memories!

Party Time!

2008-10-04T17:26:00.001-07:00

Today we had Ethan's 1st birthday party. It was a lot of fun. (kinda cramped, but fun) Ethan wasn't feeling so swell. He had his 1 year check-up yesterday. I found out that he has a very bad ear infection and needs to be back on breathing treatments for at least the next two months. How fun for me.

Here are some pictures that we took at the party today. I think I should have sent cupcakes home with everyone. What was I thinking?!!?

HAPPY FALL, YA'LL!

Halloween Projects #2

2008-10-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle! That's today's motto! I took old Milk Jugs, soda and juice bottles and decorated them for Halloween. I'm thinking of trying to make a witch somehow with a green soda bottle and adding a paper witch hat to the top of the bottle. I'll post a picture if I get around to doing it. Also, I plan to cut a place out of the back side of the decorated bottles. I will add some rocks or sand (so they won't blow away if the wind starts to blow), put them in groups of about 3 and add white Christmas lights. Instant luminaries! Keep your fingers crossed that this actually works. I think I saw an idea like this on Family Fun. (the pumpkin with the green hair is suppose to be a pumpkin-pimp like thing! I need to add a couple gold chains for the full effect.)

I went to the dollar store the other day and found these cute little treat holders. I think you can get a pack of 8 for a $1. I found some old ribbon I had around the house and hung them on my kitchen light. Good little inexpensive decorating idea.

Halloween Projects

2008-09-30T07:33:00.001-07:00

From now until Halloween I will be posting different projects that are kid friendly. If you have any questions, let me know.
For today's project Lucas and I went on a Scavenger hunt in our yard to find different rocks to paint. We laid out our newspaper and went to work. As you can see we painted Halloween scenes. I'm sure this would be a great project for any holiday. The possibilities are endless when you start a project like this. I even took the little googly eyes and hot glued them to the head stone for a more "scary effect." For the stems on the pumpkins/jack-o-lantern's I just took a smaller twig, broke it down, painted it green and then used our handy dandy glue gun to attach and wallah! We used acrylic paint on these rocks but I bet you could use anything you have lying around. Have a Boo-tiful day!

A Conversation with Lucas

2008-09-29T13:49:00.001-07:00

Lucas-"I seen a big ole' butt today!
Me-"What?!!? No you didn't."
Lucas-"Oh yes I did. It was a big ole' butt and her legs had things growing on the other side of her knee's. (he was using his hands to describe the place on her body he was explaining) And she was missing a big ole' toof! You know, the brown woman, mom!"
Explanation: I totally remembered at this point what he was talking about. We were at the Dr.'s office this morning and this lady who fits Lucas' exact description( except she wasn't missing a "toof", she had a big gap between her front two teeth.) was in line waiting to check in also. Thank goodness he decided to wait 9 hours until he actually processed this traumatic experience and started talking it through.
Me-"Lucas, (trying to explain that everyone is a child of God, no matter what they look like) she wasn't fat, she was pleasantly plump. Heavenly Father loves everyone the same."
Lucas-"MOM, YES SHE WAS FAH-FAT!!! I think I know what her name is.... J."
Me-"Did you talk to her and she told you her name?"
Lucas-"No, her name is like J. Ro, Ya know, J. Ro (rolling his eyes)"
Me-(nearly in hysterics by this point)"Where did you hear that name, Lucas?"
Lucas-"It just sounded good!"

It's Your Birthday, Shout Hooray!

2008-09-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go? A question that I tend to ask myself on a daily basis. My baby, Ethan, is ONE today! Holy cow, I still can't believe it.

Ethan still isn't walking, which is totally fine with me. He is cruising around the furniture finally and pulling himself up. Ethan LOVES to eat! He really likes things that he shouldn't have. For example, the other day I went in Tanner's room to find a bag of tortilla chips all over his floor. Ethan had a rather large piece of chip in his hand. When he saw me he instantly shoved the chip into his mouth and clamped down for dear life. He new mom was going to be the "bad guy" again and take this amazing tasting thing away. I struggled trying to get my finger into his mouth to retrieve the chip. A few bite marks later along with a screaming baby it was a success. I honestly think that Ethan cried 30 minutes straight over this chip. Thank goodness he can't talk right now or I'm sure he'd have a few choice words for me.

Ethan is a very curious little guy. He likes to evaluate EVERYTHING before he attempts ANYTHING. He is also a very loving baby. My other 2 boys as babies, weren't so loving. They definitely were mama's boys, but they never liked to just sit and cuddle. Ethan is the cuddling king. If his brother's get in his personal space he will let them know that they need to take a couple steps back. If they don't respond well the first time, then Ethan will practically try and use them as human teething rings!

All in all I am so lucky to have such a happy, healthy, cuddly, cute little one! I'm so happy that Ethan is in our lives. We all love him so very much! Happy Birthday Sweet Cheeks!

Bathroom Demolition

2008-09-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

Jesse has decided to pull up the linoleum out of the hall bathroom and insert tile in its place. So far, so good! The linoleum has been pulled up, the floor scraped and that's the extent of this amazing new work in progress. The is the first time that "Jess the Tool Man Gneiting" has ever attempted something of this magnitude. Please keep us in your thought and prayers, that the floor may one day be finished and that Jesse will come out of this experience unharmed.

Since Ethan is faster than a fly searching for poop, it is extremely hard to keep him out of the bathroom right now. I think I may have to break down and buy a baby gate to keep him out. Knock on wood Tanner hasn't shown any interest in the tools, and or the bathroom. We just hope that Lucas will one day get better"aim" when he has to go potty. (If you're reading this post and you don't have any boys, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about.) I think I ought to but stock in Clorox and Clorox wipes. Maybe I can be a spokesperson for them one day.

Oh well, here are some pictures of the bathroom and where it stands right now.

2008-09-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

Need I say more?

Live In The Moment!

2008-09-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be nice to let everyone get a glimpse into the world of "Jennifer!" Three of the 6 boys are mine, while the other three are friends of ours. They're actually like family. Some days you just have to sit back and chuckle! I've decided that I don't need to be so uptight about things. From now on I'm going to live in the moment. My kids are growing up so fast and before I know it they'll be grown and gone from home.

If I wasn't making a video of the kids then believe you me, I'd be right in on the action! I'm not joking! I can't say the same for Jesse. He's so old now that he may throw his hip out or something! (rotfl) Just kidding. He's only 2 months older than me.

You R' Wonderful~

2008-09-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

While contemplating on what to write for my next blog entry, I decided that maybe I should address something near and dear to my heart....A Mother's Sanity! You see, there are times, more than not, when I feel as if insanity is creeping up on me. Honestly, I have no idea why I could ever feel this way. I mean, I have the perfect family, I'm the perfect mother, I have the perfect stay at home job, I make the most perfect meals for my family and last but not least, I am EXTREMELY organized!!!! *coughing while saying* "bull crizap!" I am far from perfect. I'll be the first one in a crowd to admit that.

Have you ever been around those people (we're all thinking in our head's right now of someone specific), who "act" as if everything in their life is perfect?!!?? I mean even down to the color on their walls at home they think is perfect....Let me just say, this I will agree to, I do think that the color on my living room wall is perfect. (for me..lol!)

Seriously, sometimes don't ya' just want to slap these people and say.."Wake up you nut job, your life is NOT perfect no matter how hard you want me to believe it is." Everyone will one day have to face an enormous obstacle. I look back on my life with all the trials that I've gone through. I can honestly say that they were learning experiences.

I think that as women we're not told enough how very fortunate we are. We need to hear more positive feedback. So today is dedicated to you, my wonderful women friends and family....... YOU ARE WONDERFUL! Don't ever forget it.

Bouncing Baby!

2008-09-08T06:58:00.000-07:00

We've discovered that Ethan now LOVES his "Johnny Jump Up!" We tried it a while back and he just wasn't interested. As you can see in the background, Lucas still LOVES his PS3.

Whirlwind of Events

2008-09-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

The past few days has been purely chaotic around here. It all started Wednesday night. I went to my neighbors to do my routine weekly cleaning. When I returned home Jesse was going to go to church to get some financial things up to date. Of course it was getting late and he decided not to go.

Around 9pm we tried to put the boys to bed. They ALWAYS put on an act of fake crying to try to squeeze a couple extra minutes out of us. Tanner was "fake" crying, we heard a boom, no big deal. (With him you always hear loud noises.) There was a brief moment of silence and then the crying started back. Nothing out of the ordinary. Jesse went in to check on him after a couple minutes and found his little face all covered in blood with a huge gash above his right eye. He told us he was jumping on the bed.

On our way to the hospital we dropped Lucas and Ethan off with Mandi and Jeff. (Thanks guys) Tanner ended up getting 7 stitches, 6 only remain intact.

Friday was hair cutting day. I loaded up the car full of testosterone, went to my dad's to take him along for the ride (actually I needed him to help me with my wild children in public). Ethan went first. It was his first ever haircut. It was long over do. The first couple swipes with the buzzer everything was pretty smooth. That's all she wrote after that. My child screamed as it someone had just bitten his little finger off. As traumatizing as it was for Ethan, I was almost more worried for the girl cutting his hair. Thank goodness I knew this girl from school so it wasn't as bad as if she were a complete stranger. Here's the before..

And the after.....My little man is growing up!!! He'll be 1, the 29th of this month!

Today I had my Fisher Price House Party! I had a good time having all the kid's over to play with some cool FP toy's. Great thing about the party was, I get to keep about $200.00 worth of FP toys. Dude, you can't beat FREE!

Here are a few pictures of the party.
This afternoon my friend Mandi took some family pictures that I hope to be posting soon. Needless to say, today has been a very busy week....Take care!

ARRRRGHHHHH

2008-09-01T15:42:00.002-07:00

I know I comment all the time about how my 2 year old, Tanner is comparable to the Tasmanian Devil. I don't mean Bugs Bunny's cute little partner in crime. I'm talking straight up, for real, crazy as a loon, an actual Tasmanian devil! He resembles this little guy...

Not only are the TERRIBLE TWO'S just plain terrible for everyone, they're just hard to deal with. I couldn't imagine being two again and learning new things every day. One plus one equalling two and so forth. Not to mention that when you have an older brother who still isn't fully out of his terrible two stage at 4 1/2 doesn't help matters.

Please come back to mama you sweet little one! I know you're in there!!

3 Favorite Things

2008-08-26T04:00:00.000-07:00

This is Tanner with his 3 favorite things!

1) his skateboard shirt! He'd wear it everday if I let him.

2) his superman boots. He adores these boots and insists that the middle of summer is the best time to wear them.

3) his dad's motorcycle helmet. Tan loves every and anything related to a "motor-bicycle!"

These will be picture's for his senior page in the year book!

Baby shower update...

2008-08-25T02:00:00.000-07:00

I'm glad it's over! The baby shower was fine and all is well. The guest of honor was 30 minutes late. For some reason she thought we were having the shower at church. Just imagine being pregnant, sitting in a church parking lot for 30 minutes in an un-airconditioned car, it was around 90 degrees outside that day, wondering where everyone was. I think I would have broke down and started crying. As emotional as I get when I'm pregnant, I know I would have!

We had a total of 8 people that showed up including myself and the guest of honor. It was small but I thought all in all it went well.

I loved the cupcake bar. I am a huge fan of sweets and treats and would like to have something sweet all day every day!

H.H. Makes a great meal!

2008-08-24T16:15:00.000-07:00

Ever been in a hurry to get dinner on the table? You need something quick, easy and kid-friendly. Well, I've become a fan of the great Hamburger Helper! Give me a hand (with only 4 fingers!) First, we started out with our frozen hamburger...

Next we added this lovely box...

After dinner we had 2 amazing things happen! 1) My family received a quick and easy meal which they liked in a snap, and 2) I was happy that I didn't have to clean more than one pan from dinner! A win win situation!

Overwhelmed

2008-08-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

Does anyone out there other than myself ever want to slap themselves for opening their mouths? Like we as mothers don't have enough to do by just taking care of our kids. Here's my dilemma. One of the ladies at church who is on my visiting teaching list is having her 2nd baby. She already has a little girl and is expecting a little boy. She off course has NOTHING for a little boy so I thought I would offer to have her a baby shower.

I had the shower planned at church until I realized there was another baby shower going on the same day. I decided not to worry about trying to decide on a date to use the church building cause I have a lot going on this month. Instead I decided to have the shower at my home.

I guess it isn't really that big a deal except for the fact that my boys can tear my house to shreds in 1.5 seconds. That explains the anxiety I feel.

The next problem I have is that I'm trying to "Go Green" with the decorations. I decided I would try and make use of things laying around my home that I don't need. For example, I've taken empty toilet paper rolls and empty baby formula cans to make things with. I know, I know you're sitting there wondering what in the world I could do with toilet paper rolls and formula cans. Believe me, I asked myself that same question. I'll have to take some pictures to post after it's all said and done.

For the food part of it, I've decided to do a "decorate your own cupcake" theme. We'll have plain cupcakes with 2-3 different frosting's and different toppings to create your own one of a kind cupcake. I have no idea how this thing is gonna turn out, so please keep your fingers crossed. If nothing else, I'm sure I'll be the talk of the "Ghetto baby shower world!"

Multi-Tasking

2008-08-14T07:48:00.000-07:00

I will be the first to admit that I am a huge fan of Multi-tasking. Why Not? If you can do 10 things at once instead of just 1 and cut down on your work load all at the same time, I ask you again, why not? I have come to the realization that men are NOT multi-taskers at all! In my experience dealing with men, they like to do one thing at a time. This helps them to feel like they're accomplishing something more (I think). I know if I ask Jesse to do a couple things at once he'll do one, and then get sidetracked and "act" as if he doesn't remember what I needed his help with. Funny thing is, Lucas and Tanner both do the same thing. I honestly think that this is a gene that all males have. Believe me, I'm not bashing anyone, I'm thankful that I have a husband who will help me. I'm also thankful that I have 2 boys that will occasionally help me out when I need it too.

I know you're probably wondering..."Why all the babbling about multi-tasking?" In answer to the question, I found this little ditty today.....Enjoy...

I only see one problem here...instead of an old man, it should be an old woman...lol!

Super Hero's

2008-08-11T06:03:00.001-07:00

This morning the boy's wanted to be "Super Hero's" We found their capes and they went to town, fighting all the bad people in the world and each other. Lucas just didn't feel complete without his Super Hero boots (my pink super soft bedroom slippers/socks) Of course Tanner couldn't be left out in the cold. He too needed some magical boots (socks). Now they were ready....
Lucas.. "Come on Tanner, let's get the bad guys!"
Tanner..."Okay Lucas, wet's goooooooo!"
Take this you bad man, Hi-Yah!
Tanner taking a break from all his hard work!

Hurry Home....

2008-08-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

My friend Mandi went to visit her sister for the weekend. While she was gone, the guys (aka: husbands) had a game night. This ever so fun event was held at Mandi and Jeff''s house. I decided I would go with Jesse so maybe I could try and help with their boys so it could be an actual "GNO." (Guys night out) Well, let's just say that didn't go too well.....I think I may've hindered things rather than helped. Oh well, my boy's had a ton of fun and they're still asking to go back and play at Mandi's for their "BNO." (Boy's night out) Lucas kept saying.."Mom, I liked my boy's night out, can we do it again?!" Me..."Maybe, we'll see"

Jamison and Jace are ready for you to come on home, Mandi. Johnny would love to see you too! We were gonna make a sign for our pictures, but we ran out of time. Here's what it would've said....

"HURRY HOME, MOM! WE MISS YOU!! HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT TIME!"

Here are some pictures of the fun we had.

Til the Break of Dawn....

2008-08-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

......Baby got it goin' on. I'm hooked and I can't stop staring, oh baby, you gotta get 'wit it and start to read it!
So Friday August 1st was the Breaking Dawn party at our local Books A Million. The gals got together pre-party to start the GNO evening. We started with a little shopping @ the mall. Afterwards we got a bite to eat to try and prepare our bodies for the long night ahead.
Heather and I both decided to give blood and help out our local Red Cross. It actually wasn't so bad this time.

The fun followed the blood drive....Games....Face Painting....

...Snacks...Crazy People everywhere...

Anticipating Midnight to arrive so we could FINALLY get our books....

"I will bite you, I said that book was mine!!!!".......

FINALLY.......They're ours!!!

2008-08-08T06:58:00.003-07:00

HELP MEEEEEEE!

2008-08-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took my grandma to our ward garden to pick some tomatoes. (And to discard of what seemed to be a billion rotting ones.) Jesse met us at the church building after work. While in the garden, Jesse and the boy's were over at the sitting area in the garden just taking it easy. All the sudden I hear, "OWWWWWWWW, help.....OWWWW, GET IT OFF!" Jesse in turn yells at me to come help. I get to Lucas and he is covered in fire ants from head to toe. He's jumping around going nuts. Trying to calm him down so I could strip him down to his undies was no easy feat. When I was finally able to strip him of his ant ridden clothing, I found that the ants were trying their hardest to find any exposed flesh. After what seemed liked hours of swatting and swearing (in my head) at these little no good for nothing varmints, our mission was accomplished. Lucas was in tears while Tanner was standing to the side in his Superman snow boots in 100+ degree weather with his mouth hanging to the ground. We loaded everyone up and headed home to find Lucas some sort of relief for the pain.

Lucas fell asleep on the ride home. Not sure if it was from being worn out or the sheer pain of a million little fire ants attacking my little man. We put him to bed and soon after woke him to pump him full of benadryl and motrin. This is what the bites looked like last night:

This is what it looks like today:

Ever Get That Not So Fresh Feeling?

2008-07-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

While looking for a salsa recipe on the internet this afternoon, I stumbled across this little ditty. I thought I read : "Summer's Eve Salsa." Of course I had to re-read the title and laughed and laughed. That's what happens when your life is consumed with children and you try and fit everything you can into a couple hours a day. Next time I promise I'll be more diligent in paying attention.
If any of you amazing people out there have a great recipe for salsa and don't mind sharing, please do. I need to use up a lot of tomatoes before they go bad!

Summer's End Salsa Recipe

5 lbs. ripe tomatoes
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped hot peppers
1 Tbsp. salt 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cider vinegar
Prepare home canning jars and lids according to manufacturer's directions. Peel, core and chop tomatoes. Put all ingredients into a big pot and bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle into hot jars leaving 1/4" head space. Wipe rim and threads of jar with clean, damp cloth. Place lid and bands on jars firmly. Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Yield: approx. 4 pts. heat: medium-hot (adjust hot peppers according to taste)

Don't know how this recipe is but hey, it's worth a shot! Maybe if I decide to takle this today, tonight I can say.."Calgon, take me away!"
P.S. Click on the links to see a little old school!

ohhhh Edward....

2008-07-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

Tanner: A Little bit Rock N' Roll

2008-07-27T20:00:00.001-07:00

I'm a little bit country

2008-07-27T19:39:00.001-07:00

Pioneer Children......

2008-07-27T15:22:00.001-07:00

..............Sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked. 2nd verse: Modern day children complained as they played and lost a game and got too hot!! Now the 2nd verse is more like it for my kids!

Yesterday we had Pioneer day at church to celebrate the amazing men and women how traveled thousands of miles for us. What a great time we had. Of course the kids favorite part were the games, which included:

The 3-legged race:

(Lucas and Lil' Nate Harward)

And the winners are: Lil' Nate and Lucas! Good job guys!

The next game was: Red Rover

(the boys, )

(against the girls)

The ever so classic: Tug O' War

The water balloon on a spoon race:

Oh what fun we had! Even with the blazing HOTTTTTT weather, feeling like the most humid day on earth, it was a blast! Tanner and Hillary! (bestest cousins)

So true, so true!

2008-07-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

While on the internet this morning I came across this. It actualy is pretty acurate! Enjoy!

Southern Words and Phrases
ANY GOOD SOUTH'NER WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN PEACHES WILL UNDERSTAND EVERY SINGLE WORD BELOW!
The Association of Southern Schools has decided to pursue some of the seemingly endless taxpayer dollar pipelines through Washington designating Southern slang, or y'allbonics, as a language to be taught in all Southern schools. The following are excerpts from the Y'allbonics/English dictionary:
HEIDI - (noun) Greeting.
HIRE YEW - Complete sentence. Remainder of greeting.Usage "Heidi, Hire yew?"
BARD - (verb) - Past tense of the infinitive "to borrow."Usage "My brother bard my pickup truck."
JAWJUH - (noun) - The State north of Florida. Capitol is Lanner.Usage "My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck."
BAMMER - (noun) - The State west of Jawjuh. Capitol is Berminhayum.Usage "A tornader jes went through Bammer an' left $20,000,000 in improvements."
MUNTS - (noun) - A calendar division.Usage "My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck, and I ain't herd from him in munts."
THANK - (verb) - Cognitive process.Usage "Ah thank ah'll have a bare."
BARE - (noun) - An alcoholic beverage made of barley, hops, and yeast.Usage "Ah thank ah'll have a bare."
IGNERT - (adjective) - Not smart. See "Arkansas native."Usage "Them bammer boys sure are ignert!"
RANCH - (noun) - A tool used for tight'nin' bolts.Usage "I thank I left my ranch in the back of that pickup truck my brother from Jawjuh bard a few munts ago."
ALL - (noun) - A petroleum-based lubricant.Usage "I sure hope my brother from Jawjuh puts all in my pickup truck."
FAR - (noun) - A conflagration.Usage "If my brother from Jawjuh don't change the all in my pickup truck, that thing's gonna catch far."
TAR - (noun) - A rubber wheel.Usage "Gee, I hope that brother of mine from Jawjuh don't git a flat tar in my pickup truck."
TIRE - (noun) - A tall monument.Usage "Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, I sure do hope to see that Eiffel Tire in Paris sometime."
RETARD - (verb) - To stop working.Usage "My grampaw retard at age 65."
FAT - (noun), (verb) -- a battle or combat; to engage in battle or combat.Usage "You younguns keep fat'n, n' ah'm gonna whup y'uh."
RATS - (noun) - Entitled power or privilege.Usage "We Southerners are willin' to fat for are rats."
CHEER - (adverb) In this place.Usage "Just set that bare rat cheer."
FARN - (adjective) - Not domestic.Usage "I cuddint unnerstand a wurd he sed ... must be from some farn country."
DID - (adjective) - Not alive.Usage "He's did, Jim."
ARE - (noun) - A colorless, odorless gas Oxygen.Usage "He cain't breathe...give 'im some ARE!"
BOB WAR - (noun) - A sharp, twisted cable.Usage "Boy, stay away from that bob war fence."
JEW HERE - (noun) and (verb) contraction.Usage "Jew here that my brother from Jawjuh got a job with that bob war fence cump'ny?"
HAZE - a contraction.Usage "Is Bubba smart?" "Nah...haze ignert. He ain't thanked but a minnit'n 'is laf."
SEED - (verb) -- past tense of "to see".
VIEW - contraction (verb) and pronoun.Usage "I ain't never seed New York City ... view?"
GUBMINT - (noun) - A bureaucratic institution.Usage "Them gubmint boys shore is ignert."

Playing Possum

2008-07-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I decided to clean out the fridge. As I threw some trash into our outdoor trash can something caught my eye while a stench caught my nose. There in my trash can was a huge adult possum. I jumped back and screamed for a couple seconds. When I caught my composure I took a double take. This is what I saw!

The little guy (who actually was pretty big) wasn't "playing possum" at all. He was dead as a door nail. I don't think I've seen so many flies in one place before. The flies were having a feast!

I guess possum-man got in to the trash can and couldn't get out. With the weather being so hot I guess he cooked to death! Pretty disgusting, I know! I hope I don't dream about possum's tonight!

Kids Do The Darndest Things

2008-07-17T08:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very interesting day to say the least. Lucas was awake and going strong before 6am, while Tanner was up and running around 6:30ish am. Around 12pm it was time for a family NAP! Ethan was already out so Tanner was my next task at hand. Two minutes and Tanner was out! Hallelujah! Last but not least, Lucas needed to go down. It took a little longer but he passed out and slept for a whole 3 hours.

When the boys woke from their naps it was off to the races without a break. I do get frustrated a lot. With three boys I don't know how you couldn't. Anyhow, Lucas decided that he wanted to be a little jokester. He went to the bathroom and came out looking like this....He called himself "the super-butt hero!" How could you not laugh at that??? (Yes, those are his underwear around his head with his shorts on top.) He thought he was hilarious!

Later on in the evening I decided to fill up the kiddie pool so Lucas and Tanner could get in for a while before dinner. After the boys started playing in the water I decided to go ahead and feed Ethan. I started feeding him one of his favorites..peaches. In the process of feeding Ethan, the other two boys started fighting in the pool. I set the baby food down on the table not thinking obviously about the repercussions I may soon be facing, and went to stop Lucas and Tanner. When I turned around to go back inside, this is what I found....

I wish Ethan could stay this size forever. He is such a great baby! (knock on wood) This is the age where women are like..."I would love to have another baby!" I would love to have another baby but not for a long time. I don't think I could handle four boys right now. I know without a doubt that I would have another boy....and that's OK cause I love my boys!

My Epiphany

2008-07-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

I've found my dream job!!! You'll never in a million years guess this one... OK, I won't hold you in suspense any longer. My dream job would be "A Mind Reader of Children." Doesn't that sound so fun?!!! You're probably thinking , "What the ?!@#$$^&*"
Here's why. Do any of you out there ever know what your children are thinking? As a parent, are you ever able to tell your child exactly what they want or need to hear? Do you have the best behaved children in the world? (some people may actually think "yes" to this question, but that goes to show the stupidity of people these days). If you can answer yes to any of the above questions(minus the last one), then you are one amazing out of this world person. You have a great talent!
You see, I'm not so lucky. I don't ever know what my children are thinking. Let's just say "I know nothing!"
Example #1: Finger Painting with yogurt! Not only did my kitchen table become an art canvas, just about every wall in my house did too! (Just don't get it!)

Example #2: I'll NEVER understand why my boys love to be half naked all the time. They seriously think they're stronger than anyone in the world!

Example #3: Why is it every time I'm in public with Tanner he thinks the whole world should be aware of him? This wonderful child of mine loves to throw a temper tantrum over anything. Look at him wrong and it's like he's on fire. He does the whole "STOP, DROP and ROLL" plus the extra screaming like a girl. Very entertaining!
Example #4: Lucas wants to play the PS3 24/7. He'd rather stay in the house and play games than go outside and play. Why is this? I would go nuts being in the house all day long.

Example #5: Ethan, my 9 month old has no desire to hold a bottle. My dad can get the little guy to hold a bottle but if I walk in the room he'll drop it and start screaming. Spoiled may be the keyword here.

Becoming a child mind reader would have to be an amazing job. Just think, with that job you may never have to go through the terrible two's. Wouldn't that be great!

The Simpsons

2008-07-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

(I shall go ahead and apologize to those of you, amazing bloggers who hate clip-art! I on the other hand LOVE IT!!! I've thought really long and hard about it, and there just isn't anyway I can take an original photo of the Simpson Clan. I guess I could dress up the family and paint everyone yellow......yeah, don't think so! So just consider this your lucky day!)

The Simpson's are coming! The Simpson's are coming! They're starting to take over! They're everywhere..... On my T.V., on the radio, on the PS3, on my kid's underwear, and a million more places. Thank goodness one of the boys isn't asking for a "Simpson" themed bedroom. I'd put my foot down on that one.
Growing up I loved to watch the Simpson's. Who didn't? As a child who doesn't find it funny and down right entertaining to hear a cartoon character say the word "hell" and not get in trouble for it.?!!?
Bart: I'm Bart Simpson. Who the hell are you?
If your mom was anything like mine was growing up then you know where I'm about to go with this. In our house words like...stupid, idiot, retard, butt hole and many more were totally off limits. Then one day this awesome looking cartoon airs on T.V. and words we weren't allowed to say were now every day vocabulary.
My mom didn't like us watching the Simpson's, but of course we'd always sneak to see it. I wonder why my own off spring is that way now.....sneaky. I think It's probably a combo of "you wait til you have your own kids, I hope you get some form of pay back!" And the sheer fact that I have 3 loving BOYS!!!
If I've said it once, then I've thought it a million times over..."Boys are SO different from girls!"
Getting to the point of this post, I don't want my kids watching the Simpson's. I think that the show is some what funny on an adult level. Kids, my kids especially, are so intuitive and ask so many questions that I'd like them to keep some of those questions to themselves for a little bit longer. In my opinion, the Simpson's don't help matters. If anything, it makes the question asking a little more in depth. AHHHHHHHHH the joys of motherhood!
So, any ideas on how to steer my kids away from Bart and his ever famous....
Bart: Eat my shorts. or Bart: Don't have a cow, man.

HE-MAN

2008-07-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

Need I say More????

The Hag From Hell

2008-06-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

To begin, let us start with the definition of the word "Hag."

1. an ugly old woman, esp. a vicious or malicious one.
2. a witch or sorceress.
3. a hagfish.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Origin: 1175–1225; ME hagge, OE *hægge, akin to hægtesse witch, hagorūn spell, G Hexe witch]
—Related forms
haggish, haglike, adjective
I think that #1 and #2 say it all! And the story begins.....
This morning I had to take Tanner and Lucas to a DR's appointment at 8:00am. I met my mom afterwards to switch kids. I had to take Ethan to his 9 month appointment at 10:15am. After Ethan's appointment I decided to go on down to the DMV to get the address on my license fixed. I waited a good 20 minutes before someone finally came out to give me a number. Five minutes later they proceeded to tell everyone that it would probably be a 2 hour wait for those just arriving. ARGHHHHH! I decided to make an appointment for tomorrow and left. As I was pulling out of the parking lot this old lady (75 + years) was waving her hands and acting all crazy trying to catch my attention. I thought to myself, "maybe I have a flat tire or something??!!!" I rolled down my window to politely ask "Can I help you?" That's when the shiz hit the fan! This little old sweet looking lady suddenly turned into Satan with a freakin' pitch fork.... This is how the conversation went.
Old Lady: You'd better get a damn seat belt on that baby!!! (baby, meaning 9 month old Ethan)
Me: WHAT?!!?? He's got on a seat belt!
Old Lady: Did you hear me???!!!? I said get a damn seat belt on that baby!!!
Me: (Just about to come out of my skin by this point) He's got on a damn seat belt woman!
Old Lady: I said get a seat belt on that baby! (Like I didn't hear her the first 2 times screaming at the top of her lungs already!)
Me: He's got a damn seat belt on! Mind your own damn business you hagadore!
Old Lady: You better get your damn seat belt on too!
Me: (pulling my seat belt from my chest ready to cut it off of me and strangle this annoying little pest) I've got my seat belt on, see...!!!!! (As I'm driving off!)
My blood pressure is rising all over again just telling this story. The further I drove away, the more I wanted to go back and sock this lady in the grill! I know I know I'm probably going to hell in a hand basket for feeling this way about a senior citizen. You see, my stress level has been off the charts this past week. I've had a lot going on. And that episode just sent me over the edge. I even though about calling 911 and telling them to go arrest this crazy old broad before she hurts someone or someone hurts her...(not naming any names, but I can think of 1 person who'd like to have a round with her!)

Random Thought Thursday

2008-06-19T05:50:00.000-07:00

Just a quick random thought....The past 3 weeks I have found so many creatures in my yard. It started out with a baby snake. I was mowing our yard (thank goodness with a riding mower) and a baby snaked jumped up out of the grass. I just about died right there. I HATE SNAKES!! I've come to accept that our house attracts every and anything with legs or just plain d-scusting!
Later that week I found that every stray cat within a 20 mile radius likes to come to our house. I've seen so many cats lately. Our neighbor has a 15 pound cat names Paws who has 6 toes on each paw...hence the name "Paws!" Paws decided that she wanted to come over for a visit yesterday from 2pm-10pm . The boys enjoyed playing with her.
Tuesday night my cousin Shannon came over to spend the night. At 8pm we decided that we would go over to Stefanie's for a visit. We got home around 10:30pm. As we were walking into the house I noticed that 2 houses up from us there stood a HUGE buck! This deer was SO big. He was just standing there in my neighbors front yard munching on grass. When we turned our heads there stood another deer in my front yard.....I guess it's "Deer Loving" time.
Last week I found that ants really like my house. When I walked into my living room I found a billion ants everywhere. I thought I was gonna die. I cleaned and vacuumed for 3 hours! Our ant problem is gone....knock on wood! I highly recommend "Ortho's home defense" if you have any type of bug problem...It works miracles!

Twilight

2008-06-18T12:08:00.001-07:00

I am officially a NON Twilight virgin-ista! I'm almost done with Eclipse. I love these books and I can't wait until the next one comes out. I know what I want for my birthday in December....a "Twilight" day/night. I'll have to wait a couple days for the movie but I hope that it will be worth the wait!

Hard as nails

2008-06-16T05:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess if you're getting ready to have a baby and you plan on nursing this stuff maybe be a good investment for you. If you try it you'll have to let me know how it works..I thought the name of this one was hilarious too. If it actually makes your nip's tough then it's probably well worth the whole $5.99 and then some!

Shake ya' Booty

2008-06-16T05:29:00.000-07:00

I was online when I came across this "butt-cream!" I thought it may be helpgul to some of you mom's out there who haven't yet been able to find the right stuff for diaper rash! Enjoy!

Directions

In the unlikely event that you are unfamiliar with how to handle a case of diaper rash, here are the standard guidelines:
1. Change that kid quickly and often.
2. Air it out. That's right, sans diaper for part of the day.
3. Apply your favorite greasy goop (like Bad Ass Booty Balm). Make sure you get the leg creases and crack really well.
4. When in doubt give a shout out to your pediatrician.

What's in it?

Aloe Butter
Aloe butter is an extraction of Aloe Vera using fatty coconut oil. It's soothing and greasy -- for diaper rash that's a good thing.

Zinc Oxide
Par for the course, my friends. This mineral protects chafed skin and seals out wetness.

Beeswax
Just a wee bit of this is used as thickener - a classic really.

Lanolin
Chemically lanolin is a wax, bettcha didn't know that, then again maybe you did. Anyway, lanolin is great at lubricating, protecting and soothing skin.

Emu Oil
More so than the other ingredients listed above, emu oil is a highly emollient moisturizer which deeply penetrates the skin and is excellent for inflamed or delicate skin.

Peru Balsam Essential Oil
Derived from a large tropical tree, this essential oil has a long history of use in diaper rash preparations because of its ability to increase blood circulation in affected areas.

Chamomile Blue Essential Oil
This gentle essential oil has a natural deep blue color (Azulene), is used to soothe irritations of all kinds (physical and mental). Smells like apples too.

Helichrysum Essential Oil
This is a crazy expensive oil with very strong anti-inflammatory properties.

Pictures by Mandi:

2008-06-15T18:58:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day I thought it would be nice to have some new pictures of the boys made for Jesse. My good friend Mandi was willing to help. Thanks Mandi for the great pictures! I took the cd to Wal-Mart last night to make copies. When I got there the photo lab was closed. I had no idea they closed at 8pm. Who closes at 8pm these days! Wal-mart photo lab does! Oh well, I'll get them done this week. Jesse really liked the pictures and can't wait to get the collage that I was planning to give him today....sorry it's late honey, but hey look on the bright side....you still have the brand new, smokin' outfit I got you that you hate!

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all those father's out there! After church today my parents, grandmother, sister and her kiddos came over for a late Father's Day lunch! We had Cafe Rio sweet pork burritos! Yes, I said it, Cafe rio! (Thanks Arianne for the reciepe you listed on MM) It was amazing if I do say so myself. We had so much left over that I took two different neighbors dinner.

I've finally come to the conclusion that I shouldn't ever buy Jesse any clothes. Every holiday I usually end up buying at least one outfit. You see, my dear husband needs to get with the times people. Most of his clothes are out dated and need some serious help. I've even thought about sending his name in to 'What Not to Wear' and maybe they coud talk some sense in to him. Don't get me wrong, he has good to decent taste. There are some things that are big NO-NO's! For example...
1.) Are you ever out somewhere and you happen to look over to the person standing or sitting next to you and you realize that the dude is wearing knee-high tube socks with shorts?
2.) Does your spouse like to wear socks with his/her sandals?
3.) Do most of the clothes in your closet date back to the 1990's-2000's? (Key word being most..I still have a few things from high school that I just don't want to part with.)
4.) Is your favorite shirt a t-shirt that you have from a camp you went to before you graduated High School?
5.) Do you think it's cool to wear plain white hanes t-shirts?
6.) If you are male, do you still have a bottle of Drakkar Noir cologne hiding out somewhere n your house just waiting and hoping for a special place to wear it?
7.) If you think that the built-in air conditioning unit (aka..holes)in your underpants are the next best thing to sliced bread, then Houston we have a problem!

If you answered yes to at least one of these No-No's then I hate to be the bearer of bad news....you or your loved one may need to have your name(s) sent in also.

Ok, so I started rambling about things again! Sorry, can't say that it won't happen again. I bought Jesse a pair of jeans and polo type shirt and a short-sleeved dress shirt for Father's Day. The first words out of his mouth were...."I really wish you wouldn't buy me anymore clothes. Did you spend a lot of money?"

That remark may have hurt any normal person's feelings, but as you know I'm not all too normal. I proceeded to tell Jesse "I got everything on sell. You're gonna wear it cause it looks good. End of discussion." And that was that. No hard feelings. Believe me, I'll get him to wear those clothes one way or another....even if I have to pull the "don't you love me card!"

Wordless Wednesday

2008-06-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

Aunt Flo

2008-06-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

If I only could write my Aunt Flo a letter to tell her how I really feel;

Dear Aunt Flo,

Each and every month I wait and anticipate your arrival. Counting down the days until that dreaded moment, when you first appear. Days before you come I start to prepare, shopping for each and everything I will need while you are here. You always stay way past your welcome. It makes it so hard to plan when you are here, not knowing when you will disappear. You're such an inconvenience, with the disruption you bring. Little things that never bother me are now a monumental nuisance, from the hormonal tizzy you bring on. I'm no longer myself and turn into some crazy eyed witch, taking out my irritability and anger on everyone around me. I've got a headache already and I'm not looking forward to your cramping style. No sex, no thongs just water retention, and temptations of chocolate. Why why why... must you come? I'd find away to get rid of you, but I know that might make things worse! Seeing how you did provide my three babies, I guess I can put up with you for a few more years. I'm getting older and soon you'll be dead and I can dance on your grave! (or at least I can jump on my menopausal cycle and ride over you!)

Looking and waiting for you ~

You're BFF

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Bright Eyes!

2008-06-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

My little Ethan is already 8 months old! Where has the time gone? I wish that I could keep him small forever...but we all know that ain't happening. (Thanks Mandi for the pictures!)

Lucas Lingo

2008-06-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

The other day we decided to stop and get breakfast from our local Hardees before venturing out to our big water play date. As I'm paying for our food and handing the money to a girl, Lucas proceeds to tell me...

Lucas-"mom I don't like ladies!"
me- "why Lucas?"
Lucas-"cause ladies are girls"
me-"does that mean you don't like Mandi?"
Lucas-"yep, she's a lady mom.....but don't tell her that cause I don't want her to laugh."
me-"what?!!?"
Lucas-"I really do like her, but don't tell her...okay?!!!"