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!