This Holiday Season...

...has sucked big time.  It started Tuesday night with C getting sick.  She was better by Christmas Eve, thankfully.  Christmas morning found me sick, and by afternoon B wasn't feeling too good.  B and I are still sick.

Of course, even though I was sick, I was still expected to cook Christmas dinner.  Had two people that were supposed to come over for that dinner.  One decided to come around 5 hours early, the other around 4 hours early.  And neither one of them wanted to help out in the kitchen, nor help with any of the clean up.  Okay, yes, they were guests.  But as a guest, you do not show up that early to a dinner you have been invited to unless you are going to help do something!  And if you are 4-5 hours early, and you see the hostess is not only sick, but taking care of a sick child, then offer to do something!

R & C both said it was their best Christmas ever, so they at least enjoyed it.  B enjoyed all his gifts after he took a nap.  If you ask R & C what their fave gift was, they will both say, "My DS."  B's fave gift seems to be his tools 

Me, Venting

Some people seem to think that just because I don't have a "job," that I sit at home on my butt all day long, therefore making me free to help with out with whatever, whenever.  Sorry, not the way it works. 

While I may not have a 9 to 5 type job, I DO have a job.  My job is one of the most important in the world, IMO.  It is called being a parent!  My kids don't get themselves up and ready for school in the mornings on their own.  My kids don't drive themselves to school or home from school, nor do they drive themselves to doctor appointments and such.  The house doesn't clean itself, and the groceries don't magically appear in my kitchen.

Just because I don't work outside of my home, doesn't mean I am free to help you out at the drop of a dime.  I do make plans, I do things outside of my home.  I will NOT drop everything to help you out, unless it is an emergency!  No, I will NOT pick my child up late/early from school when you need a ride to work just so you get there on time.  You want a ride from me, YOU will either get there early or late.  If your work is approx. 26 miles away from my child's schoo, use a brain...there is no way I can have you there on time and still pick up my child on time 15 minutes later!  NO, I will not miss my child's class party that I committed to a couple weeks ago just because you decide to call me the night before wanting my help at the same time as the party.


   

Christmas Memories

Last year, DH lost his job not too long before Christmas time, so money was really tight.  The kids weren't going to get much for Christmas, but I was determined that it was still going to be a great Christmas for them.  One thing I always have in the house is ingredients for baking.  So I set everything out, then the kids and I got to work.  We made several different kinds of homemade cookies, homemade caramels, homemade hard candy, homemade truffles, etc.  We even got my youngest involoved, and he was 2.5 at the time.  We spent the whole week before Christmas baking.  Sure, it made a mess, but we had some great fun.  And what was even better was seeing the joy on the kids faces when they would pass out their goodies to other family members while telling them about making them.  And you know what?  Here we are a year later, and my kids don't remember a single gift they did get for Christmas last year.  But they sure remember making all those goodies.

So this Christmas, make some memories with your kids.  Get in the kitchen and bake some cookies together.  Or do holiday crafts, go caroling, or whatever.  It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you do it together.  You can even invite other family members over to join in on the fun (we had my brother come help last year).   

Pet Peeves About Pet Owners

Those who know me, know that I am a huge dog lover. Even if you don't know me, I'm sure you can figure that fact out about me seeing that I have 6 dogs. I didn't mean to start out with 6 dogs. It started with one, then another, then another. Then a stray came along and we couldn't find her owners. Then another stray, and again, couldn't find her owners. Then another that I got on purpose. Owning any kind of pet can be great for you and the pet. But you must use common sense when owning a pet. Lately I have seen more and more pet owners not using any common sense at all. So here is just a short list of some of my pet peeves on pet owners.

1. If you aren't going to be in it for the long haul, don't get a pet! It's that simple. If you do get a pet and decide it's not for you, find another home for it. Your local vet may even be able to help you do that. Whatever you do, don't just drive out into the country and dump the poor thing (I'm pretty sure this is how I ended up with my 2 strays, along with some cats that I have found homes for)!
2. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER pick a dog, cat, whatever up by their collar, then try to laugh it off, saying, "That's how it's mom picks it up." NO! A mother dog/cat/whatever does NOT pick a baby up by the collar! It picks the baby up by the scruff of the neck, which is a hell of a lot different. Picking the baby up by the neck doesn't put pressure on the front of the baby's throat, choking them. Picking them up by the collar and carrying them around is animal cruelty!
3. If you get mice coming into your home trying to find warmth from the cold nights, DO NOT PUT OUT MOUSE POISON! Even if you put it in a place your pet can not reach, the mice move around after they eat the poison. If you pet finds the mouse after it dies, it will want to investigate it, maybe even eat it. If you do have mice, there are several different options out there other than poison. Use some common sense. If you wouldn't put it around your children, then don't put it around your pets.
4. If you are not a pet person, then don't get a pet. Not even if your young children beg and beg you for one. Nine times out of ten, YOU will be the one that ends up taking care of that animal, not the kids. Same goes for it you like one kind of pet, but not another. DO NOT get the type of pet you don't like. For example, my kids keep asking for a cat. I am not a cat person. I think they are cute and all, but I really don't like them. Therefore, I will not get a cat. If you aren't a dog person, then don't get a dog.
5. Baby puppies/kittens/etc chew! Don't be surprised by this fact. They chew because they are teething (just alike a human baby does). They chew because it's their way of playing. They chew because it's their way of investigating objects. If you don't want them chewing on your things, then invest in a few chew toys for them (you can get some from the dollar store even ).

Sick again

It seems like for the past couple of months, once I get over having one cold, I get another one. I am so tired of going through a box of tissue just about every day. I've been drinking plenty of liquids (cold and hot), using my Neti-Pot, and increasing my Vitamin C intake. I hate taking medications though. What do you do to help when you've got a cold? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Report Card

R got his first report card for the year today. He got 2 A's, 3 B's, and a D. The D was in Spelling, but we are working on that more, and using games to help him learn them. So hopefully that D will be brought up before the next report card.

Another "Boo-boo"

B sure keeps me on my toes...the poor boy. Just as a quick history lesson:

• At a year and a half old, on a Christmas Eve, B busted his head open on the dining room table. Spent forever in the ER on that one
• At 2 years old, he was jumping on the bed, fell off, and had a heck of a black eye from it. Didn't phase him one bit though, he went right back to jumping on the bed 2 seconds later.
• The dog bite (which can I wrote about here and put pics up here) happened when he was 3. Also was the incident a couple weeks ago where he kept hitting his eye on everything at the family reunion, which I wrote about here.

So that brings me to now. The other day he was in his room watching TV, when he started crying. Hubby went to his room to see what was wrong, and came carrying him down. B was bleeding from his chin. I got the bleeding to stop right away. And once I got him cleaned up, it was just a little worse than a scratch. I asked him what happened. He told me, "I was jumping on my bed and fell." Just a couple hours later, I caught him jumping on the bed again!

So I have come to the conclusion that the only way I can keep him from getting hurt is to wrap him in bubble wrap, lol

I've been bad

I admit it, I've been horrible at actually working on my blog. I've wanted to. I really have. It's just that I don't think anything in my life is interesting enough to share. Now that I've said that, here's what's been going on here.

C turned 5 a few weeks ago. Although she thinks she is older. Her b-day was after the cut-off to start Kindergarten this year though, so she is in an all-day Pre-K. She LOVES it. She is doing good in school, loves doing her homework (yes, homework in Pre-K!), and loves all of her new friends. The only things she hates is the fact that there is no school on the weekends, and that she has to wake up early. She never has been an early bird.

R just got his first progress report for the year. He's getting 1 A, 3 B's (one of which the teacher said if it was the actual report card, she would have put an A), a C, and a D+ (which the teacher and I are going to work with him on bringing up). I will have to do a whole other post on what getting him to do his homework is like :x.

B is used to having C home all day long, so he isn't liking when she is at school all day. A week ago, at a family reunion, he was playing on a merry-go-round. He decided to let go while it was moving, and hit his eye on one of the metal bars. Then he decided to start pushing a solid wooden swing. It swung back and hit him right in the same eye. Poor little man. He had a little bit of a black eye for a few days, but it really wasn't all that bad.

Been MIA

Yes, I know I have been a bad blogger lately. I have a really good reason, really I do! You see, we got a pool, and have been spending a lot of time in it. The kids are learning how to swim. Below is a picture I took of R and C in the pool last month (I need to get some updated pics on the computer).

The kids just love the pool. B was a little scared of it at first, but now it is hard to get him out of it.

Loving Mother? I think NOT

Here's a story for you. A girl (even though age wise she is an adult, I can't bring myself to call her a woman) has a child, and takes him cross country with no money to her name. She is then on way back across country, driving while she is tired (again, NO money either) when she flips car with her child in it. She is also pregnant with a second child. She is then on her way home on a bus when she meets a man.

Fast forward about 6 months, give or take. Girl leaves oldest child with father and takes new baby to another state to marry guy she met on the bus few months before (because he lives is other state)! Doesn't tell anyone she is doing it, just up a hops on a plane one day. Comes back like a week after she claims she will be back. She still living where she was, new husband still living in another state.

Then fast forward about a month from that. New husband supposedly gets new job on other side of country. Girl decides to take new baby and go with him. One problem with this...she leaves oldest child behind!

No, this is NOT a made up story. It IS a true story, and I'm sorry to say that I know this girl (even though I have NOTHING to do with her at all considering she basically told my husband that our children and myself are NOT his family).

As a mother of 3 children myself, I have to ask, WHAT KIND OF MOTHER LEAVES HER CHILD BEHIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would never leave my children behind for any reason! Especially not for a man!

Too Young

There is a little boy at church that is about a year or so older than C, and he has a crush on her. C doesn't like this very much though. She says the boy isn't allowed to like her and that he isn't going to be her boyfriend, lol. She had 3 reasons:

1. He's just a kid
2. He's not big enough to take her on a date
3. He has to be as tall as Pawpaw to be her boyfriend

So there ya have it. My 4 year old will not have a kid for a boyfriend. He has to be an adult that can take her on dates. Guess she's stuck with Pawpaw and their "dates" every Wednesday to Dairy Queen for a while.

My Vents For the Day

Vent #1
If you ask me to babysit your kids and say you will drop them off at a certain time, let me know if you end up not needing me to watch them. I do have a life. I don't just sit on my butt at home all day long, and I do have things that I need to do and places I need to go. I am willing to watch your kids, but if you don't need me then I do have better things to do than to make sure I am at home when you are supposed to be here.

Vent # 2
If you are an adult, then you should not need to call me to tell me that you need to go to the doctor like I'm the one that needs to call to make an appointment for you. I call to make appointments for my kids because they aren't old enough. And I'm not going to hold your hand while you make that call to make the appointment. Nor am I going to drag all 3 kids along to hold your hand at that doctor appointment. If I can give birth ALONE, then you can tell the doctor alone that you are sick. I not only make my doctor appointments myself, I go to them by myself because I am an adult, and that is what adults do.

Vent #3
If you are well enough to drive all over town, then drive an additional 20 minutes from town to get to my house, then you are well enough to drive your own butt back into town. If you car broke down at my house that's one thing, but just not wanting to drive is not worth me corralling all 3 kids into my truck, then listening to them fight all the way into town and all the way back home.

Vent #4
If you don't have kids, and have never raised them, then do NOT tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing to raise MY kids. Raising kids and just being around kids are two totally different things. You may say now things like, "When I have kids..." but I can guarantee that you will change your tune once you have kids. I too used to be one of those that said, "When I have kids..." And especially don't tell me how to take care of my kids when you can't even take care of yourself!

Baby Birds

I discovered we have two bird families living on our front porch. On the right side, there is a nest in a planter with some newly hatched baby birds in it. I have no clue what kind though. On the left side there is another nest, inside another planter, with a baby bird in it that is so ugly it's cute, lol. The thing looks out and stares at me every time I'm on the porch now. I'm trying to get some pictures of them all, but at the same time trying not to get too close to get the pics.

21 lbs

My dad so nicely pointed out about a week ago that I am getting fat! I was nice and didn't point out that he is fat also...nope, not me, I would never do that (giving my innocent look here). So I finally decided to weight myself a few nights ago. It had been about 6 months or so since the last time I weighed myself, and my pants were starting to get a little snug back then. So I looked down at the numbers a realized that in the last 6 months I have GAINED 21 lbs!!!

What happened to the days of me being able to eat whatever I want, whenever I want!!!??? I want those days back. I love food way too much! I used to LOVE being able to eat anything and everything and never gain an ounce. The only other time I have weighed this much was at the end of my pregnancy with R! I never even got close to this much when I was pregnant with C & B.

So I guess I have to make some changes in the way I eat. I need to loose those 21 lbs and get back to where I was. I'm not really sure if I want to follow a diet though. I think I will just start with cutting back on how much I eat, cutting out almost all of my treats (like to maybe a couple times a week instead of 3 or 4 every day), and trying to drink mostly water.

Of course, I'm not changing a thing until Sunday. You see, there is a family reunion Saturday. And where there is a reunion, there is always food!

Wonderful Friday...NOT

My day started at 8 am, which was nice. But as soon as I woke up, R started talking. At the moment is it 6:55 pm, and he hasn't shut up yet! He has stopped talking for the time being, but the talking has been replaced by noise making. I don't know if he is just trying to drive me nuts, or if he is going to the world record of not shutting up.



While we were all outside playing today, B grabbed ahold of a hanging plant holder and pulled it down. The plant pot in it of course fell down, and konked C on the head. B thought this was the funniest thing. C, on the other hand, insisted that we get rid of B by sending him to jail. She said after we got rid of him, we could go get her a baby sister instead.

So now B is dancing around the house, using a tennis racket as a guitar, singing at the top of his lungs. I am ready for bed!!!

If I Were A Pizza

So I was going across all the various papers R brought home from cleaning out his locker and desk at school. One paper is made to look like a slice of pizza, and had written on there "If I were a piece of pizza..." So here is how R's paper reads:

"If I were a piece of pizza...I would be a poisonous pizza so people would not eat me If people eat me they are going to die."

Only a child of mine would write something like that.

Nothing Exciting

Nothing too exciting happened over the weekend. The kids did some fishing, and R helped Pawpaw and me do some mowing. R & C got to go to the park with my cousin Saturday, and he took them out for ice cream afterwards.

Anyway, I finally got more pictures of B's "boo-boos" on the computer. These are from 2 days after he got the stitches out. I still need to take pictures of how it looks now, but it is looking good. As you can see from these pictures, even 2 days after the stitches were taken out, it looked better than the day they were taken out. They only things I have been doing with his wounds is cleaning them with plain ole soap and water, then gently rubbing in a little pure aloe (not that stuff you get at the drugstore) and Vitamin E.

His head


His face just 2 days after the stitches were taken out.

And check out my other blog, Crystal's 3 C's, and see the newest baby blanket I have finished for a friend.

Kids in the Kitchen

Since I don't really have anything "cute" to write about tonight, I thought I would talk about kids in the kitchen. My kids seem to like to help out in the kitchen. Some good reasons for letting your kids help you out in the kitchen are:

• They get a sense of accomplishment
• Learning to cook is a very valuable skill...after all, everyone needs to eat
• Picky eaters (like my 9 year old) are more likely to eat something they help make

There is usually always something you can find for your kid(s) to help out with, no matter what their age is.

My 3 year old helps out with mixing things. He also helps pour things in after they are measured out.

My 4 year old also helps mix things. She also helps measure things out, which is a good head start in math. She also does thing like putting the toast in the toaster or the microwave.

Along with mixing, my 9 year old helps out with cutting things that can be cut with a butter knife. He is also just starting to be allowed to help stir things that are on the stove.

All 3 kids help out with washing fruits/vegetables, along with putting butter/jelly/peanut butter on bread/toast. When we make homemade pizza, all 3 kids LOVE to help put the pizzas together.

Yes, having the kids help out in the kitchen does get messy. But it is a good bonding experience, a good learning experience, and can be just plain fun. So try letting your kid(s) help out in the kitchen. You don't have to do it every day, but try it once a week, or a couple times a month. The meal/snack may only last a few minutes, but the memories you make will last a lifetime______________________________________________________________

And for today's Tip of the Day:

Have a stain in your sink, tub, counter, etc? Instead of grabbing the harsh scouring cleaner or bleach, grab your box of baking soda instead! Baking soda scours just like Comet (etc), but isn't as harsh, and leaves no chemical residue behind. For really stubborn stains, spritz some plain vinegar on top of the baking soda and let sit for a couple minutes

Too Cute

I was sitting in the yard this evening, watching B go around and around the circular drive in his Power Wheel Jeep. That's when he saw Pawpaw heading back to the shop to get out the tractor to mow. That boy was almost to the shop before I even got 1/4 of the way, lol. Then he stopped his Jeep right outside the big door and sat there waiting. As soon as the door had raised about halfway up, he floored his Jeep right into the shop and yelled, "Hi Pawpaw!"

Then after bedtime, R kept getting out of bed. The last time I told him he was in trouble if he got out of bed again. His reply was, "But what if there's a snake up here in the room?" Gotta love what kids come up with.

C, on the other hand, decided to try a different kind of "pajamas" for bed tonight. She had to go to bed wearing a purple princess dress, a tiara with purple stones, and white high heels.

I have no clue how I would stay entertained if it wasn't for my children

Just Great

My place got broken into. They took my computer monitor and my flat screen TV (that I just got in Feb). They even took the remote and user manual (which was on top the entertainment center) for the TV. But they did leave my surround sound, DVD player, and computer. They also didn't touch the 2 older TV's (then again, who would take a big box TV when they can take a flat screen), or the older computer.

Recipes

I have a couple new recipes up over on Crystal's 3 C's.

Tip of the Day #1

Since I don't really have much to blog about, I thought I would give some tips every now and then. So here is today's tip:

If you send your 4 year old to the Wednesday evening church service with her Pawpaw, then there is a good chance that 4 year old will talk said Pawpaw into taking her on a "date" to Dairy Queen. The results could be them coming home with ice cream for you!

So far my results with using this tip has gotten me a Mocha Moolatte last week and a hot fudge sundae this week!

Stitches are out

B got his stitches out on Friday morning. Everything looked worse after he got his stitches out than it did with the stitches in, and that's counting the same day he got the stitches! Here are a couple pictures of what he looked like on Friday, after the stitches came out.

Here is his head. It actually looks worse in the picture here than it did in person, but it still looked bad in person.

And here is his face. It just looks worse than it did with the stitches. Those are steri-strips on his face for those wondering. And for some reason the doc put Betadine on OVER the steri-strips.

B is doing good though. I have a couple pictures that I took yesterday of his face and head that look so much better than he did on Friday. I just need to get those pictures onto the computer. I have been just washing the area with soap and water, and putting PURE aloe (none of that wanna be aloe that you get at Walmart or Walgreens) on his wounds, and they are doing great.

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day. We did here. We went to my grandpa's grave. We also had people over for a cookout, and spent a nice day outside.

R spent a lot of time over the weekend out at the pond with his Pawpaw. Last night Pawpaw stayed up until midnight cutting up fish. And tonight he was cutting up fish until 10 pm.

C did a little fishing over the weekend also. She only caught 3 or 4 fish though. But she claims the ones she caught were about 2 foot long, lol.

Minus 1 Stitch

B is minus one stitch now. He scratched off a small part of his scab, and pulled a stitch out. It looks good though...as good as it can considering it's a dog bite. His doctor's appointment to get the stitches all out is at 9:15 tomorrow morning! I am ready for the stitches to come out so I can stop worrying about him pulling them out. Of course I will still have to worry about him picking at the scabs until they heal. Then again, a mother never stops worrying about her children. I will try to get some pictures up tomorrow night of the wounds after the stitches are out.

The other dogs have been great with B since he got bit. One usually tries to stay away from the kids unless they are eating, and in that case she sits and begs for their food. But she has been going up to B all week and kissing on him. She normally doesn't kiss on anyone. Another has been going in his room all week at bedtime and checking his room out, then laying outside his bedroom door. The other 3 kiss on him and cuddle up to him. B is showing no fear of them, thankfully.

R got a 100 on his spelling test today! He tries to act like it isn't a big deal when he does that, but I always make it a point to tell him how proud I am of him and hang them on the fridge. I think it kind of embarasses him, lol.

C has been having fun telling everyone she runs across all about how B got his boo-boos. Everyone she has seen at the store for the past week, she tells them hi, her name, B's name, how old both of them are, and then tells them, "Tank bit my baby brother, that's why he has stitches."

It's A Cheeseburger

This evening, I found a turtle under my truck. I brought the little bugger in to show B since he had never seen one in person before. Mr. Turtle was even poking his head out for us and everything. So I show B, and ask him if he knew what he was. He replied, "It's a cheeseburger!" I had to explain to him that it was a turtle, just like Franklin (a show on Noggin for those of you without kids).

C wanted a Reese cup yesterday, so she told me she needed to borrow my driver's license to drive down to the gas station to get one. Yeah, because I'm going to just hand my license and truck keys over to my 4 year old. She wasn't happy when I would just hand everything over and let her go. She still hasn't figured out that she isn't tall enough to see over the steering wheel, let alone reach the pedals.

B had to go for another blood draw for them to check his lead levels today. Poor baby. I was very proud of him though. There was a 5 year old little girl that went ahead of him and was getting the finger prick lead test and she was screaming so loud the whole time she was back there and then still crying for a good 5 minutes after she came out. B cried for less than a minute. Of course, I guess if you just had stitches put in your face and head less than a week ago, a little poke in the arm is nothing even at the ripe old age of 3.

Speaking of B's stitches, he is getting them out on Friday morning. He hasn't pulled any out so far, although he did scratch off a small part of scab in between a couple stitches.

Happy Birthday, R!

My oldest baby is 9 today! Time just flew by. It seems like he should still be a baby, not half grown.

Today

B just had to spend most of the day with Pawpaw today. First he kept saying he wanted to ride on the tractor, and Pawpaw needed to mow anyway, so B got his ride. The tractor ride put him to sleep, lol. He woke up grumpy as can be though. A little bit later he saw Pawpaw leave on the 4-wheeler and threw a fit. I ended up having to hunt Pawpaw down and take B to him. He wore Pawpaw out today, lol

B is still doing okay as far as his stitches, and has been taking his meds like a big boy.

R was a holy terror today. He kept picking on C. He was not listening at all.

R & C were fighting over the computer today, so now both are off the computer for now.

C got in trouble today for peeing in her pants. Her excuse was she was too busy giving her Barbie a bath to use the potty! She was giving the Barbie a bath in the bathroom sink! She was only 2 steps away from the potty! She wasn't very happy with having to clean the mess up herself, but maybe now she will learn.

Tank

This is Tank, the one that attacked B.

B update & some pics

B has been doing fine. He had fun playing outside, and watching Pawpaw change oil in the car. He didn't put up too much of a fight when it came time to take his meds, he is usually a fighter when it comes to taking meds. He has been doing pretty good about not trying to mess with the stitches on his face, and hasn't tried to touch the ones on his head at all. When he goes to touch his stitches, he stops as soon as I tell him not to, and then goes a couple hours with leaving them alone before he starts trying to touch them again.

A couple people have been talking about how bad his scar is going to be on his face. My thoughts on him scarring is that I don't care if he has a big scar or a little scar. I'm just glad that he is okay. I know it could have been worse, and I am thankful that it wasn't worse (this was bad enough). The most important thing is that he is okay.

Here are some pictures of all of his "boo-boos." Some were taken at the hospital right after they got the stitches in (with my cell), and some were taken at home right after we got home. WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT look at these pictures if you can't deal with the sight of blood.

This is the least of B's injuries. He has some scraps and a bruise on his back

Here are the stitches in his head. I can't get a very good picture of them because of his hair. But there are 9 stitches in there (well, the doctor said 9, but I when I counted today, I counted 10).

Here is the side of his face. There are 8 stitches there.

This was at the hospital, with my cell. My poor baby

This one was at the hospital also, after the stitches.

My Poor B

B and I were outside today. I was sitting on the porch and he was playing in the yard. One of the dogs decided to just run up and bite B. He got him good and ripped him. B has a big gash across his face and big tear on his head. He also had little places near his ear and on his nose. He ended up with 8 stitches on his face and 9 on his head, and the little places were glued. He also has some scratches on his face and back.

Poor little guy was loaded up with Tylenol with Codeine and an antibiotic at the hospital, and also send home with prescriptions for both.

I couldn't help but laugh while he was getting all stitched up. He was, of course, crying and couldn't move and kept asking me to help him up. I was rubbing one of his cheeks and talking to him to let him know I wasn't leaving him. What made me laugh was when he started telling me, "I want an ice cream cone," and "I want a popscicle." The poor little man is laying there getting his head and face stitched up and telling me that he wants ice cream and popscicles. On the the nice nurses gave him a popcicle onces they were all done with his stitches. And we stopped on the way home to get him an ice cream cone. He even fell asleep for a little but while the doctor was stitching him up.

B is doing okay now. He took a nap after we got home from the ER. He ate his dinner and even played outside for a little bit. The other dogs all loved up on him, and he seemed to like that. When we went out to play after he ate dinner, he only wanted me to hold him. He didn't want put down at all until I showed him that the dog that bit him wasn't here anymore and reassured him that dog would not come back here. He is enjoying all the extra lovings that he is getting from me and the rest of the family, and from the other dogs.

As for the dog that bit him, he is being put down! Tank, what we called him, was picked up by animal control while we were still at the ER. There was a Deputy at the ER getting ready to leave when we got there, and when he heard dog bite, he called in animal control. I was glad to not have to worry about dealing with that once I got home with B.

Sick Day

So R woke up around 2 am and told me he puked on his bed and in the floor. I got him laid down on the couch with a bucket, then went to clean it up and found out he got the wall too. Lovely...NOT! So I kept him home from school. After all, I don't want him to pass his sickness germs onto the other kids. He was feeling better by noon!

Usually when he is too sick to go to school, I just have to tell the school "He's sick" when I call in. Not today. I told them he was sick, so they say, "Well, we have to ask a few questions then because of the swine flu." They asked a couple things. I told them, "He's puking and has no other symptoms." They asked if he had a fever. I told them, "No, he is just puking with NO other symptoms." Duh, how many times do I have to say that.

And now I am wondering why I provide beds for my children. It seems they would rather sleep on the hard floor. Yeah, cause you know a hardwood floor is more comfy than a nice comfy bed. You don't think so? Me neither. Even the dogs don't think so. But the dogs don't mind because it gives them more room on the kids' beds to stretch out if the kids decide to sleep on the floor, lol .

Other Blog

BTW, for anyone interested, I have some pictures up on my other blog, Crystal's 3 C's. A few of one crochet project I have done in the past (going to put more up soon). And some of a few cakes I have made, that aren't very good, but I did them myself.

B was still running a fever today, but seems to be doing better now. He actually took a nap on his own today!

R threw a fit from the time he got home from school until bedtime tonight.

C decided to go to church with Pawpaw tonight. She kept saying she was going on a "date" with Pawpaw. I told her that Pawpaw was only going to church and no where else, so she told me, "I'll just talk to him about that!" Apparently, she did talk to him about that because he called not too long after church to ask if I wanted anything from Dairy Queen, lol. My little girl has her Pawpaw wrapped around her little finger, and she knows it!

It's A Shame

I have some family members that I don't really know. I know who they are, and recognize them if I run into them, but they have no idea who I am, and it's sad really. I live near many of my family members. All within a mile and a half area are me with my kids and hubby, my parents, my brother, an uncle (dad's brother), 2 cousins, and an aunt (dad's sister). Another uncle (dad's brother0 has like a weekend place in the same area. Not that much farther away, I have another uncle (dad's brother), aunt, and 2 cousins, these family members that I don't really know. The last time I really saw them was at my grandfather's funeral in October 1997.

Then a couple weeks ago, I ran into one of these cousins at Walmart. He was the cashier checking me out. I knew as soon as I saw him who he was. I just stood there while he was rining up all my things, and then while I was paying I asked, "You don't know who I am, do you?" He just kind of gave me that "Should I" look. So I told him, "I'm your cousin." He still just kind of looked at me, so I told him, "I'm your Uncle (my dad's name) daughter." His reply was, "Oh, I'm sorry, there are just so many of us (family last name) cousin's running around." The truth is, there really aren't that many of us in this area. Counting myself, there are 8 of my grandmother's grandkids in this area.

Not even a week later, I was back at Walmart, and again went through this cousin's line. Again, he didn't know who I was. It's really sad when you don't even know who your own family is. What happened to the days when a person knew their extended family? I have other family members that I don't see to all that often, or even talk to on a regular basis, but if we run into each other, we know who the other is. And in the area where I live, I believe that it is more than important for a person to know who they are related to. I am related in one way or another to just about half the small town I live in. So of course I want to know who I am related to, and I want my children to know. I don't want my kids to grow up and get married, then discover they have married a cousin of some sort!

B & C

B was so cute today. He kept singing, "You Are My Sunshine." Or at least trying to. It was more like, "You sunshine, sunshine, happy, skies gray." But it was still cute just the same. But I knew something was up when he told me about 45 minutes before bedtime that he wanted to go to bed. He seemed to be doing okay though. He had a cough, but no fever or anything. Then about an hour and a half later he started calling for me and ASKING for medicine. He HATES medicine. Poor baby was running a fever and coughing. Getting him take anything other than his vitamins is usually a pain in the butt. Not tonight though. Tonight he grabbed the little medicine cup as soon as I got it measured out and downed it. Then he went back to bed.

C told me tonight that if I didn't waste money on stupid things then I would have money to buy her everything she wants. I asked her what stupid things I waste money on. Her reply was, "Groceries." So in case none of you knew, going to the grocery store once a week and buying food to eat is now a waste of money. And if we all just quit buying food then we would have enough money to buy our 4 year olds everything they want. You know, because every 4 year old just needs a Touch-n-Brush, or Smooth Away, or whatever else they see on commercials.

OUCH

I was mowing again today with the push mower. I finally get done and about an hour later I am working on dinner. I looked down and noticed I had a blister from mowing! And of course, since I saw it, now it hurts. I'm sure I'll live.

B is the only one of the kids that hasn't given me a hard time about going to bed tonight. R and C keep trying to get out of bed, saying they have to use the bathroom....yep, gotta use the bathroom every 5 minutes.

Mother's Day

The kids were so proud to give me the things they got for my for Mother's Day today (or rather what Mawmaw got for them to give to me, lol). All 3 kids gave me a card. R gave me a pair of sandals (which I did have to take make to exchange for the right size, but shhh, don't tell him that since I told him they fit perfect). C gave me a shirt, and B gave me a pair of shorts.

My dad made burgers and hot dogs on the grill, and the kids played outside almost all day. It was a pretty good day.

Fun Filled Day

The kids had a fun filled day today. We started out by going to a children's festival that was held in town. The kids got to ride horses, pet goats, a sheep, a pig, and a rabbit, got to see Sponge bob, Patrick, Elmo, and Shrek. They also go to play in bounce houses. B LOVED it that the Lion's Club had a train there and he got to ride it.

After that we came home for a little bit that ran down the road to a church that was having a block party. There the kids got to play in yet another bounce house. They got to eat hot dogs, chips, popcorn. They got to play games to win candy. C did the cake walk a few times and won 2 cupcakes, then gave one to her little brother (who she claims she hates, but her actions tell otherwise). R did throw a fit that he didn't get a cupcake, but was reminded that he could have had a chance to win one had he did the cake walk that he refused to do.

After getting home, Pawpaw was going to get the tractor out to mow. Being that he is a HUGE Pawpaw's boy, B grabbed his jacket to go out with him. He wouldn't let me help him put it on though, he made Pawpaw put it on him. Not too much longer, Pawpaw comes carrying him into the house. Tired little man fell asleep riding on the tractor with Pawpaw, lol.

Being that we were going to be in the sun all day, I did remember to put sunscreen on the kids. However, I neglected to put any on myself, and K didn't put any on either. So I got a bit of a burn on my face. K got burned on his face, neck and head (since he shaved his hair off).

Other Blogs

BTW, I wanted to let others know that I have a couple other blogs.

Crystal's 3 C's is about some things I like to do....cakes, crochet, and cooking. I will be posting pictures of cakes and crocheted things I make, along with some of my favorite recipes.

Just Mineral Makeup is all about Affordable Mineral Makeup™. It gives info on the company, the products and any sales/specials going on.

So make sure to check out my other blogs.

Mommy, I love you

I just love when out of no where one of the kids comes up and says, "Mommy, I love you," and is telling me just to tell me instead of telling because they want something.

Today we were on our back back home from a trip into town, and B was quiet the whole way. Just as we were turning onto our road, he goes, "Mommy, I love you." Then didn't say another word

Pretty Milk

At the store last night, C informed me she wanted "Pretty Milk." I thought I misheard her, so I asked what she said, and she repeated, "I want pretty milk." I asked what pretty milk was, and she pointed and told me it was the pink milk. So, folks, pink milk is NOT strawberry milk, it is called Pretty Milk. And according to C, if you mix some Nesquick into the Pretty Milk, it tastes just like chocolate strawberries.

Gotta love kids!

Mowing

For some reason, K couldn't mow the yard before leaving for the week. So I get to do the job now. What sucks though is that my dad's trailer is loaded down with things, so I can't borrow his riding mower cause I can't get it over there. So I get to mow my whole yard with a push mower!!! I didn't even get a quarter of the yard done today but I am sooooooo sore from what I did get done! Have to do more tomorrow.

C was so cute while I was mowing though. First she had to tell me how to start the mower (and she was right). Then when my brother showed up with his mower too, C said, "Now we have 2 mowers mommy and I can help you." I am sure she would push around the mower if I let her too.

C spent this evening helping Pawpaw put plant food on the some new trees he planted around the pond. B was walking with them and slipped into the pond! It freaked Pawpaw out, but he said Brian just stood up and walked out of the pond and refused to come in until his Pawpaw did.

Carnival

K & I took the kids to the carnival yesterday. The kids had a blast, and didn't want to leave.

C didn't want us to take her though. She only wanted Pawpaw (my dad) to take her, so he said he would meet us there. C told me as soon as her Pawpaw got there, I could leave, lol. She was happy that she got to ride the ferris wheel with Pawpaw, and that he threw some darts to win her a stuffed animal. She also beat me in the water gun thing, so won her own prize.

R threw a fit when it was time to leave. I told him we were out of tickets for the rides and out of money for the games. He kept telling me that I could just go to the ATM. Then he did his best to try to tear up all the prizes that he won. You would think it would be one of the younger ones acting up as bad as he was.

B loved going on the little rides that he could go on. He did the pick the duck game and got a big blow up baseball bat. He also did this fishing thing where he had to catch a toy shark on his pole. He won a horn doing that...fun ride home with that thing, lol.

Today we finally got the basketball goal put up, so K and I spent some time playing basketball with R. Then B wanted to play too, so K was holding him up so he could throw the ball.

K has to get back on the road in the morning, so it will be just me with the kids until he comes home again.

A Whiney Day

C has been whiney since the minute she woke up this morning. I tried to get her to take a nap, thinking maybe she didn't have enough sleep, but she wouldn't go to sleep.

R has been throwing a fit about EVERYTHING since he got home from school. First it was because I didn't have a pen in my purse, then it was because we are out of yogurt, then because of what I cooked for dinner (lasgana), etc. He has spent so much time in his room because I don't want to hear it.

B has only thrown a fit today when one of the other kids has taken something away from him.

K is home for the weekend. He is driving me crazy also!

Shaven eyebrows

So B, the youngest, decided he wanted he wanted to be like Pawpaw the other day. He was supposed to be brushing his teeth, but got into the shaving cream instead. He put it all over his face, then he shaved off half of one eyebrow and half of the other eye brow. Little booger head.

Introduction

I'm a wife and mother. I have been married to Keith for 9-1/2 years now. We have 3 children.

R is going to be 9 in May. He loves anything that has to do with the Army and plans to join when he is 18. His favorite color is camouflage. He is just finishing up the 2nd grade. He likes to help out in the kitchen and is learning to cook.

C is 4-1/2. She is somewhat girly-girl and somewhat tom-boy. She loves to ride tractors and 4-wheelers. She also loves to fish, and is the only one of my children that will actually touch the worms and try to bait her own hook. She also lives shoes and to put makeup on. She is just now getting to where she likes to help mommy in the kitchen.

B just turned 3. He loves trains, tractors, trucks, cars, and 4-wheelers. He is learning more and more every day.

Keith is a truck driver, who just recently went from being local to being back over the road.

Along with staying home to take care of the children, I am also an independent representative for Affordable Mineral Makeup™. I love the makeup from this company, and I love the company. If you would like to know more about Affordable Mineral Makeup™ then you can click on the name in this post, or read about it on my other blog, http://crystalneedy.blogspot.com.

Along with the kids and the husband, I also have 6 dogs. Two of the dogs are Bichons, one a Chow, one a White Shepherd, one a Chihuahua/terrier mix, and one a lab/chow mix