Christmas

It's taken me this long to find the computer, okay not really but it feels like it. My house is still a disater. The tree came down Friday and I have been attempting to restore order since. I am still recovering. It is hard work finding a place for everything when you are already way past out of space, lol.

My children are both spoiled rotten, and so are we. Rob got his GPS and he uses it EVERYWHERE, it's starting to drive me nuts. In the five minutes it takes him to screw around and try to find the directions to the store in the darn thing- we could already be there- we KNOW where it is. I hate all things electronic though, they confuse me. Case and point I finally broke down and bought myself my very first mp3 player for Christmas and needed Rob to make it work. He also got his band saw, I'm happy he will stop whining for it, but fear what the "need" will be to take it's place :) I got a freezer that I have already filled with free veggies from Walmart, it already has stuff piled on top.

There is not much that the kids did not get. Rylan didn't quite grasp it yet and after a handful from his stocking he about had his fill for the day. (Poor Saige when he does finally want to open his own presents) favorites are the little Tinkerbell table and chairs (just his size) and Saige's rose petal cottage- they both LOVE it. Saige is loving her new boots, the doctor play set, baby chou chou, a baby fur real bear and all of her brothers toys. I didn't take many pictures, the camera was forgotten about in all the excitement.
Saige, Dominick and Kayden
Rylan posing at my moms, it's a good picture and he is still so I am guessing someone else took it

my mom's house

Rylan is going through a phase, he will not stay still for a picture at all, if you tried he whined and ran off. However if you try to take a picture of Saige he positions himself with a goofy grin right smack in front.

I hope everyone else had a great Holiday as well.

From Chelle

2 names you go by
Tara
Mom

2 things you are wearing right now
Jammies
socks

2 of your favorite things to do
Read
Sleep

2 things you want badly at the moment
A bigger house (I know wishful thinking)
coffee

2 pets you have/had
Dekan... he was my baby
Nala, currently curled up with Lola the terrorist (as my dad calls her- it fits) in the chair

2 things I did last night
watched the stupidest movie with Rob, Tropic Thunder
cleaned my house, not that you would know it now

2 things you ate today
I'm still sipping my first cup of coffee

2 people you last talked to
Saige
Rylan
the two before that also live here, I live an exciting life, lol

2 things you plan to do tomorrow
Robby has the day off so no doubt I will be cleaning up after him
Run out in one last attempt to use a couple of my thousands of coupons expiring tomorrow.

2 trips taken in last five years
Myrtle Beach
Long Island
(one was my honeymoon and it just made the 5 yr cut, the other was to see Roger Waters- great show, I don't get out much either, lol)

2 favorite holidays
Halloween
Halloween, I love Halloween. I have to throw Christmas and New Years in there too because it's the only two times a year we are guaranteed Rob gets two days off in row.

2 favorite beverages
Pepsi, specifically diet pepsi but I like it all as long as it comes with caffeine.
Coffee- again need the caffeine. There are days when I think I should cut back but truth is I think it's the only thing keeping me going.

I'll do a Christmas post later

clear as day

Rylan does not call us anything, occasionally Rob will get a dada sound and he says mamamamam all the time, just not directed at me. Saige and the kitty are the only ones he address by any constant name. My parents took the kids to see Santa Sunday, when they came home yesterday I asked Rylan if he saw Santa, he got up pointed at the door and said Poppa clear as day. So I spent most of yesterday saying momma, he wasn't having it..... someday he will call me some form of mom, right?

Friday was suppose to be my day to sleep in. Not all too long ago everyday was my day to sleep in. Yet more and more I find myself the one rolling out of bed with the kids or just not being able to fall back asleep and getting up anyway. They called for a big storm Friday afternoon but when the alarm went off it was nice out, I rolled over and went back to sleep- Rob got the kids up and Saige on the school bus. He came and woke me up at 8:50 to tell me he had to go get Saige-her teahcer called and wanted to know why shewas there- she didn't have school. They canceled pre-k and planned early dismissals for the rest. Apparently we are the only ones who do not watch tv in the mornings when it's not nasty out, and the bus driver had no idea either, she took her. In Rob's defense no tv is my rule because he turns on PBS for them (no closings listed) and Saige watches TV instead of getting ready for school.

Approx. 36 kids and mine was the only one who had parents that don't pay attention. On the plus side her teacher was there, with the baby. Saige was excited to get to meet him and I am the only parent who got my ornament and Christmas projects to hang up. The rest wont get theirs until January :( I have been so looking forward to my first ornament, I hung it on the wall, safe from Rylan.

The happiest boy in the world

Saige had her Christmas party at school today, they exchanged ornaments. She got a really neat snowman made from bells. I just realized I still haven't changed the day on my camera, I probably never will.

Last night I gave Rylan his first haircut. It was finally getting long, in spots. The top is so soft and silky, the kind of hair you just want to touch. The back on the other hand, was a frizzy, knotty, coarse mess. It felt like the fake fur on Saige's fur real cat. We waited SO long for him to get hair at all, I didn't want to cut it. He looks older.

He is saying a couple more words that he use to say like ball and wow. He tries to copy me too, well when he feels like it. We went back and forth on tree, I say tree he says dee I say tree, T and so on. I know that probably sounds dumb but that is a first for him, I am thrilled. He sat with his dad this morning with a sippy cup in his ear listening to the air leaking out, he was laughing and amazed. I am amazed at the difference I already see in him.

Christmas came early for Rylan. We got a new cell phone, Robby had the service switched and he gave Rylan the old phone. Santa might as well return everything else, there is nothing I can fathom that could make that boy happier than his own phone that is real. He 'talked' in it and took pictures of his fingers all day long and only parted with it at bed time because I made him. I don't see it losing it's appeal anytime soon.

It's done

Rylan got his tubes this morning, it really did take less than 5 minutes and we were on our way home 45 minutes later. He doesn't seem to be bothered in the slightest, he was whiny at the hospital but that was because he was EXTREMELY unhappy with the name band they made him wear on his leg. He screamed and reached for us the whole way down the hall when they took him, by the time we got seated in the waiting room they called and said it was over and to go back to his room. We heard him coming back as soon as he reached the floor, lol.

We were given drops for his ears and warned they were painful and he would scream cry and possibly bleed from his ears. I was not looking forward to putting them in but I did. He didn't like it but came back and laid his head down for the other side, I bribed him with his amoxicillin, he likes that stuff. Thankfully there was no blood. He also has to wear ear plugs in the tub for the foreseeable future. I skipped his bath tonight, while he seemed fine I didn't want to put plugs in, they have to be a little sore and I was scared. He was such a good boy for the entire day, even went to bed happy a couple minutes ago. I know better than get my hopes too far up on an attitude change but maybe just maybe.........

I know it's most likely a coincidence or perhaps my imagination, but he was talking clearer already. Nothing major but he played peek a boo with me and was yelling boo- instead of his usual ah.... the phone rang he usually screams ahh at that too, he did and I said the phone is ringing.... he said pone? pone? This one I have heard before but not lately. Oh and too (toe). He was eager to read his books and kept pointing at the pictures wanting me to tell him what things were, he usually has no interest in anyone talking while he looks at them. I'm probably reading too much into it, after all it's only been 12 hours but so far I am thrilled with the results.

As suspected, I have thought of another 100 things about me far more interesting than what I came up with for a post. I'll save them so I can forget them all on the spot next time. On a good note.... there are at least a few people out there who keep up on my madness. I was going to tag Chelle too but I wasn't sure if she'd do it or not. Karen got her though, so we'll see. BTW If you don't read her blog you should, and if you don't laugh, you don't have a sense of humor.

Saige has been showing off her creative side this week. This is her coloring contest picture from the paper, I think she did a terrific job (bias aside, lol) I went to mail it in and realized it said all entries must be received by Dec, 4th....... it was the Sun Dec 7th paper????


Yesterday I went to school for the gingerbread house project. I wish I had brought the camera, I did not realize I was allowed to take pictures in the classroom. I got a few fuzzy ones on the cellphone, but I have no cord to transfer them off and my mother would probably murder me if I sent them all to myself. If it wasn't for her we would have no cell phone at all- I hate phones, especially ones that cut out every other word but it has come in handy more than a few times. Sooner or later I will have to figure something out, there are over a 150 pictures on there that I want and the phone itself has seen better days. It had crappy reception to begin with but now the antenna is broken and the phone itself rattles if you shake it. I can't complain though, we have had it for like three years and 99.9% of the time it is in Rob's possession so I am just amazed it works at all, heck, I am amazed he hasn't lost it. Well, he has lost it a million times but not permanently, yet.

Anyway.... back to the gingerbread houses, it was so much fun. She had a blast, and I had a blast too. I helped with the frosting but let her do all the decorating. I think she was decorating from an eating standpoint as opposed to design but there were no bad ones. All the kids loved it.... I can't wait for Rylan's turn. I gave her the option of taking me, daddy or gramma (but I crossed my fingers it would be me) but now that I have done it... I wont be telling Rylan he has a choice of helpers, lol.

I've gone on walks to the library with her class a couple times too, it is always fun. Before school started I dreaded having to do this kind of thing, I am SO glad I did it anyway though. The thought of being really outnumbered by eighteen 4 year olds was a bit intimidating but it's great, plus it is nice to see how she interacts with her friends. She has two best friends, Caitlyn and Jacob but says she still like Rylan best......I wonder how much longer that will last. Here's the finished product at home before too much was picked off, there isn't much left today.

On to the little guy. Tuesday we went to the doctor, turns out he HAS an ear infection.... I am feeling like the worse mom in the world. I had NO idea, and wonder how many he has had that I have not noticed or shrugged off as teething. My poor baby. He is teething though, the top two molars have finally poked through and one bottom one has broken the surface. We got a referral to an ENT... who gave us an appointment the week after Christmas. I called, explained the insurance situation and begged them to make it sooner, I was willing to go on short notice if there was a cancellation. It was a no go because the doc is already on vacation and has a full surgery schedule well into January.

I know the Ped suggested him because he was close by but we currently have a PPO so I do not need a referral. I found another that saw us this morning, he comes highly recommended and Rylan actually seemed to like him. Although that could have something to do with the lollipop he gave him- his first. He said there was still definitely fluid build up on both sides, Rylan will getting tubes put in Tuesday. He says we will be out of the hospital in less than an hour.... it takes longer than that to get there.

When we got home there was a message from another hospital... the Ped referred him for a speech evaluation. That is the last week of Feb, that's a long drive too, I was hoping we could manage to get it the same day as his hearing eval (same hospital) after the tubes, but I imagine the dr will want him to have that sooner than the end of Feb. For now I am choosing optimism and maybe the speech evaluation wont be necessary. We will take him anyway but I hope this helps and he starts talking again. Not that he doesn't talk but it's hit and miss.... I have learned not to correct him, I think it confuses him. If he calls the puppy a yuppie and I say puppy he will stop saying it at all, if I say nothing he will scream yuppie yuppie yuppie. He says yuppie, yowgie (doggy) Saige (hage) and dink (drink), I have not heard any of his previous words at all and his pronunciation of those four varies at times too. Saige and I are the only ones who can interrupt him at all.

On a lighter note, isn't he such a pretty princess? Before you shake your heads or send me nasty emails.... he did it himself, it took a while but he did it. But, in all honesty I am fine with him playing princess dress up, or with dollies and daddy is okay with it too. I have a great husband in that regard (and most others), if the clothes were big enough I would not be in the least surprised to see dad playing princess right along with them.

7 things about me

I've been tagged by Amnesty, and this time I know what that means, lol.

1- My favorite movie is the Sword in the Stone, followed closely by Shrek.
2- I was hopelessly addicted to my dvr but have proven that it IS possible to not only survive but thrive without one, lol.
3- I hate to shop, hate it. I love a good deal but I would rather have a root canal than go to the mall.
4- I like bees, I think they are fascinating wonderful creatures.
5- I love to mow the lawn, I love the loud silence, I love the smell of fresh cut grass, and most of all I love that when I am finished there is nothing Rob or the kids can do to undo it. It is the one and only thing that I can do, finish, and be done with. Which brings me too
6- I like doing laundry, granted I get annoyed that it never ends but I find it relaxing to fold clothes.
7- I don't particularly like chocolate

That was hard, although I know as soon as I hit publish I will think of at least 50 much more interesting things about me. I'll tag Audrey, Karen, and Laura.

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye

We got our Christmas tree up, Rob and Saige picked it out yesterday before he went to work. That means I had approximately 8 straight hours of moooom can we pleeeease decorate the tree now? The tree was outside, the stand nowhere to be found. I am allergic and touching them gives me an itchy blistery rash, so there was NO way I was bringing it in. I explained at least 12,000 times that we would do it tomorrow together, with daddy and when the tree was indoors. Shortly after 6 this morning I rolled over and opened my eyes to see her standing inches from my face "mom can we decorate the tree now?" We held her off until 7:30 and then got up. Robby brought it in and we told her we were leaving but we decorate as soon as we got home, it needed a chance to warm up before we could do anything.

While we were gone she got a fever, no doubt being tired made her feel worse, but she still begged to go home and decorate the tree. So we did. I was suppose to do my drugstore shopping but the roads were bad, I crossed my fingers that we had tylenol at home (we did, so I saved 6 bucks). Unfortunately around here if you don't shop on Sunday the good deals will be all gone. Rite Aid is the worst, I swear they have big sales and order two of product for the week. They may stash more in the back, but ask someone to check for you and you'd think you asked them to move the Earth.

On to the tree, first thing I figured we needed was to put a blanket under it so if the bulbs fell they wouldn't shatter on the hard floor. I don't have to explain how I know this will happen, my dwindling collection says it all. I grabbed the blanket, bent down to put it under the tree and shoved my eye right into the tip of a branch. OUCH. It still hurts hours later. SO I hopped around whining about my poor eye for a good half hour.

Finally I recovered enough to get the tote with the ornaments. Rylan was so excited, as soon as the top came off he picked up Robby's favorite childhood ornament and threw it at the floor and squealed with delight as it broke in pieces. He takes such delight in being naughty. We skipped the lights after debating on whether or not Lola chewing through them while plugged in might teach her a lesson on chewing anything and everything. BUT we did get it done, by that time Saige was feeling worse so it got done in spurts while she rested between. Poor kid can't catch a break but she is determined. There is a large concentration of ornaments at waist level.

The last few hours of the night were/are being spent keeping the duo of destruction (Rylan and Lola) away from the tree. Is it Dec 26th yet?

update on destructo-dog

It's been two and half weeks, Lola has more than doubled in size already. It doesn't show in the pictures, but she kinda looks like a frog. her hind legs are enormous compared to the rest of her. She's doing pretty good on the housebreaking, as long as you don't take your eye off her for a half second. She chews anything and everything. Both the kids are learning they can not leave anything unattended on the floor (NOT a bad thing).
I admit there are some things I see her run off with and I take my time getting to it (oh no, this darn toy I have stepped on and nearly killed myself on a 100 times is ruined, we will have to throw it away). Yesterday Robby sorted out the Christmas lights, took a load outside to hang up- in an instant she chewed through the last three strands. He has not yet learned not to leave anything on the floor, she's quick and determined.
Nala seems to like her and even Evil (the feline spawn of satan) has come around a little and plays with her for a minute before attacking her. The kids both adore her and Robby and I still think she is pretty cute.

Saige's fall decorations

I'm still loving the projects and presents.

waiting

Rylan had his hearing evaluation yesterday. She said he has significant fluid build up on both ears. They put us in a little room with speakers in the corners, she went into another booth and talked in varying tones into the speakers. Now I am not qualified to say but it seemed to ME that he hears much better on his right side than on his left, I think a couple of times she mistook him looking for her sound on the left when he was just twisting to get out of my lap, he did not appear to hear anything at all.

All in all she said his hearing is elevated, which despite the sounding better than normal, is worse than normal, lol. She said he falls in the normal range but at the very very very very tip of it and that the test can really only tell them how bad it is in the good ear. I was surprised she told me anything at all- a nice change from waiting weeks to get results from the ped.

I'm relieved- kinda. I'm glad we know, so we can go from here. The woman also told us that it's up his doctor who will either send up straight to the ENT doctor, or she may try allergy meds to drain the fluids first. We had an appointment this afternoon but the dr is sick and they just called and rescheduled us for Tues. I don't want to wait that long. I know it seems awful but I want to hurry. It seems unlikely we could push to have it done by the end of the year. I have a pretty good feeling that the doctor will want to try drugs first but we will end at tubes anyway. January 1st our insurance changes for the worse and I have no idea how we will afford that right of the bat, while we still need to heat the house.

Sad, we will still be paying an arm and a leg but the shitty coverage will get worse. Basically we will have a HUGE deductible per person, and more co-insurance, on average our OOP expense with be 15 times higher than this year. Ouch. I am however not willing to go without. I will continue to sign up for BCBS to rape us weekly because I have learned that what can go wrong, will go wrong. If I were cancel it, no doubt 3 days later one of us would require serious medical attention that would cost us everything. Just not a risk I am willing to take with me and mine as long as I have that option.

My brother has been in the hospital since Saturday, his insurance apparently covers ALL of it, my hubby is in the wrong line of work. One of us should be working for a school. Teachers are underpaid and under appreciated BUT they have good insurance, lol. Hopefully he will be home tomorrow, at least I'm hoping. It's hard to visit him, Rylan does NOT like riding the elevator- not at all. Little spaces, closed doors, unhappy Rylan.... the results are not good for the rest of our hearing. Thankfully it's only two floors and it goes quick, lol.

Happy Thanksgiving

Saige built her very own snow/slush-man (with a little lifting from daddy) this morning as the snow melted. Notice how dirty he is?

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

Snow

I know it will lose it's appeal quickly so I'll just enjoy today.
It's here. Well, it has been here for a few days but today we had enough to make everything pretty and the kids excited to play in it. I like fresh snow in the mornings, the first thing I see when I wake up is the frosted pine trees outside the window, it's pretty. Rob pulled the kids around on the sled- better him than me, my back would be killing. Rylan likes the snow, he wanted to be out all day long. I have to get a video of him walking in his snowsuit, he looks like he is straight out of a Christmas Story although he can put his arms down, a little bit.

Lola

We got a new puppy today. Saige is thrilled, she named her Lola. She is so tiny, still smells like a puppy and is curled up in my lap snoring. Nala seems to like her, she can't keep up, the puppy literally runs circles (and between her legs) around her.
Rylan is pretty excited that he now has a crate to play in, I really have no idea why I buy this kid actual toys. He spent most of the afternoon sitting in there, crawling in shutting the door, yelling until I looked at him and say "what are you doing in there" he thought it was just hilarious.
The evil cat does not like her, not even a little. She took one look, hissed and growled and took off upstairs. She's been sure to keep letting us know her feelings, every hour or so she comes down as far as the baby gate, looks for her, growls and run back up again. Oh well, she didn't like us yesterday either.

Another yucky day

Yesterday was gorgeous, the sun was shining, it was in the 60's (which is really warm for us, lol). Today, following Amnesty's lead I had good intentions of taking the kids to a protest. It's cold and rainy and just yucky. Saige was coughing ALL night long and Rylan has the sniffles (did I mention I am plagued with the never ending cold?) so I'm keeping them home. It makes me sad, tolerance, acceptance and standing up for what is right, what better way to set an example?

Saige's teacher comes back Monday, she has been on maternity leave for 8 weeks. I think she is nervous, she is sad to see the sub go. I think she had forgotten that she wasn't her actual teacher. It has to be confusing for a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds. She is also a bit disappointed that her teacher wont be bringing the baby to school so they can play with him, lol.

On another note- I am half way through Christmas shopping- and I have done it all with cash! Well my surveys have helped tremendously, I was skeptical, and it took a while to get enough to cash out on any of them but once I did- it hasn't stopped yet. They are mostly small, 10-30 dollars here and there, but I have used it to buy gifts. Some offer rewards, I have used those for gifts as well. Others are Amazon gift cards, I have quite a bit added up. I spent some a while back but still plenty to get some more gifts. I can't decide though. The thing is, if I went to amazon with nothing in the account, in a matter of minutes I could fill the cart 12 times over. However having a balance seems to make it much harder. I spend hours looking at everything and trying to decide but I can't, lol.

Rylan is hard to shop for. He is at an age that is rough. Truth is he has more than any 10 kids need. He is too big for baby toys, but too small for big boy toys. I have a hard time bringing myself to pay outrageous amounts of money for toys he will outgrow in 6 months. He spends most of his time playing in cardboard boxes and with soda bottles- he screws the lid on, makes me take it back off and he puts it back on- this can go one for hours. Saige on the other hand is too easy to buy for, everywhere I look I see 10 things I know she would love. I know Rylan wont know the difference if he gets less, but she will and she will get upset. Between us and grandparents, there are few toys left that we don't have or have had at some point.

We went through a few weeks ago and cleared out a bunch- we need to do it again. I thought it would be hard to get Saige to agree, but I explained that they would get more toys and that there are kids with very few or no toys that would really love the ones she doesn't play with. That made her sad and she was ready to give away everything except the stuffed animals, I actually had to veto her giving away a few things. Some I know she would miss and the others were Rylan's, lol, in fact she was quite ready to give away all of his toys. I may cause bodily harm to anyone who gives them any more stuffed animals.

I am considering starting another blog. I rely on blogs to help me find awesome deals and free stuff while I shop. However, I can not find a blog that is dedicated or even includes Price Chopper. I have, and do find great deals there. This week the total was 111.98 and after coupons it was 32 something. I know I don't wrote well but it's hard to screw up a list, lol.My cash Christmas is in part due to my shopping savings. We have bought way more than ever, and name brands too, and spent less than ever. Our grocery budget (which includes pet food and toiletries) is now under 200 a month for the four of us. I know I can do better than that and we end up with stuff we don't really need, but I am happy with that amount and we get extras, a treat is always nice. Since Home Depot closed I have had my fingers crossed for a new grocery store. Chances are good we wont get anything for a while, obviously there aren;t many expanding businesses right now, but I can hope.

what a day

It has been one of those day, Saige almost missed the bus, I shut the alarm off and figured I would lie down just for a second,lol. Next thing I know it's 7:53 and the bus comes at 8. Luckily she woke up on time and got dressed, she was playing in her room. I threw a piece of toast at her (she eats at school) while I brushed her hair, put on her socks and shoes. Did a poor job of a 15 second teeth brushing, throw her in a jacket (it's been warm here and for that I will not complain) and pushed her out the door just as the bus pulled up.

I planned to go to yet another animal shelter to search for a puppy this afternoon, after the monsters nap. As I am getting the kids ready I suddenly hear water. Lots and lots of water. A pipe burst in the bathroom, it flooded the bathroom but more importantly it flooded through the hole for the pipes to the basement. Directly over the top of my shelves, the shelves I have to keep everything dry in case of a flood. Shelves that had all my important paperwork and Christmas presents were being stored. I got the water shut off quickly but the damage is done. I salvaged what I could, hoping I'll find more after it dries up a bit. I am trying to be in complete denial, I have very little space for storage but obviously that was not a good spot for gifts. Or maybe if I had them elsewhere something different would have broken. So much for having a jump on things.

Since I wont be fixing the pipe, I have no water until hubby gets home, they wouldn't let him leave. So I loaded up the kids drove an hour to the shelter and fell in love with dog. Got denied, they wouldn't let us adopt a dog because my dog hasn't seen a vet in over a year. I do shots myself (and have the paperwork, receipts, vials and video to prove them) and use the rabies clinic that costs 5 bucks compared to paying the vet 50 for the exact same shot and 8- for walking in the door.

It was also implied I do not take proper care of my animals because I had the cat spayed and got her her shots at the lost cost spay neuter clinic that send the animals home that night instead of charging me to leave them in a cage for the night. The clinic is very well known and reputable. They have a set fee, everyone is welcome, low income gets a sliding scale. We aren't low income but saw no reason not to use their services which ran $100- $200 less than other vets in the area. Apparently for using their services instead of a 'real' vet makes me a horrible irresponsible pet owner and unqualified to have a shelter animal. I'm pissed, here I thought I was doing a good thing, giving a home to shelter dog instead of getting one from someone who didn't bother to spay their dog, in turn supporting them. I think freecycle encourages it, I am a member of two and one of the mods banned animal posts, the other refuses. Now it seems I have very little choice :(

Word Girl for president

Saige thinks Word Girl would make a good president because she has a monkey that helps save the day. Explaining elections to a 4 year old is fairly difficult.

It's hard to believe it's over, but No more phone calls ~hopefully~ Although we only got one more from the NRA since I last complained. One more than I would have liked but better than the previous week. We voted early, as soon as we got Saige off to school. The parking lot at the polling place was packed and I thought uh oh we are gonna be here all day. Apparently they were all working there, we were in and out in under ten minutes. We didn't get any stickers though :( LOL

House, our guinea pig, died the other morning, I am sad, he was a great pet. We have gone through three more fish and are back to just the alga eater that keeps killing everything we try to put in the tank. I am being cruel, it is unplugged and I am NOT feeding it, as mean as it sounds I hope it dies. I can not seem to bring myself to flush it (mostly because I can't bring myself to get near it- ewww) so that we can get new pretty, fun to look at and care for gold fish.

We have been looking for a puppy. They are hard to come by. It's heartbreaking seeing all the older dogs at the shelters, but I have my heart set on a puppy for various reasons. I would get an older dog if my kids were older and Nala was younger but I think with small kids and an old dog a puppy is the way to go. I am sure I will think differently afterwards when he or she is chewing my shoes and piddling on my floor : ) Although it sounds like a promising way to finally clear out some toys.

Happy Halloween

Saige was a skunk, and got plenty of comments, my pictures don;t do her justice, they never do. She was such a good girl and remembered her manners. She also has no fear, never thought twice about any scary costumes, one guy had a mask that dripped blood. She walked up said trick or treat and came back and said mom that guy has a drippy face.

Rylan was Rylan, he refused to wear scooby doo for more than a picture. I could have held the camera towards him all night and he would have kept it on, he likes his picture taken, but it was tossed aside in favor of his osh kosh elmer fudd hat. He happily hung out in his stroller watching. Have I ever mentioned how much he likes his stroller? he is always so good and never fights it, he loves being pushed around. We were blessed with a nice day, it was warm and gorgeous out. The week preceding and the snow was a bit worrisome but...

15 months

Well, it will be 16 months next week but.....
Today was his 15 month check up. He weighs 22 lbs, and is 32 1/2 inches long. He was absolutely awful the entire trip. He repeatedly threw himself on the floor, had a fit, screamed his fool head off and slapped the doctor, and all she did to him was say hi to him. She has labeled him as speech delayed, and sending him for a hearing evaluation. I think he can hear just fine, he understands most of what we say, he follows directions (most of the time, when he isn't having a temper tantrum, that no doubt stem from his communication frustration) he just doesn't want to talk. He has rejected all attempts at any baby sign language despite MONTHS of effort on my part. He seems to be quite content pointing, grunting and getting ticked off when we don't know what he wants. I should probably be more worried than I am, but I am not particularly worried over his lack of words.... yet.

Honestly I am more stressed over refusing a flu shot for him. I can't help but wonder if I should have said yes.... I keep thinking of all the kids that died from the flu last year, on the other hand he has it rough enough without filling him up with even more chemicals that in all likeness are unnecessary. I am ashamed to say I almost wish I was still as ignorant about vaccines as I was when Saige was born, it rates in the top three most stressful decisions I have ever had to make. It's like rolling the dice with my kids lives and it is beyond scary, it doesn't end with a decision because then I have to stress on whether or not I made the right choice. Before I knew better it was easy, lol.

The rest of will be getting flu shots and we will pray for the best. Rob because he can not afford to miss work, not financially, but because his employer makes up rules as they go along, he currently has 8 sick days and is NOT allowed to use them, he got a write up for the last time he was sick despite the doctor note. You would think that they wouldn't want you around the milk when you are sick but apparently they don't care. Actually I should say two write ups in the same day for sick days used separately months before hand. Like I said, they make up the rules as they go along. I wont even get into how stressed I was when they tried to refuse him FMLA leave when Rylan was born.

Me, because I can not afford to get the flu, unfortunately having the most underpaid overworked job around also means no sick days allowed. I barely survived last week and I know the flu is worse. Although I KNOW that the shot itself is going to make me sick, it always does, it sure beats having the flu. Saige because she has had it before with no ill effects and being in school she is more at risk than any of us.

Halloween is tomorrow!!!!!!! We can't wait. It's my favorite holiday, I love seeing all the kids in their costumes, and I wont lie, I love the candy too.

I am being harassed by the NRA

According to my list of received calls on Vonage, the NRA has called me or Rob 18 times in the last 30 days. I have repeatedly asked to be taken off their list. I am not interested in who they think I should vote for and I am most certainly not interested in giving them a lousy penny. I am on the do not call list. Is the NRA calling and reading me a script not included in the do not call list? Is it that hard to make a note next to our number that we have told them 18 times politely and not so politely that we do not want to hear from them? Is it that hard to remove a number from the list? Do they think I am going to change my mind? Truthfully if I didn't disagree with who they think I should vote for in the first place, I would be tempted to head the other direction out of sheer annoyance. There is nothing more annoying than some idiot calling you at 9 pm, unable to properly pronounce Skinner (it's a toughy, I know) to inaudibly read a sheet of paper telling me about the horrors of certain politicians. It is kind of fun to let them go through the list and say 'hey I voted for all of them'.... or even better I told one guy that Hillary Clinton was my aunt (obviously a lie) but so worth it, he stammered said umm a couple times and hung up on me! lol. It was the one and only time I did not get a chance to tell them I did NOT want them to call again.

In all fairness I do not give money to any lobbying organization or politician. But, seriously the NRA? I can safely say they are at the very, very bottom of my influence pool and organizations I would give money to if I had it to give. Tomorrow I have to figure out how to stop this and file a complaint... if I can. One more week and hopefully it will be over but now I am just bitter that they keep calling over and over, and screwing with them got old after the 10th or 11th time.

On a cute note, Saige does not want me to go boat on Tues, because the water is too cold if I were to fall in. I took her last time, but apparently it didn't register. I was going to go while she was in school but I think we will get up extra early so I can take her with me.

Art

I think one of the best things about school so far has been the fun stuff Saige brings home. Plus drawing pictures kept her occupied while I was sick and I love her 'art' work. It was decided long before that in our tiny house it would be quite the feat to hang on to all of them. I will take pictures of them ALL and save a select few. Here are a few, I am considering holding on to the third one despite the lack of space.

I gave her the dry erase markers for the white board, went to the bathroom and returned to this. I managed to get it off his face, getting it off the back of his head, not so easy. It is very obvious through his blond hair too. I can't complain too much, this ranks in the top three of naughty things she has ever done.

fall

No such luck

Saige was still sick this morning, she woke up at 5 calling for me. I went in and she asked me to sit with her, as soon as I sat on the bed she puked on me. We spent the afternoon running around, we went to the doctor who sent us for chest x-rays, a nebulizer and antibiotics. She was such a good girl, she put up no fight and was great for the x-rays. She thought is was pretty cool when she saw them on the computer screen. It looked kinda scary to me, but I am not a doctor and she didn't call so it must not be any worse than she thought. I'll call in the morning, they were closed by the time we made it home.

We were at the medical supply store for over an hour while they called the insurance company and sat on hold. An hour is a LONG time for a sick kid, any kid for that matter, but Saige was terrific. At that point her fever was gone and she was starting to feel a bit better. We waited at the pharmacy for over a half hour, they too had to call on the insurance. grr This totally ticks me off, we pay and outrageous amounts of money every week and yet we have to fight with them over EVERYTHING.

She didn't like the nebulizer (which is actually kind of cute, it's a cow and the case is a barn) at first but after she saw it didn't hurt she was fine and asking for more, lol. She is upset about missing so many days of school, she thinks they will for get her by Monday. It appears Rylan is starting to get sick again. I just can't win.

Now Saige is sick, poor honey. She didn't go to school today, I know she didn't feel good when she didn't put up a fight. She laid in the chair all day and kept telling me she was only a little bit sick, not doctor sick. She didn't complain of anything in particular just said her brain hurt when she drank through a straw, she had/has a slight fever. Hopefully this is the worst of it and she will be better tomorrow.

Unfortunately this leaves only Robby, and he will get it, I am sure. I am not sure I would not prefer to be sick myself twice. He is such a whiner when he is sick, I am already dreading it.

I think the worst part about being sick is I missed the best two weeks out of the year as far as NY scenery goes. The trees are past their prime now, I kept saying I should go out and take pictures of the yard but never found the energy. It's still pretty, but not as pretty as a week ago. It's amazing how cold 58 degrees feels after summer. A 58 degree day in March feels like heaven, we run around in teeshirts thrilled at the prospect of warm weather and days outside yet to come. Now it's just a reminder that it's coming to an end and it will get far far worse before it gets better again, and with the cold comes the fuel oil bill : (

unfair

Still sick : ( It got bad over the long weekend, I ended up going to the ER. They gave me antibiotics and pain killers. Today is the first I have felt even a slight bit better, I feel like maybe I have only been run over a few times. Vaguely somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to remember that at one point in time when I was sick I could call into work and just stay in bed, rest and work on getting better. Instead I get to get worse and worse because I don't get five minutes to sit and rest and I can't call in.

boo-boos and boogers

I am sick, I have been sick, now I am still sick and Rylan has joined me. It's completely thrown off his sleep schedule since he takes an extra nap when he's not feeling well and we are back to point A on the sleep. I think my head my explode, and I want to breathe freely again and I am sick to death of wiping little noses, I don't even like wiping my own nose and here I am on complete booger duty. Between me and the boys I went through a box and a half of tissues, today.

Saige fell off her bed tonight, the poor thing. She was standing on it, making it and while trying to spread the blanket she backed up and tripped over the foot board. She slammed down on her back and railed her head on the door (which due to lack of space is only like three feet away from the end of the bed). I was standing up at the top of the bed because she wanted to do it all by herself. I saw it in slow motion but I couldn't catch her. Of course that was the first thing she said when she toned down the wailing to include words was Why didn't you catch me mommy? I felt so awful, there was no way I could have caught her from where I was, even if I could have moved that fast I would have fallen on toys. I cleaned her room top to bottom last week, put everything away and in less than 5 minutes her and Zailor had it ripped apart including the sheets off the bed. ugh She was fine after about 10 minutes of hysterics and then got down on her own and cleaned up the rest of her toys so no one would get hurt from falling on them. I think she more scared than injured.

more babies

Today on the way home from the library Saige told me she wishes we had more babies. I told we do have a baby and between him and their daddy there is trouble enough for five or six babies. She said we should have more though, so he always has someone to play with, because Zailor goes home, and we should have a girl baby next time. I told her you can hope for a girl baby but it doesn't always work that way, not that it matters because we are not having any more babies in the near future. So she said it's okay if we wait two weeks and then if we get a boy baby we can just have more until there are 17 boys and 85 girls. HA

It's tempting when I see adorable sweet little babies, like Amnesty's and Laura's brand new bundle of joy, but then I come to my senses. : )

uh oh

Last night was Saige's open house at school. She was remarkably unexcited about it, I learned that her teacher did have her baby over the weekend and they already have the substitute. She didn't say a word and when I asked her why she didn't tell me she said she didn't want us to know. She got off the school bus today limping, said her knee suddenly hurt for no reason. She didn't fall or bump it, it just hurt. It stopped hurting just as fast, she walked fine and when I asked if it was better she played the drama queen and dropped to the floor and proceeded to scootch around. When she did get back up I didn't say a word and she forgot all about it. Later she said she didn't want to go to school anymore, she doesn't like not having one of her parents and she is lonely. She says nothing happened, and she likes her friends but she likes her mommy better and she misses "her" baby when she is gone.

I didn't bring it up again, I set her alarm for the morning and hope she is better about it by then. She must be missing her teacher, I am sure she will adjust but it breaks my heart. She has been so happy and eager to go and about school up until today. I was adjusting well to her being in school but I don't know what I'll do if I have to force my baby to go... pre-K is suppose to be fun. If she isn't happier tomorrow I will go in and see if maybe there is something I can do with the class a bit early. Volunteering doesn't officially start until Oct. at which point I plan to do as much as I can in that regard. Mostly because I want to be part of her schooling but partially so I can leave Rylan with Robby and although I will be surrounded by 4 year olds I will get that 10 minute drive ALL BY MYSELF. LOL I think that is the worst of not having an outside job, I miss driving in the car with the radio cranked all alone.

On an absolutely hilarious note Dish Network called me today. A girl named Rachel who told me she was calling to see why I left and tell me a I was one of there best and oldest customers. LMAO I must be more patient than I thought if my 18 months with them qualifies me to be a highly valued longest standing customers. She just kept saying they offer quality equipment and that the people in India and the Philippines taking my calls are highly trained individuals. I asked her how having all the training in the world helps me in the slightest if I can't understand them? I would make an effort to understand almost anyone... but when I am paying for a service that doesn't work and I need help for the 20th time, is it that far fetched that I would want help that I can translate... I paid enough I shouldn't have to translate and hope for the best. I told her they claimed to offer quality equipment before, it was not, why should I believe her now? She got silent and then offered me free equipment for 4 rooms, free HBO and Starz for 54 months and a 100 dollar credit. I told her that was the same as I was offered as a new customer the first time. Then... I swear to god she offered me free equipment for 4 rooms, HBO and STARZ for 5 months and a 50 dollar credit. Really in that order, I swear. When I got the giggles under control I asked her if she realized that she actually offered me less? Silence again. This was 17:54 phone call, there was a lot of silence, and a lot of laughing.

As much as talking to them use to make me beyond angry, now it's just funny. I was practically peeing my pants laughing at her. After a bit more silence she asked what service I used now... I told her I got a converter box and unless she could beat free, I was not interested. She goes on to say that yes but that doesn't include premium channels that we offer, to which I said other than TWO channels everything I watched was on network tv and they charged me 5 bucks for free TV and that 2 channels does not justify 50 a month. So finally she asked if there was anything at all she could do for me to make me reconsider in the future. I told her that she could see to it that they payed me the rest of the refund I was suppose to get from them (this had come up earlier and she apologized profusely) she got quiet and then she HUNG UP on ME, roflmao. The kids must have thought I was crazy, I practically choked on my tongue I was laughing so hard. I keep getting these recorded messages that I should not be alarmed but this is my LAST chance to lower my interest rates and to take advantage of this incredible offer press 1. It's been my last chance about 200 times this month alone. I always press 1 and harass them right back. It is so satisfying when they hang up on you... and it is so much fun. I'm sorry but if the offer was that incredible they wouldn't need to call me... I ask them if they sleep well trying to scam people like that, or if perhaps they would like to give me their account numbers in good faith, or just ask for a manager, works every time.

body doubles?

I just watched the presidential address on the bail out. I'm still not convinced.... I see this leading to the rich and greedy just becoming more so. I can understand to a point but it pisses me off beyond belief that they say universal healthcare is too socialist but this is okay? So it's not okay to help a sick poor child, but god forbid the rich might lose a few bucks. I paid attention when I bought my house, I educated myself on the terms, I have been responsible and now I have to pay for the idiots that weren't? I think they should lose their homes, maybe the lenders were shady but seriously what kind of moron thinks they can afford a 300,000 house when they make 20, 000 a year. If you bought a home while rates were really low... is it not common sense that they will most likely go up? Stupid, stupid people. So now the burden falls on me and the rest of us who were responsible? AND they want there to be no oversight? um very, very scary. Not surprising though.

Why aren't the people getting rich off of these loans, the one getting severance packages larger than what we will make in a lifetime forced to pay up? It was their greed that got us in this mess. I see NO good side to any of this. So Bush says we have to do this or we will be in a recession.... many of us think we are already there. Heating costs are expected to be 30% higher this year... I have to figure out how to afford that and now I have to help pay for greedy stupid people too. Ugh

Anyway... there are rumors that the North Korean dictator Kim Jung Il has been dead for years and what we see is a body double. This whole idea of body doubles is fascinating, it would make a good movie. Watching the address, I am wondering if maybe we have the same thing? Is George Bush dead and we are watching a double? I can't say exactly when the change took place but the last few times I have watched/listened to him he is different. Suddenly he can read a teleprompter, and speak in complete sentences and there is a mysterious lack of UMs. Of course I realize that is a bit far fetched but hey ya never know, lol. Why would that happen when we have a VP? Maybe because the only thing scarier than Bush is Cheney... with the exception of maybe Sarah Palin. I posed my theory to my brother who informed me that I don't give him enough credit, he did after all graduate college. I am of course aware of this, in fact he single handedly made me feel better that my kids wont be missing much since it is highly unlikely we will be able to afford to send them to Ivy League schools. No I don't really think GWB is dead but after all these painful speeches, press conferences and addresses I have listen to over the years, I have to wonder where the hell was this guy who can talk for the last 7 years.

cranky

I finally got a night to myself, my parents took the kids Saturday night. I was and still am semi sick... I feel crappy but more annoying than anything else. . I did absolutely nothing, I considered cleaning the house, but instead I took a LONG bath, played online, took a nap and read a book. I had Zailor Friday night and his mom promised some of the money she owed me and then I never heard back from her, grrr, so that added to my crankiness and it hasn't gone away yet. Every morning I am reminded that winter is getting closer and we are going to have to turn on the heat. I really, really, really do not want to do that. I'll have us all in 10 layers and wait until the pipes are about to freeze if I can, lol. The fuel oil bill scares the hell out of me. I am starting to miss my DVR. I am missing Two and a Half Men because there is no signal. Every other channel is coming in perfectly (have I mentioned I love these digital converter boxes?) but CBS is completely black. I have just have luck like that. Boston Legal starts at 10 and I LOVE that show so I fully expect that CBS will suddenly be back and ABC will disappear.

Rylan is teething..... still. I swear this kid has been teething forever we are up to 8 teeth now. Will it ever end? Oh Apparently he really likes apples, a lot. I think maybe he liked apples a bit too much because his diapers are nasty and his poor little hiney is practically bleeding. I'm sure being in real diapers added to it as well. Desitin has not done much to improve his mood, it's really his first rash and he is less than thrilled, lol. He screamed bloody murder when he stole an apple of the counter and I took it away... I think he has had enough, lol. He has one hell of a temper, he slaps whatever is closest when he gets mad, and if there is nothing close he runs with his arm over his head to something he can hit. If he is sitting on the floor doing something he isn't suppose to to and you tell him no, he scrunches his face and slaps the floor. He seems to get over it rather quickly. I know it doesn't help that I laugh at him but it's just funny to watch him.

He tortures Saige (and me) with the TV. We will be watching Word World and he will push buttons. I have a pepsi cap duct taped over the power button. So he moved on to the volume and the channels, I duct taped the door down. He pries it off and turns it on and off all day long. So I had Robby put it all on a power strip so I can just shut off the power completely. He gets so mad... he pried off my cap and gets super mad when the power button doesn't do anything. The first time he threw himself down and had an emmy worthy tantrum kicking and screaming, a minute later he got back up and tried again... it still didn't work, he went back and forth between trying the tv and having a tantrum for a good 45 mins. It's certainly fair to say he is determined.

He hasn't added any new words at all, I don't know if I should be worried or not. He understands just about everything, he will point or do what we ask him but he doesn't talk and when he does it's all babble other than a handful of words and they are almost all B words. He doesn't call me mama or Robby dada. He knows what we are saying but wont say them back. He will occasionally say mama but not to me... if that makes sense. He calls Saige C. She was talking up a storm at his age and I know I shouldn't compare but I can't help it.

Saige is loving school... but she does nothing there. Everyday she gets up all happy to go back and do nothing again and again. She has however finally learned the names of two of the kids in her class. Just two, Sophie and Jacob. Last week she was a bit upset that she will have a substitute while her teacher is on maternity leave. She seems better now that she has meet the sub but she was very sad and told me she wants to see the baby and is afraid her teacher wont like her as much after the baby comes and wont want to come back to school. I asked her if she thought I liked her as much as I did before Rylan and she said yes and was a bit happier after contemplating it for a couple minutes. Of course I have to say, I would hate to be a teacher and have my very first baby. Saige came home sick the very first week.... I think a new mom would go nuts. On the other hand the baby will be super healthy and immune to everything before he/she even gets close to school age, lol. I am sure once she has the sub she will be perfectly fine... I hope so anyway. Maternity leave will fee like an eternity to a bunch of 4 year olds.

On a funny note, we were playing outside today and out of nowhere Saige asked me to come closer, she had a secret. So I got really close, she hugged me and said with the most serious look on her face Mommy, in 6 months I am going to turn into a stuffed animal. I laughed and asked her why she would want to do that. She told me it was because she is really a stuffed animal fairy pretending to be a little girl and she is only a little girl because she waved her magic wand but it only works every 6 months. To think I went through pregnancy and labor and all she had to do was wave a wand to get here.

octopus

Saige wanted a sandwich and grapes for lunch today. I made her the sandwich and set it in front of her... instead of thank you I got is where are my grapes?

I can only do so many things at once Saige

But mom you have two hands...

Yes, but I only have one body that both hands are attached to and can still only do so many things at once no matter how hard I try

Well you should be an octopus then so you could do 11 things at once for me all the time

Ummm sure, why didn't I think of that?

snow day?

There's no snow but Saige didn't have school today. There was a two hour delay, so no school for AM Pre-K. There was a nasty wind storm last night, the yard is covered in still green leaves and twigs. On the plus side there has been a branch stuck in a tree out there for years that we didn't quite know how to get it out.... the wind took care of it. I think maybe that was Ike for us. Amazing how destructive it was on the coast and by the time we saw it, there was a couple sprinkles and some downed trees, we didn't even lose power. A lot of people around us did but ours didn't even blink. PLUS I got to sleep in 3 days in a row!!

Anyway Saige was all excited for school today, excited enough to go to bed at 7:30 last night so it would be here sooner, lol. I had a heck of a time explaining to her why it closed and why daddy told her it was a snow day but we had no snow. I probably would have described it the same... almost all closed days and delays are snow related around here.

The monsters have been keeping me busy... no Zailor today, Rylan is napping and Saige is watching Charlotte's Web for thr 7000th time. It is oddly quiet (knock on wood) Good TV starts this week!!!! I am excited, new House on Tuesday. I have been waiting all summer long.... I am a TV junkie. I haven't missed Dish Network at all this summer but now that it's fall- I think I will start to miss my DVR real soon. I have to find out what I can do... maybe a DVD burner? I'm pretty sure with tivo or DVR I have to pay for the service and that would defeat the purpose of the free digital tv that I bought the converter box for. It would be nice to watch the actual TV at some pint but I have a feeling I'll be watching almost everything online.... Robby is at work when all the good stuff is on so he can't watch it live.

It's time to get up already?

It seems 7:30 is coming earlier and earlier each morning. I HATE getting up. If I don't have to get up at any specific time I do alright, as far as sleeping goes. However when the alarm is set, be it 5am, 6 am or 9 am.... I can not go to sleep. It does not matter how tired I am, or how early I got up the previous night, I am unable to shut off my brain and no matter how hard I try I just lay there as the minutes slowly tick by. Robby is next to me happily snoring away while I lie next to him hating him for it. Seriously the guy can make himself go to sleep on demand, this is a skill I am incredibly jealous of and as hard as I try I just can not master. I've tried hiding the clock, it does not help. I have tried drugs.... they don't help either and I feel like crap the next day. So when I finally get lucky enough to doze off at 3, 4, or even 5 am it literally feels like minutes before it is time to start all over again :(

Last night there was a car on fire up the road. We stood at the end of the driveway and watched waiting for the fire department. It was scary... I looked this morning and there was nothing in the news. That is a good thing, I take that to mean that no one was hurt. The media are vultures, they are only interested in tragedy so they can exploit it for all it's worth. I don't know how long is was on fire before Robby came home from work and saw it (1/4 mile up, maybe). It was 3-4 minutes between the first cop arriving when we went out and the fire department getting there but that 3-4 minutes felt like forever. No one was stopping traffic, I doubt there was time and cars kept right on driving by and I was just holding my breath hoping and praying it didn't explode. I watch too much tv but cars have gas... gas will explode right? I was thinking if I saw a flaming car.... I would turn around, not drive within a few feet of it. Anyway the fire dept. had it out pretty quickly and then we couldn't see anything other than the black smoke continuing to fill the sky. Miraculously the kids BOTH slept through all the sirens, lights and commotion.

Already?

Two days of school and she is already coughing and her eyes are all gunky, not pink eye gunky just lots of extra eye bugers. I knew that having not really been around too many kids, that she would no doubt get sick plenty but I didn't think it would happen so soon. She doesn't much care though, Derik (who started 4th grade- man I am getting old) is here for the weekend and she is on cloud nine. For the longest time she thought he was her brother, she loves Derik. Apparently he is pretty popular, Zailor is here too. He ran straight to Derik to hug him and didn't so much as whine when his mommy left, that is highly unusual. He got whiny shortly there after and went to bed. It's after 8- It's MY time. Any sign of whining from any of them after 8 pm means a one way ticket to bed.

Saige enjoyed day two of school even more, and surprisingly is very excepting that she will not go tomorrow. We bought her an alarm clock yesterday when we went to Walmart and she was thrilled when it went off this morning. Too bad I do not share that enthusiasm for my own :) She was up a bit before it playing quietly in her bed and when it started beeping she was jumping up and down yelling "mommy the clock is yelling, the clock is yelling, it must be morning, I am going to get on the bus now".... in her underwear.

On a sad note our last gold fishy finally died, he has been getting worse and worse. It wasn't the cat- it was that ugly SOB sucker fish, it ripped the poor goldfish to shreds and it just couldn't take anymore. Rob said no we couldn't flush that one too, if I wasn't afraid of it, I would flush it myself. I have weird fear of fish.... all non-goldfish fish anyway.Poor goldfish (who ironically was dark gray) never hurt no one :( and we had him for years, before we were married. I guess though, without the goldfish it is highly likely the nasty sucker thing will starve to death.

First day of school

Well it's over.....
and I survived. In fact I barely cried at all. We offered to take her for the first day but I think she was looking forward to riding the school bus even more than she was looking forward to school. She had no second thoughts. Of course I didn't want her to be nervous or even worse cry that she didn't want to go, but, she didn't even wave bye. LOL The bus pulled up and she ran right up and hopped on without so much as a backward glance. We went grocery shopping while she was gone and Robby insisted on driving by the school a couple times. Not sure what we were looking for, it looked like a school.

We were a bit nervous, school starts at 8:40 and the bus didn't come until 8:35. We were beginning to think they forget her, but the driver assured us it would be earlier tomorrow. AM pre-K lets out at 11:10 and she didn't get home until 12:30. I was REALLY nervous, I kept thinking they must have left her somewhere else. I was about to cry and call the school when it finally came. That bus driver didn't say much of anything. I really hope it's a first day fluke, that is a long time to be on the bus. If not, it looks like we will have to start going to pick her up. Robby leaves for work shortly after 1 and he wants at least a little bit of time with her, the school is only 10 minutes away.

She was happy to see me when she got off the bus and when I asked about her day and what she did, she said they read a caterpillar book and made a train. That was it, no amount of persuasion could get anything else from her. She did say she liked it, well except for the getting up early part (lol- I hate that part too) and can't wait until tomorrow. I asked if she made any new friends and she said no because everyone in the world is already her friend but now she knows what they look like.

what's wrong with wrinkles?

I am watching the republican convention. I figure if nothing else, it's worth a good laugh but in truth I like to hear both sides even if I am biased. It is driving me nuts, I don't know if it is just PBS but the sound does not match their mouths moving. Laura Bush is speaking now which is just strange to watch .... could she get anymore plastic? She looks like a freaking barbie doll, her face doesn't move at all when she talks, it's creepy, where do they put it all? When did it become so taboo to have a wrinkle? baboon Bush is looking quite aged, perhaps he should see Laura's surgeon. I will give him a bit of credit. Tonight's speech was the best one I have heard from him yet, it was clear and understandable and remarkably free of ums and that trademark jaw hanging open looking like an idiot. Perhaps he finally learned to read a teleprompter, too bad it didn't happen 7 years sooner. I know it's rude but I think if man with as much education could sound a bit more... well, educated.

one more day

until my baby goes to school. Tonight she got to meet her teacher and check out her classroom. She didn't want to leave, lol. She is so excited to go and play with all the other kids. They are all so little. Saige is little but you don't notice it as much until you are surrounded by so many of them in their tiny little chairs. She was a bit confused about getting her picture taken. They take a picture to use to label stuff because they don;t recognize their names yet, she knows what her name looks like and was worried that that meant they wouldn't know her name and she was wanted to know what they would call her, lol.


I am not so sure that I am as ready. I have successfully managed to not think about it all too much, but it seems I know longer have a choice. RJ left yesterday to start his new teaching job. I am sad to have him so far away, but wish him the best of luck and hope he enjoys it.

aren't they adorable?

Rylan passed out about three bites into lunch. The fat dog still anxiously waiting on the floor for fall out. He likes to wear things on his head and uncle RJ's stinky Guinness hat seems to be a favorite.

The next day the hat was no where to be found but, I turned around and saw him in this. Yup that is a little swimmer, a new one thankfully, because daddy does have a tendency to leave diapers laying around.
This morning Saige came in the kitchen in this get up and informed me she is a super alphabet number hunter with the power to make numbers and alphabets dance. That is a my little pony tied around her waist with an exercise band and no it wasn't very bright in here.
One more week until school starts. Last night was parents orientation. We meet her teacher, whom was very nice and saw her classroom, everything is so little, lol. I signed up for some volunteering with her class. Next Tuesday she will get to go she her classroom and meet the teacher and some of the other kids. She still needs a Pringles can to carry home papers and lunch money. I don't want to buy one, lol, someone will HAVE to eat the chips and I can NOT find a plastic Pringles can anywhere, and I have looked. Otherwise she is ready to go, she has more new clothes than I remember but when I went to get things organized I found a bunch of stuff I had forgotten about. Although she could use a pair of shoes to go with her dresses. The only thing is there are no sandals or clogs allowed. She LIVES in her fake crocs and I assume they fall in the clog category, she wont be liking having to wear sneakers.

I still don't want her to go :(