My daughter wants me to win this giveaway.

Big Daddy Rob over at Peanut Butter & Smelly's Dad

is giving away this Eureka Tent from Eureka Tents. So make sure you hop on over and enter to win one for my daughter. Oh, just kidding. Enter to win one for yourself.

Oh, my daycare kiddos would love me forever if...

...I would win this for them to play with.

Jennifer over at J. Leigh Designz is giving away one of these wonderful Pirate Bay waterslides by Playhouse Bouncers. Every child would love to have on of these in their backyard to play with. I know my daycare kiddos would love to have this in my backyard. So hop on over to J. Leigh Designz and enter to win one for your kids.

A Miracle Happened Today.

My Hubby cleaned the living room today without me asking. He even dusted and ran the sweeper. Ah, how nice it was for him to do that. I appreciate it so much!!

Real or Fake?

I am working in my spare time (which is not much) at my grandparents house again, trying to get things ready for their final moving sale. I had some really wonderful help tonight from my Aunt's "J" & "G" but we are stumped on how to tell if jewelry is real or fake? I know that my grandma has some real jewelry but I also know she has some fake stuff also. The bad thing is, is that it is all mixed up together and I don't know what is what. And if you ask her, none of the jewelry is hers, she does not know where it came from. And as far as grandpa is concerned he doesn't really know much anymore either. He tried to tell me the other day that a jewelry box on top of the dresser was an antique. I believed him until I found the box it came in that had a price sticker on it from a store in our town that has only been there about 10 years. So I am now taking caution in things he says.

Anyway, back to the jewelry. I don't have time to take it to a jewelry store or the money to pay them to tell me what it is, so I am stumped on what to do. I am having the sale this Friday and Saturday and running out of time. Does anyone have any idea's?

Am I stressed??

I hope that everyone had a great weekend. I spent the weekend working as usual. Unfortunatly I have to do what I have to do. I did get in a couple twitter parties this weekend. ResourcefulMom had two great parties. Hubby, 10 month old daycare kiddo and I went to breakfast at Denny's and then off to Wally World for some dog necessities and a few other groceries. It seems like everytime I go there it costs me more and more. I just can't get over how prices have went up. I spent $250 and only bought a few humanly edible foods, milk, bread, eggs, chicken nuggets, 6 cans veggies, 2# bacon, 2# sausage, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, pop and a can of ravioli. The rest was other supplies, dog food, kitty litter, toilet paper, paper towels, shampoos, toothpaste, poster board and etc. I jokingly told my Hubby we may have to eat dog food for supper one day. I am opting that the animals get jobs or move out. Ridiculous!! Whose idea was it to get these animals anyway? Oh wait, was it me? Well, maybe for a couple of them, but not all of them.

Have you ever had those days where you just feel like the world around you is completely against everything you do? I have had a few of those days lately again. Dr. says it's stress. I wouldn't know where I get stress from.

Is doing home daycare for over 120 hours per week stressful?

Is Hubby being laid off stressful?

Is trying to get grandparents lifelong belongings ready to sale stressful?

Is being stuck at home just about everyday stressful?

Is having to do all the household chores yourself while the other two adults go do their things stressful?

Is having an "OUT" with your mother stressful?

Is having 3 dogs, two cats and two birds (of which 1 of each belongs to our 20 yr old daughter) to tend to, alone stressful?

Is watching other family members enjoying life while you are busting your butt stressful?

Is watching your Hubby work his butt off for everyone except you stressful?

Is not getting enough sleep because your stressed stressful?

Huh? Maybe I am stressed out, emotional or need a vactation. Whatever it is, IT NEEDS TO GO AWAY!! I AM TIRED OF IT!! I NEED A BREAK!!

My life, just asked Hubby who was going to the fridge if he would grab me a 7-Up, he said yes. He got what he wanted from the fridge but here I sit with NOTHING to drink. I will just do it MYSELF. Stressed? What do you think??

Sunday Stealing - ABC

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing. Sunday Stealing originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim's post. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to select that meme's best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior featured meme. Let's go!

Today we ripped this meme off a blogger named Becky from Musings from the Sofa. She credits two bloggers for her theft, the Queen, and also Zoesmom. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time.

Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!Cheers to all us thieves!

Sunday Stealing: The ABC Meme

A – An advantage you have – Me, advantage? Not
B – Blue or brown eyes – Brown
C – Chore you hate – Cleaning the bathtub
D – Dad’s name – Lanny
E – Essential start of your day – Morning Med's (especially BC)
F – Favorite color – Blue
G – Greatest thing you’ve ever done that made you feel really good – Helping my Grandparents
H – Habit you have – Bloggind
I – Issue you hate that the world tries to make you pursue – Spending all my money on groceries. One day you buy them the next day they are gone ;(
J – Job title – Home Daycare Provider
K – Kohls or Target – Target
L – Living arrangements – Buying my home, living with Hubby & Daughter
M – Music you like – all kinds especially 80's
N - Nicknames – Susie, Tam
O – Overnight hospital stay – lots when I was pregnant
P – Pet Peeve – Toilet paper that rolls under and screaming kids
Q – Quote that you like most – "Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you're gonna get"
R – Right or left handed – Right
S – Siblings – One brother
T – Time you wake up – 6:30am for now
U – Underwear – Of course
V – Vegetable you dislike – Rubarb
W – What makes you run late – my Hubby
X – X-rays you’ve had – Back, feet, ankle, chest, knee, shoulder
Y– Yummy food you make – Lasanga, fried potates w/peppers and onions
Z – Zoo animal – Panda Bear

Small Talk Six: Million Dollar Shades

Want to join in? Go here to learn how and to view the weekly list
Small Talk Six topics for 2009.It will be interesting to see how each participant interprets this week’s topic

Read more: "Mom Blogs at MomDot"

Today’s topic is “if you had magical sunglasses, name 6 things you would like to see with them.” You can answer this with a list of 6 words, 6 phrases, 6 sentences, 6 paragraphs, 6 photos, 6 videos, etc . . .

So here are my six things I would love for my glasses to see:

1. When someone has very early stages of cancer.

2. They early years of my daughters, hubby's and my lives.

3. The future.

4. A happy place when things get rough to help me relax.

5. My great-great-great grandmother who was an Indian squaw.

6. My wedding, which is not on video.

TGIF

Thanks goodness it's Friday. Not that Friday means anything to me these days, it's just another day. I have kiddos all weekends again, so my life as I knew it is so over. But I gotta do what I gotta do. Until Hubby gets another job (because he got laid off in Dec) I have to bust my bootie. Oh, how I need a vacation...and soon. Maybe if I would play the lottery I could win and live in peace and quiet. I doubt that will happen so I will just save my moolaa.

The kiddos were really good this week, that is for sure. We spent a lot of time outside, they were swimming in my huge pool (as they call it) and I was sitting there sweating wishing they would let me in. I never asked but I am sure they would have said "NO!" so I didn't even bother.

Well, it's 8:01pm and I am just about ready for bed. But oh, how I want to stay up for the Twitter party over at Resourcefull Mommy and try to catch Friday Night Live over at MomDot. I was on Pink Lemonade of Life's Twitter party last night and won 3 prizes, how cool is that for an hour of awesome twittering. I guess I have some decisions to make don't I? So I am here alone and can't decide what to do. Do I want to blog, read, watch TV, go to bed and listen to an audio book or clean house. I have to stay up for a little bit so that I can feed my dogs and then give Shadow his insulin shot, so I might as well just might as well stay up and blog for a bit.

If you have Foxfire will you please let me know if you are viewing a three columns of my blog correctly. Pretty please?

I need help with something...

So, I have been told that my blog does not show up correctly when you are using Foxfire. I did not know this until last night when I check my email. Why, oh why hasn't anyone told me this before?? I feel like such a dork, like someone walking around with a booger on their nose that no one told me about until I found it myself in the mirror while going to the restroom durning a dinner outing with friends and family. Jeez, so now that I have looked like a dork for some time now is there any lovely blogger friends out there who can help me fix it. I have no clue. A booger I could just grab a Puffs and wipe it off but I am at a loss on this one. HELP ME, PLEASE?

By the way, how do you like my new siggy I got from April over at April Showers? Isn't it cool. She was giving them away free. She is just so cool. Thanks April!!

Check out this giveaway!

I love the girls over at MomDot and Skip to my Lou, they are have the most wonderful giveaway ever. Here is a little snippet of their giveaway:"MomDot in conjunction with Skip to my Lou and HomePlace Structures is giving away a $3800 MountainRange Swingset, including shipping to your US shipping address."
About the Mountain Range Swingset you can win:
$3862.00 Complete Kit set - Finished product features 5’ x 5’ x 6’ deck, two 7’ swing beams, rock climbing wall, climbing net, ladder, slide, and numerous other features! This kit will be shipped to the winning customer’s residence within the continental U.S. Assembly is required; full-color assembly manual provided.Isn't this Swingset awesome? I think it is absolutely wonderful and my daycare kiddos would love to have this in my backyard. It's too bad the mulch doesn't come with it. Just kidding this Mountain Range Swingset would be enough for the kiddos. So, let me tell you a little bit about HomePlace Structures.

Founder’s Statement (promise of excellence):I proudly bring you HomePlace Structures - a family business with a history of woodworking that goes back many generations. Although we are one of the leading national suppliers of fine-quality outdoor products, we have not forgotten our heritage. We promise to continue the legacy started many years ago - a legacy of quality, integrity, honest business dealings, and value.

My father, who was my hero and mentor, spent much of his life as an Amish craftsman. Although he passed away in 1983, my mother and many of my Amish relatives keep me connected to a simpler, quieter way of life.

Our company's name, HomePlace Structures, was born out of the warm memories that I have of the home where I spent my childhood days. As the youngest of eight children, I was taught early on the meaning of hard work and the need to build quality into everything I do. We are sure that you will find us helpful, friendly, and easy to deal with. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to help you enhance your homeplace.
HomePlace Structures works with a carefully selected group of local Amish craftsmen. Among the hundreds that we could work with, we only feature products from those that best meet our stringent requirements:
Painstaking attention to quality
Design innovation
Timeliness of production
Efficient, cost effective operations
Great value
Since the Amish ways tend to support many small businesses, rather than the development of large conglomerates, the typical Amish manufacturer specializes in one type of building. Our way of doing business is a great benefit to our customers, since the manufacturers’ dedicated focus is on their specialty – each designing and building excellent gazebos or playhouses or other structures. HomePlace Structures can adapt its product offering very easily, without needing to pass on new overhead costs when adding products.
So make sure you head on over to MomDot and/or Skip to my Lou and check out the giveaway.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY....

Pressure Washer Day

If you would like to see more Wordless Wednesday pictures you can visit 5 Minutes For Mom, Momdot, 3 kids and us and My Charmed Life.

You can also check out the Mostly Wordless Wednesday H.Q. over at Ordinary and Awesome.

Summer Fun!

SUMMER TIME

Summer time is playing outside in the pool and not having to go to school.

UPrinting.com is a leading online provider of business cards, color brochures and mailing postcards.

Don't Miss Your Chance For Music

My SIL over at Aunt Rene's is having a wonderful giveaway.

She is giving away A New CD of Originial Children's Music By Mary Kaye.

So make sure you go here and enter her giveaway.

Weekend in Review

My goodness what a weekend. Here is how it went:

Me and Aunt Rene, my SIL went out to a great Chinese restaurant for supper, it was yummy!!

I got to sleep in on Saturday, which was good because I had taken a Vicodin when I went to bed and could not get to sleep until about 2:30am. I definitely won't take that again before I go to bed. After I finally got up and around I went up and worked on my Grandparents house for 3-4 hours. I may never get it ready for the final moving sale. I only have 3 out of the 12 rooms completely empty. There is two rooms left that I need to dig everything out of and I have 3 rooms of stuff that's going to be sold. All the other rooms are just a huge mess. After working up there and killing my poor ankle I came home for a nap before Hubby and I headed to Polaris to eat supper at FRIDAY's, my all time favorite restaurant. Jack Daniels Steak and Shrimp, yummy!! Oh, and the margaritas...they were super yummy!! I could have stayed and had a few more of them, that's for sure. After that we headed home for some relaxation before beddie bye.

Then on Sunday I slept in again. After I got up and around my daughter "R", myself and Aunt Rene (be sure to check out her blog) went to eat at a Chinese buffet then we were off to the Book Sale. It was $3 per box, any size box. What a deal. I got a ton of books to keep me busy for a while. I am glad I went to that. I am all about bargains. Tomorrow the books are free, but I can't make it then. After that I came home for a bit then I was off to visit my dad for Father's Day. I stayed and visited with him for a bit then came home to work in my "pepper free" garden. I hoed almost all of it and picked some radishes, yummy. Then I came in to do some laundry and then relax before my daycare kiddos showed up at 9:00pm tonight. I am so ready for bed but I am sure my kiddos are not since their mom told me that they napped until 6:15 pm. Lucky me!!

It sure does sound like I had a lot of relaxation but really I didn't. I had about an hour Saturday night before bed and then tonight I was still eating supper when my daycare kiddos showed up. Which by the way, it's 10:40 and they are wound up tight and bouncing off the walls. I may have to tie them down in order to get them to sleep. I am just joking I am off to put in a Disney movie and tell them to lay down and when the movie is over, it's lights out like it or not. That is will make it about midnight and I am to pooped to toot so maybe I better pick a shorter movie...lol.

Sunday Stealing

So it is time for Sunday Stealing. Oh what a day to be stealing, so I stole this:

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing. Sunday Stealing originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim's post. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to select that meme's best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior featured meme.

Let's go!Today we ripped this meme off a blogger named NotBob from NotBob’s Bits. He admits that he “lifted it” but does not say from where. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Cheers to all us thieves!Sunday Stealing: The Finish The Sentence Meme

1. I've come to realize that my last kiss...was about four hours ago.

2. I am listening to...Fox28 10:00pm news.

3. I talk...smack sometimes, who doesn't?

4. I love...my friends and family (ok, most of them).

5. My best friend/s...my wonderful Hubby.

6. My first real kiss...I don't remember that.

7. Love is...having a happy relationship with someone you can share everything with.

8. Marriage is...totally awesome and I never want it to end.

9. Somewhere, someone is thinking...that they are Sandra Dee (they are watching Grease).

10. I'll always...love my Hubby and my beautiful daughter.

11. The last time I really cried was because...my mom basically stabbed me in the back.

12. My cell phone...is a LG Chocolate and it's definitely not for texting.

13. When I wake up in the morning...I want to roll over and go back to sleep again.

14. Before I go to bed...I try to catch up on all my items in my google reader.

15. Right now I am thinking about...taking a hot bath and going to bed.

16. Babies are...wonderful and the most precious thing ever.

17. I get on Myspace...once in a great while to see in our "should have been son" posted new pictures of his baby girl.

18. Today I...went out to dinner with my Hubby to FRIDAYS and used our Buy One Entree, Get One Free coupon. :)

19. Tomorrow I will be...working on cleaning out my grandparents house again.

20. I really want to be...on vacation somewhere beautiful and peaceful. Camping would even work.

Small Talk Six: As long as Daddy's happy.

Want to join in? Go here to learn how and to view the weekly list Small Talk Six topics for 2009.

It will be interesting to see how each participant interprets this week’s topic.

Read more: "Mom Blogs at MomDot"

Today’s topic is “6 things you think the father of your children deserves to have.” You can answer this with a list of 6 words, 6 phrases, 6 sentences, 6 paragraphs, 6 photos, 6 videos, etc . . .

1. A happy home.

2. Plenty of time to spend with his family.

3. In a few more years, grandchildren.

4. Home made meals (or restaurant made).

5. Time for relaxation (someone should have some).

6. Hugs and Kisses from us.

TGIF

Today started off a little on the bad side but it all turned out good. I had one daycare mommy think I am here whenever she wants to drop her kiddo off but I think she found out different today. After that the rest of my day was pretty good. I only had 4 kiddos today so it was rather quiet around here, yeah!!

Then this evening me and Rene from over at Aunt Rene's went out to dinner at the House of Hunan, on of my favorite restaurants. We haven't been out to eat together in a looong time, so it was well overdue. I had a great time tonight and supper was extra yummy!!

Well, I am off to take a muscle relaxer for my back and pain med for my ankle and off to bed I go. And, I am sleeping in tomorrow (I hope).

My Rant!

Why is it that some people just love to run their mouths about things that a - don't concern them and b - they know nothing about?

I am so tired of people who always have to have their noses in other peoples business. If they hear, "We are going to Riverside Ice Cream." they automatically hear, "We are going to Riverside Hospital." and then they tell other people, "They are in Riverside Hospital and aren't doing well!"

I am sure that everyone out there knows at least one person that does that. These people drive me absolutely nuts!! I have come to the conclusion that they are so miserable in their own lives that they want to cause drama in other peoples lives to make them just as miserable. Personally, I wish they would just go crawl into a hole somewhere and become a hermit. Whether or not they know this, but most people have them figured out and know that you take everything they say with a grain of salt and that only about 5% of what they say is a fact.

I don't know how you ladies out there are but if I hear something that I don't know whether it is true or not, I make sure that if I tell someone else about it, I always tell them that I don't know if it is true or not. And when I hear something from the ones who always make up their own versions, I definitely don't tell anyone else, I either go to the source or just sit back and laugh.

My big thing is if it does not concern you and/or you can't keep the facts straight, then stay out of the business of others.

Okay, now that I have that off my mind, I feel better. I am trying to have a stress free (yea right) or less stress life and voicing my opinion may be one way to help me to do that. So I apologize now for future rants. :)

Here are some great giveaways I found today.

Jen over at A Bookish Mom is having a few giveaways for some great books. Here is what she is giving away.

You can enter to win "The Survivors Club" here.

You can enter to win "Sisterchicks In Wooden Shoes" here.

You can enter to win "The Night Watchman" here.

You can enter to win "0 To 60" here.

Erin over at The Mom Buzz is giving away three packs of Post-it Recycled Notes and three packs of Post-it Super Sticky Recycled Notes!


You can enter to win the Post-it Recycled Notes here.

Fractured :(

Well my Hubby made me go to the Urgent Care today and I did sprain and fracture the fibula in my ankle. It is only a small fracture but it still hurts. I am still going to try to go for a walk tomorrow....maybe.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY...kinda

For those of you who read my Small Talk Six post about 6 things you made in your lifetime that you are proud of, I told you all I would try to post some pictures this week on WW. So here they are.

This is the frame that my Hubby and I made for an old mirror we found.

This is an end view picture of our coffee table we made a long time ago (minus the cats tail). You can see the wear on the bottom and edges of it from our loving dogs. Both the coffee table and end tables have this design on the ends.


Here is one of the end tables that you can obviously see we use to store blankets.

And here is the coffee table (plus Punkin and Motley).

And, as you can see, this is the headboard and footboard we made. The footboard is actually a bench that opens for storage.

For the tables I found pictures of a sofa table in a Country Living magazine that I liked so I sat and designed our tables around that. I made the height and length to fit the furniture we have. And we could not find a head/footboard that we liked so I once again set out for a picture of one I liked...and waalaa. I sat down and came up with a little from this one and a little from that one and came up with our special made bed.


If you would like to see more Wordless Wednesday pictures you can visit 5 Minutes For Mom, Momdot, 3 kids and us and My Charmed Life.

You can also check out the Mostly Wordless Wednesday H.Q. over at Ordinary and Awesome.

Never Fails

I can't win for losing. I finally find that putting cayenne pepper around my pepper plants keeps the varmints from eating them. Well it must have sprinkled last night and washed it away and now I am down to three plants out of 60 and they finished off my Sweet 100 tomato plants. D*mn varmints.

Then I decided on Sunday I was going to get up in the morning and walk from my house to the church and back, which is only about 1/2 mile, but it's better than nothing. Unlucky for me I am a major klutz. That is a klutz that has never had more than a broken pinkie toe or been on crutches. Let me start by telling you that the walk on the way back totally sucked. I was walking along minding my own business and thought I would walk in the grass while a car passed and that's when it happened....I stepped on the edge of the pavement and hurt my ankle. I heard it POP and then thought I was going to throw up right there. I stood there for a minute trying to collect myself before I finished walking home.

What was I to do, call my Hubby or daughter and get them out of bed to come and get me, NOT. I would have never heard the end of that. I would have been the joke of the day. So I ever so gracefully made it back home...finally. My ankle is swelled a little and it has a bruise on the outside and a mark on the front but hey, no doctor and no crutches. And I am going to walk again tomorrow morning...I hope. If I stop I am afraid I won't start back up again.

I love walking early in the mornings around 7ish. My third shift daycare kiddos are still sleeping and right now no others are here that early....the birds are singing and it's very peaceful. Next week will be a different story. My little "SS" will be back and I will have to walk earlier.

Everyone Loves a Birthday Bash!!

Tip Junkie is 2 years old

and

Tip Junkie has become a dot com!!

To celebrate as well as feature some of the amazing women who have joined the Mom-prenuer Shops, Laurie has set up the Going Dot Com Birthday Bash where there will be 10 winners every day this week!

So make sure you hop on over to Tip Junkie and enter her giveaways, daily!!

Sunday Stealing

While I was reading my Google reader with all the posts of those that I follow I came across a post today about Sunday Stealing. Here is a little about it:

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing. Sunday Stealing originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim's post. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to select that meme's best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior featured meme. Let's go!

Today we ripped this meme off a blogger named Rene from the blog Blue Rene. She doesn’t say where she got the meme. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!
Cheers to all us thieves!

Sunday Stealing: The Blue Rene Meme

1. What is thing nearest to you? My laptop of course.

2. What is your ringtone? My Hubby's is "The More I Drink", my daughter's is "Red Dirt Road" and my general one is " Poker Face"

3. What was the last message in your phone inbox? One from our "should have been son" telling us that even though we are not blood, we are still his family.

4. Who is your best friend? I have three, my Hubby, Aunt "J" and my dog Sophie.

5. What is the band of your TV? Magnavox

6. What schools did you attend? I only went to one School system, Go MG Indians!

7. Do you own a MP4? Yes, but don't know how to upload videos.

8. What song are you listening to now? Theme song to Law & Order.

9. Did you kiss anybody for the past 2 days? Yep, my Hubby and my dog Sophie.

10. Have you ever kissed someone you met in the blogosphere? That's a BIG NO!

11. What would you be wanted to call if you weren't your current name? In a few more years, Grandma would be wonderful.

12. Would you be happy if you have everything? Yea probably, because I would not have to do daycare ALL the time and I could enjoy life more.

13. Are you always thinking of someone? Since I live for my family, I would have to say yes.

14. Tell us of your most desperate dream? Lost me on that question.

15. When did you last laugh till you cried? Yesterday when a daycare kiddo said that she saw a penguin, when in reality it was some Amish girls working in the fields.

16. If you had a crush, would you tell them you love him/her now? Yep, married him.

17. If you could be anywhere in the world now, where would you want to be? On vacation with my Hubby someplace beautiful.

18. When was your heart last broken? A week ago today.

19. Whose birthday(s) is/are coming up? My Grandpa's, Aunt "J", Aunt "G" and mine.

20. How many email accounts do you have? Two but I only use one.

Small Talk Six: I am proud of myself

Want to join in? Go here to learn how and to view the weekly list Small Talk Six topics for 2009.

Today’s topic is “6 things you have made during your lifetime that you were proud of (can be a craft, a dish, . . . anything)." You can answer this with a list of 6 words, 6 phrases, 6 sentences, 6 paragraphs, 6 photos, 6 videos, etc . . .

Ok, this should be pretty easy since some specific things came right to mind when I read the topic. So here goes:

1. My daughter "R", of course with help from my Hubby.

2. Our living room tables, with help again from Hubby.

3. The frame around our living room mirror, once again with Hubby.

4. Some super cross stitch pictures, one from my Mom and one for my MIL.

5. The landscaping in the front of our house.

6. A successful business of Home Childcare.

If I wasn't so tired I would give you pictures, been busy today. I promise I will use them on a Wordless Wednesday.

A Girls Day Out!!

For once I listed to the Doctor. I actually took a day and just relaxed, well sorta. I did nothing that was stressful and enjoyed every moment of it. So whether or not you want to hear my story, I am going to tell you anyway.

I only had one kiddo today after 8:00am so I decided we were going to do something "FUN" and that is exactly what we did. So my daughter "R". daycare kiddo "SS" and myself set out on our adventure.

The first stop we made in Mansfield was Kingwood Center. All I can say is "Why haven't I ever went there before?" That place is gorgeous and I loved every minute of it. The flowers were beautiful. And if I lived nearby it, I would do a lot of walking there. My daycare kiddo even loved it. We enjoyed the flowers and even got to feed the ducks. I, being a dummy, forgot the camera in the car. DUH!! Let's blame that on stress and laziness because I could have went back for it but I used my camera on my phone instead and the pics are not very good. But hey, they are pictures. The first one is actually looking from the herb garden down onto a beautiful fountain.

And the second one is the gorgeous peacock we got to see. And man, it did not want to show us it's feathers. I kept turning around and letting us see it's behind and that's not a very good picture but I finally got one that was half good.
After our stop there, we went to Logan's Roadhouse and made total pigs of ourselves. I gave the decision of picking where we were eating to my daughter "R" and she made a good choice. Except for us being piggies.

Then we went to see the Disney movie "UP" in 3D. Boy has 3D changed, it is so cool now. When I was growing up (listen to me I make it sound like I'm old) you wore those glasses that were made out of stiff paper stuff and one side was blue and the other was red. Nope, not anymore the glasses make you look like Drew Carey but wow was it neat. You just wanted to reach out and grab some things. I will definitely be looking for more 3D movies to watch.

After the movie, we went to one of my favorite stores called The Flower Factory. I wanted a huge star that is painted like a flag but they didn't have one. They only had the solid color ones and I decided to just to just hold off a little longer. I really don't want to have to paint one myself but, I just might have to. I did however get some really neat things. I got a basket that is done like a flag and some cute little stars for my porch. I will show you pics on my next Wordless Wednesday. :)

Theeeen after the stop at The Flower Factory, we stopped at the mall because they have a place set up in the parking lot that sells wooden furniture and play sets. They had a play set that looked like a big boat and we thought it was neat, so we let "SS" play on it for a while.

Let's see, what did we do next? Oh, we started on our way home and ended up stopping at a playground in a park so "SS" could play some more.

Then, I decided we would stop at the Bent & Dent (Amish Grocery's) and check out what they had today, which was not much. In talking about going there my daughter "R" who is 20 says "I never realized that we had Amish this close until you started talking about the Bent & Dent. Did I shelter her too much or what? So on our way to the B&D, we did some Amish searching. I drove around for her to see some Amish houses and we came across a horse and buggy and then we saw some of the younger girls working in the fields. At this point, little "SS" comes up with a "Hey, I just saw a penguin." Now I know that she in fact did NOT see a penguin, but I was not sure what she did see, until it hit me. She saw the Amish girls in their black dresses in the fields. I thought me and "R" was going to pee our pants laughing at what she said. It was hilarious. Kid, they say the funniest things.

Well, after the trip through Amish country (if that's what you want to call it), we finally made it back to town for ice cream. Guess what flavor the 4 1/2 year old chose to get? She chose hard dipped Mint Chocolate Chip. Eewww! What kid chooses that flavor? I couldn't help it, I had to taste it and I was right, Eeww!

Finally we made it back to my house but unfortunately "SS"'s mommy got there before we did. Oh, well we had so much fun we didn't care if she had to wait.

Little "SS" is so funny, it's pretty easy to please her. This morning I was telling her that we could do anything she wanted to do today, and she came back with,

"I want to go eat with you and go to Wal-Mart"

I was like "What? No that is not what I was planning." My idea of a "FUN" day is not going to Wal-Mart that is for sure.

Had a checkup!

I am back from my check-up for my breast lump. My Doctor was not there:( She went on maternity leave. How dare her, she should have waited for me to come back like she told me to. I had to go back so that she could check the lump, how's she supposed to do that if she is off having another baby. Jeez....Well anyway, her Nurse Practitioner Karen was there and she's pretty cool to so that wasn't too bad. She couldn't feel the lump, which is good. But my poor boob may now be bruised forever from her trying to find it. I guess it's a sometime-lump. Sometimes its there and sometimes it's not, it likes to hide.

And I DO NOT have any symptoms of Alzheimer's!! I knew I did not but my Hubby told me that the next time I went to the Doctor I was supposed to ask, so I did. I knew he was crazy, not me. I told her about all my forgetfulness and confusion and such and she told me I was extremely exhausted, stressed out and spread too thin and she could prescribe something to help me sleep better but I didn't want a prescription. Then she made me cry. Yep, I said it, I cried at the Doctors office for no reason. What a cry baby!! I agree that I am stressed and exhausted. I would have to say more mentally that physically but not getting much sleep doesn't help. But what's a woman to do? Throw in the towel? Not me!! I don't give up and I won't be beat. She told me I need to ask for some help. NOT!! Either I can handle it myself or I fail. And that will NEVER happen. I guess I am just too stubborn that way! I am in no way a quitter and to ask for silly help is just not my style. I am not sure where I get it from because I didn't get that from my family, that's for sure. Well unless it came from my grandparents because I didn't get it from either of my parents.

I have not been out to check on the garden of thieves today. I am afraid I will scream. Well, hold on and I will go out...................................................................................

So, I went out armed with come cayenne pepper and found that I only have 17 of my 30 new plants left. So I sprinkled some cayenne pepper around some of the plants (too muddy to get the rest right now) and about killed myself. Did you know that cayenne pepper will make you sneeze and sneeze and sneeze? I didn't but I sure do now. Anyway, my SIL Aunt Rene told me to try that. She had read it somewhere, so I did. If it doesn't keep the varmints away it will definitely clean out your sinus's out. We will see it that works. By gosh, I WILL have peppers out of my garden this year! I promise!! I may have to buy some netting by I have not given up yet.

Well, I am off to play a game with my daycare kiddos. I think we will play Hi Ho Cherrio, Trouble or Sorry. I am trying to teach them to NOT be sore losers and what better games to do that with than those. Sore Losers, that's a pet peeve of mine. I can not stand it when child can't take losing. I keep telling them that not everyone can win and it's okay to lose, someone has to and that there are more losers playing games than winners. I guess you could say I am not a Cherry topper. I like it how it is. I am off!!

Have a wonderful day!

You know the commerical...

...where the lady loses her car keys and her Husband finds them in the refrigerator?

Well MY Hubby seems to think that, that commercial is so much like me and that I should get checked for Alzheimer. Lets clear things up. First, I am not 80 years old. Second, I have never lost my keys in the fridge. I did however pour orange Kool-Aid on one of the kids cereal and just stood there looking at it and thinking "What the hell?" I have also asked the same question more than once in a 5 minute period because I didn't know the answer. I think that it is A-ADD (Adult Attention Deficit Disorder) not Alzheimer. I am not getting senile. I may be fat and over 29, but I am not getting Alzheimer. I don't even like the word very well, let alone the disease. I found this information, and I do not have Alzheimer's!

Signs of normal change VS. Early Alzheimer's Symptoms

Can’t find your keys ---Routinely place important items in odd places
Search for casual names and words---Forget names of family and common objects
Briefly forget conversation detail---Frequently forget entire conversations
Can’t find a recipe---Can’t follow recipe directions
Forget to write down a check---Can no longer manage checkbook
Cancel a date with Friends---Withdraw from usual interests
Miss an occasional right turn---Get lost in familiar places

What else might be causing these symptoms?

Significant cognitive and memory losses are not symptoms of normal aging. Most people over 65 experience a level of forgetfulness that is merely inconvenient and generally involves unimportant information. Terms like eccentric and senile can mask fears of Alzheimer’s disease, while other conditions may actually be causing mental decline.

Symptoms that mimic early Alzheimer’s disease may result from:

Central nervous system and other degenerative disorders-, head injuries, brain tumors, stroke, epilepsy, Pick’s Disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease

Metabolic ailments- hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies, dehydration, kidney or liver failure

Substance-induced conditions-drug interactions, medication side-effects, alcohol and drug abuse

Psychological factors- dementia syndrome, depression, emotional trauma, chronic stress, psychosis, chronic sleep deprivation, delirium

Infections- meningitis, encephalitis, and syphilis

Ten Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the ten warning signs are:

• Memory loss (So, I ask the same question over and over)
• Difficulty performing familiar tasks (So, I put Kool-Aid on cereal)
• Problems with language (I call that dyslexia)
• Disorientation to time and place (So, I thought trash went out yesterday, it didn't)
• Poor or decreased judgment (So, I thought it was rabbits)
• Problems with abstract thinking (Huh?)
• Misplacing things (Don't you ever forget that place you won't forget)
• Changes in mood or behavior (That is just a woman's right)
• Changes in personality (That's a womans right, too)
• Loss of initiative (I am just tired)

So does that mean I have Alzheimer's??

NOT!!

Help, it's NOT rabbits!!

I have to apologize to the Rabbit community. I am Sorry, I have been giving them a bad wrap this year and this time they are innocent, my bad.

So I went out and planted 30 more pepper plants today and 3 hours later there were already about 8 plants missing. I have truly had it! I feel like just going out and there and spraying Round Up on the whole damn garden and just saying SCREW IT!

Then I got to looking around the plants and low and behold whatever is eating them is very small. They are going through one of the holes in the bottom of the "Rabbit Fence" that is only about 1" x 2". They are literally biting the plant off then pulling them through a hole in the fence into a wood pile next to the garden. They probably thought they were going to get a feast today when they saw those new plants. Well I got something for them. I am off to get some Sevin-5 and some bug spray for the plants and then I am going to dig through that wood pile until I find my 30+ missing plants.

If anyone has any ideas on how to keep the little varmints out of my garden PLEASE OH PLEASE let me know. I am losing my mind over this and I can't stand when something is getting the best of me. I will beat these things come hell or high water.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

FLOWER BED AROUND MY FLAG POLE

April 21, 2009

April 27, 2009

June 9, 2009

June 9, 2009

If you would like to see more Wordless Wednesday pictures you can visit 5 Minutes For Mom, Momdot, 3 kids and us and My Charmed Life.

You can also check out the Mostly Wordless Wednesday H.Q. over at Ordinary and Awesome.

Where is Elmer Fudd?

Forgot to tell you all, I am now down a total of 26 pepper plants and one more tomato plant. Those damn rabbits are gonna get the best of me yet. I am going to have to go sit on the back porch all night and take shots at them....Oh, how the neighbors will love me. :o(

Elmer, where are you?????

She called me fat!

I already know that but when it comes from your Mom, it hits you a little harder. I have been having problems with my feet and knees for quite some time so finally I gave up and went to my doctor about it, which she sent me to a rheumotologist for it. I had that appointment then lots of blood work and x-rays and all that came back okay. But he did tell me I had bursitis in both hips and something in my right knee but I can't remember the name but it has to do with swelling behind my kneecap.

So, I guess now we are back to what my Doctor originally said, fibromyalgia. I have a lot of pain in my feet, ankles, knees, hips and back and sometimes my shoulder. I was given two prescriptions that seem to help me sleep but that's about it.

Now, back to my Mother....

During the garage sale this past weekend (you can read it here) I was in a lot of pain and we were discussing it and she comes up with "You know when I worked in Dublin, there were a lot of overweight women there that always complained of the same things you are complaining of. And I mean a lot." All I could think of was, does a lot mean a lot of women or a lot overweight? I know I am "Fat" and I accept that. I am not so sure that I accept my mom calling me that.

Would you call her daughter fat? I never would.