Look What I Bought!

Well...here it is. Please ignore the front door color. I will be changing that ASAP!!! We close on March 10th. Just in time for Jayke to go to kindergarten round up at his new school.

The Par Tay

Finally! Pictures. In my defense I have one puter with a virus and the other with a sick cd rom which has caused me to not be able to get it hooked up to the router. Enough with the excuses and on to the par tay!

As you can see by the picture of the cake I went all out as usual. Probably...no definitely...went overboard. Oh well. Your one and only kid only turns 5 once right? We had games which they really didn't care about because we also had a bounce house. Pretty much I could have thrown the bounce house in the middle of the room and forgot about everything else. Angi brought over her hotdog roller thingy and we had hotdogs cooking carnival style the whole time. Dad brought his big popcorn popper but I decided it was so big and heavy that we really didn't need it.




Somehow the moms all ended up taking over the little sunglasses that were meant for the kids. I managed to get my friends to stand still for a minute to get a picture. I didn't have as much luck with the kids.



This was Jayke's first pinata. He got the first swing but didn't crack it open. The bigger kids ended up bus ting it later. Mike and Ryan held a board with the pinata in the middle. I told Mike I should get to go first. After all I would be blindfolded with a big stick...

Jayke got lots of presents and I think he had lots of fun even if he was a little intimidated when all the girls started showing up. We don't have many boy friends. There were a total of 3 boys there...including Jayke. All the sides of the family came. I was so busy with kids I didn't get to talk to anyone though unless it was regarding a game or where something was. When the kids started leaving I was ready to bust out the margarita machine! Next year it's going to be Chuckie Cheese's and done!

A New Game

My puter is sick...she has a virus. Hence the lack of blogging. She is going to Anderson for the week to see Dr. Gregg. He is going to give her a lobotomy and restore her to the day she was born so hopefully she will be as good as new soon and I will be back to blogging. Might use the laptop in the mean time if I can get that biotch working correctly. I have lots of b-day party pics to upload and edit. Yes, I survived and with the exception of forgetting a knife to cut the cake it went off without a hitch. Shocking, I know.

So here is a tid bit to tide you over until the pics are posted.

Jayke was at dad's last Monday and they were doing their usual Monday routine of eating poptarts and watching Las Vegas. Dad told me the following conversation was had when all of a sudden Jayke popped up after hearing something on the show that got his attention..

Jayke: THAT'S the game I wanna play!

Dad: What's that?

Jayke: HIDE THE SALAMI!!!

Dad: (laughing hysterically) Okay well go ask Meemaw if she knows anything about that game.

Amazing what they allow to go out on network television these days....maybe Las Vegas isn't the best show for a 5 year old to be watching. Jaykeb just thought it was a new fancy version of hide and seek. I think he better stick to Spongebob and his infomercials that seem to entertain him so well. So far he is totally impressed with the space bags, the pan that you flip the whole pan and don't have to use a spatula, and the hangers that allow you to hang way more clothes in your closet. He told me he is getting me spacebags for Christmas because they, "keep your things clean and dry!" He will usually go into a full fledged recitation of the annoying infomercial. If it isn't bad enough that I have to be assaulted by my television with these loud obnoxious commercials now I have a live and in person version in my own room! At least I know if the rocket scientist gig falls through he has a backup!

It's a Comin'!

It's that time! Planning The Boy's big birthday bash! I'm trying to do an indoor carnival this year complete with bounce house and carnival games. We will see how this goes. His birthday is in two weeks and I just started working on it today. Normally...before last year that is...I would have had this all bought, planned, organized, strategized, etc, a month ago! My life would be so much easier if his birthday were in the summer. Pool party at dad's and I'm done.

Don't Touch The Hair!

Jayke has some hair issues. Basically the back of his head is one big cowlick. I can't do anything with it unless I keep it buzzed or wash it every morning. He is against the washing every morning and basically I am too in the winter. What am I saying, I don't ever wash it because we don't have a bathtub up here so he does all his bathing at my mom's. That is beside the point though and a different post. Back to the hair....

I try to let it grow out some in the winter which is when we have the issues. I've decided that he is just going to have to have it sprayed down and moussed everyday now. He is thrilled. We had a big arguement about it and as you can see by the picture he is armed and ready for when I come at him with my styling products.

I should have written this yesterday....oh well, here goes...

I have had two requests from friends now to update this thing. They may not be "Commenters" but at least I know someone reads this other than my family who are required by law.

Yesterday was my one year anniversary at my wonderful place of employment. Yeah rah. I so should have written this yesterday when I was amused with the place instead of ready to quit, but anyhoo...Since it was my anni I promptly went to Jessica's office when I got there to ask where my balloons, streamers, and marching band were. Afterall, an employee like me should be celebrated right? Right! She told me happy f'n anniversary and went back to what she was doing. Shes just sweet like that. I smiled waved my favorite finger at her and strolled on down the hall.

I went to my office and dove right into my work like I do every morning...snicker...when all of a sudden the owner popped in. She handed me something and told me it was the best she could do and happy anniversary. I was so touched that she would take time out of her busy day, doing whatever it is she does in that mess of an office of hers, to come bestow a gift upon me in celebration of me gracing her with my presence for an entire year. So, what did she give me you ask? What does the bestest employee eva get on her anni? Well let me show ya....





You may be asking yourself what the hell is that? I totally would have been too if I hadn't made floral arrangements for ten years before I became a slave to the medical billing world. That, my friends, is a Christmas bulb which has been floral taped to a wooden floral pick that she pulled out of the arrangement in the board room. You gotta love a boss with a sense of humor like that! No one gets anything for their anniversary cept a review but I got this special gift. Something no one else got or probably ever will!

I immediately called Jessica to tell her what a smart a** she is. She didn't know about the special gift but had sent an email to Jill about my inquiring about my marching band and streamers. Of course, she thought her creativity in coming up with the appropriate show of appreciation was outstanding. I have to admit it was pretty funny and I felt special even if it was the two of them laughing at me. Like she told me Monday, whilst glaring at me over her tissue,..."I just joke with you because you're the only one I can talk to like that and not find crying in their office later!" I can feel the love people.


I may have a Christmas update someday soon. That will be after Sara has me make contact with Miss Cleo to find out what my future may hold...

Green Christmas

This is what it looks like when Dad goes GREEN for Christmas!



...the ones that wouldn't fit under the tree. The ones under the tree are as green as these are. I think they were just being tight and didn't want to buy any gift wrap!

Baking With P'pa

Jaykeb has been helping my dad with his anual Christmas baking. Every year my dad starts baking weeks before Christmas and bakes enough to supply a small village with cavities. Since Jayke goes there on Mondays and Tuesday he volunteered, possibly by force, to help. I'm getting conflicting stories. Jayke is telling me they made him help, mom and dad are saying he wanted to. I'm guessing it was both. He wanted to help in the beginning, got tired, and they made him finish. Whatever it is you can see by the pictures that he was obviously enjoying himself!

He is Getting Creative!

Jayke is trying a new approach to getting his gifts early this year. This afternoon while at my dad's house he decided he wasn't going to go there for Christmas. Started telling them he didn't want to spend the night before Christmas there. I guess he thought if he told them he wasn't going to be there they would give him his gifts today. It was a nice try but unfortunately for him they have been around for a while and were on to him.



One of my favorites...Christmas 2007. My little elf.

Another One Bites The Dust

I didn't get a chance to sniff around for that stolen lotion. Crazy Coffee Crack girl no call/no showed on Thursday and was fired Friday morning. It was coming whether she did that or not though. Friday she called the office 10 times disguising her voice and pretending she was different patients trying to get our supervisor to talk to her. She must have forgotten we have caller ID. I'm sort of depressed about it. Who will we have to entertain us now?

On the upside of the firing, we now have a position available and I have a friend who needs a job. I've already talked to Jessica about it and on the way out of work yesterday I grabbed an application for Angi. I told Jessica I wouldn't talk to Angi anymore than I talked to Holly or Sara at work so she wouldn't need to worry about that plus we have worked together at two other jobs in the past and it wasn't an issue. We will see what happens.

Jayke went to see Santa yesterday...this was the pic I snapped with the phone. He likes going to see Santa and the Easter Bunny now. I used to have to bribe and beg him. He hopped right up there, got his picture taken, and told Santa he wants trucks for Christmas. I was wondering if he was going to say pillows. He has been telling everyone he wants pillows for Christmas which took me a while to figure out why. He is into making "nests" on the floor with blankets and pillows to sleep in. I guess he has decided he needs more pillows for his nests and Santa is the way to get them. The Santa was really good this year he even had a real beard. If I get around to it I will scan the real thing next time I'm at my dad's and post it, I know the quality of this picture is terrible.

What's That I Smell?

We are doing a Secret Santa thing at work which I thought would be fun since I've never worked anywhere that does that. I was super excited that I drew someone who I really like too. It's always easier to buy gifts for someone when you like and know them. We started last Friday and all has been going well until today.

I snuck up to the front with my little gift bag in hand this morning and dropped off my gift at the front desk when no one was looking. We can put the gifts any where in the building which makes it kind of fun cause you never know when you might run across a bag of goodies with your name on it. Mission accomplished, I went back to my office.

We had a meeting today, which the owner holds randomly. It was the same ol stuff...don't use the phone for personal calls, don't talk to your friends at work, don't run space heaters if you aren't in an approved office...yadda yadda yadda. Would have been a totally normal meeting except for the new employee. She is nuts. Plain and simple. She kept interupting the meeting very rudely for random things. She even started off by asking to use the restroom right as our owner was beginning. Now we have had over a week's notice for this meeting and had two reminders today. She surely could have taken care of her business before the meeting but oh well.

When she came back from the bathroom was when the fun began. She sprinkled a little something in her coffee out of the palm of her hand(no one knows what), proceeded to stir it with her ink pen, slurped the coffee off her pen, then started scrubbing it with a napkin while we all sat and watched her in shock and horror. (I know you are probably wondering at this point what this has to do with the Secret Santa business...hold on...I'm getting to it). The meeting continued with everyone watching and waiting to see what she would do next. There was some beating on a tablet because her pen wouldn't work and many rude pointless interuptions. When the meeting was over the office was nuts...everyone was in each other's offices talking about her behavior.

That is when I went into Sue's office to hear what she had to say about the whole thing, afterall, Sue is training her. While I was in there I pretended to want to see what her Secret Santa had given her...I'm her Secret Santa. She picked up the bag that I had just given her and it was empty! It had had a bottle of Bath and Body Works lotion in it. Not the tiny sample size the large bottle! Gone. We both looked all over, the whole time with me trying not to give away that I am her santa and getting madder by the moment. We never found it.

Now I'm not pointing any fingers...ahem, whacko from the meeting earlier...but we have only had one other instance of theft in the office and that girl was fired months ago. Turns out whacko from the meeting has also been going around asking to borrow money from everyone and randomly goes into people's offices and asks to see what they got from their Secret Santa. She was also caught in Sue's office earlier that day rummaging through things. When asked what she was doing she got flustered and left in a hurry. Again, not pointing any any fingers...ahem, lotion stealing whacko!

Tomorrow I will be literally sniffing around her office and if the heifer smells like Winter Candy Apple I'm going to tackle her.

Not So Cute on YOU!

Here is The Boy in one of his new hats. He saw these hats and had to have them. Probably figure if he picked his own it would save him from having his head stuffed into whatever I picked which, it turns out, he hated what I picked.

He got two of these. This one and a black and white one with skulls on it. We went over to Oma's and lo and behold SHE HAS ONE TOO! I might add that hers is not nearly as cute as Jaykes. In fact, it is down right hilarious. We all took turns trying it on. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera or my phone with me. I promise to go back over and try to get pictures of the clan all sporting Oma's styling cap she picked up in the men's department at Meijer. What is really funny is she doesn't even go outside so we aren't sure why she bought it!

Just contemplating what death by fireplace would be like...

Very few will understand this...stop laughing mom!

Mommy, do you want to know what Oma got you for Christmas?

No Jaykeb I don't.

Mommy, are you sure you don't want to know because I really want to tell you.

No Jaykeb, Oma doesn't want you to tell me.

Okay Mommy but I'm pretty sure you're gonna hate it!


Well Now I just can't wait to see what kind of crap the woman has bought me this year! Joking of course...sort of...

Christmas May Come Afterall

Jayke accidentally saw one of his Christmas presents in Oma's closet yesterday. Not a good thing. He wanted it right then and was not going to take no for an answer. Part of the problem was he was over tired. The other part is he is stuborn and I have not idea where he gets it...snicker.

He threw the biggest fit, crying and carrying on that he wanted that truck NOW! I loaded him up and took him home and made him go straight to bed. 3 hours later he came into my room to go to the bathroom (in the bathroom not my room this time)and stopped suddenly. He looked at me and said, "Tomorrow when I get to Oma's I'm getting that truck out." I just said whatever and sent him back to bed.

First thing in the morning when he got up he came into my room and told me again that he was getting that truck when he got to Oma's. Thinking I was clever and had this all figured out I told him that the Shelf Elf took it back to the North Pole for Santa to keep until Christmas since he saw it when he wasn't supposed to. Jaykeb just looked at me with this expression that told me I was most ridiculous person he had ever met and told me, "Mommy, Oma bought that truck at the Rural King." I think he even rolled his eyes at me!

What could I say? He was right. He knew he was right and I knew he knew he was right. What happened to my little boy who believed me when I told him the "Binky Fairy" was going to come take his binky and give it to a little baby who needed one? What happened to my little boy who believed that if he misbehaved the police would come take him "Downtown"? (yes we use scare tactics in this house) Before long he won't even believe in Santa at all! This has made me decide that I better get my sh*t together and put up a Christmas tree for Santa to leave presents under. I better string some lights up outside and order some Christmas cards with The Boy's face plastered on them for friends and family to admire.



After all, who doesn't want this staring at them when they pull their Christmas card from the Howells out of it's envelope!

I will be decking the halls this weekend. I hope the elf across the pond is ready to work. I will need someone to haul all that stuff in from the barn!

My Birthday Just Keeps on Going...

Today was my birthday party at work. The way it works is if you sign up you are responsible for giving the next person after your birthday's birthday party. Holly, one of my good friends at work, was responsible for throwing my birthday bash. This entails finding out where you want to order lunch from and posting signs so everyone knows ahead of time, buying the birthday person's lunch, buying a cake, and a gift. Everyone who knows me knows that I'm addicted to the liquid crack...diet coke. So, when I came in this morning this is what I found in my chair...




Holly has seen me staring at the coke machine in the break room many times in dismay that the diet coke is gone. She always tells me to just bring a case in and keep it there, after all we have two refrigerators. I can just put some in there to have it cold when I need it. I guess she got tired of telling me and took it upon herself to supply my addiction.

I also got a gift card to Chilis. Another of my addictions. Anytime we are going out to lunch and I get to pick its Chilis. They can even order for me because I apparently am such a creature of habit. She gifted it to me in the cutest little change/credit card holder. Pink with white polka dots and an embroidered green W on it.

I also had a gift from Sara and one from Sue waiting for me and Laura stopped in to drop off a much needed gift certificate to my nail joint. Just in time cause these things are needing a fill in and my eyebrows are out of control. I will be hittin the Super Nail this week fo sho!

Took a couple of pictures of the kiddo yesterday when we were at my mom's and the day before at my dad's. It has become difficult getting a shot of him without a goofy face so I was pleased with these..



Here he is with one of my new favorite things...a soft peppermint stick. He gave it a couple of licks then decided he didn't like it. Oh well, more for me!

Rockin Birthday

Got this for my birthday. Funny thing is...Angi's husband was the first to play it. We all met and went out to dinner last night. After dinner, Melanie, Angi, and I were going shopping and Ryan was going to keep all the kids. It was the least I could do...that, and I probably wouldn't have made it out of the driveway without leaving it for him. I got the Guitar Heroes Aerosmith game with it too. I had to laugh this morning when I was trying to open it to play it myself. Ryan had packed that thing back up like he was a professional. I couldn't even tell it had been opened! From every thing being right where it belonged in it's plastic packaging to the box being taped up tighter than Fort Knox.

I also got deer warning thingies to put on my car. Someone thinks they are funny I guess. I'm not laughing.

Today Jim made homemade manicotti for me. He used to make it every year for my birthday but hasn't for a long time. Jayke picked out my cake, it was a chocolate cake that had a cherry filling. I'm all for a good cherry now and then but I really just want a white cake with white icing on my birthday. I may have to go buy myself a second birthday cake. I'm still asking myself why I had to buy the first one to begin with!

Snow on the ground here today! More coming tonight. It almost makes me want to put up Christmas decorations. I said, ALMOST...I'm not even putting up a Christmas tree this year. I am officially turning into my mother...poor Jayke. Not a single Christmas light will be lit at our house this year. Well, Grammy has her little tiny tree up downstairs but that is it. I'm a scrooge, I know.

Black Birthday Friday

I think I've established a new tradition....getting into Target on Black Friday without standing in line. Although it wasn't as exciting as last year I did manage to by pass the line again this year and get into the store ahead of the masses waiting in the cold. This year it was strictly for the fun of it. There wasn't anything I needed or wanted necessarily...just to get in ahead of everyone else. My friends...a hem, ANGI...chickened out at the last minute and held back. Jen's mom, Becky, was all for it however and was in early with me!

I think they caught on to my trick last year too because this year they had the carts chained together. There would be no moving them out of the way like last year. No problem...I just stood at the end of them and when they opened the door ran around everyone. It's kind of crazy they even bother with coming out and telling people to get to the back of the line. I had plenty of people joining me in my line jumping.

Now I don't know what happens to a person once in and amidst the throngs of crazed shoppers but I did end up grabbing one of the door busters since I was in there and all. I grabbed myself a mini digital camcorder. People were snatching them up like crazy and I guess I felt a little panicked that I wasn't getting one too so I grabbed one while I could. I will be getting it from Santa Dad at Christmas. The only thing I was really interested in was the cheap cheap DVDs that Target had as doorbusters. I got 4 of them for The Boy. Goonies, Gremlins, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Transformers. We are going old skool with our movie viewing this year. Jakeb discovered Indiana Jones and LOVES it! He also loves ET so I thought Gremlins and Goonies would also be good ones.

After the Target shopping we headed to The Mart....Walmart had a trampoline as their doorbuster. Since Jaykeb no longer has a swing set I asked Dad if he would get him a tramp for Christmas. Of course he will...he gets everyone everything they want every year. If it's on the list it is as good as yours. I got the second to the last tramp! Getting it into the cart and out to the car was the interesting part.

We hit a few more places after that. Lovin those $5 wallflowers at Bath and Body Works this year! Since it was my birthday and all Jen bought my breakfast and for lunch we went to Chili's....my favorite! Holly and Sara met us there on their lunch break and Angi bought me my birthday lunch.

All in all it was a good day. I finally went home around 2 to take a nap. Unsuccesfully I might add since people kept calling and texting to wish me a happy birthday. I could feel the love people, I could feel it every 15 minutes!

Speaking of the love, Jaykeb went out shopping for my birthday again this year. I had shown him a charm bracelet that I wanted. He kept telling my mom about it so she took him shopping. Once in the store mom said he was absolutely panicked because he couldn't remember what I had told him I wanted. She had to calm him down and they started looking at the jewelry. When they finally made it out with their purchase mom told me he was looking at it in the box. He was quite proud of himself for his selection and was running his hand over the fluffy white cotton that comes with jewelry, "Oma LOOK! They even put soft stuff in it!" Of course they put that soft stuff in there just special for HIS mommy.

I am wearing the earings today and he is very happy about that. I had to wear them today for sure because last night he came in and saw the box on the bed. He picked it up and asked me in a totally serious manner, "Don't you like your earings?" I told him I did and made a mental note to wear them today FOR SURE! When he saw that I didn't have the necklace on today he said I had to wear it tomorrow! Such a male...so sensitive.

Go Cards!

Yeah!!!Ball State 12 and 0 for the season! My internet is not working at home again so that is why the lack in posts. I have nothing here at my mom's to post either so this is what ya get!

I am happy that Jayke's dad got to see him score 4 goals at soccer on Sunday. You could tell Jaykeb was really trying hard as opposed to the week before when he just was out there messing around.

Thanksgiving will be at my mom's tomorrow afternoon and my friend, Jen's, tomorrow evening. Black Friday is taking an interesting turn. Jen wants us all to wear matching shirts and call ourselves team Santa. I had a better idea...Angi, Sara, and I could all wear a shirt that just says "HO" and Jen can wear her "I believe" shirt. When we stand together we will read Ho Ho Ho! Alone...just ho. We can change our name to team HO. Its my birthday so I should get what I want right???

I'm thrilled to death that Holly put signs up all over the office with my age on them. People are going around changing the numbers and I get people coming in telling me they can't believe that is my real age. That makes me happy. Monday we are having my birthday celebration at work. Holly is responsible for getting my lunch, cake, and gift.

Jaykeb got a gift from Aunt Dona today. The Shelf Elf book and elf. One of the steps to having a shelf elf is naming it. You know how creative my kid is when naming things. He didn't disappoint with this either. We now have a turtle named frog, if we had a baby sister her name would be phooey and our shelf elf's name is frisbee. My kid is nuts. I'm afraid of what I will one day be calling my grandchildren!

She's Back...and all shiny and bug free!

Here she is all shiny and new...on the outside. Now the inside could use some serious shampooing but that will have to wait. She has a whole new front end and it looks so pretty and bug free. It's funny how quick you can get used to driving something else. She felt a little like a stranger when I first sat down in her today. A lot higher than the ol Camry I've been cruising for the past two weeks. She's a tad heavier than the Camry and I had to get used to driving her again so what better way than to take her out on the bypass for a quick loop.

She has to go back in for a minor checkup in a couple of days. Seems they had to order a gasket from Korea and they need to give her another sweep with the paint sprayer where they had to do something to the door. I couldn't see what they are talking about but if they say they want to paint her then paint her they will!

Brought her home tonight and tucked her safely into the garage for a good nights rest. I hope she doesn't have nightmares about Bambi. I think she missed me.

OMG! WTH?

I was laying in bed half asleep the other night when I heard Jaykeb get up. He does this thing in the middle of the night when he has to pee. He gets up and paces back and forth from his room to mine, half whining and making weird noises. I always know that he has to go to the bathroom when he does this so I will just tell him to go in and go. He usually does and goes right back to bed.

A couple of nights ago was no different. He was up pacing back and forth so I told him to get in there and go. He went in and a second later I heard a weird noise. I got up to go see what he was doing and found him standing on the oposite side of the bathroom from the toilet peeing in my dirty clothes pile. (NOTE: The hamper was downstairs so yes, the clothes were on the floor...get over it MOM!) I think he must have been asleep because when I flipped the light on he started screaming and insisting that he hadn't gone on my clothes even though he was still standing there with boxer briefs around his ankles.

Now every night since the rogue peeing incident I am paranoid that he is going to be found using some random corner or potted plant as his night time urinal. Not to mention the fact that I now know he walks around in his sleep! He could fall down the stairs or end up sleeping in the garage with Simon and Laynie! I already don't sleep well and this just adds to the list of things keeping me up at night. He went to spend the night at my dad's the night after this happened and I didn't bother to tell them about it. I figured if he got up in the night and used the fountain in the living room it would just be a little surprise for them. No bathroom issues were had though and now he is back and I'm not sleeping.

Done Early!

I've almost got all my Christmas shopping done! That isn't saying much since I really am only buying for one person. Sure I will get the parentals something but I pretty much have that figured out so I don't count that. Jayke was VERY hard to buy for this year. Sure he says he WANTS everything but when it comes down to it he really doesn't play with anything other than his trucks and cars. I've been watching him closely the past several weeks to see what he actually does play with. I would say 90% of the time it is trucks. Now my dilemma is do I just go out and buy a bunch of trucks or do I try to find something else that he may or may not become interested in?

Pretty much I'm going with the trucks and throwing in a couple of other things like new playdoh (he does like his playdoh and moonsand) and a digital camera of his own. He has been asking for a camera forever. He walks around with this little disposable one that he has totally used up pretending to take pictures but I can always see that he is disappointed when he can't look at them like he can on my camera.

I wanted to get him a kitten but since we don't have our own home I can't do that. I know he would also like to have a fish aquarium but once again...no room. We don't have room for one more thing so I don't know what I'm going to do after Christmas. I'm just glad I figured out what I was going to get him and I have it and I'm done.

My friends still want me to go out on Black Friday and help crash the lines with them though. I may or may not...that's my birthday, maybe a day of shopping will be the best way to celebrate. I am NOT going to tackle any security guards at Target this year though so if your trying to get a cheap tv or Nintendo DS (Angi and Jen) your on your own this year! I WILL however be dressed appropriately in tennis shoes instead of dress shoes and hopefully our driver will be out of bed when we show up on her doorstep at 4a.m. and not running through the garage using toddler bicycles as hurtles on her way to the mini van! Although it was very entertaining to see that.


It's Sunday and it's spitting snow here! Grammy made breakfast for Jayke and me and we spent the morning cleaning his room...again. Now I can't think of a better way to spend the day than watching football at Bdubs with my buds!

The Littlest Vampire

Yes, I do actually have a picture of my kid in his costume...bet you were wondering huh? A little late but here the little blood sucker is...



He wouldn't wear any makeup and started gagging on the teeth because of his allergies so he isn't as goulish as I had planned for him to be. He did have this silly vampire pose down though. I think he got it from Scooby Doo. He is making a hissing/growling noise as well. Scary stuff.

He was posing for pictures in the front yard when he got the bright idea to use the tree as a prop. I'm not putting those pictures on here but lets just say that tree looked more like a stripper pole for a moment than a tree. I don't know what episode of Scooby Doo he saw that in but I may need to remove it from his selection!

We went to my dad's before hittin the streets and after that stop we really could have called it a night. Dad had about 8lbs of candy for him and matchbox cars too, of course. Below is a picture of his loot compared to mine. His is the bag on the left....mine is the box on the right. Something is wrong with this picture...



They just have to be called MIKE and Ikes too! After dad's we came back and went trick or treating in Oma's neighborhood. He had fun and managed to make it through the night without biting anyone!

No More Cute, Just Goofy

We have gotten to that stage where The Boy doesn't want to smile nice for the camera anymore. He would rather make goofy faces when he sees the camera come out. I was trying to take a picture of the two of us the other night and every one I got has some crazy face from him going on. This was the best of the bunch.




This is a little late but here is Jaykeb getting his soccer trophy. It was a really cute trophy this time. He had to carry it around for two days even taking it into the Pizza King with us that night. Soccer was way more fun this fall because he was so good. There were two games he didn't score in and that was because they were called short and he didn't get to play much. He scored multiple goals in all of his other games. We start the winter clinics next month. He really likes it so we will keep doing it as long as he is happy with it. His mother needs to learn how to relax at the games a little bit though.





See this shirt! I don't really know who bought him this shirt but it couldn't be more perfect for this kid. Now I only wish I had a matching one in my dad's size. It's perfect for him too! It says "Got Candy" for those of you who are blind...Grammy.



Car update...The flying white squirrel has gotten her estimate and is now just waiting on parts. I am cruising the Camry and not liking it much. There was way more damage than we originally thought but she will be like new in a few weeks. My dad is now calling me the Deer Slayer. Isn't that the name of a movie or book or something?

Flying Goo

We carved pumpkins at my dad's the other night. Here is our weapon of choice. You know there is some serious pumpkin carving going on when you bust out the power tools and start improvising.



What was really funny was that mom kept telling Jaykeb, "Don't flip the pumpkin all over!" Then dad comes in with his rigged up drill and ended up flinging pumpkin goo all over mom. My dad gets way too many ideas from watching The Today Show. Something he couldn't do when he was still working. We sure learn a lot from The Today Show and Ellen DeGeneres.

Sara...don't ask me who Goo is!







Jaykeb insisted that we save the seeds and roast them in the oven. Mom is always agreeable and got the seeds ready to go into the oven. We decided to try two different kinds, butter and salt...and cinnamon and sugar. I googled if to make sure we were doing it right and in they went. Now, if you are a member of this family you should know what the next picture is going to be before even looking. Just remember I said MOM and OVEN.





Apparently if you put cinnamon sugar on the pumpkin seeds you shouldn't cook them as long as the ones with just butter and salt. The picture is showing the GOOD side of the seeds too! They were quite crispy like a lot of things that come out of that oven! The others turned out fine but just like I figured, Jayke hated them.




I was looking through old files and found this next picture of Jaykeb with his first pumpkins. I loved the hat he had on and just came across it in a box the other day. Thought I'd share...

A Squirrel Takes out a Deer...Only Sara Will Get this Title

I had a wreck last night. My dad says that cars and I just don't get along. He maybe right. I have had so many wrecks in my lifetime I can't even count them anymore. It had been a really long time, other than my pot hole incident last spring, since I had hit anything. I thought all my "bad luck" in cars was over...until last night. I hit a deer. Driving home from my dad's after dark in the light rain and high winds. Stupid deer. They need to learn how to use crosswalks!

I didn't even see it until I hit it and it scared the crap out of me! I'm just glad Jayke was not in the car with me. He is now a pre-school drop out. I took him back out of school so he is going back to my dad's two days a week and the rest of the week with my mom. He had decided he wanted to spend the night at my dad's so I was by myself when I took Bambi out.

The car is not even driveable. It tore up the whole front end and put a whole in the radiator. Aahhhh...the smell of anti freeze. Takes me back to my very first car that overheated every time I drove it down the road. My dad had to come meet me at the VP(Village Pantry gas/convenience store for those not from here) while we waited for the police to get there so I could file my accident report. The funniest thing about this is what he told me while we were waiting. He had the following conversation with my mother...

MOM: Gregg, Wendy hit a deer...she's at the VP in Anderson.

GREGG: Well, which VP?

MOM: I don't know.

GREGG: WELL NEITHER DO I!

This is funny to me because it is my parent's trying to have a conversation with each other which may happen only once every 2 or three years and usually this is how it goes. There are VPs all over both Muncie and Anderson and apparently he was supposed to know which one just because he lives in that town. Funny. At least I got a laugh while waiting on them to come haul my poor car away.

Yes, Sara, the flying white squirrel is out of commission...you can go have your moment of silence now. She will return though. She's resting comfortably down at Gaddis where she will undergo surgery hopefully on Thursday. A little rhinoplasty on the ol' girl and she'll be good as new!

On to other things...Jayke and I took the day Thursday and went on his class field trip to the pumpkin patch. I'm lucky that i work at a great place where they understand that people have kids who they want to be able to spend time with. This was also the first time I took a day off since working there. We had fun even though it was FREEZING outside and we went so early.

First was the hay ride back to the corn maze...



There was a great play ground there and all the kids got to play for quite a while.



When we got in the corn maze another dad and I decided to let his daughter and Jayke lead us through the maze. We broke off from the class and The Boy took us through the maze all on his own. He almost got us out but the dumb parents (me and the other dad) decided to read the signs with the clues and got us all turned around and lost going the wrong way. We ended up having the people who work there come in and find us because everyone else was out already. We should have let Jayke take us all the way and skipped the clues.



Here are a couple more pictures from the day...



I love this one for some reason. It was a big black ribbed pipe and Jayke was sliding down while I was looking up at him. I like the way the edges look and that you can only see him as a sort of sillouette.

Pumpkins pumpkins whatever...

This year I went with an easier pattern for the pumpkin. Last year I did Scooby Doo and it took forever. Won a prize for Angi at her work but still took forever. Since she won't be entering the contest this year I felt I could let my difficulty level slide a little.

Jayke insisted on cleaning the pumpkin out until it was spotless...thanks Mike. Apparently his dad taught him this when they carved their pumpkin a couple of weeks before. We have saved the seeds to plant in the empty lot next to Oma's house next year. Guess that will save me my $3 I spent at Walmart on this dude.






Tomorrow we are hitting the pumpkin patch with Jayke's school and this weekend the corn maze. Hope it doesn't rain! I must say that 6:30 in the morning is a little early for a trip to the pumpkin patch. Not only will it be freezing but I will barely be awake! I don't even get up for 2 more hours on a normal day! Work is having a costume contest but I don't think I will be participating. First of all I think it's pretty crappy that if you don't wear a costume you can't participate in the luncheon and also she just told us yesterday that this was going to happen. I don't have time to find an award winning costume in that amount of time. I do have devil horns and long red eyelashes. That will at least get me the free lunch. Screw their contest! We should have had an office decorating contest...guess who would have rocked that?

I must now go clean out FROG the turtles acquarium. It is tres' disgusting. Yes, Jayke named his turtle FROG...yes, my kid is weird.

Sara...I'm a mom, I'm not YOUR mom!

Yes, I'm Still Here...

Soccer is over again. Jaykeb didn't score in the last two games but had multiple goals in every other game we had. He got his new trophy which I like way better than the one he got last time. It will be a few weeks before we start the winter clinics.

Jayke is back in school and that is going well. He goes to kindergarten readiness two days a week and is making new friends. He still has some of the same old friends too. We have a field trip coming up next week to the pumpkin patch. After that is his fall festival but I'm not sure if he will get to go to that. He may be with his dad instead. He and his dad have already carved one pumpkin two weeks ago when he was here for the weekend. Jayke and I will be carving ours soon. I bought all the cute patterns but he hasn't picked which one we are going to do yet. I have his "boo" gift ready too. We don't live in a neighborhood so we don't get to participate in that but I still "Boo" my own kid.

Tomorrow and Saturday I will be selling off my old life. BIG sale planned. Out with the old and in with the new. I went and bought new dishes for the house that we are in the beginning stages of planning for. The house in SC went up for sale and my mom has found the perfect house in the school district I want to be in and just down the road from her and gramma. Also closer to my best friend, Angi AND in the same neighborhood as my new friend I work with, Sharita. I CAN'T WAIT TO GET MY OWN HOUSE AGAIN!!!

My weeks leading into the end of the month are planned down to the minute I'm so busy. I've got trips to the haunted corn maze, field trips, school parties, work parties and lots of other stuff. I love this time of the year. Thought it would be hard this month but it really hasn't been at all.

Work is getting easier but I still don't feel completely comfortable with my new job. My supervisor seems happy though. She was even in a good mood at the end of the month last month which is saying something. I have a plan to get Angi a job there with me. I've already gone to my boss and told her about her and she said that the next thing that opens up she will consider her. I don't know though, if Angi, Sara, Holly, and I are all working in the same place it could be dangerous. Sara and I are already taking longer than normal lunches with Angi now and she doesn't even work there yet!

Have to go out with Sara and Nate Friday to say goodbye to him. He is heading back to Florida Sunday. I'm pretty bummed about it. Hopefully he will come back to visit more often now that he has been here for a while and seen how fun it is hanging out with his crazy aunts. The crazies are heading to Amsterdam Saturday. I'm anxious to hear the stories they will have when they get back. You know ANYTHING goes in Amsterdam!

I may be able to get back to blogging on a regular basis soon. We are switching back to the old phone co so I will be able to get the laptop and everything running correctly again. Jayke is so sick of listening to my mom deal with the cable co that he has banned the word COMCAST in our house. He says he hates that word and doens't want to hear it again. I don't blame him...they suck! What is really weird is when our phone goes out my mom's goes out at her house too. That's just not going to work! I get called downstairs every time it stops working to try and fix it and there is NOTHING I CAN DO!!!

So that is my rather long boring update. I will get some pics of that cool soccer trophy up soon. Promise.

Still Here

We are still here. Just haven't felt like blogging lately since MY MOM MADE IT SO I CAN'T USE MY LAPTOP ANYMORE! My other computer is in Jayke's room and I guess I would rather sit in my room and internet than sit in the junk yard...Jayke's room is full of trucks EVERYWHERE!

So anyway, here is a team picture of Jaykeb's soccer team and a picture of Jayke and his best friend Brayden waiting in line to get their pictures taken individually. Don't they look happy? I'm thrilled to tell ya that my kid has not played a game yet which he has not score in. He is learning how to be a good little defender now too which is new. Usually those kids all just run after the ball and don't worry aboaut the other team scoring. I think he gets it now.



Jaykeb is back in school now and I think he likes it. We were greeted by some of the same kids yelling "Jaykeb's here~" and "Hi Jaykeb's Mommy!" Funny. We also have already gotten sick from him being back one week. Love school and all it's germs!

I think we may go get pumpkins today. Jayke is over at Meemaw's and P'pa's playing in the dirt. He spent the night there last night and all he could talk about on the way over was the dirt pile in the back that he would get to play in. Nate was there and had a new Hummer for him so he was excited about that too. I don't know how much longer Nate is going to be around and we are going to miss him when he has gone back to Florida. It's been fun having him here all summer. Maybe if I beg hard enough he will stay.

Sorry, not a very exciting update. I may have to start an anonymous blog in the future. I will try to get around to blogs and see what everyone is up to later tonight and I did add you on Facebook if you recently sent me a request...sorry it took me so long!

Oh yeah! I did get a floral job from an old customer we used to decorate for! First one I've had since I left for SC 3 years ago. Not quite the same working in mom's laundry room making them but still $80 for 20 minutes work is pretty good! I was going to charge $69 but the lady said that wasn't enough and paid me $80 for it. Guess I can consider it a tip or something. Now if I can just get some more of those jobs I may work up the nerve to set up a design studio out in the old workshop behind the house like my dad thinks I should.

Stupid Purse Lady

Had my purse party this weekend. I don't think I will be having any more parties. I had a lot of plenty of people show up but we were all totally disappointed with the purse lady and the selection of purses she showed up with. I am going to go to one in December that a different girl gives and see how I like her then maybe I might have one again someday.




This would be the Dourney and Bourke bag I got. Love it! Sara got the other one that I loved and my mom got one kinda like it too. Jayke was all about going to that party. He set all the purses up and helped load them all back up when it was over. His buddy Brayden was even there and they ran around like little maniacs.

That is about all for my week other than discussions of Grammy going to the Senior Citizen Center for belly dancing lessons and me catching the microwave on fire. Apparently easy Mac catches on fire if you forget to put the water in. Hmmm. Will try to remember that. The funny part about it was Grammy was standing right there as I'm trying to get the burning mac out of the micro and fanning the smoke and she just kept talking about my clothes she sold from the rummage then turned and walked out without even noticing the flaming mac. The entire house smelled all night and she never said a word! I laughed til I cried later telling my mom about it.

He Scored How Many Goals?

All I can say is that summer soccer clinic must have really paid off because my kid scored 9 GOALS tonight! Yes, I said 9. Yes it was beginning to get embarrasing. I couldn't believe that was my kid out that tearin' it up. It was fun too because Jaykeb's best friend, Braden, is on his team. Braden is my mom's next door neighbor and I went to school with his dad. He and Jayke have become best friends and I recommended that Rachel put him on the soccer team so she did. They were funny to watch and it really increased Jayke's cheering section with Oma and Opa and Braden's parents there yelling and clapping for him.

I called and told everyone how many goals he scored and now he is going to have more grandparents coming to watch. Watching soccer is way more fun than watching t-ball which is what they came to before. They better come soon though before I ship him off to Europe to join a pro team and support his poor mom!

At Last The Weekend Post

I know...it has taken me forever to put this up here. Sorry, I've been busy. Against my better judgement I'm going to participate in two rummage sales. Gotta lighten the load...believe me those who helped me pack it up know what I'm talking about!

We made it to the lakes last weekend and as with any family trip it wasn't without drama. I'm not going to talk about that though...mostly because I have been threatened but also because I just don't want to. I do want to tell you about my little tuber though! My kid is going to be a waterbug afterall. He was all for getting on that tube and flying across the water...and fly he did. He and AJ who was trying her darndest to slow us down but unfortunately for her Jayke learned the hand signals and was controlling the speed from start to finish!

Jayke would be holding up his thumb telling us to go faster and AJ was sitting behind him trying to pull it back down and giving all kinds of signals of her own! We just kept going faster because it was hysterical. They were bouncing across the waves all afternoon. When we finally pulled them in AJ was exhausted. She was having to hold onto The Boy with her legs to keep him from flying off the tube. We all knew if he went off he probably would never get back on but we knew AJ wouldn't let him go and she didnt'. It was probably a great workout!

Here he is thinking he is Captain of the ship or something.



It was just Kim, Sherri, AJ, Jayke, and me out on the boat that afternoon and we had a great time. I'm sure we would have had a picture of AJ like the one below if we would have given her a chance.

So you are probably wondering where the pictures of the tubing are huh? My battery died and they are all on Kim's camera so who knows when or if I will get them. I do have some though and will post them when I receive them.

Before we came home we got to do a little decorating. Sherri has told AJ and me that we can decorate her house and we wasted no time. There was a trip to Pier 1 where we got a huge canvas piece for over her couch and two vases. I like that kind of shopping I point and Sherri buys. I could get used to that!

We had a birthday party for Kim and AJ...belated and just all hung out together. It was fun and we all came home exhausted. I think we will have lots of fun up there next summer...we will probably invade Sherri's house on a regular basis. She better get her boat and golf cart purchased soon! She is probably just glad it is the end of the lake season and she won't have to worry about it for a while!