Before and after

Friday Reese came home from school and announced he needed to go get a hair cut. He had been growing his hair out for over a year and I had already told him that it was time for a trim. He clarified that he needed it cut SHORT. I asked him why after growing it for so long did he want to cut it short rather than just trim it neat. Well he had bragged at school that on Monday he would come in with a big surprise. OK Off to get a $10 hair cut at Wal Mart.

Poof right before my eye I had a new kid!

He said when he went to school everyone was looking at him. He said "Why are you all staring at me?" His teacher replied "Because we can SEE you!" Reese retorted "and now I can SEE too!"

Melissa Needs:

I got this meme from got it from Kristen and she got it from Lydia this is how you do it:You google your name and the word "needs" in quotes. Then you write on your blog what your results are.

The magic Google 8 ball gave me these results "melissa needs"

Melissa needs to board the blob ship that is hovering overhead.
Melissa needs some spaghetti sauce and always buys Ragu
Melissa needs to take a break,
Melissa needs a parent or parents willing to foster
Melissa needs a fuller understanding to be sure she is on the right track
Melissa needs lots of guidance
Melissa needs blood will you help me?¡
Melissa needs hydration after the walk
Melissa needs to get over herself. Being hot isn’t everything (and yes she is).

I think I'll stop here LOL

Now do yours and let me know what you got!

Retail Therapy??

Yesterday we had a bunch of errands to run down by the mall. We picked the big kids up at dismissal time so we wouldn't have to wait for them to take the bus home. We got to the mall around 3:30 and stopped at the Things Remembered shop to have a name plate engraved then to the frame shop ( more on this in another post) then we took the kids to get pizza in the food court. This is when we started to lose them! After the early dinner I needed to go shopping for an outfit to wear to an upcoming wedding, the boys also needed so wedding clothes, tricky to find something not too fancy and not too casual. We dragged them through clothing store after clothing store making them wait while I looked through dresses and skirts. Then horror of all horrors I had to stop into Victoria's Secret to get a new bra. Thankfully Daddy was able to take them out to the toys and games shop near by. Thankfully for them, I think Daddy was a little disappointed by the side trip. Of course they wanted to buy everything on the shelves and we told them NO since we were hear for clothes not to buy toys. They also had a chance to walk through the Disney store. After going through the whole mall I came up empty handed. The kids really liked the suit coats they tried on at Sears but they were $60 each because they also came with pants which they didn't need.

On to the next area, we hit Target and Old Navy again NOTHING. It's after 8 pm we needed to get the kids home and in bed since there was school the next day and they were beat.

On the drive home we were listening to the comedy station on Sirius radio some of the kids were dosing off in the back.

Suddenly there comes this piercing wail and sobs from the back seat "I HAD ENOUGH! I HAD ENOUGH!"

Through the sobs we were trying to console Dean all we could make out was "I had enough of red" We thought he was dreaming about something. So we said it was just a dream and he screamed back "NO IT WASN'T. I HAD ENOUGH!"

We were totally confused after about 10 minutes we finally figured out what in the world he was talking about.

There was this tiny stuffed dog toy for sale at Old Navy that dean wanted. It was $4.95 it was a chihuahua that looked like one of his favorite Webkinz and he wanted us to buy it for him. We said no so he put it back and we left. No real argument we never gave it a second thought.

Obviously Dean had been giving it a lot of thought and suddenly in the car he had a breakthrough. For Easter, 2 days ago, Grammy had given him $5 in an Easter card (1 dollar for each year of his age). He HAD ENOUGH FOR FRED. By this time we were almost home and he was begging us to turn the car around and go back for him. NO way ! It was nearly 9! We had to get home and the store wouldn't even be open by the time we got there.

No matter then, he announced, we would drive back the next day. With a half an hour car trip each way to the mall his $5 dog would cost us more in gas money!

Today Paul has a dentist appointment hopefully after the appointment he could zip over to mall which is somewhat nearby and pick up Dean's dog and surprise him. Dean better be ready to fork over his Easter money when Daddy delivers the goods!

UPDATE:

I guess the surprise was on MOM. Daddy came home with TWO dogs for Dean.

FRED JR. FRED(original) FRED DANIEL

40 hours later

We still have 8.75 POUNDS of Easter candy left. I can't even begin to estimate what has been consumed so far. That tin is FULL ( no Easter grass filler in here folks) of jelly beans, with a few peanut butter eggs, malt balls, and packages of gummies thrown in for good measure. Those are only about half the peeps we have left. Next year PENNIES!

Almost 2 and quite the virtuoso!

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Strider just loves music. He had been sick all week with a cold and Easter Sunday still didn't bring him any relief. He was tired and cranky and snotty nosed and having a hard time deciding whether he wanted to play or take a nap. But when he was given the opportunity to play the piano with Steve he was a whole new boy!

April Frogs

This week Jaren's First Grade class read the book The April Rabbits by David Cleveland.

The kids were encouraged to write their own version of this story.
Click here to read Jaren's story April Frogs.

Wrong Again!

It was not 6 inches of snow.. It was THIRTEEN!!











The kids were looking forward to going outside to play since it's a SNOW DAY but this late in the season their snow pants have huge rips in the knees and they destroyed their snow boots in the previously blogged "pond" so it looks like I'll be doing some emergency snow gear repairs this morning.

I guess I spoke too soon!

We are expecting over 6 inches of snow by morning!!

Spring is officially here!

We had a such a beautiful weekend! Mud season is in full swing with the melting snow. I spent 2 hours grooming one of my dogs to help cut down on the mud he tracks in. I also spent the weekend working in the back yard trying to prepare the land for planting grass. Yes, I know fall is the time to plant grass seed but we need a quick cover to hold the soil in place or else my daylight basement will be under ground!

But aside from yard work the true signs of spring arrived this morning. We saw our first robin of the year AND our ducks made their annual visit to our temporary pond. They will probably stay a day or two then move on.

Locks Of Love!

I did it! I donated my hair to locksoflove.org

I've been needing a hair cut for so long. It had been nearly a year since my last haircut. I wasn't really planning on going so short but Locks of Love needs ponytails that are at least 10 " long.

Here are some pictures of my day.

They Might be Giants

The boys have finally discovered TMBG. I have always like that band since the 80's and now everything old is new again. It actually started with the baby. He loves the HOT DOG song from Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as well as the Higglytown Heroes. I tried to explain to the kids who that band was and I pulled out some old CD's and TAPES ( anyone remember TAPES?)

Now Reese has about 50 songs on his ipod. By far their favorites are the "Fingertips" songs. They wake up to "Mysterious Whispers" each morning.

Last night we given a live music video of "Particle Man". Reese sang a capella the other boys acted it out complete with props.

Even better we video taped it.

Blackmail anyone?

Webkinz!!

Webkinz are all the rage at my house these days. A few weeks ago I didn't know what Webkinz were. I had heard about them a little bit from my imaginary on line friends and thought my kids might like them for Valentine's Day.
For those of you not in the know Webkinz are cute little stuffed animals that you can buy for about $10. When you bring it home you open the tag to reveal the secret code. This code allows you to adopt your Webkin online and grants you one year access to a kid friendly Internet community it's full of games and activities and best of all a virtual version of your Webkin that you can build a home for, dress and feed. The kids can add the screen names of their friends so if they are online at the same time they can meet at their pet's house for games like go fish!

Anyway back to my story... It was February 13 and I went to the store that sells them. I asked the store owner, "where are your webkinz" he said "you mean WebKIN" I only have 1 left"

Well I needed 4 of them so one just wouldn't do and it was a white unicorn at that and I don't think any of my boys would have been interested in that one. He went on to tell me they were sold out every where. BUT he had a shipment of 500 of them coming in any day maybe even that afternoon. So I looked over his list of what was coming in and reserved one for each of my boys. And got them gift certificates to give them for Valentine's day.

Those next few days waiting for the call from the store to say the shipment was in seemed to last forever. But finally they came it! What an exciting day!

Dean got a polar bear that he named "Frank". Reese got a tree frog that he named "Ray". Jaren got a frog that he named "Pod". And I (i mean Strider) got a monkey that is named "Dobby".

The next week was school vacation week. Let me tell you they logged in a LOT of hours at webkinz.com setting the timer for 15 minute intervals so they could take turns.

Right now these pets are living large. They have played games to earn "KinzCash" and have bought them virtual mansions, swimming pools, gourmet meals, and fashionable clothes and accessories. Even the real life plush pets have been in the lap of luxury. They take them everywhere they go, not only do I have to do a head count to make sure I have all my children I need to count the pets to make sure that "Frank" hasn't been left behind. They also now have a custom built quadruple bunk hammock!

It's crazy but they sure have had a lot of fun with them.

Dean, Dean, Dean.....

I sent him upstairs to get dressed. 40 minutes later he came down like this…






T shirt, shorts and bare feet. I told him it was a bad choice for today. He said “Why?”
So I put him outside to see “Why?” for himself. I was nice and let him wear the boots.

His shirt says it all “GOOF”

I double dog dare you!

Yesterday I got a call from the school. The secretary called and said “you will never guess what your son Jaren did today before he even got into the school building…. He stuck his tongue to the pole outside.”

It was 1 degree out there this morning

Two bus drivers and the Head Teacher had to free him with cups of warm water. He left half of his upper lip stuck to the pole and has a small raw spot on his tongue.

He was very shaken up so I went to the school to sit with him for a little while in the nurses office. Reese had been by his side the whole time. He claimed he was just walking by and got stuck. I sent Reese back to his classroom so I could talk with Jaren alone. After some coaxing he admitted that he did it on purpose. No one tricked him or dared him to do it. He just wanted to see if it was true. He calmed down considerably once the real story was out.

He took me outside to see the scene of the incident. He was highly embarrassed. We talked it up as an adventure that he could share with his friends to make it exciting and dangerous instead of embarrassing. Finally he agreed to go back to his classroom. His friends were all very concerned about him and they all wanted to see his tongue. No one laughed at him. At least none of the kids laughed. To them it was all very serious. After seeing that he was alright, the grown ups, me included, couldn’t help but snickering and thinking of A Christmas Story.

I left him to join his class with a stick of lip balm to use if his lips felt sore.

Later I went back to the school to get a pictures of the lamp post with his lip still attatched.

Dapper diapered dogs!

The diapers are working! I have not found any puddles on my floor! And no more spray marks on my door frames. WOO HOO! Only twice have I found a diaper to be wet so it is discouraging them from even trying!. The first few days it was difficult to remember to put the diaper ON when they came in and OFF before they go out. More than once the kids have let the dogs out with diapers still on OOPS. But now it is becoming a habit. One dog is still reluctant to have me put his on but this dog still objects to letting me put his leash on to go for a walk but he's learning!

The desk challenge is complete!

I logged every single receipt I had on that spike which dated back to September. I balanced 4 months worth of bank statements. I tamed a tangle of assorted USB cables and ipod accessories. And I vacuumed out about a half pound of dust out of my keyboard. I finished last night so the total time was 10 days!

Unusual Weather We're Having!

We live in Maine and winter is supposed to be cold and snowy. January is typically the coldest month of the year, but not this year. We actually had temperatures in the 60's earlier this week. We have no snow and the ground is not even frozen. That means no ice skating, no sledding, no snowforts, no snowmobiling.... nothing.



Suddenly Mother Nature snapped out of it and gave us some bitter January weather. In the morning it was 10 degrees. The pond had a skim of ice over it. Then it happened! at 1:00 pm there was actual SNOW falling from the sky! Too bad it only lasted 15 minutes.



When theboys got off the bus that afternoon they came running up the front steps.

"Mom! Mom! did you see the snow today!"



Jaren my 7 year old was determined that he was going to have a snow man.



And here it is!

This is something I don't do every day

I sewed diapers for my dogs! I have been a very bad pack leader and my dogs think they own the house. Every time I leave the house I lock them into the kitchen area. This is because they will pee all over my house. At least there is no carpeting in this area but it is still frustrating and disgusting to come home to puddles of pee on the floor and sprayed on the chair legs. I have never caught them in the act.

I was at my wits end. I have been trying to walk the dogs daily as prescribed by the Dog Whisperer. But it's not working yet. So I surfed the web looking for help and I found that people make diapers for dogs. Male dogs have a special contraption called a Belly Band. It's basically a padded belt that you velcro around their waist covering their tinkler. They come in all sorts of outrageous fashion colors. I am a little more plain than that so I went up to my craft room and whipped up 3 plain black dog diapers, belly bands, wiener wraps what have you.

In theory they won't bother trying to pee with them on. If they do they just end up wetting themselves which is supposed to be a deterent from future peeings, or at the very least even if they do pee with them on at least it's not on your rugs or furniture!

My three dogs let me put them on without fuss. All I had to do was wait an hour or so to witness the results.

I hid in my living room, lying on my couch under a blanket. I caught one of my dogs come in and lift his leg to a chair! And the proof of his deed was in the diaper! Later I brought the kids to karate class. The dogs were still locked in the kitchen and this time diapered. I was only gone a half an hour when I had to return home unexpectedly. Sure enough that same dog had wet his diaper AGAIN. Woo Hoo I just prevented 2 incidents in one afternoon! Hopefully this will taper off as I fight to regain my role as the pack leader here.

One out of four ain't bad!

I was sitting trying to clean my desk ( see below) drinking a cup of water. Yes I'm also trying to drink more water. My special water cup is a lot like a cup with a lid that you get at a fast food place except it's hard plastic, not disposable.

My toddler came up to me ( he's 20 months old today) and asked for some water. I handed him my cup because he loves to drink from a straw and not 2 seconds later he spilled my water on the floor. I looked down at him and shook my head and sighed "Oh Strider, is there ANYTHING you can do with out making a mess."

Dean ( my 5 year old) reprimanded me. "Mom he's just a baby! He doesn't know how to do anything yet."

"i know he's just so messy"
"he's supposed to be messy!"

Then in toddles Stri with a dishcloth in his hand. He got right down on his knees and wiped up the water spill.

" Awww, I forgive you!"

Place Your Bets! Place Your Bets!

It's a new year and I'm trying lots of new things and setting lots of mini goals. My first one is to clean up my desk! I plan to spend 30 minutes each day attacking it and that means actually filing each and every one of those papers and not just sticking them in a cardboard box somewhere. So place your bets! How long will it take me!

Yes I followed the crowd!

Everyone else is doing it so why shouldn't I? I've been meaning to keep track of the daily goings on around here but just never did. It's a new year so I might as well start now.