Free for ALL!

Who says nothing good is free anymore?? After a crazy 28 day weekend (well... 4 days really, but it felt like 28!) we needed a Fun, Free day. The last few days have been packed with sooo much to do, and soooo much to pay for. We had homecoming outfits to buy, tickets to the dance, dinner that night, breakfast the next day, an insane scavenger hunt, football and field hockey games, a sick dog, and the balance of Teddy's school ring due. In the midst of this chaos I managed to LOSE my wallet. License, debit card, and my one credit card. Nice. So today on the last day of our mini-vacation, with no cash flow, the girls andI went to Spring Meadows farm . Or as Janey called it the"barn". Usually that is what I refer to as 'home'. (The boys were offered a chance to go along, and politely declined. Shocking.) We had a great time. Lots of fall sights to see.

Gourd, upon gourds.

Halloween decor, galore. So scary. Little Pumpkin-heads.

Crazy goats, that like to munch on cute little girls.

Fuzzy, fuzzy chickens.

A rooster that, in spite of Janey's very loud pleading, would NOT "just cock-a-doodle-doo!!"

A corn maze and a pond with a, big surprise.

An all-star day

And definitly Free, Fun for All. Straight from the horses mouth.

Wordless Wednesday.....

.....or alternately titled "It's A Dog's Life". It is very exhausting being a dog!!!!

*Note the PRINCESS pilllow. Lucille is a Princess!!

"Not ME!" Monday

A great idea I got from another blog (http://www.mycharmingkids.net/). A way to share with people how NOT perfect we are. And realize that most of us spend ALOT of time doing things we would NEVER do!!! It is hard for me to come up with things since I am sooooo perfect in all I do (pause for laughter, now catch your breath and keep reading!) but here goes.....these are some things that I most definitely DID NOT do. Not ME! No way, no how!

• I did not wake myself up snoring like a trucker. (BTW....thanks for the cold, germ spreader)
• I did not have to wipe my nose on a (clean) pair of socks that I found in the car because the 500 trillion napkins I used to have are now mysteriously gone. No way. That is just GROSS. *Note to self: wash those socks.
• I did not eat a (small) bag of cool ranch Doritos for breakfast. Although if I had it would only be because there is nothing else in this house o' gluten I can have.
• I am not writing this now instead of playing a game of Zingo (for the billionth time) My kids ALWAYS come first.
• I was not secretly laughing at the horrified look I got from the (annoying) gymnastics Mom once she found out that NOT ONLY did my child go to pre-school ONLY two days a week, BUT that she was not in swimming, dance, and equestrian lessons either.
• I am so not ignoring the thousands of cobwebs that have sprung up overnight. Because there is nothing I would rather do than vacuum my ceilings.
• I did not just change the sheets on my big daughters bed for the first time in a very, very, very long time. Because even though she has bunk beds that are a pain in the butt to change and filled with tons of pillows, blankets and 80 stuffed animals to boot, I would NEVER let the sheets go that long between changes. NEVER EVER.
• I did not buy myself a cute new pair of embroidered ballet flats then taunt my (jealous) 9 year old daughter with them. Luckily, I did NOT have a witness to this either! (Although, if I had done this, it would be karmically fitting that later that weekend someone would spill a beer all over them).
• And finally....I did NOT just yell "ENOUGH!" after hearing "Let's play Zingo now, let's play Zingo now, let's play Zingo now, let's play Zingo now, let's play Zingo now" for ten minutes straight. I am so NOT going to let her win!!

What have you NOT done lately??

Who Knew????

That Pre-School could be soooooo tiring!!

Off to school, Bye Mama!

Janey finally had her first full day (well, full three hours) of pre-school this week. To quote her she was "So, so, so EXCITED". She told me school was for kids ONLY, and Mama's could not stay. There went my plans for the day....up in smoke. Not really. And yes, she had to wear the boots. For what IS school really, if not a huge fashion show???

Since she was PAST her due date in August, she is repeating the three year old class. (I still can't believe she was soooo overdue!! Good that I was such a good sport the two weeks she was refusing to come out!) We had her repeat this class mostly because she loves her teacher only slightly less than she loves her Mama. All the little kids marched in, hung up their backpacks, said goodbye to their Mommies, and off they went.

So many tears. From the Moms, that is. I would have offered them a tissue or something, but all I had was the $2.78 I scrounged up so Dawn and I could make our Starbucks/Barnes and Noble/TEAR- FREE escape. Sorry sad Mommies....I have STUFF to DO!!

PS- Bought myself a great book. It is called, "Dear neighbor, DROP DEAD." I am going to throw it over the mean witches fence when I am done reading it!!!

PPS- Tomorrow I am getting a HAIRCUT while she is at school. Ohhhh...this is like Christmas EVE!!!

We got the boot...

These boots were made for walkin'


Janey's new favorite footwear


THESE boots were made for something else entirely.......


Like giving Daddy a HEART ATTACK!!!

Happy Birthday Janey

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Is Forever Enough?

Happy 4th Birthday Janey!

Janey VanGogh

Not to be outdone by her sister's creativity, Janey has broken out the paints and has been busy on many masterpieces. Actually broken out the paints is a slightly nicer way to tell the story. Pulling out the paints after MUCH anticipation only to find in a few short weeks they had dried up and turned into paint rocks did NOT go over well. The fact that it was 10.2 seconds before Julian came home on the bus, thus making a quick jaunt to get new paint impossible, accelerated the HORROR of the situation by tenfold. The ever present Mom promise of "we can do this tomorrow" was ALSO a disaster. But, tomorrow we did patiently wait for (because at 3 with no means of transportation, honestly, what choice do you have??) At WalMart (hell) our WASHABLE paint choices were red and yellow. ???. Finally after much searching we found a variety, so let the painting begin. See..I am a nice, patient, creative Mom too. Once or twice a year.

And, NO. I have no idea what this says. I think it says " this would have been painted yesterday if my mom would have just listened to me." But that is just a guess....

We are ALL crazy as a loom!!

'Member when you were little there was always the house with the "NICE Mom"? The house where you had the most fun, and wanted to run away to and live forever and ever? Well....I am not the nice Mom. Luckily, anytime my kids feel the need, they can just hop the fence and the nice Mom is right there. She (according to some children) let's her kids run with scissors, eat candy for breakfast, NEVER yells, and let's her kids paint their room whatever color they want. Unfortunately for my mean self, I KNOW she is really the nice mom!! She is not short of rules or expectations (that scissor and chocolate stuff was an urban legend. The paint however is true. As has been pointed out repeatedly.) The nice mom, Dawn, is just HUGE on patience, and creativity, and even more PATIENCE. This weekend Dawn let a thousand girls sleep over (well three, but it may have well been a thousand in Mean Mom's world) and made them all looms. We all raided closets and drawers for old clothes and sheets, and they PATIENTLY tore them all into strips to make rag rugs. Julian and I took turns on the rug over the weekend, and (my) our rug was done by Sunday!! Slashy helped a little too!! It was so cool to unhook this medley of our sheets, and Steve's shirts, and other fabric of our lives (yes, I know I just plagiarised the cotton commercial) and have a rug!So far it has not made it onto the floor at all!! But it makes a great cover for the ottoman, and the kitties all fight to sleep on it. So save your old sheets and send 'em our way. I think I am going to start making the kids clothes too!!! Just kidding. Well...maybe as punishment!!

PS- To see some more of the girls rugs, as well as instructions for making you very own loom and rug, just click on the knitting gnome link on the left side of my blog!! Thank you Good Mom!

Now HERE'S a good pet for a child...

I think Prince Charming is not so Charming anymore. Either that or he has rabies. Nasty little bugger...

This is Janey's beloved "pet". She says "Oh, I just love my pet". He might look like he is smiling, but really he is trying to attack me as I cleaned his cage. Hmmmm....here kitty, kitty....

Happy Birthday Par-TEE!!

Here is a recipe for disaster:

Take one 14 year old to football practice at 6:15 am

Take one 16 year old to a game at 7:15 am

Have a huge birthday party. Let the almost 4 year old and 9 year old, run, bounce and play like crazy for hours.

Let 9,14 and 16 year old spend the night at friends houses

Go to a pool party the next day. Swim for hours.

Add all together and shake.

Results: by Sunday you will have grouchy, mean, overtired, fighting kids.

Today we are doing NOTHING. Well, Tucker had practice, but at a more civilized hour!

The party of the year ( in Janey's humble opinion) was "So, so WONDERFUL!". Most of our parties are at home, but there is something to be said for writing a check, sitting back and doing nothing but watch the kids have fun! Thanks, Rach for the great idea to have the girls share their party! Janey and Ella had a great day!

Janey got lots of fun stuff, and it kept us busy when we got home. We have been moving more toward the trend of opening gifts WELL after parties. There is something vulture-ish about doing it in front of a crowd. The crowd moves closer and closer. The gift is pawed by every kid in awe, as the birthday kid gets closer and closer to a meltdown. Finally when every kid is crying because they want that new Barbie/Polly/Game, and the birthday kid is crying because someone is opening the new Barbie/Polly/Game, it has all gone down the toilet! This is a much more relaxing way to do it. Well, relaxing until you spend 2 hours trying to free Barbie from her box. I swear it said Princess Barbie, but it may have well said Bondage Barbie for all of her straps and ties. It is a PLASTIC doll....how secure does she really need to be??

Guess we'll have a big party again next week on her real birthday. Just kidding! We are going out to eat, and I am buying the cake this time!! Once you have tasted the easy way to do birthdays, there's no going back!!

PS- The gluten-free butterfly cake was a hit! AND, added bonus, it tasted good! Still seeing double from putting all those M&M's on it!!!