Where are all the men's wallets?

The boys had a play date yesterday. It's amazing how much nothing one can do in three hours.
I dropped the boys off then went to run some errands. Errands in which I could quickly go in and out and not have to break up fights. So wonderful!

Hubster and I even got to spend some 'quality' time together. It started when he called me to take him a diet coke with lime. He's into this new kick of diet coke with lime. So as it's half price drinks at Sonic from 2-4, I pushed the button on the Sonic order board at exactly 4pm. Yahoo!

I specifically ordered a diet coke with lime for Hubster and a lemon-berry slush for me. While sitting with Hubster at his office (this started our quality time together) he said that while his drink did have the diet in the coke, it was lacking the lime. 'Them people' (that's what I call incompetent people) had forgotten the lime. Hey, at least 'them people' let me have the drinks at half price.

Hubster and I then went to grab something to eat. When we finished eating, Hubster said he wanted to go look for a wallet. His is old, torn and tattered. It doesn't have any money in it, but it's got all his electrical cards for several states. And for that reason he wants a cheapo, but nice wallet.

Our adventure started at a store that had lots of wallets, but they were not his style. They were the wallets that have skulls, and and and junk all over the front of the nylon, attatched to a dog chain that is at least 3" thick and 2 ft long. I'm glad Hubster said no to those.

We went to another store that did have wallets, but were much higher priced than what he was willing to pay. At the third store we went to, they too had wallets but since they were locked in a glass case, Hubster said that they were probably not in his price range. So on to the next store. No, no mens wallets there. None at the next one either.

So much just for a wallet. But it was fun. We even held hands while we were looking for said wallet. AAAWWWW.

We did find one, but upon closer inspection, we realized it wasn't one Hubster would use. It was a 70's looking wallet, with a man and woman (I think that's what it looked like) pin up style on some plastic background. Hubster said he could live with his tattered and torn wallet a little longer.

He ended up giving up. Not only were we out of store options, we were out of time.

In the meantime, I told him he could use AB's camo wallet or UB's spiderman one.

Making smoothies with the boys

The boys were helping me make smoothies. They wanted to add the banana to the mix. I asked them if they had washed their hands.

AB looks at me sheepishly, puts his hands behind his back and says "No".

UB looks at me innocently, puts his hands in front of him and says, "I don't have to wash them yet mom, I haven't had to scratch the crack in my butt."

I sent them both away.

This Joy that I have, the world didn't give it to me.

UB gave himself a time out yesterday because he didn't want to clean his room. He was in his room while I put laundry away and he tells me this:

UB: Mom, I guess I'll choose joy.

Me: Good, joy is so much better than sadness.

UB: (after several minutes), Mom, it's just not working.

Me: What's not working?

UB: Joy, it's just not working

When the boys have an attitude I tell them to choose joy. Then we sing "J is for Jesus, O is for others, and Y-I-I-I-I-I is for You" They start to laugh after we sing that song.

I realized that I'm like UB lots of times. I want Joy to find me. I don't want to make an effort to find Joy. I want to continue to be mad, to be sad, to just be. I want Joy to come to me and say "Hi, I'm joy and I've come to take over right now".

And then I realize that Joy does come up to me, I just choose to ignore it. I'd rather wallow in self pity. But when I do let Joy in, how wonderful it is. Knowing that I am putting Jesus first and myself last.

In the book "Naked Fruit" by Elisa Morgan, she says this about Joy "The fruit of Joy is confidence in God no matter what happens."

So no matter what is happening, choose Joy and know that God is present.

Getting beaten up by a 3 yr old!

I almost got into a fight with a 3 year old this weekend. I thought I was 3 and almost fought this little punk.

At the gym where AB plays basketball, there is a little play area for small children. UB usually goes plays in while we watch AB play. Well, UB had come out crying saying that some boy had pinched him. I sent him back in to the battle zone and I stayed looking through the window.

I spotted a little boy with a dowel rod that is about 12" long and 3" wide. He was going around the room hitting kids with this stick. Not play hitting either. The kids were yelling and trying to get away from punk kid, but his short little legs would run fast. When I saw him hit a little girl and the little girl started to cry, I went in and approached him. He saw me, gave me an evil laugh and ran into the play house looking thing. I found him and asked him nicely, "please give me the stick", "please stop hitting kids" "pleeeeaaase give me the stick". He just hit me with the stick. Over and over. I covered my head and continued to ask (nicely through clenched teeth) for the stick. He would just laugh and hit me. I finally was able to grab the stick and pull it out of his hands.

As I walked away, he followed me and started beating me with his fists. PUNK! I was shocked. I stood there, looked down and thought, "this is not happening". I looked around to see if his mom or dad or someone was around, Nope. I really just wanted to get him by his feet and hang him upside down from the light fixture.

Finally, big sister or some chick, got him and carried him off, kicking and screaming. UB tells me that this was the punk that pinched him earlier. Apparently he was tormenting all the kids in the play area.

What amazed me about the whole thing was that this kid, this 3 yr old, had no respect for an adult.

I try to teach my kids to be respectful of adults. I believe that for the most part they are. They have some adult friends and they have a hard time drawing the line between playing with the adult friend or playing with the adult adult. But all I have to do is give them 'the look' and they settle down.

This kid didn't know the look. Because trust me, I gave it to him. Of course, it was probably more of an 'I wish I were your size so that I could beat you up' look. Just kidding. No, not really. But I wouldn't hurt a child.

Seriously though, it makes you wonder how much free reign they have at their house. It's no wonder teachers get no respect from kids at school. If they are not taught about it at home, then how are they ever going to learn. Especially if the parents make it a 'child-centered' home instead of a 'God-centered'.

Anybody want a cow patty?

We live on 10 acres out in the country. This is a picture of our back 5 acres. The front is just about the same. We have no trees (except for the 8 little ones we planted), and we have no cows.

So I'm wondering how this big cow patty ended up on my back yard. Maybe it's the invisible cow that leaves cow patties behind.

Things that make you go hmmmm!

The tween and her mom

Back when I was growing up, I was involved in a lot of activities. I was in band, track, volleyball, softball, basketball as well as our church functions. When I had practice, which was usually after school, I'd wait for for mom to come get me afterwards. If she was running late because she was working late, had a meeting or something else, It was OK because that meant I could hang out with my friends a little longer.

I was a little stubborn and had a little temper back then. And when I was upset at my mom for being late picking me up, my cheek would have a close encounter with the back of her hand. Especially if I talked back. Of course, that only had to happen once in order for me to know that my momma meant business.

These days, you see kids with cell phones. Kids as young as elementary age have cell phones. They talk and text their friends all the time. They get dropped off at practice then 'call' when it's time to be picked up.

I noticed an incident during basketball practice. There was a young girl, who looked to be in 6th or 7th grade. She was with her friends and was sulking for some reason. She had a phone in her hands and was texting some friends. She would even talk to some of these people. Her mom happened to be at the gym and saw that she was upset. She asked her what was wrong. This girl totally ignored her. The mom continued until the girl snapped and said in an ugly voice "I don't want to talk about it, just leave me alone."

The mom looked embarrassed and walked away. If I would have done that to my mom, I'd be in serious trouble. Of course, all mom had to do was give me 'the look' and I straightened up.

When the mom walked away from this tween, the girl gave her an ugly look then whispered something to her friend.

I started to think and ask myself, "If that were my daughter what would I have done?"
Would I have given her 'the look' then told her to get her stuff because fun with her friends was over? Or maybe I would have embarrassed her back. I'm not really sure what I would have done. I do know that I wouldn't have just walked away and let my daughter talk to me that way.

What would you have done if this were your daughter?

Emergency Room visit

Good morning everyone! It is a cold, brisk 6 degrees out here. I'll just stay indoors all day today.

Well, UB and I went to the emergency room last night. He's got asthma, and although he's had several 'bad' fits, none as bad as last night. I gave him a breathing treatment at 3pm and he was fine until 7pm. I gave him another treatment at 7:30 and he wasn't getting any better. By 8 he was throwing up. So another treatment at 8:45. By this time he was having a hard time breathing due to the cough which in turn made him continue to throw up. By 9:30 it was time to go to the ER.

I probably should have taken him sooner, but he's not one to complain. I asked him if he was fine, he said yes. I asked him if he could breathe OK, he said yes.

I called my bff Lisa and told her I'm headed over to drop off AB so that I can take UB to the ER. AB was very helpful last night. When UB would puke, he took him a wet wash rag and ask "Are you OK buddy?" When we were loading up into the car he made sure we had the puke bucket just in case his buddy needed it.

I am not a good puke person. I gag and almost puke as well. Hubster is the puke handler. But Hubster was in Mesquite, TX and I had to handle the puke. I never had puke issues when I was pregnant. I would get queasy, but nothing else. So puke and I don't get along. Anyway, I actually did OK. No puke from me when UB was doing it.

On the way to drop AB off, UB is throwing up some more. Coughing quite frequently by this time and can't catch his breath. I start getting mad at myself. I should have taken him in earlier, I should have done this and that. But there was no point in beating myself up about it because what was done was done.

We get to the desk and sign in. It wasn't too busy. The lady notices that he can't breathe and is coughing a lot. She quickly gets on the phone and tells someone on the other end that they need to see him quick. They bring a wheelchair around and UB looks at it then at me. When they see these things at Wal-Mart, they are not allowed to play on them. I tell him it's OK and he hops on. He's pretty wore out.

They get him into a room and start a breathing treatment. Then they give him a steroid to open up his airways, then it's off to go get a chest x-ray. He was pretty pooped by 11pm. We were waiting for the nurse to discharge us and he was snuggled up on my lap. I was just thanking God for this little boy and all the he brings in to my life. I was thanking him for helping my little boy get better.

Needles to say, I didn't sleep much. I remember when I brought the boys home from the hospital after they were born. I would lay them down, but I would go see if they were breathing. Well, that's what I did all last night. He did wake up with a coughing fit at 2:30am and at 6:45 am. I gave him medicine and he was better.

It is such a scary and ugly feeling when your child tries to get some air to breathe and no matter how hard he tries he can't. It's even worse when you are helpless because there's not much you can do to help.

Do you have a chihuahua for sell?

I received a strange phone call yesterday morning. Come to think of it, I receive strange phone calls quite frequently. Hmm.

Anyway, when I answered, it was a man. I thought it was one of Hubster's friends playing a joke on me. The man had a hick accent while I just had a confused accent.

Here is how the conversation went.

Me: Hello? (notice how we usually answer with a question )

Man: Good morning ma'am!

Me: Good morning.

Man: How are you this morning?

Me: Fine thank you. (my mom taught me good manners. Ha Ha)

Man: Ma'am, I have a question and if I have the wrong number, I apologize in advance.

So now I am a little worried. I was going to tell him this wasn't one of those date numbers you call. Or those new ads that say "call and we can flirt". No sir, that's not this number. Only to Hubster.

Man: Ma'am, do you have a chihuahua for sell?

Me: No sir I don't.

Man: I'm sorry for bothering you ma'am.

How strange that this stranger would call a house that happens to have a chihuahua living here.

What I should have said was:

"Yes sir! Yes, I have a chihuahua, but no sir, she is not for sale. I think I'll keep her."

The little old ladies and Hubster

Saturday, while at the game, there was an incident with an older lady. This Upwards program is at a church and they promote teamwork, thinking of others, etc.

Well, Hubster and I were sitting in a group of chairs next to the court where AB was supposed to play. There were some chairs in front of us where we thought we might sit. Before AB's game started, we saw some chairs 'available' on the front row to the side of us. We looked at each other and said, let's go sit up there.

We get up and are already at the chairs when we hear a lady say in a not so quiet voice "they can't sit there. I had those people that were sitting there, save us those seats. You need to move them out of the way. Those are our seats. They can't sit there. This whole row is ours."
(This lady is not 20 or 30 or 40 or even 50 something)

I realized during the screaming fit she was making that she was talking about us. I look up from the chair, and there is another lady about my age behind me with a very apologetic look on her face. She looks at me and says "I'm so sorry. Go ahead and sit there. I don't mind."

This response got another screaming fit from the first lady. The second lady was persistent. "please, sit down there, it's OK."

By this time, I realize I'm not going to put her in the middle of her screaming partners fit. I get my stuff and tell Hubster to let's go sit down where we were originally.

These chairs where we are sitting happen to be right behind screaming lady. Her mom is trying to calm her down and tell her stuff. Screaming lady says in a loud voice "I am not embarrassed to say anything. Did you hear me tell them?" Yes, lady, I'm sure the people on the bleachers located on the opposite end of the gym heard you.

I knew Hubster was mad, but we didn't say anything. Although Hubster did say that he hoped the basketball hit her since she was sitting underneath the goal.

It just amazes me that we should try to teach by example and here she was acting like a lunatic. I'm sure her grandson was going "That's my grandma. Go grandma, kick some bootie."

We got out of there with no fights. Just smile and nod people.

Then yesterday, Hubster dropped me off at the grocery store while he went to go get gas. I went in and got some cokes, because if you don't know me, the most important thing to know about me is that I NEEEEEEED me a cold coke in the morning. I was out at home and didn't want to expose my grouchiness to my family.

After I get what I need, I walk out and don't see Hubster. I wait and wait and wait some more. I finally call him and he says he's in the parking lot.

When I get in, he proceeds to tell me a story about an older lady honking at him to get out of the way while he is waiting for me outside the doors. When he does move, she follows him (in her car) and glares at him because she thinks he's going to take her parking spot.

This incident along with the incident the day before leaves Hubster with a goal of wanting to find out why little old ladies are mean.

I'm not really sure, but I'm thinking that little old ladies have a problem with Hubster.

What do you think?

Together they can do it!

Adventure Boy is in a basketball program called Upward Basketball. He did it last year and wanted to do it again this year. This program has them learn a memory verse and then they receive a star to iron on their t shirts. They also receive a star after the game. Well, today was the first game. It's fun to watch 1st graders run around trying to get the ball in the basket.

One member of the opposite team would throw the ball in the court, but then would just stand there until his team came back from the opposite end. Then you have AB, who runs around his team mate that has the ball, waves his hands up in the air to let his team mate know that he's open. Only his team mate is eyeing the goal straight ahead as opposed to AB being behind him by the back court.

He's learning. When he dribbles the ball and loses it, he doesn't go fight for it, he just lets the opposite team have it. He even gets excited when the opposing team makes a basket. At least he's having fun.

What surprised me from this morning was not what happened during the game, but what happened after the game. I know that all siblings fight. (At least I hope that all siblings fight). There is an unspoken rule between siblings that they protect each other. I know that's true with these boys. They can fight all they want with each other and call each other names, but have someone else fight and call them names just does not happen here. They defend each other when needed.

One of the moms had taken snacks for after the game. When I notice AB getting ready to grab another one I ask him what he's doing, he's already got his snack. He looks at me and says he was going to get one for his brother. That's a Hallmark moment for me. ~sniff~

When we were in the car, UB was telling AB about a little girl that pinched him in the play area. AB got his chest puffed out, his head raised up and started asking questions.

"Where did this happen?"
"How old was she?"
"Was she taller than you?"
"Why did she do that?"

I thought he was going to make me go back, because he seemed to be getting more upset every time he asked a question. Then he said, "Well, next time just come get me"

That's my boys!!! Now, I'm not encouraging fights, I'm just encouraging brotherly love.

The chicken that tried to escape

I went to the store -alone- last Saturday. I've said before, how I enjoy going to the store ALONE because that means I don't have to break up fights. I just go and walk through every single aisle at the store. And I do it because, well just because I want to OK?

Even if I don't have to get anything from that aisle, I like to walk the aisle. Sounds like I'm getting married on aisle 3 or something. Anyway, I saw things that were new and then I saw things that were just strange. Like artichoke hearts. Have you ever really looked at the jar? They look gross. But I do enjoy a hot spinach artichoke dip with some crusty, but soft bread. Yum!

After walking the aisles for over an hour and not really buying much, I decided to hurry up a little. I almost buggy bumped some people, and then almost dropped a sidekick in my hastiness, but all was well. Until some man said "Excuse me, but I think you dropped something" he pointed down on the floor. Wouldn't you know, that family pack of chicken breast was trying to make a flying escape. I pick it up and say "thank you" because stuff falls out of my basket every time I go shopping. Only it's usually the boys that do stuff like that and never when I'm alone. Can you believe that chicken was trying to escape from me?

So I hurry up and finish shopping, check out and start heading out the door. I'm practically running because it's past noon and I knew the natives would be hungry. I'm rushing to my car when I run over what I believe is a speed bump. But then I remember that this store doesn't have speed bumps. And I didn't have any kids that I ran over, so I look down and what do you think I see?

THE CHICKEN. Trying to get away again. Only this time I ran over it with the shopping cart, so it really is dead again. It's a good thing that it was double bagged. It wasn't dirty and it wasn't wasted.

I need to remember to tell the other chickens at the store that their brothers didn't get away and neither will they. I'm gonna eat them in chicken tostadas, grilled chicken, southwest chicken sandwiches, chicken quisada (chicken with gravy mexican style) and other chickeny ways. ~evil laugh~

Cinni mini's story

Hi ya'll! Welcome to my homestead. I'm glad ya'll came by. Now let me tell you a little about what happens here. You see, I have four humans. Two are big, I call 'em my momma & daddy. The other two humans are small, I call them AB and UB. Now them humans are some nice people you know. But sometimes them little humans just wear me out. I mean, sometimes they think I'm a horse and want a 'ride', I'm still not quite sure what that means, so I just sit down because well, they are a little heavy you know.

Now let me show you how I walk right now. Not everyone can walk and run on three legs, but yessiree bob, I sure can. I've got no problem at all hoppin' along on sometimes two legs. You see, my little human AB was riding his dirt bike. Now, I saw him doing tricks and all and UB was as well, but I knew AB wanted to go higher up you know. So I ran to him because I was going to be a doggie ramp, and I guess he didn't see me 'cuz next thing you know, my left rear leg is a hurtin'. Now it's not AB's fault you know, he was riding with that big thing on his head and didn't see me, I'm quite fast.

So see? There's lots going on 'round here. Anybody wanna play twister with me?

No? OK, I'll just lay here and guard my homestead. Thanks for stoppin' by. Come again real soon.

The family according to UB

UB made this drawing during art class the other day. It is a picture of his family. The portrait consists of the following from left to right- UB, mom, AB, dad-. I think I have a black eye and UB looks smug. UB said AB was mad because he wasn't in charge in this picture. Hence the smug look on UB's face.

This........

Is why I ~ gulp ~
stay inside ~gulp~

when they ride. ~Bite fingernails~

Sisterchicks get together

I'm back! Went down to Texas on Thursday and got back last night. What a trip!

Let me start the story with giving you a little background. There are four of us that attended the same church, became good friends, then started reading the sisterchicks books by Robin Jones Gunn, read more about it here; http://sisterchicks.com/

The definition for Sisterchick is : A friend who shares the deepest wonders of your heart, loves you like a sister, and provides a reality check when you're being a brat.

We decided we would be Sisterchicks. Now two have moved away and we still all communicate. Well, one of our Sisterchicks mom passed away and we went to show our support.

One of the Sisterchicks lives here in Oklahoma with me. Another lives down in South Texas. We talked about it and decided we would all go. I had to take the boys with me since Hubster had meetings and couldn't watch them. We all thought the other had told our one Sisterchick that we would be there. When we arrived at the funeral home, we realized no one had said anything. But it worked out perfectly. We surprised her and she seemed to enjoy it.

On the way up there, we (my sisterchick here in town) were driving down there and knew we had to go through Dallas. I don't enjoy driving through there. We start looking at our surroundings and see tall buildings and a ball (I'm sure it has a name, but that's what I'll call it) That ball is where all sorts of clubs are located. I don't mean clubs like; The Red Hat Society, or Girl Scouts, or a sorority club. I mean clubs like disco and other night clubs.

When we pass this ball, I look up and see a sign that approached us out of nowhere that says "Houston" so I happen to be in the most inconvenient lane possible- the furthest left land- and that sign was on the far right lane.

Now having lived in Texas myself, I knew it was called the "The Friendly State". I was hoping that someone would be nice enough to allow me to veer all the way across 4 lanes to my exit. There were a few cars that either hadn't known about what the state was called or just were trying to show me how unfriendly they were, but then there were some cars that were friendly enough to let me get in front of them. No accident, no problem.

The other thing about traveling through Texas is that nothing is close by. You can drive through three states in the same amount it takes you to go from Dallas to Houston. You can pass a town and then 100 miles later, will be another town.

On the way back, we decide to take a different route. We stop to see this 70 ft statue of Sam Houston. Might as well make it a field trip day for school. The joys of home schooling.

Our favorite place to stop and eat when we are in Texas is Whataburger. We had decided that we would pass Huntsville and wait for the next Whataburger. Big mistake. Just FYI there are NO whataburgers between Huntsville and Corsicana. You have to make it all the way to Ennis. We were starving and since McDonald's and my stomach don't have a good relationship, I opted to starve everyone in the car. When we do finally see our Whataburger sign, I try to make it there, but somehow end up turning into a one way street. As I try to back out onto oncoming traffic on a busy road, I am just amazed at how friendly people in Texas really are. They were honking at me and waving and trying to get a better view of me. I just smiled and nodded. Sisterchick just held on tightly to the oh poop bar in my car. But don't worry, we finally arrive at our eating place.

This Whataburger was different than any other I've ever been in. You order your food and they hand you a pager. That thing was loud. I'm sure the traffic on I45 could hear them. We definitely knew when some one's order was ready.

We get back on the road and go try our new way of getting home.

What I forgot about the roads in Dallas is that there are a lot of them. And the very important thing I forgot was that there is a 35W and a 35E. I saw the 35 and got on and started driving fast like everyone else. Because everyone knows that if the speed limit is 70, you'd better go with the flow or you will get left behind. Nothing like driving 80 with lots of 'friendly' Texans driving next to you.

Sisterchick and I realize something seems wrong. We both spot the same ball that we spotted on the way to Houston. How can that be, we are supposed to be on a different road. But we look out our windows and see a giraffe looming down and we realize we were on the wrong highway. We wanted W not E. Oh well, at least now I know where the Dallas Zoo is.

I finally spot a road I'm familiar with because I'm determined to not go through Dallas. After being delirious and trying to avoid crazy drivers, we reach the road that will take us back home. I decided that we needed some sugar intake, so we stop at a dairy queen to get a blizzard.

See, Texas does have lots to offer- Whataburger and Dairy Queen.

Never a dull moment when on a trip with a Sisterchick.

Things I never thought would come out of my mouth

Some things I'd never think I would say 'out loud' to my kids!

*"Don't kill your brother any more"
*"Only kill him when he tells you to"
*"Quit making your brother into something he doesn't want to"
*"Stop stealing your brother's guy"
*"work together so that you can get more money"
*"play nice or I'll kill you both"

Let me just clarify that this is NOT a murder/violent/gorry video game. It is lego star wars!

The homestead security

I'm not sure why this is typing this way and since I'm not a computer guru, I can't figure it out.

A little over a year ago, we were having our house built. We had a shop built already and we were using it as a storage area. We would come over in the evenings and I would brush hog while the boys would play with daddy. Adventure Boy would actually ride his dirt bike.

One evening, we came over and did what we were going to do. The next evening we came back to play and we found that someone had broken into the shop and had taken the dirt bike. Nothing else was taken, only that.

Fast forward one year. The boys got some BB guns for Christmas. AB got a Red Ryder BB gun and UB got a little buck one.

They are prepared to stand guard in the shop and wait for the the thieves that hopefully will not be back.

No one is going to break in again.

And if some one does attempt to break in, I do feel sorry for them because these boys are looking for a reason, any reason, to use these guns. And while they may not be very dangerous, they can hurt. You see, UB sometimes forgets to put the safety on and AB gets something pictured in his mind and nothing will stop them at doing what they are going to do.

That's my boys!!!!!!

"Do you want a piece of us? Don't make me us use these guns, but go ahead, give us a reason to use them!!

How difficult is it to find jeans for Adventure Boy?

At only 6 yrs old, Adventure Boy is 4'6" tall. He only has two pairs of jeans that fit him (length wise). Even those are just right on the ankle. So we head off to a store to go find him some pants that actually fit. As much as he dislikes trying on jeans, that is the only way we can make sure that he is not going to be running around with jeans that are either too little or too big.

We find some jeans and go to the dressing room. He's not liking this part so he goes inside the dressing room only to come out a couple of minutes later with some jeans on saying "oh mom, these are perfect. They fit just right, let's go" I get up to go see and this kid has got his pants on halfway up his hiney and not buttoned. When we button them up, they are actually shorter than the ones he has that do fit.

Back in he goes. To play in the dressing room. The next pants he tries takes him longer to put on because he's jumping up to see if he can touch the jeans to the ceiling. He's also crawling from stall to stall because there is no one else there and he says it's fun.

He comes back out with another pair that is super baggy, but the waist is small. But according to him, "they are comfortable mom". Even if he looks like he's wearing a corset. We finally find some that fit him. Of course out of all the pairs we had, those that fit are not on sale. Oh well!

We approach the register and there is an elderly lady in her 80's paying for her stuff. She then gets her receipt and starts looking for her keys and stuff. This takes her a while. We just stand there and smile. She turns around to apologize for taking up too much time, then proceeds to tell us that she is lost without her husband. Her husband used to do things for her and now that he's gone, she has a hard time alone. She then starts to cry and tells us that she can't even change a light bulb out in her laundry room. She can't get on a ladder. I feel bad for her and the cashier is looking at me with a 'what do I do' look. I ask the lady if she would like for me to follow her home and change it out.

Of course I'm looking my 'best' that morning. Because before the drama enfolded of AB needing jeans, I was busy starting to clean. I had on some sweats and a ratty t-shirt, with my hair all messed up and no make-up. Not to mention that AB had on some almost short pants that were 4 days well worn already and his hair was not brushed and his ADHD had kicked in and he was jumping up and down at the register.

So then I asked her if there was a neighbor that she knew could do it. She was still crying and said she hated to bother them. She did get a smile on her face when she had the idea to ask someone at church.

After that incident it made me realize of all the single elderly ladies at our church. How they are not proud, but feel it's a bother to ask for help. They feel that us younger people are too busy and don't have time. They have some of that right, we don't have time, but it's not because we are too busy, it's because we don't use our time wisely.

If you know of an elderly person that is alone, the best thing to do is go to their house and tell them you are there to help them do whatever they need. You'll be surprised at how well that works. Because if you think that you will be rewarding them with your services, you'll be the most rewarded with what they give you. Their smile.

Would you like some black socks with your order?

We had a home school 4H meeting yesterday at McDonald's. You get a bunch of home schooled children together in a small closed in area, and you'd better be prepared for the unexpected.

I'm not a big fan of McDonald's. Can you say germalestivitivitis? (I know that's not a word, I just wanted to make one up) Or GERMS! I try to avoid it and have recently used it only as a reward for the boys. It's some nasty stuff. Not to mention the play area. Have you really ever noticed this area? The kids start off with white socks and end up with black ones. I usually just throw them away after they are done playing. Call me a snob!

But you always have the kids who wear shoes up the play area because mommy doesn't want them to get their socks dirty. Or you have those moms that let their kids go barefoot. UB was on shoe patrol duty yesterday and made sure to tell me that those kids were not obeying the rules.

While waiting for the group to get there, I was observing some other moms. Not home school. One had three little ones under 3, we'll call her mom #1. The other had a set of twin boys that were 3, we'll call her mom #2.

Mom #1 had that strong, deep, aggressive voice. The kind of voice that scares the patooty out of you. She never got out of her seat, just yelled at the kids from her bench. When I say yell, I mean yell. I'm sure the Wal-Mart located behind McDonald's heard her.

Mom #2 had that same voice, but she had an added weapon, she snapped her fingers. She snapped them so loud that I was impressed with that. I wanted to go into the bathroom and practice my snapping. This lady snapped at everything. Here is a scene.

Setting: Only four other kids playing. Mom #1 yelling over every little thing. Mom #2 walks in with Happy Meals
Mom #2: 'snap' sit your butts down 'snap'
kid #1: I have to go potty
Mom #2: 'snap' you know where it is, hurry up 'snap'
kid #2: I have to go to
Mom#2: "sit your butt down. One at a time in the bathroom.'snap' sit!
kid #1: (returning from bathroom with pants undone
Mom #2: 'snap' stand right here 'snap' (buttons pants on)
kid #1: (trying to get away and go play)
Mom #2 'snap' I said sit! 'snap' you can play after you eat 'snap'
kid #2 (returns from bathroom with pants undone
Mom #2 'snap' stand right here 'snap' (buttons pants on) 'snap' sit
kids are looking at other kids playing
mom #2: 'snap' eat!
kids finish nuggets, try to get up and go play
mom #2: 'snap' you have to eat everything before you go play 'snap'
(OK, because fried foods are very nutritious)

But by the time 'snap' the 'snap' kids 'snap' finished eating 'snap', (sorry I can't help it, I'm getting good at snapping by now), all the other home schooled kids get there and it's like an invasion. She 'snaps' one last time and tells them to get out because they are leaving 'snap'.

I started to ask my self, Is that what I sound like (minus the snapping) when I am abrupt to my kids? When I'm not happy and want the whole world to know? It definitely was an eye opener. And what about mom #1? Do I yell at my kids when I'm too lazy to get out of the seat? I had time to think about these things and how my actions affected not only me, but my kids as well.

If you ever want to feel better about your parenting skills, just go to McDonald's and sit and observe. And then just smile and nod!!!!

Smell me pleeeeeaase!

The boys got some small bottles of cologne in their stockings for Christmas. UB somehow managed to get all three bottles from his brothers. Every day he approaches either me or his daddy and says" smell me". Sometimes I'm hesitant to do that because he can throw some mean stink bombs. But by the smell in the air, I can verify that it is not a stink bomb. It is the smell of lots of cologne on. This boy puts it on in the morning, before he goes outside to play, when he comes inside from playing, before he eats, before and after a shower and before bed.

It will be a sad day in this house when there is no more cologne to put on.

But then this is the same little boy who wants to wear his pants this way. This had started as a small, tiny little hole. Some people pay big bucks to wear clothes like this. Not me, no way, I just give some clothes to UB and he does the decorating.

What more do you want from a 4 yr old? Smelling good and looking good!!!!

Mister, Mister have you any pecans?

We went on a filed trip this morning to pick pecans at a friends house. I don't know if we were just stupid or desperate or both, but the temperature this morning was 27 and it warmed up nicely to 29 by the time we drove to their house which was an hour away. The wind was blowing and the clouds were out, but we were determined to go pick pecans.

On the way back, we saw this red tail hawk. I pulled over to take a picture, but by the time I got my camera out, it was flying away. Don't go bird, I promise you, I'm not that crazy.

But in order to get to this house that has the pecans, we had to drive down this 2 lane road that makes you cringe every time a semi comes from the opposite direction. The wind is blowing hard and these semi's drive as fast as they can, so that when they come up to you, the pressure blows off your vehicle and your vehicle shakes a little. Scary. Reminds me of an amusement park ride.

And then you come across creek signs like these.

I wonder what would happen if the fish from the west creek came into the east creek by mistake? Possibly war. I'm sure they'd be saying things like, "you're from the other side of the road, now go back" " we were here first."

When we get to our destination, we unload and start bundling up. They have these fancy pecan picker upper thingies that the boys all want to fight over because they are cool weapons. One looks like a hamster exercise ball and the other looks like a slinky on the end of a pole. Whatever these things are called, they are pretty cool. Of course, there are 6 boys there and only 3 of these things. You do the math.

Get busy AB, I need lots of pecans. No time to play. Don't worry about the frost that is still on the ground, just walk around it.

Come on UB, work a little faster. It doesn't matter that it's only 29 degrees and our snot is dripping out faster than we can catch it. Get a move on boy!

But in the end, we ended up with bags of pecans. Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full. I'm sure our friends felt sorry for us and gave us some of their stash, but we're not complaining.

I had to stop and get some gas on the way home. I just can't believe that gas prices went up 10 cents from last night. So I go to a Wal-Mart that has a gas station and the gas is $1.81. 18 cents cheaper than here, so you bet I filled up. I was even tempted to go inside Wal-Mart and buy those red gas containers and fill 'em up and take 'em home for later. Gotta keep saving money somehow.

So what did I get out of this trip? Let me count the ways:

*adult conversation

*snot drippings everywhere

*bags of pecans

*cheap gas

and can't forget the beautiful Oklahoma scenery.

No more UB

Today will be the last day that we mention Underwear Boy. It's time to get him a new name. I'm not really sure what the new name should be. Any suggestions?

I was utterly disgusted when I researched my site and found that even though my site was being "googled", they found it by googling something to do with underwear and boys and other stuff that made me sick.

I just can't believe that there are sickos out there lurking everywhere. I put these pictures of my sweet little boy in innocence and some freakos are looking for I don't know what. I'm not even really sure what these people did on my site, I'm hoping they only read it, but I'm not taking chances of having perverts 'Google' for those things and end up on my site.

So UB will only be referred to as UB until I find him a new name.

On another subject, I haven't really been feeling great. Major PMS. Maybe that's what made me write this post. Every month is different. This month is a bad one. I feel bad because my family doesn't understand. There are times when I am just sensitive to what everyone says, or am bothered by the way people look at me. There are times when I don't really care what they think.

Depression is a major part of this 'thing' that happens. I just don't want to get out of bed and do anything, I just want to sit down somewhere in a corner and cry. I don't want to talk to anyone , don't want anyone to touch me or mess with me. I just want to be left alone.

It's easy for people who don't experience this to say "Just get over it", "snap out of it" ,"you're being a witch","you're not a very nice person". But when you feel like I described, you have a hard time relating to anything.

I'm not suicidal or anything, so don't worry. I'm actually good. It's just every once in a while that the depression hits. I think it's mainly when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Like having to get up to make breakfast, then cleaning the breakfast dishes, then starting all over to make lunch and then dinner. Add putting laundry in the washer then the dryer then putting it away. Next add teaching an ADHD child and you've got yourself a fine recipe for depression. Especially when you yourself don't think you are living to any one's expectations during this fine time.

I have to say that I've controlled it a lot better, but it's still hard. I do pray constantly during these times and although prayer does help, I still fell the way I do. Eventually in several days I know it will all disappear as if nothing ever happened to me.

So I ask ya'll to be patient me, pray for me during these times, but mostly just love me (from a distance) if that makes any sense at all. And if you see me cry, just let me be, it's my party and I'll cry if I want to.

I am not telling ya'll all this so that you could feel sorry for me, but to make you aware of the fact that not everyone is the same.

So all this to say that yesterday was a bad day for me. I also get these headaches that are not really headaches, but that's what I compare them to. There is pressure around my eyes, forehead and my neck. I know that if I lay down to sleep for 15 minutes or so, it will go away, but there is no rest for me at this house.

Hubster's cousin called and invited us over for roast, black eyed peas, and all the other fixin's. I really didn't want to go. I just wanted to stay home away from people. But I knew it was important to Hubster. We went and as we were going, I was asking God to just guide me through the evening moment by moment.

I stayed quiet because when I open my mouth, my tongue forms these words that usually should be followed with my foot in my mouth. So I just smiled and nodded. (I learned that from my friend Kari) so thank you Kari!

We usually have get togethers at my house. I love having them at my house. It just depends on who comes over. Because certain people help me in the kitchen and certain people don't. I'm usually the one to cook all day (alone) and then clean up (alone). So last night I sat in the living room with the other adults and talked with other the adults. Then when it was time to eat, I sat down and waited at the table. It was nice to have someone pour me some tea, or pick my plate up after I finished. I thought I would feel bad for not helping, but no way, I actually felt good about it. No guilty feelings at all. Woo hoo!!!

So next time you encounter a woman experiencing PMS, just remember, her symptoms might be very different than yours, so be patient with her. And if you feel like I do, just smile and nod!!!!!!

Let's start the new year believing

Happy 1st day of 2008!
Adventure Boy is quite excited that it is 2008. He has no clue what that means, but he knows it's a new number. He woke up at 7:15 because Disney was having a movie marathon of some sorts to celebrate the new year and he just HAD to watch it.

I am optimistic in believing that maybe this will be the year for the following:
*No fights amongst two brothers who love each other dearly
*They will tell each other how much they love each other
*They will NOT gang up on mom and dad
*They will clean up their own spills (without leaving the dirty rags on the counter top)
*They will pick up the Lego's after they are spread all over the floor
*They will play lovingly with each other in their own rooms and not in the master bedroom or anywhere where else in the house
*They will play with their own expensive toys rather than tape and boxes.

Believing in these things are almost as non-existent as me saying I am starting a diet today, tomorrow or within the year.

As I get out of bed, and lazily walk into the kitchen to start breakfast, and find the following:
* the remains of stickiness on the floor where the juice had spilled and was sloppily cleaned. I do however find the empty juice jug in the fridge with the lid off
* the boys yelling at each other for not doing what the other wants to do
*fighting over a blanket that one had, but the other wants
* playing with Lego's in the living room floor (I'm sure I'll find little pieces in between my toes soon)

I can only continue to believe that soon, the list I described earlier will come true. In the meantime I'm off to break up a fight that occurred over who has whose toy.