Got a baby in your life?

I have several in my life. My own little Samuel, my niece Mackenzie, my nephew Austin, and my niece on the way in March. I am always looking for cool baby clothes.
Austin and niece on the way's dad loves rock music. He is a nut about it. I thought this adorable AB/CD (for those about to read, we salute you) shirt is so cute for them, I know Daryl would love to see his kids in it! I am ordering it for a little first birthday coming up.
This Cherry Blossom on brown is so beautiful. Who wouldn't want to put their little girl in this trendy shirt? It comes in a large range of sizes, from 3-6 months to 6T.

This is what I need for my teething monsters! I have called every one of my kids "Drool Monster" at some point in their lives. Isn't this the cutest?
But this sweet pink shirt is what I want to get for my sister in law's baby that is due in March. "I'm gonna need therapy." Daryl is a tad nuts, and I don't know how Daphne deals with it, but I think the kids are going to need therapy, lol. (well, so are my kids, who am I kidding?)
Trendy Tadpole is such a neat store. The clothes were not outrageously expensive like some online "trendy" stores that charge $38 for a shirt a baby will wear 3 times. I didn't see anything over $20.95. For the holidays you can get free shipping on orders of 3 shirts or more with the code "free" when checking out. But, the shipping is very reasonable if you don't order 3, it is only $5 flat rate no matter what you order.

Some of the other adorable and fun shirt designs are things like: these booties are made for walking, All hands on the Poop deck (complete with pirate flag, so cute!), and B.Y.O.B bring your own bottle. Don't you just want one?

If I were a cat, I'd have one less life...

First, I'll quickly explain the hand injury, then the title to this post!
The end of May I went to the zoo with my two best friends, Sarah and Jody. I rode with Jody in her blazer or whatever it is. (sorry Jody, I know its cool, but I don't remember vehicle names) Anyway, I was putting her oldest son DJ and Trinity in the back seat in their carseats and as I put my hand on the middle seat to pull myself out of the back, my hand slipped and my thumb bent WAY back. I was sure I had broken it. But who breaks their thumb by bending it backward? So, I let it go for months. Then in September Trinity ran into my thumb and jammed it again. It hasn't gotten better since. So I went in. The doctor thought a tiny bone was out of socket, so sent me to an orthopedic surgeon today. He had me move my hand in a weird position and oh my word the pain! And not where it has been hurting. So he says "Ah, that makes much more sense. You have tendinitis." I injured the tendons in my thumb, well, the base of my thumb and wrist. So, he injected the tubes that the tendons are in with cortisone and put me in a splint for 6 weeks.

So, after my lovely day with the concern over Sam, and then my lovely splint, things got even better!
I was about to head out to the store with Kaytlin and my mother in law when I went to get Sam to leave with a big kid. But we couldn't find him. We searched and searched the house, the yard, the garage. We checked the toilettes for drowning, the laundry chute, the oven, closets, cupboards. Nowhere.
We searched the alley, the sidewalk up and down the street. Nothing.
I called my friend's house and asked if they could reach the kids, Hope-Anne was on a walk with them and maybe she took him?? The strollers were all here. But maybe. Drew came home and I sent him out looking for them. Kaytlin took off in another car looking. My mother in law walked over looking for Sam along the way.
Then my friend drove up with the girls. And no Sam. I lost it. I just saw a horrid nightmare flash before my eyes. A life of investigations, a missing child, years of searching, finding a dead child. How could I face that? I fell to the ground in tears.
Then my phone rang. Devon had taken Sam and not told anyone. He never takes Sam. Kaytlin had come across him at their school, where I had sent Devon to go get something he left there. She told him I was going to kill him and he better call me and let me know Sam was safe.
I was THAT close to calling 911. I couldn't stay standing for some time.

I want to thank my friends who are leaving messages of encouragement and prayers for Samuel. I will work on the iron. I have no idea when they will let me know about the test results, but I covet each prayer for Sam. He has been eating SO much better tonight after seeing the doctor. Doesn't it always go that way? LOL

I can't belive this!

Blogging is going to stink for me for the next 4-6 weeks or more.
I don't have the use of my right thumb.
I am right handed.
I use my right thumb for the space bar.
This stinks.
My typing is more than half as slow as it used to be.
All because I went to the zoo in May.
Now I had to get a shot and wear a splint for 6 weeks.

That is the good news for the day. Samuel is a little guy, always has been. At about 5 months old he hit a little fat stage because he fell in love with table food, but lately he hasn't been gaining weight. He isn't losing it, either, but he is only 18lbs 12oz naked. He went from the 26th percentile to the 4th in weight. So he is sort of "failure to thrive" though he doesn't have the usual things with that, like developmental delays or weight loss. He is being tested for celiac disease, which the doctor does not think he has. The presumed cause is probably low iron, which we knew he had slightly low iron a couple of months ago. When I started hyperventilating over the "failure to thrive" she stopped saying it, lol. Sam is a VERY active guy, and not behind in anything. You would never know he isn't perfect, because he appears happy all the time and is always moving and playing. The doctor said he probably isn't very sick because usually if it is serious they look sick.

Anyway, I am a little freaked, but we'll get through. On top of it all, he has a double ear infection, which could be the middle of the night crying jags we've been going through. He doesn't cry when he is nursing, so we didn't think he was in pain. He sure let us know it hurt when they drew his blood today!

Sticky Post

Enter my giveaways of 5 items from Wiggitybang! T-shirts, hat, a surprise.....

Book Review~ Boo Humbug

I was able to review Boo Humbug, by Rene Gutterige this month.
I have not read the first three books in the Boo series, but that didn't make reading this one difficult, though it may have shown me why some (all) of the characters were so bizarre! They were all weird like that TV show Northern Exposure. Just weird, weird things were going on. But it all fit. Especially if you have ever lived in a small town, which I have.

Rene Gutterige did a great job of wrapping up the end and I will admit to even shedding a tear or two. The gospel message well done. I am glad I read Boo Humbug, though it is not the type of book I normally read.

Summary: Readers have come to love the eccentric characters from Skary, Indiana, in Rene Gutteridge’s popular Boo! series. Now, in Boo, Humbug! they’re back – and they’re stirring up a large amount of holiday havoc.

It’s Christmastime in Skary, and the town is planning an original production of A Christmas Carol with a horror spin. As showtime approaches, things go very awry for director Lois Stepaphanopolis. She panics when she discovers that her marketing director loathes Christmas and that the audience has been promised not Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but the real Christmas story. Can the actors pull off the improv of all improvs and convince their community to embrace the true meaning of the Christmas season?

Boo, Humbug! offers readers a delightful glimpse into small town, community life with heartwarming humor and winsome characters. And in the end, the true meaning of Christmas shines out bright and clear, in a decidedly un-Skary way.

Rene Gutteridge is the author of 10 novels, including the Boo series, the Storm series, The Occupational Hazards series and My Life as a Doormat, a Women of Faith selection for 2006. She has been published over 30 times as a playwright, and holds a degree in screenwriting, graduating magna cum laude from Oklahoma State University. Rene is married to Sean, a musician, and they have two young children. They make their home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

You can find Boo Humbug! at Amazon.

Fall Y'all Bloggy Giveaway~!

*This giveaway is now closed. I will be announcing the winner later today, November 4th. I will be doing a drawing so everyone has a better chance, the random number generator I played with last night didn't pick number 1 at all, but did 111 7 times. The next one I played with picked 1 after 25-30 tries. So, to make sure it really is random, I am going to put 200 numbers in a bowl and draw a name.
I loved the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Give-away so much that I didn't want it to end! I was thrilled to hear that there would be a fall version, and I waited with much anticipation!
So, here is is! Fall, Y'all!


I took a poll on what to give away, and it was close, but Quelf won. Which is good, because I would have done it anyway.
This is the only game I have ever consistently had a great time playing. Not just a fun time with friends, laughing until tears are rolling down my face fun.
My friends threaten me that I had BETTER bring the game with me to our ladies night out. My mom bought the game after hearing about it, and then got mad at me for not telling her to buy Depends to wear when she plays it. My step-mom asked me to get it for her for Christmas. My NUCLEAR SCIENTIST brother is not only going to buy it after playing it, he is also going to buy the junior version, Flapdoodle, for their boys. You can read about the first time I played Quelf here.

Quelf should be under every family's Christmas tree this year. So, I will be giving away one Quelf game to a lucky reader, purchased from Barnes and Noble to help get Wiggity Bang's other games picked up by them.


I will only be able to ship in the US, so only US residents can enter, sorry. (I am willing to ship further if you want to pick up the extra shipping, I just can't do it at this time, but I would love it if everyone could enter.)
I will close comments around midnight Saturday night, November 3rd, as long as the comments are open, you may still enter. On the 4th I will choose a winner. If I can't contact you, I will pick a different winner.
Leave a way for me to get in contact with you. If you are not a blogger, leave your email. You can email me with your contact info if you don't want to leave it in a comment, however, you still have to leave a comment in order to enter, just let me know you are emailing me a comment and a way for me to connect to the two.

If you are here before the 31st, you can also enter another giveaway from me, the president of Quelf, Mr. Rivaldi, gave me a bunch of things to give away, including 3 shirts, so I am having a Quelf Give-away! Those contests end October 31.


Happy Fall, Y'all!

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to...

Sam's 1st birthday party!Mmmm, lunch time.
Sam fell asleep right after eating.

He was out cold!

We woke him up for cake, he was not happy.

He did not get happy, either.

Until he got a taste of the sherbet we forced into his mouth.

Why are you torturing me with this stuff?

Leave me alone!!!

Ohh, what is that?

Ahhh, cars! That's awesome!

Back to clothes? Well, ok, but where are the cars?

Sam loved the balloons and the cars. He didn't touch his cake that I slaved over until 1 am, and then had to deal with his crying behind until 2:30am when I decided he had won the fight and let him nurse again.

Strange, awesome and a bad decision

Strange, but true: I was up late decorating Sam's birthday cake and doing some last minute tidying up around the house when Sam woke up at 1am. I am trying to stop nursing him at night, because he is a year old and certainly shouldn't be waking up at night or needing to eat 4 times a night. So, we had a screaming match on our hands. We tried the 'ole switcheroo where Donnie takes him and he gets good and mad and then I "save" him from the mean daddy. That worked for 15 seconds. Then we started a video, which works great. After about an hour Donnie, who has been growing his hair out until hunting season is over, says "I think I'm going to cut my hair." OK.
Well, I'm sitting there with Sam and I hear and FEEL the house vibrating. I run to figure out what it is and find Donnie alternately shaving and randomly cutting off chunks of his hair! At 2 AM!!!
Awesome: Trinity is the lucky recipient of the $10 reward for finding my camera that was misplaced mid August! She just reached down the couch cushions and pulled it out. (I have searched and vacuumed the couches over and over since then digging for the camera!) She wants to buy a Barbie with her reward money.
Bad Decision: We are down to one vehicle part of the time. Donnie's car works, the van doesn't, mine needs a new tire and some other MAJOR work, and Kaytlin's car only starts when it feels like it. We borrow my in-law's car sometimes, too, but we had to bring it back this morning. So, right before church starts we figure out that Kaytlin has their keys. Donnie runs off at 10am to bring them the keys. It is youth Sunday and Drew and Kaytlin are playing on the worship team or in the drama and Devon is running the visuals. At 10:45 Kaytlin is looking all over for Donnie who hasn't come back yet. (its a 5 minute drive) Kaytlin has to be at work at 11 and her work clothes are in the car. No idea where the car or Donnie is.
We finally get Grandpa to come and get her, but still don't have the clothes. Well, I'm just freaking out about what could have happened to him. Finally, finally, at 11:10 he shows up. He had managed to beat his dad to the church and bring Kaytlin to her work with 5 minutes to spare. I asked him where he was.
"I mad a bad decision." Did you go to Walmart? "No, I mad a BAD decision. I went to take down my deer stands." This is about 25 miles away! So he got there and looked at the clock and remembered Kaytlin. He had to book it 90 mph to get back in time! And he did not, in fact, get his stands down.

That was just the beginning! We also had Sam's party today. And lets just say "It's his party and he'll cry if he wants to."

Happy First Birthday, Samuel!

Happy 1st Birthday, Samuel Isaac! You were born on October 27th, 2006. A little miracle child.

This is hard for me, I don't want you to grow up. You are my little baby. I prayed and prayed for you. God told us we would have you, and we waited for 7 long years for your birth. I love you so much, Sammy!

Here is another slide show of Samuel in color.

New level of weirdO!

Yes, this is exactly what it looks like. A toilette shaped house. It is owned by South Korean sanitation activist Sim Jae-Duck. Even if you are in sanitation, I can't imagine how this is cool. Is their sense of humor that different from ours? Just plain weird to me. They are offering to let people stay there for $50,000 a night to benefit sanitation for countries that don't have it. Good cause, but bizarre way of getting money.
My boys think it is cool. This is one toilette that I won't sit on pee, though.
On the whole toilette note here, what brought me to this weirdo's house was clicking on a link to see what a waterless composting toilette was. I am not that green, sorry. I use cloth diapers, I don't run the water while brushing my teeth, I try to freecycle things rather than toss them, and I buy used if possible. But I am going to flush my toilette. And I am NOT going to live in a toilette shaped house.

Winter Jackets

It is that time of year here in Minnesota. We are on the hunt for the perfect jacket. The temps can get really low, and the further north you go, the worse it gets. With the extreme sports we northerners enjoy, like snowboarding, snowmobiling, skiing and the ever famous snowball fighting, and we need some seriously warm jackets.
I've been looking at The North Face Jackets for our family this year.

This North Face Nuptse jacket is a down coat that is light weight, with rip-stop nylon outer. The price is very reasonable and will last for several years because it is so durable. I think it looks good, too. This style comes in black, also, but I like the blue.

This is the North Face Mens Amplitude Triclimate jacket. This jacket is not that much higher in price but is much more versatile. It has two pieces, one to wear in normal conditions, the other can be zipped in when it gets really cold, or the inner one can be worn in the spring or fall alone. The jacket has one of Donnie's absolute must-haves, adjustable cuffs.

They also carry women's jackets in various styles. The Gothem style is my favorite.

The North Face Jackets is definitely on my list of places to find jackets for our family.

In the mirror

When you look in the mirror what do you see? Do you see a real reflection? Is that the real you?
All you see in that mirror is the outside you. Unless you use a magnifying mirror, you may see more inside of your pores than you want to, but that's another story.

The true mirror is what you see reflected back at you from your children. Children are God's mirror for you to see whats out of place. Instead of that wild hair we worry about, God wants us to look at that attitude problem, or that little white lie problem, or that disrespect issue. We are not going to just listen to God, because we don't "see" those things in ourselves very easily.
So, God gave us children. When you are dealing with an issue with your child, you really have to stop and look at where they are getting it. Usually the trail stops at you. Sometimes they are just nuts, but usually, if you really look closely, you can see that they ARE, in fact, doing what you do.
And that is the ugliest mirror to look into. It is worse than the lighted magnifying mirror.
However, it is also the best mirror to look into because it tells the truth, it is not inverted, and it shows you things that CAN be changed, instead of crooked eyes that you can't fix.

If you sprinkle.....

When you tinkle.
Be a sweetie,
Wipe the seatie.



Kaytlin, Hope-Anne and I have been so tired of sitting on wet toilette seats. Someone can't lift the lid when they go, and doesn't bother wiping it off. So, we went to Donnie. "Make it stop or all humans sit while peeing in this house!"
So, Donnie, being the good man that he is, gathered his 3 potty-learned sons together and had a talk with them.
"Sons, if one more girl in this house sits in pee on the seat, I will personally watch each one of you every time you pee until I find out who it is, or it stops. Is that clear?"

We have been sitting on a dry seat ever since!

Well, until I started babysitting 3 boys. That talk might not go over as well with those boys, lol.

Thursday Thirteen~ More Randomness

1. I am so excited about Christmas this year!
2. I have won several Christmas presents already, cutting down the costs for me!
3. I have earned almost $200 in paypal through Payperpost , and $20 from Bloggerwave. That will help a bunch, and I'm going to go for more, too.
4. If you want to win some great prizes for Christmas, check out my contest blog for listings and momsblogging today for a list of 50 sites having contests!
5. I am also babysitting for extra money, it is fun, but boy, twins can be lots of work!
6. I can't decide which room I want to tackle for a contest on Organizing Junkie. A closet I can't get into, or a whole room? My room, the entryway? I don't know.
7. I now have TWO teen drivers and I am so happy! Why? Because I have much less running to do now, and they are both very safe and conscientious drivers. My next child? I won't be happy with him driving.
8. Hubby volunteered to work Christmas Day. Great, it gives us double time, but that is when Christmas at my family is taking place and my brother is coming home. We'll have to find a way to work it out.
9. Samuel has figured out that I leave some mornings before he wakes up, so he has taken to waking up every few minutes after 5am just to be sure his milk supply is there. Not that he needs it.
10. Samuel cut his 7th tooth this week and is working on walking.
11. Seven kids can trash an entire house in 30 minutes.
12. It takes 30 days to clean it back up.
13. There is a giveaway for the cutest shoes for toddlers, but I have to ask, why on earth would you WANT to get shoes that squeak with ever step of a toddler? Don't they know kids take 1,578,492 steps a day? I don't have that much Vicodin. But it would be fun to give them to my siblings kids!

Ok, and that is it for randomness for me!

Wordless Wednesday~ Driver's License Day!

Passed the test! She can drive now!

I'm a sap

Every time I read this book I bawl. I don't just shed a tear, I have to fight body wracking sobs. Crazy. So I bought it for all my moms one year for Mother's Day. (hmmm, just thought of a great gift for my sister in law!)

So, today, Trinity insisted I read this book. I always refuse the other kids because they want to see my cry so they can laugh at me. But Trinity just wanted to read a book. Besides, I know it all now, and I am not pregnant, so I will just NOT focus on the words and just mindlessly read it.
But I got into the book. It captivated me and drew me in despite my determination to not hear the words I was reading.
Soon, I was bawling. Tears running down my cheeks, and my chest heaving just a bit as I tried not to disturb Trinity's enjoyment of the story. But I couldn't hold back the sobs.
I have NEVER read this book or heard it read without crying. And I first heard it over 12 years ago while living in Germany.

Here is Robert Munsch's website about the book. You can hear him read the book even. If you do not cry, you are heartless.
This mom has a new baby, and she rocks that little baby and sings it a song, all the way through the terrible twos, the horrid teens, and even adulthood. Then she gets sick and calls for her son, but she can't finish the song because she is so sick. And then the rest of the book happens and I bawl.
(oh, and I just read why he made up that song, and I want to bawl some more! He made up the song in his head after his wife and he had two still born babies, he sang it for them, but couldn't sing it aloud without crying!)

I AM the Meanest Mom...

I am the meanest mom.
My kids pretty much hate me. You see, I am controlling. And mean. And frightening.
I demand to know where my kids are at all times. I expect to know that they are going out of the house at 5am to watch the sun come up at the river and commune with God, or off to swim practice at 6am. By golly, if you dare to decide to be later than you've said, you had better call me or you are in for it next time you think you are going somewhere.
Go somewhere? Well, the answer to that question is "Did you do your chores today?" No?? Well, there's your answer.
Date? What? Are you kidding? You are not ready to be looking for a spouse, and are certainly not ready to take care of yourself and a family and a home. There is no reason for you to date. You need to enjoy life, not get your heart broken every other month!
See? I am controlling.
Who is that on the phone? A girl? Is she your sister? Get off the phone! You don't need to sit and chat your life away with someone of the opposite sex! And I WILL get on the phone and tell the girl to stop calling if she does call back. There is one that does. (Eight times!!!)Until I told her I was going to talk to her parents.
See, I am mean.
There was a time that Kaytlin was so afraid of me that she was scared to come out of the bathroom. She would open the door and I would jump at her and scream. She would drop to the floor instantly. It tickled my funny bone, but scared her silly. She doesn't find it funny, so I have moved on. Now I have two terrifying Halloween masks right outside the bathroom door to terrify innocent children who have, thankfully, just emptied their bladders. (I'm scary and mean, but not dumb.)
See? I am frightening.


I have many other tortures, too. I do not allow fighting. I expect kids who can, to get A's, even if it means taking away privileges. They are never to sass me. New rule, thanks to Works for Me Wednesday, if they are nasty in their speech, they are to speak in an English accent for the rest of the day. If it continues, they have to sing everything. From there it goes to rhyming. If you can't rhyme it, you can't speak it. Oh, the wails when I announced that one. I made the kids sign a family contract to make sure they knew the rules of the family about fighting, leaving the house, chores, letting me know where they are, etc.

I am the Queen of Mean. Times Seven.

Go enter why you are the meanest mom over at Momsblogging.

That's it!

I have had enough of Sam biting me!
He bit me while nursing today, so I flicked his mouth and told him "No bite momma!" and stopped nursing him. He was furious and decided that he needed to take a chunk out of my shoulder.
Fine, you must be hungry, I'll cook something for you to eat. I handed him to Cody. He started hitting Cody in the face, so Cody grabbed his hands and Sam gave him a headbutt.
Alrighty then.
He would not eat what I cooked. Spit it right out.
Fine, you get a bottle, dude, no more momma's milk! Here, have some Mellow Yellow, I'm out of milk.

I am out of material, so here are some things to go read.

Anne from Tales from My Tiny Kingdom has a great post about her husband buying the Halloween costumes. My Mac Daddy And Me. You might want to read her links, too, because the sex talk she had with her son had me rolling.

Go check out The Hatfields, you will not be disappointed, and there are just no words for what is on this post, it should truly be a Wordless Wednesday!

Deedee's A Fish Called Lucky.

How about The Great Vaccine Debate at The Whole Family. Poor Elizabeth, I think I started something with her father in law.

Ohhh, I had to add this, LOL. My friend Cindy from Canooaroos, Car quotes. Oh this is way too funny!

New Recipe!

Ok, so I got this new Grey Poupon set of 3 mustards. I got a little creative, though I'm sure someone else has done this before, I'm not all that creative in the kitchen.

I spread the savory honey mustard on chicken then dipped it in generic shake and bake stuff with no flavoring and baked it. Oh my gosh, it was like crack.

I am now going to call it "Crack Chicken."

My husband was so in love with it he bought the ingredients to make it again, except our store doesn't carry Grey Poupon. So, once I am done with the jar I have to switch to some other brand. I don't think it is going to taste the same, but I'll find out tomorrow.

Donnie is also nuts about the other two flavors. I put the stone ground mustard in some potato salad and it was delicious!

Ok, I'm done now, I'm not a commercial, hehe.

Seriously, though, you all need to try Crack Chicken. But if you are on a diet, make sure you only make enough to have one piece, because we went through two family size packages of thighs, when we normally only eat one.

(Kraft has a similar recipe, but mine is easier) Alrighty, ladies, I meant crack cocaine, not butt crack, lol! Maybe I should call it Cocaine Chicken. Seriously, you all should try it! I'm making it again tonight.

Blah, day

I do not feel well today. I'm sure the kids being sick last weekend has nothing to do with it.... (and NO, I am not pregnant)
If you want to win lots of goodies for Christmas presents you have to enter lots and lots of contests. I have won several great goodies that I plan to give to my family for gifts. I can't mention all of them because my dear Kaytlin reads my blog to make sure I don't tell embarrassing things about her to the internet world. She's sensitive like that. One of the things I won that I plan to give to Samuel, who does not read my blog, is a black Rockstar t-shirt from Zazou. I think they are adorable!
I posted a LOT of give-aways on my contest blog this week, make sure to read several of the posts to hit them all. There are jewelry, toys, baby items, books, and lots of other give aways.
I also have one last copy of Amy Grant's Mosaic and Boo Humbug by Rene Gutteridge. Email me for a copy.
I am still up in the air about getting a new blog address. I know who I would want to design my blog page, but I don't know much else about going about it. But I want the higher paying post jobs. By the way, I hope all my paid posts are not too disruptive, I try to make them relevant to my life or funny. I get annoyed by people's posts that just say the minimum and you know they don't care at all. I tend to not want to read at their blog anymore. Sometimes you just have to do it, but mostly it should be interesting or don't take it. That said, if anyone wants to earn some money for Christmas, it is not too late, it takes 30 days to get paid, though. I would gladly help anyone figure it out if they want to start.
Check out my poll for what I should give away for the Fall Y'all giveaway. I really am leaning towards Quelf, but I want to know what others really want. But, if I did Quelf, I would be the only blog giving it away, I'm sure.

Randomosity

Bringing Max to the airport went well, I didn't even get lost, and we weren't even late! Both a first for me. I wasn't thrilled that my $2 discount for parking only brought my 30 minute stay to $6. Crazy rip off.

Sam slept on the way to the airport, so I knew it would be a LONG ride home if we didn't wear him out. Hope-Anne and I decided a trip to the Mall of America was in order. And just in the nick of time, too, because in the parking lot the car started to overheat. For no reason, it only does it once in a while. Nice to know, thanks honey. We stayed for 2 hours! I did not want to try to drive home. The trip home went great, though, and Sam slept all the way home.

While I was at the Mall I went searching for my give away for Fall Y'all. I was going to give away these cute books with CD's for kids, but Trinity opened one partially, still I could give one away. I could still do that. Then I thought, aha! I have to give away Quelf! Of course! But then, then I walked into Bath and Body Works. Oh, their fall scents are out of this world! Well, their winter ones are incredible, but the fall ones are great, too. So, I'm thinking maybe a fall set. A lovely apple scrub puff (which they don't have online) with Pecan Passion Body wash/bubble bath/shampoo, some Pecan Passion Body lotion and some Whipped Delight shimmer body mousse.
Of course, Starbucks gift cards were a huge hit this summer. Or maybe an Amazon gift card.
I should do a poll.

Dear Dad

I hope you know that I was just playing around when I made the viagra commercial cake for your 60th birthday party.
But if I were to get serious about the issue, if you had ED, I would send you to do some research. You should know what the brand names and generic names of helpful drugs are. You should also take care to know what the side effects are. What do other men have to say? Would you rather order from an online pharmacy? What are the alternatives to drugs?
Be sure to read lots of articles about the issue before you jump into something.
I'm sure your much older friends would appreciate your advice on their upcoming birthdays. ED advice would be much funnier than that oatmeal and butt stench powder that your friends gave you!
Love always,
Your daughter

Crazy neighbor part 2

Remember the tree story? Well, their insanity did not stop at the tree. That was just the beginning. The tree incident blew over rather quickly.
But soon we started getting calls from the church we rented from. Apparently every time their cable went out, they would call the church and blame my kids. It worked in the bedroom, but not the living room, so it was my kids. It didn't work on one tv, so she had to bring a different tv in the room, so it was my kids. Seriously. When it wasn't my kids, it was because of the trees in the back yard touching the line.
Never once were they right, but we kept getting calls.
Then, one time we were using the grill, and the lady called the church and told them we were having unattended fires just all over the place. The church people actually came out and checked out our yard! Umm, yeah, that is smoke in our GRILL. Where is the fire that is just crazy out of control and unattended?
Oh, and then there was the time the kids and Donnie did some legal fireworks, which means they make noise but don't go anywhere, in a wheel barrow. THAT one was fun, too. Got another call.
Turns out the lady, who was really pretty much in need of a nursing home, was terrified of fire, so our grill made her freak out. The cable I have no idea what was up her craw.
Why did we move???
Well, there was that stuff, and then the house itself and the church people we dealt with. But that is another story.

Fly Fusion

This is a Fly Fusion Pentop Computer. I was not sure my kids would use this homework help, but I was wrong! They were all very excited about it!
This little pen comes with a notebook that you can do all sorts of stuff in, like play music and use the calculator. There is even an Mp3 player on it.
Kaytlin is taking French and this little pen is a translator! She writes an English word and it tells her the French word. If you have trouble in math, you write the problem out and the pen works through the problem with you so you learn how to work the formulas. Drew is excited to use that feature.
Also, what amazes me, is that you can hand write your report on the Flypaper and it will spell check it and type it up on the computer for you, so all you have to do is print it! You pick and choose which software you need, or you can get a yearly subscription to use all the software for $49.99. That is what I am doing. I hope in the future they come out with German language, too.
There are games and quizzes, too, just for fun, and a music studio to make your own music to record for your friends.
We are loving this so far! So worth the money. Every one of my kids can use it for their school work.
I was offered the Fly pen at a deal that I couldn't pass up, and this is one product I can't help but spread the news about happily! I am a bzzAgent. They gave me $5 coupons to give out, too. So if you think you would like to buy the Fly pen, I would happily send you a coupon.

(this is NOT a paid ad, I love this product!)

Fun Quizzes

Quibblo is a fun site to go to take little quizzes for fun. My kids are always taking the teen quizzes. Drew and his friends take quizzes and compares with his friends.
I took a quiz on "Would you rather..." and I was probably only half the norm.
You can also create your own quiz there. Ask your friends how cool they are and make up the questions and answers they have to choose from.
There are hundreds of quizzes to take with many different topics, including Family/Parenting.


Who doesn't have fun
with quizzes?!? You can find different
quizzes from music quizzes
to pregnancy
quizzes online. There are many benefits to quizzes other
than haveing fun.

Haha! I did NOT sing.

So yeah, there.
(babystepper thought I would because I did once, and Jeannie said she would get me to do it.)
I didn't go. Last night was our last night with our foreign exchange student, so we stayed home and played games with him. Not once in the two weeks he was here, did I get him to eat a piece of chicken. Seriously. I even tried it with paprika last night because he said he likes paprika. He said he wasn't hungry, then later on asked for a bowl of cereal. Little stinker! But, he'll eat Turkish food. Weirdo.
Today I take Max to the airport. Its kind of a bummer, but now we can get back to normal. Well, normal US, which is not normal. Thankfully Max is as big of a computer freak as all of us are. So we bonded over dumb video games.

Girly night and Karaoke

Last night a few of my girly friends and I went to a sneak preview of the new Veggie Tales movie, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. It is not a finished version, so I can't really say anything about what is in it, but I will when it comes out, and hopefully I will even get a few give-aways from Big Idea if I'm lucky!
I will say that it was a very funny movie, loved it! Trinity was scared of the bad guy, though. She kept jumping on my lap and hiding her face. That is a first for a Veggie Tales movie for us. It could have been her mood.
Thanks Jeannie and Sarah for including me! Love ya!

We are doing Karaoke tonight. We do it once a month at our church for an outreach, no smoking or drinking environment. I don't sing, though. I just watch and visit with my girls, its a girl night for me! Yippee!
Sarah, get your voice ready, you know what I want to hear.

What do you think?

I am thinking of moving my blog to a paid site. A site I pay to use. I really don't know a lot about blogging that isn't easy. Blogger is so easy, it is mostly a "push here dummy" type of system. However I want to be able to do more things than I am doing now.
For instance, I don't want to run two blogs, I want to have the contests separated from my main blogging, but easy to find. I would also like to have my links separate so they don't get lost in the ads and banners and things.
Plus, I can get better opportunities for making money that way.
What I am concerned about is losing my readers and having to start over with traffic. I would have to keep up both blogs until my new blog was 90 days old in order to switch my paid posts over. And the switching feeds and such, which I barely figured out in the first place. Plus, how on earth do I make a new site? Do I have to buy a template, or is there something that works that installs in my new site?

I would love any help from people who know what I am trying to say, lol. I don't even know what it is I need.

Never Look Back by Kathy Herman

Never Look Back is book #2 in the Phantom Hallow series by Kathy Herman. Book #1 is Ever Present Danger.
I loved both books and look forward to a third! These books were suspense, murder, mystery, faith, and romance all bound together. I highly recommend the Phantom Hallow series.

Summary: The day Ivy Griffith walks out of jail after serving her sentence for withholding evidence in the Joe Hadley murder case, she is ready to put her years of pain and drug abuse behind her. A new job at her parents’ Christian camp in Colorado promises stability in this new season, but she is unprepared for her brother’s indifference toward her and her son, Montana . When camp worker Rue Kessler takes an interest in Montana, Ivy hopes the attention will make up for the rejection her son is feeling—and she doesn’t mind the attention Rue directs her way either.
Then a rash of crimes turns deadly, and Ivy suspects that Rue isn’t all he appears to be. But how can she condemn another when she knows the pain of accusation? The mysteries increase as Ivy struggles to move beyond the secrets of her past. Along the way, she discovers that the hardest person to forgive might be herself.
This fast-paced suspense novel continues the Phantom Hollow series with a rich exploration of the risks and possibilities of starting over.

Author Bio: Award-winning author Kathy Herman has been on staff at the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) and at Better Books Christian Center in Texas . She has conducted educational seminars at CBA conventions in the U.S. and Canada , served as a judge for the Gold Medallion Book Awards, and worked as an independent product/marketing consultant to the CBA market. She is the author of twelve novels, including the bestsellers Tested by Fire and All Things Hidden. Kathy and her husband, Paul, live in Tyler , Texas .

The cakes

Here are the cakes I made for my dads 60th birthday. Minus the kitty prints.

This chocolate was the main piece. The next one was to harass my dad. There were two others, but they were just normal Happy Birthday cakes.

It had to be done.

Yes, that is a commercial for Viagra.

Thursday Thirteen~ Quelf

Thirteen crazy things about the game Quelf in honor of Quelf being sold at Barnes and Noble starting in October. This is a must have party game, and your crazy fun relatives will love you forever for giving it to them for Christmas. So will your teens! Who am I kidding? Even the younger crowd loves it, but you can get a younger version called Flapdoodle from the WiggityBang's website.
How fun is this? Well, my mom called me after playing it and chewed me out for not telling her to wear Depends while playing it.
1. My sister-in-law, Samantha, had to run around and make a mask and wear it the rest of the game. She was regretting not making a hole so she could drink with it on.

2. There was a global rule that whenever the phone or doorbell rang everyone had to stand up and yell "Pizza Party!" and whoever was last had to pay the penalty. Each and every time. (our kids found out and thought it was funny to use their cells and call us)

3. One time, every time I laughed I had to snort like a pig. Try not to laugh after you have snorted like a pig in front of your mayor. I dare you. Because then you laugh again and have to snort again.
4. There is a card where you have to go sit on some one's lap until its your turn again. If you are not a spring chicken, please choose wisely who you sit on, because it can take an awful long time for your turn to come back around.

5. My brother, the nuclear scientist, seriously, a nuclear scientist, had to play Peek-A-Boo anytime someone talked to him. That was funny, right there. Not to mention his having to play Pat-a-cake with his wife, but that video got a little R rated, so I'm not posting it, hehe.
6. HIT THE DECK! NOW! Hit the deck! There's a tornado full of manure coming! HIT THE DECK!!!! Anyone who hit the deck can move forward.

7. What is the nuclear scientist doing? What is that on his head? He failed a card so in order to avoid the penalty he drew a picture of a tube of toothpaste and is wearing it on his forehead. If it comes off FOR ANY REASON he pays a penalty. Hmmm, he's ahead, I think I'll just flip that right off of him.

8. There are Quizzle cards that are like trivia. That is pretty fun, but surprisingly hard sometimes.

9. You have until your next turn to make up a rap about yourself and then rap it.

10. Every time someone uses a pencil say "The pen is mightier than the sword" in your best English accent. And I mean every time through the whole game, lol.

11. Quelf has won many awards and is an amazing work of comedic genius. It is available on amazon, Barnes and Noble, and at WiggityBang.com, but the makers would love it if everyone would buy it from Barnes and Noble because if it sells out B&N will pick up their other games next year.

12. Mr. Rivaldi gave me a bunch of things to give away, including 3 shirts, so I am having a Quelf Give-away! Who doesn't want a Super Ninja Monkey shirt?

13. I promise that you will laugh very hard, there will be tears, even if you are too snooty to play and just watch. My dad won't play but he was laughing so hard that we thought he was dying. He had to leave the room before he exploded. And my dad does NOT laugh. Nor does he ever get silly. My sister doesn't either, and she wouldn't do a lot of the cards, but the brat won the game anyway.

I do not make money from this game, I just love it that much! Well, if you did buy it from my link I would make a whopping $.84, but that is not why I tell about it. Quelf is a really fun game and a great way to REALLY get to know your friends. It should be under your Christmas tree this year!

It's a great day!

Devon is our little athlete. We expected him to do pretty well with football this year, but he really hadn't been saying much or playing much when we were there. But the varsity coach told him to tell his coach (the 9th grade team) to put him as wing man (is that right?). So he did. And yesterday he got a new nickname. They call him Adrian Peterson. I didn't get it, but when I told Donnie, he went nuts0 "That's my boy!" and a bunch of grunting and Tim the Toolman Taylor stuff. Apparently Adrian Peterson is a Viking player who kicked butt on Sunday's game. And now he gets to do a practice with varsity and dress for the game and sit with them, *maybe* even play, but probably not.

And then, I found a way to hear my favorite song in the world! Thank you Wordless Wednesday! I went to More Questions than Answers and found this great vid! Now it is a great day. Praise the Lord!

Wordless Wednesday~Cake decorator