Happy days

Happy Thursday! It's been a good day. The kids haven't been acting nuttier than squirrel poop like usual. I don't think there's been one tantrum today from anyone so far. ::knocks on wood:: I didn't quite get the jump on the laundry this morning like I intended. I went food shopping and to run some errands instead. After the errands I put in a movie totally intending to watch as I folded laundry, but the movie just sort of took over. In Her Shoes. It was a great movie, total chick flick. I am now going to have to read the book to compare, I have to add it to my mile long list I guess. I don't have much to talk about, as you can tell, but just wanted to jump on and say Happy Thursday, but I said that already. Who cares if the sun is not always shining and the birds aren't always chirping? Who cares if your dog woke you up 10 times during the night? Who cares if your dog doesn't stop barking (dogs bark, kids cry yada, yada) well just who cares? Everyone needs to let the little things go (even if that means having some help doing so) and just let life happen. Be happy for what you have and who you are and stuff like that, because that's all that matters. Let the little things GO!

Disclaimer: This blog was not intended toward anyone specifically. Well, maybe it was just a little bit.

Happy Bibs

Jewel thought my bibs (her word for breasts) needed to be happy. What a little nut! I now also have happy shoulders and a happy belly button too.

Jewel

Jewel has listen to No One by Alicia Keyes about 6 times now. I was thinking she would like some of the other songs on the CD, but no, just No One. I have to download the Cha Cha Slide too because she loves the song and likes dancing to it. She does pretty darn good too. The picture with this post is of a chicken nugget she got from Wendy's last week. She insisted we keep the "heart."

Don't Know If I Can Do It

I need to somehow muster up the strength, will, and patience to deal with my kids today. All 3 will be home all day because Carlos is not allowed out today after arriving home from a party last night at 10pm, but that's a whole other story. (It was supposed to end at 5pm, so figure it out) I have a whole bunch of errands to run. One of those is taking Carlos to get his summer reading books, he has to read 3. He is mad we are going now. Last summer he could not manage to read even one, but he thinks it is far to early to start his 3. They have all been arguing with each other already, it looks like it will start raining soon so taking them outside to burn off their energy doesn't seem possible. The nerves of steel I am said to have feel more like nerves of a cooked noodle today.

Scott Kalitta

Why do media outlets feel it is necessary to show every single gory detail of some stories? The big story in NJ this weekend is that of A NHRA drag racer that was killed at a local drag strip. Our family actually made our first trip there 2 weeks ago to watch monster trucks and drag races. So anyway our NJ News 12 has decided to play over and over the actual accident including 2 explosions. This man crashed into a wall going over 300 MPH, why not leave the results to one's imagination?

What are they thinking? I suppose the same thing they were thinking a couple years ago when they had a helicopter over the area where 3 young boys were missing and a family member opened a car trunk to find them. Watching this grown man break down as he opened the trunk to see those kids, why, why, did News 12 play this over and over? I will never understand. I will also never forget, it has been one of those images that are forever stuck inside your head. Why are they replaying this accident over and over? Again I do not understand. How about showing some clips of the gentleman's life? Wouldn't that be a bit more appropriate? I say yes. Wouldn't that make the station seem a bit less sleazy? Again I would answer yes. Do you think that the news even mentioned that Scott Kalitta who was 46 years old is leaving behind a wife and two young sons? Well if you answered they probably mentioned it or at least touched on it, you are wrong. Did they mention he raced for over 17 years winning the championship 2 of those years? Nope.

This is all stuff I looked up and found out on mine own, even though I have little interest in racing. Why? Because this man deserves a bit more respect than was shown to him and his family by our local news station. Our news station was not the only one who showed this footage, I understand ESPN did as well, along with some ISP's like AOL. But I have a bone to pick with our news station, because they seem to have an awful habit of this. In any case here is a link to the Kalitta racing site, they have removed everything except a tribute to Scott and an email address to send condolences too. Rest In Peace, Scott I am sure in weeks and months ahead the family will read all those condolences and see how many people gave a moment to say they are sorry for their loss, and maybe their heavy hearts will be lighten a bit.

Links, Links, and more links!

There is a blog I have become addicted to. You can check it out here. I admire this woman. I adore my crock pot, I swear I do, but am not sure if I could cook in it every single day. I have cooked in it the last three days though. I think it may be a record for me. The reason is partly because I am too darn lazy to put it away, so I keep washing it and reusing it.

Today I am making Lemon and Herb CrockPot Roasted Chicken Recipe in it. The picture is of my chicken after it's been cooking an hour or so, it is a bad picture, sorry, but the smell already is awesome! Yesterday I made CrockPot Chocolate Frito Candy Recipe in it. The day before I made ribs in it. I used my own recipe for those though. No, no that's not entirely true, I used ideas my sister gave me. (BTW if you check out my sister's blog, which she rarely updates, comment her and tell her to WRITE, for me pretty please!)

Anyway check out A Year of CrockPotting , it is great and she has lots of nifty links off of her site as well. And if you don't own or never cooked in a crock pot before, DO IT!!!!! You will not be sorry.

Oh one more thing, while I am linking like mad today. Check this out. The Cutest Little Girl Sings! I never watch the show that is from so I do not know how old it is or how she did after she moved on, but isn't she the most darling little girl????

Tilt-A-Whirl Horror

Last night we took the girls to the boardwalk. They had fun, we used the very last ticket as it started pouring rain. The drops were so big and so so cold, but it was fun still. I decided to go on one of the rides with the girls. The Tilt-A-Whirl. This was my favorite ride when I was a kid, my very favorite. I can honestly say that if I never set foot on a Tilt-A-Whirl again I will be happy. I was so extremely dizzy and out of sorts by the second rotation. Amber decided to sit in her own car and occasionally as Jewel and I whipped by her I saw her two hands up in the air, holding onto nothing, having a blast. Jewel was sitting next to me giggling the whole time. Somehow during the sickening circular horror I remembered Jewel has no sense of dizziness. She has very minimal post rotary nystagmus. If she gets spun in circles and quickly stopped her eyes do not shift side to side like the average person's. Spinning does nothing to her, she can be spun in a circle 25 times and walk a straight line, so she was loving this circular stimulation. I on the other hand was wondering if those yummy spare ribs we just finished before we left the house were going to make a reappearance right there on the ride. They did not thank goodness but only because I chomped down on my bottom lip so hard I have a little hole there today.

Anyway the girls had an absolute ball on all the rides, they were pretty upset we didn't play games in the arcade, but that's okay I am sure they are over it by now. It was a really enjoyable night despite the fact I felt sick, even upon waking to let the dog out during the middle of the night. No more Tilt-A-Whirl for my over 30 year old behind!

Advice needed

The last day of school was today as I mentioned earlier this morning. My son, that dear boy, has disappointed me in a huge way. He has managed to get average to below average to failing in all but one of his core classes. ACK!!!! Not due to lack of intelligence (well....), I mean he is a smart kid but he DOES NOT apply himself, he blows off work, he procrastinates. I do not know what to do, I just don't. I have spoken to his teachers in the past, that didn't work. I have spoken with his guidance counselor, that didn't work. I have restricted him until he started showing progress, that worked a wee bit, but not much. I have tried the opposite and said we are starting fresh despite you are not doing well, you will slowly lose things if you do not work to your potential, and that didn't work.

Next year he is starting middle school, a whole new ball game. He is going from a class of 65 6th graders to a class of 400 7th graders, because our middle and high schools are from many townships, not just ours. I have a feeling he will only drift even further. Today when I mentioned he may not be playing sports in the fall because of his grades he seemed a little rattled. Is that all he cares about? Who cares, if it is I will use it, unfortunately I am not sure that will be enough motivation either.

I need advice, ideas, suggestions. What do I do now? School is out for the summer, should he still be on some type of restriction? Do I make him do academic work for me this summer? I just don't know, I am out of ideas. Help! Leave comments, email me, anything. Even criticism, if constructive.

On a proud note he won first place out of all 6th graders in his school for a safety poster contest. He drew a match stick that had legs, arm, and a flaming head that said in a word bubble, "Don't play with me I am dangerous." Also at the promotion ceremony last week, he won the Spanish award, there was only one given out for the whole 6th grade. I was proud, he looked shocked!

Last day

The last day of school is here. The kids have all their end of the year gifts ready. Everyone is dressed except for Jewel who is protesting her clothes as usual. Next year I will only have 2 kids in our school district since my oldest is moving onto middle school. Wowzers I feel OLD! Carlos will now be a 7th grader, Amber will be in 1st, and Jewel will continue with one more year of the disabled preschool program. The end of the year is always bittersweet for me because I won't have to fight these kids to get ready every morning, but I also will be referring a heck of a lot more compared to when they spend most of the day away from each other. Ahhhhhh, summer.

Mistaken Identity

I am a book junkie lately. I have been going through one after another. I am currently reading a heart wrenching book. It is about a horrific car crash and equally horrific circumstances that follow. A survivor's identity is confused with that of a girl who dies in the crash. I am only about half way through the book, so far it is a wonderful read although painful. Knowing that the family by the survivor's side are going to find out that that is not their child, that their child is dead and buried, like I said heart wrenching. But there is a message in this book that I believe is the reason the families wrote it. A message of faith. As I read it I find myself finding comfort in their strength. I find myself jealous of the magnitude of their beliefs. I also find myself never wanting to let my loved one's go, seeing how fast their lives changed, in the blink of the eye essentially, it is a scary thought. If you want to read a bit about the story of what happened you can look here. It is the story from USA Today, you may find yourself recalling this as you read, it did make national headlines at the time. If you want to check out the book, look here.

The only thing I miss about blogging on Myspace is not being able to list the books I am reading so I think you may find me mentioning them here from time to time. Before this current book I read Valerie Bertinelli's book which I have to say was super revealing. It also was a good read.

Lonely on my anniversary???? YES!

Happy anniversary to you, Happy anniversary to you, Happy anniversary dear Holly & John......oh wait where is John? That's right still at work at almost 7pm. Lonely me. So I just ordered pizza for the kids and I guess I will read my book until it's time to ready the kids for bed. Who knows when John will get home because he forgot his phone here this morning. So how was my day? I spent the whole day fielding calls on his phone, fun, fun!

Not until this weekend, I seriously had no clue that today was our anniversary. He reminded me, which is bad, because I usually am good with dates like that, but I had no clue. Did he remember this morning though? Nope, I did though, and I didn't say a word so I can use it against him. Hehe!

Bad Neighborhood

I am so glad that I live in such an area that my children have no idea of "unsafe." Here is a conversation that occurred today while the girls were sitting at the table waiting for lunch.

Amber: Mom our town is not a good place to live.

Jewel: Yea!

Me: Why do you say that?

Amber: Stuff around here is just so wrong.

Jewel: Yea!

Me: Like what?

Amber: Well first of all look at these nasty birds, that little bird (pointing outside) keeps chasing the big bird.

Jewel: Yea Mama!

Amber: It is just not a safe town to live in here, you know?

Me: hysterically laughing at this point I am unable to speak.

MONSTER TRUCKS

Last night we went to the Monster Truck show!!!! WOW!!! That's all I can say. It was awesome. Not only did we see the monster trucks, we also watched many drag races and a spiral suicide leap by a stunt driver. They also had cartoon characters there, Sponge Bob, Dora, Spiderman, to name a few. All the kids enjoyed it. Especially Jewel, which surprised me. The kids all wore protective head phones through the show so Jewel did a lot of signing to me. She was signing more, more. She was signing about the cars breaking when the trucks drove over them. It was great. Carlos & Amber also seemed to really like the show.

I am so glad start time was at 7pm because by then it cooled down a wee bit and a little breeze came. Yesterday was miserably hot, today and tomorrow will be as well. We didn't get home until after 11 last night which is the latest I have been out in years! Today Carlos is headed to a minor league baseball game with his grandfather and we are headed to the beach. I just wanted to stop in and let you all know if you have the opportunity see a Monster Truck show, GO! I never thought I would be the type of person to not only go see it, be excited by it, and really enjoy it. Surprises never cease.

PS Pictures to be posted soon. I actually took my camera and not just my phone so I have to upload them.

Summer starts now =(

Most consider Memorial Day the official start of summer. To me, summer starts when the heat begins. That is this weekend. We are in for a heat wave. Meaning 3 days over 90. They say it will be near 100 this weekend, they are saying it will be cooler in Miami. UGH. I hate the heat, HATE it with a passion. We will be spending the weekend trying to stay cool.

(In case you are wondering the giraffe crossing sign is something I came across at the zoo. I feel a kinship to the giraffe, and if you know me, you know why. So I decided to just stick it here, because it's my blog and I can.)

Stay cool, stay safe, and live green. =)

Nothing's new here

I have been slacking on blogging, and I have no motivation. But not much is going on here, nothing too interesting anyway. Last weekend we went to an air show and that was awesome. This weekend we are going to a Monster Truck show which is so not like us at all, but are thinking it might be fun. We are also going to hit the beach for the first time this year this weekend. We've been busy, busy with the end of the school year. Carlos especially has a lot going on. Last night was his spring concert, baseball is wrapping up, promotion is next Friday, his 6th grade dance is this Friday. See, busy! So that's about it here.

Finally!

Carlos finally let me cut his hair! Hooray! Before and after pics are shown, one on Sunday and the other on Monday. What finally convinced him to cut his hair you may wonder? He asked this girl he seems to be pretty fond of how she would like his hair better, and she said short, so he went short. And so it begins. But his hair is cut! =)

My husband, I love him so!

My husband, the big kid at heart, was riding his bike yesterday! Now I was recording him on my phone and had no intentions of posting it here, that is until he told me to put the phone away because he knew I would be posting this on my blog. Well the nerve. So I thought since I was being accused in any case, I would post here. As his 29 year old self was impressing our children with his "stunts" I was not so secretly hoping he would pull, twist, or sprain something and have to call out of work today. Bad wife I am!

Cat Attack (also some prayers needed)

We have a cat. Her name is Tiger. We adopted her about 6 years ago. She is between 7-8 years old, not really sure. Tiger has been a good cat, never has gone potty anywhere but the litter box. I never had any issues with Tiger until maybe a year ago. Tiger decided she hated me and decided she would start showing me regularly how much she hates me. This damn cat attacks me for no good reason whenever the mood strikes. I can be laying in bed and she will creep over to me, and I have gotten to a point where I can prepare for it now it has happened so many times, and just attack me, usually my head. John & I sit on the couch after the kids go to bed at night and watch TV, the cat has also decided this is a great time to attack me. She will come running across the living room and take a flying leap at me!

What the heck? What have I done to her? I feed her, give her water, change her little box, let her sleep wherever she sees fit, even though it usually involves leaving a pile of cat hair on my blankets. She still hates me. Now the attack itself usually is not too bad, you see she is declawed and has lost quite a few teeth so she can't do much harm. In any case, harm or no harm, I do not like being attacked by a pet that I care for. You would think the picture above is cute and all until you hear the truth, the reason is paw is out is because she was swinging at me because I was too close to her. Moody little thing!

I would also like to ask for prayers for the family of rapper Xzibit, who has become a household name due to his work with MTV and Pimp My Ride. He lost a son yesterday who was born into this world too soon and lost his battle to survive. The following is his blog post, you can feel his heartache through his words.

Monday, May 26, 2008

ITS 4:32AM AND I HAVE SOME BAD NEWS........
AS you all know, I shared with you the announcment of my newborn son Xavier Kingston Joiner on may 15th and also informed you that he was born prematurly. well this week was extremly difficult for him because his lungs were not strong enough to handle regular oxygen on his own. Xavier passed away this morning at 3:30am and I must tell you this, It is unatural for a parent to bury a child. I am telling you this because of the same reason I tell you when im having great times, life is too short to be fake. Hold on to your kids if you have them, protect them and show them you love them everyday you wake up and see them, dont take a second you get to hug them teach them and care for them for granted. You can have all the material wealth in the universe but it is NOTHING compared to having your family. I am thankful for all of my blessings and im not one to question God's perfect plan, so I leave you with great love and thanks for the love that was sent earlier on my pervious blog to my son. Of course I need to take some time and handle my loss, STAY FOCUSED PEOPLE. Its not promised to any of us.R.I.P Xavier May 15th 2008- May 26th 2008

Maybe he loves me after all........

I think despite the fact that my son acts like my mere existence is somehow a burden to him, he just may love me. He wore this shirt yesterday for Special Person's Day. I went to school to have lunch with him. By the way his shirt says My Mom Rocks in case it's too small to read. I bought the shirt for him months ago as a joke, never thinking he would actually wear it, and what a shocker I got when he wore it yesterday. I have said it before and I will say it again. For everyone who swears that girls are so much harder than boys, especially in their pre-teems, you have not met my son! He is an emotional rollercoaster. He has his highs, lows, these drastic twists and turns, and the loops, oh the loops!

Monkey on Her Back

You know those types of parents, you see them out and you stare. You wonder why they treat their children that way. You think to yourself you never did that or never would do that. You think it's cruel, humiliating, treatment meant for an animal. You think if the parent would only pay more attention. Well I know what you think, I thought all this too, until now. Now I am that parent who will probably be getting the stares. I bought Jewel a "leash."

It is actually a backpack looking harness that is a monkey and the tail is the "leash." I do not walk her around by the tail part. I loop the tail on my wrist as the safety and I make her hold my hand. The tail is on my wrist for when she breaks free from my hand, because I know she will. Did I ever think I would be the type of parent who would use one of these types of things on their children? No way. Was there a time I looked down on people that did? Sure was. That is until about 3 years ago or so until I heard the stories of a few parents who had children who made them necessary, then I understood. I am now one of these parents.

Most of you are probably thinking, control your child. You are the parent. Look, I know this. Things are not always black and white, there are shades in between. When you have three children, which in reality is not all that many, sometimes your attention is a little diverted at the exact second your child decides to dart across an area that is unsafe, sometimes deadly. It happens, to the best of us, and no I am not making excuses. Jewel has some issues; her speech issue, some sensory issues, yes behavioral issues. I know some people that know me and our family may feel I treat her differently and am a little softer on her than I am on the other kids, and this may be true in some sense. But I think until you are a parent of a child with special needs, you can't really understand the thought process. Or maybe my thought process is a little skewed? My thought is Jewel faces so many obstacles in day-to-day life, so many things we take for granted are a challenge to her, so I pick and choose my battles with her. Why make things more of a battle for her, why make life tougher? Do I let her get away with blatantly horrid things, no. Do I let what I consider small things to slide sometimes, do I let her meltdown and ignore it, do I reward her when she gets home from school daily with a bag of M&M's, yes, yes, and yes.

So anyway I did get Jewel a harness buddy because I feel her running off is a dangerous behavior that we need to correct. She has run into the middle of streets, parking lots, through stores and we can't find her, and so on. I hold her hand with her "tail-leash" wrapped on my wrist in case she breaks the hold of my hand. The idea is to get her used to holding my hand. She hates her monkey buddy and I am using that as a tool. I told her as soon as she learns to walk nicely, not let go of our hand, etc she wouldn't need monkey anymore. Yesterday was our first day with monkey. She has already escaped the harness without even unclipping it, we got a few looks, but I know this will take some time and the looks well we will have to suck up and deal with, because I used to give those looks and karma sucks. But my Jewel will be safe in the meantime.