Yeah...

So, yeah....I was wrong.  I DID get my netbook back and it does work (thankfully!).  Though having it back hasn't helped me get back on track with blogging more regularly OR keeping up with the blogs that I read. 

I think we are almost ready for Christmas here.  The shopping is done though nothing is wrapped yet.  I plan on wrapping on Tuesday...hmmm...I wanted to bake Tuesday too AND go for groceries...not sure I have to rethink that.  I also need to make 3 doz cookies for my MOPS cookie exchange on Monday night.  Hmmm...I'll have to think about all that later.  Ugh maybe I'm not as prepared as I thought I was.  I'm not even going to mention the Christmas knitting I have yet to finish.  Oh wow...no I can't think about it, its making me a little sick.

Why do I do that to myself every year?  I KNOW I need to get these things finished and yet I always wait until the last minute to even start them.  You'd think I'd learn my lesson by now. 


I was going to leave you with a picture of our Christmas tree all light up but ummm...not now.  My house is a wreck and I thought this was cuter anyway....

Cole went to work with me today (gees!  my desk is a mess!).  He decided he wanted to wear his Halloween costume to work today.  He was watching an Alvin and the Chipmunks dvd on my computer and drinking a diet pepsi @@ 

Long Day

:::sigh::::


Its been a ridiculously long couple of weeks.  Actually its just been a really, really long day. 

For starters Cole has been up since 5:30 am just because.  Logan is on day two of Thanksgiving vacay, he is off until next Monday.  And I pretty much cleaned my entire house today after being sick all weekend. 

I did get to Logan's teacher conference this morning.  It was originally scheduled for yesterday but I had to reschedule because I still wasn't feeling 100%.  She had really good things to say and said that's she seen alot of improvement in him even since the first marking period ended.  Not that his report card was bad but just improvement overall. 

I just cannot get over the fact that Thanksgiving is this week.  I just can't wrap my mind around that. Not to mention the fact that Christmas is right around the cornor.  I am so not ready.  I have hardly anything bought yet which is so unlike me.  Ryan and I are planning on going Friday, not early but at some point.  Just hoping nobody else is sick and I'm feeling better by then.  I just really don't know what to buy at this point. 

One thing I did get accomplished for the holidays is ordering my Christmas cards...finally!!  I'm actually even 'early' this year. Normally I don't get them ordered until well after Thanksgiving because that's when I get the pictures taken for them.  A few weeks ago my sil came up and took some family pictures and pictures of the boys.  We have never had family pictures taken, how crazy is that?! 

This is one of them. I love it.  There were alot of the boys taken at our pond that turned out great too. 

I just got notice that my netbook is on its way back to me...AGAIN!  Its supposed to be here tomorrow, I just hope that I'm home when the fedex dude shows up.  I also really hope its fixed for real this time.  I miss having it so much. 

Mama’s Holiday Wish List 2010

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme






TodaysMama and GameStop  are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.





1. What is your holiday wish for your family?

To have a safe, fun & healthy holiday and new year.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?

be woken up super early by our oldest son and rush downstairs to open gifts.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?

new living room furniture!!!!


4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?

spending time with family & friends, playing games and watching holiday movies

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?

Monopoly, various card games, Super Mario Bros.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?

leaving cookies and milk for santa

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?

I'm not really all about being away from home for the holidays but if I had to pick...probably a cabin somewhere, complete with fresh snow and sleigh rides.



8. Check out  Gamestop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?


Wii Udraw Pad
Xbox 360 Kinect
Pictionary for Wii

Always Catching Up

So, yeah, I thought my life would slow down once football stopped.  Yeah, not so much.  I feel like I'm on the go now more than ever.  

After football ended Logan decided he wanted to sign up for wrestling.  While it hasn't 'offically' started yet, he has been having twice a week optional practices.  He's been going to all of them not because we've been making him but because he WANTS to.  I've never seen him more excited about something in my life.  Its crazy.  I just can't wait to see if he remains interested in it even when they start really wrestling. 

So, its been sports practice, MOPS stuff (steering team meetings, setting up for regular meetings and the meetings themselves) plus trying to have lunch or something occassionally with my MOPS girls because I miss them when I don't.  I'm also participating in a bible study on Proverbs 31.  It has been really interesting.  A little more indepth than I can go into right now or probably ever care to go into but its still helpful all the same.  Its really helped me to focus on what's important in my life.  Those are the things I squeeze in on the two days I'm home from work along with helping out in Logan's class. 

Logan's class....oh my.  I went in this week to help again.  I'm just at a loss.  I don't agree with alot but I have nothing to compare it with, I don't know what they are doing in the other first grade classes but this teacher needs to reevaluate her situation because she has no control over these kids but yet in some areas I think she's a little extreme.  I just pray we can get through this year without any trouble and move on to second grade.  Right now I am so thankful Logan was placed in all day Kindergarten because I think its the only reason he hasn't fallen behind. 

Then there is knitting.  I have many things I need to finish ASAP.  I got my swap package mailed out and recieved mine, let me find a picture.  It came all the way from Norway, how cool is that?!    

It was a really fun swap and I'm glad I participated, I can't wait for the next one!  

I feel terrible because I haven't been to knitting in forever, now I don't know when or how often I will be getting there. My knitting group meets on the two nights that Logan has wresting practice.  Now that normally wouldn't be a huge deal, but we only have the one car that both boys can ride in.  I have to figure out what I'm going to do about getting a ride to knitting, my one knitting friend has offered to come and get me and bring me home.  I feel bad though because its out of the way for her.  I'll still probably take her up on it because I miss them...alot!

I've really got to get better about blogging again...maybe if I EVER get my netbook back in working order I will!  I had to send it back again the other day because the new power cord still didn't fix it.  The Acer guy and I had it out over the phone.  I will NEVER buy one of their products again, its such a pain.  I'm tired of paying all this shipping for something that is under warranty.  At least when I had my HP laptop I could get it shipped back at no charge. 

So of course with all this stuff to do what is it I really want to do?  Read of course!  I started reading Wuthering Heights the other week.  OMG!  Its my new favorite book.  I can't believe I've never read it before.  I also just picked up Outlander after hearing a bunch of my knitting friends discuss it.   I just want to curl up with it and read. 

 ::sigh::

I'm hoping to get the chance someday...

That's about it for now...

Hopefully I won't take so long to update on everything going on around here. 

 



Playing Catch Up!

Hey all I haven't forgotten about you.  I just really haven't been in the blogging mood lately.  It has become something I feel I MUST do and well that's never a good thing for me because then I just don't do it ;) 

So alot has been going on since I've posted last.  Football is ALMOST over tonight is their last game, the two different smurf teams are going to play each other at the big field.  I will take my camera to get lots of pictures!  I thought we were going to get a break from sports but Logan just signed up for wrestling last week.  Can't wait to see how this goes!  Ryan and I both had talks with him about it NOT being like the WWE and I even found youtube videos of real youth wrestling and made him watch them.  He was still excited about it.  I was really looking forward to a break until baseball starts in the spring but oh well.  At least he wants to try something, I want to give him every opprotunity to try whatever he wants.  Hopefully we will all have a better experience with wrestling than football.  While I love football, the parents had a tendency to be very cliquish and I can't stand that.

Other than that, I've been busy organizing and cleaning my house.  The house that we used to live in was the house I grew up in.  When we moved out I left some things behind and just hadn't made the time to go back and get it and go through things.  Well, last weekend my brothers house burned down so him and his family had to move into my parents old house, so I really had to get my stuff out of there.  Its really amazing the things you find!  So I've been busy throwing things away and getting bags of clothes ready to donate.  I have so many friggin clothes that I don't wear anymore or don't fit.  I REALLY need to go through them all, Ryan's included.  It seems the kids get new clothes every season but neither of us do. 

As for my brother and his family everyone is fine.  Nobody was home at the time so nobody was hurt or anything but the house was destroyed.  So they are busy getting back on their feet. 

On the knitting front I have sort of stalled out.  I was moving along on an item for the Halloween swap I'm doing on Ravelry.  I got that finished and its currently blocking (will take pics tomorrow!)   I'm planning on getting the package in the mail tomorrow. 

This is the yarn I'm sending.  One of my friends from my knitting group has opened her own Etsy shop for her hand dyed yarn and other knitting things.  She does some amazing work and I am convinced she can dye anything :)  This picture doesn't do this yarn justice...I'm not  a big fan of your typical black/orange halloween colors but what she did with this yarn...I love it.  I honestly want to keep this whole package for myself.  I'm going to have a hard time sending it out tomorrow.

That's about it for now.  I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting about but I'll remember later :)

Fall Fun!

Yesterday my mom and I took to the boys to a local orchard's fall fest...have more pics to upload later!

Monday, Monday, Monday.

I am so mad right now.  I thought I'd get to be relaxing tonight with my netbook on my lap surfing the net on the couch.  I finally got around to sending it back to be repaired two weeks ago and I got the confirmation email on friday that it was fixed and on its way back to me.  Horray!  Not so fast.  The fedex man arrived at my house bright and early this morning and handed me my love.  I came in and ripped the box open, raced out to find the charger in the living room and plugged her in.  Pushed the power button and nothing.  WTF?  The paper that was in the box said it was repaired and tested.  So I messed with the cord, unplugged it and plugged it back in and even tried several different outlets.  Still nothing.  So I had to call Acer.  OMG.  Seriously, would it kill you to have a human being answer the phone?!  After screaming at the phone I finally got a real live person and they decided its the power cord that is bad.  Seriously?!  I paid $30 to ship the damn thing back to you and now its the power cord?!  I know the plug was bad because the cord wouldn't even stay in the computer towards the end, it would fall right back out.   So now I have to pay to ship my part of the cord back before they will send me a new one.  This is seriously starting to be a pain in the rear end.  ::Sigh::  I don't care at this point I just really, really want my netbook back. 

Then this afternoon I got the chance to go in and help out in Logans class.  They were studying Johnny Appleseed and the teacher had each student bring apples in today and she made applesauce.  I went in to help her get it dished out.  OMG.  Yeah, she needs help. I personally could NEVER be a teacher.  My child is not an angel not at all.  Wow.  All I can say is these kids would never have acted this way with Logans teacher from last year.  So I told her to please email me anytime she wants some extra help I'd be glad to come in whenever I could.  Logan did get in trouble last week, he was being disruptive in class but honestly the way some of those kids were today was ridiculous.  I really hope she contacted their parents like she did me about Logan. 

Knitting is going well, I think I am FINALLY going to be getting back to my knitting group this Friday.  I haven't been there in FOREVER!   I'm still working on my item for the Halloween vamp swap I'm doing on Ravelry, when I'm finished I will post a pic of it and everything I got for my partner.  I hope she likes everything! 

Busy, Busy, Busy

So...its been a pretty busy week here at our house. For starters last Thursday was the day I had surgery to have my gallbladder removed. Everything went well and uneventful. I'm still a little sore & tired, trying to get back into the swing of everything.

Football is still going...I can't wait until its over I really, really can't. Though I can't complain too much I think the last day I was there was last Tuesday, I do really miss going. I even had to miss a game on Saturday which I'm upset about but I'm planning on going to this weeks game. All I keep telling myself, after this weeks game, only 3 more to go!! YAY!! I really don't hate it that much and I might be a little sad if Logan does decide not to play next year. Its fun & exciting. Just wish some of the people and organization could be a little different.

My house is a total disaster.  Don't get me wrong, Ryan was doing a lot to help out when I first came home, but there's just all those other things he just doesn't 'see'.  Oh just looking at it all makes me tired...

That is just a small glimpse of the mess that is my house.  The train table that has turned into the catcher of everything that comes into the house...

I think Cole has the right idea on how to spend the day.  And of course you can notice more of the mess....

 I would MUCH rather spend my day playing with this beautiful yarn.  This picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice.  A close friend of mine dyed this lovely stuff up for me because I needed it for a swap I'm participating in on Ravelry.  I really am going to have a hard time giving it up...

I guess I could go start the dishwasher and feel a little productive before I sit down to work on letters I want to get sent out and my reading then hopefully I can sit down and work on some knitting :)

Update & Catching Up

I can't believe its been so long since I've made a 'real' post. Things have been CRAZY!!

First things first...

Football is still going strong. I'm so glad we are down to three practices a week though. Though I am getting more and more turned off this sport the more I am around some of these parents. They seem to think their children are going from the smurf division straight to the NFL. I haven't seen any scouts there yet but I could be wrong ;)

I am a little upset with his coaches. The smurf division is for LEARNING. They don't even keep score. Well let me clarify that..they aren't SUPPOSED to keep score but we all know they do. Logan and a few of the same kids are not being put into games or even the practice scrimmage games much at all. Its ridiculous. You can bet though the coaches kids' are in ALL the time. So yeah, I think an email to the coaches is in order. I've heard that the head smurf coach has even noticed it and has told our coaches to put these kids in more and they haven't. I'm planning on going to practice tomorrow night, I'll have to see what I can find out.

Second thing...

I'm going to be having some surgery this week. That came out of nowhere, right?! Its nothing major, I'm having my gallbladder out on Thursday. I've been having some issues the past few weeks, actually in hindsight the past few months. I went to the dr about two weeks ago and after some blood work and other testing they've found I have gallstones. So the surgeon suggested that this is the next logical step because once you have one attack chances are you will have more. Let me tell you I'd rather not go through that again. Though I am a little freaked at surgery, I've never been cut open, even a little bit before. Plus she told me I'll have to spend the night in the hospital. So not looking forward to that.


On the knitting front...

I've started working on some things. I have a number of gifts I need to get working on. I don't want to run into the mad rush two weeks before Christmas this year deciding that I need to knit 15 different things. Though everything I've been working on can't really be discussed here because some of the recipents read my blog.

I've also had more decluttering progress but I haven't updated that blog in awhile. Hoping to get back into it soon. I'm still hoping to have a yard sale sometime before it gets too cold out. Not sure when that will happen with football games on Saturdays!

Boost Mobile

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boost Mobile. All opinions are 100% mine.



If everyone is like me out there, it seems like my cell phone bill is getting more and more expensive each year.  I just found out about this really cool plan that is making having a cell phone, will all of the latest features more affordable.  It is
Boost Mobile.  They have a lot of the latest phones with all of the added features inclued in one low monthly price!

For example, I've recently been looking into getting a Blackberry.  Well with my current cell phone company I just can't justifiy the added expense.  Boost Mobile makes it easily affordable, their unlimited Blackberry plan is even cheaper than my NON smartphone plan from my current company!

Along with making the latest in cell phone technology afffordable they also make it easier to pay your bill with  Re-Boost.  You can pay your bill online with automatic payments, a one time payment online.  Or you can pay in person or online.  Friends & family can also put money into your account towards your phone bill!  How great would that be?!

You can also access twitter & facebook from your Boost Mobile phone. Its become second nature to me when I'm out and about with free time, especially at Logan's football games, to check and update my facebook and twitter accounts.  I've been dangerously close to going over my monthly mb's on my current plan, it would be great to have unlimited access to my social networking sites each month.

I wish my contract with my current company was up soon because I know exactly where I will be heading in the future for my cell phone.  Just browsing through their site ordering, activating and paying your bill is a piece of cake. I will definetly be getting that Blackberry I've been drooling over!

First Day of School

Yesterday was the big day.  The first day of first grade!  I could tell Logan was a little nervous.  He got up as soon as I went to his room to wake him.  He didn't want to eat anything, normally I can't eat breakfast 'early' either so I don't force him.  He did finally want toast though.  I went over with him where the bus would drop him off at school, its different from last year.  What his teachers name is, so he could ask for directions.  There was going to be staff there to help the younger students find their way around.

We had his bookbag all ready to go, we just had to put his water bottle in and head out the door.  Cole had spent the night at his grandparent's house (my parents) the night before, him and my mom showed up to see Logan get on the bus.  Logan & Cole were both grouchy and wouldn't let me get a picture of them together...

Logan waiting for the bus...

That's his new favorite shirt we bought while back to school shopping.  We watched shark week this year and he is now obsessed with sharks.  When we were picking out what he would wear last week, I had originally had another outfit picked out.  He saw that shirt and said, "no!  I have to wear the shark shirt.  Maybe I'll meet another kid because he will say he likes sharks too!" How cute is that?!  Its so hard as the boys' get older and putting them in situations like that.  When they are unsure of themselves.  Plus Logan has always been fairly outgoing and its hard to watch, as he grows, become more shy. 

His first day seemed to go well, I wasn't home when he got home yesterday though, my mom picked him up and brought him to work for me to talk to quick.  He said it was fine and he likes his teacher.  Hopefully that holds true throughout the year.  He told me last night when I was taking him to bed, that one of his friends at football said she's mean, he said to me he's wrong, she's not mean I like her.  I really hope that is the case!  Why can't the teachers that I had still be there?!  It would be so much easier!! 

Cole hasn't been joining us too much at football practice.  It started with him just staying with my mom during practice.  Then he didn't want to come home with us, he wanted to spend the night with her.  So we'd let him.  One day would turn into two days and sometimes three days.  Its gotten to be  a problem.  Though there are worse problems to have. I guess I should just count ourselves lucky that he has a mamaw that wants to spend time with him and he wants to spend time with her.  We have enough of the other kind of grandparents, the ones who are too busy to attend sporting events or too oblivious to spend any time with the grandkids. Honestly I used to care but frankly I don't anymore.  I would like to tell these people how it is though because their not only hurting a relationship with their grandchildren but also with us too.  If I could I would change ALOT of things....

Anyway, I <3 this picture.  He just picked his chair up the other day and moved it to the edge of the field to watch practice.  He looks like he knows what he's watching.

Watching the game...

Back to School with Mission Tortillas

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Mission Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.





Who else out there is looking for quick, easy and healthy snack and lunch ideas?  I know I am.  Well you really need to check out Mission – Back To School.  They have some AMAZING ideas for fun and healthy lunch ideas as well as after school snack ideas.  With football practice we could really use them here! 

I can't say I've ever used Mission Tortillas before but I was surprised at how many things they can be used for!  Not only can they be used to replace the bread in an everyday sandwich, they can also be used for breakfast with eggs, meat, cheese or even fruit!  As well as snacks or dessert.  They come in a variety of sizes such as small (6"), medium (8") and large (10”).  They are also a healthy alternative since they  Contain 0 grams Trans fat per serving and are cholesterol free.

Mission Tortillas are a great item to keep on hand in your pantry for every meals as well.  I know money has been a big concern in our home, especially at the grocery store, it seems like I'm spending more and more every time I go.  With Mission Tortilla's on hand you can check out their website, Mission – Back To School, and they have a section that includes family meals for $10!

Logan has really been excited to pack his lunch this year in school, we even bought a lunch box while back to school shopping.  My big concern was coming up with new and exciting ideas instead of the same old bologna and cheese or pb&J sandwich.  Some of the new things that we will be trying with the tortillas are the very berry delicious burrito and the pb&j banana burrito.

Be sure to check out Mission Tortillas which are available in grocery stores nationwide and also be sure to check out  Mission – Back To School for some new menu ideas!

What To Do...What To Do...

This past week has been a semi crazy one for me.  Dr's appts, being sick, getting ready for the new school year to start... I can't believe Logan will be a big first grader next Wednesday. 

I found out who his teacher for the upcoming year is & I'm not too happy about it.  I've been hearing some pretty terrible things about her. I don't want to get into what I've heard here, in this public forum but its bad, not abuse bad but still makes you wonder WHY she's still a teacher.   People are suggesting that I call the school on Monday and demand he be put in a different class.  The problem is I'm not really a confrontational person.  I mean put in a situation where something has been done to me first of course I can stand up for myself or my family but I have to be in the right place or frame of mind to do it.  Most of the times I can just let things blow over and be like "whatever."  Plus I'm also a big believer in the whole adage that everything happens for a reason.  Maybe he's ment to be in that class only we may not know that reason for awhile or we may find it out next week...who knows.

I just don't want to be THAT mom, kwim?  I also don't want Logan to fall behind this year when he's finally caught up.  He had a little bit of a hard time last year in reading and by the end of the year he was right where he needed to be.  Plus its just hard for me because growing up, we just sucked it up and dealt with the teachers we were given, at least in my family.  It was what it was.  You learned to deal with different kinds of people that way. Heck, my 2nd grade teacher had his paddles lined up around his room, one even had his name on it!  I can't IMAGINE letting my child in a classroom like that now!! 

So any advice out there in blogland??  I sure could use it now, time is running short, I HAVE to call Monday morning if I'm going to have any shot in getting him moved....

Win a FREE Weekend Stay!!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hampton Hotels. All opinions are 100% mine.



How cool would it be to get a FREE weekend away with friends?  I know as a mom to two young boys' it sounds like heaven & darn near impossible.  Well, right now my friends over at Hampton Hotels is running a very cool contest,  Hampton Chain of Friends Sweepstakes. It is super cool, they are giving away 100 first prizes daily that include weekend stays  for the winner and three of their friends. 

I can't imagaine how great it would be to get away for a weekend with three of my friends.  As much as I love my boys' & I do, believe me.  I could really go for a girls weekend away.  I've been planning where I'd go if I won and who would join me.  Its been pretty difficult to choose!

I automatically thought about my knitting gals,  I've been missing them SO much because football has been taking my every minute.  We could have a fabulous 'knitting retreat'  Maybe somewhere I've always wanted to go, such as Maine?  Or North Carolina?  Maybe even Canada or California so I could meet some of my other knitting pals? ;)

Or I could make it a nice family weekend away and take a trip to Philadelphia.  Maybe take the boys to see their first Phillies game?  Or possibly catch an Eagles game?  Eat some cheesesteak??? mmmm.... 

I don't think so...as much as I love my boys & the Eagles, a weekend away with my knitting group is how I'd choose to spend my weekend away! 


So, what are you waiting for??!  Check it out and enter today! Hampton Chain of Friends Sweepstakes

Burning Hands & Jalapeno's

I just have one thing to say today...


When you are cutting up hot peppers, WEAR GLOVES!!! 

I'll start from the beginning....

In the garden this year Ryan grew a few different hot pepper plants, jalapeno's & habanero's.  So we decided to make & can some salsa.  Perfect, we have a boatload of tomatoes & peppers.  So we got everything we needed on Sunday and got down to it that afternoon.  I started chopping onions and the peppers.  I realized that we had forgotten to pick up gloves, the recipe I had had a reminder at the bottom to always wear gloves when chopping peppers.  Well I said something to my lovely husband and he was like oh you don't need them.  In his defense he did grab me a pair of rubber gloves from his truck but they were too big and bulky for me to use so I didn't bother.  I cut up ALOT of peppers that day, about 10 + cups worth.  Not long after I was finished and washed up, my fingers started to burn a little.  As time went on it was getting worse and worse.  It really felt like I had held my hand over an open flame for a few hours.  Luckily it was my left hand, I could still do some things with my right. 

After much googling, I had my hand in many things.  I big tub of yogurt, a bowl of milk, iced down white vingear & tomato paste to name a few.  I finally fell asleep (or passed out) around 4:30 am.  The only thing that ended up making it feel better was a bowl of ice water.  It was better by morning just a slight sting that I can still sort of feel under my nails. 

So, a word to the wise...wear gloves!   I know I will....

I promise...sort of...

Ok, I promise this WILL not be another post solely about football...I feel like that's all I'm writing about anymore.  Its just taken a huge chunk of my life right now and honestly its all that I really have on my mind.   That and the serious disgustingness that is my house but you can see I'm really concerned with THAT right now....

Last night at practice ( I know...but I said SOLELY, there will be more to this post, promise.)  we had a huge turning point.  Logan really didn't do anything different but they actually put the two teams together and started running plays.  I think since he finally got to see how it was all being put together, he 'got' it. He wasn't rotated in all that much and I'm ok with that.  As long as he gets put in a little we're all good.  I don't think he's ready to be out there for any length of time anyway.  I'm not one of 'those' parents that thing that their kid is the sh*t and its only their first year at a sport.  Seriously, he's not.  As I was saying, it really wasn't the best practice for him, he got knocked down twice, hard while he was rotated out and on the sidelines, it didn't look accidental to ME but when I spoke to the coach he said the kid thought Logan was part of the play and he apologized (the coach) to me because it was his fault.  Whatever.  Anyway, after practice Logan came running up to me and was the most talkative about it then he's ever been.  I was shocked.  We had to go to the actual midget field to get their game uniforms and he was crazy excited.  When we were in the car I asked him if he finally likes football and he said YES!  I couldn't believe it.  Even now he's still saying he likes it! 


So anyway, as I said above football is all I've been really thinking about lately.  Mostly because its all we DO anymore but also because Logan wasn't crazy about it and I was torn on what to do.  Ryan and I feel strongly in the way that if you sign up for something you are committing to it therefore there is NO quitting.  Ryan feels a little stronger about it than I do but I've been standing behind him on it.  Honestly Logan has been still participating and not fighting, not throwing fits, not disappering to the bathroom halfway through practice and not coming back.  He's been out there getting knocked down over and over and over again.  While I think he can do BETTER, he's still been sticking it out and yes all the above mentioned things have been being done by other kids on the team.  Logan is aware there are ways to 'get out' of practice but either he's too scared too or part of him really does like it.  Hopefully now that games are fast approaching he will continue to like it.  Even just a little. 

Ok ok, sorry promise no more football talk this post...

I thought that I'd be getting more knitting done since I have those two hours a night while I'm sitting at foo...Ummm...I mean sitting in the grass at that place outside.  But honestly its just been too hot to even think about holding knitting.  I've worked on  a few more rows of the front of Coles sweater. 

The back is all finished.  I'm really happy with my color choices though they are hard to see in this pic.

this is all I have finished of the front.  I'm just now starting the chart.

I was compiling my Christmas knitting list in my head the other day, I think I'm soon going to have to put this on the back burner so I can get moving on the things I want to make.  Its not really anything hard or involved but I'm doing some knitting for a few people this year and I don't want to wait until the last minute like usual. 

Ok well see it wasn't ALL about football, I did have a little knitting thrown in there ;)  I really wanted to write about something else going on but this has already gotten alittle longer than I like so I'll have to save it for a different day!

Football & End of Summer

Isn't he so friggin handsome?!  Maybe I'm just biased but I love to see him in his uniform!  I can't wait to see his game uniform!! 

Things are going a little better on the football front.  I think he's starting to like it a little more.  Hopefully Saturday he'll like it more so, its their first scrimmage.  He just frustrates Ryan & I because we KNOW he can do a better job he's just not trying for whatever reason, I think he's being shy because he doesn't know the kids on his team or at least the ones he's been tackling.  When we go over drills or whatever at home he GETS it and he does it for us but not for his coaches.  We've started going for ice cream after practice on Friday night, well two of his coaches were there this past week.  Logan was by a bench and put his milkshake down, stood back from it, got in his stance and ran for the milkshake like he would tackle it, EXACTLY like he should be doing at practice but for whatever reason doesn't.  Then he said, after we both said thats how he SHOULD do it, " I hope my coach saw me."  WTF?!  Show them AT practice!!! 

I was just sitting here thinking that school is soon going to start, officially two weeks from yesterday he will be back in school.  Where did the summer go?!  I think this was our worst summer ever, we did NOTHING.  I was going to stay home tomorrow and clean (god knows my house needs it, I'm never home anymore!) but I think I'll let it be and take my boys out for lunch and maybe for a swim.  It'll be clean some day, right? Besides, who needs folded laundry? ;) 

Diaper Rashes & Butt Paste....

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boudreaux's Butt Paste. All opinions are 100% mine.


I remember when my oldest son was only a few months old and he had a pretty bad diaper rash.  Nothing was clearing it up.   I was talking to my sister in law on the phone and contemplating calling the dr about it.  I'll never forget it...she told me to try Butt Paste.  "What?!"  I said.  She's like "no really, its amazing.  It actually stays on but when you want to wipe it off it is easily removable.  Seriously, its magic."  So I went to the store the next day to get some.

My son's rash was pretty sore and red but by the next diaper change after I applied the butt paste, the rash was already starting to clear up.  I couldn't believe it, I was sold! 

I think one of the greatest things about Boudreaux's Butt Paste is that it was specifically formulated by a pharmacist with direction from a respected pediatrician to provide effective diaper rash care.   It comes in many convenient sizes and also has a handy flip top cap.  Plus it has a nice, pleasant scent! 

 Over the years I have told many people how amazing Boudreaux's Butt Paste is.  I even remember going home from a friends house and getting our tube to give her because her twins had a terrible rash and nothing was helping.  She called me the next day and said it was totally gone! 


Now I'm giving you the chance to request a free sample of  Boudreaux's Butt Paste.  Check it out today! 

Wait...They'll Give ME Money for Shopping?!

So, I was poking around on the internet this morning and somehow or another I found out about this really cool site.  At least it seems pretty cool, I haven't actually tried it yet.  Its ebates.com, all you have to do is sign up with them and then whenever you do any online shopping, go to their website, search out the store you want to shop at and go through their link.  There are a ton of stores that participate with them.  When you make a purchase you get a certain percentage of your total back from ebates.com.  They are also giving you a $5.00 bonus just for signing up. 

Too bad I don't need to buy anything right now...though I'm sure I could find something, just to try it out ;)

Monday Night Football...Practice.

Last night was the first night of full equipment practice.  I'm not very happy with the fact that his uniform is HUGE on him.  When we got to equipment pick up they were short on small sized pants and apparently jerseys too.  So we had to take a medium.  His pants are suppose to stop at or above the knee, his go to his ankle.  The good thing is its only his practice uniform, hopefully the game uniform will be a better fit.  I had overheard a coach talking to a friend and apparently our first scrimmage game will be August 14th, crazy!  This is also our first full week of practice. I think we'll all pretty much be sick of it by Friday ;)

So not much else has really been going on.  Trying to keep up with the house when I am home and also work on the decluttering project.  I didn't get as much done this weekend as I had hoped, nothing really even to post about. 

I'm upset about the fact that its August already, soon time for back to school.  I'm not ready for it, I like having both boys home.  What am I going to do when Cole goes to school?!  We didn't really even do anything this summer, I guess that's what I'm bummed the most about.  Not that we have ever gone on huge vacations but we usually do more day trips then we have this year.  We're hoping to get to the Aquarium in Baltimore in the next few weeks, we'll see though. 

I have some other personal family and friend things going on.  A lot of drama.  Haven't decided yet if I want to blog about it all or not.  Maybe later...

Organizing & Football

I've really come to find with being busy I haven't had too many chances to blog.  When  I don't, I really miss it!  Crazy.  So sorry if this post is about a million different things.  I've been finding myself writing different posts in my head so then I forget what I've REALLY posted and what I've pretend posted in my head.

Football camp is over but practice is underway.  I still can't get over how....intense they are about friggin smurf football.  Not sure how it is in other football leagues (I'm new)  but ours is  midget football (have to admit the complete name, don't want any crazies finding us ;) and then the age divisions go smurf (6-7) peewee (I think some 7, mostly 8-9) then it goes onto pony and midget, not sure their age ranges.  After midgets you would then be into high school football.

Anyway, Logan has football practice M-F from 6-8 until school starts, it starts here Aug 25th.  After school starts its Tues-Thurs.  Games will be Saturday/Sunday and there are occassional Saturday morning practices.  WTF?!  I've just been praying and hoping that he doesn't get sick of it anytime soon.  UGH.  Next week starts full equipment practice, that will be the REAL test.  Its just so hard watching him out there, he's sort of small compared to the other kids and slow.  I just want to go out there and do it for him. 

Today I finally got around to starting my decluttering project.  It actually went pretty well.  I'm hoping to do something every single day, though that's going to be harder now with the crazy football schedule.   I can't tell you how much better I feel just getting a few drawers and cupboards in my kitchen cleaned out.  I can't wait to start on the rest of my house.

Well have to head to bed soon,  I'll try get a pic of Logan tomorrow at practice.

Cole's First Fish

I had been wanting to post this for weeks...

This is Cole's first 'catch' from our pond.  He looks excited doesn't he?? 

Over run & Overwhelmed

Wow!!

I didn't realize what I was getting myself into when I signed Logan up to participate in the local midget football teams summer football camp.  OMG!!!  Its been this whole week, Mon-Thurs and works on basic skills for football, plus they have numerous speakers, raffles and all that good stuff.  Soooo....the past three days I've been sitting at the football field from 5:30 until 9:30...yeah super fun!!  Then get home get Logan showered and pretty much head right to bed.  Needless to say my house is a DISASTER!!!  On top off all that I'm leaving Friday night to go on my annual MOPS steering team retreat for the weekend. 


Oh and I just signed Logan up for the regular football season yesterday. 

Practice starts next Wed.  At least 3 days a week (I think, haven't heard for sure yet..)

Our corn is coming in like crazy...I need to start freezing/canning it.

Our tomatoes are coming in too...like crazy..of course. 

When am I going to get everything done? 

Ugh!!!  I just want to sleep! 

:::sigh::: 

Hopefully I'll get away to my retreat this weekend and come back refreshed and recharged, ready to do all the canning, freezing and football stuff that I need to do. 

Oh yeah, I still have a table full of zucchini and a downstairs fridge full of cucumbers. 

Inspired...

I've been reading on various blogs out in blogland about people's decluttering efforts.  God knows this house could use some major decluttering. 

I've decided to copy off my dear pen pal Robyn and do her 2011 in 2011.  I haven't yet decided if I will set up a seperate blog to record my efforts or just post it here.  My goal is to officially start next week, I'll think about it then. 

Today is my birthday and  I really don't plan on doing anything more taxing than watching Big Brother (WHO is the friggin sabetour???) and working on Cole's sweater. 

Have a good night!!

Busy Day, Bloody Noses

So far today has been a fairly busy day for us. Relatively speaking, our summer days haven't been overly busy, not like during the school year when I feel like I spend most of my day in the car.

To start off the morning I had my first MOPS steering team meeting for the upcoming year. I'm super excited for the new year of MOPS to start, I can't wait!  Its hard for me to believe I've been apart of the group for 5 years now!  Wow! Where exactly did the time go?!  You might be wondering what exactly MOPS is?  Here is their website for more info http://www.mops.org/. Its a christian based moms group, for mothers of children ages 0-K.  All I can say about my group is honestly, I don't know what I'd have been doing the past 5 years without them.  When I had Logan I didn't have any mom friends or even any friends who were married so it was hard.  While I still enjoyed my old friends, it just isn't the same.  I had heard about MOPS on a message board I was on and searched out a group in my area.  Low and behold there was a group 5 minutes from my house.  I was never so nervous in all my life to show up at that first meeting but I did it.  I still remember standing in the church vestibule, waiting to sign in, not knowing ANYONE, it seemed like everyone else knew each other and here I was.  If any of you all know me, you know this was very hard for me, especially then.  I feel like I have come out of my shell a little since then and honestly I credit being on the steering team for that. 
Anyway, any of you moms of preschoolers out there check it out!  Even if you don't count yourself as a christian or just aren't into any type of religion.  While I can only speak for my group, while it is a part of the group, its not something that is shoved down your throat and your not looked down upon if its not your 'thing'. 

After that I ran a few errands at the store and then went to pick the boys' up from my mom.  She mentioned taking the boys for lunch so we went to McD's and left them play on the outdoor play equipment.  I should have known better because it rained pretty badly last night.  The inside of the equipment doesn't drain out well and was soaking wet still.  No sooner did I realize this and I heard a thump and Cole started to cry.  Logan lead him back down and he was dripping wet from head to toe and his nose was bleeding!  Super great!!  We came home got him settled on the couch with icarly and now I'm working on dishes, laundry and cleaning. 

I'm hoping to get everything cleaned up/washed today because tonight we are canning more pickles (FUN!!....NOT!!) and tomorrow after work I plan on coming home and not really doing much of anything since its my birthday!!!  Ryan snuck my gift upstairs the other day...it looked a little too small to be that ipad I was drooling over the other week ;)

Hope everyone is having a super fabulous week!  Off to fold more laundry!!!

TGIF!!

I am so glad today is Friday! 

Though this week did seem to fly by, I'm so over it.  We do have a semi busy weekend ahead of us though.

 Tomorrow we are headed to Knoebels with some family members.  Sunday will probably be a day to catch up on everything that I've been slacking on before another week starts again. 
I'm really hoping to make it to my knitting group tonight, I didn't make it last week, was planning on this week but I'm not sure now, I have a million things to get ready for tomorrow plus I have a bunch of green beans I want to can before they go bad. 

I'm still waiting to see Eclipse...don't know how much longer I can wait though, I'm trying not to think about the fact that its out.

Yesterday I started working on getting stuff organized and ready for a yard sale.  I absolutely HATE having yard sales but last year we had our very first one and did rather good.  So I figured this year I'd try a little harder and maybe we'd do even better.  I have three huge boxes of toys already.  I haven't even touched the clothes yet.  Part of me just wants to drop it all off at goodwill, we'll see. 

Oh, I ordered my yarn the other night for the boys' sweaters.  I actually picked a different one for Cole, I saw this and knew he would LOVE it.

I finally feel like my summer is officially underway, Big Brother started last night.  Ryan and I have watched it every year its been on, LOVE it! 

T. Rex & Knitting

I think we are finally getting back into the swing of things after our long weekend.

We didn't have any huge plans for the 4th.  My parents had a party so we were there pretty much all day on Sunday.  Logan and Cole were in the pool from about 1 until 6ish.  They were soooo tired!!  Honestly I wish we could do that everyday, they came home and went right to sleep! 

It was a nice day, celebrating, eating good food and hanging out with friends and family.  Though Logan learned what happens when you eat pretty much nothing but 12 + cupcakes and steamed clams.  (sounds lovely, right?)  about 12 am he woke up and told me he puked.  We all had fallen asleep in the living room and he very narrowly missed puking on Ryan's head.

I wish I had gotten pictures (not of the puke)  of the days festivities, I had taken my camera with good intentions of using it but I never did.
We had gone shopping on Saturday and all Logan wanted was an ant farm (yeah just what I need, more ants in my house)  so to be fair Cole got to pick something out too.  Anyway, Cole picked out this rather large plastic T Rex.  He is crazy about dinos right now.  He had to take Dino to the party with us Sunday and pretty much everyone had a fun time playing with him.  Dino was swimming, eating, and even drinking beer (don't ask) along with attacking unsuspecting party goers. 

Here is a picture of Cole with Dino taken in the living room this morning, he has not left him out of his sight since he's gotten him.












So I've been wanting to make sweaters for the boys' for awhile.  I think Cole's love for dino's has lead me to ideas for him.  Its between this and this  I'm having a hard time picking out yarn for either one.  I don't want to spend a fortune for  a sweater for a kid but I honestly don't know if I can deal with working with acrylic for that long.  I know such a snob...sorry! 

Poor Logan has been bugging me for awhile because he wants me to make him something.  I really want to make him a sweater too and I want to do his first.  I'm just having a hard time finding something he'll like in his size.  It seems like all kids sweater patterns stop at 4-5 years!  I did find this but it sort of scares me...but I know he'd LOVE it.  We'll see...I'm going to try to look up yarn today and see what I can find. 


Today is my husband's birthday, he is turning 32 today, I honestly don't know how we got so friggin old.   Its hard to believe but this October we will have been together for...OMG!  15 years...is that right??  We started dating October 27th, 1995.  Wow, crazy. 

Anyway, the boys and I just got done baking his cake for dinner tonight (I have to go to work shortly).  We made him a big top cupcake cake.  I'll try to remember pictures later.  I don't think we'll really do anything exciting today, other than finish working on canning pickles and figure out what to do with all this zucchini & green beans!

Summer Garden Goodness!!

Ok, I usually complain about Ryan's garden.  I'm really glad he does one and takes care of it and all that but honestly there is no reason he has to make them as large as he does.  Yes there is more than one, there are two and then a small pumpkin/watermelon patch. 

This is the time though I'm really happy to have them.  Though talk to me in a few weeks when I'm up to my elbows in canning jars, tomatoes and pickles.

One of the gardens...

We had our first dinner the other night all from things from the garden.

First there were the green beans...

Then the zucchini...

Which I turned into this...

Not the best pic. It is called Poor Man's Crab Cakes.  It is my favorite thing to make with all of the zucchini we get.

The next few weeks are going to be crazy.  I'm going to have to start canning green beans, making and canning bread & butter pickles.  Then once all of that is done it will be time to start the tomatoes.

Ughhh!!!

Was just trying to make a blog post w/pics and of course my computer won't upload the pics for some reason.  Will try to post it tonight, if I can somehow make my netbook get just a little more power before I send it back this weekend. I hate to send it back and be without it but its getting to the point I can't even mess with the cord enough and sit in just the right position so it charges.  I really hate computers!!!  I would really like one of these Apple iPad MB292LL/A Tablet (16GB, Wifi)  for my 31st birthday which is in two weeks btw. ;)  Would you all please inform Ryan or my mom or ANYBODY?  Thanks :)  Have a good Monday!!!

Its Quiet In Here...

:::SIGH:::


I should really be cleaning my house right now...The boys are both at Nanny's house with their dad and I have the house to myself.  Though there are mounds and mounds of laundry that needs folded/washed & put away but I really really don't want to, I hate laundry.  I'd rather be reading, knitting or blogging! 

We didn't really do anything super fun today.  Logan & I got haircuts then we went to lunch with my mom and nephew, ran some errands and then came home.

I don't know if its because its summer or what but I've been on a major reading kick again.  Though I'm sort of at a loss on what to read.  What is everyone out in blogland reading this summer?  I love this series Sookie Stackhouse 8-copy Boxed Set (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood) but I just read the newest one last week.  Now I've moved onto Charlaine Harris's  other series Grave Sight (Harper Connelly Series #1).  It was a little slow going at first but I really got into it and picked up the other two books at the library today.  I love going to the library, I really hope that is one thing I can pass onto my kids is the love of reading.  I'm not really sure where I got it from, I honestly can't say I ever knew of anyone in my family just reading a book for fun but I love to read.  I remember summers growing up and reading tons of books.  My mom and I would go shopping every week, I'd usually buy 4 or 5 books at a time and I'd need more but the next time we went to the mall the following week.  Too bad the library wasn't by my house back then! 

Logan is pretty excited, VBS is starting this sunday at our MOPS church.  Its his favorite one and the only one I've been sending him to the past few years.  We don't go to church, though I would like to, I just can't get my husband to go, but I consider my MOPS church my church.  I used to send him to the VBS at the church I used to go to growing up but I really didn't like how they ran their VBS program anymore so I've just stuck with the one.  I think he's really going to enjoy it this year.  I think he will move up with the Kindergardeners this year finally!  They usually split them up according to what grade they've just finished, he's been in the preschool class for the past two years. 

I'm really glad its summer, we're all really enjoying it. I've been trying to keep the kids as busy as I can on the days I don't work (believe me my house shows it!) but I'm starting to miss the structure and activities of the school year.  I know I'm crazy!  Summer is going fast enough already.  I actually caught myself today thinking of Christmas gifts! 

Well this is a rather rambling blog post tonight, it has no point so I'll end it now.  Maybe I'll go tackle some of that laundry....Nah!  I think I'll start reading some of my books!  Don't forget, I really want some summer reading suggestions!  I've been stumbling through the library not even knowing where to look.  I like anything, I've read the Beverly Lewis Amish books to the Stephanie Meyer Twilight series.  Really anything!

First Summer Outing

As I mentioned in my previous post we've been trying to keep busy with playdates and such.  My MOPS group has an awesome summer playdate list planned and we've been trying to join them as much as we can.  One of the first outings for the group this year was to Lake Tobias Wildlife Park.  I have never been there before and I was surprised at how nice and affordable it is!  For Logan, Cole and I it only cost me $20 (plus $2 for crackers to feed the animals on the safari ride) granted we packed a lunch but still I didn't think it was bad.  Here are some pictures of our day!

Waiting on the cut off bus for our safari ride.

                                                          I think this is an emu but not sure...

Logan and Cole feeding crackers to the elk.  It was so friggin cool.  They came right up to the bus as soon as they saw us and these things were huge!  Cole thought it was the coolest thing ever and was petting him. 

This is when I knew it was time to go home.  We walked past a barn with a big John Deere tractor in it (Coles fave) and he would stop and stare.  He kept saying 'ride, tractor, me'  I started to walk away from him because I could not get him away from it.  Crazy kid!

TV Update & Summer Fun!

Well summer is in full swing around here.  The boys and I have been keeping pretty busy on the days I'm home.  We've had playdates with friends and swimming days at my parents house.  We aren't planning on any 'real' vacations this year.  Just day trips to some semi local places we like to visit. 

Oh yeah, update on the tv saga....  I had the repairman come out last Monday.  He seemed like he knew what he was doing but he was sort of a crabby know it all type.   It ended up our tv was beyond repair :(  I sort of figured that would be the diagnosis, the tv was 6 years old and used ALOT.  There were many nights I'd be up with one of the boys and it would be left on all night, in some of those beginning baby days I'm sure the tv was on 24 hours or more at a time.  Anyway, it was going to cost $600 +  to fix and he couldn't guarantee that would be it.  

So Monday night Ryan and I headed off to hhgregg to check out and see what they had.  A bunch of these stores just opened up in our area and I must say I was very impressed with them.  Their sales flyers always show very good deals every week, I thought it was just a ploy to get people to come in.  We went in and that's not the case at all.  The sales guy was very knowledgeable and seemed like he was giving us his honest opinion.  So far we are happy with our purchase.  So yeah, instead of a vacation we got a new tv!  Its crazy how expensive tvs are now. 

I'm not home now but I will update tonight with some pictures of things we've done so far this summer! 

Summertime Fun!!

I'm so glad its finally that time of year.  I used to be more of a winter/Christmas type of girl.  Now I'm finding I'm really enjoying summer a whole lot more.

 Logan's last day of school is this Wednesday and I can't wait!  I'm so ready to do all sorts of fun things.  We aren't planning on a real 'vacation', we don't really 'do' vacations because summer is Ryan's busy time at work.  Its easier for him to get a day here and there off instead of alot of days in a row.  I'd actually like to 'camp' in the backyard.  I figure we have enough ground we can camp far enough away from the house we'll forget we're at home ;)


With all the excitment of finding my camera and finally getting the chance to post my yarn pics, I forgot about the pics I took of Memorial Day. We had cookouts to attend on Sunday but Monday we just hung out at home and stayed outside most of the day.

It was a crazy hot day so we got out the swimming pool  and the bounce house and hung out by the swing set.  I think we soon need to get a bigger pool, they are out growing this one.

Meanwhile, Ryan was working on his garden.  Cole picked up a rake and decided to help.

Cole taking a picture of me.

Logan,  this is one of the only ones I got of him that day.  He won't hardly ever stand still long enough for me to get a good one.  I can't believe how big he is getting already. My baby will be in first grade next year :(


Speaking of Logan.   That boy about gave me a heart attack on Memorial Day when we were setting all this up.  We had brought the dogs out with us and had them tied out amongst some trees so they could be in the shade.  Logan was bringing water bowls out for them.  Cole and I were standing there with the dogs and Logan was walking towards us with the dishes.  Logan and I were talking about something and I happened to look to my right because I saw something in the grass.  At first I thought it was Ryan's hose for the garden.  When I looked again I realized it was a giant black snake.  It was one of those moments that felt like it was taking forever, I was trying to determine if it was real or not.  When I realized it was (who would put a 5ft long fake black snake in my yard?  and why didn't I see them do it?  @@)  I couldn't get the words out quick enough, I could only tell Logan to stop and stay where he was.  Would he listen?  Of course not!!  He was right at this snake, he couldn't have gotten any closer to him, the snake was pulled back ready to strike but for some reason he didn't.  As soon as Logan got clear of him, he took off and shot down a hole. 

Now I keep thinking I see snakes everywhere, including in my house.  ::::shivers:::  ugh I hate snakes!!!!