Wordless Wednesday: What A Cutie!

This is my cousin's new kitty and I just couldn't resist borrowing the picture. They named her Raya Zehn. Raya meaning stripe in Spanish and Zehn meaning 10 in German. Not sure what is up with the crazy name but hey, Thanks Jess!

Your can see all my Wordless Wednesday here.

If you would like to see more Wordless Wednesday pictures you can visit 5 Minutes For Mom, MomDot, Jolly Mom and Life Down Our Lane and Go Graham Go.

I guess that wasn't so wordless, was it? lol

While you are here, don't forget to enter my giveaways:
Taste of the Wild Pet Food Prize Pack
CafePress T-shirt of your choice

Post It Note Tuesday!

If you would like to play along, visit Supah Mommy!!


This is my first time playing along, so here goes!

Dear Mr/Mrs IRS

By Melissa3486

Dear Mr/Mrs IRS,

Over the years you have taken and taken from me. I have sat back and complained somewhat over the years but I know that you always get yours first so I just continue to go with the flow and work my *ss off, because if not I would lose everything that I have, or think that I have.

• I sit back and file and pay my taxes year after year.
• I also sit back and watch some low income individuals who receive food stamps, the medical card, WIC, County Funded Childcare, live with their childrens father/mother and work part time jobs because they may have to get up off their lazy bums and do something.
• I also sit back and watch them NOT get married because they will lose some of these benefits that "WE" pay for.
• I also sit back and watch them get thousands of dollars on their income tax returns, and I mean like $6,000 - $10,000, while they ALSO receive thousands of tax dollars in benefits.

For example I know a family who gets about $500 per month in food stamps, medical card, WIC for the child under 5, metro housing to help pay their rent and County Funded Daycare and then received a $6300 tax return. This is well over $1000 in benefits per month. All while living with the childrens father, but not married to him and he works a great job. WTH, is this about? We give them thousands of dollars in assistance then give them more of a refund then they actually paid in. Who sets these kinds of asinine* rules? I just do not get it.

But with all that in mind, I would like to say Thank You Mr/Mrs IRS, for giving me a refund this year, when I needed it the most. I will use my refund to pay up some bills and put a part on our daughters Durango. Now, just because I am saying Thank you, does not mean that I like you or agree with how you do things. I think you screw the middle class for sure.

I will not use my refund to throw a keg party (even though it does sound fun) or to have a rib BBQ to feed half of the neighborhood (okay maybe a rib BBQ to feed the family in my house). I am so excited with this refund, I may just kiss my accountant. No, not really! I think I just threw-up in my mouth a little bit.

Until next year,
Tammy



* as·i·nine

Pronunciation: \ˈa-sə-ˌnīn\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Latin asininus, from asinus ass

Date: 15th century

1 : extremely or utterly foolish
2 : of, relating to, or resembling an ass

synonyms see simple

— as·i·nine·ly adverb

— as·i·nin·i·ty \ˌa-sə-ˈni-nə-tē\ noun

Lexi update! Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

Here is an update that I got from Lexi's mom on her Caring Bridge Journal.

Monday, March 29, 2010 7:59 AM, EDT

Hello! I am sure many of you have thought that we have vanished! Scot and I have just been doing our best to enjoy our time with Aaron and Alexis at home without any hospital stays!

Alexis is doing very well. On March 19th, she was taken off TPN. Since then her appetite has not been normal but she does eat fairly well. Other than that her attitude and energy level have been excellent. (Just now I was going to type good instead of excellent and remeinded me of something Alexis said to me last week. She asked me a question and my response was good. She said why not great and I said well those words are similar. She then said no great is much better than good! I was amazed that this seven year old knows the distinction between those words!) Anyways, Alexis is doing great. She may tire a little easier but it really isn't that noticeable.

She continues to work with her teacher Mrs. Tucker. School work has been going very well. Despite the fact that Alexis missed much of the third quarter she is still average of where the rest of the class are! She is even reading over 75% of the second grade words. Since she is in first grade we are very impressed with her! I just wonder where she would be academically if she was actually attending school!!

On top of school, Alexis has been very busy with radiation. Her first actual radiation treatment was last Wednesday. Today will be her fourth treatment out of 12. She only has radiation Monday-Friday. Alexis had 2 dry run appointments before radiation to have pictures taken and to have her body lined up for the treatments. Everyone has been wonderful. Alexis has 3-4 technicians working with her during each treatment. They do an excellent job at entertaining her and making her feel comfortable. When she has the radiation which only lasts 30 minutes in total and less than a minute for each treatment area we are able to see Alexis through a monitor and even talk to her. Then between treatments we are able to go into the room to see her! It is a very busy process! The techs run in and out of the room continuously! On Alexis's first radiation day, I forgot to give her Zofran(nausea medicine) like the doctor told me to before she goes to her appointment. Sure enough within a hour and a half later Alexis's dinner came up! After the third time of her getting sick it dawned n me that we forgot the Zofran! Needless to say we have not forgotten it since and she has not gotten sick!

For the past month, Alexis has literally been addicted to the Wii! Which she will not play without daddy. It has actually started issues with her going to bed and taking baths. But since she knows if she doesn't she won't be able to play! Scot and I have been doing well at juggling all of the house chores. It takes a lot of extra time between working but at least we have a clean house. We have had other help to though that we greatly appreciate!

On the 19th, Scot and I talked to Alexis's oncology team about the antibody therapy. This will be the next phase. Alexis will start this a few weeks after radiation. This is going to be an intense treatment but I know we can get through it! Well I have so much more to write but I need to get to work! I have not forgotten about Caring Bridge. I always think about things to write but I have been so exhausted I can't force myself to sit in front of the computer after the kids go to bed!

I will try to write more soon though!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Jen

If you would like to read more about Lexi's battle with stage 4 Neuroblastoma click here.

Monday Mayhem: That is annoying!

What annoys you about people that you spend time with outside your home (coworkers etc)?

I never get outside my home much so I guess I enjoy those people too much.

What annoys you about people in your home?

They won't help unless asked to, and that sucks!

What annoys you about talking on the phone?

Anymore, I hate talking on the phone for some reason.

What annoys you about the over-used terms that people use?

What, like awesome, absolutely and great? I am guilty so I can't point fingers.

What annoys you about restaurant foods?

Usually they are just too darn good. Oh, and expensive.

What annoys you about restaurant servers?

I hate when I have to ask 3 times for more water! There goes your tip lady.

What annoys you about reading other blogs?

Music on them. Thank goodness for my mute button.

What annoys you about memes?

Same questions all around the meme world.

What annoys you about commenting on blogs?

Those darn word verifications drive me insane, especially when I am entering an "awesome" giveaway with lots of entries.

What annoys you about people who chew gum?

This is one of my pet peeves.....if you're gonna chew it then DON'T spit it on the ground for me or my dogs to step in it later.

What annoys you about driving on the highway?

Women who are smoking AND talking on their cell phones at the same time and old men wearing hats, for some reason they are very slow drivers.

What annoys you about shopping at Walmart?

Trashy bathrooms, dumb people who are oblivious to others, people who park their carts in the middle of the aisle then look up to see you and continue to block the aisle.

What annoys you about kids?

Plain and simple LOUD and OBNOXIOUS ones (haha and I do home daycare).

What annoys you about your gender?

Some think they are better than others but I am betting that they put their pants on one leg at a time, just like me.

What annoys you about the opposite sex?

Some think they are better than others but I am betting that they put their pants on one leg at a time, just like me.

What annoys you about shoes?

Shoes in general, I hate wearing them. They are hot and confining.

What annoys you about shopping for clothes?

It annoys me that they have to keep changing the sizes and styles. If I find that perfect pair of jeans and I go back in a month to get another pair, guess what? "I am sorry, we don't carry them anymore." Grr

What annoys you about music?

Not much really except that headbanging screaming crap.

What annoys you about drinking alcohol?

Sometimes it tastes like crap. Why can't they make it taste better?

What annoys you about pizza?

The price.

You can play along over at Monday Mayhem!

Have you ever felt this way?

I thought this was a cute video and thought I would share it with you.



While you are here, hop over and enter my giveaways:

Taste of the Wild Pet Food Prize Pack
CafePress T-shirt of your choice

Friday Fill-Ins #169

1. The right word ______is not always the correct word_______.

2. ____Stop, turn around open the door back up_____ and shut the door quietly, please.

3. Up _____above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky_____.

4. _____Blogger, Facebook and Twitter_______ is where you'll find me.

5. Ooh! What is that _______in the kitchen cookin' me dinner? Is it my Hubby_______?

6. ____Taking a long overdue vacation with my dear Hubby____ is a good idea.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __nothing but keeping daycare kiddos___, tomorrow my plans include __keeping kids until 6pm___ and Sunday, I want to __relax because I am off all day long, yippee___!

Evenflo Baby Gate Recall

This information is straight from the Evenflo website!

Top of Stairs Plus Wooden Gate

News from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission www.cpsc.gov Health Canada www.hc-sc.gc.ca For Immediate Release March 25, 2010 Release #10-181 Firm’s U.S. Recall Hotline: (800) 356-2229 Firm’s Canada Recall Hotline: (800) 265-0749 CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908 HC Media Contact: (613) 957-2983 Evenflo Recalls Top-of-Stair Plus Wood Gates Due to Fall Hazard WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following products. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of product: Evenflo Top-of-Stair™ Plus Wood Gates Units: About 150,000 in the United States and 33,000 in Canada Manufacturer: Evenflo Co. Inc. of Miamisburg, Ohio Hazard: The slats on the gate can break or detach, posing a fall hazard to children. Incidents/Injuries: : Evenflo has received 142 reports of slats breaking and/or detaching from the gate. Three children gained access to stairs. One of those children fell through the gate and down five steps; another fell down one step. Injuries included four children who sustained bumps and bruises to the head and seven children who sustained minor injuries including scratches, scrapes and bruises. Description: The recall involves Evenflo models 10502 and 10512 Top-of-Stair Plus Wood Gates made from October 2007 through July 2009. The model number can be found on the bottom rail. No other Evenflo model numbers or gates are affected by this recall. Sold at: Toys "R" Us, Burlington Baby Depot, Kmart and other juvenile product and mass merchandise retailers nationwide in the U.S. and Canada, and on the Web at Amazon.com and other online retailers from October 2007 through March 2010 for about $40. Manufactured in: Mexico Remedy: Consumers should stop using the recalled gate and contact Evenflo to obtain a free newer model 10503 or 10513 Top-of-Stair™ Plus Wood replacement gate. Consumer Contact: : For additional information, call Evenflo toll-free at (800) 233-5921 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site at safety.evenflo.com. Note: Health Canada’s press release can be seen at http://cpsr-rspc.hc-sc.gc.ca/PR-RP/recall-retrait-eng.jsp?re_id=985 CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx.

FYI ~ Win an 8 GB iPod Touch

Savy Coupon Mommy is trying to get to 500 followers via Google Friend Connect

and when she does, she is giving away an iPod Touch 8GB, 3rd Generation.

For The Bird Lovers ~ Sip & Seed

Birdscapes® Garden Sip & Seed Bird Feeder

Providing both food and water to our thirsty feathered friends is so important. This classy birdfeeder allows you to provide both!

The Birdscapes® garden sip & seed is constructed of durable plastic and antiqued copper finish. The unique double silo patent pending design is sure to compliment any backyard décor. It is exclusive to Birdscapes®; none of our competitors have anything like this product!

The garden sip & seed features silos that have interchangeable bases, to serve either seed and/or water; so this feeder can be set up to serve seed and water, two silos of seed, or two silos of water.

The garden sip & seed holds 1.5 lb of seed and 27 oz of water.

You can purchase this sip and seed at Birdfeeders.com

Birdscapes® is the leading supplier of decorative Wild Bird Feeders and Accessories. Birdscapes® Wild Bird Feeder models lure the bird in pursuit of seed—providing you with hours of joy as random wild birds flock to feed at your house.

This information is from Birdfeeders.com

Wordless Wednesday :)

image By findstuff22

Your can see all my Wordless Wednesday here.

If you would like to see more Wordless Wednesday pictures you can visit 5 Minutes For Mom, MomDot, Jolly Mom and Life Down Our Lane and Go Graham Go.

I guess that wasn't so wordless, was it? lol




While you are here don't forget to hop over and enter my giveaways:

Taste of the Wild Pet Food Prize Pack

CafePress T-shirt of your choice

I Am About To My Limits!!

There are certain things that can set me off and getting my schedule changed constantly is one of them. I know that I do provide home daycare and that I have to be a bit flexible but come on now, really? To refresh what I am talking about, here is part of my B*tch and Moan post from last Friday:

Second off, I have come to the conclusion that one of my daycare parents' place of employment must be trying to get them to quit their job because every week there is a schedule change of some sort. I like to run on a schedule of sorts. Because I have so many kiddos and work so many hours, I need a schedule of some sort. I need to know who is coming and who is going and on what days. Well, at least I try to know who is coming and who is going and when. It has changed from working 24 hours 3 days per week to working everyday and not knowing what time they work the next day until about 6pm the night before. Then it has changed to 16 hours days 3 days per week now it's 14 hour days 2 days and an 8 hour day the third day. Now guess what, times are changing for the 8 hour day, which happens to be Saturday. Don't mess with my Saturdays!

Well, can you guess what happened today? Yep, you are right another schedule change. Another flippin change in my time to myself. I finally get every other Saturday night off, yea for me, and now a schedule change. Do I have "SUCKER" written on my forehead? Do I walk around saying please take advantage of me? Do I tell everyone that I am open for business 24/7? NO! NO! and NO!

I do believe this is the fourth time this month that their schedule has been changed.

Last week it was supposed to be:

Tues 3:30am to 10:00pm
Thurs 3:30am to 10:00pm
Sat 3:30am to 2:00pm

Then it changed to 4:00pm on Saturday.

Now their schedule is:

Tues 5:30am to 8:00pm
Thurs 5:30am to 8:00pm
Sat 2:45am to 9:00pm

WHF? I wanted to be able to do something this Saturday night. I know, I did something last Saturday night but it was after 9:00pm and the band didn't start until 8:30pm. I really would like to have some sort of a life. Everytime things get situated so that I can "maybe" have some time to myself, things get screwed up.

I was expecting to have all my kids gone by 4pm and one mom of 2 says "Will you watch my boys if I work the morning shift?" I said sure, thinking it's the morning shift, it will be okay because I have kiddos till 4pm anyway. Well, boy was I wrong! Did you know that the morning shift doesn't start until 11am and doesn't get done until 6pm, meaning kids won't get picked up until 7pm. Now this other parent wants to go and stretch it out until 9pm, and it's on my evening off. That I just got and haven't even had the chance to enjoy.

Gee, I wonder why I get so depressed!! I know, this is my business and you are probably saying to yourself that I could just tell them "NO!" Well I got so mad tonight that I told the parent with the scheduling issues to tell her boss that now he has gone and p*ssed me off. I also told her that I couldn't give her an answer as to whether I would watch them till 9pm because I was too mad to make a wise decision. I swear I am just going to go over to the tattoo shop and get this tattooed on my forehead:

Who knows, maybe I just need a nice long weekend to regenerate my energy. Maybe I need some off with out if being spent going grocery shopping and cleaning house. Maybe I need some happy drugs. Maybe I need to win the lottery. Maybe I need...well...maybe I need a lot of things.

Cafe Press T-shirt Reveiw and GIVEAWAY (CLOSED)

I am a happy woman if I am wearing a T-shirt. I am not all about the dressing up unless I have to. So when I was contacted by CafePress to do a review and giveaway for a T-shirt of my choice, I jumped at the chance. After I decided to go this review and giveaway, I went to check out their website. Wow, was i amazed at the amount of designs that I had to choose from. I did finally make a decision on the one I wanted to get to do the review on. I choose this one:

Now, what I think about it: I love it. Like I said, I am a T-shirt girl and I have to admit that I don't like them when they are so thick that your sweat your butt off while you are wearing them and let me tell you, these are not like that. Why my favorite UPS man delivered it, I could not wait to open the package and check it out.


I immediately took it and put it on to see just how it would feel and to see if I liked it. I know that the above picture makes it look pink, but it is actually white. And guess what, I do love it and I plan on wearing it proudly.

I was completely shocked when I found some Siobhan T-shirts. I am rooting for her to win.

Not only does CafePress have T-shirts, but they also have sweatshirts and hoodies, hats, bags, totes, SIGG waterbottles, coasters and so much more. You can also design your own stuff on there website. For instance, if you have a group and you are doing an event, you can get shirts made for all of you to wear, or if you just want one unique item personalized to your specks, you can get it done at CafePress.That is just too cool.

They have shirts for the Mommy to be, Daddy to be and oh so many more under the Family/Baby department.

They also have lots of T-shirts to support our Troops under the Military department.

Oh, and for dog lovers, they have hundreds of shirts under the Pets department.








What you win:One T-shirt of your choice

How to win: (CLOSED)

Mandatory Entry: Leave me a comment telling me what T-shirt is your favorite or if you could design your own, what would it be.

After your complete the mandatory entry, you can complete any or all of the following. Make sure you leave separate comments for each extra entry you complete. If your email is not visible in your profile, make sure you leave it in your comment.

• Follow my blog publicly through Google Friend Connect
• Follow me through Networked Blog (leave your name)
  
• Follow me on Facebook (leave your name)
  
• Blog about this giveaway including the link to my post and CafePress (5 entries)
  
• Subscribe by email and make sure you activate your email subscription (3 entries)
• Follow me on twitter @LoveMy2Doggies
• Tweet about this giveaway (daily) copy: "I just entered to win a T-shirt of my choice from CafePress http://bit.ly/9z5xoh Ends 4/5 @lovemy2doggies"
• Grab my button and let me know where you put it
• Unlimited: Leave me a new comment on any post other than a giveaway post and come back here and let me know you did.
  

Contest Ends:
Sunday April 5, 2010 at midnight EST.

Rules:
Winners will be chosen by random using Random.org and will be notified by email and will have 72 hours to respond or I will have to choose another winner. Make sure your email address is either in your comment or on your profile so that I may contact you.

Restriction:
Limited to residents in the USA and Canada.

Thank you to Cafe Press for providing me the T-shirt of my choice so that I could do an honest review and giveaway on my blog. I was not paid to do this review or any other review. My opinions that are expressed here are just that, my opinions.

Click here to enter and win my Taste of the Wild Pet Food Prize Pack, including a $30 GC to PetFoodDirect.com

B*tch and Moan

Okay, so I have decided to once again do my b*tching and Moaning. I will have to be the first to admit that I am definitely a b*tcher and a moaner. If you don't believe me, then you haven't been following me very long. I would have to say that, that is one of my downfalls. If I have something on my mind, it usually just comes right on out and sometimes it gets me into trouble but for the most part, I am just blowing off steam.

First off, in case you missed this post the other day, here it is:

This is the result of your day, when you check your bank account and someone cleaned it out using your debit card ILLEGALLY! Yep I said it, it's ILLEGAL to steal someone's card number and use it. I would so love to find the person, line them up and shoot rubber pellets at them! Thank you PayPal and Chase for backing me up and getting my money back.........eventually!

I have to say that I did get my money back into my account this afternoon. All this crap is making me second think using my debit card anywhere.

Second off, I have come to the conclusion that one of my daycare parents' place of employment must be trying to get them to quit their job because every week there is a schedule change of some sort. I like to run on a schedule of sorts. Because I have so many kiddos and work so many hours, I need a schedule of some sort. I need to know who is coming and who is going and on what days. Well, at least I try to know who is coming and who is going and when. It has changed from working 24 hours 3 days per week to working everyday and not knowing what time they work the next day until about 6pm the night before. Then it has changed to 16 hours days 3 days per week now it's 14 hour days 2 days and an 8 hour day the third day. Now guess what, times are changing for the 8 hour day, which happens to be Saturday. Don't mess with my Saturdays!

Third off...well, I guess I just can't find anything else to b*tch about that the whole (plus family) world needs to know about. Speaking about family....oh, never mind!


IF you have something that you need to b*tch and moan about, visit Annette over at Fairy Blog Mother and add your B*tch and Moans to the rest of them. My theory everyone has a right to B*tch and Moan.

Awesome Giveaways in the Bloggy Land

Over at the Bragging Mommy you can enter to win the SmartTrike.

Over at Eighty MPH Mom you can enter to win a pair of Havaianas flip flops!

Over at 3 Kids and Us you can enter to win this True Fit Premier Convertible Car Seat

Over at Simply Stacie you can enter to win James Patterson's Worst Case audio book.

WIN a Bounce House at Two Of A Kind, Working On A Full House during her Outdoor Oasis Event!

Over a J. Leigh Designz you can enter to win the Bounce Bot Bounce House from BouncehousesNOW.com


OMGosh, I almost forgot to add my giveaway to this list, silly me.


Click here to enter and win the Taste of the Wild Pet Food Prize Pack, including a $30 GC to PetFoodDirect.com

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Today I will be ______watching daycare kiddos from 7am to who knows when, but hopefully only till 6pm_______.

2. ____Hubby says I need some time off,_____ and I say why not?

3. What do you think of ____when you go for a walk, alone______?

4. At _____last, at the request of my mother________ it's free Pastry Day til 1030 Friday!

5. People say that what we're all seeking is ______for the war to be over and our men and women of the military to be home where they belong________.

6. The image I cherish most is ____is the first picture of my daughter after she was born____.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __hopefully having the night off___, tomorrow my plans include __watching daycare kiddos from 3:30am till 9pm___ and Sunday, I want to __do nothing but relax (wishful thinking)___!

You can play along over at Friday Fill-Ins!



Don't forget to hop over and enter my giveaway!