Queen Rabbit's Realm

Tis the season...

2010-04-05T18:05:00.004-04:00

...to be wed! My brother and his beautiful fiancee tied the knot Saturday in a wonderfully intimate service. It just reminds me that I am now rapidly hurtling towards my own wedding day. And there is so much I haven't done! I have no flowers or food for this shindig, which is only 53 days away LOL This week, I shall accomplish a lot-I promise!

My little meatatarin.....

2010-03-15T17:43:00.005-04:00

So I was in my room, doing a few random crunches on the floor. The Princess was doing some, too, while Side Salad was trying to sit on me. The Squirrel all of a sudden says,

"I wish everything I touched turned to meat! And gold."

.....okay.....

Then, she began running around turning things into meat. "Daddy's TV is meat! The counter is meat! The towel is meat!"

The Princess tried to reason with her little sister. "What if you touch us? Then, we will be meat, too. You can't turn everything into me-"

"You're meat! Look, Mommy! I turned her into meat!" Obviously, the Princess wasn't very convincing in her argument.

She followed me downstairs and patted me on my back. "Mommy, you're meat. I'm just kidding. But everything else is meat, meat, meat!" She bopped off to work some more magic.

"Pencil meat! Yummy yum-yum!"

"Call me on the line, you can call me, call me anytime-Mommy your phone is meat!" That's right. I am rockin' Blondie for my ringtone.

Anywho, the Princess and the Squirrel, as far as I know, have never heard the tale of King Midas. That makes it all the more intriguing that she is touching things and turning them into meat.

Guess I know what tonight's bedtime story is :)

Everything is happenning so fast!

2010-03-10T07:28:00.003-05:00

This will be a double update post.

1. Student teaching

I am halfway done. Yippeeeee! I know the hardest part is ahead of me. I solo teach starting next week. I feel like my classroom management skills are vastly improving. I have gotten a lot stricter. But I truly enjoy it.

Yesterday was Educator Recruitment Day at my school. I had nine (yes, nine!) interviews in one day. IMO, they all went well. I am confident that I'll get a least a couple of offers soon.

2. Wedding stuff!

Counting down the days! I'm so excited!!!! So far, I have arranged my church, reception location, the attire, bridesmaids-MOH is another story for another post, and the cake. Oh, and the invites, too. We just don't have any food LOL! We are working on it.

Lettuce is far more involved than I expected him to be. He selected the colors and is in charge of the food and the reception. Of course, I am monitoring him to make sure everything goes the way I want it to! If you haven't yet, please visit Crate & Barrel and vote for us! And tell your friends! Yay! We're only like 16,000 votes behind the leader!

I fibbed. This is a triple update

3. Family

Side salad is 2 years old! I can't believe it. He has a hilarious vocabulary. His favorite phrase is "I 'on know," something he picked up from the older sibs. Squirrel is sick and hasn't been to school in a couple of days. As you may know, my state is having an issue with a stomach virus. Not fun. Princess, the first grader, is now reading 3 grade level books. Astronaut, the third grader, is reading the Chronicles of Narnia on his own! Love those kids.

As a mama and an almost teacher, I know the importance of literacy. We have a gazillion books at my house and growing. I wanted to let you know about a giveaway at Muse Reviews for the books "Marshmallow."

It's about a bunny, making it perfect for Easter. Drop by and enter, but if you don't win, go buy it. It's $6.99 for paperback at B&N. Stick it a kid-you-know's Easter basket.

Vote for MEEEEE!!!

2010-02-24T20:47:00.002-05:00

So, I am getting married :)

Lettuce and I are jumping the broom this May after I graduate. I am very excited, even though it's a bit rushed. We entered this contest on Crate & Barrel and I'm very excited. I know I have a snowball's chance in heck of winning, but what the hey-vote for us!

http://www.ultimateweddingcontest.com/entries?sort=time#29344

Thanks, ya'll!

Sigh

2010-02-22T20:52:00.002-05:00

The drama never ends when you are student teaching.

I am not a perfect person. I am far from it. And, I am not a real teacher yet-I'm still a college student.

Today I was teaching a spelling lesson and I made a mistake.

[My CT introduces spelling words by first giving the students the word pattern for the week, then letting them know the number of letters in the spelling word, and giving students the definition of the word. It gets their little brains going.]

The word was "quarreled" and I mean to say the word meant "argued" but I accidentally said quarreled. Big freakin' deal. I told the kids, "Whoops! I accidentally gave you the word. The final word is quarrel." I was getting ready to move on when this kid says, under his breath:

"Great job, Dum-dum."

Okay, I like "Night at the Museum" as much as the next person but that was just plain disrespectful. I turned and asked who the perp was. All his peers ratted him out. I wanted to laugh for a sec. The truth is, these kids are smart. They know when they go too far. I gave him a check and he'll be walking at least one lap for me tomorrow during recess. I am also going to send his parents a note.

I have a pet peeve about disrespectful kids. Am I going too far? Is the lap enough? If it were my kid, I'd want to know....

Why can't we just all get along?

2010-02-17T22:49:00.002-05:00

So I am about 3 weeks into my student teaching [directed teaching]. It's my last stop before graduation. I have a class of 5th graders at-let's call it TAES or Totally Awesome Elementary School. One of my kids reminds me of me. She is so sweet, just a little awkward. Like me, she attended a different elementary school and came after all the friendships had been formed. She kinda hangs on the edges of the groups. I feel so bad for her sometimes because I remember how hard it was for me. I try to mak an extra effort to show her attention.

But today, my little misfit ended up in tears. Another girl wrote her a note saying she didn't want to be her friend anymore. It was just cruel. I wish I had the note, she would have been in deep doo-doo because that is kind of like bullying IMO. I mean seriously, why would someone do that? It's just plain mean.

Or maybe I see so much of me in this kid and I want to help her the way no one helped me.

There's something wrong with my bed, Mommy.....

2009-12-31T12:22:00.002-05:00

I don't have cable. Not real cable, I mean. I have the "broadcast tier," which-for a whopping $12.21 each month-gives me channels 2-13, pluse WE and TNT. I need it because we get such crappy reception here. Anywho, the lack of cable makes it necessary to amuse myself by unconventional means.

Last night, I short sheeted my children's beds.

What is short sheeting, you ask. Well, dear reader, short sheeting is when you take the flat sheet, tuck it under the mattress at the head of the bed. You fold it about half way down and it looks like a normally made up bed-except the sleeper can't get their feet to the foot of the bed.

So they do what any intelligent person would do-they kick their legs really, really hard as if it will make a difference. I know it sounds strange but it's absolutely hilarious! I set my camera up and recorded it for posterity. Then, my mother and I watched and laughed! Did I mention my lack of cable?

It was really funny, though.

Due to technical difficulites

2009-11-28T01:35:00.004-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

My most sincere apologies first. I know I renewed my dedication to blogging but I hit a glitch shortly after my last post-my cord died. This meant that I could not charge my laptop. My only option initially was to go to my BFF's house and use her sister's cord on the weekends only (since she attends school in another town). They were really sweet about it, being my honorary sisters and all. The sister thing is another story for another day. Anywho, 2 big box stores, and 4 universal cords later I broke down and ordered the cussin' $90 replacement directly from Toshiba. I can't complain. It works and the shipping was amazingly fast. I ordered it late Monday night and received it on Wednesday. I though I might not get it until Friday which would have been even more of a pain.

Moving right along, I have much to blog about including date night, turkey day and my new love of the movies.

Let's start with movies. I haven't been to the movies in years. I think the last movie I saw in a theater was "Bogeyman." Seriously. It had been YEARS. So "New Moon"-GO TEAM JACOB!-came out and all that changed. I have been to the movies three times in the last week. I went to see NM-GO TEAM JACOB!-on last Friday night. I couldn't see it Thursday because I have class on Thursdays. I got all fancied up with make up and my Cullen crest shirt. I even wore a little red jewel by my eye.

That's my fierce sexy vampire look------------------->

The acting was better as were the special effects. After all, the actors were a bit more experienced and the budget was a lot bigger. My favorite part was Jacob not wearing a shirt of the last half of the movie. I cussin' swear, that boy has turned me into an incorrigible cougar! I am almost ashamed. He is so cussin' hot. Whew! I am a true Twilight fan because I actually read all four books, not like those Twi-lite fans who just watch the movies to see sexy Taylor Lautner.

He IS legal now, right? Ye Gods, he's a hottie. BTW, Rob Pattinson has one big nipple and one little nipple. Watch for it when he is about to reveal in the Piazza. Oh and here is Rosalie's wig.

You can get it for $5 at Walmart.

Her wig really was that bad. It was like Kim on RHOA's wig. Just a hot cussin' mess. But seriously, I cried while reading them and kept up the whole teen vampire angst by reading LJ Smith's Night World series and Dark Visions. Twilight is the best though. To be honest, the movies aren't really that good. The acting kinda sucks. I just watch because I love the books.

I really enjoyed myself so I began plotting on when I could return to the movies. Lettuce's birthday was Friday. I know, I went to the movies without him. Don't judge me, people. He worked that day! So I treated him to a date night on Tuesday. We ate at Dennys-quite delicious, bowled with my brother and his girlfriend, and saw 2012. It started off...cartoonish. But it drastically improved. I liked it, though if this particular doomsday scenario plays out I will not bother trying to survive. It's too hard. I'd just give everyone a big slice of chocolate cake, dose us all with Bendadryl and read the kids a story until we all fall to sleep together. Wow, that's pretty depressing.

Moving right along...

I shall lighten the mood with concise description of my mad bowling skillz, son! I hit 3 pins in the first five FRAMES. Yeah, cause I totally suck. I ended with a 54. Lettuce had the same score. My brother and his girlfriend annihilated us: he had 75 and she had 71. So sad, so sad.

Turkey day was delicious. Veni, Vidi, Vici. I did most of the cooking and it looked like this.

I caught the Itis and slept for 6 hours. So did Side Salad. 'Nuff said.

So today, and by today I mean yesterday, I took Princess to the movies. The Astronaut was with my brothers and the Squirrel went with her aunt so we got a little us time and while Lettuce and Side Salad hung out at home. We wanted to see Planet 51 but they were having technical difficulties. Probably the feds, always trying to keep us from knowing the truth [cue the X-Files theme]. Instead we saw the Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was a unique movie. I rather enjoyed it. Roald Dahl is the man. All his movies are getting screen time-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Witches-personal fave, James and the Giant Peach. We have those on DVD and I will def be adding FMF to the collection. I wonder if they are going to do the BFG next?

The movie I am really waiting for is ALICE IN WONDERLAND STARRING JOHNNY CUSSIN' DEPP. I love Love LOVE Johnny Depp. We literally have over 300 DVDs and he is in like 50 of them. I think I have every movie he is in minuse Benny & June and What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Johnny, Winnona and Leo all in one movie and I don't have it. Oh, the agony!

I was about to start typing about how I don't have Girl, Interuppted but I think I am rambling so I will bring this to a close. I like going to the movies and that's the end of it. I will be going far more often.

Until next time...

Positive Motivation

2009-11-09T15:21:00.003-05:00

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

This is the mantra by which I try to live my life. It's hard to try to keep my focus. We live in such fast paced times, and it seems like everyday just blows by. There is much we could all do to better ourselves but we get caught up in setting up a perfect situation prior to beginning something new. Why do this? Why not start making a better choice today? Why not change your life today? If you want to make a positive change, why no do it immediately. I am going to make a positive change beginning today. This is how my very busy day has gone and will go:

7:30 am Wake up, get dressed fix kids breakfast. We slept late
8:30 Astronaut and Squirrel to the ped for well child appointments
10:00 Big kids to school, stop by book fair and buy each kid a book
10:40 Drop Squirrel off at school and read her class "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Lily Brown Paints"
12:00 Home to toss in a load of laundry and fix Side Salad some lunch
1:00 Homework
2:30 Bus stop, to meet kids
3:15 Back home
3:20 Blog-I mean, help kids with homework, cook dinner
5:00 Take Lettuce to work
5:30 Pick up the mommy-mobile from the shop
6:30 Leave for class
7:00-9:30 Class
9:45-10:45 Gym...

It's a lot. But the very last item for the today is one of the most significat. I haven't been in the gym for ever and at my annual check up, my NP told me that I could stand to lose a few pounds. I haven't gone to the gym in months. So, today, I will begin anew. I will go Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and either Saturday or Sunday. I need to do this for me and for my kiddos. I may even take a class. The point is, I don't have to wait until the first of the year, the first of the month, the first of the week, any special time to begin. I can begin today.

Because today is the first day of the rest of my life.

I'm Back!

2009-11-07T23:18:00.002-05:00

The Unofficial Hiatus has come to an end. I have been beyond busy of the past months with school and the kids but I have returned. I missed blogging so much! I don't really have much to say right now. I am about 6 months from graduating, the kids are doing very well. I am about to start teaching Side Salad to use the potty. Squirrel goes to school now. Princess just started first grade and is reading at almost a second grade level. The Astronaut, well I got him a Nintendo DS for his birthday so his favorite things are Animorphs books and the DS. More later....

Day 1: Morning

2009-07-06T12:35:00.004-04:00

Well, I started my diet today. I am in phase 1, or the attack phase. I am debating whether I want to go 3 days as I originally planned or 5 days. Five days seems like a long time. I've only had breakfast, 2 eggs (one fried and one scrambled) and a cup of tea-Constant Comment. I love this tea. It's yummy. I have Splenda, but I am too lazy to go get it. Therefore, I am drinking unsweet tea.

I am only going to say this once so listen up. I currently weigh 192 pounds. This is the most I've ever weighed. Pre-ducklings, I weighed 127. By no means am I trying to weight that little. I would look emaciated. I honestly have very heavy bones (thanks, Dad!) so 127 on me looks like 110. After two babies, I weighed 145-155. That was my best weight. I was comfy and looked good. So basically, I need to lose approximately 40 lbs. I need to stay in attack phase for 5 days to lose that much. I am thinking that I will plan on 3, then see how I feel about going longer when I get there. I really think 4 or 5 days would be better.

Oh, about the food. I went grocery shopping last night and I got salmon, tilapia, shrimp, cage free vegetarian eggs, and tea. I already had basa and lotst of steak in the freezer. I will be having meat for lunch and a salmon filet for dinner.

Hello, All I'm back!

2009-07-05T06:38:00.007-04:00

It's been forever and a day since I've posted last. I have been so very busy with the kids and school and life in general. They ducklings are out of school and having a blast ripping and running and going to the lake. They take to the water like ducks. Side Salad in particular likes to grab a pool noodle and dash off as if he knows what he is doing. He has no fear. Here are Squrirel and the Astornaut playing in the water.

Notice the smears of sunscreen on the Astronaut's shoulder and forehead. That's nothing compared to this:

[Note to self: never let a three-year old apply her own sunscreen.]

I digress.

So much has been going on that I don't know where to begin, so I'll just start from now. I am going on vacation next month. That's right, I am taking a week long sabbatical. I'll be in Florida for the most part, and taking a short cruise to Nassau. It's my first cruise. The Astronaut and the Princess will be going with, but Side Salad and Squirrel are staying home with Lettuce. This is because we are going with my mother and she got some sort of deal but only 4 people can go-and all 4 have to share one cabin on the ship. Furthermore, the kids' club on the ship is for age 4 and up. Squirrel is 3 Side Salad is only 16 months old today (yay!). They wouldn't be able to do any of the activities. In light of this, we will be taking a family cruise next summer on Carnival, whose kids' clubs start at age 2 AND who has babysitting services until the wee hours of the morning.

Again, I digress.

I am going on a trip and I would like to look nice while I am galivanting across white, sandy beaches in a tropical locale. Therefore, I need to go on a diet and hit the gym like it's going out of style. Seriously, people, I need to shed some pounds. So, for the month of July, I will be using my blog as my diet diary. Bear with me, offer support, give advice, whatever.

It will be worth it because in August, this will be my vacation diary :)

The dieting starts today. I am going to try the Dukan diet. It seems easy enough. Click here to find out about it. I am going to the grocery store after I go to church.
One more lake shot, and I'm out!

Ciao!

My Perfect Princess

2009-03-27T19:14:00.005-04:00

If any of my children is me all over again, it's my Princess. She is a true diva, late to her own birth. She stayed an extra 10 days before her eviction/induction. Our running joke is that she stayed in because her hair wasn't right. This child was born with a doobie wrap. She was due a week before my 21st birthday, but born 3 days after. This was NOT a good thing. Princess was my hardest pregnancy. Six straight months of vomitting during which I lost 20 lbs. My whole weight gain was only 16 pounds. She was 7 pounds 19 ounces and only 18 1/2 inches long. (A wee bit bigger than her mama, who was 7 pounds 1 1/2 ounes, and only 18 inches long). She was born rather quickly; I went from 6 cm dialated to her being in the isolette in about 20 minutes, epi free. That short birth is probably why her head wasn't very cone-y. We are both Sagittarius' and have similar dispositions and similar taste. We even look alike. Our baby picks are nearly identical. Except I think she is much prettier than me. She has this big doe eyes, with impossibly long eyelashes. They literally look like butterfly wings, they are so long. Sometimes I can't believe this gorgeous creature came from my belly.
Me at four:
She at four:

She stayed on her own schedule, not walking until she was nearly 14 months, not talking until about a year and a half-but spoke in full sentences immediately. She was very petite and looked like a little walking doll. In fact, I bathed her in the bathroom sink until she was nearly 3.

But now she's tall and lanky, like the horse who happens to be her Chinese sign.

Princess is a tough cookie. Her doc took her tonsils and adenoids at the tender age of 4. Dora accompanied her to the hospital for surgery that day. It was one of the most nerve wracking days of my life. Surgery and the whole anesthesia thing terrify me. But Princess was a trooper.

To be candid, she was born at the wrong time. She should have been a firstborn child, the oldest or an only. She is so competitive, has so much drive but she feels so limited and inadequate because Astronaut can do more than her. She gets so frustrated when he does things she can't, but at the same time, she is very advanced. Not to brag, but this child is quite possibly a prodigy. She taught herself to tie her shoes and write her name at 4 years old. While amazing, it is a major factor in her school behavior. She was bored silly by pre-K and it showed. I got a lot of calls home last year.

I love my mini-me. She is a challenge. I imagine her teen years will be memorable. And I can't wait until she is all grown up so we can do things together.

Sweet, isn't she.

Squirrel, in a nutshell

2009-03-21T20:06:00.005-04:00

This is my Squirrel.

She is a most unique child. She possesses an almost elven, pixish aura. She is petite, slight, but she is by far my loudet child. She is quite possibly the brightest, most well spoken three year old I know. That is, when she chooses to talk. Squirrel is notorious for not acknowledging the presence of others. She won't talk to people she doesn't know well. She frequently hides from them. She has been known to run. This causes people to think that because she does not talk, she cannot talk. They are shocked the first time they hear her speak. I spend lots of time with her because the big kid go to school all day. We do many things. We play.
We put on puppet shows.

We cuddle.

We talk.
Sometimes, we talk late at night. She's been getting up at night for the last few weeks. She tells me the most unusual things. The other night she got up and we sat and looked out the window at the feral cats (that's another story). She looked at me and said...
Squirrel: I know what Mommies and Daddies do.
Me: Er, uh...is that so, sweetie? Ah, what is it that they do?
Squirrel: They kiss.
Me: Really. Is that all?
Squirrel: No. They eat food, too. And they look in the mirror and brush their teeth.
Me: That is absolutely fascinating.
We like music, all of us. We dance all the time. We have big band, opera, classical, disco, pop, R&B-basically our collection has everything from Gregorian chants to Bollywood. We have family dance parties (aka Mommy has to get some kind of exercise when she can't make it to the gym). We do this kind of Soul Train circle where someone gets in the middle and does a dance, then everyone does it. When it was Squirrel's turn, she hopped in the middle, started shrugging her shoulders and shouted:

"Do this, ya'll! Shake your hipples!"

I love the way her mind works. Appearantly she correlates shoulders to being similar to hips (which they kinda are, anatomy-wise. both have ball and socket joints) and they are close to your chest, where your nipples are located. Hence, we have hipples.

My sunny, funny little girl. My little squirrel.

Checkin' in

2009-03-13T23:06:00.004-04:00

Hello, all!

I've been busy with midterms and first birthdays. That's right! Our side salad is now one years old. We celebrated in style at the local Mickey Ds. I think it's okay to have a McNugget or two on your birthday-you only live once...

School is...school. I am just exhausted. If I could figure out a way to pay off my student loans and have some sort of stable income, I'd say screw it and just be a SAHM.

Lettuce and I had a talk about breastfeeding. I know his family are pretty anti-breastfeeding so I wanted to gauge his feelings on me continuing to do so. He was totally fine with it. He can see the benefits in the health of the ducklings. Astronaut sleeps in his undies only, year round. Literally. The boy walks around in just underwear when it's snowing outside. He never gets sick. Lettuce and I have been together since he was 3 1/2 and he'll be 9 this year and he has never been sick. I breastfed him until he was 13 months old. The girls on the other hand, weren't so lucky. Princess was only breastfed 4 months. She immediatly stopped growing. She had tons of earaches and her tonsils removed at 4 years old. Squirrel was EBF until 6 months, though we started solids at 4 months. She had a combo until she was about 7 or 8 months. The ear infections were constant and she got tubes at 9 months. Whoa!! I've gotten a bit off topic. Anywho, Side Salad will be getting the good stuff indefinitely, that's the point. And here's a pic of us nursing in public to celebrate.

Ciao!

Picture Blog: Nature Walk 2/21/09

2009-02-26T12:57:00.002-05:00

Haven't been blogging much lately

2009-02-26T12:47:00.002-05:00

because I have been busy in real life. This semester, I am taking a full class load, including a field experience in a real classroom where I have to teach lessons to real kids-psychadelic, I know. It's a pretty heavy classload. Plus, I have to be Mommy, which is a full time job. And I try to squeeze a little gym in there sometimes, too. I haven't had much time to blog. I really miss ya'll. Spring break is coming soon, so I'll inundate you with blogs and pics then :)

I NIP because I am close-minded

2009-02-18T16:27:00.001-05:00

Yep, that's what one of my friends said to me on Monday. Let me explain.

Tris will be one in a few weeks. Over the weekend, my SO and I were discussing his continuing to BF and SO is staunchly on my side. This is surprising, given his family's opinion and I am so proud of him.

So my friend calls me Monday. Here is the basic gist of the conversation.

Her: Tris is about to be one. Are you going to wean him?

Me: Naw. Me and Romaine just finished talking about that and we are gonna keep going. The kid is teething anyways. Why make him more miserable.

Her: They say breastmilk doesn't have any nutritional value past a year or two.

Me: It's good for at least two years. Kids need it. That's why WIC gives 1 year olds full fat milk. They need it for their brain growth. But Tris is fine. He's happy, his mama is happy, his daddy is happy. We've decided that we won't be making any changes.

Her: Well, I just heard about that woman in Walmart. They are making laws about it because it really bothers some people.

Me: Actually, you have it backwards-the laws protect the babies and the moms from being harassed. They don't limit babies and mothers rights.

Her: I don't know why. Nobody wants to see that. People need to use blankets. They should be discreet.

Me: I don't use blankets but I am still discreet. Tris doesn't like. He'll pull it off. People rarely notice unless they are staring right at your breasts. And most people are intellegent enough to respect a child eating.

Her: I saw a woman use a blanket. Her baby was about 6 months old and didn't pull the blanket off.

Me: Well, my kids never liked blankets and all that fumbling around is aggravating.

Her: You have to teach them to use the blanket. Who is the parent and who is the child.

[at this point, i'm like wtf?]

Me: [speaking slowly] We are talking about small babies. All they know is that they are hungry

Her: That's why you should just use a bottle.

Me: Naw, I'm good. I will just feed my child when he's hungry. If people don't like it, they can eat in the bathrooom or put blankets over their heads.

Her: That's not fair to other people. Why should they be disturbe.

Me: They dont' have to look at my breasts. It's not like I stand on the table, do a strip tease and shake my boobs at peoples husbands and teenaged sons. We are not talking about sex. We are talking about babies eating. I will not put my child's needs aside for someone's comfort. A grown person should act accordingly.

This conversation went on for nearly an hour. i made several requests that she just drop it because we obviously felt different about this issue.

Her main contentions were that:

* Others might be offended. I don't care.

* Some one might say something to me. I don't care.

* People will talk about me. I don't care.

She could not understand why I wouldn't cater to a bunch of strangers that I'll never see again. She asked me if I would BF in front of my BFF Stacy (ssnelson26)'s hubby. I said that I had already, all four kids. She asked if I'd be offended if Stacy breastfed in front of my SO. She has. My SO and Stacy's hubby are not pedophiles so they are not aroused by babies eating.

She also said that she worked in restaurants and she knew how people talked. Ironically, I've worked in more restaurants than she had, and breastfed my kids in every single one.

She said what if someone came up to me and said "Excuse me, my hubby and I are on a date. Could you please cover up?" I told her that I don't breastfeed topless so I am not uncovered, but I would say "Sure, as soon as my child finishes eating." She seems to think that this will be the beginnig of WWIII. Um, I guess so.

She asked what I'd do if an employee told me I couldn't breastfeed. I told her I'd ask for the manager and pray they said the same because I love litigation. That's when she called me close minded.

Her: So all you care about is your child? You don't care about how other people feel?

Me: Exactly.

Her: You are being very close minded.

Me: It's close minded to raise my child according to what I feel is best for them, and respecting the rights of others to do the same?

Keep in mind, she breastfed her child. But she was ashamed, hiding in back rooms and what not. She only lasted a couple of months. Her family didn't support her and she stopped. The converastion finally reached a boiling point when I brought up a situation in which a stranger questioned her mothering in public. She was using foul and profane language and somebody told her she should have more respect for herself and her child than that. She was offended [I think, embarassed] that someone would say something to her. I told her that some people found cursing to be disgusting and that they don't want their children exposed to that.

I must have hit a nerve. People don't like having their parenting criticized or questioned.

She got all mad saying no one found bottles disgusting and breastfeeding mothers should use them. I finally gave up being nice and slipped into extreme lactavist and told her I found formula disgusting and it made me sick to my stomach that people would give their helpless babies the milk of another species that was pumped full of sugar and chemically modified in an attempt to be more like breastmilk instead of being unselfish. Mind you, I had to give both of my daughters formula due to life circumstances. I don't really feel that way.

I felt bad for saying that, but you have to fight fire with fire, ya know?

Happy Chinese New Year!

2009-01-27T00:14:00.006-05:00

Ni hao!

It is the year of the Ox. We celebrated in style with a dinner of roast duck, orange ginger tiliapia, steamed broccoli, fried rice, and Chinese noodles, with tangerines and fortune cookies on the side. We toasted with sparkling apple cider.

Squirrel and I originally went to the local Asian market in search of duck. They had duck, of course, but it was looking at me through the plastic. Literally. The ducks they had were "Buddhist style," which as far as I can tell means that the head and feet are still attached. My goal was to introduce my kids to new foods and I didn't want to terrify them so I went to Bi-Lo and got a less personable water fowl. I roasted my duckie and glazed it with some Iron Chef Orange Ginger sauce.

Here is the duck, who we affectionately called "Mr. Duck-Duck." Forgive my ugly roasting pan. It gets the job done.

Anyways, the food was much lovlier when plated.

Here is a shot of the table decorated with a pyramid of tangerines and plums.

It was a lovely meal and the kids enjoyed it. They also discovered that they like duck. Misson completed with flying colors.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful.....

2009-01-20T11:09:00.003-05:00

That's right, it's snowing. Can you see the little flakes blowing around? Look close, they are there. My friend K who is a yankee say's it's dandruffing.

The kids are out of school by default. This is South Carolina. Our highways turn into die-ways at the mere hint of inclement weather. The district made the decision yesterday, before the snow began. This is due to the Great Snow Travesty of 2004. Or maybe it was 2003. It was one of those years. I remember it like it was 5 (or 4) years ago....

It was a cold winter, one of the coldest I'd ever seen. We got up that morning and the clouds were so full of snow they looked pregnant. The flurries began before sunrise. Everyone expected the district to issue a two hour delay to see how the weather was going to play out. Most of the time, the snow here doesn't stick. In fact, it melts by noon and then it's 50 or 60 degrees the rest of the day. This time was different. It was in the high twenties and falling. The snow stuck immediately. I warned my mother about sending my brothers to school. "They are just going to cancel." She didn't think so. After all, the district didn't even delay.

They should have.

She sent my brothers to catch their buses and went to work. By the time the kids go to school, it was a mess. The snow had begun to accumulate, a rarity here. Half the teachers couldn't even get to school due to the wrecks that littered ever intersection, stretch of highway, and side road. Two buses hit ice and ended up in ditches. No one was hurt seriously. School was cancelled at around 8:00 am. The district also stopped the buses from running. So, you had kids at school with no way to get home. The buses wouldn't take them and their parents were at work. I got my car down our hill as soon as it started sticking; otherwise, I would have been snowed in and I don't know how my brothers would have gotten home. I had just moved back from I had just moved back from Virginia-it was 2003, I remember now-and had some experience with real snow. I got in my car and went to get my brothers from school. On the way, I passed multiple wrecks, along with stalled motorists. I saw people so scared to use their brakes for fear of spinning on the ice that they just rolled throught red lights. I was more scared of the other drivers than the ice. We made it home safely in the end.

Ever since then, our district is paranoid and overly cautious. There was a PR sh*t-storm after all this took place, of course. So my kids are home drinking cocoa and playing Operation.

Right now, our snow is only sticking in areas but I see the conditions being conducive to worsening. It's cold and getting colder. The ground might get really cold and the snow will stick everywhere. Then it will ice over.

I need to go to the store and buy some bread and milk.

My slackness is forgiven!

2009-01-18T02:08:00.006-05:00

The Inaugural Ball fundraiser for my kids' school was Friday night. We all went. We actually had primo seats so thanks to whoever sat us at the Presidential Cabinet table. The stage was nice and the whole set up classy. Let me fast forward to the actually coronation. Her are the contestants for Little Mr. Inaugural Ball. Astronaut's in the green. Little Mr. is for K-2nd grade. And guess what?
That's right! Astronaut got third runner up! My son placed, even with the paltry funds he took.
Not one, but TWO trophies! He was super proud and so are we. To be fair, he got last place but since there were only 4 boys, all of them were winners. It gave him confidence. He even wants to do it again. Not bad for a shy kid. He was very apprehensive about particiating. He is super shy and was terrified of having to dance. However, he practiced a lot and when the contestants danced the shag-our state dance-he was in the front. Here is my boy, shagging like a true Southern gentleman.

And then we had a catered dinner of baked chicken, rice and gravy, green beans, corn, rolls and sweet tea. Hey, it's SC. We have to have sweet tea. Oh, and there was cake, yummy cake.

Then there was dancing. It was like a mini club in there. We did the Electric Slide-whereupon the children began to chant,"Go, old people! Go, old people!"-and some contemporary dances a la Soulja Bo, DJ Unk, and Vic.

The girls obviously had a great time and we got home late. It was a night to remember.

Tag-I'm it!

2009-01-18T01:51:00.002-05:00

I just got tagged by fairlyluvr from Building Castles in the Sky and I am psyched!

Here are the rules:
Rules:
~Link to the person who tagged you
~Post the rules on your blog
~Write six random things about yourself
~Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
~Let each person know they've been tagged

Here goes..
1) I never eat anything blue. Seriously, I sort my M&Ms before I eat them.
2)I want to live on a farm, with my kids and some animals.
3) I think I am most beautiful when I am pregnant, which maybe why I have spent so much time being pregnant.
4)We're thinking about not getting cable when we move into a house this year (and just keep our tv for movies)
5) I love historical fiction. Some of my faes are "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden, "The Birth House" by Ami McKay, the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, and anything by Philippa Gregory.
6) I don't like condiments on my sandwiches or burgers. Just cheese for me, thanks.

so here I go to tags you...

1. Stacy
2. Lacey
3. Lori
4. Renee
5. Mary
6. Tamecka

Today was my Princess's party :)

2009-01-17T22:46:00.003-05:00

Today, Princess had her birthday party. It was a full month after her birthday. We had it at the marionette theatre, of course. "Beauty and the Beast" was playing and it was fantastic. She had a blast and got some nice gifts.
Here of the party guests. My Princess is in the middle holding Side Salad. The Astronaut is the one in the glasses and Squirrel is down at the bottom in the pink

Princess, holding one of her gifts: a Tinker Bell blanket.

And another that all of the kids got excited about: Operation.

Getting ready to blow out the candles on the awesome custom mermaid cake! Here's a shot of the cake just for Smoo, who unfortunately had to miss the party.

Boiling Water

2009-01-15T09:09:00.003-05:00

I was just thinking about something that happened few years ago, when I was momma to not as many kids. The Astronaut and his buddy were just hanging out. They were a couple of kindergardeners and were hanging out after school. His buddy was going to stay for dinner so I was making soup-shrimp and corn chowder to be exact.

They were watching cartoons and I was standing in the door way between the dining room and living room, talking to the boys. I'd placed a pot of water on the stove to boil to begin my soup. We were just chatting when the following dialog took place.
Astronaut: Mommy, the stove is on fire.
Me: No, that's just steam from the water starting to boil.
Astronaut: But it has fire on top.
Me: That's not funny, A. Mommy can't burn boiling water.
Astronaut: Mommy, you need to call the fire man.
Me: (agitated) A, for that last time-OH, MY GOD THE STOVES ON FIRE!!!!

I put the fire out with baking soda. And threw away my pan. And endured the laughter of 5 year olds, who retold the story to everyone for weeks.

Let's just keep this one a secret between you and me.

But here is something that is not a secret, the New Year's Survival Pack. It will help you get organized and lose weight in the new year. I think the meal planning guide is absolutely fab.

I am a slack mama.

2009-01-13T11:38:00.003-05:00

The Astronaut, my second grader, is participating in his school's Inaugural Ball. It's basically a big fundraiser/pageant thing. I have raised absolutely no money. I am really disappointed in me because I worked so hard to get him to be a part of this. We joined late and I am thinking that I wasn't sent all of the information. Then Lettuce got sick and had to have what was supposed to be outpatient surgery. Except it wasn't outpatient and they kept him in the hospital. It's just been so stressful that the Inaugural Ball slipped my mind. Now this thing is Friday, and I just feel so bad. I am going to send out a last minute call for donations but I don't know what will happen. Then all of a sudden the school sends something about business sponsors. I had no idea we were supposed to solicit businesses. I hate asking the people I know for money, much less strangers. I feel so bad. I wanted him to do this to get out of his box. He is kind of a shy kid and I thought it would be good for him. And I totally fail.

I talked to Astronaut and he still wants to do it, so Mommy is going to have to make a last minute miracle.

If the kid only has a hundred bucks-donated by me, I will be there clapping for him. And taking pictures.

I am very disappointed in me today.

New year, new me? I'm game.

2009-01-09T13:33:00.009-05:00

I joined a gym yesterday. That's right, I am going to be a gym rat. My friend K and I visited our local gym and liked what we saw. Plus, they gave us the teacher discount even though we are still students. Hey, we WILL be teachers in a year and a half. Plus their hours are awesome. They open about an before and close about an hour later than all the other gyms here, and they have free child care. They have a crapload of free classes-Zumba, pilates, yoga, yogalates, step, spinning, so on. Best of all, they are only 1.9 miles from my house. I no longer have any excuses.

Today I got up and put that Christmas crockpot to use. I tossed in some chicken and roasted garlic pasta sauce. When it's done, I'll toss some feta in and serve it over couscous or pasta and put some Mediterranean veggies on the side.

Then I dressed Squirrel and headed for the gym. K and I had a fitness evaluation at 10. We got weighed and measured and put through the paces by our cute, yet strangely sadistic trainer Antony. That's AnTONY, not AnTHONY. Get it right.

Antony first humbled us with his evil scale. By evil I mean it told how much I really weigh, not how much my drivers license says I weigh. A pox up on that scale. Then he measured all the parts of me that have "cute" nicknames: badonkadonk, muffin top, and wings. All those special parts. Then Antony had the nerve to-brace yourself for this one-write this information down. WTF? He says it's for posterity.

Next, Antony led us to the chamber of horrors. They call it the "Weight Training" area. I call it the seventh circle of Hell. The first thing he subjected us to was this device that was obviously designed to kill. It consisted of a little bench that you laid on and this slab of metal that you had to press up with your feet. I am absolutely certain that if failed to press it up sufficiently, I would be smashed flat. What better motivation to to complete one more rep than your immediate demise otherwise.

Moving along, we did squats. More like squeals....of pain! Because that's what my thigh muscles were doing. Squealing from the pain.

Next me moved up to our abdominals. We did sit ups but not normal sit ups. These were special sit ups. We did them on an exercise ball. Yay. Fun. Whee. It was at this point that the meatheads started working out behind us. They held a distracting conversation about some chick who had "the face of a Dallas cheerleader." I tried to focus, and luckily, just trying not to topple off the ball. By the time I completed my reps, they were gone. Plus, cutie Antony was supporting my back to make sure I didn't maim myself.

Next, we did something like sit ups, but it was done on another medieval torture device. In addition to lifting my upper body, this contraption had some sort of weight that we had to lift simultaneously.

By then, our free session was about done. Antony tried to escape us, but he made the mistake of asking if we had any other questions. Heck yeah we had more questions. He'd addressed some of the cute parts, but not those wings I have hanging from my upper arms. He directed us to the tricep press. It was definitely my favorite. It'd didn't frighten me or cause me pain.

K and I roamed about the gym for a while, considered getting on some cardio machines, which we decided no to as our legs and thigh muscles were so shaky we could barely stand and instead headed to the smoothie bar. There I got a smoothie and we chatted with Christie, the first vegan I have ever met in real life-though she does indulge in sushi from time to time. She gave us a lot of info so we headed to Publix to get our own smoothie ingredients. I even got organic stuff.

All jests aside, I had a wonderful time at the gym. I feel really good. Even though I hurt, it's a good kind of hurt. It's meaningful. I am doing something good for me and for my kids. I'll keep ya posted on the results.

While you are online, please head on over to Andrea's Classy Closet and vote for Renee @ Cutie Booty Cakes for the co-host! Thanks a ton!

Giveaway Alert! To the MAXXXXX!

2009-01-09T02:10:00.014-05:00

Kimberly over at SheScribes has a ton of giveaways right now-ten to be exact. And right now, if you subscribe you get not one, but TWO extra entries! So you can get at least 3 entries easily, plus she offers more opportunities for additional entries. She is giving away:

1. TWO Honestech Converter Systems - ends 1/17/09

2. TWO sets of My Bible Cards - ends 1/14/09
(Check out these hot new trading cards here)

3. Book Swim Subscription - ends 1/14/2009
(take a peek at this NetFlix-for-books here)

4. Simply Boulder for You AND a Friend - ends 1/12/09
(see all the yummy flavors here)

5. Pocket Purifier - ends 1/12/09
(make sure you take a peek at Purely Products here)

6. Kooky Klicker Fun Club - ends 1/11/09

7. Win a Baby Dipper set - ends 1/11/09
(this new must have for all mamas is here)

8. TWO Winners - Muvee Software - ends 1/11/09

9. THREE Winners - Ficklets - ends 1/11/09
(click here if you or someone you love is spectacled)

10. FIVE Winners - Resumes for Children - ends 1/11/09
(click here to get your kid off to the right start)

So go on over, subscribe and win!

Over at My Sentiment ExactLee, Lee is giving away the most tearjerking item a breastfeeding mother could ever have: a pendant with a drop of breastmilk in it from Hollyday Designs. I literally teared up for this one. Check it out and enter to win.

Places I want to go

2009-01-08T22:22:00.004-05:00

Have I ever told you that I love to travel?

I don't get to do it much and I haven't really been anywhere that far, but I love it. When I was young, we used to go to Florida every year-Daytona Beach, Kissimmee, or Orlando. My grandparents used to take us to Atlanta ever summer, too. I have so many fun memories. I love short, impromptu trips, too. We used to dash off to Charleston, Folly Beach, and Spartanburg when the mood would strike my mom.

The furthest away from home that I have been would be New Orleans, back in 2002. I had so much fun, even though my car nearly got stolen in Gretna. It acutally turned out to be a plus as we got to stay nearly a week extra with insurance remimbursing the stay and meals. I will never forget eating at The Court of the Two Sisters. It was hands down the most beautiful place I have ever eaten in. It was also there I met the love of my life, crawfish. Mmmm, I drool just thinking about it. I also love to eat and isn't that the purpose any vacation-to eat?

(Photo by Terry Thibeau)

But there are so many places I would love to visit. Greece is at the top of the list becasue of the food, weather, culture, food, art work, and food. And the food. I would also like to go to Egypt. Again, the history and the culture attract me. I don't know much about Egyptian food, but I am sure that it is delicious. I want to go to Spain. Food again, and I love the culture and language. And the food. And the siestas. I want to visit Japan because I love the culture. The food is interesting. I actually just ordered bento boxes for the kids and me. I'll save that for another post though-I just wanted to whet your appetite. China has so much culture (and food). It would be amazing to go there. I think I'd like to go to Kenya, also, and take the kids on a safari. Finally, I would love to go to Brazil. It seems like such an exciting place. Acutally, I'd like to hit Peru, too, while I am down there.

And Israel. I definitely would like to eat there. I mean, visit.

Where have you been? And where would you like to go?

Oh, and I joined a gym today. More on that tomorrow.

Something to celebrate

2009-01-07T07:00:00.006-05:00

The Chinese New Year occurs on January 26th this year. I think we shall do a little something to mark the day. It will fulfill my NYR of exposing my children to worldly cuisine on the montly basis. I will plan a menu and patronize my local Asian markets to get the supplies.

They really have a wide variety of stuff at the markets. We went there yesterday, which is where this whole idea came from. The Astronaut chose a Sarsi, which turned out to be a sasparilla. The Princess decided to get two Hello Kitty lollipops and gave the Squirrel one. The Squirrel decide to get Lotte Strawberry Koalas which she generously shared as they were much better in theory than they were in practice. I got some pepero, which are biscut sticks-by biscuit I mean unsweet cookie-dipped in chocolate and almonds. They were delicious. I picked up a few other little items, too: jasmine tea, rock candy, rice wine vinegar, lemongrass.

I don't know much about Chinese New Year and the foods that surround it. I've been researching and this is what I've found:

Most of the dishes served during Chinese New Year (also known as Spring Festival) are symbolic of something positive and hopeful.

Chicken and fish, for example, symbolize happiness and prosperity--especially when served whole.
Dishes made with oranges represent wealth and good fortune because they are China's most plentiful fruit.
Noodles represent longevity: therefore, they should never be cut!
Duck symbolizes fidelity, while eggs signify fertility.
Bean curd or tofu, however, is avoided because its white color suggests death and misfortune.

I don't do tofu anyways, so no love lost there. I don't know about whole chicken, but I can swing a whole fish. More:

Another popular Chinese New Year dish is jiaozi, dumplings boiled in water. In some areas of China, coins are placed in the center of jiaozi. Whoever bites into one of these dumplings will have an exceptionally lucky year. Try some of these lucky Chinese dishes for a prosperous year to come:

I think that I shall try some. I am getting excited already!

Oh, and while I am on the subject of NYR, Squirrel and I went to the Museum on Sunday. The Astronaut and the Princess weren't home. They went to my brothers and their grandma's respectively. We had a blast. Side Salad went too, but he was cranky. He has a little cold and two teeth coming in, poor little guy. Squirrel had a blast toying with inventions that came from the great mind of Leonardo da Vinci. I think her favorite part was the dinosaurs. There was this big...box full of....stuff and the kids used paint brushes to unearth a dinossaur fossil. She even got to touch fossils and touching is always good because little kids tend to be tactile learners. She also got to get on a full sized replica of the tragic Best Friend and go in a one room schoolhouse. It was special becaue the bigger kids were gone and I got to spend some time alone with her.

I have got to get on the ball, compiling my recipes and creating my grocery list and getting the kids started makng decorations for the Chinese New Year. I think they will really enjoy this. I know I will!

Until next time, ni hao!

A new year, a new accomplishment!

2009-01-01T22:39:00.006-05:00

On December 30th, Lettuce had surgery. It was supposed to be an outpatient surgery but do to unforeseen circumstances, they kept him overnight. He's fine now, came home on New Years Eve.

While we were there, Side Salad took a step. That's right, he took a step. My little monkey. He is 9 3/4 months old. This is the youngest any of my children has walked. Astronaut walked at 10 months, the divalicious Princess at nearly 14 months, and the mischievous Squirrel at 11 months. I am so proud!

Here is a grainy clip of my little darling stomping across the living room...obviously Santa didn't get that memo. I got a crockpot and a rice cooker.

My Resolutions

2008-12-27T00:15:00.005-05:00

Christmas is over.

There are only 4 days left in 2008. Soon, this year will be over forever and a new year will be upon is. That means it's time for resolutions again. Yipee.

2008 was a rough year for many, but for me it was blessed. I had a perfect, healthy babe. I brought my GPA up a bit more. I did okay financial. I think I did better than expected for someone who hasn't worked since June 2006. I came out nearly unscathed from a horrific car accident. I am happy, healthy, and whole. So what if I haven't lost a pound of baby weight. Their are people who lost their life savings in the Madoff scheme.

So for 2009, I refuse to try to "fix" myself. I am going to forgo the promises of chaning myself. I am constantly changing and evolving anyway. I am organic like that. Instead, my focus is going to be on enriching my life and the lives of my kids. So these are my resolutions:

1. Once a month, we we go to a restaurant that serves food of another culture. Prior to going, we will do a little research. We will find the country in our atlas and on our world map. We will look at pictures and listen to music. Then, we go eat. I know I want to do Japanese, Indian, Greek, and German. I need some other. There's Thai and I am still seven short. Any suggestions? I think we have a Somalian or Ethiopian restaurant. Still need six.

2. Every first Sunday, it's dollar day at the state musuem. We need to be there. On Jan 4, we will be seeing a Leonardo da Vinci exhibit.

3. Zoo once a month, too. We actually do that almost every month. We go more when the weather is nice. So, we missed November, but we can still make December.

4. Read the entire "Chronicles of Narnia" out loud. We are already halfway through "The Magician's Nephew."

5. Gradually move all of our produce to the organic side.

6. Grow at least one veggie and/or fruit this spring. That's a biggie because we are apartment dwellers.

7. Spend less, save more. Put that sewing machine, that crochet needle, and those knitting needles to work.

8. Learn to knit. Even if I have to find a YouTube video to show me.

9. Make the kids hats and scarves for the winter. But not gloves, because gloves are super cheap. You can get 2 pair for $1.49 at Target. I want to make hats as gifts for next Christmas, too.

Oh, and don't forget:

10. Lose 20 lbs. They are New Year's Resolutions

Right before visions of sugar plums danced in their heads....

2008-12-24T20:11:00.005-05:00

I love Christmas.

I love the magic, the mystery, the fun, the suspense, the traditions. Childhood seems so short now. I try to make Christmas as magical as possible for my kids while they are young. They believe in Santa. We have things we do. I want them to have traditions so that they are their uncles and my age, they can reminisce. Tonight, we set out the reindeer feed for Santa's crew. It's birdseed and glitter. We sprinkled it out in the yard. They loved it, though the Astronaut felt it necessary to give it a taste test-yuck! Then the real fun began.

The kids decorated cookies and a gingerbread house. They did a great job. The first time, we decorated, then baked. Didn't go so well. The kids piled on the sugar and sprinkles and all of the sugar carmelized-then burned. Plus the kiddies handled the dough so much it got really thin and hot. So the second batch, we adults made the cookies, then baked. Then I whipped up some quick frosting (powdered sugar, plus milk and a dash of vanilla extract) and the kids decorated them. This turned out much better and we had Santa-worthy cookies.

The Squirrel and her fractured gingerbread man

The Princess and her snowman

The Astronaut and his snowman

Then we decorated a gingerbread house. It was fun. Then everyone got washed up and went to bed without many complaints.

I have to go move the gifts downstairs. I only have a few hours until they are back up. They'll be up with the sun and I have to make breakfast, then start on dinner. I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas too.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!

Mmm, yummy soup! [stuff i like]

2008-12-23T23:38:00.002-05:00

Delicious!

Playing with the bubble wrap
Sit on it? Why? Oooohhhhh....

That fancy little number is the Boon potty bench I won over at Mama Sparkles. It has places for the TP and the magazines, and the deflector is soft and rubbery. It's also a bench. I love it!

Okay, okay, I know Side Salad is only 9 1/2 months old. But really, is it ever too early to introduce a potty? I had the Princess day trained at 26 months and the Squirrel at 22 months. I think I'd like to break my own record LOL.

Most children in the world are never formally potty trained. They learn how and when to go naturally. I consider it potty learning and it begins at birth. I don't mean you stick your kid on a potty for hours on end, cajoling and bribing with cookie and Dora stickers. That doesn't work. Trust me, I tried. Think of it as a stage in physical development, like learning to walk. Your baby needs guidance and encouragement. Give it in spades. And teach by example. That's right, open up that door and let your kid go visit the loo with you.

And no, he didn't poop or pee in it.

Oh, and if you see Santa, tell him Gina needs a digi cam for Christmas so I can put really cool pics up instead of crappy camera phone pics. Thanks.

All I want for Christmas is...[stuff I like]

2008-12-20T11:43:00.006-05:00

That's right. I finally decided what I want-a crockpot! I picked up a new crockpot cookbook while shopping for presents. It would make my life so much easier!

That picture I used in one of my favorites. It's Lettuce and I out on the town. With four kids and one income, we don't get out much. That's what made the night so special. Every time I see this pic I smile.

I uploaded this pic to the Sit on Santa's Lap at Ceiva. Isn't this awesome! I thought it was so cool. Then, I did it with each of my kids and they loved it! The pictures uploaded quickly and they loved hearing Santa say their names. What more could I ask for?

I would also love to get a Ceiva digital photo frame. I've never seen anything like this. I could upload all my favorite pictures of my kids and give it to one of their grandmas-it's truly a gift that keeps giving. The Cevia digi photo frame rocks because it is wireless! You plug it into a phone jack. You can even upload pictures from your camera phone. How cool is that? That means I could send pics all the time. Granny could enjoy her grandbabies all the time even though she doesn't live nearby. This is a great gift for anyone who lives far a way.

By the way, don't forget to visit Ceiva yourself and enter got a wish to win $500. One entry is selected randomly every day! Tell Santa that Gina sent you.

Help, please! I have a cookie conundrum....

2008-12-20T10:46:00.004-05:00

We are having a cookie decorating party for the kid on Christmas Eve. It will be my ducklings and Smoo's monkey and turkey. The kids are 8, 6, 4, 3, 9 months, and 1 month. We'll probably have some extras, too. We initially planned to bake with the kids but since they are on the younger side, we are going to bake in advance and let them decorate. What kinds of cookies should we make? Smoo is making chocolate chip and I am going to get some Immaculate Baking Co Vanilla Sugar cookies and bake them. (IBC makes the BEST cookies ever!)

My conundrum is this, we want to make 4 types of cookies. I make 2 and Smoo makes 2. What other kind of cookie should I make? And what other type should Smoo make?

I want something that I can use my snazzy cookie cutters on. I was considering gingerbread, but my kids don't seem to like them that much. I like them so maybe I will still make them. Any suggestions (with recipe or recipe links)?

Christmas Dinner

2008-12-20T10:28:00.005-05:00

I think that there will be around 18 people at my house this year, more than I have ever cooked for before. I am working on my menu because I need to do my shopping sometime between now and Monday. Here's what I have:

Appetizers:
Shrimp and cheese dip with chips
Veggie tray with ranch

Soup:
Butternut squash soup

Main Course:
Turkey
Ham

Collards
Green bean casserole by Smoo

Macaroni and cheese
Rice
Dressing
Candied yams

Bread:
Yeast rolls
Crescent rolls-thanks to Pink Lemonade and Pillsbury
Cornbread
Buttermilk biscuits

Beverages:
Apple cider
Grape juice
Sodas
Egg nog
Hot cocoa

Dessert:
Apple pie
Blackberry cobbler
Red velvet cake-can you make that too, Smoo?
Cookies that the kids decorated on Christmas eve

Have I left anything out?

Oh, and a gingerbread house, of course!

TCP: Stuff I Like

2008-12-18T10:09:00.002-05:00

I have been having an ongoing love affair with TCP for years. TCP is The Children's Place. It's my favorite kids store because they sell kids cloths, not small adult clothes. I try to avoid dolling my chocolate girlpies up like little streetwalkers at all costs but it can be really hard given the current offerings in the retail market. I never have this issue at TCP. TCP is also the first place I found jeans with adjustable waistbands. I have slim kids. Add in the bright colors, continous clearance, 15% off coupons and flat $5 shipping and it's no wonder.

I was in there yesterday, looking for a turtleneck for the Princess when I came a cross this monkey and hat. I love it! I ended up buying the monkey and sweaters for Side Salad and Astronaut! I am going back today to get sweaters for the girls. They will be getting the same ones [when she heard this, Princess yelled "I can't wear a BOY sweater!!!" Au contrare, my dear, you can] because the girl's version has entirely different colors that don't look as fab. I'll take a pic later and post it.

My Birthday

2008-12-18T06:51:00.003-05:00

My birthday was Sunday. I am now 27 years old. I took my litttle ones to church. It was lovely. Then we just all spent the day together. My oldest brother gave me some money to buy my own gift. My godmother sent me some money. The kids gave me a card. Lettuce gave me a card and a little table that I can use in bed. I really like it! That night, we went to Wild Wings after the kids went to bed. My mom stayed with them. We got the 25 wings deal where you get five wings of each of five different flavors. I also got a side salad. I decided not to drink since it was already late so I had a tea and he had some beer. The wing flavors we chose were Pollo Loco, honey BBQ, honey mustard, garlic teriyaki, and the hottest of the hot wings. I can't recall what they called them. I loved the garlic teriyaki. They were really good! So I decided to try the hot ones. Here is what happened:

Me: Mmm this is pretty good but it's not really that haaa-, Haaaa-, HAAAAA-! ACK! ACK! GAH! MAH TAMB! MAH TAMB!

I sat there shaking my hands back and forth like Plies the rapper. I probably looked like an ass hat. Lettuce just stared at me, like he does when ever strange things happen to me. It felt like I'd just taken a big swig of some good ol' HCl-hydrochloric acid. My lips and tongue felt like they were about to just fall the eff off! I ate a piece of garlic bread-didn't help, and drank some tea-didn't help. I was so shaken that I couldn't eat another one of those. I took them home and gave them to my mommy.

I should have warned her about the wings. Tsk, tsk.

Wordful Wednesday

2008-12-10T01:48:00.004-05:00

{Before you begin reading, forgive me if I don't make sense. I'm a bit sleep-deprived right now.}

This fancy number was created by Jake von Slatt

The semester is almost over. I have class tonight, and tomorrow and that is it for me. I'll get my grades next week. As I sit up in the middle of the night, trying hopelessly to write an article critique that must be completed by 5:30 pm, my mind {and my fingers} wander about the internet. I came across this image and it completely enchanted me.

I wish this were my computer.

If this were my computer, I wouldn't be sitting here trying to make sense of cognitive and behaviorist theories of classroom behavior management and the affects of standardized testing on teacher efficacy and student motivation.

I would be sitting at a small desk in the attic of my three story Victorian home drinking absinthe and typing poetry about truth, beauty, freedom; but above all things, love.

I think I need to create something.

If this were your computer, what would you type?

Stuff I want for the kids

2008-12-05T09:31:00.003-05:00

Christmas is rapidly approaching. I have been eying some things online for the bunnies. Here ares somethings I heart:

A stainless steel water bottle for each kid. I worry about stuff like BPA. The panda is $15 at Amazon. Bigger bottles are $18 to $20, depending on size.

The entire "Magic Tree House" series, by Mary Pope Osborne. My son absolutely loves these books. He learns without knowing that he is learning. Does it get any better? They are about $4 each on Books-a-Million.

A Putumayo Kids collection! I pretty much want every single cd they make. Right now, they are running a buy two get one free special so my top three are Brazillian, Latin and Animal Playgrounds. We already have the Sesame Street Playground (courtesy of Megret at Muse Reviews) and the kids love it.Pretty much any set of blocks by HABA. Oompa has tons, ranging from about $25 on up. This set, the Fantasy blocks, is $37
The Oak Leaf Layered Puzzle from LivingPlaying which is only $16.99.
The Star music wand. It makes music when you tap it on things. Perfect for a princess at only $9.95 from Natural Pod.

What are you getting your little people?

We had a date!

2008-12-04T21:48:00.002-05:00

That's right! Lettuce and I had a date last night. I have been waist deep in school stuff and was totally stressed out. He said that he was going out with a friend. I commented that he and I should be going out. He said great idea, get dressed and that was all she wrote!

He called his friend and told him I was coming, too.

We went to Copper River, a really nice restaurant not far from us. He had a couple of beers. I had two Goose and pineapples. His friend had something. We all split a Fredo Bodean pizza (bacon, mozzerella, bleu cheese and roasted peppers-yum!) I wish I'd taken a picture of the pizza LOL Anywho, his buddy snapped this pic of us.

Good times.

My Astronaut

2008-11-29T11:13:00.004-05:00

This is the Astronaut holding the Side Salad.

The Astronaut is a really, really good kid. He is that kid who is always well behaved and helpful, kind and generous, insightful and thoughtful. Sometimes, I can't believe he is mine. Astronaut is 8 years old and in the second grade.

He is my firstborn and I love him so much. A has been there for it all, all the ups and downs of my adult life. I had him when I was 18, just four months after graduating from high school. He was my reason. The reason I worked, the reason I went to college, the reason I did everything positive that I did. He still is, along with his sibling.

That's it. I just thought I'd do a post about him. He is a special guy

Win some dipaers!

2008-11-28T10:39:00.006-05:00

We have been cloth diapering since Side Salad was 2 months old and we love it! It is so easy and it makes diaper changes-dare I say it?-fun! I have a varied stash and I rarely meet a diaper I don't like. I probably have close to fifty dipes, including prefolds. Here are the benefits to going cloth:

less waste-no trashcans full of stinky dies going to the landfill. helps me sleep a little better at night knowing i do my part to take care of the planet
possibly save money, but if you are like me, it's a full blown addiction and you don't save a red penny. but the upside is the booming resale market so at least you get a return
no midnight diaper runs.
no diaper rash
super cuteness
no poopy blowouts

There are some downsides. I can't think of any. Maybe the added load of laundry? That's all i can think of.

It's cloth diaper month and Andrea over at Momma in Flip Flops2 is giving away lots of diapers.

A diaper and line and cover from Motherease
A Baby Kicks hemp fitted from Diapers Etc
A bumGenius 3.0 from Simple Wonders
A pocket of choice from Preston's Pants
An AIO from Lil Impressions
A Thirsties Fab Fitted and cover from Diaper Style
Not one, not two, but THREE Bumwear one size diaper from Bumwear

So mosey on over to my favorite blog that I didn't write and try to win! The contests start ending today...

The Meddler

2008-11-27T20:07:00.003-05:00

Now let me give a little background info.

Squirrel and Side Salad are biologically the children of Lettuce. Princess and Astronaut are not. We have been together since Astronaut was three and Princess was one. Meddler has more than once purposely started probs with Lettuce and I.

Back when Squirrel was a little baby, she single handedly destroyed our first family vacation to go see Lettuce's mom. I know she isn't the only one to blame, but even her husband told her to cut it out. She didn't and it just made things VERY bad.

She took Squirrel to a family reunion. Lettuce is her nephew. How is HE not invited to a family reunion, but the baby is? I don't understand.

Today, she claimed she wanted to take Squirrel visiting. It turns out, she took her to a family dinner. WTF?? What about Lettuce?

He claims these things don't bother them but they do. It's just plain rude. And hateful. He has a strained relationship with his family already. This just makes it worse. But, he acts like he is scared to stand up to her. It makes me mad, but if I say anything, I am the bad guy. I think that she tries to pass my daughter off as her daughter. I know it sounds strange, but if you were here you would understand. Many of his family members have only seen her with Meddler, never with Lettuce and I. I am annoyed at the situation and frustrate with Lettuce. It is disappointing. He is a grown man. He doesn't have to kiss her booty all the time.

Well, gotta go-my baby just got back!

I am thankful

2008-11-27T19:54:00.004-05:00

I am thankful for so much this year. My family and my children, my health, my life. All the love that fills my home. I am even thankful for Lettuce, though we are currently on the outs. Thanksgiving was lovely. My mom was here and all four of my brothers. My oldest brother brought his fiancee and two of her kids. Lettuce's little brother Junior came, too. Though we didn't get to go to Charleston, I still had a great day. My oldest brother and I split the cooking. We had:
Turkey-me
Ham-me
Macaroni-him
Collard Greens-me
Black eyed peas-him
Rice-him
Gravy-me
Cornbread-him
Apple Pie-Mrs Smith
Cookies-Tollhouse
Cranberry sauce, jellied and whole berry-Ocean Spray
Sherbet punch-me

It was just delicious.

[The only problem was Meddler, the aunt (Lettuce's aunt, his dad's sister, a family member who does not know her place and often instigates issues between us) wanted to come and get Squirrel. I am going to do a post about that next. Anywho, I think it's inappropriate to 1) treat one child specially while ignoring the others, 2) expect a three year old to spend time with you instead of with her immediate family on Thanksgiving. I didn't want drama, so I let her go, but I am not happy.]

After dinner, all the adults fell asleep on the couches and floor and then we woke up and played Scattergories, our favorite game other than Monopoly.

Happy Turkey Day, ya'll!

Wordful Wednesday

2008-11-26T11:03:00.004-05:00

This is my first WW. I found this old pic. It is from about 1985, when there were only two of us. I am about 3 and my little brother is about 1. He and I are so close. He is the father of 4 (1 bio kid, and his fiancee has 3) and I am the mother of 4. Our kids are 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 3, 15 months and 8 months old. They were all here yesterday, along with his friend's 2 year old and my BFF's 3 year old and 8 day old. That's right, 11 kids. Pure pandemonium, but insanely fun. The contrast between yesterday's circus and the peacefulness in this picture is so very stark. But this pic, that's where it all started.

My "Large" Family

2008-11-26T09:52:00.003-05:00

The average woman has about 2.1 kids. I have 4 and I am not even 30. So we are labeled a "large" family. And being that I am pretty young, I honestly can't say I am done yet. Now, both Lettuce and I came from "large" families; we are both the oldest of four children. We are used to this. In fact, I don't really think I have that many kids. 6, 7, 8, that's a large family. I think we are normal. Even though it appears that we are above average on the kid count. Anywho, my number of kids seems to floor everyone I encounter. Typical scene:

Stranger: Aww, what a cute baby! Is he your first?
Me: Thank you. No.
Stranger: Your second?
Me: No.
Stranger, with eyes bulging incrediuously and speaking slowly: Your....third?
Me: No.
Stranger, rolling prostrate on the floor while gnashing their teeth and foaming at the mouth: Your FOURTH?!?!!
Me: Yes. I have two boys and two girls.
Stranger, face turning purple and pupils dilating: OH MY GOD!!!!! YOU DON'T WANT ANYMORE, DO YOU??!?!!??
Me: Well, maybe one or two more. I love being a mother.
Stranger spontaneously combusts.

That was a dramatization. But people are awfully presumptuous. They ask all sorts of invasive questions. Obviously, they think that the niceties of society will prevent me from making snarky answers. Obviously they are wrong. Here are a few of my favorite answers to silly questions.

Stranger: I hope you got your tubes tied.
Me: No, I am not spayed.

Stranger: Are they all yours?
Me: No, they followed me from the produce section.

Stranger: I would never want to have that many kids.
Me: Well, with kids like mine, it's easy to see why I want more. But all kids aren't like mine so I could see why some people don't want more.

Stranger: I don't know how you handle all those kids.
Me: We don't all have the same limitations.

Stranger: You have FOUR kids?
Me: Well, four with me. I left the rest at home.

Stranger: Are you going to have anymore?
Me: Well, we do have one more empty seat in the minivan...

If you ask a stupid question, you will get a stupid answer. What annoys me is how people feel as if they have some sort of bearing on how I form my family. Even my family does this, though not as much as they used to. Probably because of the answers they kept getting. So, here is a list of things you should never say to a MoM:

Do they all have the same Dad?
Why did you have so many of them?
Just HOW old are you?
Why would you do that to yourself?
I hope you are finished?
Did you get your tubes tied?
I hope you got your tubes tied?
Why didn't you get your tubes tied?
Anything involving getting tubes tied?

If you see a MoM, the best thing to do is just congratulate her on her beautiful family and move on. It will make her day. It's not easy being the MoM, but there is no greater reward than looking at your children interacting with each other. It is an awesome sight. It's stressful job but I wouldn't want it any other way.

My new wetbag! [stuff I like]

2008-11-25T09:46:00.003-05:00

This is my new wetbag. It's black with a green butterfly pattern. Obviously, I did not take this picture because it looks good whereas my pictures suck. I really need a new camera.

I see the pattern as a compromise; green and black for Side Salad, butterflies for the Mommy. Anywho, I got it from SMJAE on Hyena Cart, which I heard about on Momma in FlipFlops2. Andrea always knows where the good stuff is . It was $12 bucks, far less than the twenty bucks or more everyone else seems to want to charge. And it's pretty roomy. There's a zipper at the top to keep messes in and everything. And Michelle ships super fast, which is always a plus for me. I needed a new wetbag like the day before yesterday LOL I really want another one, which is why I entered Andrea's giveaway on Momma in FlipFlops2. You should, too. Even if you don't win, Andrea's got a coupon code.

I am not telling what it is. You have to go find out yourself.

PANDA-monium!!!! [stuff I like]

2008-11-23T10:22:00.005-05:00

I wont that giveaway I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. It was the one from Andrea of Mama in Flip Flops2 for a $25 gift certificate to Happy Panda, my new favorite baby brand. This stuff REALLY fits. Side Salad was over 9 pounds at birth and is growing like a weed. When I shop, I usually buy him size 12 months. He is 8 months old now. Anywho, HP is for cuties like him, but I would also suggest them for any cloth diapered baby because the pants are so roomy! The pants accommodate fluff in the trunk. Here is my happy little panda, before he crawled off:

My new goddaughter

2008-11-23T10:16:00.004-05:00

I just realized that my little sweetie is almost a week old and I have yet to mention her. My BFF had a baby last Monday. This is my little goddaughter. For blogging purposes, her name is Sweetie. She was 7 pounds 10 oz and 21 in long. She is pure spun sugar.

My Christmas List

2008-11-21T21:14:00.002-05:00

"Won't you trim my Christmas tree
With some decorations bought at Tiffany's...."

I have been giving a lot of thought to my birthday and Christmas, seeing as how they are only 11 days apart. I am nearly finished my shopping. But what do I want? I know you all want to know so here it is:

A Sleepy wrap
A gift card to a store where they don't sell anything for kids because if they do, I'll buy stuff for the kiddos.
Carol's Daughter Ecstasy Collection, all of it.

I can't think of anything else for now.

BEYOND pissed off!

2008-11-16T22:09:00.005-05:00

Have you seen the new Motrin ad? (That's a YouTubeclip because I think Motrin's site is down.) My cousin Stacy told me about the add earlier today and I moseyed on over to Motrin to take a gander myself. What. The. Hell. Motrin has lost their mind. It seems to me that they have taken a stance against baby wearing. Seriously, Motrin. That's how you want to up your sales. By insulting the way mothers have taken care of their children since the beginning of time? I am sure the women in Africa and Asia who carry their children on their backs are doing it for the cool factor. And since I live in Amercia, the only reason I am doing it is to fall in line with this "fad." It has nothing to do with my baby being happy or being able to do things for my older kids. I just want to fit in.

Screw Motrin.

November 12-18 is International Babywearing Week. I am going to celebrate babywearing.

I am not done ranting yet, but I wanted to let you know that before I get too deep into my anger. It's like they are trying to stop mothers from carrying their babies. Why? I don't understand. Why does it bother others? My baby is happy and so am I. If I get an occasional backache, so be it. Hell, it hurt a lot more having the little bugger. Furthermore, maybe I am reading too much into this, but I don't think babywearing makes me look tired and crazy. I really dislike this ad. I am really pissed.

On that note, this is reminiscent of the campaigns against breastfeeding and midwives of last century. Mamas, we have to educate ourselves lest we forget how to mother naturally. We don't need all this advice that is driven by greed. We don't need anyone to tell us that our bodies are not competent.

Okay, off my soapbox...for now....

My CUSTOM Scuttlebutts have arrived [stuff i like]

2008-11-14T15:03:00.006-05:00

Arrgh, me hearty! Gimme your booty!

So cI am managing a full blown diaper addict. I was doing well, but fell off the wagon upon seeing Scuttlebutts. I stalked for a while until a custom spot came up and leapt on it. I decided to go all in and get four. The main reason I did it was because she has a fantasic array of fabrics and I simply could not pick one. It was impossible. I went with OCV on the inside but she as OBV, too. I think she has hemp but I'm not the biggest hemp fan. I am glad I got four. Best. Choice. Ever.

Here are my dipes. I obviously didn't take this pic with my crappy little camera phone. This is the pic that Jen sent me right before she mailed them.
Jen made this beautiful fluff by hand. They are so professional. She obviously plays close attention to detail. Check out the little applique. Isn't it cute? And it keeps them with the right diapers. Genius!I ordered some BabyLegs (cause I am fluffy like that) to go along with them.

I am a stickler for customer service and Jen communicates frequently. I love that. It was a joy giving her all my money and I look forward to buying more if I can catch a custom Spot!

Reflections and Rantings on Hurtling Towards 30 at an Astonishing Rate

2008-11-13T13:59:00.004-05:00

Next month, it will be my birthday again. I'll be 27 years old. I could have sworn I was 22 five minutes ago. I am not sure what is happening. Each birthday comes faster than the last. Every time I look in the mirror, there is a new gray in the skunk-like streak that is emerging from my hair line. I am beginning to look more and more like my gorgeous mother. I sound like her too. Hell, even I can tell her voice from mine anymore.

I think approaching my thirties is awesome. Thirties seem so mature, so debonair, so classy. I am actually kind of excited. I probably won't be saying that in a few years. This year, I'd like to have a really classy party, with jazz music. I want my friends to dress up. I want to play Charades and Scattergories. I want a mature chi-chi menu. I want a cocktail party.

We could have Cosmos for the ladies, dirty martinis for the gents. For food, deviled eggs, cheese fondue, fancy pigs in a blanket*, and cupcakes. And the music; I have a big band CD and I could get a jazz one. What to wear, what to wear? How about this sassy little number from Igigi:

Or this one, from Forever21?

I have some sassy black peeptoe slingback pumps that would look great with either. I have to admit, it almost seems like a dress up party for grown ups but I think it would be so much FUN!!!!

Fancy Pigs-In-A-Blanket Recipe (so's I won't forget)

Puff pastry

Dijon mustard

Sausage or frankfurters in different flavors (I used organic apple and Gouda chicken sausage, chicken chorizo, and sun-dried tomato and basil-flavored sausage)

Caraway seeds (optional)

Grated cheese (optional)

Egg

Roll out puff pastry. Cut dough into rectangles that are long and wide enough to wrap around an entire sausage/frank. Spread a think layer of Dijon mustard on each rectangle. Sprinkle with cheese. Roll dough around sausage and seal seam by pressing dough together. Cut franks crosswise into thirds and arrange on greased baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with caraway seeds. Bake in oven at 375 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

No More Pinchies! [stuff i like]

2008-11-11T13:16:00.008-05:00

Side Salad is a notorious pincher. He is my 8 month old (has it been that long already?) nursling. He is a hefty little guy with awesome fine motor skills. That is my nice way of saying he pinches very, very well. He loves to pinch while he is nursing. I think he does it to make sure he has my full, undivided attention. Sometimes if I nod off, he'll kindly pinch me to make sure that I am staring at him while he nurses. It's a service he provides for free. Anywho, I saw the nurse purse on a blog a while back and tried to win one. Didn't win, but ordered one anyways. I have to say, it's the best $12 I've spent in a long time. Side salad toys with it, turning it over in his sweet little hands. I got it from Risky Beads on Etsy. The best part is, it's a really pretty necklace. The one I have is called Fidelity, and it looks like obsidian.

Quite lovely, whether you are nursing or not. Check her out if you have a pincher or if you like one of a kind pieces. She sells a lot of things other than the Nurse Purse and she ships super quick-a huge plus when you are being pinched! Tell her Regina sent you.
Here it is, clutched in his tiny little claw:

Here is Side Salad nursing-no pinchies! He has his hands wrapped around it.

Giveaway Alert! Time Two!!!

2008-11-07T10:13:00.008-05:00

I love this giveaway so much that I didn't want to tell anyone about it. Andrea at Momma in FlipFlops2 is giving away 2 $25 gift certificates to Happy Panda. It's a store for babies that don't skinny dip; they chunky dunk, if you know what I mean.

As you can see, this giveaway was obviously tailored just for me. This is the onesie I want for Side Salad

So mosey on over and visit Andrea for your chance to win. Heck, she's giving away two-maybe both of us will win!

Also, win 20 freakin' pairs of BabyLegs!!!!
Win 20 Pairs of Baby Leg Warmers from babySNA ZZ!
I heart BabyLegs. Side Salad already has:

I Heart Photobooks, too

2008-10-24T10:18:00.003-04:00

I really love photobooks. I had no idea that I loved them until last week. CafeMom selected me for a shutterfly influencer and I made my first photobook. I am waiting for it to arrive, but I love my results online: check it out!

So, in my effort to spread the love, I want to let you know about a lil deal I got from Mama in Flipflops2 blog.

Inkubook is an on-line service where you can make your own custom photo book and right now you can get one with up to 120 pages (soft or hardcover) for Free. You do have to pay for Basic shipping ($6.99 for Media Mail and $8.99 for Standard Ground). These books start at $13.95 for a soft covered 20 page or $24.95 for a hardcover so this a fabulous deal!

How do you get in on this fantastic deal you ask? Well there are only 3 simple steps.

~Sign up with Inkubook by October 24, 2008 and start your book.
~Using the "Invite Friends" feature, invite someone to join Inkubook and submit a few photos to include in your book.
~Finish your book then order it within 30 days of when you joined Inkubook. Use promotion code BBY944, which is good for any book up to 120 pages!
Read more about this amazing photo book deal at Inkubook.

So RUN to Inkubook and get started!

sigh Procrastination and the party

2008-10-23T11:06:00.004-04:00

Saturday is the Astronaut and the Squirrel's combined multiage birthday party. I have 2 October babies, with their birthdays being only 9 days apart. I've grown weary of throwing two parties so this year they are having a party. Yes I know they are 5 years apart (Squirrel is 3 and Astronaute is 8) and different genders. But the same kids come to the parties and I think I picked something that will accommodate all the kids: a puppet show! We're going to the Marionette Theatre to see the "Wizard of Oz!"

The party is Saturday at 2. I think I should order the food. So far, all I ordered is the cake....

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-10-19T23:23:00.000-04:00

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

This dress just plays perfectly into my love of all things historical romance. I love the decadence of Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antonitte" (you know, with Kirsten Dunst). Even though I watched it last week, this dress made me want to watch it again.

If i win this one, I am making all sorts of mini cakes topped with strawberries for my girls to eat and I am getting them a small dog.

And an elephant.

I heart Books

2008-10-11T17:45:00.004-04:00

I am a prodigious bibliophile. I love to read. I especially love historical fiction. It tends to be exciting and romantic. I am currently reading (and I use that term lightly; i have had soooo much homework that i haven't done much reading lately) "Confessions of a Jane Austin Addict," by Laurie Viera Rigler. It's not your normal period piece as it starts in current times and features a heroine transported by a curious combination of literature and Absolut. I find it witty and intriguing. Plus, it was only $2.50 at Food Lion.

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-10-11T15:53:00.000-04:00

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Is this not the most beautiful costume you have ever seen? The mama over at Grosgrain makes these creations by hand. I wish I had a thimble full of this mama's talent. Check her out and maybe you can win!

Another Giveaway: Jewelry

2008-10-10T21:08:00.004-04:00

Those of you who know me IRL know I LOVE unique, unusual jewelry. I love long dangely things that sparkle. Well Twisted Silver is having a giveaway through "I Never Grew Up." You can win this necklace:

or this bracelet:

Personally, I like the bracelet.

Check http://www.twisted-silver.com/default.asp?256n675=qrsn7y6_u1zr&c41q7p65gB2r5_VQ=F for even more gorgeousness, like the Fusion earrings.
All you have to do is mosey on over and enter. http://inevergrewup.net/giveaway-12-something-pretty-for-mommy/#comment-2642

Good luck!

Giveaway Alert!

2008-10-07T01:40:00.003-04:00

I am a sucker for personalized things so I am loving this giveaway. It's for a monogrammed burp cloth set from Preppy Monogrammed Gifts (hereafter know as PMG).

I love PMG and I am so happy that Momville found them for me. I plan on ordering a bracelet so I can be the envy of my fellow KDEs.

Maybe they'll post a coupon code....

Anywho, giveaway is at http://nowenteringmomville.blogspot.com/2008/10/preppy-monogrammed-gifts-giveaway.html

Baby Wearing

2008-09-30T10:45:00.012-04:00

Yes, my son is spoiled.

His father and I spoiled him.

That is, if you mean my baby doesn't get to cry much and is held a lot. Then by all means, the Side Salad is spoiled ROTTEN.

I am a slightly attached parent and I wear him a lot. I've been AP since before it was cool. I wore the Astronaut in a Snuggli and allowed him to sleep with me. Little T has it even better-he rides around in a cool camo Lucky-Baby sling http://www.lucky-baby.com/p_home.asp . It's a pouch and it's in the Noah pattern. I have an Oliver, too, but I misplaced it. Here he is in the Lucky-Baby. Please disregard the high chair, artwork, and other general clutter.

And a better pic from Lucky-Baby. They are really cute and priced wonderfully!

However, I have been itching to try a mei tai, but mei teis can been really expensive. Mei tais are kind of like really soft and beautiful Snugglis. Enter Cuddling Baby. Here are some truly affordable mei tais! Check her out http://cuddlingbaby.com/default.aspx and http://search.stores.ebay.com/CUDDLING-BABY_cuddling-baby_W0QQfcdZ2QQfrtsZ0QQftsZ1QQsaselZ314840329QQsofpZ0 .

So, what's better than affordable mei tai? Free mei tai, of course! Andrea of Momma in Flip Flops2 is having a giveaway. Visit her blog at http://mommainflipflops2.blogspot.com/2008/09/cuddling-baby-mei-tais-review-giveaway.html for a chance to win! Good luck!

Things I Want

2008-09-29T21:30:00.003-04:00

I want my children to have a beautiful and memorable childhood. If I won the lottery, I'd buy me some land in Irmo (the 'burbs, but still close to civilization). It would have trees and a pond. We'd have dogs and there'd be a few ducks or geese on the pond. The pond would have fish, bream or something else that we can eat. Maybe even get some chickents so that we can have fresh eggs. If I was feeling really fancy we might get a cow or two for fresh milk. I don't know about all that upkeep though. I love some goats, though. I'd have a huge garden with yummy tomatoes. I'd grow cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, apples, muscadines, oranges, pears, pecans, and all sorts of things.

My kids would run barefoot and do chores. I'd homeschool them. We'd go on trips to other countries and immerese ourselves in the food, the arts and the culture-Greece, Spain, Japan, Morocco. It would be a beautiful life.

I need a Powerball ticket.

Hello, grass, nice to meet you.

2008-09-28T21:42:00.004-04:00

I have been taking the ed psyc class and I think it's really opening my mind to some new theories. Kind of a Piaget-Vygotsky hybrid. Anyways, I was thinking about experiences and how children formulate new ideas and understanding from experiences. I want my children to have a childhood rich with experiences, so after church today I sat Little T (aka Side Salad) in the grass. He's only 6 months old, so he hasn't had a lot of hands on outside time.

He had fun, pulling up blades and tossing them through the air. It was a beautiful moment. I wish I'd snapped a pic of him being cute. It was such an adorable moment. He's a gorgeous little fella.

You'll have to settle for this one.

Why Didn't I Think of This?

2008-09-27T21:00:00.005-04:00

Have you ever been out with your baby or toddler and the kid pukes or has a leaky diaper or eats messily? Their clothes are now dirty and you don't have a change of clothes. What do you do: go home or walk around with a grungy kid?

Enter babysparewear:

These are little quick change outfits that come in a zippered bag. For babies, you get two onesies and pants; for toddlers, a shirt and pants. They come in both short sleeves and long, and there are lots of colors. Check them out here: http://www.babysparewear.com/index.shtml

What could be better. This: Katydid & Kid is giving away a $25 gift certificate to them. You can enter at http://katydidandkid.blogspot.com/2008/09/giveaway-babysparewear.html

Ciao!

A DIRE Emergency This Morning

2008-09-27T11:13:00.005-04:00

As I was attempting to sleep late on a Saturday morning (and the term late is relative-I just wanted to sleep until 9 am), I heard a crash and a scream. I knew the children were up because they all marched into my room at around 7:30 or 8 to let me know that they were ready for breakfast. I told them to eat some cereal.

Anyways, back to the crash and scream. I had ever intention of simply ignoring it and continuing my slumber. However, it turned into moaning. My mommy sense started tingling and I headed downstairs to see what it was.

A sink full of blood. Well, not full, but enough to be alarmed. T had "fallen" off the couch and her teeth cut her lip. I had her gargle with some salt water so I could assess the direness of the situation. There were 3 punctures. By now, my girl had my full attention and wasn't about to let it go. T is a clever girl, and files away information for later use. Obviously she knew that when someone hit their head, they are not supposed to go to sleep (or that's what my mama told me). So my princess starts in with "I feel like I need to go to sleep...my head wants me to go to sleep..." To add a touch of realize, she tried to go prostrate across my lap like a swooning Southern belle. Nice try, Toots.

It was nothing apple cinnamon pancakes couldn't fix.

J is just plain gross.

2008-09-26T11:45:00.004-04:00

J, my almost 3 year old, has to be the grossest kid ever. She is obsessed with butts and poop. She talks about them all the time. She also puts her boogers on her siblings. She finds it amusing. I find it gross. I know that it has to do with her development psychologically-Kolberg, moral development, Erikson, crises, and all that jazz. But that does not take away from the fact that it is just plain gross and that I am always digging for some tissue to catch her lastest find.

Enter: Boogie Wipes.

That's right, Boogie Wipes. They are little-get this!-scented wipes that take care of the booger issue. You can try to win a Boogie Wipes gift basket on this site:

http://hermashaw.blogspot.com/2008/09/catch-that-booger.html

TTYL!

About Me

2008-09-23T14:37:00.003-04:00

Well, this is my first foray into blogging so we shall see how it goes. First, let me introduce our cast of characters:

~Main Characters~

I am a twenty-something. I am a college student. I have 4 kids, two boys and two girls. As far as birth order, if they were a sandwich, my boys would be the bread.

A, the future Astronaut, is an almost 8 year old second grader. He can subtract 4 digit numbers from each other, but often leaves his homework at school. He is the sweetest, most loving, most easily distracted child ever. He is also very sensitive and has a strong sense of what is fair.

T, the Princess, will be 6 in a few months. She is a kindergartner and quite possibly the smartest child I have ever encounter. At 4, she could write her name and tie her shoes. She can read some now. She wants to be a princess and a doctor when she grows up. If anyone can do it, she can.

J is the Squirrel. She climbs and jumps off of things like the couch, her bed, her table, the kitchen table, the pool table, her play kitchen, the window ledges, her dresser....She is a most amusing child. Her mispronunciation are the stuff of legends. Diego saved the baby "jackwater."

Little T is the baby. He was a big one, over 9 pounds. He is the most adorable little thing ever. I just love him to bits. He is my acronym baby: ebf, cd, nc'd, bw because I ap. His hobbies include: playing with Mommy's face, pooping, scooting across the living room backwards on his belly and unfastening his diapers. He goes by the nickname Side Salad.

Lettuce is my significant other. He is a unique fellow. Very unique. I am not sure that's a good thing.

~Supporting Cast~

Meimei is my mother. She has 4 children, of which I am the oldest and the only girl. She is smart and sweet and I love her.

Big R is my oldest brother. He is a few years younger than me. Little R is his son, my 13 month old nephew.

Sarge is my middle brother. He is not actually a sergeant. He's a private in the Army.

Fasju is my baby brother. He is still a teenager.

Pops is my mother's husband.

T is Little R's mom. K is Big R's fiancee.

That's all I can think of for now.

Queen Rabbit's Realm

Tis the season...

My little meatatarin.....

Everything is happenning so fast!

Vote for MEEEEE!!!

Sigh

Why can't we just all get along?

There's something wrong with my bed, Mommy.....

Due to technical difficulites

Positive Motivation

I'm Back!

Day 1: Morning

Hello, All I'm back!

My Perfect Princess

Squirrel, in a nutshell

Checkin' in

Picture Blog: Nature Walk 2/21/09

Haven't been blogging much lately

I NIP because I am close-minded

Happy Chinese New Year!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful.....

My slackness is forgiven!

Tag-I'm it!

Today was my Princess's party :)

Boiling Water

I am a slack mama.

New year, new me? I'm game.

Giveaway Alert! To the MAXXXXX!

Places I want to go

Something to celebrate

A new year, a new accomplishment!

My Resolutions

Right before visions of sugar plums danced in their heads....

Mmm, yummy soup! [stuff i like]

All I want for Christmas is...[stuff I like]

Help, please! I have a cookie conundrum....

Christmas Dinner

TCP: Stuff I Like

My Birthday

Wordful Wednesday

Stuff I want for the kids

We had a date!

My Astronaut

Win some dipaers!

The Meddler

I am thankful

Wordful Wednesday

My "Large" Family

My new wetbag! [stuff I like]

PANDA-monium!!!! [stuff I like]

My new goddaughter

My Christmas List

BEYOND pissed off!

My CUSTOM Scuttlebutts have arrived [stuff i like]

Reflections and Rantings on Hurtling Towards 30 at an Astonishing Rate

No More Pinchies! [stuff i like]

Giveaway Alert! Time Two!!!

I Heart Photobooks, too

*sigh* Procrastination and the party

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

I heart Books

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Another Giveaway: Jewelry

Giveaway Alert!

Baby Wearing

Things I Want

Hello, grass, nice to meet you.

Why Didn't I Think of This?

A DIRE Emergency This Morning

J is just plain gross.

About Me

sigh Procrastination and the party