the many faces of sweet pea

See her bottom teeth...

Her face looks different here than up above...

Yet another look...

Ok I don't see much resemblence in these two these days...

enjoying the outdoors

Here are some pictures I took this week...

Too bad the weather wasn't as warm today. I'm freezing!

my finds...

This first picture is all the stuff I got for .25$- only paid $3 for it all!

This is the pile of everything...have I mentioned how much I love garage sales???

a quickie

I wonder if I can make this a quickie post? I doubt it...

• Yesterday Junior Squirrel finished his English. That normally took the longest for me to teach so now it seems like things will be a breeze to get done in a day! Yeah, more play time!
• Yesterday afternoon we went to the park with a friend. It was a wonderful time of fellowship. I really needed it as lately I've been feeling rather lonely and deprived of any adult interaction. It has been 4 weeks to the day that Zach's been gone. I thought before he'd left that I'd see my friends more often but life gets so busy that that just hasn't happened. I was feeling down for a few days there but now I feel better!
• This morning we hit the sales once again. I wasn't sure we would with the forecast being thunderstorms but there wasn't a clap of thunder all morning! It did rain right at the beginning and end of our morning but other than that it was just a bit chilly and very overcast. We didn't hit all the ones in the paper, just a few here and there and a big neighborhood sale near me. I hit the jackpot at one sale- everything was only a quarter and was name brands and in great shape! It was all stuff for Sweet Pea. She made out today. I got Booty Shaker some jeans as his are either too nasty or too small. He doesn't quite fit in 5s but his 4s are getting a bit short. I think the only other thing I found was a shirt for myself. I did take a picture but forgot the memory card downstairs so I could load it.
• We went out for Mexican tonight. I sure do miss the Mexican place we always went to in Mississippi. Kids meals came with rice and beans. My kids love those items! The kids meals at the place I went only had like 2 options of Mexican food and only one option was with rice and you couldn't substitute! How dumb is that!?!? So I gave Chatterbox my rice and JS my beans and everyone was happy. I also went to Shoe Carnival and got a new pair of sandals for CB and I. We were both in need of some. It was buy one get one 1/2 off and CB answered their trivia question right so we got another $2 off!
• Tonight the boys took all of their toys out of their room and we put them in the basement. I'm so tired of them not cleaning their room. Or better yet when they're supposed to be in bed sleeping they're up playing and messing! I have just had it with bedtime with those two! Tonight they still played for awhile but at least I didn't see a mess before I went to bed! They weren't necessarily too happy but oh well. So I then went through the toys in the basement and I'm getting rid of a bunch. We just have too much. And they never play with them. We'll see how long that area of the basement stays neat!
• Boy it all of a sudden got really, really windy out! What on earth! How weird!
• Oh, Sweet Pea can go from a sitting to laying position (without falling). She does it in like slow motion! It's so cute! She's such a content little baby, so happy most of the time. She doesn't like if I step very far away from her but other than that she's just so happy! I sure am blessed!
• I am reading the new Jodi Picoult book. I sure haven't had time to read like normal so hopefully I can finish it before its due. So, I'm off to indulge in my book!

YEAH Zach!!!

Zach made Master Sergeant!!!!! His line number is in the 5000s so he won't sew it on until probably next summer (my guess), but who cares- HE MADE IT!!!!! I am SO proud of him!!! It was only his second time testing and he's only been in for 10 years!!! Good job Zach!!!

Today

Well I got into the doctor and got some meds. Last night I went to bed at like 9:15! I was actually in bed after AI, at 8! I'm feeling not as flu-like but gosh my boob still hurts! I hope it gets better soon. What a pain! Thanks for checking in on me Amie!

Today was crazy. I had my appointment and took the girls because Chatterbox had to go to the dentist right afterward. I left the boys with the sitter with instructions that Junior Squirrel do X number of pages for school. After the dr. we ran by Walgreens to fulfill my prescription and then got gas and picked up some donuts. Back to Walgreens to pick up the meds, stop by the bank and to the dentist. I got home and JS did only 1 page of school! I was gone for like 2 to 2 1/2 hours!!! I was so mad!

I had planned a park day today but the weather was rainy this morning and I figured the park was wet. But I went by it to make sure nobody showed up. So that was a waste of time. I made JS do school ALL day. He'll actually be done with some of it tomorrow but still has a lot to go. I wish he wouldn't dawdle and would work. He did school until bedtime tonight! I feel bad but gosh I want it to be over just as bad! And don't think I'm so mean, he did have breaks in there. We ate dinner and then went and cleaned the play area in the basement.

It is amazing how when we all work together as a team the work gets done so much quicker. It was trashed down there but it took no time at all to clean it. Now to tackle my area...oh boy that is something I'm not looking forward to!

A funny thing that happened today...CB dropped the baby's pears on the floor accidentally. About a half an hour after the incident she asked me if my 'Aromatherapy Stress Reliever' soap I just got from Bath & Body Works works because I didn't yell at her when she dropped it! It was SO funny! I must admit I did yell when Booty Shaker spilled yogurt on the floor and carpet when he wasn't supposed to be into the stuff! So, I also mopped my floors tonight. Until I'm sure the next accident tomorrow.

I'm really sad that Danny got sent home on AI. I've loved him from the beginning. The fact that he's a Christian and his heart...his music brought tears to my eyes a few times. I figured he'd be gone bye-bye tonight but was still sad to see him go. I'm sure he'll still be successful but still...

Ok, I need to get some stuff done before bed. Good-night.

feeling like poo

I felt fine this morning. Then after lunch I took a shower. I was just enjoying the warmth of the shower and in there for quite awhile. Once I got out I felt a bit icky. Then I tried to lay Sweet Pea down for a nap and I just felt awful. I can't explain how, just kinda blah. I'm not sure if its the vitamins I took this morning or possibly a breast infection. The vitamins are my SuperMom vitamins. I haven't taken them in over a year probably. So who knows if they're still good...but there's a lot left and I'd hate to waste them. Or maybe my body is trying to adjust to them? Or the other day my one breast hurt. Yesterday it was much better but now today the other hurts. So then I wonder if maybe I have a breast infection/mastitis (I sure hope no guys are reading this...). I have no clue but boy do I feel yuck. When I was laying with SP I felt all dizzy and like I was spinning. So I just laid there for a good long time. Now I just feel cold and yuck. I know the cold is because I had the windows open...or so I thought until I just asked the kids if it were cold and they said no. Hmm....I really don't need to be sick right now!

Oh yeah we ended up refinancing after all. We so weren't going to but it all worked out and though our savings a month won't be spectacular it sure does help. It is nice to have that behind us and not to worry about that. And it is awesome that we'll get a refund from our current lender...we'll put that toward our fence. We've even talked of having a deck built. Sure would beat the two lousy back steps!

Thursday we find out if Zach makes Master Sargent. I sure hope he did!!! He won't sew it on for a year if so but still then he won't have to go through the whole rig-a-ma-roll next year. He works so hard, he really deserves it!

Well I better rest while I can. Maybe I should put that hamburger in the fridge and just order pizza or something...pooey.

My Mother's Day 'show'

The kids put on a show for me on Mother's Day. It was cute. Here are some pictures to share.

She'll make a beautiful bride...someday!

He's so handsome!

I love this look on JS's face! Too funny!

I had to get a picture of Sweet Pea too. Didn't turn out the best. My first Mother's Day with this sweet girl.

See the resemblance to her daddy? Haha, JUST KIDDING!!!!

pictures from the birthday...

Here's pictures from Junior Squirrel's birthday. I LOVE the expressions I caught on his face. And I am going to be ticked if these don't show up. I tried a slideshow but again I have problems with that too. It seems lately my only luck with pictures is on facebook!

You can somewhat see his face here...he was THRILLED

let's try this once again

this time i'm not doing captions because come later on the pictures will probably no longer be here anyway...

i am so tired of pictures not posting right on my blog....i don't know what the deal is but it is maddening...

Happy Mother's Day

Yesterday we stayed home all day (besides taking a walk) and can you believe I spent an hour or less on the computer all day!?!? It was SO nice! I was determined to finish Pride & Prejudice and I finally did! I also played Wii with the kids and just relaxed. Friday night I cleaned the downstairs and changed around the living room so yesterday morning I cleaned upstairs.

Here it is Sunday morning. This morning I'm just going to a church down the road (the one I went to two weeks ago). I can't believe gas prices went up (I thought Obama was going to fix all that) and I don't have enough gas to make it to our other church and I want to wait until payday or prices drop to fill up. We were up really early and so I thought we'd hit the 9 am service. I check online to make sure it started at 9 and come to find out today they only have one service- at 10:45 (I think because its Mother's Day). So, we're all ready to go.

Friday I got a big bouquet of flowers from Zach. It was really sweet. Of course that would be the day I was online transferring money and saw something about a flower shop so it wasn't much of a surprise. I always ruin surprises, without even trying! We have no big plans today. After church we're going to grocery shop a bit and then just come home. I"m hoping to maybe get a nap in, or at least just relax. I'm already tired and it's only 9 am!

I am about to kill our dog. Yesterday she PEED on me!!! I picked her up and she just started to pee! Then after getting ready for church this morning we came downstairs and the kids were saying it smelled like poop. The dog POOPED on the couch! WHAT is her problem???? That is SO gross! Thankfully she's a small dog so produces small poops but still, it is gross. Now she's locked up for the rest of the morning! I am NOT dealing with that! A funny thing about her is she barked at the flowers I got. Yesterday on our walk she barked at a huge rock at the end of a driveway.

Yesterday must have been party central on our street. It seemed everybody had something going on. The people across from me began a barbecue before noon- people were still there at 11:30 when I went to bed! Thankfully they weren't too loud for the most part! And good thing I didn't have to go anywhere yesterday, I"m not sure I would have made it out of my driveway the way they parked!

I hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing Mother's Day.

Oh boy

What a LONG day. It is 11 pm and Sweet Pea is STILL up! I wondered if that would happen after she slept during the whole movie. I need to plan tomorrow's route for garage sales and I can't when she's awake. She just can't get comfy to go to sleep. Stinker. Then we have these new neighbors and they're weird. Well, I don't know them so I honestly don't know if they're weird but we came home after 9 from the movie and I hear this noise. At first I thought it was a lawn mower. But it was these people doing something or another with their lawn and some sort of machine- it finally just now turned off. It's DARK outside people! Turn that noisy thing off!!!

Anyway, we had a very busy, but good, day. We went to eat lunch at Olive Garden. The kids were pretty good- they sure ate good! We dropped Daisy off at Petsmart before that to get groomed. Boy does she look CUTE ! She has hardly any fur but she sure looks cute. They had these little pink and white bows in her fur by her ears- too cute!

I had a chiropractor appointment and waited for the notary to get here. I thought we'd make the 4:50 movie but that just didn't happen. So we got the house straightened and ate dinner instead. Oh and played some Mario Kart. Boy is that game ever FUN!

Oh speaking of the notary...Zach was signing papers on his end and noticed that they had our payment way higher than what they told us (I didn't have those particular papers because I only have to sign on the title). So he didn't sign them and called and asked the lady about them. SO we may not go through with this after all. We're not refinancing to pay out more money! Darn morons. And he told them before that their figures were wrong. So we shall see what tomorrow brings.

Oh yeah and while we were just about to eat cake today the doorbell rang. It was a neighbor from down the street. She's got 2 small kids, 2 and 8 months. I was like "Wow, perfect time, come on in and have some cake!" It was nice that she stopped by, the first time she has. So we visited for a bit and the kids played.

Oh and I thought the movie was pretty good. I was really dreading seeing a 'guy' movie but it wasn't bad at all. The kids liked it, well besides probably Chatterbox who actually cried that she had to come and see it! She tested her limits with me all day (so did Booty Shaker but not as bad).

Ok I think this munchkin is finally falling back to sleep so I better finish up what I gotta do so I can get some sleep. Part of me doesn't even want to hit the sales as I just want to finish up school. We shall see what the morning brings. Maybe we'll all sleep real late since being up later tonight. Oh yeah and I hear the stupid neighbors machine...grrrrr.

o special day

Today is a special day- Junior Squirrel's birthday. I cannot believe that my boy is 7. Seriously I must be getting old! Last night as I was wrapping his gifts I thought I'd make him a scroll. On his sister's birthday I made up a 'scavenger hunt' for her. So I wrote on his scroll how he had to have a good birthday, how he's a big boy and how much we love him. He loved it! Oh, the other day Booty Shaker was digging in the gifts in the bench. He surprisingly never said anything about the gifts...until this morning. I'd piled all the gifts on the table and chair in JS's spot. BS comes down and tells his brother to open the Bionicle and asking which one he wants to open, the red one or other one. I was still in bed and had to yell for BS to come up so I could have a talk with him!

I let JS open 3 gifts- his pants from Nanny, one of the said Bionicles and Mario Kart. They recently played Mario Kart at a friend's house. JS was SOOOO excited to get this game! He was just thrilled- I wish I had it on video. So after breakfast Mario Kart came out of the box. We only have the one wheel and JS is using it but its still fun (I played the first game with him). Maybe I'll play again once everybody has a turn, although boy my thumb got sore fast! How did I play Nintendo for hours and hours as a kid??? I'm surprised I have feeling in my thumb!

Anyway, this is supposed to be a Happy Birthday post. JS I hope you have the most blessed birthday ever. We are so blessed to have you as our son. I look forward to spending the day with you and making it as special as ever. Have a wonderful birthday JS!!!!

Little House

Today I took my girls to see Little House on the Prairie (the play). It was really good. We were right smack in the front (on the side). It wasn't a very big theater at all and it was really perfect. I still can't get over that I had to pay $7 for Sweet Pea to sit on my lap (as if she watched it, she mostly slept). Oh well. I'm glad I got to do that and both Chatterbox and I enjoyed it. I love having the opportunity to do things like that with my children.

This afternoon we ran around getting wrapping paper, cake and all the goodies for Junior Squirrel's birthday tomorrow. I can't believe he's going to be 7. Where has the time gone?? I'm not sure what our day all entails. He wants Olive Garden so we'll do that for lunch since it'll be cheaper. I thought maybe there'd be garage sales (oftentimes they're also on Thursdays here) but they're not until 3-4 and at 2 I have the chiropractor and I have to be home at 4 to sign some papers for our refinancing. Sooo....who knows about the sales. I'd love to go Friday but I really need to try to get more schooling done (we won't do it tomorrow since its a birthday). JS also wants to go see the Wolverine movie so I guess we'll do that. It is so not my thing but since his daddy isn't here to take him I guess it falls on my shoulders.

I have exactly 100 pages left in Pride & Prejudice. It is taking forever to read and I seldom have time to pick up a book lately. I hope I finish it soon as I have a couple of library books I'd like to get into (the latest Jodi Picoult one is one of them). So, I'm off to fall asleep, er read all about Pemberley...

Oh, one more thing. The 13 year old neighbor boy was mowing the lawn earlier. Booty Shaker was running around the house in his underwear for some reason. He sees Lane outside and isn't shy at all about being just about naked. Next thing I know he turns around and moons the kid!!! It was hilarious, but I did have to have a talking with him:)

wow

It is rather maddening but I keep thinking it's been over 3 weeks that Zach's been gone but its only been like 2 1/2. Bummer. Seriously this stinks big time. I can't imagine 3-4 more weeks. And then another 4-5 coming up at the end of June.

My aunt left this morning. We said good-bye last night. Yesterday we went and did some shopping. I had some Kohl's cash and like $10 on a card and got myself two shirts, paying only .81 cents! I love that! Aunty Cindy bought the kids some toys. We hit another kids eat free restaurant (we had breakfast at Ihop). We just chilled out at home the rest of the day. The kids were so quiet with their new toys. I think the kids did like one school subject each (A. Cindy gave Chatterbox her spelling test). I made dinner and Cindy & I bowled....I lost. It was so nice that they came out here to visit us on their way 'home'. I really appreciate that they do that- and I know the kids love it too! So, thanks for stopping by guys!

Today we did a lot of school. Had some company to break up the day and I had the kids playing outside for awhile but then we plugged away at more school. CB finished her English today. I may as well say she's a 4th grader (wow, that seems so weird) but she does have spelling and science to finish up. I managed to get 3 lessons in English w/JS and 2 math pages, in addition to his other school work.

Tomorrow I am taking Chatterbox to see the play 'Little House on the Prairie'. I signed up back in like Sept. I didn't think I'd have to take the baby but she's so afraid of the sitter so I had to buy a ticket for Sweet Pea to come! Isn't that stupid!?!? Something about the fire code! It's 'only' $7 but still. It's not like she's going to be 'watching' the play or 'claiming' a seat. I'm rather irked but I really did want to do this with CB.

I can't believe Mother's Day is this coming weekend. I haven't even thought about it since Junior Squirrel's birthday is on Thursday. Hopefully I can get some cards in the mail... Hmm...hopefully I get a card since Daddy's not here;) He tends to forget about me when he's away! He sends the kids postcards and letters and buys them treasures but I get jipped! I've been wanting an Ipod lately for some reason (hint, hint).

We got an estimate on a privacy fence today. I really can't stand not having privacy in my yard. I also can't stand that my kids can run amok and not stay in one place! They know to stay in the back but sometimes they venture to the side or front. So, hopefully we can swing it. We're in the process of refinancing so won't have a couple of payments so I hope it works out.

I rented Hotel for Dogs for the kids. I saw most of it and it was real cute. I also watched American Idol. I didn't care for Danny's performance tonight but I am still rooting for him.

Go Huck

A friend had a link to this on facebook. Very good indeed. It is amazing to me how much the media can take a story in their own hands and cause a stirring or panic. With anything. Look at the Caylee Anthony Case. Or any other nationally known case of a child missing. How many missing children are there really? Yet the media only portrays a few and we get wrapped up in them. They have their story, they suck in their viewers/readers and all is good. It's amazing how this also happened with swine flu. And did some lady really say something about hurting a pig's feelings for calling it that? Well, boo hoo lady. I will call it what it is- swine flu, pig flu, hog flu. And maybe one day I'll even get thrown in jail for using this, my freedom of speech. So be it. This government is taking away our rights like never before! Oh and one more thing, I never thought about abortion in light of Huckabee's article but it sure does make sense.

Going, going, going

I am so tired and have been for the past two days. Yet here I am up late again. We've been having a good time with Aunty Cindy. We played some Guitar Hero (I'm not very good and my eyes were going bonkers on me) on the PS2 last night. We went to lunch, took a walk, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows at the campground. Daisy is deathly afraid of her dog! She was trying to hide as much as possible! She sure loved the love she got from Cindy & Gene! She soaked it right up! The kids were trying to come up with a game to play at the campground and Booty Shaker said, "What about Duck, Duck, Duck?" instead of "Duck, Duck, Goose". It was SO funny! He kept calling it that! Then they were climbing this little tree and I didn't want them climbing it anymore. Sweet Pea was on my lap. I would yell, "JS get down now" and SP would 'yell' something. Then I'd yell or say something else and a second later so would SP. She did that quite a few times! I can just see her yelling at the kids when I do when she gets a bit bigger! It was so funny! Ok well I'm sure there was more I wanted to say but it's late and I'm off...

sweet pea

I hope this works....

It took forever for this video...I did it mostly for Zach but wanted to share! Enjoy!

Busy May Day

Yesterday was such a busy (but good) day. When I woke up I wasn't sure we were going to make garage sales as it was raining. But I got us up and ready for the day, did a few little things in school (mostly just spelling tests) and out we headed. Boy were there the sales! I didn't even hit them all because I have no idea where they all are (I never did get around to 'planning' and mapping it out). But we did manage to get quite a few things. I found some shirts for myself and a pair of shorts. Oh and another purse. The one I bought a few weeks ago is kind of deep and I lose everything in the bottom of it. It will be good when I no longer need a diaper bag and I can just throw a diaper/wipes in it. I found a few clothing items for Chatterbox and the boys but didn't get anything for the baby this time (that I can recall offhand). I went to one sale and they had all this name brand baby clothes but they wanted like $4 for some and $6 for others! I don't think so!!!!!

After our running around I decided to go up to Ames to pick my bin up from the consignment shop and get my money (I had about $40). I found a few things up there too, mostly things for CB and a pair of pj's for Sweet Pea. I still walked away with $20 in cash! I love that!!!

My friend Jenn lives up near there so I called her up and she invited us over. It was so nice to go and visit with her (its always an encouraging time). We talked quite a bit about all the things going on in the world right now and the end times and things of God. She also 'ordered' us to stay for dinner! Haha, not really but she invited and we stayed. It was then that I realized "Oops"- Daisy was at home all day locked up! Poor puppy! So, when we got home we went for a walk. We walked to the gas station and got a Redbox movie from there and some chocolate. On our walk we saw our baby-sitter walking there too. Oh, Kim they allowed us to take our dog into the gas station! I made sure CB held her but still I was surprised!

Oh yeah when we'd gotten home from Jenn's there was a basket on our porch. On the radio I'd heard something about it being May Day and the guy was saying he had a basket on his porch. I never heard of that before! I will have to look that up. I have no idea where it came from but I'm assuming one of our neighbors. I threw away the popcorn and let the kids each pick out a candy.

I got the movie Bride Wars. CB wanted to see it too and being that she's such a huge helper I thought I'd let her. I also invited our baby-sitter to come over and watch it. So once the boys were in bed (though not sleeping until MUCH later) S, her sister G and their mom came over! It was so fun to have them here! We made popcorn and watched it. It was a funny movie!

So that was my LONG day! Now we're up bright and early (thanks Sweet Pea) but that's ok we need to get ready for Aunty Cindy to arrive today!!!