How Astute is Prissy?

I love my kids - really but sometimes I wonder if I think they are much smarter and much more observant then I thought and then other times I really really wonder about them!

Like today.

Hubby comes home early from work today

I send the kids and hubby off to get treats and snacks for our family party tonight.

While they are gone I run around the whole house

ripping down Christmas decorations.

When they arrive home both kids run for the TV fighting over who gets a turn first.

(a battle between Hannah Montana & Phineas & Ferb)

Hubby takes one hinted look into the livingroom and remarks

"You took them all down?"

Later (25 minutes later)

We are sitting watching Hannah 

(obviously Prissy won)

Hubby looks at me - "They moved? Does Lily live with them now?"

I shrug my shoulders I tend to block out annoying sounds and shows.

Prissy looks up, "I don't know."

"You just watched it didn't you pay attention?" Papa (aka Hubby) asks

I glare, "Obviously she doesn't pay attention" - waving my arms wildly at the now bare walls around the room.

He laughs, "Prissy can you look around and tell me what has changed in the room?"

Prissy jumps up, glances all around the room GASPS! 

"Shoot! My boots! Sorry papa! LM (littleman) pick up your boots quick! Hurry we forgot to put them away!"

At this point Hubby and I lose it! 

We are laughing so hard, watching our children run to get the boots, run past the empty spot the tree stood 2 hours ago, run back to the couches and immediately start watching Phineas & Ferb.

Half an hour later and still they have not noticed!

Paul, former Avenger Rep & Jersey Girl

So yesterday's drama - read here Nerd Battle: Pax vs. OceanMarketing. Where a customer service rep named Paul went off on a customer.

In all the letters (from Paul to Dave, Mike K. and now a news reporter) he always mentions how RUDE Dave was. I've read the letters (Epic Letter Here) (Whining Here) and all I see is honest genuine concern, which starts to get pressed when Paul keeps giving him ridiculous answers.

A much better way to have handled the thousands of angry customers over the delay of the product would have been to send them all a mass email detailing what was going on with the product and what the company was attempting to do about it - then take the responses one at a time - RATHER - then waiting for each and every customer to get angry, impatient and annoyed.

So first the company did make a mistake - they allowed their customer base to get riled, with no information or reaching out - then dumped them all on their Reps - who I must say seem to have been poorly trained. Side note: it is believed at this time that Paul owned in part the company to make the Avenger Controllers and was the founder and CEO of OceanMarketing. The company of the Avenger controllers has parted ways with Paul (before this event happened) and Ocean Marketing seems to have crashed due to this incident.

Does that excuse Paul from his ridiculous response? Heck NO!
I'm just saying he isn't the only one at fault here.

Today he was interviewed by MSNBC Here between whining that his life is awful and everybody needs to stop picking on him - he also kept bragging on how none of his other clients have dropped him and how he hopes the negative feedback will turn positive in a few months time.
Sorry dude - wishful thinking won't help you.
Maybe you should rent - buy, at least watch Jersey Girl.

After he is done watching Ben Affleck pull a "Paul" 7 yrs ago, hopefully he will realize quickly - much quicker then the idiot in Jersey Girl - that he should find a new career path.

He seems to misunderstand Nerds, Geeks and Gamers - They don't forgive being bullied. Why? Because too much of their life and childhood was filled with bullies - the bullies never had any remorse, never stopped and apologized - not until someone stood up and said NO.
If the bully has no compassion - should the one being bullied have compassion? And if he does, does that mean he is ALLOWING and Enabling the bully to continue?

Obviously this is not disappearing any time soon, my advice to Paul - the less you say the better - because each time you open your mouth you come across as insane (at best) and an idiot (at worst).

ps. Yes I love gaming, my gamers and my nerd hubby. So yes I will continue to follow this - honestly its better than TV!
Mikes latest respons here: I wwebsite as on the-

Nerd Battle! PAX vs. OceanMarketing

 Click photo to buy the shirt!

Now there is a TON of information on this - in fact I am surprised its not trending on Twitter yet - however, by nightfall, it most likely will be.

I am going to add a LOT of links to this blog as the WHOLE story would read like a book - seriously!
However, I know many of my readers and I KNOW you don't like clinking a lot of links so I will tell you the Epic letter link is a MUST READ. From then on all the links will just be proving my point and laughing hysterically at the idiot at Ocean-Marketing.

P.S if you are a smart mouthed, idiot, know-it-all with a super bad attitude and equally bad spelling - here's some of my famous Free Advice: Don't Piss Off A Nerd.
Why? Well for 1. They aren't stupid 2. They aren't alone 3. They now rule the cyber world. ;)

Alright so here is the run down a normal every day (seemingly nice guy named Dave). He ordered two avenger controllers (my link is to a reliable seller ThinkGeek)- after several weeks of nothing - he wrote the company asking what was going on with the product.
Here is the letter, response, and the ensuing battle that has now became EPIC! (Seriously must read) and NO I didn't make this up and neither did they - I like Mike (creator of penny arcade) and he is a genius and all, but really this stuff just can't be made up!

How did I find out about a Nerd battle while my husband is a work? Well... I follow Wil Wheaton on Twitter as well as Felicia Day and several other fabulously famous Nerds!

Now following Mike's cue to research him - I did ;) Here is his Wiki page Mike Krahulik, here is a link - linking Penny Arcade and Pax East, here is a link of Mike K being interviewed concerning PaxEast2011.

As many of you know, I am very fair. So I researched Ocean-Marketing. What I found was he really, REALLY likes to plagiarize. Here it is all laid out in typical nerd form!  
This is why you really should not ANGER the Nerd Community - they not only have a ton of free time, also they know how to research things QUICKLY! LOL so far all of my research on Ocean-Marketing continues to show what a half @$$ed! site and company it really is - even it's "official twitter" site only has TWO posts.

Best part of the whole thing? Pax is having an event in 2012 in SEATTLE!!! Aug 26-28! Now I want to go! LOL
Pax East 2012 will be in Boston.

Bring it Rude Dude at Ocean-Marketing I can tell you who will have the last laugh - guys like Dave who are championed by men like Mike & Wil Wheaton!

ps. One site is claiming that they started this and it was a hoax - from all the research I did, including finding this story ON penny arcade I'm going with Real.
And yes its NOW trending on Twitter!

Update: Paul (jerk from OceanMarketing) wrote Mike - saying sorry and to please tell everyone to stop being mean to him. Now I'm with Mike on this one, if you have sympathy for Paul please re-read the Epic Letter. Paul is the one yelling, screaming, swearing and bulling and NOW that he has found out how tiny he really is in the universe he's sorry.
Here is the newest of the between Mike and Paul 
and yes I will continue to follow this story!

To follow every single bit of this story, links, replies, spam comments, ect you can find it all Here at Reddit. 

Also the apology to Dave -

Hey Dave,
I just wanted to apologize for the way our emails progressed from beginning to end , You caught me on an extremely bad day and I had been dealing with 100’s and hundreds of emails trying to explain the situation to everyone on where the product was and you just pushed me a little too much and I should have just apologized and tried to explain things better. Also I had a really bad day losing a friend to an overdose and the stress of my newborn baby and the Holiday ,missing my family and just stressing on getting product out to everyone and why it was held up in customs wore me out.
I am deeply sorry for any disrespect , aggravation or lack of information on the delivery date. We knew when product was leaving china and we were trying to adhere to a strict deadline but due to port issues and air freight issues. The units are domestic now and awaiting pick up at customs . So we missed the 17th deadline and I apologize for that but it was out of my control and besides me no one else was helping me handle the situation so imagine the weight on my shoulders.
I’m not asking for any sympathy just for some understanding and forgiveness , I’m human just like everyone else and made a mistake. I underestimated you and its cost me a lot of trouble thousands of spam emails , a lot of personal bashing , and internet spam and trouble and just overall stress with my wife and newborn. I ask that you please accept my apology as a peace offering I will refund your money and give you your 2 units/Avengers free of charge please help me to get some of this negativity removed or at least my personal name although its already all over the internet and the calls and emails will not stop but any help will be appreciated especially with penny arcade as Mike and edit his own website I owe him an apology too which I will write next.

For the most recent update Click Here: Paul, former Avenger Rep & Jersey Girl

Christmas Day

The morning and afternoon were just the four of us... along with our dog Patch (who was also spoiled rotten). Dinner was with our Friends (newly married) Shayne & Sara!

The morning started off with the kids opening their Christmas socks, then quickly moved on to breakfast.
I had to put my breakfast off to the side (several times) and allow the kids to open their presents - while taking photos of course - before I could fully finish all my food! Yummy!

I have to say this is about the BEST Christmas we've ever had!

Both of my boys (hubby included) got new remote control cars!

Prissy got the camera she has been begging for as well as another Barbie!

In half a day she managed to take 201 photos! 

Whew is she even worse then me!

Shayne & Sara's lovely house all decked out for Christmas!

Dinner with great food and wonderful friends!

That wasn't the best part!

Their present to us was amazing!

A date night for hubby and I - babysitting included!

The kids both got cloths and will look adorable!

This really has been the best Christmas ever!

Great times, Great friends and Great memories!

May the rest of this year be as blessed for you as it's been blessed for us!

Christmas Eve

See those pretty plates on my Best Friends table?

Oh Yeah! I bought them for her Christmas present! 

Best part?

There Correlle! So they won't break, chip or crack!

Now I want to brag for a moment on my BFF, Tired Mom

She is the mother of two young Autistic children,

She is the Social Media Chair for Utah Autism Coalition & has Fibromyalgia (?). 

Full time wife, mother, cook, OCD house cleaner....

and she still has time to not only decorate her house but 

cook a gourmet dinner for her friends and family!

Want a closer look at that amazing food?

and yes it tasted ever better then it looked!

Do I just have the most amazing BFF or what?!

She gave me my Soda Stream - early ;)

Now her kids are regular Autistic children so sitting them down to eat - well she was smart and didn't even try it.

Thankfully everyone that came to Celebrate Christmas Eve,

know, and are known by, her children. 

So there are no awkward looks, judging comments or over helpful advice.

Making my BFF's Christmas even better!

My kids ate (a few bites) then went and played with her children

Bumps in the road - my son LOVES her daughter

so if she hands him a thing of bubbles and says open.... 

Yup he opens them and promptly spills it all over the floor!

Then later that night he also broke a flashlight - but apologized for it sweetly.

Then everyone trooped downstairs to play several rounds of Mario Cart.

My hubby and I learned that when Prissy starts driving we are going to need heart medicine!!!

It was a miracle each and every time she made it around all three loops!

As the majority of the time she was either running into walls or going the wrong direction!

Our Christmas Eve was wonderful!

Christmas Decorations

Christmas decor inside my home

Outside at night 

Will try to do a day photo tomorrow

We would have put up lights this year but our porch light died  

really we have to redo all the electrical in the spring.

For those that want to see Barbie and Ken's Hawaiian Honeymoon here are some photos!

Now don't worry I have not lost my sanity nor am I a huge doll person.

In fact when my sister and I played "Barbie" as kids she was always the minor, the damsel in distress waiting to be rescued. 

Most of the "playing" involved us building huge booby traps and then having He-Man and Rambo battle through everything to "rescue" the girls.

What I am teaching my daughter is not just to have lots of fun with her toys, but how to setup a good photo.

This Christmas she is getting her first camera!

She has been begging for one for months in two days we will see if all the photos lessons I have been trying to teach over the last few months were listened too!

Ken & Barbies Wedding Announcement

The wonderful new couple want you to share in their joy.

Yesterday in the presence of family they exchanged vows 

(multiple times I might add)

Today the happy couple is honeymooning in Hawaii.

Very appropriate as this is "surfer" Ken.

Today I woke up to two short very loud bursts of screaming from my daughter - followed by a Thump, and even louder pain filled screaming from my son.

His continued to grow louder as the pain grew AND he came running toward me.

After burying his face in my shoulder I realized my shoulder felt very wet.

I pulled him back to look at him and voila! Blood!

This is what happened a spider fell on Prissy. 

Prissy started screaming panicking and flailing oh yes flailing. 

Which led to Prissy elbowing LittleMan in the nose!

This morning is starting off fine! LOL

We are watching a barbie movie (barbie and ken newly married are watching the movie from their beach condo) Prissy is painting her nails and LittleMan is playing with his new truck!

Christmas at my Dads

Family! LM & Papa, G-pa & Prissy, Prissy & G-ma. Last shot is the family hanging out being together.

Tonight was wonderful! Good food and good times! 

Dinner was wonderful!

The day ended on a high note Prissy's Barbie and her new Ken were married.

12-22-11

We all attended the event and are sorry that we were unable to invite you all ;)

Merry Christmas

More holiday joy to come!

Tis The Season

This will be the first of several Christmas and then Holiday posts - most likely through the end of the year. Tomorrow I will post photos of the house inside and out decorated for Christmas.
Today, however, is all about the movies!

I love Christmas movies! I have a huge list of favorites - some are classics - others are what I call hidden gems.
I will give a small description for all my favorite hidden gems and only name out well known classics.
Otherwise this post would be a million miles long (only a very slight exaggeration).

Hogfather - Seriously first off its based on the disc world books (20th book) - second it is by far one of the Funniest movies I have ever watched!!! This is not a show for children under 12 - unless parents have viewed it first and know that their kids won't be scared or confused. With my kids they just can't follow the story line.

Man in the Santa Claus Suit - This has not come out yet on DVD and is only available on VHS however it is one of my FAVORITE movies. It follows 3 different men who rent Santa Claus suits at the same place at the same time. Each one finds a part of himself that he had lost. Two of the stories are incredible, the third not so much - they make the husband wrong for choosing work over family (and he is) but her right for choosing an apartment over her husband (to me they are both wrong Family comes first).

Carolina - I LOVE this movie! Its rated pg-13 for language and raunchy humor. It highlights two thanksgivings and one Christmas. Three girls are abandoned by their father on their grandmothers door step, Carolina, Georgia and Maine (each named for the state they were born in). Real people, real life, real love and real family. This movie has heart and an openness that is endearing.

City of Ember - This movie need more press! I can't say enough about this movie or how much I love it and the book series! A hidden city deep underground is mans last hope of survival. The problem is, over time they have lost their way and their history.
Everyone is in the dark about the future and every day things are breaking down - the city is dying. It does "qualify" as a Christmas movie as they do a sort of smallish poor mans version of Christmas. The story of hope and courage is also a great thing to watch at this time of year.

The Happy Elf - This is a over the top cute kids show. However, my kids love it and it does have some fun parts and is worth watching once a year. ;)

Last but not least is a show that every good Brit watches on Christmas!

Dr. Who Christmas Special - Out of the last 6 years of being on the air (revived from a few decades ago) they have made 4 Christmas specials this year's - airing Christmas day - episode's called, The doctor, the widow and the wardrobe. Its a must see!

The other movies that I like to watch during Christmas time.

A Christmas Story (the original), Scrooge (with Albert Finney none of the others come close to it),White Christmas, Fred Claus, How the Grinch stole Christmas, Polar Express, Babes in Toyland (again the original), Its a wonderful life (original is great in either black and white or color), The holiday, The Santa Claus 1-3,While you were sleeping & Sleepless in Seattle

True Love!?

Before movies showed "True Love" we had books, before books, stories were passed down from grandmother to granddaughter. 

All women have at one point in time or another dreamed of finding their "True Love".

In fact I used to pray that God would fast forward my life and I would wake up married to the "right" man for me.

Guess what?

Life and God don't work that way.

Life is about the Journey and the choices we make along the way.

However, what is it you picture of true love? 

Is it marrying the Super Hero? The dashing super suave handsome man who knows all the right things to say? The cute nerd who will be forever loyal and make you lots of money?

What type of man are you really looking for?
A soul mate? Perfect match? Dream man?

I have/had basic standards when looking for a husband. I wanted someone I trusted, had things in common with, same beliefs and values. 

Things I didn't want were an addict, gambler, cheater, beater & into porn. 

I wanted a man who would be a good husband AND a good father. 

What I got was so much more. More than I could have ever thought possible. I found a man who finds my stranger quirks to be cute, my voice endearing and my temper not scary. 

After 9 1/2 years, 6 moves and 2 kids he still takes time to write me this note -

To my dearest, my heart, and my joy,

I have not, nor will I ever love a woman as I love you. When I think of all the directions that my life could have gone, all of the events that had to happen to bring me to the point where we meet, I can truly believe that you were made for me and I you.

Although I may not always show how happy I really am I want you to know that my life is, despite the pitfalls, so much brighter because you smile. 

Your eyes enable me to dream. Your voice brings me rest. I don't think I can fully explain how much you do to keep me breathing each day. I love you

Hubby

I posted two photo's of my hubby. One is him putting up Christmas decorations for my best friend (he has nails in his mouth) the other is him with our kids playing on my friends Ipad.

I didn't put up the "glamorous" photos of my husband. Instead I posted the REAL photos. Of a REAL MAN. One that honors, loves, respects, and values his wife and is raising our children to be the best that they can be.

I can promise you that when I look at myself in the mirror I do NOT see the woman that he sees. I don't really get why he loves me so much. I can only appreciate the fact that, miraculous as it may be, he does truly love me. 

So if "love" has bitten you in the bum or you are still looking for the man of your dreams. Dream of real men, men that are worth marrying, set your goals high - they are out there! Trust me - they are worth waiting for!

My one tip in finding and keeping a good man is remembering what comes first.

People always say that to keep a man happy you only need two things. Sex and Food. 

They are WRONG. All men need THREE things.

1. Respect

2. Food

3. Sex

And as much as you might want to argue its in that order. Respect they need every minute of every day from you and if you do respect them they will continue to strive to earn it. Food they need three to four times a day. While we have become a fast food nation and all women are "emancipated' if you get married learn how to cook the basics.

As for sex it depends on the marriage, age and how long you have been married. But I can assure you after 9 years of marriage you do not have sex three times a day. Multiple times a week? Sure, but still food becomes more important.

Love takes daily work, but the reward is worth every minute!

So don't be afraid to dream - amazing men are out there.

Thank you to my hubby who is my love, my life, and my joy.

New Basement Living Room

Last year my BFF gave us her old TV console and TV when she and her hubby replaced them with a newer set. We were thrilled to have a TV and console for the kids down stairs - especially second hand that way we wouldn't want to kill them if they broke it!
One year later and my BFF bought new couches! Guess What???

That's right! I got her old (6 yrs and in great condition) couches!

Where we had the TV set and a ton of still unpacked boxes as well as one pink tiny chair and one rocking chair. I cleaned it out and hence the Before photo.
The after is with my new leather couches! Love them!

Now with the couches and the entertainment center & TV I have my BFF's entire old living room set!! We are both happy! She has a new everything downstairs and I have a full set that I didn't have to buy!

The past three days have been filled with unpacking, washing, cleaning, organizing, throwing away and re-storing. As well as a few "Wow! I've been looking for that!" & "Why the heck did we pack that away?"

We attempted to have a friend help us move the furniture but he never returned our calls - so instead of one easy trip back and forth we did three trips - I'm blessed with a friend that will watch my kids even when she has wet carpet!

This Christmas season has been remarkable! My hubby has spoiled me rotten and I am positive our kids are going to be in heaven on Christmas Day!

Even my doggie has a full stocking and a few wrapped presents (I added doggie bacon treats to prompt him to unwrap them himself) he is like another member of the family!

Best Friends, new and old

Now my BFF (Tired Mom) is going to kill me when she realizes that "Old" applies to US. I use this word loosely, very loosely when it applies to US. I promise. No killing me. Stop laughing!

My BFF and I met Feb. 1999. It only took a few weeks for us to move from the word "friends" to Best Friends. Ever since then we have done things together.
I got engaged - she did too. I got married 13 days later she did too. I had a little girl, she did too. I had a boy - she did too. They bought a condo - we bought a mobile home. They bought a house - we bought a house.

This might seem strange to some, but really it works for us!

Now our kids (4 months apart in age) are best friends!

All four of the kids playing quietly in the same room! 

From oldest to youngest - Prissy, Beauty, Littleman & Macho

Beauty snuck outside while we were helping put up Christmas lights.

Notice she stole Littleman's shoes and put them on the wrong feet!

Adorable!

Also I made Shepard's Pie the other day, feel free to run by my food blog and check it out!

My Dastardly Duo

Sorry I haven't been on blogger for a while - with the holidays, family and kids getting sick we have been very very busy. I, however, still love my new camera and have been taking pictures by the dozen!
First two small blurps on whats been going on followed by a funny thing my son did today!

The cousins came for the holidays! 

Starting with the left and moving toward the right (large photo) is

Game Boy, Pixie, Prissy & LittleMan
The fluffy cute one is Patch.

They had a great time being able to see each other again!

I loved being with my Mid Sis!

This is what I had to resort to shortly before Thanksgiving when both of my kids caught croup!!!

Hubby needed to see a specialty dentist called an Endodontist. 

One of his roots was dying, as he was going to be in too much pain to drive home I had to drive him.

During the day - there isn't anyone who can babysit, especially not sick children.

So I folded down the back seat (love that I can do that)

made a small little "nest" for the kids and after we arrived I set them up on their tvs bundled them under the blankies and read my book for an hour.

Worked out fairly well - LittleMan still wanted to cuddle ever fifteen minutes but his movie soon called him back.

Today my son had me rolling! I had to leave the room I was laughing so hard!

He comes walking into the living room pretending to hold a cellphone. He sits on the couch and "calls" his sister who is down stairs but listening for him.

"RING!" He yells, "Prissy - I need you to meet me in my office right NOW!"
She screams something back ( I can't understand a word of it)

"I mean it! You need to come here right now!" He screams again, this time slightly slurring the words.

She babbles back again this time I understand her, she is babbling ON Purpose!

He sighs, shakes his head. Then after waving his arms he walks over and picks up his favorite toy.

"Ok," He calls out. "I'm coming to you & I've got my gun!" (Its a Nerf turbo blaster)

She screams this time and he drops his fake phone and takes off after her!

5 mins later he brings her hands bound into the living room and makes her sit down on the couch.

She is playing along looking scared and pitiful. 

"Now that you are here FINALLY, here's what we're going to do..." LittleMan says at this point I walk out of the room! It was just to perfect! 

Hands on the hips, exasperated and annoyed! Love it!

I love my dastardly duo - they bring me joy!

What a day!

Today was a very long day! It started with my hubby going to the endodontist. Two of his roots are dying and one tooth will need to be removed completely!

My BFF last night bought me my Christmas present early (for those that know me - I love early presents!)
Today I unpacked - read up on and put it together - to see my new Soda Stream and read my early review click HERE!

After hubby's dentist appointment and before my girls we held a fur baby fashion shoot & then I ran out side to take some fun photos - for all of this scroll down.

However, then I took Prissy to the dentist. She has a bad cavity that needs to be cleaned out as well as capped. 5 mins. in she started screaming her head off!
I was pulled in to help calm her down. They had given her a shot to numb her mouth - instead of it numbing - she was in extreme pain! They allowed me to try to calm her and then they tried again thinking she was just worried about the numbing feel....
One hour later I found myself sitting next to a red swollen faced girl finding out that she does not react well to liticain.

To make matters worse the dentist really wants her to see a pediatric dentist - only problem is our insurance (even with a referral) will not cover any ped work over the age of 6!
So now we are begging the dentist to try again with a different numbing agent (he is researching it now) before agreeing or disagreeing to see her again for this same issue!!

My poor girl! She has had one heck of a year! Broken arm! Asthma issues, allergic to Lilacs and other strange things and now this! How a normal routine dentist appointment can became something so bizarre - well it takes talent and a special little girl!

I am at my wits end! I am frazzled and tired so my darling hubby ordered pizza for dinner!

Patch has two new sweaters and one jacket!

(for the stain on the carpet - please ignore! My daughter got some ketchup on it!)

The sweaters and jacket I found at Target for 2.50 each!

As for the plushy stuffed animal he was 5.00 at PetSmart! (So Soft!)

As for his scab - its getting loose so only a few more days of the collar!

Day at Grandma's

My kids getting ready to visit with Grandma and Grandpa

Breakfast for Lunch!

What a hit!

Both Prissy and LittleMan love it!

The snow is all gone from the grandparents home so I took some time to take some of the fall foliage shots!

Have I mentioned how very much I like my new camera?

Love it!

Very easy to use and great beautiful shots!

My last camera I would have to work the shot and take about 30 to get one good one - this one I get a great one almost every time.

As I get better at working the modes and focus every shot will be great!

Day 3 and I am getting much faster at working the settings!

Collars and Fun

My fur baby!

A few days ago he got scratched by a cat (or skunk or raccoon) 

Since it was on his face and he won't stop scratching it.

He now has the inflatable collar!

On the plus side 

while my fur baby HATES the rain and will do anything to avoid it 

he LOVES the snow!

Even with his collar he still managed to bunny jump through the snow!

 

Loving my new camera!

I spent the day making homemade applesauce from my fathers homegrown apples!

For the recipe and photos click here.

Seasons of Time

What my yard looked like yesterday

I was so happy with my new camera I ran around shooting silly shots of no consequence.

What it looks like now!

It snowed and rained all night long! 

Winter has struck and it appears to have no intention of leaving.

The only serious problem with this is the sad fact

is that my Big Sis will not be able to join us for Thanksgiving.

Last year with all the early snow we had it made their journey

not only inconvenient, but expensive and trying.

Utah seems to be moving towards only having two seasons a year - 

9 months of winter and 3 months of summer!

Last year winter started at the end of October and was still snowing in June!

As this is our second snow this week (but the only one that stuck)

I must think that winter has again come early.

I also promised a few good friends to post pictures of our new van.

Here it is! Don't you just love it?

As you can tell I am in love with my new camera! 

I am in the process of learning of its in and outs.

Now that I have a working camera again I am sure that I will be on more!

Camera! as well as some ramblings

This beautiful sleek 14 mp 3d camera is zooming towards me as I type! This is about the best camera I could find for the money that is not a professional. While I love photography and I really would love to give more time to its pursuit, I need a camera with quality that can take photos without a lot of prep. I am horrible with zooming, angling and working out sun angles professional cameras require - way to many dials for how fast my shots need to be!
This is rated as a good sports camera which should be perfect for capturing my hyper duo!

With the arrival of my new toy I will most certainly be back up to my full blogging potential again - I have missed having a working camera!

Tomorrow the kids will be spending the day with their grandparents and I get the whole day off! I am so thrilled I don't know what to do first!

Tonight I will be making dinner from my garden and the grandparents garden -Stuffed pumpkin & Spaghetti squash with sauce. Its sure to be amazing! I will attempt to use my old camera to photo but the kids really got it good the last time they spill juice on it.
Hence me getting my Christmas present early!

I have also been working again on book one and pleased to announce that I am once again in the "flow" of my work.
This summer I took off to work on me - now that I am awake, alert, slightly alive and getting healthy I am ready to dive back into the work!

Thank you my blogging friends for being so patient with me over the summer ;)

Eew and Awe

The battle of the sexes.
Its universal. Yin and Yang. Him and Her, She and Him. Men are from Mars... you get the drift.

When I was little I remember looking at boys and wondering why their mothers would let them act like that? Why that nice sweet woman would allow him to be or do such and such...

Now as a mother of both a girl and a boy, I know the answer. God made boys that way. Really and truly some of the most yucky, gross and disgusting things about boys (or so I always thought) is natural.
I have, however, come to have an appreciation for this - what I will now call the Eew and Awe factor.

I know, I know, first off you would like to know what the Eew and Awe factor is. Well to put it mildly it truly is the difference between the sexes.
How did I figure this out? Easy I have a boy and a girl.
If my girl hears someone say the word, "Awe" she comes running. She wants to hear, see, or be apart of it. When she hears the word or says the word Eew its with disgust and disdain.

My son on the other hand practically ignores the word Awe but will come running at the word Eew. Why? Because gross is fascinating to him and cute isn't.

Now back on to my revelation of why this is now something I can appreciate. Women get a ton of crappy jobs. We bathe, clean up and wash up after babies, pets and the like. Do we like it? NO.
However, despite the fact that I will clean up crap (literally), I will NOT gut and clean a fish or deer.
Dead bird in the grill of my car? Yup made the man clean it out.

Now I LIKE that men find EEW to be so cool. Its because I DON'T!
Now before the crazy feminist camp jumps all over me I will say, I will do what I have to when I have to, BUT only when I HAVE to. If my husband is around I will give him 100 bonus points (to spend weekly - they do NOT accrue) for him to take care of it.
He (thankfully) loves being the hero!

Growing up I was much more of a "Tomboy" I played with snakes, mucked around in mud and spun coins better than most boys in my class. I carefully hid and masked certain dislikes and NEVER ran from something a boy held. Mostly because I learned quickly that if you ran, they chased you, if you petted, rubbed or commented on whatever gross disgusting object they were holding they would leave you alone.
Thus I was better protected then most girls in my class by my ability to control my face and my feet.

My daughter - she didn't get the super self control gene. She runs, squeals and screams with the best of them.
My son - is a proper dirt loving, hill rolling, gross loving boy.
I love them both no matter the amount of times they cause me to say the words Eew and Awe!

Life and everything in between

Ok here is my life in little mini clips.

Financially we are struggling. This, however, is SO not a new thing in our lives so its not really news its just that right now I want to shoot someone for how they do taxes! Hubby worked 18 hours of over time but forgot to claim tax exempt on his pay check and yup - we got only 150.00 dollars of that over time - the government got the rest!

My daughter is SO far behind the rest of her class that her brother in kindergarten not only has better handwriting but may be smarter by the end of the year. Needless to say we are getting her tested for dyslexia and working with her every night to try to get her caught up. Last year was a VERY bad school year with a horrible teacher and a bad school. Have I mentioned yet how much I LOVE her new school?  I LOVE HER SCHOOL THIS YEAR!!!

Littleman LOVES kindergarten! He is doing great! He is also the boy with the attitude in class. Its funny their are several other little boys in his class that dress "tough" with leather jackets and spiked hair. My son, the cutie with the adorable dimpled smile, is the rebel.
His first day all the kids sat on the carpet and sang a hello welcome to class song - EVERY other kid in the room was singing, smiling or hugging their mama's, my kid however is looking at me with a stunned pained expression that clearly says, "Are you kidding me? Mama this woman is singing at me... MAKE HER STOP!"
Yup from that moment forward all the parents stopped watching the antics of their cute kids and started watching mine. He of course ate that up! At this moment though I am just happy he is not struggling and that while his teacher not only still sings at him but expects that he will actually learn and sing along, he still likes her. Thank God for small miracles!

Now this is partly my fault. With my daughter I played all the cute baby songs until my head almost exploded. With my son... well he grew up on Bon Jovi, Lenny Kravitz & Billy Joel. About the sweetest music he got was the Monkeys, the Beatles and Dean Martin. What can I say, my sanity was going after just one year of listening to songs about sunshine.

Thanksgiving is approaching and so far only the first floor of my home is clean - the basement is a disaster. This year like every year (we hope) in the future my sisters are coming in for thanksgiving, which means a ton of cleaning in my future!

I have also been losing weight. I am THRILLED about this. A few months ago I felt awake again. Alive again. Today I can only say that back then I was still in transition. I feel like I am ME again. So look out world! I am on FIRE!

Hubby is doing good - not sure what to do with me at the moment but he is a smart man. He smiles, hugs me and then moves to a safe distance! He remembers the old viberent, off the wall, scatic, insane schemer he married... he might have thought I mellowed with age but really it was just the depression. He is happy, though that the house is getting cleaner! ;)

As for patch (our dog) well he's more of a mama lover, follower, cuddler, and best friend then ever.

My girl is 8!

 

8 years ago I gave birth.

I woke up at 3 am to a very active hyper moving baby. She was moving so much that I couldn't sleep. I had work at 7 am that morning and was desperate to have some sleep before waddling off to my job.
At 4 am I quit trying to rub, breath and soothe the baby inside of me back to sleep and went to take a warm shower.
Showers always had worked to soothe her before. At this moment I still didn't know that I was having a girl.
For the past two weeks I was having issues with hypertension. I was put on a strict diet in an attempt to get control of my health issues before giving birth.
At 5 am I finally noticed that while I wasn't in any pain, I was having strange weird pushy feelings 3 mins apart. Finally I woke my husband and had him drive me to the hospital.
Now according to my clock I was due within 5 days. According to my doctors I wasn't due for another 3 weeks.
Going into the hospital I was taken into a triage room and hooked up to the monitors. I had 3 protein in my urine. My BP was 185/165 and I was having level 8 - 10 contractions. At this point the nurse was staring at me. I was stilling there placidly rubbing my belly trying to calm the baby down.
She (the nurse) kept looking from me to the monitor. Finally (with heat) she said, "You're having a level 9 contraction right now? Can't you feel that?"
I nodded, "I feel a slight pressure and pushing feeling." She made a noise of disgust while rolling her eyes. "You should be screaming in pain!"
I shrugged my shoulders, I could not fake pain I didn't feel. Instead I explained clearly that my family has a long history of being able to tank pain.

I was quickly admitted and my midwife called.
I was consoled to undergo a C-section which I refused. Instead we made a compromise I had two hours to push the baby out without raising my BP any higher. After that they would take me in for a C-section.

After one hour of labor I was close to being done. I had a nurse who was doing all the little things in the room ask me what I was having. When I answered that I didn't know she asked what we were hoping for. I answered a boy. She replied, "What will you do if its a girl?"
I looked at her like she was insane and stupid before I answered very slowly. "Name her and take her home..." I mean really? How dumb do you have to be? Nope sorry I don't want a girl - take her back.
Silly woman.

I wanted a boy, so that if I had a girl she would have an older brother. What my husband and I really wanted was a healthy happy baby. God granted that wish with our beautiful 6, 11 baby girl who was born after only 1 1/2 hours of labor.

After giving birth they found that my body during the labor had decided it didn't need blood or plasma. I was down to an 19 crit count. While that is low and they were concerned what bothered them the most was that I was losing plasma just as fast as the blood making it impossible for my body to stop bleeding.
I was given 3 bags of packed blood and plasma.

My baby... she was perfection. Beautiful, perfect and tiny. Now today she is 8 years old. I look at her amazing features, slim frame and intense personality and am amazed at the person she is becoming.

Look out world my little girl is growing up!

So behind...

I have so much to catch up on.

Weight loss
Weddings
Girls night outs
Hair cuts
Autism walks (this Saturday!)
Cooking
Gardening
And how all of a sudden I am not only awake but cleaning my house.

First up - R.I.P Steve Jobs

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do....

~ (Steve Jobs) Apple Inc.
1955-2011 R.I.P.
You will be missed.

Also this Sunday my little girl turns 8!
This is so amazing, I remember every detail of her birth.
I remember who was their, what stupid things were said. How close I came to dying... Ah the good times.
I will be posting a special post Sunday to remember my girl over the years.

I have not stopped blogging. I love blogging.
However, I have woken up.
I am cleaning away and reorganizing 6 years of neglect and Irma (My Friend Irma) like behavior.
I have not been on due to the amount of work I have been doing - as well as working out.

Also my camera is dying... and I am heartbroken. So I haven't been able to take a lot of photos to share.
I miss you all. I miss running by and reading all of your posts. I promise to catch up soon.
I promise I will be back.

Autism Walk Support

Walk For Autism

Click Here to Donate


Alright I suck.
I am walking next month to raise money and awareness for Autism and what have I raised so far? That's right ZIP!
Why?
Because I suck at begging.
I also suck at sales.


Did I ever tell you that I tried selling Mary Kay? One month of nothing and I gave up - I knew without a shadow of a doubt sales was not something I should ever try again.


Supporting friends and great causes, however, have me back to trying to gain some form of support. Please Please Please Please Please and PRETTY Please think about giving a 20.00 dollar donation for me to walk my heart out the morning of my daughters 8th birthday party.


If I am willing to walk and show support instead of spending the day getting ready for a party - a party I will have to cater, decorate and manage surely someone who sort of likes me, somewhere will be willing to sponsor a few dollars to show they support me.


My BFF (Tired Mom) has two children with Autism. One is improving and taking off at an amazing pace the other, at the moment, is going backwards. Please help show support in helping families that face more challenges and heartache then you can imagine.
The struggles to get through one day and a night are more than most parents face in a month.

Everyday new breakthrough's are coming forward, new research and studies helping to understand this great threat to the children of the future. They have found so far 2 different strands of DNA that put in the right link in the chain trigger Autism.
So far there is no cure.
The numbers are staggering and even worse they are climbing steadily - each year more children are born with Autism.


My personal goal is to raise 200.00 but I would love to raise even more. Please support me and my team. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my begging!
Love to all!

I like me - who knew?

A while ago I was having some major headaches, coupled with blurred vision, dizziness and speech stutters. I ran for my doctor.
My family has no history of tumors, in fact my family seems to favor heart issues. No matter that brain tumors are no where on my family tree I still ran to my doctor.
In one day I saw my doctor in the morning and had an MRI in the afternoon.

Go ahead ask me what they saw on the tests...
My brain is beautiful! LOL
Yup that's right she said the words beautiful and perfect when referring to MY BRAIN!

I can joke now, but for one whole week while I waited to see my doctor I was worried. I worried about going in for surgery. I worried about what they might have to cut through.

You see my brain is not like most peoples. I mean that literally. I am a global thinker. I use both sides of my brain and have since childhood. I am ambidextrous. I can write and use both my hands for all tasks. When I played baseball I was a switch hitter. When I play catch with my son I favor my left hand.

Before I fired my shrink, she said that it was my brain that had kept me from going insane already. That I was handling and coping with more drama and emotional stress. Because of how my brain functions I was taking on more than most people can handle.

So when I was faced with the possibility of having a tumor I began to worry about what cutting into my brain might do to one like me.
What it might do to my personality.

In a panic I called my BFF (Tired Mom). My biggest worry? What if I turned NICE?
Now for those that don't understand that statement. I love my snarky ways. I love having an edge. Sharp wit is my friend. I find my sometimes malicious sense of humor slightly delicious and lets face it - you do to. Either that or this blog would be pretty flippin boring.

I know that most people when faced with having a tumor might worry about other things, but my major worry seriously was what might happen to my personality.
I like being me.
Even though being me is not easy and I don't have a ton of friends, those I do have, are the type of friends everyone wishes for. They really and truly have my back.

I used to be so alone. On the outside looking in. My core center of friends was at most 3 friends at a time. It doesn't matter though, I still like who I am. I like my stubbornness. My charisma. My bluntness. My inability to be fake. After years of berating myself - for constantly telling myself that it was my own fault and that if I changed I could have more friends, be more popular and have an easier life - guess what?

I don't want it.
I like my life the way it is.
I like me.

So with that revelation it was worth the worry, the stress and the fear of a possible tumor.
I am fine.
No I am better than fine, I am happy.

Turns out all I needed was sleep and to de-stress. My cluster headaches are gone and my sharp, rigid, inflexible, pig-headed, stubborn, one-sided, black and white personality is safely in tack.
Have I mentioned that all is right in the world?

Sprains and Pains

Yup, that's right.
I did it!
I sprained my ankle this morning walking back to my car after dropping off Little man and Prissy.
Waling across a mostly level pavement.
Have I ever mentioned how big of a klutz I am?

Yesterday we battled it out with Prissy and her bedroom in the end one large trash bag of toys made its way to the garbage can - I think she will keep her room clean now.
Have I ever mentioned how much I don't like the attitude she comes home with school with? We are working to re-teach her manners. As well as being clean.
This is the fun part of being a parent! (Yes I am being sarcastic)

On a good note I am still losing weight, I am down several pounds since I started losing - 12 pds in total so far and I am thrilled!

Arms, School, Car & Me

 

Prissy getting her cast off before and after photo

The arrow shows that even after six weeks of having five pins and a cast in her arm is still broken.

They had to take the cast off and get her arm moving or it won't regain full movement.

Everyday we do arm exercises working her arm into mobility - right now its half way there.

So as many have noticed I took some time away from blogging and facebook. Much has been happening.

Prissy started the second grade this week at her new school - she loves her new teacher, her class and the food at this school!
LittleMan starts kindergarten this next Monday going for half days. He already met his teacher and really likes her. I am grateful that the school is much closer to home.

Two weeks ago (round about) our car broke down. REALLY broke down. After some quick thinking we decided to trade it in and find something new.

We found a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan - its a slightly darker blueish/purple then what is shown in the photo.
It has the stow and go seats - rides like a dream and I LOVE IT! Great thing it also uses less gas per mile then our old car so I am a very spoiled woman right now!

Now on to why I haven't been on for a while - as many of you know I have been searching for my old self. I have seen shrinks, doctors and have found diets to help balance things back into place.
I have fired my shrink - it doesn't do me any good to have someone sit there and constantly agree with me - if I wanted that I could talk to a mirror.
My doctor took what my shrink had tried to do (Zoloft and sleeping pills that kept me awake) kept the Zoloft but switched me to Melatonin.

Two nights of sleeping and the weight hasn't yet stopped pouring off of me - so far I am down about ten pounds without effort.
After a few months of sleep I should be able to stop the Zoloft, its a stop gap until my body catches up with the sleep. I hope that my diet - following the eating by blood type has helped balance out other chemical issues my body had been dealing with.

Now I know that sleep is important, but being a mother you get used to NOT sleeping. In fact due to my daughters Asthma issues I am even better at not sleeping then most parents. I haven't slept a full night long for almost 8 years. Until the melatonin. Ironically my Dr. told me to buy the 1 mg doses and then work my way up to 3 or 4 depending on what works for me. So far one is just fine.

After all the years of gaining weight - dieting, exercising and trying new things it was SLEEP that I needed. I feel much saner and closer to my old self then I have in years. I am praying that the weight loss continues, but feeling awake and energetic is enough for right now.

Life is crazy and busy - I have much around the house that I am catching up on but I will try to blog more often. ;)