Trying Our Best

wanna win something?

2011-12-18T13:43:00.000-05:00

and really.... who doesn't? Go over to Mrs. P at A Little Pink In a World of Camo and check out her giveaway.

Wanna know why I'm pimping it? Cause it's one of our banners!

My mama is giving away a blue star banner AND a lovely blue star ornament! And even if you already have one, enter anyways, they make FANTASTIC gifts!

Oh and don't forget to check us out over on etsy at Blue Bird Crafting. As if you would...

Good Luck!

Blow Swap Christmas style

2011-12-14T07:30:00.003-05:00

Its Christmas time and Wife on a Roller Coaster is hosting a blog swap! Today I'm over at Goodnight Moon's blog rambling there and Julie from Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life is here.

Julie is sweet as can be, she's a mama to three little boys, photographer, coffee drinker, blogger & Independent Scentsy Consultant, which by the way is awesome! Enjoy her post and don't forget to come find me!

Christmas of 1986

I am not sure why I remember this Christmas so well.

Maybe it was because my uncle brought his video camera and taped it and it was the first time I had ever seen a video of our family. Maybe it was because it was such a special time. I am not sure. But the Christmas of 1986 really sticks out in my mind.

I was almost eight years old and this year my Grandparents came into town from Arizona and my Aunt and Uncle came in from Colorado. For Christmas Eve I remember going to church, coming home and having some sandwiches and then opening one gift. I can't quite remember the gift, just that we got to open one before bed that night.

The next morning we woke up and had a wonderful Christmas with family. We always took turns with gifts. You had to wait until each person opened a gift before it was your turn again.

My Grandpa thought he was funny for going extra slow when it was his time to open a present. The only gifts I remember about that year were a magic set for me and a basketball hoop for my brother. After all the gifts had been opened we all went outside to watch my magic show.

You see in other parts of the country you might go outside to build a snowman. In CA you go outside to enjoy the weather.

I still remember sitting on the grass and putting on a show for my family. Then my brother and I played with the basketball hoop.

I remember eating Christmas dinner, going on a walk with everyone and even my Aunt making a mix of 7up and Cranberry juice.

We don't have Christmases like this anymore. In 1993 my Grandpa passed away and about the same time my Grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. After that things were just different.

Every time I think back to a happy Christmas memory I remember the Christmas of 1986 and all the memories I have of that time with my family.

Thanks to Julie for swapping with me!

3rd Annual Ornament Swap

2011-11-09T17:15:00.001-05:00

Get your ornaments ready for the...

3rd Annual Ornament Swap!

Thanksgiving is racing towards me and pretty soon Christmas is going to be right around the corner just waiting to bite us all in the ass, so lets get this party started.

It's a fun way to spread some Christmas cheer for not a whole lot of mola. And if you're into holiday baking feel free to toss in some cookies in your box.

I am very into holiday baking. Actually its a great cover all year long to scour and find new recipes and then make them. Shoot, one has to perfect their holiday goodies, thus a mock bake up {or 15} in July is necessary.

Whoever gets me will be getting some kickass chocolate toffee and some cranberry white chocolate cookies (those have eggs but they are delish!) and perhaps one of the dash brothers. I say that every year but this year I'm serious about tossing a kid in.

Now the important stuff. aka: Info on the swap

*you can either MAKE or BUY an ornament, however there will be a $10 dollar limit. And if you find a cute one for less go for it. {embrace bargain hunting folks.} It can be something to from where you are stationed or live, it can be something that you think will reflect the person you are swapping with taste, it could just be something adorable that you see or make.

Let me repeat. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO MAKE AN ORNAMENT. I get asked this question a ton of times. BUYING IS OK!

*Ornaments should be mailed so that they are received round about midDecember. If you and your partner work something else out, good to go, but the whole point is to have this ornament BEFORE the holidays.

*You can sign up for the swap until Saturday night {November 19} My goal is to get the names and emails out to you all before Thanksgiving.

Interested?
To sign up email tryingourbest at yahoo

Answer the following questions in your email

Name

Best email to reach you at

Mailing address

Blog address or twitter name {if you have one}

****ANY FOOD ALLERGIES***

Do you have a certain Christmas decorating theme or are you a mish mash, compilation of ornaments kinda gal?

Are you willing to mail to an APO?FPO address? {This does not cost you any additional postage, the only difference is that you will need to fill out a simple customs form}

Anything you want to add?

And please leave a comment on this post here. You don't have to to participate but it helps to keep track of who's signed up and what not.

I hope that a good number of people want to participate, this was a lot of fun last year and I'm hoping its as much fun again this year!

When you email me to sign up I'll email you back that I've received it and then I'll be emailing you again when I match folks up.

And dont worry, if goodness forbid your partner skips out on you let me know I'll mail you a big Christmas package complete with a dash brother.

Please, spread the word on your blogs, twitter, facebook... shoot scream it from the roof top afterall, the more the merrier!

Veteran's Day nudge

2011-11-06T14:39:00.001-05:00

Everyone is all excited for 11-11-11.

I'm not sure why. It's 3 of the same number, get over it people.

What we should be remembering is that 11-11 is Veteran's Day.

Veterans Day is near and dear to my heart and not just because I get to share my bed with one every now and again, but because it is important to make sure our little ones graspjust how important service to our country is. Veteran's Day gives us the chance to stop, reflect, and say thank you.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the world has hit their douchebag quota and darn if I'm going to raise 3 more to add to the lot. That being said, do I think folks who don't take a minute to appreciate service members are douche bags?

Yes, yes I do.

I want to raise my kids to understand, to really understand, the sacrifice and commitment it takes to step up and serve our country.

So on the first day of school, way back in Sept., I did what any neurotic prek mom does, I asked Dash2's teacher if I could come in to do something for Veteran's Day with the kids. 2 months in advance. Hey, I wanted to beat the rush, then again we are the only military at the school so I figured I was pretty safe claiming the day early.

Then I got an email, that was just perfect!

The "Art for Wounded Warriors" run by the National Museum for the Marine Corps {which I visited with my lovely cousin and was a great museum, however it was lacking a replica of a c-130 but it did have an actual Tun Tavern} is looking for young artist to submit their artwork to decorate recovery facilities and lift the spirits of wounded Marines, with the help of the Wounded Warrior Regiment is going to help distribute artwork to hospitals coast to coast.

Get your kids involved! Get their classes involved! Get your church or community organizations involved!

Get involved people!

Dash-2's class are going to be making patriotic pictures, stars, flags, lots of red, white, and blue paint, and OF COURSE GLITTER!

Lots. of. Glitter.

It doesn't have to be a Picasso or a Rembrandt, simply something that says Thank you and we remember you for your service.

This is the part where I'm here to nudge you guys to do the same thing....

Here are the details if you want to get involved:

Children who wish to participate should create a picture and write a supportive message on an 8 ½” x 11” piece of paper.

Artists should also write their name, hometown and grade level on the back of their pictures.

The Museum will accept drawings, paintings or colorings from children of all ages and abilities.

All works of art must be submitted in a flat, rigid envelope postmarked by December 10, 2011. Artwork becomes the property of the Museum and cannot be returned.

Mail all submissions to:
The National Museum of the Marine Corps
Attn: Teacher- in- Residence
18900 Jefferson Davis Highway
Triangle, VA 22172-1938

If you already have something planned for Veteran's Day, please, leave a comment and share your idea!

the old blogo

2011-10-19T13:20:00.000-04:00

Anyone out there go back and forth about letting their blog die off?

Anyone else finding that living life is getting in the way of blogging about it?

Anyone else figure that if their blog stopped tomorrow, no one would really even notice?

I think blogs come and go and mine right now might be at the point where it should just go. I feel like I've written about everything I can think of. I've made my views and opinions known, I've asked the burning questions that needed to be asked like whether we should stop wearing shorts once are knees start shifting south.

There was a point where I had a crap ton of ideas and energy to put into my blog and now I just feel .... eh.

Anyone else feel like this?

An Honest Mommy Moment - Craft Style

2011-10-02T21:20:00.000-04:00

Its been forever and a day since I've done one of these, but of all the days lately, today has warranted it. Without further ado folks I give you,

I love me some crafting.

Right now I have several craft projects going on, I'm making a wreath for Halloween, I'm already well under way making some lovely glitter ornaments for christmas, but can I share something with you.

I hate crafting with my kids.

HATE IT.

I mean I love to get great ideas and think about how fun it will be to do with them and I envision what we'll do with the project, but then, inevitably the actual crafting time makes me dream of poking my eyes out with a hot poker.

Today we made a giant ass spider. Out of pom poms. Giant ass pom poms. With giant ass pipe cleaners for legs.

And just so you know, the legs were as long as my arm. And the pom pom for his body is roughly the size of my ass.

Hence, giant ass spider as a very appropriate description.

And you know how you put this all together? With glue.

GLUE

To hold a pipe cleaner the size of an adults arm to a pom pom the size of my ass?

And of course, its a spider, and spiders have 8 legs. Insects have 6 legs and spiders have 8 legs.

Well, guess which spider only has 6 legs? Yeah the giant ass, sad spider sitting on a shelf in my dining room. And don't think the kids didn't point out that he was missing 2 legs about 15 times today. But unless the last 2 legs were coming right out of his butt they weren't going to fit. And I had already lost what little sanity I had going into this craft on getting the first 6 legs to attach to the pop

Who thought that craft up? Obviously someone without kids.

I realize I have only myself to blame, I did after all say, "Oh look kids! A giant spider! Wouldn't this be cool!" {Mommy points for me for not saying "giant ass" to the kids}

But that's what I'm saying, at the time the idea seems fantastic, almost even glorious, without the slightest bit of remembrance of the last miserable crafttime crossing into my mind.

Much like childbirth.

Actually exactly like childbirth.

And I was smart and fixed myself so that can't be done anymore.

sidenote: I should give myself a craft hysterectomy now.

I love my kids, dearly I do, I just don't think I'm the best to craft with them. My mother, she is a kid crafting pro. I, however, get freaked out when it all goes awry or when someone starts painting on the table or mixing colors.

I loathe mixing colors.

LOATHE

It's disrespectful to the other colors. But that's not the point.

I'm sure many of you are thinking, wow, she should probably do more crafting to lighten the f up.

I should. Maybe, but not today. And not tomorrow. I'm taking a kid crafting sabbatical. Or at least a giant ass spider sabbatical.

That giant ass spider was a really bad idea.

Check out AAFES for these....

2011-09-30T20:09:00.000-04:00

Hello, my name is the mrs. and I'm a total sandal whore.

I'd be totally content to wear sandals year round, shoot, I even have a pair of super comfy Nike sandals that I walk miles in and run on the treadmill in. I usually wear sandals until we get our first major dumping of snow and then I generally give into the crappy snowy winters up here.

After all, even I, a die hard sandal fan am not walking into 18 inches of snow in flip flops.

Today I was sporting these little beauties.

Adorable right?

When I first got them I wondered if I could pull them off, and judging from the look on flyboy's face so was he, but they are fantastic and spiff up even my mom uniform of tee shirt and jeans.

Because just like sandals, I live in tee shirts and jeans. I'm quite a fashionista.

The soles were comfortable {don't you hate it when they are so thin you can feel every rock you step on?} the straps didn't leave a blister or a mark, and if I haven't mentioned it.... they were adorable.

Why a post about sandals? Simple, now you can find shoes this amazing at AAFES online! Our exchange tends to serve cadets and retirees and the rest of us can be damned. Every time I go to the PX I always stroll thru the shoe section and the selection, in a word, is crap. Shoot the shoe boxes have more style. Not shockingly I have yet to ever by a pair of shoes at our px.

But now I can order more sandals like these and, best part, wait for it, wait for it, they're CHEAPER FOR US! The pair I was sent sells for $45 at the Fibi & Clo store but they are $34 at aafes.

Sigh. I love a bargain.

I'm so long overdue on this post I'm embarrassed. I was contacted by Fibi & Clo, a shoe company out of Austin, Tx and sent a fantastic pair of sandals to try out over the summer but, well, my kids took over my life. Did you know they demand to be feed and cared for daily? Pssssh.

Now if we could just work on the clothing in the women section down there. Not that my husband wouldn't love me to dress more like his mother....

I wonder if Fibi & Clo want to put a clothing line out for AAFES?

Dash2 is a door stopper

2011-09-28T10:58:00.000-04:00

Yesterday dash2 went head first thru the screen door.

Popped the sucker right out of the door.

Bonus points for me as a mother because I checked on his welfare before trying to snap a picture of him. Sadly there is no photographic proof because he wouldn't throw mom a bone and stick his head back thru the door.

These missed opportunities make me sad. But then I tell myself that surely, in the next week or so, one of the dash boys will do something out of the ordinary and I'll be there to savor it forever with photographic evidence.

Oh and in case your wondering what I'm planning on doing with all these embarrassing pictures that I've compiled and will continue to do so for the rest of their lives, I'm going to offer to chip in for their wedding reception. The clincher? I will be using embarrassing pictures as the centerpieces.

The one of dash2 wearing Lightening McQueen underpants and fireman boots in the middle of a stream is going to be a real winner.

School pains

2011-09-23T22:33:00.000-04:00

Dash1 started first grade about 3 weeks ago. I was stoked. He was stoked. But I was really stoked.

I don't get the folks who say they miss their kids while they are in school, sure their cute, but it's not like he's going off to college. It's first grade. I have to pick him up at the end of the day. The school makes me.

Anyways, he really was stoked. Despite it seeming that he was in a class with only 3 people from last year. Of course he was paired up with the other peanut allergy kid, and then 2 girls. The other 3 kids from last year were good kids, but not any of his close buddies. He wasn't phased.

"After all mom, I didn't know anyone in my class last year and look at how many friends I made!"

True dat kiddo.

They called him the mayor of his class. That kid new everyone. Leaving school at the end of the day was almost painful, "Bye James see you tomorrow!" "Hey Gracie, see you in pe!" "Bye Jonathan!"

Sweet Jesus, that kid was like a walking rolodex.

Here's what he didn't quite count on, in his class of 19 kids, 11 were from one class. They knew each other. They were tight. He, was on the outside.

And because of all the rain, they were banished inside for recess which meant it was in class, he was stuck with the kids in the class, no safety net of seeing his old friends at recess.

My kid who was bounding off to school the first day was coming home pissy, nasty, and dreading getting back on the bus.

And I was not in a much better mood.

They do not prepare you for this kinda stuff when you bring a kid into the world.

In fact, they really don't prepare you for much.

I remember when I didn't think I could handle picking out a crib, I mean, its a crib, my sleeping babies will be in this thing, I'll look at it for years to come. Do I go dark wood? Light wood? Ornate? More simplistic? Does it convert? What to do!

I look back and laugh at what an idiot I was. And I kinda long for the days when that was my biggest parenting dilemma.

Now here I was, 6 years into parenting and my oldest babies heart was hurting.

And here's the thing, I've seen their little hearts hurting. I've held dash1 while he has hurt in pain post surgery, I've held him as his body has struggled to breathe in an asthma attack, I've held him while he's cried for his daddy at night. But helping your kids face the sting of other kids is a different sort of pain.

I asked him if he had tried making new friends. This, in case you were wondering, was met with the same "No shit, why didn't I think of that, are you an idiot" look that I give people when they ask why I just don't tell my husband not to go away when the Marine Corps tells him to skedaddle.

"They don't want new friends mom, they are already friends."

Ouch

So I did what every good mom should do. I called my mom.

I rambled on and on about what sense was it to keep 11 kids from one class and then just throw in 1 or 2 kids here and there from other classes. What was the school thinking! And how sad that he has to sit at the peanut free table with just 1 other kid while his class all sits together! Its not fair! What are they thinking! I should storm the school!

Thankfully, I did not.

My mother did what good moms do. She listened. And soothed me. And told me I was being a moron.

Well she said it a bit more delicately. She pointed out that storming the school might not do much for me. And that dash1 would settle in.

I knew that. Deep in my heart I did. I had faith in my little social butterfly, but I still wanted to erase his hurt. I wanted to ease his mind that he would make it thru this, all the while knowing in my heart of hearts that this would not be the first time he'd feel the sting of kids.

Kids after all, while cute and adorable innocent little beings, can cause a world of hurt on other kids. I hear middle school is a blast.

Daily we reassured him that he would get into a groove, the other kids would get to know him and vice versa, he'd settle in and make some friends. And we explained, as hard as it can be, not everyone will like you in this world, that will be there loss, but it will happen.

We don't believe in always sugar coating everything.

Luckily though, this week he seems to have settled in. He's talking about other kids, coming home from school smiling telling me about the new friends he's making.

My heart has calmed down.

And I am reminded that much like as a new mom I worried I was going to break an arm getting him into a onesie {surely I'm not the only one} these dings in their social armor are bound to occur. But they'll make it thru.

And so will mom.

Ornament Swap?

2011-09-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

Since that time of year is coming up, its coming people, no use hiding from it, its time to start thinking about the 3rd Annual Ornament and cookie swap!

I'm just putting feelers out there to see who, if anybody, would be interested. Sign-ups would probably be mid, to the end of October-ish with the deadline for mailing the begining of December before the real holiday panic sets in.

If you think you'd be interested, leave a comment! If you want, you can leave your email and I can email you when and if I put the post up for sign-ups.

Happy 2nd Birthday Dash3!

2011-09-18T09:19:00.000-04:00

My baby is 2.

All my boys are my babies, but you my sweet, you really are my last baby.

My miracle baby.

You came as a complete surprise, just days after I had lost a pregnancy, the doctors were baffled by you, they looked at the ultrasound machine and said that there could be no way, but sure enough, here you are.

You are a tough little guy, you were so tiny that first year of life, yet now your a rough and tumble kiddo trying and succeeding at keeping up with the big boys around here!

Here's you in a snap shot:

You love - Curious George, CARS, monkeys, rockets, and dinosaurs.

You could eat yogurt, cheese, and bagels all day.

Your first word was, of course, lightening.

When your running around you hum the music from CARS.

You like to be just like your daddy, pretending your hand is a chainsaw and cutting up logs just like him.

You have to have your monkeys to sleep, Georgie and Lightning.

You have an utter disdain for vegetables. I can't blame you for this.

You are going thru, what I can only hope, is your intense headstrong phase. Clearly at 2 you know more than the rest of us.

You have a laughter and a smile which touches my heart, it makes the frustrating moments seem very worth it. Have an amazing year my love.

Happy Birthday my littlest love!

How you know its been a while....

2011-09-18T09:04:00.000-04:00

You can't remember your password for blogger.

Proof positive its been forever an a day since I have logged in. I miss y'all, I really do, as the kids are getting older and life is getting busier blogging, sadly is suffering.

Let's see, we got hit by a tropical storm. Did the whole no power thing for a couple of days, which despite flyboy telling us is an adventure, is not, at all, an adventure. I have the utmost respect for those who lived without power back in the day. I would have been curled up in the corner of the house rocking back and forth.

Dash-1 is a first grader. His teacher reminds me of Michelle Dugger, you know that lady with like 37 kids, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. His teacher is very soft spoken and super nice, fantastic yes, but last year his teacher was a giant bald man with a goatee who would rap with the class. I'm curious to see how this year goes.

Oh and because of his allergic reaction over the summer the school has him wrapped in bubble wrap. He's less than thrilled with this.

Dash-2 has started 5 day a week pre-k. So from 9:15-11:45 every morning I only have one kiddo. All together now, YAH!

If only he didn't start fighting about going to school at 7:30.

He's my more "sensitive kiddo" so it'll take him a few weeks to get with the program. Of course he's also my most stubborn so he might just hold on to the fight all year just because.

Dash-3 is now at the terror stage. You know, where he cuts you that cute look that says, I could suffocate you in your sleep if you cross me. Adorable but slightly scary.

Let's see what else.... oh we just got back from the wedding in Boston where I saw my frienmy. After a long summer, not being able to work out and recovering from major "baby maker surgery" as dash1 calls it, I was rather paranoid about goign. However, if you follow me on twitter, and why aren't you? You'll recall that she's like 570 lbs. Go ahead, think less of me, but she's a twit. And she mocked my old lady gym. Hey, Curves might not kill her.

Flyboys still here and there. No change there.

See I don't even need to post everyday, I can sum it up quickly enough.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

2011-07-27T15:23:00.000-04:00

I've posted this recipe a while back, but since its what's for dinner tonight I thought I would share it again. {minus the peacans}

{Photo courtesy of the perdue website. My salad did look this wonderful, but well, we were hungry and sucked ours down waaaaay before I could go get the camera.}

You know this has to be good because I'm not quite the salad kinda girl.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

1 package of Perdue chicken Short cuts {either honey roasted or just the plain kind and don't tell perdue I told you this but you could probably put your own grilled chicken on this too}

12 ounces of fresh baby spinach {about 8 cups}

1 pint of fresh strawberries

4 tbl of crumbled blue cheese {for you feta freaks, feta would probably be just as tasty}

{and I didn't add these because of the whole deathly allergic dash-1 but you can also add 1/2 cup glazed walnuts or pecans}

for the dressing:
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teapoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil

Mix up the sugar, salt, pepper, and vinegar together in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves, then mix in the olive oil.

Toss the spinach in a bowl with half the dressing mixture.

Put even amounts of the spinach in four bowls {or plates, whatever strikes your fancy}

Top with chicken, strawberries, and blue cheese

Drizzle over the remainder of the dressing.

hmmm

2011-07-19T15:17:00.002-04:00

I'm in the mood for a swap. Anyone have any ideas?

Maybe an end of summer one?

A back to school swap? Cause let me tell you, I am STOKED for back to school.

Or it could be a fall theme?

I dunno. I'm just putting the feelers out there.

giveaway winner

2011-07-15T15:10:00.000-04:00

And the winner of the adorable bag set is.......

are you on the edge of your seats?

hmmmmmm?

Yeah I can probably only stretch this out so much.

The winner according to random.org is JG!

If you're sad it wasn't you, and shoot, they're that adorable, I would totally understand if you were, check out Blue Bird Crafting to pick up a set of your own!

And there are more cute prints coming!

JG I need you to email or DM me your address so I can get the bags out to you ASAP!

Thanks to all who entered, I might just have to find some more cute fabric for another giveaway.

One pocket underwear

2011-07-13T21:14:00.000-04:00

Dash2 is wicked bright. He can do word sentences, he's learning to read, he can explain the differences between warm and cold blooded. He's not only a cutie patootie but like I said he's wicked smart.

However.

The other day I walked into the playroom and there he was in his Lightening McQueen underpants, only his Lightening McQueen underpants and he was looking quite confused.

"Mama, my underpants only came with one pocket."

Ummmm.

Hmmmm.

He was trying to get his hands into his underpants like a little hand warmer, and well, with only one opening it wasn't going so well.

See if I had girls I would have this issues. Our underwear doesn't come with any pockets.

I did what any good mom would do. I made my their father explain it. Thankfully it was a weekend and flyboy was in town. As a mom of boys I know my limitation, or rather just the crap I'm not dealing with, and explaining how underpants work fall into that category.

He went in there, explained it and came out looking equally frustrated. Apparently when he explained it all they could do was laugh.

God help me.

See why I had to preface this with how smart he is?

More awareness on the affects of Singulair

2011-07-12T08:30:00.002-04:00

Today I am speaking at a Legislative Briefing in DC about the "Cody Miller Safe Prescription Initiative" to allow the FDA more regulatory authority for the information given to patients from pharmaceutical companies. After all, what good is the patient hand out that they give you if all the side effects aren't even listed? How is it possible to make an informed decision if you don't have all the information?

I've written before about the hell and back that dash-1 went thru while he was on Singulair, we are lucky compared to Cody Miller's family, he took his own life while taking Singulair.

More dots need to be connected about Singulair and the very real, very scary side effects of a seemingly normal medicine. Below are my comments, that hopefully, if I don't choke on my words, I'll read out loud tomorrow.

Please, if you know people who have young kids or teens with asthma who are taking Singulair, please pass along this info to them. Should you or someone you know have an adverse reaction to Singulair you should check out Parents United For Pharmaceutical Safety at http://www.parentsforsafety.org/ and report the reactions with the FDA.

Robert is my delightfully inquisitive 6 yr old. He has bright blue eyes, a smile that reveals his missing front tooth, and blond hair that is almost always in a high and tight. He is brilliant, but then again I'm his mom, he is obsessed with science and space, he loves to read and has thrived and exceeded our expectations in Kindergarten.

It's hard to ever admit that your child isn't perfect, but its really hard to talk about how your six year old battled with rage, aggression, and suicidal thoughts.

But the more people know, the more people will make the connection should it happen to them, and I don't want what happened to my son, what happened to our family, to happen to anyone else.

Rob's been on medicine since birth, he has reflux and severe allergies, he's never had a problem with medicines. In late 2008 he was diagnosed with Asthma and it took us quite a while to get it under control. Even after it was under control he had a constant barking cough. That NEVER went away. In October of 2009, when Rob was 4, his pediatrician {new to us at the time, but in the military your doctor is often new to you} suggested Singulair. In passing she said to keep an eye on any "slightly hyper" behavior.

I was prepared to watch for him running around the room in circles, not for rage and aggression.

To say that I didn't know what I was getting into would be the understatement of the year.

Over the nine months that he took Singulair, I must admit that I had times where I thought that my kid was an awful kid, that my husband and I were awful parents, something was happening to my little boy. Those 9 months from October to June were filled with some of the lowest lows for us as a family.

Singulair took the cough away. He was silent. He wasn't waking up at night in a fit of coughs. He didn't sound like a barking seal. People weren't giving us nasty looks for taking a sick kid out. He was quiet.

I thought it was perfect. And then came the side effects, that wrecked havoc on my son and disrupted our family life for months.

I'm not really even sure when the side effects started. I wish I could say "on this day such and such started". Maybe had it just started full blown on a certain day I wouldn't have let it drag on for nine months.

We thought it was a stage, maybe this is the terrible five's! Maybe it was his preschool, maybe this is just him. Maybe we've done this to him someway, we've been too hard or not hard enough. Maybe the fact that dad is a Marine and away for so much was playing a role.

As if parenting isn't hard enough toxic side effects can really make you doubt yourself.

Over time we were noticing some things, he was starting to cry. About everything and for long periods of time. Asking him to do something and you would end up with a 45 minute, end of the world, rolling on the floor, screaming, high intensity breakdown.

Daily he was complaining of headaches in which he would lay on the couch in pain and rock back and forth. Another daily complaint was a pinching pins and needles in his arms and legs, he would pull on his limbs to try to ease the feeling. He couldn't sleep at night, he was often awake until 11 and then back awake at 2 am, screaming, as you can imagine, the entire family started to lose sleep.

He began blaming us for everything, if it was raining it was our fault and the 45 min breakdown would follow. Odd ocd behavior began creeping in, he wouldn't wear shirts with buttons, he couldn't have the tag on his underwear touch him, he didn't like certain foods anymore, foods he had lived on, he began collecting everything, piles of trash were under his bed.

He started to have problems with his memory. I would ask him a question and half way thru the answer he would forget what he was saying, midstream. He had been writing his name for a year and now he had problems remembering how to spell his own name. And self-loathing talk, he would get upset and talk about not wanting to exist, wanting his world to go black, hoping he could just dissapear, he would tell us "I'm the worst, I hate myself." You could tell that he wasn't just saying it, that he really felt it. Terrifying things to hear from your child.

One of my greatest fears is that had he been older when he was on Singulair that he would have acted on these suicidal thoughts, that I would be here telling you about my beautiful child that was no longer with us.

These certainly weren't the whole of him, he was still a bright eyed little boy underneath it all, it was just starting to be more and more about breakdowns, crying, yelling, hitting, fighting and less of the old him. He was losing his spark. His spark was being replaced with rage and aggression. If you corrected him his eyes would become slits, his fist would ball up, his whole body would go tense.

The breaking point came as the talk of not wanting to exist started happening more and more and as he had started to lash out at his younger brother. I no longer felt comfortable letting the two of them play in a room alone. More than once he had lunged at his than 3 yr old brother with such intensity and anger that I really feared for his safety.

My days were spent walking on eggshells. I was tired of the up and downs of our days. The good times were great but the downs were so very down. There were days I didn't know how I could go on. If this is what parenting was I wasn't sure I was cut out for it.

During much of these nine months my husband, who is a United States Marine, was away from home. Towards the end of the nine month period I was on the phone daily with him or my mother, often in tears. I was nearing my own personal breaking point. I had actually discussed with my mother that such a disruption in the house wasn't fair to our two other boys, that clearly I couldn't parent him, that perhaps he should live with my parents for a little bit of time.

Can you imagine how bad it was that I could even think of sending my little boy away?

I remembered somewhere hearing something or reading something about the nasty side effects of Singulair can have on kids. Thanks to google I did some searching and was shocked. Reading about other parent's experiences on it was like reading something I had written about my own son.

In that moment I decided this wasn't going on one day longer, I had let him down by giving him that pill every morning, I wasn't putting him thru this anymore. I took him off the meds before I even heard back from the doctor.

I wish I had been told more by the doctor. I wish this pill came with informed consent, I wish its dangers were spelled out very clearly. The school year would have been different, our home life would have been different, the past nine months would have most certainly been different. But it didn't come with any of that.

All the bottle said was chew before swallowing. At least they were concerned with his choking, never mind his depression.

I am the one responsible for what my child takes, but more needs to be done.

Within days the side effects were clearing up. Several months later and my son was back. His spark is back. His eyes are clear again, rather then dark and angry. Teachers and other parents are telling us how polite he is, his report card even called him a model student. Best of all, I know that this is the real him.

Giveaway! Bright Bold Bags!

2011-07-11T20:30:00.000-04:00

I'm doing a giveaway!

It's been a while my peeps so I've decided to give some stuff away.

Because its summer, because I'm lazy, and because well... well because I wanted to.

I found this fabric and my lovely mama made me some BEAUTIFUL bags and now I'm passing them on to you. How cute are these courtesy of BlueBirdCrafting?!

They have a fun, bold, bright print on them, with of course, a blue bird because that is the name of our Etsy store, but what I really love is the BRIGHT pink fabric that lines the inside.

Nothing like a shout of pink to get ya going.

I use these bags for EVERYTHING, the large one holds a ton of makeup, lotions and potions, hair stuff, shoot undergarments in your suitcase, diapers and a change of clothes for a little one in a diaper bag, EVERYTHING.

The middle size is great for organizing the mess of stuff in your purse or even as a clutch. Even flyboy has some in "manly" fabrics that he takes his chargers and electronics in.

The smallest bag is perfect for eyeglasses, makeup brushes, pens pencils, whatever you can fit in there.

There ya go.

Three beautiful bags for one lucky duck.

To enter:

-leave a comment!

If you want, tell me what you would put in them.

For EXTRA ENTRIES

{and please, leave a comment for EACH extra entry, if its worth 2 than leave 2 for that entry}

-tweet about the giveaway! link up to the post and to me at @mrs_flyboy {2 entries} and you can tweet DAILY

-blog about it with a link back here and a link to the etsy store {4 entries}

-put it up on facebook with a link back to the post, the store, and if you can slap up a pic of the bags. I don't have a clue about facebook, I'll have to trust you guys on this one. {4 entries}

-leave feedback about your prior purchases on our etsy site if you haven't already or leave feedback here about them! {2 entries}

The giveaway will be open until Thursday, July 14th at 8pm! Good luck!

If you don't win them, don't worry!

We have more bold, brights coming to the store soon! Stay tuned!

So.... I'm alive

2011-06-30T14:32:00.000-04:00

In case you were wondering, I'm alive and uterus free.

And also in case you were wondering, no, having a hysterectomy is NOT like having a baby. A hysterectomy hurts a shit ton more.

I've had three beautiful boys {part of the reason I was down with the hysterectomy} and with two of them for the most part they were drug free births. {This was totally unintentional, f- a drug free birth, our itty bitty Army Hospital doesn't do epidurals due to lack of staffing so I was shit out of luck and the crappy drugs they gave me lasted just about a half hr.}

Birth can be utterly painful, but once the baby is out the pain is over and I bounced back. Shoot I was shopping the day I went home with dash 2 and again with dash 3.

So why wouldn't my uterus be the same way?

Yeah I know it sounds really dumb when I say it outloud.

Moronic actually. Cause let me tell you, losing an organ is no laughing matter, that shit really hurts.

3 days in the hospital and I was a hot mess let me tell you. I was gray, vomiting, clutching a pillow to my tummy and shuffling around. I was staying on a floor with some wounded warriors and I think I gave one quite a startle when I shuffled past his door with my pillow vomiting up bananas into my little baggie. I wanted to apologize and tell him that the nurse next to me was making me walk but I just didn't have it in me.

Right now I'm 2 1/2weeks post op and I'm feeling better. I was starting to feel really good and then my parents left and flyboy went back to work so in the same vain, I went back to work too. When they tell you not to do any lifting or anything heavy for 4-6 weeks they aren't kidding. Picking up and putting down dash3 repeatedly {even though he's a relative lightweight} wasn't good and vacuuming the whole house was just dumb.

So my mom came back up to help out and I spent several days re-recuperating and now I'm feeling better. Again.

The nurse went back over what I'm supposed to do and not do, apparently my uterus must have been a command post for common sense because I seem to be lacking some but only a few more weeks and I'll be good as new.

And now I need a new excuse not to have sex. DAMMIT!

Are shorts timeless?

2011-06-01T14:09:00.000-04:00

Weigh in here folks.

Whats the verdict on shorts? A do or a don't?

You guys are wondering what the hell I'm talking about aren't you?

Let me explain.... today it is 91 degrees up here in the Northeast as just a smidge less humid than it would be in Manilla. Its miserable. And of course, today was dash2's little bike a thon at his nursery school. Seeing as though it was 11 and feeling like it was the underarms of the tropics outside, I wore shorts, as I do pretty much all damn summer.

Here's the thing, I was the only one wearing shorts.

It was hot people. Way to hot for pants. Or capris.

Which a little sidenote on capris, they are adorable and I do have a pair or two but come on! They are only a couple of inches shorter than jeans, even in lighter material they aren't THAT much cooler.

In fact it was hot enough that if I was 20 pounds lighter I'd have stood their in my bathing suit, although I am sure that would have been horribly inappropriate and mildly embarrassing to dash2.

So I'm curious.... after a certain age do women retire their shorts? Cause I am NOT on board with that. As long as a pair of shorts cover my ass, I'm struttin my stuff.

Flyboy and I were talking about this today and he finds this curious, if you can do it tastefully, why not wear shorts? Granted, everyone has their body part that they are self concious about, I'm not a fan of my upper arms whereas my legs have never bothered me. I'm hardly a size 4 but I'm not in the plus sizes either, but then again, I see plenty of plus sizes girls rockin the shorts at the mall the other day.

So what's your take on this.... do shorts have an age limit?

closin up shop

2011-05-31T21:46:00.000-04:00

In 2 weeks, actually 12 days, I'll be infertile.

Granted its by choice but still I'd be lying if I didn't say its running thru my mind a fair amount lately.

I've been very lucky when it's come to baby makin'. Very very lucky.

I told flyboy it could take us months to get pregnant with the first two dash boys and what do you know, the first time was the charm both times. Between dash2 and 3 we suffered a miscarriage, which in it of itself was a horrible blow, if you can believe it, just 10 days after the miscarriage there we were pregnant again. I'm mertile fertile like that.

But here I am, about to turn 31 in a few months, with 3 beautiful, granted very stubborn, very spunky, very very alpha male kinda boys, going to go in for a hysterectomy.

Now don't get too panicky for me, I'm not losing the ol' girls {those would be the ovaries}, so I'm still gonna be all kinds of hormonal, just the uterus is gonna go. Cause honestly, its not working so hot lately.

I'll spare you all the gory details and trust me, they are gory, let just leave it at the fact that I re-define, monthly, what a heavy period means. And if your thinking that a hysterectomy is drastic for periods than clearly your imagination hasn't done it justice.

I've tried other things but really the only two options that are left are ablation and a hysterectomy and really, in the end both mean no more babies, so why not go with the one that will finally end the misery of leaving a blood trail around town.

Wait was that too much? Cause that's how its getting lately. And I have tan car interiors so we're getting down to the wire here folks.

We had always said that as far as kids go 3 was pretty much that magic number. In an ideal world more kids would be great, but in this world, money, time, and sanity, while it maybe highly overrated, are somewhat limited. A few have said that maybe we'll want kids once he gets out of the Marine Corps, maybe, but then again, that's six years from now, dash1 will be 12, dash2 10, and dash3 7, would we really want to start again? Probably not.

Not to mention, could the world handle another dash brother? I mean including flyboy thats a lot of testosterone for me AND the world to handle.

I've been told that I'm pretty young to be yanking organs out, I get that, but at the same time, our family is complete. And hey, since we had 'em young, we'll still be young when they head out to tackle the world on their own!

Rumor has it that there is indeed, life after kiddies. I mean, I'm still YEARS away from that but its a helluva thought, enough that while I might look fondly at little snuggly babies, flyboy and I are moving on to the next stage of family life....

That would be the stage where your child's activities cause the family calendar on the refrigerator to look suspiciously like something out of a war room.

So in 12 days my baby makin days will be over, and while its a bit to take in... I'm actually ok with it.

House rules

2011-05-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

Every house needs its rules. Sure family start out with the basic set rules, but all the good meaningful rules develop over time.

Without further ado I give you the flyboy family rules....

1. One must wear pants to the dinner table. A shirt may on certain meal days be optional, but pants, pants are a requirement for food.

2. No socks in the bath. No matter how much fun you think a bath with socks will be, they can not and will not be worn in the tub. Ever.

3. Do not pop balloons in the car. Nor is the car the time or place to try out your animal balloon making skills.

4. No talking about bodily functions at the table. {We had a "what came first, chicken or the egg" discussion at the table the other night and flyboy did not find it amusing when I put forth an equally as debatable question... which came first, the fart or the poop? Having three boys is changing me as a person. A lot.}

5. No holding people down to fart in their face unless this is your punishment. In that case, buck up and take it like a man.

6. No face shots at close rang with a nerf gun unless you are prepared for #5.

7. Do not ever, ever, roll out your playdough on the carpet. EVER. {Again.}

8. In order to sit on my bed and most especially my pillows, you must be wearing underwear. {This is directed at my kids not my husband. They think its hilarious to sit on my pillows naked, thankfully my husband does not.}

9. Never, ever, shove your fingers up someones nose for them to smell them. Also, keep your fingers out of peoples mouths, no one wants to taste whatever is on them. EVER.

10. Ice cream, while it is delicious, is not to be eaten with your fingers while standing in your underpants on a chair with the freezer door open. {This rule is strictly pointed at dash-2}

That's it for now. I know there are more, the list is ever evolving too, by the time the boys are in middle school surely the list will be up to 100. Or perhaps these are just the 10 solid rules of life. Could be...

Exhaustion

2011-05-16T09:34:00.000-04:00

I'm kinda tired. And stressed. Scratch those, and sub in exhausted.

Lately I've been a bit frazzled, I'm quick to stress, quick to snap, rather than seeing the joy in the moment, I feel anxious to get all the taskes done. {If my husband is reading this I'm sure he's wondering what tasks!}

My boys are getting older, that has a lot to do with it. No longer are our days spent puttering around the house doing tummy time and playdates. One kid has soccer, another has teeball, homework needs to be done, cookies need to be made for snack and for the Kindergarten bake sale, oh and the 5 spreadsheets for the Nursery School Board need to be done too by the way.

The house needs to be cleaned, laundry done at a cyclic rate {how is it that 3 boys can easily create 2 loads a day}, dinner should probably be made BEFORE bedtime, not to mention the other stuff of mommy hood. Love, kisses, hugs and cuddles. As delightful as those are they slow a mom down.

That. Right there. What's wrong with that statement?

That's the crux of motherhood. The love, the kisses, the cuddles, the rest, well, it needs to get done but which is more important.

I'm not going to lie either, I'm in the "over" portion of the roller coaster about military life. Ever notice how its a roller coaster? Its great, you can do it, then bam, I don't know if I can do this anymore, when are we done, etc. {Flyboy has his own version, "I'm staying 20+, lets go for retirement, here's the game plan", than bam, "I'm punching tomorrow"}

Flyboy's had a bit of a wonky schedule lately, he's re upping and has a crap ton of leave to use up, because well, he never gets to take it, so he's putting his foot down and dammit, he's taking it, in little week chunks at a time, so he's been around, but who are we kidding, he's still gone a lot. Here's where I'm going to get whinny, I don't want 5 days, I want 6 months. 6 months of normal living.

6 months of going to work but coming home to help with homework, bath time, bedtime. 6 months of weekends together. 6 months of a partner to lean on.

6 months with no where to go but home to us.

But that's not our military reality. Never has been never will be. So we keep on doing our spurts, here and gone. Here and gone. It should be normal by now but instead it just seems so exhausting.

But hey, only 6 years left, 6 years is a cake walk right?

Annoyances with a side of bewilderment

2011-05-15T16:35:00.000-04:00

There are days I'm pretty sure I should be living on an island somewhere in the Pacific all by my lonesome, from the way my husband used to describe Wake Island, laying in a hammock drinking beer, it doesn't sound like such a bad life.

That and people annoy the living bejezzus out of me from time to time.

I'm actually relatively good at letting some things go. I think military life is good for that, when one is running around taking over the slack of a parent who isn't around, you get pretty good at picking and choosing what is going to ruffle your feathers. But then.... then the little things just sneak on in and annoy me.

Top of my list these days:

-people who idle outside of a store while waiting for someone inside.

Now if you want to sit in your car with the darn thing running when gas cost $4.09 knock your socks off. But here is a brilliant idea. Park in a spot and keep your eye on the door you inconsiderate moron. Because when you park in front of the sloppey part of the sidewalk people in wheelchairs and pushing their kids in carts cant GET IN THE DAMN STORE!

You know I once saw a guy parked ON the sidewalk in front of the Target? I will admit I actually stood there and stared because I couldn't quite believe it. {And in case your wondering, no, no he did not seem to like me staring at him and waved at me. With one finger.}

But really.... who PARKS on the SIDEWALK? What he couldn't fit his suv thru the doors?

- Much like the one above, people who park in handicap spots so they can just "dash" in real quick. I noticed a tow truck did this today. His tow truck was too long for the spots so he pulled horizontally in over both of the handicap spots AND blocking the ramp to the sidewalk. Really guy? You couldn't have done the same thing four spaces down?

- Cops driving at warp speed talking on their cell phones. We live in a handsfree state and since we also live in a broke-ass state they are seriously cracking down on talking while driving. I have no problems with this, if your breakign the law and get caught than pay up. I'm much more for this than taxing the hell out of people.

Anyways, the other day dash2 and I were walking into the gym {I was pushing dash3 in the stroller in case you were wondering if I left him in the car} and we were almost plowed down by a cop who was going well over the village speed limit of 25 mph. And he was talking on his cell phone. And his lights weren't on so don't give me the it was an emergency line. If it was he should have turned on his siren and lights.

I respect cops but bottom line, if I have to follow the law so do you. And please don't run over my kids and I.

- Now this one isn't so much an annoyance as it is a bewilderment.... people putting soda in their baby bottles. I saw this not once but twice this week. {and in an even more shocking twist I was only out at Target twice this week. How did THAT happen?!}

Here's my thinking, if your kid needs a bottle they don't need soda. If you feel they are old enough for soda than they probably don't need a bottle.

I love me my soda....I'm not an anti-soda persona, its my crack, hence why my kids wont be touching it for quite a while.

There you go. That's what's going on in my head these days. If you need me I'll be looking around for a deserted island.

A request from a food allergy parent

2011-05-14T09:53:00.001-04:00

The week before last I was cleaning thru dash1's bookbag, because, as any mother of a kid in school knows, when you want the skinny on what's going on you head straight to the bookbag.

How that child can rat hole away so many things in there is beyond me.

In his bookbag I found a little construction paper card that said "sorry" on the front. My first instinct was "oh crap what did my kid do?". I opened up the card and read "I'm sorry I almost made you so sick".

Ummm.... what went on at school? Clearly I was not in the loop here.

I ask dash1 about the card and he told me, very matter of factly that 2 little girls in his class got up from their table at lunch and walked over to his peanut free table and waved a PB&J in his face.

Dash1, who in case your just joining me has severe allergies to eggs and peanuts, handles his food allergies very matter of factly. He doesn't really freak out or take them lightly, he called over his teacher who was in the lunch room and let her know what was happening.

When I asked what happened next he summed it up rather nicely, "oh mom, Mrs. --- was PISSED." Apparently the girls got a talking to and the parents were informed. I will admit, there is part of me that wonders if this was enough, but then again they are only kindergarteners.

One mother came up to me the next day at school and told me that her daughter was so upset over getting in trouble she started throwing up and she had to come get her at school and "just hold her for the rest of the day.".

Forgive me, I'm not moved. {Sidenote- quite frankly, this mom is weird anyways. Really, she took her kid out of school at 2:00 to "get her pretty" for her 6:00 birthday party.}

Bullying is no joke in school anymore. Dash1's school has had no less than five assemblies on it,and in my mind, waving a pb&j in the face of someone for whom peanut butter is lethal is on par with pushing them around on the playground.

And speaking of food allergies... did you know last week was food allergy awareness week? {I know I know I should have blogged then, when I had the mojo blogger was down. Yeah, that's right, I'm passing the buck.}

Here's what schools AND parents, both the parents of the allergy kids and the non allergy kids need to do. We can't just slap up a sign on the classroom door of a peanut with a line through it, that's not enough. Sure a kindergartener gets that that means NO PEANUTS but do they really understand why? Probably not.

We need to explain to them, on their level what it means. Some people can eat peanut butter all day long, when you eat peanut butter your tummy thinks its awesome, when other kids eat it it can make them very very sick. There, that's the start of a talk.

Food restrictions due to allergies can be seen as bothersome or an overreaction by non-allergy parents. I've know this first hand. I saw the eye rolls and sighs when the teacher announced at orientation that there were peanut allergies in the room, trust me folks, its no walk in the park for us.

Not to mention a lot of time kids with severe food allergies also have other medical issues that go hand in hand. Dash1 also has allergy asthma, which during a flare up is a nightmare. The afternoon after the sandwich was waved in his face he had an asthma attack and his oxygen levels plummeted.

At our school, peanuts aren't outlawed all together, there are no peanut snacks allowed IN the class but the lunchroom is still fair game. What is needed is a level of understanding on the part of all involved.

I can't speak for all allergy parents, but I know that I've tried to do my best to safe guard my son. He knows what can happen if he ingest an allergen, he knows that he needs to be vigilant and take precautions. If your a non allergy parent, take the time to talk to your kids, somewhere an allergy parent is reading a really long list of ingredients and will thank you for it.

We've been here too long

2011-04-24T19:52:00.000-04:00

No really, this December will be nine years of marriage and we've been here the whole damn time.

Told you its been a long damn time.

All three boys were born here, as far as life goes, this is all they know. And from time to time that terrifies me.

I'll drop the mystery for a minute of where we are.... are you dying of curiosity? Its.... NY.

Yeah yeah yeah, I know what your saying, "Oh I didn't know there were Marines in NY." Yes. Yes there are. I hear that all the time. There are Marines everywhere. But there aren't a hell of a whole lot of them up here so it can get that isolated Siberian feel up here.

If there were a lot of velour track suits in Siberia that is.

I know that's a stereotype but this state does seem to be the capital of velour track suit wearing people.

But anyways, I drift, velour track suits seem to do that to me, we've been here way to long. Short of the fact its been almost nine years wanna know how else I know?

-When talking about Father's Day gift ideas {which since he'll be just getting back from a boys week in Ireland is probably going to be zip, zero, zilch} dash-1 suggested maybe a big, gold necklace. Try as I might I can not for the life of me think of my dear flyboy wearing a big ol gold chain.

-Dash-2 and I now say Hot Dawg rather than hot dog.

-Dash-2 thinks {and is correct in this thought} that NY style pizza is the only type of pizza out there. All others are cheap imitations and not worth his time or taste buds.

I'll admit, I'm amazed and a little proud that my little 4 year old can navigate a giant piece of NY pizza without missing a beat.

-The other day I pull all my hair in a ponytail. My bangs were a bit poofed back, not quite all Snookie but there was a bit of a bump going on, here's the problem, I liked it. A lot.

Fear not though, I haven't taken up the fake tanning so I'm not Snookie umpa-lumpa orange. I'm just rockin the bump.

-While visiting the south last month, I was frustrated NUMEROUS times with the slow pace down there. HURRY THE HECK UP! Sweet Jesus, people have things to do, and well, even if I don't I certainly don't care to stand around and watch you dwaddle while you try to get your crap done.

See? I've turned into that obnoxious impatient NY'er. I scare myself.

We need orders. ASAP.

Too bad they probably aren't coming anytime soon.

Until then I'm just gonna be chilling with my hair bump eating some greasy pizza enjoying life. In a velour track suit.

Big pimpin'

2011-04-22T19:56:00.000-04:00

My son just asked me what pimpin' was.

{He missed out on seeing a pimp in real life, like I did a few weeks ago at the local target. I'll have to elaborate on that one later for you all.}

This is also the point where one of you out there does some online searching for a Mother of the Year contest because SURELY I'd kick some ass in that.

I should probably watch my mouth some.

In case you were wondering what in the hell {see there I go again} I could have possibly said that brought up the word pimp he asked what I was doing and I said I was pimpin' out grandma.

I'll give you a minute to get that picture out of your head.

But its not like you might be thinking, which if you are thinking that you should be horribly ashamed of yourself. I was uploading new things to our etsy store and tweeting about all the beee-u-tiful things that Ma has whipped up. When he asked what I was doing I said I was pimpin' grandma.

Wow. That was a long explanation for a word. But you know me, I'm nothing if not wordy. And mildly inappropriate at every turn.

If you want to check out what's new over at the etsy store, check it out, and if you're looking for a mother's day gift for your terribly hard to buy for mother in law {we all have one} might I suggest one of these very meaningful stars?

See pimpin' out grandma. But her stuff is so nice it's worth it.

And I think its funny to say.

Mish mosh of random stuff

2011-04-21T19:45:00.000-04:00

I've been MIA for a while, my apologies, damn life for getting in the way.

And I'm out of the habit I'm not sure how to get back into it. I'm at the point now where I don't know how to get back on the blog wagon, I am clueless what to post. {I'm open to suggestions, please}

So I figured I'd catch you all up on what-s-a-going on round here.

- At the end of March we traveled down to Savannah for my brother's wedding. It was a ton o'fun. Even taking into account the 20 some hours in the car one way with three small kids. Flyboy was able to come with us, and as many of you know with the military thats a big stinkin deal. It seems like I'm always at family things solo and it was delightful to get to go car trippin WITH flyboy. And I know he LOVED it.

All 300 bathroom stops.

We stopped in Gettysburg, the USS North Carolina, Tybee Island and Ft. Puaski, we did the sights of Savannah, and all that fun stuff. And we enjoyed some nice weather, the day we were sitting on the beach it was snowing at home, always a win.

Flyboy is now on a kick to get an RV. Where he thinks the money is coming from I don't know and why he would want to voluntarily put himself in a metal tube with all three kids for days on end I am also unclear on.

- Another tee ball season has started. Yah! {That's sarcasm}

On one hand Dash-1 can't seem to figure out the proper order of bases, or that he shouldn't be fielding the ball when he's on the bases as a runner, but on the other hand, he isn't tackling anyone for the ball when they field it first. Progress in my book.

- Dash-2 is still trying to get me to smell his fingers. I'm not sure why but I don't want to smell them.

-Dash-1 got his report card in school and is doing exceptionally well. He has also gotten married. She seems lovely. I was not invited to the wedding as it took place in the hallway returning from library.

I'm very confused by all this, he's 6. He can't drive, doesn't have a job, still lives with his parents, not to mention he is not allowed to cross the road by himself, stay up past 8, or use the remote control. I'm not sure why he thought marriage was a logical step.

Dash-2 is not married yet. He's keeping his options open. He has also decided that he will never ever move out of my house. Lucky lucky me.

- I mentioned this on twitter but its so exciting it deserves mention here, I can set my dvr from anywhere with my phone. This is awesome and makes me feel like I have Godlike power. I find myself recording willey-nilly just because I can.

I think I can also make my phone a remote control so that if flyboy ever gets it in his head to step out of line and try a coup for the remote I can shut him down right quick.

-Speaking of flyboy, he's off yonder again, but when isn't he? Apparently he has a shit ton o'leave to use up in the next few months so rumor has it we might be seeing a fair amount of him. Perfect for testing out my phone remote control powers.

-I haven't mentioned dash-3. He's cute as ever. He just had a little hair cut {no high and tight for him yet, he still has that super soft downy baby hair, LOVE IT!} and looks like a little boy. With every day more and more babyness leaves and more and more little boy creeps in.

Hold me.

He's no longer in PT! As of 2 wks ago he has graduated and is good to go at age level.

So that's it in a nutshell.

I will do my best not to be a stranger. If you read I'll write. How's that for a deal?

Still time to swap!

2011-03-08T13:30:00.001-05:00

We just got back from a week on the road with the kiddos and so I'm extending the swap signups for a couple days to give folks a chance to jump on the ship o'fun. Yes the swap is still going on, I'm just {as always} a bit behind, but come on! Join the fun!!!

SWAP TIME!

Spring is coming, Easter is around the corner, pretty soon trees will be budding and flowers a bloomin. But you wanna know what makes me the most excited? Easter candy hitting the shelves.

Cadbury eggs, Brachs marshmallow eggs, robins eggs. Be still my heart. And my growing backside.

So I'll about an Easter Candy Swap, are you?

Like I always say, I like to keep my swaps simple, so this one is much the same with a small twist.

The theme is Spring/Easter, but there will be a little twist, for this swap along with Easter goodies you think your partner will like {I'll send you their answers to the questions} you send AT LEAST one of YOUR favorite easter candies.

Here are the main points:

-$ 10 dollar limit {excluding postage} as always you can spend more but you DO NOT NEED to

- think festive, maybe use some easter grass, hide things in eggs, think outside the ~~box~~ basket

- get your box to your partner a few days BEFORE Easter {those of you mailing to APO/FPO take this into consideration when mailing}

Wanna join?

Sign up by sending an email at tryingourbest at yahoo Sign ups will be until Friday April 1st.

If you wouldnt mind answer these few questions in your email:

-Any food allergies?

-Favorite part of spring?

-Food/candy likes and dislikes?

-Are you willing to ship to an APO/FPO {for those of you who are nonmilitary, it cost you nothing extra, its the same as mailing within the US, only a customs form needs to be filled out, easy peasy.}

-best email to reach you at {also if you want your blog address and twitter info}

and anything else you want to add.

I'll email partner information, including their answers a couple days after the sign ups end.

As always, I try to do my best to make these swaps as much fun and as painfree as possible, please please please, only sign up with you really are going to go thru with it! It stinks, to put it mildly, when someones partner craps out on them.

And don't forget to spread the word, tweet it, blog it, blab it.

top 2 relationship lessons

2011-03-08T13:22:00.000-05:00

Since I'm slacking in the blog department lately {although I did just put up the swap post if your interested in spring time fun} I figured I would do something to get back in the game. I saw this, Top 2 Tuesday and had to join in, although in 8 years of marriage, a military marriage at that, I have learned way more than 2 things but I'll just stick with 2.

Without further ado here are the top 2 things I have learned in a relationship:

1. It takes work. Lots of work. Lots and lots and lots of work. This really was a revelation to me in the beginning of our marriage. My parents made marriage look easy, but I realize now what I didn't see was the behind the scenes hard work that they each put into it. It takes work not to annoy the other person, it takes work to not let them annoy you, it takes work to make time, it takes work not to be angry and upset, it takes work to forgive, sometimes it takes work to just be.

It's easy to fall into a cycle, especially in a military marriage, of just doing your own thing, going thru the motions and not putting in the added effort to really make it special.

And its because two people are willing to put the work in that at the end of the day it all works out.

2. You will annoy your love and he will annoy you. I love my husband as he loves me. However, and its a big one, he annoys the living bejesus out of me. Granted a lot of this comes from the fact that we rarely live with each other longer than 2-3 weeks at a time. Case in point, I have a habit of leaving EVERY. SINGLE. cabnet door open in the kitchen, all 15 or however many we have. I don't know why I do this, dammit if I don't try, I really do, to close them as I use them, but inevitably I will forget.

This drives my husband insane. Crazy right down to the core of his inner being.

On the flip side, my husband likes to leave his toothbrush resting on his bathroom counter well within arms reach of our small children who have, many times, used it to swirl around in the toilet. {But being a good wife, I always get him a new one and try to put it away when I see it out and remember.}

This shouldn't annoy me but it does, he doesn't do it to annoy me {I mean who wants their toothbrush in the toilet?} just like I don't leave the cabnet doors open to annoy him. Its just ingrained in who we are I suppose. But again, at the end of the day it is what it is and we love each other in spite of it.

And the winner is.....

2011-03-01T09:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry about that folks, I didn't quite factor in the craziness that would be returning to the school routine after break {again why do we get an entire week off for Presidents day?}, a quick visit to my folks, and getting registration packets ready to go for dash2's pre-school.

{I'm now the registrar if anyone is looking for a great pre school in this area, I can hook you up.}

But I finally got my head out of my arse and drew a name, thanks to random.org, its.............

KATIE

Shoot me an email at tryingourbest at yahoo {or a tweet} letting me know that you saw this and what you think you want to get. If I don't hear something in 48 hrs I'll draw another winner.

Congrats and thanks to everyone who entered! I do love a giveaway.... look for more in the future....

my home friend

2011-02-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Last night I had dinner with a friend, not just any friend but my bestie. Two hours that refreshed my soul.

For some reason we have this entire week off of school, who knows the logic, I sure don't, and we still have spring break in April so perhaps this is just some sort of teaser who knows. But flyboy's away, we were off, so why not come home for a quick visit.

Ma had the kids, I was off duty, a last minute text that resulted in a last minute dinner, but that's just sorta the way her and I roll. She's my best friend, my home friend. We met in a crappy job fresh out of high school.

And please people, trust me when I say crappy, it was a student aide position in the Financial Aide office and they too joy in making our lives miserable, they actually took away our scissors at one point to make us feel like true idiots.

But we found each other there. We were similar but different, she's barely 5" and I tower over her at 5"7. She was a bit shy and quite and I was a bit louder, maybe that's why they took the scissors away from me first. I dressed a la GAP and she was more goth, thank goodness she worked her way thru that one and joined me on the preppy side.

We were inseparable, we worked together, took classes together, ate dinner after school together, we just kicked it I suppose you could say.

Then we both transferred to other colleges and we drifted some, we got married, we both moved away from home, but yet we still find our way back to each other.

I think its a sign of an amazing friendship when you can go without talking and pick right back up where you left off. We have that.

Sometimes flyboy will ask when I last talked to pen-meister I'll shrug and say "I dunno". And he'll just make some kinda face. But that's us.

We hadn't talk a lot lately, but dinner last night was great. I laughed so hard I had to put my head down on the table. For 2 hours, everything else in the world was on the back burner and we just talked.

About nothing and everything and anything in between.

hey friend.... shalom

GIVEAWAY!

2011-02-24T20:30:00.000-05:00

GIVEAWAY!

Everyone has such nice things to say about our service stars and it certainly is appreciated, we wanted to do something nice so.... why not give someone the chance to win one, large or small!

But fear not if you already have one, you can either get another one to give to someone as a gift or out can pick something else out our etsy store, Blue Bird Crafting! It's yours for the choosing!

Here's how to enter:

And please PLEASE one separate comment for each entry, it makes it MUCH easier to pick a winner!

-leave a comment, nothing fancy just what you would pick

-put a link up on your blog linking to this giveaway {for 2 entries}

-tweet about the giveaway {@mrs_flyboy} you can tweet daily for entries! {2 entries}

- put this bad boy up on your facebook if you want, I'm still facebook clueless so I'll take your word on it. {2 entries}

and last but not least, if you've purchased something from us in the past each purchase is worthy of an entry! {1 entry per past purchase}

I'll keep the giveaway open until Friday night at 7pm. Happy entering and thanks again for all the kind words!

Hey hey hey

2011-02-24T11:33:00.000-05:00

I was channeling fat albert right there for ya. I wanted to make sure that no one misses out on the chance to enter my kick ass giveaway {although everything around here is kick ass}.

If you want a chance to win either WHATEVER YOU WANT from our Etsy store, Blue Bird Crafting head over here and enter!

We have service stars, Americana wall hangings, burp cloths, and zipper bags. Surely you'll find something you like. It's open until tomorrow {Friday} night.

Also, I'm going to go ahead with the Easter swap. I'll get details and signup out there in the next week or so.... after all.... we have some time, but get ready folks, because a swappin' we will be.

100 day project and why some parents suck

2011-02-23T16:12:00.001-05:00

Last week was a big week in school. Not only was it Valentine's day which I've said before, in elementary school might just be bigger than Christmas, but it was the 100th day of school. That's right the big 1-0-0.

Which, if you don't have a school age kiddo, is apparently a BIG FRIGGIN DEAL.

Hats were colored, snacks were counted into groups of 100, parades were held, 100 steps walked, and a 100 item project made.

The directions came home the week before, have your child group together and display 100 objects, be they paper clips, stickers, what have you. The directions made sure to say, provide minimal direction and help to your child, this is, after all, their project.

Yeah. Some parents didn't get that part of the memo.

Dash-1 worked really hard on his project, but I will admit, it did look as if it had been dragged behind the bus for a stop or two. He chose to take packing peanuts {you can not say that we do not have a sense of humor in our house, packing peanuts for the peanut free kiddo} and recycle and reuse them by gluing 100 of them on a recycled and reused cardboard container that had held water bottles on them.

He really wanted to use stuff from around the house, recycling and reusing is really pushed in his school so he wanted to recycle and reuse. I just thought the peanuts were funny, what can I say, he's a better person at 6 than I am at 30.

We tried a couple different types of glue and unfortunately most of them ate thru the peanuts so after quite some experimenting we settled on the glue gun. This was really my only role in the project, you know to make sure he didn't burn my house down in a giant pile of hot glue or something equally fun like that.

We talked a bit about the best way to "group" the peanuts for the easiest counting. Once he figured out groups of 10 was easiest he was off on his way.

I did what the memo said, I let him do the project. He glued groups of 10 alright. Groups of ten this way, groups of ten that way, hmmm, that one didn't fit I'll just squeeze that one right here..... he wrote his title in his best handwriting, but when your a kindergartner, writing on cardboard isn't so easy.

Nothing too razzle dazzle to it but dammit it really was his project. He did it. Start to finish. He worked really hard on the project to make it his best work.

I was so proud.

And later when I found dash-2 ripping the packing peanuts off with glee I was pissed, but that doesn't really fit with the story here.

The day after we did the project I happened to be in his school for something and I noticed that some 100 day projects were already hanging up.

Holy poop batman.

Now I should say. I'm a crafter. I love me a nice, perfect, precise project. But there were projects there that were, in my opinion, out of my league let alone a kindergartner. Someone made a picture frame out of paper clips complete with a picture, and not just some simple hook the paper clips together, they were interwoven and whatnot . Oh and then there is the foam collage of the rain forest.

Come friggin on people.

The point of this was for the kids to do it. Had the point been to show off our parental talents than bring it on, but that wasn't it.

Did my kid send in packing peanuts glued to cardboard? Yes. Was it sparkly and fancy, no, not at all, but he's a kindergartner and again with the exception of making sure he didn't set my house on fire, he did the WHOLE darn thing by himself. That's a helluva feat for a kindergartner.

Why do parents have to do that? Why do parents have to get involved to overstep what their role is supposed to be and turn out projects that are way outside the possibility of kindergarten talents? To prove that they can do it? Trust me folks, I'm pretty confident with the exception of that tricky ven diagram worksheet that I can do kindergarten work.

And guess what, if you made the best 100 day project congrats, as a grown ass adult you outdid 5 and 6 year olds.

Before you all say, "but the kids could have done the project!". Yes, yes, maybe I'm wrong, maybe there are some kick ass talented project making kids in that grade. However, after listening to some of the parents and seeing them in action, I find it doubtful. You can pretty much look at a project and tell right quick if a kindergartner or a 30-something did it.

This, folks, is why we raise kids who can't read past an 8 grade level and don't see the need to do homework come later grades. We don't hold them responsible to do the work that they need to do. We are raising idiots. It is their work, make them do it!

Yes, I made that leap from a 100 day project in kindergarten to the dumbing down of society.

I'm just bitter about that picture frame.....

And dont forget about entering my giveaway!!!

Easter Swap?

2011-02-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

In utter anticipation of Easter and the candy that comes with it. I was wondering, anyone interested in a swap?

If there seems to be folks who are up for it I'm all over hosting it.

Lemme know what you think.

My rant of the day

2011-02-21T13:26:00.000-05:00

Buckle your seat belts boys and girls, mama's gettin ready for a rant.

{side note: Do I have any boys reading this? Besides flyboy, he blog stalks and never leaves a comment.}

So anyways, on the etsy front, things are going well. Feedback is nothing but delightful, everyone seems really pleased with products that they've purchased, especially these bad boys, the Blue Service Stars.

And then today I got a call from my mother that someone sent us a nasty gram via a conversations {for those of you who aren't etsy-fied its kinda of a direct message}. Apparently as a blue star mom she took issue with the fact that we sell our blue stars and are not just giving them away like she is.

I sent back a very polite reply that we are all entitled to our opinions and that my mother has certainly does her fair share of giving and that since I'm part of the military community that she thinks we are taking advantage of I found her insinuation doubly insulting.

Obviously I don't think we are taking advantage of military folks. One, I'm military folk, two I'm not a scumball. That really kinda sums it up.

But you know I couldn't leave it there.... I'm too wordy for that.

I hope you all don't feel that we are taking advantage of anyone, let alone the people who serve our country or the people who stay behind and parent alone, comfort upset kids alone, stick their hands down a toilet to retrieve an entire roll of toilet paper, clean up vomit at all hours of the night.... you guessed it.... alone.

{And yes, in case you were wondering, this week I did in fact get to pull out wads and wads of toilet paper from a pee filled toilet because someone thought it would be funny and then someone else figured they would still pee in it.}

We've priced these are low as we can get em, without actually giving them away, and well since I do love a giveaway, we do give quite a few away. And my mother wouldn't like it if I pointed out all the nice stuff that she does on the dow low because she likes to stay on the down low.

They are priced to basically cover cost and we try to keep the shipping as low as we can make it, in fact they are sized so that we could send them in 1st class mail vice priority.

I'm not trying to turn this into some infomercial for how great our store is {but it is amazing check it out! Blue Bird Crafting } but I was annoyed and I wanted to clear the air.

Upon closer reflection this rant was kinda disappointing, I apologize. I was distracted a bit by dash-2 standing next to me in a fireman hat and his underpants.

And I didn't want to upset my mother by going to town on what a clueless moron I might have thought that lady was. I mean if you don't like something fine but you really shouldn't go emailing people and telling them, IN ALL CAPS, that you take issue with something when you don't know the whole scoop.

Silly lady, that's what a blog is for.

Back to the vomit

2011-02-19T09:17:00.000-05:00

So about the vomit. Sorry for the lag, who knew that with kids in school Valentine's Day is the new Christmas? I think more work on my part went into Vday than xmas.

That and well, single parenting can for some reason absorb a fair amount of your time, especially with those pesky care laws, you know feed em THREE times a day, bathe them, take em places with you, you know that kinda stuff.

So back to vomit. {Which by the way is a fitting topic right now since both dash3 and I are sick with head colds and he keeps making this weird open mouth hacking sound that is either going to produce some vomit or a hairball}

Of my 3 kids dash2 is rarely sick. He could rub himself with poo and sit in a room of ebola virus and he doesn't get sick. Dash-1 can look at a person sneeze from within a safe room and 10 minutes later he'll get sick, case in point in a two month span he had the flu, pnuemonia, a cold, strep, and scarlet fever. And God help us when he gets a stomach bug, when he had the flu he must have vomited 9 times in a 12 hour period.

Dash3 is somewhere in the middle. I'm hoping as he gets older and used to more germs he'll lean more towards dash-2.

But. Dash-2 does have a nasty little habit. And bless his heart it's certainly not his fault. But its still really gross.

He has a habit of vomitting all over the floor at Sam's Club.

And don't sit there in your vomit free tower thinking, well than, she shouldn't let him eat that crap food, because trust me, if I thought that was it I'd stop that most ricky tick. He has puked after eating some of a hot dog. he has puked while eating {in my opinion the most disgusting}, he's puked while shopping and not eating, he's puked while standing still.

I do not for the life of me get what it is about that place. Is it the lights, the concrete floor, he just loves to watch me clean it up? What is it?!

So I guess that answers the question in my normal-there-must-be-a-long-winded-story kinda way. I clean up my kids vomit. And not because I like to or I think its not gross at all, but because if its gross to me, the woman who birthed these creatures and thinks that they might be the most adorable, beautiful creatures in the world {and its REALLY REALLY gross} than by golly its gonna be wrenchingly gross for someone else. And I know its "their job" but there is no way in HELL they get paid near enough for them.

I get the point that there are standards to which it needs to be cleaned up and I get that there are situations in which its not always possible {for instance the child is ready to spew again and you have GOT to get out of there} but I really do try my best.

My usually puke MO is that I sop up the bulk of the mess, they come over to clean it up and I quickly explain that I'll get it, and I must say I don't think I've ever had someone not take me up on it. Well at the dr's office, but in that situation they are more equipped gag reflex wise I think to handle vomit and bodily fluids than the folks at Sam's Club.

I generally do the nasty clean up and then they do a "spot check" with the bleach and all that good stuff.

By the way, I've started carrying absorbent powder in my car should anyone vomit in the mom mobile. It gels the stuff up and helps with the smell. {and this isn't some paid post, this is a mom who cleans up a LOT of puke sharing this with other puke cleaners}

The reason I even asked this question was that I was surprised the other day in Sam's when dash2 puked and I went to town earning my keep cleaning it up. I will admit, I'm embarassed when my kids puke, I'm afraid other people are thinking, why did she take him out, its random, trust me if I knew I was going to clean up puke with my bare hands I'd have stayed home.

But when I finally looked up, sweaty, stinky, and blushing, I was shocked at the very sweet reaction that people had for me.

One lady came over to give me some handiwipes to clean dash2 and I up with {of course I am a mom and have mulitple cleaning products in my purse but it was very nice}. Another woman made a point of saying, that she hoped he felt better and that it certainly can't be helped. Another couple asked if I wanted them to watch the boys while I went to the bathroom to wash up. {I always feel like that's a test, "Bob, if she says yes, call the cops and report her as some bad mom who's willing to leave her kids with total strangers. Get ready!"}

And everyone said that they were shocked I cleaned it up myself. When the janitor finally made his way over he was even more shocked. Well not so shocked when he saw it was us, this poor man gets scared every time he sees dash2 in the store. He said he certainly doesn't expect people to clean it up but its always appreciated.

I was pleasantly surprised to see so many of you reply that you too are in the cleanup brigade. If you see a frazzeld woman cleaning up vomit in a Sam's Club anytime soon, stop by, it might be me. {Yes, yes, dash-2 has puked in Sam's Clubs in various states. I'm telling you, its some weird kinda thing I just can't explain.}

Question of the day - vomit

2011-02-11T14:33:00.000-05:00

Question for you guys....

If your child vomits in a public place do you clean it up?

Yay or nay?

I'm really curious what the answers are, public vomit may or may not have happened to me today and after hearing what some people around me had to say I'm really REALLY curious what the blogosphere has to say.

I'll share my answer with you guys tomorrow {or in a day or two knowing the way I move around here}.

Go on.... don't be shy.

to tweet a tweet about twitter, oh wait this is a blog.

2011-02-05T22:00:00.000-05:00

I'm cheating on my blog.

Or at least it feels that way since I've found twitter {@mrs_flyboy}last year. I've got ubertwitter right there on my crackberry and so its always there, right at the end of my arm.

{And while my husband mocks me for always having my phone on having a Kindergartner with asthma and severe food allergies and a ~~overzealous~~ very on the ball nurse I get a call from school at least once a day.}

Since having adding dash 3, entering the school age phase shuffle, flyboy's {never changing} here there everywhere schedule, blogging sometimes takes a backseat. That and I don't know what to say, dammit I've said it all on twitter. After all, think of something type it.

Do you tweet? Do you tend to follow tweets more than tweeting? What do you look for in a twitter tweeter?

I could use a few good recommendations, I'm in the market for some witty twitty repertoire. Twitter recommends people but I don't quite get what the hell they are thinking with some of them. Someone who tweets funny pictures of cats? For God's sakes I don't even like cats.

So if you tweet who are your top 3 funny follows?

on the same page

2011-02-03T08:57:00.000-05:00

There are times I think we should just install a door in our house, or that flyboy should just keep all his clothes and what not on his plane and just pack a small bag to come home and not vice versa.

There are times I think about how every year from the moment we got married 8 years ago has been the same, gone for a week, home for a week, gone for 3 weeks, home for 2 days, gone for a week, and. so. on.

Nevermind mixing in deployments to war and what not.

There are times that I think about how the longest we've even been together for one continuous time was 2 months. EVER.

There are times I think about how this schedule will keep up for the next 7 years we have left in the Marine Corps until retirement.

Seven more years of this insanity right? Seven more years of coming and going. It can, it will be done.

We had a bit of a "discussion" about working together, seeing eye to eye on things, and we are lucky, for the most part we really are on the same page, but its hard, since we do, a fair amount of time lead separate lives.

He's on the road doing his plane-flying-Marine-kinda things, and I'm at home doing bill paying, laundry doing, homework checking, chauffeuring, and lest we forget, butt wiping kinda things. It's tough. Obviously I keep him up to date on things, but sometimes we just cant help but fall into the "hey I'll do my thing, you do your thing, we'll meet back here in a week, see you then" kinda rut.

I'm curious.... how do you guys make sure that you stay on the same page and stay "connected"?

a tidbit for you all

2011-02-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

Since becoming a mom I have learned:

One minute your kid will say they don't want milk in their cereal, the next minute they will spit in said cereal to get it wet. And while this is gross, I have learned that it is doubtful that this will be the grossest part of the day.

There.

That's my mothering lesson of the day.

New things on Etsy

2011-01-30T23:07:00.001-05:00

In case you all were wondering.... a few new things over at Blue Bird Crafting

nautical burp cloths

{the next best thing to airplanes}

Stars and Stripe burp cloths

a 3 star service banner

{and we also have a double star and of course the classic blue star}

a patriotic wall hanging

{in small and large sizes}

{which would look mighty nice hanging next to a service star if you already have one}

Check us out!

control your kid dude

2011-01-29T09:47:00.000-05:00

I'm really not a prick. I'm not.

{I feel like I have to begin this kinda post this way}

I like to think that I'm a nice mama type, but even I have to draw the line somewhere. And last night it was drawn in the sand and then stomped over repeatedly.

I should also mention that I'm a fan of personal space and so are my kids. {Ironically my kids are not fans of MY personal space, only theirs but I'm hoping this might change someday.}

This week was one of those weeks, started off rocky but ended rather nicely, as a reward for surviving, relatively unscathed, the boyos and I headed to McDonald's for some play and an early dinner. Usually its uneventful, with the exception of being mildly weirded out by the thought of all the lingering germs, the boys play nicely, they eat, sometimes I even get to sit in peace and read a magazine while dash-3 chomps on some apples. Win win for everyone.

Last night was the exception.

As the mom its my solemn duty to hand out and set up food. If I don't do this, the kids will toss everything aside and play with the toy and dash-2 takes the opportunity to confiscate and hoard all the carmel packets that I'm usually able to convince him we didn't get.

I'm busy getting nuggets divided up, ketchup handed out, and what do you know but some girl {probably about 5...old enough to know better} comes and sits at our table. I look up to see dash-1 staring at her like her head is on backwards because she had grabbed his happy meal toy and was rolling it on the FLOOR.

I told her, nicely, that we don't put our toys on the floor here and that it was his toy and he had just gotten it and he was looking at it. She apparently didn't care. I gently took the toy away from her and set it over on his side of the table. {Though I'd like to mention that the whole damn side of the table was his side of the table!}

Then she hones in on dash-3 pacy and picks it up by the sucky part, "what's this?" It's his pacy, please don't touch it. Then she tries to grab his juice, "what's this?" Really? It's his juice please don't touch it.

I'm really not on of those neurotic mothers, old ladies {and little girls in regards to dash3} pat my kids on the head or face all the time, I just smile and nod. It's not going to kill them. But putting your paws on my kids juice straw and pacy does piss me off a bit.

I looked up to get her fathers attention and he sees that she's over here bothering us. Yeah, that's right I said bothering. Look, I get that kids are curious, I get that kids don't always know right and wrong its our job to teach them that, but my kids, darn well know not to go sit at someone's table and bother them during a meal.

I told my boys to go play and the dad came to get the little girl so they could go get some food or something, but then I hear screaming, she's chasing dash-2 around. And he didn't like it so much.

He's going thru the anti girl stage. He's raised in a house of free flowing testoterone, girls are weird to him. I make sure he understands that he has to be polite but he's weirded out by them at this point of his little life, so having her chase him around trying to "tag" him was not going to end well.

He ran over to sit next to me, actually he tried to sit under me but it wasn't happening, He's yelling, "leave me alone, leave me alone, I don't want to play!" I told him just to ignore if he didn't want to play nicely, he turns to eat his food and she wacks him on the back.

Oh sweet Jesus.

He moved so quickly to lunge at her, thankfully, I am a well trained mom and moved quicker and grabbed his shirt as he was flailing to get at her. Again, I tried to explain to her, "sweetie he doesn't really want to play right now, he can be kind of shy." So she tries AGAIN. There is part of me that wishes I could have just let dash-2 at it, but that would have been wrong. I know I should have grown a set of balls and told the father this was just ridiculous that he needed to control his child, but well, I'm kinda a wimp. And I was trying to calm dash-2 down and use this as some sort of teachable moment as to why we don't act like wild savages in public.

The boys kinda of gave up on playing and came back over to eat. And then she came back. She actually was pushing dash-1 over so she could squeeze in the booth, I told her, gently, that he didn't need to scoot over but damn she's persistant. She ten tries to start grabbing their food.

And again, I correct her, I'm seriously losing my patience. I really enjoy sitting with them and discussing their day, what's going on, what weekend plans are, I really enjoy that time. And this is beyond ridiculous. He looks over and smiles, I shoot a death look, he eventually comes over and just stands over the table. Are you serious you giant moron?

Dash-2 said it perfectly, "I just wanna go home." Perfect lets go. All in all we were in the play area for 10 mins. I'm shocked we lasted that long.

I'm sure I looked like a douche bag mom because I didn't want to entertain some other kid but here's a newsflash, just because I'm a mom doesn't mean I want to mother your kid. I realize someone told you it takes a whole village to raise a kid, but it really helps a lot if you do some of the raising first.

I had my hands full, I was trying to enjoy my time with my kids. One of the things that can be hard when your spouse is away a lot is feeling like you really connect with your kids, so much time is spent getting the necessities done, making sure everyone is feed, lunch is packed, book bags together, homework done, therapies attended, baths, bedtime, laundry, that sometimes, you feel like connecting gets lost in the shuffle. I don't need some one butting into that time.

I'm annoyed more with that father. It's his job to teach his kid how to behave and since, right in front of him, she was also standing on TOP of a table and set off the emergency exit alarm I'm going to go out on a limb and say that someone is sleeping on the job.

He dude, let me give you a little fyi, not everyone thinks your kid is as cute as you do, not everyone wants to be graced with her presence. I figured that out a looong time ago, just cause my kids are adorable to me does not mean everyone in the free world wants to hang out with them.

Blizzard blog hop - hola folks!

2011-01-28T10:52:00.001-05:00

We have broken January's record for snow fall this winter, and rumor has it that we're getting more next week. If any of you in a snow less place are praying for snow, please stop, it seems to be coming to us instead. We're good. Really.

Anyways with all this snow why not kick up my feet and join Household 6 Diva for her Blizzard Bloghop. A blog meet n greet if you will.

But thanks to the interweb, combing your hair and looking presentable is optional. Suhweet!

To the newbies WELCOME to my little corner of the world!

I go by the mrs. around here. Yup, that's me, stay at home mom extraordinaire. Or something like that.

I'm mama to three rambunctious boys known as the dash brothers {they go by dash-1, 2, 3, around here} are ages 6, 4, and 1 and the wife of a Marine. In case you're wondering the days are filled with laundry, feeding children, wiping butts, dodging nerf bullets, and tripping over flight boots.

Our house is in constant, varying stages of chaos, but the blog fodder is endless. I mean really, post about things they say or show n tell just write themselves. {hold on to your hats folks, today was show n tell for dash-2, a post to come no doubt.}

I've been married to my devilishly handsome flyboy of a husband for eight years. Not only is he quite a husband but he's a fantastic father and a heck of a shot with a nerf gun, but he looks fan-friggin-tastic in his flight suit.

Oh and he too provides blog fodder.

I started this blog to just have an outlet to write and clear my head. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, how long I would stick with it, or if anyone would ever even read it. Does anyone still read it? I didn't know if it would be a mommy blog or a military blog and it's turned into a catch all sorta thing.

Oh and I love me hosting swaps and giveaways.

And I love me some etsy {shameless plug} - especially the store I help my mother with, Blue Bird Crafting which sells these beautiful service stars....

Now that's really about it...thanks for stopping by!

And comment. I live for comments.

Oh and come find me on twitter as mrs_flyboy

Seperations and kids

2011-01-27T14:08:00.001-05:00

Separations suck. Time apart from your spouse sucks in a very very big way. However, time apart for kids sucks a whole lot more. It's painful for them, its painful for us, pardon me while I use this word again, but it sucks for all involved.

I hate one uppers I do, and I don't mean to one up those of you without kids, but those of you with kids are all out there nodding your heads.

Dash-2 is in the thick of a very hard stage around here. The "missing daddy to the point of irrational nastiness" stage. It's great fun. Just today I was told, in full on crying tears on the way to Target, that he hated me, after all, I'm the one who wants daddy gone and won't let him come home.

Really now?

He does have a point though, if I let daddy come home I wouldn't get to keep all the pooping, germies, night wakings, homework time, you know, all that fun stuff to myself. I mean really, who wants to share poop duty?! Ummm not me, I want all that glory to myself!

Yesterday in school he got his jacket on midmorning and stood by the door ready to go. When they wouldn't let him go, because despite his convincing that he could walk the 5 miles home they made an executive decision to not let him go, he did the next rational thing, he took his shoes off.

Bless his heart, its hurting. I know this. I can see it, I can feel it, but damn it if there isn't much I can do for him.

Dash-1 went thru this stage at about the same age, however I don't remember it being quite this painful. I think its a combo of being slightly less sensitive than dash-2 and we weren't in the school cycle so it was easier for us to go visit family and keep him otherwise occupied.

I have hope, dash-1 made it thru relatively unscathed, I made it thru relatively unmarred, and my house is still standing, but I'm starting to doubt that all that will stay in tact with dash2.

Dash-1 is now in a good place, sure he misses flyboy when he's away, the constant coming and goings is hard on me and I'm 30, I know its hard on my almost 6 year old, but he gets it now: it's daddy's job, this is what he does he doesn't like to be away but he has to be, and he'll be back.

Dash-3 is fairly oblivious, I'm sure he misses flyboy as well but his world pretty much revolves around who ever is here to feed and water him and right now that's me so I'm his everything. If the cows ever figured out how to move into our house and feed him then he'd be more than happy to follow them around everywhere.

But dash-2. Dash-2 is not ok with our life right now. He flips from happy to sad and angry at the drop of the hat. My master manipulator is not manipulating he is hurting.

I've done all the standard things, countdowns so that he can see when he is coming home {good until plans change, not something a 4 yr old gets or cares to understand}, I found a wallet size picture of flyboy to carry with him in his back pocket, I've told him when he's missing daddy to come tell me and I'll give him a hug, we name 5 things about daddy we miss, 5 things we can't wait to do when he comes home, we talk to flyboy when his schedule allows. That's it. I'm out of ideas.

Life is great when flyboy comes home and then as quick as he's home he's gone again, dash-2 goes back to hurting and I go back to being the scape goat. I've given extra love, I've laid down the law, I've tried to ignore somethings and held him accountable for others, but much like him, I'm nearing the end of my rope.

The cow pen is starting to look like a relaxing, {granted very cold, snowy and smelly} place to live.

Time apart isn't easy for anyone, yeah yeah yeah we signed up for this life, however in the trenches that doesn't really help much. Even if it's our life, even if its the way its going to be for years to come, even if its the way it's always been, its hard. And it can be really hard on the little guys, whom I'd like to point out, did not sign up for this, they are just along for the, room and board included, ride.

To those of you out there with kids, what things do you do with your kids? Was there any particular age that seemed the most painful in dealing with separations?

Would you?

2011-01-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

On my way to fetch dash-1 from school {he could ride the bus but ever since the afternoon driver left him on the bus the second day of school he, surprisingly, isn't keen on riding home from school} I saw a car pulled over on the side of the road. Like everything in life it got me thinking..... here goes....

So the guy looked like a college age kid, he was walking around his car, looking mighty pissed off, having just had "car issues" {mine turned out to be that my 5 yr old let marbles loose in the car jamming the seat down holding my spare tire hostage, probably not this guys problem} I could relate to the look on his face.

The road was the main drag thru the village, not a total desolate road, a horse farm a little bit ahead, the village itself about 3 miles away. I felt bad for the guy. Car problems suck. I thought about stopping to see if he needed some help, not that I was going to change the guys tire if that's what was wrong or be of any use assessing the situation, but I felt kinda bad just blowing by.

But at the same time, in the back of my head, I thought, there is no way I am ever stopping this car to help someone, you never know these days. Even if its some old lady, maybe she's the bait.

Clearly I have watched too many Criminal Minds episodes.

Yet, really, now days, safety first right?

Flyboy, once back in his younger, stupider days, stopped to helped someone in the pouring rain, long story short she asked him for a ride to her crack daddy's house. Awkward. He's since adopted a very leary stopping policy. He'll shovel out old ladies in parking lots till the cows come home but he's thinking long and hard before ever stopping again.

So would you stop? Have you stopped? Does it make a difference if its a man or a woman? Older or younger? Day or night? Whether or not you've ever watched Criminal Minds?

Go talk amongst yourselves, report back, I'll be here.....

It's all in the bag

2011-01-19T14:27:00.000-05:00

Ever wonder what the mrs. is dragging around in her purse? Admit it, who isn't ever curious about someones purse? It's like a mobile medicine cabnet and I don't mean in the harboring medicine way, more in the telling a lot about a person sorta way.

So thanks to Ashley over at A Hasty Life now you have an answer. She's hosting a blog crawl that is bag related.

This is the bag I seem to use the most these days, much to Flyboy's chagrin.

I have quite a few designer bags that he's bought for me, but this one just works so well. I love the prints, I love the corduroy, I love that it holds everything and there isn't a zipper or anything so I can just grab at it.

This bag is perfect... its almost as if it were made with me in mind.... OH WAIT IT WAS! By my lovely, etsy artisan mama.

And look at how nicely organized it is! Would you believe that it fits alll.....

THIS!

I haven't a clue how to number things in the picture so starting from the back left corner here goes:

*The black zipper bag is dash-1's epi pen holder which holds 2 epi pens.

*The sport themed notebook is just a little book I grabbed off the dining room table and tossed in my purse to keep notes {blog ideas, errands, that kinda stuff} as I think of it.

*My checkbook is in there.

*Citrus scented antibacterial lotion from bath and body works.

*Dash-3's sippy cup. {Apple juice if your wondering}

*Random juice box that always comes in handy when one of the boys asks for it.

*Gloves because its cold. Really cold these days.

*My last shout wipe, so handy how do people NOT have these in their purses?

*The white rectangle is dash-1's Nintendo DS, he had a late opening today so he played with that while I did my thang at the gym. {alright its Curves but its still a workout people}

*Perhaps my most important thing in my purse.... my crackberry. How I ever survived without a blackberry I haven't a clue. I love that little piece of electronics. A lot. A whole lot.

*A hair clip.

*A cadbury egg, who doesn't carry one of those around in a purse?

*Lip glosses, one just a shimmer and the other is a sugar exfoliating one, both from bath and body works.

*A lone matchbox car.

*2 random crayons.

*4 crystal light packets {2 lemonades and 2 strawberry energy flavored}

*My coach wallet that is like my purse, it can fit ANYTHING!

*My coach watch which for some reason has been living in my purse rather than on my wrist.

*My coin purse.

*The airplane zipper pack holds 3 diapers, butt cream, and wipes for my darling dash-3.

And there you have it. Everything I carry around on my shoulder on any given day. What does it say about me? Clearly its not just saying it, its yelling it, I'M A MOM!

I don't recall crayons or matchbox cars in my purse before motherhood....

Curious what other, cooler people have in their bags? {I'm going out on a limb that I'm the lamest mommy fart in this blog crawl, the other seem like much cooler trendier folks} Check out The Dishy Decorator who shared her bag yesterday and The World As I See It who is sharing her bag tomorrow.

Thanks for taking a peak at mine!

Time for my answers

2011-01-18T20:42:00.000-05:00

* On a hot dog, there MUST, must, be ketchup, mustard, onions, chili, cheese, all that other stuff would be delightful but a hot dog can not be consumed unless ketchup is on it. Hmmm, now I'm thinking about having chili dogs one night this week.....

* I'm guessing my answer to the stay at home or working mom question is fairly obvious. Bonus points to you guys who guessed my answer would be stay at home mom.

There are times I think having a job and outside interaction might be an aid to my sanity, but especially with flyboy's schedule and our lifestyle, being the constant fixture around all the time works for us. Not to mention I do firmly believe if I give birth to the little booger machines then it's my job to raise them, and in my own opinion {deep breaths people} if they are in daycare for a majority of the week than some of that is being taken on by other people.

Holy crap I'm waiting for the nasty grams for that one. But its just my opinion folks. And really, when it comes to parenting, whos to say what's right, shoot I could be going about this all wrong....

* When I got married, without a second thought, I took my husband's name. Don't get me wrong I loved my maiden name, but I was marrying my husband and we were becoming our own little family and a new name came with it.

That and flyboy would have had a shit fit had I hyphenated. And I'm lazy and didn't want to have a name that long.

* I love ice cream. I love cake. I love ice cream cake. I do not, however, like ice cream AND cake. I hate it when the ice cream starts to melt and runs into the cake and then the cake gets soggy and little cake bits are floating in your ice cream. Yuck. Its like having lint in your ice cream.

And who wants that?

For my birthday I had cake. Just cake. A kick ass vanilla cake with amazing vanilla icing that all happened to be egg free, incredibly yummy, and beautiful to boot. Dash-3's PT happens to also be a baker and what do you know, she specializes in allergy baking.

So while I'll certainly never ever EVER turn down ice cream or ice cream cake, when it all comes down to it, my answer is CAKE.

* Right now my bff is my blackberry, or rather, my crackberry. I pink puffy heart it. A lot. I tweet from it, I take pics on it, I send and read my emails, the boys watch videos off you tube while we wait at the doctors, all sorts of good stuff.

But.

I hear such great things about I phones. Flyboy is chomping at the bit to get one and now that verizon has them he most likely will {he had a storm blackberry and HATES it with a passion. I have the good old classic and tried to talk him out of the storm, needless to say he didn't listen}.

I'm torn, to switch or not to switch. I just started playing around with my Ipod touch {shhh don't tell my mom it was a birthday present waaay back in Sept} and I could see why so many people like it, but, I do so love my crackberry.

I'll have to think it over.

Thanks for everyone who left their answers, I enjoy learning more about you guys, and well, knowing what someone likes on a hot dog is quite informative. Especially if I ever host a bar-b-q for yall.

Oh and check back tomorrow... tomorrow I'll be showing off my bag for a blog crawl. Isn't everyone out there curious to see what's in my purse? I'm keepin it real too, I'm not cleaning it out first, that's cheating, so Lord knows what's in there.

Random Questions for you

2011-01-17T22:51:00.000-05:00

I thought up this post as I was driving home today, dash-2 was sleeping, dash-3 was eating some apples and humming, and dash-1 was taking a {very} brief break from talking and was watching his movie so the car was deafeningly quiet.

I was thinking about random questions, I'll ask the questions here and then I'll share my answers the next day in a seperate post. {Because we all know I'm mercilessly long winded so if I asked and answered the post would be horrifically long}

Some questions are just off the cuff questions, some might be more debatable and by that I mean might spark more of a reaction. Some maybe simple answers, some more longwinded, some will make you think, some laugh, some I have no idea how I got on this train of thought, sometimes its best not to go back and try to figure out what I was thinking, just go with it. So here I go.

On a hot dog are you a ketchup or mustard kinda person? Or both? Or nothing?

Which would you prefer to be a stay at home mom or working mom?

Take your husband's last name or keep your maiden name?

Ice cream or cake? Or ice cream cake?

Blackberry or I phone?

Alright, that's all that I can remember for now. It's too bad that its illegal to type and drive at the same time, granted it is the name of public safety but it sure would up the level of my blogging.

♥ Last Call for the Valentine Swap ♥

2011-01-17T22:23:00.000-05:00

Two more days to sign up for the Valentine's Swap!

If you want to read the original full post you can go here, its got more of my long winded rambling I've tried to just hit the high points in this post as a refresh and to catch anyone who "forgot" to sign up already.

Obviously you forgot, because I can't imagine you just wouldn't have signed up.

Shoot I'm getting long winded again aren't I?

This is a simple swap:

-there isn't a limit to spend as much as I figure $10 bucks is a nice number.

-try to get your package to your partner as close to Feb 14 as possible

and last but not least

DO NOT SIGN UP IF YOU AREN'T GOING TO FOLLOW THRU!

That's really it.

Send some yummy treats, find some pink things, make homemade valentines, think outside the box and do whatever you think your partner might like.

♥Wanna sign up?♥

Send an email answering the following simple questions to tryingourbest @ yahoo . com

♥

Name

Email

Mailing address

Blog address {if you have one}

****ANY FOOD ALLERGIES***

Any favorite Valentine candies?

Are you willing to mail to an APO?FPO address? {This does not cost you any additional postage, the only difference is that you will need to fill out a simple customs form}

Anything you want to add?

♥

Again, please don't sign up if you aren't going to follow thru, its not fair to your partner. Sign up's will be open until Jan 19. My goal is to have swap partner's assigned and emails sent out with everyone's info by the end of that week.

The goal of every swap is for everyone to have fun.

I try my best to organize everything and be available to help out anyone who needs it. I'm hope you'll all sign up and have fun!

♥Spread the word, share the link and lets spread some Valentine cheer!♥

Also if you're participating in the swap it helps {but its certainly not required} if you follow this blog and my twitter @mrs_flyboy this way you will see when I post messages or updates about the swap.

New Year, New Look, New Opportunities

2011-01-16T22:45:00.000-05:00

I'm starting out this year with a few new things one of them being a new look.

Just so you know, I'm not going overboard, I'm still firmly entrenched in my mommy uniform which in it of itself is a whole other post, but there is a new look around the old blogo. Ironically I am still wearing some of the same clothes I wore in college but yet I get a new blog design every year.

New colors, a tweak here or there on the layout and sidebar, a bit of a cleaner, fresher look, but don't worry, the content is still the same.

Perhaps that should bring some worry with it. But come on, what's life without the dash brother stories to liven it up?

As for the new opportunities, I'm going to be a contributing blogger for About One which is a fantastic site for managing your family life and all of our important documents, very useful for you military folk who are constantly pcs'ing around and even for us, more, stationary military folk. Who knows? Maybe this year really will be the year I get everything organized.

My bio and pic, yes that's right! A picture! Of me! Should be up in the next few days, I'll let you all know when it's up. I'll be writing for the Stars and Stripes section on military life. I think I might know a thing or two about that.

However, now I have writers block. I'd appreciate input... What do you think I should be writing about? Anything specific? Anything you would like to see address?

From the dash brothers

2011-01-15T20:38:00.000-05:00

Here for your reading pleasures, I share with you the words of the dash brothers.

Dash-2 "Mom, you're a babe." {As a bit of backstory flyboy calls me babe so this wasn't totally out of left field.}

me "Oh thank you my sweet! Can I be a hot babe?"

dash-2 "No you can't, its too cold."

me "Oh well, I'll take what I can get."

Dash-1 "Mom you know what would be fun?"

me "What?"

dash-1 "A snowmobile."

me "Sure thing, I'll get right on that."

dash-2 "You know what would be fun?"

me "what?"

dash-2 "A dinosaur."

me "Honestly I'm not sure which one of you stands a better chance of getting what you want."

I loved this one.... Dash-1 showered this little nugget on me last weekend in the check out at Target....

Dash-1 "Mom, dad works so we have money right?"

me "Yup, he has a job just like you have to go to school."

dash-1 "Well I think its very nice that daddy lets you have his money."

Dash-2 was in tears the other day at the thought of having his own family and having to move out of our house.

Dash-2 "I will never, ever, move. I will never get married. I don't like girls."

me "Where are you going to live?"

dash-2 "I'm going to live with you forever."

me "Forever?"

dash-2 "Forever. Like forever forever. It'll be fun."

I'm in tears at the thought of having my grown son live with me forever forever.

Dash-2 "I don't wanna give valentine's to any of the girls in my class. I don't wanna give them the wrong idea."

Car rides are full of great lines....

Dash-2 "what's that smell?"

dash-1, with full authority, "Oh that's New Jersey."

Those are just a couple reasons that I keep my kiddos around, not only are they adorable {because they are adorable} but they are delightful and hilarious. It's also yet another reason to follow me on twitter.

Oh and don't forget! You still have some time to sign up for the valentine's day swap! Go here for more info!

Who am I?

2011-01-13T21:10:00.000-05:00

I've been putting something off for a couple of days. Well not really putting it off, more like trying to figure out what to say. I had to write a bio about myself. Sounds awful right?

And to make matters worth, it wasn't anything major, just a couple lines. How hard is a couple of lines about yourself. Especially when I have YEARS written about me here.

{Sidenote: would that be irony? I'm quite confused about that word since Alanis Morisette did the song about it and every English major got their panties in a crunch about the incorrect usage of the word.}

I had the email up on my laptop for two days trying to figure out what to say about my life. How do you sum up what you do in 3 words. Within the first line where the words wife and mom. Obviously, I mean I am a wife and mother. A stay at home mom at that. Then when I went to expand on that I drew a blank.

A blank that lasted 3 days and ended up with a few moments of thinking, holy crap is there nothing to me outside of motherhood?

Here's the thing, motherhood is it right now.

That's who I am.

I'm dash-1's mom.

I'm dash-2's mom.

I'm dash-3's mom.

Oh and I'm flyboy's wife.

I change diapers, I wipe butts, I pick out clothes, help kids get dressed, do laundry, make breakfast and lunch, oh and dinner.

I help with homework, take group snack in for class, come up with nifty edible crafts for class parties, organize gifts for the teachers, I write little notes to stick in lunches.

I make sure everyone has what they need when they go out the door, I wipe faces off, remind people to wash their hands after picking their noses, check boo boos when they fall, I sit butts in time out for nastiness, I read stories and kiss foreheads.

That's what I do.

I don't work outside the home, I don't have an office, I don't get a paycheck, I'm *just* a mom.

That's who I am.

I kinda like it.

So I'm more than ok with that being the crux of my bio.

Though just to clarify, with the exception of the lunch and dinner thing, flyboy does all that stuff on his own. I'm just here to love and support him. He's quite able, thankfully, to wipe his own butt.

{When my bio is published I'll link it up and let you guys know!}

A PSA on parenting

2011-01-12T22:12:00.000-05:00

I have a smidgen of a parenting PSA here. This is important for parents and all you yet to spawn folks. Tonight I shall be addressing the need for people to, well, quite simply, back the f- off other moms.

Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of a spilt second judgment calls sometimes. I will admit, {ahem} from time to time, raising an eyebrow, rolling my eyes, thinking to myself, "that mother has feral animals for kids" or even worse, "does she ever parent them?"

I know I shouldn't but hey, I'm human.

But since I'm closing in on 6 yrs of parenting under my belt I find I'm doing this less and less.

I'm finding parenting is great for personal growth, bad for personal shame, since its been the same number of years since I last closed the bathroom door, but hey, you can't have it all.

I like to think I'm a pretty decent parent. I have pretty good kids, who are fairly polite and well behaved in public, but folks, life happens, kids, small kids and big kids alike have crappy days. Shoot us parents have bad days! Just because a kid is throwing a knock down hissy fit in Target does not a bad parent make.

When dash-1 was discharged from the hospital 2 wks ago, he fell in the elevator. He didn't break anything, he fell on his kester, and it just set him off.

So here I am, carrying 2 bags, his little book bag, holding his balloons and dragging my 5 year old hysterically crying child to find the door. Not to mention that the hospital was under construction so we had to wind our way thru the maze to find the parking garage that neither of us had been too yet because we came in thru another entrance in an ambulance.

Good times.

I got several dirty looks. I'm pretty sure I overheard one person say something about look at that mom can't shut up her kid.

No, no I can not.

Nor did I care too. Poor kid had had a helluva week. He was tired, he was still on the mend from pneumonia, he wanted to get home, and he had just fallen on his ass and to him, in that moment that was the straw that broke his back.

I'm the mom. I know my kid. I knew at that moment, no standing outside the elevator trying to soothe him was going to work, I was going to get his ass to the door and hope the cold air knocked some sense into him.

Hey what do you know, it did.

The point of all that was that, sometimes, as parents, we find ourselves in painful, often embarrassing situations, that to an outsider might make it look like we are clueless idiots.

We are not. Well not most of the time. Sometimes we are, but thats another post.

So I'd like to offer some tips:

-Do not stare, move on. If it were your kid throwing the fit would you like an audience? No, no you would not.

-Do not say obnoxious things loud enough for us to hear, {"oooh look, see that boy screaming and crying. Do we act like that? No no we don't. Only babies scream and cry. Mommy doesn't tolerate behavior like that." } Sure this might be a parenting moment for you but we don't need to hear it.

-Do not try to calm down our kid. You might have the best intentions at heart, but if we thought we could get them calm we would. What do you think we are masochist? Or sometimes we might just be ignoring it. Because, like the government, parents shouldn't negotiate with terrorist.

-Yes, we know that if our kid is acting like an ass we should just leave, and most of the time we will, however, remember, that's not always possible. Dash-2 once had a total meltdown in Target but since the Tampon fairy didn't get the memo to deliver to my house, flyboy was away for a couple weeks and dammit, I was staying in the checkout line despite his screaming.

- Please, don't offer us tips, even really good ones, I mean I love tips, but I find that during nastiness is not the most receptive time for us to appreciate them. And don't compare our kids to your pets. Really, a story about your misbehaving poodle, while it maybe funny, is again not going to be appreciated.

The most important part of this post, cause I know I ramble and everything gets all jumbled up, try not to judge.

Let us suffer our brief parental indignity, after all, this is just another joy of parenting, we have to go thru this now so that we don't totally crumble of loneliness when they eventually leave the nest a decade and a half from now.

If your kids are still cute and cuddly or you're not quite at the kids stage yet, do not snark, trust me, if parenting has taught me anything its that what goes around comes around. At some point your child will throw down in public. It's inevitable. Do not turn your nose at that mom, one day, mark my words, you will be that mom.

Hmmm, that might be the second most important point to take away from this post.

Cut her the slack that you'd like to be cut when its your turn.

Now I should say add that there are in fact crappy parents out there who do crazy stuff that I think is just screaming for me to snark about case in point when you fill up your kids baby bottle with mellow yellow from the soda fountain. But like I've said before.... that's another post.

Hey I said I was working on personal growth, I didn't say I had fully attained it yet.

But really, we should all remember, its either been us or it will be us one day, screaming child, frayed nerves, staring bystanders. Lets work on being a little more civil k folks?

Anything I've left out?

Oh and don't forget about the Valentine Day Swap Sign Ups!

Valentines Day Swap Sign-ups!

2011-01-12T14:45:00.000-05:00

I'm stoked for Valentine's Day. Anxious for my 4 dozen mixed colored roses and candlelight dinner with my love? Hardly. As much as I love my husband, a romantic, mushy Valentine remembering, whispering sweet nothing kinda guy he is not.

In fact, he has a pesky habit of being in a different state or continent this time of year.

I usually spend my v-day sitting in my bed or on my couch after the kids have gone to sleep eating myself-purchased Whitman's sampler. Here's the thing, do not pity me, that's a fine night in my book.

Hmmm... Is that kinda sad?

But yet I get excited when I see the red ♥ hearts hanging on the Target ceiling come out. February is a big month in our house, birth month of not just flyboy but also my first baby, my ever growing boy dash-1.

Not to mention come those red hearts in the store I know that Easter candy is just around the corner. And outside of my husband and 3 little ones, my true love lies with easter candy.

So why not celebrate this time of year! There's no reason to be a hater this time of year!

Let's have a swap!

This one is simple:

-there isn't a limit to spend as much as I figure $10 bucks is a nice number.

-try to get your package to your partner as close to Feb 14 as possible

and last but not least

DO NOT SIGN UP IF YOU AREN'T GOING TO FOLLOW THRU!

That's really it.

Send some yummy treats, find some pink things, make homemade valentines, think outside the box and do whatever you think your partner might like.

♥Wanna sign up?♥

Send an email answering the following simple questions to tryingourbest @ yahoo . com

♥

Name

Email

Mailing address

Blog address {if you have one}

****ANY FOOD ALLERGIES***

Any favorite Valentine candies?

Are you willing to mail to an APO?FPO address? {This does not cost you any additional postage, the only difference is that you will need to fill out a simple customs form}

Anything you want to add?

♥

The goal of every swap is for everyone to have fun.

I try my best to organize everything and be available to help out anyone who needs it. I hope those who participated in the Christmas swap had fun, I really did try my best, but unfortunately I did have several things, mainly 3 weeks of sick kids, come up, but with every swap I'm learning. I'm hope you'll all sign up and have fun!

♥Spread the word, share the link and lets spread some Valentine cheer!♥

And candy, lets send and eat some candy.

Also if you're participating in the swap it helps {but its certainly not required} if you follow this blog and my twitter @mrs_flyboy this way you will see when I post messages or updates about the swap.

This time I'm really back....

2011-01-07T10:52:00.000-05:00

Holy Crap! I have a blog?

Excuse my long absence, here's a quick rundown: sickness hit, flyboy was away, I was way behind on holiday stuff. Flyboy came home, sickness was still hitting, last minute holiday stuff, sickness then seemed to be at bay, the craziness of the last few days of school and holiday things there, then the holidays, then I thought would come down time.

No go.

Snow, 2 feet of the stuff, and more sickness. This time, we got a 10 hour trip to the ER, blood work, chest xrays, a diagnoiss of pneumonia for dash-1, and a 5 day hospital stay.

There, that's been my last month in a nut shell.

But I'm back baby. I could say my new years resolution was to lose 30 lbs, blog more and yell less, but I'm gonna be honest, I don't think I've ever kept a resolution so I'm just gonna work at it. After all life is just a work in progress right?

I do have a couple things in the works, a giveaway for chili's, some new things for our Etsy store, and I'm thinking of doing a Valentine's swap. No real rules, just a $10 dollar price limit, send pink stuff, send candy, don't care. More on that in the next week or so.

So that's where I stand. Right here. In my sweats {but hey I'm wearing a bra, points for that right?} things, to come, I'm going to do my best to revive my poor neglected failing blog, maybe even a new look for it, stay tuned folks.

But enough about me.... what have you lovelies been up too? Any "non-resolutions" resolutions?

where I've been, what I've been doing, and what I think would be HILARIOUS

2010-12-19T21:48:00.001-05:00

First things first, where I've been. Here. Right. Here.

No exciting travel, no exotic locales, nothing, nada.

I read some blog post once that to be a "good" blogger, which I'm guessing means a blog in which people read and comment, you should never have long absence in which you don't forewarn your readers that you'll be away. Or else you'll all run away and never look back.

Whoops. I don't ever do that. I certainly didn't do that this time.

I'm wondering if I even have any readers left. Anyone out there? Helloooooo

Flyboy likes to check out my blog every once in a while {ie when he has internet and remembers it on the road} and likes to point out how many comments I've gotten for each post, he's concerned my numbers are dropping some, in all honesty I am not, however, leave some love and make him less concerned.

But all that is neither here nor there. I drift. I always have.

So what I've been doing while I was M.I.A..... sickness. It swarmed our house.

Those of you with kids can truly appreciate that statement. In fact I think I actually heard the heads nodding and the "ewwwww" as you all can only imagine the things that I got to clean up this week. {That is if anyone with kids is still reading this thing}

It started innocently enough, as most things do, Dash-1 said he wasn't feeling well on monday night, then come 2 am the vomit started. Poor dash-2, crappy time to start sleeping on the second bunk. It seemed that we were going to escape this with just dash-1 getting caught in the cross fire.

Until Weds morning when I woke up on death's door vomiting at 4am, and no, no I am not pregnant, I know this because in the past few months the Marine Corps has been a fantastic birth control, I had the worst case of the ickies ever.

Long story short I had to do something I've done very rarely in my 8 yrs of military wife life, I had to call and impose on people.

I called my neighbor and landlord who lives right down the street to come watch the boys and my good friend who was at work, 45 mins away to come take me to the ER. I am lucky that I have people in my life who care as much as they do, however, you milspouses out there know what I mean when I say its not easy asking for help and it sucks when it's not our spouse or family that we are leaning on. {Or imposing on}

Only once the ER got me pumped back up with fluids did I realize what the hell I had left the house wearing. Wowza. Times like that I'm grateful that our hospital is on an Army post and not the rinky dink base that flyboy is at.

Dash-2 and 3 briefly dropped too. They seemed to have caught a much milder form of whatever this is, poor dash-3 is keeping pampers in business and dash-2 did have some foul smelling vomit that thankfully, since I was sick and flyboy had just gotten home, he got the pleasure of cleaning that up.

So here I am. There I've been.

We are all on the mend. I hope, I've missed an entire week of Christmas doing, I got stuff to get done!

Oh and I promised you something that I thought would be hiliarious. In fact file this under Reason #427 we are demented parents, imagine this, my boys wake up on Christmas morning, run down stairs to see what Santa left them and what do they find.....

What the hell?! Santa left girl presents?!

Barbies? Her dream house? The convertible? An easy bake oven?

{Actually strike that, dash-2 would be all over an easy bake oven. Cupcakes, on demand, right up his alley.}

Here's what you have to understand, my boys are boys boys. I'm the only girl in the house. So to review, that's 1 girl {me}, 3 boys, and 1 Marine. My boys aren't so much fans of girl stuff, they've never had a doll, we aren't an advanced house. They love nerf guns and cars.

Girl stuff would drive. them. nuts.

It would be hilarious. In an evil sorta way.

And because we aren't totally evil, we would donate the girl toys, have the boy toys immediately available, oh and most importantly, we aren't going to do it. But I still laugh thinking about it.

So that's where I've been, what I've been up too, and what I find funny. Aren't you glad I shared?

***Dammit I spoke too soon. Within 10 mins of each other last night dash2 and 3 managed to throw up 3 times. Nothing like changing jammies and sheets at 1 am. Yummmmo

I can't take anymore. I'm going to hang myself with a Lysol wipe.***

Support the troops with cookies!

2010-12-14T12:01:00.000-05:00

I'm a lucky gal.

I get to make {and eat} cookies from the warmth and comfort of my home. No one is shooting at me {well nerf guns}, I'm not sitting in a war away from my family, I'm not missing all the comforts home on top of missing my family this holiday.

If you can say the same thing, you're amazingly lucky.

But like so many of us know, especially us military families, someones got to be the boots on the ground. And thank God for them!

So why not make their holidays a little sweeter?

Kenmore has teamed up with Sunny Anderson from Food Network to for a Baking for the Troops campaign with the goal of sending 250,000 cookies to deployed troops with messages of support from Americans.

Sounds good right? So go to the COOKIES4TROOPS tab on the Kenmore Facebook page and ask Kenmore to bake and ship a dozen cookies on your behalf – at no cost to you and you select your own personalized message, send a message of thanks - a wish for a happy holidays, something to let them know that you care, we’ll pair with the cookies for individual troops.

Even sweeter – when a quarter million cookies are shipped to the troops, Kenmore will donate $50,000 to Heroes at Home Wish Registry assisting military families stateside. So you help the troops over there and over here.

And I'll have a recipe to link up to the Cookie Hop that they kindly included from Sunny Anderson which I'm sure are delish. I'm doubting that you get a show on Food Network if your cookies suck.

Go send some happiness in the form of a cookie to a deployed service member and then go click on the cookie hop button to come back and link up the cookies that are baking in your oven right now!

Cookie Blog Hop!

2010-12-14T08:40:00.000-05:00

This is the time of year when the gloves come off in the kitchen - no margarine, no low cal nothing, no skimping on the sugar or sprinkles. It's the best kind of baking, high test, holiday baking,

So without further ado, its time for

a cookie blog hop!

Why not turn your favorite holiday yummies into a blog post? Post the recipe on your blog, with the lovely button of course, and link it up here to share it with everyone!

It really is that super simple. And if you have any questions you can always go back to this post and check it out.

Bake your heart out, link back here, and leave a comment saying hi, or hey, or whatever you like.

Oh and while your spreading caloric goodness, spread the word, more bakers, more recipes, more holiday happiness.

December memories

2010-12-11T22:54:00.003-05:00

While hanging out with the dash boys on the playroom floor today I realized something.... Decembers rock.

Dash-2 had asked me what my best gift EVER {emphasis on EVER} was, he's a smart one, and put two and two together that since he was born in December my answer should, of course, be "why you my love". And while he is indeed, one of my greatest gifts, the other 2 excellent gifts were right there staring at me so I did the smart mommy thing and deflected.

So I started to list all the great things that December has brought....

-Flyboy came home from a deployment, while I was pregnant with Dash-1 and thanks to preterm labor on bedrest {and had to move back home with my parents} getting home in plenty of time for his birth.

-Like I mentioned and dash-2 likes to bring up, December brought the birth of our second bundle of joy and my kindred spirited middle child.

-After a miscarriage at Thanksgiving we found out right after Christmas that I was pregnant with Dash-3.

This month holds some special meaning for each of the boys, but December isn't just kiddie related.....

-14 years ago this week flyboy and I had our first date. If you would like to know it didn't turn out as planned, we were supposed to meet friends at a movie {Mars Attacks, good thing we missed it} for a double date. We missed the movie time so we just sat in his car and talked for hours, seeing as though I was 16 at the time, my mother does not find this amusing. Still. To this day.

-8 years ago this month, we were married, the start of it all. Our dating years weren't always rosy {perhaps more on that later, we certainly are the poster couple for "if it's meant to be it's meant to be} but in the end, we found our way back to each other and now, it really is all because two people fell in love.

-9 years ago this month I graduated from college. {Actually one year to the day before I was married not that any of you care but I felt I should share that tidbit} And being done with papers, finals, and obnoxious roommates truly was a well earned gift.

December's a pretty kick ass month.

In past December, we moved in a blizzard, only to break down on the turnpike {fyi, if you think to yourself, "hey that's my husband in that Uhaul on the side of the road", you should not DRIVE BY, you should stop, that's not a way to start a marriage}.

We shared a Christmas in the hospital as he woke up from shoulder surgery.

We decorated our first tiny apartment, had 3 baby's first Christmas, then there was the Christmas dash-1 figured out that the toy Santa bought was the same exact toy he saw in Target the day before, anniversary's have been spent apart and anniversary's spent together, the Christmas tree that fell over in the middle of the night....

December is a special month, with special memories that, thankfully, show no signs of stopping.

What's your best December gift?

White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

2010-12-09T20:38:00.000-05:00

It's time for another recipe of mine for the cookie hop! Have you posted your recipe yet? The linky will be open all month so there is plenty of time to post and link up... and check out the other yummy recipes.

I made these cookies on a whim a couple years ago after I found the recipe on the Betty Crocker website and they are now flyboy's favorite. I could share that he's eaten an entire batch of these cookies before they have cooled but as his wife I don't think its right that I blab that.

oops.

I don't have a picture of the cookies when they are done because, well, the battery died in my camera. I'm thinking that doesn't happen on Food Network cookie shoots. But take my word, they are a pretty little cookie.

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 tbl of brandy
(if you dont have brandy around you can use vanilla I've tried it with both and while its still yummy with vanilla the brandy gives it good flavor)

1 1/2 cup of flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Beat the butter, sugar and brown sugar until smooth.

Then add the brandy and egg, cream together and then slowly add in the flour and baking soda.

When thoroughly mixed, add the chocolate chips and cranberries. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

If you are making these to give in cookie boxes, I would save time and double the recipe, these cookies ALWAYS go over well and FAST.

Enjoy!

Super Simple Saltine Toffee

2010-12-07T20:00:00.000-05:00

There is a holiday staple in my house, so its fitting for my first recipe of many for the Cookie Blog Hop.

It's quite possibly the easiest thing I make all year long, its my go to when I need a really sweet treat to give away, because it's THAT good and that simple.

Super Simple Saltine Toffee

And yes you read that right, saltines. As in the cracker. Don't judge folks until you've tried it. Cause it is goooooood.

First get everything together.

1 Cup butter

1 Cup brown sugar

about 1 sleeve of Saltines

1 bag of chocolate chips

Spread out the saltines into a 9x13 pan.

Melt the butter and the brown sugar together, bring to a rolling boil and boil {keep stirring} for just about 5 minutes. Pay attention to the time!

Pour the sugar and butter mixture over the saltines and place in a preheated 400 degree oven for 7 minutes.

Remove from the oven and pour the chocolate chips over the pan and let the chips melt.

As the chips melt, spread the chocolate around to create a smooth layer. Let it cool for a few hours or over night. I prefer overnight to be sure that its hardended all the way.

Break apart the pieces, package up, and enjoy.

If I can offer up a helpful little tidbit.... don't try to go healthy with this recipe. Only real butter will work and if you try to go low salt or no salt on the saltines it turns out tasting flat... I know because I tried that once and it was nothing short of a hot mess. Though I did save calories because I couldn't bring myself to eat it. But isnt the point of holiday treats to be delicious?

Enjoy!

the day of dash-2

2010-12-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

Today is your day dash-2.

Today, you turn 4.

Yet another amazing year watching you change and grow. Good with the bad, happy with the sad, you're a fascinating kiddo.

How many other kids your age can explain symbiotic? Shoot I can't even spell it! Although donuts to dollars I'd bet you can't either so we're even there.

You went from a diaper wearing 3 year old who didn't talk much to an underpant clad big boy who is already sounding out and spelling words. What happened? How is it that you're outgrowing all your clothes? How'd you get so smart? So adorable? Is it all the hot dogs you eat? Should I stop watering you?

Every day you look more and more like your daddy, but at the same time, every day you act more and more like me. That temper, oh that temper, the way you hold on to your pissiness, that glint and hint of mischief in your eye that just screams "I'm screwing with you". Those are the things that let me know, as if there were any doubt, that you are my boy thru and thru.

When you are big and tall, with kids of your own, I'll remember bits and peices of your 3's. I'll remember how you were so stubborn about potty training that you could actually poop on command just to annoy your father. {I have to say, this was kinda entertaining}

I'll remember how we play the "right here" game with our kiss, the adorable gravelly way you would say "gimme a kiss, right here, right here" pointing to your cheek and then quickly turning your head.

I'll remember how your life changed the moment you ate real pizza. Not that fake crap that they eat in the rest of the country but the real stuff. Pure joy my son.

I'll remember how despite being a rough and tumble boy, you didn't want to leave mommy's side as you started school.

I will also remember how your teachers said you were the smart kid they had ever had the pleasure of teaching. Trust me kid, mama doesn't forget a compliment without a "but" on it.

I'll remember that you were the most adorable green t-rex for halloween.

And you know what, I'll forget some stuff too.

But what I won't forget as we start a new year of you, a new year with your big bad {and by that my dear I mean the good kinda bad, not the bad time out kinda bad} 4 year old self, how lucky I am to be your mommy.

Happy birthday my dear!

More info on the Cookie Hop- updated!

2010-12-05T12:39:00.001-05:00

Hey folks! Get your measuring cups and ovens ready!

Just in time for all that holiday baking that's about to commense, shoot or maybe it already has, I'm going to be hosting a Cookie Blog Hop. Think of it as a virtual cookie swap, only you don't have to get out of your pjs and you won't consume all those pesky calories.

Now that I have a button {pretty jazzy right? Thanks to Ashley at Hasty Life} we can really kick this thing off right and you kind folks can start spreading the word over on your blogos. After all, more people = more recipes which = more holiday love.
Ok so I made that equation up but still, the more the merrier right?

Here are the high points just so you can be in the know, don't worry, I'll reiterate these over and over again in up coming post {something to look forward too right?} its not too tough so here goes:

Cookie Blog Hop Info

- Find a recipe that you love. That IS the holiday personified in a cookie or sweet treat, that you make every year, that you're trying for the first time, that someone passed on to you, ANYTHING! Any type of sweet treat type recipe. {shoot you can even share fruit cake, someone out there may share your passion for it}

- Share your recipe on your blog, on of the best parts of this type of blog hop is that its a great way to find new recipes! So share all the info needed to make your treat.

- Post pictures! They don't have to be the pics you see in a food magazine, we are regular people, but I personally like to see what my the recipe looks like and a picture adds to a post. {They are worth a 1000 words right? I should use more pics and less words. yikes}

- Link your post to the main Cookie Hop Blog post which I'll put up on Wednesday 12/8 and don't worry, I'll leave the linky up for the rest of December so people can come link up as they bake and add more recipes if they like.

- Add the hop button to your post and spread the word!

Sound easy enough, everyone up for it? Now... go bake!

Etsy Coupon!

2010-12-02T21:36:00.000-05:00

Etsy's has created a monster. A coupon code monster.

I suppose I should first disclose that I am a coupon whore. I once ran across the parking lot and almost got hit by a car to save my $1 off pampers coupon. I have no shame when it comes to coupons. So when etsy gave me the power to create my own.....

Madness.

But you all can benefit from this madness of mine. And in time for Christmas!

Tonight I unviel my new coupon code: burpme good for 15% off all burp cloths and diaper bag packs like these over at Blue Bird Crafting.

Get it burpme? And in case your wondering, yes, yes I do find myself humorous. Its the simple things in life that amuse me.

my take on homework

2010-12-02T10:10:00.000-05:00

I might just be a lazy fuddy duddy stick in the mud, or perhaps people think I sit at home with flash cards beating my kids if they answer something wrong, but I've been shocked by something since dash1 has started kindergarten this year.... peoples attitudes towards homework.

And I'm just poop-myself-surprised at the number of people who have had no shame in admitting that they have done their kids homework.

And fyi one of the mom's admitted not just to doing her kindergartners homework, but her 2nd graders sentence writing homework, going to far as to fake his handwriting.

Here's my thing, a. I've done school, I did my time with homework, no way no hell am I doing yours now. b. It's your responsibility, if I let you out of doing it what am I teaching you? and c. I'm over that whole oh-it's-just-kindergarten attitude.

The days of kindergartner's napping are long gone. Our district wants kids at a 2nd grade reading level, like yesterday, so by doing their homework you certainly aren't helping them out.

I get it, the homework battle can be nasty. I was counting my blessings that dash-1 cames home and nicely sat at his little desk and did his homework while I make dinner. Now he has a new sort of homework, more writing based and his teacher wants the kids to sound out the words on their own. Right or wrong.

Dash-1 does not enjoy being wrong. This has led to some battles as of late.

However after I explained last night that he wasn't "wrong" per say, but that he was learning, they are different in a similar sorta way. Oh and I added that if he didn't figure out the whole writing thing, he wasn't going to go far in life and he wasn't living with me till he was 35.

Hey sometimes life calls for honesty.

But back to homework. I don't know how much other kids his age are getting, I'm not sure if he gets a lot or a little by comparison. He has a book we read a couple times a night {a new book every week and a worksheet we do about it on thurs. night}, a math worksheet {he had one with a ven diagram that I'm pretty sure I did in middle school}, and then he has a packet with a different writing assignment every night .

It would seem from my conversations at the playground after school and birthday parties that most parents aren't so keen on the homework. Of course when I went into his school the other day at least a quarter of the class couldn't write their names on their assignments either so maybe there is a correlation. I don't know.

My kids are kinda on the smart side. I wouldn't say I have the next Einstein, {dash 2 might be sitting next to me trying to pick his nose with his toes and I have to admit I'm curious to see if he can do it} but they are on the top side of their classes, but then again we work with them at home.

We expect a lot from them. Granted with getting moderately smart kids God proved he had a sense of humor and gave us rambunctious hellions but hey, all's fair right? But to me high expectations of your kids are still separate from expecting them to do their homework.

It's my opinion that you aren't doing your kid any favors with a relaxed attitude on homework. Not to say you need to embody the late General Patton during homework time, but unless it says "optional" ITS NOT OPTIONAL!

It's homework folks. You explain it. They do it. It gets turned back in. There doesn't seem to be much room in that whole equation for me to run amock with it.

All kids are different, they learn at different speeds, homework is meant to reinforce what is learned at school, to challenge and work those muscles inside their adorable little heads, it's also so that we as parents can see what's going on. If I'm doing it for him, none of that is happening.

But something else is.

I'm teaching my kid a valuable lesson. That rules don't apply to him.

{And just so we are on the same page here, I am in no way talking about kids who have academic modifications made for them.}

Your setting up the expectations now that they will carry with them later on.

Like I said, maybe I'm just a fuddy duddy. I'm cool with that.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to fetch a Lightening McQueen for someone before he fashions a tool to get it off the top of the book shelf , that by the way, never ends well.

Was it you?

2010-12-02T09:19:00.001-05:00

The winner of the Christmas cards giveaway courtesy of the awesomely awesome Tiny Prints is.....

LivKit!

Congrats and because this is a giveaway that is moderately time sensitive I've emailed you.

Thanks to everyone who entered, if your bummed you didn't win, no need for the sad face, head over to the Tiny Prints site and check out their 2 day 20% off your ENTIRE order coupon code!

And if I might add, while your add it, after you've made up your pretty cards, toss some address labels {matching of course} in your shopping cart. Very affordable and so worth it. I did not this year and have already wasted 4 sheets of those crappy self printing ones. Waste. Of. Time. And money.

Sanity is fleeting, save it while you can. Right?

Again, thanks to Tiny Prints! And to everyone who entered!

Christmas Cookie Hop Anyone?

2010-11-30T19:10:00.000-05:00

I'm headed to the commissary tomorrow, that means I spend the day thinking about all the things I want to cook so I can pick up the ingredients at the commissary for a fraction of the price as they are here in town.

In case your wondering, I usually don't write a list, I'm sure there's a good reason, I've hidden my writing utensils, dash-1's run off with them, I put my list together in the car while driving, something like that, there's always a reason right?

For whatever reason I don't write a list, then I end up at the commissary with my frazzled self and my entourage roaming up and down the shelves forgetting most of what I need only to find out I came home with 3 bottles of ketchup and we already had 4. You get the idea.

But I'm going to try to do a little more for this visit since December is a very special month.

December is the MONTH OF THE CHRISTMAS COOKIE!

And yes, the birth of Christ is a very important thing, no need for snarky comments about how I'm going to hell because I refered to it as the month of the cookie.

{For those of you who are thinking "no that doesn't happen, people don't leave comments like that!" Yes. Yes they do. For months. Actually years.}

But back to the cookies. Christmas cookies are really really delicious. Like wicked awesome sorta delicious.

{And in case you didn't know, I shared this with the ornament swap folks, calories consumed during this month do not count}

So the point, cause I'm pretty sure there is a point to this post {or maybe not why start having a point now!} why not do an online cookie hop?

While your whipping up your holiday goodies, take a picture, write up the recipe on your blog and then link up over here in my little corner of the web. If folks seem interested I'll set up a linky and a start date {I'm thinking next week to start and then just leave it up for the month?} and we can all get fat and happy together.

What better way to find a new recipe {and not just cookies, any type of baked good, desert type of treat will work} and share a favorite? After all aren't the holidays about sharing?

And getting fat and happy.

So who's in?

The secret of cows

2010-11-30T09:38:00.001-05:00

It's really not such a secret.

{Are all cows cattle? I was going to say the secret of cattle. But I'm not sure if those cows are cattle. I know the longhorn are cattle but these I'm not so sure, of course it could be a universal cow thing. This I don't know}

Anywho.

I pulled in our driveaway yesterday, which is a little longer then your average run of the mill suburbia neighboorhood driveway, of course then again we don't live in a neighboorhood, I went down by the barns to turn around and did the usual "Hey look boyos the cows are out... wave to the cows"

It amuses me when dash-3 waves to the cows and then looks out hoping they wave back, so long as a tail switches he's not disappointed.

About halfway down the field there was a cow "sleeping". Or so it first looked. I thought it was odd.

We got up to the house which is up a little higher so despite being further from the cow I could see it better, it was laying flat out on its side. Now here's the thing, I've clearly been living on this farm too long because I could tell right away that something was off.

Since I've lived here, I've seen cows curl up, I've seen cows get their heads stuck in fences, I've seen cows "wrestle" {that would be the boyo term for *ahem* mating}, shoot, we had a cow in our front yard close to climbing on the porch within the first couple months of living here, but I had never seen a cow lay that still, on its side.

And that folks is how you can tell that a cow is dead.

Told you it was worth it.

And now I'm off to figure out the difference between cattle and cows. If there is any. I shall report back.

Don't forget to enter the $50 Tiny Prints Christmas Card giveaway! It ends tomorrow so get your entries in now!

Ornament swap info and other stuff

2010-11-29T20:33:00.000-05:00

Ornament swap emails have been sent, every. last. one. Look in your inbox for your partner's info and get to gettin.

Again, if there are any problems, let me know! I'm always happy to send out an ornament and some cookies. In fact, yet again, I got to the end and realized I didn't pair myself up with anyone. So if there is anyone who is just now reading this and didn't sign up....I'm in the market for someone.

And my super cool giveaway from the kickass folks at Tiny Prints is still going on and will end on Weds. Go over and enter for some beautiful Christmas cards. Or holiday cards. Or New Years cards. Frankly I don't care what you celebrate, just check them out. {And if you don't win check out their site for wicked awesome coupon codes}

Regular posting to resume when my pinky uncramps from cutting and pasting all the ornament swap emails.

Ohhh and sit tight I might just tell you how I've become enough of a farm girl that I can now tell if a cow is dead, not just sleeping, from a football field away. That's what counts as talent around here.

Christmas Card GIVEAWAY!!!!

2010-11-26T09:53:00.000-05:00

I love all giveaways, but this one I am super duper stoked about. My children and my husband? Not so much, because again it involves the much anticipated by me, dreaded by them Christmas photo.

{don't believe how much fun it is around here, check these out}

What does my Christmas photo have to do with a giveaway for you? Ah-ha! It's only a $50 gift certificate for YOUR Christmas cards from THE BEST online card place ever. And I do mean EVER

{Drumroll please.....}

Tiny Prints!

Don't let the name fool you, there is nothing tiny about these cards, they are wonderfulness in an evnvelope. And here's the thing, this isn't just some random review and giveaway, I am a Tiny Prints fiend, I start stalking their site in May looking at Christmas cards. Contemplating if sending out July 4th and Halloween cards in between Christmas' would be a bit much.

{Though, Tiny Prints if your listening, how awesome would a back to school line be? Might I just say, parents of young kids starting school can be suckered into buying anything and are just so damn excited that the kiddos are out of the house and on the bus they really do want to send cards to anyone. Not to mention when you live away from family it be cute to send pics to 'em in a cute card layout.}

I found Tiny Prints when I was looking for dash-3's baby announcements, I had hand made the other two but I was honest this time round and it just wasn't happening, of all the places I looked, and I looked for months, Tiny Prints were stylish and modern and priced AMAZING. And might I add I got the cutest return address labels to match?

I had planned on sending out a pic of all three boys and then right before we went to take the pictures, dash-2 got a HUGE black eye, and well, between that and being unable to keep their tongues in their mouths, fingers out of their noses, and whatever else I just gave up and went with a nice solo pic of the new boyo and the announcement below.

Oh and of course, those are just pics from the site, no way would my baby be sleeping that peacefully

I was nervous the first time I ordered cards online, would the quality be good enough, would they look all pixalated, would the card stock and envelopes be cheap. The usual questions. Not so, everything was top notch.

So much so that I ordered again for Christmas that year.

And when my sister in law was looking for wedding invites, not only did I mention Tiny Prints, but my mother was all over it. Even big mama is on board with these guys.

And now its time for Christmas again. {insert giddy excitement!}

I am loving the ornament card and what makes it even more gorgeous {besides the models family, my pic will include three boys fighting} is that this card was designed by Jennifer Garner for the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation. Not only will this card spread your families cheer but it will help a fantastic cause.

Isn't that alone enough to make you check out Tiny Prints?

And look at the card above {again obviously not flyboy and I snuggline close} isn't that gorgeous? Just goes to show you that their line is hardly all cute kid stuff

They have a ton of cards, holiday, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, party invites, thank yous {not to mention moving cards, baby announcements, the whole wedding shebang. Oh and lets not forget, not all the cards are photo cards, they have a fantastic line of modern and stylish cards that don't need your face splashed on them. Simply put they have..... EVERYTHING.

To enter a $50 worth of Christmas cards:

-leave a comment! That's it. Now if you feel chatty, feel free to say whether or not you do a picture card and if you do a picture card is it just the kiddos or is it all of you.

For extra entries: please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry

-tweet about this giveaway! {please @mrs_flyboy so I can see it} - 2 entries {can tweet every day for 2 additional entries}

-follow tiny prints on twitter @tinyprints - 2 entries

- post a link to the giveaway on facebook - 2 entries

-blog about the giveaway - 2 entries

ENTER ENTER ENTER!!

The giveaway will be open until Weds December 1st at 6pm and I will draw it promptly and let the winner know so they can start designing.

Thanks to Tiny prints for sponsoring the giveaway and for my Christmas cards! {Take that and stuff it FCC compliance my butt}

Thankful thoughts

2010-11-25T10:34:00.000-05:00

In dash 1's class they were asked what they were thankful for and the answers went home in the weekly newsletter. I will admit I saw it and cringed for a second thinking about what my son might have said {dash 2 told me once he was thankful for his p*nis, you see why I might have been nervous}.

I scanned down the page and there near the bottom was dash 1's response "I'm thankful for everything God gives us. And daddy." Whew. Ok so I apparently didn't make the top of his list but its all cool, at least he pulled thru with a kick ass appropriate answer.

But here's the thing, the kid is right. As I sit down to right this post, he summed it all up nicely, I'm thankful for everything God has given us, even though its not the end of the year, it is drawing down and we've had another year of blessings.

I'm thankful for my husband, coming and going as he does, high strung as he is about cleaning, nit picky about things like not letting marbles get stuck in the seat of my car, he's my rock.

I'm thankful for my kids, much as they drive me crazy, to see the world thru their eyes and watch them grow into little people with personalities {versus the house cat like being you bring home from the hospital} is something I try not to take for granted.

I'm thankful for my family, for my parents, the ones who pull my arse from the burning fire when I'm stuck in a spot I cant seem to get out of and need some coverage {aka babysitting}. My sister, who might drive me nuts from time to time but spoils the boyos and for whom they always come first. My brother and sister in law to be, who thanks to their wedding we will have an escape from the cold down to GA come March, and quite frankly I'm just thankful that he's marrying someone normal, honestly, he's marrying quite up.

I'm thankful that I reconnected with some cousins this year, someone to trade recipes with, {hopefully} see more when I come to town, and remember that not all extended family is crazy and avoiding me.

I'm thankful for my in laws, not only did they raise an amazing son, but they understood that making the drive out there this year just wasn't in the cards. And I'm thankful that my mother in law understands all the quirks of my husband and feels for me. And that we can team up on him when she comes to town.

My other thanks:
-Getting 3 PBS channels and something like 10 cartoon channels. My heart swells when I think of this. Really.

-School. 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, had I known it was so glorious I would have tried enrolling him years ago for Kindergarten.

-Twitter and my blackberry. {insert angels singing} I don't even know what to say.

-My bloggy and twitter peeps, I am thankful that you all read my words and leave those of your own. {feel free to leave more}

And in closing....

After having spent my fair share of holidays with my Marine somewhere else in the world, this day can not go by without being thankful and remembering all of the men and women in our military who are away from their families.

Trudging thru the mountains, dealing with gritty sand in their teeth, flying long days and nights, spending hour after hour on a boat, where ever they are and whatever they are doing, the important thing is that you are where you are because of them.

And with them where they are, their families are at home, their holidays a little {who are we kidding, a lot} less bright, an empty place at the table and in their heart as they wait for their family to be whole again.

I am thankful for them.

Happy Thanksgiving! Now go eat some turkey!

the christmas card photo that never was

2010-11-21T15:48:00.000-05:00

I did something that, going into it, I could have told you how it would have ended. What's that you ask....Christmas card photo time.

I'm thinking this year of just going with a picture of the boys. One it will be easier and two I don't care to listen to flyboy bitch and moan about taking a picture and mailing it to people. My thought is that if I don't make him be in the picture then he'll actually help, not hinder, the taking of it.

Last year he led the rebellion and things got ugly.

He's still away but for some reason I got it into my head to go march them outside and give it a whirl.

Note to self.... need an extra set of hands.

We tried some in the field, some on a fence, and some by the cows.

Note to self again..... when taking pictures with cows in the background, they WILL poop at some point.

Darn the sun!

I might just put him on my Christmas cards. He stood very nicely the whole time, except of course when he pooped. That might be a bit much for the xmas cards.

The boyos wanted a pic of the poop since it was steaming and well, I'm happy to oblige on the little things in life.

I had a whole plan of shots around the fence....

You can see how well that seemed to work out for us.

So here... have a laugh or two , might as well share some joy, these are the *good* shots.

This also goes to answer the question that someone without kids might have.... how hard is it to get a group shot of kids in which they are all looking at you.... hard.

Very, very hard indeed.

But with all that being said, I will be redoing my game plan and attacking this again in a day or two. Just enough time to stain treat those white shirts from the grass stains they got wrestling each other.

the car and the ornament swap

2010-11-20T15:22:00.000-05:00

The car is fixed, apparently someone unleashed some marbles in the back seat {ahem **cough cough** dash-1} The dealer didn't charge us a red cent for the rental, the patch in my tire, unsticking the backseat {the marbles were free grandma got us those}. So I suppose it all worked out.

Annnnny day now my sanity shall return.

I need to get out the ornament swap partners however I'm hoping you guys can be a little patient with me, I need to install Office on our new computer.

{you know the one we've had since August, I can't believe you buy a damn computer and it doesn't even come with office, what the hell are you paying for?}

I'm hesitant to install it until Flyboy comes home next week because the way my luck is going this week I might just break the computer. Or worse.... the whole world wide web.

It could happen.

So I'll extend the sign ups for a couple more days and hopefully get the emails, with your partners questionnaire answers {hence the need for excel} and info. It will be worth the wait, or I hope so anyways.

Enjoy the weekend!

the rest of the day

2010-11-18T22:41:00.000-05:00

I tried to have an upbeat mood change. I tried to put the craptastic morning behind me. I tried not to be so damn frustrated and cranky today.

Until Murphy took to the sky like a giant hawk and pooped on me from 100 feet up. {Has that ever happened to you? It's actually happened to me and disgusting doesn't even BEGIN to describe it}

As I pull into the school to fetch dash1 and my low tire pressure light comes on. I planned on getting air after I pick up the kiddo, let him play on the playground for a bit and head home. No biggie.

Well, all the air seeped out while he played. I get to the car.

Tire - Flat. Flatter than flat.

No biggie I have roadside assistance. We were smart. We paid for that.

Oh wait.

My spare? Trapped under my stuck back seat. So that my friends, renders my spare tire useless. And my roadside assistance equally useless. Kinda like my husband who is stepping onto an airplane to do night flying somewhere not here.

I called the dealer and got a smidge on the pissy side since I had brought my car over to them like they told me to earlier in the day only to have them tell me that, yes, indeed the seat is stuck. And oh that low pressure light, no biggie, we'll check that tomorrow. {I then put in air only to have it apparently all leak out}

The car place sent over a tech to help me change my tire. I explained to them THREE times on the phone that the problem was less of the flat and more that the STUCK BACK SEAT WAS HOLDING MY SPARE HOSTAGE.

So when the tech showed up with a mere jack to change my tire my eye started twitching.

When he said, "Oh wow, that is stuck" in regards to my seat, my head ALMOST exploded.

Don't you people talk to each other?!

So here I am with a rental car while they figure out what's up and why someone didn't look at it the first time I came into the dealer.

And flyboy? He's still flying.

the bad, the good, and baby poop

2010-11-18T14:37:00.001-05:00

I spent the better part of the day so far pissed off and bitter. It felt like Murphy, of the all-hell-breaks-loose-when-you-least-have-the-patience-for-it Murphy's, {I think they are from upstate} had his sights set on me.

I've been a busy bee this week. I cleared out the dining room, have started painting, gotten most of the furniture in there, pulled the trigger on the boyos bunk beds, took apart the toddler beds, moved them up to the attic, lugged home 2 mattresses from Sam's, set them up, moved the furniture out of the dining room again to put down the new rug {would have made more sense to have the rug BEFORE hand wouldn't it?}, whew.

All this while flyboy is away. And the kids have colds. And are whinny. And seem to have 5 million other things going on this week. And I should mention not sleeping thru the night, if its not dash3 up its dash2.

I'm tired.

I might not have done it all the way that flyboy would have, but none the less its getting done.

I've been quite proud of myself, until this morning. When I snapped. Like poltergist-head-spinning-backwards kinda snapped.

I went to fix my car from getting the mattresses, our 3rd row of seats had been folded completely flat. Where, 20 hours later it still remains.

I pulled the latch like the damn thing said for close to 45 minutes, my fingers are bruised and I pulled a muscle I'm sure it was quite a sight. And lets not forget me calling flyboy, where apparently it was considerably earlier in the morning, and screaming at him. This by the way is why I don't live in housing, so when the enevitable meltdown occurs I'm not on full display to the public.

So the car is not budging.

I rode over to the dealer where they pulled the latch once and said "oh yeah, that's stuck" and to my defense I did not punch anyone in the face. I'm curious as to why when I explained it in great detail over the phone they couldn't just take my word. Now we get to go back tomorrow for more fun.

So I've been stewing most of the morning. It may not seem like much but I'm feeling a bit on the teetering on the edge of sanity right now. And then dash-2 said something very cute and I realized I needed to snap the hell out of it.

{In case you were wondering I handed him his santa hat and asked how his ice cream was and he said "santa-riffic". Very cute. But then again, I'm his mom, I'm biased.}

To remind myself, heres the bad, good, and stinky of life lately:

*Flyboy is away. Again. And probably getting home later.

Flyboy is not dead, he's just away. He has a job, it pays the bills, allows me to stay home with our boyos, and comes with a uniform that he looks wicked handsome in. All pluses. Granted he might not be home when we thought he would be, but it's due to a funeral for a fallen Marine. I am immensly grateful my Marine is coming home whenever he comes and that I am not the family of that fallen Marine who's suffering is imaginable right now.

*My car seat is stuck and its pissing me off.

It's a car. Granted it's an expensive {actually helluva expensive would be more fitting} item but it's a car. And it's a car still covered under a warranty. Pain in the ass? Yes. The end of the world? No.

*Everyone is whinny, has colds, and doesn't want to sleep without waking up every two hours. This is impedding on my sleeping and is greatly contributing to my pissy mood.

I should lock them all in a closet and take a nap. Wait we don't have any closets {yeah that's right, charming old houses don't always come with closets}. And even if we did locking them in closets would be irresponsible. Right? Right.

This too will pass. Colds last for a small amount of time relatively speaking. It's just a cold, granted dash-1 has some asthma issues and the nebulizer is a permanent fixture these days, but its just a cold, not some debilitating life threatening disease.

And one day, my kids wont cry out for me any more at night, one day I'll be pacing the floors waiting to hear from them. At least now I know where they are safe and sound. If only they could just forget that I am such a good tucker-inner.

*I'm feeling fat and frustrated that is no time during the day to excersise.

Well I'm sure I could squeeze in five minutes here or there, but come on, I have 3 kids and for the time being no husband, it is what it is. I shouldn't feel guilty about not running on the treadmill. Can't walking laps around target pushing two kids in a cart count?

And the ice cream I plan on eating straight from the carton tonight after they go to bed, that's for my calcium. Calcium is very important.

*Dash3 is back on his pooping/diarrhea kick. Not that I don't love changing half a dozen explosive poops a day but come on kiddo. I'm pretty sure despite scrubbing down after wards I still smell like baby poop.

Darn if I can't come up with a plus side of this one. At least he's pooping I suppose? Yeah this one pretty much just stinks.

Christmas Shopping

2010-11-17T23:07:00.003-05:00

Every year I vow to have my Christmas shopping done by August. And every year come the end of November and I just laugh at myself.

Finish shopping? How about not even started. Wait. I take that back. I have ordered the boyos sleeping bags. I'm confident they won't be logging on here to see that.

So for those of you who are in the same boat as moi, let me help you out some fab-u-lous gift ideas that can all be found at Blue Bird Crafting, which in case you aren't familiar, is right at your finger tips where you can shop in the comfort of your pjs, over at Etsy.

I love these! A set of quilted burp cloths with a matching zipper bag in a modern, fresh print.

And by the way the zipper bag can fit everything in it except for your actual child. I swear. I have one in my car that is holding, 3 diapers, a onesie, pack of wipes, tissues, diaper cream, hand cream, sanitizer, a grocery bag, hair clips, and a pack of gummies. {Don't judge they keep the kiddos quiet}

A beautiful gift for a mommy to be!

A wall hanging for the patriotic crowd! It's bigger than you think and would fill the wall space in an entry or hallway nicely.

This little darlin is what started Blue Bird Crafting. This is THE PERFECT GIFT for anyone with a connection to the military. Can't figure out what to give your mother-in-law or your military wife bff? How about one of these.

No mother could turn down a star that signifies her son or daughter's service to our country.

And neither could any wife!

Lots of burp cloths listed and they are a fantastic gift for just $7 dollars, with shipping they are still under 10!

{9.50 to be exact}

Add a couple of little feeding and diaper bag items and tie a bow around these for a beautiful and VERY useful gift.

Every little girl needs a bag to fill with her necessities and this one is just adorable. Perfect for a stuffed animal or two, some snacks, coloring books and markers.

Can anyone ever have enough bags to put things in? Makeup, medicine, electronics, items for your purse or diaper bag, snacks for the car, they are as useful as they are beautiful.

I know everyone is heading over right now to snag up this adorable little boy, but alas, he is not for sale. {However we have parent teacher conferences next week, check back....} but the aprons are {2 for sale}.

They are sized just right for a little chef or kitchen helper and at 8 bucks, perfect for a budget.

Check us out! And good luck with the mall parking lot at Christmas, that thought alone should cause the Etsy servers to crash.

You're all winners to me

2010-11-16T13:43:00.001-05:00

Forgive me I'm running really behind here.

Flyboy is away, furniture is being delivered this week, I'm attempting my first solo painting project, the boyos have packed schedules and on top of that we have colds and asthma raging in the house. SWEET!

But I have not forgotten the giveaway winners!

Well I did briefly but I'm getting to it now and better late than never right?

For the OMG Seriously? Christmas cards congrats to - #10 Birdie

When I went back to see who was #10 I had to laugh, her comment... "I love making my in-laws uncomfortable! These cards are perfect for that!! ;" Yes Birdie, these will accomplish that. Enjoy.

and for the Scentsy congrats to - #28 ms-texas

Hope you both enjoy your winnings, email me your info asap {if I don't hear anything within 48 hours, I'll draw another name} so I can forward it on and get you your goodies!

Thanks to everyone who entered and don't forget to sign up for the ornament swap!

Ornament Swap Sign Ups!

2010-11-09T09:32:00.004-05:00

It's that time of year again!

Time for the 2nd Annual Trying Our Best Ornament Swap!

Halloween is over and not five minutes later Christmas decorations are unveiled in the stores. This used to annoy me but since it was snowing up here yesterday I figure why not just embrace it? I shall be against Christmas decorations in August, even October, but anything after Halloween I'll welcome.

Hey, its a new me around here.

So since Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away and then the holiday season is really into full speed I wanted to get the Ornament Swap out there before people get so busy that they don't want to join in. Because the more the merrier!

It's a fun way to spread some Christmas cheer for not a whole lot of mola. And if your into holiday baking feel free to toss in some cookies in your box. Whoever gets me will be getting some kickass chocolate toffee and some cranberry white chocolate cookies (those have eggs but they are delish!) and perhaps a dash boy. Last year SS sent me some AMAZING brown sugar cookies and I will admit, I didn't share any with anyone.

Info on the swap

*you can either MAKE or BUY an ornament, however there will be a $10 dollar limit. And if you find a cute one for less go for it. {I think the art of bargain hunting should make a comeback.}

*Ornaments should be mailed so that they are received round about December 15th. If you and your partner work something else out, good to go, but the whole point is to have this ornament BEFORE the holidays.

*You can sign up for the swap until Saturday night {November 20} My goal is to get the names and emails out to you all before Thanksgiving.

Interested? Sign-up HERE!
{If anyone has a problem with the sign up formjust let me know, its a google doc and its my first go with it.}

I hope that a good number of people want to participate, this was a lot of fun last year and I'm hoping its as much fun again this year!

And if goodness forbid your partner skips out on you let me know I'll mail you a big Christmas package complete with a dash brother. I'm hoping by doing the sign ups thru a form I'll weed out the people who will go incommunicado.

Grab a button {courtesy of Caedeince, thank you so much!}!

{Psst. people have been saying they are having problems with the code and most are just cutting and pasting the image and linking it thru blogger.}

Please, spread the word on your blogs, twitter, facebook... shoot scream it from the roof top afterall, the more the merrier!

Don't forget....

2010-11-08T20:55:00.001-05:00

Just a few updates... 2 giveaways right now... one for a scentsy plug in warmer and one for a set of wickedly funny and mildly crass Christmas cards.

Go forth. Enter. Try to win.

On another note... I should have the sign ups for the Ornament Swap up in the next couple of days.

I'm just working out the kinks right now. And by working out kinks I mean I'm sitting in my pjs cursing at my computer over grab my button code sharing while drinking copious amounts of cranberry ginger ale and shivering from a fever. Good times here.

But it's going to be worth it! Hopefully lots of you will sign up for the swap and thanks to Caedeince there will be a cute button to share.

Provided I don't punch my monitor between now and then.

And that wouldnt be good.

So yeah. That's where everything stands.

Scentsy warmer giveaway!

2010-11-08T13:33:00.001-05:00

Apparently I live under a rock.

It would seem that everyone else knows about the joy that is Scentsy except for me. Well no longer is that the case thanks to Cheilsea over at The Brownings, she's a Scentsy consultant and has so kindly offered to give away a plug in warmer for your choice!

I browsed thru her online catalog and was quite impressed, they have something for ANYONE and they would be an great gift, think teacher, who has to smell 21 smelly kids all day... or a mom friend, who lives in a world of explosive poos.... or a bus driver who makes sure your son isn't acting like a jerk off on the bus {I heart my bus driver can you tell!}. There really is one for anyone.

And just so you know... if you buy $40 or more before Nov 15th head over to her FB page enter to win a free full size holiday warmer, this contest is open until Nov 15!

To enter:
Leave a comment about which scent you would like to try, or if you've used Scentsy before, which scent you love.

For extra entries: (and leave a comment PER entry)

-"Like" Sweetly Scentsational on facebook - 3 entries
-Follow her blog - 2 entry
-Tweet about it! {don't forget to include a link to the giveaway and @mrs_flyboy so I get it}- 2 entries

The wickedest Christmas cards around and a GIVEAWAY!

2010-11-04T10:57:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: If you don't find curse words, especially the f-bomb funny, you should probably just hit the old X in the right hand corner right about now. However, if you have a wicked sense of humor, proceed and trust me, you'll appreciate it.

Few things excite me more than Christmas cards. Seriously.

In fact, if my husband and the delivery box with my Christmas cards were both on the front porch: the hubs home from a trip and the cards, fresh from UPS truck, I'm not sure which ones I would run to first. Actually, lets be honest flyboy, we both know.

But you'd get a great big hug and a big ol smooch as soon as I opened up the cards.

That's my excitement level.

I send out nice photo cards of us and usually a funny little pic of the kids under the tree {last year dash-2 was making moose antlers, the year prior dash1 was strangling dash2 with his hug}. Every year getting a nice family shot is harder and harder, it be so much easier just to get a shot of the boyos.

The box comes I sit on the couch addressing my cards, bitching to flyboy that I'm not sending any to any family members who don't send ones back, he then blankly stares at me, because he's still scared from having to take the family picture with the auto button. When he finally comes to he askes why we go thru this every year.

Because it's Christmas dammit! The birth of our Savior. Get with the program.

{That and if I don't send a card of us with our adorable blond hair blue eyed kids my frienemy will think I've ballooned to 300lbs, because, well, shes that kinda bitch.}

But search no more... I've found the perfect cards..... over at OMGSeriously at Etsy. {Cause we all know Etsy rocks.}

There's a whole set of them.... and some of them are simply wicked. And well, coming from me that's a good thing.

I know some people despise curse words. Me, not so much. I love me a good f-bomb. Time and place obviously, but I'm sorry, this card just made me laugh so damn hard I almost wet myself.

And please don't leave me any comments about how some curse words take away from the true meaning of Christmas. Its satire people. It's funny. And the true meaning of Christmas is shown in the fact that I get thru the damn holidays without killing a single member of my family.

But back to the cards...Put this in a box of cookies and send it to the ol frienemy. Flyboy's going to have to hide these cards or ones getting sent.

Put it in a little Christmas card with a witty message, some cookies, an ornament, there ya go, a Christmas care package that says I love ya with a bite.

My kinda package.

Oh and you should know besides my love of cursing I'm also a paper snob and these cards were top quality. A very nice weight to them and the envelopes which is important when wishing someone a Merry Motherfucking Christmas.

And you can win a pack! giving is the Christmas spirit isnt it? How nice is that of Tiffany Ard, the talented lady who makes em? She also has the cutest line art and nursery decor for the nerdy baby, I wish I had known about this when dash1 was itty bitty.

Oh and no cursing there.

Here's what you have to do to win a pack:

- Leave a comment letting me know who this card would be perfect for.

For extra entries,

-"like" them on facebook - 2 entries

-follow them on twitter @OMG_Seriously - 1 entry

-tweet about this giveaway {@mrs_flyboy so I know you sent it} 1 entry {you can tweet daily for entries!}

-blog about it with a link back here to the giveaway - 4 entries

This giveaway will run until Nov 12 at 8pm! Good luck!

Many thanks to OMGSeriously over at Etsy for the pack of cards she sent for me to review, check out her stuff people and support an Etsy artisan!

Philosophical cuddles

2010-11-03T19:39:00.001-04:00

"You know what my love?"

"What?"

"You look just like your daddy. I don't miss him as much when I have you around, I look at your face and I see your daddy and that's quite nice."

"I look like daddy?!"

"Oh yes my dear, your just as handsome, just as cute, its just like looking at him."

and then I lean in closer

"But my love, you have my personality, but you look JUST like daddy."

"Mama, that must be why all the little girls stare at me."

Yes dash-2, that's why all the girls are staring at you cause you're so darn cute.

Know what today is?

2010-11-02T10:03:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to go VOTE today!

I, personally, vote for several reasons.

1. I am extremely lucky to live in a country where, we might elect idiots from time to time, but those idiots assume their offices in a peaceful transfer of power. It only seems right to vote to show other countries that it can be done and that it is appreciated.

2. Right now, whether people realize it everyday or not, we are a country at war. We are a country that got it's start on the backs of those willing to put their everyday lives on hold and ultimately lay down those lives, if need be, so that we would have freedom. One of those essential freedoms, the vote. The least I can do while someone is trekking thru Afghanistan while dodging bullets is drag my butt down the street to vote.

3. I firmly believe that if you don't vote, you don't get to complain. And if I don't get to complain, well, my life wouldn't be complete.

So all in all, get off your duff and go VOTE.

Joys of Halloween

2010-10-31T21:35:00.000-04:00

Our Halloween was ... long.... The kids were so excited they didn't go to bed until far to late last night and were up way to early.

Know what that translates too?

Lots of fighting, tantrums, drama, and breakdowns.... for everyone.

To pass the time until trick or treating we went over to the mall for Mall-o-ween. Good times. {That was sarcasm if you couldn't tell}

I must interject with a little sidenote here but if you are old enough to wear a skanky maid costume with your ass hanging out and 7 inch stilettos, then your *probably* too old to be trick or treating. Same goes with the trick or treating at night, if your smoking while trick or treating....go home.

And put down the smokes too.

But tonight made the whole day worth it. Watching the two older boys run from house to house, excited to knock on the door and yell trick or treat was one of those little joys of parenting.

But. Even as cute as they are....

And they are cute...

I'm still glad I have 365 days till next halloween.

Ever forget Halloween?

2010-10-29T17:43:00.000-04:00

Well I just about out did myself today.

You remember the other day I wrote an honest mommy post about forgetting Show n tell? Well today, today I was *this* close to a mommy snafu.

I pulled up to Dash-2's nursery school and all of a sudden what do I see? A batman and a princess.

SHIT! I FORGOT HALLOWEEN!

Who does that? {Obviously the answer would be this mom this mom!}

Luckily we live 4 miles from the school so I tossed everyone back in the car, flew home, ran up to the attic to get the costume, dressed him in the parking lot and sent him in about 10 {or so} minutes late.

Not a huge deal but I still feel like a moron of the highest degree. I mean really, again I have to ask.... who the hell forgets to dress their kid for Halloween?

I can't wait to see what I forget for tomorrow, I made sure to do a head count when I returned home at the end of the day so I know I haven't left anyone anywhere. Baby steps....

And I leave you with a picture of the cutest darn t-rex out there.

Juice is now on the shit list

2010-10-28T09:20:00.000-04:00

It's Red Ribbon this week at dash1's school, this week is used to bring awareness to being drug free. Dash1 came home on Monday and told me with great gusto that he is drug free.

I should hope.... he's 5.

But I'm guessing that, since he's in Kindergarten, they are also discussing making healthy choices. Ok, this doesn't sound too bad.

Until.

Until my 5 year old told me that soda is bad for you, as bad as a drug. And that juice is also very unhealthy, just like chocolate milk.

What just a damn cotton pickin minute.

I get that soda isn't great for you, trust me, I got it, that stuff isn't going to cross my kids lips for years because well, it doesn't hold any nutritional benefit so why get em liking it? Most days I have one so its not like I'm sucking down a 12 pack in a day, and I don't smoke, I don't drink alcholol. Soda is my vice. We all have one.

But I don't like my child being under the impression that soda is somehow on par with crack.

And in that same vein of thought, what's really so bad about juice? When we were kids we drank juice and chocolate milk and we all turned out just fine.

Well most of us.

But I don't think chocolate milk is to blame for the serial killers out there.

So I pressed the point, what's so bad about juice and chocolate milk? He didn't know. He just knew they were unhealthy.

I'm guessing the hubbub is about the sugar content. I get that. But first off my kids drink only 100% juice {usually apple and white grape}, with the occasional exception made for watered down lemonade. Second like I just mentioned, I still water down their juice. Unless they are drinking a juice box, its watered down. A lot.

And third, chocolate milk, dash2 likes chocolate or strawberry milk and if he's drinking either I'm just happy to see it!

Shoot I'd crush smarties and put it in milk if I thought dash1 would drink it. I get that it has extra sugar in it, but in my mind the nutritional benefits of the vitamins and calcium far outweigh the added sugar from the chocolate.

And 100% juice does have anywhere from 1/2 to 1 serving of fruit in it.

{Not that I have to count that as my kids fruits. My kids eat so much damn fruit I buy in bulk at Sam's Club. God help my food bill when they are older.}

Childhood obesity is way out of control, there are some kids in dash1s school who I'd be terrified to run into in a dark alley at night, but thankfully my kids don't have that problem. Dash1 & 3 are long and lean, dash2 tends to take more after his father {read into that, the kid is a solid brick wall} but none of my kids are in a danger zone for being porkers.

Shoot dash1 is the only one of us who is wearing slim style pants and he probably drinks the most juice.

And they are all healthy and active. Sometimes far more active than I'd like.

I'm cool with labeling candy as unhealthy, sadly m & m's don't have much nutritional perks to add to my diet, teach my kid about moderation, about healthy snacks and blatantly unhealthy ones, but can we keep somethings, like chocolate milk and juice out of it?

Or here's a better idea..... I'll teach my kid about nutrition and you teach him how to read.

Honest Mommy Moment -show n tell

2010-10-26T19:59:00.001-04:00

I have a confession and its a big one.

Hold on folks.

Are we holding? In fact you might need to sit down.

Here it is..... last week.... I forgot, I forgot show n tell for dash-1.

Totally, completely, went on about my day, didn't remember until I picked him up from school forgot. Oh and I also forgot color day for dash-2. It was black in case you were wondering and he was wearing white and orange. Ooops.

And for those of you who have been around here for a bit know that show n tell is a big deal around here, bring in a car, I laugh at you, we here go full throttle.

We play for show n tell keeps.

One year they did show n tell themes, for T- truck is the most obvious.

Oh please everyone will have a truck, however not everyone will have a genuine poster of the top 100 wanted Terrorist from daddy's war days now will they? Or perhaps a Turtleneck? Or your little brother who's name starts with a T? Think outside the box kid.

So missing show n tell is a big parent fail.

But to my defense, this single parenting thing while daddy is away can have you running a bit frazzled.

After all there are three of them and last I checked, one of me, and it seems like every bit of the day my mind is preoccupied with making sure everything gets done, everyone gets where they are going, remembering who has therapy {pt or speech}, what special it is at school, return the fundraiser, make sure homeowrk gets in the bookbag, fill out the reading book, and on and on.

Oh and they demand to eat THREE times a day!

And I hear life only gets crazier.

God help me.

But yes, I, the mrs, self thought shoe in for mom of the year, forgot show n tell. Oh and color day. See still forgetting it.

Promise me you don't think less of me?

Actually I can't wait to hear what you other moms have forgotten because no doubt there are gonna be some gems in the comments!

And in case your wondering, I'm now vowing to write every single, frigging thing down on the fridge calendar. I thought show n tell wasn't quite calendar worthy. I was wrong.

It's worthy. Very worthy. Now we have to wait another 2 weeks to wow the class.

I don't know if any of us can wait.

the not so obvious milestones

2010-10-26T10:27:00.001-04:00

When the boys were babies I thought about the milestones... first tooth, sitting by themselves, first steps, first words... I never thought about the not so obvious ones.

I waited in anticipation for all the obvious things and recently I've noticed something, the not so obvious ones are sneaking up on me. Things that are milestones but yet aren't in any of the books.

* One of the first non obvious ones was the slow and subtle switch from mommy {or mama} to mom. Now there is still the occasional mommy slipped in every now and again {there is a direct correlation with either being sick or hoping to get something} but dash1 is full on in the mom stage of life.

Actually he's in the moooooooooom stage. Quite a feat actually, the ability to turn a word like mom into a nine syllable word but he can do it.

* Making a joke that makes sense.

Leaving Target we were walking down the sidewalk to the car and dash-1 told me a knock knock joke. After he finished, the boys kept walking and I stood there, frozen in my tracks.

It was a joke.... that made sense.

Might not have been a Seinfeld caliber joke but start to finish the whole damn thing made sense.

* Being trusted to eat ice cream cones. In my car.

And they DID NOT MAKE A MESS! Definite non obvious milestone.

* Being embarassed of me. In public. And at home.

Ok, so I figured that one was coming but it still snuck up on me.

Someone told me once, in regards to kids, "The day day can drag on, but the months and years fly by" and that couldn't be more true.

There are days that I am just shuffeling thru hoping to make it to bed time, it seems like I've lived three days in the course of one day, but then I look at the boys and I almost don't recognize them. They go from cuddly little babies to rough and tumble big boys overnight it seems.

All while telling poop jokes and eating ice cream cones in my car....and trying to dodge my kisses in public.

If you have kids what were, or are, your non-milestones milestones?

A Clarification on My Opinion

2010-10-24T22:06:00.001-04:00

Can I just tell you, not a week goes by that I don't get one or two comments on my post about uniform purses.

I have my comments set so that if a post is older than a week I have to moderate the comment, this way it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. After all if someone takes the time to write out a comment I most certainly want to read it. But whenever I log into my dashboard and I see a comment in need of moderation I just know its going to be from that post.

I had no idea when I wrote it that it would get the comments that it got. Quite a few of you agreed with me and quite a few people would like to run me over with a giant truck that is selling said uniform purses.

Hey, to each their own. And I'm pretty sure I've written about this before but I got, yet another comment, and when I went to reply to her comment I couldn't, there wasn't an email linked to it. So if you're bored at my possibly repeating myself I apologize.

So anyways, Ysabel, this post is for you and everyone else who didn't seem to get what I was saying in my post.

I don't so much like uniform purses. They just aren't my thing.

In that same vain I don't like those giant Sketcher shoes that are supposed to firm your ass or people who stand way to close to me while I'm paying in the check out line. Those are examples of my opinion.

Just because I don't like or don't quite agree with something , like lets say, a uniform purse, doesn't mean I go ape shit wild when I see one in public.

Ysabel agrees that everyone has the right to their opinon but that if I hate the bags so much I should just look away. Here's what I'm curious about. What the heck do you think I do Ysabel?

Do I really come off that bitchy that you think I hurl myself across the commissary, 3 kids in tow, to rip the purse off some other wifes arm and beat her with it?

Of course I look away!

Actually, I don't really even have to look away because I don't really pay that much attention. Trust me, I have enough going on while grocery shopping with 3 kids that I don't need to go seeking out women to critique on there purse choices.

I mean of course I think everyone should get a cute tote bag from big mama over at Blue Bird Crafting but hey, I'm kinda bias.

I wrote a post about it because I got an email about it, it was on my mind because it was in my inbox.

Newsflash: I don't give a poop what kinda purse you wear.

Shoot the other day I saw a lady with a tweedy bird purse and I didn't say anything. And I'm pretty sure she wasn't wearing a bra either. And I didn't tackle her to the ground, or go over and preach the virtues of wearing a bra.

{Although I'm going to do that right here right now, ladies, a good bra is a must. A very big must. Consider it a seat belt for your boobs, if you are moving it needs to be on. Please?}

That post was just that, my opinion. My little manifestation of what I was thinking when I read that email. That's all.

No reason to get snippy.

And people, people, link up an email to your blogger profile so that when you leave a comment its possible to email you back. I like emailing commentors back, just a line or two here or there, and I know I'm not alone.

But then again... that's just my opinion.

Oh and she was highly offended by my saying htat family memebers haven't earned the right to wear them. We haven't. My husband earned his title of United States Marine, with that came a uniform. I certainly have earned my title of a Marine wife.

I have been mom and the dad, I have walked the floors with sick and crying kids alone, I have felt the pull of how to be in 3 places at 1 time because I'm the only parent around, I've had plans changed on a whim because work called and someone else needed him.

But I haven't earned the right to wear his uniforms like he has.

We have earned the title and the respect that we hold as military wives but it is, in my opinion, a different sort of right than that to wear the uniform. Be it as a purse or not.

But that said Ysabel, that's my opinion and my husband's opinion and since they are his uniforms and it was his blood and sweat {Marines don't cry so there weren't any tears} that earned both the title and the uniforms, I personally wouldn't carry a purse. But that's just my opinion and I certainly didn't mean to offend you.

Dont forget!

2010-10-23T09:41:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder..... tomorrow the giveaway for the Blue Star Banner ends!

Head on over to New Girl On Post's giveaway for a chance to win one!

By the way, should you not win and just be dying to have one for yourself {or perhaps your thinking holiday gift for your hard to buy for mother in law, who if you're a military spouse would make her a military mama} head on over to my lovely mothers Etsy store Blue Bird Crafting.

They are fantastically reasonable priced and an amazing quality. And again... a PERFECT gift. If you need a double or triple star banner just let us know!

Walmart is a goldmine of rants

2010-10-21T13:40:00.001-04:00

Before I start my rant I'll go ahead and toss up this disclaimer: This post, this whole darn blog, is my opinion. I certianly am not trying to offend and if I do, which I'm sure I will piss someone off, then I apologize. Not everyone is going to agree, I'm cool with that, some commentators might agree, some will no doubt disagree to the point that my eye starts to twitch, but any side you're on just be civil.

So on with my rant.

I was in walmart yesterday, the black hole of my sanity that it is, and I was stuck in line behind someone in line who was using WIC. So many things about the transaction annoyed me, where to even start? I'll go with the first thing I noticed that always annoys me, a cart filled with pricey name brand crap that people can live without.

In fact I've never actually known of anyone who has perished without ice cream {name brand} and a 12 pack of soda {again name brand}.

Now before I get a slew of comments with this general argument "but she wasn't using WIC to buy those things, you're only allowed to buy certain foods, juices, or milk with WIC." Yes, yes I know this, doing case work for a year out of college I am well acquainted with WIC.

My counter arguement to that is always this if you can spend your money on that crap, that again, you don't really need, why can't you buy your own damn juice and cheese?

Shoot I stopped buying 12 packs of soda cause they just got too pricey. {In fact the higher price of sodas upset me far more than rising gas prices.} Glad to see since my tax money is subsidizing you, you can still afford it.

But that's not even what bothered me the most. Yes it gets better. She was going on and on, while texting on her blackberry {cause those things just grow on trees} about how great WIC is and how she's used it for every kid she's had all three of them and she'll use it for the next one too.

Awwww, isn't that great? So glad the money from hard working American's is helping you pop out more kids.

When flyboy and I talked {and still talk} about kids and cost and budgets and all that good stuff, never once did we think, "well shoot! we can pop out some more and all of you can help us pay for them!".

In my, small, right wing mind, I think that should you decide to have more kids, should you decide to bring new life into your family and into this world, that's it.

You take on the responsibility.

Not my husband, not my father, not my brother, not some hard working carpet layer in Iowa. If you are counting on money from a goverment program then you shouldn't be having additional kids.

I take a lot of issue that so many military members even qualify for WIC. We qualify on on paper because of the wackadoodle way that they figure it out is perhaps why so many people abuse it.

And to me, again my opinion, its just that, abuse. If you've got a blackberry and you're buying ice cream and soda, its abuse. Just because you qualify for it, doesn't mean you need it. Or even that you should use it!

You want more kids, great. Kids are wonderful, sweet, loving little creatures. Well, when they aren't slamming bedroom doors and telling you they hate you but still, lovable lil darlings, however, pay for your own loveable little darlings.

I get that WIC isn't making anyone rich, but still, trimming the fat has to start somewhere. Why not trim out the fat of the people who are using it when they don't really need it.

I know some people are reading thinking that I'm some heartless wench who doesn't care about other people, hardly, I'm just a black and white kinda gal.

To me, to accept a food stamp program like WIC {because let's be honest folks, that's what it is, its vouchers for food from the government, not a "benefit" of our pay scale that we are entitled too like some people have argued to me} you should do everything in your power to provide for your family on your own first.

I don't want a hand out, if everything came crumbling down and we canceled our cable {which frankly I'm not sure I would care to survive after that}, cell phones, sold the car and were driving a beater, never eating out, truly living pay check to paycheck, well than we'd know it was there for us.

But for now, its our family, our money, our responsibility.

Oh and just to put it out there, granted I keep his personal info on the down low, we are a family of 5, on one income, and flyboy's paygrade does not start with an O.

Yay or nay? Anyone want to put their opinion out there?

My plans

2010-10-21T11:33:00.001-04:00

I got big plans today. They include, but are not limited too, cleaning the playroom, laundry, the post office, PT for dash-3, and a wicked rant about people having more kids when they know and are counting on using WIC to help support said family.

See big plans?

I don't mean to rant but I went to Walmart yesterday and darn it if that store doesn't just bring it out of me. So stay tuned.... its about to get bumpy around here.

heads up on a giveaway

2010-10-20T18:27:00.000-04:00

Interested in a giveaway?

More specifically a giveaway of one of big mama's beautiful Blue Service Stars?

Head on over to New Girl On Post's giveaway for a chance to win one!

Thanks so much to her for hosting this.... now head over there, leave some love and try your luck!

They are fantastically reasonable priced and an amazing quality. And again... a PERFECT gift. If you need a double or triple star banner just let us know!