Grampa's Cradle

Grampa made this beautiful doll cradle for my older daughters. (He actually made 2, 1 for each!)
Katie now plays with them. Yesterday she was sitting in it herself and thought it was the funniest thing.

I have to add, she is wearing her favorite shirt. She called it her "Boo Shirt." Although when she says it it sounds like she is saying "Bullshit!" **hee hee** Listen for yourself!

I am Failing at Potty Training!

I am trying to potty train Katie. It isn't going so well!
I thought she was ready when she wanted to walk around the house with her pants down to her ankles. I was wrong, she just thinks it is funny to do, even in public places.

I have tried bribing with M&M's and she wants them, but won't even sit in the potty for them. Here is her little tantrum, which I find super funny, about wanting the candy, but not wanting to sit. At least she is polite saying "NO THANK YOU!"




This is the "STOP TAKING MY PICTURE" look! **haha**

Wordless Wednesday

I know, Wordless Wednesday....I have to explain!

I saw this hanging in my son's indoor soccer place. They were trying to abbreviate the town "Milford". I would LOVE to play on a MILF Catholic league! **hee hee**

When I was a kid.......

Someone sent me this today. I think it is hilarious and goes with my earlier post about teenagers!
I hope you find it as funny as I did!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning, uphill...barefoot..
BOTH ways Yadda, yadda, yadda.

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, There was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of Thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.

You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a d**n Utopia!
And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, We had to go to the d**n library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter, with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3' s or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the d**n record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, Your mom, your boss, your Bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your I mag ination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen, Forever!
And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!


You had to use a Little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the Channel and there was no
Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you Hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove ... Imagine that!

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The over 30 Crowd

Teenage Problems?

Don't you wish you could have the problems teenagers have? Remember how it was life altering some of the problems we had as teenagers?
I got to thinking this today. Sam and Casey have a substitute bus driver for a while. She is always late. They get to school in time, but Sam has to rush to her locker and then to class. They asked if I would call the bus dispatcher and ask that the driver leave 10 min earlier. *hee hee*
Could you just think if life's problems, now as an adult, were that easy?

I was trying to think of other teenager "life altering" issues they have.

1. Keyboard on cell phone not working properly to text *gasp*

2. Only being allowed 1 friend to sleep over. What will the other 6 friends think???

3. A friend only being allowed 2 people over, she wasn't one of them.

4. Mom picking up from cheerleading and wasn't sitting waiting outside when the coach let them out 10 minutes early. *Yup, I got a call "Where are you?*

5. Super Sweet 16 was not recorded as planned!

6. Having to choose friends over practice.

7. Favorite shirt not washed.

8. To rainy to hang downtown.

9. There is no snacks (that they like) to eat.

10. Having to shut cell phones off at 9:00

Wouldn't you like to have those problems?

Pumpkin Carving!

We (well, Chris and the kids) carved the pumpkins. We decided the driveway was the best place. I didn't want the mess in the house!



Tommy was saying it was stinky!
Chris cleaning it out. Tommy wouldn't go near it. Notice the latex glove on Daddy's hand. I am not sure if that was being smart or being a sissy.


Daddy needs a beer to get through it! haha!


Katie wanted to mark hers up so Daddy knew where to cut.


This is a little one we actually grew. It was to little to carve so Tommy wanted to draw on it.


Then they all disappeared and left Mommy to clean up!



The end result!
Casey's in the one on the right, Tommy's the middle and Kate at the end.
Hers is a Cyclops one! Daddy got lazy at the end!

Pumpkin Picking....Sorta!

We went picking today. Well, not in a real pumpkin patch, just to a local farm where the kids can pick them out. I cheated this year. I had no energy, after the crappy week I had, to go to a real pumpkin patch.
Sam was not with us, she was at a cheerleading competition (which I just found out they took 2nd place!)

Here are some pictures! We are going to try to carve them tonight.


Searching for just the right pumpkin!
Casey found hers!

Tommy found his!


Is this the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown?
I am not sure what they were whispering about!


Chris and I having a snack!

And now some funny ones!

I asked Chris to take our picture, think the sun was to bright? haha


What is this???? They were selling them, it didn't look like anyone was buying them!



I am not sure of this face on Tommy? Maybe he was sick of getting his picture taken?

My Morning Vent

Ugh....

Katie has been sick, I think she may now have pink eye.

Tommy is headed for an MRI for his headaches, that he has been having for months, Monday. Hubby thinks he just doesn't drink enough water....ya, that is it. Have you seen the liquids he drinks all day. Maybe I will start writing it down for you.

Husband is being a jerk and doesn't understand anything. He just gets mad and thinks I am an idiot for not asking more questions about Tommy to the DR. I have told him to call the DR himself if he feels I am doing such a terrible job. He has also been told, in the past few weeks, to please write a parenting book for me since I don't know how to parent 4 kids. Yes people, he is a professional, didn't you know?

Casey thinks I am stupid for thinking she was part of crowd of pumpkin smashers that smashed pumpkins. "I DIDN'T DO IT!" Yet, she was with the crowd. I say, guilty by association. She is mad because I won't let her hang downtown after school today because, after trying to have a civil conversation about it this morning, she told me to "Shut Up." Anyone think that is OK? I know my mom would have kicked my ass if I told her to shut up as a kid.


Sam told me last night she needed a ride to the store to buy candy for her secret cheerleading sister. Let me tell you, she has known she needed this for some time. She was given a list of things she needs for her cheerleader sister and football player at the beginning of the season. Oh and did I mention I needed to pay for it too?

WOW, that felt good!

Out to Breakfast Where???

Chris told me he was taking Tommy out to breakfast this morning. I was pleased and thought "Why isn't he inviting all if us? That isn't very nice."

Well, then I realized where he was taking him! It is Contractor Day at Lowe's this morning. Free donuts and coffee. The even funnier part? He ran back in to get a Ziploc bag so he can bring some home.

That isn't my idea of going out to breakfast. I will stay home in my jammies and let them have "Man Time."

EDITED TO ADD:
Here he is home with the Ziploc bag

My First Blog Award!

AWWW! My first award! I feel so special! Kelly awarded it to me! So cool! I love the kind words she said about me too on her blog!
"My Crazy Life with 4 Kids Here you’ll find a lot of humor and love mixed in with good ol parenting. This gal cracks me up a lot and I love her pictures."
It means a lot to me! Thanks Kelly!! You ROCK!

Part of accepting the award is:
*displaying the award
*linking back to the person who gave it to you
*paying it forward & nominating 7 blogs
*adding links to those seven blogs
*leaving comments on their blog telling them you gave them an award
*enjoying the award

Here are my favorite Blogs I read often.

Life as a Mom at 21- Kaycee is an adorable young mom. She just gave birth (YESTERDAY!) to her 2nd daughter. She is talented and crafty girl. We own several of her bows! We met as May 06 BBC Mommies.

London's Calling- She is a fun read. I love the names she has for herself, husband and son. Another May 06 Mommy!

Equilibrium- Yes, another May 06 Mommy. Bridgette has a great eye for photography. She really takes the most gorgeous pictures. You will really enjoy reading her blog.

Life is not Final- I just came across this one from SITS. She is a mom of 4 also. I can't wait to read more about her.

Multislacking Mamalicious- Doesn't the name just crack you up? She is hysterical and very cool. She refers to her husband as Daddylicious and kids LM and LLM. You will get a kick out of the cool momma!

Keeper of the Cheerios- Miranda was a young mom, like me. She now is older and has another child. She is funny and has a great blog FULL of info, recipes, reviews and giveaways.

Wordless Wednesday

MOMMA LOVES GIRLS NIGHT OUT!

HHMMMMM.........

Tommy just said "Mom, I am tired because I was awake the whole time I was sleeping last night."

Is that possible? HAHA!

Do I have "STUPID" Stamped on my Forehead?

Sam thinks I do! Chris and I were trying to "lay down the law" last night. Both girls have been totally slacking on responsibility and thinks they can come and go whenever they want without helping out around the house and expecting us to drive them everywhere. It was getting old.

We sat them down last night and told them what our expectations were. It was all going fine until the discussion of cell phones came up. Our rule was Casey's was off at 8:30 and Sam's off at 9:00. We told them that they needed to be on the kitchen counter at those times. Well, you would have thought Sam's life had ended. She cried, yelled and cried some more.

"I use it for my alarm clock!" ok....use the regular alarm clock then.

"I never use it after 9:00!" Hmmm.....When I go to Verizonwireless.com and look at the bill (THAT I PAY!) it shows that you are texting well after that time.

"You are so mean, why don't you trust me?"

"Everyone else gets to have theirs all the time!"

"I have no life!"

It was bad. Real bad. So bad that I got a call from her Dad this morning asking if everything was ok. She apparently left a sobbing voicemail for him. They NEVER call him and he NEVER gets involved in the 12 years we have been divorced. UGH!

I can't wait for her to come home and see the print out of her text records to prove her wrong! IS that mean?

Help a Girl Out!

I am new to this Blogging thing. How the heck to I post a link with a view of a title, not the URL?
Example: If I wanted to share Kaycee's Blog with you, instead of it looking like this:
http://lifeasamomat21.blogspot.com/
How do I write Life as a mom at 21 with the url "under" it?
Anyone? Anyone?

I Have Been Tagged!

I have been tagged for the VERY FIRST TIME! Thanks Kaycee!

Here are the questions:

1. Do you have the same friends since childhood? I have a few. One since we were in 3rd grade. We talk every so often. We don't keep in touch as much as I would like though.

2. What do you value most about your friends? Friendship, trust and knowing how to have a good time. I have many girlfriends and we have a blast together!

3. Are your friends sounding boards? Does that mean, they are good listeners? If so, TOTALLY! They have listened to many of my rantings over the years!

4. What is your favorite activity to share with friends? We love to have Girls Night Out! We just had one Friday night! I **think** I will have some pictures to post on it soon!

Okay, I tag..
Lisa- Welcone to Our World
Karla- Live well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Stephanie- Living with Us

11 Years Today......

Chris and I had our first date. Awwwwww.......... Want to know where he took me? On a motorcycle ride! He picked my up and we went on a charity bike ride called "Pumpkin Ride". I have no idea what the charity was for, I just knew I was on the back of this hot guy's bike! We were with a bunch of his friends. After we went out to eat to a local pub. I wanted a burger so bad. He ordered a wimpy chicken sandwich. I figured to impress him, not gross him out, I would order the same.

A little back story on how we met:

We met at a gym. He worked out, I worked there (and worked out!). He walked in and I said to my friend "I am going to have him!" **It was a little more vulgar than that, but in case my Mom is reading, I will keep it clean** A few days later he walked over to me and asked me out.

His friends razzed him for going out with a divorcee with 2 small kids (they were 2 and 4). However, as he puts it, he didn't want to date me, he just wanted to get me in the sack **Sorry Mom!** We had some troubled times of him having a hard time being with someone with 2 small kids, totally understandable. We even broke up for a few months. Yes folks, he dumped a few weeks after a fabulous birthday. (He took me to Boston in a limo, we all know what a limo right entails right?) He then realized he couldn't live without me, who could right?

It has been wonderful since then. Marriage, 2 beautiful kids and a wonderful life. It doesn't get any better than that!

How I Get My Baby Fix!

I had the pleasure of watching my good friend, Lauren's, daughter today. Grace is 3 months old. You would have thought the Pope was at my house. She got more attention than anyone I have ever seen walk through my door!

Grace just getting to our house.

Her being here just under an hour

And......a little while later!


As you can see, poor Grace had to stare at their cute faces all day!


Here is Tommy telling her "you're so cute, I want to take care of you forever" in his best "Baby Talk" voice. The "Parrot" Katie is trying to take part in this also. In case Lauren is reading this, Katie did NOT sneeze all over Grace. She did "catch it" with her hands. Which I promptly wiped!

For So Long We Have Waited for Her to Speak

Now she won't stop!

For months now we have worried about Katie and her speech. She is delayed and sees a Speech Therapist once a week, in our home. She has been in th program almost 6 months.

The past 2 weeks she has had an explosion of words. For good and bad.

She likes to tattle now. When a sister or brother is not doing something right0Ii hear "Moooooooooommmmmm!" (in that whining voice)

When you try to get her dressed in the morning- "No Mom, no jammies off!"

When getting jammies on at night- "No Dad! No shirt off!"

When she needs something, she has gone from poking me and saying "yoohoo" to "Come here!" (in a 2 year old demanding voice)

She did sweetly tell my sister the other day "I love you" **awww**

Tonight at dinner she didn't want to eat "No eat dinner, Katie no eat!" But was pissed when Tommy got dessert and she didn't. "No! I eat cookie"

Kiersten, her Speech Therapist,
was working on putting 3-4 words together. Looks like it is working.

WHY DON'T THEY SLEEP?

Katie and Tommy have always been great sleepers, sleeping through the night since they were infants. Tommy has always asked to go to bed when he is tired. We have had parties at our house and he has been known to ask to go to bed in the middle of them! Katie has also never really given us a problem either.

So why at the age of 2 & 5 do they wake up several times in the night? Katie has been waking up at least twice every night for weeks. Tommy has been waking up once several times a week. I don't get it. Aren't they supposed to be out of that stage? Don't they know that Momma needs her sleep? I am a cranky Ogre if I don't get enough sleep. Really, it would benefit all involved to JUST SLEEP ALL NIGHT!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Yes, Ms. Nancy was back dancing at the Mall yesterday. =)

I love Fall in New England!

YA YA YA!

I have new Blog design! I am so excited! I just want to thank Anissa over at Beelicious Blog Designs (her button is on the left!). She did such a great job and was SUPER fast. She had it designed, up and running within 24 hours of me emailing her! So, if you need a design, head over to her!

Am I getting to old........

To drink like I did when I was in my 20's?

Chris and I went to a wedding last night. It was fun. I had never been to an Italian wedding before. Lots of music and dancing. What a great crowd of fun people.

We had no kids to come home to so we drank......a lot. We had our usual Stoli Raspberry and Sprite drink. There was one bottle of the Stoli Raspberry left at the bar, our friend paid the bartender $40 to hide it and tell people it was gone.

Poor Chris had to go to work today. I am staying up on the Advil every 4 hours in hopes the major headache I woke up to at 4AM doesn't creep back.

Chef Tommy

Tommy decided he wanted to make dinner for himself and Katie last night. I think it was because he didn't want to eat the Shepard's Pie I made. He wanted to make his fav- English Muffin Pizzas. If my siblings are reading this, it will bring back childhood memories. We used to eat these all the time!

Here is my budding chef!


This is a family talent. Tommy has gotten very good at it! Notice he can now wink and give a thumbs up while doing it! *haha*