Now I've heard it all, really!

A couple of weeks ago Donnie and the kids were helping move Donnie's parents to our town. Donnie's Aunt Delaine was there, too. She's a Lutheran, and grandmotherly Lutherans are big servants in their churches, don't ya know.
I was reading a blog post to Donnie about how different religions change light bulbs and the Lutheran one reminded him of this visit with his aunt.

"Aunt Delaine, how are you?"
"Oh, you know, I get around. I'm busy. I'm on the Potato Salad Committee now."

Why God put me on this planet....

God put me on this planet to embarass my teenagers!

I do my best to fulfill my God-given role. Yesterday I took the boys school clothes shopping. Again, we went to Plato's Closet. Devon and Drew grabbed some clothes and headed for the changing rooms. Drew is too hard to embarrass in public, he has to be around friends. But Devon, he is easy. He comes out in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. We don't know for sure what size he is, so I ask him if he is sure they fit. (I have to do this, years of jeans hanging half off his butt have mandated it) He says they fit fine. So I lift his shirt in the front, he pulls it down and tells me they fit. He turns to leave and I grab the back of the shirt and say "Let me see how it fits in the butt." There is a line for the dressing rooms, lol. He gets a little feisty and insists that he can figure out if a pair of pants fit him without my help and shuts the door on me. I turn around to the other mom and say "It is so much fun embarrassing them!" and she completely agrees, I can tell by her stifled giggles.
I kept it up with the other pair of pants, too!
We also had some embarrassing moments at Target, but he would kill me if I repeated that. But just after that was done we are walking towards the underwear and Drew points out a big novel entitled "The Quickie" which is about what it sounds like, judging by the apparently nude people on the cover.
I discuss the weird and inappropriateness of him pointing it out, and Devon says "Umm, whats really weird is the fact that the book is called "The Quickie" but is two inches thick." Ironic, isn't it?

Kaytlin is easy to embarrass, too. I just have to be around for that to happen. But what I really like to do is get on her IM when she leaves it up and her friends start talking to her. I tell them things like "I'm so pretty!" and I have really fun conversations with Drew's friends, but he doesn't get embarrassed, I think it is because his friends think we are so funny and cool because of it. I changed the name on Drew's IM to "I'm a Loser, Love me anyway" and he thought it was funny and left it up!

I'm working hard to fulfill my duty to embarrass them, but Drew is a tough one. Any ideas? He doesn't even mind the nudie baby pics, so that doesn't work. He even gives me permission to tell the goofy things he did when he was little.

Thursday Thirteen~ Contest Answers

Last week I used my Thursday Thirteen to celebrate my 1yr blogaversary. I asked 13 questions that could be answered somewhere in my blog. One was really tough because you could not find it in the search blog feature! Seven people got all the answers right, so I put their names in for a drawing for a $25 Gift certificate to Amazon, or elsewhere if the winner chooses.

The WINNER is...................... Denise of Denise's Den! I numbered all the entrants and used a random number generator to get the number.

Now, as promised, here are the answers to the questions:

1. What is my favorite sitcom/tv show? I love this show! Its the only show we've bought on DVD. But I wouldn't watch it at first because we thought it was so stupid it would dumb us down. (is that enough hints?) Scrubs!

2. Where were my first 3 kids born? Germany it is number 47 on my list of 100 things.

3. What is my one true phobia? Spiders! This is probably ALL over my blog. #62 on my 100. It is number 10 in Thursday Thirteen #20.

4. Who is my favorite author? (there are two listed) Beverly Lewis or Jeanette Oake. #95

5. Why would my husband be afraid to give me jewelry? Because it frequently accompanies me getting pregnant. #83

6. What was the topic of my very first Thursday Thirteen? 13 Things I like about my kids.

7. What did Devon do to shave time off his swim that made his father gag? Shaved his legs!

8. Boys are pretty gross, but what is the most disgusting thing my boys have said they would eat for money, and for how little bit of money? Poop, for as little as $50.

9. You have to have a sense of humor when you have lots of kids! What is my favorite come-back to the question "Don't you know what causes that?" (there are two answers, either one is fine!) Yes, but we just love pizza! or Yes, and we are REALLY good at it!

10. Here's a tough one: What sport is a "religion" to our youth group? Dodgeball! The kids love it and play it every week. They had shirts made that say "Dodgeball is a religion, Christianity is a relationship." This was a hard answer to find because the answer is in a picture.

11. What did we tell our kids is the most powerful weapon on Earth? The Tongue! Several people said "A Devotional" from the title, but in the post is the answer.

12. Besides the computer and blogging, what am I addicted to? (sick, twisted addicted, according to the kids) Not coffee or chocolate! Cloth diapers!

13. Who was the uninvited guest at our ladies night out? Bats! That was a fun night out!

Wordless Wednesday~ State Fair

Don't forget about my Little Miracles Give-away! It is also not too late to enter my Thursday Thirteen~ Blogaversary Contest, entries need to be in by tonight, midnight!

A hot dish is a casserole. A mix of meat, cream of soup, a vegetable, and a starch like rice, noodles, or tatortots. The midwest says hotdish instead of casserole. I know, its weird, but we all know what we are talking about! Maybe its an Ole and Lena thing?

State Fair

My mom's group trip to the zoo was cancelled due to rain, but that did not stop us from going to the State Fair! Donnie really loves going, and this is his only day off. Rain or shine, we were going. We bought umbrellas and barely needed them! But we were glad to have them.
I have one major goal at the fair, and so does Donnie. He wants to try all the food on a stick there is, and I want to get all the freebies. He also wants to go to the political booth, and I want to hit the local Christian music station booth. We managed to get it all squeezed in.
We started with the most amazing new food, Scotch Eggs! It is a hard boiled egg wrapped completely in sausage and deep fried and on a stick, then they offer a selection of dips, maple syrup, ranch dressing, honey mustard sauce. Oh my gosh, it was amazing! We are going to try to make this on our own.
Then we had a deep fried Snickers bar on a stick. They put batter on them and deep fry them, oh so good! And that was Sam's favorite! Next we had a pork chop tenderloin on a stick with amazing barbeque sauce. Oh, it was sooo tender!
We did not stop there! We had to have the deep fried macaroni and cheese and the sloppy joe on a stick! The mac 'n cheese is wadded up and battered and deep fried, the sloppy joe mix is put in a hot dog casing and then battered with what they say is hamburger bun, but not sure about that, then deep fried and on a stick with a side of the tomato sauce. Way too good. I do not like mac'n cheese, so you'll have to take Sam and Donnie's word on it being good, because I think its nasty.
Then we had a foot long corn dog on a stick. And a thing of garlic fries.
What we didn't try was the Hotdish on a stick at the Ole and Lena booth! I heard it was great, though. Or the "New Egg Sandwiches." Or the gator on a stick. We did the gator last year, it was ok, but not worth buying again.

Sam was awake until we were walking to the car. He had a great time waving at everyone! He also did not nurse the whole time we were gone today, and only nursed a little bit when we got home. I have decided that I am going to nurse along with giving him some more foods and milk in a bottle. He was not all that excited about the chocolate milk, but today he had strawberry milk and was ga-ga over it! I am going to work on not nursing him at night, just before bed and then his breakfast time around 7am. (he doesn't actually get up then, or I would make it a bowl of oatmeal or something) I refused to nurse him last night, and it did work. I had to get up and walk him a couple of times, but I did not nurse him.

I had a great time getting my freebies, I am actually going to have to go and count all the free bags I got. No less than 3 from colleges, probably 4, and at least 2 others, I'm thinking 6, not including what we gave to my mother-in-law. And two from the radio station. Tons of pencils and college information for Kaytlin. 4 seedling trees, Sam got a pair of sunglasses. We got a ruler, a pen, and who knows what else I got!

Then we got to go to the airport. We made it there about 15 minutes before we expected Devon's plane to arrive. Donnie was tired and has to work in the morning, so I left him to sleep in the car and Sam and I head out to find Devon. He plane info says he is on time. And we have no idea if he tried to call and say there was anything wrong or delays because the kids did something that unplugged the phone all afternoon! Well, after the plane was 1/2 an hour late they finally updated the screen and said the plane would be just over an hour late! The time went quickly for me because Sam was entertaining person after person and having a grand time with all the attention!

Then Donnie came in to see what was up, and soon Devon's plane landed. Oh, the joy of seeing Devon! Sam just hugged him and squealed! He couldn't stop grinning! But his joy could not match the exuberance of Trinity's first sight of Devon when we got home. She started squealing "Devon" at the top of her lungs, in spite of it being nearly midnight. In spite of the neighbors being asleep, and some not having A/C, so they have their windows open.

Apparently my mom embarrassed Devon quite thoroughly at the airport before he left. I warned him it was coming, but it still surprised him. My mom is a crier. She cries, no, bawls, whenever we have to part. We feel so bad for her that we hardly want to see her to make her cry that hard! Devon said he was getting all settled and everything was fine, and then she was bawling, sobbing, loudly. Drew and Kaytlin went through it, too, and they did NOT warn him or want to warn him. And mom said that she cried so hard that when he got out of sight she had to go sit down to get through it. I can honestly say that no one in our family ever wonders if my mom loves them.

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Can it really be over?

Summer seems to have just flickered into and out of my life this year. Usually we are so busy it speeds by, or soooo bored that it drags by. But this year we did nothing and it still sped by. Is it because I have little ones again? I know those years when my older kids were little just sped by.
School starts next week. I hate spending all that money, but I am very, very thankful it isn't as bad as Chicago according to Jessica the Rock Chick . In addition to that post, which was just her high school kids' costs, they were told to buy $100 calculators per kid! So I shouldn't complain. At least we weren't asked to buy toilette paper for the school.
Yesterday the girls and I took off for some school clothes shopping. It was pretty fun. Plato's closet only got Kaytlin a pair of black pinstripe pants for her new waitressing job, but I got Devon some great shirts and a hoodie, which Drew stole today before Devon even knows I bought it. I got 4 shirts, including AE brand and Hollister brand, a pair of pants and a hoodie for $45! Then we slipped next door for a little thrift store that was beyond overpriced and I got Hope-Anne a pair of Sketcher tennis shoes and a cute pair of brown culotte type pants. Then on to Payless so they could each get a pair of sneakers. Believe me, Hope-Anne needs at least 2. On to Walmart. Kaytlin got a really cute black dress, and we got some other underthings and t-shirts. Plus school supplies. Then to Old Navy. That was expensive! But Kaytlin finally, finally got a pair of jeans. For the last 6 years we have not been able to find a pair of jeans that Kaytlin would buy, or if we did buy them, it was just because they "fit" and were barely acceptable. But these jeans, the Sweetheart from Old Navy, not only fit, but she was EXCITED about how they fit and how comfortable they were! I have NEVER seen her excited about a pair of jeans! PLUS the jeans come with a free tank top. So I bought two pairs of jeans in different shades of blue, and got two free shirts. Plus she got a cute shirt and a darling hoodie and Hope-Anne got a great shirt to go with her brown pants and Trinity got flip flops, which she was soooo excited about getting.
Now, all that, and I still have the boys to get through. Thankfully Cody is going to school at home, so his wardrobe is not going to be so important! Devon's is mostly done, just some pants and shoes. Drew probably doesn't needs much, either.
Sorry for boring you!
Devon comes home tonight! After 2 whole weeks in Maine. Drew and Kaytlin "like" my mom's husband, but can barely stand some of his psychotic behavior, and they are both pretty easy going. So they thought Devon would go bonkers on him and get in trouble. But Devon thinks he's "fine" which means he doesn't mind him at all. The big 2 were shocked! Devon sleeps all the time, and I cannot stress how much I mean "all the time." And the Captain makes every get up by 6:30am, unless Grandma forces him to let them sleep in, which is 7:30. Devon had no problem getting up! Which is weird because we can't get the turd out of bed, it takes 3 trips to his room, some yelling, and sometimes threats of cold water, before he will get up.

I may be taking a little trip to the State Fair on the way to the airport today. That should be fun. I'm exhausted right now, I was up way too late last night, so I don't even want to think about going to the fair.

Don't forget about my Little Miracles Give-away! It is also not too late to enter my Thursday Thirteen~ Blogaversary Contest, entries need to be in by tomorrow night, midnight!

More upbeat post

How about that for a change?
I meant for the nursing woes to actually be funny, but apparently missed the mark. Or all of you have experienced the pain and know there is nothing really funny about being bit by a little turd. He bit me again today on the other side, so we're done. I'm going to go buy some bottles and some chocolate and strawberry mix to make the milk more attractive to him than breast milk. Yes, I am a bad mom, but hey, I feed him Diet soda to get him in a good mood, so the sugared milk is a step in the right direction, I think.

Now for the cool news, and a clarification. I did not mean we do not have a van or vehicle, I just meant that sometimes you can't help but spend the money even when you don't have it, so its impossible to ever get ahead. We had to fix our van so we had a vehicle that would hold us. We had to fix dh's work car because if he can't get to work, he can't pay anything. So if that means you can't pay the mortgage this month, what are you gonna do? Its hard. There is no getting around having a car, Donnie works 50 miles away, and he has to, we can't afford to live near his work, and we can't live on what he'd make near our home. Catch 22. So, yes, I do have working vehicles! Some things you can just let go, like the dishwasher, if that died, we wouldn't have to replace it when we don't have money. But we have to buy school supplies, we have to have vehicles, we have to fix our furnace, etc. We are putting off fixing the roof, but I know that it is going to cost us more in the long run this way, but there is nothing I can do about it. God will provide when the time is right. He always has.

After I got off the internet, my friend Jody called and whined to her a bit, and she offered to let me use her washer for my diapers, because I can't use the laundromat for them, its a complicated cycle of 2 rinses a wash and 2 rinses and you do not have control over that at the laundromat. Any way, she told our friend Jeannie that I was on my way over to use her washer and Jeannie said she had a washer I can have! Then Jeannie of course got on my blog and let me know that, too! Isn't she awesome!
As I was all upset about the washer today I was saying to God that I really just need Him to hand me a washer and dryer, because I just can't do it, I have no choice but to buy school supplies. And they can't wait, I HAVE to buy them. What am I going to do? And then, that very same day, God provided me a washer!

Nursing woes.

I know, I'm a downer this week, right?

Last week, or was it the week before? Anyways, Sam is a very busy boy during the day, and eating is not very high on his priorities list. OK, I should rephrase that, nursing isn't high on his priority list, eating everything fits in his mouth is a priority, and he does try almost any food we give him. However, since he hasn't really eaten enough during the day to keep him stocked up on energy, he nurses through the night.

One night last week or the week before I woke up at 5am screaming in pain. He had bit me HARD. Oh, my gosh, the pain! I left him with his dad and I went and tried to sleep on the couch through the throbbing, searing pain in my nipple. Donnie can deal with the little delinquent!

Ever since then it has hurt horribly to nurse him on that side. I think I should be past that pain now, but I'm not, I have to hold him in the football hold to be able to nurse him on that side. His little teeth are like razor blades scraping against me!

I was talking to Donnie about it and thought he should make an invention out of silicon that we can put over Sam's teeth while he's nursing, like a mouth guard, but not so bulky. It won't protect from the biting, but would help the sharpness and scraping of the teeth.

I was at my friend Jody's last night doing my laundry since my washer died (I have great news on that front!) and I was telling her about that invention. So she says she has a nursing shield I can have to try to use with Sam. Oh, cool! I have never seen one in my 18 years of breastfeeding.

I get home and Sam wants to nurse, so I figure that thing out and get it on right, you have to keep the silicone flap away from his nose, I think. (its that "contact" one in the pic)

I go to let Sam latch on, and it is weird, but he tries a couple of times, we adjust it. And then.....

My nipple became a chew toy.

How do you ever get ahead??

I know that we are always going to be broke while we have kids in the house, but how do you make it when you keep getting further and further and further behind? It is one thing after another, and sometimes you just can't let it go.
Like the vehicles. We have to have a vehicle. We have to have two because Donnie works so far away, and we need something that is big enough to hold us all, which would be bad for a commuter vehicle.
We get the vehicles all working, and then we even got them paid off! That's a big chunk of change we have in each paycheck now! But I don't know where it is, we are still broke, broke. I can't figure out how we made it with two car payments and full coverage.
Then the windshields in not one, but TWO of the vehicles are broken. One has glass coverage, but the other doesn't.
The power steering went out in Donnie's work car. Gotta fix that.
The dryer died in the beginning of summer. OK, I'll use the line for the summer and fix it in the fall when we sell our investments. Well, the investments are completely taken up with other major bills.
The roof needs to be replaced, but we can't even see a time in the future when that will happen.
The dishwasher doesn't work right, it runs, but the dishes come out dirtier than they went in. I have literally washed each dish before putting them in there and they came out dirty.
Today, I went in the basement to switch the laundry, and there was smoke in there. The washer is out now. And I use cloth diapers. And I have 7 kids.
The freezer portion of our fridge does not keep ice cream solid, though it does keep meat frozen, so we think that is dying.
And when the power was "accidentally" shut off last week, something happened to our furnace or A/C, because it doesn't work anymore. We have to have a furnace in a couple of months.
So, I MUST fix the washer, dryer, furnace, and the windows in the vehicles. They are not optional. The fridge will eventually force us into doing something, but hopefully will hold out.

I know that this stuff is minor. I mean, it could be really bad, it could be a child hurt, or a death or serious illness. I have the perspective in the right place. But I just don't know how it could get better. The more we work, the more our income grows, the more we pay things off, the worse things are getting.
It is enough to make me wonder if God wants us homeless or something. I know that God wants only the best for us, not to harm us, its not that. Its like, are we missing something and God is letting things go until we get it?
There is nothing we can do to change things, we can't control things breaking down. Budgeting and cutting back, etc, yes, but these things that are hitting us left and right are not things we have any control over.
I need to really pray and seek God's heart and be sure that there isn't something I need to deal with.

A funny thing happened

I went to my sister's this weekend for my neices birthday party. We were in the park watching Morgan open presents when my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, but I was using my dh's phone, so I answered.
"Hello?"
"This is the Sheriff's office calling."
"Ummm, ok, hello."
"There was a 911 call placed from your cell phone a few minutes ago."
"Oh, my little baby was playing with the phone, but it was locked so he couldn't call out!"
"So, it was the baby that made the call?"
"Yes, it was the baby."
"I heard the baby talking in the phone."
"Ok, sorry about that!"
"Ok, I had to check to make sure."
"Bye."

Winner of the Joshua movie!

The winner of the Joshua movie is Karen from Praise the Lord and Pass the Prozac! I absolutely love the name of her blog, it has always given me a bit of a giggle.

Congratulations, Karen! I hope you love the movie as much as I do.

Little Miracles Give-away

My friend Becki, whom I have known for over 8 years I believe, is a work at home mom who makes products for cloth diaper users and for baby's bum and for mom's pregnant belly. Becki is giving away a 1lb bag of her special, home made Little Miracles for Diapers & Pails, which comes in 6 wonderful scents: Baby Powder, Lavender, Lavender flowers, Peppermint, Tangerine and Tea Tree. Little Miracles for Diapers and Pails is a product you can sprinkle in your diaper pail to eliminate odors, and you can use it for detergent to wash your cloth diapers.

Reversal Miracles also carries Little Miracles Bum Stick, which is a diaper cream that is safe for your cloth diapers. Since it is in a twist up stick, there is no yucky gunk on your fingers from digging in that jar or spreading the cream around.

Little Miracles Baby Massage oil comes in 2 scents and an unscented option. Little Miracles Mother's Essentials Oil comes in 4 awesome scents, just what a pregnant mommy needs to help relax!

If you would like to win a 1lb package of Little Miracles for Diapers and Pails in your choice of scent, there are a couple of things for you to do, in other words: the fine print!

1) Write a post about the contest. Link to this post on my blog and link to Reversal Miracles.

2) Come back here and leave a comment letting me know where I can find your post.

3) You must live in the US or Canada to enter this contest because of shipping costs, sorry.

4) Contest ends in 2 weeks. The winner will be picked randomly.

Super easy!

I have had a couple people click "email this post" instead of leave of a comment. I can't click links or check on where you posted about it if you don't leave it in the comments. I haven't even been able to reply to the email address.

Contests

Go to Momsblogging to find my Contest Frenzy column for many more contests!

Nell is having a give-away on her blog, Casual Friday Everyday. Win a free year to a menu planning service called “menu planning central!” This is a very generous gift, enter by Sept 15. ($239.64 value)


I am having a couple of give-aways for my Blogaversary! Enter for a new DVD of the movie Joshua on my Blogaversary Give-away! Ends on Friday, August 24th. I am also having a contest for a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com, answer these 13 questions about my blog by Wednesday, August 29th. On Friday I will be having a give-away for a 1lb bag of Little Miracles Diapers and Pails detergent from Reversal Miracles.

Life from my laptop is having a Back to School Contest sponsored by Momagenda.

Last week My Two Boys and Signing Time started a series of give-aways of sign language products. Week two is a bit different, email with the answer to a question. Contest ends Friday at midnight, then week 3 starts up.

Mums the Wurd had a couple of contests, but they do not seem to post the winners. There are several great give-aways going on at Mums the Wurd right now: All things baby...and more for a $25 gift certificate to The Polkadot Platypus' eBoutique, ends Sunday, August 26th.

Pinks and Blues Girls always have the most spectacular contests, don't they? Well, they certainly have managed to keep up the standard on this Little Girly-Girl Giveaway! Wow, that is a lot of girly-girl goodness! Ends Wednesday, August 29th at 3 PM EST. And the Primarily Pink Contest for the moms ends MONDAY, AUGUST 27th at 5 PM EDT. Win a $50 Gift Basket from Be So Beautiful Baby Gifts, ends FRIDAY, AUGUST 24th at 3 PM EDT.

Five Minutes for Mom is always having great give-aways. The KooKoo CaChoo Baby Blanket is still open for entry. Does Your Toddler Want A Comfy Easy PC? enter by August 24th!

Lessons from the Scrapbook Page is having an End of Summer Blog-Abration! There are so many prizes, ends August 31st! Lisa’s Baby Bootie Contest is really cute. It’s Potty Time… a great book for those of you with toddlers.

Scribbits is having her Write-Away Contest, and every Saturday she gives away some adorable product she has found.

Kailani is having a $50 give-away to Olive Kids at An Island Review!

Would you like to win a Pink Plaid Funky Lunchbox from KooKoo Bear Kids? Two Moms in A Blog is giving one away, and you can earn up to 5 entries.

Blue Thistle Books is having a big giveaway, a Cuisinart Pure Indulgence 2 QT Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker…. and a huge Back to Homeschool Sale throughout the month of August!


ModMom is giving away a Botticelli 4-bike storage rack, leave a comment with the answer to a question by August 31st. How about a dyson dc07 pink vacuum? Enter by October 1. kaboost? ModMoms got that, too! Enter by August 31st. Go to mod*mom for more information on all 3 give-aways.

Growing A Life is celebrating baby Flybaby's birthday week with loads of prizes for September 3-7. Go check out the prizes and find out how to enter.


Summer from Summers Nook is having a little give-away in her End of Summer Party Giveaway of an adorable Hannah Anderson outfit with some sleepers, and a second winner will win a package of sleepers. Ends Friday, August 24th.


The Pumpkin Patch is having an end of summer party. There are several blogs doing give-aways with her party, stop buy and check it out.

Thursday Thirteen~ Blogaversary Contest

Instead of just a give-away for my blogaversary, I decided it would be fun to do a contest inspired by No Diet Coke for Mommy! She ran a TT contest while on vacation, ensuring we'd be back over and over to find all the 13 things she had us hunting for while she was gone. I won the $25 gift certificate!

Now I shall do the same thing: 13 questions for you to answer about my blog. And I will give the winner a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com.
1) This contest is open to anyone who can use Amazon.com, the gift certificate comes in an email, so I don't even need an address! (if you would really like the certificate to be from somewhere else, I'm open to that, too)
2) Email the answers to qtpies5(at)msn(dot)com.
3) Contest ends Wednesday, August 29th. Winner to be announced Sept. 1st.
4) Winner will be picked by the respondents with the most answers correct randomly drawn by one of my kids. No, family and friends, you can't win! Sorry, but you know me too well.

Don't forget my Blogaversary Give-away! for the movie Joshua. And tomorrow there will be another give-away starting!

1. What is my favorite sitcom/tv show? I love this show! Its the only show we've bought on DVD. But I wouldn't watch it at first because we thought it was so stupid it would dumb us down. (is that enough hints?)
2. Where were my first 3 kids born?
3. What is my one true phobia?
4. Who is my favorite author? (there are two listed)
5. Why would my husband be afraid to give me jewelry?
6. What was the topic of my very first Thursday Thirteen?
7. What did Devon do to shave time off his swim that made his father gag?
8. Boys are pretty gross, but what is the most disgusting thing my boys have said they would eat for money, and for how little bit of money?
9. You have to have a sense of humor when you have lots of kids! What is my favorite come-back to the question "Don't you know what causes that?" (there are two answers, either one is fine!)
10. Here's a tough one: What sport is a "religion" to our youth group?
11. What did we tell our kids is the most powerful weapon on Earth?
12. Besides the computer and blogging, what am I addicted to? (sick, twisted addicted, according to the kids) Not coffee or chocolate!
13. Who was the uninvited guest at our ladies night out?

I will answer these next week with links to the posts.
If you are not interested in playing, then you should at least have something fun to take away from here! The Perfect Gift is the perfect post to get a laugh, enjoy! There is also a funny story on my post Day 2 of the blog party!

Wordless Wednesday~ Look what I Can do!

There's no stopping him! He's also climbing up the couch and standing on the back of them.
Don't forget my Blogaversary Give-away!

More contests!

Don't forget my Blogaversary Give-away!

Adventures in Babywearing is giving away a super cute baby pouch from Baby Dagny, who is also have a huge sale! I love, love that cute pouch, and I'm bummed it is sold out, so I really hope to win it. My kids love to carry Sam around, and this would be perfect for them, my sling is pretty big, and my wrap is REALLY big, so I know they would love something more sized to them. Plus it is really funky!


There is a great Back To School Giveaway from Two Moms In A Blog, win a personally monogrammed Funky Plaid lunch box from Koo Koo Bear Kids.

Recently I won a super cute sleeper for Sam from Apples N' Oranges, and they are at it again with a really great black onsie from Babes in Black! This one ends Wednesday night, so hurry!

Yippee!

Don't forget my Blogaversary Give-away!

I got a check for $76.17 for 3 secret shopper jobs! Those were my biggest jobs, and they were PAINS in the butt! I wish I had been checking for customer service in some of them instead of what I was shopping for, because heads would have been flying if that were the case! It took 31 minutes to get help on one place! And one manager came over asked if I could wait for her to get off her break, and I told her I had already been waiting for 27 minutes, and she shrugged and walked off to her break! Seriously! But that wasn't what I was evaluating, and they instructed me to wait for 35 minutes before leaving. One of the other jobs was easy and great, the other was to check that a company had taken down all signs of the brand of company that they used to be under, but they had not, and I had to take pics of it all and send them in. No idea what all happens with that, but it was pretty easy, and the best paying.
My favorite jobs are the food jobs, I go order a meal, check out some stuff, report on it and they pay me and buy my meal.

Blogaversary Give-away!

One year ago today I started blogging! I am not really sure what I thought would come of it, but I thought it would be a nice way to share with family and friends what my kids were up to and share pictures. Turns out that the only really close family that reads it regularly is my mom, but I am so happy with where this is going for me.

To celebrate I want to give away something that has touched my life in some way. Years ago I had some very crushing, shattering things happen to me. I felt so broken and lost and wondered why God even let me live. I did get through it, God is so good! I know one day that my experience will be used for God's glory and to help others, and I welcome that day.

One night, as I was working an overnight shift, I was watching this movie, Joshua, which happened to be on the shelf of movies. I was just trying to stay awake, but what happened was so moving that I just couldn't forget it. Through this movie I realized that breaking my life into little shards allowed God to make something more beautiful than what it was before! It gave me a hope I hadn't known and a desire to get to that beautiful part of my life!

Aside from that, this is just an incredible, family friendly, amazing movie. Go here to watch a trailer for Joshua. This is a brand new, unopened DVD of Joshua.

To enter:

1. Leave a comment. That's all! Make sure I can find you, if you don't have a blog, please leave an email for me. I'm sick, so I don't feel like hunting someone down, thanks!

2. Blog and share the love for a second entry, let me know in your comment that you did it.

This give-away will run through midnight Friday, August 24. I will announce the winner on Saturday.

Keep checking back, I have another give-away planned and a contest on Thursday!

A book review

The Melody Carlson blog tour is from August 20-24th, and I am on board.



I was given a copy of Melody's book Mexico, which is the third book in her Notes from a Spinning Planet series. This series follows a young 19-year-old girl named Maddie through her adventures with her Aunt Sid, who is a reporter.
In the book Mexico, Maddie and Aunt Sid have many minor and major things happen to them, or end up witnessing them, anything that can go wrong, does. A running theme in the book is alcholism, but it is mixed with adventure and friendships and some other lessons. Maddie observes a new friend in her life being destroyed by alcholism. What can she do to help? She does seek advice from adults, which is refreshing. This book is written from a Christian point of view, but I'm torn on whether she should have added more spirituality to it, or if that was just enough for a non-Christian to not be turned off by the book. Maddie does things realistically they way a teen would handle things, not how we want Christians to handle things. I also have not decided if I will let my teen daughter read the book. I do want my daughter to learn some of the points brought up in this book, like being aware of your surroundings and taking heed of that voice that tells you that something is not right, but I don't want her having to see these tough topics yet, either. Over all, it was a pretty good book.

About Melody
Melody Carlson is the winner of the RITA Award and the Gold Medallion and has published over ninety books for adults, children, and teens, including Finding Alice, Crystal Lies, and the Diary of a Teenage Girl series. Carlson is the mother of two grown sons and lives in a "cabin in the words" near the Cascade Mountains in central Oregon with her husband and a chocolate lab retriever. A full-time writer and part-time gardener, biker, skier, and hiker, Carlson can be found on the Internet at http://www.melodycarlson.com/.


Don't forget about my Blogaversary Give-away!

Guess what??

Its finally time to reveal my secrets!
See that little count down to the left?? The one that says "Blogaversary 1 day"????
Yep, tomorrow is my blogaversary! And I have a couple of events planned for this week.
Tomorrow I will be starting a giveaway, and then on Thursday I am having a contest with a prize. There may be another little prize or two tucked up my sleeve, you never know!

We interupt this blog.....

for a special announcement. The Qtpie Family is too sick to do anything. We are hacking up pieces of lung left and right, we are filling trash cans with tissues of snot, and visions of NyQuil are dancing in our heads. (visions FROM the NyQuil is more like it!)

OK so I have to blog, I'm doing the 30 day blogging challenge that Nell at Casual Friday Every Day is having. But we are so drugged up and so sick that we don't want to do anything. Except drink more drugs.

I will still not admit camping would be more fun. Even though it would.

Can you believe this?

I think most people know that I am insane and want to have twins. I don't care if they are both boys or girls or one of each, or if they are identical or fraternal. I just want twins. I know, I must be sick.
But here is something I have never prayed for or hoped for, and I know I will never go that direction! If it happened to me, then I would be fine, but I am not so crazy as to actually want this to happen!
Calgary woman gives birth to identical quadruplets! This is truly amazing. The children are identical, it was completely natural conception. I don't think I have ever heard of this happening before. They also have a little toddler, too.
Thanks, Michelle, for linking to that article!
I think this is probably as exciting as the Duggars having thier 17th baby. Certainly more amazing!

Sam did it!

I have been trying to teach Sam some basic sign language since Sunday when he was attempting to imitate the girl who was signing at church.
Tonight while nursing Sam did the sign for milk! I was so excited!!! He watched me to it several times before nursing and after he started and then when I looked away and stopped, he thought and then held up his hand where he could see it and he did the sign.
We'll be working hard on that now!

Nursing moms!

I've been a nursing mom with all 7 of my kids. I have never had a kid who was willing to be covered up, though. It is tough being modest and still nursing when your child needs it. I was really good at it, but with my last two kids my cup size is double what it was for the first 5 kids. It is MUCH harder to not be exposed!










So when I came across this product I was just totally head-over-heels in love with it! And the attached burp cloth is just a big ol' bonus!
Mom4Life is giving one away. I will be spreading word of this incredible product because I think it will be a life saver for many women. This week's contest ends Wed the 22nd at 9PM PST.

WooHoo!

We're not going camping! We're not going camping! We're not going camping!

Praise God for fevers and headaches and coughing and lots and lots of snot!

Babywearing

I love to wear my baby. I have tried 3 brands of ring slings with little success. I thought I loved the Over the Shoulder Baby Holder, but when Sam started standing up in it I knew I had to find something else.
Sam likes to be held. I like to hold him. But I need my hands free with 6 other kids. I finally chose a wrap and bought it. I love my wrap!
When I walk with Sam in a stroller he looks around, but mostly just sits there. When I wear him in the wrap he grabs for tree branches, squeals, tries to fly (at least that is what that arm flapping looks like), talks to people, and generally interacts with the world. It is like two different babies. He is never afraid someone is going take him away from mom, so he is comfortable with everyone talking to him. He is safe and secure.
That is why I love wearing my baby. Not to mention that he can't get into things when I am wearing him. Or take his diaper off. Or eat cat food (or worse).

Go tell Renee why you love wearing your baby. Baby you will be rewarded.

Contests

Check out my Contest Frenzy post at Momsblogging for more great contests!
Update**
I can't believe I missed this one!
You can enter to win a $25 gift certificate to Mom 4 Life! Just sign the Mr. Linky and be sure to link toAdventures in Babywearing as well as Mom4Life.com for a chance to win before this Friday August 17, 11 PM (CST) when a winner will be picked at random. If I win, there will be a few more Babylegs at our house! I even got my s-i-l hooked on them!

My Two Boys and Signing Time is having a series of give-aways of sign language products. A winner will be drawn at random this Friday after midnight for Week One.


Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer is hostessing a giveaway wherein one lucky winner will win a sign of their choice from the Prim and Proper Sign Shop. Check out the details on this post. Friday, August 17th.



Sheri from Purely His is having a giveaway for back to school goodies for those teen girls in your life.


Win a Bag of Books and some bath goodies from Welcome to My World of Dreams, who is celebrating the birth of her new book review blog by giving away a book bag full of well, books, of course, and bath goodies, too! Enter by August 26 and be sure to visit The Long and the Short of It on Monday, August 27, for the Grand Opening Bash.


Enter to Win some Bella Bubs goodness from Mums the Wurd! Deadline to enter is Friday, August 17th at 10 PM.
They are also giving away a Tutor.com 75 minute session ($40 value) to one lucky reader. To enter this giveaway, just leave a comment. Winner will be drawn on Saturday, August 18th.

Mommy Life is giving away an autographed copy of Real Women Scrap for a comment by 8AM EST August 20.

Multi-Tasking Mom, in conjunction with momAgenda, is having a contest so that one of you Multi-Tasking Moms can win a momAgenda Desktop Planner! Add a banner to your sidebar. Click here for more details on how to enter. Enter by Friday, August 17, 2007.


Pinks and Blues Girls are at it again! Enter these two contests by Friday, August 17th: Gotta Go giveaway for a DKNY bag and TONS of toiletries (write a post about a potty experience) AND Win a $20 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card (send an email)! Enter by August 20 to win a pair of Czela Bellies CesareanWear, panties for the mom who recently had a c-section! (enter by email)

Five Minutes for Mom is giving away a KooKoo CaChoo Baby Blanket! Leave a comment, I could not find an end date, but the contest started August 14th. Does Your Toddler Want A Comfy Easy PC? enter by August 24th!

Have you entered the Write-Away Contest at Scribbits? What is up this Saturday? You will have to stop by to see! Ok, so I do happen to know it will be Shoshona Snow Pottery. I wish I was not going to be camping so I could enter.


Renee from When 2 became 3 is doing her second give-away, which ends August 22. You need to write a post about why you love baby wearing, and you can win a gorgeous wrap that Renee made! It is beautiful!

Skimbaco has a custom Tuuli Tunic, from Riiminki Design, to give to one lucky Mama.Leave a comment on the giveaway post, mentioning your favorite Riiminka Design product and your link or e-mail address. August 19th.


If you didn’t make it to BlogHer you can still experience the “swag.” Hop over to Who’s the Boss? to check it out.All you have to do is comment on the giveaway post by Friday, August 17, 2007

Thursday Thirteen~ Hmmm

Thirteen Things that drove me nuts! 1. We paid off the car last month, and the "Service Engine Soon" light came on and we lost power steering. Knew something would happen though, that's the law of paying off your vehicle. 2. The electric company mistakenly turned our power off yesterday and I had to go yell at them to get it back on, the tech did not believe me that I should not be on his "list" to shut it off. And now the A/C or the furnace doesn't work because of it. 3. We are trying to move our in-laws to our town, but I could not go because of the car and because I can't speak. I have laryngitis. 4. We are camping this weekend, but even though Donnie is on vacation, he can't get the stuff together because he is busy constantly until Friday morning. This means I have to do it, while sick, and busy. And I hate camping, I don't know what we need. 5. I enrolled Cody in online public school, but our two schools don't agree on the paperwork, so he may have to start in October instead of September. (but they supply the computer and printer!) I have to run around today trying to fax and print things without either machine.Can't work it out on the phone because I have no voice. 6. Tuesday we went to Minneapolis to drop one kid at the airport in the am and pick another up in the evening. LONG wait in between. Wasted a whole day in the cities. (well, it wasn't a waste, we just didn't get the stuff we needed done at home done.) 7. Everywhere we went Donnie drove the wrong way first. Weird because he is incredible with directions and finding places. And I do mean "everywhere we went" he went the wrong way first. 8. Our dryer is broken. Hope to get that fixed soon. And our freezer doesn't freeze ice cream but does keep meat frozen. 9. Two of our vehicle windows are broken. One from a bathroom sink, and one from a rock off a gravel truck. 10. Our roof leaks in windy storms. Won't be fixing that any time soon, but need to. 11. Sam is teething and has a cold so he can't breathe, is in pain, and nurses. We are not getting enough sleep especially when he has to open his mouth to breathe, but to keep hold of his food supply he has to use his teeth. I woke up more than him with my scream! (And I am positive I will NEVER get a piercing on my chest area thingies!) 12. We are missing one of our hamsters. It has been missing for a couple of weeks. Imagine when we do find it...... 13. While in Minneapolis on Tuesday, someone dinged our car with his door, while we were in the car. Didn't even acknowledge it. I wanted to go all "Lois" on him, but Donnie wouldn't let me. I know once I post this, I will have a dozen more, but I struggled to get 13. My brain is stuffed up. Next week will be a surprise with a surprise!

Hey, Power Company

You know today, when you cut my power off? Yeah, it wasn't supposed to be cut off. Why did your driver not believe me? Why didn't he call you and figure things out before he left so I wouldn't have to load up a baby and drive there and have a screaming fit at you? And why did it take so long for them to come back out to fix the problem after we got it straightened out? Were you getting back at me for yelling at you? You know you would be yelling too if you had your power cut off by mistake when you needed to be doing 7 other things that day instead of fighting with yourselves.
You set my day back 2 hours. You set my friend's day back, too, because she couldn't get a hold of me to drop kids off so she could go to work. And I couldn't call her because I had no power. And I couldn't leave to call her because I was expecting her to show up at my house, and I couldn't call her because my power was out.
I also needed to make a meal for a family whose child recently had a horrible biking accident and has a brain injury. But I couldn't go to the store or cook anything because my power was out and I couldn't arrange to get the kids so I could leave, and I couldn't cook without power.
And I couldn't call my husband about the car problems, because, you know, the power was out and my phones need power.
I also could not wash clothes this morning before I go out of town because my washer doesn't work without power.
But you are right. I should look at it from your point of view and not be mad at you. Don't bother your little heads about it, m'kay? Good.

Wordless Wednesday~ Sharky

Sharky at the Mall of America

Jerk!

While in the cities today, we stopped at our bank and pulled in next to a really nice, new car. Fancy, schmancy car with a "Daddio" license plate. And old couple is in there. So the guy goes to get out and smacks his car door into our car. He doesn't even LOOK at us, doesn't apologize, nothing. I step out and look at the damage, and still he doesn't acknowledge it. His wife gives him a look, but that's it.
And there was some damage, and they had white paint on their black door. Not that we would go and do anything for something so minor, but jeepers, we were right there! Why couldn't he acknowledge it?
I felt like doing a Lois from Malcom in the Middle, and digging his car 5 or 60 times. Then maybe start a demolition derby right there in the parking lot.
But you know, Donnie wouldn't let me. He wouldn't even let me say anything to the jerk. He's a much better Christian that I am, I guess.

The end of summer must be here

Two of my boys started football season today. (did I mention that on my list of things to do? No? That's because they didn't TELL me it was coming up!)

We had to do some running to get Cody enrolled in football and get him a helmet. Devon had one at his age, but we can't find it. We have the pants and pads and shoulder pads, but no helmet. But really, Cody has a bigger head, so it may not have fit him anyways.

Devon shouldn't need anything because he is in high school. Just a cup, hopefully.

Cody was asking me how to wear his cup, over or under the boxers, and I'm like, ummmm, seriously dude, I don't have one of those things, so covering them is NOT my hobby. Ask Dad, Drew, Devon........ not the mom. Drew is not into the true contact sports, as he had no idea how to wear it. Drew was in tennis, then gave it up for speech and drama. Devon is the contact sports dude. He said it didn't matter, but probably over, and Donnie said over.

So, Cody comes home from practice and reeks! Bleeeahhhh!!! This should be fun, two of them reeking up the joint, I'll have to do their laundry every day.

Samuel Cuteness!

Our church does a church service at the county fair every year, and we are encouraged to attend it there.
We were standing there singing and worshipping. I was holding Samuel, who was a squirmy worm.
He started watching the worship team and we had a young lady doing sign language up front. I looked down at Sam who was moving his arms over his head and then crossing them in front of his chest and making funny motions. I looked back up and watched the signing, and looked back at Sam. He was trying to do sign language! He is only 9 months old! Isn't that just too adorable?!?

Where thoughts get jumbled up and spit out

in no particular order with no rhyme or reason.

Parenting teens is way harder than triplets in the terrible twos.

Pink eye is painful.

I hate not having my camera. Where is it????

I am sick. Sam is sick. Trinity is sick. Drew may be getting pink eye, too.

Hope-Anne has a magic thumb that gets rid of migraines. And it is so awesome that my head felt as though it was part of the pillow and I felt as though I was floating. She's the best! She's my favorite child today.

Devon is not my favorite this week.

I had to cancel my Tupperware party. We are not getting better, and no one wants to come over and get pink eye for the honor of spending tons of money on Tupperware. Even though Tupperware is incredibly cool and awesome.

Sam got his top two teeth in recently and he looks rather dorky right now. But I can't take his picture because my camera is missing.

Prepare to be exhausted!

Here is my schedule from Friday (yesterday) to Friday:

Friday:
Jody's birthday, meet at the DQ
Get to the church for ladies night out (aka, bat hunting)
Saturday:
Pack Trinity up for a sleepover
Go to another town for their school supply give-away
Go to the grocery store
Go to the Demolition Derby!!! Women only!
Sunday:
Church at the fair
Free lunch at the fair
Get all camping supplies together
Clean for Tupperware party and make calls
Monday:
Clean for party
Have party (unless the kids are still sickos)
Tuesday:
Bring Devon to the airport in the am
Sit at the Mall of America ALL day
Pick Kaytlin up from the airport
Wednesday:
Donnie drops Drew in St. Cloud to be sworn in to the Air force
Donnie goes to his parents
I take the kids to the movie for a MOMS field trip
I head to Donnie's parents
We pack his parent's house up
Thursday:
Finish packing and bring them to our town
Unload the stuff
Figure out how Drew is getting home, I think the recruiter is bringing him home
Friday:
Go camping for the weekend.

Sad

Isn't it sad that $10 worth of gas won't even get my gas light to turn off?

Blog-Abration!

Tasra at Lessons from the Scrapbook is having a huge blog-abration with tons of great prizes! I've posted about this before, but I want to remind everyone to go and get signed up for this!

Ladies Night Out~ Just batty!

I do not miss a ladies night out unless I am puking. I love going to ladies night. Even the time that Nikki threw a boxelder bug at me and I thought it was a spider and screamed and cried and threw my baby at Jody. I can't imagine anything but a spider to be worthy of screaming like Nikki was doing, and then to throw it at me, well, I just sort of flipped out a little. Jeannie, brave, brave, Jeannie just flicked the bug off of her and stepped on it. I cried for awhile and Nikki had the heebiejeebies for awhile. Sarah missed that night because she was too busy having a baby or something like that.
Other nights we get really goofy and laugh until the wee hours of the morning. Not that we'd ever divulge what is said at ladies night. But it is a lot of fun. Nothing gets us down. We are die-hard for our night out.
But tonight, tonight was a whole new level of terror/fun. We get in the church, just us ladies, late into the night, all alone. In the basement. Its dark outside. Typically its not bad, we walk out to our cars together, so we are not too scared.
We were sitting at our normal table, doing our normal things, like playing games and eating and talking and laughing. Minding our own business, not gossiping at all, well, maybe a little, but mostly minding our own business. When all of a sudden we have an unwelcome guest crashing our party!
Really! Not just unwelcome, but completely unfriendly! We were terrorized! We were screaming, running for other rooms, the phone to call for help, and Cindy took a silver tray and tried to beat our attacker off. We did get him out of the room and locked ourselves in, but soon he was back through a different door and terrorizing us again! This time we got him locked in a room! Whew! Several of the ladies left at this point. We had sore throats from the screaming and help refused to show up! (that would be my husband)
But the rest of us are die-hards, like I said, and we are not giving up our ladies night! But the rascal got out of the room and went for us again! This time I got the tray and went for the stupid bat!

Everyone except Jeannie and I ran to the bathroom screaming. We went and chased it out again. I'm feeling pretty brave now. Cindy left and someone had to do it. (thankfully she doesn't know how to get pictures off her camera to show anything to the contrary)
Ok, its gone again, so we sit back down and clean up a bit. Sarah has to feed the baby before we leave.
We get to talking about how we can get the church to seriously get an exterminator because we are not the first to see the bats. We decide it would be funny to put one of the dead ones recently found onto the silver tray and put an M&M in its mouth and leave for proof. (ok, its after midnight and we are a little loopy and full of adrenaline from 3 bat attacks, don't judge us) So, Jeannie and I go into the big, huge sanctuary, which is actually a gymnasium, looking for dead bats. We didn't find any, though. That's ok, because really, who was going to pick it up?
But wouldn't it be funny to go running and screaming back into the room and watch all the chickens scatter into the bathroom? Oh, yes, it would be funny! But Jeannie doesn't play along, she just wanders back in there, knowing what I am about to do. I trail behind, shutting off lights and doors. Then I start screaming! And they start screaming and jumping out of their seats! Sarah is almost standing up fully with the baby in her arms on the way to the bathroom until she sees my face.
Yes, she should have known with me!
Sarah double dog dares me to make sure the bat was still in the room since I believe this was a different bat. The room was empty. Yes, I did go check it out!
Really, we should leave, the bats are getting angry.
So we pack it up and of course its tricky getting out and turning off lights and getting through doors not knowing where the next bat might turn up. Jeannie leads the way turning on lights, and I tail the crew turning lights off. As the other 3 crouch and hide behind doors and walls, I let out a blood curdling scream. And they all jump and start screaming, too! Oh, it was sooooo worth the little bit of pee in my panties, soooo worth it!

Contest Frenzy~ August 9th

My column is up at Momsblogging! Go check it out for some great contests and to see who the winners are of last weeks contests. Here are just a few of the contests going on.

Blessed Nest is giving away a $100 gift certificate to the Blessed Nest store. All you have to do is leave a comment on the giveaway post, stating what your favorite Blessed Nest item is, and post a link on your blog back to the contest. Deadline to enter is August 31

Mom4Life is having a great giveaway, at least for those with toddlers, enter to win a Hot Toddies Car Seat Cover.

"Multi-Tasking Mom's Contest" is giving away a lovely set of goodies from The Body Shop! Yummy! You need to comment and put up her button on your sidebar by August 10th. Go to this post to get the html code for the button.

Scribbit likes to have a give-away on Saturdays! Check with her on Saturday for a Glostar Handbag. Plus she has a writing contest each month. This month it is on your collections and the prize is a cool t-shirt.

Over at the Pinks and Blues Girls Blog you can win a Carolyn’s Kitchen apron and glove set of your choice! Simply leave a comment stating your favorite Carolyn’s Kitchen set! Enter by Friday, August 10th at 12:00 noon EDT

So a Blonde Walks into a blog is having a contest with lots of great prizes, cookbooks, apron, hat, for blonds, or not, lol. Open until August 12, just for a comment.

Gymboree is offering two of Love Shak, Baby's readers each a $250 Gift Card to be used at the Gymboree store or Gymboree online.Check out Love Shak, Baby for all the details ~ You need to know what kind of comment to leave on the giveaway post to be entered! Enter by August 17th.

Check out the Four Peas backpack giveaway that Fina' Drea is hosting over at Fina' Drea. Enter by Friday, August 10th.

Mums the Word is the hoppin' place for contests right now. They have a $25 gift certificate (not including shipping) to Kids Central Kitchen, plus a copy of I Heart My In-Laws or a Rockin' Car Seat Cover!

“Let’s rock The Rock Chick’s World! Send Life is RANTastic to the A-List.”

Shelly is helping Jessica the Rock Chick get to A-List! And so can you! Stop by Shelly's blog to find out how you can help Jessica out and get the chance to win some great prizes!

Thursday Thirteen~ injuries

Thirteen injuries/bad things my kids have done Drew 1. Drank Windex. The poison control center said that he'd probably seem to have the flu, but he could just have the flu so who knows? Yep, he got the "flu." 2. He reached into a drawer that was over his head and grabbed a tube of super glue. Know where this is going? He super glued his eye OPEN. Kaytlin 3. Fell in the bathtub and split her chin open and needed stitches. TWICE. 4. Sprained her ankle doing gymnastics. Devon 5. Fell off of a Little Tykes gym at the mall and fell on his head on a stone floor. Later I couldn't wake him up. 6. Fell off the playground in our backyard and landed on the support beam on his nose. I was sure it was broken. While I was arguing with Donnie about taking him to the doctor over a broken nose Devon got up and went to play. 7. Walking down the street Devon sprained AND broke his ankle and I didn't even know he'd hurt it until 2 days later. 8. He skateboarded off the roof of the CHURCH and landed on his butt on the skateboard. Probably broke his tailbone, but I don't cater to stupidity so I didn't take him in. (they don't do anything for a broken tail bone anyway) Cody 9. Fell sideways off a chair and broke his collar bone. 10. Got flung off a tire swing and broke his nose. The pediatrician LAUGHED and laughed at that! 11. Sliced his finger open cutting summer sausage with a "miracle knife", needed 4 stitches. Trinity 12. Tried to go outside naked, so Cody slammed the door right on her finger, she needed 4 stitches in her little, tiny pinkie finger. 13. She was running and fell and hit her ear on our baseboard slicing through the cartilage even. They thought they would need at least 3 stitches, but one on the edge held it! And she did NOT cry at all for the stitches. So far, Hope-Anne and Samuel have not had to go to the ER for anything they caused.

“Let’s rock The Rock Chick’s World! Send Life is RANTastic to the A-List.” Shelly says "Jessica’s posts are pithy and fun to read. She knows what’s happening in the world of entertainment. She’ll take you on a journey without you having to leave your chair, as she tells you about stalking Jon Bon Jovi or riding on an elephant at a Renaissance Fair. She can tug your emotions with a post about her grandfather, or have you rolling on the floor with laughter as she muses about Paris Hilton."

Lets Say....

(This happened to my brother)

Lets say you were driving home one night and you maybe fell asleep at the wheel. And lets say you hit a traffic light pole head on.

Your car is totalled.

You sheared the light pole off the ground completely disconnecting it from the ground, even.

You hit so hard that your tire even completely fell of the car and the other side if flat.

Now lets say that the airbag did not deploy. And your face smashed into the steering wheel so hard it smashed out your teeth. Over $5000 worth of dental work worth of smashing.

Now lets say within two weeks your car company sends you a recall notice on defective air bags.

If an airbag had gone off in the head on collision you would not have smashed your teeth out.

Now lets say your car was a GM model. They would tell you it is inconclusive on whether or not the air bag should have gone off and they will not take care of you.

Lawyers are not taking the case because you only want to repair your broken teeth and that isn't enough money for lawyers to bother with. That is pretty piddly compared to what could happen with a lawsuit about a defective airbag not deploying, isn't it?

Why won't State Farm take care of his teeth? He had full coverage insurance. They covered the cost of the loan when the car was totalled. Well, he was possibly knocked out, he does not remember what happened, and he was rather out of it and did not go to the hospital. The police report has pictures of him. They can prove he was injured in the accident. Why are these two companies not taking care of their responsibilities?

Wordless Wednesday~Sharp objects are Dangerous

This is NOT me or my family. I don't know who they are, I got it in an email. But I just KNOW that I have met them both before, I just can't figure out who they are! LOL

Where is my camera???

The other day one of the kids was playing with it and annoying the snot out of us with the flash, but we can't find it since then.
And I got my hair cut today! I'd love to post a pic, but can't. Its short, sassy, layered. Very different than I normally wear my hair, and I love it!
Donnie was mad. I didn't tell him I was going to do it because I thought it would be fun to surprise him. Turns out he suspected I was going to do it, so I don't know why he was mad that I didn't talk to him about it. Its not like he talks to me about getting his hair cut. He says he likes the cut, though. Just doesn't like that I didn't talk to him first. And he was just thinking today how much he likes my hair long. But last week I said my hair was going through a blah phase and I needed some spunkiness to liven things up, and he agreed.
I'll search the couch cushions for the camera tomorrow.