"Wet" and Wild!

I wrote this post then discovered it was "Wild Card Wednesday" tomorrow over at TKW's place...so I am using this as my Wednesday post even though it is still Tuesday which I didn't even realize when I wrote this. I will be too busy painting later to post anyway so you get "Wet and Wild", wet dogs...it's a stretch but I think it qualifies. The original title was Not so Furry Murray.

Yesterday was Spring Cleaning day at our house. Spring Cleaning is a little different at Casa de Wendy than it is any where else. It involves scissors, combs, clippers, and a bunch of way too hairy and dirty dogs. We have several(ha) dogs who stay outdoors so every spring I shave them or give them haircuts to allow them to feel more comfortable in the hot weather to come. Because of our move last year the dogs were not groomed last summer so they were particularly bad this spring. I didn't actually plan on doing this yesterday but the opportunity came up to be able to sneak one of the dogs out of their kennel without the others noticing and trying to make a break for it too. When you have this many dogs they operate in a pack. There is the Alpha dog who is in charge, the in between members of the pack, and of course the Omega. Since all the other pack members where busy eating and Omega is not permitted to eat until they are all finished I snuck him out while they were busy with their heads buried in their food bowl. When the others saw him leaving they went nuts. Just because he is low man on the totem pole doesn't mean they don't love him. I'm sure they also wanted to come too. So I got Omega whose name is actually Murray up on the deck and started in with the cutting. The clippers wouldn't cut his type of fur so I just used scissors to do it. Murray was excellent, standing still and letting me do my job. I'm sure it felt good to get all that off of him. After his hair cut we brought him in for some food, water, and a bath. The Boy was a huge help!

Look at that dirty water! Murray was the best dog in the bathtub never once trying to get out. I think all this great behavior comes from being the Omega and always being kept in his place. He is very submissive. Anyway we got him all cleaned up and looking good.

I didn't take a "before" picture but this gives you an idea of what a mess he was. Murray has the type of hair that doesn't stop growing as some dog's hair does when it gets to a certain length so there was a lot to cut off.


After getting all spiffed up he really wanted to go back to his kennel so we took him back out. When he got back in with the pack he was literally prancing around showing off his new do. They were all checking him out and you could tell they were happy to have him back. Later in the afternoon I heard a strange dog howling outside. I immediately went to see where this dog was. I can recognize the bark/howl of each of my dogs and had never heard this one before. When I got out there I discovered it was Murray howling. I've never even heard this dog bark but he was howling. He was feeling good! Sophie is next...I have a one dog a day rule so that each one gets plenty of TLC and attention on their day.

Manic Monday

I didn't do anything but laundry all weekend and I figured you didn't want to see pictures of dirty underwear so for my Monday post I give you Manic Monday. I can't remember where I found it so I can't give you the link, I'm getting bad about that. I will be busy this morning though since The Boy will be in school. I really am going to try to start painting today too....I know, I know, you don't believe me. I will show you pictures once I start. It was cold this weekend so I didn't want to do anything but curl up under my blanket with Jaykeb and watch movies. I can't get motivated when it is chilly. Hopefully it will be warmer today and I will feel like getting some stuff done.

What movie did I watch, you ask? Okay, I will tell you. I watched The Departed. It was really good. I've never been a big fan of Leonardo DiCaprio but this movie may have changed my mind about him. Now I want to see Blood Diamond because I heard he is really good in it too. Other than that it was the usual stuff...Because of Winn Dixie, Toy Story, and lots of cartoons while folding clothes.

So that was my big exciting weekend. What did you do?

Manic Monday
What do you feel is the biggest waste of time?
Making the bed...the dog or the kid are usually right back in it about an hour after we get up, what's the point?

If I knew then what I know now, I ....
I would have had children earlier so I could have had more.

How do you feel your life has changed over the past year?
I have moved to a different state...am starting to make new friends here...financially more stable. All in all, life is better this year than last.

I didn't really think this was a particuarly good meme this week but I didn't have anything else, sorry.

A Chic fil-a Day

We had our second outing with Mom's Club yesterday and it went very well. Jaykeb had a blast of course. We met for lunch at Chic fil-a because they have a really nice indoor playground area where the kids could go in a blow off some steam. Jaykeb wasted no time finding a couple of cute little girls to plant himself between. Every time he came down the slide he was in between the same two gils. Another mom and her two daughters sat at our table with us and when he discovered there was a girl sitting at his table he had to come off the playground and join her. They sat across from each other and ate ice cream. His first date! I'm happy to report he was a total gentleman offering his companion some of his ice cream when hers was all gone. As expected he was very upset to have to leave. I thought it was time though seeing as how we had been there for almost 2 hours and his face was beet red and his hair was soaked with sweat from playing so hard. All the other mom's were leaving too so it wasn't as hard to extract him as I was anticipating. I got to have a little bit of adult conversation and he got to play then we went shopping the rest of the afternoon. It was a perfect day even if it was raining so hard we were stuck inside the garden department at Lowe's huddled under their awnings for about 30 minutes waiting for the rain to stop so we could get our ferns and jasmine to the car. I have tried to attend other Mom's Club events before this one but they were either rained out or I hadn't gotten on the roster yet and didn't know I had too. I think we are all signed up for playgroup next week and I've talked to the person who's house it will be at so hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will get to go. If not, I will just take him back to Chic fil-a and turn him loose on that indoor playground again.

My Visual DNA

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Flying H

This week for SPF Kristine at Random and Odd asked us to show her our "letters". This could mean many things. I'm afraid I wasn't very creative this week. I fully intended on taking pictures today and coming up with something interesting but I got all caught up in whether or not my friends will be coming to visit for spring break and forgot all about this until around midnight. So in a rush to get my post up before I head off to bed I give you my letters...



Two letters on the wall in the living room. One from Ballard Design the other from Target. The first letter of our last name. I do have a little story about the letters though too. Last time my parents were here visiting my dad was sitting on the couch right below these two letters. I was going up and down the basement stairs putting things away and bringing other things up. One of my trips I slammed the basement door trying to avoid having the dog slip by into the basement which is not that clean since it is unfinished. Right as the door closed I heard a ringing noise that sounded like a tuning fork being struck. I looked into the living room to see my dad holding his head. The little silver H fell off the shelf when I slammed the door and hit him square on the top of his head causing the noise. Now I know this really had to hurt but the sound it made caused me to launch into a fit of hysterical laughter. That and the look on his face. I felt really bad about it and even worse that I found it so funny. Now I warn people who sit there to watch out for the H. I could take it down but that would mess up my grouping on the wall and you know I'm not about to mess up my decorating!

So, did ya play?

Bouncing Boy

Generally speaking I am not much of a bargain shopper. More or less if I see it and want it, I buy it. Every now and then though I am lucky enough to come across a great bargain. The best deal I've gotten lately has to be this big blow up bounce house thing I got for Jaykeb last fall at Kohl's. I think the original price on this sucker was $150 and by the time I got out of the store I only had to part with twenty-some dollars for this barrel of fun! They have CRAZY sales there and I had a return so I put that toward the purchase price and voila! Normally I wouldn't find this blog worthy but enlight of how much joy it brings my child (and the neighbor child) I thought I'd share. We finally plugged Jayke's house of bouncing fun in yesterday evening after giving it a well-deserved break over the short winter. Not only does this thing keep the kid contained in one area it thoroughly wears him out, a plus for me because then he is off to bed willingly when it is time. It also entertains The Dad because it has a basketball goal on it so he sits in his chair outside of the bouncer and shoots baskets while The Boy retrieves the ball for him. I get to laugh at both of them...it's a win, win, win, situation. I would say this rates right up there with the best twenty-something I ever spent!


....an action shot of The Boy!

....an action shot of The Dad(yes my garage is a little messy)!

....see, all worn out! Gotta love the bounce house!

Puppy Love

Could someone please tell me if it is normal for your child to spend more time pretending to be a puppy than a boy? Just askin'. Here is my "puppy" barking at me.

I took a bunch of pictures today but I don't feel like waiting for the friggin things to upload tonight so I will post them tomorrow. My computer and I have been fighting today and I'm not speaking to it anymore this evening...as soon as I finish writing this that is.

Sassy...yep!

Because I have nothing for you this morning you get this...

You Are Strawberry Cake

Fresh, sassy, and romantic. You're a total flirt, who never would turn down a sugary treat. Occasionally you're a bit moody - but you usually stay sweet!

What Kind of Cake Are You?

Finally Going for It!

Congratulations to AJ for finally going after what she wants. Don't forget if you need someone to practice on I am totally available...when in town. We will have to hide from The Boy though because apparently the last time you waxed my eyebrows it traumatized him since he is still talking about it. Your true test will be getting The Boy to let you cut his hair! Good luck!

"We Just Burn Stuff!"

I'm posting this for my friend Kim.


We had a fire last night where were you?

Before I moved so South Carolina my friend Kim and I would spend our weekends parked in front of their little outdoor fireplace burning anything we could get our hands on. Sometimes the kids would join us and we would make smores sometimes it would be just the grown ups with their grown up drinks sitting and talking around the fire. Last night Mike went out and set a large pile of branches on fire and it made me a little homesick. Only for a minute though.

While Mike was playing with his fire, the neighbor from the horse farm next door came over and told him that barns burn really easily and could we please put the fire out when we were finished. I couldn't help laughing at Mike being scolded and informed by a teenager so when I heard the volunteer fire department alarm go off I ran out to tell Mike they were coming for him. The neighbor, who had heard the exchange, came out to join Mike and brought him a beer. I guess he thought he might need one since he was stuck way out there minding the fire. I was busy chasing The Boy around making sure he didn't fall into any ravines.

I think he managed to inspect every inch of the ravine behind our property. I think he also found every mud hole and tripped over every branch in the yard. Now he has some nice scrapes to go with the bruises pictured below in my earlier post.

He fell asleep in my lap shortly after we got inside and slept the entire night. I'm going to make sure he plays outside every evening from now until next winter.

Tricks aren't for Kids!

Now that it is warm enough to wear shorts again I am noticing that my child is quite the clutz. He has bruises all over his legs. Someone is going to think I'm beating him. I'm not, by the way...at least not much.(JOKE!) I don't know how he manages to do this to his legs. Actually maybe I do. He plays outside on the deck a lot, I suppose he is whacking his legs on the deck furniture when he climbs in and out of it. Actually the other day he called me out to watch him. When I got to the door he was standing up on the chair and dove...yes, head first...off of the chair onto the cushion which he had thrown on the floor. He didn't hurt himself and seemed to have it under control so I let him continue. I knew he wouldn't stop if I told him too anyway. Later on that day he wanted me to come see his new "trick" in the living room. I couldn't wait. Turns out his new trick was more diving. This time from standing on the arm of the sofa onto the seat. I did make him stop doing this because the arm of the sofa was much higher than the seat of the chair outside and I could see potential broken bones in his future from performing this spectacular trick. He pleaded...

....but my answer was still no. No sofa diving for you kid! "But I have to do my tricks, Mommy!", he replied. "Then I have to tell your dad!" That was the end of the tricks for the day. He moved onto safer activities...

I'm sure he will find more tricks to amaze me with tomorrow.

St. Patrick's Day Meme

A St. Patrick’s Day Meme- via Cat

1. Do you wear green on St. Patrick’s Day? Only if it happens by accident. I never remember.
2. Have you ever found a four-leaf clover? Yep...can't say it brought me any luck though.
3. Do you pinch people who don’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day? No, because chances are I won't have green on either and I don't want to be pinched.
4. What’s the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to you?Probably haveing such a wonderful child. I got very lucky in the kid department...mine is great!
5. What’s the most unlucky thing that’s ever happened to you? I can't think of anything specific. I don't believe in luck too much.
6. Have you ever made or eaten anything dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day? What? Probably just cookies and cupcakes.
7. Leprechauns - charming or scary? I don't really think about them too much. They are a little creapy.
8. Have you ever seen the Leprechaun horror movies?I think so but I can't remember much about it.
9. When’s the last time you saw a rainbow? I usually see them at my grandma's house a lot but I can't remember the last time I saw one for sure.
10. What would you do with the gold at the end of the rainbow? Pay off all my bills, buy a new car, finish my basement, finish all my landscaping projects, take a trip to Italy, hire a personal trainer, and shop shop shop!

Manic Monday

Manic Monday
Welcome to Manic Monday, brought to us by Lisa. Today it's all about Random!!

Imagine you are on a first date and the person you are with has food stuck in his teeth. Would you tell him? What if he had food on his chin, nose or shirt?
I would definitely tell him! Who wants to be seen with some goober with food all over his face! Ha!

What breakfast cereal best describes your personality?
Special K with red berries...because I'm special and a little fruity!

Who would you most like to have a dream about tonight? What would you like to dream?
I will agree with Arlene on this one...they guy who hands out the lottery tickets! I'd like to dream he was handing one to me! I tell you I don't want to dream what I was dreaming last night and that was that Anna Nichol Smith was doing my hair...darn news programs I have to stop watching them right before I go to sleep!

There ya have it folks...did you play?

Wasted Weekend

We didn't do anything this weekend. Absolutely nothing. Mike was home for most of the weekend which was nice but also different because he is never here. He and Jaykeb planted a tree in the backyard and set up my birdbath for me. We cooked out on Sunday which we only really do when Mike is home and Jaykeb hung out on our new deck which is his favorite place now. He drives his cars out there and watches the birds. The time change has me a little confused in the sleeping department again but I will get over it and since everything is blooming my allergies are kicking in so I have had a headache most of the weekend. I even slacked on my blogging. I think everyone did this weekend.

Little Feet

I have fully intended on staining my fence before painting anything else inside the house but the hallway wall outside my office is TERRIBLE! I've included a picture to deomonstrate why the wall is so nasty.

Just one of the reasons...feet on the wall. There is also a smeared area right outside the door where he constantly holds onto the wall while talking to me. It is an interesting smear of colors. So I'm putting off staining the fence until I can paint the hallway which will probably lead to me painting the bedroom which then will cause me to HAVE to paint the bathroom. As slow as I paint that is a month's work right there. I have to go call the hubs now and see if I can buy paint with his Lowes gift cards he got for Christmas. I can't believe I haven't gotten my hands on those things yet anyway.

The Boy's New Hobby

I usually don't put pictures of myself on here but this one was taken by my little photographer so I'm sharing his work. Pretty good, huh? Okay, actually he took about 80 pictures and out of the 80 one turned out okay. At least he got one good one. He did take a very nice photo of the art on the dining room wall too but I thought you might find that boring. So here it is...

Mommy by Jaykeb

Show us your Bags!

Kristine at Random and Oddwants us to show her our luggage this week. It just so happened that I already had a picture of my luggage on my computer from when we went to Mexico so that is the one I'm using because I don't want to have to go dig out any other luggage to photograph. Sure I could put a picture of The Boy's super cute automobile themed luggage and matching backpack on here but that would take work. I could even dig out our complete set of matching suitcases we got right after we got married(ha, I don't know where we thought we were going)but that also would take a lot of work. I have numerous carry on bags, backpacks, and diaper bags I could have taken pictures of but they are burried in my closet some where. Then I started thinking of it in terms of "baggage". The only baggage we have is our debt. I considered taking a picture of a stack of bills but since they are scattered all over the place, tucked away in file folders, and tacked up on bullentin boards I decided to just go with the old picture of my bags I took to Mexico. 1 suitcase with a big frog name tag on it so it is easy to identify and one carry-on that totally doesn't match but I don't care.



So did ya play?

All Fixed Up!

This story is for AJ... Remember last Christmas when you waxed my eybrows using that horrid wax I bought, and did an outstanding job I might add? Well, tonight Jayke came in and climbed up on my lap and said, "I'm going to fix you up. I'm going to fix you like AJ did." He then preceded to put two return address labels on my eyebrows that we got free in the mail from the American Heart Asscociation. "There, he said all fixed up just like when AJ fixed you." So there I sat for about two minutes until he ripped them off and replaced them vertically so that my eyes were basically taped shut. I don't remember you using this technique when you worked on me. See how creative he is...creating new techniques for eyebrow waxing. I guess, in case you need your lashes waxed as well. I bet I looked smokin hot with those labels on my brows. Sorry, no pictures of that!

Now, Monday is over so could you please post a new entry on your blog?!?!?

A Well Deserved Day

Happy International Women's Day! Too bad it is not celebrated here in the states. I think I may make it a standard weekly holiday at my house. I learned about this holiday while visiting Bleeding Espresso...go see her and wish her a Happy Women's Day as she is in Italy where this holiday is actually a very big deal as it should be.

More Singing by Jayke

Show us your Parrot!

After 9-11 my husband went out and got a tattoo on his arm of an eagle. You can't see it unless he has his shirt off. Jaykeb has seen the tattoo many times. He likes to look at it now and then and I think sometimes he catches a glimpse of it when Mike's shirt sleeve rides up a little and then wants to see it. Anyway, the past several times he has asked to see it he says, "Daddy let me see your parrot." This of course causes me to crack up hysterically at the thought of Mike having a parrot tattooed on his arm. Mike always patiently tells Jaykeb it is an eagle then gives me an evil look to say shut up. So for those of you who read this and know my husband, next time you see him ask to see his parrot. I'm sure I will get in big trouble for telling this but you know me...anything to amuse myself. I need to go to bed.

They were trying to blow my house up!

No, really they were! Although my builder/Dad, who did not build my house, says they couldn't have, he needs to remember where I am when he says things like that. They were trying and might have succeeded if I didn't have the nicest furnace repair guy ever here to go tell them to turn off their equipment and call the gas company! Starting to believe me now? No? Keep reading... The morning started out cold since our furnace was broken still and waiting on a part. Jayke and I were hanging out on the back deck in the sunshine trying to keep warm. He was driving his cars in his footed jammies and I was curled up on my chaise in my jammies with a sweatshirt, extra thick slipper socks, and a blanket wrapped around my head trying to go back to sleep since Jayke got me up way to early for his muffin and milk. The furnace guy, whose name was Jamie (I know this because he ended up spending so much time at my house and I had to call him several times)showed up to replace the broken part and began his work in the attic. Weird place for a furnace if you ask me, but what do I know? I only come from a long line of builders and developers but whatever... Jamie was working away when lo and behold the guys show up to fix my driveway! Yes, you heard me right...they are finally fixing the driveway. Note: Turns out if you live in the county the builder only paves your driveway so far then the county comes in to finish it when they pave the roads for the final time. Underneath the unpaved part is my culvert tile. When they put the tile in they left a HUGE hump so that it is difficult to get out of the driveway and just a mess in general. I'm thinking it is going to be a great day, two things fixed at the same time! How wrong I was. The guys start right in digging and removing the tiles so they can lower them and the mountain I have to drive over everyday will be gone. Pretty soon they are digging over near the mailbox when I see one of them running and I hear a loud hissing sound. Yep...they cut my gas line. The guy running the equipment, which I'm going to call a backhoe even though I know it isn't exactly, puts the shovel of the backhoe over the leak and jumps off yelling at me to call the gas company. Jamie comes flying out of the attic as soon as he smells the gas and starts yelling at the backhoe operator to turn that thing off before he blows us all up. He is now on the phone calling someone, the backhoe operator is calling someone and I'm still on hold with the gas company. We all end our calls and just stand there for a few minutes then Jamie says he has to go on to another job and the backhoe guys go up the hill to find some smaller tile so I am left to deal with the gas company when they get here. I only want to know one thing and that is that I'm not responsible for any of this mess! I'm not. So everything is being fixed and repairs are continuing so I call to get Jamie back out here to finish the furnace repairs and they tell me that I'm going to have to pay him another $60 diagnostic charge for coming back out. Now I start to lose my temper. So far this has all been humorous to me because I knew I didn't have to pay for any of it. Now I'm mad. I immediately call the builder who sent the backhoe guys and told them to dig without having things marked and told them they would have to pay me for the additional $60 charge. They agreed and Jamie showed up again to finish his minor repair work. His minor repair turned out not to be so minor as they are coming back tomorrow to rerun the duct work they put in wrong when they built the house. I don't have to pay for that either and I have heat tonight so I'm able to blog about this with amusement instead of rage.

Where are the pictures you ask? Right here...you know I wasn't going to miss out on this blogging opportunity! The only thing that would have made it a better blog post is if they would have swung one of those huge drainage tiles through the windshield of Mike's truck...now that would have been a good post.




I had to take these pictures from inside the house because I didn't want to make the guys nervous wondering why I was taking their picture. Jaykeb watched the whole thing from the window too.

Shamrock Hunt

Here is a cute game you can play with your kids for St. Patty's day. I will be trying it out with The Boy for the first time this year.
First make a bunch of shamrocks out of green construction paper. Most of them should be 3 leaf but make a couple of them 4 leaf ones too. You can laminate these so that you can use them over again next year. "Plant" the shamrocks around the house and send your kids on a hunt. When they find the shamrock with 4 leaves they get a "pot of gold". Have a little bowl of gold foil chocolate coins for them as their prize.

I think The Boy will like this...it's kind of like an Easter egg hunt and this is right up my alley! I will be heading out later to get my "gold".

Manic Monday

Welcome to Manic Monday, brought to us by Lisa, but I got it from AJ!! Yes, Monday is almost over but I'm posting this anyway.
16 Days to Spring!

What is your favorite part of spring? Your least favorite?
My favorite part of spring is the when everything starts to bloom and look pretty and of course the warmer weather all though that isn't such a problem anymore.
My least favorite part is mud! We have a new yard so we have lots of mud for my little monster to track in...see earlier post below!

It's Severe Weather Preparedness Week this week. What's the most severe weather event you've experienced?
I guess the blizzard of 78 and the ice storm of 04( I think it was 04)in Indiana of course where the weather is horrible!

Daylight Savings Time begins next Sunday, three weeks earlier than in previous years. How do you feel about DST? Love it, hate it, couldn't care less?
I pretty much don't care one way or another but I am always confused for a while when it happens.


So, did you play??

My Head is Going to Explode!

This blog party, as great as it is, is going to kill me! I was already blog obsessed and now it has kicked into overdrive! Hey, 5MFM, after the party could you host a bloggers anonymous meeting???!!!? I am spending so much time reading other blogs I haven't even had time to post on my own today! There are comments to read, contests to enter, and I have to update my blog roll! I'm going to need a blog vacation when this party ends. It has led me to some great blogs and introduced me to some great people though. I'm excited about that!

I had a busy day today...other than blogging, which I haven't gotten to do much of today. First Jayke was off to Mom's morning Out then I went to check out a preschool for him to start in the fall. He can actually start going there this summer, which he will, but the "school" part runs on the regular school year so the summer thing will just be to have some socialization and get to do fun stuff. I'm excited because he will get to stay in his Mom's Morning Out class too. So four days a week he will have "school" and then there is Mom's Club which meets several times a week so we are in for a busy summer. While I was talking to the lady who owns the preschool she asked who we relocated with down here and when I told her it turns out she lives right next door to one of the guys Mike works with and is good friends with. Small world. She is from Michigan...I tell ya, everyone down here is from the Midwest!

After that meeting I had to stop off at the consignment store to check my account and then return a tub of skanky Peter Pan to the grocery where they were having a great sale so I shopped for a while not forgetting to pick up the ingredients for a recipe I found on a blog while party hopping. I'm such a "Susie Homemaker" nowadays.
I passed Mike on the way home to drop of the groceries...he had to work the night shift because "The German" was coming in to help them run BMW(see my 100 things for a brief explanation of this). We met at home and he went straight to bed while I unloaded, called the furnace repair guy because, yes that is now broken, and dashed off to pick Jayke up. Shortly after arriving home the repair guy showed up to diagnose my furnace. He was unable to fix it today so it will be a chilly morning tomorrow when we wake up but it should be fixed tomorrow afternoon. The rest of the day was spent cleaning and entertaining Jaykeb, cooking dinner, giving Jaykeb a bath, and teaching him how to play his Vtech video game. I finally got to sneak off to the computer to read some blogs and write this real quick. Some may say that doesn't sound like a busy day but for Jayke and I who usually don't do anything but hang out at home it was extremely busy and I feel better this evening than most. I'm not happy with my ever growing list of broken appliances however:washing machine, refridgerater, and now furnace. What will be next? Probably the microwave I don't have very good luck with them.

So where are the pictures you ask? Right here! Just a few random shots of the kid because I know Oma has been waiting for them so here ya go...he is feeling much better!

Here Kitty Kitty!

I am so getting this phone! I hope the hubs doesn't read this post since I just got a Razr not too long ago. I don't like the Razr though and anyone who knows me knows I'm krazy for the Kitty! Wonder why Dad didn't get me this for Christmas since he got me every Hello Kitty appliance known to man!

100 Things

Since I was supposed to write a post introducing myself for the party I decided to write one of those 100 things memes instead. You can see it HERE. I haven't taken any pictures of The Boy recently since he has been sick but I will try to get back to that this week. I know that is what some of you come here for. I assumed you didn't want to see pictures of him throwing up though. So far so good on the hubs and me not catching it...I'm not uncrossing the fingers yet though.

IPod Meme

I was visiting blogs for the Blog Party and found this Meme on Arlene's blog. I thought it was interesting because you can learn a lot from people by the music they listen to so I thought I'd do it. Here's the deal: You turn your IPod/MP3 player onto shuffle and list the first 10 songs that shuffle through. No skipping or telling stories!! List those 10...

1. Dream Weaver-Gary Wright
2. It's been Awhile-Staind
3. Glamorous-Fergie
4. Shake That-Eminem
5. Got To Be Real-Cheryl Lynn
6. Shake-Ying Yang Twins
7. Don't Fear the Reaper-Blue Oyster Cult
8. Summertime-DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince
9. Photograph-Nickelback
10. Promiscuous-Nelly Furtado

Okay...I have no idea what this says about me...I'm a hip-hoppin' disco queen with a flavor for some rock-n-roll now and then? I don't know, my music taste is all over the place. I really like 70s music above all else though. Comment and let me know if you played.

Sick Boy

Warning! If you aren't a mom you probably won't appreciate this post.

I don't think you have experienced motherhood to the fullest until you have had a child with the stomach flu. It took 3 years but mine finally managed to catch it. I've been dreading this day because I have serious issues with throwing up. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to handle it. Turns out what everyone says is true, when it is your own child you don't even think about it you just clean it up and go on and man have I been cleaning it up. Poor little guy didn't even know what was going on. He did finally learn to tell us and last night Mike managed to get him to the bathroom in time. He was quite proud of himself for that accomplishment. He is all better now but everytime he burps he freaks out thinking he is going to get sick. Tonight he started jumping up and down yelling, "I don't like that, I don't like that!" because he burped and started to panic. Now I am just praying that the hubs and I don't get it and also that all the moms from Mom's Morning Out and Mom's Club decide to not infect my child and keep their sick children home from now on.

Tiny Bubbles

I'm reposting this for the Blog Party because every party needs some good music.

If you want to know what the blog party is or want to join...click the button over there -->

Webkinz by Ganz

Jaykeb got a Webkinz from Meemaw and P'pa for Christmas and loves it. This is Jaykeb's Webkinz, Elliot the Gorilla. Basically you go to the website and purchase your animal. The animal comes with a tag that has a special code for your use only and you go to the website with your code and adopt your Webkinz. After adopting it is your resposibility to feed him, take him to the vet, design his bedroom, and give him clothes. There are games to play on the website where you can earn more "money" to buy things for your Webkinz. Jaykeb seems to enjoy it for a short period of time. His attention span is not too long yet since he is only three. It makes a great gift and is something that parents can do with the kids and enjoy too...at least I did.

Mud Monster!

Opa! We could really use that dump-truck load of playground mulch!!! As you can see The Boy managed to get himself good and dirty the other day playing on his swingset with his friends. Twice I looked over and he was literally down on the ground rolling in the mud from falling. The clothes he has on in this picture is the second outfit he had on while playing. His backside looked worse but because he was screaming to get into the tub or go back out we only got the one picture. I have a feeling I will be doing a butt-load of laundry this spring.

Blog Party!

Come on over and get noticed! Click on the button either in this post or on the sidebar to find out more and to register for prizes.

SPF-Leftovers

My leftovers are actually my husbands leftovers. Two half full beer cans from two days of coming home from work and falling asleep in the chair before he can finish them. You would think he would just stop trying to drink them but he doesn't...I empty one everyday.

I know, boring SPF but this was kind of a hard one for me without getting really graphic. I will do better next week, I promise!

Remember These...

....edible wax lips? I remember them from when I was a kid. I never liked them but Mike told me he did so I got both Jaykeb and Mike some for Valentine's day. I have pictures of my mom, Grammy, and me all wearing them too but I was afraid to put them on here so ya just get The Boy.

Rock Climbing and a Hole in One!

For something to do while in Florida we took The Boy to play miniature golf. He had never done this before so I thought he would be excited to learn how. He was excited for about the first 5 holes then all he wanted to do was climb the faux waterfalls. My mom ended up playing the holes by herself because it was so expensive she didn't want to waste her money. We did manage to entertain ourselves though with our really lousy play. She ended up losing a ball in the water and the one hole I tried to play I ended up hitting it way too hard and had to go retrieve it a couple of holes down the path. We didn't keep score, of course but Jayke did end up hitting a hole in one right before quitting to scale the waterfall. I think he enjoyed it for a few minutes though and that's what matters...that and getting pictures for the blog!
Here he is attempting to hit the ball and missing. He had a hard time remembering which way to hold his club...guess he needs some lessons from the golf coach in the family, P'pa.

....and here is the waterfall he tried to climb. He will climb anything. Luckily I dragged him off of it before he got too high and fell to his doom.

She's Lost it Folks

It's two thirty in the morning and all is quiet at my house until all of a sudden I am awakened by hysterical laughter. It takes me a second to realize that the lunatic snorting loudly and laughing in the middle of the night is me. All of a sudden I hear a voice booming over my laughter, "What the hell is the matter with you!?!"...it's Mike who was just jolted out of his sleep by my hyena-like fit. I can barely even answer him I am laughing so hard. I finally manage to tell him I must have been dreaming and he rolls over to go back to sleep. I, on the other hand, cannot quit laughing so I get up to leave the bedroom where I trip over the large dump truck Jaykeb has left in the middle of the floor, causing me to mutter under my breath while stumbling loudly towards the door and sending me into another fit of hysteria. Mike, for some reason, was not amused at this point which...yep you guessed it...made me laugh more. I figured I better stay out of the bedroom until I can get this madness under control so here I sit, middle of the night, writing about a dream I can't remember and still laughing. I hope this isn't like that girl who can't quit hiccuping...I'd hate to have some condition where I burst into uncontrollable laughter every few minutes. Mike will divorce me for sure. I better go take my meds just to be safe.

Looney for Clooney?

Then come see me! He is filming his new movie, Leatherheads, in this hotel which is a short drive into town from my house.



...and yes, I have heard reports that he is(was before heading off to the Oscars) in town.

Cassanova and Little Phooey Howell

My son is a ladies man! He likes the ladies and the ladies like him. I've known this for a while now...ever since he threw a fit about the boy next door riding on his four wheeler with Jaykeb's little girl friend who he had been driving around. He did not want Micah to ride with her at all. He is always drawn to girls, grown girls or little girls. In Florida his eyes lit up when he saw Nate's friend, Nikki, come into the restaurant and sit next to him. He had her fixing his food and was flirting with her non-stop. Today at the Mom's club Jaykeb immediately started playing with the cutest little girl. I didn't really notice until he started hopping around crying when I tried to take him away from her. He wanted to sit next to her to eat his snack. They sat there munching on cookies until another little girl came to get her friend to go color. Jaykeb's little girlfriend went with her but soon returned to collect Jaykeb. She walked up took his hand and led him over to the coloring table across the room. Cutest thing ever but I will have my eye on these chicas.

I recommend Mom's Club for anyone who is a stay at home mom and has a chapter in their area. There were probably about 20 mom's there and around 40 kids. The kids played in a play room while the adults watched a presentation on Creative Memories. Afterward we talked and played with the kids inside then outside on the playground. I found out a lot of the Moms are from the Midwest...Ohio, Michigan,and even one from Indianapolis. Her name is Wendy...imagine that. I found out about soccer, and pre-school and season passes to the zoo all in a matter of minutes. They do fun stuff too like trips to the zoo, Chuckie Cheese's, Monkey Joe's, and other fun things. There are also lots of other activities like book club, cooking club, girl's night out, walking club, playgroup, babysitting co-op and more I can't remember at the moment. I am really glad I found it and Jaykeb LOVED it. Why wouldn't he there were lots of little girls to flirt with. There was even one little baby girl he was calling his sister because I have been asking him if he wants a sister. Turns out he does want a sister and wants to name her Phooey. Don't ask because I have no idea why. Little Phooey Howell...maybe I will have to work on that. For now I am just going to enjoy the Mom's Club.

Just an update

All my company is gone now and Jayke and I are settling in to our ole routine again. He was back at school today and when he got there they had a big back of Valentine's for him. He was so excited. I thought it was really nice of them to save it for him since we were on vacation when they had their big party. My mom is trying to recover from her vacation. Grandma is back in rehab trying to get her balance better again after falling on the way home in the parking lot at a gas station. She spent the 3 days they were here in bed trying to rest her back. Jim's parents(Grandma and Grandpa Krause) and sister, Jennifer, came for a visit on Saturday. They brought their rescue dog, Harry, with them. You know Jaykeb was thrilled about that! They had a birthday present for him too...it was a Nerf gun we used to shoot Daddy with when he got home from work. I don't know who enjoyed it more...Jaykeb or Mommy. Surprisingly he didn't take the gun to shoot me back...I think my mom was disappointed about that. Now I have no one planning to come unless Kim actually makes it on her way to and/or from Florida this year. I am planning a trip back to Indiana in April or May around the time my moves to help her with Grandma but I don't have that nailed down yet either. I think it will be nice to hang out here for a while now that the weather is nice and we start the Mom's Club tomorrow. I have a feeling we are about to become very busy. I will put some more Florida pics up later. I have a few of our big golf outing to post just too tired tonight. For those who know of my insomnia and weird sleep habits...I am back on a normal schedule and hopefully will be keeping it that way. Goodnight!

More of the Beach Bum

I love to see the pictures of my mom in the water with Jayke because she hates going in there and getting wet so it amuses me to see her go so willingly for him. The water was really cold too.