Loophole

Bug and I went to see J-man in his Christmas concert at school. Carl had to work but he stopped by in time to see J-man perform then went back to do his thang.

On the way, Bug called shotgun. J-man didn't mind; he knew he had it for the ride home.

After the concert, J-man yelled, "Shotgun!!!"

Bug said: "Nuh-uh! I still have it."

J-man: "No you don't! I get it on the way home."

Bug: "Yes I do. We aren't going home! We have to go to Publix with MOM!"

J-man: "doh!!!! LOOPHOLE!!!!!!"

Learning words

Bug and J-man have learned all the words to Nickelback's Rockstar thanks to this video:

I was watching Bug sing it at the top of her lungs the other day and commented to Carl that I don't know what is more disturbing - hearing my sweet little daughter say:

• "Gonna pop my pills from a Pez dispenser" or
• "Everybody's gotta drug dealer on speed dial"

But the kid loves rock-n-roll... she is turning out to be me after all.

YIKES!

Disappointment

Going to bed last night I noticed the light to the "man room" was on. This is the room where we hide the Christmas presents... behind LOCKED doors.

I told Carl when we were shopping that we needed to find a new place to hide the loot. He said "nah. They won't realize they were there. Plus, they don't have a key! They don't know how to open the door." I rolled my eyes and said "OK. Wait and see."

So the light was on. I called Carl to see if he had been in there. Nope.

I stood in the hallway and asked the kids (thru their doors) if they had been in there. Nope.

I said, "Well, the cats don't have a key and the boys are too dumb to know how to turn on a light (meaning the puppers -- although one could argue the point at times), so SOMEONE has the key. It needs to be in my hand by the time I get to ten or you two are on restriction."

One: nothing

Two: Bug "I don't have it, Mom! I swear I don't"

Three: rustling -- J-man opens his door with the key in his hand.

I was sooooo flippen mad. We worked hard to save up for their surprises and now J-man knows everything he is getting for Christmas. That BUMS ME OUT. I love surprising them...

Bug swears she doesn't know and that J-man didn't tell. I hope that is the case or Christmas is going to SUCK this year. I'm not getting either one of them anything else. They'll get what is in that room and that is it. I want them to realize just how disappointing it is going to be when there are no surprises this year.

GAH... and we still have two months to go.

Bummer.

Good news

I don't know what has gotten into the kid, but J-man's mid-term report card is all As and Bs... not a failing grade to be found.

He is passing math for the first time since THIRD GRADE! He actually has an A!!

He told his dad today that he finally believes in himself. That is music to my ears and I hope it continues.

I think the surgery fixed more than his feet.

Thank, God!!!

Conversations in my house

"Mom," Bug says, "I have a new boyfriend at school. I'm going to tell you some things about him and then QUIZ you to see if you were listening.*"

Me: Ok, honey. Go for it.

Bug: (using her fingers to count off)

• His name is SB. (last name sounds like the name of a vaccuum cleaner -- so that is what Carl and I call him now-- S. Vaccuum Cleaner)
• He has browndish-blondish hair
• He has bro--- no WAIT -- HAZEL eyes
• His favorite color is... blue
• His favorite sport is... baseball
• His favorite food is... chicken
• He is - like - mid-tempo

Me: Wait. Mid-tempo? What does that mean?

Bug: You know... it takes a lot to get him mad. He is MID-TEMPO

Me: Do you mean Mild Tempered?

Bug:(rolling her eyes) Whateverrrrrr!! You know what I mean...

Me: (laughing to hard to say anything else)

* I passed after I stopped laughing.

Did we catch something?

As many of you know I love anything paranormal. I love to watch shows about ghosts and ghost hunts. I love stories about paranormal experiences, and I've even had a couple of my own. I also like to take ghost tours whenever we travel. I've done them in Savannah and even in Vancouver during one of our cruise excursions --- I know, I know! Pictures are coming

So this past weekend we went on a ghost tour of Kissimmee, Florida.

I have always taken my camera, but have never "captured" anything. This time was an exception. I think we captured a few anamolies, but I'll let you decide.

This was our first stop. We are at a train depot. As our guide was telling us about the place, I just turned to my right and snapped a picture. You can see our tour guide's backpack on the left. I swear to you - hand held high - that the green light was NOT there when I took the picture. It was pitch black. We don't know what that is...

Bug took this picture at a monument in downtown. It is a little blurry because she was aiming the camera at a bench and it wouldn't focus well. What amazes me is the streak on the left. There weren't any bugs around, and I watched her take the picture. At first I thought it could be her fingernail, but looking at it closer it doesn't look like that at all. I think the little blob underneath is a street sign, but we have no idea where the streak came from.

This picture freaks me out a little. This was taken at Kissimmee's courthouse; where the hanging tree still stands. Bug went up to the windows to take pictures inside... look right above the flashes reflection and to the left... I see a face... do you see it?

This was a creepy place. This was taken at a funeral home's playground. Yes, you read that right. This funeral home built a playground so children will have something to do as the funerals are taking place. Legend has it that a little girl named Isabella haunts the playground. Our guide said people have called the police in the middle of the night to ask them to come get the kid playing on the playground.

If you ask her to show up she will, and I think she did. This picture is of a covered wagon play thingy... if you look at the front, tiny glass window I think there is someone sitting there. I tried to circle it. You may have to click on the picture to make it larger. Carl thinks I'm crazy, but SOMETHING is there.

This next picture cracks me up. Like I said, you can ask Isabella to show up and she will. The guide said you can ask her to make a blue orb or a red orb and she'll do it for you. I told the kids, let's see if she'll show up for us! I put the kids next to the wagon and said "Isabella, this is J-man and Bug. They are kids that would LOVE to have their picture made with you. If you can, give us an orb so we can see that you are here." I didn't get an orb but the look on Bug's face is priceless. I don't think she necessarily wanted Isabella to show up...

BUT, the picture right above this one was snapped a few seconds after I took the one of the kids. Long enough for me to move around a swingset and take the picture of the wagon. Do you think Isabella did what I asked her to do?

We had other pictures of orbs and such, but I don't really trust those. Orbs could be dust or bugs or anything else floating in the air. (Although I do have a red orb in one and that was strange.)

What do you think? Think we caught a few paranormal things? Or am I just seeing stuff I wish were there?

Renaissance Festival

Last weekend we went to the Georgia Renasisance Festival. It was a beautiful day and we had a blast. Here are some pictures... YES, I uploaded pictures!!! WOOT!!!

Here are King Henry VIII, Anne Bolyen and their court.

And an Ogre... sorry, but I think he is WAAAAY cuter than Shrek.

Remember the dude with the pet log? Here he is with J-man and Bug.

Carl got kissed by a kissing wench. She called this a "smiley" because when he lifted his eyebrows it looks like it is smiling. See?

And J-man got a kiss, too.

Think he enjoyed it?

Where else will you see jousting?

And pirates?

J-man and Bug both got painted...



And I got my arm done.



Both kids made wax copies of their hands... yes, that is Coffeypot watching every move they made. And if you look real close you will see horns on the kids' heads... they ARE little devils. I've been trying to tell people that for ages.

If there are horses around, Bug is going to try and get to them. This big beauty was in the petting zoo and it was killing Bug that it wouldn't acknowledge her.

So she got Coffeypot to help her climb on a fence to look over the stall wall. I think the horse was surprised to see her because he lifted his head and she got to pet it. (You can see J-man's horns really well in this one!)

I have more pictures, but I've bored you enough. We had a great time...

Crazy kid

My dad, Carl, the kids, and I went to the Georgia Renaissance Festival yesterday afternoon. It was a BEAUTIFUL Sunday and we had to get out... cabin fever ya know.

I took quite a few pictures but haven't downloaded them yet. (Isn't that always the case?) I promise to work on that tonight and show you around the festival. If I don't get it done tonight it will be mixed in with the Alaska pics. This is the week that begins my three weeks of travel. My coworkers and I realized that after today, I will only be in the office 4 days over the next three and a half weeks. Crazy!!!

Back to the festival...

We got there early enough to watch King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn make their speeches. We got to see ogres, kissing wenches, fairies, pirates... all kinds of fun, lively people.

There was one guy holding a sign that said "Idiot" on it with an arrow pointing down at himself. I took a picture of J-man with him... and the guy turned the arrow so it was over J-man's head. Embarrassed him sooo much!

Later on that afternoon we were eating lunch. The "idiot" dude walked to where we were and we saw he was dragging a log... about a foot long and 6 inches thick. He was telling everyone it was his "pet log"...

J-man looked at it... then at us... then said,

"I wonder if that pet log has a woodpecker."

He had this look on his face like "I know that was funny, but am I gonna get in trouble for saying it?!"

Needless to say, he was pleased with himself when we all started laughing. He had caught me off guard so I almost choked because I was laughing so hard. I don't know what I'm gonna do with him!

Boys and their body humor...

Submission

moar funny pictures

I submitted this picture of Bug and Grimmy to I Has a Hotdog... think it'll make it on their site?

Hope so!!!

I'm a little worried though -- the caption at the bottom says it is from I Can Has Cheezburger which are cat pictures. I built it where they said to...

Don't care though. It's on MY blog and I think the picture is too funny. Doesn't it look like Bug is squeezing Grim's eyeballs out? LOL!!!!

Maybe we are doing something right

Carl and I took J-man to watch his soccer team play their game on Saturday. Because of his broken collar bone he is out of the game for the entire season, but we want him to still be there for his teammates. Even if it is from the sidelines.

The kids were so excited to see him. They all huddled around asking how he was doing, what it felt like, was he going to be able to play, etc. The little boy that caused the broken bone was the first to reach J-man and kept apologizing. J-man kept saying to him "it's OK!!! It was an accident!"

The team promised they would try to win the game just for him.

As the boys were chatting, Carl and I were setting up our chairs next to the mom of one of J-man's best friends on the team. C is a sweet lady, but cannot keep a secret. She has the tendency to tell you about whatever is on her mind... trust me. I've heard ALL ABOUT her Brazilian bikini wax and how small her ex-husband's member was.... no secrets!!

So she proceeded to tell me how much J-man's injury affected her son. She said, "He came running up to me after they finished practice and said 'Mom, what are we gonna do? J-man is the soul of this team. He is the most positive person we have on it. I mean, when we are losing he is the one saying it's OK... we can come back! We need him to be with us!'"

I have to tell you -- I don't think I have ever been more proud of J-man at that moment. He is a true team player and a positive influence on people. What more can a parent ask for?

BTW: His team lost. The kids were upset, but J-man was the first one to the bench after the game telling them how well they played.

God, I love that kid.

Lost and bones

I couldn't concentrate too much on Lost last night. Between the delivery of our bedroom furniture, transferring the clothes from the old drawers to the new, and J-man breaking his collar bone* it was kind of hard to sit down and watch tv.

But I did... I may have missed a thing or two but here are my thoughts...

• Who the heck is the captain of the boat? I didn't catch his name... he was introduced about the same time Carl and J-man got home from the hospital.
• And where do they keep getting these hot men from? That captain was something else... I want to be on THAT boat!!!
• Was Jin's story a flashback and Sun's a flash forward? Jin said he had only been married two months and he was that angry, killer type dude...
  
• The end!!! OMG!!! I was in tears!
• What was Hurley doing in Korea (or wherever they are from)? Did he come JUST to say goodbye to Jin? Was this before he went to the wacky shack?
• Does that mean Jin wasn't a part of O6? Is there someone else?
• I think the doc that delivered the baby is from Dharma... he said something about the medicine causing birth defects. Could that be something she got on the island? Was he there to study the baby since it was conceived on the island?
• What did they say about Ben and why they wanted him so bad? That part is really fuzzy.
• Juliette pi$$ed me off! I was yelling "YOU BEEOTCH!" when she let the cat out of the bag.
• Sun held it together a lot better than I would have. I wouldn't have stopped at the slap! Juliette would have been dealing with a whole heck of a lot more cuts and bruises.
  
• Michael -- saw that one coming. BUT does he know who he is? He didn't look like he recognized Sayid and Des -- and yet they pretended they didn't recognize him either.
• I can't stand Michael so I hope they don't keep him on for very long.
• Jumping off the boat with chains wrapped around your body? What a way to go! Was she the same one that was reading the book upside down? I didn't catch any of that conversation.
• Who blew their brains out in that one room? That was nasty!!!

Alright - that's it for now.

* Want me to tell you about J-man? Read on.

Bug had a make-up soccer game last night. As Carl and I watched the game, J-man was hanging out with a teammate (G) and another friend (Alex). I happened to look over at the boys just as G tackled J-man to the ground. I'm not talking a little shove either. J-man was pounded into the ground.

J-man got up with a grimace on his face and walked over to us. G was tagging along apologizing. J-man sat with us and was trying so hard not to cry. He just kept saying his shoulder hurt and he couldn't move his arm. Carl took him to the bathroom to look at it and couldn't find anything wrong. I kept asking him if he wanted us to take him to the hospital but he kept saying no. I gave him some Tylenol and told him to move his shoulder around -- thinking it was just a cramped muscle or something.

Finally, it got too chilly to sit on the sidelines so J-man and I went to sit in the car. Once there, he started crying and said "Please take me to the hospital. I can't take it anymore." We got Carl to the car, I took them home and they took off to the ER. I went back to the fields to watch the last of Bug's game and get her home.

Needless to say... his collar bone is broken. Carl said it looks like two parallel lines laying on top of one another. He is in a brace and can't move his arm for the next 7 days. To top it all off, it is his left side - and he is left handed! School work and homework are going to be a challenge.

Oh well. We'll get through this to. I can't believe how tough the kid is! I told him to remember how "easy" this was because he will probably have the same level of soreness after his surgery. He said "No problem."

Carl did tell me something funny J-man said... they were heading to the hospital and Carl said "I've always thought that if you couldn't move it that meant it was broken. So I don't think you've broken anything." J-mans response? "No offense, dad, but I want a doctor's opinion. Last time I checked you weren't a doctor!"

Touche, smartass.

Handstands

Grimmy is an acrobat - have I ever told you that?

When we first got him from the rescue organization it took us a while to learn his quirks. One of the first things we noticed was that when he peed he would walk on his hands. I kid you not. When he is on his leash he will lift his back legs completely off the ground and "walk" while peeing. It is the FUNNIEST thing.

We want to capture it on video and send it in to Amercia's Funniest Videos but we don't have a camcorder that works.

After we fenced in the back yard our walks slowly dwindled down to - well - rare. He does his business in the backyard and the hand walking disappeared.

Or so we thought.

It started snowing this weekend - YAY!!! It seems Grimmy doesn't like getting his feet wet, and Carl saw him doing his handstands. I followed him into the backyard just to get a picture of it.

I hope you aren't grossed out by pug butts and weiners, but you can see what he does. I swear he is peeing and walking at the same time! LOL!!!

(Please excuse the dead tomato plants. I can't get Carl to throw them in the garbage! Guess I'll have to do it myself.)

I followed him around a couple more times, but this was the only picture I could get. The rest of the time he was running along the fence barking at the kids.

OH YEAH! We also discoverd our own "Wilson"!! Isn't he cute?!!! I guess we'll rename him "Spaulding" though...

Pictures

Wanna see a handsome kid? (Ignore the proud mama standing behind him) This was taken right before his first band concert. He did an excellent job!

Here's a question... can you get your tongue to do this?

Crazy kid.

Here are a few of my favorite Christmas ornaments... you know you want to see 'em.

Many of you know my nickname is Mouse. It is what my Pawpaw called me when I was little - actually it was Mouse of the House - and to this day I collect mice. There are A LOT on my tree... isn't she adorable?


This little guy just makes me smile.


Tinkerbell is just beautiful. Wind her up and she twirls on the genie bottle.

My tree topper is a Santa... doesn't he look high and mighty perched up there?

Here is my whole tree. Sorry the picture is so dark... don't have excellent photography skillz -- yet.

Finally --- this is what my brain feels like right now...

Have NO idea how that picture happened... I was trying to take pictures of the tree and this came out... cool, no?

Merry Christmas

Jumbled thoughts

I'm sitting here strumming my fingers on my desk trying to think of something to write about. Nothing is really coming to mind. Or maybe there is a lot going on -- I just can't pick out one thing.

Let me brainstorm for a minute and see if anything interesting pops up:

• It is the kids last day of school. What am I going to do with them next week?
• Why am I at work? Nothing - and I mean NOTHING - is going on. My projects are on hold until after the holidays. No one is here; it is like a tomb.
• Well, there is one thing to do. My review. Think I can stretch that out over the next two days?
• I'm ready for vacation next week. Even though we aren't travelling anywhere it will be nice to be off!!
• My kids totally rock.
• J-man is passing all of his classes, and if he works really hard he could end this year with ALL As and Bs!!! He only has ONE C right now. How flippen awesome is that?
• I need to hire someone to clean my house. That is on my to-do list next year. Somehow, some way, I will find the extra cash to pay for that. I can't do it. I can't keep up with it along with working all day long and running around with the kiddos. We do the best we can, but it isn't good enough. I need help.
• I thought I had all my wrapping done. Not so much. Found a couple of items that still need it; I may just buy a bag or two and shove 'em in that instead.
• I do love wrapping presents though. It is fun to see the item disappear into the wrapping and then imagining the smile that will come on the recipient's face when it is open. Makes me happy.
• My puppers are awesome. They have been real snuggle bugs lately. Dozer especially. He doesn't like the cold weather so when he comes in from being outside, he will lay on your lap and shiver just to get some extra attention. Pitiful.
• We've been in counseling for about a month now, and Carl has really taken it to heart. I love him so much for that. I can see a change in him. I love how he loves us and is willing to listen and work to make our lives better. I married a great guy.
• Is it Christmas yet?
• I can't believe it is almost 2008! I wonder what next year holds for us?
• My car still isn't acting right. I know we are going to wind up plunking down some money for a new one... I just hope it can hold out until after our trip.
• Speaking of our trip... we have GOT to get our passports. That is what our Christmas money is going to buy this year. Exciting? I think it is.
• Once we get the passports we can go anywhere in the world we want to go! That gives us so many options!
• One thing I reeeaaalllyyy want to do is go back to Halifax and explore that town without a hurricane blowing through.
• The kids have been trying to talk me into getting a kitten. I'm on the fence. It is hard enough keeping up with two dogs and two guinea pigs. We are such an animal loving family, but when is it too much. (I can see my mom cringing now, shaking her head, and saying "NO!!" HA!)
• My Dunkin Donuts coffee is rockin' this morning!
• Just when I thought my family situation was disfunctional -- bump it up against the Spears' fiasco and we are all doing JUST fine. Sheesh!!!!!

OK -- that's enough.

I think - no, I know - there are more things running around up there, but I don't want to keep on. I've held back on some things... really, I have!

Off to read blogs, play games on my cell phone, look at a few websites... basically try to look busy. I've got to make this day go faster!