Halloweener!

Well hi there! Remember me? I've been busy. Busy eating my sons hard earned halloween candy. Mmmmm, I love me some twix bars, but Heath? Why didn't anyone hand out Heath bars.

You want to see pictures of my little gobblins, don't you?



Harper was a Ladybug with a blue sucker!



Mason was a Chicken. I very cute chicken.



But there was this weird lady we saw...



who was a scarecrow per her sons request.



The things we do for love!

Girl Interrupted

...so much on my plate right now. I need some time to sort through it all. I'll be back November 1st. Who knows, maybe it'll make for some fantastic NaBloPoMo material? Are you in by the way?

Ongoing Battle

My little quad of a family is doing fine, except for the constant cycle of colds that we've been passing around for the past 3 weeks. It's been impossible for any of us to get a decent nights sleep.

That's all pretty petty though.

I know I've mentioned before about my families struggle with addiction and substance abuse. It's back. It's exhausting and hurtful and a relief all at the same time. A relief because now that things have come to a head, hopefully healing can start.

Hopefully.

It's easy to get caught up in the negative, but I am not going to. Instead I want to tell you a little story about a Friday night a few weeks ago...

In Wisconsin, we have what is called "Friday Fish Fry". Other states have fish and chips but none of the ones I've had have ever compared. When Pedro and I lived in Florida, I am pretty sure that not a Friday went by without us reminiscing and drooling over our beloved Wisconsin Fish Fry.

A couple weeks ago, we all went out for a Fish Fry. It was disastrous! Our waitress was the worst ever. She reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite, the awkwardness of it all. We gave her our order she wrote it down without ever looking up and then just walked away without saying a word. No "Thank you" or "I'll get your order right in." Nothing.

Our kids added to the "fun". Once our food came we began putting food on
Harper's little place mat. She ate a very few bites and then directed all her efforts to ripping off her place mat. She pulled and pulled until finally the suction cups gave and little bits of food went flying and landed on the table behind her. No, I am not joking. The table let out a little "what the hell?" then went on trying to have a nice dinner out. Ha! Good luck with that when we're here!

During all this drama Mason was singing, "put the lime in the coconut and stir it all up, put the lime in the coconut a mix it all together." Each time he sang it was getting louder and louder. Nice. It was by far our most chaotic dinner ever.

Without even finishing our meal, Pedro and I decided we needed to get the hell out of there. We started packing up all our stuff and also apologizing to the tables surrounding us.
Everyone just smiled and said it was fine. It wasn't though. It was like The Gong Show except the gong never rang to end the skit.
One guy actually said, "Thank You. I had a really tough week and you made my night. It was funny."

That man is my new hero.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Who's Weird? Not Me!

Ms. Mamma tagged me for this one claiming I've got "isms". She knows me well and she was spot on. I am full of quirks. Here goes...


1. What kind of SOAP is in your bathtub right now? Lush Karma, a yummy smelling handmade soap my mom got for me and 3 different shower gels.

2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? No, no melons whatsoever.

3. What would you change about your living room? NEW CARPET!! It is the only room that has carpet and it is nasty. Embarrassingly nasty.

4. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? Clean and hot. I just ran it after lunch.

5. What is in your fridge? Homemade Minestroni soup, provalone cheese, organic 2% milk for the boys, skim for me, go-gurt (have you tried it? It is awesome! Healthy, not so much but better than a lot of junk.) Turkey, salsa, butter, butter spray, 4 salad dressings and more...

6. White or wheat bread? Whole wheat.

7. What is on top of your refrigerator? Dust. Place mats I almost never use, a basket full of tea bags, a loaf of crusty french bread for the soup I made.

8. What color or design is on your shower curtain? It is a Martha Stewart one with multi-colored stripes.

9. How many plants are in your home? 2

10. Is your bed made right now? No. I wish I could say yes because my room looks so nice when it is, but I can't.

11. Comet or Soft Scrub? Comet. I need the harsh stuff to feel like things are clean. Oooo, except for the Magic Erasure. I love that.

12. Is your closet organized? Ha! It's a big hot mess.

13. Can you describe your flashlight? Does this have multiple meanings or am I just a 13 year old perverted boy? We don't own a flashlight, do we Pedro?

14. Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home? Always glass, Always. It is one of my things. Unless it is my big water jug that I would never put anything other than water in...

15. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? No, I do hot tea this time of year with local honey.

16. If you have a garage, is it cluttered? Yes. We just cleaned it out a few weeks ago so it is not as bad as it was.

17. Curtains or blinds? Curtains and shades but no blinds.

18. How many pillows do you sleep with? 2.

19. Do you sleep with any lights on at night? No way.

20. How often do you vacuum? Almost everyday. Never less than every other day.

21. Standard toothbrush or electric? Standard.

22. What color is your toothbrush? Lime green.

23. Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch? Yes, but it doesn't say "Welcome".

24. What is in your oven right now? Nada.

25. Is there anything under your bed? Nothing on purpose but I am sure there are various matchbox cars and mini socks.

26. Chore you hate doing the most? Putting away clean dishes and clothes. Especially silverware.

27. What retro items are in your home? My big red pantry in my kitchen bought at an auction.

28. Do you have a separate room that you use as an office? No.

29. How many mirrors are in your home? 6. Is that bad? I swear we are not incredibly vain people. We just use them as wall decorations in every bedroom.

30. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home? Hell to the NO!

31. What color are your walls? In different rooms, Terracotta- living room, Buckskin- kitchen, olive green-dining room, cafe mocha-my bedroom,Stone brown-bathroom, Banana cream-Harper's room, Corn Husk green- Mason's room. I like color I guess.

32. Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home? I've got a Knife block. I got Nothin'.

33. What does your home smell like right now? Pumpkin Spice with a little dirty diaper in the background.

34. Favorite candle scent? Pumpkin Spice.

35. What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now? Homemade from my Dad.

36. What color is your favorite Bible? Good Lord. I plead the 5th.

37. Ever been on your roof? Not at this house.

38. Do you own a stereo? Yes. But I dream of the day I have a house that has one built in. I love those.

39. How many TVs do you have? Two.

40. How many house phones? 3 handsets one retro wall phone.

41. Do you have a housekeeper? You're lookin at her.

42. What style do you decorate in? I would love it if you told me it looked Pottery Barn-esque.

43. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints? Solids. We finally got smart and splurged on leather and wow, is it easier to keep clean!

44. Is there a smoke detector in your home? Yeah, two.

45. In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you’d grab if you only could make one quick trip? Just my kids and my husband if he wasn't being a crab that day...Love you Pedro. Otto(the dog) would be right underfoot like he always is!

I am going to tag That Chick, Rachel, Ashley and Lizarita. Anyone else? Just let me know so I know I am not the only crazy chick out there!

Big Bad Mama Bear

Monday I taught Yoga. I came home and Pedro said, "Jake bit Mason."

"What? Hard? Did he cry? What did you do? Did you bring him in the house?"

"Yes, yes, I brought him in the house."

"Mason, come here. Can I see your arm?"

After seeing his arm, I had to use all restraint I had not to march over and make sure that little boy knew that biting is never acceptable. I was fuming!

I am not sure why this is bothering me so much. I don't think I am totally unrealistic. I mean, kids slap, hit, push ( mine included), and I am well aware that many, many kids bite. I can't figure out why this has me so bothered? I am sure it doesn't help that we are at day 3 post-bite and there is still a perfect bruise of a 3 year-olds dental records on my sons arm. Gah! I can't get over it, Why?

Let her eat CAKE!

It's my birthday!



All these cupcakes, for me?



Other kids get a entire cake to devour. I get a tiny little cupcake. My mom says something about too much sugar? Lame.



At least it was Red Velvet! Mmmmmmm...

Sparkles!

Last week a few of my girlfriends and I decided it was time for us to get out. Two of the 3 of us are still nursing so we couldn't be gone all that long or drink all that much! We went to a fancy, over-priced restaurant that has fantastic happy hour specials.

My neighbor friend walked over to my house so we could ride together. She walked in and Oh. My. God. We were dressed pretty much the same. SEQUINS! It was a little embarrassing but had no impact on our couple hours of girl time. We had the best time. My other friend drove from another city (Hi Jill!) and met us there. She was less flashy, sans sequins. We joked about the fact that my neighbor and I were dressed alike. Her reply was fantastic!

"That's what happens when you are a stay at home Mom and you get out...you wear sequins!"

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the three of us, just my neighbor and I.




Since Jill met us there I had already had two sips of wine by the time she got there and my brain had stopped functioning and I didn't take a single picture. Total lite-weight, make that feather-weight. We were home by 8pm and back to our kiddos. It was a perfect night out.


As much as I love being with my kids, being out with the girls was so great and reassured me that I still am more than a stay at home mom. I am multi-faceted just like the L'Oreal commercial.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short!

First things first. Do you know what today is? No?



That's right, today is the day to pop out and just say Hi! Come on. Every one's doing it. Just one little hit. Hear that Britney? I said a little hit.

Have I told you lately how excited I am that super low jeans are becoming a thing of the past? Good Lord I am ecstatic! For a while I felt like I had to make the painstaking decision between Mom Jeans and the trashy plumber-crack ones. I will never be caught dead in the first, so butt-crack exposure it was. Talk about being self-conscious. I just don't think that my crack is pretty enough to put on display, is that so wrong? So for the past few years, I haven't been able to find any in-between and now they're here. Who-Rah! In the past week I've bought two new pairs and I feel confident enough to bend over in a crowded room. Now that's a good thing!

Edited:
I am not usually one for false promises, I swear, it is one thing I pride myself on. Our computer was totally constipated yesterday. So constipated in fact that my uber techie husband was going to wipe out everything and start from scratch. It just wouldn't budge! This morning I went upstairs and looked at all the blinking lights on the motem and saw that the internet light looked a little shakey. I unplugged everything and replugged and look at me! I am totally blogging without constipation. So now I am a little sad that I missed out on the great MOFO delurk. If you'd still like to say Hi, I 'd love to hear from you! Otherwise, I'll wait until next time...wwwwahhhhhhh!

Back with a Vengence!

Sit back, take your shoes off. Hell! Go make yourself a margarita!

This could take a while.

Button's new resident is moving in today and we could very well be slapped with a lawsuit from Captain Dickwad. First, we got phone call informing us that we should write him a check for around 4 thousand dollars, just cuz. Right. Let me get right on that. We didn't and he had his lawyer write us a somewhat threatening letter telling us to pay an absurd amount within 5 days. I don't know about you guys, but do people usually have 4 grand in between the couch cushions? What a dumb ass. The totally hard up realtor went and tried to find any way possible that he could get some money out of us since we fired his sleazy ass. I guess there is some clause stating that if a seller refuses a full asking price offer, commission is to still be payed. We were actually offered full price with the contingency of replacing the furnace ( a 2 thousand dollar contingency BTW) so we aren't too worried. Asshole.

Button's new resident is a girl I know. She is actually a single mom with a three year old son. She is super excited to be moving in. The day she started moving in, we were hanging out chatting when my other friend and neighbor walked a fresh baked apple pie over to my house. It smelled fantastic and was and still hot when I got home. Who knew you could be both a fantastic photographer and pie maker. Not to mention a Weight Watcher sabotager, hmph. Anyway, we sliced a piece and devoured it. I decided I should take a slice over to the new button owner. I got it all ready and told the kids I'd be back in one minute since she's right next door. I headed out the door, dropped off the piece of pie and Mason was directly behind me. We headed right back to get Harper who I could hear screaming at the door. I reached for the door and Oh, Shit. LOCKED! She must have been reaching for the door handle and spun the lock just enough to lock it. I ran around to the other 3 doors of our house, all locked. I started to freak out. Before I could think of anything else, I went into the garage, grabbed a screw driver and sliced the hell out of my bedroom screen. Mason was willing to be my little helper and crawled right in and unlocked the door within 10 seconds. Thank God for my little helper and my safe little girl.

I feel like after my writing slump, I all of a sudden have so much to talk about! Oh, and tomorrow, make sure to stop by. That's all I'm sayin...

9-21-07...

One year ago today, I woke up scared to death. Scared of giving birth. Scared to meet the little person I was growing inside of me. Scared of our nice little family changing. At 2:36 your warm gooey body was draped across my chest and I knew everything was going to be just fine.



We brought you home after only 24 hours and you were healthy and perfect in every way. At least your dad and I thought you were. Mason? He wasn't so sure. He loved to hold you and kiss you but he took a while to learn how share his time with you. It is unbelievable how things have changed.



You are so in love with your brother it makes my heart ache. You try to do everything just like him, even trying to mimic his occasional temper tantrums, squealing and then checking to see if we are all laughing with you. But more than anything else, I love how the two of you hold hands in the car. It is so sweet to look back at the two of you and see each of your arms reached across the middle seat hand in hand. It is truly amazing.



You are a very active little girl, walking all over. You started a little over 10 months and never turned back. You say a few words like Mama, bye bye, uh-oh, guh-boy (good boy). You are a great impersonator; If I blink hard you blink hard. If I blow a raspberry, so do you. Speaking of raspberries, you hardly eat anything. You prefer milky and that's OK with me; It is what I am here for.



The relationship you have with your Dad is a special one. Watching the two of you, I can feel the love you have for each other and it makes me love both of you that much more. I love to tell people how you have him wrapped around your little finger. When he tries to tell you "no", you just cock your head to the side and smile at him. He cracks every. single. time.
Good Girl!



I have to say though, you are still a mama's girl. For the majority of this past year you've not gone to anyone but your dad and me. At times it was frustrating but deep down we love it. We've learned that our babies are babies for such a short time and we need to soak up all the lovin' we can get. Your grandma was over last week and we talked about how shy you are. You are never short on smiles, but you are happiest in my arms.



Now, looking back on the past year I can say that everything was better than fine, it was amazing. Of course there were times that were hectic but I wouldn't change any of it. You've blended right into our family and brought out the best in all of us. You make me feel like the most special person in the world.



I love you baby girl!
Mama

Is My Zipper Open?

I've been really crazy busy lately. Not in a bad way, it has been a good busy. But, I am so far behind in my favorite blogs you'll have to keep me posted if I am missing anything good and juicy m'kay?

Are you wondering what the hell is going on here and why all my posts are so half-assed?

Here's the scoop, bullet style.

* Harper walks, like a woman on a mission.

*Mason poops. In the toilet. Everyday.

*Mason gets a big boy bike for said poop and rides it. Without training wheels!

*My 3 year old rides a two wheel bike! Like a champ!

*Mason also gets 2 fish from Ahma and Grappa for going poop. The fish poop all the time. They are sort of gross.

*Remember Button? As of Oct 1st she isn't ours anymore! Who-Rah!

*Tomorrow my baby girl turns one! Someone hold me. Where did the past 365 days go?

Hopefully I can keep my head on straight for the next couple of weeks. Bare with me.

Fashion Police

After a long debate on how I really feel about the trapeze style tops. I have deciped they are totally thumbs up. I can't think of a better way to conceal muffin top. Who-Rah!

Proud Mama.

Today we ate lunch at McDonald's. Every time we go (once every couple of weeks) we see the same lady. A deaf woman whos job is to wipe down all the tables and keep the floors tidy. We keep her very busy.

I have never heard a sound from this woman however she is always smiling sweetly. Today I talked to Mason about her. After she had come over to sweep underneath our table for the third time and I mouthed "thank you" to her. I explained to Mason that the woman couldn't hear - she was deaf and that she speaks sign language. Then we talked about the signs that he knows. "Thank you" being one of the few he remembers.

As we were leaving Mason pushed the high chair that Harper had used back to its spot. The woman was right there waiting to wipe it clean and took it from Mason. Again I said Thank you to the woman and Mason put is hand up to his chin and brought it out signing "Thank you" perfectly. The woman who never says a word immediately said,
"Aww, your welcome!" in her distinct hearing impaired voice. Mason walked away proudly and I held back tears. My heart nearly swelled from my chest. He had made her day and mine too. This sweet little boy is mine!

I couldn't be more proud.

Milestones

This kid is awesome!

Vote for Pedro!

Did you really think his name was Pedro? Really? Nope, it's not, but I hear latin men are fantastic in bed! Roooaaarrr! Pedro however doesn't have an ounce of latin blood in him, not to say that he is not fantastic in bed. This is getting weird; What was I talking about again?

Right. The story of Pedro. I think it was my very first post ever and I kept going back to look at my new blog that I just knew I was going to love. I noticed that some guy had commented that he thought I was a milf! I was so excited that I called Pedro to tell him.

"OMG! Some guy signed my blog and he thinks I am a milf! OMG!"

And then there was laughing. A whole bunch of laughing. And just like that my bubble burst. Pedro was my husband, not some guy from the internet who and found me out and thought I was totally hot.

It just stuck. Pedro.

Now you all know that deep down I am just a big dork with a husband who calls himself Pedro.

Flip this house. Flip-off the realtor.

Do you remember waaaay back when I talked about us buying a house? A second house that we wanted to flip? Yes? No? OK I'll recap. We bought this house that was vacant for around five years. It was this tiny little house that happened to be next door to us and was offered to us at a crazy low price. Like the price of a new car. I am not even kidding. So we took on the project and worked our hiney's off. OK, fine. Pedro worked his hiney off, I was big and pregnant. I picked the paint colors and painted them. They are fantastic colors too...

Anyway. We listed the house as the real estate market plummeted right into the sewer. Two months ago we agreed to let our over-baring neighbor re-list it. He is a creepy dude. Pedros reasoning...If he is that ambitious, maybe he can sell it? The man is an asshole. He is thinking about his own bank statement, not ours. Yesterday he came over all huffy. I was driving in.

"I bet you are looking for Pedro?"

"Yes."

"He had to go to Chicago for the week."

"He told me he'd meet with me today!"

"Sorry. I think we are going to decline the offer."

"Just decline and let the buyer walk away? I think you are making a huge mistake."

"Sorry. We just worked on this house too long and too hard to not even brake even."

"Why then am I wasting my money marketing it if you aren't willing to budge."

"The house is paid for and we really need to look out for ourselves and not lose money." (since you obviously aren't concerned about our best interest ASSHOLE!)

"Well I need to eat too." (WTF. Did he really just say that? I am done.)

"I'll have Pedro call you...(dickface)"

"OK have a goodnight." (I think he realized he just made an ass of himself.)

"Yup." (Trying to not jump out of the car and kick him square in the nuts.)

So tell me. When did it become OK for the realtor you hire to treat you like garbage? Isn't he supposed to be concerned with my best interest?

So now we are taking it off the market and hoping to rent it for a year or two. Who wants to be my neighbor. I bake things like cupcakes and cookies and take them to my neighbors...Now? Alright, fine. At least take a look at it. Click on the picture for the entire set.



She's cute isn't she? She is causing me all kinds of grief;I think I'm ready to name her. We may be together for a loong time. Betsy? Does she look like a Betsy to you?

test

Wow!

Yesterday we had a doozy of a storm. One that ripped one of our trees in half and laid it clear across the street. Also one that ripped the power cords from our house and had them laying in our back yard, SWEET! One that also kept us without electricity for 18 hours. Wow, I am glad that's over.

Thursday and Friday I agreed to watch my friend's daughter while she has to go back to work to prepare for the school year. I think having two kids is hard and for the next two days I'll have three! Wee!

Does anyone know what happened to summer? How did it fly by so fast? I think this has been one of my favorite summers ever. Until next year...

The weekend in photos- Now with more donger!

We had a fantastic weekend. Our friday night out was actually us celebrating our 6 year anniversary and our first time away from both kids in 11 months!I even got to wear a pretty dress!

We stayed out a whopping hour and a half, long enough for an appetizer, 2 mojitos and scallops with lobster risotto. The food was actually just OK but the time out was so nice.

self portrait in restaurant

Saturday morning we woke up and drove up to my parents cottage.

the always popular driving photos

It wasn't warm enough to swim and hangout in the lake, so we decided to take Mason and Harper to a Wildwood Zoo.

Mason couldn't ask for a more exciting day.

But, by far the Zebra was most excited!

Booya!

The End.

A-how you say- Date?

Tonight Pedro and I will be attempting our first night out since Harper came into our family. I am so looking forward to a fancy dinner without having to pick chunks of food off the floor or having little food crusted handprints all over my person. Cross you fingers and Harper doesn't flip out as we're walking out the door...I want to wear my pretty dress!

Pictures to follow.