Wait...What?

   It goes without saying that they will not be getting everything. Puppy dog eyes be damned. No matter how many pleases we get. No matter how good their behavior (they would get nothing with that one). We're going on one big gift with each of the kids and make the stockings more of the little things.     My Kindle is always taken over by the children. All three of them fight over it, it's my turn, you went on it first yesterday! Eees my acowwwwnt (three years old and she stands up for herself. fiercely). So we've decided that Donovan and Sophia are each getting their own Kindle. Not the HD one mind you, no, they can live luxuriously with the original Fire. We'll pre load it with the games they love and a couple surprise ones for them. As we do with my Kindle, the internet access and any purchases will be password protected.     I know there are some people who will say we are spoiling them with this purchase. That's fine if you want to thi...

So hey. How was your holiday? Mine was good. Did I cover that already? Probably. My apologies. My brain seems to still be on vacation. Be right back........ Nope, didn't really cover the holidays. Whew. So....... My parents came in to town, per the uzh. (How does one abbreviate usual? hmph) This year they stayed at a more mainstream hotel instead of the small town type one they usually stay at. Of course this means they also had a pool. And? and?? AND? a *so very, very, very* hot sauna. The end. Just kidding. But no really, hot sauna. Very nice. This was also when we discovered a certain toddler of ours loves the sauna. and the pool. and any body of water near her. I don't think we've ever seen her scoot backwards so quickly towards anything. It was a sight for sure. I've often wondered, how far do we go with the celebrating of Christmas? Meaning, how much do we spoil the children? They really do get what they want (within reason, most of the time). They ...

Some outtakes from an almost failed spur of the moment family photo shoot: (please, I beg of you all, ignore the extra chin I have. also? this was hours before we ate so I don't know where the eff the chin came from. let's blame the kids shall we? ok then) (again with the alsos - sheesh - I didn't edit these - like you couldn't tell bahahahahahahaha! ha!) Blondie? Not a child I birthed. That's my niece, the Monkey. Nom nom nom on the hand. I birthed a pirate that lost his patch though. Awesome! Someone tooted maybe? Who knows with this clan. Usually this gesture means she just smacked someone but no, the redhead is not screaming her fool head off so things are alright in the world.  For now. Monkey Photo Bomb!! This would be a great shot if the baby didn't have a look of complete disdain going on.  There were some good shots that came out of this debacle - I'll have them up soon

Long day but so worth it. Hope ya'll had a great day....... Please Auntie, that is quite enough with this camera thing. Sheesh The indignity of her not that much than her older cousin kiss her. HORROR! Nice photo bomb by her big sister! Lather, rinse, repeat.

Damned if I didn't want to though. I survived another Pre Turkey Day extravaganza and went home smiling. It was cold, very snowy and windy when I left. So glad that the roads were alright. I was wished the bell ringer a happy holiday tomorrow and he said, "You too". Then he added, "You smell good" Well, ok then. Gobble gobble folks!

Dearest Lord, Baby Jesus, Jehovah, Allah, Buddah, Whomever:   Please don't judge too harshly if someone were to impale another person for being stupid today. People truly have forgotten that please, thank you and excuse me are not horrible things to say. They should, in fact, be used in extreme abundance during this crazy time of year. Please do not frown upon the lowly customer service rep, who truly loves her job so so much and is thankful for said job. She may say she wants to punch someone in the throat but she doesn't really mean it. She may also say she wants to stab someone in the eye with a hot poker but she doesn't really mean it. She may say she would love nothing more than to throw a frozen turkey at someone's head but she doesn't really mean it. Ok fine, just a titch but serrsly? Why haven't you smited them already?? They are killing me slowly and oh so painfully! ahem..........moving along........   Please grant me the strength to not hurt som...

The Girl's Christmas Wish List From the Target Great Holiday Toy Sale ad in Sunday’s paper and online at  www.target.com (prices good through November 24th) ● p.3 $11.49 Circo 25-pc Shopping Cart 086-05-0059 ● p.3 $9.99 Fin Fin Friends Play Set 086-02-1496 ● p.5 $44.99 Barbie Video Girl 086-06-0370 ● p.20 $14.99 Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale DVD 058-10-3020 ● p.20 $19.99 A Fashion Fairytale Doll 086-06-0388 ● p.20 $19.99 Barbie Loves Glitter 086-06-0385 Blow Dryer and Doll Set ● p.21 $19.99 Dairy Queen Blizzard Maker 086-00-2589 ● p.23 $24.99 Magic Rise Oven 086-07-0096 ● p.23 $17.99 Princess Dresses (Rapunzel) 086-07-0092 From the Wal-Mart Toyland Catalgue 2010 in Sunday’s paper and online at...

THE BOY'S WISHLIST Dear Dad, Long time no talk eh? Without further ado (because Lord knows I could ado all the way up to the day before Christmas!) here's the boy's list. Item #1 -  It's the newest of the Ben 10 watches. It has to be the F/X one. He has the other two. If you can't find it or you find it a little pricey, please feel free to skip it. We can have him use part of his piggy bank money to get it. Walmart and Target don't have this particular one. Amazon has it but it starts at $44 I think. Again, it's up to you. I will say that this is the one thing he has been talking about for the last month. You know for him to talk about something for that long is phenomenal. Moving along...... Item #2 -  Ben 10 Season 2 on DVD He is really into Ben 10 again. He has season one and has requested season two. Both stores have it. $13.86 at  Wally,  $16.19 at Target and Target also has season three. Just saying. Item #3 -   Ben 10 Alien Swarm - the movie He ...

THE GIRL'S WISHLIST Hi Dad,   I know I'm the first choice for Mother Of Year/Daughter Of The Year since I am just now sending you the childrens' wish lists. I like to procrastinate wait patiently until I am ready. I've been like this for thirty some odd years though. Ahem, right so, here's the Dictator's list. She was very specific. Please try not to navigate from the particular characters listed. It could cause eternal damnation in my house. I could do without that right now. Let's at least wait until they are teenagers. Moving on........ Item #1 -  This entertaining item is the Disney Princess Magical Jewels* game for the Nintendo DS gaming system. I could not find it on the Walmart website but Target has it for $19.99 Item #2 -  Here we have The Princess and The Frog Deluxe Bag from Mattel. It retails for $19.88 at Walmart and $16.99 at Target. Those prices seem a little ass backwards but that's what the websites say so that's what goe...

Eat some bird, take a nap and watch some football! Go Cowboys!!! Have a fantastic day everyone.......

Maybe it's because I have said it that many times, at least to my customers. So now I say it to you: I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving (if you're into that) and be safe while having fun =0)

(I don't have photos from our morning at Fluffy's. Sorry, I left the camera in the condo when we went to the pool and then forgot about it when we were inside. Whoops!) We spent the late afternoon (on into the late night) at our friend's house in Maple Grove. Another psuedo Gramma and Uncle for the kids. It's all good. More people to hand them off to spoil them right? We had a great time and even though the kids were terrified of the sparklers in the beginning? They came around and Gramma Gail had to go get more. Well, she didn't have to but she said they looked so cute playing with them and she just needed to get more so that they would be happy. See the above spoiled comment.

It's been a pretty rough day. The kids don't want to listen to one single thing I tell them to do.  Don't make a mess in the bedroom please, I sleep in there :::commence making a huge mess and deny deny deny when asked who did it::: Please pull the plug in your bathwater and get out :::please start splashing water all over the place::: Please, for the love of all things holy, stop talking :::tell a (no lie) 10 minute story regarding absolutely nothing remotely significant in this world or any other::: Stop whining, you can watch Pocahontas/Little Mermaid/any of the 294 Barbie movies we have tomorrow, they aren't going anywhere :::please put one of the movies in and then scream and screech for a half hour until your mama cries::: The worst part of it all is that I'm not even that emotional about this stuff right now. My problem? I'm sad that the kids didn't get me a card yesterday, or make me one, or that their father didn't get one from them or even him ...

and all that other good shit. I'd say today was 70% craptastic and 30% almost bearable. Yep, about average.

What the hell? Seriously. Was I a wretched horrible person in a previous life? I must have done something bad cause this, this juju that I have today? It's bad. Let's recap....We spent 4 1/2 hours in the ER today with our son having an abscessed area in his little bitty mouth drained. Something that could have been done the day before but noooooooo, it wasn't. Then, upon arriving back at my sister in law's place where our 3 yr old was, said 3 yr old tells me she has croup. She's knows what it is, she's had it 3 times in the last 18 months and informed that she indeed was afflicted with it. I told her she was crazy, she didn't have croup and I was not taking her to the ER, I had seen enough of it not even an hour before. On a side note here, we went to the ER at 3pm so we hadn't eaten the dinner yet. Fluffy made a couple plates for us for when we got back. Oh yeah, we got back at almost 8pm. The food was delicious though, outstanding job on your first b...

The customers at my store that is. Seriously people? What is it about the holiday season that makes the asshats and douches think only their lives are chaotic and in complete disarray? I didn't get the memo that I must have a perfect, stress free week. I'll have to fire my assistant. Oh wait, I need one of those before I can fire them. Damn. I get to work tomorrow, into the evening, and there are two customers I am just waiting to hear from. Customer One: The lady who sees every single register is lit up, has a cashier and is functioning. She's the one who will come to the service desk and ask if we can call someone up to help cashier. Last year when a lady asked me that I looked at her and asked her, nicely of course, what register I should put that cashier on. She looked around and said she didn't know but it was ridiculous that the lines were so long. Another memo missed. Clearly, she was the only one allowed to shop the day before T-Day. Not one other soul was permi...

To my father, my father in law, other family members, dear friends and those near and dear to us who gave the ultimate sacrifice. To the families of fallen soldiers. To the sons, daughters, wives and husbands. Thank you. Thank you for your service to this great country of ours. Thank you for defending our land, our safety and our people. Thank you for defending the freedoms that we sometimes take for granted. Even though we may not agree on this war, the Vietnam war or any war, we all should agree that these men, women and yes, even children deserve our thanks and gratitude. Thank you Squids, Jarheads, Grunts, Flyboys and Puddle Pirates*. Be proud and know that this military brat supports you in all that you do. *Puddle Pirates was the only clean nickname I have for the Coast Guard. Sorry guys.

We all know it's Memorial Day . We all know that thousands of men and women have made sacrifices for our freedoms and the freedoms of others. We all know what we should do: put aside political differences, no matter how great they are, and come together to thank those that have made the ultimate sacrifice and their families for they are the ones who must live everyday with the grief and pain. I say thank you to my father for his 25 plus years in the Navy . For the sacrifices he made to our family so that he could serve our country. It sucked when I was little and he was gone for months at a time. I was and still am a huge Daddy's girl so to not be able to talk to him everyday? Brutal. However, in hindsight (damn that 20/20 vision) I know that it was worth it. I'm a lucky one, I can talk to him everyday now. He has always defended the military and even in retirement he is an endless source of support to our troops and their families. Thanks Dad. Our cousin Olivia, how I loo...