Syn's Life: March 2008

Monday, March 31, 2008

A Pregnant Man?

I just saw the previews of an upcoming news segment about a pregnant man. I had no idea this was possible! To find out more, click here.

OK, the segment just aired. It appears that it is a bit misleading (of course, it's the "hook" that makes you sit around and watch the show). The man who is pregnant was once a woman who still has the parts he needed to carry a child. Big deal. I thought there was some huge breakthrough where a man with male parts was able to carry a child - somehow.

There is more information at The Advocate too.

Of course, there is controversy over this. I don't have any opinion of it. It's not my body and while pregnancy was very difficult, it was also wonderful so who am I to deny it to anybody else who is capable of doing it?

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Boy Crazy

These are our four girls. They are waiting at the window. Can you guess what they are waiting for?

BOYS!!!

They are waiting for the boys track team to run by! Our house is on their running route. All four of them - from toddler to teen. Yes, even our toddler is up there with them! I had to snap a picture.

Going to Iraq

My husband's nephew went into the Army a few months ago. He just let us know that he's being sent to Iraq in a couple of months. Everybody is worried, of course, but proud of him too. It takes a very strong person to sign up for military service during war time. I hope this war ends soon for the military, their families, and the country and our nephew stays safe and isn't there very long.

Support Our Troops

Ants

We have ants in the house. Thankfully they aren't the big, black carpenter ants! We have the tiny brown ants that are coming in where the wall meets the floor in our living room off our garage. That tells me spring is coming (it also tells me I better get rid of them fast, lol). My daughter picks them up and smooshes them before throwing them away. I sweep them up. My two other kids just yell, "ants" while the baby yells, "ladybug" when she sees them. Everything is a ladybug to her.

So, I can use chemicals to get rid of them. I've also looked up some more natural methods and came across wiping counters down with vinegar and water and putting baking soda in the cracks where they are coming in. I'll probably do the baking soda since I have it on hand right now an

d they aren't on my counters so far.

Even more unfortunate is that it also means that the spiders are going to start to get active again which I really dread since I can't stand those things! I'd rather deal with ants than spiders.

Spring Break Is Over

The kids go back to school tomorrow. I survived having six kids here for a week. I survived bowling with only two broken nails and a bleeding cuticle (not to mention the sore muscles that aren't usually used except for when throwing a heavy ball down an alley). I survived two flooded bathrooms and a huge grocery bill (though that will take us some time to recover from...take the funds from one due bill to pay another this week unfortunately). I survived Chuck E. Cheese with six kids.

The house is clean and quiet after a week of lots of activity. I am relieved that some of it is over but a little sad too. The normal routine starts again tomorrow with early mornings for school, after school activities, and the neverending homework (they really give these kids a lot of homework). Oh well, I guess there is always summer vacation to look forward to (when I will be ready to send them all back to school after two weeks off, lol).

I do have one more thing to get through before Spring Break is officially over - putting electric blue highlights in my daughter's hair later this afternoon. She's been asking me for days to do it. That should be interesting.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Schools That Withhold Recess as Punishment

My kids go to a school where the kids lose recess if they get into trouble. I am not talking about HUGE trouble here; it's not like these kids are acting like delinquents and losing recess.

For instance, if my 3rd grade son forgets to have me sign his assignment book (or I forget to do it which has happened...more than once), he loses recess time. How is that "his" fault if I didn't sign it? He's 7!! It's not like he's a bad student and it is going to affect his grade badly (it won't at all) if I forget one night to sign that book. He does all his homework every night. My son gets upset if he gets a "B" on his report card, that's how good of a student he is!

If my 5th grade daughter messes up something on her homework (if she didn't know how to do it and mom and dad who haven't been in school in a long time don't remember how either so aren't much help), she gets a "work pass" - that means she goes to detention at recess time! By the way, she is also a quiet, honor roll student; not a problem student at all.

Even my 1st grader has lost recess time for small issues. She'll come home and tell me how she was "put on the wall" (not allowed to play at recess). She is a great student as well.

What is really wacky, is my ADHD stepson used to lose his recess time if he was behaving hyperactively in class. OK, let's take away an energy outlet for a child who has impulse control and hyperactivity issues to begin with. Yup, makes sense to me.

It's not just their current school either. The last school they attended used to put the kids on a painted circle on the playground as punishment so they lost recess but had to watch their classmates and friends playing.

I don't agree with removing recess time from kids. They need that time to burn off some energy. They can't expect kids to sit for seven hours in a class environment without some blowing off steam time! I think there are other ways they could handle minor issues without having to take away recess time.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Look It Up!

Before sending out emails about gas by boycott, house fires caused by glade plug-ins, Barack Obama (yeah, I am not voting for him but don't care to read false emails about him either), email viruses that don't really exist, etc., check out the validity of it first. I do this before forwarding emails on now because I don't want to waste other people's time. You can usually check these things out at Snopes.

Sometimes it is easier just to forward it "just in case", but if it is really worth letting friends and family know about, then it's worth spending a minute to do a search at Snopes and make sure it is for real.

This is not a paid advertisement, lol. Just an irritant.

Do You Recycle?

We've recycled plastic, bottles, and cardboard/paper for the past couple of years. We have bins set aside and throw the items in the correct bins. Easy peasy!

Most recently, two of my kids joined an environmental group that started at their school. It is the first year the school has done this and they had a huge response. It's been positive for my two oldest kids. Before, recycling was something I did. I recycle and my husband pulls the bins out to the road for pick up once a week when he takes the garbage out. Now I see my kids looking at items, looking for the recycling symbol (like the one in this post) and figuring out on their own what gets recycled. My son even reminded me once when I was going to throw out something that was to be recycled.

Recycling is something every family can do. If your town doesn't have a recycling program, I'd encourage them to create one. If your children's school doesn't, I'd encourage the PTA and school board to implement one. Go green!

Religious Freedom

I am 100% in agreement that each individual has the right to practice whichever religion he or she chooses to. I have no business trying to change their beliefs and don't like it when somebody tries to change mine.

Religious solicitors at my door really irritate me. When they try to invite themselves into my home for dinner, that floors me (yes, it's been tried and they've failed). The latest is to use a child at the door. I've had two people, one of them a young child, show up on my doorstep. When a young child asks to read you verses from the bible, how do you say no to that? The adults who bring them know most people wouldn't! I don't think young children should be used like that.

My husband and I are raising our kids to choose their own belief system - whether they agree with ours or not. I had a certain religion pushed on me for years as a child and the only thing that accomplished was a lot of resentment (towards the parents and the religion). I want my kids to find what they feel in the soul is right for them; not what I want them to believe. That means they can be christian, pagan, or buddhist and I have no problem with any of them...or any other for that matter.

Faith is too personal to push it on anybody.

Having fun with baby

Today, my two-year-old toddler and I made cupcakes together for the first time. Usually I do any baking when there are some quiet moments alone (not very often) but right now, it's just Trin and me here. The kids went bowling with dad. Nice and quiet. So we made two dozen spring cupcakes. Look at how proud she is of herself. She poured in the cake mix, oil, and even helped me crack eggs. Then she stirred. We had a lot of fun. Having quiet moments alone with a child, especially when you have a lot of kids like we do, is special. She really seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. Right now, she's patiently waiting for them to cool off so we can icing them together and then put the spring sprinkles on them. That is going to be one messy time, lol.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Busy Holidays

I hope everybody's holiday was good. It's been really busy here with my stepkids and in-laws here for the holidays. Lots of food, laughs, and more food. I know I've definitely consumed way too much food. I've been falling asleep early every night the past few nights...think the food is knocking me out.

I hope everybody had a safe and happy holiday whatever your religion.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

The Best Dog With Our Kids

We bought this little girl almost a year ago. She's not so little anymore. She is a lab/shepard/collie mix. She potty trained quickly and loves the kids. She is a bit timid at first and spooks at noises outside (burglars beware because she sounds quite ferocious when she's protecting her family) but her tolerance for the kids is unbelievable. Our toddler can lead her around and lay on top of her when she's sleeping and Rox will just look at her, never offering a growl or nip. Our two-year-old has fallen on her and not a problem. I really believe Rox thinks she is one of them from the way she acts. She has her annoyances (chewing being one of them if she doesn't have "her" bone - which I can only get at one store in the whole area and it's not the store we usually shop at) but overall, she's a good family dog.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Lovin' Tennessee

We are hoping to take a family vacation to the mountains in a couple months. We try to go there every few years to get away and relax. The kids love it (actually, I think they'd love any hotel with a pool even if it was down the block from where we live, lol). My husband loves it. For me, going to Tennessee soothes my soul. Literally. I have an attachment to Tennessee that I really can't explain. Check out these views! They're awesome.

I miss it when we don't go. When we do go, I don't want to leave. Maybe it is the Cherokee in me...it's in my blood. Definitely in my soul. It's almost spiritual.

Redecorating Our Home

Every house we've bought has needed some intensive updating (that's what happens when you buy on the lower end of the pricing scale, lol). Our current house is no exception. We've done a lot of work to the house over the past two years, since moving here, and we have one level almost looking nice. This week we added an area rug to the living room so my furniture quits slip slidin' away on us and for a little tushy cushion when our toddler falls down. I never thought I'd love a rug this much, lol, but it is really awesome in our living room. We need to slap some paint on the walls, add some nice lighting, dig out our pictures, and we may just have this level looking like a home soon. I am excited.

What I am really excited about is finally getting a dishwasher. After eight years without a dishwasher, washing dishes for 6-8 people everyday was a real pain. My father-in-law and husband installed a dishwasher and I am just loving it!! It makes a big difference in time savings, that's for sure.

The Morning Rush Begins

Waking up in our house is always a rush. My daughter is putting out her puppy while the other dogs excitedly wait for their turn. One dog comes in to eat, and another dog goes outside. It's like an assembly line having three dogs. Then most of the kids are extremely hungry and demanding breakfast NOW except for the one child who isn't hungry "yet" (like I am a restaurant and will serve them whenever they feel like it). Why not? They think I am their maid too so why not their waitress? Breakfast is a scrambled mess of noise and movement with kids arguing over who did what or who sits where (despite having assigned seating which we gave them to avoid territory fights over seats to begin with) and food being prepared. Then it is off to clean up and get ready for the day. That inevitably leads me to the huge pile of clothes left behind after a child discards items for others and then throws their dirty clothes on top of them.

My life as a mom is about cooking, cleaning, and dirty clothes. *sigh*

Actually, I don't really believe that. Raising my kids to be loving individuals is my job. It'd be nice to have a maid to do the rest, lol.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

My Kind of Tip

An anonymous tipper tipped a waitress in Houston, TX a retired racehorse, estimated to be worth about $7,000 for pouring coffee.

Customer Tips Waitress with Racehorse

I have waitressed before and the only thing I received were monetary tips, rude customers, and requests for dates. I just saw the horse on television and he is gorgeous. I hope he has found himself a good home.

These beautiful horses need good homes when their career at the track ends.

Salem Ridge Thoroughbred Rescue

Spring Cleaning

We are in spring cleaning mode. You wouldn't think kids could mess up their rooms that fast (it seems like we just helped them clean their rooms from top to bottom)...but they can. I am pulling all kinds of things out from under their beds - dusty, dirty things. I've gone through their drawers already to see what they've outgrown (most everything). They grow so fast (and so do their messes). I expect we will still be working on their bedrooms tomorrow, lol. If there is one thing I can expect in this house is that there will be a mess somewhere caused by one of the monkeys. Oh yeah, I can also expect never ending laundry too.

Snake Handling

We've had Willy for almost a week now and I finally got the nerve to hold him. He was very soft which surprised me. I was expecting more of a rough texture. I only held him for a minute before hubby took him back because the more he wiggled, the more nervous I became about dropping him. Wiggly Willy...that describes him. Then I washed up...twice.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Painful Pumping

It cost me $75.49 to put gas in my gas tank today at the Shell station. I was very disgusted. When I bought my new 2002 vehicle, I spent about $33.00 to fill up the tank. When is the rising cost of gas going to end? Not only end, but will the price ever go back down again or have we become too used to the high costs? If it isn't over $3/gallon, we are now okay with that? Is that right?

When is somebody going to do something about this?

Quiet Time

I like this time at night when the kids are sleeping, the dogs are sleeping and the house is totally quiet. Except for the Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Noggin cartoon that is still on in the background (I really have to turn that off), I hear nothing.

Now to decide what to do with myself. The laundry needs to be done. Laundry always needs to be done though and I can see the bottom of it now so it's not like it's piled so high it is about to fall on me. I can write. There is a story for my other blog that I need to get done. I can go snack, except I need to lose a few pounds so probably not a good idea. I can go to sleep because I really need to catch up on some zzzz's. I think I'll send my husband some 'marital texts' instead. Yup, I think that sounds like a good idea.

Easter Shopping

I went shopping this morning for easter baskets for six kids! I walked out of there with my entire shopping cart full of baskets, toys, stuffed animals, candy, eggs, etc. The greeter at the door said as I walked out, "What are you, the easter bunny?" Guess so!

I want the kids to have a good easter. I always do. This year, we will have my stepkids here for easter for the first time in a couple of years. Our four kids are so excited. I hope my stepkids are too. I hope the spring break goes well for all the kids.

Clothing For Sensitive Skin Like Mine

I have sensitive skin or more accurately, I have allergic contact dermatitis. When I say "sensitive" skin, I should say hyper-sensitive, highly allergic and highly opposed to coming into contact with anything for any length of time such as regular clothing and make up that I used to be able to wear. As you can imagine, this makes it uncomfortable to do everyday things like wear clothing. I get itchy and develop rashes wherever seams touch from my clothing. I don't want to be kept awake at night from itching skin any more. It's also not very attractive to have little, itchy rashes around your waistline and areas where bra straps touch. Real pretty huh? It's not. As a wife who enjoys feeling attractive for herself and her husband, this has been a huge source of discomfort for me. My husband is a sweetheart and is ok with it, but it really bothers me.

When I needed to find clothing that was functional and fashionable but hypo-allergenic for my sensitive skin, I wasn't sure where I was going to find such apparel. I'd never heard of it before though I knew I was in desperate need of it. Then I ran across a company called Cottonique, Inc.
Cottonique, Inc. offers apparel for people with sensitive skin. They use cotton that is 100% organic too. Skin friendly clothing for people like me! You can't imagine how happy I was to find them.

Check out some of their items (and there is even more on their web site):

Women's Hipster: A latex-free, textile dye-free, and resin-free hipster brief made from purified natural cotton. They have covered seams so there is no irritating rubbing.
Soft Cup Bra: No fasteners and flat/hidden seams. If you are allergic to latex, have sensitive skin, contact dermatitis, textile dye dermatitis, eczema, or psoriasis, you should really check this out.

They are not just providing clothing for women either. Cottonique, Inc. also offers clothing for men too.

I have finally found a company that makes products for skin like mine. I am so thankful for that!

Cottonique, Inc.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Kids as Leeches

Why is it that your toddler can ignore you when they have something to do but as soon as mom gets on the phone or sits down at the computer, they become little leeches, crawling all over you and demanding you pay attention to them very loudly (and I do mean LOUDLY)?

My two-year-old is a little blond leech who can SCREECH if she notices my attention go elsewhere. When I have another mom on the other end of the phone, they understand. They've been through it. When I have somebody on the other end of the line that doesn't have kids, they can't get off the phone fast enough.

I guess all that loud, annoying screeching and pawing at you is only behavior the toddler's mother (or father) could love.

ZipBin

While perusing the net, I ran across this great new toy I've not seen before. I have four kids so you would've thought I had seen them all!

Anyway, it is called ZipBin. It is a toy chest that is also a toy. They have many different type of playscapes for boys and girls - stables, unicorns, mansions, cars, dinosaur, trains and more! You can order the playscape itself or the play set which includes toys inside of it.

These would be really cool to give to a child as a gift with more gifts inside whether you buy the play set with the toys already or include your own in the playscape. You could even fill this up for easter for kids instead of wasting money on baskets that don't get used. How cool is that?

This is definitely something I will have to keep in mind for upcoming birthdays and from santa next xmas.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Useless Celebrities Kids Look Up To

I am genuinely disgusted with a lot of the younger Hollywood crowd. Don't these people realize that there are young girls who look up to them?

First you have Britney Spears who flashes her bits and loses her kids. She went from pop star on top to trash. What a fall. I hope she can pull herself up again. I just hope my kids don't become any more interested in whatever the heck is going on in her head and life right now.

Then you have little sister, Jamie Lynn, who all the tween crowd adores getting pregnant, my daughter included. Explain that one to my 11 year old daughter, which I had to do!! Thank you very much, Jamie Lynn Spears. I would've preferred to have this conversation with my daughter in another couple of years. I would've preferred to at least have waited until junior high school!

Let's see...Lindsay Lohan. Parties. Rehab. Another great person for younger girls to look up to.

Then you have Paris Hilton. I do not understand her popularity AT ALL. She became famous based on what? Her parents' money? A sex tape? Who knows. At least the other girls actually did something first to become famous - pop star, actresses. What did Paris do? She's a partier. She changes boyfriends like she changes underwear (unless she's like her pal Britney and doesn't wear them). If I hear "that's hot" ever again, I will yak.

I wish that some of these people would realize that with great celebrity comes great responsibility. You have all these parents taking their kids to see their movies and buying their cd's and then the celebrity turns around and basically flips them the bird by behaving like drunken fools. That's their "thank you" for helping to make them rich and famous?

I guess money doesn't make you happy. For them, it looks like it just makes them able to afford to be more stupid. That's my opinion.

Obama Giving Speech Tomorrow

Supposedly a pastor (or former pastor, retired Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.) of Barack Obama has made some anti-American comments that Obama is going to address tomorrow morning.

Check out the news article about it here.

I hate politics. I really do right now. I do not see one candidate still that I feel deserves my vote. I was hoping by now I would but I am no closer now than I was when I posted before about a month ago.

Our government seems like a bunch of liars and cheaters. Our candidates for president don't turn me on at all. Why can't we get some real people in there?

Sharing Family

This is Willy, my son's new corn snake.

Love of horses and everything horsey.

This is my husband.

More pics to come soon once I get some more uploaded to share!!!

Interior Decorating

I have such a hard time picking out paint colors. I am the most indecisive person when it comes to paint. I've had paint swatches on my walls for almost two years now. How bad is that? We've decided (I think). We are going to paint the kitchen walls an olive and the living room and hallway a chocolate brown. The entry which opens up into all of this is still undecided at this point - either the same olive as the kitchen or the brown as the living room. We'll figure that out when we get there. We'll just start with the kitchen first, lol.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

I Love Being Married

I love being married to my hubby.

That's all I have to say so I don't gross out everybody with mushy details and stuff, lol.

Snake in my house!!!!!!

So yesterday we went to a reptile show. They have turtles, frogs, monitors, alligators, every kind of lizard you could imagine, and every kind of snake you could imagine (well, non-venomous since this was a non-venomous show). They even had an anaconda! Yikes! When my son started asking for a snake, I started adding everything up in my head on how much it would initially cost for the snake, housing, etc. and I was expecting a $100-$200 chunk out of my pocket but we didn't mention that to my son (after spending an outrageous $1600 on propane for heat over the last three months and struggling - good thing for tax refunds eh...they can pay for your heat *sigh*), I was trying to figure out how we were going to pay for his snake set up). He's been wanting his own pet for sometime now. N is always surrounded by girls since he doesn't see his brother often (well actually hasn't seen him in almost two years and before that every few months). I wanted him to have something "boy" for himself. My son being the sweetheart that he is, picked out the least expensive corn snake he could find because he didn't want us spending a lot of money. So we walked out of there with a baby corn and its house and little hidey when he wants to be shy for all of $27! Can you believe that? He's a cute little guy. Here's a pic:

If he takes good care of him, we told him we'd get him a regular reptile home with branches and stuff in a few months when this baby outgrows his plastic home we bought for $9 yesterday. For now, he has his hidey, his crock of water to drink and lay in, and a piece of greenery to make it look more homey for the little guy (yes, it is a male).

Oh yes, I almost forgot, my six-year-old girly girly daughter who adores pink and everything girly wants a ball python. She was anxious to hold one yesterday when they took them out for us. She held it and pet it. I was quite surprised (I wouldn't touch any of them, lol). That is the pet she is asking for. Ball Pythons are supposed to make GREAT beginner snakes for children so depending on how my son does with his corn snake and how well they take care of it (and assuming they don't forget about it in a couple weeks when the novelty wears off), maybe she'll get one for her birthday. We'll see.

As long as daddy helps the kids feed them, because I won't feed anything pinky mice, then we'll see.

More Information on Corn Snakes
More Information on Ball Pythons

We bought ours from a doctor/instructor from Bowling Green State University's Herp Lab. She was very helpful.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Stepkids Are Coming

Well, it's been almost two years but the stepkids are coming here for spring break. Hubby requested winter break and spring break with them. His ex wouldn't "discuss" it with him via email and requested he call her (personally, I think if SHE wants to discuss something with him, she should pick up the phone herself). Regardless, he always tries to maintain the peace and be civil so he did try calling her. Several times. She was never home supposedly. So, he didn't get winter break with the kids. Couldn't get hold of her. Yet she was the one who told him to call her about it when there is email access at work and home for her. He finally gave up trying to phone her and sent her another email to confirm visitation for spring break. She emailed him back to call her. Can you believe that? I would feel like a total idiot sending an email to tell somebody to call me. I would pick up the phone myself. Wouldn't that make sense? Being the nice person that he is, wanting to be civil, he did call her again. She eventually was home (*cough cough*) and the kids are coming here for spring break. Now, dates and times aren't confirmed yet so I won't 100% believe it until they are on their way here but we'll see.

I don't get why this is so difficult. You know? The kids need to see their dad. Mom and dad should be working together to make that happen. Instead, she has him chasing her with the phone (note, I didn't say phone tag because that would mean she actually called him back which she has NEVER done).

Women can vote. Women can work. Women CAN PICK UP THE PHONE AND MAKE A PHONE CALL.

Sometimes, I think ego gets in the way of a lot of things in life. What do you think?

Oh yeah, when I told our kids that they would be seeing their siblings for the first time in almost two years, my oldest daughter cried. She cried. She was that happy.

Sprint Cell Phone Service

I used to be a Sprint customer several years ago (before they merged with Nextel). I never had any problems with them then but we moved to an area where service wasn't all that great. So we ended up with a different wireless company for a couple of years. In January, we switched back to Sprint for our wireless. I had liked them before and wasn't happy with the Verizon service we'd been paying for (bad service in our area). I must say that since going back to Sprint, it has been one problem after another. I can't get the same answer out of five different sprint representatives (I mean, don't they KNOW their product?). I get charged for things that I shouldn't be. When I received a $501 bill, I about went through the roof! If this keeps up, I am going to become their worst nightmare because I refuse to pay for some of the stupidity I have run across when trying to get them to straighten out their messes and give me ONE straight answer - not different answers depending on who I talk to! So far, Sprint has been nothing but horrid customer service, inept representatives who don't know their product, and more money than it should've been.

Then, (yes, there is a THEN), I received ANOTHER bill from Sprint for cell phone service in my name, at a number I had no clue about with a threat for disconnection if I didn't pay it. Outrageous!

My Rating for Sprint: 1 star (out of 10)

Joffrey's Premium Coffee & Teas

I recently went to Joffrey's web site to check them out after a friend told me about them. They offer gourmet coffee, teas, and espresso. They sent me a coffee sample, which was much appreciated in this household. Next on my list to try is their tea. I am a HUGE tea fan.

Child's Bad Dreams - Our Solution

We moved our six year old into her own bedroom. She was happy about that until bedtime when she cried herself to sleep. She has been waking up every night since crying from bad dreams. Our nightmare solution has always been to tell the kids to turn their pillow over to the "good dream side" and it worked for the rest of the kids, So I told M last night to turn her pillow over to the good dream side and she did. She woke up this morning so happy. She said it worked. She didn't wake up at all last night and didn't have any bad dreams.

Occasionally, she is going to have those bad dreams. All kids do. When that happens and she claims her pillow didn't work, we'll do like we've done with the rest of the kids - tell her it must not be on the "good dream side" and have her turn it over. It always works.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

STD Rates in Teens

From CBS News Online Today ~

Study: 1 In 4 U.S. Teen Girls Has STD

I have one teenage stepdaughter and three young daughters. These are not good statistics at all.

I'm going to need a straitjacket

Tomorrow evening is one of my girls' music program at school. My husband is working a different shift so he can't attend. That means it will be mom vs. four kids. Gee, I wonder who is going to win this one?

Hmmm, how am I going to videotape and keep a two-year-old behaving at the same time?

I hope it's a short music program.

Automatic Shower Cleaner

There is something I've wondered about these automatic shower cleaners.. Maybe somebody here can tell me ~

What happens when this thing sprays and the shower curtain is open? Does it spray onto your bathroom floor or is there a setting on it to only spray in certain areas?

Just something random I wonder, lol.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Who Is This Woman?

Do you ever wonder when you are reading people's blogs who these people are? What they are like? I do. So I thought I'd share a little of myself here if y'all are interested. If not, read on...there are several articles below that are more interesting than me.

I grew up in Michigan, though I don't live there now. Yup, just call me a Buckeye! A mutual acquaintance introduced me to my now husband when we were both in unhappy relationships with somebody else a long time ago. Oh, talk about bad timing! We had instant attraction and not a whole lot we could do with it. We both had some messes to clean up in our personal lives first. I went looking for him after leaving my mess and found him living on his own, free for me, lol. Yippee! We've been married over 12 years now. We have four children together. Add into that a Noah Ark's menagerie of pets and we have ourselves one busy household.

I work from home. I want to be the one to put my kids on the school bus and be here when they get home from school. I want to be home when they are doing their homework in case they need help instead of fighting rush hour traffic trying to get home to them. Besides my regular job, some of the things that I do that I can post about here:

Liberty Hills Marketplace
Surveys
Mineral Girlz

So, that is a little bit about me.

Mineral Make-Up

If you are a female, I'm sure you've heard all about the new rage - mineral make-up. Well, it just so happens that I sell mineral make-up. It is called Mineral Girlz. This is a wonderful product for the tween/teen age group because it is light and natural. It's also safer than harsh chemicals and who knows what else being applied to their skin! I can remember being in junior high and walking out of the house with bright blue and bright green eye shadow all the way up to my eyebrows! I can't believe my parents let me leave the house like that!! With Mineral Girlz, I don't need to worry about my daughter walking out of the house looking gawdy. This is a great, light coverage for my daughter's young skin. Try it today. I have even found that I like it as well and it's been a long time since I was called a teen!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Drugs in Your Water

Did you know that when you are drinking your 6-8 glasses of water each day, that you are ingesting other people's drugs? Did you know that when you hand your young child a glass of water and insist they drink it, several times a day, your growing child could be ingesting other people's drugs - anti-depressants, cholesterol meds, heart meds, antibiotics, etc.? Did you know that if you think you can avoid this by drinking bottled water, you may be mistaken because a lot of bottled water comes straight from the tap?

I am sitting here, enjoying my quiet morning for once (my toddler is still sleeping) with a cup of tea and have Good Morning America on in the background. That's when I hear this news report about an entirely different topic that sends me to their web site to investigate further. On the front page of their web site is this article about our drinking water and drugs. Read about it right here: ABC News

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Blizzard Photos

We are in day 2 of the blizzard. I have snow piled up against my dining room patio doors that I can't open unless I want a foot of snow dumped onto my floor. I went out thru the garage to snap these ~

Blizzard 3/8/08

Blizzard 3/8/08

It's pretty. Now it can all go away.

Which paint color?

When it comes to picking paint colors for our home, I am the most indecisive person you will ever meet. I literally have about 80 paint swatches on my living room wall, trying to pick out the perfect color. I still don't know. I moved a few swatches into the kitchen to see how they'd work with the cabinets and countertop. I am leaning more towards the color swatches that are closest to the countertop, specifically the two olive swatches and the chocolate brown swatch. What do you think?

Whatever I pick for the kitchen is going to have to complement the dining room, living room, hall, and entry since they all open up to each other. So, I am thinking one color for the kitchen and one color for the rest. It's just the deciding part that has me stuck. Please check out the poll at the top right of my blog and pick the color you like best! Polling closes 3/20/08.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Changed My Blog Domain

I switched my blog to its own domain name today. I thought I'd better do it now before I got too far into blogging and didn't want to mess with my rankings. Hope you like it!

The Joys of Early School Dismissal

The kids were let out of school early because of the snow storm. My house was quiet until then. What do I hear now? I hear my toddler having a tantrum, my oldest scolding my middle daughter, my son's video game system going, and dad telling the tantrum throwing baby to knock it off while she screams, "No." Oh yeah, the dog is barking too. The joys of early school dismissal. I have a headache.

The Snow Storm is Coming

We're expecting a snow storm to start in the next hour or so. They're talking several inches of accumulation when all is said and done and the school warned the kids yesterday about the possibility of early dismissals today. Boy, I can't wait for spring!

I am hoping the snow and ice will hold off for a little longer than they expect because there is a horse I have to go photograph for a local horse rescue so I can get him listed on their web site for adoption. Plus, he is supposed to be a GREAT horse and I want to ride him! I can't do that in a snow storm so the storm will have to wait for me to do what I have to do this morning. I am asking Mother Nature to hold off on dumping a snow storm on us until after 10:00 a.m. I have things to do!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Speech Apraxia & Dysfluency (Stuttering)

My son and one of my daughters has speech apraxia. Actually, my son also has other disabilities as well but we'll talk about that another time. They were both diagnosed as toddlers when we noted their speech was severely delayed. My son being the older of the two was the first diagnosed. It took us pushing his pediatrician a bit to get her to diagnose him so we could get him into speech therapy. (I MUST stress that if you, as the parent, feel something is wrong - if you have that feeling that "something isn't right" - then push your pediatrician to listen to you!) I must say I am VERY glad we did so we could get an early start with helping him. I believe it made all the difference in how well he is doing now - catching it early and starting treatment (speech therapy) because he was quite severe. Since we knew what to look for because of my son and had a diagnose and good treatment plan in place, we (the parents) and our pediatrician were agreeable in watching our other younger kids as they started to talk for signs of speech problems and were able to catch my middle daughter's delay early too.

We are not sure why they both have speech apraxia, also referred to as verbal apraxia. What I do know is that it took several years of weekly speech with an outside speech therapist as well as early intervention in a preschool setting with speech therapy there as well to get on top of it and get them both to a point where you can rarely tell they had any speech delay at all.

They both also have dysfluency. For those of you who don't recognize that word, it means they stutter. We do know where they got that. That is genetic from their dad's side. Their speech therapy also dealt with this as well.

I am pleased to say that with several years of dedication to helping them with therapists and lots of practicing speech at home, they are doing great! In fact, I think they are doing so great that I would be surprised if the school provides speech therapy for them next year. I have a meeting with the school in two weeks to find out! My kids have worked hard, have done great, and I'm very proud of them.

For more information, check out these resources:

Apraxia - Kids
Kaufman Children's Center

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Crazy Ohio Weather

Two days ago, I woke up to hear the birds singing outside and an expected weather forecast of 60 degrees. It actually reached 63, but who am I to say meteorologists are always wrong (well, I do that too but not in this instance because it was actually ok that they were wrong this time).

Yesterday, I woke up to near freezing temperatures and rain. Throughout the day, things went from bad to worse - the temperatures dropped, the wind picked up, and the rain fell heavier. When I left the house yesterday afternoon with my kids, this is what I came outside to:

Every branch on every limb of all our trees were frozen. The weight of the ice did this!

Today, everything is still frozen. The kids are out of school for a snow day. I don't hear the birds singing. I hear kids complaining because they want to go outside but I won't let them with everything ice outside. Boy, to hear those birds singing again would sure be nice. I am so impatient for spring.

Snakes

My eight-year-old son wants a snake. A snake! In my house! I have to say mom is freaking out just a little bit (ok, maybe a little more than a little bit). He has actually wanted one for awhile now but we've put it off so far but are now starting to talk more seriously about it.

Being me, I have done a lot of online research to find out which snakes are best for beginners - most docile and easy to care for. What I have found are corn snakes, milk snakes, and ball pythons are said to be best for beginners with corn snakes seeming to come in first place in my opinion.

I took a ride to the local pet store this past weekend to check them out in person. They had these tiny corn snake babies about the size of a pencil. They were really cute. Then they showed me what they ate. They took me to an aquarium full of live mice with baby mice sleeping or feeding under them. Little pink mice with no fur, little limbs flailing about - really cute. This is what our snake would eat! Pinkies! They recommend you buy them frozen and just thaw one out as you need it. This squeamish mom is supposed to keep frozen baby mice in her freezer and then stick one in a bowl of water to thaw the little baby out when it is feeding time? Can you hear me saying "ewwwww" from here?

Oh yeah, corn snakes are known to be escape artists! A loose snake in my house - something to look forward to.

We're even planning on going to a snake show next weekend to find out more. Creepy!

My son's school library has a snake that eats fish. I think I could handle a fish eating snake over a mouse eating snake but from my research, it looks like this snake would be a garter snake and I've read that they can be an ok beginner snake but they are not as docile and can have more of a musk scent. I'm not sure a garter snake would be a good choice for my son but I am going to d more research today and dig up some more information.

I can't believe I am considering having a snake in my house.

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