the country is going down the toilet faster than sludge.

Dems threaten National Security to force health 'reform'

yes, they did and yeah, it worked. :(

60th Senate vote locked in.

 

no, this crap isn't FREE like that idiot keeps blabbing. seriously, when did the government EVER give things for FREE?? WHO do you think pays for this??
geez!!!

Uncle Allen

 if anyone is friends with me on FB, you'll have seen one of my uncles passed away today.  he awoke from his coma yesterday enough to actually talk with people. I'm not sure how cognizant he actually was. I know my mom (and someone else) had left the room for a late lunch and he passed while they were gone. she was going to read to him when they got back to the room. she's very tore up cause she feels guilty for leaving him for that short time and not being in there.
I wasnt really close with this uncle. he lived so far away and has been sick for a few years (I'm thinking since Hunter was about Garretts age) so we've not gotten to see them for quite a while. but I did grow up around them. when I was living with my grandpa, we used to make trips down there to visit which I remember really well.
he was a good guy, very charismatic and expressive, always ready for a laugh or to sit down with you for a serious talk. he was also a bit of a prankster. :) he had a LOT of insight into things and was amazingly smart and more than happy to give you an opinion on stuff ;) his wife is a true southern belle, very gentle and sweet spoken, always been a kind and loving spirit within her. they have two kids (adults now), great people.
we're figuring the funeral will be friday as of now. not sure if I'll be able to go. dh out of town, mom and papaw down there, the last week of school for the kids and they have finals to complete, plus I dont see me driving to memphis by myself.
I'll just play it by ear.

***********************************

we put the ornaments on the tree tonight (by the urging of the kids) the bottom half of the tree is already half bare thanks to S. LOL
even Garrett helped put ornaments on, so cute, he was going "mommy! a ornmen!" he mostly put them all in the same location so I had to go spread some out later.  cute stuff!

today was long, but good. we left out for the city today. wanted to hit a few places for some Cmas shopping and to see if sams carried the battery for my PT. they do and its about $15 cheaper than here! got some odds and ends we needed there, had lunch, seen my sis and her family at sams (always fun!). went to target, found G2 a wooden train set in the $1 aisle! a tee for lily LOL and a few other needed things. stopped at gamestop (? used game store) and found 3 games for the boys for $30! they had a buy 2 get one free going on. awesome!)
stopped at the singer sewing center to check out the machines. I found one I really like. its by brother and it does embroidery and sewing ... but its $700, oy! computerized, touch screen, all that jazz, loadable stitches/designs etc too. wow, nice! I've not talked with dh about it yet, but I dont think we'll do it. gosh. maybe for tax return time, maybe?  its a huge step up from what I have now, that's for sure! LOL! I do need one and I want one that does what it offers. maybe we can find it for a better price elsewhere...
dashed back home to get the kids ready for the parade. after dropping them off dh and I met at the library to wait for it to start. when it started, we realized they were coming down the back side of the square first (they usually come the front side first) so we dashed over there just in time and we got a TON of candy LOL! after it'd all passed, we went back to the other side to rewatch the parade ( LOL) and got a very little bit of candy- they'd already tossed it all out! LOL, though we did get a teddy bear for S!
after the parade and getting the kids picked up, we took them to taco bell for dinner (I have NO dinner food in the house with dh out of town *blush*). then, dh took the boys home and me and the girls went to the $ store for a few things (lunch food for tomorrow, chicken and taters!).
finally home around 8:15 tonight. so loooooong day LOL
tomorrow its back to the city to get my battery (have to take my old one in) and a stop at the mighty $. I think we about have the Cmas stuff done. I still need to get a few more things between C and the boys. simple stuff though. I did get happy at target today cause we found a lego batman long sleeve tee! and picked up some star wars legos

ok, s is still up, grinning at me here LOL! little terd stays awake as long as she can.

OH, forgot to mention that I found her some baby doll furniture! I dug it out of K's old stuff. its disney princess, baby swing and walker  I was very happy about that!

dh and I have been going over ideas to build on to the house. (I'll inject that I'm obviously the one with the money sense here cause I had to convince dh NOT to move the whole kitchen/dining area to the newly planned areas! LOL) the way our house is laid out now, the puters are in the 'dining room' area. we'd like to make this the actual dining room, get the table out of teh kitchen and put in a good sized island (lots of counter space and cabinet/drawer space!). of course we have to have somewhere else to put the stuff in this area now. which there is NOwhere to move it to. nada! as you can imagine, we're a little tight in floor space here. LOL!
dh's plan was to convert the great room windows into a doorway to a new addition (this is my idea as well... I gave it to him ;) ) only he mentioned building a new kitchen area out there, moving all the existing out there, making the kitchen ... into something. I forget what!
so I kinda put my foot down. I like where my kitchen is and the dining area! so MY idea is to make the new addition out the back side of the house like planned, only make two rooms with it. one would be C's bedroom and the other a bonus area. we'd move all the bookshelves and extras currently in the great room to that area adn then we can move the puters in the great room. I'd rather not have the puters in another room with teens/kids OL. KWIM? it'd give us a lot more stretching room, get C his own room he needs, be MUCH cheaper to do and accomplish more and be something easy dh can do a lot by himself and we'd be done a lot quicker.

he agreed with MY idea.  now to just wait til it can be done. I'm SO itching to make more room here! man oh man!

got to have lunch with gavin today at school. he was so sweet! hugging and loving on me all the while. he even told me he was so proud that I was his momma cause I'm the "bestest" mom and also the prettiest. I told him it was good I put on makeup then so I'd not scare anyone!

I made pumpkin cupcakes for the kung fu dinner. gosh they were so good! TY stacy for sharing that recipe! I do have some food porn to share when I get the pics off the camera. hehe! I'm making more tomorrow for the moms bake sale saturday morning, only I'm putting the cream cheese icing IN the cupcakes before baking. I have no way to wrap them with the icing on top otherwise. ??

drop off was fairly ok today. G was telling me he wasnt going to preschool today so I figured it'd be a bit rough at dropoff. nothing more than a butt on the ground and a fuss as he walked up, so overall good. they're on break the whole week of Thanksgiving, so that'll give him time to miss it

my teeth cleaning/scaling went really well yesterday. the dentist was so impressed with "what a good patient" i was no numbing or pain meds, which if i'd thought of it I'd have taken a tylenol beforehand, but oh well. he got all kinds of crap off my teeth the calcium build up was bad and he was having a GOOD time! got me laughing several times cause he was saying things like "Oh wow!" "Look at that!!" "I just love days like this cause my job is so much fun!"
the crazy thing is how much different my teeth feel in back now! behind my front bottom teeth, I'd gotten used to feeling them as a kind of solid side. could only feel the ridges where my canines were. (my front bottom teeth are crowded so I should be feeling the ridges of them) and NOW, OMGosh! I actually gave myself a jaw ache from pushing my tongue against them, rubbing on my teeth and keeping my jaw together  I keep rubbing my tongue against my bottom back teeth, getting used to once again feeling the ridges back there. its like having something foreign in my mouth! *blush*
he also polished them, so they're all sparkly  I'll go back in April for a redo.
they are a bit sensitive for now til they get used to functioning without the calcium build up on them and today at lunch I took a swig of coke without putting my tongue against the back of those teeth and YIKES, it was like slapping a nerve with a frying pan!! LOL!

off to do other stuff. I did manage to sew my new kitchen blind today, paint the base coat of 3 ornaments, put some clothes away, do laundry and wash my hair. still need to vacuum and stuff. bleh. I just wanna sit and read!

I know I need to update, right?  I keep meaning too then I get caught up in something else. what's new?

last week was a good one. Garrett had all good drop off days but one, and that day I think it was just cause of the teacher that helped him out of the car (it wasnt one of HIS teachers) so i consider last week a success!
sarina had her 18 m check on wed. 29.13 lbs and 34", HC 19.25. the funny thing was the NP that did her check. this was the first time I'd met her (we usually see a certain dr) so I was surprised when she walked in... cause she looked like some model. even the clothes she was wearing. at first I was wondering if she was the NP! she was super nice though. LOL
FIL came in on saturday, dh got home on friday. kids had Boot Camp on saturday (the Vets bring the kids in to do this each year, they have a blast). it all went great til right at the end. S took a tumble down the steps where we were waiting for the boys to finish eating and didnt hit any steps, but when she got to the bottom (about 4 steps down) she head planted the wheel of her stroller. :P a nice BIG bruise is on her head from it. I think I'd rather that happened though cause if she'd not hit the stroller, she'd have face planted in gravel. which would be worse?  of course I'd rather she hadnt fallen at all, but since she did...

FIL was only in one day, had to bring in his tahoe to be worked on.
we went to church for a couple of hours yesterday before having lunch with him and seeing him off.

today I have my dentist appt, plus Tori is coming over at some point to get help with studying.

I'm very ticked at C this morning. that boy... its like he cant handle doing two things at once unless its listening to music and doing homework! he was to go to the dojo today after school for his ONE class a week for JUST this month so he could practice his forms and finish getting his blue belt. NOOOOOooooooooooo he said he was "too sore" to do this. (from baseball conditioning, which his last day of that was on friday and he wont do it again til tomorrow). I called dh cause I was ready to box C's ears for the disrespect he's showing his sifu. dh is upset with him too. 4 weeks ago it was one of the most important things to him and its taken him a year to get to this point. YET, he cant take ONE 45 minute class ONCE a week to accomplish this at the end of THIS month??? TEENAGERS!!!!!! we'd already talked to sifu about this and they were open to let him do it JUST so he could still get his belt. the little stink-wad will get a HUGE talk tonight. also to be told he gets to take no more morning showers! he gets in there and stays for over 30 minutes in the mornings! today he was just coming out (by my insistence) at 6:40 to get dressed. they have to be ready for the bus to be here by 6:45 cause she's usually here by 6:50. this has been an ongoing issue with him and we've tried and tried to get him to see the point, but he refuses. so no more morning showers for him!  I thought the girls were to be the ones hogging the bathrooms?? K is no problem at all

i have a parents lunch with Garrett this week at preschool (thursday), next week is Gavin. I think Hunter will be doing the Christmas dinner next month.

the kids are off the whole week of Thanksgiving. I'm liable to be asking if anyone wants an extra kid that week.

 

pics of G and S

halloween pics

tori got here after 3 and I did her hair and makeup. if anyone remembers, she's a platinum blond. hehe!


didnt do katlyns cause like I said she opted to go to bed LOL! I did get myself done up a bit though. ran out of time, so decided to just go as a normal me: Zombie Mom!


it was funny while I was doing my makeup, Garrett comes through my bathroom adn looks at me... stops and exclaims "WHAT YOU DO MOMMA?! WHAT YOU DO???"

the boys were Optimus Prime, Batman, Kung fu kid and Sarina was a halloween ballerina (I totally ran out of time to get her ready and had to nix my more detailed plan. Daddy was sporting a Punisher look, Canaan was dressed in camo (daddy's retired army gear) and went to a friends house while we took the kids in town.




we were going to do the trunk or treat on the square, but omg! the line to get in was longer than the candy givers! crazy stuff, so we went to the houses. our first year doing this if anyone remembers (last year was our first doing anything and we did the trunk or treat)
so here is S at her first door. tori was here helping with candy


garrett was funny cause he actually went IN the house LOL!
there were a couple that g was leery of going up to, but only for a few seconds. people dressed up and stuff. he was so nice tho saying his 'trick or treat' and 'thank you' (all the boys did). one time though he said "happy birthday!"
we took them to zaxbys for dinner after we picked up canaan. I have pics from there on my phone I need to get off.
so it was fun and there is NO telling how much candy garrett has snuck already. I had to put the candy in our room LOL

stopped at walmart today to check out the clearance stuff. found hunter a Bumblebee (transformers) costume half price! he'll be SO excited! it was the only one I could find and it was the size I needed! picked up a few other goodies, along with a bag of smarties  great treats for the LOs to snack on.
I took most of the kids candy and sent it to the schools as reward treats (they're always asking for wrapped candy). I kept the chocolates and small suckers. hehe!

Garrett did great at preschool drop off today! that's only the 2nd day he's not made some sort of fuss. lately he just fusses cause he thinks he needs to, but today he just stuck his lip out a little and went on his way. love those times!

dh is out of town again this week. back in Miss.
canaan starts baseball conditioning this week. tryouts arent til the 15th. he'll be dropping kung fu til ball is done, probably about 9 months. makes me sad though...

sarina is napping and I'm working on laundry and such til mom comes about 2:30. she's going to watch S and wait for the kids to get off the bus while I go to the dentist at 3. I'm really hoping its nothing BIG. (its been 14 years since I've seen a dentist.) mainly cause we've had no dental ins til recently. good thing we do now I guess.

I'm going to get a few things done before mom gets here. my days are short enough without having to stop doing things in the middle of it to do other stuff. :P I'll try to get back on tonight and catch up!

pics!

I love these pics! LOL



from sunday. daddy wanted a pic of her dressed up


thomas did this himself! when I left the room he'd climbed up on the bed under the sheet and his butt was sticking out. I came back in the room to find him like this!


this girl loves her noodles!


sarina! did you sneak a cookie??

been a good week. I keep meaning to update but then get caught up in other stuff and wait some more. then I forget all I was going to update on. its a cycle, what can I say?

so lets see...
I got to have lunch with dh on tuesday. he was working just south of us that day. we ate at our local flying J and will NEVER do that again! OMG! we should have gone to BK! for 2 burgers/fries and drinks it was $20!!!!!!  I about squeaked and turned purple when I seen that! geeezzzzzzzz!!! it was nice eating with him though, Sarina loves her daddy and was happy to see him mid day.

drop off yesterday was AWESOME for Garrett!! I was really in shock! when we pulled up to the drop off point, he says "I'm going to preschool mom." unbuckled himself, hopped out, put on his backpack, got a kiss and walked off to the bench! me and his helper teacher looked at each other and we both went "wow!"
of course today he had to show his tail a bit, but I think it was cause his usual teacher helper wasnt the one to help him get out of the car. cause he was fine until he seen her, then started in a VERY fake cry and a high pitched scream as she started to carry him up. then he just got down and walked to the bench with his lip stuck out. little terd LOL!

he got to go to the pumpkin patch on monday. its a cute little pumpkin he brought home. I still need to get a pic of him with it! :P

today after drop off, S and I went to the city to do some shopping! couldnt do a whole lot, but FIL gave me $50 he got as a refund so I was feeling the fun!  found some cool things at hobby lobby to use for Cmas gifts. and no I'm not saying what I found cause some of those people read this LOL!

my dad is sending me money so that Gav and Hunter can go to a kung fu lock-in this weekend! they'll be so excited!!

dh ended up having to go to michigan today. he's in Battlecreek til friday/saturday.

Garrett has his first parent / teacher meeting this coming week!

Hunter got his first report card in today. he had almost all S's except in "organizational skills", which I have to wonder what 2nd grade boy has?? LOL! so pretty proud of him!

Gavin earned $8 for his grades this time and C doesn't get any grades til before Turkey day.

hm.... I do have some great pics! still gotta get them off my camera first, but I've got some good ones!!

they've finally cut all the corn down from around our house today. so glad about that! of course Garrett missed seeing the tractors in action because of going to school, but he gets plenty of dirt area to play in now

OH, and Sarina is finally cutting those two bottom canine teeth! the top ones are still MIA, but we're getting there. ;)

 

Sarina's 18m stats

Sarina's 18m stats!
she's 29 lbs, 34", HC of 19.25" and wears sz 6 shoes and 2T clothes.

for comparison, the other kids:

Canaan 31 lbs, 35"
Katlyn 28.1 lbs, 35.5"
Gavin 30 lbs, 34.25"
Hunter 31 lbs, 35.5"
Garrett 27 lbs, 34", HC 19.5"


so she's right with Garrett on being the shortest, but up with Gavin on weight 

and I do have a few pics posted on FB from the weekend

 

weekend update

I've had a good last few days.
thursday I went to the city with my SIL to hit some goodwill shops. she was wanting some halloween clothes and I was looking for pants for C and K (both of whom totally outgrew their clothes from last year!) K is wearing a size 9jr or a ladies sz 7 now. (I wore a 7/8 through high school!) and C is in a 34x34! last year he was a 32x30 and 32x32! geez a mighty! I got lucky for K and found her about 5 pr total, so she can at least dress herself for a 5 day week. C I found nothing. nada. zip! he did end up getting a pair of 36x34 from papaw and we found 2 pair of camo pants from dh's army days, plus he has one pair I know he can wear that he had. guess its good guys dont mind wearing the same thing over and over
I did score a couple of tops for me and one pair of jeans. plus hit a stash for S at the last goodwill. someone had dropped off a whole load of new Gymbo and Old Navy items! I found one Gymbo white halter top that was a sz 4, but it can be worn as a dress next summer.  couldnt pass it up! found some summer dresses of ON, a pair of jeans, some tops and even scored her a dress for SIL's wedding!  love that!

the whole weekend was fast. gosh! K finally got to stay with a friend on friday night. she'd brought all her F's up on her report card so I let her go. (she still had 3 D's, but at least no F's). saturday was the kick-a-thon and Lily to the groomers, plus we hit the grocery (and spent way too much).

I fixed a big pot of chili to simmer that night so we could stay home and eat after church.  gooooooooooood stuff! sunday was a bum day after church. I put on my spongebob pj pants and vegged the rest of the day

today K is going to see Dracula at the theatre, Gavin has his school pics taken and G is going to the pumpkin patch with preschool. theres a moms GTG at the park at 9:30, but I'm skipping cause it's freaking COLD outside and S is still sleeping

today, like I said, is my cleaning house day. all the major stuff anyway. 2nd load of laundry is in, floors been swept/mopped, some clothes put up, cat boxes cleaned/filled so far.

OH, totally forgot to mention on Friday was the homecoming parade in town. my mom went with us. S ended up falling asleep in her van so Garrett and I stood out on the sidewalk to collect candy. we got to see C while waiting (they let all the HS kids walk around the square). we got SO much candy! it fills a gallon zip loc bag! but I tell you what, I must have done 10 million squats to get it cause my top thigh muscles were KILLING me!!! OMG! saturday and sunday I was in agony. today I'm feeling normal, just a slight twinge when I squat. who'd have thunk that going to a parade to collect candy would do me in??

 

the appt went well. it was looooooooooong though  over 2.5 hrs there! geez! the good news though is that the dr just recommended he try some +100 reading glasses ($1.00 at the $ tree!) for 6 weeks and then go back for a recheck. the dr is very pleased with how well he's doing since he seen him last in jan. 08 (different dr than who did his surgery). he agreed that the eye turning in is pronounced, but only when he's straining on something. he said we can do another surgery, but at this point it'd only be for cosmetic reasons. I cant see putting G through that for just looks.
so good news!  he'll just have to fend off those few who may pick on him for his eyes at times. *sigh*

we got back in town about 5:30 so met dh and my mom at captain ds for dinner. amazing how sitting and waiting so long makes one so tired 

K stayed with her friend dana tonight. tomorrow I'll go to the bank and such. I'll also need to drop by the car place to finish paying on Tori's car (had to do all the leg work for her trading in her vehicle for FIL).
C wants to go to the football game tomorrow night. not sure about that. hmmm... mostly cause it tends to run so late and I really dont like having to be in town about 11pm to pick him up. :P

 

Garretts first ride on the bus!

I had dreams this morning (as I laid back in bed to enjoy the quiet after the big kids left), that I didnt get G ready in time so he dressed himself. long sleeve shirt, shorts and it was snowing outside!  can we say I was thinking about him catching the bus today?
he caught the bus fine. I think she got there about 10:10. not sure cause i didnt have my phone on me. he jumped on the trampoline, picked rocks and played in the yard while we waited. S eventually wandered back up to the porch to play with Lily.
he was amazed at teh big ol bus there to pick HIM up! I thought it'd be a small bus, but nope, its a big one!
S is watching Fresh Beats while I do this. she's not asked for "gary" yet but I figure it'll be soon.

a few jumps while waiting for the bus!





being told to watch for the bus drivers signal to cross the street

Garretts first day of preschool

I consider today a success! I had plenty of grouchy "OMG" moments, but we got through most of it already with no bruises or other boo boos and my hair is in tact, so I call it a success
I got G to school about 11:30 since I thought they started at 12. nope. they started at 11:30 all was fine though and he went right on in, only a couple of times running back to me for a mommy moment, then off again to explore his new room. the other kids were already involved in book time (wow, they were SITTING and looking at books : ). tomorrow the bus will be picking him up, so he'll be picked up anywhere from 10 to 10:30! wow!! he wont get off the bus with K until about 4:15, so that's a lot of time with just S and I!
today I splurged and took she and I to McDs for lunch after dropping him off. took a bunch of stuff to cosign as I had to do a mad dash through all the tubs to find fall items for the boys! thankfully I found a lot of 4t stuff for G to wear .
S fell asleep on the way home so I let her stay there til we left to go get G. maybe she'll get regular naps now!
ok, bus driver just called and he has to be ready by 10 am!
macaroni for dinner tonight. thinking of fixign some of the kids lunches for school...

 

so G didnt go to school yesterday, not his fault, the school were out yesterday for an in-service day he goes today though! I'm excited and just hope I remember to take pics! he wont go in til noon, so that gives Sarina plenty of time to sleep and me to wake upthe temps have been crazy cool so far this week. yesterday highs were in the upper 60s/low 70s and today its supposed to be 67. the only bad thing is we have no heat.  we need to get a new computer board for the heat pump and til we do its only set to put out a/c. the lows have been in the mid 40s so by morning its chilly in here.
I hate cold weather and yes, I feel a cold coming on since yesterday.

in the morning I'm going to a moms GTG! I was called up and invited for the starting up of a new moms group in town, so figure I'll drag the kids out to see about it. :) hopefully we'll survive LOL

some funny things: I rented a new series from netflix this week. um, needless to say I wasnt prepared for it! I'd not seen it on tv, just have been seeing the ads for it, so got it. good thing I didnt pop it into the tvs dvd player so the kids could see!!! it's True Blood LOL! WOW, can we say I was going woah !!!!!!!! dh laughed at me when I told him LOL! warning to the masses: NOT TO BE VIEWED AROUND KIDS!!! omgosh! LOL!!!!

Sarina was a TOTAL pill today. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh (is that long enough?) everything was something to cry at today. not just a cry, the head thrown back, squealing/screeching sobbing cries that eventually end up with a toddler flopped on the floor in a heap of wails. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh (ok, that one looks better) and she wouldnt take a nap! even worse! she DID go to bed easily tonight though! HA!!
she's also woken up once during the night the past two nights. totally not like her at.all. I cant even remember the last time she woke during the night before this. I'm figuring its those darn canine teeth. all four of them are still MIA and her with an otherwise full set of choppers (we can call her gappy LOL) so I think they're trying to make an appearance and she's not taking it very well.
come on tooth fairy, throw me some teeth erupting dust!!

Garrett amazed me today! now this will seem awful to you all I'm sure, but truly i was amazed! that boy watched 3 (count them), three full length movies today! :huh: yeah! tell me about it, I was floored! he was watchign one of the early morning shows like Kai Lan or something when he seen a commercial for the new Scooby movie. "I wanna watch Scooby momma!" and he kept on and on, so I said fine adn got the first one I came to, which was the first live action movie. I popped it in thinking he'd sit for 5 minutes and then be off playing. NOPE! he sat and watched the whole thing (minus one quick pee break). laughing at it during the funny parts even! when the credits started rolling, he started hollering for more!
so I found Scooby Doo 2 and put it in. thinking surely he'd be up in 5 minutes! NOPE! he watched the whole dang thing! :huh: (he thought the farting was especially funny LOL)
when that was done he was yelling for more schooby, but I'd forgotten about the animated ones and talked him into Alladin instead. he agreed and watched about 90% of that one!
now this just floors me cause this kid normally is just in and out of things so fast! I've NEVER seen him dedicate that much attention to one thing (besides playdoh or trucks. and the 10% of Alladin was missed because of playdoh LOL).
so yeah, I let him sit through 3 movies today, but hey! maybe its showing he can sit still and pay attention now! that's a positive thing to me! LOL!!!

his next preschool eval is on friday!

c's bday party

so I'm resting finally! its been SUCH a long day. wow, bday party days always make me dog tired!
so it started out I still had to go to the store this morning. FIL got in last night late and I had to get up early thanks to hunter LOL.
I got done with food getting about 10. back to the house so we can get everything finished up and together to head to the park. I even still had to decorate the cake! (which thankfully was easy per C's wishes!)
so we're running late and about 1 we're heading to the park... only to find out its CLOSED today cause of a tractor pull!  yeah, if we wanted in the park at 1:00, we'd have to pay $5 per person for a pull that was at 7pm!! I gave them a few choice words to say the least! UGH! so we turned back around to come home for teh party.
my house was a wreck and all these people are here *sigh* how embarrassing! :P
throwing stuff around and making a quick clean up though I guess it was doable. we finally ate about 2:30 I think.
C had 6 friends over, my mom and Sdad, my dad, our family, my brother, my SIL and her fiance and my FIL. :) 21 people, not bad!
we set up some quick table space outside to give more room (my house is just way too small to accomodate all these people inside!!) and it worked out much better.
dh and FIL took C and his friends bowling around 5. still waiting on them to get home! I'm sure they're having a ball!
got pics, just need to resize to share.

gavin and hunter went home with my dad, we'll pick them up tomorrow after the reunion they were super excited to be going of course!

we'll be leaving about 9am and I have NO idea when we'll be back. I know i'll be tired cause it'll be a lot of driving. :P

I know C got a lot of $, I think $60 last he told me. that's what he wanted! we'll see how long he keeps it LOL!

braces are done!

today went really well. for those who have me on FB, I tried to post updates as we progressed, but the pics I sent didnt go through. I've tried posting tonight on there, but FB is being a PILL and its just not working. :P I do have pics from PB that I'll post in here though

our time at the ortho office was about 3 hours. he got blue bands put on front. he's learning quickly about what he can or cant eat. *snort* his first venture after the office was to get a jr burger. uh huh. I tried to talk him out of it, but do we know how hard headed a teen is? yep! he got about half of it down before giving up and eating 2 of my chic nuggets, then a few fries adn called it quits. he tried ramen tonight and that was not well. its not really the braces that are bothering him, its the expander in the roof of his mouth. it seems to catch all the food
he loves his new toothbrush (oral b pro sonic thing) courtesy of the orthodontists office (which it should be considering how much these braces cost!)
my sis came over and hung out with me for about half the visit, made it nice since C was kinda occupied LOL!
afterwards I took him to the mall to get the new Skillet CD for his bday and we went to wendys. (read above)

a few other stops to get errands done as well. gosh, Sams, best buy, guitar repair shop, gavin's school, $ store, picked up the two LO's from mom in town, then home for when sis got off the bus.

sarina has a fever tonight. she's not been as poopy, but tired and cranky would describe her very well. she's still awake right now tho and is in the "I'm not tired! really I'm not *yawn*" stage. LOL

tomorrow I have parent/teacher meetings. my earliest is at 8 am. dang it. :P

ok, I'll do pics next post.

oh, FIL didnt get in tonight, he had another load to carry, so will be in tomorrow, as will dh.



I love this pic. he's discovered that eating a burger will not be the same for the next 20 months!

so in the morning, C goes to get his braces and expanders put on! I'm taking me a book along since I have no idea how long this will take. i'm hoping to meet up with my sis as well. I told C I'd take him to FYE afterwards for a new CD he's wanting. it'll be his bday gift (which he's very excited to get it before his bday too )

FIL is supposed to be in tomorrow as well. it'll be a busy weekend! tomorrow is braces, kids are off on friday, plus FIL will be in and I have my usual running to do. saturday we're having C's 14th bday party! it'll be out at the park so there wont be a ton of clean up! then sunday we'll be going to Burkesville for a family reunion on dh's side as well as hoping to meet up with my dad that day since he'll be in the neighboring town.
friday is also parent/teacher meetings! gotta remember that!
monday the kids are off school of course.

sarina's not felt 100% today. she's had the poops and her bottom has been getting red cause of it. not sure what's causing it: teeth? bug? dont know. she had a low grade fever this morning, but otherwise is fine. no runny nose, etc, just the poops. we're still waiting on her canine teeth to come in, so those could be the culprits. guess we'll find out.

canaan's got spacers

today Canaan had his spacers put in in preperation for his braces. he's not feeling that great tonight. his mouth is sore adn said his tummy is upset as well. we'll see how he's doing in the morning for if he can go to school. I hope he does perk up cause these are nothing compared to how the actual braces will feel. :(

today Canaan and Hunter also graduated up to the next level belt in Kung Fu! Canaan is now a 2nd level green while Hunter is up his first belt to yellow. very proud of both of them! (in case anyone forgot, we pulled K and G cause of non-concentration in class. gavin really wants to get back in, but now its a matter of $ too. :P)

they're all earning an environmental badge this week though. the class gives out certain badges for doing certain projects and this semester was environment: recycling. since we do recycling here at the house all the time, it was a no brainer to get this badge

the kids were off school today too, so tomorrow its back to the grind. I think Garrett will miss everyone. :)

oh, his preschool eval is on friday! I'm excited about it for him, but also worried.

ugh, I'm so glad today is done. it was one of those dang days. not to mention I was CLUMBSY today! I hate days like that. I knocked over at least 3 food items today, not to mention dripping paint on the new floors (it cleaned up) and other stuff.

like I said above, I've gotten most things put back where they go. tossed some stuff too and making my stack for goodwill. the funny thing is that the bathroom feels bigger! its weird! it has an echo to it now without the carpet in there (no carpet! its so easy to clean!!!!!!!!!!) and it just feels bigger!
I do have pics, just need to unload the camera. I'll have gavin's bday party on there tomorrow too.

I'm doing a lego/batman cake for gav. hoping it turns out like I'm imagining it!

Garrett mashed hsi fingers in the car door tonight. he's gotten where he likes getting in the cars. I started locking them just cause of that, but daddy didnt and he was messing around in his and got his index/middle fingers of his left hand. its ok now, but we're hoping that'll teach him not to get in them. (I can hope, right??)

Sarina is telling people to "stop!" LOL! Canaan was loving on me tonight in front of her and she hollered it at him.  quite funny!

oh, forgot: took the boys to buy shoes nite before last. we had quite a foot growth spurt! hunter went from a youth 13 to a sz 2. gavin went from a 2.5 to a 4.
their little toes are much happier!

the remodel work on our floors is coming along well. today they got the top floor laid down and early tomorrow the men that will lay the new linoleum (SP?) will be here. hopefully my house will be back to rights by wednesday evening? would be nice! I'll be painting tomorrow as well, so still dont expect to see me much on here. :P
my house is chaos. we've not had the washer hooked up since friday evening so I'll be up to my armpits in laundry when its hooked back up! my whole bedroom is just.... ugh! that's where all the stuff from the utility room and bathroom AND master closet has gone (with exeption of cabinetry, washer/dryer. I'll get a pic of that mess tomorrow. i can get in on one side of the bed.

(I'll have to post this tomorrow since a storm is moving in and it knocked my net out :P )

I have to call about the kids computer. the power blinked the day before yeaterday and now it wont come on.  of course gavin and katlyn are going nuts at not being able to get on.

school is going great, seems they all like it so far. Hunter told me friday that he was being so good he'd not gotten his name on the board!
gavin brought home his math book today, they'll be using saxon math :)
and of course today started the *real* work since the 3 days last week were just intros basically.

hunter likes riding the bus. on Mon/Tues and Thurs they all get dropped off at the dojo and I meet them up there. lots easier than waiting in line at all the schools to pick them up!

hm.... oh, Hunter taught himself how to ride a 2 wheel bike last week!  he called me outside and said "momma! come watch me ride this cool new bike!" (2 guys at work had given dh 2 'new' bikes for the boys). and he trucked right around the driveway on it! I was so proud of him!

Garrett is doing really well, not that he's magically morphed into an angel, but he's doing really good during the days when the kids are gone. I hardly have any problems between him and sarina. the days are pretty darn nice IMO!

he's been TOTALLY entertained while the workers have been here. its all right up his alley, tools, dirt, man stuff LMBO! the first day he came and emptied the water heater, that was 50 gallons of water that garrett got to play in! LOL!!

guess I'll post this if it'll let me, then go read a bit before bed. I have been getting up when the kids are getting ready and will HAVE to tomorrow since the floorers will be here early. *yawn*

8-2-09 gavins baptism!

gavin was loving it cause the water was warm LOL!

first day of school pics

 

 

AWWWWWWW tender baby moment!! garrett was walking away and says "I love you mom!" (normal behavior for him) and sarina goes "I ya ma!"  that was cool! 

 

one year apart...

 last year 7-29-08


this year 7-29-09

The American Spectator
July 24, 2009
By Ben Stein

We've Figured Him Out

Why is President Barack Obama in such a hurry to get his socialized medicine bill passed?

Because he and his cunning circle realize some basic truths:

The American people in their unimaginable kindness and trust voted for a pig in a poke in 2008. They wanted so much to believe Barack Obama was somehow better and different from other ultra-leftists that they simply took him on faith.

They ignored his anti-white writings in his books. They ignored his quiet acceptance of hysterical anti-American diatribes by his minister, Jeremiah Wright.

They ignored his refusal to explain years at a time of his life as a student. They ignored his ultra-left record as a "community organizer," Illinois state legislator, and Senator.

The American people ignored his total zero of an academic record as a student and teacher, his complete lack of scholarship when he was being touted as a scholar.

Now, the American people are starting to wake up to the truth. Barack Obama is a super likeable super leftist, not a fan of this country, way, way too cozy with the terrorist leaders in the Middle East, way beyond naïveté, all the way into active destruction of our interests and our allies and our future.

The American people have already awakened to the truth that the stimulus bill -- a great idea in theory -- was really an immense bribe to Democrat interest groups, and in no way an effort to help all Americans.

Now, Americans are waking up to the truth that ObamaCare basically means that every time you are sick or injured, you will have a clerk from the Department of Motor Vehicles telling your doctor what he can and cannot do.

The American people already know that Mr. Obama's plan to lower health costs while expanding coverage and bureaucracy is a myth, a promise of something that never was and never will be -- a bureaucracy lowering costs in a free society. Either the costs go up or the free society goes away.

These are perilous times. Mrs. Hillary Clinton, our Secretary of State, has given Iran the go-ahead to have nuclear weapons, an unqualified betrayal of the nation. Now, we face a devastating loss of freedom at home in health care. It will be joined by controls on our lives to "protect us" from global warming, itself largely a fraud if believed to be caused by man.

Mr. Obama knows Americans are getting wise and will stop him if he delays at all in taking away our freedoms.

There is his urgency and our opportunity. Once freedom is lost, America is lost. Wake up, beloved America.

Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes "Ben Stein's Diary" for every issue of The American Spectator.

hey, I'm here, been lurking a bit and trying to post. hadnt gotten the gumption up to post an update
been busy, as usual and just feel like vegging when I sit down here at night.

let's see... dont remember what I last posted and I dont want to flip back a page, so I'll start where I think I left off.
C's team won their regional tourney, so they're going to state. they were supposed to play yesterday, but it got rained out, so they'll be heading up today to play tonight at 6. if they win, they play again... hmmm... it was supposed to be tonight, but maybe it'll be friday now. and if they lose they'll play saturday.

C was at youth camp this past weekend and had a great spirit filled time, he was really fired up when he came back.  K is eager to go next year (she'll be in youth then, she couldnt go this year yet)

monday dh went to Athens, TN for work, but got to come home tuesday night cause he was going to the tourney with C. he's taking vacation days the rest of this week.

tuesday was student registration for all the schools. I had tori come and sit with the kids while I did that. I have everyone done! (had to finish hunter up yesterday) so the oldest 5 are ready for school now. I've got most of the school supplies, have about 1/3 of the lists still to get. dont have C's yet, I'm guessing he'll get his at Freshmen orientation on the 31st or maybe Wmart will have a list.
K likes her homeroom teacher! I met Gav's teachers and they both seem really nice (and I told him they were pretty ;). I talked to a couple of the preschool teachers as well. Garretts eval is on Aug. 28th at 9:30.
I'm really hoping he doesnt get one of the teachers I met. she didnt smile at ANYTHING. EVER. I mean, geez!! the other was super friendly.

that day I also had dropped Lily off at the groomers. oh, the original groomer I called monday to set up an appt and she no longer was in business! oh well I didnt look forward to going in there anyway. found another who is actually closer to me (woot!) and was $35 for teh works. included getting her teeth done, her ears cleaned, haircut of my choice, nails done, bath, perfume, bandana. she looked SOOOOOOOOOO pitiful when I dropped her off! omgosh! I was ready to turn around and go back and get her! its like her little brown eyes were saying "you're leaving me???" geez! can you tell I'm hooked??  but she was so very excited to see me when I got her! she was bouncing around all excited and that little curly tail was just a goin'!  the groomers said she did great for them.  they did notice that when she was in her cage she sat with her back to them, facing the wall. they said that's a trait that a dog whose been in a cage alot (shelter or for breeding) will exhibit.  my poor little furbaby.
the groomer also didnt think she was a pekepoo like the owners had said. her hair is wavy, not curly, but I've seen plenty of pekepoos whos hair is only wavy.  the groomer was guessing a shih tzu/maltese mix maybe.
anyhoo, Lily looks so dang cute now! we had her trimmed up short all over except her tail and head and she had her head hair trimmed up and cleaned. she looks so tiny now! LOL!! I've not been in a big picture taking mood, but got one pic the day she came home from the groomer:


I also had to do Hunter's pysical taht day at the health dept. oy! I was first in line and it still took me 2 hours! :P
my day tuesday went like this:
out the door at 8:30, drop Lily off at groomers, grab breakfast, go to school to register (2 hrs+). go to walmart for a few school supplies while by myself and grab a snickers bar. check on Lily (not done), go home and pick up Hunter and race back in town (physicals started at 1) first in line at health dept. proceed to wait 2 hrs before we're done and can leave. stop and pick up Lily. race back home, have kids get into kung fu gear and go back into town. drop them off, meet Tori at McDs (she had to leave before I could get back) and then sit with her and yak for an hour. back and pick up kids, take C to ball practice-met dh there. back home around 6:30, walk dog again, fix dinner amist the chaos of being gone all day (the house was a WRECK), dh and C get home and we eat, clean up kitchen-C does dishes, then FINALLY get to sit down and feel like a lump! 
yesterday I had a WIC appt at 10 and had to take Garrett with me. dh had a dr appt at 9. he picked up Garrett when the nurse was done with him so I could take Hunter's final paperwork over to teh school to finish his registration.

today after getting up, I went to sit at the couch to find C had left a cup sitting there. well when I picked it up, it was swarming with ants!!!!!!  so dh adn I proceeded to upend the couch, tear it apart and clean EVERYTHING. amazing how much crap gets pushed under a couch and through the couch cushions. :P now how I wanted to spend my morning, but its done and much better now.
dh is back at the dr getting his results. they're supposed to leave around 2 I think.
plus K is going to another friends house. she was gone tuesday night as well. 3 bday parties in one week. LOL! another one tomorrow night!

oh, earlier in the week I did all the corn that had been given to us. our freezer is certainly full now! corn all winter! LOL!

so that's my update! I'm sure there's more but that's fried my brain enough for now.

 

meet Lillie!

I admit, I was really nervous last night being her first night home! kinda like bringing a baby home the first night, not knowing what to expect, but expecting the worst LOL!
the good news is she did fabulously! I was planning on leaving the gate up from the kitchen so she'd be enclosed between the utility room and my bathroom, but she didnt want that. (whined so pitifully) so I took the gate down and she trotted in to lay on the couch and such. LOL!
she does SO great with the kids, tells us when she needs to go out, let us sleep all night (whew!) and is just a really good girl!
even the cats outside dont worry her. they were rubbing all over her yesterday/today LMBO! and she's the same size as Angel (one of our outside cats) so thats funny in itself!
she loves her doggie chew sticks and the dog biscuit the lady at the bank gave her. the cats love her dog food LOL
she doesnt chew on stuff, she loves laying on pillows/beds and crawling under blankets. so cute! she does great on her leash. she's still not barked LOL!
she's a bit sneezy, not sure if that's just her or if its from the surgery meds or if its a cold. they gave me antibiotics for her JIC.
the kids are crazy over her and she's just a super friendly dog! when my mom came to see her yesterday, Lillie ran over to her and reached up on her legs to be picked up LOL! my mom came in carrying her and said "she loves me!" hehe! and mom wants us to bring her over whenever we come, of course. LOL!
the kids want her to ride EVERYwhere we may go. I had to decline taking her to kung fu yesterday cause I have a hard enough time keeping up with S and G during that time. :P
so we're happy she's here!!
OH, funny thing! last night when dh was going to bed, he came in here to me and said "me and your pickachu may not get along. she's in my bed."
*giggle/snort*
so I reminded him taht the cats are constantly sleeping at the foot of our bed. to which he happily argued that they didnt LOL!
I went in to check on her and she was laying on his side of the bed, under his blanket LMBO!!!

 

dh is home tonight!!  he's currently at ball practice with canaan.
tomorrow night is the ball game where the kung fu academy is going to do the pregame show and C throws in the first pitch! exciting!!
Katlyn is staying with a friend tonight.
yesterday C and K had their first visit with an orthodontist.
the big news is that before school starts, Canaan will be in braces!!!  he'll be the first one started cause he's the easiest. he goes in on the 27th for his spacers to be put in and on the 2nd or 3rd he'll have the braces and upper expander put in.
on teh 27th, K goes in at the same time for her surgical consult.
her's will be more complicated of course. once we figure out her plan of action, she'll have her braces. about a year after they're put on, she'll have surgery to have her lower jaw set back and then continue with the braces for another 6 months or so. (I think that's right, trying to remember what I was told).
she still has 6 baby teeth in her head!!!  two are ready to fall out if she'd just pluck them out! the ortho told her that if she sneezed hard enough they'd fall out LOL!
I've warned her they need to get out THIS weekend. the 4 she has on top are causing her adult teeth to come in crooked. so she's causing herself unneeded problems. *sigh*
the costs of doing this is going to be substantial.  which I never figured it'd be cheap of course, but still...  its worth it, they really need it! I'll have to get pics of before and then later to show what a difference it makes for them. I'm just thankful we've worked on our debt enough to even DO this. not that we wont have to watch our pennies like crazy, but it'll at least be doable, KWIM?? a year ago it'd have been a pipe dream!

now, dog news! we got to go visit Lillie today (and yesterday found out her real name is Chloe, and she's not a shih tzu, she's a peekapoo!) she is just THE most adorably sweet dog!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!! she never once barked while we were there, and this is with the whole yard/kennel of dogs making tons of noise. she rolled over so we could rub her belly, she happily tolerated the kids (had all but C with me), walked with K on a leash in the yard/sidewalk, likes to be carried LOL, and didnt give a fig if the cats were by her!! she's perfect!!!
today was the final day the owners had to reclaim her so they should call in the morning to let me know she's ready to adopt! (there were 4 other apps on her and one of the other applicants called while we were visiting with her! the worker told them "I dont see the approved adoptive family wanting to give her up, but if they do we'll let you know" LOL)
she'll have to stay til monday when she gets spayed and then we can pick her up that evening or tuesday morning. we went and bought a doggie brush for her today and a new leash. got to find a collar at walmart (didnt have one at mighty dollar we liked). I also stopped at a local pet groomer and got an appt for wednesday for her to get a bath, clip, etc (the works as she says). she has some matting in her hair on the lower back and she's a bit dirty (as you can tell from her pic), but she'll be spruced up and ready to go after that! though I'm only likely to use this groomer this one time: I walked in (its a private residence) and talk about being blown over from cig smoke!!! OMG! my parents smoke but I dont walk in and feel like I'm standing in LA smog! yuck!!!!! the kids could smell it all over me when I got back in the truck. :(
I'm really excited to get her! (I'll be crushed if they call tomorrow and tell me she got reclaimed! LOL)
OH, and the info I got today was that the owners didnt want her spayed and didnt have the $ to get her out of the pound otherwise. I have a feeling they had gotten her to breed peekapoo pups. I'm not worried about having puppies, so I'm just fine with getting her spayed!

ok, is that a good update? LOL! I'm sure I could think of more, but I'm losing my train of thought LOL!

trying to get back into this

crazy busy week!
I filed claims for some house work done with the ins. company. we need a new roof (have leak stains in 4 places and its 12 yrs old w/ lots of hail damage and other natural damage), plus our utility room floor-back when the old water heater busted, it warped the floor. dh just doesnt have time to do it, so I filed a claim on it to get the floor fixed. its like walking on a roller coaster in there!
so anyway, I was supposed to have the adjuster out today, but she never showed. I had one contractor come to take measures, I have 2 others supposed to come (tomorrow? thursday??), roofing estimate tomorrow (?!), plus we're having a new section added to our drive for FIL's big truck so it wont ruin our yard when he's parked here and so the gravel truck will be here tomorrow.
not to mention I have to go in town at 9 am to get the car looked at (dh thinks its missing a plug in the undercarriage cause when its wet outside, my drivers side floor board gets wet), then drop C off for band practice.
thursday morning I'm taking C and K to another dentist for a 2nd opinion on the kind of work they'll need to get their teeth fixed.
saturday is the Hot Rods ball game. the Kung Fu academy is getting a special day there, the students get to show off their dragon dancing, run the bases, special seating, and Canaan gets to throw in the first pitch! (his Sifu wanted him to do this) dh, I, mamaw, papaw, C, Gavin are going, along with about 30 people from the dojo. it'll be fun!! I'll be sure to get pics

so all that is another reason I'm not on here much. I'm feeling kinda overwhelmed currently, especially between G's behavior and dh being out of town (totally related :P ) but I'll make it. always do.

I've got a whole tub+ of stuff to get to goodwill now. been clearing out the boys room this week. trying hard to make it more spacious (ie: less clutter and unneeded stuff, including clothes not needed). its a chore, for sure, but much needed!
now the rest of the house to do! LOL!!

7-4-09

hmmm... new Sarina stuff:
she has 4 molars coming in. 2 on top are already through and the two bottom are about half way in.
she has new words and she's nodding her head.
she told C to "top" when he was picking on her earlier today
she does really well with the new kitten. she calls Misty a baby and loves petting her

we're celebrating Hunter's 7th birthday tonight since dh will be out of town come monday. he's only asked for transformers and leggos, so that's what he's getting
he's asking for present time right now, along with GAvin who is, I think, more eager for H to open his gifts!
(Gavin is telling him to jump around acting all eager and begging to open gifts, and Hunter tells him "I'm a big boy now, I dont do like kids." )