Super Sweet Blog Award

Thank you so much Winding Road for nominating me for the Super Sweet Blog award.  I’d love to say that I’m above all of that, but who am I kidding, you all know that I love the recognition!! 

Winding Road and I are new to each other, but I’ve already come to love her honest approach and sometimes the late night sentimental posts that she presents for our reading pleasure.  I highly encourage you to check out her blog! 

Now for the rules:

1. Thanks the blogger than nominated you (see above!)

2. Answer 5 super-sweet questions listed below. 

3. Include the Super Sweet Blogging Award in your post (like they had to tell me to do this!  I’d include it several times if it didn’t make me look crazy!)

4. Nominate a Baker’s Dozen (13) other deserving bloggers. 

5. Notify Super Sweet nominees on their blog.  

1. Cookies or Cake?

 – Seriously, can I answer both?  I love cookies, I love cake! I love when you combine cookies with cake!  

2. Chocolate or Vanilla?

– Chocolate!! Except when I want lots of toppings and then it’s Vanilla.  🙂

3. Favorite Sweet Treat? 

– Off the top of my head, I can’t narrow it down to just one… but all of this talk of cookies and cake, and then my idea of combining cookies and cake made me think of the crack I get from Taco Bell.  If you haven’t read the post – it’s not as bad as it sounds… well, maybe it is! 

4. When Do You Crave Sweet Things The Most?

– After I’ve eaten something really healthy, then I feel like I’ve totally earned a treat! 

5. Sweet Nick Name?

– I don’t know if this is asking if I have a sweet nick name (which I don’t, really, you know me!) or if I have a sweet nickname for someone else (which, again, I don’t.) So, I’ll just make up some sweet nicknames for your reading pleasure! Sweet cheeks, Sweet Pea and Sweetheart.  There, that should satisfy any sweet nick name craving you were having! 

Now time for the nominees – please take a minute and visit their sites, you might find that you have a new blog to enjoy!

1. Motherhood is an art – Three kids that keep me totally entertained! 
2. The Irish Wench – We are new to each other, but she’s been so sweet!!
3. Graced by Emilie – Cause you have to be sweet to be my friend IRL!
4. Fortuitous (all four of them) – With four, you never know what you will get!
5. 3 Chic Geeks (all three of them!) – Totally there to let my inner nerd out!
6. Surviving the Madhouse – One of the most awesome and honest blogs out there!
7. Grow, Glow, Go – I’m new to her, but have loved how open and sweet she is!
8. Raising 5 kids with disabilities and remaining sane – seriously, name says it all!
9. The Top 10 of Anything and Everything – mainly cause I’d love to see his blog about all of the blogger awards! 
10. My Journey to Live an Authentic Life – Always entertaining and willing to share her life
11. Looking Inward with Lily – her Wordless Wednesday’s are the best part of my day!
12. Waiting on a Word – cracks me up frequently, and she does the WP challenges which I’ve been too scared to try! 
13. Insert your blog here!  I have so many more bloggers that I follow – and enjoy reading – I just can’t pick a 13th person.  So, feel free to grab this and state that I nominated you for it! 

Dog Days of Summer

Twice a year my parents take the grand kids camping.  Normally the week between Christmas and New Year and one week during the summer.  This summer we weren’t sure if it was going to happen as our schedules have been insane; however, we worked it out and they went last week.

My sister was able to stay at the house the first couple of days, and that helped, as my parents have a huge fish tank and three dogs.  You’ve met the dogs before, as I posted about my experience watching them over the Christmas break (If you missed it, you can read Gone to the Dogs here).

Mom and dad’s dogs look so peaceful here, Zack, Zoey and Cassius. Don’t let appearances fool you!!

Monday night my sister texted me about midnight.  Mom and dad’s neighbor had texted her, thinking she was still at the house and asked her to bring the dogs in the house – since they had been barking for 30 minutes and they weren’t getting any sleep.  So, I got out of bed, got dressed and drove over to my parents house intent on putting the dogs in their crates.  Only, their crates weren’t there.  They were gone, and in their place were just some dog beds.  Apparently my parents have stopped crating them at night and they dogs just sleep in their beds.

That’s all well and good, except I can’t find the crates.  So, if I’m up at midnight because of their dogs, I figure my parents won’t mind a phone call.  I call my dad, who sounded pretty lucid, so I figure he hadn’t been asleep long, and asked about the crates.  He told me where they were and did express the fact that he felt badly that I had to do all of this, and then he told me to just lock them in the study and close the doggie door.

First thing in the morning I was back over there to let them out.  This went on for several days, locking them in at night and then letting them out in the morning – and, to keep them company, I would stay over there for several hours each morning so they weren’t too lonely.  I’m just good that way! They got fed, they got attention and they had the run of the house and the yard during the day.  You’d think that would make for some happy dogs.

Then I walked in one afternoon to this:

The chair was blocking the hallway…

The chair AND the ottoman had both been moved by several feet.

My first thought was the house had been broken into.  But, no, all of the valuables where there.  So, I took the pictures and sent them to mom “Either you have a ghost or the dogs are rearranging furniture when I leave”

I put the chair back where it belonged, picked up the trash they had gotten into and went about my day.

Until that night when I walked in to lock them up and this was what I saw:

Now, I have no idea if the bottom of the chair was damaged before (as all of the dogs have played under that chair) or if they knocked it over and tore it apart.  All I know is that now the chair was knocked over.

At this point, I just resigned myself to the fact that these dogs were nuts and to not offer to ever watch the dogs again.  The next day my sister was coming back to town and I very happily washed my hands and left them in her possession!

For the record, my resolve not to watch the dogs ever again didn’t last long.  I will be going through all of this for a week in November.

But I Thought It Was Just For Fun

I am part two in a three part blog chain!  I’m the creamy filling in the Oreo cookie!  Me, Myself and Kids posed a question about going on vacation – so, before you read me, take a minute and go read Me, Myself and Kids blog here and then come back and continue!  Once you are done, I’ll lead you on to My Journey to Live an Authentic Life to complete your journey today!

Go check out Me, Myself and Kids!

Done?

Okay!

MMK’s kids are younger than Mr. T, by several years.  They are at the age that Mr. T was when we first starting taking vacations, well we didn’t take “vacations” we took “stay-cations”!

Being a single parent from the start, our finances have always been tight, so as a compromise, I learned how to treat us with several smaller getaways throughout the year!  As I was pondering MMK’s question about what to do and where to go on vacation, I thought about the stay-cations that Mr. T and I took and I think his kids (and his wife) would enjoy.

Since Mr. T was little, I’ve made a point to take a couple of long weekends during the summer, and during those weekends we go visit a lot of the local attractions. It is easy to forget how much fun is in your own backyard, you get used to driving by places and not seeing them anymore.  I make a point to keep my eyes peeled for new adventures for us to try in our own town and I hope this gives you some inspiration as well as you plan your vacation MMK.

I use my fingers and search for coupons on the internet and I use my resources for discounts.  For example, my mom works at a place that rents out Six Flags for their employees for the day, and we can buy discounted tickets and attend on that day as family members.  I not only get a discount, but we get to go on a day that is less crowded – that’s a big win-win in my book! So, looking for deals and discounts is a good way to start when you are preparing for time away and who doesn’t love an amusement park?  I’m sure your kids would have a blast on the rides MMK!

The local zoo has coupon offers on-line frequently; however, I’ll admit that the money I save on the parking and tickets I usually spend at the fudge factory!  I don’t know why, but fudge tastes better from places like that! The boys will love that tasty treat, and I bet you and Mrs. MMK do, too!

By far, our favorite, and we go every year (sometimes several times a year) is Ripley’s Believe It or Not and the Palace of Wax, which are in the same building.  We love it! Even though we’ve seen everything, there is always something new.  Mr. T and I don’t just walk through, either, we push all the buttons and set off all of the sound effects at Ripley’s and then we go into the Palace of Wax and we stop and take pictures of ourselves with the World’s Tallest Man and Harry Potter!  There is nothing like walking on fire or traveling through Tornado Alley to keep you entertained while you learn.  Stay-cations can be educational, but don’t tell the kids!

MMK, now you have an idea of the great local attractions that we visit each year, I hope it gives you some inspiration as you plan a vacation for your family! Now I am going to send you to visit My Journey to Live an Authentic Life!  Check her blog out here!

PS – the titles of all three of our blogs relate to the Go-Go’s Vacation

The Baby Shower Didn’t Suck

This weekend I had to attend a baby shower.  I say that I “had” to because it was a social obligation and I literally had to make myself get dressed and get out the door.  I really didn’t want to go.

Don’t let the cuteness of the invite fool you – it’s torture!

Reason 1:  I hate baby showers.  I hate bridal showers.  I just hate that stuff.  And, I’m telling you now, if it is an event with a lot of people bringing me presents, I will announce that I am not going to bore them and make them sit there while I open every single one, but that I really appreciate the time they took to celebrate with me – now let’s eat.  I don’t like being the center of attention and it is boring for everyone involved to sit there and have people watch you open presents – or as you sit and watch others.  I’d much rather we mingle and have fun!

Thank goodness we didn’t have this – cause I wouldn’t be able to actually eat the baby’s innards. Really? Who does this stuff? I don’t want to eat what is portrayed as a baby!!

Reason 2:  The mother-to-be lied.  Now, this is a grey area.  They (the parents) wanted to do a “gender reveal” at the shower.  Which, fine, whatever makes you happy you should do; however, it makes it so much more difficult to shop when you don’t know the gender of the baby, and because of this, I cut my gift giving budget in half – and I only gave diapers and wipes.  But, here’s the deal.  When they were asked if they know the sex, they both said “no, we don’t know”.  We all knew they were lying.  Well, several of us knew they were lying.  Why did they have to lie?  Why couldn’t they say “Yes, we know, but we want to have a gender reveal shower and let everyone know at the same time – surprise everyone.”  And, if that was the case, then those of us that were buying gifts could have the option to buy a gift AFTER we knew the sex of the child.  Also, if they were going to do a gender reveal shower, then it should have been themed like that.  But, since the parents to be didn’t let the organizers know, then it couldn’t be planned as such.  I’ve seen tons of great ideas for a gender reveal shower, but instead of going for it and embracing it – they just lied.  (And they got a lot of clothes, but 90% were “boy” clothes).

Okay, I can get behind he or she themed items that involve chocolate!!

I am pleased to announce that I had a good attitude!  I chipped in, participated in the games (I didn’t win any, though – and I really tried!!) (But, one of my BFF’s was the host, and she had an extra gift left over because it took forever to open gifts and we decided the last game wasn’t needed and as I was leaving, I noticed that the extra gift was in my purse.  Oh yeah, my friends love me!) (I don’t think anyone else at the shower will read this, but if you were there, just disregard the previous sentence!)

Really? You want to display and then eat a cake that is a baby’s butt? Am I the only one that has issues with this??

So, non-optional social conventions aside (you’ll get this if you watch The Big Bang Theory!), it was a good weekend.  The baby shower didn’t suck, which is a huge compliment coming from me! My BFF and her mom did a great job putting it together, excellent food, wonderful punch and they kept it rolling right along.

Of course, the day before, when I was finally getting around to getting the gift, I texted my girlfriend “Is it wrong to put in the card “good luck raising this baby without shopping at Target or Walmart?'”  She laughed and said “yes”.  It’s not my fault that the mom to be only registered at a crazy place that is not common because “I don’t like Target or WalMart”  Uh huh.  You don’t like it, huh?  Let’s see how long that lasts before reality hits.

She’s having a girl, by the way… I know you were dying to find out.

But, the baby shower didn’t suck!

 

For Me, For You, For Me Fridays: Come Meet Kate

I wrote a guest post for Chasing a Daredevil and Twins – giving her and her readers an insight to what happens when the kids get older – please go check out the post… It’s pretty good, if I do say so myself!
Much Love,
Kate

Chasing a Daredevil and Twins

I’d love for you to meet Kate from Did That Just Happen Blog. She is a single mother to a teenage son and works full time.  Kate’s blogs tend to focus on her journey as a single mother who is always there for her friends and family.  She will be the first to admit that she will not win mother of the year, but she is enjoying the journey.  It’s refreshing to read about a life outside of small children so, I’ve asked her to be a part of the For Me, For You, For Me Fridays and here is what she had to say:

I was so pleased when Chasing a Daredevil and Twins asked me to write a guest post, as I have really enjoyed following her life and stick figures as they have released memories of my son’s childhood that have been buried (or sometimes shoved down deep!)…

View original post 609 more words

The Award Goes to Anyone but Me

I’ve said it before, and many of you probably think I’m exaggerating, but when they are giving out the Mother of the Year Award and they announce: “And the winner is…” my name will not be heard.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a good mom, I’m a great mom!  We have fun together, and he fully believes that with the skills he has learned, he’ll be able to take care of himself when he is on his own.  One of my favorite memories is when he was younger, probably about 6 or so, and he was at a friend’s house and his friend was supposed to be cleaning his room, and resisting. Travis told him “you have to learn how to clean your room or when you get older girls and friends won’t want to come over to your place because it is messy.”

It doesn’t get much better than that!

I have my faults, too.  Lots of them! Today let’s focus on just one of them.  Let’s discuss the fact that apparently I’ve become blasé about injuries. I think it is because we’ve had so many of them. Ever since he was little we’ve been members of the frequent flyer club at our local ER.

Can I have one of these for my local ER? Just put “hospital” in place of “coffee”

Let me give you a few examples:  Eating glass, febrile seizure, broken radius and ulna that required surgery to repair cause he was showing off for a girl, getting hit by a car, and breaking his pinky finger while tossing the football around with a friend.

Don’t call CPS.  They were all legitimate!!

The point is, if you had dealt with all of those injuries, plus trips that turned out to be minor issues, you’d be wary of issues.  Pretty much any time anything happens, the rule is we wait.  Wait and see if it’s really broken/ruptured/needs medical attention.  This waiting period usually is accompanied by an ice pack.

So, back to my point! Monday I was in the kitchen and T was walking back to his room and all I heard was crash/aaggghhh/thud.  I was racking my brain trying to figure out what he could have tripped over/stubbed his toe on.  I came out and started giggling as Mr. T was on the floor writhing in pain (not the most sensitive reaction, I know!)  I was trying to figure out what he had tripped over – he hadn’t.  He was just walking and his ankle popped (the crash I thought was him stubbing his toe) and he shrieked in pain (the aaggghhh I heard) and fell to the ground (accounting for the thud part of the equation).

I sat with him for a bit, checked out the foot – it didn’t seem broken – and sent him on his merry way.  Told him we’d monitor it.  It gave him some pain to walk on, but still seemed minor. And really, if your foot pops so loudly I can hear it two rooms away, I expect it to hurt!

That night we went over to my parents for dinner since my sister and her kids were in town and my sis mentioned that it was a little swollen.  I walked by, felt his foot and it was a tad swollen, but not warm, so I kept on walking.

Yesterday afternoon I was cutting Mr. T’s hair and saw his foot… swelled to the size of a grapefruit.

It’s hard to see, but there is some bruising to go with the swelling.

Yeah, I totally missed that.  He had sprained his ankle.  I immediately wrapped it and put an ice pack on it.  After 30 minutes the ice came off and he got a break – and then my dad reminded me that it had been over 24 hours, so it was time to apply the heat.  So, we went on the search for the heating pad and T sat with it elevated and with heat on and off the rest of the night.

Not all was lost, it was a dark and stormy night and we were watching an episode of Supernatural that happened to be in black and white and about old school Dracula and the Wolfman, so I popped us some fresh popcorn and we sat together and chilled.

T and I watching TV and chilling together – I’m getting good at wrapping hands and feet.

Yes that happened; I totally missed the fact that my son really did tear one or more of the ligaments in his foot.

Shorty sitting next to me, really hoping I’ll share my popcorn with him.

The Old Man is Snoring

It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring.  He went to bed with a bump on his head and couldn’t get up in the morning.

While that little rhyme is a bit disturbing, I mean, does he dies in his sleep? Anyway, I’m thinking about that poem today, because…

It’s raining!!! And it feels wonderful!  Most of it is a farmer’s rain with small interruptions of heavier downpours, and it is heavenly.  Our ground needs it, too! Most of the boat ramps at the area lakes are closed since water levels are down 10 feet or more.  We’ll take the water! I’ll sit here on the couch and enjoy the gentle patter.

And catch up on my DVR!

Okay, I Googled images for “DVR” and this one cracked me up… DVR of the Olympics…

I’m Done! Yes!

I’m done! Complete! Finished!

Well, with my tooth work at least!  I got my crown on earlier in the week and today went back and had them shave it down a little bit.  So far, so good.  I think I may need one more adjustment, but I’m going to take it for a spin for a bit to see if it is just something I have to get used to, or if I do need an adjustment.

You can’t know how happy I am right now.

Pulling out my Happy Tooth right now!!

Of course, now I have to figure out how to pay for it, but that’s for future Kate to worry about.  I’ll be provided for, I always am.

But… and you knew there was a but coming…

Since my work is done, it was time to start on T’s.  His mouth is pretty healthy, a couple of placed to watch; however, I knew he was going to need a root canal.  I got my first one about 17, so the fact that at almost 15 he needs his first one breaks my heart.  We just have weak teeth.  The dentist asked what caused my first root canal – I told her: I sneezed.  The power of the sneeze cracked my tooth in half.

Tuesday we started T’s root canal and today they finished it.  We are just waiting for his crown to be made and he’ll be done.  Fortunately, his root canal was a breeze compared to mine.  He was done in 20 minutes for the first appointment!  His pain was minimum.  He was a trooper!  Today he’s struggling.  They did two appointments at once, so they finished the root canal and prepped the tooth and took impressions – so it was a bit more invasive and his pain level is higher but he is still expected to recover pretty darn quickly.

Lucky him.

And, I was a good mommy.  I took him to Orange Leaf (a DIY frozen yogurt place his grandmother recently introduced him to) and spent $8 for the two of us to get a cup of fro-yo to sooth his mouth.  I’m still reeling over the fact that it’s easily $8-$10 for two frozen yogurts.

Okay, the ones we got were 1/4 this size – I guess this one is like $50 at check out! But, it is super yummy! 

Trends That Should Go Far, Far Away

Can the scarf trend just go away yet?  Really, it’s freaking 100 degrees outside, you don’t need a scarf.  Trust me on this.

Now, I get the pretty scarves, silk and such, that compliment a dress.  Those are okay.

But those clunky cotton, with fringe, you can go away.  Unless it’s snowing outside, you don’t need to be wearing it.  And, you really don’t need to be wearing a scarf all day.

An extra 10 pounds anyone?

hiding a hickey?? Aren’t you too old for that?

I think this one is alive…

are you wearing a watermelon? Oh, no, it’s a scarf.

How is this fabulous?

First, this doesn’t match and 2nd – yuck! Ladies, this really doesn’t look good. Just so you know!

There Must be a Force-Field

There must be a force-field around Mr. T’s laundry baskets.  It has to be an invisible bubble that keeps things from actually landing in it.  That is the only explanation I can come up with to explain why there are dirty clothes on the floor.  I can’t understand how there can be dirty clothes (read: Underwear!) just inches from the basket, so it must be an invisible force-field.  That is the only logical explanation!

Bathroom laundry basket in the bottom left corner of the picture. See underwear on the mat just one step away. Force-field at work!

Bedroom laundry basket – see more underwear just inches away – and a towel literally touching it! The Force is Strong with this one!

Just FYI – his floor isn’t dirty and stained – our carpet is a different color if it’s not all facing the same way.  Also, here’s an interesting factoid – my carpet is made from recycled water bottles.  Yup.  Totally true! And yes, my son is sitting just feet from his TV – he’s playing a game.