I cheated this week. A lot. I did not lose a pound. However, I did not gain one either. I am OK with that.

In the past I would have beat myself up and thrown in the towel. Not today. Today I am proud that though I had a hard time this week sticking to the program I still ate much less than I normally would have and made better choices. Thus, I averted gaining any of the weight back that I had tried so hard to lose over the past two weeks.

Today is a new day, and the beginning of a new dieting week. Last week is over. Today I will move forward.

Please let me know how your week went and if you had any special challenges.

Happy Weight Loss!!!!

Labels: weight loss

This afternoon when you are throwing your burgers on the BBQ take a minute to remember our fallen troops. The sacrifices they and their families have made for our country are often forgotten on this special day. Without them where would our country be? I am so thankful to the men and women who serve in our armed forces.

No matter what your personal views of the current war I know most of us are thankful to our troops for all their sacrifices. I pray for your safety daily and hope you are home with your families soon.

Labels: stuff

I have been thinking about food a lot lately. It seems whenever I try and restrict my intake of food I become obsessed with it. I think about it more and I seem to crave things that I didn't really even care about the week before. Maybe I am just obsessed with it all the time. I really have no idea, but I am driving myself crazy thinking about all the places I want to go and eat. Feeling sorry for me yet? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Anyway, back to my point. Really, I swear, their is a point. When Military Mommy tagged me for this meme I felt extreme happiness. A reason to obsess about my favorite places to eat. After all, I definitely would not want to offend her by not participating. Here's how it works. We are to list our 5 favorite places to eat at our current locations. Yippee! I am more than happy to tell you.

1. Macaroni Grill. I LOVE Pasta. My favorites are Carmellas Chicken Rigatoni and the Pasta Milano. Though, I must say the pork chops are awesome. If you like pork chops you really must try them. I also love Macaroni Grill for the bread. I could eat several loafs all by myself.

2. Dafne's Greek Cafe: I love the chicken kabobs and rice. My 3 year old would eat this rice for every meal. They also do great catering and they will deliver for free.

3. McDonald's: Those of you who say you don't like it....I don't believe you. Why is their always that lonnnnng line at the drive thru. When I want some comfort food their is nothing like a cheeseburger or Big Mac to help me feel a little better. I know it is weird, but I just cant help loving McD's.

4. Magic Wok: My kids call this cheap Chinese. We love the chow mien and orange chicken. The Egg rolls and terriyaki chicken are also really good.

5. My house: I love my french toast, lasagna, spaghetti, and to many other things to list. If you are in town, call me. We will be happy to share.

As you can see I love food. It is a problem. I am tagging Trees growing in Sonshine, The Preachers Wife and God's Grace in Practice. If you love food too please participate. Leave me a comment letting me know when you write your post so we can all come and visit and find some more places to blow our diets at. (OK, just kidding.)

Labels: meme

When our oldest daughter was in 2nd grade her class learned about dinosaurs. As a class project each student along with one or two partners would create a giant (5 or 6 foot long) dinosaur of their choice out of paint and large rolls of paper. Our daughters group made a triceratops. He was painted beautifully and displayed at open house. The next day the teacher held a drawing to see which students would get to take their creations home. My daughter won and excitedly ran to the car the next day carrying the giant dino which was twice as big as she. At that time I had nothing hanging in the upstairs hallway so we decided to hang her beautiful dino their for a while. Well, a while turned into around 18 months. Until one day we decided it was time to paint the upstairs and Mr. Dino was given a proper burial.

For the past year I have been collecting and purchasing picture frames to create a wall of history in our upstairs hallway. I have some wonderful old photos from both sides of the family and thought it would be fun to line the upstairs walls with them starting with the oldest photos and ending with a picture of our family.

Recent events have led me to believe I have more time to prepare this project than I had thought.

Garrett is now in the 2nd grade. He has the same teacher that Samantha had. We went to open house and guess what Garrett showed me first? His GIANT long neck. Which is what we call them at our house being big fans of the Land Before Time movies.

"I hope I win it!" He announced excitedly. "Yeah, um, me to" I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. What in the heck would I do with this thing? It was at least 7 feet long. He had made it bigger than his sisters! "Oh, well, I thought. They really did do a great job on it and we can always hang it from the ceiling in his room".

The next day while waiting outside the school I see Garrett walking out. Carrying his seven foot dinosaur. He had the biggest smile on his face! "I won the drawing!". "Great!" I say. "He will look awesome hanging in your room". "My room? We always hang our dinosaurs in the hallway!"

I could not win this argument. Nor would I really want to. My wall of history will just have to wait. We have a long neck coming for a visit.

Here he is in all his glory.



Garrett is so proud!

Labels: kids

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

This past week was a little bit more of a challenge than last. Their were cupcakes, brownies, pizza parties, and a host of other activities that included lots of yummy food. I had a few nibbles but for the most part held strong and didn't cheat to badly.

So, you say, did you lose any weight? Well, yes I did. Drum roll please........weight lost this week.....3 POUNDS!!!! Total for 2 weeks = 5 pounds.

I am very happy.

1 Thessalonians 4:4-5 says "Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God". (The Message)

My middle son and I were discussing this verse because they had been talking in school about intimacy and the boundaries God sets up for us to protect us from many of life's pitfalls. To live within these boundaries will require some adjustments in our mental attitudes. We talked about how teenagers need to understand that a Godly mind-set is important in how they think and act concerning intimacy with their boyfriend of girlfriend.

This got me thinking about how I had been abusing my body by not eating properly and exercising. I was not giving dignity to my body. I was definitely abusing my body by the food I was choosing to put into it most days. I need to change my mental attitudes about food. With God's help I think I have made a good start.

I am praying for all of you in your weight loss journeys also.

Labels: weight loss

I have a different family. My mom was almost 45 when she had me. Two of my older sisters were already married and had a few children of their own so I was an aunt from birth. My two older sisters ended up having a combined 5 children and we were more like cousins than the aunt/niece-nephew relationship. I had 4 nephews and one niece.

I always wanted to have a close relationship with my niece. We are only 9 months apart and it would have really been nice. Unfortunately, there seems to have always been some underlying tension in our relationship. I think my sisters resented our mom having me and I can kind of understand that. They were starting a special time in their own lives and wanted my mom to be a grandma to their children, not a mom to her own new baby. As you can imagine I was very spoiled. We didn't have a lot of money but my parents have always thought I could do no wrong.

I have always felt like their was some secret competition between my niece and I. As I have gotten older and looked at the relationship from an adult point of view I see that this perceived competition was put their by our parents. For some reason my mom and sister have perpetuated this throughout the years and continue to this day.

We both have daughters that are one week apart. I swore that I would not allow their relationship to be poisoned the way my niece's and mine was. They adore each other and for that I am so thankful. However, a couple of times I have had to say something to both of their grandma's when one of them would start going on about how one of them was better at something than the other. Knock it off, NOW!!! I think they have gotten the message and things have been fine for a while now.

However, I want to go back to my relationship with my niece. For some reason we have never been able to heal. I prayed about this over and over but the truth is we are just sooo different. I doubt we would be friends if we were not related. This came to light the other day when we were talking on the phone for the first time in quite a while.

She told me her husband was going in for a vasectomy that morning and she was so happy because she really did not want any more kids. They have two ages 11 and 12. I told her that was great and I was happy if she was happy. She then asked when Dave would be having his. I told her I doubted he ever would because he secretly hopes for another baby. She started going on about how we already had 5 (like we were not aware of this) and how could we even think of having any more. I told her that we knew a lot of families with four or more and in the area we lived in it was not that uncommon for people to have more than 2 kids. Then she said it, the statement of all statements.

"Well, here in the OC people don't have more than two". The OC would be Orange County. You know the one they made the TV series about. The one called the OC with all the pretentious rich people. There is also another show on BRAVO if you get cable called The Housewives of Orange County. Basically the same stuff, but it is real people instead of a script.

This is why we will never be close friends. She is all about the plastic lifestyle. How things look are very important to her. Her house is always perfect, she always has a new manicure, kids are never dirty, and every one she knows has new perky breasts. That is not the life I lead, or would I want to. My house is never perfect, my kids play in the mud, and my breasts sag to my knees from all that breastfeeding.

She was putting me down for having 5 kids. My husband thinks it is hilarious. He keeps laughing about it. I think I may have a few more just to annoy her. Seriously!

In closing, here is my adorable 3 year old. You know, the one who wouldn't have been born if we lived in the OC. She is having a cupcake for dessert after breakfast. Did you know there was dessert after breakfast? Neither did I, but apparently their is.



Do you think they have adorable pink casts in the OC?

Labels: friends and family

Our oldest daughter makes me smile. Some of the things she does just crack me up.

Here is the latest.



I found this while looking through the fridge for something to eat. Her leftovers from dinner the other night. She is always coming home from school or a friends and looking for a little treasure she has hidden in the refrigerator. To find it has already been eaten. By either her father or one of her three ravenous brothers.

She told me she was saving her pasta. I gave her one of those "Good Luck, Girlfriend" kind of looks. She told me she had taken care of it. And so she had. It actually worked. No one touched it. Best of all, she even said please.

Yes sir, my little Sammie, is one smart little cookie.

Labels: kids

Paige went to the doctor yesterday morning. She has a hairline fracture just below her right knee. Not a major break, just enough of a nusance to require a cast. A cast from her toes all the way up her thigh. Thankfully she was able to receive a walking cast and as of this afternoon is getting around on it prettty well. She has been a real trooper, though she would prefer to take it off at bedtime. Last night she kept saying "its stuck" and trying to take it off to get ready for bed. I kept trying to explain to her that it had to stay on all the time for a little while. She was not happy about that at all. We go back to the orthopedic doctor next week and then he will let us know how long she has to have it on.

Here are some pictures of her basically destroying the family room because her mean mom wouldn't let her go outside and play this morning. She made cutout cookies with playdooh for quite a while. In the family room. On my coffee table. She was happy.




On another note, those of you who read her regularly will remember the heart breaker. We played this team again last night. Going into the 5th inning we were ahead 17-1. Hubby put in a new pitcher for us. One who had never pitched before in a game. The other team got five more runs. This is one of the reasons I love my husband.

He will say this isn't true, but I know the reason he did this was so the other team could score some runs, and finish the game feeling good about themselves. A courtesy that the jerky manager of the other team would never even consider. One of his parents told me so. They are dumbfounded as to why there manager hates my hubby so much. I didn't tell them though I am pretty sure I know. He calls him on his crap and doesn't let him get away with anything.

Before the game one of the parents on our team came up to me and said there family had a prayer time before they left for the game and prayed for Dave and the team. They really wanted our team to win because hubby was such a good guy who cared so much for all the players. They wanted the good guy to finish first.

It seems there prayer's were answered.

Update: Hubby just read my blog. He insists he did not put in a new pitcher so they could score some runs. He is all about truth, so I told him I would let you all know. However, I still think my version of the story is correct. lol.

Labels: stuff

Wow, what a week this has been. I am proud of myself for sticking with my new eating plan and just not throwing in the towel. I did stumble once (mother's day dinner) but the rest of the week I was good and stayed on plan.

I lost 2 pounds this week. I was really hoping to lose at least 3 but I am happy with 2.

I thought I would share my all time favorite veggie recipe from Weight Watchers. Only 1 point (68 calories) per serving. Here it is....yummy!

Oriental Green Beans

1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed
3 Tbl. soy sauce
1 Tbl. oriental sesame oil
1 tsp. granulated sugar
6 garlic cloves, minced

1. In a large pot of rapidly boiling water, cook green beans until just tender, 4-5 minutes.

2. While beans are cooking, in small bowl combine soy sauce, oil, and sugar; set aside.

3. Drain beans; set aside.

4. Spray wok or 10" skillet with nonstick cooking spray; place over medium-high heat. Add garlic; cook, stirring constantly, until softened, 20-30 seconds. Add green beans; cook, stirring and turning constantly, until well coated, about 2 minutes.

5. Add soy sauce mixture; continue to stir and turn until most of the liquid is absorbed, 1-2 minutes.

Nutrition Information: 68 calories, 2.4g fat, 4g fiber (makes 6 servings).

I took this to Easter dinner a few years ago and it has become a family favorite. Some times I double the recipe and save the leftover for snacks when I need a little something.

Hope you Enjoy!

Labels: weight loss

This evening around 4:30 Paige's pediatrician called. The one who told me her leg would be fine. It was only a bad bruise.

It seems a radiologist actually looked at the x-rays today. Three full days after I brought her in. Her leg is broken below the right knee. They need me to bring her back in immediately. They are concerned if I don't her leg may incur more damage.

Oh, you mean more damage than may have been incurred as she was running around on a broken leg all weekend????

No, I will not bring her in. I want to see a orthopedic doctor in the morning. I want a new x-ray to make sure the bone has not already set in a funny way.

My child who must have an incredible tolerance for pain has an appointment tomorrow morning at 8:00.

I am extremely annoyed.

Labels: kids

I hope you all had a great Mother's Day weekend. Mine was a little busier than I would have liked.

Saturday morning I had to get up early to open the snack bar. I was at Smart & Final at 7:00am to buy the supplies for Nachos and hot dogs. I didn't want to have any Mother's Day riots over junk food withdrawals. Garrett had a game at 1:30 and I was very thankful for the parents who covered the snack bar so I could watch the game. I finished up around 5:00 when my friend Lori came in and relieved me. It was a long day but we had lots of fun. My 13 year old son, Tyler, worked with me for several hours and we had a lot of good conversations in the good old snack bar this weekend.

Here are some pic's of my little guy during his game.

Preparing to bat.


Hitting a nice fly ball.



Reaction in the dugout to the other teams awesome play....catching his fly ball. He was not happy.

To which his mother told him. Snap out of it kid or your mom will put this picture on her blog. See, I wasn't kidding.

Sunday morning it was up early because my daughter, Samantha, and I had the early service shift in the church nursery. We had 60 children (2 & 3 year olds) and 5 helpers. Needless to say it was very crazy and LOUD, but lots of fun too.

We came home after Church and watched a movie together. I got to cuddle with my kids and it was the best mother's day gift I could have received. It was great to lay around and just hang out together. Dave and the kids went and got lunch at Subway (so I could stay on my diet) and brought it home to me with some great low calorie frozen yogurt. It was yummy, and even better, I ate it on the couch while watching a sappy old movie. Life is sooo good!

In the afternoon we went to the nursery and bought some flowers for the front planter. The kids helped me plant and I really loved sharing that time with them. Here is what it looks like.



Hubby went to Macaroni Grill and got me my favorite dinner. Carmella's Chicken Rigatoni. It is definitely not on the weight watcher's plan. It was yummy! Extra exercise for me this week, but it was so worth it.

The kids also helped clean the whole house this weekend. They mopped, vacuumed, cleaned bathrooms and a bunch more. Thanks guys, I love you all so much.

Most of the weekend I felt so thankful that my children were with me and healthy. Last week there was an awful car accident not to far from our town. A big rig rear ended a woman in her mini van. Her three small children were in the back seat. All three were killed. The mom survived. The funeral for the children was Saturday. The day before Mother's Day. Hold your kids tight and give them extra kisses this week. The thought of losing one of my children sends me to my knees. To lose them all at once is unthinkable. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Labels: stuff

Paige stayed home with her older sister last night while the rest of the family went to Garretts baseball game. When we got home they were both on the trampoline and Paige was crying a little bit. Samantha told us she had just fallen down while jumping and I could see in her eyes how tired she was from the night before. I picked her up, carried her in the house, and she quickly fell asleep in my arms.

Just as I was preparing for bed, around 10:30, she woke up crying. I wanted to cry myself. After very little sleep the night before I was hoping we would both sleep better tonight. That was not to be. She kept crying and saying something hurt but as many young children do she couldn't tell me exactly what it was. Around 3:00am I started thinking she may have an ear infection and put some drops in her ears I had left over from one of the boys last ear infections. This seemed to offer her some relief and she finally fell asleep in her sisters arms. Poor Samantha. Paige had been crying for her for awhile and when she wouldn't stop hubby went into Samantha's room to wake her. She came into my room, layed next to Paige, who promptly curled into her and went fast to sleep. There bond is truly something very special.

Paige slept fitfully for the rest of the night. This morning Samantha got up with her while I got dressed and got the other kids moving. When I came downstairs Paige was crawling on all fours saying she had an owee again. I picked her up and stood her in front of me and noticed she was not putting any pressure on her right foot. Then I remembered last night on the trampoline when she said she had been hurt. I feel so bad that her leg was really hurt and I had no idea. She is also now saying he ear hurts.

We have a doctors appointment at 2:00 today. Please pray that her little leg is OK. I really do just feel so so badly.

Update: Paige did not have a broken leg, just a bad sprain. She still can not walk on it and I am to bring her back if she is not a lot better by Monday. The doctor took nine x-rays (he was pretty sure there was a break somewhere) but nothing showed up. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement.

Labels: kids

When I was a child I used to sleep walk. My parents tell me that I would get out of bed, take off all my clothes, and then walk into there bedroom and start peeing all over the floor. Sometimes I would go to the kitchen, but usually it was to there room.

My mom would take me into the bathroom, clean me up, have a conversation with me, and then put me back into bed. I did this off and on until I was around 10 years old. I never remembered. I had no recollection at all. I never woke up.

I didn't learn about this until I was a teen. It came out one day in a conversation with my parents. They said they never told me when I was younger because they didn't want me to feel bad or be embarassed. I thought they must be exagerating. I had never heard of such a thing and just couldn't understand how I didn't remember or why I hadn't woken up.

That is, until my husband and I started experiencing similar things with our own children.

One night I heard a funny noise coming from my sons bedroom. I walked in to find him standing in the middle of his bedroon....peeing all over the floor. He was even aiming as if there was a toilet there. I asked him (very loudly) what in the heck he thought he was doing? He calmly replied "going to the bathroom". He thought he was in the bathroom. He was sound asleep. He never woke up or had any memory of the incident. I now completely believed my parents. This was very strange.

About six months ago our youngest daughter, Paige, started sleep walking. I have woken up several nights to feel like something just wasn't right. I have learned as a mother we always have to listen to those little voices. Anyway, I go and check on everyone in there beds and three times now I have found that Paige was not in hers. I have found her downstairs. In the dark. Trying to get out the front door. Now, there are so many things about this scenerio that absolutely terrify me. The idea that she could get outside, while sleep walking, and I would have no idea, makes me shake in fear. Needless to say, our doors are now fortified with extra locks to keep her in. We even put the very heavy couch in front of the door when we go to bed as an added precaution. She also never really wakes up. I just put her back into bed and she rolls over and goes back into a very deep sleep almost immediately.

Over the last few months Paige has moved from sleep walking to having night terrors. The other kids had milder versions of these every once in a while but nothing like this child's. Paige's should win some sort of prize for putting the fear of God into everyone within a 5 mile radius who may hear her screaming. We had one of these tonight. About an hour ago.

She woke up screaming! She continued screaming for at least 15 minutes. I could not comfort her or get her to wake up. She was in our bedroom screaming so loudly "Stop It" that my husband had to close the window for fear someone would hear her and call the police. She sounded as if she were being tortured. I was sweating and starting to panic. Usually I can get her calmed back down within a few minutes. Not this time. I started worrying that something else may be wrong. Finally, I turned on all the lights in the room and basically held her in my arms so tight she couldn't move. She slowly started coming out of it.

We are now downstairs, while everyone else is happily back to sleep, watching Sesame Street. Paige is happily laughing and kissing me every few seconds and telling me she loves me. It is a good thing this kid is so cute and sweet. Otherwise, I may have been driving around looking for an all night drive thru Orphanage to drop her off at. lol. I am not sure my heart can take another episode like the one tonight.

So, here is my question. Have any of you experienced anything similar with your own children or siblings? Do you have any ideas on how to make them stop (besides prayer, which I will be doing fervently).

Hope you all are getting a good night sleep!

Labels: kids

For this great diet adventure (I know it is suppose to be a life style change and I am working on it)I was suppose to go to Weight Watchers meetings and weigh in. I had planned to go to my first meeting Monday night but our youngest sons baseball practice went late and I never go there. No problem, I said, I will go tomorrow night (Tuesday) we have nothing going on. Well, that never happened either.

You see I am in charge of the Little League snack bar. I went there yesterday to open at 4:30 and wait for the team to show up who was suppose to work last night. Only one person showed up. It takes three to run the snack bar. I had to stay.

Now, let me say that a snack bar is probably not a good place to be if you are in the throws of sugar withdrawal from your first hours of dieting. Nachos, Chili Cheese dogs, soft pretzels, candy bars....need I go on. I had a very bad headache by 7:00pm when the workers finally showed up just from concentrating on not popping anything into my mouth.

This morning I decided to just do the online version until baseball is wrapped up in mid June. I don't think I can add one more place that I have to be to my life right now. When I get overly stressed I eat. Something I am trying to avoid. I weighed myself this morning (for the first time in a while) and was not overly shocked at what the scale said. It was pretty much what I had predicted. My goal is to lose 40 lbs.

I found all my old weight watcher info neatly filed in my cupboard. I joined three years ago after Paige was born, lost 20 lbs, and then gained it back plus more over the next three years. I want my old body back. I want to feel healthy and have lots of energy again. I am finally ready to make the commitment.

Thanks for taking the journey with me.

Labels: weight loss

As I write this post I am a total grouch. I just started my period and am having major cramps and cravings. The idea of dieting is really not on my radar, though the large piece of chocolate cake downstairs is calling to me. Very Loudly!

I guess I should go and throw that away. Hopefully one of the ravenous wolves we call teenagers in this house will have devoured it by the time I get downstairs and I wont have to deal with it. Pretty good odds on that.

Anyway, on to dieting. I am going to start today. I need to lose around 40 pounds (I think) and will be following the weight watchers plan. I will go to my first meeting this morning (this will be around my 5th first meeting). I generally have good luck with weight watchers when I am paying attention and making weight loss and getting healthy a priority. I will come back and update this post when I get home with the exact amount I need to lose.

The women in my family generally do not have any weight problems until they are in there 40's. All except me. My sisters inherited the fast metabolism, can eat what ever I want though I do have small breasts side of the families genes. However, I inherited from my fathers side. The I have to work at it but can keep it off though it is much harder now that I am 40 large bust side of the family. I hope that wasn't to much information. lol.

When I was married at the tender age of 20 I was a size 7 and weighed around 118 pounds. I am 5' 4". Within the first year of marriage I had gained 10 pounds. People commented on how nice I looked with a little extra weight on me. I think I gained around 20 pounds in the first 6 years of our marriage. I wasn't really fat, just not as slim and in shape as I had been on our wedding day.

Then something big happened. I began having children. Life got really busy. I didn't pay attention and take care of myself. I gained a lot of weight. I saw a picture of myself and wondered who that person was? Where had I gone???

Recently I decided to stop wondering and do something. Then I came across the Tales from the Scales weight loss challenge and decided to join in.

I know what I will need to do to be successful. I must make myself a priority. I must do some sort of exercise every day. I need to plan my menus and make sure the cupboards and fridge have good food in them for me to eat. I have to do these things or I will fail. Again.

I also must realize that I will have good days and bad. Good weeks and bad weeks. I must stick with it and not get to down on myself.

I need to pray. I need to partner with God in this journey. I know he wants me to succeed and he will help me if I let him. I can't do this alone. I have tried before.

The Bible tells us that our bodies are God's temple. We are to care for them, nurture them, and keep them healthy. I intend to start doing this to this best of my ability today.

I think this will be fun, challenging, exciting and I am sure discouraging and exasperating at times. I look forward to taking this journey with all of you.

To the Scales!!!

Labels: weight loss

Over the past six months I have been trying to purge our home of all the junk. After two decades of marriage and 5 kids we have a lot of junky treasurers. I am married to a man whom I dearly love, but he does not like to throw anything away. So, I have done much of this purging in secret. i.e. when the love of my life is at work and the little elf's are at school. (I hope he isn't reading this.)

In November I rented a dumpster. For a whole month. It was emptied once a week. I filled it up four times. I wanted to donate a lot of it but charities in our area have gotten soooo picky they wont take just anything like in the good ol days. So, most of the stuff got thrown in the dumpster.

If you need a cathartic experience, I highly recommend this. All the "stuff" was causing me stress. As I threw it away I felt a burden being released and a new spring to my step. I am sure there is some deep meaning in this, I am just not sure what it is. (As a side note, a lot of the stuff that entered the dumpster was rescued by someone, a neighbor, who thought it was a treasure. Many items were saved from an eternity at the dump)

When we had our garage clean out day last weekend hubby did finally get into the spirit of getting rid of all the stuff. I couldn't believe how much stuff we put out at the curb for pickup. There was an old entertainment center, a desk, small end table, snow toys, and much much more. It looked like we were Jeb Clampitt's long lost cousins, I am sure the neighbors were thrilled.

I called the lady at the dump for a special pickup. She remembered me. What does this mean when the lady at the dump knows who you are? Didn't you recently rent a dumpster for a month? Yes. Didn't you have a special pickup a few weeks ago. Yes. You are only allowed three special pick ups a year, you will only have one left. OK. I am sure she thinks my house looks like one of those people who have OCD and never throw anything away. She has visions of years of newspapers lining the walls, empty cereal boxes piled on the counters. I actually thought it was a little funny.

Yesterday, hubby and I set our sights on the back yard. We cleaned up. Went through the pool toys and other outdoor toys. Picked some weeds, and basically cleaned everything up for the summer season.

Here is my problem. I now have more trash, again, than will fit into my one giant bin the city provides for weekly pickup. I need my last special pick up of the year. I am a little afraid to call. If I get the same lady, I am afraid of what she might say. Maybe I will have hubby or one of the kids call. I guess I could just call and if she answers hang up and continue to call until someone else picks up the phone. I know. I am a big fat chicken.

What do you have that you need to throw away? A few items, or an entire garage worth of stuff. Come on tell me. Make me feel better about myself.


ps. No one ever missed one item I threw away. No one has ever asked "where is such and such". I knew they didn't really need it. Moms are so smart.

Labels: stuff

I got tagged this week for a meme by Irene and Lori. Thanks girls. Sounds like fun.

Here’s how it works: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to tag others and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

Here we go....

1. My favorite color is pink. I wear pink all the time. I have a collection of pink baseball hats to wear on days when I either did not have time to blow dry my hair or it is just a bad hair day, which lets be honest, is most days.

2. I was afraid of the dark until I was 25. My husband would travel some earlier in our marriage. I hated to be alone at night, I would sleep with all the lights on. Even when he was home I wanted a light on in the hall at night. I think one of my children may have inherited this from me. I am sorry.

3. I always wanted to have eight kids.

4. I like to stay up late a couple of nights a week just to be alone with my thoughts. I love to watch CNN or old movies or just read a book or magazine.

5. I love big breakfasts full of carbs. Pancakes, french toast, hash browns, cinnamon rolls. I love it all. Bacon too. You must have bacon.

6. I love days when I can stay home and putter around the house all day without having to go anywhere.

7. I can't sing, not a note, but I love to anyway. I sing my heart off in church, while doing housework, and in the shower. I would love to have a beautiful voice.

Well, that's all about me. I am tagging Lori, Rhonda, Jenny, Cakes, Military Mommy, and Crissybug.

Have Fun!

Labels: meme

I have a beautiful daughter. She is sweet and loving and I am so thankful for her little life. She was the easiest baby. Rarely cried, easy to comfort, quick to smile. She was everything a crazy mama of four other children could ask for. Sweet and easygoing.

She is now 3 and her personality has taken a turn for the worse, umm, I mean better?
She is the most strong willed 3 year old I have ever had. When it was time to take her off her bottle she cried for weeks, not days like the other children. We would just throw them away, wave bye bye, a few tears, and then on to the new cool cup. Not this girl. Temper tantrums raged for days on end. On day 6 the first time we tried we did what really bad parents do. We gave in and bought her a bottle. I could not take it a minute longer! Several weeks later I tried again and she did cry and cry but I stood my ground and after around 2 weeks she finally decided her new Dora the Explorer cup was OK. Yes, I said two weeks. This girl is seriously strong willed.

She is now 3 and a half years old and has no interest in the potty. I have a pretty layed back potty training method. We try for a few days and if the child isn't really interested we stop talking about it for a few days and then try again. If my other kids were ready it usually only took a few days. This child WILL NOT EVEN SIT ON THE POTTY. She cries when I try to put her on it. She acts genuinely scared. Am I being manipulated by the master or is there such a thing as a real potty "fear". With this being my 5th child I am really not all that concerned, I know she won't go to Kindergarten in diapers. I am just sort of at a loss for what to do. She basically starts to have a tantrum if I even mention sitting on the potty.

This makes me think of the bottle. This child does not like any kind of change. I told her big sister that if she could get her to go tinkle on the big potty I would pay her $20.00. Hey, I am desperate and little sister seems to like to do whatever big sis is doing.

I should also tell you that our youngest has been late for most developmental milestones. She did not sit up until 7 months, walk until 16 months, and has some speech delays. The doctors have told me not to worry because she is still in the "normal range" and they are not worried. Of course, I am concerned. I spent a good part of today looking at autism websites trying to figure out if she had any symptoms. My husband thinks I am crazy. This is a power struggle. Nothing less and nothing more. She had some symptoms, but most of my kids had the same ones and they are completely fine. Hubby is probably right.

When she does things like this I lean towards the idea that I am being majorly manipulated. She took a bath this morning and then ended up running around naked for a while while I was finishing up some house work. I checked on her and found that she had put a pull up on. By herself. Because she had to go pee pee. Couldn't she just have walked into the bathroom?

I might also add that I have purchased most potty training tools available. We have a cute Dora the Explorer cushy seat for the big potty, a cute Winnie the pooh little potty that makes a flushing sound, two stools to step up onto when using big potty, assorted stickers, charts, and balloons for rewards. None of this has worked so far.

OK, Internet mom's weigh in with your opinions. Give it to me. Please be kind and don't tell me I am the biggest loser Mom in the world. OK?

Labels: kids

I have a closet full of clothes I cannot wear. I don't have piles of money laying around for a new wardrobe, so I guess my only choice is to lose some weight. I suppose I could just walk around in my birthday suit but jail doesn't really seem all that appealing. Do they let you sleep in there? Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

I found Beth's blog a few weeks ago and she has started a weight loss blog to help and encourage those of us who are waistline challenged to shed the pounds. I think this just might be the jump start I need and I am really excited. If you need to shed a few pounds and would like to do so with some new friends click on the button for all the details. What could be better than losing weight with friends?



On May 8th I will post about how much weight I need to lose and how I will be going about accomplishing my goal. If I am feeling really brave I may even post a picture. Wish me luck!

Labels: weight loss

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Labels: kids