Trick or Treat!

First of all let me wish all you a very Happy Halloween!!! Last night was the night for trick or treating in our area... I know, pretty stupid, but I guess for as long as anyone can remember our town always trick or treats on the Thursday night of Halloween week. Makes no sense!!! Anyway, the kids had a BLAST! It's so fun to see them get so into it, the older they get the more fun they seem to have.. It was a good night. Maria was Pocahontas, Lillian was Abby Cadabby (from Sesame Street) and of course Mikey was Peyton Manning... for the second Halloween in a row.. I am such a bad mommy.. We were going to make a tractor costume for him but it never happened.. 2 nights before trick or treating I finally gave up on the idea and figured he's little enough he won't care if he wears the same costume another year! Mike wanted me to post pics of the actual characters so you can judge how close we came.. I think we did very well, and all I had to buy was purple hair coloring and a black wig.. We had all the other stuff.. Bonus!!! (saves money!) I have to say that this year I have been very lacksidasical about Halloween. I don't know why, but I just haven't seemed to care as much this year. I need to try harder. From the turnout of trick or treaters last night (we only had about 30 kids..) it seems I am not the only one who hasn't been into the whole Halloween thing. Very disappointing.. I like seeing all the costumes! On the plus side, I have a ton of candy for just me now! Happy Halloween!

Round One goes to the Blinds!!

So yesterday was a jam-packed day that started out with a bang! Mike and I sent the kids downstairs to play while we stayed in bed and attempted to sleep-in a little. HA! Don't know where we got that notion from! It wasn't long after that we heard a BANG-CRASH-BOOM and then the little patter of 3 pair of feet running to investigate. Then a Mooom, Hoopy (our cat) is tangled up and can't get out..... Where Mike proceeds to yell down, well then help him! Then more pitter patter of feet, them bloodcurdling screams and sobbing as 3 kids come racing back to the stairs.. MOOOOM, he's really tangled and can't get free and he's meowing!!!!!! sob, sob, sob... Well, sleeping-in was a long lost fantasy at this point where I begrudgingly get up and make my way downstairs to see what all the hoopla is about where what do I see but a very scared poofy cat dangling from his tail upside-down in the air from the blind cord. I run over to save him and my arm becomes a lifeline or the enemy, not sure what he was thinking, all I know is that I had a terrified cat clinging to my arm for dear life as I untangle him. Long story short, he is fine, I think he had dislocated his tail but it is better now, and all it cost me was a few holes in my shirt and arm, which now resembles swiss cheese. I have to say that the pic doesn't show my arm justice, or me for that matter as it was taken right after a shower and make-up free! But hey, that's me!!

The rest of the day was spent going to a birthday party, Happy Birthday John!!!, and Maria and I finally went shopping for school clothes for her. Poor girl hasn't had anything to wear since school started! And can I just say how much I love The Children's Place outlet!!! Mega sales, 50% off already sale merchandise, plus a 20% off total purchase coupon! (thanks again Michele!) Awesome!! Oh, let me tell you about Maria's taste in clothes.. She picked out this hideous (in my opinion) shirt.. As she was relaying the story to her father who said she was looking spiffy, she says, "Yeah! Mom said to look for size 6x/7's and I was following her around the rack and she just walked right by this shirt and I saw it for her! She didn't even see it!!! Isn't it pretty!!!" It is a pychodelic pattern of purple and turquoise and gray hearts, flowers, and squiggles... All over it! Oh, I saw it, and it wasn't a mistake that I walked by it... But hey, you gotta let the girl express herself! She is looking pretty "spiffy"!

Hawks, Coupons and Flips...

Yes, I will talk about all 3 in this post! First, Hawks.. Those of you who know me well know how much joy I get feeding the birds in the winter. (I stop in the summer, there is plenty of food for them to find on their own at that time!) Anyway, since it is starting to get colder I have started stocking the feeders again... Much to the elation of a resident Cooper's Hawk. I saw him last winter quite often perched in the back treeline or occasionally on one of the fence posts in the back. Well, he has discovered that the feeder is a fully stocked gourmet diner! Shortly after filling the feeders this fall, I discovered a huge pile of feathers (from a Mourning Dove, I believe) underneath it. It was quite obvious that some Hawk had a nice dinner. Since that discovery I have seen him perched on my fence post watching the feeder with a murderous glint to his eye. Such is the life of nature. Hey, he needs to eat too.. I just wish he would find his lunch somewhere else!


Coupons... I went and did a MAJOR shopping trip a few nights ago. It was one of those trips where you needed everything, you know, paper products, cleaning supplies, condiments, etc.. I was determined to use the coupons I had clipped and really shop the in-store specials. It took me 2 and half hours, normally it would have taken one. Looking for deals is time-consuming! Anyway, I ended up saving $116.46, about 20% of the final bill. $52.40 in coupon savings and $64.06 in bonuscard savings - instore specials. It still cost me after the savings a little over $400! The thing with coupons is you often have to buy multiples to get the savings which jacks up the total of the bill. I didn't buy anything I didn't need and I figure you can never have too much toilet paper, peanut butter, jelly, or deodorant. In the long run I thing the savings will pay off. Time will tell! I am going to start documenting everything I spend for the month and see how much savings at the end of the month I will see.

And lastly, Flips... I believe I made a grave error in parenting. My Lillian, who never misses a thing and retains everything for the duration, was saving this one for a while. The other night she got upset with her sister and got in her face and called her "YOU FLIP!!!!" I heard this and was baffled, where the heck did she get that from?? Then it dawned on me. A few weeks ago I got upset with something, I don't even remember what happened or what it was, I do remember yelling at something and calling it a "flippin' thing". Whoops, Lillian happened to be in the room when I said this. She didn't give any indication that she was even paying attention to me or what I said. Guess I was wrong! At least I can be thankful since becoming a mom, cussing with "real" swear words has been wiped out of my vocabulary. (that happened shortly after Maria turned one and I caught her saying "dammit!" a lot. Woops again!) That Lillian never ceases to amaze me with the things she comes up with, the stinker!

The 4 C's...

Clothes, Coupons, Children, and Chores. That is the definition of the 4 C's in my life right now. I spent all weekend doing the 4 C's. I think the cool weather is here to stay so it is that dreaded time of year where I go through the kids clothes and switch out summer to winter, too small, too big, just right... I HATE going through clothes. It takes forever! That and the kids never cooperate when I do it. I have Mikey and Lillian done, just have Maria to do. Thankfully Mikey just needs a couple pull on pants and maybe a couple more footy pjs. Lillian is pretty set as well, maybe one pair of jeans is all she needs. Thanks to everyone for the hand me downs! It really does save me a ton of money!!

Speaking of saving money, I am going to start trying to use coupons while shopping. Again, I HATE doing coupons! It makes your trip to the store twice as long plus the time you spend clipping, but we spend so much money every month on groceries (probably close to $700, crazy, huh! Feeding a family of 5 is expensive!) that the savings might just be worth the hassle and time. I have a big shopping trip tonight, so we will soon see if the hours spent clipping and sorting and planning will be worth the savings!

Children, that C is pretty self-explanatory. The children are always in need of something. You know, little things like feeding and bathing, plus being the constant mediator of incessent squabbles takes a lot of time out of the day!

And the fourth C, chores. They are never-ending. Cooking, cleaning, dishes, laundry, it is a vicious cycle that never ends!

So you now have an overview of how I spent my weekend. I know, exciting stuff, huh? Such is the life of a stay-at-home Mom. I don't really have a pic pertaining to this post so I will attach one a snapped this weekend. I saw this and it struck me that Oliver and Mike have a lot in common. Oliver is our old, crazy cat.. we got him as a stray our first year living together, 11 years ago. I saw them laying together, napping and I realized that as both of them have aged over the years, they really have bonded. They both are in need of a lot of sleep, and the couch seems to be their favorite spot to drift off. They can also both be cranky boys, but are also very lovable most of the time. Such are the similarities of cat and owner! Love you both!

BOYS!!!

Sorry, no pics to show this time. Just wanted to give you all a little update as to what's been going on the past couple days. Mike flew a helicopter down to Texas for some reason (I know he told me why, I think it was one of those times I shut my ears off halfway though..) Anyway, he made it OK and will fly back commercial tomorrow.

Mikey had his 3 year well child check. He is perfectly average, height and weight right at 50% on the growth charts. Good to know since he is such a slender little guy compared to all the other stocky little boys!

And Maria is getting picked on by ANOTHER boy!! In Kindergarten there was this one little boy who was quite enamored with her. He would smell her hair, tell her was going to kiss her on the playground and would call her his girlfriend. Drove Mike mad! Anyway, as young infatuations often do, it fizzled out about halfway through the year, perfectly harmless. Now the boys in first grade are getting to be not so harmless anymore. There was one boy in her class this year who would bug the snot out of her, pick at her, smell her hair, wipe his face on her sleeve, and once grabbed her arm and left marks.. which, thankfully, the teacher called me to to inform me of the incident and the boy was disciplined. He has gotten better. Now this week she has had to go to the nurse's office everyday after recess. Another boy in her class has taken a liking to pushing her down on the playground. She banged her head yesterday and today she came home with a scraped up elbow. Little bully. At first I thought it was just a harmless playgroud accident. Not anymore. He has targeted her and this is his way of getting her attention! Anyway, I had it my head that if it happened one more time I was going to talk to the teacher but when I got home from the bus stop today the principal had already called and left me a message. She informed me of the situation and assured me that discipline was being administered and if it happened again the little snot will have to spend every recess in the principal's office. Anyway, it is just a relief to know that the school seems to be on top of these things, and are keeping me informed when incidents happen! Why can't a nice, well-mannered little boy take a liking to her. I see trouble in the future!

Pumpkins!

So today was a busy day. We had "The Pumkin Patch" event up at Lillian's and Mikey's preschool. It's a fun day that's put on for the community. Admission price is one gently used or new book (they get donated to a local charity) and its a day full of crafts, face painting, activities and every kid gets a teeny, weeny little pumpkin to take home. The kids have a good time and its for a good cause. Anyway, the kids wanted to carve their teeny, eeny, little pumpkins.. so we did! This is actually the first time Mike has been home for the grand pumpkin carving since we have moved.. For some reason he has been conveniently missing the previous few years... Hmmmm....... He got his fill today!

Other things happening today, Mike washed and waxed the vehicles.. As I was downloading the pumpkin pics I noticed he hijacked the camera and took pics of his work.. Why do men always do that... Every time they wash their car they have to take a pic of the final product!!! Personally, I don't get it. I don't feel the need to take pics of the carpet every time I vacuum or snap photos or the freshly scrubbed toilet when I am done... But I digress, I am including the pic of my Tahoe for proof of his "hard work"!

That's about it for now! Check in later!

Yankee Doodle... went to town and never left!

Well the kids are all in bed, I think for good, haven't heard anything for the past half hour anyway.. And I thought this would be a good time to share just a teeny, tiny little piece of what my days are like.. The kids decided to sing today... All day... Over and over and over again... I must have heard Yankee Doodle about 1857 times... You will hear it just 3. Enjoy!! (I think we have the next Donnie and Marie in our midsts!)

Gun Gun!!!

First I need to say how much fun I am having putting videos on here! I thought this was too cute not to share. It is of Mikey's birthday, when he unwrapped Grandma and Grandpa Hearnes' present. He was so excited, he was jumping for joy! Now I know there are some people out there who would disapprove of his totally ecstatic reaction to getting a "gun", I could really give a crap what people think. His reaction was all boy, its in his genes! Now let me say that in no way do we promote guns in our household. We aren't anti-gun, we just aren't really into them (well, I'm not really into them, Mike would be, but he tolerates me and goes along with my opinion that we don't need a bunch of handguns in the house, especially with the kids). Mike has a shotgun from each of his Grandfathers and we have a BB gun, but that's about it. Mike doesn't even hunt (even though he said he wants to try it this year, we will see if it happens!) Mikey's response to the gift was all natural, how he knows what guns are and what they are for is beyond me, as I said, it is ingrained in his genetic makeup! Boys are so much fun!

Maria's on 2 wheels!

So yesterday was absolutely beautiful and we decided that it was the perfect day to take the time and teach Maria how to ride a 2 wheeler. We have worked on it off and on a little bit throughout the summer but never really committed. Let me tell you, once she started to get the hang of it she was so excited!! It was also an excellent workout for Mike as he worked up a sweat with all the running he had to do! She was so proud of herself as, of course, we were. She still has a lot of practicing to do but she pretty much has it down now. I ran out of space on the memory card while taking video so you don't get to see the great final lap she did on her own, but watching her learn is alot of fun too!! Enjoy!

Oh yeah, tip for anyone who still has to do this for the first time, take the pedals off the bike first and let your kid just kind of push with their feet and then coast, it helps them get their sense of balance on the bike first without the added complication of pedaling. Once they can keep their balance and coast pretty good then put the pedals back on and go from there. When we finally did it that way with Maria, she got the hang of it really fast! Balance is the key!

Who says video games are bad for kids???

So we got a Nintendo Wii a little while back, and boy is it fun!! I have been wanting to purchase the Wii Fit for it but have not been able to find it ANYWHERE! Well, it just so happens Mom and Dad found one in Sam's Club and got it for us for an early xmas gift. Maria is having a blast with it! She actually works up a sweat playing it. She logs in a good 3o minutes of exercise and thinks shes just playing a game the whole time. It is awesome. It takes your weight and BMI, checks your balance and posture, keeps track of your progress, and really does give you a workout! Did I mention that its fun too? Anyway, if anyone wants to purchase a new game system I highly recommend this. You don't just sit on your butt mindlessly playing games. It actually gets you up and moving! Awesome!

Bump Update

Well, the face says it all! Lillian had her surgery for her pilomatrixomas Tuesday. Let me first start off by saying she was a champ! The day started off with me being very annoyed with the doctors and it didn't really improve as the day wore on. The morning of the day she was supposed to go in I STILL hadn't heard from the dermotology office, not even a confirmation phone call... I called first thing in the morning to make sure the surgery was still scheduled and if so, if there was anything I had to do in preperation. The receptionist I spoke to said it was all set and to just show up 15 min. early. Fine and dandy, right? Well, half hour later the Dr. himself calls me and is hemming and hawing about whether to go ahead without any sedation or to postpone it for a later date.. He says he is going to confer with some other Drs. and get back to me before lunch. Keep in mind her surgery is sheduled for 3:15 and he was suppposed to have already conferred the previous week! At 1:00 he finally calls back and wants to push ahead but Lillian has to be there an hour early to prep for the shot (they put this cream on that is suppose to numb the area where the shot is going to totally numb it... Personally, I don't think it worked..) So now I am running behind, it takes a half hour to get there, Mike is on his way home from work, I have to push up the time for Mikey's babysitter (thanks Michele!) and I have to wake him up from his nap. I am really aggravated at this point. Anyway, we get there fine, she gets her cream on and then we have to wait 2 hours before they get to her, they were running an hour behind... go figure. Through all this, Lillian is being a rock star, waiting patiently, She knows what is going to happen but she was so brave and such a big girl. When the time came for the shot, she did squirm and start to cry (Mom says it feels like a bee sting..) But we made it through and she let them continue and held as still as a statue the entire time! When it came time to try for the second bump, Lillian wanted nothing to do with it. First, she had been there now 3 hours and had already been holding so still for the first one, second, she now knows that the shot hurts like holy heck and did not want to go through it again. (can't say as though I blame her). Anyway, to make this very long story short, we ended up getting the bigger one on the back of her arm out and we are going to keep checking on the one on her forearm for growth. If it starts increasing in size, then I am going to go ahead and get it out before it gets bigger. A smaller scar is better than a big one! As it turns out, the pilomatrixoma that was just removed was a mass a little bigger than a nickel in size. It had grown very large in a very short amount of time. So once again she will have a scar about an inch and a half long, hopefully it will heal into a very narrow line and not be as thick. She is doing very well, no pain, however I did have to remove the steristrips holding it closed because she started to develop an allergic reaction to the adhesive... She woke up this morning complaining that her arm really itched and she started breaking out in hives around the strips.. The doc said to just remove it and I put some butterfly bandaids on instead and applied some cortizone cream. Hopefully that takes care of that problem! I just have to say I am very proud of Lillian, she was amazing through all this and she knows she still needs to have at least one more removed at some point. The poor girl! I feel really bad for her and I really, really hope she doesn't develop anymore of these!! Time will tell!

NYC

So, Monday we pulled Maria from school and decided to go to NYC to the Museum of Natural History. I have been wanting for a while now to show the kids the dinosaur exhibits and Cindy has never been to the city, so we decided to make a day of it! (Thankfully Mike had recovered enough by now from the weekend!) It was a great day. The kids did wonderfully, they loved the subway rides! The museum was phenomenal! All the kids said their favorite part was the dinosaurs and the "train rides". Since it was Cindy's first visit, we did the Empire State Building as well! I LOVE visiting the city, it truly is the city that never sleeps! We are so fortunate to live close enough to do things like this. I forsee many visits in the future with the kids as we show them all the great things there are to do around where we live!

Military Formal '08

So we had our annual Military shindig at the Hershey Lodge this past Saturday. It was a great time with some great food, drink, and friends! I got to tell you, they served this cream of mushroom soup that was to die for!!! The rest was really good too, but that soup! The great thing about where Mike works now is that all his coworkers and bosses are really laidback and down-to-earth. You still have some of the pomp and ceremony, but you can really just be yourself and not worry about doing or saying the "proper" thing. They are all really good people and I actually enjoy and look forward to getting all dressed up and spending an evening visiting with everyone. As I said, the food was great, drinks were running freely, and the dancing got more enjoyable as the evening wore on! Thank you Cindy for springing for a room for us, Mike especially appreciates it as he partook in more than his fair share of refreshments!! (as you discovered for yourself when we got home the next morning!!) It was a lot of fun and I look forward to the next one!

Mikey's three!!

WOW!!!! Boy, do I have some major catchup to do!! A lot has been going on this past week so I'll just start from the beginning, Mikey's birthday! My baby boy is three!!! Hard to believe, three years ago we moved to PA and he was just 2 weeks old. Where does the time go! Anyway, needless to say he had a blast! I always let the kids pick out the decorations for their bday, you know, special plates, cups, theme cake, etc... I swear to you Mike and I had nothing to do with Mikey's decision this year! I showed him tractors, race cars, 4 wheelers, Lightening Mcqueen... The boy saw a Special Forces theme with Blackhawks and he had to have it! It certainly made Mike proud! Mikey was very proud too, the day after his birthday the first thing he said to his sister was, and I quote, in a whisper voice with three fingers held up, "I three years old!!" It was a good day for him and he got lots of loot, as usual. Thanks Mom and Dad, Cindy, Michele, and everyone else involved for making it such a special day for him! He has been having a great time playing with each and every one of his new toys and it is certainly was a day he will remember! Thanks again!