Tinker Bells........

Tinker Bells.....Tinker Bells.........jingle all the way....

That's what we heard from the back seat tonight while we went through the light display at herr's. That would be Rileigh's version of jingle bells.

Just too darn funny!

Good old friends

We went to a GREAT holiday party on Saturday evening!! Just wanted to share the picture!

Just how many Santa's are there?

Well after the third Santa we finally got a picture that's a keeper!! We were at a loss this year because our friend Santa is just way too far away for us to go see. They saw Santa at their school, and then another at the VFW and then finally we broke down and took them to the mall yesturday to see yet another, but that's when I finally got the best picture. Boy did we have awesome timing!! We went in and were 4th in line and breezed right through and Santa took his time with them and I snapped off 5 or 6 pictures, they didn't even bug us to take a picture for us to buy, then we went down to Hollister for gift cards, came back through and the line was wrapped around the whole Santa display! Shew!!!!

Toilet Paper.....

Well over the summer I was AMAZED/SHOCKED at the amount of toilet paper that I went through....and as most of you know I am a Chatty Kathy and while talking about that little piece of trivia in my life someone suggested to put the paper the other way on the holder. So I did and OMG it really and truely has worked. I like the paper over the top, but switching it to I guess that you would call it under?...has really and truely cut down on the times I need to change the roll. I only did this experiment on the powder room, but at this point, I'm going full force and changing all of the rolls!!! I'll keep you updated :)

Party Weekend..........

Shew!!! It's Sunday evening and with it being dark early, I can trick Jacob and Rileigh into bed early :) We started the weekend with breakfast with Santa at the pre-school and they ate 2 donuts and shopped for their grand parents with help from an elf and had their picture taken with Santa and made a Christmas card all in less then 25 minutes. Then we were off to the VFW where we had a hot dog and chips for lunch and saw the magician "nothing up my sleeve" Rileigh was FRONT row..........Jacob was out of there!!! He went to the bar with Pop Pop to get as far away as he possibly could. He didn't even know what to expect, but he didn't care, he was gone!! So, I coned him back in at the end of the show and he finally went up to get his balloon. Rileigh was even turned into a bunny rabbit during the show. Then came Santa. Santa brought a remote control dump truck for Jacob and a really cute dress up outfit for Rileigh.....well she wanted to know where her baby was that she told the other Santa at pre-school. Jacob's truck was SCREWED to the box!!! I just can't wait to see all tools we'll need on Christmas day just to get the toys out of the stupid boxes!!!

Then Sunday was a holiday party at our house. 8 kids 4 adults........HOLY MOLY they out numbered us!! It went pretty well, I was/am just tired. They made reindeer food for Ruldolph and the gang to put out on Christmas eve, then they painted a holiday picture. The girls had princesses and the boys Mickey Mouse. Then pizza, cupcakes and free play. They went up to their rooms with their friends for the first time and they did pretty well. The girls love the doll house and 1 boy layed in the middle of all of the trucks and never seemed to move and the other 2 boys were every kind of rescue/super hero they could think of.

Of course I cleaned the bathroom off the kitchen and every time I looked someone was in the one I didn't clean. It had the "lived in" look. It just wasn't party clean. So, now that everyone is gone, I finally had some time and cleaned the bathroom, started the laundry, put the stupid deer in the front yard back together for the 20th time, hooked up a new tv, and last but not least, put the bows on the garland on the front porch.............all of which I would have loved to of had done before the party, but what the heck, I'll enjoy all of the work myself :) I was too busy partying Saturday, trying to buy slip covers for the living room to cover the hole in the love seat, trying to hook up the pool cover pump that broke in the middle of all of that rain.......so that's a whole story in itself!!! You'll love that one!! So, I go out to put the pump on the pool cover. Can't find the stupid hose..........find another, full of cob webs and spiders, hook it to the pump, pull out the extension cord........DAMN the gate to the pool is locked!! Get the key unlock the gate....oh the other gate is NOT locked, oh well, put the pump on the pool cover and the hose looses tension..........YUP you guessed it. It broke in 2. Go in try to super glue it, go back out into the rain and try to hook it up.....no luck. So in the FREEZING water, I tried to hold the hose to the pump to at least get it started, because it would have at least got the hose started and would have slowly syphoned the water off. Nope that didn't work either, just gave me a sneak peak at what frost bite might feel like. By now the cover has about 8 inches of water on top and I'm getting desperate, so I try to syphon the water off. NOW REALLY STOP LAUGHING!!! AND NO IT DIDN'T WORK. And yes all of that was done in the monsoon of rain we had.

And in the mist of all of this, we're potty training Rileigh. During the party, I saw her at the top of the steps naked with a turd hanging out!!!! And another mom running as fast as she could to get away!! So, when you think you life has gone to the birds, just remember that sight!! She is actually doing pretty well, we going full force only pull ups during nap and at night, it's big girl panties all the rest of the time.

Well I don't really care what time it is.....I'm off to bed :)

"Pass it on"

The Rocky Mountain Elf...I mean Elk Foundation constructed a shipping crate/parade float for the North East Christmas Parade. We had a blast building the float and walking in the parade. Our Chapter head honcho was bugeling down main street. I think that the kids would have like to watch better, but they made the most of it. Jacob had jingle bells and jingled all the way and THANK GOD for lolli-pops!! It was a bit close to nap time for Rileigh, so lolli-pops saved the day.

LOOK at Rileigh........dressed in camo!!! And of course a little pink to complete the look!

1st Fa La La............

Okay, so I received our disney picture cd in the mail........(they give you a "photopass" and when there is one of their photographers there, they scan your photopass and then you can buy the pictures that they have taken). So, I create a Christmas card on wal mart's photo site, really cute and boy I'm way ahead of the game.......pack up Jacob and Rileigh in the rain to go and get them, open them up and look at them.........they are just as I pictured..........OH NO WAIT.....I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!! I SPELLED MICHAEL WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!! So, back home I go to reorder them........They didn't make me pay for them which makes me love wal mart better then target more and more every time I get above and beyond customer service like that....did I mention that they printed 40 cards!

As you can see.......

I finally am getting caught up on life.......until I panic about Christmas!!!

I just yesturday unpacked the last two bags from our trip. My computer bag and the bag of tricks to help keep Jacob and Rileigh busy in the car.

I have NO idea what to get people for Christmas this year.....including Jacob and Rileigh. I went out with the thousnds of people for Black Friday and didn't put a dent in the list. So, I'm thinking gift cards.........BORING!! I'm open for suggestions!

Better late then never......

at least that's what I say :)

I even going to cheat a bit. I wanted to share our vacation with everyone, but haven't had enough time to write about it, so I'm cheating, yes I'm taking the easy road on this trip....and I'm going to feel good about just getting the post off of my to do list!!!

I can say that the good memories out weigh the bad, but Disney is not.....I repeat Disney is not a vacation, it is life in hpyerdrive.........especially with children.

I know that I work from home, but I do some what remember that in the work force that special projects give bonus checks or overtime compensation.........I haven't seen a bonus or overtime pay for this special project called Disney, but I do have about 6 great pictures out of 700........yes I did say 700!!

As most of you know I suffer from CRS....Can't Remember Squat. So, when I remembered that I wanted to remember my trip, I wrote a short paragraph of what we did that day.......so that I wouldn't forget our vacation. And we were with out Internet for most of the trip. So, here are my paragraphs of how we spent our days :) When you read them as I have just re-read them........you will see that I really and truely do suffer from CRS!!!!

Nov 10th
We started out the day at the Polynesian resort for breakfast at the Ohana with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto. Lilo was the big hit with Rileigh. Jacob loved them all. It was a family style breakfast complete with Mickey waffles………..Rileigh didn’t eat a single bite, but we talked the waitress into a container of fruit loops to go for her. All of the kids got to go on a parade through the restaurant with maracas lead by Lilo and the rest of the characters joined in with the rest of us. Before we went in to the restaurant, we took a family picture…….one of Disney’s sucker punches, but of course I bought it. I couldn’t help but think it may be the best picture of the entire trip. I’ll let you know if I’m right on Sunday 

Then we were off to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If you ever go there, get the fast pass for the new Pixar Buzz and Woody ride………we got a fast pass at 11am and we were to return at 7pm……………needless to say we missed that ride and also any character greetings due to horrendous lines. If you were to wait in line for the buzz and woody ride, it would have been 90 minutes. I can’t handle 15 minutes with Rileigh in line 

We did Playhouse Disney first and they absolute LOVED it …..Rileigh kept saying “Wook” “Wook” and all we saw from Jacob were smiles. Then we went to Beauty and the Beast, again a big hit with Rileigh, then off to have some snacks.

Nov 11th

Wow we were busy today!! We started off on a butterfly walk and caught 2, then we stopped at the play ground then we went to check out the pool and beach. Poppy dropped the butterflies in the lake, so we rented a 4 person swan paddle boat to rescue the butterflies. We also took some time to feed the fish….which we later swim with ;) We walked back to the condo to change into our swim suits and headed back to the lake and pool. The pool is heated and felt better then bath water………however the lake……..not so much. Burrrrr it was cold, but it had to be done, waiting out in the lake was a GIANT trampoline that I …….I mean Jacob had to try out. Wow that was a job to get on, but well worth it. After Rileigh saw us, she had to get on so Mike had to endure the cold water as well to get her out there, but what fun we had. Then back to the pool to warm up. Mike and I shared a ‘voodoo bucket’ and we had lunch poolside. Jacob and Rileigh played in the sand and kiddie pool before we headed back to the condo to get ready for the “Very Merry Christmas Party” at Magic Kingdom.


Crystal Place for dinner……….expensive, but nice. Then off to watch the parade and enjoy complementary hot cocoa and cookies. Then a Christmas show, buzz ride and 2 sessions with Stitch to try to get our Christmas photo………just okay, we’ll see what Disney photo pass has to offer before making up our minds.
Nov 12th

With a late start, we headed off to The Magic Kingdom about 9:30. It was a bit rough getting there on the Ferry for some reason, it took about an hour. Once there we headed straight for Dumbo, then Snow White, and Pooh. Then we had a Root beer Float for lunch and then off to Tomorrow land to do the Buzz light-year ride. After two rides on that we went to The Laugh Factory and the put Rileigh up on the big screen as Boo from the movie. Then we headed over to Frontier land and watched the Country Bears, splash mountain twice for Jacob and Mike, but once for me then we had a front row spot for the parade……..which Rileigh loves, she waves hi and blows kisses to all of her favorite characters. Thunder Mountain was next on the list. Jacob said it was a bit scary for little kids, but he said it with a big smile. Then we headed to Toon Town and toured Mickey and Minnie’s house. We toughed out a rain shower and headed back to the truck. We also endured over an hour of Rileigh being Rileigh ;) Plenty of squished pennies along the way.



Nov 13th

Off to Epcot today. We stopped to see a snail on a bench which was really cool. Then off to the park. We headed straight to the Nemo ride then off to the land and went on a boat ride through the greenhouses where they actually use most of the vegetables in the restaurants there. We then watched a movie staring the cast from Lion King about the importance of the earth and taking care of it. We got the fast pass for Soarin and then headed off to Mexico for lunch. While in Mexico, we did Donald’s boat ride and had Donald sign our autograph books. Then back to ride Soarin……Oh my what an awesome ride. You sit in a seat that feels like an airplane seat, complete with seatbelts and then they take you up into a bubble like movie screen so that you are completely surrounded by the scenery and you feel the wind in your face and smell the oranges and evergreens that are in the scenery.


Nov 15th

Off to the trampoline, everyone joined in for a pop in the popcorn pot today. Then we played on the small beach for a little while. Poppy rented a fishing pole and fished while we played. Then we enjoyed the heated pool for one last time before we cleaned up to go to lunch.

We went to downtown Disney to the T-rex café for lunch. No wait, the menu and food was just okay, but the atmosphere was amazing. Our table was in the coral reef complete with fish tanks and a giant octopus hovering over us. After lunch and squishing pennies, Jacob and Rileigh created their very own dinosaurs in the build a dinosaur workshop. Rileigh’s is pink and has a cute Capri outfit and shoes and Jacob’s is sporting a baseball uniform………which he uses his tail for the bat. After that, we went to see a couple of resorts and then decided to head back to the Magic Kingdom for one last ride on Buzz light year. The castle was completely covered in lights and just beautiful. We rode Aladdin’s magic carpets and buzz light year twice then had ice-cream for dinner and headed back home to pack up.

We've been busy beavers!!

We have done a bunch of fun things since I last posted, so I'll just give a few high lights.

Pumpkin carving........Too much fun, we had about 15 pumpkins carved with a great time had by all. Ms. Jane said it was the first pumpkin she carved, we changed that for her and hope that we'll see her again next year. Rileigh........would rather paint a pumpkin "I don't like it" was her words for the whole time, she wanted no parts of getting ewey and gooey with pumpkin guts and Jacob would have carved anything he could get his grubby little hands on.

Trick or Treating at Herr's potato chip factory was a BLAST!!! Can't wait to do that again next year.........Just one bit of warning DO NOT I repeat DO NOT eat the Pizza flavored chips..........yes they are as gross as they sound and while Jacob and Rileigh were smart enough to not even try them after they smelled them, I wasn't so smart and OMG did they give me the worst heart burn ever!! They did really taste like pizza, but I would recommend just eating pizza :)

Then there was Halloween, I wanted Jacob to be a Knight in shinning armour and Rileigh to be the princess....that's so funny!! Jacob had 3 costumes that we were prepared for, Spiderman, Mr. Incredible, and the Knight........Halloween day: Jacob which costume are you going to wear tonight? "Fire Fighter" WHAT!!! Did I hear that right.........last I looked that wasn't one of the choices! So, Fire Fighter it was.

I hope everyone enjoyed their October as much as we did :)

JC Penny

Hanna was visiting the dog next door........named Penny. Jacob saw that hanna wasn't in her own yard and said......"Mommy, Hanna isn't in our yard anymore, she's visiting JC Penny next door" LOL, maybe I do shop more then I thought :)

Vegas

Thanks to the WONDERFUL family and friends we were able to take a break from reality for 5 days!! My Aunts came up on Tuesday evening to watch Jacob and Rileigh, which made it possible to keep them in school and they delivered them to my parents on Friday. My parents kept Rileigh and Mike's parents took Jacob to his soccer game where his Aunt Liz picked him up and kept him until Sunday. They had a blast without their parents!! They got to put stickers on the walls and windows, got to eat pizza, and COMPLETELY enjoyed all of the attention that they got. Rileigh even pooped on the potty while we were gone!!! Jacob has even asked when we were going away again with out him?? Nice to see that we were missed :)


So, how was Vegas????!!!!??!? Let me just start out with we found $1 margaritas!! Thanks to Rachel Ray, we had NY strip steak and shrimp dinners for $7.77!! Our schedules were so screwed up, we didn't eat 3 meals in any 1 day, but I swear we ate and drank every thing that we wanted and I don't think that we spent more then $150 in food and drinks for the whole trip.......I'll let you know for sure when I find a minute to actually think about it.

The highlights of our trip was seeing a comedy show and seeing ELI MATTSON!!! We went to the MGM Grand to see the top 10 of America's Got Talent. We got the tickets the morning of the show and had floor seats!! That's the second time that we got lucky like that, so I'm kind of convinced that it's worth taking a chance like that for the show that you would like to see.

More on Vegas later........I'm still pooped from the trip and trying to keep up with life!!

Friends

Well I meant to post this last........uh last Wednesday....

I have the best friends going. We were able to pull off a happy hour get together. It came together by all of us being us.....One suggested getting together, I suggested to invite another......and while I dropped the ball on inviting her, the other 2 picked it up, they both made sure that she was invited. Then just by mentioning my birthday, one paid for me, and the other mailed me a gift, and my mom brought me back to the luxury of being a girl........new bras...name brand purse and not to mention that I spent a few hours with great friends; which completely reminded me just how important it is to find a few hours to spend with friends. While our individual lives keep whizzing by, it was as if no time had passed between good friends. It had been way too long since we were able to do a happy hour or girls night, and it wasn't our full crew, but I can tell you that I all ready have the baby sitter lined up for December.......which goes to show that life is whizzing by, that's probably the earliest that the group of us will all be able to get together again.


Wednesday at an ungodly hour we'll be flying to Vegas.......to OMG celebrate our 10 year Wedding Anniversary. We'll be back to our crazy lives on Sunday.

Milburn Orchards

This morning we enjoyed Milburn Orchards. Jacob and Rileigh "milked a cow", we went on a hayride, and fed the goats. Everyone had a good time.......WOW, almost no fussing!! The only fussing which was kind of deserved is at the end of our morning, we were going to pick our own apples and the baking kind weren't ready, so we decided to go back next weekend and that was too much for Jacob to handle. He said "I'm not baking mine, I'm just eating them how they come" It was a 10lb minimum and with out making something like cobbler, I just can't imagine we would eat 10lbs of them "just as they come" We toughed it out without a stroller and Rileigh was asleep before we left the parking lot.

What a disapointment!!

The only time that I actually get to watch a show........kind of....is when I work at the VFW. So the crew that hangs out there likes to watch America's Got Talent. Which turned out to be a good thing. I actually fell in love with Eli Mattson and don't you know that he came in second to a flipping Opera singer!!! I just couldn't/can't believe it!!! You have to check him out either on you tube or at guraristudios.com

Where in the heck is my cape........

I seem to have miss placed my Super Woman cape!!! Does any one know where the HELL to get a new one????? Besides just trying to keep up with life, the stupid bathroom sink is giving me a hard time. There seems to be a piece that just appeared and it's the one that keeps the stopper up.........so I think that's the problem. The garage door doesn't go down right, you have to kind of guide it down.......defeats the purpose of the automatic opener! The mini van wouldn't start, so I had to jump start that, oh the list goes on and on and on.........Soccer practice, Soccer game, pre-school, play dates, speech class, dinner........Should I keep going....finding shoes that fit...changing closets over to an all new season, making a 2 and 4 year old try on clothes from last year....


I used to love shopping/walking around looking, but now UGH!!! It just gets on my nerves!! Jacob and Rileigh both have wide feet, so pretty much GOOD LUCK finding a pair of shoes for them.......especially if you have them with you!! One's kicking his flip flops off knocking down the display and the other is out of the store on the rides.......which are so conviently located just outside of the only freaking kids shoe store in the whole mall!!! Then they both need new wadrobes every freaking season of every year!!

My biggest flustration is that Jacob has NO interest in saying ABC's and only on occasion can he count to ten correctly!! I was so flustrated tonight reading him books that I had to leave the room. He picked 3 books, I read two and asked him to count the B's on the page and he just couldn't/wouldn't make it happen.......so the third book is waiting on his night stand for his reward for counting to ten. It's a really long Toy Story one that has to be read in chapters, so once he count's to ten, he'll get a book mark and we'll start. I know that he knows numbers, he is just being stubborned; I hope!

Tomorrow is yet another day!!!!!! I'll see if I can't find that damn cape!

What the heck.........

What the heck is wrong with this door!!! Oh, Rileigh, really the bed is a bit more comfy!! Wow, what a little personality! I read her all of those books that she is laying on, put her in her bed......with out the dora socks, covered her with the pink blanket, she blew me kisses and I thought she was set. Oh and as you can see in the picture the light is on.......after of course I turned it off and said good night. She got the dora socks out of the dresser, closed the drawer and got them on her little piggies by herself!! Our little Houdini in action.

I'm a bit busy here

Big brother, take care of those candles, I'm taking care of some much needed business here!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, only Rileigh would pick her nose while we sang happy birthday to her! It was a beautiful day, awesome food, and many many priceless memories shared with friends and family!

Shew.........

I'm still alive...in case you were wondering if I fell off the face of the earth :) That may have been fun though.

Well other then being ridiculously busy, dutch wonderland, baseball games, Jacob starting Soccer, my birthday, school shopping (Damn I forgot back packs!) Rileigh being Rileigh; I did some training to do data entry at home. I do believe I've got it down.

The one FUNNY thing that happened to me........at yes both baseball games and yes both times I broke down and used a public toilet....technical difficulty with the automatic flushing toilets!!! Really now did it have to flush BEFORE I was done???... SOAKING my bare butt!!! I honestly had to wipe down my thighs with toilet paper before I pulled up my shorts for fear of looking like a wet myself.

"I'm Gross"

So, I'm ironing my shorts, because it seems that everything that Rileigh and I own for summer clothes has to be ironed and Rileigh comes in with only her shirt and her diaper. Houdini in action again! So, I say Rileigh "put your pants back on" she says while leaving the room "Jacob ???", I finish ironing my shorts........which for some reason are too freaking tight....I'm putting them on and here comes Rileigh again only this time there is NO DIAPER ON HER LITTLE BEHIND and saying "I'm gross" Yep, you guessed it!! She pooped and proceeded to take off her diaper by herself, put it in the trash can...not in a bag....loose poop all over the trash can, she then went into her white carpeted room....layed down, while laying down, she some how sat on her foot covering that in poop, then of course putting her poopie behind down right on her white carpet! All in the matter of oh about 15 seconds. And because we change her in the same place every time, I left her folded pj's there to wear again tonight and they were covered in poop too. That all took place in less then about 3 miniutes!!! I wonder what would have happend if I tried to iron a whole outfit????

It's a Dog's Life

I came home from work to find our watch dog........ON BREAK??? Seriously, I used the electric garage door opener to open AND close the garage door, came in with bags, put away the milk and bread, saw the dog, went back out the door to get the camera that I forgot in my truck, back in, and still was able to get the picture! Mind you the dog is NOT allowed on the furniture.......but is like a 3 year old as soon as you're not looking....well you know!

On another note! Bread at the Royal Farms convenient store is $3.29 where it's only $2.00 at wal mart! So, for $84.92, I got a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, an ice cream bar, and 3/4 tank of gas! I just didn't feel hanging the pump up, putting my card back in, putting in my zip code, choosing the 87 octane button and restarting the pump to finish filling up. So, I left with what the pump pre-approved my gas loan for....which was only $75 at a time!!

Secrets.......We NEED one here!!

This past weekend......I ran away from home!!! No husband...no kids....YEAH!!! The trip started off a bit rocky....2 hours to go about 5 miles made a trip that should have been 2 1/2 hours into 5, but once we reached our destination, all of that was forgotten!! Our friend Ms. Jane was waiting for all of us with "happy hour" in full swing!! Cold beer, yummy appetizers and good friends!! Couldn't ask for much more! We had a great evening! We did receive some bad news at the end of the evening that our friend Jennifer was sick and was facing emergency surgery, so Kathleen had to leave first thing in the morning, our friend Jennifer did receive the surgery and everything seems to be going very well, so we'll keep her in our thoughts and prayers!! Once we got moving Saturday morning, we went shopping and then off to secrets, which I had never been. OMG!!! It's like you step on to some tropical island!! The water could have been a bit more blue for an island, but that doesn't matter once you get to your table in the middle of the water, so your feet stay in the water while you sip on cold beer, listen to great music and watch the sites......which there are defiantly some sights there. However it does get a bit iffy if you have to use the potty :) While treading though the water, a guy turned and spit darn near down my leg and then the bathroom that was pretty clean 3 hours ago.......smells like a septic tank leaking. Secrets is worth the drive!!! We need one right here in our neck of the woods! After secrets, we went to the horse races. The horses line up a gate that is on a modified Cadillac (which the car is a sight in itself) and they are off......We all did pretty well just about breaking even for betting them all evening.....how did we choose our horses :)....color...name...and then we may have checked the odds. It was a great weekend and we hope to do it again next year!!

Think like a 4 year old

So, apparently I'm not pretty unless I have a ponytail? This morning Jacob just out of the blue says "Mom, you're not pretty". I give the look and he says "well, you don't have a ponytail" Really all you can do is smile and shake your head.

We attempted to go to the library this morning and for some reason it doesn't open until 1pm on Wednesdays, so I was going to try to stick it out and stay in town until it did open. So, we went to the light house and went for a walk and then to McDonald's for lunch. Jacob gets the same meal every time. Plain cheeseburger happy meal and 4 chicken nuggets. Today though they messed up his meal. "Mom my cheeseburger isn't plain........it has meat and cheese on it!" Again, smile and shake your head :)

Butterflies Galore!!!

I know I all ready 'blogged' about the butterflies, but I just can't believe ALL of the butterflies that we are getting here. At one point this evening, there were FIVE tiger swallowtails on 1 bush at 1 time!!! Along with all the little ones,some skippers, a painted lady, and hummingbird moths. One of the tiger swallowtails looked like he was posing for the camera. Enjoy the pictures :)

Pop Pop Mark bought Rileigh a kiddie pool and boy does she love going "swmin" It's the cutest thing. Today she tried out surfing in her little pool. Jacob is a baseball FANATIC!!!!!!! I must have pitched 6 different games and now he's pretend playing with a splash bomb in the pool! He really does live and breath baseball. But had pop pop not bought that kiddie pool, there wouldn't have been time. It is the first time out at the pool in forever that I didn't have to catch Rileigh 300 times. I actually got in the deep end and swam for a bit!!

WHAT'S THAT SMELL??!!??!?!?!?

Okay, It's time to go in for lunch. OMG, WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!!! Hanna!!! Yes our good old furry friend decided to roll around in some kind of POOP!!!!!!!!!! Back out we go, let's give the dog a bath! First we have to hook up the hose...same old story, turn it on....NO sprayer...turn it back off....put the sprayer on...turn it back on....WHERE THE HECK IS THE DOG!!!!!!!!!! Yes, she had to be lured back into the yard with treats with her brakes on. If you don't have a dog this is something that you have to see in person at least once in your life time. Just imagine being dragged by the collar with all 4 feet sprawled out in every direction but the way you are supposed to be going. Give her a bath with the hose and the suave coconut shampoo that we always use for her beautiful coat. We go in and have lunch while she barks for 30 minutes because she can't understand why a wet dog DOESN'T belong in the house. We go out....yes this is a family affair you know, brush her, so that she might dry faster and we wouldn't have to listen to her bark like a manic and SHEW WEE!!!!!!!!!! She STILL STINKS!!! So, back out to the hose and this time we use lavender Palmolive....this should work.....okay as I'm squirting off the soap from the drive way...turn around and yes our furry friend is rolling around in the grass AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!! If she stinks again.........she will have become an outside dog!!! Keep in mind the visual in this event....Jacob and Rileigh have to both "suit up" in their rain boots and it's only 90+ degrees outside.

Success

WOW!!!!!!!!!! We planted a butterfly garden and some extra butterfly bushes and all I can say is WOW!!! We actually accomplished something as planned. We had tiger swallowtails, red admirals, skippers, sulfurs, painted ladies, black swallowtails, monarchs, and 2 different types of humming bird moths, and a whole slew of little butterflies.

Over Time

Vacation is definitely NOT vacation for the adults when you have a 4 year old and an almost 2 year old. It just simply sends your life into over time. We went to Ocean City, MD for 4 days and I can't tell you how exhausted I was every night.

Rileigh is a toddler on hyper drive ALL THE TIME!!! You would think that after 4-5 hours at the beach she would crash from pure exhaustion but NO.......don't even think that she would take a nap and the port a crib, well that's useless.....our little Houdini can get out of that contraption in less time then it takes to get to the bedroom door and close it behind you. EVERY NIGHT I had to take her for a ride....so I'm guessing that we spent $20 in gas to get her to sleep for the 4 nights that we were there and that was at 9:30 or better every night. So, you're thinking that at least we got to sleep in......you're kidding right!!! Up before 7am every morning out of the port a crib and asking for "breafas".

Jacob Finally got in the ocean on the second day...you would think that seeing his 'little' sister in the ocean he would get in. I picked him up and ran in with him kicking and screaming.......and yes I'm sure that there were several people staring at me torturing my kid, but it worked and he fell in love with racing the waves.

I really don't think that the ocean is the draw for them, I think it's the GIANT sand box and all of the "snacks" that they love.

Mike and I looked like a couple of pack mules to spend the day at the beach. 4 chairs, 4 towels, a wagon of toys, blanket (to change diapers on), cooler complete with "snacks" and lunch, umbrella (that no one sat under), diapers, wipes, camera, sunscreen, bug spray, phone, magazine (that was funny!!) and who knows what else. In addition to carrying all of that, we had to carry Rileigh!!! She just wouldn't move!! Even with bribing her with snacks, she just wouldn't walk up the beach! Jacob was supposed to be in charge of the wagon, but that didn't quite work either. The deal with the toys was if you can fit it in the wagon and pull it, it can go. Deal broken.....first steps on the beach. So, we're bent down to pull a child size wagon in addition to all of the other stuff.

42 pictures taken and not one really worth a dime!! Jacob at one point said to me..."Mom, I don't have time to say cheese"!!

Jacob and Rileigh definitely had a vacation, but I think it will take a few days for the adults to recover.

A hunting we will go

Off we go butterfly hunting. Poppy helped Jacob with his shoes and socks...(look closely at the picture)LOL!! We all ready know that their mommy dresses them funny, but now they are getting help from poppy!! We went to Elkneck State Park today. We're feeling HOT HOT HOT!!! BOOM!!! Holy Moly!!! We could hear them bombing at APG all the way up here! Jacob says "we've got to go NOW!!", he has been freaked out by storms. Luckily last week we actually visited the ordnance museum on the proving grounds, so after I explained that it wasn't thunder we were good to go.

After looking like the butterfly hunting fools that we are, we went to pick up my truck. $326!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then on the way home....got to filler her up....$100!!!!!!! That's were the pumped STOPPED on it's own (I guess they only pre-approve $100 at a time). I'm speechless....

6' 2"

I do have to say that at times it is quite nice that your husband is 6'2" and 240lbs. We live in the sticks and until we had children; that most of the time go to bed around 8pm (which is the reason that I may still have some sanity left)we really didn't care about the hoodlums who live around us. Now, they are pretty good hoodlums and they are just having fun....I wouldn't mind joining them some time... BUT they have been having TOO MUCH fun (I can't believe there is such a thing). For the 4th night in a row....ATV's going full force right behind our house on the dirt road....not to mention the gun fire and fire works that completes a redneck 4th of July...again not putting them down as I am part redneck myself. However after 3 nights of your children NOT GOING TO SLEEP UNTIL 10PM or LATER!!!!! It tends to get old....So I was going to march down to the dirt road and have a chat with them....TOO FAST....they were gone. I come in put some of the 3,000 things that is necessary for a family outing away....here they come again. Mind you this is 8:30 or so. Mike made it down to the road for their return trip and all he had to do was stand there....they whizzed passed, but wouldn't look back and we haven't heard them since. It's not what they are doing....it's what time they are doing it.

Let me update you on my truck! It is now sitting at the dealer so that they can fix the "receptor?" for the air conditioning. After it not starting a few times and I had to jump start it MYSELF one time, we went to Autozone.....which is actually a whole story in it self...$90 and 20 minutes of Jacob, Rileigh, and I cooking in the July heat THE FIRST TIME we started it up; the air conditioning wasn't working properly!!! No air out of the dash........only the defroster!!!! Murphy's Law is REALLY PLUCKING MY NERVES NOW!!!!!!

Today we spent the day watching a parade which the parade itself was just okay. Jacob and Rileigh actually liked it and thougt the best part was the fire trucks...good thing, because that's about all that was in the parade.

Happy 4th of July

2 outfits trashed, 1 lost earring, the first fish of the day, and priceless memories. That's the summery of our 4th!

Rileigh ABSOLUTELY loved the kiddie pool and her 1st taste of watermelon on the Rhine! All though the 2 outfits that will never be the same didn't fair the watermelon so well, Rileigh thought that was the BEST!!! Jacob who couldn't wait to see the fire works..........couldn't get away from them fast enough. He finally stop screaming enough to sneak peaks at them and on the way home he said "I saw a cool fire work"!

I pretty much wear the SAME jewelry EVERY day....but today I decided to wear my garnet studs....because they were red and festive....on the way home from the entire day of running around a yard, in the house, and Ripkin stadium, I noticed that my earrings was GONE!! Of Course we found the back of my earring.......the part that every women has fifty of!! HUGE BUMMER!!!

The crabs were awesome............I never thought that I would be using a patio umbrella for RAIN, but some how it worked out. The rain started pretty much the moment my butt hit the chair.

Jacob, Rileigh, Kelly, and Ryan decorated "drums" made out of coffee cans....Thanks Pop Pop Mark for saving those........and had a parade. It was really cute! The parade route was straight through the food tables and around the big tree....about 12 times! With a break in between for at least 3 Popsicles...shew it was a tough parade! Parade....popscicle....parade....popscicle

I thought of Kathleen......who's birthday is on the 4th in the shower....call her when I get out.............DAMN IT.............didn't have that thought again until the drive though at Wendy's (OOPS...........forgot to feed the children dinner!!!) at 11:26!!! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kathleen!!!

I do hope everyone enjoyed a day filled with family and friends!!

Who are you again??

Believe it or not........the ants left the chip behind!! They were completly gone and the chip was still there! So, did they suck the nutrients out of the chip or did they simply give up? I quess we'll never know....

Okay the big LEMON of the day........I'm a part timer at the local VFW and for some reason I didn't know that there was a meeting in the back room. SO the GREAT cook that I am was dumb founded when a gentleman told me that 1. there was a meeting and 2. they were going to order off the menu........WHAT MENU?!!??? and 3. they actually did ORDER!! OMG!!! 1 small deep fryer..........15 orders of fries....3 orders of shrimp...5 orders of fish...4 orders chicken tenders and only 2 baskets for the small deep fryer oh and did I mention that I was THE ONLY EMPLOYEE ON THE PREMISES!!...with a full bar! HOLY CRAP!!! All in all it went OK, but it SHOULD have gone much better...with a heads up and a bit of prep. Any way they were the local Lions Club and they were very understanding and nice people.


Can someone please explain to me again why excatly we have to work again?!?!?! I'm just not getting it!

How many ant's does it take to move a chip?!!??

Today was swimming play date. The iffy weather worked out just fine. EVERY toy we have was in the pool, kids getting along, lunch and snacks everywhere. Plain good old fun! Of course ONE slide on the slip and slide........the cushion on the end POPPED!! Does anything really work or last? "hey, Kelly, look at that stupid umbrella...I've been having problems.....WATCH OUT!!!!" There it goes AGAIN!!! Flying through the air almost taking out Dana and Tyler.....so who's bad luck does that one fall on.....Mine or Dana's??? Or is there just ONE REALLY BIG BLACK CLOUD....HOOVERING over us? Isn't being pulled in 3,000 directions at one time simply enough...."Jenn........I think something is wrong with the toilet" Really now, I'm starting to wonder!! Clogged toilet!!! AND OF COURSE it was after a poop!!

After dinner we're going swimming again and what to our wondering eyes do we see...........ANTS!!!! Holy Moly, about 200 ants on ONE measly chip. So.........after using up all of my ant killer on the MAGGOTS........we decided to leave those little ant soldiers have a chip!!!

I do have to say that the old saying if you give an inch they take a mile is still 100% correct!! I let Jacob and Rileigh play late and it has been over an hour to try to get them to bed........Rileigh is at the moment riding her horse in her room, she always makes it neigh.....and now she is playing with her singing tea pot. Jacob has been down twice.

Well......it's been a long day to say the least :)

Where is the puke bucket?!!!???!!

So, I gave in and took Jacob to patient first....no, my child can't really be sick, at least not enough to go to the Dr's!! After listening to him run out of breath while talking several times, I FINALLY said well maybe he his sick. Come on let's go to patient first.........it's summer time it won't be that busy. HA HA HA!! OMG, are we really the 21st, 22nd and 23rd person in the lobby here??? Yup...don't panic.....Rileigh we have enough "snacks" to keep us for oh let's see....5 minutes! Light bulb moment!!! Call Aunt Liz, she's only 5 minutes from here!! Score! THANK YOU! Shew!! Someone is looking out for my sanity!! Uncle Bob's on his way to get the Rileigh bug........we almost ran out of "snacks" waiting those 5 minutes and she now has 20 new friends that she offered those snacks to. 35 minutes later they move us from the lobby to the room. 15 minutes more........."Mommy I need to puke" Poke my head out of the room....excuse me, could you tell me where to get a puke bucket? "I'll grab a bag" says the nice lady sipping on ice tea....ohhh...bummer.....she almost made it in time! How ever, that got the attention that we needed and we were out of there in less then 20 minutes. During those 20 minutes they 1. tested him for enough oxygen 2. chest x-rays 3. Blood draw 4. Dose of Motrin 5. Dr's instructions. Lesson learned- poke your head out and ask for the puke bucket asap!!

Oh yeah, remember the MAGGOTS!!!......there were a few stragglers........OMG ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GARAGE!!! You are kidding me RIGHT!!! Hopefully they are ALL gone now!!

Why Port Lemons???

I wanted to name the blog "life gives you lemons"........, however just about everyway I tried that title, it was taken. The reason I wanted that title??? Life gives you lemons....make lemonade, right??? Nope. Life gives you lemons, find someone who's life has given them vodka and have a party with a new friend!! That would be in a little more perfect world than mine. As I've typed this short paragraph, Rileigh has not only dumped out the entire box of crayons, but proceded to quickly spread them around the entire kitchen......as I said "Rileigh no no no, we need to pick them up". Just when you thought you were having a quiet moment to do one quick thing.....so back to why I chose the title. I live in Port Deposit and I suspect that I will be mostly writing about the lemons that life throws my way.

First Lemon to "blog" about. MAGGOTS!!! They're in my garage and ant killer doesn't seem to affect those little pieces of moving white rice!! Seems that you actually have to step on them!!! AUGHHHHH!!! So, how did I discover them? I was going to the dump and moved the trash cans. And yes, because I was going to the dump, the cans had to be put in the back of my truck so that the whole crew could go. So, we went to the dump, nice guy there with the missing teeth was very helpful, he opened the gates, so that I didn't have to heave the cans up 4 feet and then dump them, only had to heave them 2 feet. Emptied the cans and went to put them back into the truck and what did I see???!!!! Escapees!!! MAGGOTS on the carpet of my truck!!! ICK!!!!!!!! So, I had to get a napkin (thank you McDonald's) and pick them up!!! Okay, we're going to get through this!! Get home, let's wash these stinky trash cans...first we have to hook up the hose, because I just noticed....after 8 years of living here....we don't have a hose reel!!! So, hook the hose to the faucet....oops...why isn't the sprayer on the stupid hose??? Turn off the hose, put the sprayer on...you ARE kidding me...the sprayer just broke in my hands!! OPP better hurry, thunder storm getting close! Found spare sprayer, put that on, back into the garage to turn on the hose....finally washing out the cans....you mean we don't have enough pressure to squirt out this funk!! Get the brush and scrub...Done!! But how can some thing that should take all of 5 minutes take 20??!! All just in time to get in before the storm.....hope those clean cans don't blow away!!