Is there trouble in the kingdom?

Don't worry, this was posed, lol.

This is how they really are!

Unexpected gift

Devon broke a rule and didn't tell us where he was going to be one night, but he had thought he had. (yeah, sure) I had to discipline him, the rule needs to stick. So I made him come help put the float together after having it painted. It was HOT, but it had to be done. Here he is helping put the door back on after we covered everything in fancy plastic.
Float mom!

Putting the tinsel on the sides....

Trinity "swimming" in the water under the bridge. (our float is a bridge, after a bridge in our town)After getting the float together we got an unexpected gift. The kids got to go horse back riding! it was such a treat. Trinity and Sam had never even been near a horse, and Devon never learned to ride, but hadn't been on a horse since he was maybe 6.

Trinity was really looking forward to the horse ride while we were decorating the float. She could see the horse out in the pasture and thought it would be a lot of fun. But then when Kyra was saddling up the horse and we got up close and personal and touched it, and saw just how BIG a horse is up close.... Trinity said to me "I meant Sam wanted to ride the horse, not me." LOL Sam got right up on the horse and rode and laughed and smiled and totally enjoyed himself.

Trinity decided that did look like fun. So she went ahead and rode, too. And she loved it! Both little ones laughed when they were trotting, which I worried would scare them. Not at all.

Devon was put on a horse, and after getting over the pain he caused himself by hopping into the saddle without care of his personal parts, they gave him the reins and told him to have fun. He has never ridden a horse on his own. I was a LOT nervous about that. But they said it wouldn't be a problem. And it wasn't! Devon rode like a pro after a few minutes of figuring things out. I LOVED hearing him laugh as the horse took off on a run with him. I think his punishment turned out rather painless, don't you think? And to top off his punishment, I let him drive most of the way home since they live way out in the country. He was in heaven.

here is a video of Sam trotting, then Devon comes riding by. (they guy is getting a bug out of Sam's hair, that is why they stop)

Getting ready

I have a busy summer ahead of me and I need to start getting ready. In July we get a month long house guest from France, it is Kaytlin's graduation open house, camping, my mom comes to visit with her family, and I am not ready. Thankfully July is not (yet) a busy month for the royalty, so us parents get a little break.
I haven't started to plan for or shop for the open house. Nice, huh? Ok, I have done some preparations, but not much.
I need to deep clean my house. My room is a mess, closets are a mess, the little kids' room is a huge mess, and I have so much laundry to do it is crazy. I need to get the guest room all spruced up and I would like to get my living room furniture cleaned.

I'm working on laundry when the weather cooperates. However, I have lots of things to do the next few days. Tonight is a coronation and I am the chaperon, and this morning I am going to go help put the float back together after a paint job. Tomorrow is another coronation that I am going with the girls to, and Saturday is a parade that Donnie is driving the girls in, but he thinks I should go with them. Boring. Parades are not boring to me, lol. Not the parade part, but the hours and hours and hours of waiting in the line-up before hand. Not cool. Sunday is another parade, I think, but other parents are taking care of that.

So, do you think I will get things done by June 11th when our French house guest arrives? LOL

Bye-Bye Diapers

Sam is officially potty trained. Even at night. Accidents are few and far between, and usually not his fault. (they happen when he can't get to the bathroom, not that he doesn't try) We are still working on getting him to put his clothes back on after he goes to the bathroom, but I think the hard part is over now.

It is really nice not to have Sam in diapers. Really nice. No more washing, hanging, folding of cloth diapers. I loved doing it, but I am not going to miss it. I just took down my last load yesterday. They are waiting to be packed up and the changing table needs to be taken out of the house. Wow.

It is bittersweet, though. I would be 12 weeks pregnant right now, buying newborn diapers to add to my stash if I hadn't had a tubal pregnancy. But now what. What do I do with these diapers? Do I hold onto them in case my one good tube comes through for me in our already diminished fertility issues? Or do I give them away/sell them and start over IF I have another? Tough call. It wouldn't make me sad to sell them, but I would hate to spend the money all over again when I HAD a full supply. I'm cheap like that.

So, I procrastinate. I will have to make a decision and get that changing table cleaned and out to the garage this week. Marking the end of my baby days.

Adventures with arachnids

I had a very busy day today. Being Father's Day, the princesses decided that their dad's needed to be on the float with them today. So, we had to drive to a town about an hour and a half away for it. That means getting up early and leaving home. We were float 112, and still a couple of blocks of floats behind us, so it was a huge parade. It started at 1PM, line up was at noon, and we didn't get done until 4:30! Yikes!

One the way to the town this morning we had our own little adventures. I have to say that I am extremely glad that Kaytlin's boyfriend was sick and did not accompany us on this trip because I assure you, we would have both been traumatized.

We had our windows open and it felt like some hair had blown across my neck and was tickling me, so I went to move it and found it was NOT hair. It was a spider. That promptly dropped down into my bra. Now, anyone that knows me knows that I freaked. And if I had been driving we would have died. But I wasn't driving. So I was screaming. And practically stripping. I didn't want the spider in my face, so I was tearing my shirt and bra down to flip the spider OUT. Screaming at Donnie to get it out! It jumped out between us before he even knew why I was flashing him. Though he should have known, since the spider had been on him first. It was on his hand and he hoped to get rid of it without me knowing it was in the car, but when he lifted his hand a breeze blew it away and he prayed it went in the back seat and not near me. His prayers were not answered. (Peter would have been sitting behind Donnie with a horrifying view if he had not been sick.)

He was able to kill and remove the spider after it jumped out of my bra. Thank goodness! I didn't even cry, much! I had some teary eyes, but I held it together and didn't have a break down.

But then...........

There was another spider! Crawling UP my thigh towards the opening in my shorts. So not cool! Another bought of screaming and flailing arms. But no stripping.

Long, long, long day.

A must-see movie!

The Proposal is such a good movie! I went with a couple of girlfriends last night and we had a great time! Lots of laughing. The movie is even pretty clean, no sex or makeout scenes, but there was a very comical scene where they run into each other naked, completely by accident, but it isn't sexual.

Go with your girlfriends, you'll have a great time! I'm taking my girls tonight.

That new car smell?

Recently we purchased a car for Kaytlin from a friend of a neighbor. They said they were desperate for a down payment for a place to live and that was why they needed to get rid of the car. We were desperate for a car for Kaytlin, and it was a great price. The car runs great, has a/c, the interior is in good condition. It smelled a little funky, since they are smokers, but a little air freshener, OK a LOT of Febreeze later, and it smells fine now.
The only problem is that the guy was way out of town at a mud car thingy and lost the keys. Apparently the only set of keys, and he wasn't about to go digging in the mud for them, so they tore out the key thing and hot wired it. So now you have to use a pliers to start and shut off the car. It gives good memories, right? LOL "Remember your first car, when you had to have a pliers to start it? Good times!"

It has been a few weeks now, and no issues, love the car. But yesterday our neighbor was talking to me when Kaytlin pulled up and he went over and asked permission to search the car for something that they lost in it and hadn't found. "But I'm not gonna tell you what it is." Mmm hmm. I told him that my daughter is 18 years old and a good kid, he better get that out of the car NOW.
Turns out the reason they had to dump the car was because the owner got a DWI in it and they had hidden a joint in the fabric of the passenger seat. They sold the car fast and after finally getting the police report and finding out the police had not found the joint, they wanted to find it. He did, and even showed it to me.

Isn't that crazy! That just frustrates me. The very first day Kaytlin drove it she was pulled over in the car. Can you imagine the trouble she could have been in? For the most part they are great neighbors, but that was not cool.

The Ponderosa

Have you ever been the accidental butt of a joke? I was yesterday, and my dad still is. I may have to fill him in, but it is pretty funny.

Yesterday Donnie and I traveled to our home town area for a funeral to support a very good friend of Donnie's. Al and Donnie have been friends for probably close to 30 years. I've been friends with him for about 23 years. His dad died this past weekend, and his dad was like a second dad to Donnie. Donnie, and his brother, practically lived with them for years, he really lived at home, but spent way more time with them than at home.

After the memorial service our friends all mentioned that they were going to The Ponderosa later in the evening and that we should meet them there. We don't see them very often, as they live over 2 hours away. So, since we were there, kidless, and wanted to honor Kenny's death and be there for our friends, we decided to go.

There was time to kill so we hopped around visiting family while we were there. We went to my dad's house and while Donnie was changing in the bathroom my stepmom offered to scrounge something up to feed us but I told her not to worry about because I'm sure we'd eat something at The Ponderosa, I know there will be drinking, they probably serve food. Dad asked where The Ponderosa is and I said it was south of town (the only thing I knew about it). But dad was confused, as he has lived in the town for much, much longer than I've been alive and all, and he has never heard of one in town. So, he asked Donnie where it was and Donnie described where it was, causing even MORE confusion to my dad. Cause he knew where Donnie was saying, but he's never seen anything out there, much less heard of it, and if there is one thing that happens in Beantown, it is GOSSIP.

After we left my dad's without eating Donnie suggested eating at Burger King, which confused me. I told Ma not to make us food because we were going to The Ponderosa. He got quite a kick out of that! Apparently The Ponderosa is a piece of land owned formerly by Kenny, who died, and his son, Al. There is NOTHING out there but a couple of sheds and a garden. It is where the group meets to have a bonfire and drink and have fun. The kids play in the wide open spaces, and they sleep in a camper, no driving.

Kenny said that when he dies he just wants to be thrown on a bonfire and everyone should have a kegger. We tried to honor that for him. Not by actually throwing him ON the bonfire, or actually having a keg, but we did get together and have a bonfire and there was beer. It was almost like a class reunion for Donnie, many of his former classmates were there.

So now I have to decide, should I fill my dad in, or tell him how wonderful the steaks were? (which were actually hot dog shaped and cooked over a bonfire, lol)

Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes

I recently read Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes by Robin Jones Gunn. At first I got so caught up in the book that I thought it was a true story, but I did finally realize that it was a novel. It is written just like a real person is telling their own story.
The story is about two penpals who stay friends from childhood to having grown children of their own and have never met. But when Summer finds out that she may have cancer she books a trip to Holland to visit her penpal Noelle for the first time and tries to live in denial for the week. After a week of sightseeing, many times sightseeing gone wrong, they end up being exactly what the other needed. They come to emotional healing and build an even stronger friendship.

I enjoyed the book, and cried toward the end. Very touching.

Summary:
When a mammogram result comes back abnormal, midlife mama Summer Finley makes a snap decision to relegate fear to the back burner and fulfill a lifelong dream. Summer heads for Holland where she meets up with tulips, wooden shoes, and her best friend, Noelle.

Pen pals since fourth grade, Summer and Noelle have never met face-to-face. Through decades of heart-level correspondence, they have sustained a deep friendship. A week of adventure helps both women trade anxiety for a renewed and deeper trust in God. When Summer confides in Noelle about the abnormal medical report, Noelle finds the freedom to share a long-held heartache, and both women discover they needed each other more than they realized.

Women ages 35 and up, readers of Christian Boomer Lit, and fans of books such as The Yada Yada Prayer Group will enjoy Robin Jones Gunn’s humorous and uplifting style. True-to-life characters and moments of poignancy bring a deeper understanding of the value of life and the gift of true friends. Readers guide and bonus material included.

Author Bio:
Robin Jones Gunn is the best-selling and award-winning author of over seventy books, including the Glenbrooke, Christy Miller, Sierra Jensen, Katie Weldon, and Christy and Todd: The College Years teen series. The Sisterchicks® series has sold more than 300,000 units, bringing her total sales to more than 3.5 million books worldwide. A Christy Award winner, Robin is a popular speaker, both at home and abroad, and is frequently interviewed on radio and on television. www.robingunn.com www.sisterchicks.com

You can pick up Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes at Random House. You are sure to enjoy it!

Some royalty pics

At the beginning of the coronation the candidates were supposed to schmooze with the other royalty and special guests, so the judges could see their poise, I guess. Santa was given a special award, so he was there with his wife.

Then came the awesome band! I think they are The Beattles Band. They truly were fun and very good.

Then the girls did their 60's dance. It was very fun. After their pretty walk and wave and then their individual speeches, which was about them and their sponsors, they then lined up waiting for the crowning.
Here are the three girls who were crowned. Miss Princeton is also Miss Congeniality. The girl in pink, Samantha, is the girl who signed Kaytlin up after she said no way to doing this, lol. Thanks again, Sam! Love you!
G" border=0>Donnie off on the side, me, Kaytlin and her boyfriend, Peter.
in+175.JPG" border=0>It was a really fun night. Kaytlin met almost all of Minnesota's royalty that night. They all come to each other's coronations and are the "sparkle section" LOL.

The crazy new life

Being a parent to royalty is crazy, but way fun! Kaytlin is busy almost every day, and on top of the royalty responsibilities she still needs to be a friend, girlfriend, daughter, sister, and employee, and grad party attendee. Somewhere in there she needs to SLEEP, too, but that doesn't happen much. Parents have to be chaperons and float drivers, so we have to split the duties between the three sets of parents. So, we are busy, busy, too.

The events have been fun, so far, except the one coronation they went to. That one was boring. They didn't have a band and the girls didn't do their speech or a dance or anything to entertain like our girls did. And the speeches were read really, really fast with no differential in sentences, even. I'm glad I didn't have to go to that one. But we heard they are mostly like that. Our town was fun and exciting! We had an amazing live band and a super funny MC. The girls put on a show in addition to giving a speech about themselves and their sponsors. Even the crowning was a blast! The former royalty did little teasing dances over the girls to fun music before putting the crown on. Everyone had a great time!

I've been rather silent on the blog partly because of the new crazy busy responsibilities, VBS and because my house has been invaded by a virus. It is knocking us into lethargy, and the kids have been going through extremely high fevers, 104!!!! It is so not fun. It is even worse on Devon, he always seems to get some deformed version of a virus that hits us. He doesn't have a fever or lethargy, he has massive, swollen, painful sores all over his mouth! He can't eat without pain. We have some prescription strength painkilling mouthwash for him to swish, but it doesn't last as long as he needs. Poor guy!

I owe you readers some pictures and I have a review or two to write, plus pick some winners! I'm going to be busy today, lol.

Royalty now lives in the Qtpies household!

Kaytlin is now a Princesss! Don't you just love it? LOL

Grad pics

Graduation was great! I cried only a little. I think the guys helped me not bawl when she got her name called. Devon, Peter and Donnie were going to yell to embarrass Kaytlin, and I took pics. The guys all started whooping and Devon screams out "That's my sister!!!!!!" That is all Kaytlin heard, lol. There were lots of snickers over that.

I cried during one of the speeches because she talked about how they had endured more pain them any class should have to endure, which is true, they lost THREE classmates in the last couple of years.

Here is Kaytlin and her boyfriend, Peter. He graduated last week.

Here she is with Donnie and I.

Here is Kaytlin and Devon.

I LOVE this picture of Kaytlin!

Graduation today!

Today is Kaytlin's official graduation from high school. I am excited and sad. Mostly I am looking forward to the Miss Qtpies7town pageant this weekend and helping Kaytlin find the funding to go to the college of her dreams. But tonight will be fun and sad.

After the grad I am going to have a little time with some other moms for a little night out. That will be fun!

For some GREAT news, Sam seems to be fully potty trained during the day! He even went one night in undies and stayed dry! That is the only night we tried it, but he made it! I'm sure we'll have some accidents, and even some bad days, but I concider him to be trained. Hopefully he will start using public toilets soon, lol.

I'm off to get ready for the ceremony and I'll post pics tomorrow!

Celebrate Chocolate Truffles

I feel so fortunate to be among the very first people to get to try Celebrate Chocolate Truffles thanks to Family Review Network. They just launched their product, and what a product to launch! These are not just truffles, they are a weight loss product, but not just a weight loss product, they are made of ingredients you can READ and KNOW what they are!

When you bite into a Celebrate truffle you are supposed to let it melt and spread throughout your mouth before you swallow to get the full effect and enjoyment out of them. When you eat one about twenty minutes before a meal it helps control your appetite.

I am not a truffle lover, personally, but my husband absolutely loves truffles. I decided that I needed to give these a try, too, and I was very surprised that I enjoyed the raspberry flavored ones. I am not fond of the chocolate covered nuts, which were Donnie's favorite.

The truffles have a nice little "snap" to them when you first bite into them, but the melt almost instantly and will melt in your hands, because they do not have artificial ingredients in them.

If you want a delicious way to have a little snack AND a way to satisfy your hunger, Celebrate Chocolate Truffles really work. Both Donnie and I were able to eat less and feel satisfied after trying the truffles before we ate.

From their website:

Delivering powerful nutrition to your body with a sensationally unique
taste, Celebrate Chocolate is accented with 59 concentrated whole foods -
fruits, nuts, grains, and herbs. Cultivated sustainably, all are freshly
harvested from pristine fields in southwestern Brazil. Savor nutrients.
To
bathe, your body from the inside with the nutrients it needs for smoother skin,
silkier hair, and stronger nails, Celebrate adds lush avocado, tropical
macadamia, and omega-rich hemp nut oils. Savor beauty.

I looked over the ingredients and they are all natural, things like blueberries and nuts and avocados and on and on the list goes, truly things you know and eat. I was very impressed. My husband was very impressed with the taste.

Guess what?

Yes! I get to give away some of this amazing chocolate!

You are going to win two boxes of three, like pictured in this post, plus some samples of newer products. I know that you are going to love this if you are a truffle fan! I am not normally a fan, and I enjoyed them.

To enter to win the truffles:

1. Bookmark Celebrate Chocolate Truffles.

2. Leave a comment that you have done so.

For extra entries:

1. Blog, tweet, or facebook this giveaway and leave a comment.

2. Subscribe, or a current subscriber, leave a separate comment.

Giveaway ends June 12. Winner will be given a code to order their free truffles and must do so within 5 days of getting the code from the sponsor. US residents only, sorry.

Saints in Limbo book review

Saints in Limbo
by River Jordan

Saints in Limbo by River Jordan was a very different novel from just about anything I have read before. The heroine, Velma True, is shaken by her husband's death and refuses to go near the road afterwards, even tying string to her porch so she doesn't let go of it while watering the plants in the yard. One day a stranger shows up, a supernatural type of stranger, and gives her a gift that transports her to her memories of her husband and grown son. It was quite a different twist, but it was actually very interesting and fun the way it all worked out. I enjoyed the book. I wasn't sure how it could be Christian, but it is!

Summary:
Ever since her husband Joe died, Velma True’s world has been limited to what she can see while clinging to one of the multicolored threads tied to the porch railing of her home outside Echo, Florida.When a mysterious stranger appears at her door on her birthday and presents Velma with a special gift, she is rattled by the object’s ability to take her into her memories–a place where Joe still lives, her son Rudy is still young, unaffected by the world’s hardness, and the beginning is closer than the end. As secrets old and new come to light, Velma wonders if it’s possible to be unmoored from the past’s deep roots and find a reason to hope again.

Author Bio:
River Jordan is a critically acclaimed novelist and playwright whose unique mixture of southern and mystic writing has drawn comparisons to Sarah Addison Allen, Leif Enger, and Flannery O’Connor. Her previous works include The Messenger of Magnolia Street, lauded by Kirkus Reviews as “a beautifully written, atmospheric tale.” She speaks around the country and makes her home in Nashville.

Potty training update

The potty training is going so well. There are days when Sam just won't go in the potty, but he is having more and more days of doing awesome! Yesterday he had two accidents, one happened while trying to get to the potty, but someone was in the bathroom with the door locked, so not really his fault.
Today Sam had ONE accident, and he even went poop in the potty finally! Sort of. LOL He TRIED, and made HALF of it into the potty, but he did get some on the floor and some smeared on the seat. But I was happy! He tried hard.

Now, I wonder how much longer we'll be doing diapers at night. He was dry last night, but since he sleeps in my bed, I am not willing to try without one yet, lol.

The new EA Active game's first injury

I got the sweet opportunity to get to be a part of a test group of people using the new game EA Active. I am doing the 30 day challenge. I also am throwing a house party to show the game to people.

I even got to give one away to a friend who has a Wii!

So last night, after hearing from both Anna, who I gave my extra game to, and Sarah, who also is doing the house party and got two games, that it is an amazing exercise program, I had the kids try it. You bet, I am making them do it first.

Hope-Anne did it, but I wasn't watching. She got Kaytlin intrigued with it. Kaytlin did it on the highest intensity. She was dripping sweat! Her legs turned to jello. But she had a good workout.

So I decided to give it a try.......... on easy, of course. It stinks! I burned and sweated and it hurt. But it was actually a pretty good workout. You would run and just when you think you can't do it, it is over and switches to an arm work out. It goes back and forth so that you work out everything a few times, but always get a break so you don't die.

Devon, our sport fanatic tried it next. He put it on medium, but he got bored and quit. He doesn't like wimpy workouts.

So, Cody got on it, I think he put it on intense, too. The whole time we were all working out, Trinity and Sam were playing along. Sam loved boxing with us. Part of the game is rollerblading down a steep, windy hill, and sometimes doing jumps. Depending on where you jump, you'll do turns and kicks or a flip. Trinity was copying along with Cody doing the jumps.

Apparently she got a little too into the game because she jumped and landed flat on her nose! There was blood everywhere! Thankfully the bleeding stopped fast, but we were worried about her.

I was loving her up while everyone was running around getting tissues and ice and she looks at me while crying and says "Did you see what I did? I jumped super high!" I said "yes, but you aren't so good at landing, huh?" and she said "Nope." She was proud of how high she could jump, though, lol.

We were concerned that she broke her nose, but there isn't anything you can do if she did, so we didn't take her in. Her nose is swollen and a tad discolored this morning, but it doesn't seem to hurt her. She says it feels weird when she touches it, but no pain.

My graduate to be..

Almost 18 years ago Kaytlin looked like this. A little chubby baby with black hair that stuck straight up no matter what I did with it. Now she is all grown up and looks like this.

This picture is of Kaytlin and a couple of her best friends at their scholarship award night recently.

Here are Kaytlin and I afterwards, too. I'm not really showing off the book, I just happened to have been holding it, lol, but it IS a great book.

Stop those runaway carts!

Have you ever had someones stray grocery cart cause damage to your car? Or had your cart roll into someones car? Aside from the very obvious pet peeve about people leaving carts out in the parking lot instead of in the cart return, I hate it when the wind blows your cart. There is a risk of a sudden wind blowing the cart into the path of an oncoming car when you are unlocking the door and your child could be injured.
Look at this face! Isn't she worth protecting? I love this new invention called the Cart-Stopper! It does just that, stops the cart from moving. No more cart damaging yours, or someone else's car, and no chance of injury to your child. It really is genius, a big suction cup sticks to your car and then a piece goes in the rungs of the cart and holds it securely in place. While you buckle in your child, your cart full of groceries doesn't go anywhere!

Look at how secure my cart is, perfectly stuck to my car.

The cart really doesn't move more than an inch when pushing it either, it is stuck there! But there is a very easy release tab to remove the cart stopper. I had no trouble getting it to stick, stay or come off when I was done.

The Cart Stopper is not too big, it fits in most purses, even. It is very convenient in the diaper bag, or it can just be stored in your car. For the two seconds it takes to install, it is worth the piece of mind. Wouldn't it make a great baby shower gift?

Thanks Cart-Stopper and Family Review Network I get to give one Cart-Stopper (a $9.99 value) away!

Just visit Cart-Stopper and answer one of these questions below:

What colors does the Cart-stopper come in?

Why do you need a Cart-Stopper?

Who would you give it to if you won?

Extra entries for subscribers, just leave a separate comment.

Giveaway ends June 12, 2009 and is for US residents only.