Really.....I do feed her

The Little Jamaican is always "hungy" these days and if I don't feed her when she thinks I should, she will help herself. She has an itchy nose because of this days choice. Can you tell what it is? I'll give you a hint........It was in the pantry in a canister and I'm not talking about the crackers she knocked on the floor.
Give up? OK, it was the whole wheat flour. The girl was eating right out of the canister with her fingers.

Trend setter.......

Do you remember this? As you can see, the Wild Child's leg has healed quite nicely. The real trouble here is is that in order for her to let me take care of her, she made me promise to not take the bandage off without her permission. I am a mom of my word, so I would only remove the part of the bandage that she would let me. This means, if the bandage was still attached to hair, I was not allowed to remove it. So I cut as much off as she would let me and prayed that the rest would fall off, soon. I even instigated many long showers with lots of lotion after and that darn thing kept holding on.

Fortunately, her dad did not make the same deal with her as I did. The Rocket Scientist decided ten days of this was all he could take of looking at the lovely remaining bandage. So Thursday night, he ripped that thing off. She wailed and cried like a hungry newborn. Truth be told, not much of it was still even stuck to her leg. Though there was one little part that took some of her leg hair, which apparently warranted 15 minutes of said crying to punish the man with the audacity to remove her trendy accessory.

It's a squash for cryin' out loud!

Did I mention that two of my children are in a charter school? Well, they are. The Wild Child and the 1st One are. The Little Jamaican goes to preschool a few blocks over and I am home schooling My Son for now.

So the charter school my kids go to is an Expeditionary Learning School. I won't bore you with all the details of that, but if your curious, Google it. You will find a ton about it. The biggest thing I like about is not only are my children learning in a cooperative manner, they are becoming thinkers. You know, not just memorizing a bunch of stuff and spitting it back at you, but honest to goodness, thinkers. One of the things my kids like about this school is that there are a lot of field trips.

This week the Wild Child went to a farm with her class. She is in Kindergarten and they are learning about trees. So on this adventure they got to pick apples and peaches off of some trees. Even better than that, they got to keep them and eat them. She was in heaven. Apparently that was not all they got to pick, because she came home with this:

Now here is where this gets a little strange. Yesterday, I catch her giving this pumpkin a bath. She has filled the bathroom sink with water and is using the foaming hand soap to scrub this squash like it were her offspring. Later she has it wrapped in baby blanket, sitting on her lap watching TV. I mention to her that it food, not a toy. She smiles and says she knows. After the Sea Monkeys were in bed and fast asleep, I went in to make sure they were all covered. You know what I found in her bed right? Yes, it was tucked in next to her.

Today, other than school, the Wild Child and this pumpkin have been inseparable. At one point she was using it like a bowling ball. I had to explain that this was not something that was going to work out since this might put an end to her precious pumpkin. She quickly picked it up and hugged it.

Seriously, you've seen the pictures. IT'S A PUMPKIN!

How bad do you need that bra?

A few days ago, a friend of mine, who will remain linkless to protect her innocence, met me for lunch at the mall. While there she mentioned that she needed to purchase a sports bra since she has started exercising and has been blessed with more than her share of , ummmmm, let's just say, she makes my look like I haven't hit puberty yet.

Anyway, on to the adventure. I had My Son and the Little Jamaican with me. I don't know if I have ever mentioned any shopping trips with said Sea Monkeys, but bra shopping is not something I really enjoy with them. When we reach the lingerie department My Son squeals and the only way to put this is, starts groping the padded bras. The "crazy man" giggle immediately follows. The Little Jamaican starts chanting, "Boobies, boobies, booooooooooooooobiiiiiieeeeeees!" Why must they be so embarrassing?

Just an exaggeration....

If you ask my son to smile, this is what you are going to get. Just so you know.

Nope, he's not in pain. It always cracks me up that he thinks this is what a smile looks like. I keep thinking why does he think that his eyes need to be squinted almost closed? Then I caught my reflection when someone had made me smile and realized that my eyes get really small and squinty when I smile sometimes. I have always argued that children are an exaggeration of their parents. I believe this is case in point.

See the Little Jamaican? I think that may not even be an exaggerated version of one of my expressions. That is my, "Why would you possibly think it is ok to be mixing my flour and sugar back in forth in the canisters?" look.

As long as I am on this topic, once I told my sister this theory and she didn't speak to me for months. Her son was going through a particularly difficult to parent time. I was half serious, half crackin' a joke at the time. I wonder if she agrees with now.?

Random......it is how I feel.

Today started early. The Rocket Scientist needed a lift to the Airport so that he could catch his flight to Ston Stinks, Alabama. Oh, did you just ask where? You see the Wild Child got really sick of her dad traveling so much to Florida and Alabama that she actually started asking in her prayers at night that her dad would not go to Ston Stinks, Alabama or Ston Stinks, Florida, AND then follow it up with another Ston Stinks. That was about a year ago she started that and it has just stuck. So, the day started early leaving me feeling really tired and feeling completely random. Some might call it ADD. I'm sure it feels similar.



The following picture is the view from my front yard. Can you believe we bought this house sight unseen? It is good to have a fantastic real estate agent.

No house can be perfect you know?! How would I ever use this gas bib in it's current location?The fire pit is one of my favorite things going in, in the back yard. The Little Jamaican saw it and wanted to put a tent up. The sod comes Saturday morning. I can hardly wait.These sweet girls are Penny and Sabrina. They are ready for the backyard to be done as well. I started this post last night, but didn't have the steam to finish it. Fortunately, I am feeling a little less random, today . Amazing what a good nights sleep will do for a person.

I think I was talking about the backyard and it's progress........ Yes, alrighty then. The sprinklers are in. The flower beds have weed guard and soil pep. The rock retaining wall is in. I might have mentioned that sod will be coming this weekend. YAAAAAHOOOOO! We will still have to put the dog run in, build the deck and plant some trees, bushes and flowers. We may take a while to do the rest of that. Well, except for the dog run.

My canine babies need a home. Especially Sabrina. She is the sweetest thing. She is a change of occupation dog. She was trained to be a guide dog, but didn't make the cut due to some allergies she has. She was so obedient when we got her that we had to be careful with commands. You could leave her sitting in one place longer than was fair. She's a spoiled dog like the other one now. Penny we got as a pup. Her mom was a champion hunting dog(Labrador). Penny came to be when someones Chow found Penny's cute little mom one day in heat. Does this make Penny a Chab or a Low? Penny is a funny, very quirky little dog. You can almost hear her theme song in the back ground when you meet her. Her theme song has to be "The Chipmunk Dance." "Da da da da da da dow, dee da dee dee dow........."

Have you seen this?

If you have already seen this, sorry. If you haven't........so worth the time. I laughed and laughed and laughed and then thought, I agree.

Question and Answer Tag

Jen who is Buried With Children tagged me with this Meme. If you don't read her adventures in parenting.......you haven't really lived. She is unbelievably brave, funny and real.



1. Where were you 10 years ago?


Wow, that was a life time ago. I am trying to remember. I know we (the RS and I) were living in Utah. That was pre-kids, so I'm sure I thought I was busy, but I had NO IDEA what busy was then. We had just purchased our first home and I was working with people who had survived a traumatic brain injury.



2. What is on your to-do list today?


Laundry, more laundry and more laundry. I know, exciting isn't it.



3. What if you were a Billionaire?


Yes, WHAT IF? I have way too many ideas about this. This is actually a goal of mine. I would love to help people anonymously. I mean really help. My brother recently blogged about this in a way I found thought provoking.


4. Name 5 places you have lived:


Southern California- When I first married.


Carson City, Nevada- I was born in Reno and lived in this area until I was 12.


Salt Lake City, Utah- My teen years until I met and convinced the RS he had to marry me.


Haysville, Kansas- This little town in just south of Wichita. Loved it here. It was something entirely new for me. I went kicking and screaming. I swore the RS would never move me to KANSAS. Honestly, I knew nothing about Kansas at the time and really had know idea how amazing it is. I cried a long time over leaving Kansas when we left. Little side note: Wichita, KS is probably one of our nations best kept secrets of great places to raise a family.


Queen Creek, Arizona- This great little town is apart of the sprawling Phoenix metropolis. I love living here as well. Really, I have learned that there isn't anywhere that I couldn't live. There are so many neat people to meet, new place to discover, new adventures to have. That said, it took this BFF to come get me to move away from from my Arizona home.



5. What are three bad habits you have?


You mean besides the fact that I can write run-on sentences and mis-spell faster than I can type?

If you ask the RS he will tell you blogging while I should be folding laundry, but I am not
counting that one.


1. If I unwrap a piece of gum, I'm likely to leave the wrapper on the closest horizontal surface. I know that I should throw it away, right away, but somehow, it only happens about half the time.


2. Cracking-up when the kids do something they are not suppose to. I do not have poker face. I really wish I did. The Sea Monkeys might take me more serious if I wasn't fighting the giggles when I have to correct them.


3. My most shamed bad habit is talking before I think. Oh, my mouth! Really, there are days I wish I could convince my family doctor to sew the dang thing shut. I say something without thinking and the end up spending the rest of my life thinking about the thing I said without thinking. Maybe I will blog about some of my most notorious times in the future.



6. What kind of snack do you like?


Sugar snap peas if it's healthy. It is seldom I get to eat them. My kids love them too, so I have to fight for them. Especially since they live by the rule "nothing's yours until you swallow it." If I'm not being healthy, then it would bread, chocolate and anything salty, which I might add, is more often than not.


7. Who will you tag next?

Krista- Shades of Blonde
Nancy- Nancy Thoughts
Carrie- Life in the Slow Lane
Dawn- Dawn's Life
Nicole- The Nicole Show
Shelly- I don't want to grow up....

Anyone else willing to play. Please?

"I have great, great news!"

If you have children or spend anytime around children, you know that you hear things. Things you wouldn't necessarily hear from an adult.

I had given the Wild Child and the 1st One new pencils with Strawberry Shortcake on them to put in their back-packs for school tomorrow. The girls were climbing the stairs to put their jammies on when I hear the 1st One say to the Wild Child, "I have great-great-great-great news!! These are from CHINA! Look it says, Made in China." Yes, that is what she said. The Wild Child responses after such a declaration, was complete indifference.

How it all started.........Part Five

Well, I had to see him! So I made a plan to go down to San Diego over the Fourth of July with my roommate. We were going to drive it. Even though I had ended my relationship with Bill, I was still really good friends with his sister in Anaheim. You see I am a bit vain......I couldn't stand the thought of the RS seeing me after driving for 12 hours, so we went to see Bill's sister, Sandy, first and stayed a day with her and her family. It was fun to see her and realize that no matter what, we would still be friends.


The next day we went to the RS's parents home in North San Diego County. I just remember bits and pieces of that night. There was his mom in the family room, finishing her perfect pedicure, the feeling of being home, the feeling of being lost, the feeling of needing a restroom after driving for 2 and 1/2 hours. So the RS suggest that he take my roommate and I for a drive around the area. We say, "OK." So off we go. He drove us past a couple of old ships that were turned into homes, past his old high school, past a bunch of stuff I don't remember because I never did use the restroom before we left and I am now feeling desperate. I finally have to say something and plead with him to find a place to stop. He takes us back to his parents home. He helps us bring bags in and gets us set up in one of the bedrooms upstairs. My roommate, Lacey calls the bottom bunk, so I throw my pillow on the the top bunk. Lacey then announces she is exhausted and is headed to bed. No way am I ready to sleep. I am at the point I would sell my kidneys for 10 minutes alone with the RS.

The RS and I head back down stairs to the family room where his mom is watching TV. We sit and chat with her for hours. She is funny and warm and loves to harass the heck out of this guy I'm dying to kiss. Around 1:00 AM the RS starts harassing his mom back, asking her if it isn't time for her to take her medicine and go to bed. (She was battling cancer at the time.) He continues to needle her for another hour before she decides to go to bed. I get up and get a drink as she heads up stairs. I wander back to the couch and make myself comfortable. The Rocket Scientist sits down next to me, sliding his arm around my shoulders. I have know idea what is on TV but I trying really hard to act like I am totally into it, even though my heart is pounding at this point. I don't know why, but suddenly I have a urge to look at the RS's face. I think I am hoping to read his facial expression when I am attacked with the warmest pair of lips and a bear hug. My head starts spinning. I start thinking maybe this guy really does like me.

The next day we go to a Padres game and other stuff I don't remember anymore, and somewhere in that weekend we end up watching fireworks off the side a road in celebration of the Fourth of July. With his arms around my waist, he tells me for the first time that he loves me. I mumble that I love him also. That is when I decide it is a good idea to back him against his car with no where to run and tell him he is going to marry me and he is gonna like it. Ya.......I ooze subtlety. He responds perfectly with a big smile and a, "You think so?" I smile and leave it alone then realizing I could benefit from a filter somewhere between my mouth and my heart.

Thank you........

As I was driving my children to school this morning, I had the radio on. Yes, I had remembered what today was. Listening to a woman give an account of her day in New York City, seven years ago, I began to remember all those families who are mourning today.

Followed by that was Billy Ray Cyrus' "Some Gave All" with the names of all of the brave that went running in to save who they could and lost their own life in the process. May I just say, this is not wise listening material while driving.

My mind did not stop there. The Rocket Scientist's brother is in the Coast Guard, stationed in Hawaii where they recently lost an entire crew in a training exercises. The Coast Guard is such a tight knit community that I am sure that this has left many with very heavy hearts. It occurs to me that they practice to keep us safe.

I then think of my cousin who flew for the Navy. He was somewhere between Guam and Japan when his plane went down. That was more than 20 years ago, but I still miss him terribly. I know that he loved his country. He also gave all.

I have other family in the military or have served in the military. I also, have friends who continue to serve in the military. My sister's husband and my husband's other brother serve as law enforcement, protecting people in there communities where they live.

I know that there are many, many people who give it what it takes. Some their lives, others their piece of mind, or battered bodies. Most of them, without a complaint.

May God bless them, everyone one of them, that protect us, that do all that they can to save life and happiness. Thank you does not seem like enough to say how thankful I am for what they do for my peace of mind, my continued liberty, my families safety and my way of life. So, until I find another way to say what is in my heart, THANK YOU. It means more than I have words to say.

Two steps forward and well you know....

As I am pulling in my drive-way this morning after taking my kids to school, I see a very Large dump truck sitting on the lawn in my side yard. I really didn't think anything of it until the landscaper asks me if I have a chain. I'm thinking what does he need a chain for???!! Oh, then I really look at the dump truck. It is STUCK and well my lawn is looking like it had seen better days.

See what I mean.............The landscaper then explains that it was a LOT wetter than they thought. Honestly, a lot wetter than I thought. He's a good guy and says don't worry, we'll take care of all of this.

The previous post shows what the yard looked like this morning before the landscapers showed up. This is what it looks like now.

KIDDING!!! Obviously. This is what it really looks like.

I could have lost a grown man......

Yep, that was my backyard until today. Honestly some of those weeds were over 8 feet. I'm surprised some feral animal wasn't living out there. You know, we have had some Big Foot sighting in this area. We found that out on Google Earth. ???

Anyway, they came in today and cleaned out all of those weeds and brought a truck full of very large rocks. That has a story and a picture of it's own that I will post later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Can I just say, that I am so excited at the thought of a landscaped backyard. So much less dust coming into my house! YAAAHHHH HOOOOOO!

A definition

So I got the Wild Child to give me her definition of fabulous. Turns out fabulous is acting bossy while looking glamorous. Hmmmm.........................I learn something new everyday.

The trouble with fabulous.

Last night, the RS was down visiting with a close family friend as he was getting his Chemo-therapy. This means that I had the privilege of putting the Sea Monkeys to bed all on my own. This is, of course, always challenging. (I would go to the moon and back for this friend so, really, really, I don't mind.)

So does this look like kids getting ready for bed, I ask you?

You see the expression on the Wild Child in this next photo? She is upset with her sister for "acting fabulous." Ummmmmmm.................................................... I wish I could tell you. It went like this: The 1st One starts posing for pictures. The Wild Child starts to get angry and pout. Then the Wild Child says to the 1st One, "Stop acting fabulous. I hate it when you act fabulous. Quit acting fabulous. I don't like when she acts like that mom." Could you hear the whine in my voice as imitated her?

Now I have to ask........Do your kids try to act fabulous instead of getting ready for bed?

Idiot Pine Sol

If you have met my Wild Child, you know that she is creative when she talks trash. I try not to encourage this behavior, but honestly sometimes it is so darn funny.

A year or so ago the Wild Child was wrestling around with her dad on the floor, when she told him to stop or she would stretch him like a T-shirt. Later that same day, she also mentioned she would shut him like a gate and squash him like a grape. Ya.........that was all on her own.

So you are going to need just a little more history on this story. We vacationed in Phoenix this past summer. It was wonderful. We got a great deal on our accommodations at this site. The condo we stayed in was fairly nice with enough space to be comfortable. The place wasn't super dirty, but you could tell that there were somethings that the cleaning person had neglected. Nothing I couldn't fix in a very short amount of time. The cleaning person obviously wanted us to believe they had cleaned their heart out because the place wreaked of Pine Sol. The first night, I woke in the middle of the night and I could taste the Pine Sol was so thick in the air. My kids started to hate the smell as much and the RS and myself. YUCK! After a couple of days of this lingering smell that never seemed to dissipate, I went on a hunt to find the source. I found 3 SOAKED in Pine Sol rags folded neatly under the kitchen sink. Once we got rid of the rags, the vacation was so much more enjoyable. Upon arriving home, we discovered everything that went with us, still smelled like Pine Sol. Can you believe, even our vehicle smelled of it? Crazy!

So when I heard the Wild Child refer to something as an Idiot Pine Sol this afternoon, I had to turn around so she couldn't see me smile.

So Sad...........

It is so sad that as this Wild Child's mother I find this completely humorous. The mix of dirt and tears somehow makes her look like a clown to me.

If you were wondering. She started crying because she wanted to take a bath instead of a shower. That was soon forgotten when she realized we would have to change the dressing on her leg. She really hates the adhesives that hold the bandages on. She's quite the hairy little thing and really hates losing the hair off her legs this way. Poor thing.

Her little leg is getting better. It is amazing to me how quickly kids heal.

One Man Wrecking Machine

I have one boy, so I don't know if this is personality or gender but, HOLY MOLY, that kid is turning my life into one enormous, chaotic, exploding disaster. (Wait just a minute.....I'm checking to see if I'm exaggerating.)

(Nope, not exaggerating. Well maybe a little.)

So this little darlin' I call My Son

has turned the backyard into a mud pit, crushed a basket of cinnamon scented pine cones in my living room, broken the very expensive wood blinds in that room, clogged the main floor toilet with who knows what, pulled all of his sister's clothes out of her drawer, colored on my table and chairs with black crayon, ran the ice and water dispenser on the fridge without a cup, letting it hit the floor and laughing about it. Wait.....I'm still not done. He has stuck food to the sofa in the family room, taken out DVD's and left them strewn all over the house, helped himself to the pretzels in the pantry, spilling the contents all over the house. It's not like he's being malicious. He just thinks life is one big science experiment right now.

Can any one tell me.......will I survive this? Will he?

Can you hear the crickets chirping?

I have been so disconnected lately and crazy busy. By the time of day I have time to even turn on my computer, I'm toast. I know that I have tons and tons of blogging material, but instead of it flooding to memory with all the details of my over stuffed life, I hear crickets chirping. Can you hear them now?

Tomorrow will be better I promise!

Olympic Sport?

The Sea Monkeys were not overly fond of watching the Olympics to start off with. The Rocket Scientist explained how cool the Olympics are and the significance they hold. The girls finally decided they liked them well enough. Ever since then, they have to race every chance they get. This always includes getting into the pre-running stance that always cracks me up. So the girls are racing to the wading pool, where they are planning to run and slide into it. That is until they see My Son's idea for a new Olympic sport. Do you think it could make it as an event?

Hey did you also notice what a bunch of "red necks" we are using the wading pool in our front yard? Yes, I'm sure our neighbors are happy with us. Especially after that show of high class. (We start on the back yard soon. I promise!)